Radjabov wins 2nd ACP Rapid World Cup

Today Teimour Radjabov became the second winner of the ACP Rapid Cup by first defeating Dmitry Jakovenko 2-0 in the semis and then beating Alexander Grischuk in the final 2.5-1.5. A truly fantastic semi-final was Karjakin-Grischuk, in which the latter came back from being down twice, to win the sudden-death game in great attacking style. full story »

ACP Rapid: Jakovenko, Radjabov, Grischuk and Karjakin through

Yes, that was today’s show: Jakovenko, Radjabov, Grischuk and Karjakin qualified for the semi-finals of the 2nd ACP Rapid Cup. The young guard indeed, because for ‘oldies’ Ivanchuk, Gelfand and Svidler it’s now over, and also for Inarkiev. The match of the day was Ivanchuk-Radjabov: first two draws in the rapids, and then Radjabov won the first blitz game. Ivanchuk then managed to equal the score with Black, to be eliminated anyway in a dramatic sudden-death game. full story »

Svidler, Gelfand, Grischuk and Karjakin through

On the ACP World Rapid Cup’s second day, the other eight players met each other. In the first match Svidler beat Shabalov 2-0 and then Gelfand defeated Najer 1.5-0.5. Despite winning the first game, Karpov lost his match against Grischuk 1.5-2.5 and then Karjakin beat Polgar 2-0. full story »

2nd ACP World Rapid Cup started

Today the 2nd ACP World Rapid Cup began in Odessa (Ukraine). Sixteen players, who had qualified from the ACP Tour 2006-2007, are fighting in a short knockout event (rapid) for a first prize of 40.000 dollars. (Last year, Leko won the cup). On the first day, Jakovenko beat Savchenko 2-0, Radjabov defeated Drozdovsky 1.5-0.5 and with the same figures Ivanchuk beat his compatriot Eljanov and Shirov was… yes, eliminated, by Inarkiev. Tomorrow Leko, Najer, Karjakin, Svidler, Shabalov, Gelfand, Karpov (!) and Judit Polgar play. full story »

Interview with GM Pavel Tregubov

Right after the last round of the Parish Championship had finished, I interviewed GM and President of the ACP, Pavel Tregubov. He had just finished shared first and talks about his chess and especially about the Association of Chess Professionals and its view on the FIDE world championship cycle. full story »

Shirov slates proposal Ilyumzhinov

On the website of the Association of Chess Professionals, two letters by Alexei Shirov were published recently, in which he slates Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s recent proposal concerning the world championship cycle. In the first letter he says that ‘anarchy’ will enter chess when Kramnik is given a match whatever his result in Mexico in September will be. Besides, Ilyumzhinov had also stated that by choosing for proposal A, he followed the wish of the top grandmasters, which is refuted by Shirov in a second letter. full story »

ACP reacts on proposal FIDE

The Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) has reacted on FIDE’s proposal for the world championship cycle. FIDE had chosen for ‘proposal A’, but accordig to the ACP this “cannot be treated as an improvement to the current situation”. Instead, the ACP prefers proposal B, in which the World Chess Cup, the World Chess Championship Tournament and the World Chess Championship Match are included. full story »

Ilyumzhinov comes with proposal Wch cycle

Today, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has come with a proposal for the World Championship cycle for the coming 6 years. At the end of January this year, the FIDE Presidential Board in Antalya had tasked the FIDE President to make a decision until today. According to the FIDE website, “when making such a decision, the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov took into consideration the different opinions, including the opinions of national chess federations, chess public and top Grandmasters. Also, marketing point of view was one of a decisive stimulus.” full story »

‘Cheating Topalov recorded’

For quite a while now, in the chess world there is a big fuzz about alleged cheating by the world’s highest rated player Veselin Topalov from Bulgaria. Rumours that started after his huge success at the Wch in San Luis (Argentina), at the end of 2005, that were intensified by the article by Martin Breutigam in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. The Russian newspaper Kommersant now claims to have in their possession a video made by a Dutch chess fan, who claims to have put on tape suspicious gestures of Topalov’s manager, Silvio Danailov. Just for the record: it wasn’t Chessvibes! full story »

Chessvibes poll: rule draw offer should be changed

According to the visitors of Chessvibes the current rule about the draw offer should be changed, to fight short draws. The majority (59%) likes to either allow a draw offer only after a certain amount of moves, or not to be allowed at all. This is the result of the current Chessvibes poll (in the grey column) about the draw offer, which is similar to the current suvey of the Association of Chess Professionals for their members and title holders. full story »

Leko grabs 1st ACP Rapid Chess Cup

Peter Leko has won the 1st ACP Rapid Chess Cup. The tournament, a milestone for the Association of Chess Professionals, was held from the 4th till the 8th of January in the Londonskaya Hotel in Odessa, Ukraine. Leko defeated Vassily Ivanchuk in the final and in doing so, assured himself of $ 40.000. full story »

1st ACP World Rapid Cup announced

This morning GM Mikhail Golubev sent me a joint press release of the Ukrainian Bank Pivdennyi and the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP), in which the First ACP World Rapid Cup is announced. It’s great to see that the ACP managed to get together a bunch of super grandmasters for the rapid tournament that will be held 4-8 January. No wonder the press release starts enthousiastically: “A new move in the history of professional chess!” full story »