- US Chess Champs Recap After Eight Rounds [VIDEO]
- Champions Crowned in Nashville
- Zatonskih, Kamsky Draw Even with Leaders in U.S. Champs
- Nakamura Still Leads, Krush Inches Ahead at U.S. Champs
- Cautious Start to World Championship in Moscow
- Nakamura Leads U.S. Champs, Three-Way Tie Atop U.S. Women's
- US Chess Champs Recap after Two Rounds [VIDEO]
- Decisive Results Abound in Round 1 of U.S. Championships
- A Couch Potato’s Guide to the 2012 World Championship
- Largest Chess Piece in the World Unveiled in Saint Louis
U.S. Championship 2012 / Round 10
Published May 18, 2012 | 
Hikaru Nakamura won with the black pieces today and knocked Gata Kamsky off of his perch. Nakamura now leads the tournament by a half point with one round to go.
Kudos to Hikaru today. Kamsky had the White side of a Sicilian – Najdorf Variation. It began to look as if Gata was controlling all of the ‘correct’ squares, but despite Black’s typically backward ‘d’ Pawn, it was never an issue. Hikaru was ‘all over’ the position with increasing/relentless pressure on all sides. The Diagram says it all. White had nothing to do but hope that a parting with a Pawn or two might relieve some pressure. It was not to be. I don’t believe the result was ever in any doubt and Nakamura is well poised to take this tournament.
For the other decisive game of this round – See Comments.
U.S. Championship 2012 / Round 9
Published May 17, 2012 |
Kamsky played a beauty today and (personal opinion) is playing the ‘best’ chess of the 2012 U.S. Championship. His wins smack of complete domination; speculation is in the background and his wins give a very commanding style where the result appears inevitable. His win today put him in sole possession of first place; a half point ahead of Nakamura who drew.
On the receiving end of a Kamsky onslaught was former U.S. Champion Yasser Seirawan. Seirawan played his favorite Caro Kann defense – classical variation. The players castled on opposite wings; that means that a common motif is to open up lines against the opposing King. In this case, using Black’s ‘h6′ as an excuse/target, White played ‘g4′ on move 17. Yasser took the Pawn giving White an open ‘g’ file; if he did not, you can bet that the ‘g’ Pawn was destined to play to ‘g5′ opening lines whichever way Black decided to go. Even here, although passive, Black was OK. Yasser has stated on several occasions that he enjoys grabbing Pawns when he can, holding onto the material advantage while he diffuses the ‘attempt’ at attack against his position. His Pawn Grab on move 21 (Diagram) was NOT the Pawn to grab. Rad8 would have gotten another piece into play, contested the ‘d’ file, left his Bishop defending the Kingside and leaving White to think about what he was eventually going to do with that Pawn on ‘c5′. AFTER that grab, Kamsky showed why he is the current U.S. Champion. The attack he unleashed beginning with a Bishop sacrifice on ‘h6′ was so overwhelming with a Rook penetration (sacrifice again) on ‘d7′, that Yasser had to part with he Queen. The finish of the game was forcefully executed. Wow – One of the best games of this tournament.
For the remaining decisive games of the U.S. Championship and the U.S. Women’s Championship – See Comments.
U.S. Championship 2012 / Round 8
Published May 16, 2012 |
Hikaru Nakamura won today; as did Gata Kamsky. Stripunsky (Nakamura’s opponent) playing White was really getting squeezed and elected to ‘sac the house’ on move 41. The imbalance in material was very difficult to evaluate and play. On move 62 (Diagram) White elected to sacrifice his last piece; a Rook. It is quite possible that Rc5 instead would have held the game. Be that as it may, White’s Pawns were not sufficiently mobilized, connected, or advanced enough to hold off the combination of Nakamura’s Rook and King.
For the remaining decisive games of the U.S. Championship and the U.S. Women’s Championsip – See Comments.
U.S. Championship 2012 / Round 7
Published May 15, 2012 |
|
|
|
Gata Kamsky and Hikaru Nakamura are now tied for first place and have yet to play each other. Nakamura is the number one rated player but Kamsky is the current champion. It looks like there is a nice match up in store.
Today however Kamsky took on the Caro Kann. The Caro has the reputation of being extremely solid – but passive. Kamsky’s style is ideally suited to slowly but surely strangling an opponent, in this case Stripunski, who is passive. The final position (Diagram) tells it all.
For the remaining decisive games from the U.S. Championship and the U.S. Women’s Championship – See Comments
Rd 5 IM Irina Krush (2500)-WGM Tatev Abrahamyan (2350) {U.S. Womens Championship}
Published May 14, 2012 |
[King's Indian Defense] With this win, IM Krush scored 4/5 and sole possession of first place.
U.S. Championship 2012 / Round 6
Published May 13, 2012 |
As Black Robert Hess, instead of the simpler ‘g6′, elected to part with his Queen. Maybe not the strongest, but it sure set up a ‘nice’ imbalance in force where he eventually tied Gregory Kaidanov in knots. In the final position (Diagram), White loses his Queen and subsequently the game.
