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"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]

[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!

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.

All games were drawn at Linares on round 8. Aronian - Svidler only lasted 16 moves. Anand never seemed like he was really fighting for a win in his game against Topalov, but Morozevic - Carlsen was a tough fight. Ivanchuck was never in trouble in his game and he achieved equality rather easily: Leko,P (2749) - Ivanchuk,V (2750) [C10] XXIV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (8), 02.03.2007 [pgn] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Nxf6+ Nxf6 8.Be3 Nd5 9.Bd3 Nxe3 10.fxe3 Bd6 11.e4 e5 12.dxe5 Bc5 13.Bb5+ c6 14.Qxd8+ Kxd8 15.Bc4 Ke7 16.c3 Be6 17.Bxe6 Kxe6 18.Ke2 Bb6 19.Rhf1 Rhf8 20.Rad1 Rad8 21.Rxd8 Bxd8 22.Rd1 Bc7 23.Ke3 g6 24.g4 Rd8 25.Rxd8 Bxd8 26.Kf4 c5 27.h3 Bc7 28.h4 f6 29.c4 Bxe5+ 30.Nxe5 g5+ 31.Ke3 Kxe5 32.h5 a6 33.b3 Kd6 34.Kd3 b6 35.a3 Kc6 36.Kc3 Kd6 37.Kd3 Ke5 38.Ke3 Kd6 1/2-1/2 [/pgn] Anyway, instead of 38...Kd6 black might have tried 38...b5, but the position is still drawn: [38...b5!? 39.cxb5 a)39.Kd3?? bxc4+ 40.Kxc4 (a)40.bxc4 Kf4-+) 40...Kxe4 41.Kxc5 f5-+; b)39.a4?? bxc4 40.bxc4 a5! Javier: And white is in zugzwang.; 39...axb5 40.a4 c4! (40...bxa4?? 41.bxa4+- Javier: White gets the outside passed pawn and wins here.) 41.axb5 (41.bxc4?? bxa4-+ Javier: It is black who gets the outside passed pawn now. 42.Kd3 a3 43.Kc3) 41...cxb3 42.Kd3 Kd6 43.Kc3 Kc5 44.Kxb3 Kxb5 45.Kc3 Kc5 46.Kd3 Kd6 47.Kd4 Ke6 48.Kd3 Ke5 49.Ke3 Javier: With a draw.] ½-½ Anyway, watch out for Ivanchuk, he might end up winning the tournament. It's a feeling that I have...

Yes, Carlsen has his own blog, no kidding! How does he find the time to prepare for his games, play those tough games, rest and... write a blog? Hang on a minute, this is not Magnus Carlsen's blog we're talking about, is it? True, but it comes close: it's his dad's! Still, a very interesting source of information with plenty of photographs, family stories, honest and witty. Henry is doing a great job. Highly recommended. Read it here!

I will not mention what happened in round six at Linares other than it was the most boring round of any GM tournament I've seen in years. If you have children at home and you're running out of ideas because you no longer remember what silence sounds like, let your kids watch the games from this round and I assure you that they too will go to sleep in no time! Anyway, Round VII was a lot more interesting. Only one of the 4 games ended in a draw. Here's Ivanchuk's victory against Aronian. Pay attention to Vasily's 17th move, a true Karpovian move indeed! The rest of the game is an exhibition of good technique against the IQP: Ivanchuk,V (2750) - Aronian,L (2744) [D38] XXIV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (7), 25.02.2007 [pgn] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Qc2 c5 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.Qxc3 h6 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.e3 0-0 12.Be2 b6 13.0-0 Bb7 14.Rfc1 Rac8 15.dxc5 Qxc3 16.Rxc3 Rxc5 17.Rcc1 Rfc8 18.Rd1 Rc2 19.Bb5 Nf8 20.Rab1 R2c7 21.Ba4 Ne6 22.Bb3 Kf8 23.h3 Rc5 24.Kh2 Ke7 25.Rd2 Rb5 26.Ba2 Rbc5 27.Ne1 a5 28.Rbd1 Rd8 29.Kg3 Rb5 30.f3 Rc8 31.Nd3 d4 32.Bxe6 Kxe6 33.Nf4+ Ke7 34.Rxd4 Rc7 35.R1d2 Rbc5 36.e4 Rc4 37.Rd6 R4c6 38.e5 Rc2 39.Rxc2 Rxc2 40.Rxb6 Bc6 41.b4 g5 42.Nh5 axb4 43.axb4 Bd5 44.Ng7 Re2 45.Nf5+ Ke8 46.Nxh6 Be6 47.Rb5 Rb2 48.Rb8+ Kd7 49.Rg8 1-0 [/pgn] So, the first half of the tournament is over and now the players will travel to Linares (Spain!). I'll make one prediction: 2- Carlsen will play 1.e4 in his next games with white at Linares (he's only played 1.d4 in his 4 games with white).

