Hat-trick for Anna MuzychukAfter scoring her third win in a row Anna Muzychuk has caught up with Ruan Lufei and Humpy Koneru, meaning there’s now a trio of leaders after round 5 of the final stage of the Women’s Grand Prix… Viktorija Cmilyte is half a point behind the leaders.
Much fighting about nothing...Five tense draws and one “black” victory for Gelfand against Nakamura – those were the technical results of the 1st round of the first stage of the FIDE Grand Prix in London. There was a lot of fighting and emotion, but in terms of chess content it was a disappointment both for the spectators and experts… More was expected from such a highly-billed tournament. We could do with a little spice!
FIDE Grand Prix, London. The start of a new era?What can we expect from the Grand Prix series? If it had become a copy of the women’s series with big prizes and every last one of the top players answering the “call to arms” you’d only be able to admire the foresight of Andrew Paulson and FIDE in managing to seize the initiative from the organisers of the traditional supertournaments – and get it all.
Draw held for London Grand Prix16th-century Somerset House on the Strand in the very heart of London was the setting for the draw for the 1st stage of the FIDE Men’s Grand Prix 2012/13. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov took a direct part in the proceedings along with the 12 players, while the main Grand Prix organiser and head of Agon Andrew Paulson stayed in the shadows all evening… Ivan Cheparinov – first on the Black SeaA double round robin grandmaster tournament in the Bulgarian seaside resort of Burgas has come to an end. The event was a contest between representatives of the six countries with Black Sea shorelines. The fate of first place was decided in the final round, when the leader Ivan Cheparinov had no problems drawing against Jobava, while Vladimir Malakhov, who had been half a point behind, lost with Black to Nisipeanu and ultimately shared 2-3rd place with his conqueror.
ACP wants to regularise time controlsThe Association of Chess Professionals has conducted a survey among the world’s top 30 grandmasters to find out their preferred time control in three different varieties of chess – Classical, Rapid and Blitz (including Armageddon). Adams replaces Svidler in LondonThe men’s FIDE Grand Prix series has started with an emergency replacement – for family reasons Peter Svidler has dropped out of the London stage. The free spot will be taken by England’s Michael Adams, who isn’t among the line-up of Grand Prix participants. Koneru catches Ruan. Three lie in waitThe chase for the leadership in Ankara is heating up… No sooner had Ruan Lufei drawn with Zhao Xue than she was caught by Humpy Koneru, while no less than three players are half a point back: Ju Wenjun, Anna Muzychuk and Viktorija Cmilyte. There’s no doubt we can expect a stunning tournament! No change for now in Ankara…Ruan Lufei continues to lead the 6th stage of the Women’s Grand Prix in Ankara. In the 3rd round the Chinese player claimed yet another win – this time against Yildiz Betul – and maintained her 100% result. Humpy Koneru threw herself into the chase and now has 2.5 points, while Anna Muzychuk followed her two draws at the start with her first win of the tournament.
“Sport-Express” partners with the Moscow Chess FederationChess players often complain that the leading Russian sports paper “Sport-Express” devotes almost no attention to chess. It seems as though that situation is set to change in the very near future: “SE” has concluded a partnership agreement with the Moscow Chess Federation – and from now on it will devote much more space to the ancient game. |
