Archive for March, 2014

Here’s a typical endgame position and – as luck would have it – such positions usually occur during time trouble! No? Well, Black’s only defense here seems to be giving checks and preventing a pawn advance. So, what was White’s magic move?

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World No. 2 Levon Aronian, the pre-tournament favourite, suffered another loss at the hands of Russian Sergey Karjakin in the last round. Viswanathan Anand had already won the tournament in the penultimate round. Karjakin concluded the tournament in second place. Here are the games of Round 14 and you can read a nice report on Chess Blog.
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Former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand defied critics, smashed competition and won the Chess Candidates 2014 in Khanty Mansiysk on Saturday with a round to spare. Anand held his ground and went through the toil of holding Russia’s Sergey Karjakin to a draw despite the latter having a better position. Levon Aronian – a point behind Anand – suffered a shock loss to Dmitry Andreikin leaving Anand with a clear tournament victory. Read a full report on Chess Blog. Replay all the games of Round 13 with Chess King.

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Only two rounds to go for the conclusion of the FIDE World Chess Candidates 2012 in Khanty Mansiysk. Twelve rounds have been played and former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand took a practical decision to accept a draw. The only decisive game of the day was between Veselin Topalov and Peter Svidler. Levon Aronian is a point behind Anand. Read a full report on Chess Blog. Replay the games with Chess King.

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The World Chess Candidates 2014 is proving to be a dream run for former World Chess Champion Viswanathan of India. Comfortably drawing with another former World Champion – Vladimir Kramnik of Russia – the Indian seems to have inched closer to a tournament victory and rights to challenge Magnus Carlsen once again in attempts to regain his world title. This is exciting chess history in the making! Though Levon Aronian of Armenia and Peter Svidler of Russia have a theoretical chance of catching up with Anand, the going is going to be tough for them. Mamedyarov and Karjakin are also at 4.5 along with Svidler. Aronian is at 6. Meanwhile, here are all the games of Round 11. You can read a nice report on the round at Chess Blog.
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Khanty Mansiysk World Chess Candidates 2014 have one man in complete control — Viswanathan Anand. maintaining his overnight one-point lead, the former world chess champion has just to get through the last four rounds to obtain the rights to a revenge world championship match with Magnus carlsen of Norway! Here are the games of Round 10 which include a horrible blunder by Vladimir Kramnik. You can read a report on the round at Chess Blog.
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LEVEL: Intermediate
CATEGORY: Middle Game

From the game Arkady Naiditsch – Vladimir Kramnik, Dortmund 2009. Black plays and wins.

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Former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand is on fire at the Khanty Mansiysk World Chess Candidates 2014. He beat another former world champion, Veselin Topalov, in Round 9. Meanwhile, Levon Aronian tried novel play and lost to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Anand now has a full point lead! Read a full report on Chess Blog. You can replay the exciting games of Round 9 with Chess King.

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The much-anticipated Levon Aronian – Viswanathan Anand draw in Round 8 was disappointing for fans and the two maintained there joint lead. Aronian played an interesting novelty picking up a pawn and surprising Anand as early as Move 3, but the positional disadvantage kept him on the backfoot. Eventually, he was happy to draw. Vladimir Kramnik could not convert a win and had to draw Dmitry Andreikin. Peter Svidler was on course to earning a full point when he blundered versus Sergey Karjakin and the later sat it out for seven hours to win. The Veselin Topalov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov game was a draw. Read a full report on Chess Blog. You can replay the games with Chess King.
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Seventh round, three decisive games and the chess just got ‘bloodier’ in Khanty Mansiysk at the 2014 Candidates tournament on Friday. Viswanathan Anand and Peter Svidler played a dangerous game that ended in a “satisfying” draw. Levon Aronian showed no mercy and demolished Sergey Karjakin. Vladimir Kramnik was not the one to be left behind and won a wild game versus Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Dmitry Andreikin beat Veselin Topalov despite being at the bottom of the standings! Replay the games with Chess King and read a full Round 7 report on Chess Blog.

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LEVEL: Difficult
CATEGORY: Middle Game

End of the game Robert Fontaine – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Aix-les-Bains 2007. Black plays and mates in 7 moves. Presented by Guest Star Almira Skripchenko.

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Ahead of the second rest day at Khanty Mansiysk, Round 6 was all fire and brimstone at the World Chess Candidates 2014. Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov met after six years and Kramnik suffered a shock defeat. Meanwhile, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov beat Peter Svidler. Levon Aronian forgot to stay calm and drew a won game even as the Viswanathan Anand – Sergey Karjakin game was an uneventful draw. Read a full report on Chess Blog. Replay the games of Round 6 with Chess King.
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Day 5 at the World Chess Candidates in Khanty Mansiysk saw one decisive games and three draws though none were easy. Peter Svidler did well to recover from his overnight loss to beat Veselin Topalov. Vladimir Kramnik and Levon Aronian struggled in a bitter battle which resulted in a draw. Viswanathan Anand let Dmitry Andreikin settle for a draw which could have been hard to prove for the latter and Sergey Karjakin and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov were also satisfied with a draw. You can read a full report on Chess Blog. Replay the games with Chess King.
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Former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand is in good nick as he continues to lead after four rounds at the Khanty Mansiysk Chess Candidates 2014. He drew with Vladimir Kramnik. The exciting round also witnessed Levon Aronian beating Peter Svidler and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov beating Dmitry Andreikin. The game Sergey Karjakin versus veselin Topalov was drawn. Read a full report at Chess Blog. Replay the games in the Chess King applet below.

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Are you up to the Sunday chess challenge?
LEVEL: Intermediate
CATEGORY: Study
White plays and draws, 1947 Study by Chekhover.

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Indian chess fans are sure to be loving this World Chess Candidates 2014 in Khanty Mansiysk. Picking up the second win of the tournament, former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand has taken sole lead after three rounds. You can read a full report at Chess Blog. Replay the games of Round 3 in the Chess King below. Can you guess the game of the position on the left?
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World Chess Candidates 2014 in Khanty Mansiysk witnessed three decisive games on Friday. It’s only the second round and now three players are in joint lead with 1.5 points each: Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Svidler. Read a full report on Chess Blog. You can replay all the games of Round 2 in the Chess King applet below.

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Finally the strongest chess tournament of the year has begun. It began with a bang at that as former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand beat the hot favorite and World No. 2 Levon Aronian. The others could only draw. Here are all the games. Read a report on Chess Blog. Anand played a neat Ruy Lopez, obtained a slight edge and then held on to trap his opponent’s Knight for a first-round victory.

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This one’s the neatest chess problem you are likely to see all day: White to play and checkmate in three moves!
LEVEL: Intermediate
CATEGORY: Problem
Mate in three moves, Problem by Del Rio, 1750
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Would you like to begin the week with a difficult chess study? Here’s the challenge:
LEVEL: Difficult
CATEGORY: Study
White plays and wins. 1927 Study by Leonid Kubbel.

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