Thanks to my Dad

Today is a rest day at Linares, Spain, giving the Super-GM's a day to goof around, anyone going to try cricket out of this bunch? Maybe GM Viswanathan Anand..hmn.

But the main reason for this post is to thank my Dad, who saved TransWarp for another 6 months. Nope, you guys aren't rid of me yet! ;D However, I was surprised by the warm reception in the last Kamsky-Topalov candidate's game. It was nice to see GM's referring to TransWarp in a positive manner. I liked the line by one GM who said, "I would like to see Topalov face TransWarp in this position", when Kamsky had a very nice edge. But then time trouble cost Gata the game, it was a back and forth game, with both sides making errors. It's really too bad that time played a major factor in the game. Had Gata had a bit more time to think at that crucial time, we might have been watching a game today. But such is life, I congratulate both players on a fine match and would like to say I think GM Gata Kamsky did well vs the #1 rated player in the world. Now we have the Anand-Topalov match coming up sometime this year and then I believe Kramnik might have a chance in 2011, I can't remember if he had an assured rematch after Anand beat him.

On another note, I would like to congratulate GM Wesley So for his fine performance in the A1 group in Aeroflot 2009 in Moscow, taking the Junior prize in such top competition. Also the awesome tournament that IM Tatiana Kosintseva had gaining a GM norm in the tournament as well and I believe not taking one loss. I don't know how you can check how many norms someone has...but she's closer to that GM title. More females are achieving the rank of GM, (Not WGM), but the top title, it seems GM Susan Polgar started a revolution when she was the first to attain the GM title through actual play and tournament results, ie. getting the 3 GM norms needed and attaining the FIDE rating of 2500, not getting it for winning just one tournament. Makes it all the more real, I wish Sophia would have attained the title as well, but she's still an IM (Of course she's a WGM) Then we would have 3 sisters with the title of chess GrandMaster, don't think that's been done for sure!

Anyway, just some chess ramblings for today...also, I worked on the official TransWarp website, www.transwarpchess.com putting in a new page, www.transwarpchess.com/links2.html containing a lot of the links ou see here in the posts, but categorized and smaller. I think everyone could find something they could use there, there's more links to add yet though, just got too tired. It would really help TW's cause if you could find something you need there, remember, no personal information is gathered by this site or the official Transwarp site, it's all sent to the advertisers, I'm just a doorway.

Also, those with blogs and websites might want to try the allposters.com affiliation program to make a few extra bucks, I've actually got almost $6.00 in my account! More than the google program.... I have links to the program on the website in this blog. They say you can openly recruit affiliates, so there's a pitch for ya. (You can get money put in your bank account when you hit $20.00.)

Anyway, I'm pooped, been a long day, TW has been idle for like 5 days....maybe now that a lot of the big tournaments are done, it might get a few more games, one can hope. :)

Blitz Championship-Preliminaries, Moscow 2009 final standings

GM Sergey Karjakin is on a roll, winning Corus 2009 Group GM-A topping the field all alone, then heads to Moscow to play in the 2009 World Blitz Championship with a time control of 3 min + 2 second increment and took that tournament again sitting on top all by himself. I wonder what would have happened if he played in the Aeroflot 2009 tournament as well. Players with the same score in placed in order of tiebreaks. Will try to get the pgn file when available.

Place/Seed/Name/Federation/rating/score

1 7 GM Karjakin, Sergey UKR 2706 15.0
2 4 GM Gashimov, Vugar AZE 2723 14.5
3 3 GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar AZE 2724 13.0
4 25 GM Bareev, Evgeny RUS 2645 13.0
5 16 GM Tkachiev, Vladislav FRA 2657 12.5
6 42 GM Zhou, Jianchao CHN 2612 12.5
7 8 GM Naiditsch, Arkadij GER 2693 12.5
8 87 IM Pridorozhni, Aleksei RUS 2515 12.5
9 63 GM Andriasian, Zaven ARM 2564 12.5
10 23 GM Smirin, Ilia ISR 2647 12.5
11 65 IM Yudin, Sergei RUS 2562 12.5
12 43 GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan IRI 2604 12.5
13 136 Yu, Yangyi CHN 2398 12.0
14 27 GM Mamedov, Rauf AZE 2638 12.0
15 45 GM Huzman, Alexander ISR 2602 12.0
16 14 GM Milov, Vadim SUI 2669 12.0
17 48 GM Bartel, Mateusz POL 2594 12.0
18 2 GM Ponomariov, Ruslan UKR 2726 11.5
19 38 GM Pashikian, Arman ARM 2621 11.5
20 36 GM Van Wely, Loek NED 2625 11.5
21 50 GM Zhigalko, Sergei BLR 2587 11.5
22 21 GM Predojevic, Borki BIH 2650 11.5
23 68 IM Ponkratov, Pavel RUS 2557 11.5
24 33 GM Li, Chao B CHN 2628 11.5
25 10 GM Dreev, Alexey RUS 2688 11.0
26 75 GM Rakhmanov, Aleksandr RUS 2541 11.0
27 12 GM Sargissian, Gabriel ARM 2677 11.0
28 32 GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian RUS 2628 11.0
29 34 GM Volkov, Sergey RUS 2627 11.0 ;
30 49 GM Korotylev, Alexey RUS 2587 11.0
31 6 GM Bacrot, Etienne FRA 2722 10.5
32 39 GM Lysyj, Igor RUS 2620 10.5
33 22 GM Amonatov, Farrukh TJK 2647 10.5
34 91 GM Grigoryan, Avetik ARM 2506 10.5
35 59 IM Chadaev, Nikolai RUS 2568 10.5
36 37 GM Petrosian, Tigran L. ARM 2623 10.5
37 30 GM Riazantsev, Alexander RUS 2634 10.5
38 41 GM Potkin, Vladimir RUS 2613 10.5
39 29 GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim RUS 2636 10.5
40 9 GM Efimenko, Zahar UKR 2688 10.5
41 74 GM Ivanov, Alexander USA 2541 10.5
42 18 GM Grachev, Boris RUS 2655 10.5
43 106 GM Bezgodov, Alexei RUS 2475 10.5
44 57 GM Chuprov, Dmitry RUS 2571 10.5
45 11 GM Vitiugov, Nikita RUS 2687 10.5
46 53 GM Maze, Sebastien FRA 2578 10.5
47 5 GM Svidler, Peter RUS 2723 10.0
48 71 GM Dvoirys, Semen I. RUS 2547 10.0
49 73 GM Maslak, Konstantin RUS 2541 10.0
50 82 GM Melkumyan, Hrant ARM 2519 10.0 ;
51 67 GM Minasian, Artashes ARM 2557 10.0
52 78 GM Bryzgalin, Kirill RUS 2537 10.0
53 69 GM Dziuba, Marcin POL 2556 10.0
54 100 IM Shimanov, Aleksandr RUS 2488 10.0
55 1 GM Jakovenko, Dmitry RUS 2760 10.0
56 15 GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny RUS 2664 10.0
57 13 GM Moiseenko, Alexander UKR 2676 10.0
58 102 IM Kosintseva, Nadezhda RUS 2486 10.0
59 137 FM Reshetnikov, Alexey RUS 2397 10.0
60 31 GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas KAZ 2630 10.0
61 62 GM Safarli, Eltaj AZE 2564 10.0
62 96 Korobkov, Piotr UKR 2501 10.0
63 60 GM Shomoev, Anton RUS 2567 9.5
64 54 GM Romanov, Evgeny RUS 2576 9.5
65 143 Wang, Chen CHN 2382 9.5
66 79 IM Zablotsky, Sergei RUS 2535 9.5
67 52 GM Smirnov, Pavel RUS 2579 9.5
68 111 IM Pileckis, Emilis LTU 2462 9.5
69 112 IM Lushenkov, Mikhail RUS 2462 9.5
70 55 GM Khairullin, Ildar RUS 2574 9.5
71 101 IM Zabotin, Alexander RUS 2487 9.5
72 135 WFM Gunina, Valentina RUS 2400 9.5
73 86 IM Babujian, Levon ARM 2518 9.5
74 85 GM Dlugy, Maxim USA 2518 9.0
75 72 GM Ovetchkin, Roman RUS 2546 9.0
76 125 IM Ris, Robert NED 2436 9.0
77 80 GM Novikov, Stanislav RUS 2523 9.0
78 126 IM Konovalov, Nikolay RUS 2430 9.0
79 142 Lou, Yiping CHN 2383 9.0
80 70 GM Filippov, Anton UZB 2556 9.0
81 56 GM Zhigalko, Andrey BLR 2572 9.0
82 66 GM Zherebukh, Yaroslav UKR 2558 9.0
83 19 GM Savchenko, Boris RUS 2654 9.0
84 76 GM Ragger, Markus AUT 2540 9.0
85 26 GM Lastin, Alexander RUS 2643 8.5
86 107 IM Salem, A.R. Saleh UAE 2473 8.5
87 146 FM Hansen, Eric CAN 2376 8.5
88 92 GM Tunik, Gennady RUS 2506 8.5
89 61 GM Grigoriants, Sergey RUS 2565 8.5
90 24 GM Bocharov, Dmitry RUS 2647 8.5
91 116 GM Iskusnyh, Sergei RUS 2458 8.5
92 121 IM Pavlov, Sergey UKR 2443 8.5
93 58 GM Kotanjian, Tigran ARM 2568 8.5
94 165 Apryshko, Gleb RUS 2074 8.5
95 77 GM Kiselev, Vitaliy RUS 2539 8.5
96 88 GM Rychagov, Andrey RUS 2514 8.5
97 108 FM Pena Gomez, Manuel ESP 2466 8.5
98 64 GM Sjugirov, Sanan RUS 2562 8.5
99 152 FM Djuraev, Sokhib TJK 2353 8.5
100 84 GM Safin, Shukhrat UZB 2518 8.5
101 110 IM Piorun, Kacper POL 2464 8.5
102 93 GM Wen, Yang CHN 2504 8.0
103 17 GM Inarkiev, Ernesto RUS 2656 8.0
104 109 IM Danin, Alexandre RUS 2465 8.0
105 147 Strelnikov, Sergey UKR 2365 8.0
106 35 GM Landa, Konstantin RUS 2626 8.0
107 115 IM Krylov, Mikhail RUS 2459 8.0
108 83 IM Llaneza Vega, Marcos ESP 2519 8.0
109 141 IM Gorbatov, Alexej RUS 2389 8.0
110 20 GM Rodshtein, Maxim ISR 2650 8.0
111 132 Nozdrin, Alexander V RUS 2413 8.0
112 148 IM Ogloblin, Nikolay RUS 2362 8.0
113 120 WGM Shen, Yang CHN 2448 8.0
114 97 IM Kosintseva, Tatiana RUS 2497 8.0
115 145 GM Balashov, Yuri S RUS 2378 8.0
116 94 GM Karpatchev, Aleksandr RUS 2504 8.0
117 104 GM Minasian, Ara ARM 2477 8.0
118 154 CM Popilski, Gil ISR 2348 7.5
119 140 Ju, Wenjun CHN 2392 7.5
120 131 IM Potapov, Pavel RUS 2414 7.5
121 118 IM Robson, Ray USA 2455 7.5
122 89 IM Kalegin, Evgenij RUS 2510 7.5
123 51 GM Gajewski, Grzegorz POL 2581 7.5
124 162 Plotkin, Victor CAN 2202 7.5
125 159 WGM Gu, Xiaobing CHN 2283 7.5
126 99 GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy UKR 2490 7.5
127 103 IM Gavrilov, Alexei RUS 2481 7.0
128 98 IM Ipatov, Alexander ESP 2493 7.0
129 161 Metlyakhin, Dmitry RUS 2215 7.0
130 46 GM Vaganian, Rafael A ARM 2596 7.0
131 151 FM Van Eijk, Sander NED 2355 7.0
132 130 IM Kalashian, David ARM 2415 7.0
133 157 FM Dubov, Daniil RUS 2308 7.0
134 123 IM Devereaux, Maxim L ENG 2437 7.0
135 144 IM Chudinovskikh, Alexander M RUS 2379 7.0
136 139 FM Agaragimov, Djakhangir AZE 2393 7.0
137 47 GM Ehlvest, Jaan USA 2595 7.0
138 105 IM Petrosian, Davit G. ARM 2477 7.0
139 129 Sek, Konstantin RUS 2417 6.5
140 155 Jia, Haoxiang CHN 2315 6.5
141 117 GM Potapov, Alexander RUS 2456 6.5
142 128 IM Melia, Salome GEO 2422 6.5
143 138 Wang, Li CHN 2397 6.5
144 95 GM Krapivin, Alexander RUS 2501 6.5
145 114 IM Belov, Igor RUS 2460 6.5
146 164 Minasyan, Arnold ARM 2171 6.5
147 44 GM Kurnosov, Igor RUS 2602 6.0
148 134 FM Gritsenko, Andrey RUS 2403 6.0
149 158 WIM Kashlinskaya, Alina RUS 2302 6.0
150 163 Inants, Aghasi ARM 2192 6.0
151 149 WIM Zhang, Xiaowen CHN 2357 6.0
152 119 WGM Romanko, Marina RUS 2451 6.0
153 124 IM Genba, Vladimir RUS 2437 6.0
154 153 FM Zilbert, Oleg RUS 2350 6.0
155 40 GM Akobian, Varuzhan USA 2619 5.5
156 127 WGM Munguntuul, Batkhuyag MGL 2425 5.5
157 122 Bochkarev, Alexander RUS 2438 5.0
158 113 GM Peng, Zhaoqin NED 2461 4.5
159 156 WGM Nebolsina, Vera RUS 2312 4.5
160 28 GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej BLR 2636 4.0
161 160 WIM Pourkashiyan, Atousa IRI 2272 3.5
162 133 IM Shvedchikov, Anatoli I. RUS 2409 2.5
163 81 GM Khachiyan, Melikset USA 2519 1.0
164 150 FM Stukopin, Andrey RUS 2357 0.0
165 90 FM Nechepurenko, Roman V. RUS 2508 0.0

Linares 2009 Round 8 pairings & standings after Round 7

After a busy day of chess, which is winding down to just Linares 2009, since Kamsky-Topalov Candidate's is over with GM Veselin Topalov winning. Aeroflot 2009 finishing the other day as well, I think I can take a deep breath now. Whew.

