August 2008 Archives

Playing the clutch chess for which he is not known, Vassily Ivanchuk took clear first in the category 20 Tal Memorial in Moscow. It was a remarkably hard-fought event full of robust, complex chess. The tournament belonged to Alexander Morozevich for most of the way. On ICC Chess.FM we talked about how it might finally be his turn to at last tame his erratic genius and win the strongest tournament of his life. The 31-year-old Moro has put up countless impressive scores over his career and has won quite a few of the most spectacular chess games of the past decade (and lost a few too). He ran up a +3 score with wins over Alekseev, Ponomariov, and an impressive assault on Kramnik. Ivanchuk, a year shy of 40, has also been playing some of the best chess of his longer career. The maturity of years might be working well for both of them.

It came down to their match-up in the 7th round. Ivanchuk was a half-point behind at the time and had white against Moro's new weapon, the Grunfeld. Black played with his typical provocative style, practically forcing Ivanchuk to accept several sacrificed pawns. Ivanchuk gave one back to consolidate with a passed c-pawn. They got into crazy time trouble (not crazy enough to throw away a queen as the score first mistakenly gave) and Ivanchuk came out with a winning queen endgame and then a pretty winning pawn ending. That swapped them on the top of the standings and Ivanchuk had a half-point lead. Morozevich's fall from grace was completed the next day when he lost a hectic game against Kamsky from an equal, worse, better, worse, better, drawn (54.Qxf4 gxf4 55.Kg4 Bg5! 56.d5!=), lost position. Kamsky seemed indecisive throughout, twice pulling back from promising attacking lines. But as usual, his nerves of steel and sharp calculations carried him through when it counted. Mikhail Tal was famously world champion for just one year and five days. Morozevich was #1 in the world for one day. He pipped Anand on the unofficial live list after beating Ponomariov. 24 hours later he lost to Ivanchuk and his time was done.

Ivanchuk had to keep his own piano-wire nerves under control in a mad time scramble against Ponomariov in that eighth round. With a few seconds on his clock he went from a small plus to a pawn-down endgame that he managed to hold after 90 moves. After that it was basically over. Ivanchuk-Shirov was drawn in 12 moves in the final round, sealing clear first for the Ukrainian and last for Shirov. Morozevich played an opening against Gelfand that was incredibly provocative even for him. Even more remarkably it ended in an abrupt repetition draw when Gelfand missed a chance to play for a win with 11.h4! threatening to trap the black queen. GM Kaidanov and I looked at dozens of fabulous lines on ICC Chess.FM but they'll all be for the notes. It was left to the two dourest fighters in the world to battle on alone on the stage well after everyone else was gone. Ponomariov tried for hours to take clear second by beating Kamsky with a promising extra passed pawn on a2. But once again Kamsky's nerve and technique held. For the second day in a row, Ponomariov's game ended with promotion to a bishop. Silly, but fun. Nice to see a sense of humor after a tough fight.

That left a dog-pile for 2-5 with Morozevich, Gelfand, Ponomariov, and Kramnik all on +1. Gelfand's +1 =8 line looks less ambitious than his play. He's not exactly Genghis Khan, and the Petroff has numbed his black repertoire, but he did play plenty of interesting games. Kramnik scored two smooth wins against wild attacks by Shirov and Alekseev. He played a fantastical shot against Gelfand in the 7th. 32..Nce3 perhaps wasn't the best but it was certainly the most spectacular. One curious note was Kramnik's following a known drawing line against Kamsky's Grunfeld in the 6th. Kamsky varied so we were left wondering if Kramnik had anything cooked up. It didn't seem likely. Leko finished with an even score in an uneven performance. Check out the subtle Marshall prep in his loss to Pono.

