Javier

"L'enfant terrible" of modern chess has just won the European Championship. 11 rounds Swiss, 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move. Vladislav Tkachiev had to play a tie break against Ivan Cheparinov (1.5-0.5), then Dmitry Jakovenko (1.5-0.5) and Emil Sutovsky 2-0 in the final. Here's a sample os his style. (Personally, I can't understand why Potkin would play this variation against an such a dangerous attacking player) Tkachiev,V (2652) - Potkin,V (2593) [b14] 8th ch-Euro Dresden GER (6), 08.04.2007 Rnk Title Name FED Elo Pts Perf 1 GM Tkachiev Vladislav FRA 2652 8.0 2724 2 GM Sutovsky Emil ISR 2637 8.0 2734 3 GM Jakovenko Dmitry RUS 2708 8.0 2763 4 GM Pavasovic Dusko SLO 2567 8.0 2765 5 GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL 2646 8.0 2725 6 GM Sakaev Konstantin RUS 2633 8.0 2703 7 IM Iljin Artem RUS 2538 8.0 2708 8 GM Volokitin Andrei UKR 2654 7.5 2749 9 GM Gustafsson Jan GER 2588 7.5 2698 10 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny RUS 2641 7.5 2722 11 GM Almasi Zoltan HUN 2675 7.5 2714 12 GM Malakhov Vladimir RUS 2679 7.5 2713 13 GM Galkin Alexander RUS 2590 7.5 2715 14 GM Laznicka Viktor CZE 2608 7.5 2704 15 GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter ROM 2693 7.5 2695 16 GM Nevednichy Vladislav ROM 2528 7.5 2694 17 GM Landa Konstantin RUS 2608 7.5 2695 18 GM Volkov Sergey RUS 2640 7.5 2695 19 GM Vitiugov Nikita RUS 2592 7.5 2672 20 GM Eljanov Pavel UKR 2686 7.5 2709

It's strange how people have their own interpretation of songs. I always thought "Hotel California" was a metaphor of hell. Reading Don Henley's comments: "We were all middle-class kids from the Midwest. Hotel California was our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles." perhaps I wasn't so far away. Click HERE to check what this song means to many different people. "Hotel California" (The Eagles) On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim I had to stop for the night There she stood in the doorway; I heard the mission bell And I was thinking to myself, ’this could be heaven or this could be hell’ Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way There were voices down the corridor, I thought I heard them say... Welcome to the hotel california Such a lovely place Such a lovely face Plenty of room at the hotel california Any time of year, you can find it here Her mind is tiffany-twisted, she got the mercedes bends She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat. Some dance to remember, some dance to forget So I called up the captain, ’please bring me my wine’ He said, ’we haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine’ And still those voices are calling from far away, Wake you up in the middle of the night Just to hear them say... Welcome to the hotel california Such a lovely place Such a lovely face They livin’ it up at the hotel california What a nice surprise, bring your alibis Mirrors on the ceiling, The pink champagne on ice And she said ’we are all just prisoners here, of our own device’ And in the master’s chambers, They gathered for the feast The stab it with their steely knives, But they just can’t kill the beast Last thing I remember, I was Running for the door I had to find the passage back To the place I was before ’relax,’ said the night man, We are programmed to receive. You can checkout any time you like, But you can never leave! A wonderful song just the same.

Timoshenko's has won the Sydney International Open and I figured that I might as well publish one of his games on my blog. It's kind of funny, but I actually have had a lot of trouble finding the typical "spectacular" victory of his in this event! I'm not saying that his games were not interesting, but they were not very eye catching (don't we all wish we could play so efficently too?). Anyway, I finally came accross the game that he played on round one against a player who was rated nearly 600 points below him. The game is OK, but something odd happens on move 34. Why did Georgy play 34.Re8+? when he could have played 34.Qf8# instead? surely it was not a blunder, but then, what was it, a little joke on his opponent, toying with his corpse? [Event "Sydney International Open"] [Date "April 2007"] [Round "1"] [White "Timoshenko, Georgy, Elo 2566"] [black "Forster, William, Elo 1983"] [Result "1-0"] [pgn] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 d6 7.Be2 Nxd4 8.Qxd4 Bg7 9.O-O O-O 10.Bg5 Be6 11.Qd2 Qa5 12.Rac1 Rfc8 13.b3 a6 14.f4 b5 15.f5 gxf5 16.exf5 Bd7 17.Bd3 bxc4 18.bxc4 Bc6 19.Kh1 Rab8 20.Rfe1 Rc7 21.Re2 Kf8 22.Bh6 d5 23.Bxg7+ Kxg7 24.Qg5+ Kf8 25.Qh6+ Kg8 26.Rxe7 Rxe7 27.Qg5+ Kf8 28.Qxf6 Reb7 29.Re1 Kg8 30.Qg5+ Kh8 31.f6 Rg8 32.Qh6 Rg6 33.Bxg6 fxg6 34.Re8+ Bxe8 35.Qf8+ [/pgn]