Here are the standings after Round 7

Standings after Round 7
1 5.0 GM Alexander Grischuk RUS 2733

2-3 4.0 GM Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2779
GM Magnus Carlsen NOR 2776

4-5 3.5 GM Levon Aronian ARM 2750
GM Viswanathan Anand IND 2791

6 3.0 GM Leinier Dominguez CUB 2717

7-8 2.5 GM Teimour Radjabov AZE 2761
GM Wang Yue CHN 2739


The only decisive game was Levon Aronian vs Vassily Ivanchuk, with GM Ivanchuk winning with the black pieces.




Round 8 Pairings: Saturday, Feb 28, 2009

T. Radjabov V. Anand
M. Carlsen L. Aronian
A. Grischuk L. Dominguez
V. Ivanchuk Wang Yue

Kamsky-Topalov 2009 Candidate's Match Final

Well, after the long wait for this match, it is over. GM Veselin Topalov will get the right to challenge GM Viswanathan Anand for the World Chess Championship later this year. There will probably be squabbling about where/when the match will take place as well as the format, ie how many games..etc. Gata missed several winning moves in time trouble, which Topalov would not let go unpunished. It was a good match and if not for the time trouble mistakes, we would be going into game 8 tied. I doubt they will play game 8, but if they do, it will probably be a short draw.

Here is the game:

GM Veselin Topalov vs GM Gata Kamsky



GM Topalov: 4.5
GM Kamsky: 2.5

NOTE: These games and the games from Aeroflot 2009 will be uploaded for download in pgn format on the official www.transwarpchess.com website in the games page, hopefully today.

Linares 2009 Round 7 Pairings & Results

Here are today's pairings at Linares, I will update the results when available, if they aren't too late for this poor cat. Boy, I think I will sleep all of next January just to prepare for the last two weeks of February's tournaments! It has kept me busy, that's for sure. And a new pet peeve, google starts posting ads from companies I have affiliations with....sheesh, can't they do that to a big website? Me and my $0.28 earnings object! As Gilda Radner's character Roseanne Rosannadanna said, "It's Always Something!" RIP Gilda

On a happy note as well, Congrats to GM Kateryna Lahno & GM Robert Fontaine on their nuptials on Feb 25, 2009 May they have a long and happy life together!

T. Radjabov 1/2-1/2 M. Carlsen
V. Anand 1/2-1/2 A. Grischuk
L. Aronian 0-1 V. Ivanchuk
L. Dominguez 1/2-1/2 Wang Yue

Linares 2009 Round 6 Results & Standings

Yesterday's round 6 results at Linares, Spain's Super Tournament. Will also post the Carlsen-Anand game. This kind of looks like Kamsky's performance in Corus (Anand's) but there are many rounds to go.

Round 6 Results

GM Carlsen(2776) 1-0 GM Anand(2791)
GM Grischuk(2733) 1-0 GM Aronian(2750)
GM Wang Yue(2739) 1/2-1/2 GM Radjabov(2761)
GM Ivanchuk(2779) 1/2-1/2 GM Dominguez(2717)



Standings after Round 6
1 4.5 GM Alexander Grischuk RUS 2733

2-3 3.5 GM Magnus Carlsen NOR 2776
GM Levon Aronian ARM 2750

4-5 3.0 GM Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2779
GM Viswanathan Anand IND 2791

6 2.5 GM Leinier Dominguez CUB 2717

7-8 2.0 GM Wang Yue CHN 2739
GM Teimour Radjabov AZE 2761


GM Magnus Carlsen vs GM Vishwanathan Anand

Linares Round 5 Results and Round 6 pairings & results.

And yet another tournament, Linares 2009 Round 6 is being played today. Standings after round 5 are posted here, then the pairings and results of round 6 as they come in, might be a tad late as it's rest time for me..

Standings after Round 5
1-2 3.5 GM Levon Aronian ARM 2750
GM Alexander Grischuk RUS 2733

3 3.0 GM Viswanathan Anand IND 2791

4-5 2.5 GM Magnus Carlsen NOR 2776
GM Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2779

6 2.0 GM Leinier Dominguez CUB 2717

7-8 1.5 GM Teimour Radjabov AZE 2761
GM Wang Yue CHN 2739


Round 6 pairings

Wang Yue 1/2-1/2 T. Radjabov
V. Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2 L. Dominguez
A. Grischuk 1-0 L. Aronian
M. Carlsen 1-0 V. Anand

Aeroflot 2009 Final Round Results & Final Standings

Finally posting round 9 pairings, will post results as they come in, I imagine there are already some games done. Just a bad couple of days, will post the round 6 Kamsky-Topalov draw, rest day today, Kamsky needs a win and a draw to keep in it...2 straight wins would give him the chance to face GM Anand for the World Title, I can't imagine the pressure on these guys. Some interesting results.. With GM Eltaj Safarli losing his last round game vs GM Vsdim Zvjaginsev, GM Wesley So will take the Junior prize. Also, IM Tatiana Kosintseva assured of a GM norm after Round 8, took a draw vs GM Alexej Tomashevsky, overall, as I stated in a previous post, I was impressed with her play, she kept on rolling to a fine tournament, finishing with 5.5/9.0 (+1.0) in a great field of players! In Group A2, The US was represented will with GM Melikset Khachiyan tying for first with IM Alexandre Danin of Russia, although it appears IM Danin will take it on tiebreaks, but with both finishing 7.0/9.0 (+2.5) both had a great tournament.


Aeroflot Round 9 (final round)

1 GM Pashikian, Arman 6.0 ARM 2621 0-1 GM Bacrot, Etienne 5.5 FRA 2722
2 GM Moiseenko, Alexander 5.5 UKR 2676 1-0 GM Zhou, Weiqi 5.5 CHN 2542
3 GM Kurnosov, Igor 5.5 RUS 2602 ½-½ GM Predojevic, Borki 5.5 BIH 2650
4 GM Zhigalko, Sergei 5.5 BLR 2587 ½-½ GM Potkin, Vladimir 5.5 RUS 2613
5 GM Sargissian, Gabriel 5.0 ARM 2677 ½-½ GM Zhou, Jianchao 5.5 CHN 2612
6 GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny 5.0 RUS 2664 1-0 GM Khairullin, Ildar 5.0 RUS 2574
7 GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej 5.0 BLR 2636 ½-½ IM Kosintseva, Tatiana 5.0 RUS 2497
8 GM Riazantsev, Alexander 5.0 RUS 2634 ½-½ IM Yudin, Sergei 5.0 RUS 2562
9 GM Dyachkov, Sergej 4.5 RUS 2553 ½-½ GM Dreev, Alexey 4.5 RUS 2688
10 GM Vitiugov, Nikita 4.5 RUS 2687 1-0 GM Grigoriants, Sergey 4.5 RUS 2565
11 GM Ehlvest, Jaan 4.5 USA 2595 ½-½ GM Amonatov, Farrukh 4.5 TJK 2647
12 GM Wen, Yang 4.5 CHN 2504 ½-½ GM Smirin, Ilia 4.5 ISR 2647
13 GM Bareev, Evgeny 4.5 RUS 2645 0-1 GM Filippov, Anton 4.5 UZB 2556
14 GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim 4.5 RUS 2636 1-0 GM Safarli, Eltaj j 4.5 AZE 2564
15 GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas 4.5 KAZ 2630 ½-½ GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy 4.5 UKR 2490
16 GM So, Wesley j 4.5 PHI 2627 ½-½ GM Andriasian, Zaven 4.5 ARM 2564
17 GM Landa, Konstantin 4.5 RUS 2626 ½-½ GM Kotsur, Pavel 4.5 KAZ 2563
18 GM Zhigalko, Andrey 4.5 BLR 2572 ½-½ GM Huzman, Alexander 4.5 ISR 2602
19 GM Naiditsch, Arkadij 4.0 GER 2693 1-0 GM Sjugirov, Sanan j 4.0 RUS 2562
20 GM Van Wely, Loek 4.0 NED 2625 ½-½ GM Onischuk, Alexander 4.0 USA 2659
21 GM Grachev, Boris 4.0 RUS 2655 1-0 GM Akobian, Varuzhan 4.0 USA 2619
22 GM Mamedov, Rauf 4.0 AZE 2638 1-0 GM Minasian, Artashes 4.0 ARM 2557
23 IM Ponkratov, Pavel 4.0 RUS 2557 0-1 GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian 4.0 RUS 2628
24 GM Li, Chao b 3.5 CHN 2628 ½-½ GM Shomoev, Anton 3.5 RUS 2567
25 GM Petrosian, Tigran L. 3.5 ARM 2623 ½-½ IM Chadaev, Nikolai 3.5 RUS 2568
26 GM Lysyj, Igor 3.5 RUS 2620 ½-½ GM Vazquez Igarza, Renier 3.5 ESP 2558
27 GM Melkumyan, Hrant 3.5 ARM 2519 1-0 GM Smirnov, Pavel 3.5 RUS 2579
28 GM Maze, Sebastien 3.5 FRA 2578 ½-½ GM Maslak, Konstantin 3.5 RUS 2541
29 GM Romanov, Evgeny 3.5 RUS 2576 1-0 IM Robson, Ray j 3.5 USA 2455
30 GM Rodshtein, Maxim 3.0 ISR 2650 1-0 GM Ragger, Markus 3.0 AUT 2540
31 IM Kosintseva, Nadezhda w 3.0 RUS 2486 0-1 GM Bocharov, Dmitry 3.0 RUS 2647
32 GM Gajewski, Grzegorz 3.0 POL 2581 ½-½ GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan 3.0 IRI 2604
33 GM Vaganian, Rafael A 3.0 ARM 2596 ½-½ GM Li, Shilong 3.0 CHN 2559
34 GM Bartel, Mateusz 2.5 POL 2594 1-0 WGM Shen, Yang w 3.0 CHN 2448
35 GM Dziuba, Marcin 2.5 POL 2556 1-0 IM Ipatov, Alexander j 2.5 ESP 2493
36 GM Zherebukh, Yaroslav j 2.0 UKR 2558 1-0 IM Salem, A.R. Saleh j 2.0 UAE 2473

Bye Grigoryan, Avetik
Absent Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar; Milov, Vadim; Volkov, Sergey; Chuprov, Dmitry; Kotanjian, Tigran



Final Standings Group A1: Looks like GM Etienne Bacrot will take the tiebreaker over GM Alexander Moiseenko with both tied at 6.5/9.0 (+2.0) (4.5 being +0, 1/2 of 9)


Rank/ Name/ Flags/ Score/ Fed./ M/F/ Rating/ TPR/ W-We/ Col.Bal./ Rat-HiLo/

1 GM Bacrot, Etienne 6.5 FRA M 2722 2775 +0.62 -1 2607.3
2 GM Moiseenko, Alexander 6.5 UKR M 2676 2770 +1.11 1 2602.9
3 GM Zhou, Jianchao 6.0 CHN M 2612 2753 +1.71 -1 2638.9
4 GM Predojevic, Borki 6.0 BIH M 2650 2706 +0.64 -1 2571.1
5 GM Zhigalko, Sergei 6.0 BLR M 2587 2765 +2.15 1 2655.4
6 GM Kurnosov, Igor 6.0 RUS M 2602 2758 +1.89 1 2642.4
7 GM Potkin, Vladimir 6.0 RUS M 2613 2748 +1.61 1 2626.6
8 GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny 6.0 RUS M 2664 2743 +0.92 1 2610.3
9 GM Pashikian, Arman 6.0 ARM M 2621 2729 +1.29 1 2598.9
10 IM Yudin, Sergei 5.5 RUS M 2562 2706 +1.78 -1 2636.9
11 GM Zhou, Weiqi 5.5 CHN M 2542 2714 +2.15 -1 2632.9
12 GM Filippov, Anton 5.5 UZB M 2556 2711 +1.94 -1 2631.9
13 IM Kosintseva, Tatiana w 5.5 RUS F 2497 2702 +2.52 -1 2621.9
14 GM Sargissian, Gabriel 5.5 ARM M 2677 2685 +0.10 1 2598.7
15 GM Vitiugov, Nikita 5.5 RUS M 2687 2672 -0.18 1 2591.4
16 GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim 5.5 RUS M 2636 2665 +0.36 1 2571.6
17 GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej 5.5 BLR M 2636 2644 +0.10 1 2566.4
18 GM Riazantsev, Alexander 5.5 RUS M 2634 2636 +0.03 1 2561.4
19 GM Khairullin, Ildar 5.0 RUS M 2574 2671 +1.17 -1 2643.1
20 GM Andriasian, Zaven 5.0 ARM M 2564 2689 +1.51 -1 2643.1
21 GM Kotsur, Pavel 5.0 KAZ M 2563 2676 +1.37 -1 2632.0
22 GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy 5.0 UKR M 2490 2642 +1.84 -1 2599.1
23 GM Dreev, Alexey 5.0 RUS M 2688 2607 -1.01 -1 2570.0
24 GM Amonatov, Farrukh 5.0 TJK M 2647 2613 -0.44 -1 2569.1
25 GM Smirin, Ilia 5.0 ISR M 2647 2602 -0.56 -1 2563.4
26 GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian 5.0 RUS M 2628 2595 -0.44 -1 2555.6
27 GM Huzman, Alexander 5.0 ISR M 2602 2582 -0.26 -1 2533.1
28 GM Zhigalko, Andrey 5.0 BLR M 2572 2695 +1.48 1 2649.4
29 GM Dyachkov, Sergej 5.0 RUS M 2553 2674 +1.46 1 2630.0
30 GM Wen, Yang 5.0 CHN M 2504 2656 +1.83 1 2611.4
31 GM Grachev, Boris 5.0 RUS M 2655 2658 +0.01 1 2606.7
32 GM Ehlvest, Jaan 5.0 USA M 2595 2637 +0.51 1 2601.9
33 GM Naiditsch, Arkadij 5.0 GER M 2693 2645 -0.61 1 2600.4
34 GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas 5.0 KAZ M 2630 2617 -0.18 1 2571.9
35 GM Mamedov, Rauf 5.0 AZE M 2638 2604 -0.44 1 2560.9
36 GM Landa, Konstantin 5.0 RUS M 2626 2611 -0.23 1 2560.7
37 GM So, Wesley j 5.0 PHI M 2627 2577 -0.65 1 2541.4 1
38 GM Grigoriants, Sergey 4.5 RUS M 2565 2647 +1.03 -1 2643.7
39 GM Safarli, Eltaj j 4.5 AZE M 2564 2636 +0.90 -1 2635.9
40 GM Onischuk, Alexander 4.5 USA M 2659 2580 -0.98 -1 2576.9
41 GM Romanov, Evgeny 4.5 RUS M 2576 2621 +0.56 1 2635.3
42 GM Melkumyan, Hrant 4.5 ARM M 2519 2618 +1.22 1 2620.0
43 GM Bareev, Evgeny 4.5 RUS M 2645 2567 -0.95 1 2564.3
44 GM Van Wely, Loek 4.5 NED M 2625 2496 -1.43 1 2522.0
45 GM Sjugirov, Sanan j 4.0 RUS M 2562 2572 +0.15 -1 2627.3
46 GM Maslak, Konstantin 4.0 RUS M 2541 2572 +0.42 -1 2615.9
47 GM Shomoev, Anton 4.0 RUS M 2567 2562 -0.04 -1 2610.6
48 GM Vazquez Igarza, Renier 4.0 ESP M 2558 2547 -0.09 -1 2598.7
49 IM Chadaev, Nikolai 4.0 RUS M 2568 2546 -0.25 -1 2584.6
50 GM Akobian, Varuzhan 4.0 USA M 2619 2528 -1.11 -1 2569.6
51 GM Bocharov, Dmitry 4.0 RUS M 2647 2490 -1.87 -1 2537.1
52 GM Minasian, Artashes 4.0 ARM M 2557 2592 +0.46 1 2636.1
53 IM Ponkratov, Pavel 4.0 RUS M 2557 2586 +0.39 1 2626.0
54 GM Lysyj, Igor 4.0 RUS M 2620 2546 -0.90 1 2583.7
55 GM Rodshtein, Maxim 4.0 ISR M 2650 2524 -1.53 1 2563.6
56 GM Li, Chao b 4.0 CHN M 2628 2515 -1.37 1 2559.1
57 GM Maze, Sebastien 4.0 FRA M 2578 2516 -0.73 1 2556.3
58 GM Petrosian, Tigran L. 4.0 ARM M 2623 2507 -1.40 1 2554.4
59 GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 4.0 AZE M 2724 2735 +0.07 3 2599.6
60 GM Li, Shilong 3.5 CHN M 2559 2519 -0.50 -1 2606.6
61 IM Robson, Ray j 3.5 USA M 2455 2516 +0.69 -1 2593.4
62 GM Smirnov, Pavel 3.5 RUS M 2579 2558 -0.27 1 2642.4
63 GM Dziuba, Marcin 3.5 POL M 2556 2528 -0.35 1 2619.1
64 GM Vaganian, Rafael A 3.5 ARM M 2596 2497 -1.23 1 2581.9
65 GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan 3.5 IRI M 2604 2495 -1.36 1 2571.7
66 GM Bartel, Mateusz 3.5 POL M 2594 2485 -1.35 1 2559.6
67 GM Gajewski, Grzegorz 3.5 POL M 2581 2423 -1.70 1 2545.1
68 GM Zherebukh, Yaroslav j 3.0 UKR M 2558 2479 -0.94 -1 2615.9
69 GM Ragger, Markus 3.0 AUT M 2540 2467 -0.85 -1 2600.9
70 WGM Shen, Yang w 3.0 CHN F 2448 2464 +0.20 -1 2587.7 0
71 GM Grigoryan, Avetik 3.0 ARM M 2506 2384 -1.23 -1 2566.7
72 IM Kosintseva, Nadezhda w 3.0 RUS F 2486 2472 -0.16 1 2601.9
73 GM Milov, Vadim 3.0 SUI M 2669 2467 -2.25 1 2548.1
74 IM Ipatov, Alexander j 2.5 ESP M 2493 2400 -1.10 -1 2572.9
75 GM Volkov, Sergey 2.5 RUS M 2627 2399 -2.46 1 2534.9
76 IM Salem, A.R. Saleh j 2.0 UAE M 2473 2220 -2.24 -1 2533.
77 GM Chuprov, Dmitry 1.5 RUS M 2571 2419 -1.02 3 2544.5
78 GM Kotanjian, Tigran 0.5 ARM M 2568 2240 -1.53 5 2526.7

