Sweden is now a regulated market, which means that as a player you can only play at casinos with a license. See all regulated casinos in Sweden by Mr casinova.
It is the perfect timing to reestablish the tradition of answering some of the questions in public. Feel free to ask Natalia anything chess-related or personal. All e-mails get a reply, some of them make it to the weekly FAQ section.
Q1: Why did Russia fare so badly at the Women's World Chess Championship? Are Russian players overrated as compared to Chinese? A1: No, I don't think so. In my opinion, there are three main factors behind it: 1) China has a higher level of government support in chess 2) Some of the leading Russian players didn't qualify for the WWCC 3) a few players (Kosintseva T, Kosteniuk, me, Shadrina) were exhausted after the Russian Superfinal.
Q2: Do I have to announce a check? What happens if the opponent doesn't see it and makes a different move? I win, right? A2: Nowadays announcing a check is considered to be old-fashioned and extravagant. In a standard game only 3 illegal moves lead to a forfeit. In a blitz game one illegal move is enough for a loss. Anyway, I have seen a lot of kids enjoy capturing the opponent's king in this case and claiming a point. That has to do with the fact that many novices are being taught that the ultimate goal of the game is to eliminate the opponent's king...
Q3: Do you turn on a chess engine when viewing games online? A3: Most of the time no since watching games with an engine reduces the instructive value of the process considerably. However, when I am commentating, or need to find out the correct evaluation of an extremely sophisticated position, I may switch on an engine.
Q4: I regularly trained my own style (openings, positions...). After a few tournaments,
I know my frequent opponents' strengths and weaknesses (not all, but some). Question
is... Should I train my style in general as if I were to play against an unknown player?
Or should I train and study against my regular oponents to beat them? or both?
(Note that my regular op. and I are "the elite" in my city =D so it is important to
crush them! jeje) Thanks.
A4: If you wish to improve in chess in general, you will have to work on your weaknesses anyway, no matter what you know about other players. Also, even if you decide that your aspirations don't go beyond your city, there will be new young competitors whom you will have to study. In my opinion, it is easier to learn to play well oneself than to spend all the time trying to understand what others are doing badly.
Q5: I saw few mind-cracking Semi Slav Anti-Moscow games played in recent tournaments
which hardly support Black plus well known Semi Slav experts like Aronian switching
to other openings. Is the Semi Slav is out of date?
A5: The Semi-Slav is a classical opening. Such lines may either be fashionable during a certain period of time or not, but they don't disappear from the chess scene completely.
Q6: Most times when I play a chess game, I try to make moves based on positional
principles. Sometimes I try tactics but on most occasional I am not very successful.
On the other hand, I get the solution right most times when I do a tactics puzzle,
which means that I don't evaluate the board right. So my question is how do I
analyze the board better and use the tactics at the right time?
A6: This is a matter of style. Some positional players are quite skilled at solving tactical puzzles and calculating variations. Nonetheless, during a real game they prefer cautious moves that improve their position slowly, but safely. Being a good tactician is either "in the blood" (i.e. when you have gut instincts), or not. You may also want to follow my friend, IM Vlad Akselrod's example. He used to play in a rather boring strategical way, and one day decided to change his style completely. At that time Vlad couldn't tell a promising sacrifice from a give-away (since it requires experience and intuition), so he just sacked, sacked, sacked. Often he simply ended up down a piece and lost, but in other cases he managed to win quite exciting tactical games. This has provided him with valuable experience and allowed to boost his practical tactical skills (which are somewhat different to puzzle-solving abilities).
Q7: What is your primary motivation in chess? Money? Fame? Victories? A7: Love for the game and the people who play it. Search for harmony & constant self-improvement.
The round robin featuring 4 top international players and 4 leading British grandmasters has finished in the following way due to the weird 3-1-0 scoring system:
1: Magnus Carlsen - 13 points
2-3: Vishy Anand, Luke McShane - 11 points
4-5: Hikaru Nakamura, Vladimir Kramnik - 10 points
6: Mickey Adams - 8 points
7: David Howel - 4 points
8: Nigel Short - 2 points
Here is the traditional chess table by ChessBase:
Magnus Carlsen got a trophy, 50k, and will probably regain his #1 spot on the world chess rating list in January. Congrats!
More great reports and videos are available at the official website.
