The 4th rapid match in Mukachevo, Ukraine was organised by the local Chess Club 32×64 and Universal Event Promotion, known from organizing the 2008 Anand-Kramnik match. The company was also responsible for the two rapid matches between Ivanchuk and Leko in 2007 and 2009, and the Short-Efimenko match from last year.

The Anand-Kramnik wine is still for sale - it's said to be a good year

This year’s match took place August 12-18 and consisted of six classical games. The match was part of the festival Transcarpathian Cup, which also ended on 18 August and included many other events, such as two classical opens, rapid, blitz and children’s events.

On 15 August the 2002-2004 FIDE World Champion, Grandmaster Ruslan Ponomariov gave a simultaneous exhibition against kids – guests of the Transkarpathian Cup – and won all 27 games.

Ruslan Ponomariov in action against visiting kids

The only decisive game was a Berlin Wall, where White got everything he wanted: the classical majority on the kingside and no counterplay for Black on the queenside.

Naiditsch-Efimenko
Mukachevo (02) 2010

24…b5?!
Here 24…b6 was safer. Now White wins a few tempi and makes progress quickly. 25. Nc3! Rb8 26. Ne4! c4 27. Kg3 a5 28. f4 g6 29. Kh4 b4 30. axb4 axb4 31. Kg5 Rb5

32. Nf6! c3 33. bxc3 bxc3 34. Rh2 Bd5 35. Rh3 Bc6 36. Rxc3 and White won.

A close call: Zahar Efimenko (l.) vs Arkadij Naiditsch

Game viewer

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Efimenko and his girlfriend Angelina Frolova

The cup for the winner...

...Germany's number one Arkadij Naiditsch

Photos © Petro Parovinchak

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN via TWIC

This year the Cez Chess Trophy, the traditional rapid match in Prague, was played between Judit Polgar from Hungary and Czech GM David Navara. The match took place April 22-24 and consisted of eight games (25 minutes for a game with an increment of 10 seconds per move). Venue was the Michna Palac in Prague. More information can be found in our first report.

After starting with 2.5-0.5, Polgar continued strongly, but not without luck. In the fourth game the position was about equal for a long time, and on move 52 Navara even won a pawn. However, as analysis shows, instead of taking it, Black could have created a mating net. To make matters worse, despite the 10 seconds increment on each move, the local hero exceeded the time limit on move 66, still a pawn up.

The handshake after Navara lost on time in game 4

Navara reacted well and played creatively in a very intersting fifth game, with pawn sacrifices all over the place in the early middlegame. An ending with rook and queen for both sides arose which should have ended in a draw but allowing 27…Qxf3 and especially 34…g3 was playing with fire. And so with a score of 4.5-0.5 Polgar had already decided the match.

Game six was about level all the time, but suddenly the rook ending was becoming slightly more comfortable for Navara. Polgar’s resignation looks a bit premature, and could be interpreted as an act of courtesy. In game seven Navara’s bishop sacrifice was another example of his creativity. He ended up with a queen and a passed pawn against Rook, Bishop and Knight for Polgar. As the passed pawns soon turned out to be doomed, Polgar won this one as well.

Like the first, the last game of the match ended in a draw. In general it was clear that Polgar was the stronger player, but Navara showed what he’s capable of too. We’re still a fan of his chess.

Game viewer

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Judit Polgar, still going strong

David Navara, showing imaginative chess once again

Photos © Prague Chess Society, more here

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN via TWIC

This year the Cez Chess Trophy, the traditional rapid match in Prague, is played between the world’s most famous and best female chess player Judit Polgar and Czech Republic’s number one David Navara. The match takes place April 22-24 and consists of eight games (25 minutes for a game with an increment of 10 seconds per move). Venue is the Michna Palace, one of the largest palaces in Prague. It was built in early Baroque as an ostentatious residence of Pavel Michna of Vacinov between the 16th and 17th century.