Aeroflot 2009 Round 8 Group A1 pairings and results

Tomorrow's or games later today, at Aeroflot 2009 Group A1 Moscow, Russia, again, I will try to update the games as soon as results come in from finished games. Round 5 of Linaes 2009 will also be played tomorrow as well, just a bit later. We also cannot forget Kamsky-Topalov with the gallows door starting to squeak under Gata Kamsky's boots. Hopefully, he will make yet another comeback and keep this match interesting! *sorry late on this..have been ill the past two days..still not feeling too well. Just one of those things.



1 GM Pashikian, Arman 5.0 ARM 2621 1-0 GM Kurnosov, Igor 5.5 RUS 2602
2 GM Predojevic, Borki 5.0 BIH 2650 ½-½ GM Moiseenko, Alexander 5.0 UKR 2676
3 GM Zhou, Jianchao 5.0 CHN 2612 ½-½ GM Zhigalko, Sergei 5.0 BLR 2587
4 GM Bacrot, Etienne 4.5 FRA 2722 1-0 GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny 5.0 RUS 2664
5 GM Khairullin, Ildar 4.5 RUS 2574 ½-½ GM Sargissian, Gabriel 4.5 ARM 2677
6 GM Zhou, Weiqi 4.5 CHN 2542 1-0 GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim 4.5 RUS 2636
7 IM Kosintseva, Tatiana w 4.5 RUS 2497 ½-½ GM Riazantsev, Alexander 4.5 RUS 2634
8 GM Potkin, Vladimir 4.5 RUS 2613 1-0 GM Ehlvest, Jaan 4.5 USA 2595
9 GM Amonatov, Farrukh 4.0 TJK 2647 ½-½ GM Dyachkov, Sergej 4.0 RUS 2553
10 GM Smirin, Ilia 4.0 ISR 2647 ½-½ GM Zhigalko, Andrey 4.0 BLR 2572
11 GM Safarli, Eltaj j 4.0 AZE 2564 ½-½ GM Bareev, Evgeny 4.0 RUS 2645
12 GM Minasian, Artashes 4.0 ARM 2557 0-1 GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej 4.0 BLR 2636
13 GM Grigoriants, Sergey 4.0 RUS 2565 ½-½ GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas 4.0 KAZ 2630
14 GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian 4.0 RUS 2628 0-1 IM Yudin, Sergei 4.0 RUS 2562
15 GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy 4.0 UKR 2490 ½-½ GM So, Wesley j 4.0 PHI 2627
16 GM Filippov, Anton 4.0 UZB 2556 ½-½ GM Landa, Konstantin 4.0 RUS 2626
17 GM Dreev, Alexey 3.5 RUS 2688 1-0 GM Romanov, Evgeny 3.5 RUS 2576
18 GM Smirnov, Pavel 3.5 RUS 2579 0-1 GM Vitiugov, Nikita 3.5 RUS 2687
19 GM Sjugirov, Sanan j 3.5 RUS 2562 ½-½ GM Grachev, Boris 3.5 RUS 2655
20 GM Mamedov, Rauf 3.5 AZE 2638 ½-½ IM Ponkratov, Pavel 3.5 RUS 2557
21 GM Andriasian, Zaven 3.5 ARM 1-0 2564 GM Li, Chao b 3.5 CHN 2628
22 GM Kotsur, Pavel 3.5 KAZ 2563 1-0 GM Petrosian, Tigran L. 3.5 ARM 2623
23 GM Huzman, Alexander 3.5 ISR 2602 1-0 IM Robson, Ray j 3.5 USA 2455
24 GM Milov, Vadim 3.0 SUI 2669 0-1 GM Wen, Yang 3.5 CHN 2504
25 GM Li, Shilong 3.0 CHN 2559 0-1 GM Naiditsch, Arkadij 3.0 GER 2693
26 GM Onischuk, Alexander 3.0 USA 2659 1-0 GM Vaganian, Rafael A 3.0 ARM 2596
27 GM Akobian, Varuzhan 3.0 USA 2619 1-0 GM Rodshtein, Maxim 3.0 ISR 2650
28 WGM Shen, Yang w 3.0 CHN 2448 0-1 GM Van Wely, Loek 3.0 NED 2625
29 GM Maslak, Konstantin 3.0 RUS 2541 ½-½ GM Lysyj, Igor 3.0 RUS 2620
30 GM Bocharov, Dmitry 2.5 RUS 2647 ½-½ GM Melkumyan, Hrant 3.0 ARM 2519
31 GM Volkov, Sergey 2.5 RUS 2627 0-1 GM Vazquez Igarza, Renier 2.5 ESP 2558
32 GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan 2.5 IRI 2604 ½-½ IM Kosintseva, Nadezhda w 2.5 RUS 2486
33 GM Bartel, Mateusz 2.5 POL 2594 0-1 GM Shomoev, Anton 2.5 RUS 2567
34 IM Ipatov, Alexander j 2.5 ESP 2493 0-1 GM Maze, Sebastien 2.5 FRA 2578
35 IM Chadaev, Nikolai 2.5 RUS 2568 1-0 GM Dziuba, Marcin 2.5 POL 2556
36 GM Gajewski, Grzegorz 2.0 POL 2581 1-0 GM Grigoryan, Avetik 2.0 ARM 2506
37 GM Ragger, Markus 2.0 AUT 2540 1-0 GM Zherebukh, Yaroslav j 2.0 UKR 2558

Bye Salem, A.R. Saleh
Absent Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar; Chuprov, Dmitry; Kotanjian, Tigran

Kamsky-Topalov Round 5 & Linares Round 5 Pairings & Results

First we will start off with the first game of the last half of Kamsky-Topalov, being still even is a surprise to some people, to others with faith in their man, Kamsky, it's an "I told you so!" But there's still five games to go, we shall see!

######:1_2_3_4_5_6_7_8

Topalov =| 1| =| 0| 1|

Kamsky =| 0| =| 1| 0|



GM Veselin Topalov: 3.0
GM Gata Kamsky: 2.0

GM Kamsky needs to win 2 and draw 1 game out of the next 3 to win the match, GM Topalov just needs to hold out with 3 draws...looks like, unless a miracle happens, he will meet GM Anand later this year.




LINARES ROUND 5 PAIRINGS (TUESDAY)

L. Dominguez - T. Radjabov
Wang Yue - L. Aronian
V. Ivanchuk - V. Anand
A. Grischuk - M. Carlsen


STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 4:
(TIEBREAKS NOT USED YET, ALPHABETICAL)


1. Aronian, Levon 3 g ARM 2750
2. Grischuk, Alexander 3 g RUS 2733

3. Anand, Viswanathan 2,5 g IND 2791

4. Carlsen, Magnus 2 g NOR 2776
5. Ivanchuk, Vassily 2 g UKR 2779

6. Dominguez Perez, Leinier 1.5 g IND 2791

7. Radjabov, Teimour 1 g AZE 2761
8. Wang Yue 1 g CHN 2739

Pfalz Open Final Standings

I'm sorry I couldn't keep up with this tournament as much as I would have liked, but with so much going on and so little time for me to do things...it just had to take a back seat to the bigger tournaments. I mean we have Linares, Aeroflot and of course the Kamsky-Topalov candidates match! What is a person to do? Key word, person, not persons... :)

These are just the top 50 in the 9 round swiss tournament, when all the pgn files are in, I will post them on the TransWarp website, they only have up to round 5 put up so far, I may be able to scrounge them up somewhere though, let's hope, this site has been pretty slow and mostly in German, sorry, not my second language.

Final Standings after 9 rounds, GM Sergei Tiviakov the clear winner, with a load of players tied for second... The last numbers are the different tiebreaks, looks like IM Sebastian Bogner probably got a GM Norm as well as 2nd on tiebreaks.

1. Tiviakov,Sergei GM 2684 7.5 51.5 388.0
2. Bogner,Sebastian IM 2467 7.0 50.0 376.5
3. Kuzubov,Yuriy GM 2626 7.0 50.0 375.0
4. Borovikov,Vladislav GM 2582 7.0 50.0 374.0
5. Drozdovskyy,Yuriy GM 2607 7.0 48.5 374.5
6. Mamedov,Nidjat GM 2607 7.0 48.0 359.5
7. Sulskis,Sarunas GM 2573 7.0 48.0 359.0
8. Buhmann,Rainer GM 2565 7.0 48.0 358.5
9. Gharamian,Tigran IM 2581 7.0 47.5 374.5
10. Kempinski,Robert GM 2584 7.0 47.5 363.0
11. Iotov,Valentin GM 2556 6.5 50.5 373.5
12. Markowski,Tomasz GM 2605 6.5 50.0 372.5
13. Milov,Leonid IM 2539 6.5 50.0 366.0
14. Baklan,Vladimir GM 2627 6.5 49.5 364.5
15. Malakhatko,Vadim GM 2610 6.5 49.0 371.0
16. Epishin,Vladimir GM 2587 6.5 49.0 357.0
17. Jankovic,Alojzije GM 2571 6.5 46.5 358.5
18. Kveinys,Aloyzas GM 2522 6.5 46.5 352.0
19. Muzychuk,Anna IM 2540 6.5 46.0 349.5
20. Kunin,Vitaly GM 2546 6.5 45.5 367.5
21. Yemelin,Vasily GM 2578 6.5 45.5 353.0
22. Vavrak,Peter IM 2488 6.5 45.0 347.0
23. Muzychuk,Mariya IM 2427 6.5 44.5 362.5
24. Teterev,Vitaly GM 2530 6.5 44.5 351.0
25. Skembris,Spyridon GM 2413 6.5 44.0 359.0
26. Geetha Narayanan Gopal GM 2555 6.5 42.5 348.0
27. Pähtz,Elisabeth IM 2455 6.5 42.5 346.0
28. Rau,Hannes IM 2429 6.5 42.5 343.5
29. Maiorov,Nikita GM 2524 6.0 50.0 373.5
30. Galdunts,Sergey GM 2437 6.0 49.5 358.0
31. Luther,Thomas GM 2536 6.0 49.0 350.5
32. Lupulescu,Constantin GM 2608 6.0 48.0 352.0
33. Nabaty,Tamir 2488 6.0 47.5 365.0
34. Greenfeld,Alon GM 2548 6.0 47.5 342.0
35. Beinoras,Mindaugas IM 2426 6.0 47.0 337.0
36. Tania,Sachdev IM 2435 6.0 46.5 354.0
37. Lubbe,Nikolas 2269 6.0 46.0 343.5
38. Chernov,Vadim IM 2455 6.0 45.5 343.0
39. Podgaets,Mikhail IM 2465 6.0 45.0 352.5
40. Dinger,Florian FM 2343 6.0 45.0 346.5
41. Helbig,Mark FM 2332 6.0 45.0 335.5
42. Hoffmann,Michael IM 2474 6.0 44.5 355.0
43. Wirig,Anthony IM 2464 6.0 44.5 354.5
44. Morawietz,Dieter IM 2445 6.0 44.0 352.0
45. Stern,René IM 2492 6.0 43.5 348.0
46. Ringoir,Tanguy FM 2366 6.0 43.5 327.5
47. Meijers,Viesturs GM 2493 6.0 43.0 348.0
48. Kasparov,Sergey GM 2488 6.0 42.5 351.5
49. Friedrich,Norbert FM 2342 6.0 42.0 344.0
50. Nekrasov,Michail IM 2372 6.0 41.5 326.0

Aeroflot 2009 round 7 Group A1 pairings and results

Here are the pairings of Round 7 of the Aeroflot 2009 tournament in Moscow, Russia, minus top seed, GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan. He withdrew from the tournament today (Sunday, Feb 22, 2009) after complaining that his opponent was acting suspicious and possibly cheating. He thought GM Igor Kurnosov might be getting computer assistance as he kept going to the bathroom (yep, bathroom again, now more jokes, just what we need, ) as well as going out and smoking a lot.

