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Korchnoi vs Spassky finish 4-4 in Elista
27.12.2009
– The "Battle of the Giants" between tenth World Champion Boris Spassky, 72, and multiple World Championship challenger Viktor Korchnoi, 78 began with the latter pressing. But in the second half of the match it was Spassky who called the shots. He won two games and blundered away a good position in a third. Not bad after almost seven years of "hibernation".
Report and games.
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Magnus in Time Magazine
27.12.2009
– "I try to tell people that I am like them. I am not some sort of freak.
I might be very good at chess but I'm just a normal person." Magnus Carlsen
is less than a week away from officially becoming the youngest player in history
to top the world rankings. "The 19-Year-Old King of Chess" spoke candidly
to Time Magazine in this must-read
December 25 interview.
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To exchange or not to exchange?
26.12.2009
– Correct evaluation of pawn endings is an important pillar of good endgame
technique. So, e.g., in the following position Black had to come to a
judgment as to whether, after the exchange of rooks with 47...Rxe2 48.Kxe2, the
ensuing pawn ending is a draw. Otherwise, he would be obliged to do without
the exchange and to defend the rook ending.
What do you think? Does the exchange of rooks lead to a drawn position?
The solution is here,
but first ponder over it with a
larger version of the diagram.
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Christmas Puzzle flaws and corrections
26.12.2009
– When he previewed our puzzle page on Christmas Eve John Nunn solved the first
position in fifteen seconds (yes, he's slowing down with age). But then he woke
up on Christmas day in a cold sweat, realizing that the problem was flawed.
The same conclusion was drawn by problem expert Noam Elkies. Today we give you
an explanation, a correction, and a new position to bait
your computer.
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Russian Superfinal: Grischuk leads, Galliomova 5.0/5
26.12.2009
– There were four decisive games in round five of the men's section, with one sensation: the leader, Peter Svidler, lost to the youngest participant, 16-year-old Sanan Sjugirov of Kalmykia. That put Alexander Grischuk, who won his game, in the sole lead. In the women's section IM Alisa Galliamova continues her rampage and is leading by a full point.
Games and statistics.
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Anand: 'I can tell you that Nielsen will be on'
25.12.2009
– Those were the exact words that led to the misunderstanding of an Indian journalist and the viral spread of the report that Magnus Carlsen would be one of the seconds of World Champion Viswanathan Anand in his Sofia match against Veselin Topalov. One of our readers sent video footage, and also a delightful Christmas report on
Anand's visit in Bangalore.
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ChessBase Christmas Puzzles 2009
24.12.2009
– It is tradition – during the week from December 25th to January 1st we
bring you daily installments of puzzles. This time the theme is the Revenge
of the Humans – problems that will (hopefully) stump computers, but which
biological brains are able to comprehend. New puzzles will appear daily on the
index page,
here for today, with best seasonal wishes, is our
first 2009 Christmas puzzle.
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Russian Superfinal: Svidler, Galliomova lead
24.12.2009
– In the men's section only 50% of the games have been drawn so far – an excellent quota. After four rounds Peter Svidler leads with three points, followed half a point behind by Grischuk and Jakovenko. In the women's section the draw quota is a breathtaking 20%. IM Alisa Galliamova is leading with a clean score of 4.0/4 points.
Illustrated report.
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Speculation about Carlsen being Anand's second
23.12.2009
– An article in the Indian newspaper The Telegraph set off a flurry of excitement in news pages and chess blogs. "Magnus Carlsen will be one of my seconds [in Sofia]," World Champion Vishy Anand was quoted as saying. A misunderstanding, since Magnus, who is a great friend and will surely root for Anand, will not be assisting him in at the 2010 World Championship.
Details.
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Norway provides US $12 million for Olympiad bid
23.12.2009
– Good news. Boosted by the world number one place of Magnus Carlsen, the Government of Norway has just released the sum of NOK 70 million ($12 million) to support the bid of Tromsø, an island city in the Arctic Circle, to host the 41st Chess Olympiad in 2014. It would be a great place for chess players to go, as we have shown in many past reports. Today we add to these with a
whale of a story.
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The end of the beginning of the end
23.12.2009
– A novelty on move 36, one which nobody can refute? That happened not with the
help of a contemporary sixteen-core machine, but back in the Orwellian year of 1984, in a
game from the Soviet Championship. The beginning of the end of chess? No, as
Dennis Monokroussos shows us in this week's Playchess
lecture. The resolution came from GM Mihail Marin in March this year.
9 p.m. ET.
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Malakhov wins the Ninth Amplico in Warsaw
22.12.2009
– Vladimir Malakhov – not the soccer star, the ice hockey player of dancer, but the 29-year-old physicist and chess grandmaster – has won this very strong rapid chess event in Poland last weekend. He did it by defeating Alexei Shirov with the black pieces in the final round. Second was Vassily Ivanchuk, who defeated top seed Vugar Gashimov in the round 13.
Pictures, results and games.
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