Vallejo Pons Francisco Leads Bunch

1 April 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the European Individual Championship 2011 in Aix-Les-Bains, France, Spanish GM Vallejo comes into the picture with 11 others in the leading pack of 12 after round 9 last night.

Here is the round 9 game between new leader, Vallejo Pons Francisco from Spain against Korobov, Anton, which gave white the win.

White just played 40.dxe6 and black resigned.

[Event "12th ch-EUR"] [Site "Aix-les-Bains FRA"] [Date "2011.03.31"] [Round "9"] [White "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"] [Black "Korobov, Anton"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B06"] [WhiteElo "2707"] [BlackElo "2647"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2011.03.21"] 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. Bg5 h6 5. Bh4 Nc6 6. d5 Nd4 7. Qd2 c5 8. Nd1 Bd7 9. c3 Nb5 10. f4 Nf6 11. Bd3 Nc7 12. Nf3 b5 13. O-O O-O 14. Bc2 Nh5 15. f5 gxf5 16. exf5 Nf6 17. Ne3 Bc8 18. a4 a6 19. b3 Bb7 20. c4 Qd7 21. Bxf6 exf6 22. Ng4 h5 23. Nf2 Rfe8 24. Ne4 bxc4 25. bxc4 a5 26. Ng3 Na6 27. Nxh5 Nb4 28. Qf4 Kf8 29. Be4 Ba6 30. Rac1 Bh8 31. Nh4 Ke7 32. Ng6+ fxg6 33. fxg6 Kd8 34. Bf5 Qe7 35. Rce1 Qf8 36. g7 Bxg7 37. Nxg7 Kc7 38. Rxe8 Rxe8 39. Ne6+ Rxe6 40. dxe6 1-0

 

Links:

• To download games in PGN, please visit the link here.
• Official website
• Links to live games
• All details at Chess Results
• Games in PGN via TWIC

Six In Leaders’ Pack, European Individual

31st March 2011, Kuala Lumpur – There are six individuals in the leaders’ bunch at the European Individual Championship 2011 after round 8 play last night. Potkin, Ragger, Iordachescu, Parligras, Mamedov, Vitiugov are all at 6.5 points. Potkin was the only one that drew from this group while the other five all won their round 8 games.

Ranking Cross-Table After Round 8, European Individual 2011 (Top 22)

Results of Round 8 for top 25 boards, European Individual 2011.

Here is the round 8 game between Iordachescu Viorel and Moiseenko Alexander which gave white the win.

Position after white played 38.Nxh6, black resigned.

[Event "12th ch-EUR"]
[Site "Aix-les-Bains FRA"]
[Date "2011.03.30"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Iordachescu, Viorel"]
[Black "Moiseenko, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B32"]
[WhiteElo "2626"]
[BlackElo "2673"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2011.03.21"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. N1c3 a6 7. Na3 Be7 8.Be3 b5 9. Nd5 Rb8 10. c4 b4 11. Nc2 Nf6 12. Qd3 O-O 13. Be2 Ng4 14. Bd2 Bg5 15.Rd1 Nxf2 16. Kxf2 f5 17. Kg1 fxe4 18. Qxe4 b3 19. axb3 Rxb3 20. Bg4 Bxd2 21.Bxc8 Bh6 22. Be6+ Kh8 23. h4 Qe8 24. Rh3 Rxb2 25. Bg4 a5 26. Rf3 Rxf3 27. Bxf3 Qb8 28. Kh2 g6 29. h5 Kg7 30. Nce3 Qd8 31. Kg1 Qg5 32. Ng4 a4 33. Nc7 Nd8 34.Ne8+ Kf8 35. Nxd6 a3 36. Qa8 Qe7 37. Qxa3 Rd2 38. Nxh6 1-0

 

Links:

• To download games in PGN, please visit the link here.
• Official website
• Links to live games
• All details at Chess Results
• Games in PGN via TWIC

Round 7 Games, European Individual 2011

29 March 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Here are a few round 7 games from the European Individual Championship 2011 now playing in France. One is Peter Svidler against Azarov Sergei, the second is Stevic Hrvoje and the rising Russian star, Ian Nepomniachtchi. And the third is Reinderman Dmitri and Jobava Baadur. All are decisively won by the higher ranked GM. Added one extra round 4 game of GM Judit Polgar at the end which was duly won by Judit.

