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9th Women's World Chess Champion Initiative: Zhu Chen Chess Academy Founation Laid in China

July 20, 2013, 9:50 am
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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone, 

Fide President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov participated in a ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the Zhu Chen Chess Academy in Lucheng of Wenzhou, China on July 17. This is the first chess academy set up by an individual in China. The 9th Women's World Chess Champion Zhu Chen - married to one of Qatar's strongest Grandmasters, Mohammad Al-Modiahki, has come up with this special project. The formal part of the ceremony was held in the premises of a primary school. Special guests also included Chinese Grandmasters Ye Jiangchuan and Xie Jun who also put up a simul show with 50 boards. (Fide report)

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World Chess Day July 20: Fide President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov Interview in The Voice of Russia

July 22, 2013, 8:14 am
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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone, 

Fischer facing Boris Spassky, Chess Olympiad, Havana, 1966. Photo credit: © RIA Novosti, Paporov

A few minutes with the President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE): July 20th, is the 89th anniversary of the founding of FIDE, the International Chess Federation, in honour of whichThe Voice of Russia posed a few questions to its president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.


DK: Let’s begin with what we might call a demographic question. It seems to me that elite chess players have been getting a lot younger over the last half century. Is that just my imagination, or have you noticed the same?

Ilyumzhinov: Well, yes, chess has gotten younger, because of technology, meaning computers and the internet. Whereas formerly you needed to have a sizeable chess library to properly analyze top-level games, nowadays all you need is a computer. It is no accident, therefore, that the age of players has been dropping, akin to what we saw in gymnastics a while back, for instance. Elite players can be very young, age 15 to 20. For example, a few years ago 16 year-old Hu Yifan of China became women’s world champion, and in London just a few months ago 22 year-old Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the right to play a match for the world title. Young elite Grandmasters like Sergei Kariakin and Ian Nepomniashchii, among others, are only about 20, and you can’t compare 40-50 year old players with them. Chess has indeed gotten a lot younger, both women’s and men’s chess.

DK: Chess fans are much better acquainted with world champions than they are with players who haven’t achieved that level of glory, and I assume that when growing up as a chess enthusiast you were similar. It would be interesting to hear who was the first world champion with whom you were able to meet and have a real conversation. And what you may remember of that meeting.

Ilyumzhinov: The first world champion I met was Mikhail Tal, from Riga. He became champion very young, when he was not yet 25 {he was 23 –D.K.}. The two of us met in Kalmykia, of course. I’ve met Vassily Smyslov, Boris Spassky, and others, including Garry Kasparov, and Anatoly Karpov. But more than any of them, I remember meeting Bobby James Fischer, or Robert Fischer. I got acquainted with him in Budapest, in December 1995, and I played four games against him. I consider Fischer a chess genius. His games are all very interesting, and he is a genuine gold standard of chess for many, for several generations of chess players.

DK: Of all your predecessors as President of FIDE, who was the most senior one to give you advice, and do remember much about that advice?

Ilyumzhinov: Well, let me say that FIDE exists since 1924, so we’ll be celebrating its 90th anniversary next year. We have had six presidents, I being the sixth. I had a close relationship since 1994, before I became FIDE president, with President Florencio Campomanes, from the Phillipines. At that point he had already been atop FIDE for 12 years. We had met briefly in Moscow once, but then I spent time with him in Manila in 1994, and I couldn’t help but see how this man devoted his life so fully to chess, to propagating chess. When Campomanes was president, chess was still not very popular in Africa and in many countries in Asia. He went to those countries himself; he opened chess clubs and chess schools. His motto was “Chess for me is not just a game. It’s not just a hobby. It is all of my life.” He lived by chess, and perhaps you could say he died with it.

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China-USA Chess Match 2013 Begins in Ningbo

July 22, 2013, 8:08 am
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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone, 



The China – USA Match 2013 is taking place in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China on 19th-27th July 2013. This is the first match since the last edition played in 2001. The next match will be held in 2014 in New York. Five members teams will battle in both men’s and women’s categories. Full list of participants below.

The event is divided in two parts. First, the teams will face each other with a classical time control during 5 rounds with the Schveningen system. The time control is 90 minutes for the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. This part will be held on 19th-23rd July.

The rapid section of the event is a double round-robin (10 rounds) with the same system. The time control will be 25 minutes with 10 seconds increments per move. This section will run on 25th-27th July. Wednesday July 24th will be the rest day. (www.chessdom.com)

Players:
China men: GM Wang Yue 2705; GM Zhou Weiqi 2616; GM Wen Yang 2593; GM Xiu Deshun 2556; GM Lu Shanglei 2536.
USA men: GM Ray Robson 2628, GM Samuel L Shankland 2599, GM Gregory S Kaidanov 2577, GM Aleksandr Lenderman 2548, GM Yury Shulman 2542,

China women: WGM Ju Wenjun 2531; WGM Tan Zhongyi 2478; WGM Guo Qi 2443; WGM Ding Yixin 2432; WGM Wang Jue 2399.
USA women: WGM Tatev Abrahamyan 2316, WGM Sabina-Francesca Foisor 2281, C Iryna Zenyuk 2250, F Alisa Melekhina 2216, WM Viktorija Ni 2173.

Official website

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Help WIM Vesna Rozic with Medical Treatment

July 22, 2013, 9:34 am
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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone, 
 

Slovenia's No. 2 women's chess player, after Anna Muzychuk, is in urgent need for financial help for medical treatment. WIM Vesna Rozic (2260) has played in four European Championships and four Chess Olympiads. She has been diagnosed with metastatic peritoneal carcinoma. Vesna's treatment was initiated in Slovenia, where she has already received two cycles of systemic chemotherapy. This is not enough to cure the disease. Costly treatments are required in Germany.

Donations should be addressed to the Regional Association of the Red Cross Maribor, IBAN: SI56 0451 5000 0397 432, Ref: 50751, purpose: Vesna Rožic (Bank details: Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor, Vita Kraigherja 4, 2505 Maribor, BIC/Swift code: KBMASI2XXXX). All funds received will be reserved exclusively for the payment of expenses for Vesna's treatment in Germany. In the event that more funds than necessary will be raised the remaining money will be allocated to the development of young chess players and chess activities of the Slovenia Chess Federation. – Primoz Kokalj, Secretary of the Slovenian Chess Federation.
Also, during the visit of Minister of Sport and Youth Alisa Maric to the “Metropol Palace” hotel at the opening ceremony of the European Women's Chess Championship 2013 in Belgrade, the organising committee has decided to donate funds (Euros 1000) reserved for the traditional party for the participants and organisers the night before the free day. 

