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Teenage sensation Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian jointly won the Corus Chess tournament at Wijk aan Zee. Details soon to follow.

Results of round 7 Aronian, Levon - Radjabov, Teimour 1-0 King's Indian Defence Ivanchuk, Vassily - Kramnik, Vladimir ½-½ Petroff's Defence Topalov, Veselin - Carlsen, Magnus ½-½ Ruy Lopez Closed Adams, Michael - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar ½-½ Ruy Lopez Modern Steinitz Polgar, Judit - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 Sicilian Najdorf Variation Gelfand, Boris - Lékó, Peter ½-½ Catalan Eljanov, Pavel - Van Wely, Loek * Slav Defence (Game is still going on) Standings after Round 7 Magnus Carlsen - 5 Vladimir Kramnik - 4.5 Levon Aronian - 4.5

The legendary Bobby Fischer, arguably one of the greatest ever chess players died on January 17 th 2008. He was pronounced dead at a Reykjavik iceland hospital. Rated by many as the very best ever chess player, Fischer was a recluse and took on the US government in bitter fights.

Judit Polgar played a brave game to beat Gelfand with black pieces. Topalov was ground down by Van Wely who seems to be in fine nick. At least he is creating chances for himself. There is this feeling that his training with Kramnik is working, and working very well. Kramnik beat Eljanov in his normal efficient, no nonsense style. Round 4 results : Group A Carlsen, Magnus - Aronian, Levon ½-½ Ruy Lopez Centre Attack Radjabov, Teimour - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar ½-½ Gruenfeld Russian Lékó, Peter - Ivanchuk, Vassily ½-½ Caro Kann Van Wely, Loek - Topalov, Veselin 1-0 Old Benoni Kramnik, Vladimir - Eljanov, Pavel 1-0 English Opening Anand, Viswanathan - Adams, Michael ½-½ Queens Indian Gelfand, Boris - Polgar, Judit 0-1 Catalan Group B Bacrot, Etienne - Movsesian, Sergei ½-½ QGD Ragozin Harikrishna, P - Spoelman, Wouter 1-0 Queen's Pawn Opening Cheparinov, Ivan - Nepomniachtchi, Ian 1-0 Anti-Meran Gambit Short, Nigel D - Koneru, Humpy ½-½ Petroff's Defence Sargissian, Gabriel - ...

Day three was a dull affair at Corus with all the games in the A Group ending in draws. The most exciting news was provided by the 13 year old Hou Yifan who beat Short in a very short game. Short opened up his king side with a g5 thrust and tried to pin Yifan's knight against her queen but she found the correct way to bust Short's position and won in just 23 moves. Adams - Carlsen - Same color bishop ending where Adams had doubled pawns on the b file, but it doesn't count for much. So Draw Polgar - Topalov was an opposite color bishop ending with an extra pawn but going nowhere. Draw. Eljanov - Anand was a Nimzo Indian Classical that proceeded on known lines and ended in a very quick draw

Levon Aronian of Armenia seems to be in top form so far. Today he beat Gelfand with the black pieces in a Slav Defence game in impressive style. Carlsen beat Eljanov. As we mentioned before, Eljanov appears to be overwhelmed by the strong field. Carlsen ground him down with his usual efficiency. Vishy Anand had his chances and dominated proceedings for a long time, but let the harassed Mamedyarov off the hook with an error in a Rooks and pawns end game. Van Wely too dominated only to let Polgar escape with a draw. Results of Round 2 at Corus chess: Group A Carlsen, Magnus - Eljanov, Pavel 1-0 Gruenfeld 5.Bg5 Kramnik, Vladimir - Radjabov, Teimour ½-½ King's Indian Classical Van Wely, Loek - Polgar, Judit ½-½ Nimzo Indian 4.Nf3 Lékó, Peter - Adams, Michael (Prob a draw) Ruy Lopez Chigorin Topalov, Veselin - Ivanchuk, Vassily ½-½ Benoni Gelfand, Boris - Aronian, Levon 0-1 30 Slav Defence Anand, Viswanathan - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar ½-½ Ruy Lopez Modern Steinitz Group B Short, Nigel D ...

