Candidates Matches Resume

The Candidates' Semifinal Matches will resume today. The matchups are:

Kramnik vs. Grischuk
Gelfand vs. Kamsky

You can follow the LIVE actions with computer analysis right here.

Who will win?
	B. Gelfand
	G. Kamsky

Who will win?
	V. Kramnik
	A. Grischuk

Jobava leads 41st Bosna Open 2011

Leaders after 6 rounds

Rk	Name	Ti	FED	Rtg	Pts	TB1
1	Jobava Baadur	GM	GEO	2704	16.0	0
2	Saric Ivan	GM	CRO	2637	15.0	0
	Parligras Mircea-Emilian	GM	ROU	2626	15.0	0
	Melkumyan Hrant	GM	ARM	2580	15.0	0
	Sebenik Matej	IM	SLO	2524	15.0	0
6	Naiditsch Arkadij	GM	GER	2716	13.0	0
	Lenic Luka	GM	SLO	2637	13.0	0
	Predojevic Borki	GM	BIH	2617	13.0	0
	Kovacevic Aleksandar	GM	SRB	2575	13.0	0
	Saric Ibro	GM	BIH	2549	13.0	0
	Szabo Krisztian	GM	HUN	2512	13.0	0
12	Ivanisevic Ivan	GM	SRB	2648	12.0	0
	Lupulescu Constantin	GM	ROU	2638	12.0	0
	Berczes David	GM	HUN	2531	12.0	0
	Kurajica Bojan	GM	BIH	2531	12.0	0
	Milanovic Danilo	GM	SRB	2494	12.0	0
	Yilmaz Mustafa	IM	TUR	2489	12.0	0
	Djukic Nikola	GM	MNE	2486	12.0	0
	Al-Sayed Mohammed	GM	QAT	2485	12.0	0
	Fauland Alexander	IM	AUT	2478	12.0	0
	Kadric Denis		BIH	2376	12.0	0

Official website: http://www.skbosna.ba

Andreikin takes early Capablanca Memorial lead

2009 SPICE Cup co-champion GM Dmitry Andreikin is taking an early lead at the Capablanca Memorial by defeating Cuba's #2 player, GM Bruzon. The other two games were drawn.

Round 1 results

Andreikin, Dmitry	- Bruzon Batista, Lazaro	1-0
Dominguez Perez, Leinier	- Le, Quang Liem	½-½
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Navara, David	½-½

Official website: http://www.capablanca.co.cu

Telling ex-world champion to shhhh

Telling ex-world champion Kramnik to shhhh, and other chess stories
May 11, 2011

Alex McFarlane is one of three chess arbiters overseeing the candidates tournament in the Russian city of Kazan – the highest honour ever attained by any Scottish chess player or official. The winner of the elite eight-player knockout goes on to face world champion Vishy Anand in a match next year.

During gaps in his schedule, the arbiter from Uddingston has been emailing observations of Kazan and the initial phase of the event.

9 May – Playoffs and doping tests

The two Russians, Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Grischuk, qualify for the semis, beating Timur Radjabov and Levon Aronian respectively in rapidplay games. Kramnik–Radjabov saw play interrupted due to a faulty clock. At the time, the position looked to be drawn, which was all the Azerbaijani grandmaster needed to qualify – but after a delay of 13 minutes he lost, and then lost the replay.

What a day. I can only imagine how much stress the players were under. The arbiters, too, were feeling the pressure before the start of the playoffs: I found myself checking that I could reset a DGT XL [chess clock], even though I have done it hundreds of times before.

I was allocated Aronian–Grischuk, with Franca Dapiran doing Kramnik–Radjabov and chief arbiter Ignatius Leong “floating”. As things transpired, I got the easy option.

Before the start of play, a technician informed us that the Kramnik–Radjabov clock was not showing up with the electronic display. This often happens when the batteries are weak, but not so weak as to give a warning sign. The clock was replaced.

The session duly commenced at 3pm local time. It was agreed that we would give 15 minutes between games but not wait to start both simultaneously, as that could cause a large delay and there was the prospect of a very long day – four rapidplay games, ten blitz and an Armageddon. My first game lasted longer than the other, so my second started ten minutes after the Kramnik–Radjabov one. However, they finished games two, three and four whilst I was still on game three.

It was decided to start my game four at the same time as the blitz game of the other competitors. As I was watching this game, I heard a bleep from the other clock, as when it is being reset. I looked round to see both players indicating the clock showing 00 and the other two arbiters moving swiftly towards the incident.