Tournament director Ms. Jasna Sakotic, sent a letter of support to Vesna on behalf of the organiser:

Dear Vesna,

When the cancellation of your participation in the European Individual Women’s Chess Championship arrived, we couldn’t possibly imagine how serious the reasons were. However, if there is anything that chess has taught us, it is that we must always struggle. We are confident that you will convincingly win this most important game of your life.

The Organising Committee has decided that the funds reserved for the party on the night before the day-off should be donated for your treatment. Instead of celebrating, we will be with you in our thoughts that night, as well as all the remaining Belgrade nights during the next two weeks.

We believe in you and invite you to play your very next tournament here in Belgrade, and be our dear guest.

Best wishes,
Jasna Sakotic

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European Women's Chess Championship 2013 Begins in Belgrade

July 22, 2013, 9:56 am
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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone, 
 

The European Women's Chess Championship 2013 is running in Belgrade, Serbia from July 22-August 4 with Valentina Gunina of Russia as the defending champion. 

The European Individual Women’s Championship was held for the first time in 2000, in Batumi, Georgia, city famous for many important chess events, as a 32-player knockout event. That year Natalia Zhukova defeated Ekatarina Kovalevskaya in the final with the result 2.5-1.5. Since 2001 the Tournament has had a Swiss system format, and apart from a short switch to a 12-round schedule in 2004-2005, was played with 11-round schedule. Three players won 2 crowns: Pia Cramling (2003 and 2010), Katerina Lahno (2005 and 2008) and Tatiana Kosintseva (2007 and 2009), and all three confirmed arrival in Belgrade.

The list of European Women’s Chess Champions is as follows:

2000: Natalia Zhukova (Ukraine)
2001: Almira Skirpchenko (Moldova)
2002: Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria)
2003: Pia Cramling (Sweden)
2004: Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia)
2005: Katheryna Lahno (Ukraine)
2006: Ekatarina Atalik (Turkey)
2007: Tatiana Kositnseva (Russia)
2008: Katheryna Lahno (Ukraine)
2009: Tatiana Kositnseva (Russia)
2010: Pia Cramling (Sweden)
2011: Viktorija Cmilyte (Lithuania)
2012: Valentina Gunina (Russia)

Stay tuned for updates via the official website.

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Canada Chess Open 2013: Nigel Shot Wins Title on Tiebreak over Eric Hansen

July 23, 2013, 9:50 am
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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone,

The Canadian Chess Open 2013 took place 13-20th July at the National Hotel and Suites Ottawa in Ottawa, ON. The tournament saw a very intense fight for first place with strong players such as Nigel Short, Lazaro Bruzon and Ivan Sokolov aiming to get a big payout. These strong GMs were joined by young and ambitious Canadian players, such as GM Eric Hansen and IM Aman Hambleton.

Former world chess championship challenger Nigel Short showed his class and finished the event with six wins and three draws, but he had to wait for the organizers to calculate the tiebreak scores to get the winner’s title, as GM Eric Hansen achieved the same score. Both players received the same money prize, $4.000.

Five players shared 3rd-7th place after getting 7 points: Lazaro Bruzon, Ivan Sokolov, Aman Hambleton, Edward Porper and Arthur Calugar. Full standings below.

Nigel Short – Eric Hansen

Chessdom talked with Eric Hansen, who expressed satisfaction with his performance at this event:
The tournament took place in our capital, a quiet city. Because there were not many distractions, I was pretty focused on my tournament games. I managed to play solid and take advantage of my opponents’ mistakes for most of my victories. This is my last tournament in Canada before moving to Spain so It’s nice to leave on a good performance. Now, I will focus all my attention to preparation for the World Cup.
Aman Hambleton, who is a member of the Master Team that plays regularly at Chessdom Arena, was part of the organizing team, but this did not prevent him from getting a really good score at the tournament:
I was a part of the organizing team for the tournament, my job being the Elite Player Coordinator in charge of the foreign invitations, VISA’s, conditions, etc.
I thought the tournament was a great international look for Canada, with some near-2700 level participants (Nigel Short, Lazaro Bruzon, Ivan Sokolov).
Also, most of Canada’s young players (FMs, IMs) played the tournament so it was a nice chance for them to play with some different competition for a change :)
I found the tournament to have a nice schedule, very relaxing one game/day for the most part and it allowed time for most players to visit the many tourist sites in Ottawa, especially Parliament Hill. For me, it’s not an issue since I am living in Ottawa!
GM norms were possible, but unfortunately the GM’s in the tournament were not doing so well so even though I had 5.5/7 I only played an FM in round 8. I was close to making a GM norm, with performance near 2600 and 7/9 but I had only played 2 GM’s.
For a big Open of 200 participants, I think the Organization did a good job keeping the spectators up to date with pairings, as well as a very detailed Multimedia page with postmortem videos and pictures from the rounds.
Bruzon, Sokolov and Hambleton are among the players that traveled straight to Quebec to participate in the Quebec Open Chess Championship 2013. (www.chessdom.com)