GM Timoshenko wins SIO, GM Antic second (equal points). 1 3 GM Timoshenko, Georgy UKR 2566 0 W113+ B 62+ W 47+ B 2= W 16+ B 11+ W 7= B 17+ W 3= 7.5 2 10 GM Antic, Dejan SCG Serbia and Montenegro 2443 2428 B102+ W 50+ B 17+ W 1= B 9+ W 7= W 3= B 13+ W 15+ 7.5 3 2 GM Mikhalevski, Victor ISR 2590 0 B 66+ W 28+ B 20- W 50+ B 25+ W 22+ B 2= W 8+ B 1= 7 4 7 IM Zhao, Zong-Yuan NSW 2476 2537 W108+ B 44= W 69+ W 20+ B 8= B 19+ W 13= B 7= W 16+ 7 5 9 GM Johansen, Darryl K VIC 2456 2467 W 86+ B 38+ W 23+ B 16- W 44= B 56+ W 30= B 31+ W 7+ 7 6 13 IM Lane, Gary W NSW 2421 2452 W 84+ B 39+ W 57+ B 7- W 43- B 69+ W 44+ B 21+ W 17+ 7 7 6 GM Rogers, Ian NSW 2513 2621 B 74+ W109+ B 37+ W 6+ W 15+ B 2= B 1= W 4= B 5- 6.5 8 12 GM Bakre, Tejas IND 2426 0 B 91+ W 33+ B 18+ W 10= W 4= B 44+ W 15= B 3- W 30+ 6.5 9 15 IM Xie, George NSW 2404 2375 W 90+ B 48+ W 65+ B 11= W 2- B 43+ W 24+ B 15= W 10= 6.5 10 5 GM Matamoros Franco, Carlos S ECU 2523 0 W106+ B 24+ W 32+ B 8= W 19= B 13- W 27+ W 18+ B 9= 6.5 11 8 IM Smerdon, David C VIC 2456 2469 B 98+ W 49+ B 31+ W 9= B 21+ W 1- B 18- W 64+ B 36+ 6.5 12 11 IM Solomon, Stephen J QLD 2430 2428 W100+ B 34+ W 43+ B 15- W 27+ B 17- W 46+ B 19+ W 14= 6.5 13 18 FM Bjelobrk, Igor NSW 2386 2422 B140+ W 18- B 87+ W 64+ B 46+ W 10+ B 4= W 2- B 33+ 6.5 14 17 FM Goldenberg, Igor VIC 2388 2368 W 73+ B 53+ W 15- B 38+ W 24= B 34= W 49+ B 23+ B 12= 6.5 15 4 GM Chandler, Murray G ENG England 2548 2566 B 94+ W 46+ B 14+ W 12+ B 7- W 49+ B 8= W 9= B 2- 6 16 14 IM Toth, Andras HUN Hungary 2408 2430 B 71+ W 64+ B 52+ W 5+ B 1- W 18= B 21= W 25+ B 4- 6 17 28 Rej, Tomek NSW 2260 2258 B 99+ W 87+ W 2- B 57+ B 26+ W 12+ B 20+ W 1- B 6- 6 18 55 Oliver, Gareth ACT Norths 2110 2057 W119+ B 13+ W 8- B 32+ W 23+ B 16= W 11+ B 10- B 22= 6 19 24 IM Garbett, Paul NZD New Zealand 2313 2394 B 77+ W 26= B 40+ W 36+ B 10= W 4- B 50+ W 12- B 51+ 6 20 16 IM Ansell, Simon ENG 2402 0 B118+ W 51+ W 3+ B 4- W 30= B 28+ W 17- B 24= W 46+ 6 21 25 FM Smith, Robert W NZD New Zealand 2294 2285 W 85+ B 81= W 70+ B104+ W 11- B 45+ W 16= W 6- B 50+ 6 22 21 Ly, Moulthun QLD Sheldon College 2322 2260 W 89+ B 57- W 78+ B 39+ W 48+ B 3- W 38+ B 30= W 18= 6 23 26 Steadman, Michael NZD New Zealand 2273 2227 B111+ W 82+ B 5- W 67+ B 18- W 26+ B 54+ W 14- B 55+ 6 24 38 Wallis, Christopher VIC 2178 2178 B126+ W 10- B 94+ W 52+ B 14= W 37+ B 9- W 20= B 58+ 6 25 29 Ayvazyan, Armen NSW 2241 2241 W 63+ B 65- W100+ B 68+ W 3- B106+ W 48+ B 16- W 60+ 6 26 63 Hu, Jason NSW 2038 2066 W117+ B 19= W 29+ B 30= W 17- B 23- W 90+ B 44+ W 43+ 6 27 31 Pyke, Malcolm L VIC 2235 2135 W 96+ B 45- W 84+ B 65+ B 12- W 83+ B 10- W 54+ B 52+ 6 28 37 Lin, Zhigen Wilson VIC 2189 2103 W 60+ B 3- W134+ B 45= W 73+ W 20- B 55= B 81+ W 48+ 6 29 40 Gutierrez Castillo, Paloma ESP 2176 0 B107= W 75+ B 26- W 58= B 71= W 93+ B 82+ W 32= W 47+ 6 30 32 Chow, Samuel VIC 2220 2278 B101+ W 35= B 55+ W 26= B 20= W 33+ B 5= W 22= B 8- 5.5 31 23 Bucher, Denis SUI 2315 0 W130+ B 68+ W 11- B 48- W 86+ B 67+ W 53+ W 5- B 40= 5.5 32 22 FM Smirnov, Vladimir NSW 2319 2303 B 76+ W 54+ B 10- W 18- W104+ B 59+ W 34= B 29= W 39= 5.5 33 49 Bernardino, Almario Marlon PHI 2146 0 W 79+ B 8- W 63= B 61+ W 42+ B 30- W 56+ B 35+ W 13- 5.5 34 46 Suttor, Vincent NSW 2153 2173 B116+ W 12- B 71+ W 37= B 82+ W 14= B 32= W 36- W 87+ 5.5 35 1 GM Shipov, Sergei RUS 2592 0 W 78+ B 30= W 45+ B 44- W 53= B 51= B 66+ W 33- B 64+ 5.5 36 33 Wright, Neil S NSW Newcastle 2217 2118 W 61= B 72+ W 81+ B 19- W 45- B113+ W 70+ B 34+ W 11- 5.5 37 19 IM West, Guy VIC 2368 2326 W134+ B 59+ W 7- B 34= W 70+ B 24- W 51- B108+ W 69+ 5.5 38 44 Ikeda, Junta ACT Norths 2154 2164 B 93+ W 5- B 74+ W 14- B118+ W105+ B 22- W 65= B 71+ 5.5 39 48 Wei, Michael ACT Actjcl 2148 2149 B127+ W 6- B111+ W 22- B 58+ W 66- B 74+ W 83+ B 32= 5.5 40 45 WIM Caoili, Arianne B QLD 2153 2196 W104= B 97+ W 19- B 73- W132+ B131+ W 61= B 85+ W 31= 5.5 41 27 Stojic, Dusan VIC 2271 2223 W131+ B 52- W 86- B 96+ W 84= B 78+ W 45- B 73+ W 68+ 5.5 42 34 Tredinnick, Malcolm Robert NSW 2205 2137 B 75- W110+ B105+ W 82= B 33- W 84- B130+ W 91+ B 65+ 5.5 43 30 Repplinger, Marc GER 2239 0 B 88+ W105+ B 12- W 54+ B 6+ W 9- B 64= W 51= B 26- 5 44 42 Chokshi, Manthan IND 2168 0 B112+ W 4= B 58+ W 35+ B 5= W 8- B 6- W 26- B 98+ 5 45 70 Illingworth, Max NSW 2007 1963 B139+ W 27+ B 35- W 28= B 36+ W 21- B 41+ B 46- W 62= 5 46 39 Yu, Ronald NSW 2177 2182 W103+ B 15- W 89+ B 86+ W 13- B 68+ B 12- W 45+ B 20- 5 47 20 FM Sales, Jesse Noel PHI Philippines 2361 2389 B 92+ W 67+ B 1- W 51+ B 49- W 54- B 84+ W 57+ B 29- 5 48 50 Lazarus, Benjamin QLD The Gap A 2140 1981 B132+ W 9- B124+ W 31+ B 22- W 74+ B 25- W 66+ B 28- 5 49 43 Atzmon-Simon, Barak NSW 2157 2080 W142+ B 11- W 85+ B130+ W 47+ B 15- B 14- W 52- W 84+ 5 50 47 Cunanan, Homer PHI 2150 0 W122+ B 2- W131+ B 3- W 90+ B 65+ W 19- B 61+ W 21- 5

