Humpy Wins Dilijan Chess Grand Prix

India's chess pride Grandmaster Koneru Humpy has won the FIDE Women’s Chess Grand Prix in Dilijan, Armenia, this Friday. She finished the tournament with a fantastic performance even piccking up a win in the final round against Mongolia’s Tuvshintugs Batchimeg. 

The top seed from Vijayawada scored eight points from 11 rounds which was a full point ahead of Slovenia’s Anna Muzychuk, the second seed, and Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia. Humpy was the only unbeaten player in the field that contained 12 of the top women chess players in the world.

The other Indian chess player who attended the tournament, D. Harika, played well and finished with five points and tied for the sixth place, after drawing with former World Chess Champion Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria.

The FIDE Grand Prix is a six-part series that will determine the challenger for the 2015 Women’s World Chess Championship.

Koneru Humpy's victory at the Dilijan Chess Grand Prix included draw with D Harika, win over Elina Danielian, draw with Anna Ushenina, win over Tatiana Kosintseva, draw with Bela Khotenashvili, win over Anna Muzychuk, win over Anna Stefanova, draw with Viktorija Cmilyte, draw with Nana Dzagnidze,  draw with Olga Girya and a win over Batchimeg Tuvshintugs.


The standings: 1. Humpy 8; 2-3. Muzychuk and Dzagnidze 7; 4. Kosintseva 6; 5. Ushenina 5.5; 6-8. Stefanova, Batchimeg & Harika 5; 9-11.Girya, Cmylite & Danielian 4.5; 12. Khotenashvili 4.

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Geneva Chess Masters 2013 Live 7 pm

The Geneva Chess Masters Festival 2013 is taking place from June 26-30 at the Pitoeff Theatre, a renovated cathedral in the centre of Geneva. The main event will be the highlight of the big chess festival that includes two open chess tournaments and several age-group event for players U-10, U-12 and U-14.

The main event - a rapid masters - will have (two groups of four each in the single-round robin format) former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, former US champion Hikaru Nakamura, top-rated woman player Judit Polgar, former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Etienne Bacrot, Yannick Pelletier and Romain Edouard. Each group will have the top two players advance to the semi-finals. 

Every match between 2 players consists of 2 games of 25 minutes + 10 seconds; if it’s necessary a tie-break of two games of 4 minutes + 2 seconds will be played; in case of a tie, a decisive game with 4 minutes + 2 seconds for white and 3 minutes + 2 seconds for black (with draw odds) will be necessary. Watch the games live at the official website of the Geneva Chess Festival 2013.

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Gelfand Wins Tal Chess 2013

World champion Viswanathan Anand ended his campaign with an easy draw against Sergey Karjaikin of Russia in the ninth and final round of Tal Memorial Chess tournament that concluded here.

Boris Gelfand of Israel, who had lost to Anand in the last World championship match, deservingly won the tournament after signing peace with Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the final round.

Gelfand finished with six points in all and remained a half point ahead of World number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway who ended on 5.5 points following a last round draw against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan.

Mamedyarov and Dmitry Andreikin of Russia and Fabiano Caruana of Italy finished tied third on five points, a half point ahead of Hikaru Nakamura of United States who succumbed to his third straight loss in the tournament after losing the final game against Alexander Morozevich of Russia.

Karjakin finished seventh on four points while Anand and Morozevich are tied for the eighth spot on 3.5 points each. Kramnik ended a disappointing last on just three points.

The last round was devoid of much excitement for obvious reasons. Kramnik just wanted to finish the tournament and did not do much with white against Gelfand who secured an easy draw.

With black, Anand too did not have to sweat much against Karjakin out of a Sicilian Najdorf that was drawn early.

Carlsen wanted to catch up with Gelfand at the top but he was lucky in fact to come out unscathed against Mamedyarov who played an enterprising game with white. Carlsen had to solve some tactical problems in the middle game and technical problems in the endgame to split the point.

Nakamura had beaten Anand in the sixth round but his luck apparently deserted him thereafter. In the seventh round he had lost to Gelfand, in the eighth Carlsen had proved stronger while in the final round Alexander Morozevich scored his first victory in the tournament at the expense of the American.

For Anand the bad showing here is going to reflect on his rating. With 2774 points after the outing here, Anand finds himself on seventh spot in world rankings.

For the records, Anand lost three games, won one and drew the remaining five. Kramnik was in similar shoes and lost three and drew six.