Official website

Final Standings:
1 GM Nigel Short(title on TB) 2697 7.5
2 GM Eric Hansen 2587 7.5
3 GM Ivan Sokolov 2642 7.0
4 GM Lazaro Bruzon Batista 2758 7.0
5 IM Aman Hambleton 2580 7.0
6 IM Edward Porper 2494 7.0
7 IM Arthur Calugar 2418 7.0
8 GM Elshan Moradiabadi 2557 6.5
9 IM Artiom Samsonkin 2557 6.5
10 GM Bator Sambuev 2688 6.5
11 IM Raja Panjwani 2517 6.5
12 IM Richard Wang 2484 6.5
13 GM Ioan Cristian Chirila 2519 6.5
14 IM Rodney Oscar Perez Garcia 2464 6.5
15 FM Roman Sapozhnikov 2396 6.5
16 GM Luis Manuel Perez Rodriguez 2480 6.5
17 IM Keaton Kiewra 2423 6.5
18 GM Eduardas Rozentalis 2601 6.0
19 GM Eugene Perelshteyn 2571 6.0
20 IM Leonid Gerzhoy 2571 6.0
21 GM Reynaldo Vera 2514 6.0
22 FM Kevel Oliva Castaneda 2399 6.0
23 GM Walter Arencibia 2610 6.0
24 IM Bindi Cheng 2516 6.0
25 FM Michael Dougherty 2290 6.0
26 Michael Song 2390 6.0
27 Evgeny Miller 2234 6.0
28 FM Victor Plotkin 2394 6.0
29 Alex Yam 2367 6.0
30 Kevin Pacey 2223 6.0
31 Stijn De Kerpel 2157 6.0
32 Agastya Kalra 2130 6.0
33 FM Jason Cao 2239 5.5
34 FM Michael Kleinman 2367 5.5
35 FM Eric Rodriguez 2318 5.5
36 IM Leon Piasetski 2392 5.5
37 Digeng Du 2009 5.5
38 Geordie Derraugh 2297 5.5
39 Mike Ivanov 2252 5.5
40 James Fu 2257 5.5
41 Steve Demmery 2110 5.5
42 Jonathan Yu 2224 5.5
43 William G Doubleday 2166 5.5
44 Ramon J Cova 2077 5.5
45 Qiyu Zhou 2160 5.5
46 Dmitry Chernik 1918 5.5
47 James Chan 2184 5.5
48 Saeid Sadeghi 1978 5.5
49 Martial Larochelle 2232 5.5
50 Yevgeni Nahutin 2044 5.5
51 WC Alexandra Botez 2204 5.0
52 Armando Valdizon 2219 5.0
53 Miladin Djerkovic 2287 5.0
54 Mate Marinkovic 2231 5.0
55 Kevin Wan 2148 5.0
56 Tanraj S Sohal 2263 5.0
57 Jason Kenney 2159 5.0
58 Vasil Khachidze 2359 5.0
59 David Itkin 2151 5.0
60 Ruining Ray Wu 2117 5.0
61 Butch Villavieja 2275 5.0
62 Mark Plotkin 2223 5.0
63 Adam Dorrance 2185 5.0
64 Paul Leblanc 1839 5.0
65 Diwen Shi 2030 5.0
66 Ismail Ibrahim 2057 5.0
67 John Doknjas 2065 5.0
68 Zachary Burrows 2031 5.0
69 FM Robert Hamilton 2374 5.0
70 Amos Kuttner 1946 5.0
71 Max Gedajlovic 1875 5.0
72 Danail Donev 2023 5.0
73 Joey Zhong 2033 5.0
74 Jeremy Hui 1976 5.0
75 James Currie 1999 5.0
76 Mateusz Dydak 1975 5.0
77 Gordon Giacomin 1951 5.0
78 Adam Adriaanse 1924 5.0
79 David Cohen 1866 5.0
80 Jeff Babb 2211 4.5
81 David Petty 2161 4.5
82 Yuetong Davy Zhao 1873 4.5
83 CM David Gordon 2319 4.5
84 Francesco Dunne 2066 4.5
85 Daniel Van Heirzeele 2088 4.5
86 Chris Felix 1993 4.5
87 Stephan Tonakanian 2071 4.5
88 Wenlu Yu 2032 4.5
89 Mike Sun 2080 4.5
90 Vitaliy Matytsyn unr. 4.5
91 Vladimir Drkulec 1988 4.5
92 Nathan Farrant-Diaz 1748 4.5
93 Alex Y Lin 1809 4.5
94 David Forget 1921 4.5
95 Joshua Doknjas 1848 4.5
96 Benjamin Blium 1927 4.5
97 Guy Piche 1745 4.5
98 Brendon Lee 1870 4.5
99 Matthew Morabito 1799 4.5
100 Brian McKay 1860 4.0
101 Rod Hill 1959 4.0
102 Roger Lebrun 1914 4.0
103 Gilles Jobin 1942 4.0
104 Simon Kuttner 1877 4.0
105 Victor Itkin 1707 4.0
106 Gordon Ritchie 1730 4.0
107 Jeffrey Xu 1862 4.0
108 Lali Agbabishvili 2099 4.0
109 Patrick Scantland 1838 4.0
110 Michel Desjardins 1996 4.0
111 Robin Yu 1751 4.0
112 Jaime Solis 1658 4.0
113 Kai Richardson 1626 4.0
114 Wenyang Ming 1851 4.0
115 Michael Su 1770 4.0
116 Ryan Yang 1911 4.0
117 Rinna Yu 1301 4.0
118 Kajan Thanabalachandran 1759 4.0
119 Stanley Wu 1741 4.0
120 Luc Villeneuve 1931 4.0
121 Jill Ding 1585 4.0
122 Luc Gauthier 1740 4.0
123 Edward Selling 1579 4.0
124 Jean Bigras 1762 4.0
125 Doug Gillis 1618 4.0
126 Garland Best 1603 4.0
127 Ian Finlay 1936 3.5
128 David Kenney 1936 3.5
129 Mario Moran-Venegas 1880 3.5
130 Ashley Tapp 1481 3.5
131 Yinshi Li 2081 3.5
132 Mackenzie Hardie 1838 3.5
133 Lenard Grossmann 1614 3.5
134 Thomas Kurian 1640 3.5
135 Jacob Krolczyk 1909 3.5
136 Walter Macneil 1655 3.5
137 Robert Laszlo 1753 3.5
138 Melissa Lee 1534 3.5
139 Grant Schaper 1647 3.5
140 Kyle Creamer 1838 3.5
141 Marcel Laurin 1625 3.5
142 Robert J Armstrong 1590 3.5
143 Steven Faust 1711 3.5
144 Thomas Guo 1608 3.5
145 Alan Tomalty 1764 3.5
146 Clark Zhang 994 3.5
147 Rowan James 1072 3.5
148 Alex Reny 1067 3.5
149 Curtis Barlow Wilkes 1861 3.0
150 Norman Devine 1631 3.0
151 Alex Danilov 1767 3.0
152 Chris White 1757 3.0
153 Maurice Smith 1494 3.0
154 Fernando Echavarria Hidalgo 1679 3.0
155 John Remillard 1633 3.0
156 Kevin Low 1484 3.0
157 Francois Poitras 1687 3.0
158 Samuel Chen 1339 3.0
159 Richard Feng 1364 3.0
160 Aiden Zhou 1136 3.0
161 Konstantin Vlasenko 1660 2.5
162 Miles Duggal 1231 2.5
163 Brian Murray 1459 2.5
164 Conrad Macneil 1598 2.5
165 Ken Douglas unr. 2.5
166 Vilas Karmalkar 1604 2.5
167 Daniel Du 1038 2.5
168 W Thomson Bruce 1528 2.5
169 Annika Zhou 1045 2.5
170 Simon Perkins 1614 2.0
171 Frank Lee 1471 2.0
172 Neil Doknjas 1228 2.0
173 Dee Wu 1188 2.0
174 Jeff Zhang 1500 2.0
175 Ethan Low 1105 2.0
176 Jatinder Dhaliwal 1461 1.5
177 Keven Eyre 1536 1.5
178 Nicholas Short unr. 1.0


