Twice post-mortem from Morelia

Tonight we can offer you two free chess lessons at the highest level. Because that’s almost what it means when you’re standing next to a table where two 2700 guys are analysing the game they’ve just played. Virtually speaking, you can almost touch them! Read more

First video from Morelia!

After the great success of our videos in Wijk aan Zee, of course we tried everything we could to provide some moving images of the next super tournament as well. And we managed! Thanks to some contacts, we succeeded smuggling some video footage out of Morelia! We’re talking about the start of the first round. Enjoy! (More will follow tonight, like post-mortems!) Read more

Anand beats Carlsen

Update 20.57 CET: comments to the games

The only decisive third round game was Carlsen-Anand 0-1. In a somewhat unusual Meran the queens were quickly exchanged and many expected a quick draw. Instead, Carlsen was outplayed. 18.g3 didn’t look very nice and Anand showed that with rooks on the board, opposite-couloured bishops aren’t that drawish. The other games were drawn. Read more

Daily puzzle 022007

Black to play and win. The solution will be published tomorrow.

Yesterday’s solution:

18.Bxg6!! Bxg5 (18…hxg6 19.Nf4 Rc6 20.Nxg6+ Rxg6 21.Qh5+ Rh6 22.Bxh6+ +-) 19.Bxe8 Bxe3+ 20.Qxe3 Qxe8 21.Qxe8 Rxe8 22.Nf4 and White won in Milov-Gaponenko, Zwolle 2003.

Have fun with our daily puzzles!

Anatoly Karpov’s magnificent endgames

No chess player has produced as many magnificent over-the-board endgames as Anatoly Karpov, yet Karpov himself has never really cared to explain the finer points of his technique.

That is why we are proud to present our brand new publication: Endgame Virtuoso Anatoly Karpov.
In this 358 page book IM Tibor Karolyi takes a close look at the legendary skills of the 12th World Champion.

Karolyi has selected, analysed and reworked Karpov’s 105 best endgames, and added many spectacular findings. The result is a highly entertaining and instructive book.

I recommend every real lover of the game to have a look here.

Ivanchuk wins after Topalov blunders

Update 22.39 CET: comments to round 2 games

Who would have thought? Vassily Ivanchuk has joined Magnus Carlsen and together they lead the Morelia/Linares Tournament after two rounds! The way it happened was something you would only expect in a blindfold game in the next elite tournament on the calendar: Melody Amber in Monaco, next month. Topalov blundered a full piece yesterday. Read more

Daily puzzle 021907

White to play and win. The solution will be published tomorrow.

Yesterday’s solution:

20.d5!! exd5 (20…Bxd5 21.Nxd5 exd5 22.Bxh7+! Kxh723.Qh3+ Kg7 24.Qg4+ Kh7 25.Ra3+-) 21.Nxd5! Bxd5 22.Bxh7+! Kxh7 23.Qh3+ Kg7 24.Qg4+ Kh7 25.Rd3 1-0, Bruzon-Perea, Las Tunas (m/1) 2003.

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Carlsen only player to win

Carlsen is the only player who won his first round game in Morelia. Hij sacrificed a piece for two pawns, when Morozevich soon decided return the favour for a pawn. On move 40 the Russian sacrificed a second pawn, when Magnus collected the full point in an ending with opposite coloured bishops. The first round also saw the clash between the numbers one and two of the rating list: Topalov and Anand. A month ago, Topalov also had White, and Anand suffered a psychologically heavy loss. It was Topalov who first deviated from that game, as if saying: “I’m the one who’s dealing the cards”. Anand this time didn’t have trouble holding the draw. Thanks to excellent preparation by Aronian, Svidler didn’t get much against the Marshall gambit, and the game was drawn soon. Ivanchuk played a great Scotch game against Leko, and got very far, but he used much time on the clock. A knight sacrifice finally led to a repetition of moves. The games from the first round with commentary! Read more

Daily puzzle 021807

White to play and win. The solution will be published tomorrow.

