GM Simen Agdestein Wins Oslo International Chess 2013

Top three in the GM Group (from left) GMs Simen Agdestein, Evgeny Postny, Andrei Istratescu. 

GM Simen Agdestein of Norway has won the GM-group ahead of GM Evgeny Postny of Israel and GM Andrei Istratescu of France at the Oslo Chess International (renamed Håvard Vederhus' memorial) that was held from September 29-October 6. 

IM Benjamin Bok of the Netherlands made a GM-norm, while WFM Raghavi Nagarajan of India fullfilled her WIM-title by passing 2200 in elo. Also playing was India's B Adhiban who finished tenth with a fine showing. The elo-group was won by Norwegian junior Jens Hjorth Kjølberg. 

Talented Indian players N Raghavi and B Adhiban.

Top four in the elo-group (from left) Lien (3), Harstad (2), Kjølberg (1) and Silva Gonzàlez (4). (Photos: Olga Dolzhykova)

You can find lots of nice photos of the event and chess in Oslo at the Facebook page Stormester & Stormester. Don't forget to Like their page!

Grandmaster Agdestein beat GM Leif E Johannessen in the last round to conclude the event with 7,0/9 points continuing his excellent chess performance after staying ahead of the field at in the Sant Martí Chess Open and Telenor World Cup Blitz. He narrowly missed the title at the Dieppe Open. 

Don't forget, GM Agdestein is also the author of a fascinating book on World Chess Championship challenger Magnus Carlsen! Click on this link to read a review. 

Here is a nice game from the tournament. You can find all the games at the official website.

Turov, Maxim (2586) - Agdestein, Simen (2595)

Result: 0-1

Site: Ullevaal Stadion

Date: 2013.09.29

[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 e6 3.♘c3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.♗g5 ♗b4 6.e3 h6 7.♗h4 g5 8.♗g3 ♘e4 9.♕a4+ ♘c6 10.♗b5 ♗xc3+ 11.bxc3 ♗d7 12.♘e2 a6 13.♗xc6 ♗xc6 14.♕a3 ♕d7 15.f3 ♘xg3 16.hxg3 ♗b5 17.g4 f5 18.gxf5 ♕xf5 19.♕b2 O-O-O 20.♘g3 ♕g6 21.O-O-O ♖de8 22.e4 g4 23.♕f2 h5 24.♖de1 ♗c4 25.♘f5 ♗d3 26.fxg4 ♗xe4 27.♖xh5 ♖xh5 28.gxh5 ♕g5+ 29.♔b2 ♖e6 30.♘e3 ♕xh5 31.♔a1 b6 32.♔b2 ♕e8 33.♕d2 a5 34.♘g4 ♖g6 35.♘e3 ♕b5+ 36.♔a1 a4 37.♕e2 ♕a5 38.♕d2 a3 39.♘c4 ♕b5 40.♘xa3 ♕a4 41.♔b2 ♖xg2 42.♖e2 ♖g8 43.♕e1 ♖g4 44.♖f2 ♔b7 45.♕f1 ♖h4 46.♕b5 ♕d1 47.♕e2 ♕g1 48.♕f1 ♕g3 49.♖e2 ♖f4 50.♕e1 ♕g6 51.♕d2 ♖g4 52.♘c2 ♗d3 53.♖f2 ♖g1 54.♘e1 ♗e4 55.♘c2 ♕c6 56.♘a3 ♖g8 57.♕d1 ♖g3 58.♕e1 ♖h3 59.♖e2 ♖h1 60.♕d2 ♕a4 61.♖e1 ♖h8 62.♘c2 ♕b5+ 63.♔a1 ♖g8 64.♘e3 ♖a8 65.♖c1 ♕d7 66.♕e2 ♖g8 67.♕f2 ♕d6 68.♕d2 ♖g3 69.♖e1 ♕f4 70.♘f1 ♕xd2 71.♘xd2 ♗d3 72.♔b2 ♖g2 73.♔c1 ♔a6 74.♖e7 c6 75.♖e3 ♗g6 76.♖e6 ♔b7 77.♖e7+ ♔a6 78.♖e6 ♔b5 79.a4+ ♔xa4 80.♖xc6 ♔a3 81.♔d1 ♗d3 82.♔e1 b5 83.♘f3 ♔b2 84.♘e5 ♗c4 85.♘xc4+ bxc4 86.♖c5 ♔xc3 87.♖xd5 ♔d3 88.♖c5 c3 89.d5 ♖e2+ 90.♔f1 ♖e5 91.♔f2 c2 92.♔f3 ♖e1 93.♔f4 ♖e4+

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Ilyumzhinov on Kasparov Move to Contest FIDE Elections 2014

It's just the beginning and this topic is going to be getting hotter by the day. Stay tuned for selective updates from our side. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has commented on former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov declaring his candidacy for 2014 FIDE presidential elections. Here are the comments:  via www.chess-news.ru.

