Vladimir Kramnik
Alekhine Memorial Super-Tournament 2013 / Rnd 1
by National Life Master Loal Davis
Liren Ding
Congratulations to Liren Ding; he crushed Aronian in the first round of the Alekhine Memorial Super-Tournament of 2013.
Ding is rated #34 on the FIDE rating list and he just took out Aronian who is #2 on that list. Add to that that (personal opinion) Aronian never really looked to be in the game at all.
Congratulations again to Ding for a powerful performance.
Adams, with the Black pieces, beat World Champion Anand.
Kramnik won his game versus Vitiugov.
For All Games (PGN) – See Comments.
Candidates Tournament 2013 / Rnd 14 / Final
by National Life Master Loal Davis
The audience was riveted to the last games (last round) of the 2013 Candidates Tournament which selects THE challenger to play against Viswanathan Anand later this year (November).
A disappointing round it was. It may well have been an attack of nerves, but both Carlsen and Kramnik LOST their last round game. The tie-breaking system in place, known to all of the players at the beginning of the tournament, is that in the event of a tie (we definitely have one), the player with the most wins qualifies for the World Championship Match with Anand.
In this case, Carlsen has more wins and he takes the tournament.
Magnus Carlsen
It’s ironic that Carlsen also had more losses than did Kramnik; but such is the nature of this “system” of tie-breaks.
Congratulations to ALL of the players for providing a dramatic tournament.
So – it’s off to preparing for the World Championship match later this year.
For All Games (PGN format) – See Comments.
Candidates Tournament 2013 / Rnd 13
by National Life Master Loal Davis
Kramnik Draws.
Now he has 8.5 points and in the lead.
Carlsen Wins.
Now he has 8.5 points and in the lead.
(Click On Diagram To Step Through The Game)
All Tied Up.
One Round To Go.
For All Games This Round (PGN) – See Comments.
Candidates Tournament 2013 / Rnd 12
by National Life Master Loal Davis
Vladimir Kramnik
Two BIG wins today; long games each, but hard/hard fights.
Kramnik won again with the Black pieces (Left Diagram) and took Aronian down another peg.
Although Ivanchuk is near the tail-end of the tournament standings, he played spoiler today by soundly defeating Carlsen (Right Diagram).
This effectively knocked Carlsen out of first and into second place.
Kramnik now takes the lead by a half point.
 |
 |
Two Rounds To Go.
For All Games (PGN) – See Comments.
Candidates Tournament 2013 / Rnd 10
by National Life Master Loal Davis
Vladimir Kramnik
The Berlin Wall Strikes Again. Kramnik had a gigantic neutralizing weapon in his World Championship Match, which he won, versus Gary Kasparov. It was the old (new again) Berlin Variation in the Ruy Lopez. At one time this variation was a favorite of Tarrasch and Pillsbury who both had very good success with it. It gives the impression that the endgame is poor for Black because White has a Kingside Pawn majority. However that Kingside majority of Pawns is stuck. White has difficulty controlling the White squares; put that e5 Pawn back on e4 and White has good square control and a dark Bishop that is not bumping into walls. In the game today Kramnik easily blockaded the White majority and the more the pieces were exchanged White’s Queenside Pawns were exposed as vulnerable targets. Alexander Grischuk, playing White, had to exchange the last minor piece which led to a pure King and Pawn ending with White having no compensation for Black’s Queenside Pawns. Kramnik played this entire game extremely well; very instructive game throughout.
Click On The Diagram To Step Through The Game.
Levon Aronian |
Magnus Carlsen |
Aronian dismantled a Budapest Gambit from Ivanchuk. When Black was ready to capitalize on his Pawn structure and nibble Pawns on the Queenside, White turned his attention to the King (Diagram On Left) and won a smashing game.
Magnus Carlsen remains in the lead (half point) by beating Gelfand. Once again he makes it look simple; Centralization, Pressure, Crack.
Diagram On Right.
 |
 |
All PGN Files Games Within Comments Below.
Candidates Tournament 2013 / Rnd 1
by National Life Master Loal Davis
The first round of the 2013 Candidates Tournament,
held in London, featured four draws.
All four games are ANNOTATED within the Diagrams below.
Should you wish, the PGN files (Annotated Games) are also referenced in the Comments below.
|
Aronian vs Carlsen 
|
Svidler vs Kramnik 
|
|
Gelfand vs Radjabov 
|
Ivanchuk vs Grischuk
|
Zurich Chess Challenge 2013 / Rnd 6 / Final
By National Life Master Loal Davis
Viswanathan Anand
Anand’s second decisive game – unfortunately he lost the first – but here he takes out Kramnik. I didn’t think it was possible for Kramnik to lose in this tournament as his form has been extremely high throughout. As in the Caruana game, Anand sacrifices the exchange (Diagram), but here he brings in the point – very convincingly.
