 Alexander
Grischuk wins the FIDE World Blitz Championship
 
From September 5th to 8th the FIDE World Blitz Championship took place in the
city of Rishon Lezion (Israel). Sixteen players took part, eight of them invited
by the organization, two of them qualified in the ICC
Blitz Championship, and the other six qualified through the very tough qualification
blitz tournament that took place just before the main tournament at the same venue.
The eight invited players were: GM Vishy Anand (India, 2779), GM Peter Svidler
(Russia, 2742), GM Boris Gelfand (Israel, 2729), GM Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan,
2727), GM Judit Polgar (Hungary, 2710), GM Alexander Grischuk (Russia, 2709),
GM Etienne Bacrot (France 2708) and GM Magnus Carlsen (Norway, 2675).
 ICC
organized a very strong Blitz Qualifier for titled players. GM Zhao Jun from China
and GM Dmitry Gurevich (USA, 2507) were the two players classified to the FIDE
Blitz World Championship!
The Qualifier was played by 153 FIDE titled players and
took place Sunday, August 20, 1pm server time. As GM Zhao Jun had other obligations
(a team match France vs. China), he couldn't take part in the Israel tournament.
Therefore, third-placed GM Gagunashvili (Georgia, 2591) was the second ICC qualifier
to the tournament.
The other six qualifiers came from a 13-round qualifier,
played just before the event. More than 170 players including 35 GM participated
and the six winners were GM Ilya Smirin, (Israel, 2659), GM Michael Roiz (Israel,
2611), GM Emil Sutovsky (Israel, 2607), GM Sergey Erenburg (Israel, 2585) and
IM's Dan Zoler (Israel, 2455) and Gaby Lifshitz (Israel, 2407). Other important
names that missed the qualification were Bareev and Milov.
Grischuk, new World Champion of Blitz
(ICC photo:
by John Henderson)
The tournament ended after 15 rounds with a tie for first
place between Grischuk and Svidler with 10.5/15. Alexander won the sudden death
game with the white pieces, taking the first prize of 14.400 USD dollars.
FINAL
STANDINGS World Blitz Chess Championship 2006
|
| POS. |
NAME |
POINTS |
TIE-BREAK S.B. |
WINS |
PRIZE |
| 1 |
Grischuk |
10.5 |
72.00 |
9 |
$14.400 |
| 2 |
Svidler |
10.5 |
72.75 |
10 |
$10.800 |
| 3 |
Radjabov |
10.0 |
67.25 |
8 |
$6.750 |
| 4 |
Anand |
10.0 |
64.70 |
8 |
$6750 |
| 5 |
Polgar |
9.5 |
67.00 |
7 |
$5625 |
| 6 |
Gelfand |
9.5 |
63.00 |
8 |
$5625 |
| 7 |
Bacrot |
8.0 |
62.50 |
6 |
$4950 |
| 8 |
Carlsen |
7.5 |
51.05 |
5 |
$4500 |
| 9 |
Erenburg |
7.0 |
46.50 |
6 |
$3450 |
| 10 |
Sutovsky |
7.0 |
45.50 |
4 |
$3450 |
| 11 |
Gaunashvili |
7.0 |
4.00 |
4 |
$3450 |
| 12 |
Roiz |
6.5 |
41.25 |
5 |
$2700 |
| 13 |
Smirin |
6.0 |
40.05 |
2 |
$2700 |
| 14 |
Gurevich |
4.0 |
29.00 |
3 |
$2700 |
| 15 |
Zoler |
3.5 |
24.75 |
2 |
$2700 |
| 16 |
Lifshitz |
3.5 |
18.75 |
2 |
$2700 |
|
II
Tiendas UPI tournament on the ICC: finalists
 
