Chess Satranç ajedrez échecs schaken Schach scacchi escacs xadrez şah шахматы šahmaty

The players seem to be falling into their true rating range. Notice Wang Yue's consolidation despite an end to his winning streak. Also, Ivanchuk's fall has started again. His waves typically have high crests and real deep trough, so please pray for him. 01 Topalov 2809 02 Anand 2791 03 Morozevich 2772 04 Carlsen 2770 05 Ivanchuk 2763 06 Kramnik 2760 07 Aronian 2755 08 Radjabov 2753 09 Wang Yue 2749 10 Leko 2749

The latest Chess Ranking 01 Topalov 2802 02 Anand 2791 03 Morozevich 2772 04 Carlsen 2771 05 Ivanchuk 2770 06 Kramnik 2760 06 Radjabov 2760 08 Aronian 2751 09 Leko 2750 10 Wang Yue 2749

The only change in the top ten is that Ivanchuk gained a measly point and a half at Bali Benidorm. Ivanchuk had a chance to overtake Anand, but he earned just 0.5/2 in the last two rounds after a spectacular show in the first half. Updated Top Players List based on Live Rating Calculations 01 Topalov 2796 02 Anand 2791 03 Ivanchuk 2780 04 Carlsen 2776 05 Morozevich 2772 06 Kramnik 2760 07 Leko 2758 08 Radjabov 2753 09 Wang Yue 2751 10 Aronian 2750

GM Ivanchuk won the 2008 edition of the Bali Benidorm tournament. He finished just half a point ahead of Shirov after being ahead by 2 points at one time. Ivanchuk drew and lost games in the last two rounds. Final Standings after Round 10 1 GM IVANCHUK Vassily UKR 2786 8 2 GM SHIROV Alexei ESP 2726 7,5 3 GM TIVIAKOV Sergei NED 2686 5,5 4 GM LAHNO Kateryna UKR 2488 4,0 5 IM VILA GAZQUEZ Xavier ESP 2422 3,0 6 WGM VEGA GUTIERREZ Sabrina ESP 2278 2,0

Ivanchuk continues to dominate the Bali Benidorm tournament 2008. He has virtually won the tournament with 2 rounds to spare with 7.5/8 and a mind boggling 2918 rating performance. He is gaining more than 10 FIDE points in this tournament alone. If you thought Ivanchuk would be affected by the drug controversy, think again! He is now just 2 points behind World Chess Champion Anand. Shirov is in second place, way behind Ivanchuk. Lahno is putting up a strong show. Top Players based on Live Rating Calculations 01 Topalov 2796 02 Anand 2791 03 Ivanchuk 2789 04 Carlsen 2776 05 Morozevich 2772 06 Kramnik 2760 07 Leko 2758 08 Radjabov 2753 09 Wang Yue 2751 10 Aronian 2750

We are finding it hard to dig up information on the Hotel Bali International Chess tournament, Benidorm 2008. After the first half, Ivanchuk is leading the field with 4.5/5, having conceeded a draw only to the formidable Shirov. The shocking news though, is that Kateryna Lahno has beaten Alexei Shirov and is now placed 3rd. Earlier, she had lost her first two games of the tournament. Shirov is placed 2nd right now. Ivanchuk's rating so far is 2886. Standings after Round 5 Ivanchuk 4.5 Shirov 3.5 Lahno 3 Tiviakov 2.5 GUTIERREZ Sabrina 1 VILA GAZQUEZ Xavier 0.5 In the Open Masters section, Anand's former second Ubilava is leading with 5.5 points out of a maximum six closely followed by favourite Dreev, Felgaer and Delchev. 1 GM UBILAVA Elizbar ESP 2551 Cnt 5,5 2 GM DELCHEV Aleksander BUL 2632 Cat 5,0 3 GM FELGAER ZIEGLER Ruben ARG 2591 Cat 5,0 4 GM DREEV Alexey RUS 2670 5,0 5 GM MOSKALENKO Viktor UKR 2568 4,5 6 IM KOVACEVIC Slobodan SRB 2404 Val 4,5 7 FM DELORME Axel FRA 2

We start a series on the players that are participating in the 2009 edition of the Corus Chess tournament. We are focussing on players that are relatively less known on the International circuit. Please pass on any extra information that you have or if you spot any errors since we've dug up information that is available on the internet and put it together. Anish Giri Corus Chess 2009 - Group C Facts - Was born on 28th June 1994. That makes him 14, running 15. - Anish's father, Sanjay Giri, is of Nepalese origin. His mother is a Russian. Anish himself was born in St. Petersburg, the beautiful city that already boasts of famous names. - Anish's father was working in Russia. They recently moved to The Netherlands. - His hero is the legend Garry Kasparov. - Started playing chess at the age of 7, sparring with his mom and later improved by reading Chess books and playing on the internet. - Anish stresses a lot on his school studies and tries to maintain a fine balance between Ch

Participants grandmaster group C Name Country Rating GM Wesley So PHI 2610 GM David Howell ENG 2593 GM Abhijeet Gupta IND 2580 GM Tiger Hillarp Persson SWE 2543 GM Friso Nijboer NED 2540 GM Eduardo Iturrizaga VEN 2538 IM Manuel Leon Hoyos MEX 2535 GM Oleg Romanishin UKR 2532 GM Frank Holzke GER 2524 FM Anish Giri RUS 2466 WGM Dronavalli Harika IND 2462 IM Roeland Pruijssers NED 2458 IM Manuel Bosboom NED 2416 FM Ali Bitalzadeh NED 2370

Participants grandmaster group B Name Country Rating GM Krishnan Sasikiran IND 2694 GM Zahar Efimenko UKR 2680 GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov UZB 2672 GM Alexander Motylev RUS 2672 GM Francisco Vallejo Pons ESP 2664 GM Andrei Volokitin UKR 2659 GM Nigel Short ENG 2642 GM Fabiano Caruana ITA 2640 GM David Navara CZE 2633 GM Erwin l'Ami NED 2610 GM Jan Werle NED 2582 WGM Hou Yifan CHN 2578 GM Henrique Mecking BRA 2567 GM Dimitri Reinderman NED 2543

The final list of participants for Corus Chess 2009 has been announced. The tournament will be played from January 16 - February 1 at Wijk Aan Zee. Participants Grandmaster Group A Name Country Rating GM Alexander Morozevich RUS 2787 GM Magnus Carlsen NOR 2786 GM Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2786 GM Levon Aronian ARM 2757 GM Teymour Radjabov AZE 2751 GM Wang Yue CHN 2736 GM Michael Adams ENG 2734 GM Sergei Movsesian SVK 2732 GM Sergei Karjakin UKR 2730 GM Gata Kamsky USA 2729 GM Leinier Dominguez CUB 2719 GM Loek van Wely NED 2618 GM Daniel Stellwagen NED 2605 GM Jan Smeets NED 2604

Top Players based on Live Rating Calculations 01 Topalov 2796 02 Anand 2791 03 Ivanchuk 2779 04 Carlsen 2776 05 Morozevich 2772 06 Kramnik 2760 07 Leko 2758 08 Radjabov 2753 09 Wang Yue 2751 10 Aronian 2750 11 Movsesian 2748 12 Jakovenko 2743 13 Gelfand 2733 14 Shirov 2731 15 Mamedyarov 2728 16 Alekseev 2726 17 Ponomariov 2726 18 Kamsky 2725 19 Bacrot 2720 20 Grischuk 2719