Live commentaries Our comments: Anand vs Mamedyarov Anand again played boldly to open up his king side but found the right moves to always keep an edge. Looks like Anand will make it to a Rook endgame with an extra pawn. Topalov vs Ivanchuk In a modern Benoni game, Topalov seems to be playing pretty safe, probably stung by his loss to Aronian yesterday. The game is pretty much balanced with Topalov having nothing much more than a normal advantage that white gets as white. Gelfand vs Aronian Slav Defence game. Gelfand played a dubious pawn move that gave Aronian an edge that he's maintained. Aronian is almost winning. And this early, with black. We'll have to see if Gelfand's experience will help him hold this game. Appears difficult since Aronian seems to be the man in form in this tournament so far. Kramnik vs Radjabov Its a Kings Indian again, with the classical variation. Radjabov has decided to take on the challenge even though he faced problems last year. Kramnik has p...

Here's are comments for the game Mamedyarov vs Carlsen live analysis. This game has led to a lot of discussions and many feel that Shak resigned prematurely. Well, to an extent, it wseems to be true. But the advantage is not overwhelming. Please note that we have added a few moves to the game after Mamed resigned, that is after 40. ... Ne3. We present a line that could possibly lead to a draw with accurate play from white. Also note that Carlsen suggested that white could have played on with 41. Ra5. But that line seems to be inferior. He was confident though, that his position was winning. Prodigies such as Carlsen do have a intuitive feel for the position. He was right, but Mamed had his chances.

Vishy Anand lost his opening game against Teimour Radjabov at the Corus Chess tournament that started today. In a semi-slav game, Anand made a couple of serious mistakes in the middle game to lose an exchange. Ironically, he held his own in the opening when his king was exposed. Anand was not able to demonstrate his Houdini-like end game wizardry and resigned after a long struggle. Another mini-upset was the defeat of Topalov against Aronian. In a game of swinging fortunes, Aronian managed to stave off the many threats that Topalov produced at the early stages of the game. Topalov was clearly playing for a win and had to concede advantage. Aronian nursed home the advantage to a clear win in a Rook and pawn ending. Mamedyarov resigned in a dead drawn position with Carlsen. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update : Hou Yifan lost her game to Bacrot as per the official site result. There was a lot of commotion on the chat but the king was ...

Update Kramnik - Van Wely (Draw) Ivanchuk - Polgar (Draw) Adams - Gelfand (Draw, what else) In other interesting games in the other groups, Harikrishna was winning against Short but he seems to have messed up his winning chances. Same with Stellwagen and Li Chao, they both lost significant winning edges against Humpy and Irina Krush respectively. Hou Yifan is putting up a good show against the 2700 Bacrot. A draw is still possible although Bacrot is piling on the pressure now. The other prodigy Negi is almost equal against Sweden's Pontus Carlsson.

Corus mid day live commentary Mamedyarov vs Carlsen Mamedyarov always had a plus and was almost close to a significant plus, but he delayed the f pawn advance. Carlsen then managed to gain equality by move 23. Ivanchuk vs Polgar This queen's indian defence game was always balanced and Polgar has a slight edge in the middle game. Aronian vs Topalov By far one of the most exciting games on display today. Topalov made some amazing moves to bring the white king into the middle. But he missed a promising continuation and the game is drawish. Radjabov vs Anand A Semi-slav game with 5. Bg6 h6 Anand chose to sacrifice his castling rights to gain two pawns but Radjabov gave them back to get a decent edge by the middle game stage. Anand missed the right continuation to achieve balance.

Come on in. Everyday we will put up live analysis and post-mortem ! Here is the list of players that we consider masters at winning and masters at drawing. Its interesting to see some players who belong to these groups by character :) Winning masters: 1. Garry Kasparov (73.08%) 2. Paul Keres (71.67%) 3. Max Euwe (71.43) 4. Lajos Portisch (66.14%) 5. Efim Geller (66.07%) Drawing masters: 1. Gyula Sax (76.32%) 2. Peter Leko (75.96%) 3. Andras Adorjan (72.09%) 4. Gennadi Sosonko (71.52%) 5. Ulf Andersson (67.86%)

To get you warmed up for this year's Corus Chess tournament, here's an unbelievable game from two great masters. Kasparov beats Topalov in a brilliant manner at Wijk aan Zee in 1999. Do let us know what you think of this game.

