ICC Newsletter - Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Vol I Issue XII - March 15, 2006

Aronian Defeats Leko for Linares Title

Aronian Defeats Leko for Linares Title

The Ciudad de Linares tournament ended in a final-round showdown with GM Levon Aronian, GM Peter Leko, GM Veselin Topalov, and GM Teimour Radjabov, all having a chance at first place.

Topalov, with 7.5/13, was up against the often tough GM Vallejo Pons. A win would have given him a spot in first place, but it wasn't meant to be. Vallejo Pons managed to pull a perpetual check on move 30. The draw gave Topalov 8.0/14.

Radjabov's chances for a spot in first were also possible with 7.5/13, fighting against GM Etienne Bacrot. However, it was not a fighting game at all. Both players agreed to an early draw on move 20 in which not a single piece was exchanged on the board.

Aronian and Leko proved to be the most exciting game of those with a chance at first place. Aronian with black played a beautiful and tactical defense against Leko's Ruy Lopez. Aronian gained a pawn on move 26 with a nice tactical exchange. Then easily won another pawn on move 30. The pawn advantage along with Aronian's perfect rook play on white's first rank in the endgame proved to be far too much for Leko. Aronian gained another pawn on move 40 and Leko resigned. Aronian finished the tournament in clear first place holding a final score of 8.5/14.

The Final Standings of Ciudad de Linares 2006
8.5 GM Levon Aronian (Armenia 2752)
8.0 GM Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria 2801)
8.0 GM Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan 2700)
7.5 GM Peter Leko (Hungary 2740)
6.5 GM Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine 2729)
6.5 GM Peter Svidler (Russia 2765)
6.0 GM Etienne Bacrot (France 2717)
5.0 GM Francisco Vallejo Pons (Spain 2650)

Download all of the games played at this year's Ciudad de Linares 2006.

White to mate in two

Problem #687 **
submitted by sdrawkcab

To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 687

Then type:
play trainingbot

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Sargissian Wins Close Race In Reykjavik

The super-strong 22nd edition of Reykjavik Open in the capital of Iceland ended in a great victory for Grandmaster Gabriel Sargissian of Armenia. The 22 year old led most of the tournament and managed in the end to finish ahead of 27 grandmasters and 13 international masters. With seven points and superior tie breaks, he surpassed, among others, top seed and double world junior champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan, 19 year old Indian star Pentaela Harikrishna, veteran legend Jan Timman of Holland, and the world's youngest grandmaster and regular ICC-er, 15 year old Magnus Carlsen from Norway.

The final round turned out to be a disaster for young Carlsen, who faced the Egyptian 18 year old grandmaster, Ahmed Adly. Carlsen reached a winning position in the endgame, but in time trouble blundered it all away into a loss which cost him the tournament victory and instead only gave the youngest ever world championship candidate a sixth place.

XXII Reykjavik Open

For Adly however, this was the tournament of a lifetime securing the talented teenager 2nd place in one of the strongest open tournaments in the world. Sargissian, also known from the handle ARM-AKIBA on ICC, could on his hand clinch tournament victory with a last round draw with Mamedyarov securing the Armenian a nice 1st prize of 6000 USD.

The tournament had 103 players from all over the world.

GM Sargissian  (2603) ARM   7
GM Adly        (2474) EGY   7
GM Mamedyarov  (2709) AZE   7
GM Nataf       (2553) FRA   7
GM Harikrishna (2673) IND   7
GM Carlsen     (2625) NOR   6.5
GM Sokolov     (2689) NED   6.5
GM Galego      (2538) POR   6.5
GM Ward        (2475) ENG   6.5

There is also a blitz tournament taking place at Reykjavik that GM Viswanathan Anand and GM Judit Polgar are playing in!

Download all the games from the XXII Reykjavik Open
Visit ICC's Reykjavik live coverage page.

GM Magnus Carlsen has exclusively decided to annotate his best game from the tournament with his own comments. See the annotated game below!


New ICC members get a free issue of New in Chess! That's right! Sign-up as a new member of the ICC and you will receive a free issue of New In Chess magazine. New In Chess is one of most popular chess magazines with excellent analysis and commentary from some of the top grandmaster's in the world. Join ICC. Read more about New In Chess magazine.

