ΣΚ.ΑΚ.Ι. - Σκακιστική Ακαδημία Ιεράπετρας

Video by Vijay Kumar from Moscow.

Video report R5 by the renowned producer Vijay Kumar

Analyzed games: Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3 / Game 4 / Game 5

var cbeOptions = { layout: "3", room: "2012-wcc", game: "06-Gelfand_Boris-Anand_Viswanathan", annotations: true };

Live chess broadcast powered by ChessBomb and Chessdom

Information: Anand Gelfand 2012 / World Chess Championship all news

Ананд – Гельфанд (руский) / Anand – Gelfand (Español)

Videos: Day 1 / , Day 2 / Day 3

Newsletter: Anand Gelfand 2012 newsletter

Anand and Gelfand start the World Chess Championship 2012 all games start at 14:00 CET. It will be commented by the European Team Champion GM Arkadij Naiditsch live on Chessdom.com.

Bazna Kings 2012 will be one of the strongest round robin tournaments of the year. With Carlsen, Anand, Radjabov, Ivanchuk, and Karjakin the top players of the event will have ELO average of 2790! To them will join the local star, European Champion, and World Championship semi-finalist GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu.

Nisipeanu has participated in the last 3 editions of Bazna Kings, review his last year game with Karjakin here (video), with Carlsen (here), and with Nakamura (here).

See the full players list here

Chessdom.com will have daily coverage of the event with live GM and computer analysis, videos, and news. The best games will be published also in the CEWN chess magazine.

More about Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu

Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu had his peak FIDE rating was 2707 in October 2005, when he was ranked fifteenth in the world, and the highest ranked Romanian player ever. Noted for his risky, almost paradoxical play; he is frequently called a student of Mikhail Tal.

In 1999, Nisipeanu as a clear outsider made it to the semifinals of the FIDE World Chess Championship by beating Vasily Ivanchuk in round 4 and Alexei Shirov in the quarterfinals only to lose to the eventual champion Alexander Khalifman. Nisipeanu won the European Individual Chess Championship 2005 in Warsaw with 10 points out of 13 games, half a point ahead of runner-up Teimour Radjabov from Azerbaijan.

Nisipeanu was also participant in strong events as Mtel Masters, and he was one of the first Grandmasters to be interviewed by Chessdom.

History of Bazna Kings (Medias) chess tournament

 

Kings Tournament 5th Edition – Medias, Romania – 11-21 June 2011

Rk.   Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 GM Carlsen Magnus 2815 NOR *** ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 6,5 3 1 29,8 2 GM Karjakin Sergey 2776 RUS ½ ½ *** ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 6,5 3 1 29,5 3 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2774 USA 0 ½ ½ ½ *** ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 4,5 1 0 22,3 4 GM Radjabov Teimour 2744 AZE ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ *** 0 ½ ½ ½ 4,5 0 0 23,5 5 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2776 UKR ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 1 ½ *** 0 ½ 4 2 0 18,8 6 GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter 2662 ROU 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ *** 4 1 0 19,3

 

Kings Tournament 4th Edition – Medias, Romania – 14-25 June 2010

Rk.   Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 GM Carlsen Magnus 2813 NOR *** ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 7,5 5 0 32,5 2 GM Radjabov Teimour 2740 AZE ½ 0 *** 1 1 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 5,5 3 2 26,5 3 GM Gelfand Boris 2741 ISR ½ ½ 0 0 *** 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 5,5 3 0 24,8 4 GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2733 UKR ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ *** 1 1 ½ ½ 4,5 2 0 20,3 5 GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter 2672 ROU 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 0 0 *** ½ 1 4 2 0 19,3 6 GM Wang Yue 2752 CHN 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 *** 3 0 0 14,8

 

Kings Tournament 3rd Edition – Bazna, Romania – 14-25 June 2009

Rk.   Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2746 UKR *** ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 7 4 0 30,3 2 GM Gelfand Boris 2733 ISR ½ ½ *** 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 6 2 0 28,3 3 GM Shirov Alexei 2745 ESP ½ 0 0 ½ *** ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 5,5 3 0 22,5 4 GM Radjabov Teimour 2756 AZE ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ *** ½ 1 ½ ½ 5,5 1 0 26 5 GM Kamsky Gata 2720 USA 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 *** ½ ½ 3 0 1 15,3 6 GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter 2675 ROU 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ *** 3 0 1 14,3

 

Kings Tournament 2nd Edition – Bazna, Romania – 24 May – 5 June 2008

Rk.   Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts. TB1 TB2 1 GM Short Nigel 2660 ENG *** 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 7 0 33,25 2 GM Andersson Ulf 2537 SWE 0 *** 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 5,5 1 26 3 GM Portisch Lajos 2523 HUN ½ 0 *** ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 5,5 0 26,5 4 GM Suba Mihai 2487 ROU ½ ½ ½ *** ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 5 2,5 25,5 5 GM Murariu Andrei 2483 ROU 0 ½ 0 ½ *** ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 5 2,5 23,25 6 GM Beliavsky Alexander 2641 SLO ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ *** ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 5 2 25 7 GM Khalifman Alexander 2628 RUS ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ *** ½ ½ ½ ½ 5 2 25 8 GM Mecking Henrique 2565 BRA ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ *** 1 1 ½ 5 1 24 9 GM Timman Jan 2565 NED ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 *** 1 1 4 2 19 10 GM Vaganian Rafael 2617 ARM 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 *** ½ 4 0,5 20 11 GM Sokolov Andrei 2596 FRA 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ *** 4 0,5 20

Kings Tournament 1st Edition – Bazna, Romania – 15-27 June 2007

Rk.   Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 GM Khalifman Alexander 1625 RUS *** 1 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 7 0 33,25 3 2 GM Vaganian Rafael 2590 ARM 0 *** ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 6 0 27,75 2,5 3 GM Beliavsky Alexander 2648 SLO 1 ½ *** ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 5,5 0 28,25 3 4 GM Andersson Ulf 2527 SWE ½ ½ ½ *** ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 5 1 25 2,5 5 GM Ribli Zoltan 2580 HUN ½ ½ ½ ½ *** ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 5 1 25 2,5 6 GM Mecking Henrique 2565 BRA 0 0 ½ ½ ½ *** 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 5 1 22,75 1,5 7 GM Sokolov Andrei 2584 FRA ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 *** ½ ½ ½ ½ 4,5 1 22,75 2,5 8 GM Chiburdanidze Maia 2510 GEO 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ *** ½ ½ ½ 4,5 1 21,75 2,5 9 GM Portisch Lajos 2512 HUN 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ *** 1 ½ 4,5 1 20,75 2 10 GM Suba Mihai 2537 ROM ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 *** ½ 4 0,5 20,75 2,5 11 GM Timman Jan 2545 NED 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ *** 4 0,5 19 2

 

Only few days after the Asian Continental Individual Championships concluded in Vietnam, all top players moved to Zao Zhuang, Shandong Province, China, to compete in the 2012 Asian Nations Chess Cup (Open and Women’s).

