Magnus Carlsen Unstoppable at World Rapid Chess Championship in Astana

World No. 1 Norway's Magnus Carlsen is going to run away with the World Rapid Chess Championship currently on in Astana, Kazakhstan. Magnus Carlsen is leading with a massive 1.5-point lead with 8.5/10. Five games had been played on Day. Karjakin and Carlsen were in joint lead at the beginning of second day's play. By the end of the day, Karjakin had lost two games against Mamedyarov and Carlsen. Carlsen, earlier in the day, drew with Gelfand and Dreev, but beat Mamedyarov and Tkachiev as well.

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Saturday Chess Puzzles - White Checkmates in Two

Making a habit of solving chess puzzles is one of the best things you could do to improve your chess. Chess magazine B&W presents weekend edition of two chess puzzles. Have fun.

1. White to play and checkmate in two.

Check your answer with Chess King.

2. White to play and checkmate in two.

Check your answer with Chess King.

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Pakistan Chess Champion Mahmood Lodhi Retains National Title With One Round to Go

Pakistan National Chess Champ Mahmood Lodhi

This chess news comes from the beautiful city of Karachi. Defending chess champion Mahmood Ahmed Lodhi won the 28th National Chess Championship with a round to go after a draw  with Waqar Ahmed Madni in the 10th round at Beach Luxury Hotel Hall here on Friday.

Lodhi, Pakistan’s highest rated chess star ever, however, failed to break the 50-year-old record of securing all a perfect 11 points. With nine and half points, Lodhi was assured of the 13th national title. With one round on Saturday, Lodhi was one and a half point ahead of the trio of Anwar Qureshi, Waqar Ahmed Madni and Asif-ur-Rehman, who got seven points apiece.

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World Rapid Chess Championship Day 1 Today: Karjakin, Carlsen Lead After Five Rounds

The world's best players are in Astana for the first-ever World Rapid Chess Championship that began today in Kazakhstan. Five rounds were played on the first day of the tournament. Sergey Karjakin and Magnus Carlsen both notched up four wins and a draw each to lead the field with 4.5 points each.

Karjakin's wins came against Gelfand, Tkachiev, Ismgambetov and Grischuk plus a draw against Topalov in round 5. Carlsen picked up wins against Kazhgaleyev, Morozevich, Bologan, Kurnosov and a draw against Svidler in the third round.

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Pakistan Chess 2012 Round 5 - Defending Champion Lodhi Leads

Nida Siddiqui, Defending
Champion among women

Pakistan national chess champion Mehmood Lodhi is defending his title at the 2012 championship in Karachi and is leading after five rounds. He beat Raees Ansari on the third day of the event and remains unbeaten in the tournament so far. He is followed by Anwar Qureshi in second place with 4.5 points. Eight other players are still vying for third place in the event that features 80 players from four provinces and sports departments of Pakistan. Meanwhile, in the women’s championship, national champion Nida Siddique, Zenobia Wasif and Ghazala have secured two points each.The championships are also being held to select the Pakistan chess team for the forthcoming chess olympiad to be held in Istanbul, Turkey in August.

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World Chess Championship Blitz & Rapid Inauguration Ceremony Today in Astana

The chess world is going to witness the first-ever World Chess Championship in Rapid and Blitz formats of the sport in Astana, Kazakhstan. The head of the country of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev will officially declare open the World Rapid and Blitz Championship in Astana today - July 5.

The inauguration ceremony would be held in Astana at the Radisson hotel and would include the drawing of colours for the pairings. Not only is the format exciting, but so is the line-up of players: the strongest in the world.

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Igor Kurnosov, Alexey Dreev, Vladislav Tkachiev Qualify for World Rapid Chess 2012

GM Igor Kurnosov has won the qualifier of the World Rapid Chess Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan. He was already leading on the first day and finished the qualifier with a point ahead of the rest of the field. Second place was shared by four players, but 2nd and 3rd on tiebreak were Alexey Dreev and Vladislav Tkachiev, who also qualified for the World Rapid Chess 2012 finals.

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Gull Rukh Wins Pak Punjab Women's Chess Championship

Gull Rukh

Gull Rukh of Lahore won the Punjab Women's Chess Championship 2012 by upsetting top seed Samina Kanwal of Faisalabad in Lahore on Wednesday. She remained unbeaten in all the five rounds of the championship. Samina Kanwal of Faisalabad was the runner-up while young prodigy Mehak surprised everyone by clinching the third position.

