Zurich Chess Live: India 12 am Tonight

Indian chess ace Viswanathan Anand will find himself in the unfamiliar position of starting as the lowest-ranked player when he takes on a tough field in his first Classical tournament since losing the world title, in the Zurich Challenge at the Savoy. 

The small event, having just five rounds between six players, boasts of a very strong field led by reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen, who is playing his first tournament since clinching the champion's tag from Anand. 

Watch Live tonight India time 12.00 am at official website.

For Anand it will be a new challenge and one can expect him to play at his best having got a good rest. For the upcoming candidates tournament too, this could prove to be a good warm-up. Anand will have a chance to even the scores a little. 

World number two Levon Aronian of Armenia, Fabiano Caruana of Italy, Hikaru Nakamura of United States and former world championship challenger Boris Gelfand of Israel complete the lineup of what is the highest category tournament ever in the history of the game. 

This will be the first time when Anand starts a tournament as the lowest ranked player with his world ranking slipping to number nine. 

According to the January list, Nakamura is third, Caruana is fourth and Gelfand is just a shade ahead of Anand at eight. Anand's return to competitive chess after the World Championship was in London Classic but it was played under rapid chess rules. 

The Indian was ousted in the quarterfinals when he lost to Vladimir Kramnik of Russia. Here, however, it will be a different ball game wherein Anand will get a chance to test himself before the Candidates Tournament slated in mid-march. Carlsen has been busy in various promotions since the World Championship triumph. 

The 23-year-old was on a long tour to United States where he gave a simultaneous display against Google employees, a nine-move checkmate to Bill Gates and some lesson to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg besides others. 

Carlsen's return to the board might not sound alarming to his competitors but the form he displayed in the match against Anand makes him a huge favourite for the title here. Aronian is fresh from his round-to-spare victory at the Tata steel tournament that finished just a few days back and is considered to be in top form while rising star Caruana has proven himself to be a world beater on his day. 

Nakamura had an indifferent Tata Steel tournament and the American will be keen to make amends. Gelfand, who finished joint last in the Tata event, too would like to stage some sort of comeback. The draw of lots will be done through a blitz tournament and the event will complete with a rapid event. -- PTI

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S. Asian Amateur Chess in Kathmandu

KATHMANDU: Nepal is hosting the first South Asian Amateur Chess Championship next month with around 100 players from the region taking part in the inaugural edition to be held from February 1-6.

“We are hosting such big event of chess for the first time in South Asia and we need cooperation from all the quarters of society,” said Rajesh Hari Joshi, President of Nepal Chess Association, at a press meet today.

Around 100 players including 30 women from all the South Asian nations except for Afghanistan have confirmed their participation in the February 1-6 tournament — for below 2,000-rated players — to be held at the Russian Culture Centre. “The number of participants might go up as we have also invited top two players each from Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bhutan,” added Joshi.

As of now 60 Nepali players including 10 women have confirmed their names for the championship that offers a cash purse of Rs 222,000, informed Press Coordinator Herakaji Maharjan, who is also the Secretary of NCA. The top three players will receive Rs 50,000, Rs 35,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively. Others in the top 15 will also get their share of cash prizes. Likewise, the winners in other categories — unrated, women, veteran, U-15, rated below 1,600, 1,699 and 1,799 — will also get cash.

“The World Chess Federation has provided us financial help for this tournament but we are planning to make it big in future. We have decided to propose the world chess governing body to make it an official event during the FIDE congress in August in Norway,” Joshi added.

National Sports Council, Nepal Tourism Board and Hotel Mountain are the partners of the tournament to managed by Kathmandu District Chess Association. After the tournament, Geoffrey D Borg, Chief Executive Officer at the FIDE will conduct the Trainer’s Seminar from February 7-9. -- Agencies

* South Asian Amateur Chess in Kathmandu 

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Gibraltar Chess 2014: The 1st Move

The first move of the 2014 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival at The Gibraltar Masters tournament took place this afternoon at the Caleta Hotel. 

Tradewise Chairman James Humphreys makes the first move against England No.1 Michael Adams. Standing is Adams' Round 1 opponent Spanish player FM Emilio Miguel Sanchez Jerez from Murcia. Photos: Sophie Triay

At precisely 3pm (Gibraltar time/India time 7.40) James Humpreys, Chairman of Tradewise Gibraltar Insurance Ltd, the main sponsor of this event made the first move on the top board against top seeded player Grandmaster Michael Adams, England’s No.1 and ranked 13th in the world. In his first round game GM Adams is playing against one of the many Spanish players in this festival FM Emilio Miguel Sanchez Jerez from Murcia.

James Humpreys, whose company has been sponsoring the game for nine years, four of them as the main sponsor, welcomed the players and wished them well.

“Have a great time!” he told them all.

As play began he spoke of the importance of the development of chess on the Rock and of the Festival itself.

“Tradewiseis becoming synonymous with chess as much as it is to insurance and this is important for Gibraltar. In chess we have Tata Steel, and I am hoping that over the years Tradewise will be exactly the same as that company in its association with the festival,” he said.

Moments later the 252 chess players in The Masters from some 60 countries made their opening moves in the tournament which is being held over the next 10 days over 10 rounds.

The top woman player this year is Anna Muzychuk (Slovenia).

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Gibraltar Chess Begins - Watch Live 7.40 pm 70 GMs from 60 Countries!

The pairings for the start of the 2014 Masters Chess tournament which kicks off today at 3 pm local time (India time 7.40 pm) were drawn last night by Gibraltar’s Sport,Culture and Heritage Minister Steven Linares at the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Gibraltar Tradewise Chess Festival. Minister StevenLinares welcomed all the players to Gibraltar “those who have annually been coming to this tournament and to those who are here for the first time.”

Mr Linares once again pledged the Gibraltar Government’s commitment to the tournament which has grown annually over the past 12 years.

“It is a great pleasure to be part of the biggest tournament and event annually in Gibraltar,” he said.

“As it continues to grow the Government will continue to support it as it does others. But this tournament takes the biscuit. It is the biggest tournament the Government has ever been involved with,” he added.

 

Minister for Sports Culture, Heritage and Youth, The Hon. Steven Linares draws the black pieces, in round 1, for top seed GM Mickey Adams (left). Photos: Sophie Triay (and below) Cheer for India: Pentala Harikrishna, Tania Sachdev, Surya Sekhar Ganguly.

 

In a relaxed and friendly atmosphere Minister Linares told England’s No.1 and ranked 13th in the world GM Mickey Adams, “It’s black!”

Adams plays on the top board today against FM Emilio Miguel Sanchez Jerez from Spain. GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from France is paired with Peter Lombaers from the Netherlands. GM Vassily Ivanchuk from Ukraine is paired with IM Leon Lederman. GM Nikita Vitiugovfrom Russia is paired with IM Petter Haugli from Norway.

Hosting the night Director of the tournament, Stuart Conquest, spoke of the tournament’s many accomplishments over the years.

“This is a story of continued success,” he said which this year welcomes close to 70 Grandmasters from 60 nations.

The Live Commentary from the studio with Simon Williams and Irina Krush (Reigning women's USA Chess Champion). There are 252 chessplayers in the Gibraltar Masters this year with around 370 playing in all three tournaments. Sixty countries are being represented this year.

For all information, as well as live commentaries, Masterclasses, and interviews, the dedicated festival website, powered by Gibtelecom, is www.gibraltarchesscongress.com. The festival venue is the Caleta Hotel. The festival closes on Thursday, February 6th, with a banquet and prize-giving ceremony.

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