It was immediately decided that the game should continue with a replacement clock set at the times found either from the video footage or from the display of the games. There was some disturbance, though not excessive under the circumstances. It was certainly enough for me to consider halting my game, but not enough for me actually to do so. I was observed to request Kramnik to keep quiet during the incident. Does that sound like me? A picture published on ChessBase was captioned: “They discuss the situation, while arbiter Alex McFarlane admonishes them to keep it [the noise] down.”

There was a bit of a dispute, with one player saying the game should be annulled and the other wanting to play on. Eventually, everything was sorted and the games continued using a third clock. I am not sure, but I believe part of the delay in restarting was to allow the players to compose themselves.

As my match finished first, I had to escort one of the players to the press interview and then for a doping test. The reason for having doping tests in chess has more to do with getting chess into the Olympics than anything else. With very few exceptions, there are no drugs which will give benefits to chess players without doing short- to medium-term severe damage.

Following the interview, I had to escort the player to the medical room – where, much to my relief, my duties ended. I believe that the player then had 30 minutes to supply the necessary.

Full article here.

Russia wins the European Senior Teams Championship

Russia wins the European Senior Teams ChampionshipSilver medal for Germany, Montenegro grabs the bronze

A quick peace treaty with Austria in the last round of the European Senior Teams Championship handed the gold medal to the team of Russia. Congratulations!
Russia won six matches, tied three and collected a total of 15 match points.

IM Anatoli Shvedchikov from the winning team commented: "The team has suffered changes this year because our regular member GM Vitaly Tseshkovsky is ill and we were forced to experiment with the roster. The competition was very strong, with the likes of Germany, Israel and Montenegro, but the experience from the Soviet chess school was valuable, we were persistent and we justified our reputation of the top seeded team."

"I am not surprised with the final standings", he continued, "There were many interesting games, we renewed and strengthened some old friendships and I am very pleased with this tournament. We have also initiated many friendly matches for the teams of Moscow and Russia."

In the match between two teams on the shared second place, Germany started off with two draws against Denmark 1 and then GM Wolfgang Uhlmann scored to give his team a lead. FM Clemens Werner later finished the job for the overall 3-1 victory and a silver medal for German team.

Montenegro was battling Scotland in an attempt to win the bronze medal. Austria's draw and Israel's lower sum of individual points lifted their spirits. FM Momcilo Raicevic opened the match with one of his trademark swift victories. GM Bozidar Ivanovic increased the margin, but soon after IM Ljubo Zivkovic lost on the second board.

The whole team was trembling as FM Srdja Dragasevic, also president of the Montenegro Chess Federation, was searching for the way out of inferior position. He eventually succeeded to make a key draw for his team to grab the bronze.

Italy started well versus Israel 1 as IM Stefano Tatai crushed GM Mark Tseitlin on the first board in only 16 moves. IM Tatai commented that this sharp Sicilian Naidorf line was well known to him as he had played it 30 years ago and analysed in his opening book that was published last year.

GM Yair Kraidman struck back on the fourth board and equalised the score. The teams exchanged victories on the 2nd and 3rd board to finally settle the result at 2-2.