A nice showing by Ponomariov, who hasn't shown his strength for a good while. Will he get back into the top ten at last? Peter Svidler joined us on the show for a very entertaining and enlightening 90 minutes and I brought up the Pono question. El Svid shares my theory that the aborted 2003 match with Kasparov really disrupted the young Ukrainian's mindset. Being totally lost against Morozevich by move 12 is another matter... With the bad positions Kamsky saved it's surprising to see him with -1. He got into serious trouble out of the openings over and over, saving some and losing three. Alekseev often looked outmatched but was alert enough to beat Mamedyarov when the Azerbaijani went for a Rubinstein French. He also forced another impressive Kamsky endgame save. Mamedyarov turned in another subpar supertournament performance. He was saved from last place by Shirov, who started out 0/3 and added another loss before blasting Mamedyarov with a nice exchange sac and attack in the eighth round.

All in all, a great event full of fighting chess. A pity for Morozevich, a triumph for Ivanchuk. The Ukrainian wizard sprinted to this event from the Sochi Grand Prix and now hustles to Bilbao for the Grand Slam final. He loves to play all the time anywhere, but taking on Anand, Carlsen, Aronian, Radjabov, and Topalov with so little rest will tax even him.

Even before that the same Moscow site will host the blitz world championship that's already underway with qualifying rounds. I believe Carlsen is shipping in just for it before heading to Bilbao and Karpov is another special guest. Ivanchuk won last year by beating Anand in the final round. This time Vishy is conserving his energy for Bilbao and, of course, his October match with Kramnik.

Speaking of, Kaidanov mentioned Kramnik is now playing a funky blindfold exhibition against Russian politician/chess politician Alexander Zhukov. Zhukov gets to consult a computer every third move, which is similar to a suggestion I've made for man vs machine matches. I thought a "millionaire" game-show style gimmick of giving the human three opportunities to see the comp's eval, or to get a full line, would be a more interesting way to balance the playing field than giving the human pawns.

An "Heraldo" Spanish newspaper interview with Veselin Topalov after he visited the 2008 Zaragoza Expo. He will make a special appearance at the II International Tournament of Alcubierre, a small town nearby. He'll appear at the closing, give out the prizes, and play a 25-board simul. It's great he's supporting a local event, since I doubt they could handle his regular fee. Wikipedia says Alcubierre has a population of 437!

This is the start of the interview, which Topalov handles with the grace and goodwill he was known for before the 2006 Elista scandal and aftermath nearly destroyed his reputation. I don't know how it would have gone had they asked him about Kramnik... The rest of the brief interview touches on his fame in Bulgaria, computer chess, Scarlett Johansson, and not much of interest to the chess crowd. The Anand-Kramnik match and Topalov's own upcoming match with Kamsky get only a passing mention. I'll send the rest of my translation over to my buds at Chessbase.com.

Q: Is Kasparov more afraid of Putin or of you?

A: I don't think Kasparov is afraid of anybody. Just the act of raising his voice the way he has shows his courage and the conviction of his beliefs. Veselin Topalov is just an opponent on the other side of a chessboard.

Q: But you were the last player to defeat the Ogre of Baku. After losing to you, Kasparov retired.

A: That was in Linares, 2005. It's one of the most prestigious competitions in the world. It was very strange. Before we sat down at the table, I didn't know it was going to be his last game, that when he got up his brilliant career would be over. Later, he announced his retirement as a professional. Perhaps that's why he was nervous during our game. I only took advantage of the moment and waited for his mistake.

Q: Whatever the case, that game has become one of the peaks of your career.

A: I was also world champion in 2005. But the truth is that all the journalists ask me that question, [about] the famous game against Kasparov, the last great champion.

Very kind, and nicely handled. I like the polite sarcasm of "I was also world champion in 2005." Zing! Doing interviews for general interest publications is always something of a chore. Of course most chessplayers don't really have to worry about a mob of mass media attention. Poor Anand used to give more interviews to papers in chess-happy India every month than most other players give in a lifetime. Mostly the same questions over and over, but it didn't seem to get to him.

It's only two rounds in but the Elo favorites are backing it up so far at the Tal Memorial. Kramnik, Morozevich, and Ivanchuk all turned in wins with white on the first day and draws the second day to lead on 1.5/2. We don't have a clear leader yet but we do have a clear loser. Shirov lost to Kramnik in the first round and against Kamsky today. That brought my fellow Brooklynite back to an even score after his atrocious loss to Ivanchuk on day one. (Leaving himself with around six minutes for his last 20 moves didn't help.)

