MAGNUS-Numero Uno

FIDE has just released its January 1st 2010 rating list, and it has the 19-year-old Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen with 2810 in the number one slot, five points ahead of number two Veselin Topalov, and twenty points above World Champion Viswanathan Anand. Magnus is the youngest player to cross the 2800 mark and to top the world rankings. Congratulations!

Rank Name Title Country Rating 1 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2810 2 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2805 3 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2790 4 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2788 5 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2781 6 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2761 7 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2759 8 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2749 9 Wang, Yue g CHN 2749 10 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2744 11 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2741 12 Leko, Peter g HUN 2739 13 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2737 14 Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2736 15 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2736 16 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2733 17 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2732 18 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2730 19 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2730 20 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2723 21 Karjakin, Sergey g RUS 2720 22 Malakhov, Vladimir g RUS 2716 23 Wang, Hao g CHN 2715 24 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2713 25 Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2712 26 Almasi, Zoltan g HUN 2710 27 Navara, David g CZE 2708 28 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2708 29 Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2708 30 Tomashevsky, Evgeny g RUS 2705 31 Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2705 32 Jobava, Baadur g GEO 2704 33 Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2703 34 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam g UZB 2702 35 Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2697 36 Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2697 37 Nielsen, Peter Heine g DEN 2697 38 Short, Nigel D g ENG 2696 39 Adams, Michael g ENG 2694 40 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2693 41 Vitiugov, Nikita g RUS 2692 42 Volokitin, Andrei g UKR 2692 43 Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2692 44 Naiditsch, Arkadij g GER 2687 45 Miroshnichenko, Evgenij g UKR 2686 46 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2682 47 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter g ROU 2681 48 Sargissian, Gabriel g ARM 2680 49 Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2678 50 Moiseenko, Alexander g UKR 2677 51 Caruana, Fabiano g ITA 2675 52 Bu, Xiangzhi g CHN 2673 53 Georgiev, Kiril g BUL 2672 54 Harikrishna, P. g IND 2672 55 Fressinet, Laurent g FRA 2670 56 Areshchenko, Alexander g UKR 2670 57 Onischuk, Alexander g USA 2670 58 Zhigalko, Sergei g BLR 2668 59 Smirin, Ilia g ISR 2668 60 Kurnosov, Igor g RUS 2668 61 Najer, Evgeniy g RUS 2665 62 Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2662 63 Riazantsev, Alexander g RUS 2661 64 Vescovi, Giovanni g BRA 2660 65 Cheparinov, Ivan g BUL 2660 66 Berkes, Ferenc g HUN 2659 67 Lastin, Alexander g RUS 2659 68 Meier, Georg g GER 2658 69 Nepomniachtchi, Ian g RUS 2658 70 Beliavsky, Alexander G g SLO 2657 71 Efimenko, Zahar g UKR 2657 72 Ni, Hua g CHN 2657 73 Smeets, Jan g NED 2657 74 Sutovsky, Emil g ISR 2657 75 Roiz, Michael g ISR 2657 76 Avrukh, Boris g ISR 2656 77 So, Wesley g PHI 2656 78 Krasenkow, Michal g POL 2656 79 Fridman, Daniel g GER 2654 80 Ganguly, Surya Shekhar g IND 2654 81 Baklan, Vladimir g UKR 2654 82 Grachev, Boris g RUS 2653 83 Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2653 84 Laznicka, Viktor g CZE 2652 85 Timofeev, Artyom g RUS 2652 86 Khismatullin, Denis g RUS 2651 87 Dreev, Alexey g RUS 2650 88 Sokolov, Ivan g BIH 2649 89 Inarkiev, Ernesto g RUS 2649 90 Seirawan, Yasser g USA 2649 91 Korobov, Anton g UKR 2648 92 Postny, Evgeny g ISR 2648 93 Le, Quang Liem g VIE 2647 94 Pashikian, Arman g ARM 2647 95 Landa, Konstantin g RUS 2645 96 Milov, Vadim g SUI 2644 97 Nyback, Tomi g FIN 2643 98 Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2643 99 Kazhgaleyev, Murtas g KAZ 2643 100 Socko, Bartosz g POL 2643