I posted his letter to the arbitors and organizers in the previous Aeroflot post. Kamsky-Topalov candidates also resumes tomorrow with round 5 of the 8 round match, which is too short in my opinion. I think it should be at the least 12 games, if not the old 24 games. At least with this amount you can be sure there's a clear winner.

But not going on and on like the Kasparov-Karpov match (I believe the first one...that went into the 40+ games as only wins were counted, draws ignored, if you remember in this match there was controversy as well, as after the long draw-fest, Karpov had a pretty good lead and then Kasparov started chipping away at it..then for some reason (The players were in danger of over exhaustion according to the FIDE president).

The match was stopped, Karpov retained the title, but in the next match where the format was changed, Kasparov became the new World Champion..boy, I hope I have my history lesson right! At least it's what I remember.


1 GM Kurnosov, Igor 5.0 RUS 2602 GM Zhou, Jianchao 4.5 CHN 2612 ½-½
2 GM Moiseenko, Alexander 4.5 UKR 2676 GM Pashikian, Arman 4.5 ARM 2621 ½-½
3 GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim 4.0 RUS 2636 GM Bacrot, Etienne 4.0 FRA 2722 ½-½
4 GM Sargissian, Gabriel 4.0 ARM 2677 GM Potkin, Vladimir 4.0 RUS 2613 ½-½
5 GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny 4.0 RUS 2664 GM Grigoriants, Sergey 4.0 RUS 2565 1-0
6 GM Zhigalko, Andrey 4.0 BLR 2572 GM Predojevic, Borki 4.0 BIH 2650 0-1
7 GM Vitiugov, Nikita 3.5 RUS 2687 GM Zhigalko, Sergei 4.0 BLR 2587 0-1
8 GM Minasian, Artashes 3.5 ARM 2557 GM Amonatov, Farrukh 3.5 TJK 2647 ½-½
9 GM Dyachkov, Sergej 3.5 RUS 2553 GM Smirin, Ilia 3.5 ISR 2647 ½-½
10 GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej 3.5 BLR 2636 GM Safarli, Eltaj j 3.5 AZE 2564 ½-½
11 GM Riazantsev, Alexander 3.5 RUS 2634 GM Kotsur, Pavel 3.5 KAZ 2563 1-0
12 GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas 3.5 KAZ 2630 GM Filippov, Anton 3.5 UZB 2556 ½-½
13 GM Landa, Konstantin 3.5 RUS 2626 GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy 3.5 UKR 2490 ½-½
14 GM Petrosian, Tigran L. 3.5 ARM 2623 GM Zhou, Weiqi 3.5 CHN 2542 0-1
15 GM Wen, Yang 3.5 CHN 2504 GM Ehlvest, Jaan 3.5 USA 2595 0-1
16 GM Romanov, Evgeny 3.5 RUS 2576 IM Kosintseva, Tatiana w 3.5 RUS 2497 0-1
17 IM Robson, Ray j 3.5 USA 2455 GM Khairullin, Ildar 3.5 RUS 2574 0-1
18 IM Yudin, Sergei 3.0 RUS 2562 GM Onischuk, Alexander 3.0 USA 2659 1-0
19 GM Grachev, Boris 3.0 RUS 2655 GM Andriasian, Zaven 3.0 ARM 2564 ½-½
20 GM Bareev, Evgeny 3.0 RUS 2645 GM Maslak, Konstantin 3.0 RUS 2541 1-0
21 GM Melkumyan, Hrant 3.0 ARM 2519 GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian 3.0 RUS 2628 0-1
22 GM So, Wesley j 3.0 PHI 2627 WGM Shen, Yang w 3.0 CHN 2448 1-0
23 IM Ponkratov, Pavel 3.0 RUS 2557 GM Huzman, Alexander 3.0 ISR 2602 ½-½
24 GM Smirnov, Pavel 3.0 RUS 2579 GM Sjugirov, Sanan j 3.0 RUS 2562 ½-½
25 GM Naiditsch, Arkadij 2.5 GER 2693 GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2.5 USA 2619 ½-½
26 GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan 2.5 IRI 2604 GM Dreev, Alexey 2.5 RUS 2688 0-1
27 GM Vaganian, Rafael A 2.5 ARM 2596 GM Milov, Vadim 2.5 SUI 2669 ½-½
28 GM Dziuba, Marcin 2.5 POL 2556 GM Mamedov, Rauf 2.5 AZE 2638 0-1
29 GM Li, Chao b 2.5 CHN 2628 IM Chadaev, Nikolai 2.5 RUS 2568 1-0
30 GM Lysyj, Igor 2.5 RUS 2620 GM Li, Shilong 2.5 CHN 2559 ½-½
31 GM Rodshtein, Maxim 2.0 ISR 2650 GM Zherebukh, Yaroslav j 2.0 UKR 2558 1-0
32 GM Maze, Sebastien 2.0 FRA 2578 GM Bocharov, Dmitry 2.0 RUS 2647 ½-½
33 GM Shomoev, Anton 2.0 RUS 2567 GM Volkov, Sergey 2.0 RUS 2627 ½-½
34 GM Van Wely, Loek 2.0 NED 2625 GM Ragger, Markus 2.0 AUT 2540 1-0
35 IM Kosintseva, Nadezhda w 2.0 RUS 2486 GM Bartel, Mateusz 2.0 POL 2594 ½-½
36 GM Vazquez Igarza, Renier 1.5 ESP 2558 GM Grigoryan, Avetik 2.0 ARM 2506 1-0
37 IM Salem, A.R. Saleh j 1.0 UAE 2473 IM Ipatov, Alexander j 1.5 ESP 2493 0-1

Bye Gajewski, Grzegorz
Absent Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar; Chuprov, Dmitry; Kotanjian, Tigran

Round 6 Pairings and Results- Aeroflot 2009

Aeroflot 2009, starting a bit earlier in the day, has finished round 6, I didn't get a chance to put up the pairings before the round started and results started coming in today, but I will put up tomorrow's round 7 pairings. I also will put up the standings today after Round 6. Recently I learned that GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov accused GM Igor Kurnosov of cheating during their game today. After the arbitors said his accusations had no proof and were basically unfounded, GM Mamedyarov quit the tournament in protest, somewhat unfortunate, was the mention of frequent visits to the toilet...oh dear. I thought we might be over toilet jokes on ICC finally...
Here is the letter to the organizers & arbitors of the tournament (Source: Chessvibes.com)

" To: The organizer of the AEROFLOT-OPEN tournament
Alexander Grigorievich Bakh

From: GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

Explanation of my protest

Dear Alexander Grigorievich,

On 22.09.2009 the game between myself and Igor Kurnosov was played.

During the game my opponent went out of the playing hall after each move, took his coat and withdrew himself on the toilet. After suspicion of unfair play on move 14 I offered a draw, he refused. We quickly played 11 moves, on the 12th move I played a move which confused my opponent. The next moves from him were given as first choice by Rybka, which quickly allowed him to win the game.

Due to this series of suspicions, having to do with the unusual behaviour of my opponent, Igor Kurnosov, I hereby lodge a protest and refuse to continue participation in the tournament.

I hope that this kind of situation will not occur in the future.

Sincerely,

GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov "


1 GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 4.0 AZE 2724 0-1 GM Kurnosov, Igor 4.0 RUS 2602
2 GM Sargissian, Gabriel 3.5 ARM 2677 ½-½ GM Moiseenko, Alexander 4.0 UKR 2676
3 GM Bacrot, Etienne 3.5 FRA 2722 ½-½ GM Zhigalko, Andrey 3.5 BLR 2572
4 GM Zhigalko, Sergei 3.5 BLR 2587 ½-½ GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny 3.5 RUS 2664
5 GM Zhou, Jianchao 3.5 CHN 2612 1-0 GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas 3.5 KAZ 2630
6 GM Safarli, Eltaj j 3.5 AZE 2564 0-1 GM Pashikian, Arman 3.5 ARM 2621
7 GM Ehlvest, Jaan 3.0 USA 2595 ½-½ GM Vitiugov, Nikita 3.0 RUS 2687
8 GM Potkin, Vladimir 3.0 RUS 2613 1-0 GM Grachev, Boris 3.0 RUS 2655
9 GM Predojevic, Borki 3.0 BIH 2650 1-0 GM Smirnov, Pavel 3.0 RUS 2579
10 GM Amonatov, Farrukh 3.0 TJK 2647 ½-½ GM Romanov, Evgeny 3.0 RUS 2576
11 GM Grigoriants, Sergey 3.0 RUS 2565 1-0 GM Bareev, Evgeny 3.0 RUS 2645
12 GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim 3.0 RUS 2636 1-0 IM Ponkratov, Pavel 3.0 RUS 2557
13 GM Filippov, Anton 3.0 UZB 2556 ½-½ GM Riazantsev, Alexander 3.0 RUS 2634
14 IM Kosintseva, Tatiana w 3.0 RUS 2497 ½-½ GM Landa, Konstantin 3.0 RUS 2626
15 GM Khairullin, Ildar 2.5 RUS 2574 1-0 GM Naiditsch, Arkadij 2.5 GER 2693
16 GM Dreev, Alexey 2.5 RUS 2688 0-1 GM Minasian, Artashes 2.5 ARM 2557
17 GM Onischuk, Alexander 2.5 USA 2659 ½-½ GM Andriasian, Zaven 2.5 ARM 2564
18 GM Smirin, Ilia 2.5 ISR 2647 1-0 GM Dziuba, Marcin 2.5 POL 2556
19 GM Mamedov, Rauf 2.5 AZE 2638 0-1 GM Dyachkov, Sergej 2.5 RUS 2553
20 IM Chadaev, Nikolai 2.5 RUS 2568 0-1 GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej 2.5 BLR 2636
21 GM Kotsur, Pavel 2.5 KAZ 2563 1-0 GM Li, Chao b 2.5 CHN 2628
22 GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian 2.5 RUS 2628 ½-½ GM Maslak, Konstantin 2.5 RUS 2541
23 GM Sjugirov, Sanan j 2.5 RUS 2562 ½-½ GM So, Wesley j 2.5 PHI 2627
24 GM Li, Shilong 2.5 CHN 2559 0-1 GM Petrosian, Tigran L. 2.5 ARM 2623
25 GM Zhou, Weiqi 2.5 CHN 2542 1-0 GM Lysyj, Igor 2.5 RUS 2620
26 GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2.5 USA 2619 0-1 IM Robson, Ray j 2.5 USA 2455
27 GM Huzman, Alexander 2.5 ISR 2602 ½-½ GM Melkumyan, Hrant 2.5 ARM 2519
28 GM Vaganian, Rafael A 2.5 ARM 2596 0-1 GM Wen, Yang 2.5 CHN 2504
29 GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy 2.5 UKR 2490 1-0 GM Shomoev, Anton 2.0 RUS 2567
30 WGM Shen, Yang w 2.0 CHN 2448 1-0 GM Maze, Sebastien 2.0 FRA 2578
31 GM Grigoryan, Avetik 2.0 ARM 2506 0-1 IM Yudin, Sergei 2.0 RUS 2562
32 GM Milov, Vadim 1.5 SUI 2669 1-0 GM Vazquez Igarza, Renier 1.5 ESP 2558
33 GM Bartel, Mateusz 1.5 POL 2594 ½-½ GM Rodshtein, Maxim 1.5 ISR 2650
34 GM Volkov, Sergey 1.5 RUS 2627 ½-½ IM Kosintseva, Nadezhda w 1.5 RUS 2486
35 GM Zherebukh, Yaroslav j 1.5 UKR 2558 ½-½ GM Van Wely, Loek 1.5 NED 2625
36 IM Ipatov, Alexander j 1.5 ESP 2493 0-1 GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan 1.5 IRI 2604
37 GM Bocharov, Dmitry 1.0 RUS 2647 1-0 GM Gajewski, Grzegorz 1.0 POL 2581
38 GM Ragger, Markus 1.0 AUT 2540 1-0 IM Salem, A.R. Saleh j 1.0 UAE 2473

Absent: Chuprov, Dmitry; Kotanjian, Tigran





Standings After Round 6
title-player name-score-country-gender-rating-performance rating-tiebreak score