Caruana seems to be drawing closer to the 2800 rating mark with every tournament. The Italian is the new world number three in live ratings behind Carlsen and Levon Aronian of Armenia. (PTI)

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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 champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan while Levon Aronian came up with a fine effort to outclass Hikaru Nakamura of United States.

In the other two games Sergey Karjakin crashed through the defences of Jon Ludvig Hammer of Norway and, in a surprise, Peter Svidler of Russia was outdone by Wang Hao of China.

After the end of the second round, Karjakin emerged as sole leader with a perfect two points out of a possible two and he is now followed by Aronian a half point behind.

Anand, Svidler, Nakamura, Calrsen, Topalov and Wang Hao share the fourth spot on one point each while Radjabov is ninth with ahalf point in his kitty. With seven rounds still to come, Hammer is at the bottom of the tables, yet to open his account.

Anand went for the principled Sicilian defence against Carlsen. The Norwegian had beaten Anand in the Moscow variation last time out and he stuck to the same but Anand was much better prepared this time. While the position remained equal Carlsen still had that nagging advantage he wanted to encash and Anand had to be precise in the defence even though it was not too difficult.

A rook and knight endgame was reached early and thereafter all Anand had to do was to get rid of the pawns off the board. The game was drawn with Carlsen having an extra knight but no pawns on the board on move 59.

Aronian crushed Nakamura out of an exchange Slav that speaks volumes about the world No 3. The position was about level out of the opening but the Armenian obviously had more ideas.

Nakamura thought he was fine when giving white a queen side pawn majority but he was proven wrong in the endgame as Aronian made most of it. In the end, the American fought vainly after losing a rook for lmost nothing. As it happened, nothing came of it and he had to resign after 70 moves.

Wang Hao played the game of the day outwitting Svidler in his pet Grunfeld. The Chinese was in command early in the opening and did not falter even while reaching an advantageous end-game.

Hammer lost with white which is certain to dent his confidence. Karjakin did everything right after getting a better endgame and won in 54 moves. (PTI)

Results: Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 1) drew with V Anand (Ind, 1); Veselin Topalov (Bul, 1) drew with Teimour Radjabov (Aze, 0.5); Levon Aronian (Arm, 1.5) beat Hikaru Nakamura (Usa, 1); Jon Ludvig Hammer (Nor, 0) lost to Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 1); Wang Hao (Chn, 1) beat Peter Svidler (Rus, 1).

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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 of Azerbaijan whose woes continued after falling hugely in the world ranking.

Norwegian world number one Magnus Carlsen, who is set to play Anand in the next round as well as in the next world championship match in Chennai, could not do more than splitting the point with former world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria.

The other two games in the high category 10-player round-robin tournament, however, were decisive as Russian Peter Svidler scored a lucky win over Jon Ludvig Hammer of Norway and Hikaru Nakamura proved smarter than Wang Hao of China.

After the end of the first round, Nakamura, Karjakin and Svidler emerged as early leaders with a full point and Anand, Aronian, Topalov and Carlsen are close behind with a half point each. The three losers are on the bottom of the table.

Anand went for the closed Ruy Lopez as white and his strategy did not yield desirable result. Aronian was well armed in the opening and as many as three minor pieces changed hands by 13th move itself.

The resulting middle game with more heavy pieces was not dry but the presence of opposite coloured Bishops did not give any chance to either player. After a bit of a shadow-boxing, the peace was signed on move 33.

Radjabov slipped further after a dismal show in the last candidates tournament as he fell prey to a finely crafted manoeuvre by Karjakin in the middle game arising out of an off-beat Sicilian.

Playing white, the Russian sensed his chances perfectly in the middle game and his 26th move was a clincher leading to a winning endgame.

Svidler was only trying to equalize a pawn less endgame against Hammer out of a Grunfeld defence when the Norwegian number two started to make a lot of mistakes. Launching his double rook on the seventh rank, the Russian won a handful of pawns to turn the tables.

In the other decisive game of the day, Nakamura won two pieces for a rook with a sortie against Wang Hao to get a winning endgame. The Chinese had gone for the solid Petroff defence which did not come good as black.

Carlsen played a solid English opening as white but got nothing against Topalov who is in top form the game was drawn after 51 moves. (PTI)

Results Round 1: Viswanathan Anand (Ind) drew with Levon Aronian (Arm); Magnus Carlsen(Nor) drew with Veselin Topalov (Bul); Sergey Karjakin (Rus) beat Teimour Radjabov (Aze); Hikaru Nakamura (Usa) beat Wang Hao (Chn); Peter Svidler (Rus) beat Jon Ludvig Hammer (Nor).