Michna Palace, Prague

All games can be followed live online on the Prague Chess Society website. If you happen to be around, it’s good to know that GM Lubomir Kavalek is commentating the games for the audience at Michna Palace.

Polgar arrived in Prague on Wednesday together with her husband Gusztáv Font for the match and a simul against 25 players. Despite the complications caused by the volcanic ash, which for instance forced the match commentator Lubomir Kavalek to complete the last bit of his journey from Washington to Prague by train, the plane with Judit Polgar took off from Budapest and safely landed in Prague.

On Sunday 25 April at BW Kampa Hotel, Judit Polgar is going to play a simul against 25 competitors including well-known business personalities and politicians. GMs Lubomir Kavalek and Vlastimil Hort open each day of the event with a lecture on chess topics (on specifics of women chess, on the difference between male and female style of the game, and on the first world’s woman grandmaster, Vera Menchik).

The full tournament’s programm is listed here.

Game viewer

Game viewer by ChessTempo

First the people involved went to a chess sets exhibition - here we see arbiter Pavel Vortuba, GM Vlastimil Hort and Judit Polgar's husband Gusztáv Font...

...and here GM Lubomir Kavalek, who made it in time

Does Judit Polgar have the same hobby as John Nunn these days?

The drawing of lots during the opening dinner...

...where Polgar picked the black pieces for game 1

'Na zdraví!', say two Czech GMs to each other

Kavalek chatting with Bessel Kok, who's probably happy not to be involved in chess politics anymore

Organizer Pavel Matocha and Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer...

...who made the first move of the match: Navara's 1.e4

But not after an introductory lecture by Vlastimil Hort

Commentary during the games by Lubomir Kavalek

Photos © Prague Chess Society, more here

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN via TWIC

Ash plume from Eyjafjallajökull Volcano over the North Atlantic | Photo courtesy of NASA/GSFC

Millions of travellers are stranded in locations all over Europa as the ash of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland continues to erupt. One of them is World Champion Viswanathan Anand, on his way to Sofia, Bulgaria, where he’s due to play the World Championship match against Veselin Topalov. The opening ceremony is scheduled for next Wednesday, and the first game next Friday. However, it’s highly unclear whether Anand is going to make it in time. Chessbase reports:

Last Thursday World Champion Vishy Anand took a flight from his home in Madrid, Spain, to Sofia, Bulgaria. He and wife Aruna had a stopover in Frankfurt, Germany, with an ongoing flight to Sofia the next day. No sooner had they landed in Frankfurt, however, than word went out that all further flights in and out of that airport were cancelled.

The All India Chess Federation (AICF) has requested FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov to intervene and postpone the match at least three days, to allow time for Anand to reach the venue. The official documents were posted at the AICF’s website:

Anand Official Quote
“In view of the extreme force majeure situation we are facing, it has become difficult and near impossible to travel in Europe. We are working with the FIDE supervisor to see how we can travel at the earliest. Given these circumstances it has been agreed, keeping in mind Vishy’s arrival in Sofia the schedule could be moved accordingly. We wouldnt want to speculate on rumours at this point and will try and arrive at the earliest”, said Aruna Anand, wife and manager of the world champion Viswanathan Anand.

Anand Legal Notice

From
Anand

To
All the concerned parties
Sub: Notice of Force Majeure Condition.

We were due to arrive at _13.05 on 16th April by Lufthansa LH 3484 from Frankfurt to Sofia. We were in transit from Madrid. Unfortunately from 16th April all flights have been cancelled as is the case in most European countries due to the volcanic eruption. Therefore due to circumstances beyond our control we are unable to reach Sofia as scheduled on 16th April, 2010.

We are in close consultations with Lufthansa and if the airspace in Germany does open we will fly to Sofia.

Meanwhile have been checking on alternatives of going to airports that are reachable by train. However, trains are overbooked and further the Airports seem to be shutting down. Rebooking on flights seem very difficult and we have used considerable influence in getting ourselves rebooked at the earliest.