From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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New Chess Academy in Tibilisi named after Nona Gaprindashvili

July 24, 2013, 8:09 am
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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone, 
 

On the International Chess day, June 20th, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov arrived to Tbilisi, Georgia, where he participated in the opening of the Tbilisi International Chess Academy named after the 5th Women's World Chess Champion Nona Gaprindashvili. At the opening also present were Deputy Minister of Sports of Georgia Zurab Azmaiparashvili, President of Georgian Chess Federation Giorgi Giorgadze, the 7th World Chess Champion Maia Chiburdanidze and the 5th World Chess Champion Nona Gaprindashvili. (Fide)

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Cool Chess Simul in Kiev Video to Celebrate Chess Day

July 24, 2013, 11:08 am
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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone, 
The world chess grand and junior champions, both of whom hail from Ukraine, were in their country's capital Kiev to play against amateur players on International Chess Day.





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Justus Williams is US Cadets Chess Champion 2013

July 24, 2013, 11:11 am
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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone, 

Justus Williams has come a long from being the soft-spoken boy with the long dreadlock mane. The last five years have been a whirlwind for the 15-year old from the Bronx, New York. He is now a slender, clean-cut, bespeckled high school sophomore at Bronx School of Science and Technology who has already traveled to several countries and has even starred in the documentary “Brooklyn Castle".

Williams draws inspiration from a number of figures including GM Maurice Ashley and Lebron James, both champions with interesting stories. While Justus has not met Lebron James yet, he has rubbed shoulders with celebrities in Hollywood who were inspired by his OWN story! However, Justus seems to be very mellow about all that he has experienced. The determination that boils inside of him is disguised by his demeanor which makes makes him quite an enigmatic figure.

Justus has tasted national fame, but the accolades keep coming. Today, Justus won the U.S. Cadet Championship, a tournament featuring the top eight players under 16 years of age. Amongst the eight master-level players, he showed the most poise in his demeanor and in his play. His triumph occurred after he lost his first-round game to Michael Brown of California. After three consecutive draws, he won his last three games including a win over his friend and fellow scholastic star Josh Colas. Ironically, he would be tied with Brown on 4.5/6 and the two would play a tiebreaker with a college scholarship at stake.

In this finale, Justus was able to apply just enough pressure with black and his opponent ultimately collapsed in a heap. With this victory, he would win a scholarship to the University of Maryland at Baltimore (UMBC) and earn his name on the roll of Cadet champions.

With his photogenic smile and growing resume, he is certain to get more college offers and travel opportunities. However he would also like to see how far he can go in chess. His mother Latisha Ballard-Williams has always had the confidence in what chess could do for her son. She is like many chess parents who realize that chess is more than a leisure activity, but a path for realizing one’s hidden potential. Justus is becoming a case study before our eyes. (Text: Daaim Shabazz/The Chess Drum Photo: Latisha Ballard)

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Balaguer Chess Open Title Goes to Peruvian GM Jorge Cori

July 24, 2013, 11:22 am
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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone,


The 18th Open Internacional D’Escacs Ciutat de Balaguer took place on 15-23rd July at the Casal de Ciudad Lapallavacara in Balaguer, Spain. The tournament was played over nine rounds of Swiss system with 10,000 EUR in prizes. The 18-years old Peruvian rising star GM Jorge Cori emerged clear winner of the tournament after concluding the race with 7,5 points. Cori earned 2100 EUR for the effort. Russian GM Vladimir Burmakin is second with 7,0 points, while the top seed GM Ni Hua of China took the third place on tie-breaks. (Chessdom.com)


