-- exclusively for Chess Gateway
by John Lee Shaw --
M-Tel Masters 2008
The 2008 M-Tel Masters will take place May 7th-18th, in Sofia,
Bulgaria. It sees the following line-up: Veselin Topalov, BGR,
2767; Levon Aronian, ARM, 2763; Teymour Radjabov, AZE, 2751; Vassily
Ivanchuk, UKR, 2740; Bu Xiangzhi, CHN, 2708; Ivan Cheparinov, BGR,
2695. Format is double round robin, with 90 minutes for 40 moves, with
1 hour for the rest of the game thereafter. Players are not allowed to
agree draws.
Round 5: Vassily
Ivanchuk makes it a clean sweep of the first half of the tournament by
beating Leveon Aronian withthe black pieces and so leads the tournament
with 5/5 a point and a half ahead of Veselin Topalov who also won in
round 5, besting Bu Xiangzhi for whom the rest day probably didn't come
soon enough. Topalov 1-0 Bu Xiangzhi; Aronian 0-1 Ivanchuk;
Cheparinov ½-½ Radjabov.
Standing
s: 1. Ivanchuk -- 4.0; 2. Topalov -- 2.5; 3. Cheparinov -- 1.5;
4. Radjabov -- 1.5; 5. Aronian -- 1.5; 6. Bu Xiangzhi -- 1.0.
Tuesday 13th May is a rest day, no games. Round 6, Wednesday 14th May:
Topalov vs Aronian; Bu Xiangzhi vs Cheparinov; Ivanchuk vs Radjabov.
Tournament Website
Cez Chess Trophy 2008: Kramnik vs Navara
The
Cez Chess Trophy is being held in the Czech Republic May 14th-18th. It
will be an 8-game rapid match (2 games per day, rest day Friday)
between former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, and the Czech
Republic's #1 player, David Navara. The event is being organised by the
Prague Chess Society, as part of the Prague Chess Festival.
Event Website
President's Cup 2008
The
2008 Baku Chess Festival is being held in Azerbaijan, May 9th-21st.
Part of the festival is the 2008 President's Cup. This is a 9-round
swiss, time control is g/90 +30s per move. Among the competitors this
year are: Alexander Beliavsky, Antoaneta Stefanova, Nigel Short, Baadur
Jobava, and living legend Viktor Korchnoi. Top seeds are Vadim Milov
and Ivan Sokolov, each with 2690.
After 2 rounds there is an absolute bucketful of players on 2/2, most
of the top seeds are in there, Short being just behind on 1.5/2.
Event Website
Sigeman & Co. Chess Tournament: Hillarp-Persson Wins ...
The Sigeman & Co. Chess Tournament takes place in Malmo, Sweden,
April 22nd-30th. The event is a 9-round Swiss. Competing this year are:
GM Daniel Stellwagen (2621); GM Vasilios Kotronias (2611); GM Evgeny
Agrest (2567); GM Jan Timman (2565); GM Lars Bo Hansen (2563); GM
Kjetil Lie (2558); GM Lajos Portisch (2523); GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson
(2491); GM Ralf Akesson (2466); Axel Smith (2428).
The
event has been won by Sweden's Tiger Hillarp-Persson, with 7.5/9.
Daniel Stellwagen finished in second place, with 6.5/9, drawing with
Hillarp Persson in the final round -- a win would have given him a tie
for first. Third was Denmark's Lars Bo Hansen with 6/9.
Final Standing
s: Hillarp-Persson -- 7.5;
Stellwagen -- 7: Hansen -- 6; Timman, Akesson -- 5; Agrest -- 4.5; Lie, Kotronias -- 3; Smith -- 2.5; Portisch -- 2.
more information on this event in 'Around the Board in 7 Days' #18 ...
Tournament Website
Topalov Wins Dos Hermanas Tournament
The 14th Dos Hermanas Tournament took place 18-20 April, in Spain.
Veselin Topalov, Alexey Shirov, Judit Polgar, and Francisco Vallejo
competed. The event consisted of 4-game matches, with g/20 + 10/s time
control. In the semi-finals, Francisco Vallejo defeated Alexey Shirov
3-1, and Veselin Topalov also went through comfortably against Judit
Polgar. In the final, Topalov struck early by winning the first game,
and Vallejo could not strike back as the other games were drawn.
Topalov took the tournament 2.5-1.5.
Tournament Website
European Individual Chess Championships
The European Individual Chess Championships were held April 20th to
May 4th, in Poldiva, Bulgaria. The tournament (with both men and
women's events) was an 11-round swiss. Sergey Movsesian (winner of Corus
B this year) tops the men's event, with Pia Cramling top seed for the
women. 23 players from the Men's section and 13 players from the Women's section qualify for the next World Cup.
