After defeating Wang Hao today Alexei Shirov qualified for the second stage of the Masters Final. Vladimir Kramnik beat Levon Aronian with Black and tomorrow it will be clear which of the two players will join Anand, Carlsen and Shirov in October in Bilbao. For now the games, later more.

Tournament info

The first part of the 2010 Grand Slam Masters Final takes place 3-8 September in Shanghai, China. Rounds 1-3 are played at the Spanish Pavillion of the World Expo. Aronian, Kramnik, Shirov and Wang Hao play for two qualification spots for part II.

The second part, where Anand and Carlsen are seeded players, will be held October 9-15 in Bilbao, Spain. Both tournaments are 4-player double round-robins. ChessVibes will produce videos at both tournaments.

Like at the first two editions the rate of play is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and then 60 minutes to finish the game, with 10 extra seconds per move from move number 41.

This Masters Final will also use again both the “Sofia Rule” and the “football” scoring system: players will get 3 points for winning a game, 1 point for drawing and 0 points for losing. Games start 14.30 local time which is 08.30 CET.

Games round 5

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Videos

Grand Slam Masters Final 2010 (Shanghai) | Schedule & results

Grand Slam Masters Final 2010 (Shanghai) | Round 5 Standings (Football System)

Grand Slam Masters Final 2010 (Shanghai) | Round 5 Standings (Classical System)

Links

• Official website
• Live games
• Games in PGN via TWIC

Mr. Dobronauteanu is member of the Organizing Commitee of Kings Tournament-Bazna, Romania. President of the Romanian Chess Federation, January 2006-february 2010. Founding member, President and Vice-President (by rotation) of the Balkanic Chess Federation.

FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov will not stand for a 5th term as Head of Kalmykia, the Russian press agency Interfax reports. Meanwhile, on a day when the Argentinian Chess Federation switched their support to Anatoly Karpov, Ilyumzhinov published an astonishingly belligerent statement on the upcoming elections.

According to Interfax, Ilyumzhinov told them in a telephone interview that:

“I support the President’s policies in Russia aimed at renewing the regional leaders, and I do not intend to go for another term and claim the Presidency of Kalmykia. (…) On October 24, my fourth term as President of Kalmykia ends, and I do not think it is possible to go for a fifth. I support any candidate that the political party “United Russia” proposes as head of Kalmykia and nominates as President.”

The Russian newspaper Lenta adds to this brief statement that Ilyumzhinov intends to keep living in Kalmykia and “continue to work for the benefit of its people. I also plan to continue as FIDE President and promote the development of global chess.”

Ilyumzhinov’s position in Kalmykia had looked increasingly untenable since in April this year he repeated claims about an alien encounter on prime-time Russian television, provoking a question in the Russian parliament and sensational headlines around the world. His record in Kalmykia was recently assessed in a very negative light in the most popular Russian daily newspaper, Komsomolskaya Pravda (an English translation of the article can be read here), while only a couple of days ago the Karpov campaign reported on a newspaper article that predicted this turn of events: “RBC Daily: Kirsan Soon Out as Kalmykian Leader”.

When politicians resign, in a variety of circumstances, they often claim they want to spend more time with their family. In Ilyumzhinov’s case that means his chess family (he just released a statement saying he wants “to focus on FIDE”). Almost simultaneously with his retirement announcement, however, he launched an extraordinarily outspoken attack on the Karpov campaign for playing politics with chess and “bringing chaos and upset into our chess family”. His statement on the Onefide.com website needs to be read in full to be believed, but here’s a taste (note “accomplice”, implying a crime):

The inept and destructive actions of G. Kasparov in the political arena hugely damage the international chess movement and Russia’s prestige at the world arena.

In the light of above, it is extremely strange that Anatoly Karpov has picked as his accomplice and is expressing the interests of a person with such a record of destruction of all the organisations and projects where he has taken part.

The most astonishing moment, however, comes at the end (the letters are this size in the original):

“I would like to remind that FIDE is not a place for political showdown, and, as other International Sports Federations, we shall not allow any direct interference of state bodies into the matters of National Federations. We shall not allow destruction of our united chess world and we leave a right for ourselves for any appropriate actions!”