[Event "European Championship"]
[Site "Aix-les-Bains"]
[Date "2011.03.28"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Svidler, Peter"]
[Black "Azarov, Sergei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "123"]
[EventDate "2011.03.28"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
O-O 9. h3 h6 10. d4 Re8 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. Bc2 Bb7 13. d5 Ne7 14. b3 c6 15. c4
cxd5 16. cxd5 Nd7 17. a4 f5 18. axb5 axb5 19. Rxa8 Qxa8 20. Bd3 fxe4 21. Bxb5
exf3 22. Bxd7 fxg2 23. Ne4 Nxd5 24. Qh5 Re7 25. Bf5 Qe8 26. Qg4 Rc7 27. Ba3 Bc828. Nxd6 Bxd6  29. Bxd6 Bxf5 30. Qxf5 Rf7 31. Qxe5 Qxe5 32. Rxe5 Nf4 33. Re8+ Kh7 34. Re3 g5 35. b4 Nd5 36. Rd3 Nf4 37. Bxf4 Rxf4 38. Rb3 Rf6 39. b5 Rb6 40.Kxg2 Kg6 41. Kg3 Kf5 42. Kf3 h5 43. Rb1 Ke5 44. Ke3 Kd5 45. Kd3 Rd6 46. b6 Kc6+ 47. Ke4 Kb7 48. Kf5 Rd5+ 49. Kg6 g4 50. h4 Ra5 51. Rb4 Rc5 52. Rf4 Kxb6 53. Rf5 Rc3 54. Rxh5 Rh3 55. Kf5 Rf3+ 56. Kxg4 Rxf2 57. Rg5 Kc7 58. h5 Rh2 59. Kf5 Kd7 60. Kg6 Re2 61. h6 Re6+ 62. Kh5 1-0

 

[Event "European Championship"]
[Site "Aix-les-Bains"]
[Date "2011.03.28"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Stevic, Hrvoje"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "104"]
[EventDate "2011.03.28"]

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. Nf3 a6 5. Be2 b5 6. a4 b4 7. Nd5 a5 8. c3 e6 9.
Ne3 Ne7 10. O-O Bb7 11. e5 dxe5 12. dxe5 Qxd1 13. Rxd1 Nd5 14. Bb5+ c6 15. Bf1 Nd7 16. Nc4 O-O 17. Nd6 bxc3 18. bxc3 Ba6 19. Bxa6 Rxa6 20. Nc4 Rb8 21. Bd2 Nc5 22. Rdb1 Rxb1+ 23. Rxb1 Ra8 24. g3 Bf8 25. Nd4 Nxa4 26. Ra1 Ndb6 27. Nb3 Nxc4 28. Rxa4 Nxe5 29. Kg2 Rb8 30. Nxa5 Ra8 31. c4 Bc5 32. Bc3 Nd3 33. Ra1 Nxf2 34.Nxc6 Rxa1 35. Bxa1 Ng4 36. Ne5 Nxe5 37. Bxe5 f5 38. Kf3 Kf7 39. h4 Ke7 40. g4 Bd6 41. Bc3 h5 42. gxh5 gxh5 43. Be1 e5 44. Ke3 Kd7 45. Bc3 Ke6 46. Be1 Be7 47. Kf3 Bf6 48. Ke3 Kd6 49. Kd3 Bd8 50. Bb4+ Ke6 51. Be1 Bb6 52. Ke2 f4 0-1

 

 