The winning teams will represent the continent of Asia in the 2013 World Team Championship.

Live games daily with computer analysis on Chessdom.com

var cbeOptions = { layout: "3", room: "2012-asian-team", game: "", annotations: true };

Live chess broadcast powered by ChessBomb and Chessdom

The Ukrainian Club Chess Championship is taking place Alushta, 17-25 May, 2012. A total of 30 players participate in the event, with the team of Law Academy being the favorite – GM Moiseenko, GM Kovalenko, GM Brodsky, GM Kovchan, GM Firman, GM Onischuk, GM Aveskulov, GM Matjushin, GM Arzumanian, and IM Biriukov with average rating 2583.

Official website

Round 1 results

 

1 With no mercy /Chernigiv/ - 10 Crimea stars |Crimea/ 6 : 0 Nesteretz, Anatoliy  - Muhtarov, Leonid  1 – 0 Krupko, Alexey  - Shapka, Vladimir  1 – 0 FM Guk, Ilja  - Karymov, Rashid  + – - Plaksin, Valeriy  - Subbotin, Alexander  1 – 0 Grechko, Valentyn  - Muhtarova, Viktoriya  1 – 0 Muha, Sergey  - Muhtarova, Anastasiia  1 – 0 2 ShtrafBat /Lugansk/ - 9 Chess Club /Nikolaev/ 4 : 2 IM Kharchenko, Boris  - GM Zubov, Alexander  1 – 0 Korobkov, Piotr  - IM Sivuk, Vitaly  0 – 1 IM Strelnikov, Sergey  - IM Rakhmangulov, Andrei  ½ – ½ IM Kostromin, Mikhail  - FM Bortnik, Alexandr  1 – 0 FM Palkovich, Denis  - Sakun, Volodymyr  1 – 0 Maratkanov, Evgeny  - IM Shepotilo, Vladislav  ½ – ½ 3 Chess Club /Simferopol/ - 8 Chess Scool /Crimea/ 2 : 4 IM Alexeev, Alexey  - IM Shemeakin, Alexander  ½ – ½ Linker, Mikhail  - Trjapishko, Alexandr  ½ – ½ Savvopulo, Anatolij  - Dhillon, Jasteen  ½ – ½ Tantsiura, Marja  - Fish, Alexandr  ½ – ½ Roshka, Yevgeniy  - Zhak, Boris  0 – 1 Sergeev, Vitalij  - Shemyjakin, Valerii  0 – 1 4 Chess Scool /Donetsk/ - 7 OLIMP /Lubny/ 2 : 4 Solovyev, Artem  - Solovchuk, Alexey  ½ – ½ Belous, Mikhail  - Boroday, Sergey  1 – 0 FM Prihodko, Alexander  - Shabala, Sergey  ½ – ½ Mamedov, Ruslan  - Shtanko, Dmitro  0 – 1 Zhuravlev, Ivan  - Golub, Sergey  0 – 1 Chaikovsky, Andrey  - Zazuliak, Andriy  0 – 1 5 MMM /Simferopol/ - 6 Law Academy /Kharkiv/ 2½:3½ GM Tukhaev, Adam  - GM Moiseenko, Alexander  0 – 1 GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy  - GM Kovalenko, Igor  ½ – ½ IM Sitnikov, Anton  - GM Brodsky, Michail  ½ – ½ IM Bernadskiy, Vitaliy  - GM Kovchan, Alexander  ½ – ½ IM Iakymov, Volodymyr  - GM Firman, Nazar  1 – 0 IM Tovmasian, Vardges  - GM Onischuk, Vladimir  0 – 1 1 With no mercy /Chernigiv/ - 10 Crimea stars |Crimea/ 6 : 0 Nesteretz, Anatoliy  - Muhtarov, Leonid  1 – 0 Krupko, Alexey  - Shapka, Vladimir  1 – 0 FM Guk, Ilja  - Karymov, Rashid  + – - Plaksin, Valeriy  - Subbotin, Alexander  1 – 0 Grechko, Valentyn  - Muhtarova, Viktoriya  1 – 0 Muha, Sergey  - Muhtarova, Anastasiia  1 – 0 2 ShtrafBat /Lugansk/ - 9 Chess Club /Nikolaev/ 4 : 2 IM Kharchenko, Boris  - GM Zubov, Alexander  1 – 0 Korobkov, Piotr  - IM Sivuk, Vitaly  0 – 1 IM Strelnikov, Sergey  - IM Rakhmangulov, Andrei  ½ – ½ IM Kostromin, Mikhail  - FM Bortnik, Alexandr  1 – 0 FM Palkovich, Denis  - Sakun, Volodymyr  1 – 0 Maratkanov, Evgeny  - IM Shepotilo, Vladislav  ½ – ½ 3 Chess Club /Simferopol/ - 8 Chess Scool /Crimea/ 2 : 4 IM Alexeev, Alexey  - IM Shemeakin, Alexander  ½ – ½ Linker, Mikhail  - Trjapishko, Alexandr  ½ – ½ Savvopulo, Anatolij  - Dhillon, Jasteen  ½ – ½ Tantsiura, Marja  - Fish, Alexandr  ½ – ½ Roshka, Yevgeniy  - Zhak, Boris  0 – 1 Sergeev, Vitalij  - Shemyjakin, Valerii  0 – 1 4 Chess Scool /Donetsk/ - 7 OLIMP /Lubny/ 2 : 4 Solovyev, Artem  - Solovchuk, Alexey  ½ – ½ Belous, Mikhail  - Boroday, Sergey  1 – 0 FM Prihodko, Alexander  - Shabala, Sergey  ½ – ½ Mamedov, Ruslan  - Shtanko, Dmitro  0 – 1 Zhuravlev, Ivan  - Golub, Sergey  0 – 1 Chaikovsky, Andrey  - Zazuliak, Andriy  0 – 1 5 MMM /Simferopol/ - 6 Law Academy /Kharkiv/ 2½:3½ GM Tukhaev, Adam  - GM Moiseenko, Alexander  0 – 1 GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy  - GM Kovalenko, Igor  ½ – ½ IM Sitnikov, Anton  - GM Brodsky, Michail  ½ – ½ IM Bernadskiy, Vitaliy  - GM Kovchan, Alexander  ½ – ½ IM Iakymov, Volodymyr  - GM Firman, Nazar  1 – 0 IM Tovmasian, Vardges  - GM Onischuk, Vladimir  0 – 1