This appears to be a direct threat, though what exactly it threatens is unclear. How can we assess Ilyumzhinov’s statement? Perhaps the obvious point to make is that almost every criticism could be applied to both campaign teams. It’s odd, for instance, to criticise your opponents for personal attacks while, and not for the first time, launching vicious personal attacks on them. The clue to the tone of the statement, however, is in the mention of Latin America:

“Especially vividly it is seen in some Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Peru etc), where G. Kasparov and R. Conn have organised open pressure to the local Federations and their Presidents from the part of state bodies.”

This refers to the remarkable announcement that the Argentinian Chess Federation (FADA) has switched its support from Ilyumzhinov to Karpov. No advanced knowledge of Spanish is required to understand the message on the FADA website.

Mig Greengard was perhaps the first to announce it to the English-speaking world in a tweet:

“Mi Argentina querida just switched to Karpov. Time for Kirsan to start lowering flags. Many more to come!”

What makes the announcement more critical for Ilyumzhinov is that Argentina is not just one of the 90 or so federations he claims support him, but one of his two back-up nominations in case a judge rules in favour of Karpov having won the Russian nomination. Ilyumzhinov must be an honorary member of FADA for the nomination to be valid, but that battle appears to be lost, as Chessbase report on a breaking story in the Spanish press:

“The Argentine Secretary of Sport, Claudio Morresi, has released an official statement saying that Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is not an honorary member of the Argentine Chess Federation (FADA).”

With allegations of a similar scandal in Peru, and Beatriz Marinello’s nomination by Chile and Brazil also disputed, it’s easy to see how Ilyumzhinov might feel under pressure in Latin America, but again his claim of the Karpov team using government pressure on chess officials is enough to raise eyebrows. How can Karpov and Kasparov, private individuals, compete with the President of a Russian Republic when it comes to influence? The criticism would be more understandable if Ilyumzhinov avoided meeting political figures himself, but take, for instance, his trip to Vietnam (a “working visit”, meaning it could be reported on Fide.com as well as the campaign website):

“At the airport Thang Shon Niat he was met by the President of the country Nguyen Minh Triet, the Secretary of the City Council Le Thanh Hai and the Mayor of Ho Chi Minh Le Hoang Quan as well as high officials of the President’s Administration and Foreign Ministry.”

But maybe, at least, they just talked chess? No, as Susan Polgar’s blog quotes:

“Vietnam wants to boost cooperation with Kalmyk, said President Nguyen Minh Triet […] President Ilyumzhinov proposed cooperating with Vietnam in rice production for sales in Russia and republic countries of the former Soviet Union.”

But maybe Latin America’s different? Again, no. The Ilyumzhinov campaign made a big point of the fact that on his visit to Peru, Ilyumzhinov wasn’t alone. As FIDE Continental President Jorge Vega writes:

“The Chief of Commercial Affairs of Russia in Peru was accompanying us all the time, which also dispelled any ideas of Russian support to GM Karpov.”

Surely that should be “Russian Chess Federation support”, or is this “direct interference of state bodies into the matters of National Federations”? The point is not that Ilyumzhinov’s campaign has been any more ruthless than Karpov’s – they’ve both long since taken off their kid gloves – but that the criticisms are a clear case of the pot calling the kettle black.

So where does that leave us for the upcoming election? The short answer is: it’s anyone’s guess! Will the Court of Arbitration for Sport reject the Ilyumzhinov team’s nominations when it hears the lawsuit on September 15 and 16? Or will Ilyumzhinov in turn try to disqualify Karpov for not being nominated by his home federation? If, finally, the election does take place, will Ilyumzhinov win easily with the support he boasts of over 90 countries (most recently including China), or will that number turn out to be a “fantasy” (as the Karpov team claim).

In just 23 days, deo volente, we’ll know.