1 GM Kurnosov, Igor 5.0 RUS M 2602 2908 +2.28
2 GM Moiseenko, Alexander 4.5 UKR M 2676 2797 +0.91
3 GM Pashikian, Arman 4.5 ARM M 2621 2765 +1.10
4 GM Zhou, Jianchao 4.5 CHN M 2612 2824 +1.66
5 GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 4.0 AZE M 2724 2735 +0.07
6 GM Bacrot, Etienne 4.0 FRA M 2722 2719 -0.04
7 GM Sargissian, Gabriel 4.0 ARM M 2677 2732 +0.42
8 GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny 4.0 RUS M 2664 2742 +0.60
9 GM Predojevic, Borki 4.0 BIH M 2650 2688 +0.28
10 GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim 4.0 RUS M 2636 2698 +0.47
11 GM Potkin, Vladimir 4.0 RUS M 2613 2749 +1.09
12 GM Zhigalko, Sergei 4.0 BLR M 2587 2766 +1.44
13 GM Zhigalko, Andrey 4.0 BLR M 2572 2787 +1.73
14 GM Grigoriants, Sergey 4.0 RUS M 2565 2765 +1.63
15 GM Vitiugov, Nikita 3.5 RUS M 2687 2656 -0.22
16 GM Amonatov, Farrukh 3.5 TJK M 2647 2628 -0.12
17 GM Smirin, Ilia 3.5 ISR M 2647 2625 -0.14
18 GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej 3.5 BLR M 2636 2633 +0.00
19 GM Riazantsev, Alexander 3.5 RUS M 2634 2621 -0.09
20 GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas 3.5 KAZ M 2630 2650 +0.20
21 GM Landa, Konstantin 3.5 RUS M 2626 2640 +0.14
22 GM Petrosian, Tigran L. 3.5 ARM M 2623 2603 -0.13
23 GM Ehlvest, Jaan 3.5 USA M 2595 2654 +0.53
24 GM Romanov, Evgeny 3.5 RUS M 2576 2715 +1.18
25 GM Khairullin, Ildar 3.5 RUS M 2574 2699 +1.07
26 GM Safarli, Eltaj j 3.5 AZE M 2564 2691 +1.09
27 GM Kotsur, Pavel 3.5 KAZ M 2563 2692 +1.10
28 GM Minasian, Artashes 3.5 ARM M 2557 2689 +1.12
29 GM Filippov, Anton 3.5 UZB M 2556 2686 +1.12
30 GM Dyachkov, Sergej 3.5 RUS M 2553 2673 +1.02
31 GM Zhou, Weiqi 3.5 CHN M 2542 2686 +1.23
32 GM Wen, Yang 3.5 CHN M 2504 2658 +1.30
33 IM Kosintseva, Tatiana w 3.5 RUS F 2497 2682 +1.54
34 GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy 3.5 UKR M 2490 2642 +1.29
35 IM Robson, Ray j 3.5 USA M 2455 2658 +1.67
36 GM Onischuk, Alexander 3.0 USA M 2659 2573 -0.71
37 GM Grachev, Boris 3.0 RUS M 2655 2631 -0.19
38 GM Bareev, Evgeny 3.0 RUS M 2645 2574 -0.58
39 GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian 3.0 RUS M 2628 2556 -0.60
40 GM So, Wesley j 3.0 PHI M 2627 2550 -0.65
41 GM Huzman, Alexander 3.0 ISR M 2602 2545 -0.46
42 GM Smirnov, Pavel 3.0 RUS M 2579 2662 +0.68
43 GM Andriasian, Zaven 3.0 ARM M 2564 2651 +0.71
44 GM Sjugirov, Sanan j 3.0 RUS M 2562 2602 +0.32
45 IM Yudin, Sergei 3.0 RUS M 2562 2619 +0.46
46 IM Ponkratov, Pavel 3.0 RUS M 2557 2632 +0.62
47 GM Maslak, Konstantin 3.0 RUS M 2541 2615 +0.62
48 GM Melkumyan, Hrant 3.0 ARM M 2519 2619 +0.82
49 WGM Shen, Yang w 3.0 CHN F 2448 2576 +1.04
50 GM Naiditsch, Arkadij 2.5 GER M 2693 2556 -1.15
51 GM Dreev, Alexey 2.5 RUS M 2688 2501 -1.56
52 GM Milov, Vadim 2.5 SUI M 2669 2499 -1.43
53 GM Mamedov, Rauf 2.5 AZE M 2638 2507 -1.11
54 GM Li, Chao b 2.5 CHN M 2628 2497 -1.12
55 GM Lysyj, Igor 2.5 RUS M 2620 2550 -0.62
56 GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2.5 USA M 2619 2466 -1.30
57 GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan 2.5 IRI M 2604 2513 -0.79
58 GM Vaganian, Rafael A 2.5 ARM M 2596 2495 -0.87
59 IM Chadaev, Nikolai 2.5 RUS M 2568 2526 -0.39
60 GM Li, Shilong 2.5 CHN M 2559 2524 -0.31
61 GM Dziuba, Marcin 2.5 POL M 2556 2572 +0.11
62 GM Rodshtein, Maxim 2.0 ISR M 2650 2440 -1.71
63 GM Bocharov, Dmitry 2.0 RUS M 2647 2411 -1.89
64 GM Volkov, Sergey 2.0 RUS M 2627 2408 -1.78
65 GM Van Wely, Loek 2.0 NED M 2625 2293 -2.13
66 GM Bartel, Mateusz 2.0 POL M 2594 2473 -0.96
67 GM Maze, Sebastien 2.0 FRA M 2578 2433 -1.16
68 GM Shomoev, Anton 2.0 RUS M 2567 2474 -0.74
69 GM Zherebukh, Yaroslav j 2.0 UKR M 2558 2504 -0.42
70 GM Ragger, Markus 2.0 AUT M 2540 2458 -0.65
71 GM Grigoryan, Avetik 2.0 ARM M 2506 2454 -0.40
72 IM Kosintseva, Nadezhda w 2.0 RUS F 2486 2463 -0.18
73 GM Chuprov, Dmitry 1.5 RUS M 2571 2419 -1.02
74 GM Vazquez Igarza, Renier 1.5 ESP M 2558 2400 -1.21
75 IM Ipatov, Alexander j 1.5 ESP M 2493 2388 -0.78
76 GM Gajewski, Grzegorz 1.0 POL M 2581 2294 -2.13
77 IM Salem, A.R. Saleh j 1.0 UAE M 2473 2274 -1.39
78 GM Kotanjian, Tigran 0.5 ARM M 2568 2240 -1.53

Linares 2009 Round 4 Pairings and results

Round 4 of Linares is ongoing today as is Aeroflot 2009, having a bit of trouble getting the pairings of today's Aeroflot round. Web is very slow over there from all the traffic as people get more interested in today's games in Linares and Moscow with the Kamsky-Topalov candidates match is a rest day. But they will be back at it tomorrow, again, will be interesting to see if Kamsky gained confidence as he has the


ROUND 4 SUNDAY, 22.02.2009

T. Radjabov 0-1 A. Grischuk
M. Carlsen 1/2-1/2 V. Ivanchuk
V. Anand 1-0 Wang Yue
L. Aronian 1-0 L. Dominguez

Kamsky hits back in Round 4

GM Gata Kamsky hit back today, winning round 4 and evening up the 2009 Candidate's Match to play GM Viswanathan Anand for the World Title. This couldn't have come at a beter time for GM Kamsky, who now goes into the final 4 games with an even slate. This makes the match much more interesting and something to look forward to watching.

GM Gata Kamsky vs GM Veselin Topalov



GM Kamsky should feel that GM Topalov izn't invincible and go into round 5 with more confidence. I believe tomorrow is a rest day and the match will continue on Monday.

Linares 2009 Round 3 Pairings and Results

Here are today's pairings and the reults from the action in Linares, Spain's Annual Super Tournament. All games ended peacefully with 4 drawn games in this Double Round Robin Tournament. Here are today's pairings and results as eell qw the pairings for the next round tomorrow.

ROUND 3 RESULTS

GM Dominguez(2717) 1/2 - 1/2 GM Anand(2791)
GM Wang Yue(2739) 1/2 - 1/2 GM Carlsen(2776)
GM Aronian(2750) 1/2 - 1/2 GM Radjabov(2761)
GM Ivanchuk(2779) 1/2 - 1/2 GM Grischuk(2733)

STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 3

1-2 2.0 GM Levon Aronian ARM 2750
GM Alexander Grischuk RUS 2733
3-6 1.5 GM Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2779
GM Magnus Carlsen NOR 2776
GM Leinier Dominguez CUB 2717
GM Viswanathan Anand IND 2791
7-8 1.0 GM Teimour Radjabov AZE 2761
GM Wang Yue CHN 2739

ROUND 4 PAIRINGS

T. Radjabov A. Grischuk
M. Carlsen V. Ivanchuk
V. Anand Wang Yue PGN
L. Aronian L. Dominguez

Aeroflot 2009 Round 5 Group A1 Pairings & Results

Round 5 results coming in from the Aeroflot 2009 Open, trying to keep up with all the games going on today. Will concentrate on Aeroflot first, then update Linares 2009 and Kamsky-Topalov Candidates match and even TRY to get in the Pfalz 2009 open.

1 GM Kurnosov, Igor 3.5 RUS 2602 ½-½ GM Bacrot, Etienne 3.0 FRA 2722
2 GM Grachev, Boris 3.0 RUS 2655 0-1 GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 3.0 AZE 2724
3 GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas 3.0 KAZ 2630 ½-½ GM Sargissian, Gabriel 3.0 ARM 2677
4 IM Ponkratov, Pavel 3.0 RUS 2557 0-1 GM Moiseenko, Alexander 3.0 UKR 2676
5 GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny 3.0 RUS 2664 ½-½ GM GM Zhou, Jianchao 3.0 CHN 2612
6 GM Pashikian, Arman 2.5 ARM 2621 1-0 GM Naiditsch, Arkadij 2.5 GER 2693
7 GM Vitiugov, Nikita 2.5 RUS 2687 ½-½ GM Romanov, Evgeny 2.5 RUS 2576
8 GM Landa, Konstantin 2.5 RUS 2626 ½-½ GM Amonatov, Farrukh 2.5 TJK 2647
9 GM Zhigalko, Sergei 2.5 BLR 2587 1-0 GM Smirin, Ilia 2.5 ISR 2647
10 GM Bareev, Evgeny 2.5 RUS 2645 ½-½ GM Potkin, Vladimir 2.5 RUS 2613
11 GM Zhigalko, Andrey 2.5 BLR 2572 1-0 GM Mamedov, Rauf 2.5 AZE 2638
12 GM Smirnov, Pavel 2.5 RUS 2579 ½-½ GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim 2.5 RUS 2636
13 GM Riazantsev, Alexander 2.5 RUS 2634 ½-½ GM Grigoriants, Sergey 2.5 RUS 2565
14 GM So, Wesley j 2.5 PHI 2627 0-1 GM Safarli, Eltaj j 2.5 AZE 2564
15 GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej 2.0 BLR 2636 ½-½ GM Filippov, Anton 2.5 UZB 2556
16 GM Andriasian, Zaven 2.0 ARM 2564 ½-½ GM Dreev, Alexey 2.0 RUS 2688
17 GM Khairullin, Ildar 2.0 RUS 2574 ½-½ GM Onischuk, Alexander 2.0 USA 2659
18 IM Yudin, Sergei 2.0 RUS 2562 0-1 GM Predojevic, Borki 2.0 BIH 2650
19 GM Li, Chao b 2.0 CHN 2628 ½-½ GM Li, Shilong 2.0 CHN 2559
20 GM Dyachkov, Sergej 2.0 RUS 2553 ½-½ GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian 2.0 RUS 2628
21 GM Petrosian, Tigran L. 2.0 ARM 2623 ½-½ GM Sjugirov, Sanan j 2.0 RUS 2562
22 GM Lysyj, Igor 2.0 RUS 2620 ½-½ GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy 2.0 UKR 2490
23 GM Dziuba, Marcin 2.0 POL 2556 ½-½ GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2.0 USA 2619
24 GM Maslak, Konstantin 2.0 RUS 2541 ½-½ GM Huzman, Alexander 2.0 ISR 2602
25 GM Melkumyan, Hrant 2.0 ARM 2519 ½-½ GM Vaganian, Rafael A 2.0 ARM 2596
26 GM Ehlvest, Jaan 2.0 USA 2595 1-0 GM Grigoryan, Avetik 2.0 ARM 2506
27 IM Kosintseva, Tatiana w 2.0 RUS 2497 1-0 GM Milov, Vadim 1.5 SUI 2669
28 GM Rodshtein, Maxim 1.5 ISR 2650 0-1 GM Kotsur, Pavel 1.5 KAZ 2563
29 GM Wen, Yang 1.5 CHN 2504 1-0 GM Volkov, Sergey 1.5 RUS 2627
30 GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan 1.5 IRI 2604 0-1 GM Zhou, Weiqi 1.5 CHN 2542
31 GM Minasian, Artashes 1.5 ARM 2557 1-0 GM Chuprov, Dmitry 1.5 RUS 2571
32 IM Kosintseva, Nadezhda w 1.5 RUS 2486 0-1 IM Chadaev, Nikolai 1.5 RUS 2568
33 GM Shomoev, Anton 1.5 RUS 2567 0-1 WGM Shen, Yang w 1.5 CHN 2448
34 IM Robson, Ray j 1.5 USA 2455 1-0 GM Bocharov, Dmitry 1.0 RUS 2647
35 GM Zherebukh, Yaroslav j 1.0 UKR 2558 ½-½ GM Bartel, Mateusz 1.0 POL 2594
36 GM Maze, Sebastien 1.0 FRA 2578 1-0 GM Ragger, Markus 1.0 AUT 2540
37 GM Vazquez Igarza, Renier 1.0 ESP 2558 ½-½ IM Ipatov, Alexander j 1.0 ESP 2493
38 GM Gajewski, Grzegorz 0.5 POL 2581 ½-½ IM Salem, A.R. Saleh j 0.5 UAE 2473

BYE=Loek van Wely
Absent-Tigran Kotanjian

Here was a very good game by IM Tatiana Kosintseva over GM Vadim Milov, GM Milov had many chances with black, but IM T, Kosintseva held strong and when she found a killer attack, she took it.

Linares 2009 Round 2 Pairings and results

Round 2 games of Linares 2009 are still ongoing except for one result so far, I have a doc's appt. I will update the results when I get back and try to get in the Pfalz Open standings and pairings in as well... I hope. Will be pretty tired, didn't sleep much last night.


Linares Round 2

GM Anand(2791) 0-1 GM Aronian(2750)
GM Carlsen(2776) 1/2-1/2 GM Dominguez(2717)
GM Radjabov(2761) 1/2-1/2 GM Ivanchuk(2779)
GM Grischuk(2733) 1-0 GM Wang Yue(2739)

Kamsky-Topalov Round 3 drawn

GM Gata Kamsky again showed he could hold with the black pieces, getting a draw today in a game that was fairly even all throughout. It was a good game to watch, although a bit dry for those who like sharp tactics rather than slow strategy. Even Deep Rybka 3 Human evaluated the game as pretty even during the whole game, at the end even going to a depth of 26 at 0.00 with correct play. The game ccould only be lost really by a major blunder by either side, but both players were very cautious.

GM Veselin Topalov vs GM Gata Kamsky



GM Veselin Topalov 2.0
GM Gata Kamsky 1.0



See The Great Frontier!