I've been following every move with GM commentary on ICC Chess.FM and we've had two great days of chess so far. Is the shade of Tal working his magic on the field? Kramnik played the other side of the gambit line Topalov tried against him in their 2006 WCh match. Shirov was the victim, although he made things more difficult for himself with the creative aggression for which he is so beloved. He sacrificed a piece for a brace of pawns, but his attack turned out to be ephemeral. The bishop-down endgame held little interest.

Being paired with GM co-hosts during our broadcasts, I usually limit my move suggestions to database searches, "what if?" questions I think will interest the audience, and the occasional engine line in a tactical melee. Yesterday I saw something that looked cute in Kramnik-Shirov -- a move you might bang out in a blitz game -- and mentioned it to GM Benjamin. "What about 19..Ra5?" Joel showed that the idea had some merit, but was much better after 19..g6, instead of sacrificing the f7 pawn. I felt a bit silly for missing 19..g6, which is why I usually keep my mouth shut in the first place. A few minutes later Shirov played 19..Ra5, which, of course, turned out to be a loser that put him into an endgame with a pawn less than if he'd inserted 19..g6. As I often say on the air, it's usually a sure sign of doom when a player takes my recommendations.

Back on his Russian home soil Kramnik again showed his aggressive intentions in the second round with another topical gambit line, this time against Leko's QID. They followed a GM game from earlier in the year until Leko varied with 17..Nd7. It's remarkable White has time for 11.a3, which Rodshtein played but which may have escaped Leko's attention. GM de Firmian showed all sorts of fun attacking lines for White, especially if Leko had taken a leap of faith with his king with 20..Kf6 instead of 20..Kf8. Check out 20..Kf6 21.Kxg2!? offering rook or knight. As it was Kramnik had enough play to force a repetition. A lot more fun than you'd expect from the pairing.

In contrast, Mamedyarov-Morozevich was just as entertaining as you'd expect. Moro played the Grunfeld, already a major diversion. Mamedyarov is no fan of main lines himself and they were soon off the reservation. It looked like White was doing very well after the excellent 14.f5! with threats of Bxf7+ all over the place. But Morozevich found a way to turn things around as he so often does. 15..Nc5! was suggested by GM Jan Gustafsson and it's not the sort of move Moro misses. He later sacrificed the exchange to enter a superior endgame with a bishop pair and a few pawns as compensation, but he lost his winning chances in mutual time trouble. 28..c4? allowed immediate liquidation.

Kamsky scored the only win of the second day. Shirov played with nearly comical provocation against Kamsky's favorite ..a6 Slav. For a while it looked like the players had forgotten how the pieces capture. White kept bringing forces up but Kamsky stayed calm. The cool 12..Bd5 pushed White into a general retreat and chances were balanced. Shirov got into horrible time trouble and played a series of second-best moves as Kamsky grouped his forces against the white king. White's last best chance was the tricky computer move 32.Qa5. It's hardly human to move your queen away from the defense to tickle a protected rook, but it breaks up Black's coordination. Down to his last minute or two Shirov was cut to pieces by the ruthless precision Kamsky usually shows in such positions.

Gelfand played a nice sham exchange sac novelty in the Petroff in the first round. Gelfand-Ivanchuk was surprisingly hard-fought after an uninspired opening. Gelfand got a tiny plus in the rook endgame but got himself into time trouble and allowed a draw. Alekseev-Ponomariov successfully demonstrated that there are no anti-short-draw rules in effect in Moscow.

