Last Update: Saturday 8th November 2008. 13:45 GMT

IV World Blitz Championship won by Dominguez

IV World Blitz Almaty KAZ (KAZ), 8-8 xi 2008															cat. XIX (2702)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6
1.	Dominguez Perez, Leinier	g	CUB	2719	*	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	½	1	1	½	½	1	½	1	11.5	2911
2.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2786	½	*	½	1	0	1	1	½	0	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	11.0	2871
3.	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2727	½	½	*	½	0	½	1	½	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	½	10.0	2825
4.	Grischuk, Alexander	g	RUS	2719	0	0	½	*	1	1	½	1	1	1	½	½	1	0	1	1	10.0	2825
5.	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	g	AZE	2731	0	1	1	0	*	½	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	9.5	2794
6.	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2751	½	0	½	0	½	*	½	1	1	½	1	1	0	1	1	1	9.5	2793
7.	Kazhgaleyev, Murtas	g	KAZ	2640	0	0	0	½	0	½	*	1	1	0	½	1	1	1	½	1	8.0	2726
8.	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2787	0	½	½	0	1	0	0	*	0	1	0	½	1	1	1	1	7.5	2696
9.	Kamsky, Gata	g	USA	2729	½	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	*	½	½	0	½	0	1	1	7.0	2679
10.	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2719	0	0	0	0	0	½	1	0	½	*	½	½	1	1	1	1	7.0	2679
11.	Tkachiev, Vladislav	g	FRA	2664	0	0	1	½	0	0	½	1	½	½	*	½	½	0	1	½	6.5	2654
12.	Rublevsky, Sergei	g	RUS	2702	½	½	0	½	0	0	0	½	1	½	½	*	0	½	1	1	6.5	2651
13.	Vaganian, Rafael A	g	ARM	2590	½	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	½	0	½	1	*	1	1	0	5.5	2614
14.	Amin, Bassem	g	EGY	2560	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	½	0	*	0	1	4.5	2562
15.	Sasikiran, Krishnan	g	IND	2694	½	0	0	0	1	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	*	½	3.5	2491
16.	Polgar, Judit	g	HUN	2711	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	1	0	½	*	2.5	2428

Topalov - Kamsky match awarded to Bulgaria

FIDE have given everyone involved until 14 November 2008 to agree to hold the match with a prize fund of 250,000 USD (an increase) plus 50,000 USD as contribution to FIDE in Bulgaria. The dates will remain 29th November - 12th December 2008 after a bid from Lviv organised by Kamsky's manager Alexander Chernenko fell through. If the Bulgarian Chess Federation can't raise this money then bid for the match will reopen. If Topalov refuses to play then Kamsky goes through to play world champion Anand, if Kamsky refuses then he will be replaced by Shirov.

Although its really not ideal at all that Topalov has home advantage I believe Kamsky has to sign up for this, through his manager he's had his chance for a better and more lucrative solution. I don't believe FIDE had any choice either.

I have a general rule of not covering these kind of negotiations these days. So much of what is said and announced is just wrong. But this has some kind of air of finality about it, and about time too.

FIDE announcement on Topalov - Kamsky

Fascinating field for Corus A-Group 2009

The 71st Corus Chess tournament takes place Friday, January 16th to Sunday, February 1st, 2009 in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands. Alexander Morozevich, Vassily Ivanchuk, Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian and Teimour Radjabov are the favourites for the event in the absence of world champion Viswanathan Anand, challenger Vladimir Kramnik and World Number one Veselin Topalov. This shake up of the field with these three regular missing has really freshened things up and should make for exciting chess, in the usual way they do things they'll probably be all back next year.

Five players will make their debut in the A-group: the young Dutch grandmasters Jan Smeets and Daniel Stellwagen, the sensational Wang Yue from China, who climbed up to the 11th place on the latest world ranking list, the winner of Grandmastergroup B in 2008, Sergei Movsesian, and Leinier Dominguez from Cuba (ranked 21st on the FIDE October rating list).