TransWarp may be offline from March 1-3

Due to my financial situation (Boy, am I still mad at the guy who said I was just cheap not to have all the "Deep" versions of other engines rather than believing I'm on disability income). Very frustrating... But TransWarp's account will expire on the 28th of February. I will not have money to renew at least for a 6 month extension until at least the 3rd of March. Just a notice so no one worries, I do have friends online who might worry. Some might think I gave up due to lack of play, but no, I intend to try and hang in there as long as possible, this hobby has given me new life, even with the detractors who criticize TransWarp for not playing other computers, thinking it's a rating thing. I actually congratulate people who beat TransWarp, I think it's an achievement to do so and worth posting the games on here. Like right now, in Aeroflot A1, I'm rooting for my Azeri Assassins, GM Rauf Mamedov and GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov..they have played TW a lot and are nice people, of course, "Azeri Assassins" is meant as a compliment for their record against TransWarp, GM Mamedov got a chuckle out of it. But at least I will be able to still cover the games, I just will have to use my human account paid for by my Dad. He has been very supportive of my hobby and I really appreciate his help, He's awesome.

My ads have brought in a whopping $0.25 so far! Except for the Allposters.com, I have made almost $6.00 there, I would recommend other webmasters/bloggers click the button below to become an affiliate, unless you just don't need the spare change of course. I will post it in this link as well, it's below the posts for later visitors.

Jayhawker


Webmasters Make $$$



Getting some cool affiliate status with more companies, hopefully the more well known companies will help, I also want to state that NO information is taken by this site or www.transwarpchess.com, it is only the companies that you may do business with on their secure sites that will have access to this info. I'm sure my sites have passed all "phishing and pop-up" blocker software and deemed safe. I do not use pop-ups, e-mail solicitation, just the banner and text ads I'm provided by google or connection junction (a site like google that provides advertisers a platform to get their ads out to affiliates. Now, aeroflot09 has started, time to watch some games and update the post below as results come in, as well as Linares09, Pfaltz09 and of course Game 3 of the Kamsky-Topalov Candidate's match. After seeing Anand dismantle GM Radjabov yesterday, the winner of that match will have a lot of pressure on them! I just hope the best candidate wins.

Aeroflot A1 Round 4 pairings and results

Pairings for round 4 tomorrow at the Aeroflot 2009 tournament. Really tough keeping up with Aeroflot, Kamsky-Topalov, Pfalz 2009 and Linares 2009!!

1 GM Moiseenko, Alexander 2.5 UKR 2676 ½-½ GM Kurnosov, Igor 3.0 RUS 2602
2 GM Mamedyarov, S. 2.5 AZE 2724 ½-½ GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2.5 RUS 2664
3 GM Naiditsch, Arkadij 2.0 GER 2693 ½-½ GM Grachev, Boris 2.5 RUS 2655
4 GM Bacrot, Etienne 2.0 FRA 2722 1-0 GM Lysyj, Igor 2.0 RUS 2620
5 GM Potkin, Vladimir 2.0 RUS 2613 ½-½ GM Vitiugov, Nikita 2.0 RUS 2687
6 GM Sargissian, Gabriel 2.0 ARM 2677 1-0 GM Ehlvest, Jaan 2.0 USA 2595
7 GM Smirin, Ilia 2.0 ISR 2647 ½-½ GM Smirnov, Pavel 2.0 RUS 2579
8 GM Zhou, Jianchao 2.0 CHN 2612 1-0 GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej 2.0 BLR 2636
9 GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim 2.0 RUS 2636 ½-½ GM Zhigalko, Andrey 2.0 BLR 2572
10 GM Romanov, Evgeny 2.0 RUS 2576 ½-½ GM Riazantsev, Alexander 2.0 RUS 2634
11 GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas 2.0 KAZ 2630 1-0 GM Dziuba, Marcin 2.0 POL 2556
12 GM Grigoriants, Sergey 2.0 RUS 2565 ½-½ GM So, Wesley j 2.0 PHI 2627
13 GM Safarli, Eltaj j 2.0 AZE 2564 ½-½ GM Landa, Konstantin 2.0 RUS 2626
14 IM Ponkratov, Pavel 2.0 RUS 2557 1-0 GM Petrosian, Tigran L. 2.0 ARM 2623
15 GM Amonatov, Farrukh 1.5 TJK 2647 1-0 GM Melkumyan, Hrant 2.0 ARM 2519
16 GM Dreev, Alexey 1.5 RUS 2688 ½-½ GM Khairullin, Ildar 1.5 RUS 2574
17 GM Chuprov, Dmitry 1.5 RUS 2571 0-1 GM Bareev, Evgeny 1.5 RUS 2645
18 GM Mamedov, Rauf 1.5 AZE 2638 1-0 GM Shomoev, Anton 1.5 RUS 2567
19 GM Sjugirov, Sanan j 1.5 RUS 2562 ½-½ GM Li, Chao b 1.5 CHN 2628
20 GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian 1.5 RUS 2628 ½-½ GM Andriasian, Zaven 1.5 ARM 2564
21 GM Pashikian, Arman 1.5 ARM 2621 1-0 GM Kotsur, Pavel 1.5 KAZ 2563
22 GM Akobian, Varuzhan 1.5 USA 2619 ½-½ IM Yudin, Sergei 1.5 RUS 2562
23 GM Filippov, Anton 1.5 UZB 2556 1-0 GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan 1.5 IRI 2604
24 GM Huzman, Alexander 1.5 ISR 2602 ½-½ GM Dyachkov, Sergej 1.5 RUS 2553
25 GM Vaganian, Rafael A 1.5 ARM 2596 ½-½ GM Maslak, Konstantin 1.5 RUS 2541
26 WGM Shen, Yang w 1.5 CHN 2448 0-1 GM Zhigalko, Sergei 1.5 BLR 2587
27 GM Onischuk, Alexander 1.0 USA 2659 1-0 GM Vazquez Igarza, Renier 1.0 ESP 2558
28 GM Predojevic, Borki 1.0 BIH 2650 1-0 GM Zherebukh, Yaroslav j 1.0 UKR 2558
29 GM Zhou, Weiqi 1.0 CHN 2542 ½-½ GM Rodshtein, Maxim 1.0 ISR 2650
30 GM Grigoryan, Avetik 1.0 ARM 2506 1-0 GM Bocharov, Dmitry 1.0 RUS 2647
31 GM Volkov, Sergey 1.0 RUS 2627 ½-½ GM Minasian, Artashes 1.0 ARM 2557
32 GM Bartel, Mateusz 1.0 POL 2594 0-1 IM Kosintseva, Tatiana w 1.0 RUS 2497
33 GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy 1.0 UKR 2490 1-0 GM Maze, Sebastien 1.0 FRA 2578
34 IM Chadaev, Nikolai 1.0 RUS 2568 ½-½ GM Wen, Yang 1.0 CHN 2504
35 GM Li, Shilong 1.0 CHN 2559 1-0 IM Ipatov, Alexander j 1.0 ESP 2493
36 GM Milov, Vadim 0.5 SUI 2669 1-0 GM Kotanjian, Tigran 0.5 ARM 2568
37 GM Van Wely, Loek 0.5 NED 2625 0-1 IM Robson, Ray j 0.5 USA 2455
38 IM Salem, A.R. Saleh j 0.5 UAE 2473 0-1 IM Kosintseva, Nadezhda w 0.5 RUS 2486
39 GM Ragger, Markus 0.5 AUT 2540 ½-½ GM Gajewski, Grzegorz 0.0 POL 2581

Pfalz Round 5 standings & round 6 top boards

Round 6 pairings at the 2000 Pfalz Open, top boards only... Four tied at 4.5/5.0

Round 6 Pairings

1 18. Iotov,Valentin GM (4½) - 1. Tiviakov,Sergei GM (4½) -
2 12. Borovikov,Vladi GM (4½) - 5. Malakhatko,Vadi GM (4½) -
3 23. Milov,Leonid IM (4½) - 7. Drozdovskyy,Yur GM (4½) -
4 27. Maiorov,Nikita GM (4½) - 9. Markowski,Tomas GM (4½) -
5 35. Hoffmann,Michae IM (4) - 3. Baklan,Vladimir GM (4) -
6 4. Kuzubov,Yuriy GM (4) - 29. Meijers,Viestur GM (4) -
7 6. Lupulescu,Const GM (4) - 31. Kasparov,Sergey GM (4) -
8 41. Gaponenko,Inna IM (4) - 13. Gharamian,Tigra IM (4) -
9 14. Yemelin,Vasily GM (4) - 36. Bogner,Sebastia IM (4) -
10 16. Jankovic,Alojzi GM (4) - 33. Nabaty,Tamir (4) -
11 39. Chernov,Vadim IM (4) - 17. Buhmann,Rainer GM (4) -
12 20. Greenfeld,Alon GM (4) - 38. Wirig,Anthony IM (4) -
13 43. Galdunts,Sergey GM (4) - 21. Kunin,Vitaly GM (4) -
14 22. Muzychuk,Anna IM (4) - 45. Wegerle,Jörg IM (4) -
15 24. Luther,Thomas GM (4) - 48. Muzychuk,Mariya IM (4) -
16 49. Beinoras,Mindau IM (4) - 25. Teterev,Vitaly GM (4) -
17 28. Kveinys,Aloyzas GM (4) - 72. Dinger,Florian FM (4) -



Round 5 standings: Top boards to score

1. Tiviakov,Sergei GM 2684 4.5 15.5 54.0
2. Iotov,Valentin GM 2556 4.5 14.5 57.5
3. Drozdovskyy,Yuriy GM 2607 4.5 14.5 54.5
4. Borovikov,Vladislav GM 2582 4.5 14.5 53.5
5. Malakhatko,Vadim GM 2610 4.5 14.0 54.0
6. Markowski,Tomasz GM 2605 4.5 13.5 57.0
7. Maiorov,Nikita GM 2524 4.5 12.5 56.0
8. Milov,Leonid IM 2539 4.5 11.5 54.0
9. Kuzubov,Yuriy GM 2626 4.0 15.5 52.5
10. Lupulescu,Constantin GM 2608 4.0 14.5 52.5
11. Baklan,Vladimir GM 2627 4.0 14.5 52.0
12. Luther,Thomas GM 2536 4.0 14.0 54.0
13. Jankovic,Alojzije GM 2571 4.0 14.0 53.0
14. Gharamian,Tigran IM 2581 4.0 14.0 52.0
15. Kunin,Vitaly GM 2546 4.0 13.5 54.0
16. Bogner,Sebastian IM 2467 4.0 13.5 53.5
17. Nabaty,Tamir 2488 4.0 13.5 53.0
18. Galdunts,Sergey GM 2437 4.0 13.5 52.5
19. Beinoras,Mindaugas IM 2426 4.0 13.5 50.5
20. Gaponenko,Inna IM 2450 4.0 13.0 54.0
21. Dinger,Florian FM 2343 4.0 13.0 53.5
22. Kveinys,Aloyzas GM 2522 4.0 13.0 52.0
22. Muzychuk,Mariya IM 2427 4.0 13.0 52.0
24. Yemelin,Vasily GM 2578 4.0 13.0 51.5
25. Greenfeld,Alon GM 2548 4.0 12.5 54.5
26. Kasparov,Sergey GM 2488 4.0 12.5 54.0
27. Chernov,Vadim IM 2455 4.0 12.0 55.0
28. Wirig,Anthony IM 2464 4.0 12.0 54.5
29. Buhmann,Rainer GM 2565 4.0 12.0 51.0
30. Muzychuk,Anna IM 2540 4.0 11.5 54.0
30. Teterev,Vitaly GM 2530 4.0 11.5 54.0
32. Hoffmann,Michael IM 2474 4.0 11.5 52.5
33. Meijers,Viesturs GM 2493 4.0 11.0 51.0
34. Wegerle,Jörg IM 2431 4.0 10.5 48.0

Linares 2009 Round 1 pairings and results

Linares 2009 round 1 psirings and results from today's games in Linares, Spain's Super Tournament. Will update if possible.

ROUND 1
V. Anand 1-0 T. Radjabov
L. Aronian 1/2-1/2 M. Carlsen
L. Dominguez 1/2-1/2 A. Grischuk
Wang Yue 1/2-1/2 V. Ivanchuk

Here is the only decisive game of the day, with GM Anand showing why he's world champ by slowly grinding down GM Teimour Radjabov to the victory.




ROUND 2 PAIRINGS
T. Radjabov V. Ivanchuk
A. Grischuk Wang Yue
M. Carlsen L. Dominguez PGN
V. Anand L. Aronian

Aeroflot 2009 Round 3 Group A1 pairings & results

Round 3 pairings of Aeroflot 2009, will try to post results as they come in...may be tomorrow, though, might only get results from games on icc.


