Source: Chess.com – Play. Learn. Share.

SAINT LOUIS, May 20, 2012 — IM Irina Krush won both games of today’s rapid playoff match to become the 2012 U.S. Women’s Champion. Playing black, Krush beat defending champion IM Anna Zatonskih in the first encounter, then survived several exceptional blunders to win game two.

An emotional Krush ran downstairs after the second game and hugged everyone in sight. Zatonskih and Krush have now alternated wins at the women’s championship for the past four years. The duo have won the last seven titles combined, and this was Krush’s fourth in her career.

?That’s a scary-looking position when all you need is a draw,? Krush said during the post-game commentary. After winning the first game, she found herself on the wrong end of an all-out attack. Zatonskih’s two bishops, two knights and queen were all poised to strike. The enemy queen on h3 loomed ominously on one of Krush’s weak light squares. Krush said she simply missed the idea of 19…Ne5 with the idea of heading to g4. She set up a second-rank defense by clearing out her minor pieces, but she panicked after the pin 22…Bf5. While it seems dangerous to stay in the pin, it was better than her chosen alternative, 23. Ng5. The counterattack should have failed, but while all of the fellow competitors saw 23…Qxf1+ right away, Zatonskih sat there analyzing for several minutes.

?I just thought maybe she’s savoring the moment,? Krush said, admitting she saw the refutation almost immediately after her knight move. Eventually, Zatonskih played a different move. Krush called the situation ?my first gift … unfortunately my position is still positionally terrible.? The second gift came on the final move.

Though Zatonskih’s 23rd move was not the best, she still had a much more pleasant position. Krush labored to find more defensive moves and had to sacrifice an exchange almost right away to prevent the loss of her c4 pawn and the subsequent demise of her lone bishop.

?It wasn’t even easy to get to that losing position,? Krush said. She was down to fewer than five seconds repeatedly, but stayed alive with the five-second increment. The two previously had a contentious title decided in 2008 without the use of increment. Zatonskih squandered her six-minute advantage but still kept a winning position. She eventually found an invasion for her rooks. After Krush’s 47. Ne5 to defend the c-pawn, Krush expected 47…f6 to deflect the knight, after which she said, ?Black is just losing of course.?

Instead, with her clock almost expired, Zatonskih played 47…Rxc4 almost immediately. The recapture 48. Nxc4 ended the game, as Zatonskih resigned right away.

?Anything can happen when you’re down to five seconds,? Krush said. ?It’s not every day that your opponent gives you a rook ? twice!?

In their first game, Krush equalized with the …c6 variation of the Modern Defense. Zatonskih had the possibility to repeat the position by chasing Krush’s queen back and forth, but instead chose the risky advance g4. Krush’s knight sortie to e4 turned the tables, and eventually her queen probed the weak white king. After landing on f3, and with both rooks on the second rank, Zatonskih could not find an answer in the few seconds she had remaining and lost on time.

Krush wins $18,000 for the title, while Zatonskih pockets $12,000 for second place.

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

Source: Susan Polgar Chess Daily News and Information

The 1st International Open Chess Tournament “Paleros 2012? will be organised in the 4-star Paleros Resort Beach Hotel, on the coast of the Ionian Sea, opposite the island of Lefkada and the celebrity island Skorpios of the famous Aristotelis Onassis.

Paleros is an excellent summer location in western Greece, surrounded by pure natural beauty and a long three kilometres of beaches!

The chess event will be an international 9-round swiss tournament with a prize fund of over 3,000 euros and excellent hotel prices, giving the opportunity to combine chess and summer holidays at a very affordable level.

The special chess packages start from only …187 euros(!) including accommodation for 7 nights in a double room, breakfast and no entry fee for the players!

There is also a further 50% discount for children under 12 (born on the year 2000 and later) if they are added as a 3rd person in the double room of their accompanying persons.