Onischuk Wins U.S. Championship From the very beginning of this year's U.S. Championship you could see the fire in GM Alexander Onischuk's eyes. Starting off the tournament with comfortable 3.0/3, Onischuk didn't stop there. Drawing in rounds four and five, Onischuk established another two game win-streak in rounds six and seven giving him a solid 6.0/7. Closing the tournament off with two draws in rounds eight and nine, GM Onischuk found himself at the top of the leader board with an impressive 7.0/9. Not a single loss in the tournament. Having fought off all defenders in Group A, Onischuck was then sent off to the finals against the winner of Group B, GM Yury Shulman. Shulman held the lead in Group B the entire tournament where standings were much closer than Group A, until round nine, where he suffered his first loss in the tournament at the hands of GM Alexander Fishbein. This allowed GM Gata Kamsky and GM Larry Christiansen to catch up in points with 6.5/9 and allow for a tie break. In the end Shulman still proved to be the strongest player and moved into the final match. The finals took place on Sunday, March 12 and was a two game match up between Onischuk and Shulman, the two players that lead their groups the entire tournament. Game one ended in a draw, Onischuk with white, Shulman with black. Game two ended in a decisive result with Onischuk getting the win with the black pieces, officially making him the 2006 U.S. Chess Champion and 25,000 USD richer! Game 1: Onischuk 1/2 Shulman Game 2: Shulman 0-1 Onischuk Zatonskih U.S. Women's Championship WGM Anna Zatonskih in Group B finished the tournament with 5.0/9 getting three wins, four draws, and two losses. Her three wins were over GM Walter Browne, WFM Tatev Abrahamyan, and WIM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs. Going into the championship match Zatonskih had to face a tough opponent, WGM Rusudan Goletiani, from Group A. Goletiani had the same score of 5.0/9 with three wins, four draws, and two losses. It seemed like a perfectly even match, but when it was all over Zatonskih walked away with the women's title and nice payday of 12,500 USD. Game 1: Goletiani 0-1 Zatonskih Game 2: Zatonskih 1/2 Goletiani Download all the exciting games from the U.S. Championship. Visit the 2006 U.S. Championship official site. Visit ICC's U.S. Championship live coverage page.

FIDE Women's World Championship Underway The FIDE Women's World Championship began on March 11 and is underway in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Action will be continue until March 27. ICC is having live relay coverage of this event. 64 of the world's top women chess players entered into a six round knockout style tournament. At press time only 16 players were left. Read more about the FIDE Women's World Championship. Visit the ICC live coverage page.