Alisa Galliamova and Alexander Grischuk are Russian Champions

Russian Superfinal Championship for women and men finishes on 29th December

Alexander Grischuk completed the year 2009 in style by winning the 62nd Russian Superfinal Championship, with 6.5 points from nine rounds, half a point clear ahead of the defending champion Peter Svidler. Earlier in March, Grischuk won the prestigious Linares Chess Tournament.

Svidler took an early lead but then he suffered a peculiar defeat against Sanan Sjugirov and allowed Grischuk to take over the helm. After the rest day, Grischuk maintained the safe margin and even beat Dmitry Jakovenko to avenge the elimination from the recent World Chess Cup.

Nikita Vitiugov finished third, while Alexander Riazantsev had an amazing recovery on the rest day and proceeded to collect 3.5 points from the last four rounds for a decent 6-8th place. The 16-years old Sjugirov is last with 3 points, but he actually played very well, albeit perhaps a bit too sharp.

Alexander Grischuk

Two times World Championship finalist Alisa Galliamova had a dream comeback after being on a two-years hiatus from the tournament chess. In the nervous race with Nadezhda Kosintseva, Galliamova entered the final round with a half point advantage ahead of the competitior. Nadezhda signed an expected draw with her sister Tatiana and Galliamova drew with Valentina Gunina to celebrate the victory at the 59th Russian Women Championship.

Gunina is third, Tatiana Stepovaia played better in the closing rounds and finished with 3 points, while Natalia Pogonina was unfortunately forced to withdraw after the 7th round due to illness.

Alisa Galliamova

Round 9 results (men):
Timofeev - Riazantsev 0-1
Jakovenko - Sjugirov 1-0
Alekseev - Grischuk draw
Tomashevsky - Svidler 0-1
Vitiugov - Khismatullin 1-0

Final Standings:
1. Alexander Grischuk - 6.5
2. Peter Svidler - 6.0
3. Nikita Vitiugov - 5.0
4-5. Dmitry Jakovenko and Evgeny Alekseev - 4.5
6-8. Denis Khismatullin, Alexander Riazantsev and Evgeny Tomashevsky - 4.0
9. Artyom Timofeev - 3.5
10. Sanan Sjugirov - 3.0

Round 9 results (women):
Bodnaruk - Romanko 1-0
Kosintseva, T - Kosintseva, N draw
Gunina - Galliamova draw
Stepovaia - Manakova 1-0
Zaiatz - Pogonina +-

Final Standings:
1. Alisa Galliamova - 7.5
2. Nadezhda Kosintseva - 7.0
3. Valentina Gunina - 6.0
4. Tatiana Kosintseva - 5.5
5-6. Anastasia Bodnarukand Elena Zaiatz - 4.5
7. Natalia Pogonina - 3.5 (-2)
8. Tatiana Stepovaia - 3.0
9. Maria Manakova - 2.0
10. Marina Romanko - 1.5

Super GM whiz kid Wesley So back in world’s top 100

THE 365 days of 2009 are almost over but for RP’s brightest hope Wesley Barbasa So, he just started his phenomenal chess career.

This was after the World Chess Federation (FIDE) released yesterday the expected rating change for the 16-year-old whiz kid from Bacoor, Cavite, who will be back in the world’s top 100 players list next month.

His sterling performance in this year’s World Chess Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, after beating World no. 12 GM Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in round 2 and last year’s World Chess Cup titlist GM Gata Kamsky of the US in round 3, gained him 15.8 points and he is expected to climb to 2656 when the Jan. 1, 2010 FIDE-RP rating list is formally released in a few days. He currently has an Elo rating of 2640. His best Elo rating is 2646 in July 2009 then lost two Elo in September 2009 (2644) and four Elo in November 2009 (2640).

