Archive for Grand Prix
Thursday, August 14, 2008 16:57
In a textbook example of endgame play, Svidler won a very nice knight versus bishop ending against Jakovenko. Six other draws in the 12th round meant that Levon Aronian is still in sole lead at the 2nd Grand Prix in Sochi, with one round to go.
Perhaps that's the secret to the succes of these 2700 players: being ever-critical to oneself. After he...
Wednesday, August 13, 2008 17:54
After a huge blunder committed by his opponent Boris Gelfand, Armenian GM Levon Aronian entered the press room with a modest smile. A few hours later it turned out that he's now the only player on 7/11.
The 2nd Grand Prix Tournament has seen more drama than the average episode of ER by now. Yesterday it was Boris Gelfand who needed medical help,...
Tuesday, August 12, 2008 0:44
The 10th round of the 2nd Grand Prix Tournament in Sochi was definitely the most spectacular one, with five decisive games, and now we have a shared lead of Aronian, Gashimov, Radjabov and Wang Yue.
But you might wonder why there's a photo up here of Kamsky and Jakovenko's board, without Kamsky nor Jakovenko in it! Well, that's because at 15:14...
Sunday, August 10, 2008 21:54
It's about time to stop mentioning the Beijing Olympics and the Chinese number 8, and start confirming that Wang Yue is just a very strong chess player. Once more he showed fine technique in a bishop ending, and defeated Radjabov to take over the lead. He's topping the standings with Cheparinov, who easily drew Ivanchuk.
Despite another day with...
Saturday, August 09, 2008 20:43
In Chinese culture, 8 (?•‚Ķ¬´?جº?í?¶??í) is a lucky number because it sounds like the word "prosper" or "wealth" (?•?‚Äò - short for "?•?‚Äò?®¬¥¬¢", Pinyin: f?Ñ?). It was certainly not a coincidence that the Olympic Games were opened yesterday, and perhaps it wasn't a coincidence either that Wang Yue scored his first victory in Sochi!
While...
Friday, August 08, 2008 18:03
After a bomb exploded about 40 km away from the venue in Sochi, it seemed the players were even more cautious than usual. No less than six games ended in a draw and Karjakin won a drawn endgame against Al-Modiahki.
"A bomb explosion in Sochi killing two", now that's something that might cause worries among chess fans, and justfully. Luckily it...
Thursday, August 07, 2008 18:22
After the first rest day on Tuesday, the Sochi Grand Prix tournament proceeded yesterday with the sixth round. Once more, Radjabov escaped, against Gelfand, and got a full point more than we expected, while Cheparinov won convincingly against Grischuk. Aronian and Gashimov beated Al-Modiahki and Navara respectively.
During their first rest day,...
Wednesday, August 06, 2008 0:35
"A game of patzers," that's how Radjabov described his victory against Cheparinov, in the fifth round of the Sochi Grand Prix tournament. Besides that game there were six draws, and so Radjabov joined Cheparinov,in the standings, together with Grischuk.
A few minutes before the start of the fifth round, it was Peter Svidler who came to his board...
Monday, August 04, 2008 20:59
Some interesting games, two decisive results and one very dramatic game - that was the fourth round of the Sochi Grand Prix in a nutshell.
Radjabov surprised Svidler by playing the Dragon, but in timetrouble the Azeri grandmaster erred. After strong opening play, Navara had reached a winning position against Al-Modiahki, but the Czech lost anyway...
Sunday, August 03, 2008 18:05
Three months ago, it was also Cheparinov who was making the headlines at the first Grand Prix in Baku. There he started with 0 out of 4, but here in Sochi he's doing much better: with 2.5 points he's the sole leader after three rounds! First seeded Ivanchuk recovered from his loss against Kamsky by beating Aronian.
The way Kamsky was playing in...
