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

Did you know that Kramnik was comprehensively beaten by Alexei Shirov in a 10 game Candidates match in 1998? Kramnik's later wins over Kasparov, Leko, and Topalov overshadowed this loss. Kramnik lost to Shirov -2 +0 with seven draws. Shirov won the 4th and the 9th games of the match with in a Petrov (Modern Attack) and Neo-Grunfeld Defense game respectively. The 9th game win was with black. The Shirov - Kasparov match for the title did not materialize for want of sponsorship.

Gata Kamsky won the World Cup Chess tournament 2007 being played at Khanty Mansiysk. What was expected to be a fiery battle in the end fizzled out into a draw by the 35th move. However, Kamsky was the one bound to break into a smile as he won $ 120 000. Shirov managed $ 80 000 in the end. Shirov did provoke Kamsky to fight a complicated battle. He offered a knight in the middle game but Kamsky declined it with his customary cool way and went on to sacrifice an exchange and then advance the dangerous e-pawn. The draw was agreed when Shirov could no longer prevent the perpetual thanks to Kamsky's queen. Kamsky now meets Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria for a chance to meet the winner of Vishwanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik. The eventual winner is to be considered the absolute World Champion.

Gata Kamsky of USA held on to his lead against Alexei Shirov of Spain in the finals of World Cup Chess 2007 being held at Khanty Mansiysk. The final is a four game affair with normal time, then rapid, blitz games to break a tie. Today's drawn game: The winner here meets Veselin Topalov for a chance to challenge the winner of Anand and Kramnik. The results so far are as follows: Game 1 - Draw after a brief struggle. Shirov cannot break the solid Kamsky's defence. Game 2- Kamsky wins a thrilling game which could have swung either way. Shirov had chances only if Kamsky made minor errors but Kamsky displayed his strength of will to prevail Game 3- Is again a draw. Shirov tries for 41 moves before the peace treaty is signed. Tomorrow, Shirov must win with black pieces to tie the match and move to the tie-breaks. On current form, Kamsky is expected to at least draw and hang to his lead and hence win the title, but with the Alexei "Fire on the board" Shirov, you never can be...

Shirov beat Karjakin to move to the finals of the World Cup Chess that is now on at Khanty Mansiysk. The winner plays Topalov later. Karjakin was probably trying to take the games to the blitzs. With white, he could not make headway against Shirov, who in fact had the upper hand by the end. But with Shirov and the white the tables were turned and he played an amazingly accurate endgame to triumph. Experience won against teens, but only in the semi-finals. The finals promise excitement - the steady Kamsky vs the "Fire on the Board" Shirov.

Karjakin and Shirov go to war in a set of rapid and blitz games for a place in the finals of the World Cup Chess 2007 at Khanty Mansiysk. Karjakin is well known for his rapid and blitz skills. His style of play is also clean and less prone to errors. But Shirov is no push over. His immense experience will come handy. The difference between the winner and loser in tomorrow's games very significant. In addition to this, the finals will be of four classical time games followed by tie-breakers.

Magnus Carlsen of Norway suffered an agonizing defeat against Gata Kamsky of the USA in the semi-finals of the World Cup Chess at Khanty Mansiysk. The wily Kamsky, a looming threat after the initial rounds, won an exchange in the middle game to triumph. The tournament nevertheless has been a success for Carlsen in his father's own words. See http://blog.magnuschess.com/ . Carlsen is bound to be disappointed but the humble dad-son duo have made Norway proud. We hope it is just a step for Carlsen to overcome and achieve greater deeds. The other semi-final between Karjakin of Ukraine and Shirov of Spain was drawn in 33 moves. They will play the rapid and blitz tie-break games tomorrow for a place in the finals. The winner meets Kamsky.

Sergey Karjakin beat a determined Alekseev to join Carlsen, Shirov and Kamsky in the semi-finals of the World Cup Chess. The winner of this tournament meets Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria. The semi-finalists already have won quite a bit. They automatically get selected for the new Grand Prix series for the coming year. They also win at least a minimum $ 50,000 In the semi-finals to be played tomorrow, Carlsen takes on the wise old Gata Kamsky of the USA. In the other semi-finals, Karjakin plays Shirov of Spain.

Magnus again showed his brilliance in beating Bulgarian Ivan Cheparinov at the World Cup Chess being held at Khanty Mansiysk. In the first game of the quarter-finals, playing a risky game in which both Kings were exposed, Carlsen simplified the position to a won ending. However, he made some mistakes but Cheparinov missed the right continuations. Alexei Shirov beat Dmitry Jakovenko with authority. Jakovenko misplayed the middle game to give Shirov the advantage. Shirov drove home the advantage to win. Jakovenko resigned when he was a piece down for a pawn. The other two games, Karjakin - Alekseev and Ponomariov - Kamsky were drawn. Karjakin did not press with the white pieces and the game was a draw by the time the middle game was reached. Ponomariov had good advantage but made mistakes. Kamsky too showed his determination. His fighting spirit is his main weapon. Tomorrow Kamsky gets to try with the white pieces.