Trains to Sofia would take about 28 hours to reach and I would not be in a mental state to play immediately after travelling such distance. Further to play immediately would be unfair and unjust due to the fatigue given that the opponent has arrived a few weeks back. Under these circumstances the contest would not be equal and fair.

This letter may be treated as notice under clause 11(2) of the Agreement of intimation of Force Majeure condition. I will immediately intimate you on finalizing an alternate arrangement to reach Sofia.

In this current scenario I request you to postpone the First round by three days

Regards,

Yours faithfully,

Viswanathan Anand

AICF Letter TO FIDE

His Highness Kirsan ILYUMZHINOV
FIDE President:

Sub : – Request for postponement of the first round World Championship match between Grandmaster Vishy Anand and Grandmater Topalov of Bulgaria

Greetings from the All India Chess Federation. We write to seek your kind intervention in postponing the Match between Grandmaster Vishy Anand and Grandmaster Topalov by at least three days. As you are aware, the Volcanic Ashes across Europe has rendered many passengers sulking in various Airports across the Globe, more particularly in and around Europe. Anand and his team could not reach Sofia on 16th as planned and are in transit & held up at Frankfurt. I understand that they are frantically trying to reach Sofia as early as possible so that the schedule is not disturbed. However, this being an important match it will only be fare to Anand that he is not made to play the first round amidst such tension. He needs atleast three to four days of acclimatization before he starts his defense of his title. I understand that Anand has already appealed to the authorities as per the Rules Governing this historic Match.

I am sure you will see reason and take a proper and just decision in the matter and help to bring in equal playing conditions to the player. We await your immediate action and response in the issue.

With kind regards

D.V.Sundar
Hon.Secretary
All India Chess Federation

The eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland has caused massive disruption to air traffic across Northern Europe. After a milder eruption on March 20 this year, a much stronger eruption started on April 14. This time it was from the top crater in the centre of the glacier, causing meltwater floods to rush down the nearby rivers, and requiring 800 people to be evacuated.

Dangerous Beauty by Iriya

This second eruption threw volcanic ash several kilometres up in the atmosphere which led to air travel disruptions in northwest Europe starting on April 15th 2010, including the closure of airspace over most of Europe.

The Groningen Chess Festival took place December 18-30 in Groningen, The Netherlands. There were several open tournaments; in the top group a total of 64 players participated (13 GMs, 13 IMs and 11 FMs). Besides, this year’s festival included a match between GM Jan Timman, Dutch Junior Champion in 1966 when he was 14 years old, and Robin van Kampen, who won the Junior Championship this year, at the same age.

Video report

Before continuing with the pictorial report, I’ll first give the video report below. The organizers tell about their tournament and also about its long tradition; the video includes footage from the 1946 tournament in Groningen!

The Timman-Van Kampen match was quite exciting and attracted a lot of attention from the participants in the open groups. The board was nicely placed in the centre of the venue, with a Christmas tree and a demonstration board behind the players.

The Timman-Van Kampen match

The match started smoothly for Timman, who exchanged queens in game 1 for a better ending which he won easily. In a difficult, queenless middlegame Timman was the first to err in game 2 and after many more complications, Van Kampen managed to level the score.

In the same Slav variation as in the first game, Van Kampen turned up much better prepared for game 3. He had looked at the line together with Anish Giri and many other young Dutch talents, who all stayed together in ‘hotel ship’ De Mars, a boat located in the city center. The game was drawn after 32 moves.

The boat where the Dutch talents stayed

Game 4 was again very interesting; in a Kan Sicilian Timman invited his young opponent to sacrifice his queen and Van Kampen accepted the invitation. Soon Timman had to give back his own queen, but also in the ending the position remained sharp. When Van Kampen missed his last chance (30.b4) the game and the match was over; Timman had won 2.5-1.5.