1 GM Kurnosov, Igor 2.0 RUS 2602 1-0 IM Ponkratov, Pavel 2.0 RUS 2557
2 GM Smirnov, Pavel 2.0 RUS 2579 0-1 GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 1.5 AZE 2724
3 GM Potkin, Vladimir 1.5 RUS 2613 ½-½ GM Bacrot, Etienne 1.5 FRA 2722
4 GM Naiditsch, Arkadij 1.5 GER 2693 ½-½ GM Lysyj, Igor 1.5 RUS 2620
5 GM Vitiugov, Nikita 1.5 RUS 2687 ½-½ GM Zhou, Jianchao 1.5 CHN 2612
6 GM Moiseenko, Alexander 1.5 UKR 2676 1-0 GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan 1.5 IRI 2604
7 GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny 1.5 RUS 2664 1-0 GM Huzman, Alexander 1.5 ISR 2602
8 GM Grachev, Boris 1.5 RUS 2655 1-0 GM Vaganian, Rafael A 1.5 ARM 2596
9 GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej 1.5 BLR ½-½ 2636 GM Grigoriants, Sergey 1.5 RUS 2565
10 GM Romanov, Evgeny 1.5 RUS 2576 ½-½ GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim 1.5 RUS 2636
11 GM Riazantsev, Alexander 1.5 RUS 2634 ½-½ GM Safarli, Eltaj 1.5 AZE 2564
12 GM Ehlvest, Jaan 1.5 USA 2595 ½-½ GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas 1.5 KAZ 2630
13 GM Dziuba, Marcin 1.5 POL 2556 ½-½ GM Landa, Konstantin 1.5 RUS 2626
14 GM Zhigalko, Sergei 1.0 BLR 2587 ½-½ GM Dreev, Alexey 1.0 RUS 2688
15 GM Maze, Sebastien 1.0 FRA 2578 0-1 GM Sargissian, Gabriel 1.0 ARM 2677
16 GM Zhigalko, Andrey 1.0 BLR 2572 1-0 GM Onischuk, Alexander 1.0 USA 2659
17 GM Shomoev, Anton 1.0 RUS 2567 ½-½ GM Amonatov, Farrukh 1.0 TJK 2647
18 GM Minasian, Artashes 1.0 ARM 2557 0-1 GM Smirin, Ilia 1.0 ISR 2647
19 GM Bareev, Evgeny 1.0 RUS 2645 ½-½ GM Khairullin, Ildar 1.0 RUS 2574
20 GM Andriasian, Zaven 1.0 ARM 2564 ½-½ GM Mamedov, Rauf 1.0 AZE 2638
21 GM Kotsur, Pavel 1.0 KAZ 2563 ½-½ GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian 1.0 RUS 2628
22 GM So, Wesley 1.0 PHI 2627 1-0 IM Kosintseva, Tatiana w 1.0 RUS 2497
23 GM Melkumyan, Hrant 1.0 ARM 2519 1-0 GM Volkov, Sergey 1.0 RUS 2627
24 GM Petrosian, Tigran L. 1.0 ARM 2623 1-0 GM Zherebukh, Yaroslav 1.0 UKR 2558
25 GM Dyachkov, Sergej 1.0 RUS 2553 ½-½ GM Pashikian, Arman 1.0 ARM 2621
26 GM Maslak, Konstantin 1.0 RUS 2541 ½-½ GM Akobian, Varuzhan 1.0 USA 2619
27 IM Yudin, Sergei 0.5 RUS 2562 1-0 GM Milov, Vadim 0.5 SUI 2669
28 GM Vazquez Igarza, Renier 0.5 ESP 2558 ½-½ GM Predojevic, Borki 0.5 BIH 2650
29 GM Rodshtein, Maxim 0.5 ISR 2650 ½-½ GM Li, Shilong 0.5 CHN 2559
30 GM Bocharov, Dmitry 0.5 RUS 2647 ½-½ GM Zhou, Weiqi 0.5 CHN 2542
31 GM Li, Chao b 0.5 CHN 2628 1-0 GM Ragger, Markus 0.5 AUT 2540
32 GM Filippov, Anton 0.5 UZB 2556 1-0 GM Van Wely, Loek 0.5 NED 2625
33 GM Wen, Yang 0.5 CHN 2504 ½-½ GM Bartel, Mateusz 0.5 POL 2594
34 IM Kosintseva, Nadezhda w 0.5 RUS 2486 0-1 GM Chuprov, Dmitry 0.5 RUS 2571
35 GM Kotanjian, Tigran 0.5 ARM 2568 0-1 WGM Shen, Yang w 0.5 CHN 2448
36 GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy 0.5 UKR 2490 ½-½ IM Chadaev, Nikolai 0.5 RUS 2568
37 IM Robson, Ray 0.5 USA 2455 0-1 GM Sjugirov, Sanan 0.5 RUS 2562
38 GM Grigoryan, Avetik 0.0 ARM 2506 1-0 IM Salem, A.R. Saleh 0.5 UAE 2473
39 IM Ipatov, Alexander 0.0 ESP 2493 1-0 GM Gajewski, Grzegorz 0.0 POL 2581

Topalov wins Round 2! still ongoing with controversy on broadcast

The second round of Kamsky-Topalov challenger's match is still ongoing, but also still with the notice about PlayChess' possible infraction of internet broadcast rights...we still have to see how this will end...here's the quote on the official site "Currently the broadcast rights are being violated by ChessBase on its software PlayChess." Update: This was posted on the official website of the Match as an explanation to the above message. I guess this will be resolved in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Clause in Official Tournament Agreement http://www.wccc2009.com/uploads/File/agreement.pdf

"5.
The Organizer is given all the commercial rights connected to the Tournament, and is entitled to exploit all
the rights, including but not limited to; sponsorship rights, ticketing rights, Internet rights, televisions
rights, graphic, media, SMS rights, all kind of transmission through cellular
phones, all sort of electronics broadcast rights aheady existing or to exist , souvenir rights,
merchandising rights, advertising and promotion rights, as well as all the source of income through
this agreements.
The Organizer will print and distribute tickets, VIP passes and working passes needed to enter the
Venue."

Will be interesting to see if Chessbase continues to broadcast the game live on it's chess server Playchess.

The game will be posted here when complete.

GM Kamsky vs GM Topalov

Round 5 pairings with points after Round 4 of Pfalz Open 2009

Here are the pairings for round 5 at the Pfalz Open 2009, I have included all who have 3.0 pts out of 4.0 pts. GM Sergei Tiviakov, GM Vladi Borovikov and GM Tomas Markowski are all perfect so far. It looks like that only 2 can go on with a perfect score, the winner of the Tiviakov-Borovikov game and if GM Markowski wins his game. But this round puts us just over the halfway point of the 9 round swiss-system tournament. So lots of action yet to happen.


1 1. Tiviakov,Sergei GM (4) - 12. Borovikov,Vladi GM (4) -
2 9. Markowski,Tomas GM (4) - 4. Kuzubov,Yuriy GM (3½) -
3 3. Baklan,Vladimir GM (3½) - 24. Luther,Thomas GM (3½) -
4 5. Malakhatko,Vadi GM (3½) - 26. Macak,Stefan IM (3½) -
5 21. Kunin,Vitaly GM (3½) - 6. Lupulescu,Const GM (3½) -
6 7. Drozdovskyy,Yur GM (3½) - 37. Podgaets,Mikhai IM (3½) -
7 23. Milov,Leonid IM (3½) - 8. Mamedov,Nidjat GM (3½) -
8 27. Maiorov,Nikita GM (3½) - 10. Epishin,Vladimi GM (3½) -
9 13. Gharamian,Tigra IM (3½) - 39. Chernov,Vadim IM (3½) -
10 33. Nabaty,Tamir (3½) - 14. Yemelin,Vasily GM (3½) -
11 36. Bogner,Sebastia IM (3½) - 16. Jankovic,Alojzi GM (3½) -
12 75. Reinhart,Emmanu FM (3½) - 18. Iotov,Valentin GM (3½) -
13 57. Meszaros,Michal IM (3) - 2. Graf,Alexander GM (3) -
14 11. Kempinski,Rober GM (3) - 59. Donchenko,Anato IM (3) -
15 61. Meinhardt,Maxim FM (3) - 15. Sulskis,Sarunas GM (3) -
16 17. Buhmann,Rainer GM (3) - 60. Nekrasov,Michai IM (3) -
17 19. Geetha Narayana GM (3) - 65. Ringoir,Tanguy FM (3) -
18 62. Rotstein,Jefim FM (3) - 20. Greenfeld,Alon GM (3) -
19 66. Troyke,Christia IM (3) - 22. Muzychuk,Anna IM (3) -
20 25. Teterev,Vitaly GM (3) - 67. Klundt,Klaus IM (3) -
21 68. Batsiashvili,Ni WG (3) - 28. Kveinys,Aloyzas GM (3) -
22 29. Meijers,Viestur GM (3) - 77. Sarbok,Torsten FM (3) -
23 72. Dinger,Florian FM (3) - 30. Stern,René IM (3) -
24 31. Kasparov,Sergey GM (3) - 89. Ackermann,Hans FM (3) -
25 74. Helbig,Mark FM (3) - 32. Vavrak,Peter IM (3) -
26 78. Gheng,Josef FM (3) - 35. Hoffmann,Michae IM (3) -
27 38. Wirig,Anthony IM (3) - 91. Thomassen,Joach FM (3) -
28 86. Trabert,Bettina WG (3) - 41. Gaponenko,Inna IM (3) -
29 93. Frick,Christoph (3) - 43. Galdunts,Sergey GM (3) -
30 44. Tania,Sachdev IM (3) - 95. Lubbe,Nikolas (3) -
31 98. Zuse,Klaus-Pete FM (3) - 45. Wegerle,Jörg IM (3) -
32 46. Rau,Hannes IM (3) - 103. Cevik,Dietmar (3) -
33 100. Hug,Marcel (3) - 47. Zdebskaja,Natal GM (3) -
34 48. Muzychuk,Mariya IM (3) - 113. Vogel,Jaap FM (3) -
35 132. Lacrosse,Marc FM (3) - 49. Beinoras,Mindau IM (3) -
36 136. Frotscher,Thoma (3) - 51. Hirneise,Tobias FM (3) -
37 150. Lau,Udo (3) - 55. Skembris,Spyrid GM (3) -
38 160. Hager,Joshua Aa (3) - 40. Pähtz,Elisabeth IM (2½) -









USE CODE PMX5

Aeroflot 2009 Round 2 Group A1 pairings & results

Here are tomorrow's pairings for Aeroflot 2009, group A1. I won't start posting the standings until later in the tournament. At this point anything can happen, like GM Wesley So's win. I will update the games as soon as I can when the results come in, which can take some time as one game went to 102 moves today before a truce was called. Also we have game 2 of Kamsky-Topalov, with Kamsky having the white pieces to work with to try and put GM Topalov in an early hole.


1 GM Landa, Konstantin 1.0 RUS 2626 ½-½ GM Naiditsch, Arkadij 1.0 GER 2693
2 GM Lysyj, Igor 1.0 RUS 2620 ½-½ GM Vitiugov, Nikita 1.0 RUS 2687
3 GM Zhou, Jianchao 1.0 CHN 2612 ½-½ GM Moiseenko, Alexander 1.0 UKR 2676
4 GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan 1.0 IRI 2604 ½-½ GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny 1.0 RUS 2664
5 GM Onischuk, Alexander 1.0 USA 2659 0-1 GM Kurnosov, Igor 1.0 RUS 2602
6 GM Vaganian, Rafael A 1.0 ARM 2596 ½-½ GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej 1.0 BLR 2636
7 GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim 1.0 RUS 2636 ½-½ GM Ehlvest, Jaan 1.0 USA 2595
8 IM Ponkratov, Pavel 1.0 RUS 2557 1-0 GM So, Wesley 1.0 PHI 2627
9 GM Volkov, Sergey 1.0 RUS 2627 0-1 GM Smirnov, Pavel 1.0 RUS 2579
10 GM Bacrot, Etienne 0.5 FRA 2722 1-0 GM Shomoev, Anton 1.0 RUS 2567
11 IM Chadaev, Nikolai 0.5 RUS 2568 0-1 GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 0.5 AZE 2724
12 GM Sargissian, Gabriel 0.5 ARM 2677 ½-½ GM Zhigalko, Sergei 0.5 BLR 2587
13 GM Milov, Vadim 0.5 SUI 2669 0-1 GM Romanov, Evgeny 0.5 RUS 2576
14 GM Bartel, Mateusz 0.5 POL 2594 0-1 GM Grachev, Boris 0.5 RUS 2655
15 GM Safarli, Eltaj 0.5 AZE 2564 1-0 GM Rodshtein, Maxim 0.5 ISR 2650
16 GM Amonatov, Farrukh 0.5 TJK 2647 ½-½ GM Zhigalko, Andrey 0.5 BLR 2572
17 GM Grigoriants, Sergey 0.5 RUS 2565 1-0 GM Bocharov, Dmitry 0.5 RUS 2647
18 GM Smirin, Ilia 0.5 ISR 2647 ½-½ GM Andriasian, Zaven 0.5 ARM 2564
19 GM Zherebukh, Yaroslav 0.5 UKR 2558 ½-½ GM Bareev, Evgeny 0.5 RUS 2645
20 GM Mamedov, Rauf 0.5 AZE 2638 ½-½ GM Kotsur, Pavel 0.5 KAZ 2563
21 GM Sjugirov, Sanan 0.5 RUS 2562 0-1 GM Riazantsev, Alexander 0.5 RUS 2634
22 GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas 0.5 KAZ 2630 1-0 IM Yudin, Sergei 0.5 RUS 2562
23 GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian 0.5 RUS 2628 ½-½ GM Minasian, Artashes 0.5 ARM 2557
24 GM Van Wely, Loek 0.5 NED 2625 0-1 GM Dziuba, Marcin 0.5 POL 2556
25 IM Kosintseva, Tatiana w 0.5 RUS 2497 ½-½ GM Petrosian, Tigran L. 0.5 ARM 2623
26 GM Pashikian, Arman 0.5 ARM 2621 ½-½ GM Maslak, Konstantin 0.5 RUS 2541
27 GM Akobian, Varuzhan 0.5 USA 2619 ½-½ GM Melkumyan, Hrant 0.5 ARM 2519
28 GM Ragger, Markus 0.5 AUT 2540 0-1 GM Potkin, Vladimir 0.5 RUS 2613
29 GM Huzman, Alexander 0.5 ISR 2602 1-0 GM Wen, Yang 0.5 CHN 2504
30 GM Dreev, Alexey 0.0 RUS 2688 1-0 IM Kosintseva, Nadezhda w 0.5 RUS 2486
31 GM Predojevic, Borki 0.0 BIH 2650 ½-½ GM Filippov, Anton 0.0 UZB 2556
32 GM Zhou, Weiqi 0.0 CHN 2542 ½-½ GM Li, Chao b 0.0 CHN 2628
33 GM Gajewski, Grzegorz 0.0 POL 2581 0-1 GM Dyachkov, Sergej 0.0 RUS 2553
34 GM Maze, Sebastien 0.0 FRA 2578 1-0 GM Grigoryan, Avetik 0.0 ARM 2506
35 GM Khairullin, Ildar 0.0 RUS 2574 1-0 IM Ipatov, Alexander 0.0 ESP 2493
36 GM Chuprov, Dmitry 0.0 RUS 2571 ½-½ GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy 0.0 UKR 2490
37 IM Salem, A.R. Saleh 0.0 UAE 2473 ½-½ GM Kotanjian, Tigran 0.0 ARM 2568
38 GM Li, Shilong 0.0 CHN 2559 ½-½ IM Robson, Ray 0.0 USA 2455
39 WGM Shen, Yang w 0.0 CHN 2448 ½-½ GM Vazquez Igarza, Renier 0.0 ESP 2558

Kamsky-Topalov Round 1 drawn

The first game in the big candidates match was drawn today as GM Gata Kamsky held off GM Topalov's attempt with the white pieces. Getting a draw with the black pieces may give Kamsky the confidence he needs to pull off some sort of upset. But there are seven rounds to go! Was a good game to watch, the controversy was on the Official Website of the match. There was a notice that Chessbase's Playchess site was illegaly posting moves from the game even though they didn't have official permission with the match officials. This should be an interesting thing to watch concerning internet rebroadcast rights, can they be held by copyright or similiar? We shall see!

