13-year-old Nyzhnyk wins Groningen Open; Timman beats Van Kampen 2.5-1.5

This year’s Groningen Chess Festival saw a sensational victory of 13-year-old Ilya Nyzhnyk (Ukraine), who finished clear first, a full point ahead of GMs Reinderman and Werle. In the match between a former Junior Champion and the reigning Junior Champion, Jan Timman beat Robin van Kampen 2.5-1.5. Big, pictorial and video report. Read more

Korchnoi-Spassky ends in 4-4

He hadn’t played a classical game of chess since 2002, so Boris Spassky needed a few games to get warm. In the second half of his match against Viktor Korchnoi he played much better, beating his opponent in games 5 and 7. In game 6 he was also better but blundered terribly. The two legends ended their match yesterday with a quick draw. Read more

‘Anand to have Carlsen as a second’

Two interviews with World Champion Viswanathan Anand have appeared in Indian newspapers this week, and in one of them he makes a remarkable statement. To the question whether GM Ganguly will again be in his team of seconds for the match against Topalov, the World Champion answers he’s doesn’t know yet. “But one thing is for sure, Magnus Carlsen (the world No. 2) will be one of the seconds.” Ehm… say again? Read more

Korchnoi-Spassky 2.5-1.5 at half-time

Games 3 and 4 both ended in a draw and so Viktor Korchnoi still has a small lead in his match against Boris Spassky. The match in Elista will consist of eight games in total, and after four games the score is 2.5-1.5 for the oldest of the two legends. Read more

Korchnoi-Spassky match in Elista

Two of the most legendary chess players still alive are currently playing an 8-game match in Elista, Kalmykia: 78-year-old Viktor Korchnoi and 72-year-old Boris Spassky. Korchnoi won the first game; the second ended in a draw today. Read more

Contract Anand-Topalov signed

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, representing the World Chess Federation and Stefan Sergiev, representing the Bulgarian Chess Federation, yesterday signed the contract for the organization of the Anand-Topalov World Championship match. The prize fund for the match is 2 million Euros and the dates are April 23rd (game 1) to May 12th, 2010 (possible tiebreaks). Read more

FIDE accepts bid, Anand-Topalov in Sofia

Despite the fact that a formal bank guarantee still hasn’t been provided, FIDE today accepted a bid from Sofia, Bulgaria to host the 2010 World Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov. The dates have not yet been confirmed but the World Chess Federation suggested starting on April 5th, the birthday of its President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Read more

Short beats Efimenko 3.5-2.5

Nigel Short won his match against Ukrainian rising star Zahar Efimenko 3.5-2.5. The Englishman lost the first game but immediately levelled the score in game 2. Another victory in game 5 turned out to be decisive. Read more

Kasparov beats Karpov 6-2 in blitz match (UPDATE: video added)

History repeated itself in Valencia this week with Karpov and Kasparov meeting each other behind the chess board again, and the third day repeated what we had seen in the rapids: quite a sharp Garry Kasparov easily beating a slow Anatoli Karpov, who just couldn’t handle the clock. The 6-2 in the blitz brought the final score on 9-3 for Kasparov. Last video now up. Read more

Kasparov wins rapid match 3-1 (UPDATE: video added)

On the second day of the Kasparov-Karpov rapid match, the Valencian spectators were treated to some high level chess by both legends. Karpov won the third game in good style but again handled the clock poorly in the fourth to lose the match 1-3. At the press conference Kasparov said he regretted the fact that time had played such an important role in the rapid games. Update: video added. Read more

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