Only few days after the Asian Continental Individual Championships concluded in Vietnam, all top players moved to Zao Zhuang, Shandong Province, China, to compete in the 2012 Asian Nations Chess Cup (Open and Women’s).

The competitions are taking place from 15th to 27th May over nine rounds of Swiss in Open Group and over nine rounds all-play-all in Women’s. All FIDE Affiliated Chess Federations in Asia are eligible to participate.

China is top seeded in both groups, but India, with the Asian champion Parimarjan Negi in the roster, is also very ambitious.

The Asian Women Champion Irine Kharisma Sukandar is heading the Indonesian side.

The winning teams will represent the continent of Asia in the 2013 World (Women’s) Team Championship.

More about the Regulations

Team Lineups (Open):

 

1. China 1

1 GM Wang Hao 2738 CHN
2 GM Wang Yue 2690 CHN
3 GM Li Chao b 2703 CHN
4 GM Ding Liren 2679 CHN
5 GM Yu Yangyi 2626 CHN

2. India

1 GM Sasikiran Krishnan 2720 IND
2 GM Pentala Hari Krishna 2693 IND
3 GM Negi Parimarjan 2640 IND
4 GM Gupta Abhijeet 2644 IND
5 GM Narayanan Gopal Geetha 2562 IND

3. Vietnam

1 GM Le Quang Liem 2703 VIE
2 GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son 2656 VIE
3 IM Nguyen Duc Hoa 2496 VIE
4 IM Nguyen Van Huy 2502 VIE
5 GM Dao Thien Hai 2514 VIE

4. China 2

1 GM Zhou Weiqi 2624 CHN
2 GM Zhou Jianchao 2609 CHN
3 GM Zhao Jun 2577 CHN
4 GM Wen Yang 2550 CHN
5 IM Lou Yiping 2428 CHN

5. Kazakhstan

1 GM Jumabayev Rinat 2556 KAZ
2 GM Kazhgaleyev Murtas 2595 KAZ
3 GM Ismagambetov Anuar 2478 KAZ
4 GM Khusnutdinov Rustam 2509 KAZ
5 IM Kuderinov Kirill 2493 KAZ

6. Iran

1 GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan 2578 IRI
2 IM Seyedjavad Alavimoghaddam 2441 IRI
3 IM Porya Dereni 2491 IRI
4 GM Golizadeh Asghar 2482 IRI
5 GM Mahjoob Morteza 2424 IRI

7. Singapore

1 GM Zhang Zhong 2593 SIN
2 IM Goh Wei Ming Kevin 2426 SIN
3 FM Chan Yi Ren Daniel 2333 SIN
4 IM Chan Peng Kong 2252 SIN
5 Iskandar Bin Abdullah 2010 SIN

8. Iraq

1 FM Abdulwahhab Ahmed Abdulsattar A 2321 IRQ
2 IM Al-Ali Hussein Ali Hussein 2343 IRQ
3 Ismael Namir Mohammed Ismael 2192 IRQ
4 CM Mohammed Zozek Salah Mohammed 2268 IRQ
5 Rabeea Sabah Nori 0 IRQ

9. Yemen

1 Ahmed Hatem Ebrahim 2278 YEM
2 Ali Yahya Saleh 2256 YEM
3 Abdulla Omar 2035 YEM
4 Salman Saleh 2010 YEM
5 Nasser Zendan Ali 2377 YEM

10. Korea

1 FM Camacho Collados Jose 2353 KOR
2 CM Lee Sanghoon 2137 KOR
3 FM Chogdov Munkhbat 2245 KOR
4 Kim Changhoon 1791 KOR
5 FM Song Jinwoo 1966 KOR

11. Mongolia

1 IM Gundavaa Bayarsaikhan 2516 MGL
2 FM Munkhgal Gombosuren 2387 MGL
3 IM Battulga Namkhai 2397 MGL
4 FM Nasanjar Urtnasan 2304 MGL

12. Indonesia

1 GM Megaranto Susanto 2517 INA
2 FM Hamdani Rudin 2322 INA
3 CM Muhammad Luthfi Ali 2027 INA
4 Mohamad Ervan 0 INA
5 Saidul Ula Sumardi 0 INA

13. Hong Kong

1 Lai Cyrus Ho-yeung 1826 HKG
2 Lo Cheuk Wai 1818 HKG
3 Garceran Nieuwenburg David 0 HKG
4 Wong Hysan 0 HKG
5 Cronan Adrian 0 HKG

14. Chinese Taipei

1 Shih Yu-An 0 TPE
2 Wang Ting-Hao 0 TPE
3 Liu Shih-Hsia 0 TPE
4 Yuan Chia-Ku 0 TPE

Team Lineups (Women’s):

 

1. China 3

1 WFM Zhai Mo 2248 CHN
2 Ren Xiaoyi 2202 CHN
3 Ni Shiqun 2157 CHN
4 Lei Tingjie 2154 CHN
5 Li Xueyi 2082 CHN

2. China 2

1 WGM Tan Zhongyi 2430 CHN
2 WGM Zhang Xiaowen 2385 CHN
3 IM Wang Yu A 2375 CHN
4 Wang Jue 2364 CHN
5 WGM Guo Qi 2360 CHN

