ICC Newsletter - Friday, May 26, 2006

Vol I Issue XXII - May 26, 2006

Topalov Makes a Comeback to Win Mtel

Is he man or is he machine? GM Veselin Topalov continues to impress the chess world. Just when you think that Topalov is having a "not so good" tournament he makes a come back in the second half to win it all. This past week in Sofia, Bulgaria at the Mtel Masters tournament Topalov won his last four games, after having a weak first half, to win the tournament in clear first.

Is it deja vu? Last year Topalov did the same thing finishing the last half of the Mtel Masters with 4.5 out of 5 to finish in clear first. Is he toying with us? Or, does he just have a knack for rocking the ramparts towards the end of these incredibly challenging and long events? Regardless, Topalov continues to impress us with his top-notch chess play.

GM Gata Kamsky had a fantastic tournament as well finishing in clear second place, missing first place by a just a half point. Kamsky led most of the tournament until the ninth round when he lost to Topalov in his storm to the top.

FINAL RESULTS:

Rank

Name

FED

1

2

3

4

5

6

Pts

1

Topalov Veselin

BUL

-

1
1

0
1

½
0

½
1

½
1

6½

2

Kamsky Gata

USA

0
0

-

1
½

1
½

½
1

1
½

6.0

3

Anand Viswanathan

IND

1
0

0
½

-

½
½

1
½

1
½

5½

4

Svidler Peter

RUS

½
1

0
½

½
½

-

1
0

½
½

5.0

5

Ponomariov Ruslan

UKR

½
0

½
0

0
½

0
1

-

½
½

3½

6

Bacrot Etienne

FRA

½
0

0
½

0
½

½
½

½
½

-

3½

View all of the games played in the tournament in PGN format. ICC had live coverage of the entire event. You can also read more details on the official Mtel Masters web site.

White to mate in two

Problem #55 **
submitted by AlexTheGreat

To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 55

Then type:
play trainingbot

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Russia and Armenia Lead the Olympiad

The 37th Chess Olympiad began this week in Turin, Italy. 150 countries and over 740 titled players from around the globe are competing in the event. Russia and Armenia are in the lead with 15.5 points each in the men's section and Russia leads the women's section with 12.5 points. In the men's section, Russia has been in first place since the start of the event while Armenia climbed into the top 10 after the fourth round. The players on the Russian team are some of the best players in the world, GM Vladimir Kramnik, GM Peter Svidler, GM Alexander Grischuk, GM Alexander Morozevich, GM Evgeny Bareev, and GM Sergey Rublevskiy. Armenia has some top names as well like GM Levon Aronian, GM Vladimir Akopian, and GM Smbat Lputian. GM Vishwanathan Anand is also playing at this event for India.

37th Chess Olympiad

As we approach the later rounds the matches are getting more and more interesting. All the top matches in round 4 finished tied at 2-2. Uzbekistan (30th seed) and Iran (51st seed) are both in the top ten and USA climbed into the top ten after round four.

The event is being played at The Oval Hall which claims to be the biggest playing venue ever seen for a Chess Olympiad with over 68,897 square feet of room.

ICC is having live relay coverage and live audio coverage of each round during the event. The ICC will also be offering live reports from the playing hall on ICC Webcast next week with IM Michael Rahal. Be sure to tune-in and listen!

Games start at 09:00 EDT each day.

Top 10 Results After Round 5:

Rank	Team	Score
1	Russia	15.5
2	Armenia	15.5
3	Netherlands	15.0
4	Uzbekistan	14.5
5	Bulgaria	14.0
6	Ukraine	14.0
7	Spain	14.0
8	Belarus	14.0
9	USA	14.0
10	Iran	14.0

Upcoming Live Coverage The ICC will be having live relay coverage of the 14th World Computer Chess Championship taking place in Turino, Italy. The tournament is scheduled to take place between May 25 and June 1. Games will start at 07:00 EDT, with the exception of round on which will start at 13:00 EDT. Participating in this year's event are some of the top computers in the world including: Zappa (the reigning champion), Rajlich, Shredder, Junior, Spike, and Crafty. You can visit the official web site to stay up to date on the latest details.