IM Almira Skripchenko and GM Kateryna Lahno were knocked-out in the 1/4-finals
In round 4 we saw all the European players get eliminated by their Asian colleagues. Only two nations are in contention now - China and India.
Round 4
Name
FED
T
Rtg
G1
G2
Rp1
Rp2
Bz1
Bz2
SD
Total
Round 4 Match 01
Ruan, Lufei
CHN
WGM
2480
½
½
1
½
2½
Semi Final
Harika, Dronavalli
IND
IM
2525
½
½
0
½
1½
Round 4 Match 02
Koneru, Humpy
IND
GM
2600
1
½
1½
Semi Final
Ju, Wenjun
CHN
WGM
2524
0
½
½
Round 4 Match 03
Hou, Yifan
CHN
GM
2591
1
½
1½
Semi Final
Lahno, Kateryna
UKR
GM
2522
0
½
½
Round 4 Match 04
Zhao, Xue
CHN
GM
2474
½
1
1½
Semi Final
Skripchenko, Almira
FRA
IM
2460
½
0
½
In the semi-finals we will have a deja vu match-up between the two rating favorites - GM Koneru Humpy (2600) vs GM Hou Yifan (2591) - and a relatively modest Chinese confrontation WGM Ruan Lufei (2480) vs GM Zhao Xue (2474).
Women's World Chess Championship: China vs the World
Written by Administrator
Monday, 13 December 2010
12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk
After a dramatic round 3 it is know for certain that we will have a new Women's World Champion. Alexandra Kosteniuk lost the tie-break to Ruan Lufei, and became the last of 10 Russian players to be eliminated at the WWCC.
Name
FED
T
Rtg
G1
G2
Rp1
Rp2
Bz1
Bz2
SD
Total
Round 3 Match 01
Kosteniuk, Alexandra
RUS
GM
2507
½
½
0
½
1½
Ruan, Lufei
CHN
WGM
2480
½
½
1
½
2½
Round 4
Round 3 Match 02
Koneru, Humpy
IND
GM
2600
1
½
1½
Round 4
Zatonskih, Anna
USA
IM
2478
0
½
½
Round 3 Match 03
Hou, Yifan
CHN
GM
2591
1
0
½
1
2½
Round 4
Zhu, Chen
QAT
GM
2477
0
1
½
0
1½
Round 3 Match 04
Zhao, Xue
CHN
GM
2474
1
½
1½
Round 4
Dembo, Yelena
GRE
IM
2454
0
½
½
Round 3 Match 05
Cmilyte, Viktorija
LTU
GM
2514
½
½
½
½
0
0
2
Skripchenko, Almira
FRA
IM
2460
½
½
½
½
1
1
4
Round 4
Round 3 Match 06
Lahno, Kateryna
UKR
GM
2522
1
½
1½
Round 4
Huang, Qian
CHN
WGM
2402
0
½
½
Round 3 Match 07
Muzychuk, Anna
SLO
IM
2530
0
½
½
Ju, Wenjun
CHN
WGM
2524
1
½
1½
Round 4
Round 3 Match 08
Harika, Dronavalli
IND
IM
2525
½
½
1
0
0
1
1
4
Round 4
Muzychuk, Mariya
UKR
IM
2462
½
½
0
1
1
0
0
3
Remarkable is the performance of Chinese players: the quarter-finals have literally turned into a China vs the World match!
The Russian Superfinal (Men) will take place in Moscow from December, 10th to 22nd.
The prevailing majority of the Russian top chess players are taking part, including:
Alexandr Grischuk (2771) - the reigning Russian champion
Sergei Karjakin (2760)
Dmitry Jakovenko (2726)
Peter Svidler (2722) - won the Russian Championship 5 times
Yan Nepomniatchi (2720) - the reigning European champion
Vladimir Malakhov (2720)
Nikita Vitiugov (2709)
Evgeny Tomashevksy (2699)
Igor Kournosov (2676)
Vadim Zvyagintsev (2676)
Denis Khismatullin (2659)
Vladimir Potkin (2646)
The games start at 3 p.m. Moscow time, last round - at noon.
The total prize fund of the tournament is 3,500,000 roubles (about $116,000; 1st~$27,000; 2nd ~ $21,000; 3rd~$18,000, etc.; 12th ~$1,800).
