FIDE Grand Prix

The first round of the FIDE Grand Prix in London started at 2pm local time with the first move played by the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

Most of the games started smoothly and the Chinese player Wang Hao was playing very quickly the first 20 moves, with still 1h56m on his clock. His opponent was British number one Michael Adams who replaced GM Peter Svidler at the last minute. Adams took his time to fully equalize after exchanging the Queens. Adams was pushing the whole game, got a pawn up in a rook endgame but it was not enough to win. Draw.

The Cuban player Dominguez faced the solid Petroff defence of the young Dutch star Anish Giri. White got a slightly more comfortable position after the opening. Anish played very accurately in the middlegame and fully equalized. The Dutch player had 3 pawns on the “c” line but got a pawn up during the middlegame. Not enough to win the rook endgame however – draw.

Rustam Kasimdzhanov declined to go into the main line of the Berlin defence played by Peter Leko. 16…Qf6! was a very accurate move from the Hungarian player which eventually equalized the position. Players went into a Bishop versus Knight endgame, which ended in a draw in 34 moves.

Ivanchuk has chosen today the Nimzo-Indian, which apparently didn’t surprise Mamedyarov who picked up a rare line based on 9.Bg5. The Azeri player had some difficulties to castle and was able to do it only after 22 moves. Black got a very slightly better position in the Rook+knight endgame. In time trouble, Vasily managed to win a pawn and arrived in a Knight+3 pawns against Knight+2 pawns endgame. However despite several attempts black could get no more than a draw.

Replay the games with computer analysis

Report by Grandmaster Robert Fontaine

Round 2 pairings:
GM Leko Peter 2737 – GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2769
GM Adams Michael 2722 – GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729
GM Giri Anish 2730 – GM Wang Hao 2742
GM Grischuk Alexander 2754 – GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725
GM Gelfand Boris 2738 – GM Topalov Veselin 2752
GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684 – GM Nakamura Hikaru 2783

Official website

Turkish Isbank Chess League

The Turkish Isbank Chess League is taking place from July 10th to July 22nd, 2012, at the Konya Rixos Hotel.

The Turkish Team Championship was inaugurated in 1995. In 2004, it changed the name to Super League, but after the Turkish Isbank assumed sponsorship in 2006, the name was changed once again to the present Turkish Isbank Chess League.

This year, nearly 300 players from 14 clubs participate in the event. 37 Grandmasters and 87 titled players are present.

The playing hall

In the first round the defending champion from 2011, Istanbul Egitim Chess Club Aquamatch, lost to Besiktas Jimnastik Club with 7:3 score. The only player from Aquamatch who succeeded to win was Judit Polgar.

The strongest woman in the world defeated Rauf Mamedov playing with white and later shared her thoughts on facebook: “For a start, it is always great to have a win!…Black made his final mistake with 34…Bc6 in the time trouble, and I grabbed my chance and did not let it go!”

The “tail-ends” of Mersin Ezgi Chess Club and Besiktas Jimnastik Club proved to be very strong as their players from 6th to 10th board scored 5:0 and contributed to the victories of their respective teams.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - Michael Adams

There were no draws in the match between Adana Truva Chess Club and Antalya Deniz Gençlik Sport Club which finished in favor of Adana Truva with 7:3.

Anand confirmed for London chess classic

Fresh from yet another successful title defence, World Champion Viswanathan Anand, of India, became the first player to sign-up to play in the 4th London Chess Classic, at Kensington Olympia, 1-10 December, 2012.

It is no secret that London is one of Anand’s favourite cities, and this will be his third successive appearance in the tournament.

For well over a decade now, Anand has been among the world’s top five players, and the first Indian to earn the grandmaster title. He played in his first World Championship match back in 1995 in New York, losing to Garry Kasparov.

In May, he beat challenger Boris Gelfand in Moscow to clinch his fifth world championship title. He has also won the Chess Oscar (Player of the Year award) 6 times.

Viswanathan Anand

Anand is also something of a national hero in India, where in 2007 he won the Padma Vibhushan award, one of India’s most prestigious civilian awards, ahead of several prominent sporting superstars, such as cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.

He has become a great ambassador for the game and his country, with his high-profile success over the 64 squares seeing India developing rapidly from a backward chess nation into one of the strongest in the world.

Invitations for the 4th London Chess Classic have gone out to World Champion Vishy Anand, World No.1 Magnus Carlsen, defending champion Vladimir Kramnik, Levon Aronian, Hikaru Nakamura, Judit Polgar, Michael Adams,Luke McShane and Gawain Jones.