3. Kazakhstan

1 WGM Khasanova Flyura 2318 KAZ
2 WIM Dauletova Gulmira 2278 KAZ
3 WIM Davletbayeva Madina 2183 KAZ
4 WIM Saduakassova Dinara 2219 KAZ
5 WFM Ankudinova Yelena 2137 KAZ

4. Vietnam

1 WGM Pham Le Thao Nguyen 2390 VIE
2 WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh An 2301 VIE
3 WIM Pham Bich Ngoc 2176 VIE
4 WIM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung 2237 VIE
5 WIM Hoang Thi Nhu Y 2238 VIE

5. Mongolian

1 IM Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2451 MGL
2 WGM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs 2363 MGL
3 Bayarmaa Bayarjargal 2009 MGL
4 WFM Lkhamsuren Uuganbayar 2139 MGL
5 Saikhanzaya Ganbaatar 1868 MGL

6. Indonesia

1 WGM Irine Kharisma Sukandar 2288 INA
2 WFM Medina Warda Aulia 2172 INA
3 WIM Chelsie Monica Sihite 2181 INA
4 WFM Dewi A.A Citra 2112 INA
5 Virda Rizka Aulia 1769 INA

7. Iran

1 WGM Pourkashiyan Atousa 2336 IRI
2 WIM Khademalsharieh Sarasadat 2284 IRI
3 WIM Ghader Pour Shayesteh 2241 IRI
4 WIM Hejazipour Mitra 2223 IRI
5 WCM Derakhshani Dorsa 2004 IRI

8. Singapore

1 WIM Khegay Anjela 2184 SIN
2 WFM Liu Yang Hazel 2096 SIN
3 WFM Tay Li Jin Jeslin 2080 SIN
4 WFM Chan Wei Yi Victoria 1947 SIN

9. India

1 GM Harika Dronavalli 2508 IND
2 IM Karavade Eesha 2353 IND
3 IM Tania Sachdev 2417 IND
4 WGM Gomes Mary Ann 2378 IND
5 WGM Padmini Rout 2345 IND

10. China 1

1 GM Zhao Xue 2549 CHN
2 WGM Ju Wenjun 2529 CHN
3 WGM Shen Yang 2419 CHN
4 WGM Huang Qian 2417 CHN
5 WGM Ding Yixin 2353 CHN

Analyzed games: Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3 / Game 4

var cbeOptions = { layout: "3", room: "2012-wcc", game: "05-Anand_Viswanathan-Gelfand_Boris", annotations: true };

Live chess broadcast powered by ChessBomb and Chessdom

Information: Anand Gelfand 2012 / World Chess Championship all news

Ананд – Гельфанд (руский) / Anand – Gelfand (Español)

Videos: Day 1 / , Day 2 / Day 3

Newsletter: Anand Gelfand 2012 newsletter

Anand and Gelfand start the World Chess Championship 2012 all games start at 14:00 CET. It will be commented by the European Team Champion GM Arkadij Naiditsch live on Chessdom.com.

Article by FM Mike Klein

The 2012 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women’s Championship did not change leadership today, though the two tournaments produced much different levels of excitement.

With the two top seeds in each division pulling away from the pack, GM Gata Kamsky exuded his usual perfection in positional chess to give GM Alex Lenderman his first loss of the event. That left the crowd watching to see if GM Hikaru Nakamura, the top seed in the U.S. Championship, could keep pace.

After an unusual French Defense led to a stolid middlegame with no obvious breakthrough, it looked like Nakamura and GM Alex Stripunsky would admit the impasse and agree to a draw. After his own game ended, Kamsky looked on from the press room and had a different opinion. He suggested Nakamura prepare his f-pawn’s advance, which Nakamura managed in due time. “White has no counterplay and is lost completely,” Kamsky concluded almost instantly.

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL)

Sensing the infiltration, Stripunsky was unwilling to wait for the inevitable. He sacrificed a piece, then the exchange, then later, with his time running out, another exchange. The final salvo proved too much. Though he engineered a quintet of passed pawns, Nakamura’s rook took post on the eighth rank to parry all the possible promotions. Stripunsky saw his pawns were stuck and resigned.

After the game, a quick analysis by the players produced a myriad of variations. Enlisting the help of other players produced more questions than answers. “White’s winning, no black’s winning, no white’s winning,” GM Yasser Seirawan said.

Kamsky’s win lacked similar drama. After repulsing any queenside attacking ideas, he eventually advanced five pawns to the fifth rank in picturesque uniformity. After 18…Bh5, Kamsky said his position was “completely OK.” Then he took a closer look and declared, “Actually, maybe it’s not so pleasant for white.” The space advantage, coupled with a belligerent knight, was too much for Lenderman to handle.

“The game got away from me quickly somehow,” a flummoxed Lenderman said. “There were so many choices for white, but I couldn’t find a way to make the maximum of all my pieces. I was trying to calculate lines before outlining strategic possibilities.”

In a moment of extreme candor from the 22-year-old, he added, “The position was just too complicated for me. Chess understanding is just not there for me. Good thing I am playing in this tournament. I keep trying to make ‘professor’ moves where I try to do too much. I keep making this mistake against 2700s.”

Kamsky and Nakamura both have 6/8 and will play each other on Friday. Should there be a winner, he will be the betting favorite to win the title.

Chasing the two leaders is a trio of grandmasters. GMs Alex Onischuk, Varuzhan Akobian and Yury Shulman all have 4.5/8. Taken together, the top five men comprise the U.S. Olympiad team from 2008, the last time the squad won a team medal.

Akobian won the only other decisive game of the day, besting GM Alejandro Ramirez in a wild game. “It was an unusual position,” Akobian said. Ramirez pushed …c5, …b5, …f5 and …g5 all in the first 11 moves. He left his center pawns at home while traversing his queen from one rook file to the other. “I was a little too optimistic,” Ramirez replied. “I wanted to play something interesting, but it backfired.”

Akobian said he spent 20 minutes in the opening calculating the unusual tactic 8. b4. If 8…axb3 e.p., the queen hangs. If 8…Qxb4, 9. Rb1 skewers the queen to the bishop. But if 8…cxb4 the pawn blocks the diagonal pin so 9. Nxe4 is possible. A possible variation is 9…b3+ 10. Ned2 b2 11. Ra2 a3 12. e4 Na6 (heading to b4) 13. Bxa6 Bxa6. Upon seeing this position, both players liked their position. Ramirez thought the b2-pawn and white’s inability to castle offset his material loss. Ultimately, Akobian said he could not accurately evaluate the position, and headed for calmer waters with 8. c3.

