Submitted by
SonofPearl on Sun Dec 6, 2009 6:05am.
Boris Gelfand took a crucial lead against Sergey Karjakin in the 2009 World Cup by winning the first of their semi-final games with the black pieces.
Karjakin played the Bishop's opening to avoid the Petroff, but Gelfand soon equalised with an un... Read more »
1285 reads | 9 comments | 1 vote:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Sat Dec 5, 2009 9:19am.
The quarter final tie-breaks of the 2009 World Cup are over, and Boris Gelfand and Ruslan Ponomariov (pictured) are through to the semi-finals, joining Sergey Karjakin and Vladimir Malakhov.
Both Gelfand and Ponomariov both made the tiebreaks loo... Read more »
1883 reads | 12 comments | 1 vote:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Sat Dec 5, 2009 12:21am.
The second games of the quarter-finals were all drawn, so Vladimir Malakhov and Sergey Karjakin (pictured) are safely through to the 2009 World Cup semi-finals at the expense of Peter Svidler and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov respectively.
Svidler tried ... Read more »
1331 reads | 6 comments | 1 vote:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Fri Dec 4, 2009 12:41am.
At 29 years old and rated 2706 Elo (world rank #31) Vladimir Malakhov (pictured) is the nearest thing to an 'outsider' we have left in the 2009 World Cup. He belied that status in the first round of quarter-final games by surviving a Peter Svidler... Read more »
2327 reads | 14 comments | 1 vote:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Wed Dec 2, 2009 11:56am.
In the 2009 World Cup, the fourth round tie-breaks sorted the men from the boys - in some cases quite literally. Both remaining juniors, Wesley So (16, pictured) and Fabiano Caurana (17) were eliminated by their more experienced opposition (Mala... Read more »
3249 reads | 36 comments | 1 vote:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Tue Dec 1, 2009 10:57am.
The 2009 World Cup is getting to the business end of the competition, and the wins are much thinner on the ground. Only one of the eight games played today had a decisive result, although it was not through lack of effort on behalf of the player... Read more »
3158 reads | 24 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Mon Nov 30, 2009 10:07am.
The 2009 Chess World Cup reaches the fourth round today, with the 16 remaining players fighting for a place in the quarter-finals.
There have been some high-profile casualties along the way but many of the big-hitters still remain, including top ... Read more »
4119 reads | 23 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Sat Nov 28, 2009 1:10pm.
The 2007 World Cup champion, Gata Kamsky (pictured), has been knocked out of the current competition in round three by Wesley So. Kamsky needed a win after losing the first game yesterday, but it wasn't to be.
Elsewhere, Judit Polgar avoided Ge... Read more »
5259 reads | 65 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Fri Nov 27, 2009 12:28pm.
After a big cull of top seeds at the World Cup on the first two days of the second round, there were no major shocks in the playoffs, although Leinier Domingez lost to 17 year-old Italian-American Fabiano Caruana (pictured).
Poor Ivanchuk has cle... Read more »
4409 reads | 36 comments | 2 votes:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Wed Nov 25, 2009 12:45pm.
Four of the top rated players at the 2009 Chess World Cup faced grave danger after losing the first game of their second round matches yesterday, and only Peter Svidler managed to survive - for now.
Svidler won with White against Tomi Nyback to f... Read more »
4072 reads | 28 comments | 2 votes:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:47pm.
The first games in round 2 of the 2009 Chess World Cup have thrown up some potential shock results, as several of the favourites lost to lower ranked players.
Peter Svidler (pictured), Alexander Morozevich, Teimour Radjabov and Vassily Ivanchuk a... Read more »
3155 reads | 30 comments | 2 votes:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Mon Nov 23, 2009 12:40pm.
The first round of the 2009 Chess World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk has been completed, and the top seeds managed to get through unscathed.
The highest rated player to fail to make the next round was no.16 seed, Sergei Movsesian (pictured, Elo 2718), ... Read more »
3208 reads | 14 comments | 1 vote:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Fri Nov 20, 2009 11:22am.
The Chess World Cup gets underway on the 21 November in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia.