Round 3: Leko - Shirov, Morozevich - Kramnik, Ponomariov - Mamedyarov, Ivanchuk - Alekseev, Kamsky - Gelfand

Tournament begins Monday. Nine rounds, rest day is Sat. 23rd. It's in Red Square in the heart of Moscow, recently the home of an old-fashioned military parade. And those tanks aren't just for show anymore, by the way. Let's just hope all the attacking is done on the chessboard for the next few weeks. As tipped a few days ago, this year's Tal Memorial has a mighty field of ten players, a category XX with an average rating of 2745. Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) - 2788, Alexander Morozevich (Russia) - 2788, Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) - 2781, Shahriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan) - 2742, Alexei Shirov (Spain) - 2741, Peter Leko (Hungary) - 2741, Gata Kamsky (USA) - 2723, Boris Gelfand (Israel) - 2720, Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine) - 2718, Evgeny Alekseev (Russia) - 2708. The prize fund is 100,000 dollars with a first prize of 30,000. Time control is 40/2, 20/1, g/15'+30", probably my favorite. Chessdom has the pairings here. Kramnik-Shirov leads things off.

For those of you counting at home, of all the players only Leko wasn't born in the USSR. Shirov is from Tal's Latvia, which hasn't shown much on the chess scene since losing Shirov and Shabalov long ago. The veteran Edvins Kengis is still their top-ranked player. Heck, Janis Klovans, Latvian champion in 1962 and now 73, is still going strong. He's also the trivia answer to the oldest player to earn the GM title. He got it in 1997 after winning the first of his three Senior World Championships.

What was I talking about again? Ah, the Tal Memorial. The presence of Morozevich, Shirov, and Alekseev means we will have at least a few exciting games each round. We'll have to see which Ivanchuk shows up, the one from Sofia, where he destroyed the field, or the one who just turned in a mediocre effort in Sochi. Kamsky and Gelfand are also coming from that long and tough Grand Prix event so endurance might be a factor. Kramnik breezed through a similarly tough field last year. He won four and went undefeated while Shirov was the only other player to manage a plus score with +1. The only changes in the field from last year are Morozevich for Jakovenko and Ponomariov for Carlsen. Kramnik got roughed up in Dortmund last month, losing twice with his dear Petroff. Anand will be watching closely. Ponomariov hasn't played classical chess in quite a while. Two years ago he tied for first in this event with Leko and Aronian.

The rounds begin at 1500 local time, noon UK, 7am NY. The live games at the official site should appear here. I'll be on ICC Chess.FM with GMs Joel Benjamin, Nick de Firmain, Larry Christiansen, and Ronen Har-Zvi. The massive Tal Blitz Cup starts right after the Memorial finishes. Ivanchuk nipped Anand for the title in that one last year.

Armenia's Levon Aronian has fallen on relatively hard times since he shot into the world's top five a few years back. At 2737 he was only the fourth seed in the Sochi Grand Prix, rated behind Ivanchuk, Radjabov, and a resurgent Svidler. Aronian finished a disastrous equal last with 3/10 at the M-Tel Masters in June. In Sochi he looked more like the player who took equal first at Corus in January. He muddled along for most of the event, losing a nice game to Ivanchuk in the third round. Aronian put his foot on the gas in the last third of the tournament, scoring 3.5/4 with wins over Cheparinov, Gelfand, and Grischuk. The draw in there was equally important to the final standings since it came in the penultimate round with black against Radjabov, who finished a half-point back.

The last round was a rare thriller, with almost all the leaders scoring under pressure. Aronian beat Grischuk while Radjabov took out Karjakin with black in a spectacular Dragon. Can I say how happy I am that two of our most exciting and powerful young players, Carlsen and Radjabov, are playing the Dragon? Nakamura and a few other elites also dabble in it so a full-on revival might be on the squares soon. White's still winning a lot at the GM level, however, so handle with care. Also in the final round Jakovenko won a very pretty game against the plummeting Cheparinov. Jako drew no fewer than 10 games in a row before finishing with three decisive games.

I was surprised to notice that Wang Yue was the only undefeated player. What with the new baby and with family visiting I could only follow the event sporadically (plus, watching the Olympics), but I didn't recall ever seeing the Chinese in trouble. Turns out he drew all his games except for a two-day period in the middle when he beat Gelfand and then Radjabov's King's Indian. Now I remember glancing at the KID game, a rare win against the Samisch Gambit line. A strong endgame performance by Wang Yue. He also beat Gelfand in a bishop endgame, which the Israeli mishandled in very uncharacteristic fashion. A solid performance from the surprising co-winner of the first GP in Baku. Wang Yue leads the Grand Prix standings after two events. Gata Kamsky tied him for =3-4 with 7.5. He used the Grunfeld in all four of his games against 1.d4 and scored 50%. The loss was a near-win against Cheparinov.