Yesterday’s solution:

21.Bd4!! Bxg2 22.Qg5 and now 22…Bd5 was best according to Shirov; in Shirov-I.Sololov 22…g6?! 23.Nh6+ Bxh6 24.Qxh6 Rxe1+ 25.Rxe1 Re8 26.Rxe8+ Nxe8 was played, when 27.Nf5! is good for White (Shirov).

Have fun with our daily puzzles!

Morelia pairing

In exactly one hour, the games will start in Morelia, the first part of the super tournament in both Mexico and Spain. The pairings brought up this first round:

Ivanchuk  (2750   – Leko       (2749)
Topalov   (2783)  - Anand      (2779)
Svidler   (2728)  - Aronian    (2744)
Carlsen   (2690)  - Morozevich (2741)

Read more

Weekly Endgame Study (7)

Every Saturday an endgame study is published at Chessvibes, selected by Yochanan Afek: player, trainer, endgame study composer and writer. A week later the solution is published. Read more

Daily puzzle 021707

How does White continue? The solution will be published tomorrow.

Yesterday’s solution:

36.Ra3!! Nxd3 (36…Rxa3 37.Qxc5 +-) 37.Qh4! 1-0, Bologan-Smirnov, Moskou 2003.

Have fun with our daily puzzles!

Second round Aeroflot

After two rounds of the Aeroflot open you can start to see the familiar tournament pattern. Players and coaches walk around shaking hands and greeting each other after not seeing each for whatever period of time. Here in Moscow it is one of the only times where you will have so many strong players together from so many different generations. They meet for coffee and drinks in the late evenings, other groups go off to have dinner in one of the many restaurants in the hotel complex. Read more

Radjabov replaced by Ivanchuk

Only a day before the start, Teimour Radjabov, co-winner of Corus, has cancelled his participation for the second super tournament of the year, which again will be held in Morelia, Mexico (first half) and in Linares, Spanje (second half). The tragical reason is a burglary in his father’s hotel room. Radjabov is deeply disappointed in the Mexican organisers of the tournament. (By the way, we’ve just put a poll on with the question who’s gonna win Morelia/Linares. To me the favourite is Vassily Ivanchuk, who replaces Radjabov.) Read more

Hou Yifan on 2 / 2

Seven players are on 2/2 in group A1 in Moscow. One of them is the twelve-year-old Chinese talent Hou Yifan (2509). In January she participated in group C of the Corus Chess Tournament, where she had an excellent score of 7 out of 13. Yesterday she beat Vitiugov and today she defeated Sutovsky. Read more

Fascinating draw

The First round in Moscow took place on Valentine’s Day. Of course we would like to show you some games. With 44 games in each round, and that is only the main group, it isn’t easy to make a selection. Although the world’s elite players aren’t present, there are still many top players to look up to. Almost everyone of them is a GM and the ELO’s are incredibly high. Read more

Daily puzzle 021607

White to play and win. The solution will be published tomorrow.

Yesterday’s solution:

19.Rxc6+!! Rxc6 (19…Bxc6 20.Bxc4+ Bf5 21.Bd3+ Ke6 22.Re1+ Kd7 23.Bf5+) 20.Nd4+ Kd7 21.Nf5! was good for White in Shirov-Bacrot, Reykjavik 2003.

Have fun with our daily puzzles!

Daily puzzle 021507

How does White continue? The solution will be published tomorrow.

Yesterday’s solution:

16.Nxf7+!! Kxf7 17.Qg6+ Kf8 18.Bxh6! gxh6 19.Nf4 and White won, Dominguez-Perez, Cuban ch 2003.

Have fun with our daily puzzles!

First impressions of Aeroflot

Today one of the biggest opens in the world, the Aeroflot Open 2007, has started. One of the participants, International Arbiter and FM Manuel Weeks (last Saturday arbiter at our blitz tournament) sent us his first impressions from a chilly Moscow… Read more

Last series of videos

Hereby the last series of videos. There’s much to enjoy again, like artistic reporting, classical flagging, Smerdon who just drops a bishop in one game and murderously wins the next, Lammens’ energy and of course the tournament’s apotheosis: Vissertje-Van der Weide. Oh no, that was afterwards, of course I mean Peelen-Smerdon. Read more

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