For the remaining decisive games in the U.S. Championship and the U.S. Women’s Championsip – See Comments.
U.S. Championship 2012 / Round 5
Published May 12, 2012 | by National Life Master Loal Davis
Yasser Seirawan (playing Black) came very close today. He had the better of the opening; his favorite Caro Kann defense. On move 22 he could have produced a crushing bind. He did play a bind, though not as effective; even so was better and most likely winning. The game was a see-saw affair with Yasser making a slip on move 38. That allowed Strupunsky to untangle leaving Black’s Bishop marooned and dangling on the edge of the board.
For the remaining decisive games in the U.S. Championship and the U.S. Women’s Championship – See Comments
U.S. Championship 2012 / Round 4
Published May 11, 2012 |
Gregory Kaidanov took out the current U.S. Champion Gata Kamsky in a Kamsky ‘speciality’. Kamsky has long played the black side of an ‘a6′ Slav, but Kaidanov looked extremely comfortable and applied unrelenting pressure; so much so that Kamsky attempted to sacrifice a piece to pick up a couple of Pawns. It was not enough and White brought home the point.
For the remaining decisive games – See Comments
47th Capablanca Memorial
Published May 5, 2012 |
GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2725) took the lead after the first round defeating GM Viktor Laznicka(2693).r3kb1r/ppq1nppp/2n1p3/3pP3/2P5/4BN2/PP2BPPP/R2Q1RK1 b KQkq c3 0 121. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 c5 6. Be3 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Ne7 8. Nd2 Nbc6 9. N2f3 Bg4 10. O-O Bxf3 11. Nxf3 Qc7 12. c4 dxc4 13. Bxc4 Nf5 14. Qe2 Nxe3 15. Qxe3 Be7 16. Bd3 O-O 17. Be4 Rfd8 18. Rac1 g6 19. Rc2 Qa5 20. Bxc6 bxc6 21. Rxc6 Rac8 22. Rxc8 Rxc8 23. a3 Rc2 24. b4 Qa4 25. Qe4 Rc3 26. Qb7 Kf8 27. Nd4 Rxa3 28. Nc6 Bg5 29. g3 Rc3 30. Nxa7 Be7 31. b5 Bc5 32. Nc8 Qd4 33. Nd6 Bxd6 34. exd6 Qxd6 35. Rb1 Qd3 36. Qa8+ Ke7 37. Qa7+ Ke8 38. Qa1 Rb3 39. Rd1 Qxb5 40. Qh8+ 1-0230noc2c4 The 47th Capablanca Memorial started and as is customary includes both top Cuban players with elite foreign GMs. There are two tournaments, the Elite group as well as the Premier.
Rd7 GM Short, Nigel (2697) – GM Hou, Yifan (2639){12th Bangkok Chess Club Open}
Published April 21, 2012 | GM Nigel Short won the 12th Bangkok Chess Club Open 2012 with a score 8/9 . The 12th Bangkok Chess Club Open took place 13-19 April at Dusit Thani Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. There were over 230 players from 34 countries. 3r1rk1/4q1pp/p7/1p1P1B2/2p1PP2/4b3/P1Q4P/3R1R1K w KQkq – 0 251. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. e3 Bb7 5. Bd3 d5 6. O-O Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Bb2 Nbd7 9. Nc3 a6 10. Qc2 dxc4 11. bxc4 Bxf3 12. gxf3 c5 13. d5 exd5 14. cxd5 b5 15. Be2 c4 16. Ne4 Nxe4 17. fxe4 Qe7 18. f4 f6 19. Rad1 Rac8 20. Bd4 Nc5 21. Bxc5 Bxc5 22. Bg4 Bxe3+ 23. Kh1 f5 24. Bxf5 Rcd8 25. e5 Kh8 26. Qe4 Qc5 27. Bxh7 c3 28. Bg6 c2 29. Qg2 Bxf4 30. Bxc2 Qe7 31. d6 Qe6 32. Rde1 g5 33. Rf3 g4 34. Rf2 Qh6 35. Qxg4 Bxe5 36. Rxe5 Rxf2 37. Rh5 Rxd6 38. Rxh6+ Rxh6 39. Qc8+ Kg7 40. Qc7+ Rf7 41. Qg3+ Kf8 42. h4 Rhf6 43. Bb3 Rf1+ 44. Kg2 R7f6 45. h5 1-0480noc8d8
|
|
|
- Announcement on Grand Prix
- FIDE President at "Maribor for Peace"
- FIDE World Chess Championship Match - Round 5
- FIDE President's working visit to Astana
- Art at the World Chess Championship Match
- "Chess in Schools" in Dharamshala
- U. N. Women meets with FIDE
- Meeting of Dalai Lama the 14th with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
- Olympiad and Congress Invitation
- Meeting with the President of Bulgaria Mr Georgi Parvanov