Speaking of the Grunfeld and of uncharacteristic play, Peter Svidler was all over the place in his home country. He won his final three games to finish with a +1 result. That tied him with Jakovenko and Karjakin. Ivanchuk and Gashimov had even scores. Ivan Cheparinov was one of the main motors of the tournament. His wildly entertaining attacking play had him at an improbable +2 until the wheels came off in the 10th round. He scored 0.5 from the final four rounds to finish on -1 with Grischuk. Gelfand lost to all the leaders to end on -2. Navara and al Modiakhi were equally hapless to finish deep in the cellar with 4/13. The Qatari even had the moral victory of scoring a win -- against the winless Navara.

Once again I find myself saying that Navara played better than his score. Call it nerves or what you will, but the Czech was considered top-20, maybe even top-10, material a few years ago. He hit 2725 in 2006. He draws, even loses, more superior positions than seems possible. I'm still wondering if he missed the perpetual against Jakovenko or just panicked and allowed it on purpose. al Modiakhi is a pleasant guy who at least seems to be trying to have fun at the board despite his massive rating deficit.

I didn't have a chance to follow the official FIDE GP coverage, which again looked promising. How are the videos? Ready for prime time? What grade would you give the coverage overall? Chess-wise it was a great fighting event; don't be misled by the high draw percentage.

Come along and sing a song and join the jamboree! It's all about Mickey so far at this year's Staunton Memorial in London. The top seed is already a full point ahead with an impressive 4.5/5 score. van Wely is a point behind and they still have their individual game to come. Semi-legends Nigel Short and Jan Timman are on three points with as-yet-non-legend Jan Smeets. Ivan Sokolov seems out of sorts so far and is on -1.

I'm all for giving veteran players invitations to elite events. Despite sagging Elos and faces, the elder crowd still have much to offer at the board even if the competitive strain usually doesn't allow them to compete for the top spots anymore. That said, the participation of UK chess legend Bob Wade in this year's event can be considered bizarre. I don't doubt Wade's gumption in the least, indeed I commend it. But the 87-year-old is giving up 300-500 rating points in each game and that isn't what top-level chess is about. I understand it's a special invitation because Wade knew Howard Staunton personally, but still. I suppose the bright side is that if he goes 0/11 at least it won't have affected the standings. Life is too short to worry about such things in an event like this, and the organizers can do as they like. GM Ray Keene, one of the organizers, protests too much on the topic here. Age is a red herring; it's about rating. Having a 2167 player in an event otherwise averaging over 2550 isn't a blow against ageism -- i.e. a precedent that others will follow. Watching him go 0/11 certainly won't be. Anyway, I'll be rooting for him to nip someone for a draw.

They announced the full field for this year's Tal Memorial. Kramnik dominated last year and he'll be back to defend his title. The other nine players: Ivanchuk, Morozevich, Alekseev, Shirov, Kamsky, Leko, Mamedyarov, Gelfand, and Ponomariov. A great field that will serve as Kramnik's last warm-up for the Anand match. The event runs August 18-27 in Moscow. (I'd say the same for Kamsky and his Nov. 26 match with Topalov, but there seems to be some doubt hanging over the contracts there. It there weren't it wouldn't be FIDE, right?) There will also be the now-customary massive Tal Cup blitz championship after the Memorial.

From the Internet Chess Club, a chance to do good and to play against Mighty Magnus himself! [A bit tardy, I know. I've been in the combined throes building and setting up a new computer, having family in town, and media response work on the Russia-Georgia conflict. - Heh, in answer to Charles, yes, I did indeed tell a Fox News Radio twit "I'm surprised you're surprised" on the air yesterday. In a related story, Charles has now admitted to listening to Fox News Radio. Hey, at least it was a break in their continuous "missing white girl!" stories.]

