The Anand-Kramnik match has sucked up all the attention most chess fans have, and most organizers avoid conflicting with such big events when possible. But there are a few other things going on. At the same time as game 9 is going in Bonn, Garry Kasparov is playing the most serious chess he's played since he retired in March 2005. He's giving a clock simul against the Corsican team at the Corsica chess festival . He showed me a sample copy of the event brochure but I don't find much about it online. Games will be relayed live on the ICC. Nakamura won the rapid open last year.
The Euro Club Championship just concluded in Greece and most of the world's top players were in action. URAL Sverdlovskaya won with big names Grischuk, Shirov, Radjabov, and Kamsky on the top boards. But Malakhov's 7/7 on board five and Dreev's 5/6 on board six certainly helped. Dreev on board 6? Yikes. Check out the end of Shirov-Fridman (below). No, the black queen isn't trapped at the end. After the queen moves Ne7+ and Qxa8!
The traditional Cap d'Agde rapid tournament, now Le Trophée CCAS, is underway in France. It's group play and then knock-out with the top four from each group moving on. Ivanchuk, Carlsen, and Radjabov are the big favorites, but Hikaru Nakamura is there and looking to make a move on the fastest player on Earth title. Six of the world's best women players are there, including Koneru, Hou Yifan, and new women's world champ Kosteniuk. Will any of them make it to the KO segment?
The Russian superfinal ended in a three-way tie for first. The playoff will begin on the 28th. It's a six-game double-round robin of 15'+10'' with Svidler, Alekseev, and Jakovenko.
Ivan Sokolov dominated the Essent Crown Group in Hoogeveen, Netherlands. He scored 5/6 in the double round-robin, finished 2.5 points ahead of Smeets, Adly, and Sebag.
The Dresden chess Olympiad begins November 12. The journos covering the Anand-Kramnik match were to be taken to Dresden for a tour on Wednesday Tuesday, but the junket will be canceled if the match doesn't last that long...
[Event "24th ECC"]
[Site "Kallithea GRE"]
[Date "2008.10.23"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Shirov, A."]
[Black "Fridman, D2."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D16"]
[WhiteElo "2726"]
[BlackElo "2630"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2008.10.17"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 e6 6. e3 c5 7. Bxc4 Nc6 8. O-O
Be7 9. Qe2 cxd4 10. Rd1 O-O 11. Nxd4 Qc7 12. b3 Ne5 13. Ncb5 Qb8 14. Ba3 Bxa3
15. Nxa3 b6 16. Rac1 Bb7 17. Ba6 Rc8 18. Bxb7 Qxb7 19. f4 Ned7 20. Nc4 Qa6 21.
Qf3 Nc5 22. Nd6 Rf8 23. b4 Ncd7 24. b5 Qxa4 25. Ra1 Qb4 26. Nc6 1-0
Yifan for most likely female to progress from the group stage. Koneru always play better when she is playing against males rather than females where she is expected to be the strongest. On the other hand, Yifan is an accelerating monster ! But she seemed to, understandably due to her age, not have so strong nerves during the Womens "WC".
Has Karpov still got it ? Girlpower ? Naka putting his pieces where his mouth is ?
[White "Shirov, A."]
[Black "Fridman, D2."]
[1-0]
Fine play from Alexei, it induces an almost geometrical sense of beauty : first 14.Ba3 and 17.Ba6 forcing Balck to trade the Bb7 and Be7 bishops which were guarding the weak c6 and d6 squares, then follwing through with the 22.Nd6 and 26.Nc6 penetrations with devastating coupling effects deep inside Black's cramped camp.
Since this game shows a gentle, carefully prepared, prelude followed by repeated virile thrustings I am certain that the ChessBase website will present it side by side with new pictures of the Gazprom/Evonik girls.
[ however, even Fritz 4.01 running on an 10 years old 133Mhz/32 RAM laptop says that 17..Ned7 was wrong, and instead it suggests engage in exchanges to relieve the Black camp and to deprive the advanced White Knights of tragets 17..Rxc1 18.Rxc1 Ng6 19.Nab5 Rc8 with equality..]
"At the same time as game 9 is going in Bonn, Garry Kasparov is playing the most serious chess he's played since he retired in March 2005. He's giving a clock simul against the Corsican team at the Corsica chess festival."
How many people know that the Corsica clock simul is actually a ZONAL event? Is it mere coincidence that GKK is re-entering the WCC picture at the very moment that Kramnik appears to be departing it? Here's hoping GKK qualifies for and recaptures the world championship, splits off from FIDE, starts a rival organization...
Happy days are here again!
It's great that Nakamura got invited to this event! Gets a chance to play some elite GMs. Personally, I'm rooting for Magnus but wish Hikaru the best.
And Nakamura gets the better end of a draw against magnus.
Or put another way, magnus successfully held the draw with black against a super GM :)