Impressive Field at World Open

Source:

By DYLAN LOEB MCCLAINhttp://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/03/impressive-field-at-world-open/

Win

Francisco Vallejo Pons

Loss

Jan Gustafsson

Replay the game »

Win

Luke McShane

Loss

Alexander Grischuk

Replay the game »

Win

Pentala Harikrishna

Loss

Falko Bindrich

Replay the game »

Loss

Alonso Zapata

Win

Surya Ganguly

Replay the game »

The World Open, the annual tournament in Philadelphia that always takes place around July 4th, often lives up to its name by attracting a world-class contingent of players.

This year is no different as the field includes Francisco Vallejo Pons of Spain, Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India, Loek Van Wely of the Netherlands, Luke McShane of England, Evgeny Najer of Russia, Viktor Laznicka of the Czech Republic and Ilya Smirin of Israel. It also includes many of the best Americans, among them Gata Kamsky, the United States champion, and Alexander Onischuk.

The players come because the tournament offers one of the biggest prize funds in the world. This year’s is guaranteed to be at least $175,000 and could rise to $250,000, depending on how many players enter.

Though the tournament has started, the field may not be set. The World Open has an unusual format that allows competitors to play over 7 days, 5 days, 4 days or 3 days. In the longer schedule, competitors play all their games at the slowest time control. As the schedules speed up, the first few games are played at a more rapid pace before all the schedules merge in the last few rounds. The multiple schedules allow players to enter (or re-enter if they do poorly in one of the slower schedules) even after the tournament has started.

In the 7-day schedule, Vallejo, Ganguly, Pentala Harikrishan of India, Van Wely, Chanda Sandipan of India and McShane were tied for first with 2.5 points each after three rounds. In the 5-day schedule, there was a large group of players, including Kamsky, Laznicka and Smirin who won their first two games.

Though the tournament always has a large field, it is not unusual for top players to meet in early rounds. That has happened this year, with several clashes between grandmasters in Rounds 2 and 3. Among the decisive games were an upset of Onischuk by McShane, a win by Vallejo over Jan Gustafsson, a Dutch grandmaster, a win by Harikrishna over Falko Bindrich, a German grandmaster, and a win by Ganguly over Alonso Zapata, a Colombian grandmaster.

The tournament runs through Monday, July 5.

Fischer Belongings Reportedly Sold at Auction

Source: June 11, 2009, 6:41 am

By Dylan Loeb McClain

Bonhams auction house reportedly sold a collection of materials that once belonged to Bobby Fischer, the former world champion. The auction took place Wednesday at Bonhams facility at 580 Madison Avenue in Manhattan. Samuel H. Sloan, who lives in the Bronx, wrote in an e-mail message that he was at the auction and he said the lot was sold to an anonymous buyer for $61,000, including the auction house’s fee.

(Sloan is a former member of the board of the United States Chess Federation and is involved in a series of lawsuits by and against the federation. He is running for the board again this year.)

According to the description on Bonhams Web site, the collection included 320 books, many from the Soviet Union, 400 periodicals, and four volumes of typed notes detailing the games of Boris Spassky from the 1950’s to 1971 — evidently Fischer’s preparation for the 1972 world championship match.

A similar collection came up for sale in 2005 on eBay, and it is possible, perhaps even likely, that this is the same material. That material had been seized for nonpayment of rent from a storage locker in Pasadena, Fischer’s long-time home. Fischer maintained for years that the seizure was illegal.

The collection is a reminder of one of the things that made Fischer unique. Though he never learned to speak or write fluently in languages other than English, he gathered chess books and periodicals from all over the world and deciphered them to add to his chess knowledge. He once said that he did this because the best information was published elsewhere, particularly in the Soviet Union and Germany.

XXVI TORNEO INTERCONTINENTAL DE AJEDREZ “CIUDAD DE LINARES” Ronda 6

Ronda 6 ª

1.	Grischuk, Alexander	4,5	g	RUS	2733
2.	Carlsen, Magnus	3,5	g	NOR	2776
3.	Aronian, Levon	3,5	g	ARM	2750
4.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	3	g	UKR	2779
5.	Anand, Viswanathan	3	g	IND	2791
6.	Dominguez Perez, Leinier	2,5	g	CUB	2717
7.	Wang Yue	2	g	CHN	2739
8.	Radjabov, Teimour	2	g	AZE	2761

Ronda 6: Miércoles, 25.02.2009
Wang Yue	1/2	T. Radjabov	Descargar Partidas
V. Ivanchuk	1/2	L. Dominguez
A. Grischuk	1-0	L. Aronian	PGN
M. Carlsen	1-0	V. Anand

Carlsen,Magnus (2776) - Anand,Viswanathan (2791) [D45]