Serbian GM Dusan Popovic just had an operation to deal with double kidney failure. His friend Magnus Carlsen is giving an online simul to raise funds to pay for the operation. I'll be hurting the cause by doing my ICC Chess.FM radio shtick during the games as long as my laptop holds out. Come on by, should be fun.

MAGNANIMOUS MAGNUS ON ICC!

Do You Want To Play Magnus Carlsen on the Internet Chess Club (ICC - www.chessclub.com) and help raise money for a good cause? You may remember last year that World Champion Vishy Anand raised $10,000 on ICC for a charity that was close to his heart? Well, this year young rising Norwegian star Magnus Carlsen has magnanimously agreed to do a similar fundraising simul at ICC, with 100% of the monies raised going to help a young fellow grandmaster in need of urgent medical treatment.

Serbian GM Dusan Popovic tragically took ill earlier this year and diagnosed with chronic kidney failure and now is in urgent need of a transplant. You can read more about Dusan's plight here at http://www.chessdom.com/dusan-popovic.

Magnus Carlsen will be giving of his time to help a fellow player in his hour of need.by hosting a simultaneous exhibition on ICC on Monday, August 11, with matches beginning at 2pm U.S. EDT (7pm in the U.K. and 8pm in Norway and Central Europe (CET)).

You can PLAY! You can HELP!

Internet Chess Club is offering on eBay 18 seats to play in the simultaneous exhibition with Super-Grandmaster Carlsen. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play whom many believe will soon become the world #1 and world champion - and at the same time help towards a good cause. Twelve seats will be sold in a Dutch Auction, and six seats are offered in this listing at a fixed price. To view or bid for a seat in the Dutch Auction, where as of going to press the top bid is $35, please go (and bid!) to: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZinternetchessclub

The six people who donate $500 each for these special fixed-price seats (three of which have already gone!) will receive a two-year subscription (or two-year renewal) to ICC; a downloadable copy of the latest version of Junior, the three-time world champion chess engine; and a one-year subscription to the world's leading chess magazine, New In Chess—for a total value of about $250!

Your winning bid will earn a seat to play Super Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen on ICC. The time control will be 90 minutes with a 5 second increment. Seats will only be available to players under the rating of 2200 and they will play with the black pieces.

Notes: All payments must be made by PayPal or credit card within 24 hours of the close of the auction in order to allow time to properly prepare for this event. You need not be an ICC member in order to participate; you will receive instructions via email upon payment.

ICC members can also pay a modest sum of 5 chekels (or donate more to the cause) to play in two online qualifiers (Saturday, 9 August, 5pm ET and Sunday, 10 August, 4pm ET) with six seats up for grabs - the top two from each qualifier, plus the two players with the highest accumulated scores playing both qualifiers winning through to play in the Magnus Carlsen Simultaneous. To play, a 5 chekel donation "help chekels" can be donated with: "c-offer Donation 5 for tourney" on ICC. You can also send $5 USD donation to the cause via paypal, to ICCchessclub.com. For more information, please see http://www.chessclub.com/groups/DusanFund.

Please remember that ALL 100% of the proceeds raised will go directly to GM Dusan Popovic's medical fund for his kidney transplant - please give generously to his cause.

The Magnus Carlsen Simultaneous takes place Monday, August 11th with matches beginning at 2pm U.S. Eastern Daylight Time (7pm in the U.K. (BST) and 8pm in Norway and central Europe (CET)).

Contact:
John Henderson
Director of Marketing, ICC
jbhthescots@chessclub.com
+1 (847) 347-9593

World Champ Anand chipped in his support and $750. The Chessdom link above has info for sending in cash donations.

Message of support (and donation of $750!) from World Champion Viswanathan Anand:

I was really saddened when I first heard of GM Dusan Popovic's plight. At such a young age, he has to confront a serious health condition that needs a lot of courage and persistence to combat. I wish him all the best. As a chessplayer, we all know what it is to fight. I am sure he will use these fighting skills he would have honed over the chessboard.

While I know Dusan will be receiving unstinting support from his family and friends, I congratulate Magnus Carlsen in stepping forward in his hour of need with his spontaneous and magnanimous gesture to play on the Internet Chess Club to help the cause.

