Paragua Leads Grand Prix; Liu and Molner IM Norms

The Marshall Chess Club International, held June 21-25, boasted the birth of two IM norms—one for Elliott Liu of California, and the other for Mackenzie Molner of New Jersey. Liu achieved his norm by tying for third with 6.0/9.0. Although he suffered two losses earlier in the tournament, including a heartbreaking blunder in a won position against GM Jaan Ehlvest, the 18-year-old won four rounds in a row to find himself on Board 1 against Paragua in the final round. A win would have meant first place, but Liu managed only a draw, despite having definite winning chances. After the tournament Liu granted an interview to WCL Newsletter Editor Jonathan Hiton. It can be found here.

Mackenize Molner achieved his norm in a somewhat steadier fashion. Molner scored three GM draws in his first three rounds by holding down GM Alejandro Ramirez, GM Reiner Gonzalez, and GM Sergey Erenburg in that order. The highlight of Molner's tournament came in Round 7, when he upset GM Julio Becerra in a fierce attacking game. Only two consecutive losses to Paragua and Ehlvest in the final two rounds of the tournament kept Molner out of the big money. Regardless, his IM norm was still easily secured.

The tournament was also a crucial turning point in the 2008 World Chess Live Grand Prix, helping to catapult GM Mark Paragua to the head of the pack over former leader GM Sergey Kudrin. Paragua finished in a tie for first with Ramirez with 6.5/9.0, but Kudrin finished in a tie for ninth with 5.0/9.0.

Since a total of 200 GPP were up for grabs at this event, with a large cut going to Paragua, the Filipino GM now leads the Grand Prix by nearly forty points. See the complete standings here.

Chess 960 Mainz Classic

Second seed GM Hikaru Nakamura (Smallville) of the USA reasserted his authority as one of the top dogs on ICC on Sunday by winning the Mainz Chess Classic online Chess960 title. After winning the first qualifier, Nakamura beat with ease Cassano (3-0), VerdeNotte (2.5-0.5) and Yarosavich (3-0) en route to the six-game final.

And in a more closely contested final, Nakamura beat the young Russian top seed Dmitry Andreikin, 4-2, to claim the $1090 (700 Euro) first prize, invitation to the FiNet and Ordix opens, hotel room and breakfast at the Hilton Mainz Hotel by the banks of the Rhine, just 1 block from the picturesque Old Town.

All of last week, qualifiers were held here on ICC for the coveted spots in the 16-player KO Mainz Chess Classic online Chess960 finals. The full list of finalists and results can be found below or at our dedicated Mainz Chess960 page.

Dortmund Coverage is Coming!

This Dortmund season, Chess Journalist of the Year Mig Greengard is coming to town—and bringing a whole slew of your favorite GM commentators with him. During the Dortmund tournament, GMs Joel Benjamin, Larry Christiansen, Nick De Firmian, Ronen Har-Zvi and Gregory Kaidanov will be joining Mig each morning as play gets underway at 9:00 A.M. server time (EST). Be sure to watch for “Game of the Day” video lectures throughout the tournament!

New Grand Prix “Blitzing” Interviews with Top Players

Ever want to get inside the odds and ends of a top player’s personality? Our new “Blitzing” interviews are designed provide just such an opportunity. These weekly, fast-paced Q&A sessions with Grand Prix leaders will touch on all topics under the sun. This week we blitzed with IM Alex Lenderman, who is currently at #6 on the Grand Prix charts.

Chess.FM Video Lectures—Popular Lenderman Series

Alex Lenderman is no stranger to the World Chess Live server. He secured himself a place in WCL Grand Prix history when he won the first Online Grand Prix event and is the author of the highly successful “Smith-Morra” video lecture series at ICC. As of this week, this series is now available for the first time ever to WCL members!

Part I of the series alone has received 23,000 views since it first premiered on the ICC. In the series, Alex presents his own research, including sharp new ideas that are winning games for his viewers—for instance, you can view the success story of a young Expert who defeated his first IM here.