Armenia and China lead the Open and Women's section of the Chess Olympiad 2008. Rank after Round 7 Open Section Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1 Rp 1 Armenia ARM 2677 20,5 13 0 2 Germany 1 GER1 2647 19,0 12 0 3 Israel ISR 2682 19,0 12 0 4 France FRA 2690 19,0 12 0 5 Russia RUS 2756 17,5 11 0 Women Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1 Rp 1 China CHN 2486 20,5 13 0 2 Ukraine UKR 2486 20,5 12 0 3 Russia RUS 2495 20,0 11 0 4 United States of America USA 2396 20,5 11 0 5 Hungary HUN 2389 20,0 11 0

Round 7 on 2008/11/20 at 15:00 Bo. 3 China (CHN) Rtg - 7 United States of America (USA) Rtg 2 : 2 1.1 WGM Hou Yifan 2578 - IM Krush Irina 2452 1 - 0 1.2 GM Zhao Xue 2518 - IM Zatonskih Anna 2440 ½ - ½ 1.3 WGM Shen Yang 2450 - WGM Goletiani Rusudan 2359 ½ - ½ 1.4 Tan Zhongyi 2395 - WGM Rohonyan Katerina 2334 0 - 1 Bo. 12 Germany 1 (GER1) Rtg - 33 Italy (ITA) Rtg 2 : 2 2.1 IM Paehtz Elisabeth 2471 - IM Sedina Elena 2365 0 - 1 2.2 IM Kachiani-Gersinska Ketino 2371 - WGM Zimina Olga 2368 ½ - ½ 2.3 WGM Michna Marta 2399 - WFM Ambrosi Eleonora 2128 1 - 0 2.4 WFM Hoolt Sarah 2274 - WFM Brunello Marina 2117 ½ - ½ Bo. 1 Russia (RUS) Rtg - 9 Poland (POL) Rtg 2 : 2 3.1 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2525 - IM Socko Monika 2434 ½ - ½ 3.2 IM Kosintseva Tatiana 2513 - IM Rajlich Iweta 2404 0 - 1 3.3 IM Korbut Ekaterina 2459 - WGM Zawadzka Jolanta 2378 1 - 0 3.4 WGM Pogonina Natalija 2474 - WIM Majdan Joanna 2284 ½ - ½ Bo. 17 Netherlands (NED) Rtg - 2 Ukraine (UKR) Rtg ½ :3½ 4.1 GM Peng Zha

Results of Top Teams - Round 7 Round 7 on 2008/11/20 at 15:00 Bo. 9 Armenia (ARM) Rtg - 1 Russia (RUS) Rtg 2½:1½ 1.1 GM Aronian Levon 2757 - GM Kramnik Vladimir 2772 ½ - ½ 1.2 GM Akopian Vladimir 2679 - GM Svidler Peter 2727 ½ - ½ 1.3 GM Sargissian Gabriel 2642 - GM Grischuk Alexander 2719 1 - 0 1.4 GM Petrosian Tigran L 2629 - GM Jakovenko Dmitry 2737 ½ - ½ Bo. 11 Germany 1 (GER1) Rtg - 14 Romania (ROU) Rtg 2½:1½ 2.1 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2678 - GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter 2684 0 - 1 2.2 GM Gustafsson Jan 2634 - GM Istratescu Andrei 2633 1 - 0 2.3 GM Fridman Daniel 2630 - GM Parligras Mircea 2611 ½ - ½ 2.4 GM Baramidze David 2557 - GM Vajda Levente 2582 1 - 0 Bo. 3 China (CHN) Rtg - 2 Ukraine (UKR) Rtg 2 : 2 3.1 GM Wang Yue 2736 - GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2786 ½ - ½ 3.2 GM Bu Xiangzhi 2714 - GM Karjakin Sergey 2730 ½ - ½ 3.3 GM Ni Hua 2710 - GM Efimenko Zahar 2680 ½ - ½ 3.4 GM Wang Hao 2696 - GM Volokitin Andrei 2659 ½ - ½ Bo. 13 India (IND) Rtg - 7 France (FRA) Rtg 1½:2½ 4

Leading Results of Round 6 Round 6 on 2008/11/19 at 15:00 Bo. 1 RUS Russia (RUS) Rtg - 15 ENG England (ENG) Rtg 3 : 1 1.1 GM Kramnik Vladimir 2772 - GM Short Nigel D 2642 1 - 0 1.2 GM Svidler Peter 2727 - GM Howell David W L 2593 ½ - ½ 1.3 GM Morozevich Alexander 2787 - GM Jones Gawain C B 2548 ½ - ½ 1.4 GM Jakovenko Dmitry 2737 - GM Conquest Stuart C 2526 1 - 0 Bo. 2 UKR Ukraine (UKR) Rtg - 11 GER Germany 1 (GER1) Rtg 2 : 2 2.1 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2786 - GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2678 ½ - ½ 2.2 GM Karjakin Sergey 2730 - GM Khenkin Igor 2647 1 - 0 2.3 GM Eljanov Pavel 2720 - GM Gustafsson Jan 2634 ½ - ½ 2.4 GM Efimenko Zahar 2680 - GM Fridman Daniel 2630 0 - 1 Bo. 4 AZE Azerbaijan (AZE) Rtg - 9 ARM Armenia (ARM) Rtg 1½:2½ 3.1 GM Radjabov Teimour 2752 - GM Aronian Levon 2757 ½ - ½ 3.2 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2731 - GM Akopian Vladimir 2679 0 - 1 3.3 GM Gashimov Vugar 2703 - GM Sargissian Gabriel 2642 ½ - ½ 3.4 GM Mammadov Rauf 2631 - GM Petrosian Tigran L 2629 ½ - ½ Bo. 7 FRA France

The two important games of Round 5. Ivanchuk and Caruana beat Leko and Adams with black pieces. Enjoy the games Leko vs Ivanchuk 0-1 Adams vs Caruana 0-1

Leading Standings after Round 5 Open section (Mostly men) SNo/Seed/Country/CountryShort/Matches/Wins/0/0/MatchPoints/x/y/Game Points 1 9 ARM Armenia 13 7 2½ : 1½ 7 11 Netherlands NED 20 2 11 GER1 Germany 1 12½ 8 2 : 2 8 11 Russia RUS 1 3 5 HUN Hungary 11½ 7 1½ : 2½ 7 9½ Ukraine UKR 2 4 19 NOR Norway 10½ 7 1 : 3 7 12 Azerbaijan AZE 4 5 15 ENG England 11½ 7 2½ : 1½ 6 9 Italy ITA 44 6 13 IND India 10½ 6 3 : 1 6 10½ Austria AUT 54 7 21 POL Poland 12 6 3½ : ½ 6 11 Costa Rica CRC 66 8 3 CHN China 11 6 2½ : 1½ 6 10½ Scotland SCO 46 9 37 VIE Vietnam 12½ 6 2 : 2 6 10 Cuba CUB 16 10 32 DEN Denmark 10 6 ½ : 3½ 6 10 Israel ISR 8 11 12 ESP Spain 10½ 6 2 : 2 6 10 Belarus BLR 23 12 28 SLO Slovenia 11 6 ½ : 3½ 6 12 Bulgaria BUL 6 13 35 LTU Lithuania 11 6 ½ : 3½ 6 10 Romania ROU 14 14 22 SRB Serbia 10½ 6 1½ : 2½ 6 11 France FRA 7 15 24 CRO Croatia 10 6 1 : 3 6 10½ Sweden SWE 30

