As you can see from the table, the whole tournament was about winning at least one game. However, at least two great opportunities to do so have been missed. You will now have a chance to beat two elite grandmaster - just "Press more" to try to solve the tactics.
International Chess Festival "M.Chigorin Memorial 2009", October 14-25: Tournament Regulations Players list, main tournament Information and results The Chigorin Memorial-09 (Russia, St. Petersburg) is a very strong Swiss tournament this year - 27 2600-level players are participating; with 67 GMs among the field!
WIM Tatiana Molchanova (FIDE 2316) surprised everyone by beating GM Farrukh Amonatov (FIDE 2643) in the first round, and then defeated IM Sergey Pavlov (FIDE 2507) in the second round! A remarkable start, and even more exciting chess. See for yourself:
WIM Molchanova (2316) - GM Amonatov (2643)
White to move. Press "Read more" to see the solution
Nakamura - Grischuk: battle of the blitz giants at ICC!
Written by Peter Zhdanov
Пятница, 16 Октябрь 2009
Загрузка...
Не удалось загрузить изображение. Hikaru Nakamura (USA) vs. Alexander Grischuk (Russia): White won that game
GM Alexander Grischuk (FIDE 2733, World Blitz Champion in 2006 and winner of Linares-2009) is an undisputed blitz wizard. However, his "everlasting" record at ICC (3737, achieved on March, 6, 2008) has been challenged by the incredible GM Hikaru Nakamura (FIDE 2735, USA Champion-2009), an ICC legend who is claimed to be the best blitz and bullet player in the world.
Hikary actually broke the record by reaching an astounding 3750-level. Alexander decided to fight back, and the chess community has witnessed an epic 20-game 3-min blitz match between the two super grandmasters.
What was the result, you might ask? Click here to see the standings and the games themselves!
Most chess fans remember distinctly what happened in 2006 at the World Chess Championship match between Kramnik and Topalov. But few have seen the actual arguments between the parties, including Kramnik's emotional and eloquent statement.
Thanks to IM Lobach, Natalia Pogonina's coach, who has been present at the press-conference & made a video, we can now all get a feeling of what Toilegate looked like from the inside.
Grandmaster Susan Polgar, the first woman in history to break the gender barrier by qualifying for the 1986 “Men's” World Championship and earning the Grandmaster title in 1991. She became the #1 ranked woman player in the world at the age of 15 and remained in the top 3 for nearly 23 straight years. Polgar went on to win ten Olympic medals (5 Gold, 4 Silver and 1 Bronze) and four Women’s World Championships.
Winner of 4 Women’s World Championships
The only World Champion in history (male or female) to win the Triple-Crown (Rapid, Blitz and Classical World Championships)
5-time Olympic Champion with 10 overall medals – Never been defeated in Olympiad competition (5 Gold, 4 Silver and 1 Bronze)
Currently hold a record 56 consecutive Olympiad game scoring streak without a loss
2006 Women’s World Chess Cup Champion
Currently hold a record 56 consecutive Olympiad game scoring streak without a loss
Currently hold 4 world records for simultaneous chess exhibition
You can find more details about Susan at her website. All photos in the interview are courtesy of Susan Polgar.
The Polgar sisters are role models for all the girls who like chess, so I have always wanted to ask them to share some insight on the game, lifestyle, chess politics, etc. Therefore, I was very glad when grandmaster Susan Polgar recently agreed to give an interview for Pogonina.com & share the questions with her famous sisters. Here's the first part of the interview (Susan's answers):
1) The public is always hoping that top players will return (Susan and Sofia are currently listed as inactive, Judit rarely participates in classical events – Pogonina.com). Is a comeback possible in your case?
Everything is possible. I enjoy playing. However, I have basically done everything I set out to do as a chess player. Now, some of my main areas of focus include: promoting chess in education, popularizing chess in general especially among girls, improving playing conditions and bringing in more sponsors for our professional players, and cleaning up chess corruption in the United States, etc.
2) What is your favorite time control?
It does not really matter to me. I won the Women’s World Championship in Classical, Rapid, and Blitz format. I am fine with any time control.
Online Chess Tournament with over 130 000 euros in prizes - recommended by Natalia Pogonina!
Written by Natalia Pogonina
Понедельник, 05 Октябрь 2009
Mundialchess.com is holding a great chess online tournament: the winners will receive a spectacular 130 000 euros in prizes + invitations to the prestigeous Benidorm tournament on excellent conditions. Other amazing bonuses: chance to play (live!) top GMs, including #1 on the FIDE rankings - Veselin Topalov!
Please note that there are 3 sections: without FIDE ELO, with FIDE ELO below 2200, and with FIDE ELO exceeding 2200. The prizes are almost equal in all the categories, so now matter how good (or bad) you are, you still stand a chance!
I have been invited to this tournament as a special grandmaster star who is going to be part of the GM Expert team (we will be commenting games, watching out for cheaters, serve as an appeals committee & probable even give a simul!) and member of the organization team.
Chess is heavily underrepresented in the media, so I believe that appearing on TV, commenting chess events and chatting with chess fans is very important for promoting the game. As well as giving interviews - not for the sake of publicity, but for people willing to learn something interesting about chess. There's no media too small, no media too large - I'm trying to do my best to accept all requests.
Here's my new interview for the WeakSquare blog (English) and for RSport (Russian). Hope you will find them amusing and informational enough!
Nanjing-2009: round by round with Natalia Pogonina
Written by Natalia Pogonina
Вторник, 29 Сентябрь 2009
I'm commenting the Nanjing-2009 tournament every day at Chessgames.com, so you can either watch the games live (only for Premium members), or view the kibitzes after the round is over. See you!
World Women Team Chess Championship-09 - tactics challenge
Written by Natalia Pogonina
Суббота, 26 Сентябрь 2009
Ranking crosstable
Rk.
Team
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
TB1
TB2
1
China One
*
2
1
3½
3½
2½
3
1
3
2
12
21.5
2
Russia
2
*
2
2½
2
2
1½
3
3
3
12
21.0
3
Ukraine
3
2
*
1
2½
2
2½
2
2
3½
12
20.5
4
Georgia
½
1½
3
*
1½
3
3
3
2
2½
11
20.0
5
Armenia
½
2
1½
2½
*
3½
2
½
2½
3½
10
18.5
6
Poland
1½
2
2
1
½
*
3
2½
2½
2½
10
17.5
7
India
1
2½
1½
1
2
1
*
3
2½
3
9
17.5
8
America
3
1
2
1
3½
1½
1
*
1½
2
6
16.5
9
China Two
1
1
2
2
1½
1½
1½
2½
*
3
6
16.0
10
Vietnam
2
1
½
1½
½
1½
1
2
1
*
2
11.0
Source: Chessbase.com
Today I would like to share with you some interesting tactics from the World Women Team Chess Championship. Some of them are relatively easy, some are rather serious ones, and two of them are challenging even for masters. Press "read more" to see the problems:
