Tashkent Grand Prix: Three way tie

At the start of the final round, there were two leaders  ,Morozevich and Mamedyarov with 6 points. No less than five players were in the next group and had the chance to catch up. They were Caruana, Karjakin, Wang Hao ,Kasimdzhanov and Ponomario.

After four hours of play, Rustam Kasimdzhanov had drawn with Boris Gelfand. Morozevich drew with Svidler thus ensuring a minimum first place tie as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov seemed to self destruct against Wang Hao. Morozevich games are always great for spectating. Later Svidler commented "Games vs Alexander Morozevich tend to get watchable at some point, as a rule"

This left Caruana, Karjakin and Ponomariov with chances of catching Morozevich and Wang Hao with a win. Ponomariov lost two pawns against Karjakin but the former defended tenaciously and posed numerous difficulties over the board. However Karjakin overcame them all and so it was a matter of time before Karjakin brought home the full point.

In the battle of the tail-enders, Dominguez finally scored his first win over Gata Kamsky and thus relegated the latter to the cellar. Former World Championship challenger, Gelfand had a terrible tournament finishing tenth with two losses and no wins.

Obituary: Fang Ewe Churh

Early Monday morning I received an SMS from Quah Seng Sun informing me that Mr. Fang Ewe Churh had passed away. 

I reproduce his obituary from chess malaysia yahoo groups for those who are not subscribed.

It is with deep regret that I announce the demise of Mr Fang Ewe Churh this
morning at 3.45a.m. Fang, who had long been out from the chess scene, for
possibly around 25 years, had been ill for quite some time. About two years ago,
he underwent surgery for a malignant growth on his scalp and was thought to be
recovering.

For those who are unaware of Fang's contributions to chess in Malaysia, let me
say briefly that we consider him to be the Father of Chess in Penang. It would
not be too far-fetched to suggest that he had played a significant contributory
role to the development of chess in Malaysia as well.

In March 1972, he set in motion the founding of the Penang Chess Association at
the Penang Library and became the association's founding president. Under his
watch, the following chess activities were initiated:

a) In June or July 1972, the first Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Pulau Pinang
(MSSPP) Chess Tournament was organised at the Han Chiang Primary School where he
was the headmaster;

b) In October 1972, he captained the first Malaysian chess team that played in a
Chess Olympiad in Skopje, Yugoslavia;

c) In December 1972, he organised the first Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah
Malaysia (MSSM) Team Chess Championship at the Dewan Sri Pinang, George Town,
Penang;

d) In 1974, he organised the first Penang Chess Open Tournament;

e) In 1974, together with other chess enthusiasts nationwide, he helped
establish the Malaysian Chess Federation. At the inaugural meeting, he was
elected as one of the vice-presidents;

f) In December 1974, he was a key organiser of the first Asian Team Chess
Championship which was held at the Dewan Sri Pinang n George Town, Penang;

g) In 1975, he organised the first Malaysian team chess championship at Recsam
in Glugor, Penang;

h) In 1978, he brought the Penang team to participate in the first Asian Cities
Team Chess Championship in Hong Kong. The Penang Chess Association was to
participate in three or four more similar events in Hong Kong.

There were several other significant chess activities held in Penang under his
tenure as the PCA president until 1989, but I shall not list them further.
Suffice for me to say that the Penang Chess Association owes its successes in
its formative years to this man. He remained a good friend to me until his final
days. My thoughts are with his family.

Regards
SS Quah
Penang, Malaysia

Morozevich back in lead

Just one more round today and we will find out who is the eventual winner of the Tashkent Grand Prix. The last round will start three hours earlier , 2:00 PM Malaysian time.

Morozevich played an attacking game yesterday to win against Peter Leko. The leader Karjakin lost to Mamedyarov and this means the latter share the lead with Morozevich. Both games are very entertaining and worth replaying below.

The standings before the final round:

Both Mamedyarov and Kasimdzharov are still undefeated. It is interesting and typical of such an event (where there are so many strong players ) that half the field still have chances to finish first, if things go their way!

London Chess Classic

We really are spoilt for choice as far as top chess events are concerned. Last month there was the Women's World Championship won by Anna Ushenina and the Tashkent Grand Prix (still on-going with three more rounds). Surprisingly the Commonwealth Championship in Chennai, India which concluded yesterday (won by GM Sergei Tiviakov).

The 2012 London Chess Classic started yesterday (Saturday) with a all-star cast. World Champion Anand, highest rated Magnus Carlsen, former Champion Kramnik, American star Hikaru Nakamura, Levon Aronian,  highest rated women player Judit Polgar and the English grandmasters Luke McShane , Gawain Jones and Michael Adams. You will notice there are an odd nine players so one player will always have a bye in every round. This is intentional, the player having the bye will give commentary on that round games! It is a treat for chess fans indeed.

