 FIDE World Ratings: Anand is (finally!) the new number one
 The "Numero
uno" in chess has been a very select club indeed in
the 36 year history of the Elo list, with only six players
ever holding the top spot: Bobby Fischer, Anatoly Karpov,
Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov, and
now, with the re-calculated April list that originaly had
him as No.2, Vishy Anand.
Anand is now on top of the rating list for the first time. In April last year, Anand reached his peak rating ever, with 2803, but it was not enough for the top spot, because Topalov rating was 2804, just one more point ahead. Now with a lower Elo, 2786, Anand is number one ahead of Topalov and Kramnik, both sharing the second spot with 2772.
Anand was only fifth in Wijk
aan Zee early in the year, but a few weeks later he was clear first in Linares. In the press conference after the tournament, Anand said that "he was very happy with his victory."
His main objective will be the World Championship, to be held in Mexico in September
| FIDE
Rating List April 2007 Top 10 GMs |
| N |
NAME |
FED |
APR |
JAN |
VAR |
| 1 |
GM Vishy Anand |
IND |
2786 |
2779 |
+7 |
| 2 |
GM Veselin Topalov |
BUL |
2772 |
2783 |
-11 |
| 3 |
GM Vladimir Kramnik |
RUS |
2772 |
2766 |
+6 |
| 4 |
GM Alexander Morozevich |
RUS |
2762 |
2741 |
+21 |
| 5 |
GM Levon Aronian |
ARM |
2759 |
2744 |
+15 |
| 6 |
GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov |
AZE |
2757 |
2754 |
+3 |
| 7 |
GM Teimour Radjabov |
AZE |
2747 |
2729 |
+18 |
| 8 |
GM Peter Leko |
HUN |
2738 |
2749 |
-11 |
| 9 |
GM Peter Svidler |
RUS |
2736 |
2728 |
+8 |
| 10 |
GM Michael Adams |
ENG |
2734 |
2735 |
-1 |
|
8th European Individual Championships
The 8th Individual European Chess Championships is now underway in Dresden, Germany, and will run 2-16 April.
Originally the field for the 11 round Swiss event - attended by over 600 participants from 43 nations - was to include Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Vassily Ivanchuk, but both were late withdrawal, leaving young Russian star Dmitry Jakovenko, fresh from his viictory at the 8th Polikovsky Karpov tournament, as top seed.
FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was present at the opening ceremony held on Monday, April 2nd.
 Related information
Lajos
Portisch at 70
This week saw a milestone for one
of the true unassuming giants and sportsman of the game,
Hungarian legend Lajos Portisch, who celebrated his 70th
birthday.
Portisch was a quiet, positional player who - unlike Bobby Fischer and Boris
Spassky - often played unspectacularly; but due to his
positional style, characterised by quiet manoeverings,
he became known as "The Hungarian Petrosian".
In the sixties and seventies though, Portisch was among the true elites of the game, playing at his best in many interzonals, showing a remarkable consistency by going on to qualify for a record eight appearances in the Candidates cycle; reaching the semi-finals three times, but never having the "right stuff" to challenge for the world title.
A ten-time Hungarian champion, Portisch was always a faithful servant for his country in team events. He played in twenty Olympiads and led Hungary to gold in
1978 in Buenos Aires, where on top board he scored 10/14.
Portisch was always one of the most professional of grandmasters who studied the game intensely and worked hard to eliminate any defects in his play.
Unfortunately his games never became widely appreciated - but a highly recommended and enlightening read can be found in Egon Varnusz's somewhat scarce 1979 book, "Selected Games of Lajos Portisch".
Lajos Portisch in Mainz, Germany
2007.