Below you can see a video from the opening ceremony, a rather innovative way of drawing the starting numbers. A position from one of the the games played by the participants of the Superfinal was shown to the audience. The person who played it had to come out, mention the name of his opponent, year, tournament and the move he made (with an explanation to follow). This little memory test proved to be easy for the grandmasters - all of them were able to identify their own games. The last puzzle was especially sweet, and was met by loud laughter from the audience: Vadim Zvyagintsev had to recall his move 2.Na3 after 1.e4 c5 vs Alexandr Khalifman.
Women's World Chess Championship: the Winner Takes It All
Written by Administrator
Saturday, 11 December 2010
Candidate master Peter Zhdanov's column at Pogonina.com
In the competitive sense the knock-out world championship is a fantastic event with lots of unpredictable results and opportunities to root for your favorite player.
Let me ask a different question, quite cynical and pragmatic: what benefits can one gain from participating?
A chance to experience intense competition and meet your chess friends? Yes, probably.
Rating? It can be earned (or lost) at any other tournament.
Prestige and popularity? That requires making it to the final. A semi-final exit is not even as cool as a bronze medal, just something like "tied for third". Of course, I am talking about the perception of eminent chess players, not those for whom "participated in the World Championship" is already a good line for the resume.
Money? Let's take a look at the prizes:
1stround 32 losersx 3.750 = 120.000
2ndround 16 losers x 5.500 = 88.000
3rd round 8 losers x 8.000 = 64.000
4th round 4 losers x 12.000 = 48.000
5th round 2 losers x 20.000 = 40.000
6th round 1 loser x 30.000 = 30.000
Womens World Champion = 60.000
TOTAL: 450.000 USD
Once again, most contenders won't earn anything substantial, especially if you subtract the expenses on tickets, accomodation and fees paid to chess seconds.
The conclusion is rather banal: thewinnertakesitall. Should you be coming to the World Championship, be prepared to make it till the end. The rest is unimportant.
Every year the best Russian chess players get to compete at the Russian Superfinal. A round robin featuring 12 world-class grandmasters is always an exciting event. To qualify for it, you either have to be in the Russian top-3 by rating, get a medal in the previous Superfinal, earn your place by performing well in the Top League (a very strong open tournament), or get a wild card from the organizers. At some point I have won the Top League, but now usually get invited by rating.
Normally the womens and mens Superfinals are held at the same time in December. However, this time, due to the Womens World Championship, the organizers adjusted. 2010 has set a record in terms of the events class: all the Olympic gold winners took part, a few members of the 2nd team, and a few other strong players. Womens World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk has skipped this tournament a few times, but this year she confirmed her participation to find herself at #3 in the rating seedings at the national championship (yes, thats how prestigious and strong the Superfinal is).
For those interested in the financial side, the womens Superfinal is strongly inferior to the mens. All the 12 participants were to receive a prize: about $13,000 for 1st, $10,000 for 2nd, $6,600 for 3rd; last place - $650).
A new rule had been introduced this year: participants couldnt offer a draw without consulting the arbiter. Womens chess is generally more fighting, so its not clear what the organizers were trying to achieve. Some players didnt feel it was their cup of tea, and this rule might have affected some of the results.
I was seeded 6th and had a goal of finishing in the top-5. More importantly, it was essential to prove to myself that I am out of my chess crisis, and can play confidently and well. Lets take a brief look at how things went. Being busy at the WWCh, I didnt have time for a thorough analysis of the games, so I will share my impressions. In the 1st round I had to face World U-20 vice-champion WGM Olga Girya (2435). At some point I had a significant advantage, but couldnt convert it, so the game ended in a draw. In the second round two-times world vice-champion IM Alisa Galliamova (2487) made a mistake in the opening, and I got a chance to obtain a better position even being a pawn down. I didnt make use of that opportunity, and got a worse position. Stubborn defense saved me the half-point. Round 3, vs. IM Anastasia Bodnaruk (2407), my passive play resulted in a slightly inferior endgame. Fortunately, Nastya decided to go all-in and sacrificed the exchange to spice things up and couldnt handle the arising complications in time trouble (the game ended in a nice mate). In the 4th round I played vs. the young Georgian chess prodigy WGM Nazi Paikidze (2401), the current leader by that point, who had won quite a few junior World and European Championships. My position was slightly worse from the opening, but then I got a chance to equalize and take advantage of her time trouble by winning a drawish knight endgame. Round 5 against ex-World U-20 Champion WGM Vera Nebolsina (2377). I played rather carelessly in the opening, and Black could have obtained some advantage. She missed that chance, and my position started improving. In her time trouble Vera sacrificed an exchange, and I was too afraid to accept it. This could cost me half a point, but somehow I managed to outplay my opponent in time trouble. In round 6 I lost to an ex-junior world champion WGM Valentina Gunina (2479), who started the tournament with 0 out of 3. This was due to psychological reasons and a wrong opening choice.
