28 Jun 2012

Chess Puzzle - 52



White to move. How should white proceed?

Grandmaster Igor Smirnov's Chess Courses

Hello

You all have got a new blog where you can buy the international grandmaster and chess coach Igor Smirnov's amazing chess courses!

Here is the blog : http://gmsmirnovcourses.blogspot.com/

And here is the facebook page : http://www.facebook.com/GMIgorSmirnovChessCourses

Go fast and grab the courses!

27 Jun 2012

Interesting Chess Pieces


Checkmate in 5 moves



White to move and checkmate in 5.

Anand's new deal


 
Viswanathan Anand is TVH ambassador
June 27, 2012
DC chennai
World Chess champion Viswanathan Anand took on another role on Tuesday when he became the brand ambassador for realty firm True Value Homes (TVH). This latest endorsement sees a new Anand, who has been associated mainly with NIIT for the last 13 years.
The soft-spoken Chennai “Tiger” Anand is naturally keen to bring some chess into the corporate social responsibility of TVH. “I hope we will do some interesting things together including a few things related to chess,” the five-time world champion told reporters.
He added that the projects could have separate sports facilities for chess and other games.
The company is also planning to take chess to weaker sections of the people and to schools and organise annual tournaments.

Stating that TVH had excellent value systems, Anand said, “I always like my chess to do the talking and not words. Similarly, I think TVH will also allow their successful projects to do the talking.”
Noting that he himself was a satisfied customer of TVH as he had bought some flats from the company seven years ago, Anand said that he was comfortable with the company’s value systems.
“Being quiet and focussing on excellence is the motto of both the company and myself,” he added.
While TVH will be the first South Indian company to be associated with Anand, the world champion said that he was open to endorsing more brands. “It all boils down to integrity. If a right brand comes along, then we will do it,” he added.

With Anand’s popularity graph rising abroad, TVH is looking forward to promoting its projects among NRI customers across the globe. TVH Group of Companies chairman Mr N. Ravichandran said Anand was known for his impeccable character, strong value systems and very strong mind.
“These characteristics fit our group, which has created a niche in the market with a steady growth,” he added.

Source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com

Grandmaster Igor Smirnov's chess courses

Hello

I have recently created a facebook page where you can get all the amazing chess courses of International Grandmaster and chess coach Igor Smirnov.

Here is the page : http://www.facebook.com/GMIgorSmirnovChessCourses/

You can login to facebook and click the "LIKE" button on that page!

And also, keep in mind that you can also get Igor Smirnov's courses here >> http://chessstrike.blogspot.com/p/grand-master.html/

Thank you!

26 Jun 2012

Interesting Chess Puzzle - 3


Kasparov's Webinar

Hello,

I have recently found an interesting and an amazing post in GM Igor Smirnov's blog
( You can also get his amazing chess courses by clicking here and also subscribe to his free video lessons on youtube by clicking here )


The post is about an event regarding " The World’s Greatest Online Seminar of Success " and you can also find the link for the original post at the bottom of this post.

Here the post is :






" How does a consultation session with Garry Kasparov sound? Unbelievable? A chance you can’t miss? Well, regardless of how you think of it, one thing is for sure: it’s going to happen soon!


Just recently, a friend of mine brought this event to my attention. Dubbed as the World’s Greatest Online Seminar of Success, this exciting event goes beyond chess. Yes, this is an off-topic BUT I’m sure it’ll be highly useful anyway.
Aside from having good chess skills, having a strong personality is EXTREMELY important for winning tense competitions.

Nowadays, every chess player has ChessBase, Fritz, Rybka, and a ton of other chess books and resources. However, there are certain players that stand out from the rest…achieving much better results than others.
So you may be wondering: ”Why does this happen?”

Everybody has the same level access to outside resources (books, videos etc). But what makes one stand out from the crowd is what makes them up WITHIN – your psychological and mental approach.
Having a winner / champion’s psychology can positively affect your chess and your life as a whole.

Take a look at V. Topalov – the Bulgarian elite GM who’s famous for his uncompromising and entertaining style of play. He’s not as talented as ‘naturals’ like Anand, Carlsen, Kramnik, Nakamura, and others. However, thanks to his strong psychology and character combined with effective training, he became a World Champion.

