Anand still rules

Viswanathan Anand, officially, finished the year as the World No.1, officially that is. He would have rather wanted to end the year as the world champion, instead. The most consistent, gentle and uncomplicated player in world chess suffered rare fits in San Luis. He was, sometimes, too defensive for his good. One Veselin Topalov erased the word caution from his lexicon.
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http://dnaindia.com

Ponomariov wins Pamplona Title after drawing with Harikrishna

Pamplona , Spain: Former World Chess Champion Grandmaster Ruslan Ponomariov lifted the Pamplona Title after he drew his 7th round game with India’s Pentala Harikrishna.
Ponomariov, who lost in the finals of the recently concluded world Cup to Levon Aronian, scored 5 points from 7 games while Harikrishna finished with 4.5 points.
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http://www.newkerala.com

World Chess Cup Winner to Receive RA Government Award

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ During today’s government sitting it was decided to allot 5 million AMD as an award to the World Chess Cup winner Levon Aronian. Former World junior champion Levon Aronian comprehensively defeated former World champion Ruslan Ponomaryov of Ukraine 2-0 in the tie-break games of the final to annex the World Chess Cup that concluded in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia, on Saturday. Winning both the games under rapid time control, Aronian stamped his authority on the event and remained the only contestant in this long seven-round grind undefeated. (...)

http://www.panarmenian.net

World Chess Champ Topalov Gets Golden King

World Chess King Vesselin Topalov was presented with a golden King specially made for him.
He was picked for the third time in 2005 sportsman of the month after his received the support of all 26 editorial teams participating in the inquiry of Pressclub Bulgaria.
Topalov saw a chessboard with all wooden pieces but the King at the awarding ceremony. He later received the golden King for his achievement. Also on Wednesday Topalov was awarded with the golden badge of Pressclub Bulgaria, whereas the chess master's mentor, Silvio Danailov, swept the Coach of The Month prize for the second time.
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http://www.novinite.com

Aronian wins World Chess Cup

Former World junior champion Levon Aronian of Armenia comprehensively defeated former World champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine 2-0 in the tie-break games of the final to annex the World Chess Cup that concluded in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia, on Saturday.
Winning both the games under rapid time control, Aronian stamped his authority on the event and remained the only contestant in this long seven-round grind undefeated.
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http://inhome.rediff.com

Tie-break games to decide World Chess Cup winner

World junior champion Levon Aronian of Armenia failed to capitalise on some real chance to win the World Chess Cup in the keenly contested second game of the final against former World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine that concluded in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia on Friday.
The second draw on the trot in the two mini-match games under normal time control means that the fate of the winner will now be decided in the tiebreak games of shorter duration to be played on Saturday.
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http://inhome.rediff.com

Humans down but not out against chess computers

By Michael Winfrey

SOFIA (Reuters) - Computers may have got better and better at chess, but human players can still find chinks in their defence, the world chess champion says. Just don't try to break them down psychologically.
Ever since IBM's Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov -- retired champion and reputedly the best player ever -- in 1997, humans have failed to regain dominance over increasingly powerful computers.
But according to Veselin Topalov, a 30-year-old Bulgarian who dominated the world chess organisation (FIDE) championship in October, people still have a small chance to hold their own.
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http://news.yahoo.com

Ponomariov in World Chess Cup finals

Former World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine reserved his seat in the finals of the World Chess Cup with an emphatic 2-0 victory over Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk of Russia in the tie-break games of the semifinals that concluded in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia.
Having drawn both the games played under normal time control, Ponomariov had his task cut out in the rapid games and he won both of them to record a smashing 3-1 victory.
It may be recalled here that Ponomariov had won a similar event back in 2001 ahead of Viswanathan Anand but that time it was called the World Championship.
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http://www.rediff.com

Norwegian teen advances in world chess championship

Norway's chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen, 15, completed a remarkable result in the FIDE World Chess Cup knockout by finishing in the top ten and securing a berth in the next stage of the world championship.