Update: -------------------------------------------- Radjabov won the ACP world rapid chess championship. He beat Grischuk 2.5-1.5 in the final. -------------------------------------------- The semi-finalists in the world cup rapid championships were spotted. Jakovenko beat giant-killer Inarkiev, Radjabov upset Ivanchuk, Grishchuk defeated Svidler and Karjakin eliminated Gelfand. In a tournament graced by ex-world champion Karpov and Judit Polgar, who lost earlier, the youngsters are surely grabbing the limelight. Results of the Quarterfinals: Jakovenko, Dmitry vs Inarkiev, Ernesto 1.5-0.5 Radjabov, Teimour vs Ivanchuk, Vassily 3-2 Svidler, Peter vs Grischuk, Alexander 0.5-1.5 Karjakin, Sergey vs Gelfand, Boris 3-1

Zoltan Almasi of Hungary won the Reggio Emilia tournament of 2008. He finished half a point clear of three others who were tied at 5.5 points. Almasi garnered 6 points out of a possible 9. The local favorite, Godena, finished at the bottom with 3 points. Final standings after round 9: Almasi - 6 Gashimov, Ni Hua, Harikrishna - 5.5 Landa - 4.5 Korchnoi, Navara - 4 Tiviakov, Marin - 3.5 Godena - 3

Vadim Malakhatko, Nidjat Mamedov, and Valeriy Neverov were tied for the top place at the Hastings Chess Congress after the 10th and final round. There was a six way tie for the next place. Simon Williams is likely to become a Grandmaster as he crossed the mandatory 2500 mark with his performance at Hastings. Standings after the final Round 10: Malakhatko, Mamedov, Neverov - 7.5 Bindrich, Flear, Gawain Jones, Lalic, Pavlovic, Pert - 7 Chatalbashev, Conquest, Eames, Gormally, Greet, Haslinger, Hebden, Houska, Tahirov - 6.5

The Second ACP World Rapid Chess Cup sponsored by Pivdenny Bank has started. Results so far: Ivanchuk vs Eljanov 1.5 - 0.5 Radjabov vs Drozdovskij 1.5 - 0.5 Jakovenko vs Savchenko 2 - 0 Inarkiev vs Shirov 1.5 - 0.5

Update: Rybka has won the Benjamin Joel vs Rybka match 6-2. Benjamin was able to draw only two games and he eventually ran out of drawing ideas. Rybka's team won 6 games (including the last four with black!) and drew two games. Benjamin had whites in all the games. Human beings, arise and awake! Benjamin is a strong Grandmaster and was in the Deep Blue team that beat Kasparov. ------------------------------- Earlier ------------------------------- A fascinating battle is in progress. The Chess engine Rybka is playing Joel Benjamin. Benjamin gets white in every game in the 8 game match. He also gets another additional advantage in this man vs machine match. Even if he draws against the monster machine, it will be considered a win. So far two games have been played. A seemingly drawn position in the first game turned out to be difficult to defend. Benjamin lost. In the second game, he simplified accurately to draw it, which means he won. So, the match is tied at 1-1. The third game i...

This is my favorite list of players to watch at this year's Corus Chess tournament. What's yours, any suggestions ? I'll soon be adding the reasons to the players names. GM Group A Anand vs Kramnik - a preview of the titanic struggle later in the year ! Magnus Carlsen - can he start this year like he ended the last one ? Veselin Topalov - a bit forgotten last year. This is his chance, right ? GM Group B Ivan Cheparinov - How about Topalov winning the A Group and Cheparinov the B ? Nigel Short - His first real chance to start climbing up. Come on, Short. Koneru Humpy - Her chance to make an impression in an elite men's tournament. Hou Yifan - Can she hold her own against such a strong field ? Stellwagen (for locals) - Time to move up and take the place of veterans in Holland. GM Group C Fabiano Caruana - Top favorite to win the C and try for the B next year. Parimarjan Negi - Other prodigies have left you behind. Wake up, you can do it ! John van der Wiel - Show the kids...