Mark Paragua, the 1998 World Rapid U-14 champion in Disneyland, France, peaked at 2621 in April 2006. Asia’s First GM Eugene Torre, meantime, had an Elo rating of 2580 during his prime in the mid-80s when he topped the Toluca, Mexico Inter-Zonal.

“I dreamed that sooner or later, I will come to the magical point 2700.

I don’t know how much time I will need for that,” said the 2009 Corus Group C champion So, whose local and international campaign is being supported by NCFP president Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr. and Filway Marketings, Inc. CEO/President Hector “Chito” Tagaysay.

So is invited to play in the Group B section of the 72nd Corus chess tournament on Jan. 15 to 31, 2020 at the Wijk Aan Zee, a North Sea resort in the Netherlands.

Torre, who has often compared So to Bobby Fisher, stated on a local radio program, “The talent and skills are already there and he has proven that. This year could be a test of character and nerves for him because everybody knows him already.”

A grandmaster who holds an Elo rating 2500 and above is affixed a name of “International Grandmaster,” while a GM with an Elo rating of 2600 and above is dubbed as “Super Grandmaster” and a GM whos has an Elo rating of 2700 and above is called “Hydra Grandmaster,” which the young So is targeting.

So was ousted in the world’s top 100 list in the November 2009 FIDE rating chart while Michael Krasenkov of Poland, Alexander Lastin of Russia and Arman Pashikian of Armenia tallied 2656 Elo rating points and were tied for 69th to 71st spot followed by Alexey Dreev of Russia, Vladimir Baklan of Ukraine and Boris Avrukh of Israel were joint for the 72nd to 74th spots with 2655 Elo rating points.

Participants in Corus Group B are GMs Ni Hua of China, Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany; Emil Sutovsky of Israel, Pentala Harikrishna of India; Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu of Romania; Varuzhan Akobian of the USA; David Howell of England; Parimarjan Negi of India; Tomi Nyback of Finland; Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia; Erwin l’Ami, Dimitri Reinderman and Anish Giri of the Netherlands.

In Corus Group A participants are GMs Viswanathan Anand of India; Magnus Carlsen of Norway; Vladimir Kramnik of Russia; Peter Leko of Hungary; Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine; Hikaru Nakamura of USA; Alexei Shirov of Spain; Sergey Karjakin of Russia (winner of Corus A last year); Leinier Dominguez Perez of Cuba; Nigel Short of England; Sergey Tiviakov of Netherlands; Fabiano Caruana of Italy (winner of Corus B last year); and Loek van Wely and Jan Smeets of the Netherlands.

There are three sections in the tough Corus chess -- A, B and C, according to chess columnist Frank “Boy” Pestano. “Wesley has been invited to play in Group B. To be invited to Corus is like to be invited to the White House,” he added. -- Marlon Bernardino

Vugar Gashimov in top 10 sports people of Azerbaijan

Gashimov will be the best player from Azerbaijan of the January 2010 FIDE rating list

Vugar Gashimov was voted number seven among the best sports people of Azerbaijan for 2009. In the annual awards by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Gashimov was the only chess player to find a place among the top 10.

Vugar Gashimov is going to be the highest rated player of Azerbaijan at the January FIDE rating list. According to the live rating list he is with 2758 ELO points, at position N7, three points behind the WOrld Cup winner Boris Gelfand. From the country list Mamedyarov is 11th with 2741, while Radjabov is 16th with 2733.

The first competition for 2010 for Gashimov will be the World Team Chess Championship, where he will be on board 1 for the national team of Azerbaijan for the first time of his life. Among the important competitions in the calendar of Gashimov is the final FIDE Grand Prix, which will be the last train for the FIDE candidate matches. Before that Gashimov has confirmed his participation in Linares 2010 as well.