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian chess champion and opposition activist Garry Kasparov has been detained by police in Moscow as he tried to attend a banned protest march, his aide told Reuters on Saturday. "We wanted to go into the subway (to reach the protest venue) but the police did not let us and he was detained," said Kasparov's spokeswoman Marina Litvinovich. Tens of other people were detained by police, including a Reuters photographer and two members of a Reuters camera crew who were reporting on the planned protest.

Cathy Rogers, publicity officer for the Sydney International Open, wrote on Friday: "The biggest disappointment of the tournament has been the dismal showing of top seed, Russian Grandmaster Sergei Shipov, formerly ranked among the best 25 in the world. His world ranking will suffer enormously from this result." She actually wrote this before learning about his dramatic loss in game 8 against Bernardino, from the Philipines, a player rated 2146 (around 450 points below the Russian GM!). But Shipov's run in this tournament is one to forget: a draw against Chow (elo 2220) on round 2, a loss agaisnt Chokshi (elo 2168) on round 4, another draw against Bennett, rated 2134 on round 5, and draw against local player Zvedeniouk (rated 2121) on round 6. After his game in round 8, he's on 4.5/8. Something must be affecting the Russian GM. One can only speculate, but my bet is that it has to do with this tournament's unusual playing schedule (most rounds start at 9:30 in the morning, whereas most tournaments in Europe are played in the afternoons). [pgn] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 Bd6 6.Bd3 0-0 7.0-0 Nbd7 Javier: A rather passive variation. 7...dxc! is the main line of the Meran variation of the Semi-Slav defence. 8.e4 dxe4 9.Nxe4 Nxe4 10.Bxe4 Nf6 11.Bc2 b6 [11...h6 Javier: This is considered a better move for black.] 12.Bg5 Javier: Without having done anything special, white enjoys a small advantage. 12...Bb7 13.Qd3 g6 14.Rad1 Be7 15.Qe3 Qc7 16.Qe5 Qd8 17.Rfe1 Javier: Whites initial slight advantage is growing... 17...Re8 18.Qe3 Nh5 19.c5 Ng7 20.g4!? Javier: My first impression was: sure, this takes away the f5 square from blacks Knight, but is this weakening of the Kingside really necessary? However, I now believe that g4 is actually quite a good move. What happens over the next few moves, however, is very strange indeed. [20.Bxe7 Qxe7 21.Be4 Javier: With a slight advantage.(21.Qh6 f6) ] 20...h5? Javier: Looks very tempting, but this is actually a serious error. 21.Ne5?? Javier: Absolutely unbelieveable. Not only does white miss what looks like a forced win, he blunders a Bishop instead. [21.Bxe7 Qxe7 22.Qh6! Javier: And the threat of Knight g5 leads to a winning attack for white. Unlike other variations where black hasnt moved his h pawn, ...f6 is not available now as g6 would be on.] 21...f6?? Javier: 21...Bxg5 wins a piece for nothing. ADDED NOTE: theres probably some transcription error, Ive copied the game from SIOs site, but this is just too hard to believe, white must have played h4 at some point. 22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.Qh6 [23.Bxg6 Javier: This was interesting also.] 23...Bxe5 24.dxe5 Qh4 25.Bxg6? [25.f3 Javier: With threats such as Rd7, or taking on g6. Blacks h Pawn remains pinned.] 25...Qxg4+ 26.Kf1?? [26.Kh1 Javier: And given whites threat of Qh7 and Qh8, black must force perpetual with ...Qf3 and ...Qg4.] 26...Ba6+ 27.Rd3 Bxd3+ 28.Bxd3 Nf5 Javier: Blocking the white Bishop. Whites attack vanishes now. 29.Bxf5 exf5 30.e6 Qc4+ 31.Kg1 Re7 Javier: And white resigned. [/pgn]