Timman-Van Kampen match 2009 | Results

In the Open group Dimitri Reinderman was leading with 4 out of 4 during the rest day (Christmas Day). In the next round the Dutch grandmaster dropped his first half point, to 13-year-old IM Ilya Nyzhnyk. This was the turning point in the tournament.

In round 6, Reinderman and Giri drew quickly, and so did Greenfeld and Werle on board 2 and Nijboer and Swinkels on 3. Nyzhnyk beat Ernst with the black pieces and the next round the Ukrainian super-talent defeated Chadaev. While his rivals prevented each other from winning the tournament, Nyzhnyk finished strongly with a draw against Werle and a last-round win against Deviatkin. Sipke Ernst, quite a strong grandmaster himself, said about Nyznyk: “He was just playing with us. I haven’t seen this since Carlsen crushed everyone in Corus C.”

Nyzhnyk, next to his mother, just after he beat Chadaev in round 7

Winning in Groningen undefeated with 7.5/9 and a 2741 performance rating is an amazing result for a 13-year-old. It was Nyzhnyk’s second grandmaster norm – his first was scored already in April 2008 when he won the Nabokov Memorial in Kyiv, Ukraine. At the moment of writing Nyzhnyk is 13 years, 3 months and 7 days old and so chances are high he’ll become the youngest grandmaster in the world somewhere in 2010.

Groningen Open 2009 | Final Standings (top 40)

No. Name                Score WP   SB     PS    rat.  TPR  W-We
---------------------------------------------------------------
 1. Nyzhnyk, Illya      7.5  48.5  40.00  38.0  2494 2741 +2.75
 2. Werle, Jan          6.5  53.0  36.75  35.5  2565 2670 +1.28
    Reinderman, Dimitri 6.5  52.0  36.75  37.5  2575 2662 +1.11
 4. Chadaev, Nikolai    6.0  50.0  30.00  32.0  2567 2555 -0.03
    Greenfeld, Alon     6.0  48.5  31.00  32.0  2559 2571 +0.23
    Nijboer, Friso      6.0  47.0  29.50  32.5  2561 2545 -0.12
    Brandenburg, Daan   6.0  46.5  30.75  32.0  2481 2573 +1.22
    Baklan, Vladimir    6.0  46.5  30.75  30.0  2655 2549 -1.04
    Giri, Anish         6.0  45.5  29.00  32.0  2585 2582 +0.04
    Deviatkin, Andrei   6.0  45.0  28.00  29.0  2608 2503 -0.82
    Poetsch, Hagen      6.0  36.5  23.75  26.5  2361 2410 +0.70
12. Ernst, Sipke        5.5  46.0  26.50  26.5  2587 2432 -1.55
    Meijers, Viesturs   5.5  46.0  26.00  28.5  2488 2456 -0.29
    Kleijn, Christov    5.5  46.0  25.50  28.0  2383 2461 +0.99
    Pruijssers, Roeland 5.5  44.5  24.75  26.5  2413 2434 +0.35
    Saravanan, V        5.5  44.0  24.75  29.5  2356 2499 +1.78
    Podzielny,Karl-Heinz5.5  42.0  21.50  28.0  2456 2425 -0.18
    Hoffmann, Michael   5.5  40.5  23.25  27.0  2509 2365 -1.47
    Caspi, Israel       5.5  40.0  20.75  26.0  2423 2402 -0.09
20. Swinkels, Robin     5.0  47.5  25.25  31.5  2500 2484 -0.16
    Bok, Benjamin       5.0  47.0  23.50  29.0  2337 2523 +2.14
    Kantans, Toms       5.0  43.5  20.75  24.5  2281 2486 +2.30
    Popilski, Gil       5.0  42.5  20.00  26.0  2441 2394 -0.49
    Pijpers, Arthur     5.0  42.5  18.75  23.0  2201 2366 +1.86
    Wiel van der, John  5.0  41.0  21.50  25.0  2475 2373 -1.10
    Berkovich, Mark A   5.0  37.5  17.50  23.5  2406 2283 -1.30
    Groenewold,Jan Joris5.0  36.0  18.00  18.5  2145 2313 +1.96
28. Grover, Sahaj       4.5  43.5  18.75  26.0  2372 2429 +0.72
    Heemskerk, Wim      4.5  40.5  17.50  21.5  2236 2320 +0.94
    Klein, David        4.5  40.5  16.75  21.5  2262 2364 +1.14
    Bijlsma, Nick       4.5  39.5  17.50  20.0  2075 2255 +1.98
    Afek, Yochanan      4.5  39.5  16.75  21.5  2285 2330 +0.39
    Hoeksema, Erik      4.5  38.0  17.00  22.5  2331 2233 -1.14
    Paulet, Iozefina    4.5  37.5  12.00  20.0  2312 2217 -1.07
    Haast, Anne         4.5  33.5  14.25  19.0  2251 2229 -0.34
36. Burg, Twan          4.0  48.5  21.00  25.5  2460 2340 -1.34
    Genova, Lyubka      4.0  45.0  19.50  21.0  2263 2317 +0.57
    Genov, Petar        4.0  44.5  17.75  26.5  2476 2299 -1.98
    Piasetski, Leon     4.0  39.0  14.75  18.5  2269 2238 -0.48
    Donker, Roel        4.0  38.0  16.50  20.5  2140 2259 +1.13