Game commentary from IM Malcolm Pein IM Malcolm Pein writes for the Daily Telegraph.
Kamsky,G (2671) - Ponomariov,R (2738) [C88] Mtel Masters, Sofia 2006, 17.05.2006 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 (8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 is the Marshall Attack. After 8.h3 Black's pawn sacrifice does not work. 13...Qh4 is met by Nd2-f3) 8...Bb7 9.d3 d6 10.a3 Qd7 11.Nbd2 Rfe8 (11...Nd8 was played in Anand-Kamsky round 3) 12.Nf1 Nd8 (Black prepares to defend against Ng3-f5 and to play c7-c5) 13.Ng3 Ne6 14.c3 c5 15.d4 exd4 16.cxd4 d5 17.e5 (Now Black must always be careful on the kingside) 17...Ne4 18.Nf5 (18.Nxe4 dxe4 19.d5 Nc7! 20.Rxe4 c4 21.Bc2 Bxd5) 18...Bf8 19.Be3 Rac8 (19...c4 20.Bc2 c3!?) 20.dxc5 N6xc5 21.N5d4 (The isolated queen's pawn and passive Bb7 make this slightly better for White) 21...Nxb3 22.Qxb3 Nc5 (22...Rc4!? 23.Rad1 g6) 23.Qd1 a5 (23...Ne6 to exchange a pair of knights was reasonable here) 24.Qb1 Ne4 25.Rd1 b4 (25...h6 - Ponomariov was possible and if 26.Ne2 a4 27.Nf4 Ng5! undermining e5) 26.axb4 Bxb4 27.Nc2 Qe7 (27...Rc4 looks more active and if 28.Nxb4 Rxb4 29.Rxa5 Nc3) 28.Nxb4 Qxb4 29.Qa2 Ra8 (29...Rc2!? 30.Qxa5 Qxa5 31.Rxa5 Rxb2 would hold, so 30.Rdb1 would be preferred) 30.Rd4! (White has obtained the initiative. Black's queenside pawn push only weakened his position) 30...Qb5 31.Ra4 Bc6 32.Rxa5 Rxa5 33.Qxa5 Qxb2 34.Rc1 Ba8 35.Rc7 d4?? (Once again Kamsky's pressure induces a blunder 35...Qb8 was best and if 36.Bf4? Qb1+ 37.Kh2 Nxf2 but 36.Ra7! Rc8 37.Nd4 maintains pressure) 36.e6!! ( Liberating the dark squared bishop) 36...Qb1+ (36...fxe6 37.Rxg7+ Kxg7 38.Bxd4+ or 36...Rxe6 37.Rc8+ Re8 38.Rxe8 mate) 37.Kh2 fxe6 38.Qh5! Nd6 (38...Rf8 39.Qg4 wins) 39.Bxd4 Bxf3 40.Rxg7+ Kf8 41.Qh6 1-0


Advance and other Anti-French Variations by Lev Psakhis – The French Defence has been and still is a popular choice against White's king's pawn opening, with top-class grandmasters such as Korchnoi, Morozevich, Bareev and Short continuing to practise it with success. King's Indian Battle Plans by Andrew Martin – Most books on chess openings are just full of variations with little in the way of guidance or plans - this huge book is different. Not only is it loaded with top notch annotated games by IM Andrew Martin, one of the world's experts on this system, but the games are peppered with hundreds of ideas. Starting Out: Rook Endgames by Chris Ward – Rook endgames are reached in about 1 in 5 games and if your grade is stagnating, or worse still, dropping, can you afford to ignore rook endgames? Chris Ward begins with the absolute fundamentals giving the reader indispensable knowledge and confidence before moving onto trickier positions. Multiple Choice Chess 2 by Graeme Buckley – Using instructive chess games, International Master Graeme Buckley repeatedly poses the question 'what would you do here?' The reader is invited to step into the Grandmaster's shoes, work out all the relevant plans and tactics, and select one of the four possible choices.

ICC Puzzle Solution

1. d8=N d1=Q 2. Nf7#