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India's Abhijeet Gupta Wins Philadelphia International Chess; M Venkatesh is India's 28th GM (Video Link Updated)

Chess Video link

GM Abhijeet Gupta

Indian National chess champion GM Abhijeet Gupta has won the Philadelphia Chess Open and $2000 with a clear first ahead of Indian mate IM Marani Venkatesh. IM Venkatesh earned his GM title!

Gupta won his final round game against IM Dean Ippolito for the title. Meanwhile, both IM Marani Venkatesh and WGM Padmini Rout, earned their GM norm and IM norms respectively. There were several other Indians in the line-up who did fairly well. GM SP Sethuraman was fourth, GM Deepan Chakkravarthy was tenth, WGM Eesha Karvade was 16th and Rout was 17th. The opposition Rout faced was strong enough for the norm for her. 

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Pakistan National Chess Round 3: Lodhi, Asif, Raees Lead

The Pakistan National Chess Championship is currently on in Karachi. Reigning national chess champion Mahmood Ahmed Lodhi, national master Raees Ansari and Asif-ur-Rehman are leading with three points each after the second day of the 28th National Chess Championship at Hotel Beach Luxury Hall. International Master Mahmood Lodhi of Punjab bidding for his 13th title got a walkover against Muhammad Shafiq Senior. Asif-ur-Rehman of Hyderabad also maintained his winning sequence when he beat Nawaz Zehri of Baluchistan. Raees Ansari beat Sajid Moosa of Balochistan.

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Benasque Chess Open Begins in Spain July 5

The 32nd Benasque International Chess Open will be played over 10 rounds of swiss system from 5th to 14th July at the Benasque Sport Pavilion. The tournament is valid for FIDE and FEDA rankings and provides the opportunity of winning title norms. The total prize fund is 20.000 EUR. 1º- 4.000€ // 2º- 3.000€ // 3º-2.000€ // 4º-1.000€…etc. The 2011 edition had 471 players from 42 countries: 35 GM, 7 WGM, 31 IM, 8 WIM and 390 players with Elo FIDE. 11 title norms were obtained. There will be lots of parallel activities at the event including football, tennis, conference, etc. There will also be two chess simuls:

July 8 (Sunday), 2012
40 boards: 2/3 Grand Masters / as International.
Hours: 11 hours.
Location: Plaza Mayor Benasque

July 8th (Sunday) 2012
40 boards - 2/3 International Grand Masters.
Time: 11:00 hours.
Place: Major Square of Benasque

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World Senior Chess Championship in Greece at Galini Wellness Spa from Nov 12

22nd World Senior Chess Championships
12 - 25 November 2012 @ Kamena Vourla, GREECE
GALINI Wellness Spa and Resort Hotel*****
The World Senior Chess Championships 2012 will be held in the 5-star GALINI Wellness Spa & Resort Hotel in Kamena Vourla, Greece from 12 November (arrivals) to 25 November (departures). The opening ceremony, the games and the closing ceremony will take place in the Congress Center of GALINI Wellness Spa & Resort Hotel.

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Anand, Carlsen Sign Up for Most Exciting Chess Event of 2012 - London Chess Classic from Dec 1

Photo © Ray Morris-Hill

Is the London Chess Classic going to be the most exciting chess event of 2012? World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand and World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen have both confirmed their entry for the fantastic event already.

World Champion 1st to sign-up for London Chess Classic
Fresh from yet another successful title defence, World Champion Viswanathan Anand, of India, became the first player to sign-up to play in the 4th London Chess Classic, at Kensington Olympia, 1-10 December, 2012. It is no secret that London is one of Anand’s favourite cities, and this will be his third successive appearance in the tournament.

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World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships 2012 Begin in Astana - Magnus Carlsen Top Seed; Gelfand is Playing

The qualifiers to the World Rapid Chess Championship 2012 and World Blitz Chess Championship have begun in Astana Kazakhstan. In fact, the championships of this format of chess tournament are being held for the first time in the history of chess. The championships will be held in Astana from July 1-11. The top ten players of the current FIDE rating list were invited to take part in the event. Kazakhstan had nominated Murtas Kazhgaleyev and Anuar Ismagambetov in rapid chess and Pavel Kotsur and Rinat Dzhumabayev in blitz. Three winners of the blitz and rapid qualifiers would receive an entry into the finals. World Chess Champion India's Viswanathan Anand qualifies according to rating, but is not playing. However, his challenger, Israel's Boris Gelfand is playing.

Qualifiers by rating for finals (6-10 July)

01. Magnus Carlsen 2835
02. Teimour Radjabov 2784
03. Sergey Karjakin 2779
04. Alexander Morozevich 2769
05. Vassily Ivanchuk 2764
06. Alexander Grischuk 2761
07. Veselin Topalov 2752
08. Peter Svidler 2741
09. Boris Gelfand 2727
10. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2726

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Macau - From Casinos to Chess!

