 Leko, Ponomariov and Aronian; three winners in Moscow
  The Mikhail Tal Memorial took place in Moscow from November 6th-16th. The GM participants in this Category XX were (in rating order): Peter Svidler (Russia 2750), Alexander Morozevich (Russia 2747), Levon Aronian (Armenia 2741), Peter Leko (Hungary 2741), Boris Gelfand (Israel 2733), Sharidzar Mamedyarov (Azerbaian 2728), Alexei Shirov (Spain 2720), Alexander Grischuk (Russia 2710), Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine 2703), and Magnus Carlsen (Norway 2698). The event was one of the strongest tournaments in the 2006 chess calendar.
The tournament finished in a three-way tie for first place between Leko, Ponomariov and Aronian, with 5.5/9. Leko and Ponomariov ended undefeated, with two wins, whereas Aronian lost against Svidler (he blundered his queen), but defeated the last three players in the tournament. Gelfand finished in fourth place, with 5/9. On 50% came Grischuk, who recovered from a bad start, and Mamedyarov, who drew all his games. Also Svidler made 50% winning and losing two games. Shirov and Carlsen underperformed and only achieved 3.5/9, and neither of them won a single game. Finally, in the last position came Morozevich, scoring 3/8, with four losses, the last of them in the eighth round against Peter Svidler. The last round could have determined a clear winner, but all the games ended in typical GM draws.
| N |
NAME |
FED |
FIDE |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
PL |
PT |
| 1 |
Svidler |
RUS |
2750 |
|
= |
1 |
= |
= |
0 |
0 |
1 |
= |
= |
5-7 |
4.5 |
| 2 |
Shirov |
RUS |
2747 |
= |
|
0 |
= |
= |
0 |
= |
= |
= |
= |
8-9 |
3.5 |
| 3 |
Aronian |
ARM |
2741 |
0 |
1 |
|
1 |
= |
= |
= |
1 |
= |
= |
1-3 |
5.5 |
| 4 |
Carlsen |
NOR |
2698 |
= |
= |
0 |
|
= |
= |
0 |
= |
= |
= |
8-9 |
3.5 |
| 5 |
Ponomariov |
ISR |
2733 |
= |
= |
= |
= |
|
1 |
= |
1 |
= |
|
1-3 |
5.5 |
| 6 |
Grischuk |
AZE |
2728 |
1 |
1 |
= |
= |
0 |
|
= |
0 |
= |
= |
5-7 |
4.5 |
| 7 |
Gelfand |
ESP |
2720 |
1 |
= |
= |
1 |
= |
= |
|
= |
= |
0 |
4 |
5.0 |
| 8 |
Morozevich |
RUS |
2710 |
0 |
= |
0 |
= |
0 |
1 |
= |
|
= |
0 |
10 |
3.0 |
| 9 |
Mamedyarov |
UKR |
2703 |
= |
= |
= |
= |
= |
= |
= |
= |
|
= |
5-7 |
4.5 |
| 0 |
Leko |
HUN |
2741 |
= |
= |
= |
= |
= |
= |
1 |
1 |
= |
|
1-3 |
5.5 |
|
 Highlights of the tournament
Svidler,P (2750) - Morozevich,A (2747) [C92]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (8), 2006.08.15
[Rahal,M]
 Black is two pawns down. Instead of resigning, Morozevich forces Svidler to sacrifice his queen for two rooks if he wants to win. 54...Rxf2!? 55.Rxf2 [But not 55.Kxf2?? Qe3#] 55...Ra1 56.Rxf7+ Kg8 57.Rf1 Rxd1 58.Rfxd1
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The two rooks and two pawns should be enough to win but White must be careful as his own king is also unsafe.
 58...Qg3 59.Nf3 White regroups. The knight is a very good defensive piece against a queen attack. 59...Be3+ 60.Kh1 Qxg4 61.Rd8+ Kg7 62.R1d7+ Kf6 63.Rf8+ Ke6 64.Rd5 White plan to consolidate his position and then try to push the b-pawn. 64...Ke7 [64...Qxe4? 65.Re5++-] 65.Rf7+! Ke8 [65...Kxf7 66.Ne5++-] 66.Rh7 Qf4 67.Re5+ Kd8 68.Re6 Qg4 69.Rh8+ [White must be careful. 69.Ra6?? threatening mate would actually lose to 69...Qh5+ 70.Nh2 Qd1+ and Black wins] 69...Kc7 70.b6+! Bxb6 71.Rc6+! Kb7 [71...Kxc6 72.Ne5++-] 72.Rh7+ Ka8 73.Rxh6 Be3 74.Rh8+ Kb7 75.Rh7+ Kb8 76.Rf6 There are many mating threats on the back rank now. 76...Bc5 77.Rff7 Qc8 78.Ne5! The incoporation of the knight decides the game. 78...Bd6 79.Nc6+! Qxc6 80.Rh8+ 1-0
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Related information
- ICC LIVE COVERAGE of the Memorial Tal 2006.
- ICC WEBCAST of the Memorial Tal 2006.
- Connect to ICC and type "liblist Tal06" for games.
- For more information, visit the official
site.