The official participants lists of Grandmaster groups B and C will be published later this year. Together with all amateur players and participants in the special groups, approximately 2,000 chess players are expected to come to Wijk aan Zee for the traditional chess festival in the small beach village at the west coast of The Netherlands, approximately 25 kilometers from Amsterdam.

As from January 2009, the rate of play in Grandmaster groups A, B and C will change. The rate of play will be: 40 moves in 2 hours, then 20 moves in 1 hour, followed by 15 minutes with 30 seconds per move increment to finish the game.

Official site: http://www.coruschess.com/

71st Corus Wijk aan Zee A-Group (NED), 16 i - 1 ii 2009
Alexander Morozevich	RUS	2	2787	1977
Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	3	2786	1969
Magnus Carlsen	NOR	4	2786	1990
Levon Aronian	ARM	7	2757	1982
Teimour Radjabov	AZE	8	2751	1987
Wang Yue	CHN	11	2736	1987
Michael Adams	ENG	12	2734	1971
Sergei Movsesian	SLW	13	2732	1978
Sergei Karjakin	UKR	15	2730	1990
Gata Kamsky	USA	16	2729	1974
Leinier Dominguez	CUB	21	2719	1983
Loek van Wely	NED		2618	1972
Daniel Stellwagen	NED		2605	1987
Jan Smeets	NED		2604	1985

Anand retains World Title

World Chess Championship Stories

Gm11: Anand retains his title

Gm10: Kramnik strikes back

Gm9: Anand three up with three to play

Gm8: Anand needs just a point

Gm7: Anand presses but Kramnik holds on

Gm6: Third win for Anand places him on the verge of victory

Gm5: Catastrophic blunder opens a gap for Anand

Gm4: Kramnik holds Anand

Gm3: Game three produces a great struggle and an Anand victory

Gm2: Kramnik passes Anand's 1.d4 test by IM Malcolm Pein

John Watson Reviews the DVDs of Anand and Kramnik

Gm1: Anand holds Kramnik comfortably by IM Malcolm Pein

Match Facts

World Championship Results
Kramnik, Vladimir	-	Anand, Viswanathan	½-½	32	D14	Slav Exchange
Anand, Viswanathan	-	Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	32	E25	Nimzo Indian Saemisch
Kramnik, Vladimir	-	Anand, Viswanathan	0-1	41	D49	Queens Gambit Meran
Anand, Viswanathan	-	Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	29	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Kramnik, Vladimir	-	Anand, Viswanathan	0-1	35	D49	Queens Gambit Meran
Anand, Viswanathan	-	Kramnik, Vladimir	1-0	47	E34	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Anand, Viswanathan	-	Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	36	D19	Slav Defence
Kramnik, Vladimir	-	Anand, Viswanathan	½-½	39	D39	QGD Ragozin
Anand, Viswanathan	-	Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	45	D43	Anti-Meran Gambit
Kramnik, Vladimir	-	Anand, Viswanathan	1-0	29	E21	Nimzo Indian 4.Nf3
Anand, Viswanathan	-	Kramnik, Vladimir	½-½	24	B96	Sicilian Najdorf

World Chess Championship Bonn (GER), 14 x - 2xi 2008
Name	Ti	NAT	Rtng	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total	Perf
Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2783	½	½	1	½	1	1	½	½	½	0	½	.	6½	2837
Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2772	½	½	0	½	0	0	½	½	½	1	½	.	4½	2718

Games in PGN

Games in PGN - Malcolm Pein Annotated Games in PGN

Other Coverage

• Chessvibes
• Official Broadcaster: Foidos
• Chesscube
• ICC
• Playchess
• Chess Mind By Dennis Monokroussos

World Chess Championship. Viswanathan Anand retains title

The board below needs Silverlight 2. Click through the moves using the arrows or the moves next to the board. The board automatically checks for new moves every 3 minutes. Board by Martin Bennedik.

Cap d'Agde

The players. Photo © Europe Echecs

Games in PGN

The Cap d'Agde took place 26th October - 1st November 2008. Hikaru Nakamura beat Vassily Ivanchuk in the final.