In the afternoon the first round started with a number of surprises. In the men's tournament, the six top seeds only scored fifty percent. On board one the heavy favourite Wang Yue (China) won convincingly with the Black pieces, but on board two the silver medallist of 2008, Igor Lysyj (Russia), fared less well.

Confirmed players include GM Alex Lenderman, GM Bator Sambuev, IM Jean Hebert, WIM Yuan Yuanling, as well as many strong Canadian masters. The prize fund has also been increased by $1,000 this year to $6,000, and Goddesschess is again sponsoring additional prizes in the sections for the top female finishers in addition to providing other sponsorship.

Poker and Backgammon both have a big element of chance so chess is the big obstacle for almost everyone. In fact only a very strong grandmaster can have positive expected value in this bet. So who will it be? Grischuk, Nybäck, Svidler, Nakamura, Bacrot or maybe even Carlsen are obvious candidates.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov: we shall not allow any direct interference of state bodies into the matters of National Federations. We shall not allow destruction of our united chess world and we leave a right for ourselves for any appropriate actions.

Alexei Shirov won his second game in a row today in Shanghai. He beat Vladimir Kramnik to reach sole first place in the standings. Aronian and Wang Hao drew. Round 4 video now up.

Tournament info

The first part of the 2010 Grand Slam Masters Final takes place 3-8 September in Shanghai, China. Rounds 1-3 are played at the Spanish Pavillion of the World Expo. Aronian, Kramnik, Shirov and Wang Hao play for two qualification spots for part II.

The second part, where Anand and Carlsen are seeded players, will be held October 9-15 in Bilbao, Spain. Both tournaments are 4-player double round-robins. ChessVibes will produce videos at both tournaments.

Like at the first two editions the rate of play is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and then 60 minutes to finish the game, with 10 extra seconds per move from move number 41.

This Masters Final will also use again both the “Sofia Rule” and the “football” scoring system: players will get 3 points for winning a game, 1 point for drawing and 0 points for losing. Games start 14.30 local time which is 08.30 CET.

Games round 4

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Round 4 report

Things would have been much different if yesterday Alexei Shirov hadn’t survived his lost position against Wang Hao and Vladimir Kramnik would have won that easily winning position against Levon Aronian. Instead, Shirov is now the sole leader after winning his second game in a row today against Kramnik, who needs to win with Black (!) tomorrow to keep chances of reaching the second stage in Bilbao.

Today the tournament moved to the Lu Bo Lang house at the Yuyuan Gardens, in the center of the beautiful Old City.

The playing hall is at the third floor of the building, which has been completely renovated inside, but has kept its four hundred years of history intact. Two beautiful Chinese ladies in silk white dresses are waiting and opening doors (or pressing elevator buttons) all day long. Bill Clinton has been there too, we heard. It didn’t surprise us.

Wang Hao was very solid today and drew with Aronian, who expected to have some advantage when the Chinese allowed him to play a4-a5. Anatoly Karpov, who is currently running for FIDE President, played 15…a5 last year against Ghaem Maghami but Wang Hao’s 15…Rd8 wasn’t too bad either. Both players thought that 18.e3 was too slow and 18.Nd2(-c4-b6) should have been played immediately.

Alexei Shirov played a line he had on his repertoire about two decades ago: 4.f3 against the Nimzo. However, after 6…0-0 he was on his own and there he considered 7.e5 “the most principled move”. The computer likes White for most of the game, and perhaps Shirov too, but he was modest enough to call it a “fairly balanced game”. At the very end Kramnik still had drawing chances with 37…d2, but he blundered big material in big time trouble. Are we really sure we like this time control?

Don’t miss this round’s video, which will be up quicker than normal. It starts with images of the Yuyuan Garden and somewhere in the middle there’s the Shirov-Kramnik time scramble.

Videos

Grand Slam Masters Final 2010 (Shanghai) | Schedule & results

Grand Slam Masters Final 2010 (Shanghai) | Round 4 Standings (Football System)

Grand Slam Masters Final 2010 (Shanghai) | Round 4 Standings (Classical System)

Links

• Official website
• Live games
• Games in PGN via TWIC

© 2010, José Diaz

Links

• Interview with José Diaz
• José Diaz Official Website

Currently top seeded player is Eduardo Iturrizaga (2609), 20-years old Grandmaster heading from Venezuela. This imaginative player with unlimited energy is competing in many tournaments and, of course, also wins many trophies. Earlier this year he edged a very strong opposition to win the prestigious Dubai Open on best tiebreak.