The Las Vegas of Asia is Macau. Gambling and casinos have been legal in the very beautiful Macau since the 1850s during the tenure of the Portuguese Government. Macau is known as the 'Monte Carlo of the Orient'! Gambling tourism is also Macau's biggest source of revenue making up about 50% of the economy. Western-style casinos came to Macau in the 20th century. It is delightful that chess is now coming to Macau as well!

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July Chess Ratings: Magnus Carlsen at Record 2837; Anand Slips to 5th Place for Winning World Chess Championship!

World's Highest Rated Chess Player
Norway's Magnus Carlsen

Fide has released the July chess ratings which have World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen on a runaway lead with a record rating of 2837. The highest ever rating record is held by legendary 13th World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov of an 'Everest elo' worth 2851!

The list of top players is published at dedicated page of FIDE ratings website. All players can check new ratings at the main page of FIDE ratings website or download TXT version from downloads page.

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Saturday Chess Puzzle - Two Smart Checkmates

We are back with our Saturday chess puzzle. This time there are two positions. In the first, White to play and checkmate in two. In the second, White to play and checkmate in three. Simple positions, but delightful nevertheless. Have a great weekend.

White to play and checkmate in two.
Move cursor to right after colon to read answer: Rg1

White to play and checkmate in three. 

Move cursor to right after colon to read answer: Nh3

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Chess Game Adjournments Back in ACP New Golden Classic Event with Ivanchuk as Top Seed; India's Sasikiran to Play

The ACP Golden Classic - a new, imaginative way to interpret modern chess

The ACP, in collaboration with Science Park Amsterdam Chess, has announced the 'ACP Golden Classic' that will take place in Amsterdam from 14 to 22 July, in the same venue and at the same time as the Dutch Championships and the SPA Open.

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French Chess Magazine Organises Game Against Anatoly Karpov Through Tour de France

This chess event is an exciting one for everyone interested in the Tour de France. You can now play against former World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia. The French chess magazine of Europe Echecs is organising a super chess game for players from around the world along side the Tour de France 2012 that begins on Saturday, June 30.

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Alan Turing Paper Machine Versus Garry Kasparov Chess Game Moves

Garry Kasparov@Turing Centenary

Legendary World Chess Champion Grandmaster Garry Kasparov recently attended the Alan Turing Centenary Celebrations in Manchester. Kasparov also beat the Turing "Paper Machine" - the first chess computer programme ever written - at a chess game in 16 moves. You can read our blog post for the full news:


Kasparov Chess Match Versus Alan Turing's 'Paper Machine' at Centenary Celebrations in Manchester

Here are the game moves as played in Manchester during the Turing centenary celebrations. (Visit the www.blackandwhiteindia.com site to replay the game if you are reading a shared post)

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World Chess Champion Vishy Anand's Lecture Video in Madrid for Accenture plc

World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand recently presented a lecture at Accenture plc - the world's largest multinational management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. The 12the conference of the company was titled Return on Analytics. It was held  in Madrid. Anand spoke about 'Analysis to anticipate the future and make the best decisions' with ideas about pattern recognition, decision making, the role of computers and the strategies used in World Championship matches. The lecture was recorded in high quality and posted on YouTube. It is in English and about 45 minutes long. Hear the first part of the lecture to know why the World Chess Champion couldn't remember the date of his marriage anniversary!

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London Chess Classic 2012 Invitations Sent to Anand, Carlsen, Kramnik, Nakamura, Aronian, Polgar, Adams, McShane & Jones

London Chess Classic chief executive has announced that the invitations have been sent out for the fourth edition of this fantastic chess event. Chief executive Malcolm Pein writes on the official website: "We can confirm that again we will have the popular venue of Olympia in Kensington to showcase the best-in-chess at 4th London Chess Classic."

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Kings Chess Postponement: World Chess Champ Vishy Anand Disappointed

World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand has said he is disappointed about the postponement of the first major chess tournament he was to play after retaining his World Chess Title last month in Moscow. The Kings Chess tournament to be held in Medias, Romania, from June 23-July 4 has been postponed. 

World Chess Champ Endorses Realty Brand
Anand was speaking in Chennai at a special function where he was made the brand ambassador of TVH, one of the major players in realty market in Southern India. Talking about his association with TVH as its brand ambassador, Anand said, "I have been a TVH customer for seven years. That was a positive experience. And a month or two ago they approached me and I was happy to accept their offer. 