Congratulations to World Champion Anand.
Click on the Diagram to step through the annotated game.
Caruana won his last game after Gelfand (Black) blundered on the 30th move. I suspect this blunder was prompted because Gelfand wanted to get Queen’s off the board too early. (See Comments for the PGN).
This means that Caruana wins the tournament by a full point ahead of Anand who finished second.
Congratulations to all the players for good fighting games each and every round.
Zurich Chess Challenge 2013 / Rnd 5
Savoy Hotel / Tournament Site
Two more FIGHTING draws that could “easily” have gone in either/any direction.
Gelfand vs Anand (Left Diagram)
Kramnik vs Caruana (Right Diagram)
 |
 |
Zurich Chess Challenge 2013 / Rnd 4
Fabiano Caruana
Caruana “took revenge” for his loss to Anand earlier this year in the third round of Tata Steel . Anand made a questionable exchange sacrifice on the 29th move (Diagram). Caruana hung tough and Anand faltered under the pressure. This marks the first win by anyone in this tournament.
Gelfand vs Kramnik (See Comments) was replete with mistakes by both sides – but they were very understandable as the fighting positions were extremely complex – and these so-called blunders are only labeled so by the current opinions of chess engines.
The jury is still out as to whether chess engine evaluations are to be taken seriously at this level of chess. There are those, Kasparov among them, who are ready to believe them without blinking, but Anand and Gelfand have stated they spot “flaws” in computer evaluations and recommendations.
All of that aside, at the human level, Caruana played a fine game and fully deserved the win – and as for the Gelfand/Kramnik game – I think it will be some time before the truth/depth of what was going on there is understood.
Zurich Chess Challenge 2013 / Rnd 3
Again all games drawn – Fight / Fight / Fight / Fight.
Anand came very close to toppling Gelfand who was not to be taken down.
(On The Left)
Caruana and Kramnik were in a “rough and tumble” affair but also drawn.
(On The Right)
 |
 |
Polls
Loading ...
- Report on restructuring and amending Handbook May 23, 2013Report on restructuring and amending Handbook Last year the General Assembly amended the Statutes and Electoral Regulations. Now it is time to deal with the rest of the Handbook. There is confusion in finding information in the current Handbook and I suggest a simpler layout. I am recommending that the Handbook be reduced from six to two sections. The first […]
- World Junior Chess Championship 2013 May 22, 2013The World Junior U20 Chess Championship 2013 will take place in Hatay, Türkiye, from 12th September (Arrival) to 27th September (Departure) 2013.Please download the REGULATIONS of the tournament. […]
- Laws of Chess May 22, 2013Proposed changes to the Laws of Chess will be further discussed at the EB in Tallinn in October 2013 to be implemented in 2014. There will be no changed to the Laws of Chess at 1st July 2013. […]
- FIDE Grand Prix in Thessaloniki: Round 1 May 22, 2013The first round of the fourth stage of FIDE Grand Prix tournament in Thessaloniki got under way on 22nd May, with the Greek-Russian businessman Ivan Savvidis, main sponsor of the event, making the first symbolic move in the game Kamsky - Dominguez. After playing 1.e2-e4, Savvidis told Kamsky "now you have no right to lose this game". The American c […]
- FIDE Grand Prix in Thessaloniki 2013 May 21, 2013FIDE is pleased to announce the fourth stage of the FIDE Grand Prix Series will be held in Thessaloniki (Greece) between the 21st of May and 4th of June 2013. The 5-star Makedonia Palace Hotel and its owner, international business investor and philanthropist Ivan Savvidi, are FIDE's sponsors for the 12-player Grand Prix Chess Tournament. "This even […]
- Nationwide Search - Executive Director of the US Chess Federation May 23, 2013The United States Chess Federation (USCF) is accepting applications for the position of Executive Director. The desired start date for this full-time position with benefits is between September and December 2013. […]
- Washington International & Razuvaev Memorial Set for Aug 6-11 May 23, 2013The Washington International returns to Rockville, MD from Aug. 6 -11 concurrent with the Razuvaev Memorial featuring four top women players vs. four GMs including GMs Kosteniuk and Gulko. […]
- Kamsky & Nakamura in Greece May 22, 2013Our #1 rated player Hikaru Nakamura and the reigning US Champ, Gata Kamsky are playing in the FIDE Grand Prix in Greece. Round one brought good and bad news for American fans. […]
- Jennifer's Blog: Saint Louis Highlights May 22, 2013CLO editor Jen Shahade talks about some highlights of her trip to Saint Louis for the US Chess Champs, including the Ramirez-Kamsky final, visiting the ICA school and commentary with GMs Ashley and Seirawan (content/view/12210/343/). […]
- The May Check is in the Mail May 22, 2013This month's check is in the mail by Alex Dunne features an annotated game by Kenneth Holroyd, our newest International Correspondence Chess Master. […]