Norway Chess R2: Carlsen, Anand Draw

SANDNES: World champion Viswanathan Anand won the psychological battle holding his world championship challenger Magnus Carlsen of Norway to an easy draw in the second round of the Norway Chess 2013 Super tournament in progress here.The much awaited clash turned out to be a full entertainer to the audience as Carlsen tried but could not make much use of his white pieces in a keenly contested game arising out of a Sicilian defence.Both Carlsen and Anand inched to one point out of a possible two in the 10-player round-robin tournament following a draw in the opener too.The other game to end early was a damp squib between former world...

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Norway Chess Round 1

SANDNES: World champion Viswanthan Anand could do little with white pieces as his opponent Levon Aronian of Armenia held him to an easy draw in the first round of Norway Chess 2013 super tournament that got underway in Sandnes. It turned out to be rather sedate Anand who has got a tough draw in the tournament. White pieces against most of the top seeds and black against lower ranked players means that the Indian ace has to be in top form to deliver the goods and in the opener Aronian was not troubled much. Sergey Karjakin of Russia continued from where he had left -- winning the blitz drawing of lots -- and put it across Teimour Radjabov...

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Norway Chess Super Event Begins

SANDES: World champion Viswanathan Anand will take on Levon Aronian of Armenia in the first round of the Norway Chess 2013 super tournament that gets underway in Sandes. Anand secured five whites in the nine-round tournament by finishing joint second in the blitz event that was played to prepare the drawing of lots. The top five contestants in the blitz tournament will get five white and four black games in the 10-player event which is also one of the strongest ever. The much-awaited clash between Anand and Norway's world number one Magnus Carlsen will happen as early as in the second round and the latter will get to play white in...

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Fide Defends Chennai Choice

Baku 06.05.2013 Press release Since the Candidates’ Tournament ended, and GM M. Carlsen became the challenger of the coming World Championship Match there have been several developments, mails exchange between all parties (Carlsen, Anand, FIDE), questions asked, and also speculations. FIDE would hereby like to put forward the current situation regarding this event. Directly after the 2012 match was awarded to Moscow, FIDE agreed to grant an option to Chennai. The PB and its meeting in Armenia in January decided that FIDE and AGON, who holds the rights for organizing the whole cycle of the World Championship, were advised that India would take...

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Carlsen Redefines Chess Appeal

STAVANGER: He does fashion shoots with Liv Tyler, enjoys soccer-style sponsorship deals and was recently named one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people. Who is this superstar? The world's top-ranked chess player. With his trendy look and athletic physique, Norway's Magnus Carlsen has brought an injection of cool to the normally sedate world of global chess — extending its popularity beyond its niche following. The 22-year-old's home country is buzzing with excitement as he competes in a tournament here just months before he tries to crack the greatest prize in the game: the chess World Championship.In November, the young Norwegian...

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Carlsen Disappointed, but Determined

Here is World No. 1 and Challenger Magnus Carlsen's official statement regarding Fide choosing Chennai as the venue of the World Chess Championship 2013 to be held from November 6-26. After qualifying for the World Championship match by winning the London Candidates I have been highly motivated for, and looking forward to the World Championship match against reigning champion V. Anand.I’m deeply disappointed and surprised by the FIDE decision to sign a contract for the 2013 match without going through the bidding process outlined in the WC regulations, and for not choosing neutral ground. The bid from Paris clearly showed that it would...

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Anand vs Carlsen: Fide says Chennai

NEW DELHI, MAY 5: Viswanathan Anand will defend his World Chess Championship title against world number one Magnus Carlsen in his home city as FIDE today chose Chennai as the venue for the prestigious match. Even as it has been reported that Carlsen was not keen to play in Chennai and instead preferred Paris as the venue, the FIDE Presidential Board confirmed Chennai as the venue during a meeting at Baku, Azerbaijan today. The match between the Indian and his Norwegian opponent will be played from November 6 to 26. “The agreement was signed today at Baku by Bharat Singh, Hony Secretary All India Chess Federation and FIDE President Kirsan...

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Geneva Women's Chess GP Begins

The first round of the first stage of Grand Prix tournament in Geneva got under way on the 3rd of May 2013, after the founder of Neva Fondation Elena Timtchenko made the first symbolic move in the game Kosinseva-Hou Yifan 1.e4. The President of Swiss Chess Federation Prof. Dr. Adrian Siegel repeated 1.e4 in the game Muzychuk-Girya.  The first round was a pretty tough one for the start of the tournament – Bela Khotenashvili and Anna Muzychuk started with victories while other four games were drawn. Another Georgian player Nana Dzagnidze was very close to defeat Alexandra Kosteniuk but missed the victory in the time trouble. The quickest...