Final standings:
1. GM Cori Jorge PER 2543 – 7.5
2. GM Burmakin Vladimir RUS 2559 – 7
3. GM Ni Hua CHN 2661 – 6.5
4. GM Aroshidze Levan GEO 2568 – 6.5
5. IM Naroditsky Daniel USA 2486 – 6.5
6. GM Vila Gazquez Xavier ESP 2461 – 6.5
7. IM Castellanos Rodriguez Renier ESP 2504 – 6.5
8. IM Mellado Trivino Juan AND 2433 – 6.5
9. GM Janev Evgeni BUL 2439 – 6.5
10. IM Kovacevic Slobodan SRB 2332 – 6.5
11. IM Antoli Royo Joaquin Miguel ESP 2413 – 6
12. IM Garza Marco Sergio ESP 2462 – 6
13. GM Haslinger Stewart G ENG 2553 – 5.5
14. WGM Cori T. Deysi PER 2439 – 5.5
15. IM Guerra Mendez Jose Angel CUB 2505 – 5.5
16. WGM Arribas Robaina Maritza CUB 2331 – 5.5
17. GM Campos Moreno Javier B. CHI 2482 – 5.5
18. FM Trepat Herranz Joan ESP 2325 – 5.5
19. IM Baches Garcia Guillermo ESP 2394 – 5.5
20. Teh Eu Wen Aron MAS 2145 – 5.5
21. Juan Bartroli Pau ESP 2173 – 5.5
22. IM Roeder Matthias GER 2408 – 5.5
23. FM Barbero Sendic Alejandro ESP 2345 – 5.5
24. GM Oms Pallisse Josep ESP 2497 – 5.5
25. Cori Quispe Kevin PER 2118 – 5.5
26. FM Coll Ortega Jordi ESP 2307 – 5
27. FM Martinez Lopez Ivan ESP 2282 – 5
28. Rodriguez Melgar Josep M. ESP 2188 – 5
29. Fumas Fontova Eudald ESP 1732 – 5
30. WIM Fandino Reyes Roquelina CUB 2067 – 5
31. Parramon Guillaumet Jaime ESP 1909 – 5
32. Argerich Farras Jose ESP 2098 – 5
33. FM Adel Lahchaichi Oussama ESP 2246 – 5
34. Lazaro Porta Angel ESP 1903 – 5
35. Verdes Nadal Ramon ESP 1970 – 5
36. Llacuna Cufi Salvador ESP 1985 – 5
37. MK Codina Garcia Jose ESP 2141 – 5
38. Sole Pijuan Ferran ESP 1618 – 5
39. Botigue Moles Gerard ESP 0 – 5
40. Aranzana Areste Alberto ESP 2000 – 4.5
41. Moline Escartin Xavier ESP 1768 – 4.5
42. Cardona Alcaide Roberto ESP 1995 – 4.5
43. Fortuny Profitos Jordi ESP 1791 – 4.5
44. Rodon Balcells Jaume ESP 1847 – 4.5
45. Bonet Verdu Marcel ESP 1766 – 4.5
46. Subarroca Blanch Francesc ESP 1844 – 4.5
47. Massot Ribe Jesus ESP 0 – 4
48. Haslinger Gareth J ENG 2088 – 4
49. Gensana Berzunces Joan ESP 1951 – 4
50. Pera Lucas Eugeni ESP 1958 – 4
51. Farre Morell Artur ESP 1769 – 4
52. Arno Bendicho Xenia ESP 1603 – 4
53. Montoliu Daroca Imma ESP 1772 – 4
54. Nieto Badia Pau ESP 1530 – 4
55. Citoler Serrat Adriano ESP 1921 – 4
56. Haslinger J Mike ENG 1806 – 4
57. Solani Nunez Joel ESP 1685 – 4
58. Rodriguez Aranda Kevin ESP 1586 – 4
59. Martinez Pla Xavier ESP 1873 – 3.5
60. Sole Gonzalez Edgar ESP 1539 – 3.5
61. Trepat Trepat Javier ESP 0 – 3.5
62. Subira Navarro Oscar ESP 1709 – 3.5
63. Font Moreno Santi ESP 1551 – 3.5
64. Marti Trilla Aleix ESP 1563 – 3.5
65. Puig Carres Josep ESP 1816 – 3.5
66. IM Gonzalez Rodriguez Jorge A. COL 2356 – 3
67. Villa jimenez Carmelo ESP 1977 – 3
68. Hidalgo Garcia Andres ESP 1491 – 3
69. Fabrega Ramon Sergi ESP 1770 – 3
70. Vladimirov Savov Tsanco ESP 1699 – 3
71. Barbosa Martinez Marcel ESP 1684 – 3
72. Cucurull Llovera Guillem ESP 1486 – 3
73. Masague Artero Guerau ESP 0 – 3
74. Cots Valls Jordi ESP 0 – 3
75. Juan Bartroli Marc ESP 0 – 3
76. Sanchez Sanchez Marcelo ESP 1623 – 2.5
77. Cabestany Serra Xavier ESP 1704 – 2.5
78. Rius Roca Francisco ESP 1460 – 2.5
79. Escur Hereu Joaquim ESP 1620 – 2.5
80. Valera Munoz Alexis ESP 1384 – 2.5
81. Sole Castane Jaume ESP 1681 – 2
82. Villaro Cos Jordi ESP 0 – 2
83. Lopez Luna Oscar ESP 0 – 2
84. Berge Sole Jose M. ESP 0 – 1
85. Ivanov Markov Dimitri ESP 0 – 0.5


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Vladimir Dvorkovich Memorial Chess Begins in Russia with GM Ivan Popov as Top Seed

July 24, 2013, 11:26 am
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Hi everyone, 


The 8th traditional chess tournament Vladimir Dvorkovich Memorial is taking place from July 22-30 in Taganrog, Russia. The tournament will be played over nine rounds of Swiss system with the classical time control. The prize fund of 9300 USD is provided by the Rostov Oblast Chess Federation and city of Taganrog. Top rated players are Grandmasters Popov Ivan 2632, Kryakvin Dmitry 2584, Belous Vladimir 2551 and Andreev Eduard 2501.
Tournament website


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China-USA Chess Match 2013: Chinese Lead after Classical Stage

July 25, 2013, 6:54 am
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Hi everyone, 


The China – USA Match 2013 is taking place in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China on 19th-27th July 2013. This is the first match since the last edition played in 2001. The next match will be held in 2014 in New York. (Right: GM Ray Robson playing for the US team.)

The Chinese men are leading 14.5 – 10.5 after completion of the Classical stage. First seed Wang Yue is having a great tournament, obtaining 4.5/5 points and getting a rating performance of 2879 points.

In the women’s section, the Chinese team is even more dominating, although this is no surprise given the rating differences between both teams. The score after the Classical stage is 16.5 – 8.5. Ju Wenjun was the leader of China with 4/5 and a rating performance of 2486 points.

The rapid section of the event is a double round-robin (10 rounds) with the Schveningen system. The time control will be 25 minutes with 10 seconds increments per move. This section will run on 25th-27th July.

Players:

China men: GM Wang Yue 2705; GM Zhou Weiqi 2616; GM Wen Yang 2593; GM Xiu Deshun 2556; GM Lu Shanglei 2536.
USA men: GM Ray Robson 2628, GM Samuel L Shankland 2599, GM Gregory S Kaidanov 2577, GM Aleksandr Lenderman 2548, GM Yury Shulman 2542 (www.chessdom.com)

China women: WGM Ju Wenjun 2531; WGM Tan Zhongyi 2478; WGM Guo Qi 2443; WGM Ding Yixin 2432; WGM Wang Jue 2399.
USA women: WGM Tatev Abrahamyan 2316, WGM Sabina-Francesca Foisor 2281, C Iryna Zenyuk 2250, F Alisa Melekhina 2216, WM Viktorija Ni 2173.

Official website

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2nd Fano on the Sea & Carnival International Open Tournament from July 29

July 25, 2013, 8:14 am
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Hi everyone, 

The 2nd Fano on the Sea & Carnival International Open Tournament is set to take place from 29th July to 4st August in Fano, Italy, next to the Adriatic Sea. The last-year edition was a complete success with 144 players in the field and overall victory by GM Yuri Solodovnichenko. Hungarian Grandmasters Banusz and Prohaska shared the second place, according to a Chessdo.com update.

The tournament is organized by the Fano Chess Club 1988 and Dario Pedini. The club celebrates 25th anniversary in 2013. The organizing team is already holding the Italian Rapid Championships for the past three years, and this April they gathered 500 players for the third edition!