Gashimov shared with Tima Tushiev from Extratime.az, "If the first tournament, the World Team Chess Championship is successful for me on board 1, then the whole year will be also. This trend was observed in previous years as well. Now that we are the European Team Champions, this event has a special meaning to us." Gashimov added, "Naturally Topalov will not disclose his full repertoire during Linares 2010, but he has a vast opening knowledge and will play to the maximum. I still have not played against him. Levon Aronian needs no introduction, he is winning practically every tournament . Back in 2002 I played him and won twice in classic chess, while in Sochi we finihed draw. Regarding the latter the winner of Linares, Alexander Grischuk, it seems to me that his play is not stable, but lately he managed to find his game.

Russia Superfinal - Round Four

Peter Svidler still leading, Alisa Galliamova with perfect score

Peter Svidler maintains the lead in the men section of the 2009 Russian Superfinal Championship, half a point ahead of Alexander Grischuk, Dmitry Jakovenko and Denis Khismatullin. Svidler drew with Grischuk, while Khismatullin scored a nice win against Sanan Sjugirov. Alexander Riazantsev appears to be completely out of shape and remains sitting on the bottom of the crosstable.

Meanwhile in the women section, Nadezhda Kosintseva was held to her first draw, but Alisa Galliamova is still on the roll and wins fourth consecutive game. Tatiana Kosintseva finally reaches 50%, Romanko and Stepovaia lose again.

Alisa Galliamova (courtesy of the official website)

Round 4 results (men):
Riazantsev - Alekseev 0-1
Tomashevsky - Jakovenko draw
Vitiugov - Timofeev 1-0
Khismatullin - Sjugirov 1-0
Svidler - Grischuk draw

Standings:
1. Peter Svidler - 3.0
2-4. Alexander Grischuk, Denis Khismatullin and Dmitry Jakovenko - 2.5
5-7. Evgeny Alekseev, Nikita Vitiugov and Evgeny Tomashevsky - 2.0
8-9. Sanan Sjugirov and Artyom Timofeev - 1.5
10. Alexander Riazantsev - 0.5

Round 4 results (women):
Romanko - Gunina 0-1
Stepovaia - Kosintseva, T 0-1
Zaiatz - Bodnaruk draw
Pogonina - Kosintseva, N draw
Manakova - Galliamova 0-1

Standings:
1. Alisa Galliamova - 4.0
2. Nadezhda Kosintseva - 3.5
3-5. Valentina Gunina, Anastasia Bodnaruk and Natalia Pogonina - 2.5
6. Tatiana Kosintseva - 2.0
7. Elena Zaiatz - 1.5
8. Maria Manakova - 1.0
9. Marina Romanko - 0.5
10. Tatiana Stepovaia - 0.0

Go or no go? The SEN factor mixes up Indian journalists report

Carlsen confirms he will not be part of Anand's team for the match with Topalov

Magnus Carlsen was supposed to be part of Anand's team, as reported by the Indian Calcutta Telegraph earlier this week. However, alarms sounded as several other sources quoted Peter Heine Nielsen as the "sure second" for Anand.

After the Times of India report was published with the different team setup, Chessdom journalists contacted Magnus Carlsen himself for confirmation via Facebook. "I will make my own statement regarding this matter soon," commented Carlsen and a few minutes afterwards changed his status to, "Magnus Øen Carlsen: Is apparently not going to be a second for Anand after all. A shame, as I was really looking forward to that."

For the Chessbase blog of F. Friedel, Carlsen's father also denied the news, although not giving additional details for now.

Anand to have Carlsen as a second for the World Championship with Topalov

Anand and Carlsen will be on the same team for WCC 2010 in Sofia

The World Champion Viswanathan Anand will have the Norwegian prodigy Magnus Carlsen as second for the upcoming match with Topalov. The news was announced by Anand himself in an interview during the visit at the East Zone NIIT Mindchampions Academy — Chess Master. Anand shared, "Surya Sekhar Ganguly may be. I am not sure. Seconds are a very secretive thing. Even if I tell you that he will be one of my seconds, the rival camp will not believe me. But one thing is for sure, Magnus Carlsen (the world No. 2) will be one of the seconds."