Game commentary from GM Magnus Carlsen
Carlsen,M (2625) - Galego,L (2538) [E11] XXII Open Reykjavik ISL (3), 08.03.2006 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 c5 This line is a little bit unusual and I didn't expect Galego to play it anymore, so I hadn't prepared myself for it. 5.Bxb4 cxb4 6.g3 This is the most natural way to reply to c5. 6...0-0 7.Bg2 Qe7 8.0-0 d6 After this, I was pretty much out of book. 9.Qb3 Despite being out of book, I played this move instantly, because I thought it was a natural plan and merely psychologically to put pressure on him. I remember something from a NIC yearbook, Dautov that recommended something with Qd3 in this line, but I couldn't quite figure out how. 9...a5 Clearly the best move, earlier he had played [9...Na6 10.a3 bxa3 11.Qxa3 and with b4 in the next move, white's advantage is clear.] 10.a3 Na6 The best move again [10...bxa3 11.bxa3 With pressure in the b-file (this is the reason I played Qb3 and then a3, to get the weakening a5 after bxa3 bxa3) or; 10...Nc6 11.d5 is bad] 11.axb4 Nxb4 12.Nc3 e5 13.c5 The only way to fight for advantage on, even though black is without problems after this. 13...e4 The way he follows this up, this becomes bad, but this is completely ok. [13...exd4 14.cxd6 Qxd6 15.Nb5 Qb6 16.Nbxd4 This is quite equal, but white possibly has a small advantage.] 14.cxd6 Qxd6 15.Ng5 Qxd4 16.Rfd1 [16.Ncxe4 was very tempting, but after 16...Nxe4 17.Bxe4 h6 18.Rfd1 Qb6 I couldn't find any decisive, and after the retreat (18...Qe5 19.Qxf7+! Rxf7 20.Rd8+ Rf8 21.Bh7+ Kh8 22.Rxf8# or ; 18...Qf6 19.Nh7 black loses) 19.Nf3 there is no advantage to talk about.] 16...Qe5 This is quite ok, but [16...Qb6 17.Ngxe4 Nxe4 18.Nxe4 Be6 was an easier way to get good play on.] 17.Ngxe4 Nxe4 18.Nxe4 Bf5? A big mistake, after this white has a clear advantage. [18...Bg4 19.Nc3 With a small white advantage, but not very significant.(19.Qc3 Qe7 20.Nd6 (20.Qc5 Qxc5 21.Nxc5 Rae8=) 20...Bxe2 21.Rd2 Rad8 gives black counterplay.) ] 19.Qc3! This move totally ruins black's play, and here Galego started to use quite a lot of time. 19...Qe7 [19...Qxc3 20.bxc3 Bxe4 or (20...Nc6 21.Nd6) 21.Bxe4 Nc6 22.Rd7 Is not very nice for black, while; 19...Rfe8? 20.Nd6 loses material.] 20.Nd6 Bg6 [20...Bg4 21.Rd4! This nice move I was very happy to find during the game, and the computer agrees! 21...Bxe2 The only logical reply, if not, Bg4 would be pointless. (21...Qxe2 22.Re4 winning a piece(22.Re1 Na2! according to Shredder!) ) 22.Re1 Rad8 23.Nf5 Qg5 24.Rxd8 Rxd8 25.Qe5 and black loses a piece because of the threat Ne7+ and winning the queen.] 21.Rd2! This simple and strong move kill black's illusions of any counterplay. [21.Nxb7? Rac8 Is exactly what black is hoping for.] 21...Rfb8 22.h4 I didn't see any clear win after [22.Nxb7 Rxb7 23.Rxa5! Rf8 (23...Rxa5 24.Qc8+ Qf8 25.Rd8 Ra1+ 26.Bf1 mating) 24.Re5 Qc7 25.Rc5 Qb6 26.Bxb7 Qxb7 and therefore I chose to play more simple.] 22...h6 It is difficult to play black here, he is almost in zugzwang! For example [22...Ra6 23.Nxb7 Rxb7 24.Qc8+ loses] 23.Bf3 I would like to play h5, which squeezes him even more, weakens f7 and opens up for back-rank mates. (After Bh7). 23...h5 24.Rad1 It must've been very difficult for Galego her, in addition to a terrible position, he had very little time left. 24...Kh7 Preparing Ra6, but now white is preparing for the final blow. 25.Qc5 Rc8 There was no way to cover h5 anyway. 26.Qb5 Rc2 27.Bxh5 Rxd2 28.Rxd2 Bxh5 It is difficult to suggest any moves for black here. 29.Qxh5+ Kg8 30.Nf5 Qf6 31.Rd6 After calculating a bit, I realized that this was the easiest way to win on. 31...Qxb2 This is of course a bad move, but [31...g6 32.Rxf6 gxh5 33.Rh6 would have won very easily anyway, and Galego hardly thought there would be much point to play on anymore.(33.Rb6 is also not bad.) ] 32.Rd7 This simple move wins directly, as it threatens mate on both Qxf7, Ne7+ Kf8 followed by Qh8 32...Qb1+ [32...Qc1+ Would have forced me to find the right square for the king 33.Kh2 (33.Kg2? Qc6+ 34.e4 Qxd7 35.Qg4 with a discovered check on the queen amazingly enough wins for me as well, but this was quite accidential.) ] 33.Kh2 Here the Portuguese realized it was time to resign. He gets checkmated or he loses his queen. It was probably my most flawless game in the tournament. 1-0

ICC Puzzle Solution

1.Qxh7+ Kxh7 2.Rh6#