Όρθιος, ο Άλμπερτ Φίνεϊ, παρακολουθεί την παρτίδα σκακιού του μικρού, στην ταινία «A Good Year» του 2006, σε σκηνοθεσία Ρίντλεϊ Σκοτ. Τον κύριο πρωταγωνιστικό ρόλο έχει ο Ράσελ Κρόου. «Περάσαμε καλά στο γύρισμα αυτού του φιλμ και, παρόλο που η κριτική το έθαψε, εγώ πιστεύω ότι είναι καλή ταινία και ότι ο Ράσελ ήταν εξαιρετικός», λέει ο Σκοτ στον Γκάρντιαν. «Είναι ένας από τους καλύτερους και τώρα δουλεύουμε γνωρίζοντας τι πρέπει να κάνουμε χωρίς καν να το συζητάμε. Το φλερτ μας ήταν στον "Μονομάχο". Τώρα έχει τελειώσει, ξέρουμε πια καλά ο ένας τον άλλο».

The big favourite is 23-year-old Wang Yue from China. With an Elo rating of 2716 points he is the first super grandmaster to participate in a World University Championship. He is the highest-rated Chinese player ever and in May occupied place 8 in the overall international ranking. After suffering a few set-backs since then, he will try to win again in Zurich in order to re-establish himself as one of the World’s top ten players. His most dangerous rivals are the Russian Igor Lysyj (Elo 2631) and his compatriot Pavel Ponkratev (Elo 2604).

Just a few days before the start of the 2010 European Club Cup, a unique proposal for the European Club Cup 2012 is coming from Rhodes, Greece. Rhodes is one of most prestigious destinations in Europe. The tournament hotels are offering spacious tournament halls and the highest quality services. Read on for more details.

The third round of the Masters Final in Shanghai saw Alexei Shirov defeating Wang Hao in a game where “many things happened that cannot be expained”, as the winner said afterwards. He now shares the lead with Levon Aronian, who had a narrow escape against Vladimir Kramnik. Round 3 video up.

Tournament info

The first part of the 2010 Grand Slam Masters Final takes place 3-8 September in Shanghai, China. Rounds 1-3 are played at the Spanish Pavillion of the World Expo. Aronian, Kramnik, Shirov and Wang Hao play for two qualification spots for part II.

The second part, where Anand and Carlsen are seeded players, will be held October 9-15 in Bilbao, Spain. Both tournaments are 4-player double round-robins. ChessVibes will produce videos at both tournaments.

Like at the first two editions the rate of play is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and then 60 minutes to finish the game, with 10 extra seconds per move from move number 41.

This Masters Final will also use again both the “Sofia Rule” and the “football” scoring system: players will get 3 points for winning a game, 1 point for drawing and 0 points for losing. Games start 14.30 local time which is 08.30 CET.

Games round 3

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Round 3 report

Today I a chance to stroll around at the Expo, just after the start of the 3rd round. It’s really an amazing thing, a World Expo, which could be described as dozens of beautifully designed small museums packed together at an area of about 5 square kilometer. The designated area is at both sides of the Huangpu River but the one with the countries pavillions is on the Pudong side, so not the part of the city center. Also on this side of the river is Hotel Gran Melia, where everyone is staying, which is about 25 minutes by taxi to the Expo.

Over 190 countries and 50 organizations take part in the exposition which has “Better City – Better Life” as its motto, which signifies Shanghai’s new status in the 21st century as the “next great world city”. It runs from May 1 to October 31, 2010 and 70–80 million visitors are expected to visit. Today was the last time that the Spanish pavillion hosted the tournament.