Timman-Van Kampen & all of Nyzhnyk’s games for replay

Game viewer by ChessTempo

The famous 'Martini Tower', at the central square in Groningen

The venue was the University's Sports Centre

GM Jan Timman, former world's number 2

IM Robin van Kampen, one of the biggest Dutch talents at the moment

Two old friends sharing thoughts about a position: Jan Timman and Hans Böhm

Local hero GM Jan Werle, a regular guest at the sports centre, finished shared second...

...together with GM Dimitri Reinderman from Amsterdam

Good years or bad years, Friso Nijboer always plays in Groningen

Anish Giri enjoyed it last year and was happy to return

But 13-year-old Ilya Nyzhnyk was the strongest - we'll hear much more about this young lad - but first a bit of history...

...because photos from the 1946 event were hanging at the venue - here an overview of the playing hall back then

The participants in order of the final standings (if one of our readers can put them in the right order of this photo, let us know!): Botvinnik, Euwe, Smyslov, Najdorf, Szabo, Boleslavsky, Flohr, Lundin, Stoltz, Denker, Kotov, Tartakower, Kottnauer, Yanovsky, Bernstein, Guimard, Vidmar, Steiner, O'Kelly de Galway, Christoffel

Boleslavsky, Euwe and Smyslov

Smyslov vs Botvinnik, who would play three World Championship matches - Stolz and Yanovsky are watching

L-R Najdorf, Guimard and Steiner

Tartakower (standing) and Vidmar

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN: Timman – Van Kampen | Open

Photo © Official site

The match between 10th World Champion Boris Spassky and former World Championship contender Viktor Korchnoi was the final event in the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the union between Kalmykia and Russia. The two played a total of eight games in Elista from December 17th until 27th, for a prize fund of US$ 20,000. The time control was 90 minutes + 30 seconds per move.

Games 5-8

The second half of the match was very different from the first, and it was Boris Spassky who dominated in games 5, 6 and 7. In the first encounter after the rest day the 10th World Champion crushed his opponent with the black pieces in just 26 moves. In an English Opening that quickly became a reversed Taimanov Sicilan, Spassky played aggressively with …f5 and …g5. To avoid an avalanch of pawns on the kingside Korchnoi sacrificed a piece, but with less space he kept on struggling to find good squares for his remaining arsenal. Three strong black minor pieces decided the game quickly.