[Event "European Championship"]
[Site "Aix-les-Bains"]
[Date "2011.03.28"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Reinderman, Dimitri"]
[Black "Jobava, Baadur"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "120"]
[EventDate "2011.03.28"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. e4 c5 6. Nge2 Nc6 7. d3 d6 8. O-O
a6 9. h3 Rb8 10. a4 Ne8 11. Be3 Bd7 12. d4 b6 13. b3 Nc7 14. Ra2 e5 15. dxe5
dxe5 16. f4 Nd4 17. fxe5 Bxe5 18. Bh6 Re8 19. Nf4 b5 20. axb5 axb5 21. Nd3 Bxg3
22. Nxc5 Be5 23. Raf2 Bxh3 24. Bxh3 Qh4 25. Nd7 Qxh6 26. Qd3 bxc4 27. bxc4 Rbd8 28. Nxe5 Rxe5 29. Nd5 Nxd5 30. cxd5 Nc6 31. Qf3 Rg5+ 32. Rg2 Rxg2+ 33. Kxg2 Qg5+ 34. Qg3 Qxg3+ 35. Kxg3 Ne5 36. Kf4 f6 37. Ke3 Kg7 38. Kd4 h5 39. Kc5 g5 40. Bf5 g4 41. Kb6 g3 42. Kc7 Ra8 43. d6 h4 44. Rh1 Nf3 45. Bh3 Ng5 46. Bf5 g2 47. Rg1 h3 48. Bxh3 Nxh3 49. Rxg2+ Kf7 50. d7 Nf4 51. Rh2 Ne6+ 52. Kb7 Ra4 53. Rh7+ Kf8 54. Kc6 Rd4 55. Rh8+ Kg7 56. Rh4 Nd8+ 57. Kc7 Nf7 58. Rf4 Rc4+ 59. Kb6 Nd8 60. Rf5 Rxe4 0-1

Could not resist to put this round 4 game between GM Judit Polgar and French player, Edouard Romain. Judit won this game as white.

[Event "12th ch-EUR"]
[Site "Aix-les-Bains FRA"]
[Date "2011.03.25"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Polgar, Judit"]
[Black "Edouard, Romain"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "2686"]
[BlackElo "2600"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2011.03.22"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8.
Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 O-O 12. Nc2 Bg5 13. Be2 Be6 14. O-O Ne7
15. a4 Bxd5 16. exd5 bxa4 17. Rxa4 a5 18. Qd3 Qb6 19. Rb1 Qb7 20. Na3 Qxd5 21.Qxd5 Nxd5 22. Nc4 Rab8 23. Raa1 a4 24. Bf3 Nb6 25. Nxb6 Rxb6 26. Rxa4 Rc8 27.Bd5 Bd2 28. c4 Rcb8 29. Ra7 g6 30. Rxf7 Kh8 31. h4 Rxb2 32. Rxb2 Rxb2 33. g4 Rb8 34. g5 Rd8 35. Kg2 h6 36. h5 Rg8 37. Rd7 Rg7 38. Bf7 1-0

Links:

• To download games in PGN, please visit the link here.
• Official website
• Links to live games
• All details at Chess Results
• Games in PGN via TWIC

Potkin On Top European Individual

29 March 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Potkin, Ian Nepomniachict's second is leading after seven rounds of play at European Individual 2011 in Aix-les-Bains, France. 






To read more, pls visit Chess-vibes.com.

Links

• Official website
• Links to live games
• All details at Chess Results
• Games in PGN via TWIC

GM Danielsen On Alapin Variation, Sicilian Defense

28th March 2011, Kuala Lumpur - In The Insight chess show GM Henrik Danielsen takes a look at the solid Alapin variation of the Sicilian defence. Part 1 of the video shows options how to transfer to French, but also focuses on the solid reply e6 from black.

Links:

a. blip.tv

b. chessdom.com

Lim The Runway Studied Winner!