Last Saturday the Qualifiers finalized. The final will be held on Saturday, September
16th at 3pm ICC server time. They will be joined by the eight best players with
most accumulated points in the eight Swisses.
The absolute winner will receive an exclusive Tiendas UPI
laptop computer along with 1.000 euros in cash.
In addition, ICC and CET (Chess Education and Technologies)
are awarding membership extensions and Weekly Internet lessons (English or Spanish)
for the winners of the three rating sections (most accumulated points in all qualifiers).
Preliminary
WINNERS of the Qualifier Tournaments (*)
|
| HANDLE |
NAME |
TITLE |
COUNTRY |
FIDE |
#Q |
| Sheki |
Gamil Agamaliev |
GM |
AZE |
2480 |
1 |
| Neurisdr |
Neuris Delgado |
GM |
CUB |
2523 |
2 |
| Imperator15 |
Yuri Vovk |
IM |
UKR |
2441 |
3 |
| isodung |
David Larino Nieto |
IM |
ESP |
2371 |
4 |
| B-Savchenko |
Boris Savchenko |
IM |
RUS |
2569 |
5 |
| VerdeNotte |
Gawain Jones |
IM |
ENG |
2416 |
6 |
| LeonHoyos |
Manuel Leon Hoyos |
IM |
MEX |
2436 |
7 |
| Ardetroya1 |
Leonardo Tristan |
-- |
ARG |
2316 |
8 |
|
(*) They will be joined
by the eight best players with most accumulated points in the eight Swisses, making
a total of 16.
 |
Prizes includes laptop and 1,000 euros
in cash. Read rules and instructions. |
|
Connect to see the series of best points
for all qualifiers: "tell pear ser b upi2006" |
|
Class Prizes U2300: Shadowlike, felipe, Chisel, livis,
dsc. |
|
Class Prizes U2000: frank001, Tomas28, Superselector,
Zornorph, gasparus. |
|
Class Prizes U1700: WhiteEvil, therev1957, siddhu,
onti, MichaelJames. |
|
Raffle: DrDeath, vncntj, ristruck, SaoCarlosII, bajerk,
nas3, contry, podkarpacki, WacoKid, marmalar, bykova, MrCakes. |
Leko
defeats Karpov 4.5-3.5 in the rapid chess match
 
Peter Leko and Anatoly Karpov played an eight-game rapid
match in Miskolc (Hungary) from August 30th to September 3rd. They played two
games a day at 16:00 and 17:30 local time. ICC offered live coverage of all the
games.
Most of the games were hard fought, and Karpov showed exceptional
skill in some of them, saving some very difficult games. All the games finished
in draws except for the third game, in which Karpov blundered horribly. In the
last game Karpov had some winning chances, but Leko defended very well and and
drew the game to claim victory in the match.
MATCH
Peter LEKO vs. Anatoly KARPOV (4.5-3.5)
|
GAMES |
RES. |
| 1. GM Peter LEKO (HUN 2738) - GM
Anatoly KARPOV (RUS 2668) |
0.5 |
| 2. GM Anatoly KARPOV (RUS 2668) -
GM Peter LEKO (HUN 2738) |
0.5 |
| 3. GM Peter LEKO (HUN 2738) - GM
Anatoly KARPOV (RUS 2668) |
1-0 |
| 4. GM Anatoly KARPOV (RUS 2668) -
GM Peter LEKO (HUN 2738) |
0.5 |
| 5. GM Peter LEKO (HUN 2738) - GM
Anatoly KARPOV (RUS 2668) |
0.5 |
| 6. GM Anatoly KARPOV (RUS 2668) -
GM Peter LEKO (HUN 2738) |
0.5 |
| 7. GM Peter LEKO (HUN 2738) - GM
Anatoly KARPOV (RUS 2668) |
0.5 |
| 8. GM Anatoly KARPOV (RUS 2668) -
GM Peter LEKO (HUN 2738) |
0.5 |
|
For more information, visit the ICC
LIVE COVERAGE.
Visit the official web site.
US
Chess League - Weeek 2
 