The Marshall attack is alive and kicking! Here's another Jewel from Dresden. Naiditsch,A (2654) - Gustafsson,J (2588) [C89] 8th ch-Euro Dresden GER (8), 11.04.2007 Ok, time to think! Black's next move forced white to resign. Can you find it? when you think you have -or if you simply can't find it!- just slide your mouse pointer over the black line.

[Event "Sydney International Open"] [Round "6.5"] [White "Bjelobrk, Igor, 2386"] [black "Matamoros Franco, Carlos 2523"] This position happened on board 5, round 6 of the Sydney International Open. Both players were probably in time trouble. White has just played 37. Rf1. Think about it. Take your time. What would you play now as black? When you think you're ready, put your mouse pointer over the black line and simply slide it.

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So, are these European GMs any good? you bet! Let me just show you one game (a jewel!) played at Dresden. I'm sure you'll like black's 14th and 15th moves! Can,E (2404) - Jussupow,A (2605) [C43] 8th ch-Euro Dresden GER (1), 03.04.2007 By the way here's a list with the top 50 players who are taking part in the event (more than 400 players are competing in this event!): 1 GM Jakovenko Dmitry 4122356 RUS 2708 2 GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter 1202758 ROM 2693 3 GM Eljanov Pavel 14102951 UKR 2686 4 GM Karjakin Sergey 14109603 UKR 2686 5 GM Malakhov Vladimir 4120787 RUS 2679 6 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 2205530 ESP 2676 7 GM Almasi Zoltan 702293 HUN 2675 8 GM Van Wely Loek 1000268 NED 2674 9 GM Tiviakov Sergei 1008013 NED 2663 10 GM Georgiev Kiril 2900017 BUL 2660 11 GM Jobava Baadur 13601520 GEO 2658 12 GM Timofeev Artyom 4140419 RUS 2658 13 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 4650891 GER 2654 14 GM Volokitin Andrei 14107090 UKR 2654 15 GM Tkachiev Vladislav 618438 FRA 2652 16 GM Sargissian Gabriel 13300881 ARM 2651 17 GM Nielsen Peter Heine 1400355 DEN 2649 18 GM Beliavsky Alexander 14602377 SLO 2648 19 GM Areshchenko Alexander 14109530 UKR 2647 20 GM Cheparinov Ivan 2905540 BUL 2646 21 GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij 14102595 UKR 2646 22 GM Avrukh Boris 2803895 ISR 2644 23 GM Gashimov Vugar 13400630 AZE 2644 24 GM Motylev Alexander 4121830 RUS 2642 25 GM Movsesian Sergei 310204 SVK 2642 26 GM Socko Bartosz 1107038 POL 2641 27 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 4147235 RUS 2641 28 GM Volkov Sergey 4122763 RUS 2640 29 GM Kobalia Mikhail 4119150 RUS 2639 30 GM Sutovsky Emil 2802007 ISR 2637 31 GM Bologan Viktor 13900048 MDA 2636 32 GM Asrian Karen 13300490 ARM 2635 33 GM Gurevich Mikhail 200930 TUR 2635 34 GM Dreev Alexey 4100107 RUS 2633 35 GM Sakaev Konstantin 4104226 RUS 2633 36 GM Azmaiparashvili Zurab 13601326 GEO 2632 37 GM Smirnov Pavel 4123425 RUS 2631 38 GM Moiseenko Alexander 14102560 UKR 2630 39 GM Bauer Christian 603767 FRA 2629 40 GM Khenkin Igor 4659600 GER 2629 41 GM Khalifman Alexander 4100115 RUS 2624 42 GM Najer Evgeniy 4118987 RUS 2624 43 GM Postny Evgeny 2804344 ISR 2622 44 GM Riazantsev Alexander 4125029 RUS 2621 45 GM Efimenko Zahar 14107201 UKR 2620 46 GM Graf Alexander 4680804 GER 2620 47 GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw 1118358 POL 2620 48 GM Balogh Csaba 718939 HUN 2617 49 GM Bocharov Dmitry 4138716 RUS 2614 50 GM Hracek Zbynek 300071 CZE 2613 51 GM Fedorov Alexei 13500465 BLR 2611 From Tuesday, April 2, to Sunday, April 15, the European Chess Championships EURO 2007 are taking place in the International Congress Center Dresden. Click here to access the European Championships official website.