Linares 2009 Linares (6), 25.02.2009

1.d2-d4 d7-d5 2.c2-c4 c7-c6 3.Cb1–c3 Cg8-f6 4.e2-e3 e7-e6 5.Cg1–f3 Cb8-d7 6.Dd1–c2 Af8-d6 7.g2-g4 Cf6xg4 8.Th1–g1 Dd8-f6 9.Tg1xg4 Df6xf3 10.Tg4xg7 Cd7-f6 11.h2-h3 Df3-f5 12.Dc2xf5 e6xf5 13.c4xd5 c6xd5 14.Cc3-b5 Ad6-b4+ 15.Ac1–d2 Ab4xd2+ 16.Re1xd2 Re8-e7 17.Af1–d3 Ac8-e6 18.Cb5-c7 Ta8-g8 19.Cc7xe6 Re7xe6 20.Tg7xg8 Cf6xg8 21.Rd2-e2 Cg8-e7 22.Re2-f3 Th8-c8 23.a2-a4 Tc8-c7 24.a4-a5 h7-h6 25.h3-h4 Re6-f6 26.h4-h5 Ce7-c8 27.Rf3-f4 Cc8-d6 28.Ta1–g1 Tc7-c8 29.f2-f3 Rf6-e6 30.Tg1–g7 Tc8-h8 31.Ad3-c2 Th8-c8 32.Ac2-b3 Tc8-h8 33.Tg7-g1 Th8-c8 34.Tg1–g7 Tc8-h8 35.Tg7-g2 Th8-c8 36.Tg2-g1 Cd6-e8 37.e3-e4 f5xe4 38.f3xe4 Ce8-f6 39.e4-e5 Cf6-e4 40.Rf4-e3 b7-b6 41.a5xb6 a7xb6 42.Re3-d3 Ce4-f2+ 43.Rd3-e2 Cf2-e4 44.Re2-e3 f7-f6 45.Tg1–g6 Tc8-c1 46.Tg6xh6 Tc1–h1 47.Ab3-c2 Th1–h3+ 48.Re3-f4 Th3-h4+ 49.Rf4-f3 Ce4-d2+ 50.Rf3-e2 Th4-h2+ 51.Re2-d1 Cd2-c4 52.Th6xf6+ Re6-e7 53.Ac2-g6 Th2-d2+ 54.Rd1–c1 Td2xd4 55.b2-b3 Cc4xe5 56.Tf6xb6 Td4-h4 57.Ag6-f5 Ce5-f3 58.h5-h6 Cf3-d4 59.h6-h7 Cd4xf5 60.Tb6-b8 Cf5-d4 61.Rc1–b2 Re7-d6 62.h7-h8D Th4xh8 63.Tb8xh8 Rd6-c5 64.Th8-h5 Cd4-c6 65.Th5-h4 Cc6-b4 66.Rb2-a3 d5-d4 67.Th4-h5+ Cb4-d5 68.Ra3-b2 Rc5-c6 69.Rb2-a3 Rc6-c5 70.Th5-h4 Cd5-b4 71.Th4-h8 Cb4-c6 72.Th8-h5+ Rc5-d6 73.b3-b4 d4-d3 74.Th5-h3 Cc6-e5 75.Ra3-b3 d3-d2 76.Rb3-c2 Ce5-c6 77.Th3-h4 Rd6-d5 1–0 [Haga clic aquí para reproducir la partida...]

(21) Ivanchuk,Vassily (2779) - Dominguez Perez,Leinier (2717) [A32]

Linares 2009 Linares (6), 25.02.2009

1.Cf3 c5 2.c4 Cc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Cxd4 Cf6 5.g3 Db6 6.Cc2 e6 7.Ag2 d5 8.0–0 Ae7 9.cxd5 Cxd5 10.Cc3 Cxc3 11.bxc3 0–0 12.Ae3 Da5 13.Cd4 Ce5 14.Af4 Cc4 15.Dd3 Da4 16.De4 Te8 17.Tfd1 g5 18.Ae5 Ad7 19.Ac7 e5 20.Cf5 Dc6 21.Tab1 Dxe4 22.Axe4 Axf5 23.Axf5 b6 24.Td7 Tac8 25.Ad3 Ca5 26.Axe5 Cc6 27.Ad4 Ted8 28.Tb7 Rf8 29.e3 h6 30.Af5 Tb8 31.Tc7 Cxd4 32.cxd4 a5 33.Tb5 Td6 34.Ad3 Ad8 35.Tc2 Tb7 36.Rg2 Tdd7 37.Ae4 Tbc7 38.Tcb2 Tc3 39.Rf3 Re7 40.Rg4 Td6 41.Tf5 Rf8 42.Rh5 Rg7 43.Ad5 Af6 44.Af3 a4 45.Ae4 a3 46.Te2 Te6 47.Ad5 Td6 ½–½ [Haga clic aquí para reproducir la partida...]