"I have been getting the majority of votes since 1995," ITAR-TASS quotes Ilyumzhinov. "If talking of 2010 elections in which my rival was Anatoly Karpov, who was actually actively supported by Garry Kasparov, I had even double advantage. The same happened in 2006. There are no doubts that the very same thing will happen next year too. Well, maybe someone else will present his candidature today... Isn't it nice that sooner or earlier all world champions are trying themselves as presidential candidatures? Let's suggest them to get together - 12th, 13th, 14th champion - and run for the post together."

"I had several tasks when I was nominated in 1995: to save FIDE from bankruptcy, to unite chess world, to popularize chess as a sport, to make chess recognized by the IOC. Those tasks were accomplished. Now we only need to have chess at the winter Olympics. Chess in Schools project is also developing. So, there's still a lot of work to do, that's why I agreed to nominate myself for one more term. This is also my decision.

As regards to Kasparov's nomination - he is always much into PR. Once he wants to be Russia president, then he tries to be the leader of opposition. It's clear that now he needs FIDE president post for solving his own political tasks. It's doubtful that chess players will support him. We have a different motto - "Gens una sumus" - "We are one people." Well, in general it's pleasant for me to see the return of the prodigal son, it seems like my work for chess development for 18 years wasn't done in vain."

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Kasparov Explains Why his "Algorithm Will Work for Change in FIDE"

Former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov announced his candidacy for the FIDE election 2014 in Tallinn, Estonia yesterday. You can keep track of Kasparov's team and campaign at the official website: http://kasparov2014.com/. Here's an exclusive Chess.com video interview (must-watch at that) right after the Kasparov candidacy announcement.  

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Breaking: Kasparov to Contest FIDE Presidency Election 2014

Former World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov had, in June this year, said in an interview to Swiss newspaper 'Nasha Gazeta' that he thought Garry Kasparov would run for FIDE presidency in 2014. 

A few minutes back, Kasparov formally made the announcement at the 84th 84th FIDE Congress in Tallinn. The news is already all over the Internet and we first picked it up via the Chess-News.ru twitter. The current President of FIDE Kirsan Ilymzhinov had already announced his candidature earlier in the morning session of the Congress. Ilyumzhinov also announced that he would be further putting in one million euros for the Chess In School program. 

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has been President of FIDE since 1995. He won a second time in 2010 after defeating Anatoly Karpov with 95 votes to 55. Later, Karpov and Ilyumzhinov had supposedly buried their "differences".  

Garry Kasparov became the World Chess Champion in 1985 after beating Anatoly Karpov. Kasparov announced his ticket on Monday and his team as including Rex Sinquefield, Ignatius Leong, Afrika Msimang, Jan Callewaert and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Ahmed Al Hamed.

Karpov had, in June, said: "I... (hesitates). You know, I am so fed up with Ilyumzhinov's team that... I have a good relationship personally with Ilyumzhinov, but his team is totally corrupt, absolutely useless in managing chess. They, however, set up a system that struck on the image of the International Olympic Committee in Salt Lake City, as well as on the image of different federations. I think exactly this system has reached its peak in chess. Unfortunately, this isn't actively discussed and covered, but something has to be done with the current situation - apart from making useless decisions, they also intervene with chess rules, which is intolerable."

In another question by 'Nasha Gazeta' on whether Kasparov could count on support in Russia, Karpov had said, "No, he can't. Moreover, the Russian Chess Federation will work against him, this is obvious. When I was running for FIDE presidency, against Ilyumzhinov, the federation first voted for me. Russia supported me and then "changed" the position of federation under wild pressure."

The FIDE Chess game begins and we thought all the excitement would end with the Anand vs Carlsen World Chess Championship 2013 in Chennai.  

