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News

Chess Tactics

User Rating: / 0
Written by Administrator   
Thursday, 15 July 2010
Image
Glek-Kuijfi, 2001
White to move


Can you see the winning continuation for White?

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Last Updated ( Thursday, 15 July 2010 )
 

FIDE country stats: Moldova

User Rating: / 0
Written by Administrator   
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
File:Flag of Moldova.svg

Average rating of top-10 players: 2480

Total (inactive inclusive): 249
Active : 132

Titled - total (active):
  • Grand Master : 6 (5)
  • Woman Grand Master : (2)
  • International Master : 21 (11)
  • Woman International Master : (1)
  • FIDE Master : (10)
  • Woman FIDE Master number : (5)

More countries to follow.

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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 14 July 2010 )
 

Chess Tactics

User Rating: / 2
Written by Administrator   
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
Image
Christiansen-Tolnai, 1989
White to move

Can you see a win for White in this position?

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Comments (6)

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 13 July 2010 )
 

Alexander Grischuk eliminated on day 3 of WSOP Main Event

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Written by Administrator   
Tuesday, 13 July 2010


The WSOP Non-Limit Texas Holdem Main Event 2010 features 7,319 players (4,973 of them are from the USA) who paid a $10K entry fee to participate in the great event with a staggering $68,798,600 prize fund.

A lot of poker legends have been eliminated on days 1 & 2: Doyle Brunson, Phil Helmuth, Chris Ferguson, Joe Hachem, Jamie Gold, Phil Ivey and many others. Some notable names still in the game are Chris Moneymaker, Daniel Negreanu, Allen Cunnigham and Johnny Chan.

Unfortunately, super grandmaster Alexander Grischuk (somehow not mentioned at the official website in the celebrity list) has also left the tournament on day 3. One of the critical hands for him went the following way: two players limped, Grischuk bet 11,500 with QQ. The big blind went all-in with 70,000; Grischuk called and saw only K6 suited. Then a king came...

After a couple more hands Grischuk (with only 25,000 chips left ) went all-in from the button. The big blind called with A10 vs Alexander's K6 suited and won when an ace came on the river.

Official website


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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 13 July 2010 )
 

Mulhouse 2010 - GM event

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Written by Administrator   
Tuesday, 13 July 2010


by Natalia Pogonina for her
Chess.com Tuesday column

Playing in strong events is essential for a persons improvement in chess. Also, one should have distinct goals and try to attain them. Thus, when I recently received an invitation to visit France and play in a GM-norm round robin, I heartily agreed. First of all, the average rating of my opponents was expected to be 2501 (just like my own). Secondly, why not try to earn a GM norm? Thirdly, I havent played against men for quite a long time (since 2007). The fourth reason is that I love playing in round robins. Probably due to a small number of players, they always have a special atmosphere, very cozy and nice.

The tournament took place from June, 30 to July, 7 in Mullhouse, France. The field included 3 GMs, 6 IMs (all men) and me. Of course, the pairings had been announced in advance, so I had a chance to prepare for the games before actually going there. I had in mind certain openings and back-up variations which could be useful in one or another tournament situation. The first four rounds turned out to be the toughest: I had to face players 1, 3, 4, 6 (by rating, I myself was #5).

The beginning of the event was a cold shower: only 0.5 points out of 4! Especially nightmarish was the loss to IM Yannick Gozzoli in round 4 where I failed to convert a technically won position. It is extremely hard to recover after such nuisances, but I tried to pull myself together and concentrate on the remaining games. No more chance to earn the norm (it was 6 points out of 9), so what? A master should have what people call a champions character, i.e. the will to fight until the end.


To relax a little, I finally visited the downtown of the city (we were living in a hotel in the suburbs). New impressions, shopping, sightseeing all this (as well as support from my great fans!) helped me forget about my problems and get motivated to play on. In the subsequent 5 rounds I scored 4 out of 5 (3 wins and 2 draws) which allowed me to finish at 4.5/9 and at least keep my rating. Chess is fair, so in the second part I won a lost position against IM Anthony Wirig. As I have already mentioned in one of my previous articles, in round robins everyone is trying to prey on the person who is in bad shape. Therefore, while many players didnt mind agreeing to a draw in 10 moves between each other, they acted like true gentlemen against me and tried to do their best to present me with a nice fighting game!

In the first round I had to face IM Riff Jean-Noel, one of the contenders for the title. As he was White, it was clear that hed be playing for a win.

 



The outcome of the game was affected by my wrong decision at a critical moment. I felt that this point in the game was vital (and it is very important not to miss it!), but still made the wrong decision due to misevaluating the occurring position. Later on I had a chance to come back, but was too disappointed with my mistake and didnt take advantage of it. Never let your feelings overflow during the game!

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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 13 July 2010 )
 

Chess Tactics

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Written by Administrator   
Monday, 12 July 2010
Image
Bareev-Bottema, 1987
White to move


Can you find a win for White in this complicated position?

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Comments (1)

Last Updated ( Monday, 12 July 2010 )
 

Dortmund 2010

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Written by Administrator   
Monday, 12 July 2010

Kramnik-Carlsen at Dortmund in 2009: a critical win for Big Vlad

This year Dortmund will be a double round-robin event of the XXth category held from July, 15 to 25th.

The participants are:

Vladmir Kramnik (ex-World Champion, 2790)
Shakhriar Mamedyarov (2761, #6 on the FIDE July rating list)
Ruslan Ponomariov (2734, ex-FIDE World Champion)
Peter Leko (2734, ex-WC challenger)
Arkady Naiditsch (2684, strongest German player)
Quang Liem Le (2681, Aeroflot 2010-winner)


There are a few plots in the tournament. One of them is if Vladimir Kramnik will clinch a 10th record win in Dortmund. The other is how the young chess start Quang Liem will fare against the experienced elite grandmasters. Other surprises are also possible.

Official website

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Last Updated ( Monday, 12 July 2010 )
 

Hikaru Nakamura - another potential model?

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Written by Administrator   
Monday, 12 July 2010

Source: Hikaru's Facebook

Quite cute, isn't it? Maybe the strongest chess player in the USA is also planning to become a model?

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Comments (2)

Last Updated ( Monday, 12 July 2010 )
 

Chess Tactics

User Rating: / 0
Written by Administrator   
Sunday, 11 July 2010
Image
Motylev-Eljanov, 1999
Black to move

Can you see the winning continuation for Black?

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Comments (4)

Last Updated ( Sunday, 11 July 2010 )
 

FIDE country stats: Canada

User Rating: / 1
Written by Administrator   
Sunday, 11 July 2010
File:Flag of Canada.svg

Average rating of top-10 players: 2482

Total (inactive inclusive): 533
Active: 243

Titled - total (active):
  • Grand Master : 6 (4)
  • Woman Grand Master : (0)
  • International Master : 30 (16)
  • Woman International Master : (3)
  • FIDE Master : (27)
  • Woman FIDE Master number : (0)

More countries to follow.

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Last Updated ( Sunday, 11 July 2010 )
 
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