Results and full standings / PGN files

Cmilyte perfect after 5 in Tbilisi

Leaders (top 25) after 5 rounds

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	n
1	GM	Cmilyte Viktorija	LTU	2504	5.0	3211	9.0	15.0	5
2	IM	Khotenashvili Bela	GEO	2470	4.0	2615	9.5	15.0	5
3	GM	Lahno Kateryna	UKR	2530	4.0	2614	9.0	15.0	5
4	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	BUL	2506	4.0	2601	8.5	13.5	5
5	WGM	Paikidze Nazi	GEO	2408	4.0	2592	8.0	14.5	5
6	IM	Javakhishvili Lela	GEO	2454	4.0	2588	9.0	15.5	5
7	GM	Cramling Pia	SWE	2468	4.0	2581	9.0	15.5	5
8	IM	Khurtsidze Nino	GEO	2436	4.0	2560	9.0	15.0	5
9	IM	Ushenina Anna	UKR	2468	4.0	2551	8.0	14.0	5
10	IM	Galojan Lilit	ARM	2377	4.0	2545	8.5	14.5	5
11	IM	Romanko Marina	RUS	2387	4.0	2527	8.0	12.5	5
12	IM	Bodnaruk Anastasia	RUS	2419	4.0	2505	7.0	13.0	5
13	GM	Danielian Elina	ARM	2506	3.5	2553	11.0	19.0	5
14	IM	Ovod Evgenija	RUS	2404	3.5	2516	10.0	15.5	5
15	GM	Kosintseva Tatiana	RUS	2559	3.5	2493	8.5	13.5	5
16	GM	Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan	SCO	2462	3.5	2486	7.5	13.0	5
17	IM	Muzychuk Anna	SLO	2537	3.5	2484	8.5	14.5	5
18	GM	Dzagnidze Nana	GEO	2557	3.5	2483	9.0	15.0	5
19	IM	Purtseladze Maka	GEO	2352	3.5	2470	9.0	14.5	5
20	GM	Hoang Thanh Trang	HUN	2456	3.5	2441	8.5	13.5	5
21	IM	Gaponenko Inna	UKR	2455	3.5	2440	8.0	13.5	5
22	IM	Khukhashvili Sopiko	GEO	2421	3.5	2428	8.0	14.0	5
23	IM	Muzychuk Mariya	UKR	2473	3.5	2427	7.5	12.0	5
24	IM	Foisor Cristina-Adela	ROU	2414	3.5	2425	9.0	14.0	5
25	IM	Moser Eva	AUT	2445	3.5	2418	7.5	13.0	5

Full standings here: http://chess-results.com/tnr49244.aspx

Chess Chat

Massachusetts State Chess Championship 
8th May 2011

Ivanchuk confirmed for Capablanca Memorial

Vasyl Ivanchuk confirmed for Cuba's Capablanca Chess Memorial

The 46th Capablanca Chess Memorial will take place on May 9-21 at the Riviera Hotel in Havana, Cuba. A number of different tournaments will take place here - Elite Group, Premier Group, Open Group I, Open Group II, and Open Group Children.

The main competition is the Elite Group, traditionally a six-player double round robin. Four-time winner Vasyl Ivanchuk of Ukraine is back in attempt to add another Cuban trophy to his collection. Top local players, Leinier Dominguez (three times winner of Capablanca Memorial) and Lazaro Bruzon (with one Capablanca trophy), will also compete. Participating in the tournament will be also Czech champion David Navara, world youth champion Dmitry Andreikin of Russia, and Vietnamese Quan Liem Le, the highest-ranked player of this Asian nation. In addition, there will be FIDE Arbiters Seminar, Conference about Jose Raul Capablanca, exhibition of artwork, books and objects related to chess, and screening of chess-related movies.

Source: http://www.nrcu.gov.ua

3-way tie for 1st at Asian Individual Championship

Final top 15 standings

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	GM	Harikrishna P	IND	2666	6.5	0.0	2615	44.5
2	GM	Yu Yangyi	CHN	2646	6.5	0.0	2607	45.5
3	GM	Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son	VIE	2635	6.5	0.0	2547	42.5
4	GM	Jumabayev Rinat	KAZ	2558	6.0	0.0	2640	43.0
5	GM	Bu Xiangzhi	CHN	2662	6.0	0.0	2636	48.5
6	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	IND	2676	6.0	0.0	2613	46.0
7		Lu Shanglei	CHN	2473	6.0	0.0	2601	40.0
8	GM	Moradiabadi Elshan	IRI	2536	6.0	0.0	2588	40.5
9	GM	Negi Parimarjan	IND	2622	5.5	0.0	2616	43.0
10	GM	Zhao Jun	CHN	2574	5.5	0.0	2565	40.0
11	GM	Zhou Weiqi	CHN	2610	5.5	0.0	2556	39.5
12	GM	So Wesley	PHI	2667	5.5	0.0	2553	38.5
13	IM	Barbosa Oliver	PHI	2506	5.0	0.0	2606	41.0
14	GM	Ismagambetov Anuar	KAZ	2500	5.0	0.0	2584	38.5
15	GM	Wen Yang	CHN	2545	5.0	0.0	2582	41.5
16	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	IND	2643	5.0	0.0	2562	42.0
17	GM	Kunte Abhijit	IND	2526	5.0	0.0	2548	39.0
18	GM	Sethuraman S P	IND	2527	5.0	0.0	2543	35.0
19	GM	Kasimdzhanov Rustam	UZB	2685	5.0	0.0	2534	40.0
20	GM	Gomez John Paul	PHI	2538	5.0	0.0	2471	34.5
21	GM	Cao Sang	VIE	2547	5.0	0.0	2439	34.0

Full standings here.