Leading Standings after Round 5 SNo/Seed/Country/CountryShort/Matches/Wins/0/0/MatchPoints/x/y/Game Points 1 3 China CHN 5 5 0 0 10 97,0 30,0 16,0 2 8 Hungary HUN 5 4 1 0 9 75,5 27,0 15,5 3 1 Russia RUS 5 3 2 0 8 79,0 29,0 15,0 4 16 Romania ROU 5 4 0 1 8 75,0 28,0 15,0 5 4 Georgia GEO 5 3 2 0 8 74,0 33,0 12,0 6 17 Netherlands NED 5 4 0 1 8 69,0 28,0 13,0 7 6 Armenia ARM 5 4 0 1 8 68,5 29,0 13,0 8 2 Ukraine UKR 5 3 2 0 8 68,5 24,0 13,5 9 9 Poland POL 5 4 0 1 8 67,5 32,0 13,0 10 31 England ENG 5 4 0 1 8 63,0 24,0 15,0 11 7 United States of America USA 5 4 0 1 8 62,5 23,0 14,5 12 43 Uzbekistan UZB 5 4 0 1 8 62,0 26,0 13,5 13 36 Austria AUT 5 4 0 1 8 58,0 24,0 13,5 14 11 India IND 5 3 1 1 7 68,0 31,0 12,0 15 10 Serbia SRB 5 3 1 1 7 65,0 27,0 12,5

Leading Women's Pairings after Round 6 SNo/Seeding/Team Short/Team/Game Points/MatchPoints/Match Points/Game Points/Team/ShortTeam/Seeding 1 8 HUN Hungary 15½ 9 : 10 16 China CHN 3 2 10 SRB Serbia 12½ 7 : 7 11 Germany 1 GER1 12 3 36 AUT Austria 13½ 8 : 8 15 Russia RUS 1 4 16 ROU Romania 15 8 : 8 14½ United States of America USA 7 5 4 GEO Georgia 12 8 : 8 13 Poland POL 9 6 43 UZB Uzbekistan 13½ 8 : 8 13 Netherlands NED 17 7 6 ARM Armenia 13 8 : 8 13½ Ukraine UKR 2 8 31 ENG England 15 8 : 7 13½ Bulgaria BUL 13 9 33 ITA Italy 13½ 7 : 7 12 India IND 11 10 47 MGL Mongolia 11 7 : 7 12 Israel ISR 21 11 14 SLO Slovenia 14 7 : 7 11½ Azerbaijan AZE 28 12 24 VIE Vietnam 13 7 : 7 13 Switzerland SUI 38 13 52 ICSC ICSC 9 6 : 6 14½ Cuba CUB 25 14 58 DEN Denmark 9 6 : 6 13½ France FRA 5 15 88 PAR Paraguay 11½ 6 : 6 12½ Czech Republic CZE 18

Leading Round 6 Pairings at the Chess Olympiad, Dresden 2008 SNo/Seeding/Team Short/Team/Game Points/MatchPoints/Match Points/Game Points/Team/ShortTeam/Seeding 1 1 RUS Russia 13 9 : 9 14 England ENG 15 2 2 UKR Ukraine 12 9 : 9 14½ Germany 1 GER1 11 3 4 AZE Azerbaijan 15 9 : 9 15½ Armenia ARM 9 4 7 FRA France 13½ 8 : 8 15½ Poland POL 21 5 29 BIH Bosnia & Herzegovina 13½ 8 : 8 13½ India IND 13 6 30 SWE Sweden 13½ 8 : 8 13½ Israel ISR 8 7 17 GEO Georgia 12½ 8 : 8 13½ China CHN 3 8 14 ROU Romania 13½ 8 : 8 15½ Bulgaria BUL 6 9 59 COL Colombia 13 7 : 7 13 Hungary HUN 5 10 20 NED Netherlands 12½ 7 : 7 12 Moldova MDA 26 11 52 FIN Finland 14 7 : 7 11½ Norway NOR 19 12 38 PHI Philippines 11 7 : 7 12½ Spain ESP 12 13 45 ISL Iceland 13½ 7 : 7 14½ Vietnam VIE 37 14 41 GER2 Germany 2 12 7 : 7 13 Greece GRE 27 15 16 CUB Cuba 12 7 : 7 13 United States of America USA 10

Top Women's Event Results Sl No/Seeding/Team/Team Short/Score/Score 1 11 Germany 1 GER1 0 2 : 2 0 RUS Russia 1 2 9 Armenia ARM 0 2.5 : 1.5 0 NED Netherlands 20 3 5 Hungary HUN 0 1.5 : 1.5 0 UKR Ukraine 2 4 19 Norway NOR 0 1 : 3 0 AZE Azerbaijan 4 5 15 England ENG 0 2.5 : 1.5 0 ITA Italy 44 6 13 India IND 0 3 : 1 0 AUT Austria 54 7 21 Poland POL 0 3.5 : 0.5 0 CRC Costa Rica 66 8 3 China CHN 0 2.5 : 1.5 0 SCO Scotland 46 9 37 Vietnam VIE 0 2 : 2 0 CUB Cuba 16 10 32 Denmark DEN 0 0.5 : 3.5 0 ISR Israel 8 11 12 Spain ESP 0 2 : 2 0 BLR Belarus 23 12 28 Slovenia SLO 0 0.5 : 3.5 0 BUL Bulgaria 6 13 35 Lithuania LTU 0 0.5 : 3.5 0 ROU Romania 14 14 22 Serbia SRB 0 1.5 : 2.5 0 FRA France 7 15 24 Croatia CRO 0 1 : 3 0 SWE Sweden 30

Top Table Results of the Chess Olympiad, Dresden 2008 Please note: Some games are still in progress. Sl No/Seeding/Team/Team Short/Score/Score 1 11 Germany 1 GER1 0 2 : 2 0 RUS Russia 1 2 9 Armenia ARM 0 2.5 : 1.5 0 NED Netherlands 20 3 5 Hungary HUN 0 1.5 : 1.5 0 UKR Ukraine 2 4 19 Norway NOR 0 1 : 3 0 AZE Azerbaijan 4 5 15 England ENG 0 2.5 : 1.5 0 ITA Italy 44 6 13 India IND 0 3 : 1 0 AUT Austria 54 7 21 Poland POL 0 3.5 : 0.5 0 CRC Costa Rica 66 8 3 China CHN 0 2.5 : 1.5 0 SCO Scotland 46 9 37 Vietnam VIE 0 2 : 2 0 CUB Cuba 16 10 32 Denmark DEN 0 0.5 : 3.5 0 ISR Israel 8 11 12 Spain ESP 0 2 : 2 0 BLR Belarus 23 12 28 Slovenia SLO 0 0.5 : 3.5 0 BUL Bulgaria 6 13 35 Lithuania LTU 0 0.5 : 3.5 0 ROU Romania 14 14 22 Serbia SRB 0 1.5 : 2.5 0 FRA France 7 15 24 Croatia CRO 0 1 : 3 0 SWE Sweden 30