Dramatic day for Topalov in Mexico: after 64 moves of fighting chess, he resigned a drawn position, look: Magnus has just played 64.Qg6 and Topalov sees no defence against Qh7 and Qh8, but there was a rather simple defence! (if you can't see it, download the game with full analysis of the whole game here: carlstopa.cbv ) However, it'd be completely unfair to claim that Carlsen's victory was undeserved. Watch the first diagram, when he's about to play 48.h6! Or can you guess his 49th move?, watch: (if you can't, download the fully annotated game above) Magnus now leads the tournament with 3.5/4. Can he win it? I don't think so, although he's already played against Anand, Topalov and Morozevic, 3 players against which I thought he would have scored poorly (2 wins and 1 loss is pretty impressive). I don't know what it is with this kid, I don't think he's that good, he's just... lucky? no, he tries really hard, but sometimes he gets outplayed and his opponents make it look rather easy, like his game against Anand for example. It's gotta be something else... determination, will to win perhaps? talent? who knows...

After 4 rounds GM Anand is leading Morelia-Linares with 3/4. Playing the black side of a Ruy Lopez against the Anand probably sounds as the closest thing to a slow torture, particularly if you choose one of the main lines, like Morozevic did. However, the Russian GM defended solidly and at one point could have obtained a slight initiative. The position after white's 31st move is critical. 31...Bh6! seems like an improvement. I have annotated the game and you can download it here: anandmoro.cbv or see it without comments: (3) Anand,V (2779) - Morozevich,A (2741) [C95] XXIV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (4), 21.02.2007 [pgn] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1 Bf8 14.Ng3 c6 15.Nf5 Qc7 16.dxe5 dxe5 17.Nh2 c5 18.Qf3 c4 19.Bg5 Re6 20.Rad1 Nc5 21.Bxf6 Rxf6 22.Ng4 Re6 23.Nge3 Qa5 24.a3 g6 25.Nd5 Rd8 26.Qg3 Rd7 27.Nfe3 Qd8 28.Qf3 Bg7 29.a4 Red6 30.axb5 axb5 31.g4 Qh4 32.Ra1 Ne6 33.Qg3 Qxg3+ 34.fxg3 Nc5 35.h4 h6 36.Ra5 Bc6 37.Nb4 Bxe4 38.Bxe4 Nxe4 39.Rxb5 Nd2 40.Kg2 e4 41.Re2 Bf8 42.Ned5 e3 43.Nxe3 Re6 44.Nbd5 Nb3 45.Nf4 Rc6 46.Nxc4 Rxc4 47.Rxb3 Kg7 48.Rb5 Bc5 49.g5 hxg5 50.hxg5 Be7 51.Kf3 Bd8 52.Re4 Rc6 53.Kg4 Rd2 54.Rd5 Rxd5 55.Nxd5 Re6 56.Rxe6 fxe6 57.Nf4 Kf7 58.Nd3 Bc7 59.Kf3 1-0 [/pgn]

Ivanchuk,V (2750) - Topalov,V (2783) [b90] XXIV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (2), 18.02.2007 Maybe he's like Tahl, who rarely had a good tournament start, but watch what happened when Topalov (black) had to make his 40th move before the time control: 40...Qf7?? 41.Qxc4! 1-0 Admitedly, Ivanchuk was a Pawn up already and enjoyed a comfortable advantage. Another thing Topalov has in common with Tahl is that he usually wins the tournaments he takes part in, regardless of the bad start.