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Russian Chess Super Final Begins, Watch Live India Time 4.30 pm

How many World Chess Champions and how many Grandmasters can you spot? Photos: Eteri Kublashvili

Which chess country can boast of the strongest national chess tournament in the world? It has to be Russia. The Russian Chess Superfinal opening ceremony was held in Nizhny Novgorod today. The event was attended by the sponsor of the tournament Gennady Timchenko, the Chairman of the Board of RCF Ilya Levitov and Deputy Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, Dmitry Svatkovsky, Olympic champion in 2000 on the Olympic pentathlon.

Gennady Timchenko and Ilya Levitov told the audience that the project "Chess in museums" will continue, and the Russian Chess Federation, together with the charitable foundation "Ladoga" and will continue to promote chess in the Russian regions. Former World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik said so far he has not won the Russian national chess championship and that will be a strong incentive for him to fight for first place. 

Dmitry Svatkovsky welcomed the guests to Nizhniy Novgorod expressed the hope that the Super Final will help promote chess in his hometown.

After the press conference, the draw was held for the Round 1 pairings:

Men.

Kramnik - A. Shomo, P. Svidler - Ya Nepomnyashchii, D. Andrejkin - S. Karjakin, A. Goganov - Vitiugov N. and A. Motylev-E. Inarkiev.

Women.
D. Charochkina - Kosintzeva T., A. Bodnaruk - Kashlinskaya A., V. Gunina - Goryachkina A., B. Kovanova - Kosteniuk, A. and N. Pogonina - E. Kovalevskaya.

After the draw, a concert was organised with performances by Honored Artist of Russia, pianist Nikolai Lugansky and outstanding cellist Alexander Knyazev.

The live broadcast of the event will be held daily at the official Russian Chess Federation website from India time 4.30 pm. 

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ACO Chess School: Scientific 5-Step Method for YOUR Individual Level

Many chess players have 10, 20, 25, and some even have more than 30 chess books and DVDs about chess openings on their bookshelf. Although they spend a lot of time and money, they can not achieve the progress that they expect.

Why is that?
Publications that deal with a specific topic in detail, are usually only relevant for the Grandmaster level or theoretical discussions. Books can, nowadays, be created only with the help of powerful computers. No writer can afford to be later criticised by one of his readers or Grandmaster colleagues. Moreover, an author cannot write a book for an individual. He needs to reach out to a cross-section of readers. Everyone is also at a different level of learning.

And, let's be honest, what amateur player has the the time, all of these variants to remember?

Amateurs do not need Grandmaster theory, but have to start learning from their level of chess strength. 

The ACO Online Chess School has developed a scientific 5-step approach that makes learning of openings easy for amateur players. Through specially designed databases and analyzes, they show you the opening lines that are found at your level of play... and all in a way so that YOU can remember and improve.

The ACO Online School Concept:
Step 1) You buy the ACO questionnaire
Step 2) evaluation of the questionnaire by the team (cost of questionnaire and evaluation 20 €)
Step 3) Written evaluation and individual suggestions for further training
Step 4) selection of proposals and creating the database by the expert team
Step 5) guidance

The ACO Online chess school team creates your opening lines individually based on your strengths, weaknesses, skill level and preferences. They calculate them using the questionnaire, which consists of over 100 questions and chess tests on all areas of chess.

You need only a single variant or a single system to complete your existing repertoire?  For example, a variant of white against the Sicilian or a variant for Black against the Trompowsky variant?
Or do you want your entire repertoire of example 1.e4 on 1.d4 move and look great masterly advice and concrete suggestions variant? Or you want to check your repertoire or individual variants or leave brush? Or have a completely different challenge with your openings?

Contact the ACO Chess School team of Grandmasters and International Masters and obtain a free custom quote. Read all about the ACO Chess School at their official website and their scientific method of training to play professional chess from whichever level you are at. 

Over €2000 worth of chess videos FREE

• Over 45 hours of video training
• 1-year access to all 200 videos of GM Zigurds Lanka (in German language)
• 1-year access to all 20 videos by GM Alexei Shirov (in plain English)
• In addition to access to our videos you have the exclusive opportunity with our team to get in touch and let us know your suggestions or requests for more videos.
• Access automatically ends after 365 days and can be extended.
• No subscription.
• After acquisition of the 1-year access, please contact us by email your login information to the online video library.