Top Women's Event Pairings 1 9 Poland POL 0 0 : 0 0 CHN China 3 2 12 Germany 1 GER1 0 0 : 0 0 GRE Greece 19 3 1 Russia RUS 0 0 : 0 0 GEO Georgia 4 4 11 India IND 0 0 : 0 0 HUN Hungary 8 5 22 Spain ESP 0 0 : 0 0 ROU Romania 16 6 28 Azerbaijan AZE 0 0 : 0 0 SRB Serbia 10 7 37 Ecuador ECU 0 0 : 0 0 NED Netherlands 17 8 25 Cuba CUB 0 0 : 0 0 UZB Uzbekistan 43 9 18 Czech Republic CZE 0 0 : 0 0 AUT Austria 36 10 2 Ukraine UKR 0 0 : 0 0 SVK Slovakia 15 11 23 Lithuania LTU 0 0 : 0 0 ENG England 31 12 13 Bulgaria BUL 0 0 : 0 0 SLO Slovenia 14 13 7 United States of America USA 0 0 : 0 0 NOR Norway 40 14 5 France FRA 0 0 : 0 0 ARM Armenia 6 15 21 Israel ISR 0 0 : 0 0 VIE Vietnam 24

Top Open Event Pairings 1 11 Germany 1 GER1 0 0 : 0 0 RUS Russia 1 2 9 Armenia ARM 0 0 : 0 0 NED Netherlands 20 3 5 Hungary HUN 0 0 : 0 0 UKR Ukraine 2 4 19 Norway NOR 0 0 : 0 0 AZE Azerbaijan 4 5 15 England ENG 0 0 : 0 0 ITA Italy 44 6 13 India IND 0 0 : 0 0 AUT Austria 54 7 21 Poland POL 0 0 : 0 0 CRC Costa Rica 66 8 3 China CHN 0 0 : 0 0 SCO Scotland 46 9 37 Vietnam VIE 0 0 : 0 0 CUB Cuba 16 10 32 Denmark DEN 0 0 : 0 0 ISR Israel 8 11 12 Spain ESP 0 0 : 0 0 BLR Belarus 23 12 28 Slovenia SLO 0 0 : 0 0 BUL Bulgaria 6 13 35 Lithuania LTU 0 0 : 0 0 ROU Romania 14 14 22 Serbia SRB 0 0 : 0 0 FRA France 7 15 24 Croatia CRO 0 0 : 0 0 SWE Sweden 30

Sl. No. Name Rating Country Rating Perf Points /Max. Points 1 IM Vajda Szidonia 2380 Hungary 2974 3,0 3 2 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2548 Bulgaria 2956 3,0 3 3 Tan Zhongyi 2395 China 2911 3,0 3 4 IM Kosintseva Nadezhda 2468 Russia 2909 4,0 4 5 WGM Goletiani Rusudan 2359 United States of America 2899 4,0 4 6 WIM Daulyte Deimante 2278 Lithuania 2886 4,0 4 7 IM Ciuksyte Dagne 2339 England 2855 4,0 4 8 WIM Majdan Joanna 2284 Poland 2839 4,0 4 9 WGM Igla Bella 2254 Israel 2839 3,0 3 10 WIM Linares Napoles Oleiny 2261 Cuba 2800 4,0 4 11 WIM Paulet Iozefina 2307 Romania 2794 3,0 3 12 WGM Hou Yifan 2578 China 2746 3,5 4 13 IM Fierro Baquero Martha L 2361 Ecuador 2742 4,0 4 14 WGM Zdebskaja Natalia 2419 Ukraine 2732 3,0 3 15 WFM Bjerke Silje 2204 Norway 2720 3,0 3 16 GM Peng Zhaoqin 2455 Netherlands 2720 2,5 3 17 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2525 Russia 2713 2,5 3 18 IM Moser Eva 2376 Austria 2708 3,0 3 19 WGM Munguntuul Batkhuyag 2410 Mongolia 2696 3,5 4 20 IM Tania Sachdev 2425 Ind

Open Section after Round 4 Sl. No. Name Rating Country Rating Perf Points /Max. Points 1 GM Lie Kjetil A 2526 Norway 3242 3,0 3 2 FM Abdel Razik Khaled 2406 Egypt 3102 3,0 3 3 IM Haznedaroglu Kivanc 2436 Turkey 3037 4,0 4 4 GM Vuckovic Bojan 2561 Serbia 3036 3,0 3 5 GM Franco Ocampos Zenon 2501 Paraguay 3033 3,0 3 6 GM Iotov Valentin 2532 Bulgaria 2980 4,0 4 7 FM El Debs Felipe De Cresce 2447 Brazil 2955 3,0 3 8 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2731 Azerbaijan 2937 3,5 4 9 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2678 Germany 1 2931 3,5 4 10 GM Morozevich Alexander 2787 Russia 2906 3,5 4 11 GM Leko Peter 2747 Hungary 2898 2,5 3 12 GM Carlsson Pontus 2515 Sweden 2879 3,0 3 13 GM Sasikiran Krishnan 2694 India 2871 2,5 3 14 GM Onischuk Alexander 2644 United States of America 2863 3,5 4 15 GM Kazhgaleyev Murtas 2640 Kazakhstan 2861 2,5 3 16 GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2672 Uzbekistan 2860 3,5 4 17 GM Khenkin Igor 2647 Germany 1 2850 2,5 3 18 GM Predojevic Borki 2615 Bosnia & Herzegovina 2843 3,5 4 1

Leading Women's results Bo. 8 Hungary (HUN) Rtg - 4 Georgia (GEO) Rtg 2 : 2 1.1 GM Hoang Thanh Trang 2483 - GM Chiburdanidze Maia 2489 ½ : ½ 1.2 IM Vajda Szidonia 2380 - IM Dzagnidze Nana 2503 1 : 0 1.3 IM Madl Ildiko 2376 - IM Javakhishvili Lela 2473 ½ : ½ 1.4 WGM Rudolf Anna 2318 - IM Lomineishvili Maia 2437 0 : 1 Bo. 11 India (IND) Rtg - 12 Germany 1 (GER) Rtg 3 : 1 2.1 IM Harika Dronavalli 2462 - IM Paehtz Elisabeth 2471 ½ : ½ 2.2 IM Tania Sachdev 2425 - IM Kachiani-Gersinska Ketino 2371 1 : 0 2.3 WGM Swathi Ghate 2320 - WGM Michna Marta 2399 ½ : ½ 2.4 WGM Gomes Mary Ann 2298 - WFM Hoolt Sarah 2274 1 : 0 Bo. 3 China (CHN) Rtg - 6 Armenia (ARM) Rtg 3.5 : 0.5 3.1 WGM Hou Yifan 2578 - IM Danielian Elina 2513 1 : 0 3.2 GM Zhao Xue 2518 - IM Mkrtchian Lilit 2443 ½ : ½ 3.3 WGM Shen Yang 2450 - WGM Aginian Nelly 2325 1 : 0 3.4 Tan Zhongyi 2395 - WIM Galojan Lilit 2305 1 : 0 Bo. 10 Serbia (SRB) Rtg - 9 Poland (POL)

Round 4 Open on 2008/11/16 at 15.00 Bo. 2 Ukraine (UKR) Rtg - 9 Armenia (ARM) Rtg 2 : 2 1.1 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2786 - GM Aronian Levon 2757 ½ : ½ 1.2 GM Karjakin Sergey 2730 - GM Akopian Vladimir 2679 ½ : ½ 1.3 GM Efimenko Zahar 2680 - GM Sargissian Gabriel 2642 ½ : ½ 1.4 GM Volokitin Andrei 2659 - GM Petrosian Tigran L 2629 ½ : ½ Bo. 12 Spain (ESP) Rtg - 11 Germany 1 (GER) Rtg 1.5 : 2.5 2.1 GM Shirov Alexei 2726 - GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2678 0 : 1 2.2 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 2664 - GM Khenkin Igor 2647 ½ : ½ 2.3 GM Illescas Cordoba Miguel 2604 - GM Fridman Daniel 2630 1 : 0 2.4 GM Khamrakulov S 2580 - GM Baramidze David 2557 0 : 1 Bo. 19 Norway (NOR) Rtg - 15 England (ENG) Rtg 2 : 2 3.1 GM Carlsen Magnus 2786 - GM Adams Michael 2734 1 : 0 3.2 GM Agdestein Simen 2588 - GM Short Nigel D 2642 ½ : ½ 3.3 GM Johannessen Leif Erlend 2545 - GM Howell David W L 2593 0 : 1 3.4 IM Hammer Jon Ludvig 2522 - GM Jones Gawain C B 2548 ½ : ½ Bo. 1 R

Carlsen played the strongman beating the very dependable Adams, thus helping Norway to draw with England.