GM Gregory Kaidanov played his second queen versus three minor piece game, this time departing with the monarch to try his hand with the knights and bishops. Earlier in the tournament, GM Robert Hess trapped Kaidanov’s queen on the back rank. This time the queen had more space, but with no major weaknesses for either side, Kaidanov and his former student, GM Ray Robson, agreed to a draw.

In the women’s side of the playing hall, IMs Zatonskih and Krush renewed their annual rivalry in round 7. Though a great majority of the their previous contests had produced a winner, Krush had little incentive to go for an unbalanced game. Playing black, Krush liquidated the position’s energy and the ladies agreed to a lifeless draw. They both still lead with 5/7.

Anna Zatonskih regretted the move 12. Bf4, which allowed Krush to centralize with 12…Nd5 and win a tempo. “It is just fantastic how I played this,” Zatonskih said, chastising herself. She was using the literal connotation of “fantastic,” expressing that the move was unexplainable and bad. Afterward, she thought for 40 minutes.

Irina Krush said a plan with b4 would have created a few problems for her, but ultimately she was never worried. “I just tried to play solid today,” she said. Although her pairings for the final two rounds are significantly easier than Zatonskih’s, Krush said, “The tournament is not over. There’s no reason to be joyous.”

The players shared a funny possible drawing line. If 15…a6 16. Nbc3 Nd4 17. Rc1 Nb3 18. Rc2 Nd4 19. Rd2 Nb3 20. Rd3 Nc1 and the rook either returns or goes wandering aimlessly.

IM Rusudan Goletiani took sole possession of third place after her win against WGM Tatev Abrahamyan. With a pawn deficit and short on time, Goletiani threw all of her pawns at her opponent’s castled king, breaking through for the point.

While she does not control her own destiny, Goletiani faces Zatonskih tomorrow as white in a game both women will be trying to win to stay alive for first place. If Zatonskih wins, Goletiani will be mathematically eliminated from title contention.

WGM Sabina Foisor was the only other winner of the round. She used the Samisch Variation to beat FM Alisa Melekhina’s favorite King’s Indian Defense. With king’s castled on opposite sides, Melekhina could not open an attack, and eventually ceded control of the only open file. Foisor’s rook took control and dominated in the endgame. Foisor is in sole fourth place with 4/7.

Round nine for the U.S. Championship and round eight for the U.S. Women’s Championship will begin tomorrow at 1 p.m. Central, 2 p.m. Eastern. Come visit the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis or tune in to www.uschesschamps.org for live commentary from WGM Jennifer Shahade and the club’s GM-in-Residence Ben Finegold.

The 20th edition of the Sigeman Chess Tournament was organized by Limhamn Chess Club on 9-16th May in Malmö, Sweden.

This year the event had a round robin format with eight players. The additional sponsorship boosted the level of the tournament which featured the strongest lineup ever.

The Italian champion Fabiano Caruana won the competition with an excellent score of 5.5/7 points, leaving the main contender Peter Leko of Hungary half a point behind.

Fabiano Caruana

Leko followed the strong pace imposed by the leader and his last-round victory against the over-ambitious Li Chao put some pressure on Caruana. The Italian, however, confidently outplayed Jonny Hector and preserved the top position.

The local hope Nils Grandelius was in the mix for the top two places until he lost to the future tournament winner.

Replay all games with computer analysis

Final standings:
1. GM Caruana Fabiano ITA 2770 – 5.5
2. GM Leko Peter HUN 2723 – 5
3-4. GM Grandelius Nils SWE 2556 and GM Giri Anish NED 2693 – 4
5. GM Li Chao CHN 2703 – 3
6. GM Tikkanen Hans SWE 2566 – 2.5
7-8. GM Berg Emanuel SWE 2587 and GM Hector Jonny SWE 2560 – 2

Official website

GM Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine successfully concluded the competition on Cuba to win his 6th trophy from the Elite Group of the traditional Capablanca Memorial.

The 47th Capablanca Memorial was held from 3rd to 15th May at the Riviera hotel in Havana, Cuba. The Elite Group was a six-player double round robin.

Ivanchuk confidently held the lead throughout the tournament, with three wins and seven draws being sufficient for the first place, full point ahead of the opposition.

Vassily Ivanchuk

Cuban hope GM Leinier Domínguez Perez (2730), three-times champion of Capablanca Memorial, also scored three wins, but suffered two defeats, both at the hands of genius from Lviv.

Domínguez’s last round victory against Ian Nepomniachtchi allowed him to catch the Russian on the shared 2nd place.

Replay all games with computer analysis

Elite Group final standings:

1. Ivanchuk Vassily UKR 2764 – 6.5
2-3. Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2716 and Dominguez Perez Leinier CUB 2725 – 5.5
4. Potkin Vladimir RUS 2642 – 4.5
5-6. Quesada Perez Yuniesky CUB 2625 and Laznicka Viktor CZE 2693 – 4.0

The Premier Group was a 10-player round robin with other top Cuban players and four foreign Grandmasters.

GM Gonzalez Vidal Yuri took a clear first place with 6.0/9 points, while IM Bacallao Alonso Yusnel confirmed another GM norm.

Premier Group final standings:

1. GM Gonzalez Vidal Yuri CUB 2545 – 6
2. GM Cordova Emilio PER 2566 – 5.5
3. IM Bacallao Alonso Yusnel CUB 2580 – 5
4-7. GM Rakhmanov Aleksandr RUS 2603, GM Morovic Fernandez Ivan CHI 2577, GM Papin Vasily RUS 2570 and GM Hernandez Carmenates Holden CUB 2570 – 4.5
8. GM Almeida Quintana Omar CUB 2525 – 4
9. GM Ortiz Suarez Isan Reynaldo CUB 2572 – 3.5
10. GM Alvarez Pedraza Aramis CUB 2551 – 3

The Open 1, for the players rated above 2200 FIDE, had 114 participants from nine countries. Among them were 14 Grandmasters and 34 International Masters.