Australia's number 1 player, GM Ian Rogers, is currently leading the Sydney International Open with 5/5. If you're wondering how Ian can still play at the top after nearly 3 decades of success, I have but one answer: let the games speak by themselves! [Event "Sydney International Open"] [Date "Apil 10th, 2007"] [Round "4"] [White "Rogers, Ian, ACF 2621"] [black "Lane, Gary W, ACF 2452"] [Result "1-0"] [pgn] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Be6 10.d4 Bxb3 11.Qxb3 d5 12.exd5 Na5 13.Qd1 exd4 14.Nxd4 Nxd5 15.b4 c5 16.Nf5 Nc6 17.a4 Bf6 18.axb5 Nxc3 19.Qxd8 Nxd8 20.Rxa6 Rxa6 21.bxa6 cxb4 22.Nxc3 Bxc3 23.a7 Ne6 24.Rd1 b3 25.Rd7 b2 26.Bxb2 Bxb2 27.Ne7+ Kh8 28.Nc6 Rc8 29.Rb7 [/pgn]

Your Vocabulary Score: B You have a zealous love for the English language, and many find your vocabulary edifying. Don't fret that you didn't get every word right, your vocabulary can be easily ameliorated! How's Your Vocabulary? http://www.blogthings.com/howsyourvocabularyquiz/ How embarrasing! I didn' know what "fret" meant!

143 players are taking part in the event. The organizers are providing an excellent site with up to date information and games. Check it out HERE!

For the first time in his career, Anand has achieved the first spot in the International (FIDE) Elo rating list. This list had been published a few days ago but had to be revised, as Anand's victory in Linares had not been accounted for. 1 GM Vishy Anand IND 2786 2779 +7 2 GM Veselin Topalov BUL 2772 2783 -11 3 GM Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2772 2766 +6 4 GM Alexander Morozevich RUS 2762 2741 +21 5 GM Levon Aronian ARM 2759 2744 +15 6 GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov AZE 2757 2754 +3 7 GM Teimour Radjabov AZE 2747 2729 +18 8 GM Peter Leko HUN 2738 2749 -11 9 GM Peter Svidler RUS 2736 2728 +8 10 GM Michael Adams ENG 2734 2735 -1 Check FIDE's website for the full list.

"Learn chess or call me an idiot!!", my free electronic book, has now made it to number 2 on the list of free electronic books at http://www.ebookbillboard.com. The list is updated every week. Please do me a favour, if you haven't downloaded the book yet, please do so now and make LOCMAI the number 1 book next week!

GM Alexi Shirov has just won one of the strongest rapid chess events ever held: Festival Cañada de Calatrava (Spain). Shirov, who plays for Spain, played some very nice chess there. Personally, I was quite happy on two accounts: 1, on seeing him win a tournament again, and 2, on seeing him playing a tournament where he didn't play the Petrov! (He played a Sicilian against a weaker player and he beat Ivanchuck as black on round 8 playing against the Ruy Lopez. In the rest of the games his opponents did not play 1.e4). Tahirov,F - Shirov,A II Festival de Cañada de Calatrava (3), 2007 [pgn] 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Qc2 Nf6 4.a3 Bxc3 5.Qxc3 Nc6 6.b4 0-0 7.e3 d5 8.cxd5 Qxd5 9.b5 Nd4 10.exd4 exd4 11.Qc4 Re8+ 12.Kd1 Qh5+ 13.Be2 Qg6 14.Nf3 Be6 15.Qc2 d3 16.Qxd3 Bf5 17.Qc4 Rxe2 18.Nh4 Qh5 19.Qxe2 Bc2+ 20.Ke1 Re8 21.Qxe8+ Nxe8 0-1 [/pgn] And here's another: Shirov,A - Valmaña,J II Festival Cañada de Calatrava 2007 [pgn] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Bg5 a6 9.Na3 b5 10.Nd5 Be7 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.c3 0-0 13.Nc2 Rb8 14.h4 Be7 15.Qf3 Be6 16.g4 Qd7 17.g5 f5 18.Bh3 Bxd5 19.exd5 Na5 20.Ne3 g6 21.h5 Bxg5 22.hxg6 Bxe3 23.fxe3 b4 24.e4 bxc3 25.Bxf5 cxb2 26.Rb1 Qc7 27.Rxh7 Qc1+ 28.Kf2 Rxf5 29.Qxf5 Qf4+ 30.Ke2 Qxf5 31.exf5 Nc4 32.f6 1-0 [/pgn]