Paleros (map) is located 28 km south of the international airport of Preveza (IATA code is PVK). Travelers can also use the airports of Ioannina (IOA) which is 150 km north of Paleros or even Athens (ATH).

Full information about the tournament and travel details are provided on the official website of the event: http://www.paleroschess.com

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

Source: Susan Polgar Chess Daily News and Information

Ajedrez // marca.com

Gelfand gets upper hand with win over Anand
May 20, 2012

Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand suffered a jolt in his title defence as he lost to his Israeli challenger Boris Gelfand in the seventh game of the World Chess Championship here today. It turned out to be a disastrous day for Anand and he now trails 3.0-4.0 in the 12-game match with five games still to go. The momentum now shifts in favour of Gelfand who started as an underdog coming into the match.

The defeat came after Garry Kasparov’s comments after the sixth game that Anand has lost motivation. To Gelfand’s credit, he got the advantage for the first time in the match and he was able to convert it into a full point. Anand was not able to do so in game three when he had his best chance thus far.

Playing his second white in a row, Gelfand went for another deviation in the Slav-meran by Anand and finally his efforts paid off. The opening gave white a small advantage and it would have remained so had Anand not gone for unwarranted complications in the middle game.

As it happened, Gelfand got a firm control of the only open file in the game, posting both his rooks there. It was time to be extremely careful but Anand, who had thus far remained rock-solid as black, could not really cope with the pressure and went for an erroneous plan.

Gelfand seized the initiative by eliminating one rook and according to analytical machines the way out for Anand was to play very precise moves.

That however did not happen. “I don’t know when I realised that it was gone, but the position was bad anyway,” Anand said at the post-match conference.

Source: http://www.firstpost.com

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

Source: Susan Polgar Chess Daily News and Information

Source: The Week in Chess

Boris Gelfand: “I believe that, not only in chess, but in life in general, people place too much stock in ratings”

During the press conference, Boris Gelfand said that he strayed away from the continuation that we had seen in the first and third games at move number six, by choosing to play 6. Qc2, a move that he had previously used in practice. Black had an isolated pawn in the centre, but the Champion decided to sacrifice it and castled short on the fourteenth move (14…0-0. Novelty). The Israeli grandmaster refused to say if he had been surprised by Anand’s play. “After the 17th move, it became clear that black had a strong shape. White could not bring its pieces out and therefore had to give up a pawn,” the challenger summed up. He further noted that only home analysis would show whether he could have tried to save the pawn and play for something more. Both competitors agreed that, despite the material balance that had been restored, white nevertheless continued to apply pressure as its pieces were in more active positions. But black was able to neutralise this threat with a series of precise moves. Viswanathan Anand was happy with the moves 20…Qe6, 21…f6, 22…Qc6, after which black was able to simplify the game and move into a drawing endgame.

After discussing the game, journalists moved on to other questions. It turns out that the players and their teams have been able to keep up with the latest football news. Anand said that his seconds would probably be going for Bayern, while Gelfand wasn’t even sure if he would watch the match, as Barcelona, his favourite team, would not be playing.

When asked which of the Tretyakov’s paintings they would like to see in their own homes, the World Champion expressed his affinity for Shishkin’s Morning in a Pine Forest and Vasnetsov’s Bogatyrs (or Three heroes), while Gelfand chose the paintings of Aivazovsky. At the same time, both players noted that they have absolutely no talent for art and recalled that once, at the opening of a tournament in Monaco, they were asked to showcase their creative prowess in painting. Neither was happy with their attempts, although both were very lauding at the press conference of Vassily Ivanchuk and Loek van Wely, who also took part.

Boris Gelfand commented on Garry Kasparov’s statement that “the uniqueness of this match lies in the fact that, for the first time in the modern history of the game, the World Championship Match will not decide who the strongest player in the world is.”