It was a strange round, in which Kramnik couldn’t win a totally dominating, and in fact easily winning position against Aronian, and Shirov won a lost game. The result of it all is that Aronian and Shirov are leading with 5 points, followed by Kramnik with 3 and Wang Hao with 1. The Chinese deserved better from his bold play, but he can still reach Bilbao if he wins two games in the second part.

After the game Shirov said that he didn’t like Wang Hao’s pawn sac in the opening. He didn’t even mention taking on d7, which does seem far too dangerous for White. After a few inaccuracies White was close to winning, and Shirov intended to go 23.fxg4 and 24.Rxd4, but then “suddenly I committed this lapsus manus, touching the bishop”, he explained.

Because of 27…Bc6 he got back in the game, and just after Wang Hao had liquidated to a theoretically drawn ending, he didn’t use one of the two normal ways to defend and quickly lost anyway. His remarkable explanation was that he was suffering from a headache and wanted to end the game as soon as possible.

Aronian wanted to surprise Kramnik by playing the current main line of the Slav, but soon regretted his choice. Due to “lack of experience” he soon found himself with his back against the wall. At the press conference Kramnik found a relatively easy win analyzing blindfold while Aronian was talking: 30.Qf4! Qe7 31.Nxd7 Rxd7 32.b6! followed by 33.Bb5 and wins. Naturally the Russian was very disappointed.

Videos

Grand Slam Masters Final 2010 (Shanghai) | Schedule & results

Grand Slam Masters Final 2010 (Shanghai) | Round 3 Standings (Football System)

Grand Slam Masters Final 2010 (Shanghai) | Round 3 Standings (Classical System)

Links

• Official website
• Live games
• Games in PGN via TWIC

Every week we present you an endgame study selected by IM Yochanan Afek: player, trainer, endgame study composer and writer. A week later the solution is published. Good luck solving!

D. Gurgenidze
1994

White to play and win

Next week the solution.

Solution last week

J. Fleck & C. Lutz
1999
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After 6 rounds six players are sharing the lead with 5 points - FM Nguyen Duc Hoa VIE 2360, GM Wen Yang CHN 2507, GM Gupta Abhijeet IND 2587, GM Cao Sang VIE 2540, GM Zhou Weiqi CHN 2570 and Wan Yunguo CHN 2453. So far the tournament has been very hard fought with the organisers applying the 30-move rule which restricts players from making short draws.

Σκακιστικά προβλήματα τύπου Μέρεντιθ του Νίκου Περγιάλη, που είναι γνωστός και ως συνθέτης και ερμηνευτής ρεμπέτικων τραγουδιών. Ο Νίκος Περγιάλης έδωσε τα παρακάτω δυο προβλήματα για δημοσίευση στο ιστολόγιό μας με τους εξής συνοδευτικούς στίχους: «Είναι το κάθε πρόβλημα/του πνεύματος παιχνίδι/κάθε Ιδέα ζωγραφιά/κάθε πεσσός στολίδι».

1. Νίκος Περγιάλης, 2009, «διπλή βαλβίδα»

Παίζουν τα λευκά και κάνουν ματ σε 2 κινήσεις (#2)

2. Νίκος Περγιάλης, 2007

Βοηθητικό σε 2 κινήσεις (h#2)
α) διάγραμμα
β) duplex

The 19th Croatian Team Chess Championship - 1A League Men is taking place from 4th to 12th September in Šibenik, on the Adriatic coast. From 2005 Šibenik is regular host for the team events. 10 clubs compete in the round robin tournament.

The Chess Club "Rijeka" organizes the 4th open chess tournament "Mediterranean 2017" from 13 November to 20 November 2010 in the city of Rijeka, located at the North-west part of the Croatian coast of the Adriatic sea. The manifestation is organized for the occasion of the candidacy of the city of Rijeka for organization of the Mediterranean Games in 2017, under the motto "Chess with the scent of the sea".

The tournament is open to all players from the countries belonging to European Union, with wild card for players from Croatia, Fyrom and Turkey, but without the right to the title. Aosta Valley is one of the most famous touristic regions in Italy, very well known for its castles, food and wine.