Then, in game 6, Spassky again reached a promising position. From a modest Four Knights he manoeuvred strongly in the middlegame, creating a passed d-pawn by tactical means. However, in what looks like timetrouble, he first dropped a pawn and then bigger material in just two moves – a pity.

Also in game 7 Spassky outplayed Korchnoi in the early middlegame – a nice knight manoeuvre on move 21 and 22 yielded the bishop pair. It’s not clear whether Black’s advantage in the ending was enough to win the game, but his position was clearly easier to play. After a few inaccuracies Korchnoi lost a pawn, and then forgot about the clock and lost on time (”for the third time already this year!” he lamented during the press conference). Spassky had levelled the score again.

After all this excitement the two legends had seen enough, and they agreed a draw after 11 moves in the last game. A quick draw in a Petroff – normally something we’d disapprove of, but in this case fully deserved. The job was done, the crowd finished cheering. As I’m typing this, I’m watching Bruce Springsteen and Bono singing I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, because 25th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is on Dutch TV. Two fantastic performers together on one stage, doing what they do best. It was a similar pleasure to see Korchnoi and especially Spassky at the chess board facing and fighting each other again, like in their best days.

Games 5-8

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Links

• Our first report on the match
• Our second report on the match
• Official website
• Games in PGN

After he defeated Vladimir Kramnik in Bonn in 2008, Viswanathan Anand hasn’t had a great 2009. In Linares he finished 4th, behind Grischuk, Ivanchuk and Carlsen. At Amber he finished behind Aronian and Kramnik. In Mainz, for the first time in many years he didn’t win the rapid title and at the Tal Memorial he ended 5th, behind Kramnik, Ivanchuk, Carlsen and Aronian. These are not the kind of results Anand can be satisfied about, and certainly not as a reigning World Champion. In an interview with The Times of India, Anand says he needs to play more aggressively to become successful again in 2010:

“I need to up my game and play aggressively. Veselin Topalov is very aggressive player. Vladimir Kramnik is a tough opponent as well. The preparations are on.” (…) This year has been a mix of fortunes. But compared to 2007-08, it has been a bad year. There were quite a few ups and downs. I will have to raise my game to compete against the best.”

A honest statement by the World Champ, and also an ambitious one. And in an interview with Calcutta newspaper The Telegraph published just two days later, Anand seems to make clear that he’s taking the match against Topalov very seriously.

Whether Surya Sekhar Ganguly will be his one of his seconds this time too
He may be. I am not sure. Seconds are a very secretive thing. Even if I tell you that he will be one of my seconds, the rival camp will not believe me. But one thing is for sure, Magnus Carlsen (the world No. 2) will be one of the seconds.

Well, what to think of that? Anand and Carlsen have worked together before, during the preparation for the 2008 match, but things have changed considerably since then. In just a week from now Carlsen will be the official number one on the rating list, and he’s rapidly becoming the favourite to win next year’s Candidates matches, and with that to become the challenger of the winner of… Anand-Topalov. By now, the Norwegian is a clear competitor to Anand, and so the affair reminds us of another World Championship match where Anand was involved, and his opponent, Garry Kasparov, worked together with… a young Vladimir Kramnik.

In fact, we find this hard to believe. It could be possible that Anand is toying with his opponent and the media, but it’s even more likely that he was misquoted. Before the match against Kramnik he refused to mention the names of his seconds until the last day, so it’s hard to believe that he would want to do it differently this time. And in the mean time, Henrik Carlsen has apparently stated that his son “has his own plans and schedule”. That sounds more like it. If the two would work together, we’ll probably find out during the match, but not before.

To end this column, let’s do a poll. (We might repeat it after Corus.)

Photo © Official site

The match between 10th World Champion Boris Spassky and former World Championship contender Viktor Korchnoi is the final event in the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the union between Kalmykia and Russia. The two play a total of eight games in Elista from December 17th until 27th, for a prize fund of US$ 20,000. The time control seems to be 90 minutes + 30 seconds per move.