Grischuk,Alexander (2733) - Aronian,Levon (2750) [D43]

Linares 2009 Linares (6), 25.02.2009

1.d2-d4 d7-d5 2.c2-c4 c7-c6 3.Cg1–f3 Cg8-f6 4.Cb1–c3 e7-e6 5.Ac1–g5 h7-h6 6.Ag5-h4 d5xc4 7.e2-e4 g7-g5 8.Ah4-g3 b7-b5 9.Cf3-e5 h6-h5 10.h2-h4 g5-g4 11.Af1–e2 Ac8-b7 12.0–0 Cb8-d7 13.Dd1–c2 Cd7xe5 14.Ag3xe5 Af8-g7 15.b2-b3 0–0 16.b3xc4 Cf6-h7 17.Ae5xg7 Rg8xg7 18.Ta1–d1 Dd8xh4 19.c4xb5 c6xb5 20.Cc3xb5 Ta8-c8 21.Dc2-d3 Tf8-d8 22.d4-d5 e6xd5 23.Dd3-d4+ Rg7-g8 24.Dd4xa7 Dh4-e7 25.e4-e5 De7xe5 26.Da7xb7 Tc8-b8 27.Db7-c7 De5xe2 28.Cb5-d4 De2-c4 29.Dc7-e5 Td8-e8 30.De5xh5 Tb8-b6 31.Cd4-f5 Tb6-e6 32.Cf5-e3 Dc4xa2 33.Ce3xg4 Da2-e2 34.Dh5-h4 De2-c4 35.f2-f4 Te6-g6 36.Tf1–f3 Dc4-c5+ 37.Rg1–h1 Dc5-e7 38.Dh4-h3 De7-d6 39.f4-f5 Tg6-g5 40.Cg4-h6+ Rg8-f8 41.Ch6xf7 Dd6-f6 42.Cf7xg5 Ch7xg5 43.Dh3-h4 Te8-e7 44.Tf3-h3 Df6xf5 45.Dh4-h8+ Rf8-f7 46.Th3-h5 Te7-e8 47.Dh8-h6 Te8-g8 48.Dh6-d6 Tg8-g6 49.Dd6xd5+ Df5xd5 50.Td1xd5 Cg5-e4 51.Th5-f5+ Rf7-g7 52.Td5-d7+ Rg7-h6 53.Tf5-f4 Ce4-g3+ 54.Rh1–h2 Cg3-h5 55.Tf4-a4 Ch5-f6 56.Td7-d4 Tg6-g5 57.Td4-f4 Tg5-g6 58.Tf4-f3 Cf6-h7 59.Tf3-h3+ 1–0 [Haga clic aquí para reproducir la partida...]

(22) Wang,Yue (2739) - Radjabov,Teimour (2760) [E92]

Linares 2009 Linares (6), 25.02.2009

1.d4 Cf6 2.c4 g6 3.Cc3 Ag7 4.e4 d6 5.Cf3 0–0 6.Ae2 e5 7.Ae3 Cg4 8.Ag5 f6 9.Ah4 g5 10.Ag3 Ch6 11.d5 Cd7 12.0–0 f5 13.exf5 Cc5 14.b4 e4 15.Cd4 Cd3 16.Cxe4 Axd4 17.Tb1 Cxf2 18.Axf2 Axf2+ 19.Cxf2 Axf5 20.Tb3 De7 21.Dd2 Tae8 22.Ah5 Ag6 23.Th3 Dg7 24.Axg6 Dxg6 25.Te3 Txe3 26.Dxe3 b6 27.Te1 Cf5 28.De4 Dg7 29.Cd3 a6 30.Tf1 Dd4+ 31.Dxd4 Cxd4 32.Txf8+ Rxf8 33.Rf2 Re7 34.Re3 Cc2+ 35.Re4 b5 36.c5 h6 37.c6 Rf6 38.g3 Ca3 39.g4 Cc2 40.h3 Ca3 41.Rd4 Cc2+ 42.Re4 Ca3 43.Rd4 ½–½ [Haga clic aquí para reproducir la partida...]

Is Chess a Sport? Maybe, Maybe Not.

Source: February 13, 2009, 12:53 am By Dylan Loeb McClain For years, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the president of the World Chess Federation, has been trying to get chess accepted as part of the Olympics. The effort has included instituting drug testing to comply with regulations of the International Olympic Committee. Few think that Ilyumzhinov’s crusade will succeed, but someone in upstate New York has borrowed from an existing Olympic sport to create a “sporting” event that at least seems more Olympian. An amusing article on Chessbase.com from earlier this week recounts a “chess biathlon,” which was held in Jefferson County, New York. The participants were students from LaFargeville Central School. The competition involved cross-country skiing with periodic stops to solve chess problems posted to trees in the woods. Each participant was timed and then time was added or subtracted based on how many problems were solved correctly. The article has some nice photos, but unfortunately there are no examples of the problems, no mention of the length of the course and also no information about how long it took for the winner to complete the event. In terms of getting chess into the Olympics, a chess biathlon probably will not stir up much interest. Chess boxing, on the other hand, seems to hold out more promise. In this hybrid “sport,” combatants alternate between playing chess and boxing. Started by Iepe B.T. Rubingh, a German performance artist, chess boxing has a federation to oversee the sport and there have been matches staged all over Europe. There are now chess boxing organizations in Britain, Germany, Bulgaria and Russia. Chess boxing is not being broadcast on ESPN, although the cable network did do a video segment about it two years ago, which can be seen on YouTube. So, for now, anyone wanting to see a chess boxing match will have to do in person. The next ones will be held on Feb. 21 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, in Siberian Federal University. Good luck getting there.