In the upcoming Festival Mare di Fano the players will be divided in four groups – Open A for those rated above 1900, Open B for the U2000 participants, Open C for U1600 and Juniors U16.

Open A and Open B will be held over 9 rounds of Swiss system; 7 rounds for Open C and U16.
Time control: 90′ x 40 + 30′ + 30” from beginning
Top prize in the Open A is 700 EUR. The total prize fund is 6.000 EUR.

Top players are Ivan Ivanisevic (SRB 2653), Yuri Solodovnichenko (UKR 2570), Tamas Banusz (HUN 2600), Burmakin (RUS 2590), Prohaska (2560 HUN), Drazic (SRB), Stella (ITA), Shytaj (ITA), Caprio (ITA), Karina Ambartsumova (RUS 2300).The playing venue is SportPark Center. Partner Hotel *** Continental, Angela, Cristallo, Delaville and Nettuno, starting from 52 € in FB. Partner Restaurant: Cheffishhouse for a romantic dinner on the sea and yacht club, and LaCoppa for HQ Italian food.

On the final days of Fano Festival there will be a special guest star!
GM Richard Rapport (2693 HUN), World n°1 U18 and 1-ex aequo in U20 World Championship and Wijk Aan Zee B 2013, will come to Fano directly from Biel Chess Festival. He will take part in various exhibitions like simul (3 august), rapid tournament, (4) and lecture (5).

There will be a rich program with additional chess events throughout the week:
- 3 free lessons with International Masters Stella and Shytaj, H 9 AM
- Free piano concert at yacht club Marina dei Cesari, from romantic terrace with sea-view. H 20.30
- Awesome dinner at LaCoppa restaurant under the stars H21
- a blitz tournament and a bowling tournament, H 9.30 PM
- the summer edition of the traditional Fano Carnival, established in 1347!
- 3rd August H 21.30: Simul with Richard Rapport
- 4th August H 15.00: Open Rapid Tournament (1.500€) with Richard Rapport
- 5th August H 10.00: Lecture with Richard Rapport

Official website: www.fano2013.com

Email: scacchifano@yahoo.it
Mobile: +39-335-224916
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Russia Leads World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad in China

July 25, 2013, 8:33 am
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Hi everyone, 

Here's a short news item from China. The World Youth (Under-16) chess olympiad is being held from July 21-30 in Chongqing, China. After 5 rounds, the top seed Russian team has emerged as the sole leader. In the key Round 4 matches, top seed Russia outplayed 4th seed China (1) 3-1; 2nd seed India won against 5th seed Australia (1) with the same score while 3rd seed Hungary was held to a draw by 6th seed USA (2). In Round 5, 7th seed Turkey held the Indians to a draw while the Russians edged the Americans 2.5-1.5.

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Biel Chess Round 4: Alexander Moiseenko, Etienne Bacrot in Lead

July 26, 2013, 8:18 am
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Hi everyone, 

The fourth round of the Breisacher Memorial in Biel was played today. The only decisive result of the day saw Ding Liren defeating co-leader Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with white. The other two games finished with draws. This leaves Alexander Moiseenko and Etienne Bacrot as the leaders, with Ding Liren a point behind (the Bilbao score system is being used). First seed Bacrot saved the draw yesterday against his compatriot Vachier-Lagrave and missed a chance to get sole lead today in his game against Alexander Moiseenko. Meanwhile, Richard Rapport and Ian Nepomniachtchi signed a peaceful draw in an opposite-colored bishops endgame. 

Ding Liren has shown steady progress in the last couple of years. In the very competitive Chinese chess scene, he managed to rise to third place behind Wang Hao and Wang Yue. The 20-year old is now in sole third place behind the leaders. His uncompromising style of play might shoot him right up the ladder or leave him empty-handed. In any case, the chess fans always welcome his presence in these strong events.

Etienne Bacrot

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave used his typical counter-attacking strategy with the black pieces, and faced an even more aggressive opponent. Ding Liren quickly advanced his h-pawn to shake black king’s defensive setup. By move 19, the computer already gave white an advantage of more than two pawns; Ding Liren converted his positional edge into a clear material advantage. The French grandmaster gave up on move 28.


The two leaders battled today. Alexander Moiseenko had the white pieces against Etienne Bacrot. The most experienced players of the lineup are proving that their unorthodox positional styles are good enough to beat the younger generations of active players. Today, a draw kept them both as favorites to fight for first place in the upcoming rounds.

The seemingly calm exchange variation of the Queen’s Gambit turned sharper when Moiseenko sacrificed his h-pawn for activity. Bacrot defended very accurately and went for a counterattack on the kingside. Moiseenko erred on move 29, but his French colleague was not able to find the sharp line suggested by the computer that gave him a clear advantage. Instead, he forced a threefold repetition to split the point after 34 moves.


The first game to finish was Richard Rapport– Ian Nepomniachtchi. The young stars played an interesting line of the Sicilian but proved they were well prepared and ended up simplifying the material rather quickly. They played a clearly equal opposite-colored bishops endgame until finally signing the peace treaty on move 34.

Tomorrow will be another exciting round. Co-leaders Bacrot and Moiseenko will face Richard Rapport and Ding Liren, respectively. (www.chessdom.com)

Standings after 4 rounds:
1 Alexander Moiseenko 2699 UKR 6
Etienne Bacrot 2714 FRA 6
3 Ding Liren 2714 CHN 5
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2719 FRA 5
5 Ian Nepomniachtchi 2717 RUS 3
Richard Rapport 2693 HUN 3

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114th Annual United States Open Chess Championship from July 27 in Wisconsin

July 26, 2013, 8:29 pm
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Hi everyone, 

A photo from the Wisconsin Chess Association Website

The 114th Annual United States Open Chess Championship will take place on 27 July - 4 August 2013 at the Madison Marriott West, 1313 John Q Hammons Drive, Middleton, Wisconsin 53562.

Prize Fund
$50,000 based on 500 paid entries - else proportional - $40,000 Guaranteed!! [80% of each prize]. Top US player not otherwise qualified will qualify for the 2014 US Championship!
A one section tournament with Class prizes.

Prizes [Projected]
Top Places: $8000-4000-2000-1500-1000-700-500-400. Clear winner - $200 bonus.
If tie for first, top two on tiebreak play speed game [W - 5 min, B - 3 min and draw odds] for bonus and title.