[Photo: John B. Henderson]
|
 |
Position after 20...Kh8 |
Anand,V (2779) - Van Wely, L (2683) [B90]
Amber Blindfold Monte Carlo MNC (5), 03.22.2007
[GM Amador Rodríguez]
Black is
hoping for 21.Qe6 Qd7 reaching an inferior ending but surviving the attack. Anand's
next move comes as a shock! 21.Rxg7!! An unexpected brilliant sacrifice
destroying the last line of defence. 21...Kxg7 [21...Nxd5? 22.Rxh7#] 22.Rg1+
Kh8 The queen keeps under attack but .... 23.Bh6! threats immediate
mate on g7. 23...Ng4 24.Rxg4 Rxf7 Not only forced, but it also sets a
nice trick because after the careless 25.Qxf7?? would follow 25...Bg5! turning
the tables. 25.Qxa8+! 1–0
|
 |
Position after: 47...h6+ |
Anand, V (2779) - Aronian,L (2744) [C89]
Amber Rapid Monte Carlo MNC (9), 03.27.2007
[GM Amador Rodríguez]
Aronian is
defending tenaciously, but Anand finds a nice way to convert his advantage. 48.Kg6!
fxg4 [48...Kd7 49.g5! hxg5 50.Bxg5 and the h pawn has a free way ahead] 49.f5+
Kd7 50.hxg4! Bxg4 [50...Kxd8 51.f6] 51.f6 Be6 [51...Ke6 52.f7] 52.f7
Bxf7+ 53.Kxf7 Kxd8 54.Ke6!! [There was no time to go for the h-pawn first
because after 54.Kg6? Ke7 55.Kxh6 Kf6! Black makes an easy draw] 54...Ke8 [54...h5
55.Kxd5 h4 56.Ke4 and White is in the square to stop the pawn] 55.Kxd5 Kf7
56.c4! bxc4 57.Kxc4 1–0 |
 |
Position after: 26...Nxe1 |
Anand,VP (2788) - Adams,M (2719) [C92]
FIDE Wch San Luis (3), 09.30.2005
[GM Amador Rodríguez]
Anand is a
full rook down in an ultra sharp position. He now finds a clear way to continue
the attack with great strength 27.Nh4!! Ned3 [27...Ra7 28.Nf5!] 28.Nxg6!
Qxg3+ A desperate measure to try to survive. [28...f6 29.Rg4!] 29.Kxg3
fxg6 30.Qxg6+ Kf8 [30...Kh8 31.Bg5 Re6 32.Bf6+ Rxf6 33.Qxf6+ Kg8 34.exd5+-]
31.Qf6+ Kg8 32.Bh6 1–0
|
|
  ICC
Team 45 45 League #33 Sign-Ups!
  TEAM
ENTRIES ARE NOW OPEN FOR TOURNAMENT #33! Get in on the serious action and the team camaraderie. Team entries accepted through April 10. Play April 17 - June 26.
FIVE SECTIONS! The League provides team format competitive play for ICC members of all levels, with sections for team averages of Under 2200, Under 2000, Under 1800, Under
1600, and even for Under 1300!
The League provides great competition,
in a team atmosphere, for the high rated and for the beginner alike!
PRIZES! The ICC donates one-month membership extensions to the winning team in each section.
Please, sign up only if you are available to play for the six weeks plus playoffs.
|
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|
 The 8th Individual European
Chess Championships
  The
Championships is taking place in Dresden (Germany)
from April
3 until April 15 2007. The tournament
hall is the International Congress Center.
ICC is offering live
coverage of the main games. The games start at 09:00
EDT (15:00
CET).
The playing time is 90 minutes for 40
moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment
of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one.
The field of participants
is led by young Russian star Dmitry Jakovenko,
fresh from his victory at the 8th Poikovsky Karpov tournament. Other
top Grandmasters include: Nisipeanu, Van
Wely, Tiviakov, Karjakin, Vallejo, Eljanov and Malakhov.
The organizer offers a prize fund of EUR 200,000. In addition FIDE will contribute to the prize fund with an amount of USD 80,000.
|
|
Game annotated by GM Amador Rodriguez
  Amador
Rodríguez is a Spanish Grand Master originally from Cuba. A former trainer of Peter Leko, Amador is now a director of leading Spanish chess magazine Peón de Rey.
Morozevich, A (2766) - Sadvakasov,DL (2744) [A30]
Khazadstan (1), 05.20.2001
1.e4 c5
2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Be3 The Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian is one of the most popular openings nowadays. In particular, this line with Be3 is the preferred choice for most strong players of the White side. 8...h5
This is a double-edged decision. Black does not want to allow to advance of the White's pawns, but on the other hand, his own kingside gets weaker. 9.Qd2 Nbd7
10.0–0–0 Rc8 11.Kb1 Be7 12.h3 White insists on pushing his pawns. g2-g4 is not yet possible, but it will be as soon as the white rooks are able to connect. 12...Qc7 13.Bd3
Now White is threatening 14.g4 and that raises the question of whether Black should stop it or not. 13...b5 Black could have played 13...h4 if he wanted.