Most of the 4th round games have been played out. The high profile match between Ukraine and Armenia ended in a draw at 2-2. Germany 1 edged past Spain, England was held to a draw by Norway even though Carlsen beat the bankable Adams. Kramnik escaped a lethal attack from Sasikiran Krishnan of India. Russia won 2.5-1.5 Hungary finally had a good result beating Romania. The bad news for them was the form of Judit Polgar, who is still struggling. Azerbaijan beat USA 3-1 with wins by Radjabov and Mamedyarov over Kamsky and Nakamura respectively. In the women's section, India beat Germany 1, China thrashed Armenia, Russia whitewashed Indonesia. Georgia - Hungary and Ukraine - Lithuania were draws. Leading Results Open Section Ukraine - Armenia 2-2 Spain - Germany 1 1.5-2.5 Norway - England 2-2 Russsia - India 2.5-1.5 Romania - Hungary 1-3 Azerbaijan - USA 3-1 Women's Section Hungary - Georgia 2-2 India - Germany 1 3-1 China - Armenia 3.5-0.5 Serbia - Poland 1.5-1.5 (one game still o

Russia beat India 2.5-1.5 in the 4th round of the Chess Olympiad at Dresden, but young Harikrishna beat the experienced Svidler with the black pieces. Watch the game here.

The in-form Leinier Perez Dominguez held Vladimir Kramnik to a draw in the 3rd round of the Chess Olympiad 2008 at Dresden

Leading pairings for Round 4 Open section Ukraine - Armenia Spain - Germany 1 Norway - England Russia - India Romania - Hungary Azerbaijan - USA Women's section Hungary - Georgia India - Germany 1 China - Armenia Serbia - Poland Indonesia - Russia

Highlights of Round 2 and 3 Round 2 The main upset result was the draw between Greece and the much higher rated US. Russia managed to win with the slightest of margins against a determined Poland. Even the great Kramnik was held to a draw by Kamil. On the women's side, Israel beat the USA. Round 3 The big news was that the 19th seeds Norway beat the 3rd seeds China. Kjetil Lie beat Bu Xiangzhi. Carlsen was held to a tough draw by the resurgent Wang Yue. In the women's section, mighty Russia had to be content with a draw after a determined India won two games. Kosintseva lost to Sachdev and Ghate beat Korbut.

Many of the top seed teams struggled against the lower rated but determined teams. Some of the surprises in the first round. Russia beat Switzerland 2.5-1.5 But not before the cunning Korchnoi held the mighty Svidler to a draw. Only Morozevhich could score! Ukraine beat Vietnam Ivanchuk held to a draw by Ngoc Truong Son. Only Efimenko scored. China beat The Philippines 2.5-1.5 Wesley So beat the much higher rated Ni Hua. But the other Chinese prevailed over their opponents. Hungary drew Iran 2-2 Even Judit Polgar could not score. All the lower rated players of Iran drew their games against the Hungarian players. Germany 2 beat Bulgaria 2.5-1.5 Probably the upset of the day. Cheparinov and Georgiev were beaten by Meier and Braun respectively. France drew Montenegro 2-2 Another upset despite being a draw. Bacrot won but Maze lost. USA beat Iceland 2.5-1.5 The almost bankcrupt nation is still going strong at least in Chess. USA squeaked through the narrowest of margins. Shulman lost, but

While we wait for the first games of the Chess Olympiad 2008 to be beamed, here's a game from the past. Kasparov was in his peak form and Topalov was a pesky challenger at best, over 150 ELO below the giant. Yet, Topalov outfoxed the genius with some provocative play. Key Moments: * Kasparov keeps an edge in the middle game until he makes a mistake on move 25 with ...Rh3. Kd8 was required. Topalov missed the winning line - 26 Rfe7+ Kd8 27 Nd4 Kc8 28 Nc6 or 26 Ra7 Rh1+ 27 Kf2 Nb6 28 Rae7+ * Kasparov blundered on move 26 with ... Re3+. After 27 Kf1 Kasparov has nothing and the attack is all Topalov's from here on. With Bg3 he had a fighting chance to survive. Watch the game here: Topalov - Kasparov 1-0

The field for Corus Wijk Aan Zee 2009 Group A has been announced. The first Grand Slam event boasts an impressive list but will miss the presence of Anand, Topalov, and Kramnik. Topalov could use the absense at Wijk Aan Zee to prepare for a possible postponed match against Kamsky. Ironically, Kamsky has signed up for the event. The players to watch are Wang Yue of China, Sergei Movsesian of Slovakia, and Leinier Dominguez of Cuba. Also under the scanner are the dutch newcomers Smeets and Stellwagen. Wang Yue shocked everyone with his Grand Prix performances and is at the cusp of the top ten in the world rankings. The chess world is curious to see how he performs in a world class event like Corus. Movsesian had an equally impressive climb, although he did not have any major achievement in terms of tournament wins. Leinier Dominguez won the world blitz championship, but this is a completely kettle of fish, but Dominguez is a fighter and his games will be worth watching. Alexander Moroze

GM Alexey Dreev of Russia won the Magistral Casino De Barcelona tournament 2008. He finished just half a point ahead of GM Kiril Georgiev of Bulgaria. Dreev finished the tournament unbeaten and with a +5 score by scoring 7/9. Veteran Gulko played well in patches to finish with a plus score. Top Women's player Stefanova finished on an even score. Here's some juicy vintage stuff from Gulko. Mind you, he has a plus score against none other then the great Kasparov. In this game, although he makes some minor errors in the opening (normal for veterans since they usually don't keep up with opening theory), he more than makes up for it with an accurate end game. Final Standings: GM Dreev 7 GM Georgiev 6.5 GM Jobava 5.5 GM Gulko 5 GM Stefanova, IM Corrales 4.5 GM Lopez 4 GM Narciso, GM Kogan 2.5

The 2008 Chess Olympiad starts at Dresden on 12th November. The first rounds will be played on the 13th. A record number of Federations and players have signed up for participation. This edition of the Olympiad promises to be a spectacular one with 152 nations participating in the Open team event and 119 in the Women's team event. The fresh World Champion Vishwanathan Anand will be missed. He will not be playing for India in this edition. In some of the previous Olympiads, Anand lost valuable rating points. Also, there is also a lot of pressure to perform in a team that does not have a world class second player. Topalov may also opt out of the Olympiad. Kramnik is expected to play for Russia. He will be joined by Morozevich, Svidler, Grischuk, and Jakovenko.