Class Prizes:
Top Master[2200-2399]: $2400-1200-600-300.
Top Expert[2000-2199]: $2400-1200-600-300.
Class A[1800-1999]: $2400-1200-600-300.
Class B[1600-1799]: $2400-1200-600-300.
Class C[1400-1599]: $2000-1000-500-300.
Class D[1200-1399]: $1500-700-400-200.
Class E & Below[<1200 br="">Unrated: $700-400-200.

Special Prizes for Life Titles:1200>
Special Prizes may be won in addition to a Place prize or a Class prize.

Top Life Senior Master U2500: $600
Top Life Master or Original Life Master U2300: $600
Top Candidate Master (or higher title) U2100: $500
Top First Category (or higher title) U1900: $500
Top Second Category (or higher title) U1700: $500
Top Third Category (or higher title) U1500: $400
Top Fourth Category (or higher title) U1300: $300

Note: Life Titles must be established by 1 July 2013. Special Life Title Prizes will be calculated and awarded by 23 August 2013.

Special Prizes for Mixed Doubles: [per couple]Special Prizes may be won in addition to a Place prize or a Class prize.

First Place - $800
Second Place - $600
Third Place - $400
Fourth Place - $200

A 'Couples' team is composed of a male and a female player. The average rating of the team must be under 1800. [A player may be rated over 1800 as long as the team's average rating is under the limit. Team composition must be submitted to the tournament staff prior to the start of the first game of the Four Day schedule.

Tournament Registration Desk in the Conference Center Foyer.
Report corrections, byes, membership payments etc. at the Registration Desk.
Phone: (931) 933-8251
This phone line is only active during the tournament...

Three different schedules for the first six rounds:

Traditional: 
40/2, SD/1; d5. [7/27] - [8/3] One round daily at 7 pm then the final round [8/4] at 3 PM.
6-Day Option: 40/2, SD/1 d5. [7/30] 7 pm; [7/31] to [8/2] Two games per day - one at 12 noon and the second at 7 PM.
4-Day Option: G/60; d5. [8/1] 12 NOON, 3 PM, 7 PM & 10 PM; [8/2] at 12 NOON, & 3 PM.

All schedules merge after Round 6 and compete for the same prizes.
Round Seven [ALL sections]: [8/2] 7 PM.
Round Eight [ALL sections]: [8/3] 7 PM.
Round Nine [ALL sections]: [8/4] 3 PM.

Half Point Byes: 
Must commit before round 4; Must be submitted AT LEAST two hours before the round[s] in question. Number of half-point byes available:
2000/up:: Up to 3 half-point byes
1400-1999:: Up to 2 half-point byes
Under 1400/Unrated:: Up to 1 bye
Notes:
Zero point byes are always available in any round if requested at least two hours before the start of the desired round!
Limit of one half-point bye in the last two rounds!

Entry Fee: Online, $145 by 6/16, $165 by 7/14, $185 after 7/14.
By mail, $147 postmarked by 6/16, $167 postmarked by 7/14; $187 postmarked by 7/21; Do not mail after 7/21!
By phone, $150 by 6/16, $170 by 7/14; $185 by 7/26. No phone entries after 7/26 [close of business at the Office]!
At site, all $190
GMs and WGMs are free.

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Beijing Chess Grand Prix 2013: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Wins Clear First

July 16, 2013, 10:43 am
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Hi everyone, 



This completes a hat-trick of sorts for Azerbaijan Grandmaster Shakhriyar Mamedyarov as he wins the Beijing Chess Grand Prix event in China on Tuesday. He came to Beijing right after winning the Geneva Chess Masters and the World Rapid Chess Championship 2013.
  
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World Chess Federation (FIDE) President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov nominated on Tuesday two Chinese chess players - Hou Yifan and Wei Yi to participate in the World Cup 2013. "Intellectual sports are growing in popularity, particularly among young people. As a result, I have nominated Hou Yifan and Wei Yi to participate at the World Cup 2013," said Ilyumzhinov during the closing ceremony of the FIDE World Chess Grand Prix Series Beijing. A former women's world champion, Hou was the youngest ever to win the title at the age of 16. Her countryman Wei Yi, whose name sounded the same as "only", was the youngest Grandmaster(GM) at 13 years 8 months and 23 days and the only GM in the world who is under 15 years old. FIDE World Cup 2013 will be held from August 10 to September 3 in Tromso, Norway.









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Mamedyarov drew against Boris Gelfand of Israel in the last round of the Grand Prix to take the clear first place with 7 points. Earlier, he was in sole lead. Based on the results of the five stages of the FIDE Grand Prix, Mamedyarov is in second place (behind Veselin Topalov) for earning the right to participate in the Candidates Tournament in 2014.

Under the rules of the series each participant can take part in four tournaments of the six stages, of which the top three will be counted. Two winners of the Grand Prix tournament can participate in the Candidates Tournament.

Mamedyarov has represented Azerbaijan at the Chess Olympiads in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2010. In 2009, he won a gold medal for Azerbaijan at the European Team Chess Championship, having won a bronze medal in 2007 and silver in 2011.

Final Standings
1. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 7 
2. Alexander Grischuk 6.5
3. Peter Leko 6.0
4. Veselin Topalov 6.0
5. Alexander Morozevich 5.5
6. Sergey Karjakin 5.5
7. Anish Giri 5.5
8. Wang Yue 5.5
9. Vassily Ivanchuk 5.0
10. Boris Gelfand 5.0
11. Wang Hao 5.0
12. Gata Kamsky 3.5

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IM Adrien Demuth is Chess Champion of Paris

July 16, 2013, 12:47 pm
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Hi everyone, 

The 88th Championnat d’Echecs de Paris (Paris Chess Championship) took place 6th – 14th July at the Stade Louis Lumiere, 30 rue Louis Lumière 75020 PARIS. The FIDE Chess Open was available for players with an elo rating over 2200. It was a 9 rounds Swiss open with a time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, plus 30 minutes to finish the game and 30 seconds increments from move 1.

The young IM Adrien Demuth took clear first place with 7 points and claimed the top prize of 3500 EUR. Grandmasters Joseph Sanchez, Andrei Shchekachev, Jean-Pierre Le Roux and Maxime Lagarde shared the second place with 6,5 points each. Last-year winner Sergey Fedorchuk was busy participating in the Commomwealth Championship. The awards ceremony was attended by Ms. Sandrine Mazetier, Vice-President of the National Assembly, Ms. Naomi Sadeng, Olivier Tridon and Diego Salazar, new President of the French Chess Federation.