The third game was a Nimzo/Queen’s Indian hybrid where the players left theory at an early stage. Spassky’s positional a5-a4 move was an attempt to refute White’s Qb3, but he might have regretted it later when Korchnoi had regrouped his king’s knight to c3. After Korchnoi missed an opportunity to reach a favourable rook ending, Spassky easily drew the resulting rook ending.

Yesterday in game 4 Korchnoi again employed the French Defence, just like in game 2 and in their famous match in Belgrade in 1977. Then he only went for the Winawer with 3…Bb4, but 32 years later his preferred move is 3…Nf6. At the press conference Korchnoi explained that he’s working on a book on the French Defence (great news, in our opinion – how can it be anything else than an instant classic, like Uhlmann’s Ein Leben Lang Französisch?) and therefore at the moment plays it without exception.

Spassky didn’t follow the current main line (4.e5) but chose 4.Bg5, and then seemed caught by surprise by Korchnoi’s plan which delayed the thematical …c5 pawn break. He played the new move 10.a4, which allowed the Black queen to b4. About ten moves later it was clear that White was not better, and so Spassky decided to repeat moves. Today is a rest day in Elista.

Games 3 & 4

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Links

• Our first report on the match
• Official website
• Games in PGN

Photo © Official site

The match between the two chess legends, 10th World Champion Boris Spassky from Russia and former World Championship contender Viktor Korchnoi from Switzerland, is the final event in the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the union between Kalmykia and Russia. The two will play a total of eight games in Elista from December 17th until 27th, for a prize fund of US$ 20,000. The time control seems to be 90 minutes + 30 seconds per move.

According to the Mega2009 database, Korchnoi and Spassky played a total of 69 games (including rapid) against each other in exactly half a century: between 1955 and 2005. Korchnoi has the best score: 22 wins, 14 losses and 33 draws. The most important games were of course played in their two Candidates final matches. In 1968, in Kiev, Spassky won 6.5-3.5 while nine years later in Belgrade it was Korchnoi who won with 10.5-7.5.

After two games of a much more friendly character, Korchnoi leads this new match against Spassky 1.5-0.5. According to the official website, Spassky had arrived in Elista in advance. However, Korchnoi, who travelled from London where he had played two simul exhibitions at the Chess Classic, had got stuck in Moscow due to a snow storm. He eventually arrived late in the evening on Thursday the 17th, and Spassky proposed to play just six games and add a second rest day. “However, Victor L. did not go against the regulations, bravely agreed to start the game, as planned.” And won, outplaying his opponent in an ending with rook and knight for both sides. Today Spassky got an advantage but Korchnoi held the draw instructively.

Game viewer

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN

Photo: FIDE.com

According to a brief report on the FIDE website the signing of the contract took place yesterday in Sofia, Bulgaria where the next World Championship match will be held.

“For 140 years of chess championship there have been 19 such world title matches, and all of them turned into historic battles. Why is it important for us that Bulgaria and Sofia were picked to host this historic event? We can just imagine that the opponent of our representative Topalov is a representative of India, a nation of over one billion people, vs. tiny Bulgaria of 8 million. It is an honor and pleasure for us to become a center of global attention with this match” Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said during the ceremony, as reported by Sofia News Agency Novinite.

We assume the signing of the contract means that FIDE has received a bank guarantee from the Bulgarians, which was not the case yet on October 16th when FIDE accepted the bid.

Besides, the match will start later than was suggested back then. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov had in mind to celebrate his birthday (April 5th) with the start of the match, but now the date of the first game has been set to April 23rd, 2010. The World Championship match will consist of 12 games and if necessary, 4 tiebreak games on May 12th, 2010 so we presume a similar schedule as in Anand-Kramnik:

(We’ve asked FIDE to confirm this.) Update Dec. 21, 14:39: FIDE finally confirmed these dates.