Finally, the number of leaders is coming down. There are three - Malakhatko, Mamedov and Williams. The top seed Malakhatko's climb back has been impressive. Round 7 results: 1 MALAKHATKO,Vadim (4½) 1 - 0 LALIC,Bogdan (4½) 2 PERT,Nicholas (4½) ½ - ½ CHATALBASHEV,Boris (4½) 3 MAMEDOV,Nidjat (4½) 1 - 0 GREET,Andrew (4½) 4 WILLIAMS,Simon (4½) 1 - 0 NEVEROV,Valeriy (4½) 5 CONQUEST,Stuart (4½) ½ - ½ HEBDEN,Mark (4½) 6 KAUFMAN,Raymond (4) 0 - 1 JONES,Gawain (4) 7 RENDLE,Thomas (4) ½ - ½ TAHIROV,Farhad (4) 8 RUDD,Jack (4) 0 - 1 PAVLOVIC,Milos (4) 9 BINDRICH,Falko (4) 0 - 1 SHAKIL,Abu Sufian (4) 10 HOUSKA,Jovanka (4) ½ - ½ HASLINGER,Stewart (4) Standings after round 7: Williams, Malakhatko, Mamedov - 5.5 pts Hebden, Chatalbashev, Satyapragyan, Gawain Jones, Flear, Conquest, Shakil,...

Vishwanathan Anand holds the record for most wins at Corus, formerly Hoogovens. He's won 5 titles so far. Max Euwe, Viktor Korchnoi, and Lajos Portisch are next with 4 tournament wins each. Kasparov won it three times and Karpov twice. Here's the leading list. Tournament wins, Name 5 Anand, Viswanathan 4 Euwe, Max 4 Korchnoi, Viktor 4 Portisch, Lajos 3 Garry Kasparov 3 Donner, Johannes 3 Geller, Efim 3 Nunn, John D.M. 2 Karpov, Anatoly 2 Larsen, Bent 2 Nigel Sort 2 Nikolic, Predrag 2 Olafsson, Fridrik 2 Polugaevsky, Lev 2 Salov, Valery 2 Jan Timman 2 Veselin Topalov 2 Sosonko, Gennadi, others

Hastings is moving in a very peculiar direction. Usually, in Swiss tournaments, the number of leaders drops as more rounds are played. But at Hastings, the number of leaders in increasing as a result of which we now have 8 leaders ! Only Greet, Mamedov and Lalic could win on the top boards. Leading results: HEBDEN,Mark (4) ½ - ½ MALAKHATKO,Vadim (4) CHATALBASHEV,Boris (4) ½ - ½ CONQUEST,Stuart (4) NEVEROV,Valeriy (4) ½ - ½ PERT,Nicholas (4) GREET,Andrew (3½) 1 - 0 GEORGIEV,Vladimir (3½) JONES,Gawain (3½) ½ - ½ RENDLE,Thomas (3½) BOGNER,Sebastian (3½) 0 - 1 MAMEDOV,Nidjat (3½) TAHIROV,Farhad (3½) ½ - ½ RADOVANOVIC,Jovica (3½) PAVLOVIC,Milos (3½) ½ - ½ HOUSKA,Jovanka (3½) ROY CHOWDHURY,Saptars (3½) ½ - ½ BINDRICH,Falko (3½) LALIC,Bogdan (3½) 1 - 0 COLLINS,Sam (3½) Standings after Round 6: Malakhatko, Lalic, Pe...

