Ivanchuk leads Navara 3-1 at the half of this rapid match in Prague.
May 2009 Archives
Film, documentary, and videoclip of Bobby Fischer.
Tidbits from MTel, ACP Rapid, and other small items.
Knight's tour word puzzle.
Shirov destroys Carlsen in the final round and takes clear first place when Topalov draws with Wang Yue.
Rapid KO event in Odessa. Svidler, Gelfand, Jakovenko, Grischuk. Karpov already out.
Nakamura blogs about his championship run, plus video interview from St. Louis.
With two rounds to play, Carlsen and Shirov lead on +2. Topalov a half-point back.
Round 7: Topalov-Shirov, Carlsen-Dominguez, Wang Yue-Ivanchuk.
Nakamura crushes Friedel, Hess draws with Akobian. That gave Hikaru Nakamura clear first place, his second US championship title, and a massive $40,000 payday. It didn't take long for him to do his part. Occasional Nakamura nemesis Josh Friedel collapsed like a Dallas Cowboys training facility against Nakamura's 3.Bc4. Black went with the Two Knights, as in "Two knights walk into a bar and get brutally beaten down." It was over in just 22 moves with Black's queen trapped on the unlikely f4 square. Onischuk beat Robson to finish equal 2-3 with Hess with 6.5 points. Kamsky and Akobian 4-5 with 6. - More...
Topalov beats Wang Yue to move back to even score. Carlsen and Shirov still lead. Round 5: Shirov-Dominguez, Ivanchuk-Topalov, Wang Yue-Carlsen.
It was a day of a favorite and a foal at the top of the standings today. With one round to play in the 2009 US championship, 2005 champion Hikaru Nakamura and 17-year-old Robert Hess are in the lead with 6/8 after crucial wins in the eight round. The other leaders, Kamsky and Onischuk, battled to a draw. Joining them at 5.5 was Akobian, who beat Benjamin. Nakamura cleanly dismantled underdog Missourian Brooks with the black pieces, looking every bit the FIDE 2700 player he is. Hess impressed again by beating defending champion Yury Shulman. The final round (at 10am local, 11am EDT!) will see Nakamura-Friedel and Hess-Akobian.
After several days of draws, the pent-up blood flowed today, spilling out across the entire playing hall. An incredible 11/12 games were decisive today, with only former champs Gulko and Shabalov ruining perfection. We all love a good upset, but sometimes you just have to stand back and admire the inevitability of Elo. The favorites won on all three top boards to shake up the standings. Nakamura beat Akobian, Kamsky beat Benjamin, and Onischuk beat Shulman. With two rounds to play, Nakamura, Kamsky, Hess, and Onischuk are tied for the lead with 5/7. Friday is a rest day.
Ivanchuk self-mates against Wang Yue, others drawn. Round 3: Wang Yue-Shirov, Carlsen-Ivanchuk, Topalov-Dominguez.
UEP says what FIDE said about 2010-11 WCh negotiations breaking down.
Sofia mayor's honorary first move(s) screws up the live broadcast on day one.
Carlsen beats Topalov, Shirov beats Ivanchuk. Wang Yue-Dominguez drawn. Round 2: Shirov-Topalov, Dominguez-Carlsen, Ivanchuk-Wang Yue.
Top boards all drawn. Well, good or bad, the Dragdorf was good enough to draw against America's #1, no small feat for young Robert Hess. He even made it look pretty easy, which is certainly was not. That was one of three draws on the top boards, leaving Akobian and Shulman still tied for first on +3 with three rounds to play.
Topalov, Shirov, Ivanchuk, Carlsen, Dominguez, Wang Yue. Carlsen-Topalov in the first round.
FIDE issues press release saying UEP's bid to organize the 2009-11 cycle has broken down in negotiations. Big deal.
Nakamura-Kamsky was a red-blooded draw in Kamsky's now-standard Grunfeld. It was a line of the Russian System that Kamsky defended back in 1991 against Timman and has been used off and on in the shadow of the far more popular 4.cxd4 that Kramnik has several patents on. Discussion about best format for US Ch.
Underway in Spain. Rybka, Junior, Shredder, Hiarcs, etc.
At the other end of the standings, none of the four leaders could break away. It looked like Kamsky got everything he wanted against Friedel to then swap down into a winning endgame. But Friedel put up good defense and somehow Kamsky's passed pawns weren't enough for a win.
The rather undramatic drama around the $64,000 Fischer jackpot prize for a clean score ended today as all three players with 2/2 were besmirched. Kamsky and Shulman played a 30 move draw as Kamsky's Grunfeld again held up well. Hess, the other 2/2, got squeezed like a lemon by Nakamura, who joined the aforementioned and Friedel in the lead on 2.5/3.
Kamsky, Hess, and Shulman won again to move to 2/2. Kamsky completely destroyed Akobian, wow. Nakamura played some spectacular prep against Ehlvest, sacrificing his queen for two pieces to gain a solid position and eventually draw. Cool.
Continue reading 2009 US Ch: Round 2.
World team dominated Azerbaijan in second day of action thanks to 3/3 score from Kramnik and 2.5/3 from Karjakin. Event wraps with three final rounds tomorrow.
Round one is Friday, 3pm EDT.
Continue reading 2009 US Ch: Round 1.
Edible chess sets!
Azerbaijani team of Radjabov, Mamedyarov, Gashimov, Guseinov, and Mamedov take on Anand, Kramnik, Shirov, and Karjakin in rapid Scheveningen team rapid event.
First round is Friday at 3pm EST. Kamsky, Nakamura, Onischuk, Shulman, et al.
Evry Grand Roque with Svidler and Nakamura take top spot in Group A of French League play. Some great games.
Continue reading French Team Spirit.