FIDE Masters Hevia Alejano Carlos Antonio (CUB 2542) and Espinosa Veloz Ermes (CUB 2441) shared the first place with 7.5/10 points each.

The Open 2, for the players rated under 2300 FIDE, had 127 players from 14 federations. Marzo Arias Valentin (CUB 2176) won the event in convincing fashion with 8.5/10 points.

Established since 1962 on the initiative of Commander Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the tournament is held annually in honor of the renowned Cuban and world figure Jose Raul Capablanca.

The famous coach IM Miodrag Perunovic is having a limited time lessons opportunity for the chess fans. After successfully coaching GM Alexander Ipatov 2561, IM Eric Hansen 2454 (World Vice U18 Champion), Mladen Vrban 2398, Nicolas Croad 2334, Denis Kadric 2415, and David Haydon 2317, now coach IM Perunovic is opening the door for new students.

All you need for lessons with IM Perunovic is an internet connection. The sessions are in English or French, audio or typed.

Price for 1h starts at only 22 eur, if you are interested send a message to IM Perunovic here.

Article by FM Mike Klein

Dramatic finishes punctuated an unpredictable day at the 2012 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women’s Championship. When the final pawn was captured, a 101-move game ended in king versus king. In both events a pair of trailing players caught up to the leaders.

IM Anna Zatonskih got the better of WIM Iryna Zenyuk in a bishop-and-pawn endgame. With weaknesses on both sides of the board, Zatonskih had no trouble infiltrating and clearing a path for her pawns.

Entering the day behind by one-half point, the win nearly gave Zatonskih sole possession of the lead, as tournament leader IM Irina Krush got all she could handle from IM Rusudan Goletiani. In an atypical affair where Krush’s king voluntarily moved to f1 and Goletiani’s knights occupied f8 and h8, both players thought they were better. “Once the knights come out, my advantage is not permanent,” Krush said.

Krush was caught off guard by the sacrifice 35…Nxf3. Afterward, she expected the immediate material equalization 36…e4, but instead the initiative-minded Goletiani preferred to step up the pressure by making a battery on the f-file. Krush survived the onslaught largely by ignoring it. Her counterattack was just enough to force a repetition of position.

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL)

The top two rated women will face off tomorrow. In what has become their usual yearly battle, they enter the game tied for first with 4.5/6. Neither woman has lost a game. “Good thing I didn’t ruin everything today,” Krush said. “It was sharp; anything could have happened.”

The story repeated in the U.S. Championship, where tournament front-runner GM Hikaru Nakamura tried everything he could but could only draw against GM Yury Shulman. This allowed defending champion GM Gata Kamsky to catch up, as he was able to overcome the blockade of GM Alex Stripunsky.

Nakamura and Shulman played the longest game of the tournament. After five and a half hours and 101 moves, they were down to just their kings. After fruitlessly trying for more than 60 moves to win with an extra kingside pawn, Nakamura looked across the room for much of the final moves, seemingly chastising himself for missed opportunities.

Shulman guessed that he was unhappy the minor pieces were allowed to be traded after 77…Be6+. Thanks to the zwischenzug 78…Re5+, Shulman entered an easily drawing rook-and-pawn endgame. Still, he insisted that the ending is drawn even without the “petite combinaison.” Nakamura has still never defeated Shulman in a tournament game.

Shulman’s staunch defense, coupled with the tenacity of Kamsky to find a way to clear the path for his hanging pawns, means Nakamura and Kamsky are now equal first with 5/7. They will not meet until Friday’s penultimate round ten.

Stripunsky and Kamsky had drawn many previous games, but today Kamsky won for the first time ever in classical chess, though he had won a rapid game in 2006. After a lot of circular movement, Kamsky made the time control and got his c- and d-pawns moving. In the final position, he had promoted a second queen, with one more on the way.

The most entertaining game of the day was unequivocally GM Alejandro Ramirez against GM Gregory Kaidanov. After a stunning victory, Ramirez was still trying to collect himself and figure out what happened. “This game was crazy,” he said. With arrows and variations strewn haphazardly all over the computer screen in the commentary room, Ramirez offered what he knew about the game, and what he was still sorting out. “I was just trying to get to the time control alive,” he said. “This was psychologically very difficult for me because I went from winning to really struggling. We had like two minutes left. We didn’t know what we were doing.”

With both kings in danger, the underdeveloped Kaidanov found the subtle defense of retreating his one developed piece on move 32. “…Rg8! Wow! That was quite a move,” Ramirez said. The point was that the rook on a8 cannot be captured due to 33…Qe3+ 34. Kh1 (34. Rf2 Rf8) 34…Qg3 35. Rg1 (35. Bh3 Rxa8) 35…Qxh4#. In all variations, the wandering white queen is suddenly out of bounds.

But after the time scramble resourcefulness, Kaidanov placed his king on the light square e4 and fell victim to an advancing a-pawn. Scrambling to get his rook back again, this time he was met with a skewer on the long diagonal. Ramirez was shocked at the turn of events, which saw him go from groveling for a draw to simply winning. After starting with two wins and two draws and sharing the early lead, Kaidanov has lost his last three.

Chasing Kamsky and Nakamura with 4/7 are Shulman and GMs Alex Lenderman and Alex Onischuk, who also drew today. Onischuk received one of the biggest surprises of the tournament when his former student, GM Ray Robson, uncorked the implausible Belgrade Gambit. Onischuk played the only move he knew against it, 5…Be7. He admitted that his theoretical knowledge ended there, as his position was super solid. “The position was equal all the time, but he still tried to torture me,” Onischuk said. Asked if he would now learn more about the opening, he continued, “If I play against some 2300-player, I’ll have to come up with something else.”

Lenderman kept his unbeaten streak alive by holding the draw in mixed battle against GM Yasser Seirawan. “It was one of the strangest games I ever played,” Lenderman said. “It was unclear all the time. I thought I was better with initiative or attack, but after a turn of events, I was in a precarious endgame. But then without an obvious mistake from him, I was playing for a win.”

Seirawan guessed that he should have made better use of his kingside pawn phalanx. After losing his first three games, Seirawan, a four-time champion, has now won 2.5 out of his last four.

GM Varuzhan Akobian again jettisoned his favorite French Defense but used the Caro-Kann to eventually win a knight-and-pawn ending against GM Robert Hess.