Danish grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen (left), Magnus Carlsen's trainer, checks the computer database while preparing with Magnus for matches in the FIDE World Chess Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. Magnus' father Henrik looks on.
On Wednesday Carlsen eliminated top Russian grandmaster Vladimir Malakhov, rated 34th in the world, 3.5-2.5 in the second round of tie-breaks.
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http://www.aftenposten.no

Lev Aronian enters finals of World Cup Chess

Lev Aronian defeated fellow-GM and Frenchman Etinne Bacrot in the Second Game of their Mini-match in a long grind and thus entered the Finals of the World Chess Cup now in progress here.
Others to advance to the next stage were the Israeli GM Boris Gelfand and the Russian GM Alexey Dreev. On yet an other day which produced just two decisive games out of the total Eight, five matches will proceed to the tie-breaks.
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http://www.outlookindia.com

World Chess Cup: Ponomariov defeats Bareev in a thriller

Khanty Mansiysk (Russia), Dec 11 (PTI) Former World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine was a man with a mission in the third and last game of the quarterfinals, defeating Evgeny Bareev of Russia in a keenly contested game in the World Chess Cup here.
Ponomariov, who was once the youngest Grandmaster, moved into the semifinals with a 1.5-0.5 victory.
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http://www.ptinews.com

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov attends a small demonstration of rights activists and others in central Moscow, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2005, to observe the 40th anniversary of the first major dissident demonstration held under the Soviet regime. Rights activists warn that democracy is endangered in Russia and accuse the Russian government of cracking down on independent media and noncommercial organizations. (AP Photo/Alexei Sazonov)

http://news.yahoo.com

GM Gelfand takes lead in World Cup Chess

From Our Chess Correspondent Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia), Dec 10 (PTI) Israeli Grandmaster Boris Gelfand continued with his impressive form as he defeated GM Alexander Grischuk of Russia to take lead in the two-game mini-match of the quarterfinals in the World Chess Cup here.
Gelfand's was the lone decisive game in the fight for 1-8 places in the competition the remaining three games ended in draws.
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http://www.outlookindia.com

Bareev ends Carlen's dream run

KHANTY MANSIYSK: Young Norwegian Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen's dream run in the World Chess Cup ended, when he lost to seasoned GM Evgeny Bareev of Russia in the rapid tie-break games of the pre-quarterfinals here on Thursday.

Carlsen, who had surpassed many expectations, was outdone in the rapid games after he lost the first game and could only manage a draw in the return game.
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http://www.keralanext.com

Russians continue advance in World Chess Cup

TYUMEN, December 8 (RIA Novosti) - Two Russian grandmasters have reached the quarterfinals of the World Chess Cup in the Siberian city of Khanty-Mansiisk.
Alexander Grishchuk's 1,5:0,5 victory over Gata Kamsky from the United States and Sergei Rublyovsky's 1,5:0:5 victory over compatriot Konstantin Sakayev saw them through to the last eight of the $1.6-million World Chess Federation (FIDE) tournament.
Ruslan Ponomaryov, from Ukraine, also reached the quarterfinals after a 2:0 win over Loek Wan Wely from the Netherlands on Wednesday.
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http://en.rian.ru

World Chess Cup: Ponomariov in quarterfinals

Former World champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine cruised past Grandmaster Loek Van Wely of the Netherlands for the second day in succession and moved to the quarterfinals of the World Chess Cup here.

Apart from Ponomariov, Russian GMs Alexander Grischuk and Sergei Rublevsky also made it to the next stage after drawing their respective return games with Gata Kamsky of United States and Konstantin Sakaev of Russia respectively.
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http://www.keralaonline.com

WORLD CHESS CUP: Loek van Wely: “Sometimes I prefer to calmness”

/noticias.info/ Holland is represented by many brilliant GMs and even by the World Champion Eiwe. But nowadays one of the strongest is the player who has never had ambitions of a Champion. It seems that Loek Van Wely always plays for his own pleasure. But every year he becomes stronger and more experienced.

- Share your impressions about today’s victory over Radjabov.

LV: Surely I was very lucky that Radjabov played with old Indian defense, the variant to which I was prepared perfectly. After yesterday’s happy final of my game against Moiseenko I was in a good mood though I absolutely had no energy for preparation.
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http://www.noticias.info

Chess prodigy mates his way to gold

Chess prodigy Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and teammates wrapped up proceedings on the final day of competition yesterday at the SEA Games in the Philippines, clinching gold in all four remaining events at Tagaytay City Convention Centre.
Mental athlete: Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son en route to his second SEA Games chess title.