It's been a while since a last saw a game which left me with my mouth open . Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen has just played one of those games in Mexico against no other than GM Morozevich. Carlsen's 12th move (Nde4) is a Novely and it is a very intereting move indeed. It's not hard to see that if black goes 12... f5 then the g5 square becomes weak, but did you expect white's next move? 17.d7! is a powerful move also. After all the fireworks, Magnus is just one pawn up, but he converts his advantage with excellent technique and determination. Worth seeing : Carlsen,M (2690) - Morozevich,A (2741) [E66] XXIV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (1), 17.02.2007 [pgn]1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.Nc3 d6 6.Nf3 c5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Na5 9.Nd2 e5 10.b3 Ng4 11.h3 Nh6 12.Nde4 f6 13.Nxd6 Qxd6 14.Ne4 Qd8 15.Nxc5 f5 16.d6 e4 17.d7 Nf7 18.Rb1 Qe7 19.dxc8=Q Raxc8 20.Na4 Rfd8 21.Qe1 Nc6 22.Nc3 Nd4 23.Bb2 b5 24.Nd5 Qd6 25.Bxd4 Bxd4 26.Rd1 Be5 27.Qa5 bxc4 28.Ne3 Qc7 29.Qxc7 Bxc7 30.Nxc4 Ne5 31.Rxd8+ Rxd8 32.Rc1 Nxc4 33.Rxc4 Rd1+ 34.Bf1 Bd6 35.e3 a5 36.Kg2 Kf7 37.Rc2 Ke7 38.Be2 Rd5 39.Bc4 Rd1 40.g4 f4 41.exf4 Bxf4 42.Re2 Rd4 43.Bd3 Kf6 44.Bxe4 Rd2 45.Rxd2 Bxd2 46.Kg3 Be1 47.Kf3 Bb4 48.h4 h6 49.Ke2 Bd6 50.Kd3 Bc5 51.f4 h5 52.g5+ Kg7 53.Kc4 Bd6 54.Kb5 Bxf4 55.Kxa5 Bg3 56.Kb5 Bxh4 57.a4 Bxg5 58.a5 Kf6 59.a6 Be3 60.Kc6 g5 61.b4 Ke5 62.b5 Kxe4 63.b6 g4 64.a7 g3 65.a8=Q Kf3 66.b7 Bf4 67.Qf8 Ke4 68.Qe8+ 1-0[/pgn]

I tried to find an interesting game from the Moscow Open. Normally I'd try to find a game by the tournament winner, but I don't know whether it's me or for some reason I didn't like any of his games. However, there was one game which I quite liked. Take a look at the position after black's 13th move, 13...Bg8!. What a great bishop, isn't it! Only a few moves later that very bishop will turn out to be black's most dangerous piece! Here's the game: Chernobay,A (2408) - Deviatkin,A (2544) [b11] Open Moscow RUS (2), 28.01.2007 [pgn] 1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.h3 Bh5 5.exd5 cxd5 6.Bb5+ Nc6 7.g4 Bg6 8.Ne5 Rc8 9.d4 e6 10.Qe2 Nge7 11.h4 h5 12.Bg5 Bh7 13.Qf3 Bg8 14.Bxe7 Bxe7 15.g5 Bd6 16.0-0-0 Bxe5 17.dxe5 Bh7 18.Qxh5 0-0 19.Bxc6 Rxc6 20.Rd2 Qa5 21.Kb1 Rfc8 22.g6 Bxg6 23.Qg5 Rxc3 24.h5 Rxc2 25.Rxc2 Bxc2+ 26.Ka1 Qd8 0-1 [/pgn]

The following game has won the prize for the best game at the Gibraltar Telecom Masters. If you're wondering, personally, I don't like it. Why? I don't think it's anything special, simple tactics and a rudimentary Queen Sac. Surely there must have been better games than this played at Gibraltar! oh well... here it is: Sulskis,Sarunas (2525) - Quillan,Gary (2354) [A00] Gibtelecom Masters Gibraltar (1.27), 23.01.2007 [pgn] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 Qc7 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 cxd4 10.Ne2 Nbc6 11.f4 Bd7 12.Qd3 dxc3 13.Nxc3 a6 14.Rb1 Na5 15.h4 Nf5 16.Rh3 0-0-0 17.h5 Nc4 18.Ne4 dxe4 19.Qxc4 Bc6 20.h6 Qd7 21.h7 Qd1+ 22.Kf2 e3+ 23.Rxe3 Nxe3 24.Qxc6+ bxc6 25.Bxa6+ Kc7 26.Rb7+ Kc8 27.Rb5+ Kc7 28.Rb7+ Kc8 29.Rb5+ Kc7 30.Rb7+ Kc8 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