The World Champion added, "There’s a fight for the No. 1 spot. I rate Carlsen very highly. He’s had a memorable second half in 2009 and has improved by leaps and bounds."

Replay Carlsen - Topalov games

Carlsen - Topalov 1:0 Linares '08
Topalov - Carlsen 0:1 Morelia '08
Carlsen - Topalov 0:1 Final Masters Bilbao
Topalov - Carlsen 1:0 Final Masters Bilbao
Carlsen - Topalov 1:0 Mtel Masters '09
Topalov - Carlsen 1/2-1/2 Mtel Masters '09
Carlsen - Topalov 1:0 Nanjing '09
Topalov - Carlsen 1/2-1/2 Nanjing '09

Danailov about Carlsen and the 2010 World Championship

In a recent interview Silvio Danailov commented, "Since Carlsen started working with Kasparov, he is progressing as expected. At this moment he has to deal with the psychological pressure to be only 9 points from the top. He is young and talanted, it is expected for him to become number 1 at some point."

Anand and Carlsen in 2010

In the first part of 2010 both Carlsen and Anand are playing Corus chess 2010 tournament. While Anand is preparing from now for the match with Topalov, Carlsen will concentrate on Corus and will have extensive training session with Kasparov. The young Norwegian commented on his blog, "Right now I really look forward to a quiet and peaceful Christmas vacation with family and friends. My first tournament next year starts in the middle of January in Holland, but before that I’ll have a training session with Kasparov just after New Year."

Being Anand's second can surely be one of the reasons why Carlsen did not confirm participation for Linares 2010.

Anand and Carlsen in a rapid game encounter in Mainz

Source of the most recent Anand interview: Indian Telegraph

Always nice to be at the pinnacle

Always nice to be at the pinnacle: Anand
A STAFF REPORTER
Tuesday , December 22 , 2009

Calcutta: World No. 3 and reigning world champion Viswanathan Anand was in town to felicitate the East Zone winners of the NIIT Mindchampions Academy — Chess Master 2009, on Monday. From playing simultaneous chess with youngsters to teaching a trick or two to magician PC Sorcar, or signing around 100 autographs, Anand had a rollicking time at the DPS, Ruby Park. The smiling assassin also took time out to interact with the media.

The following are excerpts

How does it feel to be a world champion?

A It gives me a kick to be a world champion. Yeah, it’s always nice to be at the pinnacle and find out how it looks from the top. But being a champion has never made me feel complacent. In fact, it gives me impetus to work harder and strive to be better.

Whether defending the world title brings added pressure

Not really. I am not the defending champion in the sense that I won’t be winning the title if I drew with (Vaselin) Topalov. The match will go to the tie-breakers.

[Anand, who defeated Vladimir Kramnik to win the 2008 crown, will be playing current world No. 1 Vaselin Topalov for the world title in April next year.]

His preparation for the world title

The first part of 2010 will be hectic. In January, I am playing the Corus chess and in April, the World Championship. I am preparing hard for the April meet. Working more than 12 hours a day. Preparing for a World Championship is no mean task. You have to work 10 times more than what you do under normal circumstances. Physically and mentally, I have to be at my peak. I have to be ready to fight till the end.

The difference between Kramnik and Topalov

Kramnik is more from the classical school of chess. While Topalov loves to move around. I will have to look for chinks in Topalov’s armour and try to guess which way to attack.

His form before the World Championship has always been far from satisfactory. Is it a ploy to fool his opponent when the real battle begins?

I don’t think so. You don’t do these things intentionally. It’s just that this year I haven’t performed well enough to win a title.

Is the poor form a cause for concern?

No way. I know how to reach my peak when it comes to the crunch. If you don’t give your best in the World Championship, where else do you give? I will be motivated enough in April to give my best shot.

Here is the full article.