The
Men's event has been won by Dutch Grandmaster, Sergey Tiviakov, with
8.5/11. Going in to the final round, 8 players were tied on 7.5 points,
but there were quite early draws on the other top boards, which turned
all eyes to Tiviakov's game with Emil Sutovsky. Tiviakov, playing
white, brought out his c3-sicilian, and took the victory which awarded
him sole first place. Tie-breaks were needed for silver and bronze
medals, and the final was between Sergey Movsesian and Sergey Volkov.
It was won by Movsesian, who takes the silver, with Volkov getting
bronze.
Final Top
Standing
s (Men):
1. GM Sergey Tiviakov -- 8.5; 2. GM Sergey Volkov -- 8.0; 3. GM Pavel
Tregubov -- 8.0; 4. GM Sergey Movsesian -- 8.0; 5. GM Erwin l'Ami --
8.0; 6. GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave -- 8.0; 7. GM Boris Grachev -- 8.0;
8. GM Vladimir Baklan -- 8.0; 9. GM Yuri Kryvoruchko -- 8.0; 10. GM
Tomi Nyback -- 8.0.
Katerina Lahno had led the Women's section going in to the final round,
and thanks to a draw over Anna Ushenina, there she remained at the end
of it. Elsewhere, Antoaneta Stefanova defeated Eva Moser after having
had a bit of an off period, and Viktoria Cmilyte bested Pia Cramling.
Tie-breaks took place to decide silver and bronze medals. Viktoria
Cmilyte beat Anna Ushenina 2-1 in the final to take silver, Ushenina is
awarded the bronze medal.
Final Top
Standing
s (Women):
1. GM Katerina Lahno -- 8.5; 2. IM Anna Ushenina -- 8.0; 3. WGM Natalia
Zhukova -- 8.0; 4. IM Viktoria Cmilyte -- 8.0; 5. Lilit Mkrtchian --
8.0; 6. IM Almira Skripchenko -- 8.0; 7. IM Yelena Dembo -- 8.0; 8. GM
Pia Cramling -- 7.5; 9. WGM Natalia Pogonina -- 7.5; 10. IM Anna
Muzychuk -- 7.5.
more information on this event in 'Around the Board in 7 Days' #18 ...
Tournament Website
FIDE Grand Prix
The FIDE Grand Prix took place April 20th to May 6th, in Baku,
Azerbaijan. Players for the event were: Magnus Carlsen, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Teymour
Radjabov, Sergey Karjakin, Michael Adams, Gata Kamsky, Alexander
Grischuk. Etienne Bacrot, Ivan Cheparinov, Wang Yue, Ernesto Inarkiev,
Vugar Gashimov, David Navara.
The
event saw a 3-way-tie for first place between top seed, Magnus Carlsen,
Wang Yue of China, and home GM Vugar Gashimov. They finished on 8
points from the 13 rounds.
Final Standing
s:
Gashimov, Wang Yue, Carlsen -- 8.0; Mamedyarov, Grischuk -- 7.5; Adams,
Svidler -- 6.5; Radjabov, Kamsky, Karjakin -- 6.0; Cheparinov, Navara
-- 5.5; Bacrot, Inarkiev -- 5.0.
more information on this event in 'Around the Board in 7 Days' #18 ...
Tournament Website or here (may or may not work, coverage also from ChessPro, TWIC, and ChessVibes I also wish to draw your attention to Henrik Carlsen's blogs from Baku. They are generally very informative, and a great insight in to Magnus' tournament!)
Gausdal Classics 2008
The Gausdal Classics were held in Gausdal, Norway, 8-16 April. The main
event was a ten-player round-robin, with GM Vasilios Kotronias of
Greece as the top seed. The event has been won, however, by American GM
Gregory Kaidanov with 7/9. 2nd was India's Geetha Narayanan Gopal a
point behind with 6 points, and Kotronias came in third with 5.5.
Final Standing
s:
Kaidanov -- 7; Gopal -- 6; Kotronias -- 5.5; Sandipan,
Macieja, Ikonnikov -- 5; Lie -- 4.5; Krush -- 3.5; Hole -- 2.5;
Moscow -- 1.
Tournament Website
Dubai Open 2008
The Dubai Open took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 5-15.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the event saw 131 players compete,
from 25 different countries. 29 grandmasters showed for the event, with
Gadir Guseinov top seed. The event was won by Wesley So of the
Philippines, with 7/9. Wesley tied with Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia,
China's Li Chao, and Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran, but had a higher
average opponent rating, and so was awarded the victory.
The event was hugely contested, with a total of 23 players earning
between 6 and 7 points, top seed Guseinov, Ahmed Adly, and Parimarjan
Negi among them. My compliments on this factor, and also to the
organisers for the information available via their website throughout
the tournament.
