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Magnus Carlsen wins Shamkir Chess, Anand clear 2nd

Magnus Carlsen, the winner of Shamkir Chess 2015 (pic: official site)

Top seed and World Chess champion Magnus Carlsen won the Shamkir Chess 2015 (in memory of Vugar Gashimov) with 7 out of 9 points! The world champion defeated Rauf Mamedov in the last round.

India’s Vishy Anand held Fabiano Caruana to a draw and finished clear 2nd with 6/9 points. Anand had a very good tournament and was the only other player to remain undefeated! (apart from Carlsen)

Points after final round 9:

Carlsen 7

Anand 6

Wesley, Caruana 5

Mamedyarov, Kramnik 4

Adams, Mamedov, Giri, Vachier-Lagrave 3.5

World Team Chess 06: Ukraine, China maintain lead, Russia beats India

The sixth round of the World Team Chess Championship 2015 saw the overnight leaders Ukraine and China maintain their lead as they narrowly overcame Cuba and Israel respectively. Both – Cuba and Israel – were pretty much on the heels of the two overnight leaders and as such, today’s victories by Ukraine and China over the former teams have pushed the leading duo further ahead of the pack.

Meanwhile, the Russians continued their upsurgence with a 2.5-1.5 victory over India. Super GM Sergey Karjakin scored the decisive win for Russia as he beat GM Sethuraman in a 56-move Ruy Lopez battle.

In other matches, Hungary and Armenia split points whereas U.S.A. registered it’s first win of the tournament with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Egypt.

The 7th round will feature the hugely crucial match-up Ukraine vs China while Armenia will take on Russia in the battle of the heavyweights.

Round 6 Results:

Team

 Team Res. :

Res.

  India

   Russia 1½ : 2½

  Armenia

   Hungary 2 :

2

  Egypt

   USA 1 :

3

  Israel

   China 1½ :

2½

  Ukraine

   Cuba 2½ :

1½

The full pairings and results can be checked here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr170346.aspx?lan=1&art=2&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984

World Women’s Team 06: Kazakhstan holds China, Georgia leads!

The U.S.A. (L) vs Georgia (R) encounter in progress (Pic Source: http://chengdu2015.fide.com/)
The U.S.A. (L) vs Georgia (R) encounter in progress (Pic Source: http://chengdu2015.fide.com/)

Overnight leaders Georgia continued their splendid show at the on-going World Women’s Team Chess Championship as they comfortably overcame the Americans 3-1 to maintain their spot at the top of the table. However, it was the  8th-seeded Kazakhstan’s ‘upset draw’ against China that hogged the limelight in the sixth round. The Kazakh women managed to hold their esteemed 3rd-seeded opponents on each of the four boards, thus making it a 2-2 draw.

The Indian women, meanwhile, registered their second consecutive match victory with an overwhelming 4-0 win over the Egyptians.

Round 6 Results:

Team

 Team Res. :

Res.

  INDIA

   EGYPT 4 :

0

  POLAND

   RUSSIA ½ :

3½

  KAZAKHSTAN

   CHINA 2 :

2

  UKRAINE

   ARMENIA 2½ :

1½

  U.S.A.

   GEORGIA 1 :

3

Rankings after Round 6:

1) Georgia: 11 points
2) Russia: 10 points
3) China: 8 points… (10 Teams)

The full pairings and results can be checked here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr170190.aspx?lan=1&art=2&wi=821

Shamkir Chess r08: Anand Kramnik Adams win!

Anand sipping his way to another win! (pic: official site)

Yet another dramatic day in Shamkir Chess saw 3 decisive games with Anand Kramnik Adams winning their respective games.

Anand played another great game and sacrificed an Exchange to beat Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) with the White pieces. Thanks to this win, Anand climbed to #2 spot in the world rankings and crossed the 2800 rating barrier again (2803 in live rating list)

Kramnik and Adams scored a morale boosting victory (after yesterday’s losses) over Vachier-Lagrave and Anish Giri respectively.