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Kasparov Chess Match Versus Alan Turing's 'Paper Machine' at Centenary Celebrations in Manchester

Garry Kasparov

Legendary World Chess Champion Grandmaster Garry Kasparov attended the Alan Turing Centenary Celebrations in Manchester today. Kasparov also beat the Turing "Paper Machine" - the first chess computer programme ever written - at a chess game in 16 moves. Kasparov played the game as a demonstration of the vision of Alan Turing who had written the programme for the first chess computer right after the Second World War much before the computer had even been invented! Turing wrote that programme for a machine that was to be invented in the future. 

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Čez Chess Trophy Match - Svidler Beats Navara 3.0-1.0

Russia's Peter Svidler beat Czech Republic's David Navara in Prague 3-1 in the traditional Čez Chess Trophy Match of four games. Svidler won the second and third games. The first and fourth games were drawn. The traditional Čez Chess Trophy is hosted every year to give top-rated Czech GM David Navara the opportunity to play top chess players from around the world. In previous years he has played Vassily Ivanchuk, Vladimir Kramnik and Judit Polgar. Earlier, the tournament used to be one of rapid chess games, but this year the match was held in the classical time control format with all effort by organiser Pavel Matocha.

 

Phoro: Anežka Kružíková

Navara and Svidler played a match of four classical chess games of the time control 90 minutes for 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for finishing the game. There was a 30 second increment for ever move as well. The sponsor was Čez Group, a conglomerate of companies involved in the electricity generation, distribution, and trade.

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Chess is a Total Waste of Time in Life! (ChessForums Link Updated)

A Black & White reader has sent us something about chess that's 'thought-provoking'. We leave it upon our readers to comment on this. Send your comments from anywhere in the world to editor@blackandwhiteindia.com and we would compile an article with the best comments. You could even win a prize.

Chess is no good

by N.Dharmeshwaran,

Guduvancherry, Chennai

• Chess serves no real purpose outside itself
• Chess uses time and effort, and displaces other activities which might be better than it in some ways
• Chess is inherently unconstructive. While the theory can be intellectual and academic in nature (though inherently unimportant), the purpose is fundamentally to defeat the opponent. It is possible that chess causes unconstructive patterns of thought by a process analagous to transference. i.e. in chess you are fighting alone against an opponent, so other things can seem like that even if they are not, which can be unhelpful. Of course, there are ways in which this could be considered a pro - perhaps in certain areas like business the fighting aspect of chess could be well-channeled. [This point is based both on my own experience and what I have observed in others]
• Very few chess players can earn money from chess, especially with the large number of GMs in the world these days. Professional chess has very limited income streams from non-participants. Of course this is not a con at all to most people, who play chess as a hobby and have no interest in chess as a career
• While some types of chess are cheap, playing in frequent OTB tournaments is expensive and takes a lot of time, with a large impact on the rest of one's life.
• Chess can be obsessive, which can be damaging to other areas of life.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What would you say to  N.Dharmeshwaran?


Since we first posted this, there's an awesome discussion going on at the ChessForums. 

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Weekend Chess Story: Fischer-Fine, Evans Gambit 1-0 in 17 Moves

Weekend Chess Story#2

Reuben Fine (October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) was another top chess player who quit the game at the height of his career. In 1945, Fine decided to become a professional psychoanalyst. He wrote both on psychology and chess. He won five medals (four gold) in three Chess Olympiads and was the US Chess Champion seven times! Fine declined to play in the six-player World Chess Championship tournament of 1948 that was to be organised after the death of the then World Chess Champion Alexander Alekhine. 

But, this story is about Bobby Fischer and Reuben Fine. Fischer visited Fine in the latter's New York home in 1963. The two chess artistes played several games. Here is one in which Bobby Fischer abandoned his favourite Ruy Lopez and tried the Evans Gambit. 

6.d4

Fine played 6. ...exd and Fischer castled Kingside. Do you know the Lasker Defense that spiked Evans Gambit for a long time here? - 6... d6 7.0-0 (better 7.Qb3) and 7. ... Bb6 the Lasker way!

Anyway, back to the Fischer-Fine game. The game continued after that and Fine, being a little too greedy took the pawn on c3 as well. We flip forward to move 14.

What key move did Fischer play here and how did he go on to win the game?

13. ... Qg5 What did Fischer play as his 14th move and how did he win the game?

You can replay the Fischer-Fine full chess game in our Chess King applet for the solution.