Details: http://www.europe-echecs.com/articles/a-la-une-8e-rencontres-du-cap-d-agde-1451.html and http://www.capechecs.com/trophee_ccas.php

Trophee CCAS Knockout Cap d'Agde (FRA), 28 x 2008
Final
Ivanchuk,V	0.5
Nakamura,Hi	1.5
Semi-final
Carlsen,M	1.5
Ivanchuk,V	2.5
Karpov,Ana	1
Nakamura,Hi	3
Quarter-final
Bu Xiangzhi	0.5
Carlsen,M	1.5
Radjabov,T	1
Ivanchuk,V	3
Caruana,F	2.5
Karpov,Ana	3.5
Nakamura,Hi	3
Vachier Lagrave,M	1

Cap d'Agde (FRA), 26 x - 1 xi 2008
Vasily Ivanchuk	UKR	GM	2786
Magnus Carlsen	NOR	GM	2786
Teimour Radjabov	AZE	GM	2751
Maxime Vachier Lagrave	FRA	GM	2716
Bu Xiangzhi	CHN	GM	2714
Hikaru Nakamura	USA	GM	2704
Ivan Cheparinov	BUL	GM	2696
Anatoly Karpov	RUS	GM	2651
Fabiano Caruana	ITA	GM	2640
Humpy Koneru	IND	GM	2618
Hou Yifan	CHN	WGM	2578
Marie Sebag	FRA	GM	2533
Sebastien Feller	FRA	GM	2526
Alexandra Kosteniuk	RUS	GM	2525
Katerina Lahno	UKR	GM	2488
Almira Skripchenko	FRA	WGM	2455

Corus Qualifier on ICC

16 invited players, selected by Corus in consultation with ICC, fight it out in an online rapid knockout tournament, held on the weekends of November 1st & 2nd, and 8th & 9th (starting at 10:00 am Eastern Time each day), with the winner receiving the Corus 'C' Group invite, a round-trip ticket to Wijk aan Zee, Hotel & Breakfast plus $1,300 (1,000 Euro).

Details: http://www.chessclub.com/activities/corusqual08/

Schachbundesliga 2008-9 2nd weekend

Rounds 3 and 4 of "Schachbundesliga" take place 25th-26th October 2008. The 16 teams are located at four venues and play two matches each. One of the most exciting clashes will take place on Sunday in Munich between the champions OSG Baden-Baden and the strong team of Tegernsee. Other crucial matches are Remagen-Muelheim (possibly with Robert Huebner) and Bremen-Solingen. Like during all the season all the games, this weekend 128, will be covered live on the internet.

Rounds 3 and 4 games in PGN

Bundesliga 2008-9 (GER), 2 x 2008 - iii 2009
Munich
Round 3 Saturday, 25th October, 2 pm
Bayern Muenchen	1.5-6.5	OSG Baden-Baden
TV Tegernsee	4.5-3.5	SC Eppingen
Round 4 Sunday, 26th October, 10 am
OSG Baden-Baden	4.5-3.5	TV Tegernsee
SC Eppingen	5-3	Bayern Muenchen
Berlin
Round 3 Saturday, 25th October, 2 pm
SC Kreuzberg	4-4	SF Berlin
USV TU Dresden	2.5-5.5	Hamburger SK
Round 4 Sunday, 26th October, 10 am
SF Berlin	4.5-3.5	USV TU Dresden
Hamburger SK	2-6	SC Kreuzberg
Remagen
Round 3 Saturday, 25th October, 2 pm
SC Remagen	3.5-4.5	SV Muelheim-Nord
SG Turm Trier	3-5	SF Katernberg
Round 4 Sunday, 26th October, 10 am
SV Muelheim-Nord	6-2	SG Turm Trier
SF Katernberg	5-3	SC Remagen
Wattenscheid
Round 3 Saturday, 25th October, 2 pm
SV Wattenscheid	5.5-2.5	Werder Bremen
Aljechin Solingen	6-2	SK Turm Emsdetten
Round 4 Sunday, 26th October, 10 am
Werder Bremen	3.5-4.5	Aljechin Solingen
SK Turm Emsdetten	2.5-5.5	SV Wattenscheid

