Humpy Koneru, a 20-year-old from India, is the No. 2 woman in the world, one of just 10 to earn the title of grandmaster.
World champions often have an indefinable mystique that seems to unsettle their foes and cause them to blunder for no apparent reason.
In sports that require athletic skill, an aging star’s decline is easy to understand. In chess, it seems strange.
There were no real surprises at the candidates matches to select qualifiers for the World Championship Tournament. The match between Levon Aronian and Magnus Carlsen was the only one that required six tiebreak games.
Gata Kamsky has never really said much about his reasons for coming and going. But this return is going rather well.
With summer (nearly) here, the time is right for improving your game.
11th Essent Chess Tournament is taking place on 12-20 October in Hoogeveen, Netherlands. The 17th-category Crown group will feature Shakhryar Mamedyarov (AZE 2757), Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR 2706), Loek van Wely (NED 2679) and junior Zaven Andriasyan (ARM 2540). First round is on 14 October.
Essent Open with 7.500 Euros in prizes is already full. 90 players can participate, new entries will be placed on the reserve-list. Amateur tournament will consist of two groups (morning and afternoon) with 80 players each. Afternoon group is full. Youth tournament is also planned.
Official website is awful as always.
16th Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International is being held on 22-30 September. GMs Vitali Golod and Michael Roiz are leading with 3.5 points after four rounds and should meet each other in the fifth. A bulk of players with 3.0 points are following.
Michal Krasenkow - Vitali Golod
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 dxc4 4. Nc3 c6 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. Ne5 Nbd7 9. Nxd7 Nxd7 10. O-O O-O 11. e4 Bg6 12. f3 e5 13. Be3 exd4 14. Bxd4 Qa5 15. Qc2 Ne5 16. Be2 Rad8 17. Bf2 f6 18. f4 Nd7 19. Bc4+ Kh8 20. Rad1 Bc5 21. g4 h6 22. h4 Bxf2+ 23. Qxf2 Qb4 24. Qd4 Rde8 25. g5 Nb6 26. b3 Nxc4 27. bxc4 Rd8 28. Qe3 Qxc4 29. gxf6 gxf6 30. f5 Bh7 31. Kh2 Rxd1 32. Rxd1 Rg8 33. Ne2 Qxa4 34. Rd7 Qb5 35. Re7 Qb4 0-1
Michael Roiz - Bartlomiej Heberla
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. g3 Bf5 4. c4 e6 5. Bg2 Nb4 6. O-O Nc2 7. Nh4 Nxa1 8. Nxf5 exf5 9. Nc3 Nf6 10. cxd5 Be7 11. Bf4 O-O 12. Qd3 Qd7 13. Rxa1 c6 14. dxc6 bxc6 15. Qc4 Rac8 16. Na4 Rfd8 17. e3 Ne4 18. Rc1 c5 19. Bxe4 fxe4 20. Nxc5 Bxc5 21. dxc5 Qf5 22. h3 Qxh3 23. c6 Qf5 24. Qe2 Rd3 25. c7 h5 26. Kg2 Qd5 27. Rh1 g6 28. g4 Qd7 29. Rh4 f6 30. Bg3 Kg7 31. gxh5 Rd2 32. Qc4 Qf5 33. h6+ Kh8 34. Rf4 Qd5 35. Qxd5 Rxd5 36. Rxf6 Kh7 37. Bd6 Kxh6 38. Rf8 1-0
World championships always generate excitement, and the Mexico City tournament, which opened Sept. 12 and continues through Sept. 30, is no exception….
Serbian Chess Championship, which took place back in March, ended in a three-way tie. Serbian Chess Federation and Faculty of Mechanical Engineering are organizing final match to determinate single champion for year 2007.
The event is taking place on 21-23 September with the slightly faster time control. Two games are being played every day, prize fund is 1500 Euros.
September 21st:
GM Branko Damljanovic - GM Mihajlo Stojanovic 0.5-1.5
September 22nd:
GM Milos Perunovic - GM Branko Damljanovic
September 23rd:
GM Mihajlo Stojanovic - GM Milos Perunovic