You can read the Weekend Chess Story#1 at this link:

124-Move Chess Game at a World Chess Championship 1978 - Of Korchnoi-Karpov Missed Checkmate and Stalemate

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Online Chess $38,000 Prize Blitz Qualifier on Sunday

For all those who could not get through in the previous qualifier of the Online Chess Blitz Grand Prix Open with a whopping prize money of $38,000 last time, the next qualifier is on Sunday, June 24. This super blitz online competition is being organised by the Russian Chess Federation with the ChessOK Playing Zone

You can register for the chess blitz from anywhere in the world. More than $38,000 are being put up as the prize fund. Four qualifying tournaments are being organised on Sundays beginning June 3, 2012. Final and Super Final tournaments will take place August 14-15, 2012. All online blitz chess rounds begin at 16-00 UTC.

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Saturday Chess Puzzle Level Difficult

Saturday chess puzzle is here with level difficult. White to play and win.

You can find the solution in our Chess King applet.

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Kazan Chess Final Report: Humpy, Muzychuk Joint Winners; Hou-Cmilyte 0-1 Best Game

India's Koneru Humpy and Slovenia's Anna Muzychuk were declared joint winners of the fourth stage of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix on June 22, 2012. After 11 rounds, both Humpy and Muzychuk had 7.5 points. Grand Prix regulations require sharing of prize money, title and Grand Prix points in case of a tie. 

The winners: Anna Muzychuk (left) and Koneru Humpy with Fide president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

India's most talented woman chess 

player Koneru Humpy with dad and trainer Koneru Ashok.

(Photos: Rashit Shiriyazdanov and Anastasiya Karlovich/Fide official website)

Three players were sharing the lead before the last round - Viktorija Cmilyte, Anna Muzychuk and Humoy Koneru. In the final round Humpy Koneru sacrificed a piece and beat Alisa Galliamova with black pieces. Anna Muzychuk capitalised on a mistake by Nadezhda Kosintseva to win. Viktorija Cmilyte settled for a draw with Antoaneta Stefanova. Reigning Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan (China) and Lithuanian Viktorija Cmilyte concluded the tournament with 7 points each. In her last game in Kazan, Hou Yifan beat Elina Danielian who had been leading for most of the tournament, but ended up losing her last three games. Elina Danelian from Armenia and Russian Alexandra Kosteniuk collected 6 points each to share 5th – 6th positions. Kosteniuk beat Betul Yildiz in the last round. Russian Tatiana Kosintseva beat Ukrainian Kateryna Lahno and finished seventh with 5.5 points. Lahno consequently ranked one spot lower half a point behind.

Nadezhda Kosintseva and Bulgarian Antoaneta Stefanova finished at the joint 9th – 10th places with 4.5 points, Russian Alisa Galliamova was next with 3 points, followed by Betul Yildiz from Turkey with 2.5 points.

The closing ceremony took place in the Korston Hotel and was attended by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Minister on Affairs of Youth, Sport and Tourism of the Republic of Tatarstan Rafis Burganov, players, officials and spectators. The winners Anna Muzychuk and Humpy Koneru were awarded wooden chess pieces and all the participants of FIDE Grand Prix in Kazan were felicitated with flowers and presents. 

Viktorija Cmilyte received a special prize devoted to 100 years anniversary since the birthday of Rashit Nezmetdinov. Her victory against World Champion Hou Yifan was chosen by the organizing committee as the best game.

At the closing ceremony FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov made a surprise gift for the Chess Federation of the Republic of Tatarstan - the entire set of electronic boards that the participants had played on!

Best chess game award at the Kazan Chess Grand Prix went to Viktorija Cmilyte. It was a special prize on the occasion of the 100th birth anniversary of Rashit Nezmetdinov. The organising committee chose her game against Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan as the best game of the event. You can read:
Tal Chess Round 4: Viktorija Cmilyte Explains Win Over Hou Yifan

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Kazan Chess Grand Prix: Koneru Humpy, Anna Muzychuk Declared Joint Winners (Updated)

Kazan Chess Grand
Prix Winner - India's Koneru Humpy

India's Koneru Humpy has just won the Kazan Chess Grand Prix for women on Friday with a steady and strong performance in the Republic of Tatarstan. Though, she had a better tiebreak, Humpy was declared joint winner along with Anna Muzychuk as tiebreaks are not to be counted in the Grand Prix series. Humpy went into the last round tied for the lead with Viktorija Cmilyte and Anna Muzychuk. Humpy played Black and beat Alisa Galliamova of Russia. While Cmilyte drew with Antoaneta Stefanova, Muzychuk beat Nadezhda Kosintseva with Black. Both Humpy and Muzychuk ended Round 11 with 7.5 points, but Humpy had the better tiebreak score.

Cmilyte had to settle for the third place. Meanwhile, the reigning women's world chess champion Hou Yifan scored a total of 7 points for the fourth place and her predecessor, the 12th women's world chess champion Alexandra Kosteniuk scored 6 points to be fifth. Armenia's Elina Danielian, who had played a thoroughly powerful tournament up to the eighth round, lost both Rounds 9 and 10 to finish the tournament with 6 points as well. 