Instead, he decides to launch his own attack, so now we have the classical fight of attacks on opposite wings. 14.g4 White is on his way toward the black king. It's a little bit hard to understand why Black played 8...h5 and then refrained from h4, allowing the advance g4 anyway. 14...Nb6 The knight is coming to c4 with great power, so White prefers to give his bishop to stop it. 15.Bxb6 Qxb6 16.g5 Nd7
17.Nd5! Bxd5 18.exd5
|
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|
|
We now have a structure with opposite color bishops.
It's important to understand that, while in the endgame opposite color bishops certainly enforce the possibility of a draw, in the middle game all the contrary happens: the fight gets more open.
18...g6 19.Rhe1 Qc7 20.h4 Nb6
21.f4! exf4?!
A natural move, since it was hard to allow 22.f5 or 22.fxe5, but now the e-file is open and the knight can use the d4 square, increasing the danger in black's position.
22.Qxf4 0–0 23.Nd4! Rfe8 [23...Nxd5 does not
work after 24.Qe4 Qc5 25.Ne6] 24.Nf5 Bf8 25.Nh6+ Bxh6 26.gxh6
The big threat is now 27.Qf6. Black has many ways to try to defend, but none of them work, for instance: 26...Kh7 [26...Nxd5 27.Qd4 Re5 28.Rxe5 Nc3+ 29.Qxc3;
26...Nd7 27.h7+! Kg7 28.h8Q+! Rxh8 29.Re7 Rhf8 30.Bxg6!; 26...Qd8 27.Rxe8+ Qxe8
28.Qd4; 26...Rxe1 27.Rxe1 Qd8 28.Qd4]
27.Qf6 Kxh6 28.Re6
Black resigned because of the threat 29.Bxg6, among others. While 28.Re6 is indeed a beautiful looking move, it has to be mentioned that it is not the most effective way to finish the game. The real killer was 28.Rg1!, as after 28...Rg8 there follows 29.Rg5 threatening 30.Rxh5+!
1–0 |
|
ICC
Quiz #28
submitted by CenterPawn
White mates in 2
To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 28
Then type: play trainingbot
|
|
|
| ICC
Quiz #40
submitted by Catdude
White mates in 3
To play this puzzle on the ICC type:
tell trainingbot number 40
Then type: play trainingbot
|
Internet Chess Club - ICC T-shirts
 The
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Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess: Revolution in the 70's - Garry Kasparov ** AUTOGRAPHED COPY
 This book is the first in a brand new series that follows on from My
Great Predecessors and sees chess legend Garry Kasparov reflecting on a pivotal time in chess history. Bobby Fischer's spurt towards the chess summit (1970-1972) marked the approach
of a new era affecting all aspects of the game and opening theory in particular. Fischer demonstrated the need for deep preparation with both colours, expanded the range of openings knowledge, and laid the foundations for present-day professional
chess.
The leader of the new generation, Anatoly Karpov, fully reaped the benefits of the Fischer revolution by mastering the lessons of his great predecessor. Of the players of the older generation, only Victor
Korchnoi was able to achieve such a high
level of professionalism.
Alas, Fischer then left the chess stage. However, the tectonic shifts he had brought about led to the beginning of a genuine revolution in opening theory and a revolution that overturned traditional impressions about many typical
positions. Between 1972 and 1975 alone, progress in the field of opening theory was more significant than in the entire preceding decade! Under Fischer's influence chess was radically regenerated, a process which then continued to accelerate. As
a result, from the 1972 Fischer-Spassky world championship match to 1984 and the Kasparov-Karpov matches, the overall picture of chess openings changed almost beyond recognition.
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Solution to
ICC Quiz #28
submitted by CenterPawn
1.Qxf6+!! gxf7; 2.Bh6#
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Solution to
ICC Quiz #40
submitted by Catdude
1.Qh6! Qxe5; 2.Qxh7+!! Kxh7 3.Kg2#
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