It is also nice to see the next generation coming together for a cause that is far greater than the game itself. It is, as Dusan himself states, to be a "game of life" and I am sure the whole chess community will come together as one to participate and contribute to the fundraising efforts on ICC. For my part, I personally pledge $750 to the fund and urge everyone to contribute what they can on the day.

My prayers, thoughts and best wishes are with Dusan and his family during this time and I am sure, like me, the chess community would all wish to see his return to active duty at the chessboard as quickly as possible.

Regards,
Viswanathan Anand.

After five rounds of the second edition of the new FIDE Grand Prix series, a +1 score will get you a share of first. Radjabov, Grischuk, and Cheparinov are there now. Radja and Chepa are the only players in the event to have won multiple games. So yes, there have been a lot of draws (71%), though the quality has been good and most of the games interesting. Still, having four players with +0 -0 =5 is a little shocking. Nine of the 14 players are on an even score. David Navara, who looked hopeless in the last GP until he won his last two games, is the only player on -2. My Brooklyn neighbor Gata Kamsky beat Ivanchuk nicely and was on his way to beating Cheparinov before getting a nasty mix of an open king and time trouble and losing instead. Cheparinov's over-speculative attacking has been getting him spanked at this level, but it paid off at the bitter end in that one. There's still a lot of chess to be played and with such a tight field anyone can win.

Five Sicilians from 35 games. Three wins for white and two draws, both by Grischuk, once on each side. Round six Wednesday. Live games here.

For all the talk of a lack of chess sponsorship, we seem to be suffering an embarrassment of riches at the top level this year. The annual rapid super-clashes of the Mainz festival are themselves clashing with the new FIDE Grand Prix. Anand, Morozevich, Carlsen, and Polgar are battling for the GrenkeLeasing rapid championship, the flagship event in Mainz. Anand and Carlsen have moved on to Sunday's final four-game match while Moro and Polgar will play for the consolation of 3rd place. Meanwhile, the mighty Ordix Open is also underway. Nine players are tied for first with 5/5 after the first day, which is largely made up of GMs mashing lower-rated players. The heavyweights collide on Sunday. Hikaru Nakamura is there, having won a free trip to Mainz by dominating an ICC qualifier. He's one of the top seeds, though he was tagged for a draw by countryman Vinay Bhat in the 4th. Both are on 4.5/5 after day one. Naka already finished in a three-way tie for first in the "Chess960" FiNet Open. Motylev and Movsesian also scored 9/11 in the shuffle chess event.

Chessapalooza continues without a break as the second mighty FIDE Grand Prix tournament is already through two rounds. This one is taking place in the Russian resort of Sochi, also site of the 2014 Winter (!) Olympics. Lots of fun renovations going on there these days as they kick out the residents to build private resorts and prepare to construct the Olympic Village on a local cemetery. Good times, good times. Anyway, chess is there now and it's looking like another great Grand Prix show. Anti-short-draw rules and a category 19 field: Ivanchuk, Radjabov, Aronian, Karjakin, Grischuk, Kamsky, Gelfand, Svidler, Gashimov, Jakovenko, Wang Yue, Cheparinov, Navara, Al Modiahki. Five players lead with 1.5/2.

And so does Dominguez, to be fair. Evgeny Alekseev beat Cuba's Lenier Dominguez in a rapid, then blitz, playoff for the Biel title. Dominguez was one move away from winning the final blitz game but instead of one of several winning choices he found a loser. There was some karma involved here since Dominguez led by a full point going into the final round only to lose to Bacrot, which allowed Alekseev to catch him up by beating Pelletier in an endgame that the Swiss probably should have drawn. Caissa, she does not treat chokers kindly. It was a remarkable late surge for Bacrot, who actually finished on a plus score after starting out with 0.5/4. Magnus Carlsen, the big rating favorite, cruised to +3 but his 7th-round loss to Alekseev upset the plan and he was unable to score a win in the final three rounds. Bacrot sucked all the good out of the second half, leaving none for Onischuk. Alex started well but lost all three of his whites in the second half. Weird. The less said about Pelletier's 2400, -7 performance the better.