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World Championship 2013: Paris Offer

The French Chess Federation has approached Fide to host the World Chess Championship Match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen in November, 2013. The French Chess Federation website states:  "FFE, in collaboration with the City of Paris, on behalf of a group of private companies, is a candidate for organising the World Chess Championship 2013. The presidential office of FIDE, which will meet this weekend, should address the problem of opening a tender for this match. In fact, after the Match was given to Chennai (India), Carlsen and the Norwegian Chess Federation have officially requested that the game takes place in...

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Women's Chess GP Begins in Geneva

The Neva Foundation in partnership with the International Chess Federation (FIDE) is organising the first leg of the official Women's Grand Prix series for the first time in Geneva. From May 3 to May 15, 12 of the world's best women chess players featuring current Women World Champion Anna Ushenina from Ukraine, will confront each other at the N'vY hotel.  Watch Live India Time 5.30 pm onwards "This tournament is a unique opportunity to discover a favorite sport in Russia," says Mrs Timtchenko, President of the Neva Foundation. Competitive sport with multiple benefits It was the opening ceremony attended by Mrs Isabel Rochat,...

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Aronian Wins Alekhine Chess 2013

The games of the last round of the Alekhine Memorial were played on May 1st in St. Petersburg. Levon Aronian and Boris Gelfand shared the first place with 5.5 points out of 9. The Armenian Grandmaster had a better tie-break score and was awarded the first prize. The Israeli Grandmaster took the second place. The reigning World Champion Vishy Anand finished third with 5 points.In the last round, Boris Gelfand had White against Vishy Anand. Last year these players competed for the chess crown in a World Chess Championship match in Moscow. Their game was quiet and ended in a draw on the 40th move.Levon Aronian played a very aggressive opening...

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Anand-Carlsen Match: Norway Protests

Norwegian Chess Federation president Jøran Aulin-Jansson has sent an open letter as a "formal complaint" to World Chess Federation (FIDE) on the selection of Chennai as the host of the 2013 World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen. The letter calls for a "fair and transparent procedure and competition for the selection of the organizer" while emphasising that the letter is not a campaign against Chennai organisers.  Also Read: World Chess 2013: Is it Chennai 100%? Dear Mr. Ilyumzhinov / Presidential board   With reference to the discussion that for some time has been going on between...

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Topalov Wins Renova Chess Grand Prix

In the 11th round Veselin Topalov needed a draw to secure his sole victory in the tournament. At the same time Sergey Karjakin showed the will to fight and the former world champion took the challenge. Veselin showed fantastic performance and increased his live elo to 2793. All other games were drawn. The games Radjabov-Mamedyarov and Ponomariov-Morozevich were finished relatively quickly. Hikaru Nakamura finished on the sole second place. Ruslan Ponomariov and Fabiano Caruana shared the third place. Topalov-Karjakin 1-0Sergey Karjakin chose a Benoni structure with Black and it became obvious that both players will fight till the end....

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Alekhine Chess R8: Gelfand Leads

The penultimate, 8th round of the Alekhine Memorial was played in St. Petersburg on April 30th. The young St. Petersburg Grandmaster Nikita Vitiugov celebrated his first victory. With Black pieces he outplayed the French Grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who was undefeated and shared the first place before the start of the round. St. Petersburg spectators applauded the local player after the game.Another St. Petersburg Grandmaster, the World Cup winner Peter Svidler made a relatively easy draw as Black against the World Chess Champion Vishy Anand. Soon after that another draw occurred in Fressinet-Aronian. Ding Liren from China and...

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Alekhine Chess R7: Gelfand Joins Lead

The 7th round of the Alekhine Memorial was played on April 29th. Before the start of the round it was announced that the charity funds Ladoga and Neva created four special prizes: the best game in Alekhine's style, the best combination, the best technique, and the best result in the St. Petersburg part. These prizes will be awarded at the closing ceremony on May 1st. There were two decisive games in the 7th round. The World Champion Vishy Anand scored his second victory in the tournament, defeating the French Grandmaster Laurent Fressinet with White. This sharp game was not ideally played by both sides, but Anand made a better use of the...

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Alekhine Chess 2013 R6: Maxime Leads

The second half of the Alekhine Memorial began in St. Petersburg on Sunday with the sixth round. The official opening of the Russian half of the competition took place on April 26th in the Mikhailovsky Castle of the Russian Museum. Participants and guests of the tournament were welcomed by Vladimir Gusev, director of the Russian museum, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Russian Chess Federation Chairman Ilya Levitov, and the sponsors of the event Gennady Timchenko and Andrey Filatov.April 27th was the only day off at the tournament. The participants of the Alekhine Memorial, representing seven countries, enjoyed an excursion in the Russian...

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