The fast rising Leinier Perez Dominguez of Cuba won the World Blitz Chess Championship held at Almaty, Kazakhstan. Vassily Ivanchuk of the Ukraine won the second prize while Peter Svidler took the third place. Dominguez Perez proved that the classical ratings are not all that critical by finishing ahead of Morozevich (2787) and Ivanchuk (2786). Judit Polgar of Hungary finished a shocking 16th and last with a performance that even a player rated 2428 should be able to manage. Check out this lucky win on time when the position was roughly equal. Both the players made mistakes during the time scramble. Final Standings Dominguez Perez 11.5 Ivanchuk 11 Sviler, Grishchuk 10 Mamedyarov, Radjabov 9.5 Kazhgaleyev 8 Morozevich 7.5 Kamsky, Gelfand 7 Tkachiev, Rublevsky 6.5 Vaganian 5.5 Bassem 4.5 Sasikiran 3.5 Polgar 2.5

When we just thought all World class matches can be held smoothly, like the Anand-Kramnik one, FIDE once again is finding it difficult to pull off the same trick with the Topalov - Kamsky match. The match is uncertain yet again. After a direct attack from Bill Goichberg (US Chess Federation), Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has come out with another confusing announcement. The ball is now in the Bulgarian Federation's court and the match may be postponed until February or March 2009, if all things don't get sorted out. There is now a deadline of November 14 for the players and Bulgaria to accept the offer to hold the match. The previous ball holder was Alexander Chernenko.

Karpov recently made a controversial statement that Anand was playing like a computer and he was not as strong as he was a decade ago! You can read about it here here , here and here . Nine Reasons why Fritz is my Friend, Trainer, and Guide. Karpov, can you please stand up? 1) The Botvinnik School was too far away and inaccessible. 2) As a rule, I pay my respects to anyone who's stronger than me. My Engine is, and I believe at least around 400 ELO stronger than the legend. 3) I can even place a bet and my comp takes me seriously (and not consider me a sissy) 4) Even when I lose in 22 moves, Fritz patiently tells me where I went wrong and suggests alternatives. 5) It does not charge $ 80 per hour to teach me. All you want free lessons! 6) I can set up a Rated Game and make my coffee and Fritzie's ego is not hurt.(Try doing that even to an FM!, let alone Karpov). I can even wink, reset the time to make up for the coffee making. 7) When I'm Kibitzing, I can try out thousands

The spectacular finals of the Cap D'Agde tournament takes place today between the classical favorite Ivanchuk and the maverick Nakamura. Update: Hiraku Nakamura of the USA won the Cap D'Agde 2008 tournament by clearly outplaying Vassily Ivanchuk of the Ukraine 1.5-0.5 Watch the live coverage here. We will post the moves regularly. Finals Game 2 - Vassily Ivanchuk (2786) - Hikaru Nakamura (2704) : 1/2 Game 1 - Hikaru Nakamura (2704) - Vassily Ivanchuk (2786) : 1-0 Ivanchuk started to go astray around move 32 and was thoroughly outplayed after that. Game 2 1-0

The Semi-final games will be played as a set of mini-matches. The first two games will be played in Rapid mode. If the match is still tied, then blitz games will follow. If the tie is not decided even after that, an armageddon game will be played. Both the semi-final matches are exciting. It's unfortunate that Carlsen and Ivanchuk are pitted against each other in the semi-finals, since they are surely the strongest of the four. But in a way, the ties promise a lot of excitement (i) because the first semi-final is between the most solid and the most cunning player. (ii) and because of this, we must have a semi-final between Carlsen and Ivanchuk, which will have its own exciting moments. Update: The finals of the Cap D'Agde tournament will be held today between Nakamura and Ivanchuk. Here's the game that clinched it for Ivanchuk. He beat Carlsen in a blitz game after the rapid games were tied. Semi-final fixtures: Rapid Games Anatoly Karpov (2651) - Hikaru Nakamura (2704) :

Report of the 2008 Casino De Barcelona Round 1 will soon follow. We could manage to get the following results: Round 1 Dreev vs Georgiev 1/2-1/2 Hernandez vs Corrales 1/2-1/2 Gulko vs Stefanova 1/2-1/2 Lopez vs Kogan 1-0 Narciso vs Jobava 0-1 Watch this interesting game by Lopez, who demonstrates the power of the passed pawn. Kogan reacted a tad too late. [Event "Magistral Ciutat de Barcelona - Casino d"] [Site "Barcelona"] [Date "2008.10.30"] [Round "2"] [White "López"] [Black "Kogan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B46"] [WhiteElo "2547"] [BlackElo "2561"] [Annotator ",Milind"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2008.??.??"] [TimeControl "300"]

Karpov, Ivanchuk, Nakamura and Carlsen advanced to the semi final stage of the Cap D'Agde tournament. Carlsen was the only who advanced relatively easily winning at the rapid game stage. The rest of the matches went up to the blitz stage. Nakamura was very impressive in the blitz games, blanking his opponent Vachier Lagrave out. Quarter final Results: Rapid Games Fabiano Caruana (2640) - Anatoly Karpov (2651) : 0-1 Anatoly Karpov (2651) - Fabiano Caruana (2640) : 0-1 Blitz 3’+2" games Anatoly Karpov (2651) - Fabiano Caruana (2640) : ½-½ Fabiano Caruana (2640) - Anatoly Karpov (2651) : ½-½ Anatoly Karpov (2651) - Fabiano Caruana (2640) : ½-½ Fabiano Caruana (2640) - Anatoly Karpov (2651) : 0-1 Karpov beat Caruana 3.5-2.5 Rapid Games Teimour Radjabov (2751) - Vassily Ivanchuk (2786) : ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk (2786) - Teimour Radjabov (2751) : ½-½ Blitz Games 3’+2" Vassily Ivanchuk (2786) - Teimour Radjabov (2751) : 1-0 Teimour Radjabov (2751) - Vassily Ivanchuk (2786

The Indian Youth team, like their hero Vishy Anand, dominated the World Youth Chess Championships held at Wung Tau, Vietnam. They finished with four golds, two silver and two bronze medals. Croatia finised second in the medals tally with two golds but China finished second on the medal count. Indian players won the Open 12, Open 14, Girls 14, and Open 16 events. Full results are available here

This year's World Blitz Chess Championship will be held at Almaty, Kazakhstan. The event, which will be held on 7th and 8th November, will be a 16 player round robin. Participants list Amin Bassem (Egypt) Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan) Krishnan Sasikiran (India) Gata Kamsky (USA) Alexander Morozevich (Russia) Lenier Dominguez Perez (Cuba) Rafael Vaganian (Armenia) Sergey Rublevsky (Russia) Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan) Vlad Tkachiev (France) Peter Svidler (Russia) Alexander Grischuk (Russia) Boris Gelfand (Israel) Judit Polgar (Hungary) Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) Murtas Kazhgaleev (Kazakhstan) Chess legend Anatoly Karpov will give a simultaneous exhibition. The simul will be against local talent. Kirsan Illyumzhinov is also expected to grace the occasion. A stamp is being issued to celebrate the IV World Blitz Chess Championship.