Playing against the Kosintseva sisters has never been a piece of cake for me
In round 7 I played a great game with two-time European Champion GM Tatiana Kosintseva (2581). I sacrificed a piece for initiative, and we both had our chances at various stages of the game. The chess fight ended in a draw agreementin a position where I could obtain an endgame with good winning chances! Round 8, against ex-world vice-champion Svetlana Matveeva (2389). After contemplating my options, I talked myself into the a draw with Black is ok paradigm and went for a solid variation where White can give a perpetual (which she did). Round 9 I faced IM Nadezhda Kosintseva (2576), who had a good start, but a terrible finish. In the endgame I had good winning chances, but, as it often happens with the sisters when playing against me, she escaped.
Games against world champions are always special
Round 10 vs Womens World Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (2507). Somehow I played too shyly in the opening, and after an obvious exchange sacrifice my opponent found herself in command of the situation. Later on she decided to sacrifice a piece instead of capitalizing on her positional advantages, thus allowing me to draw the game. Before the last round I had 6 out of 10 and was ranked 4th (Galliamova, Paikidze and Kosintseva T. were at 6.5). Galliamova and Kosintseva made a quick draw. Paikidze, probably feeling the pressure of becoming the champion in the case of a win, self-destructed quickly with White. Therefore, I had to win with Black against IM Tatiana Shadrina (2384) to catch up. My opponent wasnt prepared well enough against the sharp line I chose. I got three pawns for a piece and a strong initiative. However, my technique was not perfect, so Tanya got some chances in time trouble. The rook endgame we arrived at turned out to be study-like: I was proud to convert it into a queen vs. rook + pawn endgame. It took me a lot of time and patience to win that one, but that was an important victory.
White either loses the rook, or gets mated, 0-1
So, after the tie-break scores were calculated, it turned out that I was 1st, Alisa Galliamova 2nd, Tatiana Kosintseva 3rd.
Final Standings (Russian Superfinal)
According to the Regulations, Alisa and I were to play a two-game rapid chess (15m+10s) match right after the game. This is a strange ruling since, as many people point out, it is better to either have the champion determined by the tie-break scores, or have all three compete for the title. Also, while my opponent made a quick draw, I was barely alive after the nearly 6-hour marathon. The 1-hour break between the main part and the tie-break match didnt help much in terms of recovering my energy, although I did my best to eat some snacks and go outside to breathe some fresh air.
Some of the eminent kibitzers during the tie-break match: Evgeny Bareev (official commentator), Alexandra Kosteniuk (unofficial commentator), Head of the Russian Chess Federation Ilya Levitov (looking at the camera)
In the first game I managed to escape with Black, but lost the second game in a rather stupid fashion with White. Nonetheless, this doesnt diminish Alisas achievement, who became the Russian Champion for the 2nd time in a row. I got silver, Tatiana bronze.
With Vera Nebolsina (right) and Nickolai, who has been assisting me throughout the event, but arrived too late for the tie-break match
Generally speaking, the tournament proved to be very exciting and interesting in the chess sense. Lots of beautiful games, great fighting spirit of the participants, many spectators. This event has certainly become a holiday for chess fans all over the world. Thanks to those of you who have been sending me messages of support throughout the Superfinal!
Most of the participants + chess officials and Alexandra's daughter (who asked "Mum, why didn't you get anything?" - "Next time")
And now its time to check how rusty your tactics are. In some cases you will be asked to find a continuation that occurred in the game, while in others to improve on the play of the participants:
Matveeva (2389) - Gunina (2479)
Black to move
Bodnaruk (2407) - Girya (2435)
White to move
Kosintseva T. (2581) - Matveeva (2389)
White to move
Paikidze (2401) - Shadrina (2384)
White to move
Pogonina (2472) - Kosintseva T. (2581) White to move
Kosintseva T. (2581) - Kosteniuk (2507) White to move
Pogonina (2472) - Kosteniuk (2507) Black to move
Kosteniuk (2507) - Kosintseva N. (2576)
White to move