In recent years, the Chess World Cup has become a regular qualifying event in the WCC cycle, even though the cycle itself has frequently changed, sometimes while sti... Read more »
6069 reads | 41 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Wed Nov 18, 2009 12:11pm.
Magnus Carlsen is the World Blitz Champion after a strong performance on the final day which saw him extend his lead over Vishy Anand to three points at the close of play.
A win by Carlsen over Anand in round 38 virtually sealed the victory for t... Read more »
6932 reads | 65 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Tue Nov 17, 2009 10:54am.
The second day of the World Blitz Championship in Moscow saw Magnus Carlsen move narrowly ahead of Vishy Anand to take the lead on 21 out of a possible 28 points.
Anand lies just a single point back on 20/28 and Sergei Karjakin had a strong day t... Read more »
4263 reads | 33 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:56am.
Now that the serious business of the 2009 Tal Memorial is finished in Moscow, the players can relax and have some fun in the World Blitz Championship.
That's the theory anyway, but in practice a world title is still a world title, and these super... Read more »
4013 reads | 49 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Sat Nov 14, 2009 1:06pm.
So Vladimir Kramnik won the 2009 Tal Memorial with a hugely impressive performance. He clearly seems determined to prove a point after his loss to Vishy Anand in their WCC match.
However, another headline from the event is that Magnus Carlsen h... Read more »
6538 reads | 43 comments | 1 vote:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Sat Nov 14, 2009 5:16am.
The final round of the Tal Memorial is currently underway in Moscow. There are live broadcasts here and here. Webcam pictures and Russian commentary can be found here.
Svidler and Gelfand are first to finish.
Â
Aronian beats Anand, so it'... Read more »
4930 reads | 41 comments | 6 votes:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Sat Nov 14, 2009 1:27am.
Magnus Carlsen finally sprang to life in the penultimate round of the Tal Memorial in Moscow.
After a subdued performance while fighting illness throughout the tournament, Carlsen played 1.e4 against Ponomariov and proceeded to utterly destroy th... Read more »
2269 reads | 19 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Thu Nov 12, 2009 11:51pm.
Round 7 of the Tal Memorial was a quieter affair, with the games generally rather less inspiring than the tournament has been to date.
Nonetheless, there was a great fight between Ivanchuk and Gelfand, where the popular Ukranian came out on top.Â... Read more »
3287 reads | 26 comments | 4 votes:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Wed Nov 11, 2009 12:33pm.
Vladimir Kramnik once again claimed sole first place after round six of the Tal Memorial in Moscow. His scalp today was former FIDE champ Ruslan Ponomariov.
Vishy Anand only drew in his encounter with the young pretender, Magnus Carlsen, who is... Read more »
4542 reads | 33 comments | 5 votes:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Tue Nov 10, 2009 1:15pm.
After yesterday's rest day (which incidentally would have been Tal's 73rd birthday), the players got down to business again in round 5 of his memorial tournament in Moscow.
Kramnik continued with his more aggressive outlook with the black pieces ... Read more »
3888 reads | 24 comments | 2 votes:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Mon Nov 9, 2009 12:56pm.
Both the Junior (under 20) and Senior (60 plus) World Chess Championships recently took place in Argentina and Italy respectively.Â
The junior championship was won by 19-year old French GM Vachier Maxime-Lagrave (pictured) with 10.5/13 on a tie ... Read more »
1666 reads | 12 comments | 1 vote:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Sun Nov 8, 2009 12:53pm.
Vladimir Kramnik seems to have undergone a dramatic change in style at the Tal Memorial in Moscow! In round four he scored another victory to take an undisputed lead going into the first and only rest day tomorrow.
Kramnik's victim was Peter Sv... Read more »
5127 reads | 29 comments | 3 votes:
Submitted by
SonofPearl on Sat Nov 7, 2009 1:38pm.
At last some decisive games at the Tal Memorial in Moscow! The quality has been very high so far, but there's nothing like some blood on the board to raise the pulse rate!
Fittingly, it was world champion Anand who was first to bag a victory, p... Read more »
3607 reads | 21 comments | 2 votes: