Final
Candidates list published, Carlsen not included
FIDE have announced their
final list of Candidates for Kazan in 2011. All the
players had to sign their contracts by December 22nd. As
expected Magnus Carlsen isn't on the list following an
announcement by him earlier in the year that he was unhappy
with the cycle.
The full list is:
1. Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria, runner up of the previous
World Championship)
2. Vladimir Kramnik (Russia, qualified by rating)
3. Levon Aronian (Armenia, winner of the FIDE Grand-Prix
2008-2009)
4. Boris Gelfand (Israel, winner of the FIDE World Cup
2009)
5. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan, wild card)
6. Alexander Grischuk (Russia, qualification from the
FIDE Grand-Prix)
7. Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan, qualification from the
FIDE Grand-Prix)
8. Gata Kamsky (USA, runner up of the Challengers Match
2009).
20th
December 2010
Hastings Congress 2010
H. N. Pillsbury
Another great event lies ahead in the
coming weeks as the famous Hastings tournament starts on
28th Dec. This historic event has attracted all the very
best players in years past such as Alekhine, Botvinnik, Tal,
Keres, Karpov, Korchnoi, Spassky and Larsen. One of the most
famous Premier's took place in 1895 and won by the American
Harry Nelson
Pillsbury in great style. Even Garry Kasparov called it
'the most important tournament of the nineteenth century'.
The Masters currently has 100 entries;
the top 10 (by rating) being EDOUARD Romain, FRA, gm, 2636
ISTRATESCU Andrei, ROU, gm, 2616 HOWELL David, ENG, gm, 2611
KOTRONIAS Vasilios, GRE, gm, 2591 HEBDEN Mark, ENG, gm, 2560
SENGUPTA Deep, IND, gm, 2558 SETHURAMAN S.P., IND, im, 2547
NEVEROV Valeriy, UKR, gm, 2522 WILLIAMS Simon, ENG, gm, 2493
DAS Arghyadip, IND, im, 2476.
The 2nd Classic was a great event. There
was always a niggling thought that the chess could fall flat
on its face but it didn't. McShane shook everything up with
a win against Carlsen in round 1 and from that point the
event took off. Malcolm Pein's management throughout was
impeccable. So much positive stuff has been written that
it's hard to add anything new so it's probably best to
let others and the
website do
the talking. And let's look forward to the Classic 2011 or
even a London World Championship in 2012.
The videos at the Classic were produced again this
year by Macauley Peterson (formerly of ICC). He is now is a freelance
mediamaker.
16th
December 2010
Carlsen wins the London
Classic
- Round 7 report by John Saunders
Magnus Carlsen clinched first place and
the 50,000 euros first prize in the 2010 London Chess
Classic at Olympia on Wednesday with a consummate positional
win against England’s Nigel Short. Theirs was the second
game to finish but the tie-break ensured that Magnus would
take first regardless of other results.
Vishy Anand and Vlad Kramnik drew their game and the two
results should also see Magnus Carlsen Carlsen reclaim his place at the top of
the official rating list in January 2011. His mentor Garry Kasparov was present
at the venue to comment on the games of the final round and see his protégé win
the tournament for the second successive year.
The London Chess Classic has been another resounding success
on all fronts. It provides a fitting finale to the annual world chess circuit as
the top players jockey for supremacy on the rating list. The technology brought
to bear on the event is simply awesome: chess fans worldwide are able to see as
much of the action and post-match commentary as the lucky people in the
building, both in real-time and after the event.
The players realise they are more under the spotlight than
ever and respond with uncompromising play on the stage and some entertaining cut
and thrust in the commentary room. The whole thing is a virtuous circle which
showcases chess as the superlative leisure activity that we know it to be. The
big winner here, as last year, was chess itself, so hats off to Malcolm Pein and
his organising team for all their hard work.
Final Scores: 1st Magnus Carlsen 13/21, 2-3rd Vishy
Anand, Luke McShane 11, 4th Hikaru Nakamura 10, 5th Vladimir Kramnik 10, 6th
Mickey Adams 8, 7th David Howell 4, 8th Nigel Short 2.
(Note, games are scored 3 points for a win, 1 point for a
draw and 0 points for a loss)
[Full
illustrated report]
Garry Kasparov will attend the second
London Chess Classic at the Olympia Conference Centre on
December 15, the day of the seventh and last round.
The former world champion has agreed to
make an appearance in the commentary room, which should be a
real treat for the spectators.
Kasparov became the youngest ever
undisputed World Chess Champion in 1985 at the age of 22.
His achievements include being rated
world #1 almost continuously from 1986 until his retirement
in 2005 and holding the all-time highest rating of 2851.
[More
details]
1st
December 2010
London Classic 2010
Never mind the cold weather, frost or
even snow just consider what's ahead in the chess world
during the next few weeks. The 2nd London Chess Classic will
be staged from December 8th-15th at Olympia and promises to
be another great event. It includes the current World
Champion (Anand), his predecessor (Kramnik) and his possible
successor (Carlsen), plus a bevy of high-class players.
The FIDE Open currently has 142 entrants
with all manner of side events taking place including
lectures, book signings and two simuls by the all time
legend and former World Championship contender Victor
Korchnoi. [Read
more]
17th
November 2010
Larry Evans 1932 - 2010
photo:
Wikipedia
Grandmaster and chess journalist Larry
Evans passed away on Monday, November 15th at Washoe
Hospital in Reno, Nevada (USA). He died from complications
following a gall bladder operation.
Evans was born in Manhattan on March 22,
1932, and learned much about the game by playing for ten
cents an hour on 42nd Street in New York City, quickly
becoming a rising star.
For many years Evans was a good friend of Bobby Fischer,
and an important part of Fischer’s acclaimed
My Sixty Memorable Games was produced by him ...
[more]
10th
November 2010
The Northern 4NCL 1st Weekendby John Carleton
John Carleton
The first weekend of the newly formed northern branch of
Britain's most prestigious team tournament got under way at Barcelo Redworth
Hotel, beautifully appointed albeit bewildering in its internal geography, on
the outskirts of Darlington.
With only the lists of registered players to guide us we
anticipated a possible rough ride from Manchester Manticores in our Saturday
match and perhaps a more straightforward task on Sunday facing Bradford DCA
Knights B team. As is frequently the case in such matters the actuality proved
somewhat different ... [more]
The 2010/11 4NCL season is underway and
our new team the 'Spirit of Atticus' got off to a
flyer with two wins. John Carleton's meticulous preparation
and Dave Robertson's cuisine research were certainly key to
our early success.
5th
November 2010
Kick in the teeth for FIDE
Carlsen happy
with his decision
The world's number one player Magnus
Carlsen has decided to drop out of the current World
Championship cycle, in which he had reached the Candidate
stage of the last eight.
In a letter to FIDE Carlsen expressed his
dissatisfaction with the current cycle, like 'reigning
champion privileges, the long (five year) span of the cycle
and changes made during the cycle resulting in a new format
(Candidates) that no World Champion has had to go through
since Kasparov.'
The series of knock-out matches is
scheduled to begin in March next year, to determine the
challenger to World Champion Vishy Anand.
Letter to FIDE.
TWIC - The
9th Chess encounters Nationales and Internationales of
Cap d'Agde (FRA) took place 22nd - 31st October 2010.
The organisers got the final they would have wanted between
the top seeds Vasily Ivanchuk (2754) UKR and Hikaru Nakamura
(2733) USA.
Ivanchuk won the
final 1½-½
which saw two King's Gambits. Time control: 25 minutes + 10
sec increment. PGN's:
GpA -
GpB -
KO Games
30th
October 2010
Carlsen wins Nanjing 2010
Nanjing games 2010
Chessbase -
It was the usual story: Magnus Carlsen kept putting intense
pressure on the opponent, turning the screws, until suddenly
he cracked.
Unusual was that it was the former world
number one, Veselin Topalov who buckled (with a terrible
blunder 32.Rc3??). The other Rd9 games were drawn.
Following the final round (10), Carlsen
finished 1 point ahead of Anand (2nd) and 2 points ahead of
Bacrot (3rd) and won the event with 7/10.
The Nanjing tournament took place Oct
19th - 30th in China.
28th
October 2010
Nanjing Rd8
Chessvibes-
Today’s round was the shortest so far, with all games ending
in draws before the first time control and one game even
lasting just 14 moves. Bacrot was apparently happy to draw
with the white pieces against Gashimov, who couldn’t do much
about in an Exchange Slav.
The only thing to write about is that
Bacrot had exactly the same draw with Gustafsson in January
this year, but even that is a just a minor detail.
Carlsen kept his full point lead in the
standings; Anand and Bacrot share second place.
[Full
story]
Peter Doggers of
ChessVibes and
Macauley Peterson (now an independent producer) have produced the
official videos from Nanjing.
We are pleased to announce that a
'Spirit of Atticus' team will compete in the new 4NCL
Northern League this season. Captain John Carleton has made
all the necessary arrangements and the first two rounds take
place on Saturday & Sunday 6th & 7th November at
Barcelo Redworth Hall near Darlington.
Peter Sowray's huge contribution to the
league is a hard act to follow but working with a
professional and smart management team will make the task
that much easier and fills me with endless optimism.
Following a spat between the congress organiser and
the ECF FIDE rating officer events scheduled for 2011 have been
cancelled (at least in their current form).
The dispute appears to have arisen over the
requirement of the organiser Sean Hewitt to provide rating reports for
the separate FIDE sections (Open & Major) from previous events.
Instead, it seems combined reports were
submitted requiring an additional payment of £6.00, which
was refused. The unresolved matter has resulted in what
amounts to an ultimatum being issued by Hewitt for the
resignation of the rating officer.
• Read the carefully worded e2e4
homepage
about 'planned' events.
• See ECForum threads
1 &
2
where the argument continues.
12th
October 2010
4NCL Rapidplay Championships 9-10 October 2010
The 4NCL held its first team and individual rapidplay
championships on 9-10 October 2010 for which entries were invited from all
interested teams and players. It was a great success, immensely competitive and
extremely well organised.
Winners of the team event were Barbican 1 and winner of the
Individual title IM Tom Rendle. They now hold the title of 4NCL Team and
Individual Rapidplay Champions respectively for 2010/2011.
Ukraine won the gold medals at the Olympiad in
Khanty-Mansiysk after four draws with Israel in the last round. Russia
took silver after a 2-2 against Israel, who edged out Hungary on
tiebreak to win bronze.
The 39th Chess Olympiad took place September 20th –
October 3rd at the Tennis Sport Development Center in Khanty-Mansiysk,
Russia. 148 teams (735 players) in the Open section and 114 teams (559
players) in the Women section participated in the biannual event.
Each team consisted of four players and one reserve.
The rate of play was 90 minutes for 40 moves and then 30 minutes to
finish the game, with 30 seconds increment from move one.
Liverpool and Aigburth Chess Club player Joe Siddall
has been jailed by Liverpool Magistrates following his conviction for
theft.
He was branded 'evil and wicked' by his victim’s
family who spoke out after he was found guilty of stealing £22,400.
Siddall ransacked the 79-year-old widow’s accounts after being left in
charge of her finances.
Chessbase - The news of the round,
aside from the team results, was Carlsen’s second loss in the
tournament, this time against English GM Michael Adams.
In his loss against Georgian GM Jobava, his opponent
had surprised him with an extremely offbeat opening choice. In the sixth
round, it was he who chose an extremely odd line as of move two!
Ivanchuk and Georgian GM Pantsulaia have had a
perfect 5/5 start. Georgia, Armenia, and Ukraine lead the men, while the
Russian women are in sole lead. [more]
21st Sept 2010
2010 Chess Olympiad
Khanty-Mansiysk
The 2010 Chess Olympiad takes place from September
21st to October 3rd in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. It is an 11-round Swiss
System team event, in which each team has four players with one reserve.
Time control: 90 minutes/40 moves + 30 minutes + 30 seconds/move
as of move one.
Games start: rounds 1-10 at 9 AM UTC (5:00am
New York / 2:00am Pacific daylight), and round 11 at 5:00am UTC (1 AM
New York / 10 PM Pacific daylight). September 26th (after round 5) and
October 2nd (after round 10).
Representing England:
(Men's):
GM Michael Adams 2728, Nigel Short 2690, GM Luke McShane 2657, GM David
Howell 2616, GM Gawain Jones 2576.
(Women's):
IM Jovanka Houska 2426, WIM Ingrid Lauterbach 2169, WFM Meri Grigoryan
2099, Kanwal Bhatia 2072, WFM Sarah Hegarty 2084.
We are pleased to announce that a 'Spirit of
Atticus' team has been entered for the new Northern 4NCL which has
been advertised on this website over the previous few months.
We regard the Northern 4NCL as an exciting
development which will hopefully grow in the forthcoming years and will
counter the southern drift which has gradually afflicted the mainline
event. We also see the entry of an Atticus team into the competition as
a very natural development.
John Carleton
The team has been entered under the captaincy of John
Carleton and if you are interested in playing some or all of the matches
please contact him on (0151) 724 4515 or email
directly. The Spirit of Atticus team is open to any interested
party wishing to be available for selection.
We look forward to playing competitive chess under
pleasant conditions and a civilised time limit, although it must be
admitted that all time limits tend towards the uncivilised once chess
players get involved!
The format is the same as the main 4NCL, viz. each
weekend hosts a game on Saturday afternoon/evening [start 2:00pm] and a
game on Sunday morning/afternoon [start 11:00am]. The normal pattern for
the games 'at a distance' is for competitors to stay overnight on the
Saturday at the venue at the reasonable rates negotiated by the
organisers but it is not uncommon for players to play on just one of the
days of the weekend.
The weekends to be used are the same as for the 4NCL
itself, and detail may be found on the
4NCL site or see
Mike Truran's contact below.
30th August 2010
British Championships 2011
This year's Championships have only recently finished
but already the
new website for 2011 is up
and running.
Ponds
Forge, an International Sports Centre in
Sheffield, will play host to what promises to be
one of the strongest British Championships for
many years. ECF President CJ de Mooi has already
announced that Short, Adams, Howell and McShane
will take part with further announcements to
follow.
Details of accommodation and events to enter will be posted on the
official site in the near
future.
29th Sept 2010
The Aliens have it
Winner: Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
Alien believer and FIDE incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has been
re-elected for a further four years.
The vote took two hours; the final count was 95 to
Ilyumzhinov and 55 to Karpov with three abstentions.
The victory was achieved mostly with votes from
smaller federations in Asia, Africa and South America while Karpov's
came mainly from European countries. [Full
report on TWIC]
Russian media report that Boris Spassky is conscious,
and his condition is stable. More than a week ago the 10th World
Champion suffered from a stroke and was taken to hospital.
The Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports that he
is in the ICU Burdenko Institute of Neurosurgery in Moscow in a stable
condition.
RIA Novosti spoke with someone from the health
facility, who said: 'It is a cardiovascular intensive care unit but
his condition is stable and does not cause concern.'
Apparently Spassky can move
and eat on his own again.
It has been reported that former World Champion Boris
Spassky is in intensive care after suffering a stroke in his Moscow
apartment. Doctors said that after receiving an emergency call they
discovered the 73-year-old in a semi-conscious state, paralyzed on his
left side. They said his condition was grave.
Born in 1937, he became the tenth World Chess
Champion, winning the title with a 12½-10½ victory over Petrosian in
1969, and losing it to Fischer in 1972, in what was probably the most
famous chess match in history.
Spassky left the USSR in 1976 and settled in France.
He also travelled extensively, attending numerous tournaments as guest
of honour. [Read
more]
Mike Truran
12 September 2010
4NCL Rapidplay Championships 9-10
October 2010
The 4NCL will be holding its first team and individual
rapidplay championships on 9-10 October 2010 for which entries are invited from
all interested teams and players.
Winners will hold the title of 4NCL Team and Individual
Rapidplay Champion respectively for 2010/2011.
Thousands of years old, transcending geographical
boundaries and cultures, the game of chess is still evolving and new
technologies are aiding that progression.
Simon Terrington has made a documentary called Seeking the Endgame for
BBC World Service about the technical and cultural changes in the game.
"I have been a keen chess player since I was very young. My dad taught
me to play chess.
"Back then you would go to your local chess club and there were three
people available to play". [Read
full article].
Listen to Simon Terrington's 5 live documentary Seeking The Endgame.
This will be held over the August Bank Holiday
Weekend, Saturday 28th - 30th August 2010. Venue: Wellfield Business and
Enterprise College, Yewlands Drive,
PR25 2TP.
It's a 6 round Swiss congress, two rounds each on
Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday.
The congress is an ECF Game Fee event and there are
three sections, FIDE Open, Major
(Under 170), and Minor (Under 135).
The Open is also a British Championship 2011 qualifier.
Arctic Securities Rapid: Anand and Carlsen lead with 2.5/3
The first half brought the result many expected: the
World Champion and the world's highest ranked player won both their
games against their lower-ranked opponents, and drew the encounter
against each other. But it was not all smooth sailing. In his game
against compatriot Jon Ludvig Hammer Magnus stared disaster in the face.
First day report with poignant videos by Europe Echecs.
Introduction and excerpts from the press conference
before the tournament.
Interviews with the players
This rapid chess tournament is taking place in
Kristiansund from Saturday, August 28th to Monday, August 30th 2010. It
is a double round robin with four players: Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan
Anand, Judit Polgar and Jon Ludvig Hammer. On Monday there follows the
finals between the two leading players, together with the bronze final
for third place. Time controls are 20 minutes + 10 seconds increment per
move.
Videos by GM Robert Fontaine and Gérard Demuydt for
Europe Echecs
Text: Courtesy of Chessbase
30 August 2010
Collusion or Conspiracy?
Fischer v Korchnoi, Curacao
Candidates 1962
There have been many accusations of collusion, either
of players deliberately losing (often to help a friend get a norm), of
players agreeing draws or teams agreeing to throw matches to prevent
another from winning an event.
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis claim that Soviet
players colluded in world chess championships held from 1940 to 1964.
They argue that players agreed draws amongst themselves to improve their
chances.
The most famous instance, the 1962 Candidates'
Tournament, concerned the allegations of collusion.
Yuri Averbakh
The three top finishers, Petrosian, Geller and Keres
drew all twelve of their games against each other, in an average of only
19 moves.
Soon after the tournament, Fischer publicly alleged
that the Soviets had colluded to prevent him from winning. His main
allegation was that Petrosian, Geller and Keres had pre-arranged to draw
all their games.
Fischer's allegation has long been accepted as
correct. Yuri Averbakh, who was head of the Soviet team at the time,
admitted collusion in a 2002 interview, 'Keres wanted to conserve
energy, and Petrosian and Geller were good friends with a history of
drawing with each other.'
Fischer's complaint titled 'The
Russians Have Fixed World Chess'
published in Sports Illustrated (August 20th 1962), forced FIDE
to change the format of future Candidates' Tournaments beginning with
the 1966 cycle. They were replaced by a series of elimination matches to
prevent collusion and to avoid further embarrassment.
Could such collusion, between players, teams or even
clubs happen in amateur chess? Of course it can. Last year in the MCA
league, match re-arrangements in Division 1 during the second half of
the season led to accusations of collusion. A delay of over four months
occurred before two clubs got round to playing their crucial 'decider'.
And John Carleton's article 'Fair
Competition' eloquently details the
extent to which officials will go to, to win at all costs i.e. to
prevent another club from winning the league competition fairly.
A disturbing feature is that the apparent collusion
took place under the very noses of the league officials. This is bad
enough but worse, the officials have failed to take any action or
condemn the behaviour and another club has gone to the extent of
publicly congratulating the 'winners'. This bizarre twist should be an
alarm call to any self-respecting player because it begs the question -
where does the collusion end - two clubs, three clubs?
By any reasonable measure and on the evidence
available, that's the direction in which things are moving in the
Merseyside League.
26 August 2010
British Championships 2011
This year's
Championships have only recently finished but already the
new website for 2011 is up
and running.
Ponds
Forge, an International Sports Centre in
Sheffield, will play host to what promises to be
one of the strongest British Championships for
many years. ECF President CJ de Mooi has already
announced that Short, Adams, Howell and McShane
will take part with further announcements to
follow.
Details of accommodation and events to enter will be posted on the
official site in the near
future.
10 August
2010
British Championships, 2010
The University of Kent, the
UK’s European University with 17,000 students hosted this year's
Championships 25 July - 7 August.
Congratulations to Mickey
Adams who won the 2010 British Championship (and
is therefore also English champion) with a score
of 9½/11 and a 2757 performance.
Nick Pert finished second on 8 with a
2612 performance whilst Stuart Conquest, Andrew Greet,
Jonathan Hawkins, Adam Hunt, Richard Pert & Alexei Slavin
all finished equal third on 7½. Congratulations to Adam Hunt
who secured his 2nd GM norm with a 2624 performance over
eleven rounds.
Jovanka Houska finished on 6½
and is the British (and English) women’s
champion, ahead of Lateefah Messam-Sparks who
scored 4½ and becomes British Girls Under 18
champion and had a 2082 performance and Sheila
Dines who finished with 3½.
[Read
more]
John Carleton at the
British Championships - 1st August 2010
Well done to John Carleton, winner of the
Atkins (open section) weekender at the British Championships
in Canterbury with 4½/5.
Travelling down on the Friday, he had
little time to prepare. And with the unusual layout of the
University campus and few reference points to guide the
newcomer, John did well to avoid losing time on his clock
when games started at 7:00pm.
In Sunday's final round John's superior
opening knowledge and positional skills (plus 45 odd years
of experience) left his young opponent with little choice
but to resign. John's prize(s) £140 and an early train home.
My reflections on the recent EGM of the Club are
obviously going to be a great deal shorter than those of Club members who
managed to sit through the meeting to the end. But here we go.
I raised an important question at the start of the
meeting regarding how the proposed Constitution had come to be be moved at
this time. I had raised the same question with the Secretary in an e-mail
when members were sent a copy of the proposed Constitution. I also asked for
the identity of those moving the Constitution to be revealed, and also for a
quick explanation of the rationale behind each section of the document. It
seemed to me most important that members should have a chance to reflect on
what was being proposed before the meeting. In fact we had been provided
with a copy of the draft only after a request from Dave Hurley. I received
no reply whatsoever to my requests.
Thus when Dave James revealed that the draft Constitution
was in response to the behaviour of Dave Robertson, Steve Connor and myself,
it became finally clear to me that the business afoot was a continuation of
the dispute already provoked, not by the three of us, but rather by Dave
James and his cronies.
So it was entirely appropriate that I stressed pertinent
information relating to that dispute, including new information that had
come to light as a result of the AGM. When Dave James made the explicit
criticism of us, it meant that the discussion of the Constitution was doomed
to be tarnished until the earlier dispute was resolved. I should stress that
it was at the insistence of Dave James that the meeting, rather bizarrely,
interrupted the unfinished business of the dispute (and its related dummy
motion concerning the election of webmaster) to discuss the proposed
Constitution. It was also his accusation/explanation for the constitution
coming up now that meant the dispute and its ramifications had to be dealt
with first. Thus the repeated interruptions from the chair were
inappropriate, as were many of those from the floor.
About the small contribution I was able to make, I would
make the following points. The Secretary was correct to say that the
evidence I produced regarding doctoring of proposed minutes looked very bad.
He was correct to offer his resignation. This resignation should be
accepted. His explanation that the situation arose through gross
incompetence rather than design does not hold water in respect of the
evidence produced, and indeed the further evidence I will publish if it is
felt necessary. It is also inconceivable that the Secretary acted without
input from at least the Chair of their committee since at no point did the
Secretary take a leadership role in (their provoking of) the dispute. Thus,
being prevented from doing first things first, I felt obliged to exempt
myself from the remainder of the meeting.
I should say that if a constitution is regarded as
useful, then Tom Bimpson's proposals do seem eminently reasonable and
reflect a fair and appropriate way that club members can interact. This is
in stark contrast to the original proposals. It does not require a
psychologist to work out that these proposals were a continuation of the
bellicose intentions of those involved in its production. As luck would have
it, we had a psychologist to hand anyway: Andrej's demolition of the
"expulsion clause" did help to restore some sanity to the situation.
Thereafter the club should be appreciative of Tom's efforts to introduce a
calm and sensible working document.
One of my regrets at leaving early was that I did not
have the opportunity to hear Dave James propose item 17, regarding disputes.
"In the event of a dispute with a team from another club this will be taken
up by the Captain with the Captain of the opposing team. In the event that
this does not resolve the dispute it shall be pursued by the Secretary under
advisement of the relevant Captain and the Committee."
It would have been particularly interesting to hear how,
when I had an unresolved dispute as Atticus2 Captain and tried to assemble a
meeting to discuss the issue, and hopefully obtain consensus on united
action, that:
(a)
no such meeting was ever forthcoming, and
(b)
how Dave James's briefing of Club members
against me - while not informing me of what he was doing -
squares with this eminently reasonable section of the new
Constitution.
The proposal of the original section 17 regarding
threatening or abusive behaviour would also have been an interesting pitch.
I'm sure that Dave James's crystal clear view that everything is Dave
Robertson's fault would have come across forcefully. I am still available to
go through the truth with anyone who is still in doubt.
With regards to the Constitution itself, may I just pose a few questions?
•
Will the constitution stop a group within the
committee calling a meeting, and taking action against an
uninvited committee member; and indeed not inviting another
elected committee member who is likely to oppose their view?
•
Will the constitution prevent some committee
members pretending to be a complete committee and then traducing
some club members on a public forum?
The answer to both of these questions must be "no". Both
these events happened during last season. The fact that the answer is "no"
is not the fault of the Constitution because a Constitution cannot be
expected to cover matters of such basic common decency.
•
Another situation that falls outside the
sphere of the reasonable is that of Dave James's stirring up
club members with misinformation behind my back, referred to
above. Naturally no constitution can be expected to cover such
flawed and warped behaviour. But how does the Club respond? Does
it feel this is appropriate behaviour?
•
Will the constitution stop part of the
committee invoking made-up powers; e.g telling the Webmaster
that everything he publishes has to be agreed by the committee?
The answer here is "yes"; (this also happened last season).
Under section 18 "In the event of complaints about the content
of the Atticus Chess Club website this will be dealt with by the
Webmaster under the advisement of the General Committee"; it is
clear that the whole tenor of the Chair's communications with
Steve Connor were grossly improper.
My main regret at leaving the EGM early is that I was
unable to express my personal gratitude for the unstinting work in the
service of Chess and Atticus of two of our members. First, I must honour the
Club's finest son, Dave Robertson. It is no slight on Steve Connor that I
designate him thus. Dave Robertson's selfless and tireless work on behalf of
Chess and our City over many years, but particularly during 2006-2008, have
been well documented. The pushing of Atticus into the 21st century with the
provision of the fabulous Adelphi venue and the complete restocking of our
boards and sets, all at no cost to the Club, is undoubtedly one of the two
main reasons why Atticus is currently such a magnet for chess players.
In most other clubs Steve Connor would be the greatest
servant of Chess in their history. He is currently webmaster for the British
Championship site, the 4NCL site and the London Classic site. His
professionalism and dynamism are respected by all sections of British Chess.
The Atticus website under his care has undoubtedly been the other most
significant reason for the recent growth of the Club, and has been admired
far and wide for the whole of Steve's tenure.
I am ashamed to be a member of a Club that treats its
greatest servants so badly, but proud to regard Dave and Steve as my
friends. You may question my judgement. For it is true that I thought Dave
James was a friend for well over 30 years. Reality has taken over only as I
felt his stiletto between my shoulder blades. However in the case of Steve
and Dave you need not concern yourself with my judgement; their record of
unambiguous, straightforward exposition of the beauty and occasional deceit
within our great game is the only testament they require together with the
legacy of their many achievements within Chess.
John Carleton
July 27, 2010
20 July
2010
After 38 years
Following an EGM last nght, the club has split and been
destroyed by a clique of spineless individuals calling themselves a
committee.
Concerns for the welfare of remaining
members should be of interest to all chess players.
For the record, I remain in full support of John
Carleton, David Robertson and others who have taken a principled and
courageous position regarding the dispute with Widnes over the last 18
months or so.
They are outstanding examples of kind, hard working,
honourable people the like of which we rarely meet in our lives.
For 38 years they have given unstinting
support to Atticus Chess Club.
The unforgivable and unprecedented public attack on them
and other long-serving members published on the MCA website was a disgrace.
The ‘Dossier’, produced by the 'committee', a further act of lies and
malice, should be treated with contempt as should the individuals who attach
their names to it; individuals morally bankrupt, prepared to betray their
colleagues at the drop of a hat and possessing a breath-taking level of
vindictiveness. They know who they are and when the truth unfolds, others
will too.
My contribution as webmaster has been to support and
promote chess for the benefit of the Club and community. I have
acted honourably and recognition for such has been forthcoming. Only
this ‘committee’ with their propaganda and paranoia could see it
differently. But they ignore the truth because it’s no longer convenient.
Members not so easily hoodwinked will no doubt have
their own worries and so they should because this ‘committee’ will now
take the Club down some very dark and dreary pathways in the years
ahead.
18th July 2010
Fair competition
John Carleton considers two or three strands of
Widnes' current playing practices, principally from season
2009-10, which are quite disturbing for those who support normal notions
of transparency and fair play. [Read
more]
[Forum]
10th
May 2010
4NCL Sat 1st - Mon 3rd May
The final rounds (9, 10 & 11) of this year's 4NCL in
Divisions 1-2 took place at the De Vere Venues,
Sunningdale Park, Berkshire on Sat 1st - Mon 3rd May. This is one of
the best venues used by the 4NCL situated in beautiful Berkshire countryside.
See more photos.
Division 1 was won by WG Hilsmark Kingfisher 1 with Jon Ludvig Hammer
and Luke McShane on top boards. Runners-up were Pride and Prejudice with
Mickey Adams and David Howell on their top boards. Click for the Division 1
demotion pool table.
How will the levelling of the score change the psychology
of Anand and Topalov? Anand has white. So far both players have been happy
to repeat the Catalan but today there has been a switch to the Nimzo-Indian.
Anand clearly got his preparation in and
Topalov has fallen behind on the clock. Later Topalov gave
up two rooks for Anand's queen and now seems in for a very
long afternoon if he wants to save the position.
Latest: The game ended in a draw after Anand
missed at least one clear win. The game was a heroic fight that lasted 83
moves, when Topalov once again claimed a threefold repetition.
[Replay
game 9].
4th May, Game 8 - Malcolm Pein reports:
After surviving playing black twice in a row Veselin
Topalov gets the opportunity to go on the offensive in game 8. Topalov and
Anand yet again play the Slav Variation Anand used successfully in games 3
and 5.
Anand was the first to deviate with
13...Rc8. Topalov was the first in with a novelty, 18.a5.
Anand didn't seem to play the best and got a miserable
looking position, almost lost if not losing. However Topalov
played oddly since then and allowed Anand into a bishops of
opposite colour endgame. Anand got a completely drawn
position and then played 60...Bc6??? which lost almost
instantly and he resigned a couple of moves later.
In contrast to game 7 both players played poorly. Anand's
opening was bad, Topalov's exploiting of the advantage was less than
accurate, and then Anand shockingly knew the draw but played something else.
[Replay game 8].
3rd May, Game 7 - Malcolm Pein reports:
Viswanathan Anand played white again today. Anand
repeated the Catalan but Topalov followed up with an exchange sacrifice
which was played by Ivanchuk against Gelfand in the Amber tournament earlier
this year. Topalov seemed to have got a strong novelty in first for the
first time in the match. He continued to play quickly until move 21.
Topalov kept the pressure up even though
he only had a piece for a pawn. Eventually he decided to
repeat the position. Anand saw the opportunity to to play on
and set Topalov some more problems. However with some
accurate moves Topalov had just enough resources to hold the
position and after trying a number of approaches the game
was eventually agreed by repetition. [Replay
game 7].
Anatoly Karpov was in Sofia to make the first move. The
death of former FIDE President
Florencio
Campomanes was marked by a minutes silence at the start of the game.
Game annotations and full details on
TWIC.
1st May, Game 6 - Malcolm Pein reports:
Could Anand take advantage of the white pieces in Game 6
to extend his lead to two points? Well the answer turned out to be no, in
fact Topalov was quite impressive in holding the draw in spite of facing yet
more preparation from Anand.
Game 6 sees the first of two games in a
row where Anand has the white pieces. White has dominated
proceedings so far so this is a key couple of games. The
regulation whereby Anand has white twice is in my view
wrong-headed. It is a cure that is worse than the disease.
The idea is to switch the player who has the white pieces
immediately after the rest day around (there are two days
play followed by a rest day). A much better solution would
be to eliminate the extra rest day before Game 12 and go
Game 6 then Rest Day, Game 7 then Rest Day which would
achieve the same thing but not use this rather false
construct. [Replay
game 6].
30th April, Game 5 - Malcolm Pein reports:
Drawn by repetition in 44 moves. They followed the Game 3
Slav where Anand escaped with a draw. Anand's first 5 minute think was over
move 14 and he decided to play 14...Rg8 again. After 15.h4 Anand was the
first to deviate with 15...h5.
They had a complete power failure in the
the centre of Sofia for a few minutes. The game resumed
after about 12-14 minutes. Both players agreed that with
22...f6! black had equalised.
There was plenty of interesting play after that but after
the first time control Anand decided that he was happy with a draw and
forced a repetition of moves. [Replay
game 5]
28th April, Game 4 - Malcolm Pein reports:
After the draw in game 3 it was Anand who was looking to
make progress with white in game 4. Anand opened with the Catalan as Kramnik
did in his match against Topalov in Elista.
Anand played a novelty with 10.Na3 which
led to a long think from Topalov. It may be Topalov had
studied the position but not for a while.
But in the end he played 10...Bd7. So the big question
was if Anand's preparation could cause serious problems for Topalov.
The answer was an emphatic, yes. Topalov's pieces
gradually got tied up on the Queenside and far away from his king. Anand
needed no second invitation to go for a sacrificial attack which he
prosecuted with no problems at all. [Replay
game 4]
Now it is up to Topalov to strike back with white on
Friday. This has been a match where the white pieces have dominated (three
wins and a draw so far) but Topalov will have some recovering to do after
this loss. More news and match details are available on
TWIC.
27th April, Game 3: Another
fascinating game today as both players fought to retain
control in a queenless middlegame.
The opening, a Queens Gambit Declined, Weisbaden
variation, was a repeat of Topalov’s 6th game against Kramnik in the 2006
World Championship until he deviated with 14.Rc1 instead of the more usual
14.Ke2. Topalov did enjoy a small space advantage but Anand’s careful and
patience response was sufficient to stop enough progress being made to force
matters.
Topalov’s body language is revealing as he leans much
further over the board than his opponent, at times looking somewhat
frustrated and intense. Anand in contrast looked calm and controlled as he
nullified any winning chances by his Bulgarian opponent. The game petered
out into a level rook and pawn and following a repeat of the position and
after permission from the arbiter was granted, the game was agreed drawn.
The players did not shake hands at the end.
25th April, Game 2:Anand
strikes back. A quieter game today saw both players happy to
achieve equality from the opening.
Anand's novelty 15. Qa3 did not appear to be an
improvement but Topalov was passive after the position clarified and
25...Ne3?! was a turning point. A series of accurate rook moves gave Anand a
clear edge and after 30.Rc7 many commentators had him winning.
The opening chosen by Anand, a rather dull variant of the
Catalan proved to be a good decision as Topalov's home preparation was
clearly not as thorough as his and Anand went on to secure the win in 43
moves. [Replay
game 2]
24th April, Game 1: Perhaps still suffering
from pre-match travel chaos, Anand, with a seriously under-developed
position, folded in a Grunfeld defence in just 30 moves.
The critical mistake was 23...Kf7?? which lost quickly.
So
Topalov
wins game one and the match gets off to an explosive start.
[Replay
game 1]
Anand's
confidence has taken a jolt particularly as Topalov played his moves very
quickly, and with great precision. But Anand has the White pieces in game 2
and will come out fighting as always.
Before this match, Anand and Topalov have met 87 times.
Anand scored 55%: he won 23, drew 50 and lost 14. However, this includes
rapid, blitz and blindfold games. In classical games, in a total of 44,
Topalov won 11, Anand 10 and 23 were drawn.
In a letter published at the Karpov 2010 campaign
website, Anatoly Karpov has responded to Arkady Dvorkovich’s remarkable move
to already announce the Russian Chess Federation’s nomination of Kirsan
Ilyumzhinov. “I must state that the world chess community has been
cheated in the most blatant manner,” says the former World Champion.
Recently
Chessvibes reported the announcement by Arkady Dvorkovich, the Chairman
of the Supervisory Board of the Russian Chess Federation (RCF) and Advisor
to the President of Russia, that the RCF has nominated Kirsan Ilyumzhinov as
FIDE President candidate.
lyumzhinov (left) with match
organiser Silvio Danailov
"The decision to delay the match by one day to me
is illegal and disrespectful to the Organising Committee – said Silvio
Danailov, manager of Veselin Topalov. Lawyers have already investigated
the matter, and we reserve the right to file a case against the
International Federation (FIDE) for lost profits." Such was the
unwanted gift Danailov received on his birthday yesterday, he was
strongly opposed to the postponement due to late arrival of the world
champion Viswanathan Anand.
The Organizing Committee of the match took the same
view, but the game supervisor George Makropulos decided otherwise. The
games are to be played on two consecutive days, with a rest day to
follow, and a one-day shift of the entire match schedule.
A few weeks ago Chessbase published a statement by the
Turkish Chess Federation supporting the candidacy of the President of FIDE
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is seeking re-election for the term 2010-2014. Four
FIDE Continental Presidents have joined the TCF in declaring support for the
incumbent.
Public statements.
However, the United States Chess Federation and German
Chess Federation have given their support to Anatoly Karpov. The gloves are
off and the campaigns have started but does Karpov really stand any chance?
Chessvibes analyse the letters in
'FIDE
elections: meaningful and meaningless support'.
Karpov has released his campaign mission outlining the
main goals and themes and is available in Russian, English and Spanish.
Click to download
an English version.
21st April 2010
World Championship 2010, Sofia, Bulgaria
Match postponed by
one day
Silvio Danailov
Latest: Match start is delayed by one day. The first game
will now take place on 24 April. After an arduous journey lasting over forty
hours
Anand
arrived in Sofia on Tuesday morning. He travelled from Frankfurt to Sofia
with his luggage and support team in a
Mercedes Sprinter.
Meanwhile FIDE Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos has
successfully negotiated a short postponement to give Anand time to adjust.
It was supposed to start on 23 April and due to finish on
10 May with six rest days, seven if tiebreaks are needed.
Topalov
will just have to wait, which has not gone down well with his manager
Danailov.
The time control in each game is 120 minutes for the
first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the
rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting after
move 61.
Last week, and before all the volcanic ash chaos, Anand
found time to fit in an interview with Aljazeera reporter Riz Khan in his
One on One show, on 10th April. In it Anand describes his career in chess.
Click to see the two-part interview.
Before this match, Anand and Topalov have met 87 times.
Anand scored 55%: he won 23, drew 50 and lost 14. However, this includes
rapid, blitz and blindfold games. In classical games, in a total of 44,
Topalov won 11, Anand 10 and 23 were drawn.
The long awaited match between
Anand
and
Topalov
is due to start on 23 April but a big cloud now hangs over the event, a
cloud of volcanic ash that is. Anand is
stranded
in Frankfurt over 860 miles away with little prospect of escape.
The match is scheduled to finish on 10 May with six rest
days, seven if tiebreaks are needed. Postponements, not permitted in the
original regulations, are now likely given the extraordinary events in
Iceland ...
more.
The time control in each game is 120 minutes for the
first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the
rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting after
move 61.
Before this match, Anand and Topalov have met 87 times.
Anand scored 55%: he won 23, drew 50 and lost 14. However, this includes
rapid, blitz and blindfold games. In classical games, in a total of 44,
Topalov won 11, Anand 10 and 23 were drawn.
Sun March 28, 2010 - More
sad news is announced today as we discover that former World Champion Vasily
Smyslov died on Saturday March 27 just three days after his 89th birthday.
Smyslov was born on March 24, 1921, auditioned as a baritone
singer at the Bolshoi Theatre before he took up chess as a full-time career. In
1957 he beat Botvinnik in the world championship match and held the title for a
year.
He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight
occasions (1948, 1950, 1953, 1956, 1959, 1965, 1983, and 1985). He was twice
Soviet Champion (1949, 1955), and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won is
an all-time record. In five European Team Championships, Smyslov won ten gold
medals.
Read more ...
Chessbase have published a
comprehensive
report including several photos of historical interest.
13th April 2010
Atticus History -Part 3:
by John Carleton
Sensational archive material has recently been released by
the British Library, and, as with all documents relating to the noble game, a
priority copy was promptly forwarded to the Club in recognition of the high
esteem in which we are held throughout the academic world. Here is an extended
extract from the most exciting document, one which casts
new light on the origins of Atticus.
29th March 2010
4NCL 27th & 28th March
Rounds 7&8 in Divisions 1-2 take place at the De Vere Venues,
Staverton Park, Northamptonshire on Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th March. The
matches start at 14:00 on the Saturday and 11:00 on the Sunday. Watch
LIVE games from Div 1.
Rounds 7&8 in Division 3 take place at the Barcelo Hotel,
Daventry over the same weekend.
Complete fixtures and pairings for each division
can be seen here.
Southport CC player Derek Geoffrey Horseman has died 18th
March 2010 in hospital, after a short illness, aged 78 years. Dearest husband of
Theresa; much loved father of Anne, Marie and Sarah; loving Grandad to John,
Mary, Gerard, Patrick and Francesca.
Requiem Mass at Holy Family RC Church, Brompton Road,
Southport on Monday 29th March at 12.15pm. Family flowers only by request, but
masses for Derek and donations for CAFOD and Oxfam are being received by the
familyat:
Unfortunately at this time the simul has been cancelled
because a vindictive clique within the Club known as the 'committee' have
conspired to block this wonderful opportunity. Plans for any future simuls will
never be shared with members. All matters to do with such things will be kept
secret by this joyless and selfish mob.
20th March 2010
4NCL Rapidplay Championships 9-10 October 2010 by
Mike Truran
Mike Truran
The 4NCL will be holding its first team and individual
rapidplay championships on 9-10 October 2010 for which entries are invited from
all interested teams and players.
For those of you with long memories, the format we are using
is not dissimilar to the now defunct British team lightning championships (held
between 1953 and 1992), with the team championship held on the Saturday and the
individual championship on the Sunday.
Winners will hold the title of 4NCL Team and Individual
Rapidplay Champion respectively for 2010/2011. We are guaranteeing a prize fund
of at least £2,000 for the weekend.
4NCL at Barcelo Hotel, Feb 2010
Hopefully both the format (significantly different from the
previous 4NCL rapidplay events last held in 2008), the time control (10 minutes
+ 5 second increment per game) and the time of year (a month before the start of
the new 4NCL season) will prove attractive.
Although it would of course be unrealistic to expect entry
fees to be paid in advance of the deadlines (30 September, or 30 June for
discounted entry fees), I would very much appreciate it if you could let me know
whether you expect to enter. That will help me give the venue an idea of likely
numbers in advance.
Complicated tiebreak rules made all kinds of scenarios
possible, but in the end it was clear. By beating Gelfand in a tense game,
Topalov won outright as Grischuk drew with Vallejo Pons.
This year the tournament involved six players, two short of
the usual eight and took place February 12-25 in Andalucia, Spain.
Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand
(2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo
Pons (2705) are playing.
Rounds started at 16:00 CET (15:00 GMT); rest 17th & 22nd.
Rate of play: 2 hrs/40 moves, 1 hr for 20, then 20 mins for the rest of the
game, with 30 secs increment from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw
apply in Linares for the first time.
Feb 10 2010: Following the screening of this famous DVD at
FACT there followed a very engaging talk by David Robertson, Professor of Public
Policy at JMU. David (left) was the principle organiser of Liverpool's hugely
successful chess tournaments 2006-8.
