Month: June 2016

Edmonton 04: Ganguly on fire!

Four rounds into the Edmonton International Tournament 2016, Grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly is dominating the field, having scored a perfect 4/4 so far. The enterprising Grandmaster from India has recorded important wins over GMs Sethuraman and Sambuev, and is half a point ahead of second-placed GM Samuel Shankland.

The fourth round was a bitter-sweet one for the Indian fans. While Ganguly continued on his merry way by notching up a crucial victory over Sambuev, Sethuraman had a tough time against Shankland, eventually resigning on the 40th move. Meanwhile, Bitan Banerjee, the third Indian in the fray, successfully held on to a draw against top-seed GM Alexei Shirov. The latter is currently placed sole third with 3 points by his name.

Results and Standings

Leuven GCT Final Day: Carlsen takes it all!

After winning the Rapid section by staging a fantastic comeback, World Champion Magnus Carlsen continued his rich vein of form, winning the blitz event of the Leuven Grand Chess Tour 2016 in convincing style. As a result, Carlsen also emerged as the overall winner of the Leuven leg, thus taking home all the trophies that were up for grabs.

Magnus scored a total of 23 points in the Leuven leg, a whooping two and a half points more than the second placed Wesley So. The latter put on a solid performance – keeping his losses to minimum – and edged out Levon Aronian in the race for the second place. Levon Aronian finished sole third with 20 points.

Indian hope Vishy Anand, who led the table at the end of Day One, scored 19.5 points and had to contend himself with the fourth spot.

After two events of the Grand Chess Tour 2016, Magnus Carlsen is well and truly in command with a whooping 23 points. American Grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So are placed joint second with 17 points each.

Capablanca Memorial Final: Ivanchuk all the way!

Another edition of the annual Capablanca Memorial tournament, and another title at this historic event for the ever-creative Vassily Ivanchuk. The 47-year-old Ukrainian super-GM remained unbeaten throughout the course of this double round-robin event, notching up an impressive 7/10 and finishing a point ahead of his compatriot GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko.

Ivanchuk’s performance was all about dominance. Chucky, as he is often called, took an early lead by winning games 2 and 3. From that point on, there was no looking back. Ivanchuk never let his top position slip, remained unbeaten and in the end, won the tournament in the most comprehensive of ways. Courtesy of this scintillating performance, Ivanchuk gained an impressive 18 ELO points.

While Kryvoruchko finished second with 6/10, GMs Zoltan Almasi and Ivan Cheparinov tied for the third place, scoring 5 points each. The latter’s superior tie-break score helped him finish third, while Almasi had to settle for the fourth spot.

Leuven GCT Day 2: Carlsen’s stupendous comeback!

While World Champion Magnus Carlsen had a terrible first day at the Leuven Leg of the Grand Chess Tour 2016, he once again justified his top billing by staging one of the better comebacks one will ever witness. Carlsen, who took off slowly with only four points on the first day out of a possible ten, won all the four games on the second day, not only taking his tally to 12/18 but also emerging as the leader at the end of the rapid section.

So Wesley, who is unbeaten as yet, finished a close second, scoring 11/18.

Meanwhile, Day One leader Vishy Anand had a rough finish to the rapid event. After having won the first game of the second day against the super-solid Anish Giri, Anand lost his way, losing two games on the trot to Kramnik and Carlsen. A draw in the final round of the rapid event saw the Madras Tiger finish joint third Levon Aronian.

The 10 players will now battle it out in a blitz tournament, which will be played over the course of the next two days. The winner will be adjudged taking into account the points scored from the rapid tournament as well as the blitz event.

Leon Masters: Anand beats Wei Yi, clinches title

The Leon Masters 2016 was held from 10th June to 12th June in Leon, Spain. This unique rapid event saw four players, of varied strengths, fight it out in a knockout format. Former World Champion Vishy Anand, who was also the chief attraction of this event, overcame the young opposition and won the tournament, adding yet another feather to his cap.

In the first round, which was labelled the ‘Semi Final’, Anand faced a tough challenge from young Spanish star GM Anton Guijjaro David. The first game was drawn. While Anand won the second game, Anton struck back immediately in the third. In the fourth and final game of the mini match, Anand recorded a crucial victory, thus making his way into the finals.

On the other hand, Chinese sensation GM Wei Yi was made to fight hard by Spanish IM Santos Latasa Jaime, despite a significant difference in their ratings. Wei Yi edged out Santos by the smallest of margins, winning one and drawing three.

The stage was set for an epic finale, featuring 46-year-old Anand and 17-year-old Wei Yi. Anand drew the first blood in the very first game of the match. However, the Chinese Grandmaster was unable to strike back and all the remaining three games were drawn. As such, Vishy clinched the final match by a 2.5-1.5 scoreline, winning yet another event in the city of Leon.

Mumbai Mayor’s Cup Final: Visakh NR outshines the Grandmasters!

The tenth and final round of the Mumbai Mayor’s Cup 2016 saw the top board clash between GM Diptayan Ghosh and IM Visakh NR end peacefully. With this draw, the duo moved on to 8 points each, and were joined at the top by untitled Himal Gusain, who overcame IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni in the final round. However, Visakh’s superior tie-break score helped him edge out his competitors and go home richer by Rs.3 Lacs. The runners-up spot was clinched by Diptayan Ghosh whilst Himal Gusain finished third.

17-year-old Visakh, who hails from the state of Tamil Nadu, started off as a modest 19th seed. However, he put on an exceptional performance – winning six and drawing four, thus remaining unbeaten throughout the course of the event and finishing ahead of all the participating Grandmasters. The young lad recorded wins over such experienced GMs as Amonatov and Ulybin, while drawing against GMs Grachev, Diptayan and Swapnil Dhopade.

Final Standings

Women’s European Individual Final: Anna Ushenina is the new champion!

Drawing her final round game of the Women’s European Individiual Chess Championship 2016 against IM Lilit Mkrtchian, Former Women’s World Champion GM Anna Ushenina took her points tally to 8.5/11, eventually finishing first courtesy of her superior tie-break score. Anna, who commenced the event as the 9th seed, registered 6 wins and 5 draws, remaining unbeaten on her way to this coveted title.

The runners-up spot was clinched by Spanish IM Vega Gutierrez Sabrina, who also scored 8.5 points whilst GM Stefanova Antoaneta secured the third place by scoring 8/11.

Final Standings