Strong character and psychology is not something you can easily learn from a book. It is best learned from PEOPLE who have faced the challenges; persevered despite the adversities; and are now on top!
In light of that, the webinar “Keynote 2012” can be very valuable for your development, not just as a chess player BUT as a person. It’s dedicated to leadership, communication, management, and other useful skills.
Here’s its web-site: LINK (after clicking the link choose English language at the top-right side of the window)

You will witness HIGHLY successful people, including Garry Kasparov, reveal their roadmaps to success. Garry Kasparov will conduct the lecture: “How To Use Your God-Given Brain”.
Perhaps, this is NOT for everyone. As I have said, it’s not exactly about chess. But if you are interested in self-improvement and financial success – this is a great event for you.

Garry Kasparov will be joined by other 17 equally famous and successful speakers including:

+ The American billionaire Donald Trump
+ Self-development coach extraordinaire, Brian Tracy
+ Richard Branson (owner of 350 companies)
+ And many MORE!

Now the event is priced at $200. But I doubt you’ll ever get another chance to communicate with such highly successful people for so low price.

Of course, it all boils down to you. But if you’d ask me, it is worth $200 for sure. When I learned about it this morning, I subscribed right away.
————————————————
Note: This is NOT my event, and I have NO relation to it. Just like you, I’m only one of the listeners. So if you are interested or have any questions, please, forward them to the event organizers: LINK (after clicking the link choose English language at the top-right side of the window)
P.S. The price will go up after June the 30th. If you are interested, it’s better to act now. "

So I hope you enjoyed reading this and also if you are interested, you can JOIN!


Original post link : HERE

Thank you!




 

Chess Puzzle - 51



White to move. How should white proceed?

Magnus Carlsen wins Tal Memorial

It's hard to call it a surprise when the world's top-ranked player wins any chess tournament. But in this case, it's a pretty apt description of what occurred in the final round of the Tal Memorial, as all the results went the way of Magnus Carlsen to vault him into clear first place.

After the 8th and penultimate round, it was Italian/American youngster Fabiano Caruana who was in the pole position, and seemed set to clinch victory today. He led Carlsen and Teimour Radjabov by a half-point, with four more players sitting a full point back. But unfortunately for Caruana, his final round opponent was Levon Aronian, and the Armenian had some serious home preparation to uncork with the white pieces. Aronian won in 54 moves, making it very unlikely that Caruana would win the tournament outright.

But he still very well could have shared first, were it not for the efforts of Carlsen. On the Black side of a Ruy Lopez, Carlsen reached a very comfortable position out of the opening, then slowly built an advantage to score an impressive win. With Radjabov only managing a draw against Hikaru Nakamura, that left Carlsen as the clear winner on 5.5/9. Caruana and Radjabov shared second on 5 points.

A full recap of the final round action can be found here. The results won't cause any major shakeups in the world rankings, though Carlsen did both extend his lead at the top of the ratings list, and gain two rating points, inching himself closer to Kasparov's record of 2851. According to the unofficial live ratings list, Carlsen's rating is currently 2837.

Original post here

Chess Puzzle - 50



White to move. How should white proceed?

23 Jun 2012

Simple Endgame Tactics



Black to move. How should black proceed?

Anand's Romanian tourney postponed


 
Anand's Romanian tourney postponed
TNN | Jun 22, 2012, 05.22PM IST

CHENNAI: Viswanathan Anand's first major tournament after winning the World title has been postponed.The Kings tournament in Medias, Romania from June 23 to July 4 has been indefinitely postponed by the organisers.

The 2012 tournament was to be the sixth edition (being held in Bazna until last year) and was set to include a strong impressive 6-player double round robin line-up headed by last year's winner and world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway and the world champion Vishy Anand. The other players were Teimour Radjabov, Sergey Karjakin, Vassily Ivanchuk and top Romanian player Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu.

Rumours of the postponement were confirmed by a brief announcement at the official website, "We are very sorry to announce that the 6th edition of the Kings Tournament is postponed. The global financial crisis and the instable political situation in Romania made it impossible to start the tournament on the initially announced dates".