After round 7, Carlsen continues to lead with 6 points and Anand follows half a point behind. In the last round tomorrow, Carlsen has the advantage of White pieces against lowest seed Mamedov, while Anand faces Caruana with the Black pieces.

Points after round 7

Carlsen 6

Anand 5.5

So, Caruana 5…

Pairings round 8 (final)

Mamedyarov 2754 – Adams 2746
Caruana 2802 – Anand 2791
Carlsen 2863 – Mamedov 2651
Vachier-Lagrave 2762 – So 2788
Giri 2790 – Kramnik 2783

Shamkir Chess r07 : Anand Carlsen Caruana win!

Anand vs Adams, Under the watchful eyes of the champion (credit: official site)

In what turned out to be good day for Chess fans, the Shamkir Chess tourney saw 3 decisive games with Anand Carlsen & Caruana winning their respective games.

Anand beat Adams

Vishy Anand continued his good run and beat Michael Adams of England. Anand opened with a rare 1.c4 and sacrificed an exchange. Anand nicely maneuvered his pieces to bring home the full point

Carlsen beat Kramnik

World champion Magnus Carlsen handed Vladimir Kramnik his 3rd successive loss, a rare for the former world champion. Magnus uncorked an opening surprise and Kramnik was left to do a lot of thinking over the board. Kramnik made a small tactical mistake after which he had to play most part of the game with his Rook and Bishop against Magnus’ Queen. It wasn’t too difficult for Magnus to win the game thereafter.

Fabiano beat Wesley

Fabiano Caruana beat Wesley So with the Black pieces. Other two games i.e. Mamedyarov vs Mamedov and MVL vs Giri were drawn.

Points after round 7

Magnus 5.5

Anand 4.5

Wesley, Caruana 4

Mamedyarov 3.5…

Round 8 pairings

Adams 2746 – Giri 2790
Kramnik 2783 – Vachier-Lagrave 2762
Wesley 2788 – Carlsen 2863
Mamedov 2651 – Caruana 2802
Anand 2791 – Mamedyarov 2754

World Team Chess Round 5: Ukraine, China in lead

The leaders spot at the World Team Chess Championship 2015 changed hands again as overnight leaders Cuba narrowly lost to Israel while Ukraine and China won their respective matches to take up the lead after Round 5.

In the Ukraine vs India encounter, GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko’s win over GM Krishnan Sasikiran proved decisive as the rest of the games finished in draws. While the China vs Egypt match-up was expected to be an easy one for China, the Egyptians made the matters really close as GM Samy Shoker stunned GM Yu Yangyi. In the end, the Chinese won by a narrow 2.5-1.5 margin, courtesy of the victories by Ding Liren and Wei Yi. The same scoreline was also witnessed in the Armenia vs U.S.A. encounter, with the Armenians coming out on top.

Top seeds Russia, meanwhile, registered their first match win of the tournament en route to a thumping 3.5-0.5 win over Hungary.

Team Team Res. :

Res.

  Ukraine

   India 2½ :

1½

  Cuba

   Israel 1½ :

2½

  China

   Egypt 2½ :

1½

  USA

   Armenia 1½ :

2½

  Hungary

   Russia ½ : 3½

The full pairings and results can be checked here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr170346.aspx?lan=1&art=2&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984

World Women’s Team Round 5: Georgia beats Ukraine!

GM Khotenashvili (L) in action against GM Anna Muzychuk (R). (Picture Source: http://chengdu2015.fide.com/)
Bela Khotenashvili (L) in action against Anna Muzychuk (R). (Picture Source: chengdu2015.fide.com)

The 5th round of the World Women’s Team Championship 2015 saw the top seeds Ukraine go down to the in-form Georgians, thanks to GM Bela Khotenashvili’s win against GM Anna Muzychuk. As the rest of the games ended in draws, Georgia clinched the match 2.5-1.5.