27 March 2011, Kuala Lumpur – For the Malaysian chess team going to the SEA Games in Jakarta Indonesia later in the year, please watch out for the Singaporeans who have now studied Lim Zhou Ren’s games in the recently concluded National Closed Chess Championship 2011.

You may visit the Singapore website, Singapore Chess News, which did an analysis of three games of Lim’s won games.

You are being studied by the Singaporean players. Visit this link here.

Penang State Team Gets The Go Ahead!

27 March 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The Malaysian Chess Federation website has just announced that the Penang State Team will participate in the upcoming 17th Asian Cities Chess Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia from 21-29 April 2011.

A copy of the announcement is shown below:-

Link:

a. Malaysian Chess Federation.

Ian Udani Wins Lim Chong Memorial 2011

Ian Udani, the champion!

27 March 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Ian Udani was declared the Champion of the inaugural Lim Chong Memorial Chess Championship 2011. He scored six points over six rounds of rapid play at the DATCC, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur.

In second place was Yeoh Li Tian and third NM Lim Zhuo Ren. Both scored equal five points.

To see more results, please visit chess-results.com.

Lim Chong Memorial 2011

27 March 2011, Kuala Lumpur - At the DATCC, the Lim Chong Memorial chess championship 2011 is underway. Here were the fourth round pairings earlier.

There are 35 boards playing today, meaning 70 players all. A few IMs are playing including IM MAS Hafizul of Malaysia.



(pictures courtesy of stonemaster.info)

European Individual Championship 2011

26 March 2011, Kuala Lumpur – In France, the 2011 European Individual Championship (Mixed) is currently underway, and will run from March 21st to April 3rd in Aix-Les-Bains, France. There are more than 400 participants in this year’s event. The first round is on March 22nd, and the last on April 2nd, with no tie-break matches to decide the final places. Besides determining the title of European Champion, the top 23 finishers also qualify for the 2011 World Cup. This is an 11 round Swiss-System with 90 mins Classical time control plus 30 seconds increment.

 

Here is a game between Italian GM Fabiano Caruana and a lady participant, Zawadzka, Jolanta in the third round of the European Individual Championship 2011 in Aix-Les-Bains, France.

[Event "European Individual Chess Championship -"] [Site "Aix-les-Bains"] [Date "2011.03.24"] [Round "3.72"] [White "Zawadzka, Jolanta"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "2386"] [BlackElo "2716"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2011.03.22"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Bd3 Nf6 7. O-O d6 8. Kh1 Nbd7 9. f4 Be7 10. Qe2 Nc5 11. Bd2 O-O 12. Rae1 Nxd3 13. Qxd3 b5 14. a3 Bb7 15. Qh3 Qc4 16. Nb3 a5 17. e5 Nd7 18. exd6 Bxd6 19. Be3 b4 20. Nd2 Qc6 21. axb4 Bxb4 22. Bd4 Qd6 23. Qe3 Rae8 24. Nde4 Qc6 25. Qg3 f6 26. Rd1 Kh8 27. Bg1 Nb6 28. Rf3 Nc4 29. b3 Nd6 30. Nxd6 Bxd6 31. Ne2 e5 32. c4 Rb8 33. Qh3 a4 34. fxe5 Bxe5 35. Nf4 Qe4 36. Nd3 Bc8 37. Nf2 Qc2 38. Qh5 axb3 39. Rdd3 b2 40. Rd1 Bf5 0-1

 

Links:

a. Official Website

Levon Aronian Wins Amber Farewell 2011

25 March 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Levon Aronian (pix left) is the winner of the twentieth and final Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament 2011 scoring 15.5 points. Following his earlier wins in 2008 and 2009 this is the third time the Armenian grandmaster claimed first prize. In second place was Carlsen with 14.5 points.

Levon Aronian and Magnus Carlsen are regarded as the "coming force" for a newer generation in world chess; they are in the top three in the world rankings, and both are tipped to become world title challengers in the near future.