The Kings tournament is the latest in a series of chess tournaments that have been affected by the global financial crisis, including M-Tel in Bulgaria and most notably the Linares tournament in Spain which has not been held for the last two years.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

1 Jun 2012

Viswanathan Anand Wins World Chess Championship 2012

Image

India's world chess champion Viswanathan Anand retained his title by defeating Israel challenger Boris Gelfand in rapid games at the end of their match in Moscow.
Anand won game two of their four rapidchess games on Wednesday with the other three games ending in draws to win the tie-break, which was forced after their 12-game Moscow series of regular matches ended all square.

Anand has previously won the title in 2000, 2007, 2008 and 2010.

Anand beat Gelfand 2.5-1.5 in rapid chess tie-breaker at Moscow after the two Grandmasters ended the 12-game championship match with a 6-6 stalemate.
 

The first game of the tie-breaker ended in a draw in 33 moves before Anand beat Gelfand in the second game in 77 moves. The two of the remaining four-game rapid chess tie-breaker ended in a draw as Anand successfully defended his world championship title for the third time in a row.

Source : Chesscube user - knightattack

You can get the PGN of all the games here and can watch the video analysis of the regular games here

Thank you!

World Chess Championship 2012 - Tiebreak Rapid Game 4

[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Viswanathan Anand"]
[Black "Boris Gelfand"]
[ECO "B51"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.d4 Nf6 5.e5 Qa5+ 6.Nc3 Ne4 7.Bd2
Nxc3 8.Bxd7+ Bxd7 9.Bxc3 Qa6 10.exd6 exd6 11.Qe2+ Qxe2+
12.Kxe2 f6 13.b3 Bb5+ 14.Kd2 Bc6 15.Rad1 Kf7 16.Kc1 Be7 17.d5
Bd7 18.Bb2 b5 19.Nd2 a5 20.Rhe1 Rhe8 21.Re3 f5 22.Rde1 g5
23.c4 b4 24.g3 Bf8 25.Rxe8 Bxe8 26.Nf3 Kg6 27.Re6+ Kh5 28.h3
Bf7 29.Rf6 Bg6 30.Re6 Re8 31.Bf6 g4 32.hxg4+ Kxg4 33.Nh2+ Kh3
34.Nf3 f4 35.gxf4 Kg4 36.Ng5 Ra8 37.Re3 Kf5 38.Bb2 a4 39.Ne6
Bh6 40.Rh3 Bxf4+ 41.Nxf4 Kxf4 42.Bf6 Ra7 43.Re3 Be4 44.Bh4
axb3 45.Bg3+ Kf5 46.axb3 Ra1+ 47.Kd2 Ra2+ 48.Ke1 Ra6 49.f3 Bb1
50.Kd2 h5 51.Kc1 h4 52.Bxh4 Kf4 53.Bg5+ Kxg5 54.Kxb1 Kf4
55.Re6 Kxf3 56.Kb2 1/2-1/2

World Chess Championship 2012 - Tiebreak Rapid Game 3

[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Boris Gelfand"]
[Black "Viswanathan Anand"]
[ECO "D12"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6
hxg6 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.O-O Bd6 10.h3 O-O 11.Qc2 Qe7 12.Rd1 Rac8
13.c5 Bb8 14.f4 Ne8 15.b4 g5 16.Rb1 f5 17.b5 gxf4 18.exf4 Nef6
19.bxc6 bxc6 20.Ba6 Rc7 21.Be3 Ne4 22.Rb2 g5 23.Rdb1 gxf4
24.Bxf4 e5 25.Bxe5 Nxe5 26.Rxb8 Ng6 27.Nxe4 fxe4 28.Qf2 Qg7
29.Kh2 Rf7 30.Qg3 Nf4 31.R8b3 Qxg3+ 32.Rxg3+ Kh7 33.Rd1 Ne6
34.Be2 Rf2 35.Bg4 Nf4 36.Rb1 Rf7 37.Rb8 Rxa2 38.Rc8 e3 39.Rxe3
Rxg2+ 40.Kh1 Rd2 41.Rxc6 Ne6 42.Rf3 Rxf3 43.Bxf3 Nxd4 44.Rc7+
Kh6 45.Bxd5 Rc2 46.Be4 Rc3 47.Kh2 Kg5 48. Rd7 Nf3+ 49.Bxf3 Rxf3
50.Rxa7 Rc3 51.Rc7 Kf5 52.c6 Ke6 53.h4 Kd6 54.Rc8 Ra3 55.Kg2
Re3 56.Kh2 Ra3 57.Kg2 Re3 58.h5 Re5 59.h6 Rh5 60.Rh8 Kxc6
61.Rh7 Kd6 62.Kg3 Ke6 63.Kg4 Rh1 1/2-1/2