GM A.Shirov has just won what is possibly one of the strongest rapid chess tournaments ever held. The even was held in Villa de Cañada (Spain) and around 250 players took part in the event and nearly half of them were titled players (!). I'll be adding one of Shirov's games to my blog very shortly. Take a look at the final standings of the first 50: Rank SNo. Name Rtg NRtg IRtg FED Pts vict Fide BH. BH. 1 8 GM Shirov Alexei 2699 2699 2699 ESP 7½ 6 40½ 56½ 44½ 2 16 GM Fridman Daniel 2635 0 2635 LAT 7½ 6 40 54 42½ 3 13 GM Sokolov Ivan 2655 0 2655 NED 7½ 6 39 52½ 41 4 3 GM Gelfand Boris 2733 0 2733 ISR 7½ 6 38½ 52½ 40½ 5 5 GM Polgar Judit w 2727 0 2727 HUN 7 6 39½ 53½ 43 6 2 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2757 0 2757 AZE 7 6 38½ 56½ 44½ 7 6 GM Grischuk Alexander 2717 0 2717 RUS 7 6 38 54 42½ 8 15 GM Fressinet Laurent 2644 0 2644 FRA 7 6 37½ 51 40½ 9 12 GM Krasenkow Michal 2661 0 2661 POL 7 6 37½ 50½ 40½ 10 4 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2729 0 2729 UKR 7 6 36½ 52 41½ 11 18 GM Baklan Vladimir 2618 0 2618 UKR 7 6 35½ 47½ 37 12 1 GM Anand Viswanathan 2786 0 2786 IND 7 5 38½ 56 44½ 13 14 GM Miton Kamil 2653 2604 2653 POL 7 5 38 53 41½ 14 76 FM Del Rey Diego 2405 2401 2405 ESP 7 5 37 49½ 39½ 15 9 GM Sasikiran Krishnan 2690 0 2690 IND 6½ 6 36½ 52½ 41 16 19 GM Sadvakasov Darmen 2618 0 2618 KAZ 6½ 6 34½ 51½ 39½ 17 24 GM Kazhgaleyev Murtas 2603 0 2603 KAZ 6½ 6 34 49 38 18 45 GM Marin Mihail 2533 0 2533 ROM 6½ 6 33½ 48 37½ 19 50 GM Kovchan Alexander 2527 0 2527 UKR 6½ 6 33 42½ 33½ 20 48 GM Shchekachev Andrei 2530 0 2530 FRA 6½ 6 32½ 48 37 21 56 IM Perez Candelario Manuel 2511 2505 2511 ESP 6½ 6 32½ 46 35½ 22 51 GM Arizmendi Martinez Julen L 2525 2512 2525 ESP 6½ 6 31½ 45½ 35½ 23 31 GM Mamedov Rauf 2584 0 2584 AZE 6½ 6 31½ 43½ 34½ 24 10 GM Milov Vadim 2676 0 2676 SUI 6½ 6 30½ 47 37 25 84 IM Panelo Marcelo 2392 0 2392 ARG 6½ 6 30½ 43½ 33½ 26 34 GM Akobian Varuzhan 2574 0 2574 USA 6½ 5 36 52 41½ 27 7 GM Bacrot Etienne 2709 0 2709 FRA 6½ 5 34½ 52 40½ 28 60 GM Kosyrev Vladimir 2505 0 2505 RUS 6½ 5 34 51 39½ 29 17 GM Gagunashvili Merab 2625 0 2625 GEO 6½ 5 32½ 49 39½ 30 20 GM Pantsulaia Levan 2616 0 2616 GEO 6½ 5 32½ 48 37 31 11 GM Karpov Anatoly 2668 0 2668 RUS 6½ 4 37 53½ 42½ 32 29 GM Guliyev Namig 2590 0 2590 AZE 6 6 35 53 42½ 33 43 GM Teske Henrik 2538 0 2538 GER 6 6 33 47½ 37½ 34 64 GM Movsziszian Karen 2494 0 2494 ARM 6 6 32 46½ 36½ 35 59 GM Del Rio Angelis Salvador G 2505 2517 2505 ESP 6 6 32 45½ 35 36 37 GM Kolev Atanas 2553 0 2553 BUL 6 6 31 46 35 37 70 GM Lazic Miroljub 2450 0 2450 SRB 6 6 31 45 36 38 42 GM Tahirov Farhad 2540 0 2540 AZE 6 6 31 44½ 34 39 75 IM Gallego Jimenez Victoriano 2414 2423 2414 ESP 6 6 29 44 33½ 40 39 GM Conquest Stuart C 2546 2550 2546 ENG 6 6 29 43 33 41 71 IM Zlotnik Boris A 2442 0 2442 RUS 6 6 29 39 29½ 42 55 GM Cabrera Pino Alexis 2514 2508 2514 COL 6 5 35½ 53 43 43 30 GM Chernin Alexander 2587 0 2587 HUN 6 5 35½ 53 42 44 52 GM Gritsak Orest 2524 0 2524 UKR 6 5 34½ 51 40½ 45 40 IM Zubov Alexander 2542 0 2542 UKR 6 5 34 49 38 46 41 GM Ubilava Elizbar 2540 2528 2540 GEO 6 5 33½ 49½ 39½ 47 25 GM Malakhatko Vadim 2598 0 2598 BEL 6 5 33 51 40 48 73 FM Roa Alonso Santiago 2423 2417 2423 ESP 6 5 33 44 36 49 62 IM Herraiz Hidalgo Herminio 2498 2493 2498 ESP 6 5 32½ 47 36½ 50 68 GM Karlsson Lars 2469 0 2469 SWE 6 5 32 46 36 Click HERE to access the official site, available in English.

