22 May 2013

Chess Puzzle - 102


Source: ChessToday.net

White to move. How should white proceed?



Solution :

1.Nf5 with an idea of Nh6#, 
1...gxf5 2.Rg3#
1...Rxd8 2.Rxd8+ Be8 3.Rxe8#



FIDE Grand Prix in Thessaloniki 2013


FIDE is pleased to announce the fourth stage of the FIDE Grand Prix Series will be held in Thessaloniki (Greece) between the 21st of May and 4th of June 2013. The 5-star Makedonia Palace Hotel and its owner, international business investor and philanthropist Ivan Savvidi, are FIDE's sponsors for the 12-player Grand Prix Chess Tournament.

"This event could happen thanks to the active support of the well known philanthropist Ivan Savvidi. According to the wish of Mr Savvidi, an elite chess event is coming to Greece. As FIDE has its principal secretariat in Athens, we are quite happy to have such an elite event in Greece. Additionally, the Greek Chess Federation is one of the most experienced and organized chess Federations in the world and their involvement in the organization of the event will be critical to its success," said FIDE President Kirsan Iljumzhinov.

The opening ceremony will take place at the Makedonia Palace Hotel at Thessaloniki at 6.30 p.m. on 21st of May. The games start at 14:00h local time except the last round. The prize fund to be shared by the players in Thessaloniki is 170,000 EUR, while the organizer provides further 70,000 EUR to the accumulated prize fund for the overal Grand Prix series standings.

Participants include three former World Champions Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan). GM Teimur Radjabov has withdrawn from the Thessaloniki Grand Prix for personal reasons and has been replaced by GM Etienne Bacrot from France.

There will be a systematic renewal of images, reports, as well as live commenting (English, Greek) and press-conferences with the players. Official commentators are GM Ioannis Papaioannou and GM Stelios Halkias.

Time control: 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then each player will be allotted 15 minutes after the second time control and an increment of 30 seconds per move will be allowed from move 61 onwards.

The Grand Prix Series consists of six tournaments to be held over two years (2012-2013). 18 top players participate in 4 of these 6 tournaments. The winner and second placed player overall of the Grand Prix Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament to be held in March 2014.

Players

Name FED Title Rating
 
Bacrot, Etienne FRA GM 2725
Caruana, Fabiano ITA GM 2774
Dominguez Perez, Leinier CUB GM 2723
Grischuk, Alexander RUS GM 2779
Ivanchuk, Vassily UKR GM 2755
Kamsky, Gata USA GM 2741
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam UZB GM 2699
Morozevich, Alexander RUS GM 2760
Nakamura, Hikaru USA GM 2775
Ponomariov, Ruslan UKR GM 2742
Svidler, Peter RUS GM 2769
Topalov, Veselin BUL GM 2793

Average: 2753

Official webpage thessaloniki2013.fide.com 

9 May 2013

What to do?

It is the final position from the game I played recently. I was playing with black pieces. I had 4 pawns compensation for that knight but there is a doubled pawn in f-file. That was a disadvantage for me. It is white's turn here.

What would you do as white?
What could be the result?
Does black have any chances for win?

After making answers for the above questions, you can go ahead.

The game went like this 

1.Ng6+ Kd5 2.Nf4+ Ke5 3.Ng6+ Ked 4.Nf4+ ( both of us were having less time, so repeated for increasing time ) Kc5 5.Ne6+ Kd5 ( if white plays 6.Nd4, black wins by 6...f4+ ) 6.Nf4+ and draw.

7 May 2013

Official statement by Magnus Carlsen


Official statement by Magnus Carlsen regarding the WCC in Chennai

After qualifying for the World Championship match by winning the London Candidates I have been highly motivated for, and looking forward to the World Championship match against reigning champion V. Anand.

I’m deeply disappointed and surprised by the FIDE decision to sign a contract for the 2013 match without going through the bidding process outlined in the WC regulations, and for not choosing neutral ground. The bid from Paris clearly showed that it would be possible to have more options to choose from.

The lack of transparency, predictability and fairness is unfortunate for chess as a sport and for chess players.

My team and I will now start preparing for the match. The main thing now will be to come to an agreement with the Indian Chess Federation and FIDE regarding terms and conditions before and during the match. I really hope this process will run quick and smoothly.

Lastly, I will not let the news from Baku diminish the joy and excitement derived from playing the top level Norway Chess tournament starting tomorrow.