The very appreciative audience, some with very little chess
knowledge others with long standing club experience, all enjoyed his thoughtful
and incisive analysis.
9th
February
2010
More Gibtelecom photos and video
There are some additional pics from rounds 1&2, and some of
the hotel itself, from this year's Gibraltar Masters
here. Click to see some
short videos of the Masters
and Challengers.
1st February 2010
Gibraltar
Festival
2010
Mickey Adams:
winner 2010
John
Saunders
reports:
English
grandmaster
Mickey Adams
has won the
8th
Gibtelecom
Masters
after a
four-player
play-off. He
did it the
hard way,
losing the
first game
of his
semi-final
against
German GM
Jan
Gustafsson
and having
much the
worst of the
second game
before
Gustafsson
blundered a
piece. There
followed an
Armageddon
game, with
Adams
obliged to
win, which
he did in
some style.
In the other
semi-final
Paco Vallejo
Pons of
Spain won
his first
game quite
comfortably
against
Chand
Sandipan of
India. He
was
comfortable
in the
second game
but Sandipan
fought back
to the point
where he
should have
won, only
the make a
terrible
blunder
which cost
him the win.
The final
saw Adams in
his best
form, soon
securing a
strong
advantage
which he
carried
through to
victory. In
the return,
Vallejo Pons
got a bad
position but
his attempt
to mix the
game up cost
him a piece
and he could
only draw.
The two-game
mini-matches
were played
at a time
control of
10 minutes
with 10
second
increments
and the
Armageddon
game at 5
minutes to
4.
The 8th
Gibtelecom
tournament
took place
at the very
plush Caleta
Hotel in
Gibraltar.
The Masters
event
started
daily at
15:00 local
time (14:00
UK) and had
a remarkable
line-up of
talent
including
Gata Kamsky,
Etienne
Bacrot and
Mickey Adams
(the
eventual
winner).
Full details
and pairings
for each
round can be
seen on the
official
site
where you
can see
photos and
video. More
photos
here.
1st February 2010
Corus
2010
from Wijk
aan Zee
.
The top seed and leader of the A-Group,
Magnus Carlsen, drew his final game, as
did his main contenders, which left the
19-year-old Norwegian the sole winner of
the tournament. His FIDE ranking in the
next list will most likely be the second
highest in history. Kramnik and Shirov
share 2nd-3rd. In the B-Group Anish Giri
was first, ahead of top seed Naiditsch.
There were three main sections in the
Corus event
GM-A,
GM-B and
GM-C. There are also some amateur
sections. English interest was centred
around Nigel Short who played in the A
section: average rating 2719 and David
Howell in the B section: average rating
2629
Live coverage from all sections was
available on
Playchess and
ICC
with daily reports on
Chessbase by English FM and writer
Steve Giddins. Video coverage was
presented by
ChessVibes and
Europe Echecs.
I’m happy to say I won the Corus 2010 A group in
the end with 8.5/13 points, ahead of Kramnik and Shirov at 8 and Anand
and Nakamura at 7.5. Having described my last round blunder and
subsequent save against Short in London in December as a narrow escape,
I could better have reserved the phrase for today. As white against
17-year old F.Caruana I settled for a closed Roy Lopez position out of
the opening, but he defended precisely and the position was fairly
equal. In the middle game I found a plan that I thought would leave me
with a nice initiative, but had calculated horribly wrong and ended up
in a very difficult position. Instead of suffering without counterplay,
I sacrificed a pawn to activate my pieces. The knight endgame a pawn
down was difficult, but we both thought it should be possible to hold
with precise defence. In the fifth hour of play he allowed a line that
drew fairly directly, while he could have made me suffer a while longer.
In the meantime Kramnik had drawn with Karjakin
and Anand with Van Wely, while Shriov against Dominguez was a sharp
fight that turned out to be a real thriller. With very little time on
the clock, Shirov found an incredible resource that turned a
desperate-looking position into an unclear one. Dominguez made a blunder
and offered a draw. Shirov didn’t see the winning line either and
accepted with seconds left in a clearly winning position. After the
traditional prize ceremony with pea soup there was a closing dinner for
the players and organisers in the A-group hotel. The famous Dutch
football star Edgar Davids is a chess enthusiast and he came to the
hotel for a long chat which I really appreciated. Now I’m looking
forward to a week of vacation abroad before returning to Norway.
Divisions
1-3, rounds 3&4 took place Saturday and Sunday at
Barcelo Hotel, Hinckley Island, Leicestershire (16th & 17th
January).
LIVE games
were broadcast on Saturday (14:00) and Sunday (11:00).
Click for all
results and PGN games.
6th January
2010
Hastings Congress 2009/10
The Masters ended in a fourway tie for first place,
between Mark Hebden of England, British Champion David Howell, Andrei
Istratescu of Roumania, and Romain Edouard of France.
Joint winner: GM
Mark Hebden
To nobody's great surprise, the two leaders, Hebden
and Istratescu, halved out in 11 moves. This left them safely ensconced
in the clubhouse on 7 points, from which they could observe the attempts
of the various 6-pointers to catch them up. Gormally-Drozdovskij never
looked like ending in anything other than a draw, but Romain Edouard
defeated Simon Ansell with Black, to join the leaders.
Finally, in the last few minutes up to the first
time-control, they were joined by David Howell, whose opponent lost the thread
in the time-scramble. - Steve Giddins
1st= GM Andrei Stratescu, GM Romain Edouard, GM David Howell,
GM Mark Hebden all scored 7/9.
On-site reporter Steve Giddins has written an
annotated
'daily
commentary' and games from Rds 1-9
can be downloaded below.
FIDE has just released the January 2010 rating list, and
Magnus Carlsen at 2810 is the new World number one, five points ahead of Veselin
Topalov, and twenty points above World Champion Viswanathan Anand. Magnus is the
youngest player ever to reach 2800+ and to top the world rankings.
Top 100 list.
Other notable changes for British players:
Nigel Short drops
back below 2700 at 2696 and is now just two points ahead of
Mickey Adams whose
successful London Classic tournament means he retains a respectable 2694 rating.
In the women's list not much has happened: Judit Polgar is
almost 70 points ahead of Koneru Humpy and Chinese wonder talent Hou Yifan, a
competitor at the Liverpool UK-China Summit match in 2007, continues to move
slowly towards the 2600 mark. English IM's
Harriet Hunt 2452
and Jovanka Houska
2401 feature in the World's top 100 women.
Final
Candidates list published, Carlsen not included 