“Clearly, Garry wants to remind those who have forgotten that he was once the strongest chess player in the world. I believe that, not only in chess, but in life in general, people place too much stock in ratings – they pay attention to which TV shows have the highest ratings, how many friends they have on Facebook, and it’s funny. The best shows often have low ratings and it is impossible to have thousands of real friends.” For his part, the World Champion said that he tries not to pay attention to such comments and only focuses his thoughts exclusively on what is going on in the match.

Official website: http://moscow2012.fide.com/en/

The Slav Defence did not let Anand down

In the sixth game, the opponents once again played the Slav Defence. This time the challenger opted for the variation 6.Qc2 instead of 6.b3. The game developed further on quietly: Black got an isolated pawn in the centre, but it was compensated for by a somewhat passive position of the white pieces. Soon the d5-pawn was exchanged and the position simplified. By move 25 each side had a rook and a bishop of the same colour remaining on the board. The resulting endgame was estimated as drawn and four moves later the contenders agreed to a draw. The match score is equal: 3-3. Tomorrow, on 19 May, the opponents have a rest day. The seventh game will be played on Sunday, 20 May. Boris Gelfand will play White.

Today Garry Kasparov, the 13th world champion, was the honoured guest at the match. At the press conference, Garry readily answered many questions from the journalists in great detail. Then he joined first the English-speaking commentators, Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam and Peter Svilder, and after that the Russian-speaking commentators, Ilya Smirin and Alexander Grischuk, and took part in analyzing the game. Later Kasparov went down to the chess courtyard where he played a simul against young talented Russian chess players.

Official website: http://moscow2012.fide.com/en/

The move 1.e4 is no surprise for Gelfand

In the fifth game of the match the World Champion changed the opening and played 1.e4. The challenger was ready for such a development and immediately played 1…c5. The Chelyabinsk Variation of the Sicilian Defence was played out very quickly. On the 20th move, a technical position with bishops of opposite colours appeared on the board, and as soon as the 26th move was played, the opponents agreed to a draw. The match score is equal – 2.5-2.5. Tomorrow, on the 18 May, the sixth game of the match will be played with Boris Gelfand having the white colour.

Official website: http://moscow2012.fide.com/en/

Armour is so far stronger than weapons

The opponents continued their Slav Defence duel that started in the second game of the match. White was the first to deviate from the previous game and managed to get the so-called two-bishop advantage in the middlegame. After a series of exchanges, the game transformed into an ending with somewhat better chances for White. In the resulting technical position, the game could have had either of two results: a draw or a victory for White. It turned out, however, that the white pieces were not sufficiently well coordinated and that the bishop’s advantage over the knight was not enough for a win: with precise play, Viswanathan Anand built a “fortress” and deflected all threats. A draw on the 34th move.

During the press conference, Boris Gelfand noted that there were no critical moments in the game as such, but the question was whether White would manage to gain an advantage or Black would find a clear way to equalise. “Even though I got the two-bishop advantage, the coordination between the pieces was not very good, so Black did not have any major problems.” The opponents considered the possibility of going into a knight against bishop endgame after 32. Rc6, but concluded that the white king lacked the tempo to occupy square d4, so White’s chances in this variation were also minimal.
The challenger showed the position after 18…h6, which produced a great aesthetic impression on him. At that moment, each square on the d-file was occupied by black and white pieces, Black’s rooks were on squares c8 and e8, and the whole array resembled a T-shaped figure that is rarely seen on a chessboard.

Assessing the situation in the match after the first four games, the world champion said the match was just developing and the rivals were still trying each other out. “You don’t really want to start doing evaluations, but so far it’s a pretty tough match,” commented Viswanathan Anand. Boris Gelfand refused to give any assessment of individual parts of the match and stressed that any analysis was pointless until after the 12th game. 