Vishwanathan Anand of India retained the World Championship title. He beat Vladimir Kramnik of Russia 6.5-4.5. Kramnik employed the Sicilian Najdorf variation when Anand opened the game with 1.e4. This was a bit unexpected since Kramnik usually chooses solid openings. His choice can be only understood when you consider the fact that he faced a must win situation to stay alive in the match. In the end, Anand who is known by the popular name Vishy, played a solid game and forced the exchange of Queens. After this the position did not hold any promise for Kramnik. The World Chess Championship cycle is a very complex one. For now, Anand can hold on to the Champion tag. But he actually awaits the winner of the Topalov-Kamsky match, which is in the doldrums right now. In case that match does take place and Anand manages to beat the winner, he then meets the winner of the World Cup! Final Match Score V Anand ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ Total - 6.5 Kramnik ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ Total - 4.5

The rating favorites won through to the Quarterfinal stage of Cap D'Agde. It's amazing how ratings play a part even in rapid games, nay, even blitz games. Karpov beat 14 year old Hou Yifan to advance to the knock out stage. Update: Karpov beat Caruana to advance to the Semi-finals. The young teen put up stiff resistance and the regular rapid games ended at 1-1 with a win each. Karpov, who is playing a gruelling schedule (yesterday's tie-break games against Yifan and today's games) beat back Caruana challenge in the 3 minutes+2 seconds increment games. Radjabov suffered a tragic loss to Ivanchuk in the Quarterfinals. More details about it after this game. So, Radjabov had a won position with his Queen for Rook and Bishop. But Ivanchuk defended tenaciously to draw the game. Radjabov lost the next two blitz games probably out of the shock of the "silly" draw in a winning position. What a pity! 1/2-1/2 Quarter finals Carlsen vs Xianghzhi Caruana vs Karpov 3.5 - 2

The 2008 version of the Magistral Casino de Barcelona tournament boasts of an interesting line up. Upcoming players have been matched with legends of chess. The tournament starts on October 30th and lasts until November 7. Participants GM Alexey Dreev Russia 2670 GM Jobava Baadur Georiga 2664 GM Kiril Georgiev Bulgaria 2644 GM Holden Hernandez Cuba 2580 GM Artur Kogan Israel 2561 GM Boris Gulko USA 2552 IM Fidel Corrales Cuba 2551 GM Antoaneta Stefanova Bulgaria 2550 GM JM Lopez GM Marc Narciso Spain 2511

Anand will surely aim for a draw with white in the 11th game that will be played tomorrow. We will cover the game with live comments and analysis. What do you think he will open with? Will we finally see 1.e4 where Anand has drawn all his games or won against Kramnik? Is he only in d4 mood for this match? Consider the fact that Kramnik may have prepared extensively for 1. e4. This game is very eagerly awaited for all these and more reasons. For sure, nerves will be put to test. Remember Kramnik has never beaten anyone since 2006 with black. The stage is different and Kramnik is on the rebound and the pressure is on Anand to at least draw to claim the crown. Match Score V Anand ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 Total - 6 Kramnik ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 Total - 4 V Anand vs V Kramnik Round 11 World Chess Championship Bonn, Germany October 29, 2008 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nf3 a6 6 Bg5 e6 7 f4 Qc7 8 Bxf6 gxf6 Yes! It's 1. e4. Probably Anand's main method to achieve an easy draw.

The World Youth Chess Games at Vung Tau, Vietnam are proceeding towards the last rounds. India is poised to reap a record harvest of medals. Indian players are leading and are in the hunt for the Gold medal in the U-16 Open, U-14 Girls, U-14 Open, U-12 Girls, and U-12 Open categories. Leading Standings U 18 Girls Golubenko 7.5 Girya 6.0 Gosciniak 6.0 U 18 Open Nguyen Ngoc Truon Son Saric Tomczak

The playoffs for the Russian Champion's title is today. If you remember (we'll excuse you for being engrossed in the WC), Jakovenko, Svidler and Alekseev tied for the first place. Svidler was lucky to be alive at this stage. His last ditch effort, beating Alekseev, fetched him a place in today's matchups. The players will battle over 6 games, double round robin (both colors) at 15 minutes+10 seconds increment times. Information is hard to come by. Here's what I could salvage. Alekseev vs Jakovenko 0-1 Alekseev vs Svidler 0.5-0.5 Jakovenko vs Svidler 0.5-0.5 Jakovenko vs Alekseev 1-0 Svidler vs Alekseev 1-0 Svidler vs Jakovenko 1-0 This means that Svidler must be the Russian Superfinals Champion. Jakovenko finished second and Alekseev third.

Anand resigned the 10th game after committing a positional blunder. Kramnik has now moved up to 4 points, still a solid 2 points behind Anand. Although a draw is enough for a title, nerves will now start playing up. Match Score V Anand ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 Total - 6 Kramnik ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 Total - 4

Another draw, but what a draw! Kramnik pushed Anand to the wall after a mistake in a complicated position. But to his credit, Anand played quality defensive moves under intense time pressure on both sides. Kramnik couldn't deliver the knock out punch, Anand escaped by the skin of his teeth. Game 10 is on 27 October and we'll be bringing it live as usual with on the spot analysis. Remember Anand needs just a draw to retain his World Chess Champion title. For Kramnik it's win or bust. Remember, Kramnik is playing with the white pieces and looking at his comeback to form, (which unfortunately is only good enough to draw the mighty Anand in this match), he will try to push hard again. Kramnik usually chooses dull openings. Hope he has taken a leaf out of Anand's book like he showed yesterday with the black pieces. If he plays without fear like he did for most part of yesterday, we'll have another juicy game. Match Score after Game 9 V Anand ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ Total - 6

GM Ian Rogers was overheard discussing a rumor in the commentary box with GM Yasser Seirawan that GM Vladimir Kramnik may quit chess if he loses this match. We'll keep you updated on this and break the news when we hear more about this. Editor Here's the update - in the press conference after game 11, Kramnik said he has no plans to retire and that he enjoys chess even now. To his credit, he agreed that he was outprepared and he promised to learn and change the way he plays.

GM Friso Nijboer, Stewart Haslinger, and unfancied Alexandr Fier tied for the top spot at Essent, Hoogeveen. Sipke Ernst finished next on 6.5 points. World Junior champion Abhijeet Gupta and runner up Parimarjan Negi, both of India, finished with 6 and 5.5 points respectively. Final Standings Nijboer, Fier, Haslinger 7.0 Ernst 6.5 Spoelman, Gupta, Naumkin, Safarli, Romanishin, L'Ami, Slingerland, and others 6.0

Here are some of the Results of the two events. (Please see the Corsica - Kasparov Simul results at the end of this post) Cap d'Agde Initial Results Caruana is turning out to be the star of this tournament (considering the others are already stars!) Cheparinov, Caruana and Vachier Lagrave are favorites to advance. Ivanchuk has to fight to stay in the race for the Quarterfinal race. In group B, favorites Carlsen and Radjabov are coasting along with dominating performances. The critical game between Carlsen and Radjabov has started (28th Oct evening) Karpov is playing against Koneru Humpy, who had beaten him some time back, so he has a chance to take revenge. Karpov lost to Nakamura 0-1 A game from this tournament. Carlsen beat Skripchenko pretty handily 1-0 In the first round, Caruana caused a minor upset beating Xiangzhi. Karpov was held to a draw by teenage sensation Hou Yifan, Vachier Lagrave drew with Ivanchuk. Earlier, Vachier Lagrave easily beat the fresh World Women's cha

Cyril Marcelin (2494) of Bayern München beat Alexei Shirov (2726) OSG Baden-Baden in the Bundesliga of Chess (Schach-Bundesliga). Even though OSG Baden-Baden managed to overwhelm Bayern München 6.5-1.5, Shirov's loss was a huge shock, especially since Marcelin is almost 230 points behind Shirov on FIDE's rating list. Marcelin played an unorthodox looking opening, probably to confuse Shirov. Shirov managed to find his way out of the initial challenge but made a series of errors in the end game to succumb to his weak rival. Watch the game here Key Moments of the Game Until move 25, the position can be held by someone of Shirov's stature. Shirov is famous for his endgame prowess. Watch the King march from e8 to f4 eventually! Shirov's 33 Re1 is a clear mistake when he was already struggling just to survive.