The first round already served up a surprise. All four games were decisive! Quite rare for such a strong tournament.

The rounds starts at 2:00 PM in London or 10:00 PM Malaysian time. You can follow the live games on the Playchess server or the official site.

Luke McShane drew with Carlsen in last year's edition using the same opening.

Judit Polgar's 11...d5 is  beyond my comprehension. She had to sacrifice a piece on the next move but never got enough compensation for it.

Aronian's 7. Bd2 is not the best, probably 7. N1c3 is alright. Black easily equalized and took over the initiative after white's 12. Be3.

Adams ground out a win against Gawain Jones.

Anna Ushenina is the new World Champion

Congratulations to the new  Women's World Champion, Anna Ushenina  who has won the tie-break over Antoaneta Stefanova, a former champion herself. The match went into the 30 minutes rapid tie-breaker with a 10 second increment for every move. 

Stefanova had the white pieces in the first rapid game. After the opening moves, black had a equalized. White pressed on  but was unable to make the full point. Ushenina sacrificed her bishop for Stefanova's last pawn to reach a K+2B v K+B ending which was easily drawn.

In the second game, Stefanova got into trouble almost after the opening. Ushenina had an advantageous ending which she exploited for the full point.

Anna Ushenina

Ushenina was only seeded 33rd in the starting list and practically lower rated than all her opponents. In press conferences she confided that she had come without any second or trainer, which made her achievements even more impressive. The new champion will defend her title against the ex-champion Hou Yifan sometime in 2013.

Women's World Championship: Tie-breaker needed

Tie-breaks will be needed to determine the next Women's World Champion. Antoaneta Stefanova won the fourth game to tie the score at 2-2 each. Anna Ushenina , needing just a draw to take the match, appeared to choke at this crucial stage. Her 21...Rc8, 22...Rc7 were just too slow and passive. White just got a winning position within a few moves. The end is quite interesting as after 33. Nxh6+ mate is unavoidable.

Tomorrow they will play two 25 minutes with 10 seconds increment games. If they are still tied then two 10 minutes and 10 seconds increment. Next comes blitz with 3 minutes and 10 seconds increment. If after all that the match is still not decided, an armageddon game will definitely decide the champion.

Women's World Championship: Anna Ushenina leads

Anna Ushenina won the third game of the Women's Championship against Bulgarian Stefanova to take a one game lead. The first two games were drawn. This gives Ushenina a 2.5-1.5 lead. As this is a four game match, Stefanova needs to win the next game to tie the match and go into the tie-breaks. Even a draw will give Anna Ushenina the title.

Ushenina's sharp tactics in the third game netted her material advantage. Black's pieces were badly placed and despite some a gallant effort from Black to complicate , white ended up with two rooks and a couple of passed pawns for three minor pieces, there was never any doubt as to the result.

I like to watch Anna Ushenina in the live videos. She has an expressive face and her various nose wrinkling , lips twitching and grimaces are part of the fun watching the match!

Acknowledgement from MCF

I have received acknowledgement from MCF Vice President, Haslindah Ruslan , that the matter I raised here will be discussed at the MCF council meeting scheduled for 2nd December, 2012.

I'll reserve further comment till we see what will be the results of this meeting.

Women's World Championship, Round 4 tie-breaks

It was a heartbreaking day for Chinese player Zhao Xue and French player Marie Sebag. They were both so close to qualifying for the semi-finals yesterday but ended up being eliminated today in the tie-breaks. Both lost their first game and had to go all out in the second.

Harika Donavalli managed to draw the second game to win the match 1.5-0.5 while Sebag even lost the second game to go 0-2 against Antoaneta Stefanova. So Harika  and Antoaneta are through to the final.

Huang Qian drew both games with Ju WenJun so they go into the ten minute (plus 10 seconds) tie-breaker. Ju Wenjun won 1.5-0.5 to eliminate Huang Qian.

Ju Wenjun, Harika Donavalli and Antoaneta Stefanova joins Anna Ushenina in the semi-finals.

Open Letter to MCF

The below letter has been sent by email to various members of the Malaysian Chess Federation. I may have missed some as I do not know all their email addresses. The letter is reproduced here.

___________________________________________________________________

Dear Members of the Malaysian Chess Federation,

 I refer to this blog site ( http://firstgm.blogspot.com/)  by an individual named Raymond Siew. This person who is a non-chess player is the father of chess player Mark Siew. On his blog he has made many personal attacks against me which are totally fabricated and un-supported by any facts. I have challenged him to provide proof for his wild accusations but he has ignored this. In any case,  I feel this is my personal battle and I will deal with it in my own way.