The Doeberl Cup (Held over Easter's Weekend) is Australia's most important weekend tournament. With a first prize of 5000 Australian Dollars (around 3000 Euros), this year's edition attracted many Overseas Masters and Grandmasters, just a few days before the "Mega" Sydney International Open. Suprisingly, the first 4 players in the final standings were all Australian! Few could have predicted such a great result for Australian players, for many of the overseas participants were GMs like Mikhailevski from Israel, Matamoros from Ecuador, Shipov from Russia, Antic from Serbia, Timoshenko from Ukraine, Bakre from India...)- How can this be explained? well, this is just my own hipothesis, but I think it has to do with 2 facts: 1- Australian players are probably somewhat under-rated in the FIDE lists (and thus, easier to understimate) 2- Australian players are stronger at faster time controls and weekend tournaments. (note: Australian elo ratings, except for overseas players) 1 GM Ian Rogers (NSW) 2621 g + 44 g + 62 g + 10 g + 9 g = 2 g = 3 g + 5 6 +11.0 2 IM David Smerdon (Vic) 2469 g + 47 g + 25 g + 16 g = 3 g = 1 g = 8 g + 13 5½ +21.3 3 IM Stephen Solomon (Qld) 2428 g + 55 g + 38 g + 7 g = 2 g + 15 g = 1 g = 6 5½ +43.6 4 IM Gary Lane (NSW) 2452 g + 50 g + 37 g = 5 g = 8 g = 20 g + 21 g + 16 5½ +12.1 5 GM Victor Mikhalevski * (Isr) 2590 g + 26 g + 22 g = 4 g = 6 g + 9 g + 11 g - 1 5 -7.5 6 GM Carlos Matamoros Franco * (Ecu) 2523 g + 42 g + 17 g = 20 g = 5 g + 33 g = 13 g = 3 5 +0.4 7 GM Sergei Shipov * (Rus) 2592 g + 43 g + 21 g - 3 g = 14 g + 31 g + 17 g = 8 5 -21.8 8 GM Dejan Antic (Serb) 2428 g + 68 g = 11 g + 32 g = 4 g + 42 g = 2 g = 7 5 +3.5 9 FM Jesse Noel Sales (Phi) 2389 g + 48 g + 56 g + 13 g - 1 g - 5 g + 37 g + 21 5 +11.7 10 IM Andras Toth (Hun) 2430 g + 39 g + 31 g - 1 g + 38 g - 21 g + 27 g + 22 5 -15.2 11 Junta Ikeda (ACT) 2164 g + 58 g = 8 g = 33 g + 55 g + 14 g - 5 g + 20 5 +48.2 12 Dusan Stojic (Vic) 2223 g - 31 g + 48 g + 49 g + 37 g - 13 g + 43 g + 24 5 +2.9 13 GM Darryl Johansen (Vic) 2467 g + 36 g + 29 g - 9 g + 25 g + 12 g = 6 g - 2 4½ -13.4 14 GM Tejas Bakre * (Ind) 2426 g + 45 g + 27 g = 15 g = 7 g - 11 g = 40 g + 23 4½ -11.2 15 GM Georgy Timoshenko * (Ukr) 2566 g + 23 g + 57 g = 14 g = 20 g - 3 g = 19 g + 40 4½ -30.6 16 Tomek Rej (NSW) 2258 g + 54 g + 64 g - 2 g = 32 g + 26 g + 34 g - 4 4½ -9.2 17 Manathan Chokshi * (Ind) 2168 g + 65 g - 6 g + 67 g = 34 g + 32 g - 7 g + 35 4½ +4.4 18 Alexander Kanikevich (NSW) 2334 g + 59 g - 32 g = 26 g = 36 g = 35 g + 45 g + 34 4½ -39.2 19 Domagoj Dragicevic (Vic) 2126 g - 34 g - 51 g + 28 g + 67 g + 36 g = 15 g + 32 4½ -11.7 20 FM Igor Goldenberg (Vic) 2368 g + 63 g + 35 g = 6 g = 15 g = 4 g = 23 g - 11 4 -7.0 See the full results in all categories HERE

[Event "Amber Blindfold"] [site "Monte Carlo MNC"] [Date "2007.03.20"] This happened in the game Vallejo - Svidler after black's 23rd move. You'd never guess white's next move. Think about it for a while. When you've found a really bad move, put your mouse pointer over the black line. But wait! Something else happened! If you didn't guess white's 24th, there's no chance you'll guess white's 25th!! you don't believe me? check it out! For the record, 24. e5! would have given white a strong attack.

I'm currently still in Spain and yesterday night I was watching the following endgame being played by two local players, one of them from the club which I do coaching at: White has just played Ke5, which is actually a mistake. Would you have been able to save this ending as black? are you possitively sure? Well, if you're not, you can always download my annotations: oncecas.cbv Btw, if you're wondering, the "victim" in this game was the player from my team but we still managed to win on boards 1 and 4, which meant our team will play in the higest category next year.