Lázaro Bruzon wins the I Iberoamerican Cup 2006
  The first edition of the Iberoamerican Cup took place in Ayamonte (Huelva, Spain), a small town on the Spanish-Portuguese frontier. The event started on November 10th and is scheduled to finish on November 18th. Twenty-four players from several Iberoamerican countries formed four groups of six players each. The playing system used was the Round Robin.
Group 1 saw main tournament favorite Cuban GM Lazaro Bruzón win with a clear 4/5 score, undefeated with three wins and two draws. The biggest surprise of the event happened in Group 2, in which Peruvian GM Julio Granda lost two of his games, and allowed Andorran GM Oscar de la Riva qualify to the semi-finals, also undefeated with 4/5. Group 3 was the toughest Round Robin. Spanish IM Manuel Perez Candelario progressed to the semi-finals by defeating Bolivian GM Oswaldo Zambrana in the rapid tiebreak. Finally, in Group4 Ecuadorian GM Carlos Matamoros qualified in a group in which Brazilian GM Henrique Mecking missed his chance when he was defeated by Rafael Prasca, from Venezuela.
The winners of the four groups qualified to the semi-finals, which were played with the match format, to the distance of two games. Both semifinals ended 1-1, and Bruzon and Perez Candelario qualified to the final by defeating their opponents (Matamoros and De la Riva) in the Blitz tiebreak.
| TIT |
NAME |
FED |
FIDE |
RES |
TIT |
NAME |
FED |
FIDE |
| GM |
Lazaro Bruzon |
CUB |
2648 |
1.5-0.5 |
IM |
Manuel Perez C. |
ESP |
2496 |
|
|
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World Chess Challenge: Kramnik vs. Machine
  From November 25th to December 5th 2006, World Champion Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) and Deep Fritz (Germany), will be squaring off against one another in the Man vs. Machine duel. This competition will be held in the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn. The exclusive sponsor of WCC 2006 is Essen-based energy and chemicals company RAG. There will be six games in the duel. If he is victorious, Kramnik will win one million US dollars. Otherwise, the World Champion will walk away with only half that amount.
Schedule (All times are US eastern. Add 5 hours for GMT. Add 6 hours for CET).
Game 1: Saturday, November, 25th at 9 a.m.
Game 2: Monday, November, 27th at 9 a.m.
Game 3: Wednesday, November, 29th at 9 a.m.
Game 4: Friday, December, 1st at 9 a.m.
Game 5: Sunday, December, 3rd at 9 a.m.
Game 6: Tuesday, December, 5th at 9 a.m.
Time Control
In each game the players shall each have to make 40 moves in two hours followed by 16 moves per hour thereafter provided that in the event that a game has not been completed within six hours it may be adjourned to the following day at Kramnik's discretion when play will continue at the rate of 16 moves per hour for a further six hours.
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Spanish Individual Championship 2006
 The Spanish Individual Championship will take place in Leon, in the north of Spain, from November 22nd-30th. Most of Spain’s best players will participate, except number one GM Alexei Shirov.
Two groups of six players have been formed, using the Round Robin all-against-all system, and the best two players of each group will play a KO semi-final and final.
59th Russian Championship Superfinal 2006
 The 59th Russian Champiosnhip Superfinal 2006 will take place in Moscow, from December 2nd-15th. The qualifiers players are: Svidler 2750, Morozevich 2747, Rublevsky 2688, Jakovenko 2671, Najer 2648, Alekseev 2639, Inarkiev 2628, Vitiugov 2596, Tomashevsky 2595 and Khismatullin 2583. The tournament average rating is 2639. All rounds starts at 7 a.m. US eastern.
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Game annotated by IM Michael
Rahal
 Michael Anthony Rahal is an English International
Master, currently living in Spain. He works for
the CET Spanish Chess company and his tasks include
being Assistant Manager of the Chess Magazines "Peón
de Rey" (King's Pawn) "Todo
Teoría" (All on Theory).
Tal Memorial 2006
Grischuk,A (2710) - Shirov,A (2720) [B30]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (7), 2006.06.14
In this game Russian GM Alexander Grischuk sacrifices a piece for three pawns and then wins an endgame in great style against Spanish GM Alexei Shirov.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 The Rossolimo Attack, very common nowadays to avoid the Schveshnikov. 3...e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.d3 Ne7 6.Qe2 Qc7 7.Ng5 The main move. White intends f2-f4 and a kingside attack. 7...e5 8.f4 exf4 9.0-0 Ng6 Black tries to defend the f4 pawn in this variation, although he may fall behind in development.