FM Alisa Melekhina won her second game in a row to earn a plus score. She sits on 3.5/6 after winning against the luckless WGM Camilla Baginskaite. Melekhina already has more than twice the number of points she earned in seven rounds last year. “I didn’t expect Alisa to play so aggressively with such theoretical stuff,” Baginskaite said afterward.

Melekhina repeated her Moscow System that she previously used against Krush, but this time she offered her two center pawns to open the game quickly. “I’m not sure it’s objectively the best thing to do, but practically it is,” Melekhina said of her bellicosity. The fork 24. Qf3 pressured her opponent sufficiently to make a catastrophic error, dropping a knight. “I didn’t want to get so hopeful because the other day against Alena Kats I was up the exchange and four pawns and she fought back so hard.”

In other women’s games, WGM Tatev Abrahamyan bravely walked her king up the board in beating WGM Sabina Foisor. WIM Viktorija Ni got back to an even score by using her extra rook to eventually overpower WFM Alena Kats’s bishop.

Round eight for the U.S. Championship and round seven for the U.S. Women’s Championship will begin tomorrow at 1 p.m. Central, 2 p.m. Eastern. Come visit the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis or tune in to www.uschesschamps.org for live commentary from WGM Jennifer Shahade and the club’s GM-in-Residence Ben Finegold.

Article by Anna Rudolf

For the 22nd time in a row the town of Jyväskylä organises the most important chess tournament of its country, the Heart of Finland Open.

From 9th to 15 July more than 150 players are expected to be competing for title of the champion, the category prizes, rating points, and simply for the joy of playing chess.

The dates coincide with the town’s Summer Festival, a rich cultural week with theatre and music performances on the streets of Jyväskylä – a pleasant spare time programme for the participants.

In the comfort of the playing hall: spacious, air-conditioned and wifi-equipped!

Besides the Summer Festival, an evening cruise is organised for the players on the Lake Päijänne – an excursion which, the author of this article can highly recommend!

Excursion for the players on the beautiful lakes of Finland

For more information on the tournament please contact the organisers from the official website.

15 titled players (8 grandmasters!) have already confirmed their participation! Will GM Yrjö Rantanen be able to defend his title?

GM Yrjö Rantanen

Anna Rudolf on the boat trip in 2010 - cover of the magazine Suomen Shakki

Photo courtesy of the Heart of Finland organisers, Chessdom and Anna Rudolf.

The International Open Chess Tournament Albena 2012 will take place from 26th May to 3rd June at the Albena Sports Hall, in Albena, Bulgaria.

The 9-round Swiss open is organized by the Bulgarian Chess Federation, Chess Club “Dobrich – Albena” and Albena JSCo.

Albena is one of the most popular resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea.

It is located 11 km south of Balchik and 30 km north of Varna – the sea capital of Bulgaria. Albena holds a “Blue Flag” certificate for its ecologically clean sea, beach and area. The soft sandy beach of Albena is more than 3.5 km long and up to 150 m wide.

The resort is located close to Baltata national reserve, thus providing a unique combination of forest and sea. Albena offers something for everyone due to its variety of attractions, water sports and recreational activities.

The average summer temperature is 28°С, and the average temperature of the crystal clear sea is 25°С.

The prize fund amounts to 40.000 EUR. For prizes distribution visit the official website.

Currently top rated players are:

1 GM Akopian Vladimir 2697 ARM
2 GM Georgiev Kiril 2689 BUL
3 GM Cheparinov Ivan 2673 BUL
4 GM Ragger Markus 2670 AUT
5 GM Petrosian Tigran L 2657 ARM
6 GM Gupta Abhijeet 2644 IND
7 GM Melkumyan Hrant 2642 ARM
8 GM Smeets Jan 2620 NED
9 GM Kolev Atanas 2602 BUL
10 GM Kravtsiv Martyn 2588 UKR
11 GM Solak Dragan 2586 TUR
12 GM Grigoryan Avetik 2581 ARM
13 GM Perunovic Milos 2577 SRB
14 GM Tikkanen Hans 2566 SWE
15 GM Nikolov Momchil 2553 BUL
16 GM Li Shilong 2553 CHN
17 GM Nabaty Tamir 2553 ISR
18 GM Heberla Bartlomiej 2535 POL
19 GM Carlsson Pontus 2531 SWE
20 GM Lu Shanglei 2522 CHN
21 IM Grigoryan Karen H 2517 ARM
22 IM Nosenko Alexander 2517 UKR
23 GM Stefansson Hannes 2516 ISL
24 IM Benidze Davit 2516 GEO
25 GM Tadic Branko 2506 SRB
26 IM Grover Sahaj 2506 IND

More information on the official website

Analyzed games: Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3

var cbeOptions = { layout: "3", room: "2012-wcc", game: "4-Gelfand_Boris-Anand_Viswanathan", annotations: true };

Live chess broadcast powered by ChessBomb and Chessdom

Information: Anand Gelfand 2012 / World Chess Championship all news

Ананд – Гельфанд (руский) / Anand – Gelfand (Español)

Videos: Day 1 / , Day 2 / Day 3

Newsletter: Anand Gelfand 2012 newsletter

Anand and Gelfand start the World Chess Championship 2012 with game 1 on May 11th at 14:00 CET. It will be commented by the European Team Champion GM Arkadij Naiditsch live on Chessdom.com.

Chess Evolution series are having a Maxi Bundle day, offering ONLY today all printed editions at 50% discount.

The offer is during the next 24 hours and includes free shipping to any point in the world.

See the full offer of the Maxi Bundle here

Chess Evolution is the brand that encapsules the highest rated authors on the chess books market. The team is headed by GM Arkadij Naiditsch,  while articles and contributions are by GM Etienne Bacrot, GM Sebastien Maze, GM Kamil Miton, GM Borki Predojevic, GM Ivan Sokolov, GM Baadur Jobava, etc.

The books by Chess Evolution come out every 2 months and include 400 pages of quality chess research, analysis, novelties, endgames, and lot’s of chess fun.

With the Chess Evolution Maxi Bundle you receive ALL six editions printed so far – March 2011, May 2011, July 2011, September 2011, November 2011, and January 2012 – all for a super discount of 50% and free shipping!