World Chess Championship 2012 - Tiebreak Rapid Game 2

[Result "1-0"]
[White "Viswanathan Anand"]
[Black "Boris Gelfand"]
[ECO "B30"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.b3 e5 6.Nxe5 Qe7 7.d4
d6 8.Nxc6 Qxe4+ 9.Qe2 Qxe2+ 10.Kxe2 Bb7 11.Na5 Bxg2 12.Rg1 Bh3
13.dxc5 dxc5 14.Nc3 O-O-O 15.Bf4 Bd6 16.Bxd6 Rxd6 17.Rg5 Nf6
18.Rxc5+ Kb8 19.Nc4 Re8+ 20.Ne3 Ng4 21.Nd5 Nxe3 22.Nxe3 Bg4+
23.f3 Bc8 24.Re1 Rh6 25.Rh1 Rhe6 26.Rc3 f5 27.Kd2 f4 28.Nd5 g5
29.Rd3 Re2+ 30.Kc1 Rf2 31.h4 Ree2 32.Rc3 Bb7 33.Rd1 gxh4
34.Nxf4 Re8 35.Rh1 Rc8 36.Rxc8+ Bxc8 37.Rxh4 Bf5 38.Rh5 Bxc2
39.Rb5+ Ka8 40.Nd5 a6 41.Ra5 Kb7 42.Nb4 Bg6 43.Nxa6 Rxf3
44.Nc5+ Kb6 45.b4 Rf4 46.a3 Rg4 47.Kd2 h5 48.Nd7+ Kb7 49.Ne5
Rg2+ 50.Kc3 Be8 51.Nd3 h4 52.Re5 Bg6 53.Nf4 Rg3+ 54.Kd4 Bc2
55.Rh5 Rxa3 56.Rxh4 Rg3 57.Nd5 Rg5 58.b5 Bf5 59.Rh6 Bg4 60.Rf6
Rf5 61.Rb6+ Ka7 62.Rg6 Bf3 63.Rg7+ Kb8 64.Nc3 Bb7 65.Kc4 Bf3
66.Kb4 Bd5 67.Na4 Rf7 68.Rg5 Bf3 69.Nc5 Kc7 70.Rg6 Kd8 71.Ka5
Rf5 72.Ne6+ Kc8 73.Nd4 Rf8 74.Nxf3 Rxf3 75.Kb6 Rb3 76.Rg8+ Kd7
77.Rb8 1-0

World Chess Championship 2012 - Tiebreak Rapid Game 1

[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Boris Gelfand"]
[Black "Viswanathan Anand"]
[ECO "D45"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3
O-O 8.O-O e5 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.e4 exd4 11.Nxd5 Nxd5 12.exd5 h6
13.b3 Ne5 14.Nxe5 Bxe5 15.Re1 Re8 16.Bb2 Bd7 17.Qd2 Qf6 18.g3
Rac8 19.a4 Qf3 20.Be4 Qxb3 21.Reb1 Bxg3 22.Ra3 Qb6 23.Bxd4
Bxh2+ 24.Kxh2 Qd6+ 25.Rg3 Rxe4 26.Bxg7 Kh7 27.Rxb7 Rg8
28.Qxh6+ Qxh6+ 29.Bxh6 Rxg3 30.Kxg3 Bc8 31.Rc7 Kxh6 32.Rxc8
Rxa4 1/2-1/2

World Chess Championship 2012 - Game 12 : Anand VS Gelfand



[Event "World Chess Championship, Moscow"]
[Date "2012.05.28"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Anand, V."]
[Black "Gelfand, B."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "2791"]
[BlackElo "2727"]


1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. d3 Ne7 6. b3 d6 7. e5 Ng6 8. h4
Nxe5 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. Nd2 c4 11. Nxc4 Ba6 12. Qf3 Qd5 13. Qxd5 cxd5 14. Nxe5 f6
15. Nf3 e5 16. O-O Kf7 17. c4 Be7 18. Be3 Bb7 19. cxd5 Bxd5 20. Rfc1 a5 21. Bc5
Rhd8 22. Bxe7 1/2-1/2