"ACO Online Chess School videos will always show a realistic chessboard. The team wants you to learn chess as you later see it on the board. Realistic - and thus better multiples received in your long term memory!"

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Chess.com to Acquire ChessVibes

Amsterdam, October 3rd, 2013 — Chess.com today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire ChessVibes.com, the leading website for chess news. The agreement combines the strengths of Chess.com, the number #1 online chess community with almost 8 million members, and ChessVibes, known for its quality coverage of top tournaments. Peter Doggers, owner and CEO of ChessVibes, will join Chess.com full-time, effective immediately.

“Peter has done a fantastic job with top-notch chess coverage,” said Erik Allebest, CEO of Chess.com. “Chess.com and ChessVibes share a passion for serving our members, and while we have focused on playing and learning tools, ChessVibes is synonymous with quality chess journalism. We look forward to bringing the two companies together to provide the best service to chess fans of all levels.”

 

“By teaming up with the leading global chess platform, ChessVibes is able to leverage Chess.com's impressive userbase and resources to enhance its presence and impact a larger audience,” said Peter Doggers, owner/CEO of ChessVibes. “I am pleased to be able to work as a chess journalist on the biggest chess website around.” (Photo: Peter Doggers)

ChessVibes.com will continue to exist for several months while its archive of content is transferred to Chess.com. ChessVibes' two digital, subscription based magazines - ChessVibes Openings (CVO) and ChessVibes Training (CVT) – as well as many of the regular content contributors to ChessVibes.com will “find new homes” contributing to Chess.com's newly launched Master's Bulletin (the potential replacement for CVO and CVT) as well as contributions to Articles and Courses. Subscribers to CVO and CVT will be compensated in the form of Chess.com Premium Memberships and/or subscriptions to Chess.com's Master's Bulletin.

Peter Doggers, owner/CEO of ChessVibes will start working full time for Chess.com. Together with Mike Klein, Co-Director of Content, and Daniel Rensch, Vice President of Content & Professional Relations, he will focus on content creation, product and content management, as well as special projects and tasks related to marketing & professional relations. One of his first official projects for Chess.com will be the coverage of the Anand-Carlsen World Championship match in November in Chennai, India.

AboutChess.com is the #1 online chess community with almost 8 million members from around the world. Chess.com provides a safe and enjoyable environment where chess players of all skill levels can learn, play, and enjoy the game together. Chess.com was launched in 2007.

ChessVibes.com is the #1 website for chess news and stories. ChessVibes provides daily chess news, videos, columns, reviews, cartoons, puzzles and blogs. It started on February 6th, 2006 as a personal blog. Owner and founder Peter Doggers renamed it “ChessVibes” on January 1st, 2007.

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Indian Chess Supergirl Humpy wins Tashkent Grand Prix Easily, Harika 5th

Indian chess' supergirl Koneru Humpy has just won the Tashkent leg of the Women's Chess Grand Prix series. She picked up her second tournament victory, in as many events of the Grand Prix, with eight points out of 11. Bela Khotenashvili and Kateryna Lagno shared 2-3.

 

The winner's mother Koneru Latha and 

Harika Dronavalli with her grandmother Koganti Sudeshna behind.

India's Harika Dronavalli had a great run with strong chess leading the tournament right behind Humpy all along, but she self-destructed towards the end finishing the event at fifth place. 

Humpy started the tournament with three straight wins against Ju Wenjun, Elina Danielian and Alexandra Kosteniuk. She then drew her next games with Kateryna Lagno, Antoaneta Stefanova and Harika Dronavalli before beating Nafisa Muminova. She drew Xue Zhao before a shock loss to Bela Khotenashvili. However, Humpy was way ahead of the field already and convincingly beat Nakhbayeva Guliskhan in the next round. Koneru finished the tournament with a draw with Olga Girya.

 

Humpy is a strong contender to win the Series and, once again, take a crack at the Women's World Chess Championship. Her main rival Hou Yifan has played only one stage and gathered only 45 points to Humpy's 320 points. If Hou has to play the next World Championship, she will either have to win this Grand Prix series or the knockout Women's World Chess Championship next year. 

 

The official closing ceremony of tournament took place in the Gallery of Fine Art of Tashkent on 30th of September. One of the stages of Men's Grand Prix Series 2014-15 will be held in Tashkent again. (Photos: WFM Maria Emelianova)

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