Aronian also won the blindfold competition. The rapid competition was won by Magnus Carlsen.

The € 1,000 Game of the Day Prize was awarded to Boris Gelfand for his rapid win over Magnus Carlsen, which ended the Norwegian’s chances to fight for first place in the overall standings. Read more..

 

Video Commentary:

Links:

•  Official site of Amber farewell edition;
• Amber Blindfold (12 players 11 Rds SRR Indiv TC:25m+20spm) - Games in PGN: Blindfold Games |Blindfold Live
• Amber Rapid (12 players 11 Rds SRR Indiv TC:25m+10spm) - Games in PGN: Rapid Games | Rapid Live
• Amber Combined (12 players 22 Rds DRR Indiv )

Thematic Tournaments By FGM

25 March 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Here is a new tournament to be held at Excel Chess Academy on the 24-25th April 2011. Pencil in those dates on your calendar and have some fun at OUG, Kuala Lumpur. The announcement from First GM blogger follows:-

FGM is starting a series of thematic tournaments starting with Ruy Lopez. I am hoping this will be a monthly affair and will be followed by Najdorf, Dragon etc.
The idea is that there will be a short talk on the various lines in Ruy Lopez, with notes and the players will have 10 rounds over the weekend to deepen their knowledge. Format is 10/20/30. ie 10 rounds of 20 mins with 30 sec increment.
Excel is a good place for this as interested players will be able to stay over and continue the discussion informally over the night. I will also be inviting the trainer to stay for the tournament and I encourage sharing throughout the 2 days.
What I found is that it is difficult to find games based on themes as you need the cooperation of your opponents thus leaving many lines and variations untested. Therefore, as part of our aim is to increase the array of stress tested weapons, I would like to limit the places to players with national rating of 1500 and over if possible.
It is my hope that these series of tournaments will fill a niche and be fully supported.
Thank you. More details to follow.

(source: Raymond Siew, FGM)

Picture Gallery 5, Nat. Closed 2011

25 March 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Here are some pictures of the National Closed Chess Championship 2011 held at DATCC, Kuala Lumpur from 16-20th March 2011.

Last Chance - 2nd Insofar Elite Open Preliminary 4

24 March 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Here is the reminder from Insofar Chess Academy for the 2nd Insofar Elite Open -Preliminary 4 on Saturday, 26 th March 2011@DATCC.

This will follow with the Quarter Final at 2.00 pm the same day.

(source Mat Zaki b Yeop, Insofar Chess Academy)

38th Selangor Open 2011

23 March 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will be organising the annual Selangor Open 2011 at DATCC from 28th April to 2nd May 2011 at DATCC.

Here is the CAS’s blog announcement of the upcoming chess event.

 

To confirm it, kindly visit Chess Association of Selangor’s blog or click here.

Aronian Dominates At AMBER Farewell

23 March 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Aronian continues to dominate the Amber farewell chess event with a win over Kramnik.



Here are results of the 9th round,Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess, Monaco, 2011.




The fight for the winner for the 20th Amber farewell edition will be decided between Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian.



To read more, please visit Amber Farewell Official Website

Aronian Leads At Amber

20th March 2011, Kuala Lumpur - At Amber Blindfold and Rapid, Aronian is leading by a half-point with 11.5 points. Carlsen is second with 11.0 points.

Here is the round 8 standings shown in table below:-


(results and picture is courtesy of ICC newsletter)

Picture Gallery 4, Closing Ceremony NC2011

20 March 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Here are some more pictures of the National Closed 2011 with the closing ceremony. There was the Blitz Chess after the Closing Ceremony. However, I did not stay for that. Vice President of MCF, Pn Haslindah bt Ruslan did the honors and Najib was Master of Ceremony-cum- arbiter. Greg Lau, Sec. Gen. Of MCF was on hand to witness.