Further information (in German) and entrance site for the live coverage: http://www.schachbundesliga.de/index.aspx

European Club Cup

The European Club Cup 2008 (24th European Club Cup for Men, 13th European Club Cup for Women) took place in Kallithea, Greece 16th-24th October 2008. This very strong event had many of the best players in the world. URAL Sverdlovskaya (Radjabov, Kamsky, Shirov, Grischuk, Malakhov, Motylev and Dreev) edged out OSG Baden Baden (Svidler, Bacrot, Nisipeanu, Naiditsch, Vallejo, Harikrishna and Krasenkow) on board count.

Cercle d'Echecs Monte Carlo won the European Club Cup for Women.

Men's Games Archive in PGN - Women's Games Archive in PGN

Official site: http://ecc2008.chessdom.com/

12th Essent Chess Tournament

The 12th edition of the Essent Chess Tournament took place October 17th-25th 2008. The location was the city of Hoogeveen. Ivan Sokolov took clear first in the Crown Group with 5/6.

Official site: http://www.essentchess.nl/

Russian Chess Championship. Svidler takes the title in playoff.

The 61st Russian Championship SuperFinal took place 3rd-15th October 2008. There was a three way tie on 7/9. Dmitry Jakovenko beat Nikita Vitiugov to overtake him and catch Evgeny Alekseev. Peter Svidler started with three wins then became becalmed and lost his lead with a loss to Timofeev. In the final round he defeated the leader Evgeny Alekseev to catch him and set up a three way playoff. Playoffs were on 28th October 1pm Moscow time - according to the regulations it was supposed to after the final round, but that would have lasted until 1am - the format was 6 games (double-round robin) of 15'+10'' Peter Svidler won with 3/4.

Playoff games in PGN

Games in PGN

Official site: http://www.russiachess.org/

ch-RUS Playoff Moscow (RUS), 28-28 x 2008								cat. XIX (2718)
					1		2		3
1.	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2738	*	*	½	1	1	½	3	2901
2.	Jakovenko, Dmitry	g	RUS	2709	½	0	*	*	1	1	2½	2818
3.	Alekseev, Evgeny	g	RUS	2708	0	½	0	0	*	*	½	2401

ch-RUS Moscow (RUS), 3-15 x 2008													cat. XVII (2673)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2
1.	Jakovenko, Dmitry	g	RUS	2737	*	½	1	½	1	0	½	1	1	½	½	½	7	2769
2.	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2727	½	*	1	½	½	1	0	½	½	1	1	½	7	2770
3.	Alekseev, Evgeny	g	RUS	2715	0	0	*	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	7	2771
4.	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	g	RUS	2646	½	½	½	*	½	1	1	0	½	½	1	½	6½	2740
5.	Vitiugov, Nikita	g	RUS	2638	0	½	½	½	*	½	1	1	½	1	½	½	6½	2741
6.	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2787	1	0	½	0	½	*	½	½	1	½	1	1	6½	2728
7.	Timofeev, Artyom	g	RUS	2670	½	1	0	0	0	½	*	½	½	1	1	1	6	2709
8.	Lastin, Alexander	g	RUS	2651	0	½	½	1	0	½	½	*	½	0	½	1	5	2639
9.	Sakaev, Konstantin	g	RUS	2640	0	½	0	½	½	0	½	½	*	½	½	½	4	2574
10.	Inarkiev, Ernesto	g	RUS	2669	½	0	0	½	0	½	0	1	½	*	½	½	4	2571
11.	Riazantsev, Alexander	g	RUS	2656	½	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	½	½	*	1	3½	2541
12.	Maslak, Konstantin	g	RUS	2544	½	½	0	½	½	0	0	0	½	½	0	*	3	2510

The Week in Chess 730

Issue #730, November 3rd 2008. Latest News

TWIC #730 zipped downloads:

News section - Games in New ChessBase format - Games in PGN (text) - Games in old ChessBase format (cbf)

Previous issues of TWIC

Old version of TWIC

Old Front Page

All Material © The Week in Chess.