GM Veselin Topalov vs GM Gata Kamsky



Veselin Topalov - Gata kamsky
Round 1
Chess Challengers 2009
Sofia

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 Gruenfeld Defense should not surprise anyone, as Sutovsky, Kamsky's second, is one of the greatest expert in this opening and recently Gata sometimes uses it instead of his favorite Slav.

4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 O-O 10.O-O The very main line, which brought Topalov several impressive victories.

10... Na5 ( Nobody dares challenge Veselin anymore in the complicated lines after 10... Bg4)

11.Bd3 b6 12.Qd2 e5 13.Bh6 ( At the Russian Team Championship in 2008, van Wely played 13.d5 against Kamsky and lost. The game move is not a novelty but judging by the speed of Veselin's play has to be studied thoroughly during the home preparation.)

13... cxd4 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.cxd4 exd4 16.f4 f6 17.e5 This has to be the prepared novelty novelty. Clock readings: 1.57 1.34 Until this game White followed a plan involving Ng3, Rac1 and a march of the 'h' pawn. Kamsky is still thinking and has 53 minutes on the clock. He has to chose between letting White shatter the pawns covering his King, or simplifying the position a bit but leaving Topalov with a strong passed pawn on the 'e' file.

17... Bd7 Developing move that connects Black Rooks on the 8th rank. Now fxe5 is a threat and White should determine the situation in the center.

18.exf6+ Qxf6 19.Ng3 Kh8 The defensive setup of Kamsky seems to be sound. He neutralized the f4-f5 threat and Veselin has to find a way to keep the initiative.

20.f5 gxf5 With Kg7 this would not be possible in view of Nh5+

21.Bxf5 (21.Nxf5 Rae8 22.Rac1 Nc6 and Black manages to coordinate his pieces.)

21... Bxf5 22.Rxf5 Qd6 23.Raf1 Nc6 One may note that there are almost no lines in my comments. The reason is simple: after 16 moves theory, White makes a novelty, Black finds a good defensive plan and his opponent has to go for forced lines to keep his pressure, while being a pawn down. I would not say that only moves are made all the time but deviating might lead either player in inferior situation.

24.Ne4 Qe7 25.Qh6 Rxf5 26.Rxf5 Once again Topalov forces the Black moves. Now 26...Ne5 is the only defense.

26... Ne5 27.h3 (27.Ng5 is countered by 27... Ng4) ( or 27.Nf6 Ng6) ( Objectively, the best option seems to be 27.Qd2 d3 28.Qc3 Re8 29.Qd4 Qg7 30.Qd6 keeping the position about equal. Topalov is not the kind of player to retreat and he is still looking for forced lines.)

27... Ng6 Kamsky defends in cold blood. He retained his extra pawn and Veselin should be careful. The time spent is about equal: 0.39 0.30

28.Rh5 (28.Rh5 Kg8 29.Nf6+ Qxf6 30.Qxh7+ Kf8 31.Rh6 Rc8 32.Rxg6 Rc1+ 33.Kh2 Qf4+ 34.Rg3 Rc3 35.Qg7+ Ke8 36.Qg5 is a possible line leading to about equal Rook ending.)

28... Rg8 This should lead to a forced draw, while Kg8 was offering some chances to fight for more.

29.Nf6 Rg7 30.Nxh7 Rxh7 31.Qxg6 Qe3+ 32.Kf1 Qc1+ 33.Kf2 (33.Ke2 d3+ 34.Qxd3 Rxh5 35.Qd8+ leads to perpetual.)

33... Qd2+ 34.Kg3 Qe3+ 35.Kh2 Qf4+ 36.Kg1 Qc1+ Draw agreed. Topalov played a novelty on move 17 and launched an attack against opponent's King without ever looking back. Kamsky found good defensive resources and never seemed in real trouble. The draw seems like the just outcome and we are still to watch more fierce battles. 1/2
(Chessdom.com)

Previous is analysis by GM Dimitrov at Chessdom.com, a great site for chess and used with permission of course.

Aeroflot Gtoup A2 round 1 pairings

Although I probably won't follow this group as much, especially with Kamsky-Topalov coming up, but I thought I would post the first round pairings at least, so that everyone who reads this will know all the final participants of Group A2 at Aeroflot 2009. At times, I may have to shorten some names to the first initial so as to let the line fit in the blog. But with 82 participants in Group A1, all the attention will probably be there, although I wish IM Irina Krush and GM Melikset Khachiyan as well as GM Alexander Ivanov good luck throughout the tournament.

ps. I also have to cheer for GM Alexey Dreev, GM Rauf Mamedov, GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in Group A1 as recent players of TransWarp, although Akademik (GM Vladimir Malakhov gave TW it's most recent games this morning. Thanks to him of course, TW back up to 3913, still 28 points from breaking it's best rating.)

42 GM Dvoirys, Semen I. 0.0 RUS 2547 - WGM Romanko, Marina w 0.0 RUS 2451
43 IM Obodchuk, Andrei 0.0 RUS 2445 - GM Ovetchkin, Roman 0.0 RUS 2546
44 GM Ivanov, Alexander 0.0 USA 2541 - IM Pavlov, Sergey 0.0 UKR 2443
45 IM Pokazanjev, Nikolai 0.0 RUS 2443 - GM Rakhmanov, Aleksandr 0.0 RUS 2541
46 GM Kiriakov, Petr 0.0 RUS 2539 - FM Voinov, Alexandr 0.0 RUS 2443
47 FM Anoshkin, Alexander A. 0.0 RUS 2439 - GM Kiselev, Vitaliy 0.0 RUS 2539
48 GM Bryzgalin, Kirill 0.0 RUS 2537 - IM Devereaux, Maxim L 0.0 ENG 2437
49 IM Genba, Vladimir 0.0 RUS 2437 - IM Zablotsky, Sergei 0.0 RUS 2535
50 GM Novikov, Stanislav 0.0 RUS 2523 - IM Ris, Robert 0.0 NED 2436
51 IM Konovalov, Nikolay 0.0 RUS 2430 - GM Khachiyan, Melikset 0.0 USA 2519
52 IM Llaneza Vega, M 0.0 ESP 2519 - WGM Munguntuul, B w 0.0 MGL 2425
53 IM Melia, Salome w 0.0 GEO 2422 - GM Safin, Shukhrat 0.0 UZB 2518
54 IM Babujian, Levon 0.0 ARM 2518 - Sek, Konstantin 0.0 RUS 2417
55 IM Kalashian, David 0.0 ARM 2415 - GM Vasiukov, Evgeni 0.0 RUS 2515
56 IM Pridorozhni, Aleksei 0.0 RUS 2515 - IM Potapov, Pavel 0.0 RUS 2414
57 Nozdrin, Alexander V 0.0 RUS 2413 - GM Rychagov, Andrey 0.0 RUS 2514
58 IM Kalegin, Evgenij 0.0 RUS 2510 - IM Czerwonski, Aleksander 0.0 POL 2409
59 IM Shvedchikov, A I. 0.0 RUS 2409 - FM Nechepurenko, R V. 0.0 RUS 2508
60 GM Tunik, Gennady 0.0 RUS 2506 - FM Gritsenko, Andrey 0.0 RUS 2403
61 WFM Gunina, Valentina w 0.0 RUS 2400 - GM Karpatchev, Aleksandr 0.0 RUS 2504
62 IM Kabanov, Nikolai 0.0 RUS 2502 - Yu, Yangyi 0.0 CHN 2398
63 FM Reshetnikov, Alexey 0.0 RUS 2397 - GM Krapivin, Alexander 0.0 RUS 2501
64 Korobkov, Piotr 0.0 UKR 2501 - Wang, Li 0.0 CHN 2397
65 FM Agaragimov, Djakhangir 0.0 AZE 2393 - IM Shimanov, Aleksandr 0.0 RUS 2488
66 IM Zabotin, Alexander 0.0 RUS 2487 - Ju, Wenjun w 0.0 CHN 2392
67 IM Gorbatov, Alexej 0.0 RUS 2389 - IM Gavrilov, Alexei 0.0 RUS 2481
68 GM Minasian, Ara 0.0 ARM 2477 - IM Kargin, Arseny 0.0 RUS 2389
69 Lou, Yiping 0.0 CHN 2383 - IM Petrosian, Davit G. 0.0 ARM 2477
70 GM Bezgodov, Alexei 0.0 RUS 2475 - Wang, Chen 0.0 CHN 2382
71 FM Hansen, Eric 0.0 CAN 2376 - IM Bitoon, Richard 0.0 PHI 2473
72 FM Pena Gomez, Manuel 0.0 ESP 2466 - Iljiushenok, Ilia 0.0 RUS 2360
73 WIM Zhang, Xiaowen w 0.0 CHN 2357 - IM Danin, Alexandre 0.0 RUS 2465
74 IM Piorun, Kacper 0.0 POL 2464 - FM Stukopin, Andrey 0.0 RUS 2357
75 FM Van Eijk, Sander 0.0 NED 2355 - IM Lushenkov, Mikhail 0.0 RUS 2462
76 IM Pileckis, Emilis 0.0 LTU 2462 - FM Djuraev, Sokhib 0.0 TJK 2353
77 FM Zilbert, Oleg i 0.0 RUS 2350 - GM Peng, Zhaoqin w 0.0 NED 2461
78 IM Belov, Igor 0.0 RUS 2460 - Popilski, Gil 0.0 ISR 2348
79 Jia, Haoxiang 0.0 CHN 2315 - IM Krylov, Mikhail 0.0 RUS 2459
80 GM Iskusnyh, Sergei 0.0 RUS 2458 - FM Dubov, Daniil 0.0 RUS 2308
81 WIM Kashlinskaya, Alina w 0.0 RUS 2302 - IM Krush, Irina w 0.0 USA 2457
82 GM Potapov, Alexander 0.0 RUS 2456 - WGM Gu, Xiaobing w 0.0 CHN 2283
83 WIM Pourkashiyan, Atousa w 0.0 IRI 2272 - IM Delemarre, Jop 0.0 NED 2453

Aeroflot Gtoup A1 round 1 pairings & some results

Aeroflot 2009 is finally here as well, with round 1 starting later today or tomorrow, depending on where you reside. I will post the round 1 pairings and update as much as I can throughout the day, don't forget Kamsky-Topalov candidate match soon too!!

1 GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2724 1/2-1/2 GM Bartel, Mateusz POL 2594
2 GM Zhigalko, Sergei BLR 2587 1/2-1/2 GM Bacrot, Etienne FRA 2722
3 GM Naiditsch, Arkadij GER 2693 1-0 GM Gajewski, Grzegorz POL 2581
4 GM Smirnov, Pavel RUS 2579 1-0 GM Dreev, Alexey RUS 2688
5 GM Vitiugov, Nikita RUS 2687 1-0 GM Maze, Sebastien FRA 2578
6 GM Romanov, Evgeny RUS 2576 1/2-1/2 GM Sargissian, Gabriel ARM 2677
7 GM Moiseenko, Alexander UKR 2676 1-0 GM Khairullin, Ildar RUS 2574
8 GM Zhigalko, Andrey BLR 2572 1/2-1/2 GM Milov, Vadim SUI 2669
9 GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny RUS 2664 1-0 GM Chuprov, Dmitry RUS 2571
10 GM Kotanjian, Tigran ARM 2568 0-1 GM Onischuk, Alexander USA 2659
11 GM Grachev, Boris RUS 2655 1/2-1/2 IM Chadaev, Nikolai RUS 2568
12 GM Shomoev, Anton RUS 2567 1-0 GM Predojevic, Borki BIH 2650
13 GM Rodshtein, Maxim ISR 2650 1/2-1/2 GM Grigoriants, Sergey RUS 2565
14 GM Andriasian, Zaven ARM 2564 1/2-1/2 GM Amonatov, Farrukh TJK 2647
15 GM Bocharov, Dmitry RUS 2647 1/2-1/2 GM Safarli, Eltaj AZE 2564
16 GM Kotsur, Pavel KAZ 2563 1/2-1/2 GM Smirin, Ilia ISR 2647
17 GM Bareev, Evgeny RUS 2645 1/2-1/2 GM Sjugirov, Sanan RUS 2562
18 IM Yudin, Sergei RUS 2562 1/2-1/2 GM Mamedov, Rauf AZE 2638
19 GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej BLR 2636 1-0 GM Li, Shilong CHN 2559
20 GM Vazquez Igarza, Renier ESP 2558 0-1 GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim RUS 2636
21 GM Riazantsev, Alexander RUS 2634 1/2-1/2 GM Zherebukh, Yaroslav UKR 2558
22 GM Minasian, Artashes ARM 2557 1/2-1/2 GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas KAZ 2630
23 GM Li, Chao b CHN 2628 0-1 IM Ponkratov, Pavel RUS 2557
24 GM Dziuba, Marcin POL 2556 1/2-1/2 GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian RUS 2628
25 GM So, Wesley PHI 2627 1-0 GM Filippov, Anton UZB 2556
26 GM Dyachkov, Sergej RUS 2553 0-1 GM Volkov, Sergey RUS 2627
27 GM Landa, Konstantin RUS 2626 1-0 GM Zhou, Weiqi CHN 2542
28 GM Maslak, Konstantin RUS 2541 1/2-1/2 GM Van Wely, Loek NED 2625
29 GM Petrosian, Tigran L. ARM 2623 1/2-1/2 GM Ragger, Markus AUT 2540
30 GM Melkumyan, Hrant ARM 2519 1/2-1/2 GM Pashikian, Arman ARM 2621
31 GM Lysyj, Igor RUS 2620 1-0 GM Grigoryan, Avetik ARM 2506
32 GM Wen, Yang CHN 2504 1/2-1/2 GM Akobian, Varuzhan USA 2619
33 GM Potkin, Vladimir RUS 2613 1/2-1/2 IM Kosintseva, Tatiana w RUS 2497
34 IM Ipatov, Alexander ESP 2493 0-1 GM Zhou, Jianchao CHN 2612
35 GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan IRI 2604 1-0 GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy UKR 2490
36 IM Kosintseva, Nadezhda w RUS 2486 1/2-1/2 GM Huzman, Alexander ISR 2602
37 GM Kurnosov, Igor RUS 2602 1-0 IM Salem, A.R. Saleh UAE 2473
38 IM Robson, Ray USA 2455 0-1 GM Vaganian, Rafael A ARM 2596
39 GM Ehlvest, Jaan USA 2595 - WGM Shen, Yang w CHN 2448