Breaking news. Details to follow soon. Navara beat Korchnoi in a French Defence game. Almasi beat Marin - Ruy Lopez game. Ni Hua beat Tiviakov in a Center Counter game (Scandinavian). Godena drew Landa in a Sicilian Alapin game. Results of Round 5 at Reggio Emilia Godena - Landa 0.5 - 0.5 Navara - Korchnoi 1 - 0 Almasi - Marin 1 - 0 Ni Hua - Tiviakov 1 - 0 Gashimov - Harikrishna 0.5 - 0.5 Standings after Round 5: Almasi - 3.5 pts Gashimov, Harikrishna, Landa, Ni Hua - 3 pts Marin, Tiviakov, Navara, Korchnoi - 2 points Godena - 1.5 pts

There are now six leaders at the top of the leader board. Overnight sole leader, Hebden was held to a draw by Bindrich Falko. Malakhatko continued his impressive comeback after the shock first round loss. He has now won four games in a row. Chatalbashev beat Glenn Flear. Stuart Conquest and Nicholas Pert won against Deep Sengupta and Abu Sufian Shakil. Houska held GM Gawain Jones to a creditable draw. Results of Round 5: 1 BINDRICH,Falko (3) HEBDEN,Mark (3½) 0.5-0.5 2 MALAKHATKO,Vadim (3) HASLINGER,Stewart (3) 1-0 3 FLEAR,Glenn (3) CHATALBASHEV,Boris (3) 0-1 4 GEORGIEV,Vladimir (3) LALIC,Bogdan (3) 0.5-0.5 5 HOUSKA,Jovanka (3) JONES,Gawain (3) 0.5-0.5 6 MAMEDOV,Nidjat (3) GORMALLY,Daniel (3) 0.5-0.5 7 BATES,Richard (3) NEVEROV,Valeriy (3) 0-1 8 CONQUEST,Stuart (3) SENGUPTA,Deep (3) 1-0 9 MARUSENKO,Peter (3) TAH...

There are four leaders now at the top at the Reggio Emilia chess tournament 2007 - 2008. Harikrishna beat everybody's favorite whipping boy in this tournament, Navara. One suspects Navara is a bit lacking in confidence in this tournament. Hope he soon starts fighting back as he is capable of. Harikrisha's comeback after his first round loss to Almasi is already impressive. It bodes well for him for the near future where he will play in the GM Group B section of the Corus Chess Championship at Wijk aan Zee, which starts after Reggio Emilia. Tiviakov beat another favorite whipping boy, Godena while Ni Hua held Korchnoi to a draw. Godena obviously walked into Tiviakov's preparation in a French Defence game. He was slowly ground to his defeat. Standings after Round 4: Zoltan Almasi, Vugar Gashimov, Konstantin Landa, P Harikrishna - 2.5 Ni Hua, Mihail Marin, Sergei Tiviakov, Godena, David Navara - 2

Konstantin Landa and Vugar Gashimov joined overnight leader, Zoltan Almasi at the Reggio Emilia chess tournament. They have collected 2 points each out of the possible 3. The tournament is a very strong one and even Navara, who was recently above 2700 is in the last place with just one point. Landa beat Marin and Gashimov beat Navara (with black pieces). The remaining games were drawn. Standings after round 3: Almasi, Landa, Gashimov - 2 Korchnoi, Ni Hua, Harikrishna, Marin - 1.5 Tiviakov, Godena, Navara - 1

GM Mark Hebden jumped into the lead after four rounds at the Hastings Chess Congress 2007 - 2008. He beat Simon Williams to collect 3.5 points out of a possible 4. Most of the other top boards were drawn. Top seed Malakhatko is now back in contention and just half a point behind Hebden. Malakhatko beat Gavin Lock. Other notable winners of the fourth round were Gawain Jones over Mehdi Hasan, Mamedov over Gurbanzade, Pavlovic over Kwiatkowski and Lalic over Alan Grant. Leading Standings after Round 4: Mark Hebden - 3.5 Tahirov, Conquest, Chatalbashev, Pert, Gormally, Bates, Georgiev, Sengupta, Lalic, Haslinger, Glenn Flear, Bindrich, Neverov, Mamedov, Pavlovic, Houska, Malakhatko, Radovanovic, Marusenko, Gawain Jones - 3