If a few months ago someone had asked me who was the player with the most determination of all when at the board, I would not have hesitated: Topalov. Well, that was till yesterday when I saw Morozevich beat Topalov like this: Morozevich,A (2741) - Topalov,V (2783) [b50] XXIV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (13), 09.03.2007 [pgn]1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Be2 Bd7 5.d3 e6 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.a3 Bc6 9.Re1 Nbd7 10.Bf1 Ne5 11.Nxe5 dxe5 12.Nc4 Qc7 13.b4 Rfd8 14.Qb3 b5 15.Na5 Be8 16.f3 Nd7 17.Be3 Nb6 18.Rec1 Na4 19.Qc2 h6 20.Qf2 Bg5 21.Bxg5 hxg5 22.Rc2 Rac8 23.Rac1 Qe7 24.Qe1 Rc7 25.c4 Rdc8 26.cxb5 Bxb5 27.bxc5 Rxc5 28.Rxc5 Rxc5 29.Qb4 Bxd3 30.Rxc5 Qxc5+ 31.Qxc5 Nxc5 32.Nc6 Kf8 33.Nxa7 Ke7 34.Nc6+ Kd6 35.Na5 f6 36.Kf2 Bxf1 37.Kxf1 g4 38.Ke2 gxf3+ 39.Kxf3 Nd3 40.Nb3 Ne1+ 41.Kf2 Nc2 42.a4 Nd4 43.Nc1 Kc5 44.Nd3+ Kc4 45.Ke3 Nc2+ 46.Ke2 Kd4 47.Nf2 Nb4 48.h4 Nc6 49.h5 Na5 50.Ng4 Nc4 51.h6 gxh6 52.Nxf6 Kc3 53.Ng4 h5 54.Ne3 Na5 55.Kf3 Nb3 56.Nf1 Kd3 57.Kg3 Kxe4 58.Kh4 Kd3 59.Kxh5 e4 60.g4 Nd2 61.Nxd2 Kxd2 62.a5 e3 63.a6 e2 64.a7 e1=Q 65.a8=Q Qe5+ 66.g5 Qf5 67.Qd8+ Kc1 68.Qf6 Qd5 69.Kh6 e5 70.g6 e4 71.g7 e3 72.Qc3+ Kb1 73.Qxe3 Qh1+ 74.Kg6 Qg2+ 75.Qg5 Qc6+ 76.Kh7 Qb7 77.Qg1+ Ka2 78.Qh2+ Ka1 79.Kh8 Qe4 80.g8=Q 1-0[/pgn] Here are the pairings for the last round of Linares: Peter Leko - Magnus Carlsen Peter Svidler - Alex. Morozevich Veselin Topalov - Levon Aronian Vassily Ivanchuk - Vishy Anand It's quite interesting because I think Ivanchuk is perfectly capable of beating Anand and Leko is out of form, so who knows if the miracle of seeing a 16 year old win Linares can happen.

My free electronic book, LOCMAI (which stands for "learn chess or call me an idiot!!") has been downloaded more than 1000 times from this site! There are now several sites where you can download my book from, apart from here: http://www.ebookbillboard.com http://www.gemx.com/ebooks_download.php At present, LOCMAI is the 17th most popular free ebook on the ebookbillboard!

Ok, I know defenders of the two browsers will never reach an agreement on this matter. Personally I use both, but amongst the many advantages that firefox has over IE is... it really loads pages so much faster! I'm talking about a speed difference of something like 50% or more, it's just shocking! Anyway, I strongly recommend people to use Firefox rather than Internet Explorer. At least give it a try and decide by yourself.

Morozevic - Leko was the best game from round IX, and you can download it with my annotations here: moroleko.cbv. However, one of the most embarrasing games in this round was Carlsen - Aronian: Carlsen,M (2690) - Aronian,L (2744) [E15] XXIV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (9), 03.03.2007 [pgn] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bc3 d5 9.Ne5 Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 0-0 12.0-0 Rc8 13.e4 c5 14.exd5 exd5 15.dxc5 dxc4 16.c6 cxb3 17.Re1 b2 18.Bxb2 Nc5 19.Nb3 Nd3 20.Re2 Nxb2 21.Rxb2 Qxd1+ 22.Rxd1 Rfd8 23.Rbd2 Rxd2 24.Rxd2 Rd8 25.Rxd8+ Bxd8 26.Nd4 Bc4 [/pgn] Do you recall this position? the first 26 moves are exactly the same as the game Topalov - Leko, from this same tournament. Topalov here played 27.a4 followed by 28.Nb5, but the game ended in a draw fairly quickly after 28...Bxb5. Carlsen's 27th move is definitely not an improvement: 27.Bf1 Bd5 28.Bg2 Bc4 ½-½ I've read Carlsen Dad's blog, and Magnus claims that he was surprised by Aronian's opening choice and little by little he was (magically?) driven into the position which Topalov played. I have another theory: Carlsen is quite happy to draw against any player who is in the top 10 of FIDE's rating list. This is actually quite normal in the developing stage of a player, and it's not easy to overcome the intimidation factor that a player of such level can have on a 16 year old. So, let's give him some time! By the way, I honestly thought that Carlsen would go for 1.e4 in this game. He's been getting quite harmless positions with white playing 1.d4. He really is a 1.e4 player, I don't understand his opening choice. But Ok, I admit my prediction was just wrong.

"It (the protest) was a major success for the opposition,'' said Garry Kasparov, a former world chess champion who is now an outspoken critic of Putin. "It is the beginning of the Russian people recognizing that they can change things,'' Kasparov told Reuters. "They used force against a very peaceful demonstration.'' Read the full article here