The Vietnamese team managed to sweep aside the competition and display a dominance that justified their standing as competition favourites at the beginning of the games.
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http://english.vietnamnet.vn

'Soft pawn' row as chess world discovers sex

So much for the knights and bishops. The formerly sedate world of international chess is attempting to transform its cerebral image by resorting to what critics are calling "soft pawn."
Chess has discovered sex, but a bid to promote the physical attractions of some leading women players has sparked an angry debate about the game's future and whether or not its players should be photographed in bikinis.
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http://english.people.com.cn

WORLD CHESS CUP: Vassily Ivanchuk: Tie-breaks teach you to think about failures philosophically

Vassily is irreplaceably lost for the 2005 World Cup. The highest rated participant is leaving Khanty-Mansiysk. We have to say thank you to this Ukrainian player for his willingness to answer journalistic questions right after losing to Ivan Cheparinov the Bulgarian player.

- First of all I would like to say thank you for a good organization of the tournament – Ivanchuk says– the conditions for the players where ideal, I just wish Khanty-Mansiysk would have such chess tournaments more often.

- Many people were surprised about your absence on the opening ceremony.

- I can only apologize for that. The thing is that the day before flying to Khanty-Mansiysk, I got ill and had a high temperature. I even though whether it was sensible for me to take part in the tournament under such physical condition. In the end I decided to try. Unfortunately the illness not only didn’t allow me to be at the opening ceremony, but also influenced on my result in the second round.
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http://www.noticias.info

WORLD CHESS CUP: Magnus Karlsen: I shall be glad, if I become the World Champion one day!

Magnus Kalsen’s name begun to sparkle when at the age of 12, he became GM and later has achieved some impressing results. The experienced trainers spoke about his brilliant prospects and bright talent, and the amateur players saw in him a genius and the future World Champion. Also it is necessary to mention that the Norwegian who became 15 years old on the first day of the second Round, fully has lived up the hopes expected of him. Here in Khanty-Mansiysk he has beaten the experienced GM Zurab Azmajparashvili's in the first round after tie-break, and has made serious application for further advancement. Who will in the end be able to stop the young Magician?

- Are you for the first time in Khanty-Mansiysk and if yes, how do you like it here?

ÌÊ: Yes, I’m here for the first time, I like it very much. Mostly because of the nature and the weather.
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http://www.noticias.info

400 players from 13 countries in Asian Youth Chess Championship

New Delhi: World champions Sahaj Grover (under-10), N Srinath (under-12) and Parimarjan Negi (Under-14) will spearhead the Indian challenge when the Parsvnath Asian Youth Chess Championship gets underway here on December 8.
More than 400 players from 13 countries will strive to outwit each other for top continental honours in the tournament, Delhi Chess Association (DSA) Secretary Bharat Chauhan told a press conference last night.
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http://www.newkerala.com

WORLD CHESS CUP: RATING DOESN'T MATTER!

For so many years FIDE is holding knock-out championships, but the audience and even players themselves can’t get used to the fact that after every round a half of the participants are going home. Every time there is a tragedy, despair, defeat of hopes...
It is very difficult to overcome your elimination after the first round when it seems that all the possibilities to move on in the tournament were created. The higher rating you have, the weaker opponent will be. However, difference in ELO rating doesn’t always correspond to the player’s level. It is what some favourites have experienced.
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http://www.noticias.info

Ted Danson makes chess-inspired movie

BRIDGET BYRNE Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - "Knights of the South Bronx," an A&E movie premiering Dec. 6 (8 p.m. EST), is based on a true-life tale about how a teacher uses chess to inspire inner-city kids.
It's star, Ted Danson, found himself inspired as well.
His love of the game, long dormant, was rekindled, he says, and his skills definitely enhanced.
"It takes the computer a lot longer to beat me than it did!" exclaims the actor, who had played the board game as a kid, but rarely since.
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http://www.mercurynews.com