After the second week of the USCL, four teams, San Francisco,
Seattle, Boston and Baltimore, are in the lead without having been defeated yet.
The main match saw Baltimore score a clear 3.5-0.5 win over New York. Young Canadian
GM Pascal Charbonneau (2500) saved the honor of the NY team by holding GM Pawel
Blehn (2593) to a draw with Black.
Other surprising results were IM Ron Burnett's (2449) win
against GM Magesh Panchanathan (2530) although it wasn't enough for his team Tennessee
Tempo to win against Dallas Destiny (2-2 in the end).
Stay tuned all season for four great matches every Wednesday
evening and new special feature matches every Monday.
EASTERN
DIVISION
|
WESTERN
DIVISION
|
TEAM |
W |
L |
Points |
| Baltimore |
2.0 |
0.0 |
6.0 |
| Boston |
2.0 |
0.0 |
5.5 |
| New York |
1.0 |
2.0 |
3.0 |
| Philadelphia |
0.0 |
2.0 |
3.0 |
| Carolina |
0.0 |
2.0 |
2.5 |
|
TEAM |
W |
L |
Points |
| Seattle |
2.0 |
0.0 |
7.0 |
| San Francisco |
2.0 |
0.0 |
6.0 |
| Dallas |
0.5 |
1.5 |
3.0 |
| Tennessee |
0.5 |
1.5 |
2.0 |
| Miami |
0.0 |
2.0 |
3.0 |
|
For more information, visit the ICC
LIVE COVERAGE webpage.
Visit the US Chess League
web site.
Trophée
MULTICONS: China won 28.5 - 25.5 against France
 
The Chinese Olympic team continues to play strong matches
around the world. After defeating recently a "Rest of the World" team
in Taijuan (China) they won against France for the Trophée MULTICOMS in
Paris, from the 4th to the 9th of September. Again they are using the Scheveningen
system with 6 men and 3 women in the teams. Each player plays against all the
other teams' players.
CHINA:
28.5
|
FRANCIA:
25.5
|
| NAME |
TIT |
ELO |
PTS |
| Wang Yue |
GM |
2626 |
4.0 |
| Zhou Jianchao |
GM |
2520 |
3.5 |
| Ye Jiangchuan |
GM |
2641 |
2.5 |
| Yu Shaoteng |
GM |
2542 |
2.5 |
| Zhao Jun |
GM |
2533 |
1.5 |
| Zhang Pengxiang |
GM |
2622 |
1.0 |
| Hou Yifan |
WF |
2488 |
5.0 |
| Zhao Xue |
WG |
2456 |
3.5 |
| Shen Yang |
-- |
2459 |
4.0 |
|
| NAME |
TIT |
ELO |
PTS |
| Bauer, Christian |
GM |
2599 |
5.0 |
| Nataf, Igor-Alexandre |
GM |
2592 |
4.0 |
| Fressinet, Laurent |
GM |
2626 |
4.0 |
| Sokolov, Andreï |
GM |
2589 |
3.5 |
| Degraeve, Jean-Marc |
GM |
2540 |
2.5 |
| Vachier-Lagrave |
GM |
2577 |
2.0 |
| Leconte, Maria |
WF |
2304 |
3.5 |
| Choisy, Mathilde |
WG |
2145 |
1.0 |
| Guichard, Pauline |
-- |
2227 |
1.0 |
|
Information about LIVE
coverage on ICC webpage.
Visit the French Federation
web site.
European
Union Individual Championships
 