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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 that encounter.

Carlsen, who had expressed his disappointment at Chennai being the awarded the hosting rights of the next world championship match between him and Anand, said he will not let that news "diminish the joy and excitement derived from playing the top level Norway chess tournament".

For Anand, apart from the clash with Carlsen, it will also be a real test against a very high quality opposition.

The event also boast of participation of world number four and former world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria who is fresh from a fantastic victory in the Grand Prix tournament.

Sergey Karjakin and Peter Svidler of Russia and Hikaru Nakamura of United States are the other players, who are a big force to reckon with while Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan will look forward to regain his touch.

Wang Hao of China and local talent Jon Ludvig Hammer complete the line-up of the 10-player tournament to be played on a round-robin basis.

For the Indian ace it has been a decent start to the competition.

The blitz tournament was taken quite seriously by Anand, whose joint second finish was a good result even though he suffered a shocking loss at the hands of lowest-ranked Hammer.

Sergey Karjakin won the tournament scoring 6.5 points while Anand, Carlsen and Nakamura were tied for the second spot a half point behind.

Svidler finished fifth on 5.5 points after losing the last round against Carlsen. Topalov was completely off-colour in the blitz, finishing last with just one point from nine games while Aronian was another surprise for the spectators as he ended ninth scoring 2.5 points. (PTI)

Pairings round 1: V Anand (IND) vs Levon Aronian (ARM); Magnus Carlsen (NOR) vs Veselin Topalov (BUL); Hikaru Nakamura (USA) vs Wang Hao (CHN); Peter Svidler (RUS) vs Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR); Sergey Karjakin (RUS) vs Teimour Radjabov (AZE).

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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 up its option organize the World Championship match. This was done on January 24 in Athens, where both parties agreed not to open a bidding procedure, but to grant an option to India, as requested. We should emphasize that according FIDE rules the World Championship cycle is not included in the list of events, for which FIDE is obliged to do so (like Olympiads, for instance). This has been deliberately done, because in many cases FIDE, having the priority in mind to secure the match and the cycle, was ready to give an option or even to grant the match if the proposal was attractive enough.

Consequently three of the last matches were given to an organizer without a bidding procedure.

On March 15th India asked to extend the option until April 10th and FIDE agreed to it because it was clear that the bid would be accepted and just needed an approval of the Tamil Nadu State Parliament, a session which took place on April 8th. One could ask why was the extension given to a date when the name of the challenger will be known already, and the simple answer is that FIDE, being convinced that the positive answer was just a matter of technicality, did not want to lose this bid for an alternative that gave no guarantee for a better result or any result at all.

When the approval of the bid by India was published and FIDE representative was called to formalize it, on April 8th, GM Carlsen’s manager contacted FIDE and asked to have a meeting to discuss this matter before a formal move is done with India.

Carlsen and FIDE’s representatives met in FIDE office on April 15th, when all claims were brought up by Carlsen’s representatives and were answered by FIDE. Among the points raised and answered we would like to emphasize one and this is the issue which was also raised in media – the question of neutrality. Unfortunately it has always proved difficult to find a sponsor to such a match when the name of the challenger is not known yet. Therefore most of matches in the past were organized in one of the participant’s countries. Consequently both World Champions Anand and Topalov played in their opponent’s country – a natural result of the situation.

On that day both parties signed a paper whereby it was agreed to give Norway an option to come up with an organizer for half of the match, provided that India would accept such a solution.

FIDE tried its hardest to convince India to split the match, but they refused India wanted to fulfil what has been approved by the government of the Tamil Nadu State and FIDE had to keep its obligations, and consequently an M.O.U was signed in Chennai on April 19th. One day later, the FIDE President visited France, where he got a proposal to organize the match in Paris. Mr Ilyumzhinov promised to bring the proposal before the Presidential Board. The French proposal was higher than the Chennai one, with more contributions offered. However, the Board decided (unanimously with one abstention) that FIDE must respect its obligation and thanked the French federation and the city of Paris for their proposal, hoping that there will be another opportunity to have a big event in Paris.

FIDE has acted with full transparency during the whole process, trying its best to secure the match and standing by its obligations and reputation. FIDE will do everything to secure equal conditions for both players and also will try and still trying to increase the prize fund for the match.

FIDE wishes these two great players a successful match, and is sure that India, the homeland of Chess will bring to the world a fascinating event.

Gens Una Sumus.

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