Impressive victory by Topalov in Round four at Wijk aan Zee. I've uploaded the game with some of my annotations, feel free to download it here -> TopShi07.cbv Topalov,V (2783) - Shirov,A (2715) [D89] Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (4), 16.01.2007 [pgn]1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.0-0 Bg4 11.f3 Na5 12.Bd3 cxd4 13.cxd4 Be6 14.d5 Bxa1 15.Qxa1 f6 16.Qd4 Bf7 17.Bh6 Re8 18.Bb5 e5 19.Qf2 Re7 20.f4 exf4 21.Qxf4 Qb6+ 22.Kh1 Bxd5 23.exd5 Qxb5 24.Qxf6 Qe8 25.Qd4 Rd8 26.h3 Rf7 27.Rxf7 Qxf7 28.Qc3 b6 29.Ng3 Nb7 30.Ne4 Qe7 31.Nf6+ Kf7 32.Nxh7 Kg8 33.Nf6+ Kf7 34.Ng4 Kg8 35.Qd2 Re8 36.Qf4 Qd6 37.Qf2 Qc5 38.Qg3 Qd4 39.Kh2 Nd8 40.Qd6 Ne6 41.Be3 1-0 [/pgn]

With 0.5/3 this could be a very tough experience for young Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen. Ponomariov's 6th move is as unusual as it is logical. White has several ideas in mind, one of them being g4+h4, which is not easy to meet. I don't think 6...h6 is entirely correct though. Other moves that had been tried in that position were 6...e6, 6...Nbd7 and 6...b5. After white's 11th move, Bb5!!, black's position looks extremely difficult: Ponomariov,R (2723) - Carlsen,M (2690) [D10] Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (3), 15.01.2007 [pgn]1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Nf3 Bf5 6.Ne5 h6 7.Qb3 Ra7 8.cxd5 cxd5 9.Bd2 e6 10.Rc1 Nbd7 11.Bb5 Bd6 12.Nxd7 Nxd7 13.Bxd7+ Qxd7 14.Na4 0-0 15.Nb6 Qd8 16.Nc8 Qxc8 17.Rxc8 Rxc8 18.Qb6 Bb8 19.0-0 Kh7 20.Rc1 Bc2 21.Ba5 Kg6 22.Qb4 Rc4 23.Qd2 Bf5 24.Rxc4 dxc4 25.Bb6 Ra8 26.Qe2 e5 27.Qxc4 exd4 28.Qxd4 f6 29.f4 Bb1 30.Qd5 1-0[/pgn]

Ok, I'm aware that it is highly unlikely that I'll be coaching GM Alexei Shirov in a while , but how does this player choose his opening repertoire? I mean, he keeps on playing the Petrov against 1.e4 and the Grünfeld against 1.d4. How on earth can one of the most imaginative players that has ever lived play the Petrov? it's just shocking! What has happened to this man? I don't understand it, but one thing is for sure: whoever is giving him advice, cannot be called a friend! (I think Shirov usually works on his own). Here's Shirov's loss against Kramnik in round 2 at Wijk aan Zee. Alexei blundered a piece on his 34th move, but his position was already quite bad. He never had a chance to unfold any of his former imaginative skills... (and I keep observing that in his games). Kramnik,V (2766) - Shirov,A (2715) [A16] Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (2), 14.01.2007 [pgn]1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Qa4+ Bd7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 Bg7 7.e4 c6 8.d4 b5 9.Qb3 a5 10.e5 a4 11.Qd1 Nd5 12.Nxd5 cxd5 13.Be2 Nc6 14.0-0 0-0 15.Be3 Na5 16.b3 axb3 17.axb3 Qb6 18.Ne1 b4 19.Nd3 Bb5 20.Nc5 Nb7 21.Rxa8 Rxa8 22.Bxb5 Qxb5 23.Qd3 Qc6 24.Na4 Nd8 25.Rc1 Qb7 26.Qc2 f6 27.f4 Bh6 28.g3 fxe5 29.dxe5 Ne6 30.Qc6 Qxc6 31.Rxc6 Kf7 32.Kf2 Rb8 33.Ke2 Bf8 34.Kd3 Rb7 1-0[/pgn]