For more packages visit the Chessdom Chess Shop.

Chess Evolution is the brand that encapsules the highest rated authors on the chess books market. The team is headed by GM Arkadij Naiditsch, permanent member of the 2700 club, while article and contributions are by GM Etienne Bacrot, GM Sebastien Maze, GM Kamil Miton, GM Borki Predojevic, GM Ivan Sokolov, GM Baadur Jobava, etc.

The books by Chess Evolution come out every 2 months and include 400 pages of quality chess research, analysis, novelties, endgames, and lot’s of chess fun.

With the Chess Evolution Maxi Bundle you receive ALL six editions printed so far – March 2011, May 2011, July 2011, September 2011, November 2011, and January 2011 – all for a super discount of 50% and free shipping!

Turin (Italy), 28 May 2012

Teaching chess at school may significantly improve pupils’ mathematics learning abilities, according to a study by INVALSI (the Italian National Institute for the Evaluation of the Education System) conducted as part of a controlled research project involving some 2,000 8-and 9-year-old children attending a sample of primary schools throughout Italy.

The SAM research project investigating the effects of learning to play chess on maths skills, developed by academic staff members Gianluca Argentin (Milan-Bicocca University), Alberto Martini (University of East Piedmont) and Barbara Romano (University of Pennsylvania), is the most recent in a series of studies on the potential advantages of chess in education promoted and conducted by the Piedmont Regional Committee of the Italian Chess Federation, presided over by Dr. Roberto Rivello, funded by Piedmont Regional Council and Compagnia di San Paolo.

Their findings have now been brought together and published by Prof. Roberto Trinchero from the University of Turin and will be the subject of a conference on 28 May 2012 at the Piedmont Region’s “Centro Incontri” congress centre in Turin.

The conference, which is open to the public, will mainly address primary and secondary-school teachers and will also discuss the possible implications of the European Parliament’s recent declaration on the introduction of the “Chess in School” programme in the educational systems of the European Union.

Chess has been part of the curriculum in schools in Piedmont for some time now. Initially only implemented in the city of Turin, under an initiative pioneered by the renowned Turin Chess Club, the project was subsequently extended to the rest of the region as a positive consequence of the Chess Olympiad 2006 held in Turin.

Each year approximately 20,000 state school pupils aged between 6 and 19 from more than 1,000 classes at 300 schools are included in the programme and Federation instructors provide a total of 12,000 hours of lessons during school hours.

Lessons are based on teaching protocols issued by the Piedmont Regional Committee of the Italian Chess Federation which, coordinated by Alessandro Dominici and working closely in partnership with the competent bodies of the Italian Chess Federation and the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), has also organised numerous training courses for instructors and teachers at state schools, awarding diplomas to 380 new Federation instructors and teachers. The figures are encouraging, but we still have a long way to go.

Representatives from the most important organisations around the world involved in teaching chess at school will take part in the conference, also via video-conference.

It will be broadcast live on internet, with simultaneous translation into English. This event has been conceived as the natural continuation of the International conference “Chess: a game to grow up with” that was held in Turin in 2009, during which speakers from four continents discussed the advantages and positive effects of the various initiatives and methods of teaching chess at school.

For full details please visit www.piemontescacchi.org

The match for the title of World Robot Chess Champion will be held Saturday, May 19 on Strastnoy Boulevard. KUKA Monstr (Germany) and CHESSka (Russia) will battle it out for the title.

On the same day, the German visitor with artificial intelligence will play a demo match against one of the world’s strongest human players – Alexander Grischuk, the former World Blitz Champion and a representative of the Russian national team.

Both competitions will be held in blitz chess format, in which the players are given 5 minutes per game, in accordance with FIDE rules.

The Russian robot CHESSka, the first chess robot to beat grandmasters in blitz chess, was created by Konstantin Kosteniuk, Honored Coach of Russian Chess and an inventor with tens of registered patents.

CHESSka is already well-known among Russian chess fans. This “chess terminator” has played against former world champions Vladimir Kramnik and Alexandra Kosteniuk, as well as Sergei Karyakin, one of Russia’s leading players, and has beaten a number of well-known grandmasters.

Challenging our hardware heavyweight for the title will be KUKA Monstr, created by the German company KUKA Robotics, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of industrial robots.

Though it is younger than its Russian opponent, its creators favor it to win the match. They say that blitz chess is precisely where KUKA can fully manifest its intelligence, accuracy and speed.

Other world-class robot makers showing interest in developing chess-playing robots include FANUC Corporation of Japan and ABB of Sweden.

The winner of the match will receive the title of First in History Absolute World Robot Blitz Chess Champion. The organizers plan to hold such events every year, creating a Big League of chess robots called ChessRoboLiga-1 for makers of industrial robots, analogous to Formula 1 for automakers.

Spectators of the event on Strastnoy Boulevard will have a chance to compete in blitz tournaments as part of the Moscow Chess Boulevard competition, play simuls with grandmasters and participate in a competitive program with prizes.

Event program

11.00: Arrival of guests and registration of participants in the tournament and simul
12.00: Start of chess tournament and simul with a GM
12.15: Start of the competition program for the audience
13.00-14.00: Match between KUKA (Germany) and World Blitz Champion Alexander Grischuk (Russia)
14.30-15.30: First round of the match between the two chess robots
15.30-16.00: Awards ceremony honoring the winners of the tournament, participants of the competition program and participants of the session with the GM
16.00-17.00: Second and final part of the meet
17.00: Awards ceremony honoring the creators of the World Champion Chess Robot

Venue: Moscow, Strastnoy Boulevard (Pushkinskaya and Chekhovskaya subway stations)

Organizers: Summa Group, the Russian Chess Federation, the Center for Physical Education and Sports of Moscow’s Central Administrative District and the Tigran Petrosyan Chess Club with the participation of the Foundation for Creative Chess, the Vladimir Dvorkovich Chess Parlor, and ChessQueen Company.

For more information, call Eldar Mukhametov on +7 916 5425224 or email him at moscowchess@gmail.com.

World Chess Championship analysis by GM Danielsen (part 1 and part 2).

Anand – Gelfand (Grunfeld 3.f3, part 1)

Anand – Gelfand (middlegame and endgame)

All videos WCC 2012