Final standings

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Fide on Chess Ratings: Summary Report of QC Council

July 16, 2013, 2:08 pm
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Hi everyone,

SUMMARY REPORT OF QC COUNCIL MEETING IN ATHENS
1-2 June 2013 Annex QC1 

ANALYSIS
 
QC consultant Jeff Sonas has developed a "Retroactive Rating Calculator" so that FIDE can investigate hypothetical changes to the rating regulations. This allows us to determine what would have happened to all ratings calculated since 2008 if those hypothetical regulations had already been in effect, starting in 2008. This essentially provides a "beta-test" on proposed changes, to ensure the intended positive consequences would actually have occurred, and to identify any unintended negative consequences resulting from the changes. 

The QC has used this "RRC" to investigate a number of possible changes to rating regulations, considering their impact on three main areas:
- absolute magnitude of ratings (i.e. inflation/deflation)
- the total number of rated players
- correlation between ratings and future results (i.e. predictive ability of ratings), both for the entire pool and for targeted sub-groups.

(1) K-Factors
There seems no justification for modifying the K=10 coefficient currently used, as increasing this coefficient would push top players' ratings even higher than they currently are, and would reduce the accuracy of top ratings. However, increasing the other two K factors by 33% (K=15 becomes 20, K=30 becomes 40) will increase the accuracy of ratings throughout the entire rating pool without substantially increasing absolute magnitude of ratings. A smaller increase of 20% (K=15 becoming 18, K=30 becoming 36) would improve accuracy even slightly more, but the 20/40 coefficients were preferred in order to preserve the simplicity of manual rating change calculations.

(2) Sean Hewitt Proposal (maintaining most dynamic K-factor for playersSean Hewitt of the English Chess Federation suggested this simple modification, which would allow freer rating change for young developing players, especially those who play frequently at a young age and thereby hit 30 games early in their development. Recent changes to the rating regulations (including the move to a monthly list, as well as a larger population of low rated opponents so that players surpass 30 rated games sooner) make this rule change very appealing, and it has a very significant positive impact on the accuracy of ratings for all players, even for players out to 100+ games played. 

(3) For unrated players, only 5 games required for first rating, and all events and all games vs rated opponents count toward first rating, starting with first event where player scores >0% against rated opponents. 

This recommendation comes from the retroactive analysis of rating accuracy since 2008, and is a major change in the philosophy of the rating system. Prof. Elo’s principles maintained a system that blocks new players from achieving a first rating in many different ways. Jeff Sonas showed us that it is much better to provide a first rating more easily, and then allow players to regulate their rating by playing chess.

We had previously expected that ratings would be made more accurate by requiring even more than 9 games for the first rating, and assumed it would be perilous to allow first ratings based on fewer than 9 games, as that might threaten the integrity of all ratings. Of course we liked the idea of increasing the rating pool more rapidly, by making it easier to get an initial rating, but feared such a change because of the tradeoff of having less accurate ratings.

However, the simulation indicates that this does not appear to be an issue. In fact, requiring more than 9 games for the first rating does not improve its accuracy. And making it easier to get a rating will increase the size of the rating pool (by an additional 6,000 rated players each year) while actually improving the accuracy of all ratings. Simulations reveal a great benefit to providing a first rating as soon as possible, even after only 5 games. This generates more rated players sooner, so that they can serve as a rated opponent more quickly for others, and gives the new players more rated games during their period of high K-factor, in which to allow their ratings to find a proper level.

(4) For direct titles because of rating, the thresholds remain unchanged but a minimum of 27 rated games (including the ones for first rating calculation) is proposed.

This is in order to avoid those "rockets" who play 9 games, have first rating over 2300 and immediately apply for FM. Also note that although the ratings of the highest rated players are gradually increasing over time, the reverse is happening a bit lower in the rating list, outside of the top 100. This means that less players are expected to get a rating over the rating requirement for FM and IM titles, and as a result there is a physical obstacle to players who wish to acquire titles. The increased K-factors (to 20 and 40) will also add an additional downward pressure to this registry around 2300-2400 points.

NOTE ABOUT INFLATION
The QC has also been analyzing the FIDE historical database of ratings and game results in order to better understand "rating inflation" in the FIDE rating pool.

Although a quick glance at the top of the rating list in recent years suggests a clear overall "inflationary" trend, the actual situation is much more complex. Among the players rated 2000 or higher, only the ratings of the 2700+ group are increasing, whereas on average, all players rated 2000-2700 are actually losing rating points each year! For instance there are fewer active players rated 2200+ each year.

In fact the differences in playing strength among the strongest players appear to be gradually increasing more and more, as a fairly clear trend for the past 20 years - the ratings of the top two or three thousand players are stretching apart more and more. So for instance we see that the difference in strength between #50 and #500 on the rating list is gradually increasing, as is the difference between #100 and #1,000, between #500 and #5,000, etc. This can be seen both from inspection of the rating list, as well as direct measurement of head-to-head games over time between players of comparable ranks on the rating list. Thus the ever-increasing ratings of the top 100 should perhaps be viewed, not as an undesirable artifact of the rating calculation, but rather as a desirable reaction of the rating system to this overall change in the distribution of top player strengths.

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Topalov Qualifies for Candidates Chess Tournament 2014

July 17, 2013, 8:13 am
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Hi everyone, 


Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won the Beijing Chess Grand Prix and, along with Fabiano Caruana, could fill one of the seats of the Candidates Chess Tournament 2014. However, Veselin Topalov is already in a good overall first place in the Grand Prix series 2012/13 and qualifies for the Candidates. 

The Bulgarian got his third good result after playing four events of the Grand Prix. He shared first in London, got a clear win in Zug and shared 3rd-4th in Beijing thanks to a final round victory over Alexander Morozevich. The regulations of the Grand Prix series provide two spots at the Candidates event, so the second coveted prize is still up for grabs. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is the clear favorite to achieve this feat, but he still has to wait for the final leg, where Alexander Grischuk and Fabiano Caruana still have a mathematical chance of passing him on the standings. Mamedyarov already played the four allowed tournaments and achieved a score of 390 points. However, both Grischuk and Caruana are set to participate in the final leg.

If Grischuk is sole winner, he will get to 400 points; if Caruana is the sole winner, he will get to 395 points. In case of a shared first place, Mamedyarov would get the spot anyway, according to a Chessdom.com report.

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