Meanwhile, the Indian women, who were yet to register a team victory, finally got the ship sailing as they comfortably overcame U.S.A. with a 3-1 scoreline. GM Koneru Humpy and WGM Soumya Swaminathan starred in the victory with their wins over WGM Abrahamyan and FM Melekhina respectively.

After 5 rounds, Georgia leads solely with 9 match-points, followed by Russia on the 2nd spot and China on the 3rd.

TEAM

 TEAM RES. : RES.

  U.S.A

   INDIA 1 :

3

  GEORGIA

   UKRAINE 2½ :

1½

  ARMENIA

   KAZAKHSTAN 2 :

2

  CHINA

   POLAND 3 :

1

  RUSSIA

   EGYPT 4 : 0

The full pairings and results can be checked here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr170190.aspx?lan=1&art=2&wi=821

Shamkir Chess r06 : Caruana beats Kramnik, others draw

Caruana about to beat Kramnik (credit: Official site)

In a rather dull day in Shamkir Chess 2015, only Caruana managed to win. He beat former WC Vladimir Kramnik with the Black pieces.

Kramnik 0-1 Caruana

Mamedov 1/2 Anand

Adams 1/2 Vachier-Lagrave

Wesley 1/2 Mamedyarov

Giri 1/2 Carlsen

Round 7 pairings

Anand Viswanathan 2791 – Adams Michael 2746
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2754 – Mamedov Rauf 2651
Caruana Fabiano 2802 – So Wesley 2788
Carlsen Magnus 2863 – Kramnik Vladimir 2783
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2762 – Giri Anish 2790

World Team Chess 04: India beats Hungary, China trounces Armenia

The Indian team registered a couple of important match-points as Harikrishna and Co. narrowly beat the strong Hungarian team. With the top 3 games ending in draws, GM Vidit Gujrathi’s fantastic win over the creative GM Richard Rapport proved decisive.

The clash of the big guns – China vs Armenia – saw the Chinese team trounce Armenia 3.5-0.5 with GM Levon Aronian managing the lone half point for the Armenians. In another important match-up, Ukraine defeated overnight joint-leaders Israel 2.5-1.5. With this result, Israel descended to the 2nd spot in the rankings table while the Cubans took up the sole lead following a comfortably 3-1 victory over Egypt.

Meanwhile, Russia’s woes continued as the 9th-seeded U.S.A. team held the top seeds to a 2-2 draw, thanks to GM Daniel Naroditsky’s (U.S.A.) crucial win over GM Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS).

The full pairings and results can be checked here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr170346.aspx?lan=1&art=2&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984

 

World Women’s Team Round 4: Georgia on Top!

The 4th round of the World Women’s Team Chess Championship 2015 saw the Georgian women maintain their top spot as they comfortably overcame Kazakhstan 3-1. GM Bela Khotenashvili and IM Nino Batsiashvili registered wins for Georgia whereas the remaining games finished in draws.

The India vs Russia encounter, on the other hand, proved to be a close one. GM Koneru Humpy looked well on her way to a victory over GM Valentina Gunina. However, a crucial mistake on the 34th move followed by a huge blunder on the 39th move costed Humpy the game.  GM Harika quickly scored the equalizer as she beat former Women’s World Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk. The status quo was further maintained as WGM Padmini and WGM Goryachkina spilt points. In the end, GM Olga Girya’s determined win over WGM Soumya Swaminathan proved decisive as Russia beat India 2.5-1.5.

Meanwhile, Armenia clinched an important match against Poland with the former team winning by the narrowest of margins.

TEAM TEAM RES. :

RES.

  INDIA

   RUSSIA 1½ :

2½

  EGYPT

   CHINA 0 :

4

  POLAND

   ARMENIA 1½ :

2½

  KAZAKHSTAN

   GEORGIA 1 :

3

  UKRAINE

   U.S.A. 3 :

1

The full pairings and resuts can be checked here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr170190.aspx?lan=1&art=2&wi=821