Turkey's Suat Atalik, no longer his native nation's top player now that Mikhail Gurevich has moved in, has taken over clear first in the Canadian Open after seven rounds with three to play. He beat young David Howell of England in a nice rook endgame. There are notes to that game and others at the blog linked above. A pack of five GMs trail Atalik's 6/7 score by a half-point. ChessBase has some pictures and comments from Nigel Short and also some details on the sponsorship, which does not include anything from the government.
Down south at the Continental Championship in Cali, they are less avant-garde in their pairing methods so the leaders are facing the leaders. After three rounds, five players have perfect scores, including a wayward Canadian: Vescovi, Spraggett, Rodriguez, Granda Zuñiga, and Argentine IM Lafuente. AR-GEN-TINA! I wore my camiseta albiceleste yesterday to celebrate Argentina's win over Mexico, but it works for Lafuente too. The massive pack at 2.5 includes Oswaldo Zambrana, Bolivia's first and only Grandmaster. I hadn't realized young Alexander Fier of Brazil had also received his GM title. But there's no way I'm rooting for any Brazilians before the Copa final on Sunday.
At a mere 2564, Atalik is really having a great run. Enjoy it while you can, Suat.
OFF TOPIC
Sorry for the interruption folks. Mig, please check the forum re: moderation rotation. Thanks.
On the other hand, Atalik seems to make a habit of these great runs. Didn't he win the Corus C section with a + 6 score a few years back? It's more his inconsistent streakiness that holds him back rather than the ability to pull strong results.
"But there's no way I'm rooting for any Brazilians before the Copa final on Sunday." Mig, you crack us up. ; )
Mig, by the way, the first name of Alexandr is Alexandr (and not Alexander)Fier and he is GMI indeed since this year.
Mig, by the way, the first name of Alexandr is Alexandr (and not Alexander)Fier and he is GMI indeed since this year.
Mig is in mourning. Brazil beat Argentina in the Copa finals.
Sometime Mig you must come visit my homeland, Australia. Then we'll have you pop around the place rooting for people. When you attract undue attention, just tell 'em you're pissed.
and off topic, there is a documentary on UK TV tonight, including the claims that Susan Polgar was the first GM, that bullet is blitz, that susan is a genius (I dont think I have ever heard anyone refer to her as such, and if she is surely she's not even the smartest person in her family); that after six ply there are four billion variations (cf. e.g. the conservative estimate here http://www.chesscentral.com/articles_chess/analysis-chess-engines.htm)
As usual in the UK, media chess coverage is dominated by amateurs, and this is no exception.
and as well the documentary gives a just perfect indication of how vacuous, banal and kitsch is the susan polgar approach, with all the wittering on about scholastic chess,and related encomiums of this kind:-
"I really believe that if you put your mind to it,” reflects Susan, “you can achieve it, whatever it is."
This is the kind of banality one expects from e.g. synchronised swimmers, who at least have the reasonable excuse that they spend large portions of their life with their head underwater.
Here's the simple question: do you believe that judit really put her mind to beating kasparov at classical time controls?
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Can someone put Susan Polgar back in her cage already? In the hysterical female category, this self-promoting twit is second only to Monroi's Brana Malobabic-Giancristofaro. Susan is the black sheep of the Polgar family.
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shane yes she did but she never thought that Garry would take back a move ;)
"In the hysterical female category, this self-promoting twit is second only to Monroi's Brana Malobabic-Giancristofaro."
You don't date much, do you?
I know that it is the cool thing to bash Susan Polgar these days, so I guess I'll have to be uncool. I have met Susan and happen to like her as a person. I think her intentions are good and that sour people need to either keep their internuts under control or show all of us how they have done better to promote chess to children. I'm happy that at least someone is trying.
It would be nice if those like Shane who are obsessed with Susan Polgar were able to exhibit enough self-restraint to refrain from manifesting those attitudes in a thread devoted to the Canadian Open. Polgar wasn't even a participant.
Speaking of which, Suat Atalik finished with just 0.5 points from the last 3 games, to finish =22nd. That has to be a disappointment for him. After Mig made his post, Atalik (2564 Elo)lost his next two games, against Xiangzhi Bu (2685) in Round 7 and Vadim Milov (2678). Given that he was outrated by over 100 points in each of those games, one cannot say that he choked. Just tough pairings.