Humpy's 7.5 points came from draw with Hou Yifan, draw with Elina Danielian, draw with Anna Muzychuk, win over Betul Cemre Yildiz, draw with Tatiana Kosintseva, draw with Viktorija Cmilyte, draw with Nadezhda Kosintseva, win over Antoaneta Stefanova, win over Kateryna Lahno, draw with Alexandra Kosteniuk and win over Alisa Galliamova. She did not lose a single game in this powerful tournament that saw some of the best women chess players of the planet taking part. 

Kazan hosted the Women's Grand Prix from June 9 to 23 as part of a series of elite events organised by FIDE and Global Chess. There will be six tournaments over two years in various countries around the world. The winner of each tournament takes home 6,500 euros from a total prize fund of 40,000 euros. The overall winner will get a further 15,000 euros at the end of the series. (More updates and photos to follow from Kazan Chess Grand Prix.)

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Kasparov to Speak @ Alan Turing Centenary Conference in Manchester

Legendary Garry Kasparov

June 23, 2012 marks the centenary of the birth of Alan Turing. Alan Turing is arguably the most famous computer scientist of all time. The Turing Centenary Conference will be held in Manchester on June 22-25, 2012, hosted by The University in Manchester, where Turing worked in 1948-1954. The main theme of the conference is Alan Turing’s Centenary. It has the following aims:
to celebrate the life and research of Alan Turing;
to bring together the most distinguished scientists, to understand and analyse the history and development of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence.

You can watch a live streaming of the event at the official website later today and subsequent days. Kasparov would speak tomorrow.

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Kazan Chess Last Round Today: Humpy in Joint Lead; Poised to Win Title

The Kazan Chess Women's Grand Prix title could go to India's Koneru Humpy today. The last round is to be played today in the republic of Tatarstan and Humpy is in joint lead with Viktorija Cmilyte and Anna Muzychuk with 6.5 points each. Humpy plays Alisa Gallimaova as Black today. The other two leaders have Black as well in the final round. You can watch the last round live today India time 2.30 pm via the official website. Humpy did well to draw with former women's world chess champion Alexandra Kosteniuk in the last round. 

Anna Muzychuk and Hou Yifan play for a draw in Round 10

Koneru Humpy and Alexandra Kosteniuk
play for a draw in Round 10 

Kazan is hosting the Women's Grand Prix from June 9 to 23 as part of a series of elite events organised by FIDE and Global Chess. There will be six tournaments over two years in various countries around the world. The winner of each tournament takes home 6,500 euros from a total prize fund of 40,000 euros. The overall winner will get a further 15,000 euros at the end of the series. 

Round ten results

GM Anna Muzychuk 2598 ½-½ GM Hou Yifan 2623
GM Elina Danielian 2484 0-1 IM Alisa Galliamova 2484
GM Humpy Koneru 2589 ½-½ GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2457
WGM Betul Cemre Yildiz 2333 ½-½ GM Keteryna Lahno 2546
GM Tatiana Kosintseva 2532 ½-½ GM Antoaneta Stefanova 2518
GM Viktorija Cmilyte 2508 1-0 GM Nadezhda Kosintseva 2528

Armenia's Elina Danielian, who had been leading the tournament right up to the last rounds with a power-packed performance ended up losing two games in a row to Alexandra Kosteniuk and Alisa Galliamova. She is in second place now.

Standings after Round 10
1. GM Humpy Koneru 2589 IND 6.5
2. GM Viktorija Cmilyte 2508 LTU 6.5
3. GM Anna Muzychuk 2598 SLO 6.5
4. GM Elina Danielian 2484 ARM 6 0
5. GM Hou Yifan 2623 CHN 6
6. GM Keteryana Lahno 2546 UKR 5
7. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2457 RUS 5
8. GM Tatiana Kosintseva 2532 RUS 4.5
9. GM Nadezhda Kosintseva 2528 RUS 4.5
10. GM Antoaneta Stefanova 2518 BUL 4
11. IM Alisa Galliamova 2484 RUS 3
12. WGM Betul Cemre Yildiz 2333 TUR 2.5

Photos and reports by Anastasiya Karlovich and Rashit Shiriyazdanov from official Kazan Chess Website.

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Kazan Chess Round 9: How Humpy Beat Lahno for Lead

The Kazan Chess Grand Prix for women has just two more rounds to be played. India's Koneru Humpy is in joint lead after nine rounds along with Armenia's Elina Danielian and Slovenia's Anna Muzychuk. In Round 9, Humpy beat Kateryna Lahno to go into the lead. Humpy has the best tiebreak score among all the three leaders and she could very well win the tournament as well.

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Kazan Chess Grand Prix: Humpy Beats Lahno, Goes into Joint Lead

Kazan Chess Grand Prix Round 9 saw a super game by India's Koneru Humpy to beat Kateryna Lahno and go into joint lead on Wednesday. 

Kateryna Lahno-Koneru Humpy 0-1

The other very attacking game of the day was played by 12th women's world chess champion Alexandra Kosteniuk to bring down leader Elina Danielian. This is Danielian's first loss of the tournament. Kosteniuk played for the initiative right from the start and found a nice sacrifice to open central files. Danielian's defeat allowed Anna Muzychuk, who drew with Viktorija Chmilyte, and Koneru Humpy, who beat Lahno, to take joint lead with Danielian.

 Alexandra Kosteniuk-Elina Danielian 1-0

Two more rounds have to be played. Meanwhile, women's world chess champion Hou Yifan managed to win an almost-drawn game against Alisa Galliamova. After about five hours of play, former women's world chess champion Antoaneta Stefanova managed to develop winning chances in a bishop endgame against Betul Yildiz, but could only draw. The Kosintseva sisters, as expected, drew their game in 14 moves. (Photos by Rashit Shiriyazdanov and Anastasiya Karlovich/FIDE.)


Round 9 Results
GM Viktorija Cmilyte 2508 ½-½ GM Anna Muzychuk 2598 12
GM Nadezhda Kosintseva 2528 ½-½ GM Tatiana Kosintseva 2532
GM Antoaneta Stefanova 2518 ½-½ WGM Betul Cemre Yildiz 2333
GM Keteryna Lahno 2546 0-1 GM Humpy Koneru 2589
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2457 1-0 GM Elina Danielian 2484
IM Alisa Galliamova 2484 0-1 GM Hou Yifan 2623

Standings after Round 9

1-3. Koneru Humpy, Elina Danielian, Anna Muzychuk 6

4-5. Viktorija Cmilyte, Hou Yifan 5.5

6-8. Kateryna Lahno, Nadezhda Kosintseva, Alexandra Kosteniuk 4.5

9. Tatiana Kosintseva 4

10. Antoaneta Stefanova 3.5

11. Alisa Galliamova, Betul Cemre Yildiz 2

Kazan, in the Republic of Tatarstan, is hosting the FIDE Women's Chess Grand Prix, part of a series of elite events organised by FIDE and Global Chess. This tournament is running from June 9 to 23, 2012. The entire Grand Prix series includes six tournaments over two years in various countries around the world. The winner of each tournament takes home 6,500 euros. The total prize fund is 40,000 euros. The overall winner will get a further 15,000 euros at the end of the series. 

Don't forget to watch the last two rounds of the Kazan Chess Grand Prix live at the official tournament website from India time 4.30 pm.

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Magnus Carlsen in his Blog on Winning 7th Tal Chess Memorial in Moscow

World's strongest chess player Magnus Carlsen of Norway has just won the 7th Mikhail Tal Chess Memorial in Moscow with an exciting last-round win. Carlsen's blog is a sponsoring agreement between Arctic Securities and the Magnus Carlsen. Magnus became an International Grandmaster at the age of 13, the youngest at the time.

After Tal Memorial, Carlsen will get the super-strong rating of 2837! He is surpassed only by the legendary Garry Kasparov who reached a rating of 2851 in January, 2000.

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World Chess Blitz/Rapid Player's List Released; Ruslan Ponomariov on His Exclusion

Full list for Astana World Rapid and Blitz Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, 1-11 July 2012.

Qualifiers by rating for finals (6-10 July)
01. Magnus Carlsen 2835
02. Teimour Radjabov 2784
03. Sergey Karjakin 2779
04. Alexander Morozevich 2769
05. Vassily Ivanchuk 2764
06. Alexander Grischuk 2761
07. Veselin Topalov 2752
08. Peter Svidler 2741
09. Boris Gelfand 2727
10. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2726

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Asian Dragons Chess in Taipei from August 14

Asian Dragons Open Chess Tournament 2012 - the sixth edition - would be held in Taipei, Taiwan, from August 14-21. The Asian Dragons tournament used to be an invitational when it first began in Kaohsiung in 2007. It was also, at that time, the first international chess tournament organised by the Chinese Taipei Chess Association. The tournament was inspired by the idea of providing an opportunity for players with ratings below 2200 to improve and compete against players from around the world in a friendly and competitive environment.

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Kazan Chess Round 8 Game: Koneru Humpy-Antoaneta Stefanova 1-0

India's Koneru Humpy

India's most talented woman chess player and current world #3 Koneru Humpy beat reigning women's rapid chess champion and former women's world chess champion Antoaneta Stefanova in a nice game in Round 8. At the press conference, Humpy said, "I played this Panov variation for the first time in my life. I was not sure what I shall do after b5. If I take Nb5 black will play Rb8 and will have some counter play and compensation for the pawn. I think my opponent should have played 19…Nf6 instead of 19…Rd8 because after d6 and Nd5 I got a better position. It was clear there are some exact moves which lead to a win after 28. Qd3 h5 but I didn’t find anything better than 29.Rc3 and 30.Rc1. after 32.Rf8 it was lost for black."

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Kazan Chess Grand Prix Round 8: Armenia's Elina Danielian in Lead; India's Humpy a Point Away

Armenia's Elina Danielian is apparently set to win the FIDE Women's Chess Grand Prix currently on in Kazan. Four games were decisive in the eighth round on Monday. In the two chess games that were drawn, Betul Yildiz and Viktorija Cmilyte missed wins against sisters Nadezhda and Tatiana Kosintseva. 

Armenia's Elina Danielian - Set to win Kazan?

Elina Danielian scored a cool win over second in the standings - Kateryna Lahno. Anna Muzychuk managed to get a good position against Alisa Galliamova and managed to win in the endgame even though Galliamova had equalized in the middlegame. Alexandra Kosteniuk lost to Hou Yifan. Humpy Koneru played very well to defeat Antoaneta Stefanova.

India's Koneru Humpy (right) on her way to beating former women's world chess champion and current women's world rapid chess champion.

After eight rounds at the Kazan Chess Grand Prix, Elina Danielian leads with 6 points. Anna Muzychuk is in second place with 5.5 points. Viktorija Cmilyte and Humpy Koneru share the third spot with 5 points. Hou Yifan and Kateryna Lahno are in shared fifth place with 4.5 points.

Kateryna Lahno watching the
Hou Yifan-Alexandra Kosteniuk match

Photos by Rashit Shiriyazdanov and Anastasiya Karlovich with kind permission of FIDE from the official website. You can watch the Kazan Women's Chess Grand Prix live at the official website from India time 4.30 pm. Tuesday is a rest day with three more rounds to be played at the Kazan Chess Grand Prix.

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Kasparov Chess Foundation-St Louis Chess Club in Five-Year Grant Program to Develop US Chess Talent

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL) is partnering with the Kasparov Chess Foundation (KCF) on a five-year grant program to help develop several American chess prodigies from across the United States. The program, called Young Stars - Team USA, will begin with a kick-off training program in Saint Louis at the CCSCSL from June 18-20. Program participants range in age from nine to 15 years old.

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7th Tal Chess Memorial: Magnus Carlsen Comments, Tweet and Last-Round Game Against McShane

The one and only Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen, right after winning the 7th Mikhail Tal Chess Memorial, in Moscow, on Sunday had these comments to make:

"I think it has been a very interesting tournament. There have been twists and turns that noone could foresee. As for myself, I thing I played, well I stared slowly. My first three games were not impressive to say the least.
I think after that my play was good. I mean, the game with Grischuk, although I didn't win, it was an energizer to play such an interesting game. I thought after that I was in the driving seat in most of my games.
Obviously if it turns out that Aronian wins [looks to one of the screens], which in fact he did, I'm actually the winner of the tournament. That is nice but, I mean, like last year there were a lot of fortunate circumstances for me in the last round to be able to win it but that's the way it goes sometimes. Today I had to win myself and I did. That's all I can do."

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Magnus Carlsen Wins 7th Mikhail Tal Chess Memorial 2012

It seems chess goddess Caissa is particularly kind to world chess #1 Norway's Magnus Carlsen as not only did the talented genius pull off a crucial last-round victory, but the overnight leader Italy's Fabiano Caruana lost as well giving Magnus Carlsen the 7th Mikhail Tal Memorial Chess Tournament title late in Moscow on Monday. A fantastic victory for the Mozart of Chess - in all probability the would-be world chess champion one day - Magnus Carlsen!

7th Mikhail Tal Chess Memorial 2012 winners
(from left) Teimour Radjabov, third;
Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, second.

Fabiano Caruana got taken in by Levon Aronian's home prep. Carlsen left nothing to chance by convincingly beating Luke McShane for a clear first. Teimour Radjabov drew against Hikaru Nakamura and had to settle for third behind Fabiano Caruana on tiebreak. Caruana actually needed only a draw to manage shared first at least.

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