GM Ivan Sokolov of Netherlands won the 2008 Essent Chess Tournament, Hoogeveen. He beat everyone Black and White to win by a mile. The final tally was 5 points out of a total 6 in the Crown group, which is a 2847 rating performance. Adly and Smeets were placed second in this group. Marie Sebag finished fourth and last, but did put up a fight after a bad start. Crown Group Final Standings Sokolov 5 Adly, Smeets 2.5 Sebag 2 In the Open section, Alexandr Fier continues to lead, but now with Stewart Haslinger. Open Group Leading Standings Fier, Haslinger 6.5 Nijboer, Naumkin 6 Here's one of the games where Sokolov torments Smeets. Notice the 10 ... g5 and the relentless torture after that.

Chess Calendar 2008-2009 If you are conducting an International Tournament, write to us. If you spot any differences, please inform. Thanks IBCA Olympiad, Heraklion, Crete 18-29 Oct World Youth Chess Championships 19-31Oct Casino De Barcelona Oct 30-Nov7 Cap d'Agde 26 Oct - 1 Nov World Blitz Chess Championship Almaty Nov 7-8 Dresden Olympiad 12-25 Nov 9th Liberec Open 15-22Nov British Rapidplay 29-30 Nov Bali Benidorm 29 Nov-8 Dec Mediterranean 2017 Rijeka 29 Nov - 6 Dec Torino Chess 30 Nov - 8 Dec 68th Italian Championship 3-14 Dec Società Scacchistica Milanese, Milan 6-13Dec FIDE Grand Prix - Doha, Qatar 13-29 Dec 2nd Berkeley Masters 14-23 Dec Leon Open 26-28 Dec Hastings Chess Congress 28 Dec - 5 Jan Czech Litomysl Chess Christmas 26 Dec - 2Jan African Junior Chess Championships, South Africa 28 Dec - 6 Jan Gjøvik chess festival, Norway 2-5 Jan 2nd Queenstown Chess Classic 15-24 Jan 2009 Corus Wijk aan Zee Jan 16-1 Feb 25th Bermuda Open 30Jan-1Feb Wesley So Eugene Torre Match F

This weekend, the 3rd and 4th rounds of Schachbundesliga 2008 (Chess Bundesliga) will be held. Live games will be covered live on the Internet. Information is available here PGNs are available here

The 2008 edition of the World Youth Chess Championships is being held at Vung Tau, Vietnam. After 6 rounds, Valentina Golubenko and Nguyen Ngoc Truon Son lead in the U 18 section in the Girls and Boys events respectively. Official Site Results are available on ChessResults.com

Anand leads the match 5.5 - 2.5 and has the white pieces. If he has any novelties left up his sleeve, he can seal the match on Sunday with a win. A slower route is via two draws. An interesting point to note here is that Anand has now moved ahead in the head to head scores against Kramnik in the Classical games section. Please note that the German time has now moved to Winter time and so the games start one hour later for most of you not in Europe. Classical Games 59 Games, 46 draws Anand +1 (7 wins, 6 losses) For all the scores in all formats, see the earlier head to head post . Match Score V Anand ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ Total - 5.5 Kramnik ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ Total - 2.5 V Anand vs V Kramnik Round 9 World Chess Championship Bonn, Germany 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 It's the Slav Defence 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 Anand prefers the sharp line in the anti-Moscow gambit. Slower is 6. Bxf6 6 ...dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.Qc2 Not seen in regular play. Kramnik can get an edge wit

Kramnik gets to play with the white pieces after a two round gap. From what we saw, he was struggling just to draw yesterday. If Kramnik wants to go down blazing, his only chance is to start his fight now. Expect a fight from him today. If he does not choose an aggressive opening plan, it means that he has already given up. As for Anand, there is only suggestion - please don't feed the nay sayers. Match Score V Anand ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ Total - 5.0 Kramnik ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ Total - 2.0 V Kramnik vs V Anand Round 8 World Chess Championship Bonn, Germany 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bg5 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qa5 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10 Bxf6 Bxb5 11 Ndxb5 Anand does not play the Slav this time. It's a Queen's Gambit for a change, with the Vienna variation. It looks like Anand will open up his g file again. 11 ... gxf6 12.O-O Nc6 There it is. The position is proceeding on known lines right now and is well balanced. Expect another exciting game! 13 a3 Bxc3 14 Nx

V Anand vs V Kramnik Round 7 World Chess Championship Bonn, Germany 1.d4 d5 2 c4 c6 Kramnik goes for the Slav. 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5 a4 Bf5 This line was played in the Kramnik Topalov match. Hopefully, Kramnik is comfortable with this theory and can hope to stem the rot. 6 e3 e6 7 Bxc4 Bb4 8 O-O Nbd7 9 Qe2 It's the main line with Qe2. Bg6 10 e4 O-O 11 Bd3 Bh5 12 e5 Nd5 13 Nxd5 cxd5 14 Qe3 Re8 15 Ne1 Bg6 16 Bxg6 hxg6 17 Nd3 Qb6 Surely, Anand has prepared something for the Slav. But at the moment, though Anand is slightly plus, the position looks to be OK for Kramnik. 18 Nxb4 Qxb4 19 b3 Rac8 20 Ba3 Qc3 21.Rac1 Qxe3 22.fxe3 f6 23.Bd6 g5 24.h3 Kf7 25.Kf2 Kg6 26.Ke2 fxe5 27.dxe5 b6 28.b4 Rc4 29.Rxc4 dxc4 30.Rc1 Rc8 31.g4 a5 32.b5 c3 33.Rc2 Kf7 34.Kd3 Nc5+ 35.Bxc5 Rxc5 36.Rxc3 Rxc3+ Kramnik creates an impregnable fortress. Draw 1/2-1/2

The prestigious Cap d'Agde chess tournament starts on October 26. This year, the organizers have assembled an assortment of riches in terms of players gathered. Apart from the usual stars, the organizers have invited Nakamura, who is a blitz expert and also Karpov, who is no pushover in the rapid format. Add a dash of the female brigade and you have an interesting tourney. Participants Group A GM Vasily Ivanchuk Ukraine 2786 GM Maxime Vachier Lagrave France 2716 GM Bu Xiangzhi China 2714 GM Ivan Cheparinov Bulgaria 2696 GM Fabiano Caruana Italy 2640 GM Marie Sebag France 2533 GM Alexandra Kosteniuk Russia 2525 GM Katerina Lahno Ukraine 2488 Group B GM Magnus Carlsen Norway 2786 GM Teimour Radjabov Azerbaijan 2751 GM Hikaru Nakamura USA 2704 GM Anatoly Karpov Russia 2651 GM Humpy Koneru India 2618 WGM Hou Yifan China 2578 GM Sebastien Feller France 2526 WGM Almira Skripchenko France 2455 The initial rounds will be rapid games of 25 minutes +10 seconds each. The top four in each grou

Anand again has the white pieces against Kramnik in the 7th round of the lopsided World Chess Championship. Is it all over? Even a draw as the match progresses towards its end, is bad for Kramnik. Yet, Kramnik is not even able to draw comfortably, forget winning! Nigel Short called the consecutive whites "another of FIDE's quirks" on one of the Chess servers. Some facts before this game: -- Kramnik has never beaten Anand with black -- Kramnik lost the match against Shirov in 1998 with -3, but never lost two games in a row. -- Kramnik has come back in matches, but never from such a huge deficit