Asked by a journalist what scenario the players would have preferred during the game and if something had gone wrong at some point, Gelfand answered jokingly: “Well, of course I would have loved my opponent to choose some doubtful variation that I know well. Then I would have used a strong novelty and won the game, say, by the 20th move. I would be too na?ve to count on that, however, so of course one has to be ready for any course of events.” The match score is equal: 2-2. May 16 is a rest day for the opponents, with the fifth game to be played out on 17 May. The world champion will play with white pieces.  

Official website: http://moscow2012.fide.com/en/

Round 4 Photo Gallery

Perpetual check saves the challenger

In the 14th move Boris Gelfand sacrificed a pawn in order to mobilise his pieces. Viswanathan Anand managed to rebuff all his opponent’s threats with some precise moves and got some serious chances to win. In the 32nd move the chess players moved to a heavy piece ending in which White’s extra passed pawn was very dangerous. However, in the 34th–35th moves the World Champion played inaccurately, after which both of Black’s rooks penetrated into the opponent’s rear, and Gelfand declared a perpetual check. A draw on the 37th move. The score for the match is level – 1.5-1.5. The fourth game in the match will be played tomorrow, 15 May.

Official website: http://moscow2012.fide.com/en/

Photo Gallery of the 3rd Round

THE SECOND GAME OF THE FIDE WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP IS DRAWN

The second game of the FIDE World Chess Championship Match was played on 12 May in the Engineering Building of the State Tretyakov Gallery.

Today the rivals did not bring any big surprises to each other, having played a relatively new, but a very solid variation of the Slav Defence. After Black’s 14th move Boris Gelfand thought for a long time and finally chose a line which led to an endgame with a slight edge for White. According to Gelfand, a seemingly sharper continuation 15. Bg5 would actually have resulted in an equal position. At the end of the game a few precise moves helped Viswanathan Anand to get sufficient counterplay. On the 25th move the challenger offered a draw, which the champion accepted. The match score is equal – 1:1. Tomorrow is the rest day. The next game will be played on 14 May.

The FIDE World Chess Championship Match between World Champion, Viswanathan Anand (India), and challenger, Boris Gelfand (Israel), is taking place from 10 till 31 May 2012 in the Engineering Building of the State Tretyakov Gallery. The organisers of the match are FIDE (the World Chess Federation) and the RCF (the Russian Chess Federation). The initiator and sponsor of the match in Moscow is the Russian entrepreneur Andrey Filatov (co-owner of N-Trans Group). Other sponsors of the competition are businessman Guennadi Timtchenko, as well as the Ladoga charity foundation, NVision Group the company Novatek and Academician A.A. Raspletin Almaz-Antei OJSC SHDB.

Official website: http://moscow2012.fide.com/en/

THE FIRST GAME OF THE FIDE WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP IS DRAWN
 

The first game of the FIDE World Chess Championship Match was played on 11 May in the Engineering Building of the State Tretyakov Gallery.

The World Champion played white. The two contenders immediately engage in open combat. Boris Gelfand chose an opening that was unusual for him, while Viswanathan Anand responded with surprise after surprise, playing a fairly rare but subtle variation. The challenger reacted in the most radical way: he took a flank pawn, thus subjecting his king, which remained in the centre, to a certain risk. Black rebuffed all threats with precise play and forced a transition to an ending that was somewhat better for itself. However, the assessment of the position did not depart much from parity, and literally within a few moves the contenders agreed to a draw.
 

At the press conference Boris Gelfand attributed his decision to the fact that he could not see any specific ways for Black to fight for an advantage. So the challenger, who has successfully entered the game and will play white six times during the rest eleven games, is retaining a certain moral advantage.
 

The video from the players’ press conference is available at the match official web site – http://moscow2012.fide.com/en/

Round 1 Photo Gallery

On the 10th of May the opening ceremony of the World Chess Championship Match took place in Mikhail Vrubel Hall of the Tretyakov State Gallery. Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, FIDE President, Mr. Arkady Dvorkovich, Chairman of Supervisory Council of RCF and Ms. Irina Lebedeva, General Director of the State Tretyakov Gallery welcomed the participants and guests. Also present were Mikhail Gorbachev, the 1st President of USSR, Aleksandr Zhukov, Chairman of Russian Olympic Committee and the 12th World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov.