Final Standing
s:
So, Gagunashvili, Ghaem Maghami, Chao -- 7; Abhijeet, Drozdoskiy,
Laxman, Neverov, Aruntinian, Ibrahimov, Guseinov, Guliev -- 6.5; Saleh,
Kuzubov, Kotanjian, Adly, Ibrayev, Sachdev, Wu, Zhou, Ashwin, Negi,
Guliev -- 6.
Tournament Website
II Ruy Lopez Masters: Adams Wins
The second Ruy Lopez Chess Festival took place April 4th-13th. It was
held in Merida, Spain. Michael Adams won the main event, an all play
all between 8 players, which also saw Gabriel Sargissian and Fabiano
Caruana among its participants. Adams' final round draw against
Sargissian was enough to secure the win by a half point ove Zhang
Pengxiang.
Final Standings: Adams -- 5.5; Zhang Pengxiang -- 5.0;
Sargissian, Koneru -- 4.5; Caruana -- 2.5; Granda Zuniga, Hou Yifan,
Perez Candelario -- 2.
Tournament Website
Kramnik DGT Simul vs Sebag and Werle
On April 2nd, former World Chess Champion, Vladimir Kramnik, played a
clock simul against IM Marie Sebag and GM Jan Werle. The event took
place in Enschede, Holland, the location of the new HQ of DGT Projects,
and was to exhibit their new FOIDOS broadcasting software. FOIDOS not
only broadcasts games, but also live images of the players, as well as
commentary.
Kramnik won both games (not surprising really) a 49-mover against
Sebag, and 38 against Werle. Arbiter was Guert Gijssen, GM Yasser
Seirawan commentated.
More from the DGT Website
Russian Team Championships: Ural Victorious ...
The Russian Team Championships were held in Sochi, Russia, between
April 1st and 14th. The event was contested between 12
teams, and featured Svidler, Morozevich, Gelfand, Karpov, Mamedyarov,
Korchnoi, to name just a few big names.
Round 11:
Ural managed to draw their final round match against Finek to put them
safely victorious for the tournament. Their final score, an impressive
17 match points and 39.5 combined points. Second in line were
Economist-1, who also won their final round match, against
Spasio-Swiss. They finished on 15 match points and 37.0 combined.
Bringing up 3rd place were Finek, who finished with 15 match points and
35.5 combined.
Final Standing
s:
Ural
-- 17 (39.5); Economist-1 -- 15 (37.0); Finek -- 15 (35.5); TPS --
14
(37.0); Spasio -- 12 (34.5); Shatar -- 12 (34.0); 64 -- 11 (32.0); SHSM
-- 10 (33.5); Tomsk-400 -- 10 (31.0); Polytechnic -- 9
(31.0); South Ural -- 5 (27.5); Economist-2 -- 3 (23.5).
Chess Gateway Info (updated)
April Ratings: Anand Alone At The Top ...
The April ratings lists have been published by FIDE. The
second ratings update of the year sees World Champion, Vishy Anand now
occupying the number 1 spot alone, being the only player above 2800.
Anand's new rating is 2803, a full 15 points higher than Vladimir
Kramnik, who is bumped in to second place with 2788. The new #3 is
Alexander Morozevich, who has notched up 2744 points from his 11 games
since the last list was published. Former World Champion, Veselin
Topalov is number 4, with 2767 points, and Magnus Carlsen has rocketted
up the list to number 5 in the world, with 2765.
Full Top
10:
1. Anand -- 2803; 2. Kramnik -- 2788; 3. Morozevich -- 2744; 4.
Topalov -- 2767; 5. Carlsen -- 2765; 6. Aronian -- 2763; 7. Mamedyarov
-- 2752; 8. Radjabov -- 2751; 9. Svidler -- 2746; 10. Leko -- 2741.
Judit Polgar is still at the top in the Women's ratings, and FIDE have
now corrected the overall list and included her at number 21 (she
wasn't in it at all when it was first published). Judit is still
hotly pursued by Koneru Humpy, with 2603, but she in turn has to
watch out for the hugely impressive Yifan Hou, who is only just over 50
points behind her, with a 3rd place 2549. Sweden's Pia Cramling takes
the 4th slot, with 2539, and former Women's World Champion Antoaneta
Stefanova is 5th with 2538.
Full Women's Top
10: 1.
Polgar -- 2709; 2. Humpy -- 2603; 3. Hou -- 2549; 4. Cramling -- 2539;
5. Stefanova -- 2538; 6. Zhao -- 2523; 7. Kosteniuk
-- 2523; 8. Sebag -- 2521; 9. Zhu -- 2521; 10. Socko -- 2505.
More from FIDE
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