10.Qh5 d6?! A new and probably dubious novelty. 10...Qe5 may be worth considering. Another game between two top players went 10...Bd6 11.g3 Ba6 12.gxf4 Rf8 13.e5 Be7 14.Nc3 0-0-0 15.Nge4 f5 16.Ng5 Bxg5 17.Qxg5 d6 18.Be3 dxe5 19.fxe5 Qxe5 20.Rae1 Rde8 21.Bf2 Qf4 22.Qxf4 Nxf4 23.Bxc5 Rxe1 24.Rxe1 Rf7 25.Re8+ Kd7 26.Ra8 Bb7 27.Rxa7 Kc7 28.Na4 Ne6 29.Bb6+ Kb8 30.Nc5 Nxc5 31.Bxc5 f4 32.Ra4 Kc7 33.Re4 Bc8 34.Kf2 Bg4 35.a4 Bd1 36.a5 Kb7 37.Rb4+ Ka8 38.a6 Rf5 39.d4 Rd5 40.Rb6 Bxc2 41.Rxc6 Rd8 42.Rc7 Be4 43.Rxg7 f3 44.b4 Bc6 45.Rc7 Ba4 46.b5 1-0 Bologan,V-Lautier,J/Reykjavik 2004/CBM 099 ext (46).
11.Bxf4 h6?
Now White can sacrifice a piece with very good compensation. Shirov hasn't been in form in this event.
12.Nxf7! Qxf7 13.Bxd6 Qe6 14.Bxf8 Rxf8 15.Nd2 Bd7 16.Qxc5 Qe7 17.Rxf8+ Kxf8 18.Rf1+ Kg8 19.Qxe7 Nxe7 +/-
White has picked up three pawns for the piece and also has the wonderful c5 square for his knight. Grischuk, with excellent technique, is able to convert this advantage into his third victory in the event. |
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20.Nb3 Rd8 21.Nc5 Bc8 22.Kf2! Rf8+ 23.Ke2 Rxf1 24.Kxf1 Ng6 25.b4 Kf7 26.Ke2 Nf4+ 27.Kf3 Ne6 28.Nb3! Ke7 29.Ke3 Kd6 30.d4 Nc7 31.c4 Be6 32.Kd3 Bg8 33.a4
White's pawns on the fourth rank are quite impressive. 33...Ne6 34.g3 Ng5 35.Nd2 a6 36.h4 Nh3 37.Ke3 g5 38.d5! cxd5 39.exd5 gxh4 40.gxh4 Bh7 41.Ne4+ Ke5 42.Nc5+- The a6-pawn is another weakness. 42...Nf4 43.d6 Ne6 44.d7 Nd8 45.Nxa6 Kd6 46.Nc5 Bg8 47.Kd4 Nc6+ 48.Kc3 Ke7 49.b5 Ne5 50.b6 Nxd7 51.b7 [Black resigned as after 51.b7 Nb8 52.a5 Kd6 53.a6 Kxc5 54.a7 wins.] 1-0
I Iberoamerican Cup 2006
Teran,I (2413) - Campora,D (2530)
Iberoamerican Cup Ayamonte (4), 2006.06.13
Argentinian GM Daniel Campora has misplayed the opening completely and is already in deep trouble. Nonetheless, Spanish IM Ismael Teran finds an attractive combination that nets him four pawns and a decisive attack for a piece.
25.Nxd5! cxd5 26.Qxd5+ Kh7 27.Qxf5+ g6 28.Qf7+ Bg7 29.Re6! The key move. The g6 pawn is lost and Black is helpless against the onslaught of White's pieces. 29...Rc6 30.Qxg6+ Kg8
At this point there are several winning moves. For example, 31.Bd6! attacking the knight and also threatening 32.Re8 would force Black to resign immediately. However, Teran chose another more spectacular move, that, although winning, gives Black some chances. 31.d5!? Rxe6 32.Qxe6+ [Again, even stronger was 32.dxe6 Qc8 33.Qxh5 Bxa1 34.Qf7#] 32...Kh7 33.Qf5+ Kg8 34.Qxh5 Bxa1 35.d6 White is a rook down but clearly the f-pawn will cost Black his own rook. White is still winning. 35...Kg7 36.Qg4+ Kf7 37.Qf5+ Kg7 38.Qg4+ Kf7 39.Qf5+ Kg7 40.d7 Qb8 41.b5! axb5 42.axb5 Qa8 43.c6! bxc6 44.bxc6 Qxc6 45.d8Q Rxd8 46.Bxd8 Qc1+ 47.Kg2 Qc6+ 48.Qf3 Qd7 49.Bb6 And White eventually won (on move 99!). This game will help you to understand that when you have a GM under the ropes you must strive to finish him off quickly! 1-0 |
ICC
Quiz #1507
submitted by somebody
White mates in 3
To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 1507
Then type: play trainingbot
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| ICC
Quiz #1513
submitted by Gabriel-M
White mates in 3
To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 1513
Then type: play trainingbot
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The United States Chess Championship
(2nd ed.) - Andrew Soltis
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Starting Out: Queen's Gambit Declined - Neil McDonald
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The Queen’s Gambit Declined is an opening of great historical importance and Black’s fundamental answer to 1 d4. From the very first move Black obtains a firm foothold in the centre, something that White finds extremely hard to undermine. Indeed, Black often bases his entire strategy around this control. |
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Solution to
ICC Quiz #1507
submitted by somebody
1. Qe7+! Bxe7; 2. Rxe7+ Kf8; 3. Ng6#
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Solution to
ICC Quiz #1513
submitted by Gabriel-M
1. Re8+ Nd8; 2. Rxd8+! Kxd8
(2...Kb7; 3. Qb5#) 3. Qf8#
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