The drawing lots procedure was conducted by the Chief Arbiter Ashot Vardapetyan in an original style, underlining an indissoluble connection between chess and the world culture. The easels with “paintings”, diagrams of the previously played games by Anand and Gelfand in the 90s, were set up on the stage. One diagram showed the victory of the current World Champion, another one of the challenger. Two wooden boxes with brushes and paint inside were prepared for the Grand Masters. The right to choose was given to Anand as to the World Champion. Both players stepped to their own diagrams, dipped brushes in the paint and left their autographs on the “paintings”. At that moment the spectators could see that Anand signed with white paint and Gelfand with black one. So, in the first game the current World Champion will play white pieces.

The opening ceremony was preceded by a press-conference. The Grand Masters revealed who will be their seconds. Peter-Heine Nielsen, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Radoslaw Wojtaszek, and Surya Ganguly will help Anand. Aleksandr Khuzman, Maxim Rodstein and Pavel Eljanov will help Gelfand.

Opening Ceremony Photo Gallery

Press-conference Photo Gallery

The first game of the match will begin at 3.00pm on 11 May. Full schedule on the official website.

Drawing of lots procedure

Anand left white autograph on his “painting”

And Gelfand left black autograph on his “painting”

Press-conference

Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand inspect match venue

In accordance with the match regulations for the chess crown, the World Champion and the Challenger for the title conducted an inspection of the match hall in the Engineering Building of the State Tretyakov Gallery.

The ceremony was attended by Chairman of the Management Board of the Russian Chess Federation Ilya Levitov, Chief arbiter Ashot Vardapetyan, Match supervisor FIDE Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos, Appeals Committee Chairman Kurt Jungwirth, FIDE Vice President Israel Gelfer, Assistant to the FIDE President Berik Balgabaev and Chairman of the Israeli Chess Federation Moshe Slav.

Both chess players were satisfied with the match venue and organisation. After inspecting the match area, Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand gave an interview to channel “Russia-24″.

Source: World Chess Federation – FIDE

Source: ChessToday.net

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

Source: Susan Polgar Chess Daily News and Information

Congratulations to Irina. I feel bad for Anna for losing this way, especially when both performed so well in the championship.

White: Irina Krush
Black: Anna Zatonskih
Date: Sun May 20 2012
Result: 1-0

1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Be2 dxc4 9. bxc4 e5 10. O-O Re8 11. a4 Qe7 12. Qb3 e4 13. Nd2 c5 14. Nb5 Bb8 15. Ba3 a6 16. Nc3 Qd6 17. g3 Qe6 18. d5 Qh3 19. Qc2 Ne5 20. Ndxe4 Nfg4 21. Bxg4 Nxg4 22. f4 Bf5 23. Ng5 Bxc2 24. Nxh3 Nxe3 25. Rfe1 Ba7 26. Rac1 Bf5 27. Rxe3 Rxe3 28. Nf2 Rae8 29. Kg2 Bd7 30. a5 h5 31. Bb2 Bb8 32. Ncd1 Rb3 33. Bc3 Bf5 34. Kf3 Rb1 35. Rxb1 Bxb1 36. Nb2 Bd6 37. Nbd3 Bf8 38. Bd2 Ba2 39. Nb2 Rb8 40. Nfd3 b5 41. axb6 Rxb6 42. Na4 Rb3 43. Ke2 Ra3 44. Nab2 Bb1 45. Be3 Bxd3+ 46. Nxd3 Rc3 47. Ne5 Rxc4 48. Nxc4 1-0

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

Source: Susan Polgar Chess Daily News and Information

Source: Susan Polgar Chess Daily News and Information