The European Union Individual Chess Championship takes
place from the Liverpool World Museum in Liverpool, England, from September 6th
to the 15th. The event is a 10-round Swiss System open to all players affiliated
to countries within the European Union, with a total prize fund of 15.000 pounds
(first prize 3.000 pounds). After two rounds top seed GM Nigel Short (England,
2676) is in the lead with 2/2, whereas other 2600+ favourites such as GM Zoltan
Gyimesi (Hungary, 2616) or GM Luke McShane (England, 2614) have already dropped
half a point..
TOP-10
Round 5 - Sunday, 10th September
|
| BD |
WHITE |
PTS |
RES |
BLACK |
PTS |
| 1 |
SHORT,Nigel |
3.5 |
1-0 |
GORMALLY,Daniel |
3.5 |
| 2 |
MCSHANE,Luke J |
3.5 |
0-1 |
WILLIAMS,Simon K |
3.5 |
| 3 |
JONES,Gawain C |
3.0 |
½-½ |
LUTHER,Thomas |
3.0 |
| 4 |
HEBDEN,Mark |
3.0 |
½-½ |
BRANDENBURG,Daan |
3.0 |
| 5 |
SARAKAUSKAS,Gediminas |
3.0 |
½-½ |
GALEGO,Luis |
3.0 |
| 6 |
DEVEREAUX,Maxim L |
3.0 |
½-½ |
MIEZIS,Normunds |
3.0 |
| 7 |
RADOVANOVIC,Jovica |
3.0 |
0-1 |
SULSKIS,Sarunas |
3.0 |
| 8 |
MCNAB,Colin |
2.5 |
½-½ |
GYIMESI,Zoltan |
2.5 |
| 9 |
CONQUEST,Stuart |
2.5 |
0-1 |
KARTTUNEN,Mika |
2.5 |
| 10 |
CARLETON,John |
2.5 |
0-1 |
BISCHOFF,Klaus |
2.5 |
|
For more information, visit the ICC
LIVE COVERAGE webpage.
Visit the official
web site.
Spanish
Team Championships - Group I
 
The Spanish Team Championships took place in Olite, a
small town in the north of Spain. The event is divided in two groups; the "Group
II" will play at the end of September in San Sebastian. In this group there
are six teams, the strongest of them and main favourite being Intel Tiendas UPI
with GM Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine 2734), GM Paco Vallejo (Spain, 2674), GM Andrei
Volokitin (Ukraine, 2662), GM Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine, 2651), GM Miguel Illescas
(Spain, 2620) and IM Martin Lorenzini (Argentina, 2431). Other top players participating
are GM Liviu Nisipeanu (Romania, 2696) playing for the Solvay team or GM Viktor
Bologan (Moldova, 2645) playing for the Unio Gracienca team.
In the last round, the two favorites "Intel Tiendas
UPI" and "Reverte Albox - Unicaja" advanced to the finals. The
finals will take place from November 3-4 in Lugo, Spain.
| POS. |
TEAM |
ROUNDS |
+ |
= |
- |
PTS. |
MP |
| 1 |
INTEL - TIENDAS UPI |
5 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
22.0 |
8 |
| 2 |
REVERTE ALBOX - UNICAJA |
5 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
18.5 |
7 |
| 3 |
ESCUELA INT. KASPAROV - MARCOTE |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
17.0 |
6 |
| 4 |
C.A. SOLVAY |
5 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
16.5 |
5 |
| 5 |
UNIO GRACIENCA D'ESCACS - UGA |
5 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
13.5 |
4 |
| 6 |
GEVA - CEA |
5 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
2.5 |
0 |
|
For more information, visit the ICC
LIVE COVERAGE webpage.
Visit the Spanish Federation web
site. |
|
On
September 16th-17th, the Tomato family of automated TDs will run another 24-hour
marathon of tournaments. Marathons are held bi-monthly in the odd numbered
months.
ICC
Dasher is a new Windows program for connecting and playing on the Internet Chess
Club. You can download and use it for free. See the 
The
Lausanne Young Masters Chess Tournament will be held from Wednesday to Monday,
September 13th to 18th, 2006, at Casino de Montbenon in Lausanne with eight of
the best international junior players.
Malcolm
Pein is a International Master from England. Editor of the chess magazine 
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Solution
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