(25) Morozevich,A (2733) - Radjabov,T (2729) [b30] ACP World Cup Odessa (2), 07.01.2007 Here, one of the strongest players in the World now played b5??, dropping his Rook on c5. Here's a short game from the same event: (2) Leko,P (2749) - Sokolov,I (2652) [C64] ACP World Cup Odessa (1), 05.01.2007 [pgn]1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Bc5 4.c3 f5 5.d4 fxe4 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.Nxe5 Qd5 8.0-0 Nf6 9.Bf4 Bd6 10.c4 Qe6 11.c5 Be7 12.Nc3 Qf5 13.Bg3 Be6 14.f3 exf3 15.Rxf3 Qh5 16.Qe2 Bf5 17.Raf1 g6 18.Qc4 Rf8 19.d5 Nd7 20.Nxd7 Bxd7 21.d6 1-0[/pgn] What are these rapid chess tournaments good for? do they have to do more with chess or with lottery or the physical ability to move your pieces faster, doesn't matter where? Do the games played in these tournaments belong to a museum of chess blunders? Maybe rapid chess is just that: FUN to watch, but little else. Link to ACP's World Rapid Chess Cup, Odessa.

I was taking a quick look at some of the games from the 2006-2007 Australian Open when I noticed a particularly interesting one. Hu is a young australian player who came close to beating GM Antic (he was a piece up at one stage). The fun begins after 16... Nxe5!, which white answered with 17.Qh4!, creating some nasty threats against the black King (note that 17.Qf4 is met by 17...Qc2!). Then GM Antic played the unexpected (but wrong) 17...Ng4, which was apparently refuted by Hu's 19th move. Unfortunately, Hu kept on trying to checkmate his opponent rather than exploit his material advantage. Judge for yourself: Hu,J - Antic,D [D85] Australian Open Tuggeranong (2.5), 29.12.2006 [pgn] 1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 g6 7.Bb5+ Nd7 8.0-0 Bg7 9.d4 0-0 10.h3 Qc7 11.Be3 b6 12.e5 e6 13.Ng5 Bb7 14.Qg4 Rfd8 15.Ne4 cxd4 16.cxd4 Nxe5 17.Qh4 Ng4 18.Qxg4 f5 19.Qg3 Qxg3 20.Nxg3 Bxd4 21.Bxd4 Rxd4 22.Rfe1 Kf7 23.Rac1 Bd5 24.Rc7+ Kf6 25.a3 h5 26.Ne2 Re4 27.Bd3 Re5 28.Rec1 Rd8 29.Rh7 Bxg2 30.Rcc7 Bf3 31.h4 Rc5 32.Bc4 Rxc4 33.Rxc4 Bxe2 34.Rc3 Rd4 35.Rxa7 Rxh4 36.Rb7 b5 37.Rb6 Rg4+ 38.Kh2 Bc4 39.f3 Rd4 40.Kg3 h4+ 41.Kf2 Rd2+ 42.Ke3 Ra2 43.f4 h3 44.Kd4 h2 45.Rh3 Bd5 0-1 [/pgn]

In April this year I was in tokyo for a few days and gave a couple of lectures. I also played a simul Exhibition. One day I'll play an unforgettable game which everyone will remember , till then, here are these 2, I'm white. [pgn] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 O-O 7. Rc1 h6 8. Bh4 c6 9. Bd3 Re8 10. O-O dxc4 11. Bxc4 Nd5 12. Bg3 Bf6 13. Ne4 Be7 14. Bb3 N7f6 15. Nc5 b6 16. Nd3 Bb7 17. Nfe5 Rc8 18. Qf3 c5 19. e4 Nb4 20. Nxf7 Kxf7 21. Ne5 Kf8 22. Bxe6 g5 23. d5 Nbxd5 24. Qf5 Nf4 25. Bxf4 Bxe4 26. Qh3 Ng8 27. Qh5 1-0 [/pgn] [pgn] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bg5 c5 4. e3 b6 5. Nc3 Bb7 6. d5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Be2 Na6 9. O-O Nb4 10. e4 exd5 11. exd5 Qf5 12. Re1 O-O-O 13. Bc4 Qxc2 14. Ne5 Qf5 15. a3 Na6 16. d6 Re8 17. Nxf7 Re6 18. Bxe6 1-0 [/pgn]