Bazna 2011: 5th Kings Tournament – Round 3 Updates

By Chess Teacher NM William Stewart

Ivanchuk showed immense respect to Carlsen on Board 1 by playing a very safe line in the Ruy Lopez which led to a fairly lifeless draw on move 33. They currently share the lead at 1.5/2 points each. The Board 2 match-up between Radjabov and Karjakin was equally boring, but at least the players fought it out. White attempted to grind down a B vs N middle/endgame until the 90th move, where it was painstakingly obvious that a draw was to be made.



The real action took place on Board 3, where Nakamura put the Spanish Torture to hometown favorite Nisipeanu. Nakamura’s played an interesting variation of the Ruy Lopez involving 14. b4!? that led to a complicated struggle on the queenside. White was unable to make progress until he unleashed 52. e5! - altering the pawn structure to improve the potential squares for his knight. Naka put a fantastic grind on Nisipeanu, causing black to suffer from chronic time trouble throughout the long battle. White found a forced win beginning with 66. g6! - sacrificing a pawn to force a trade of the light squared bishops. After this exchange, white simply mopped up black’s pawns to convert a deserved victory. I am extremely impressed by Nakamura’s characteristic will-to-win, as many players would have agreed to a draw early in this game.



For more on the 5th Kings Tournament - Banza 2011 - Round 3, see the original article on William's website.

Nisipeanu beats Ivanchuk, other draw

Round 3 results

Karjakin, Sergey	- Nakamura, Hikaru	½-½
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	1-0
Carlsen, Magnus	- Radjabov, Teimour	½-½

Chess analysis: Ivanchuk - Carlsen

Ivanchuk - Carlsen

5th Kings Chess Tournament - Round 2 complete

By Chess Tutor William Stewart (FIDE 2234)

Ivanchuk showed immense respect to Carlsen on Board 1 by playing a very safe line in the Ruy Lopez which led to a fairly lifeless draw on move 33. They currently share the lead at 1.5/2 points each. The Board 2 match-up between Radjabov and Karjakin was equally boring, but at least the players fought it out. White attempted to grind down a B vs N middle/endgame until the 90th move, where it was painstakingly obvious that a draw was to be made.

The real action took place on Board 3, where Nakamura put the Spanish Torture to hometown favorite Nisipeanu. Nakamura’s played an interesting variation of the Ruy Lopez involving 14. b4!? that led to a complicated struggle on the queenside. White was unable to make progress until he unleashed 52. e5! - altering the pawn structure to improve the potential squares for his knight. Naka put a fantastic grind on Nisipeanu, causing black to suffer from chronic time trouble throughout the long battle. White found a forced win beginning with 66. g6! - sacrificing a pawn to force a trade of the light squared bishops. After this exchange, white simply mopped up black’s pawns to convert a deserved victory. I am extremely impressed by Nakamura’s characteristic will-to-win, as many players would have agreed to a draw early in this game.

Original article on the 5th Kings Chess Tournament, Round 2 is available on William's Site

Ivanchuk, Carlsen lead Bazna Kings

Standings after 2 rounds

1.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2815	1½
2.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2776	1½
3.	Karjakin, Sergey	g	RUS	2776	1
4.	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2774	1
5.	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2744	½
6.	Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	g	ROU	2659	½

Official website: http://www.turneulregilor.com

The 5th Kings Tournament - Round 1 & 2

By Chess Tutor William Stewart

The 5th Kings Tournament 2011 is underway in Bazna, Romania, taking place June 11th - 22nd. The 6 player Double-Round Robin with a classic time control features many of the world’s best (Carlsen, Ivanchuk, Karjakin, Nakamura, Radjabov, and Nisipeanu). The favorite for the event must be World #1 Magnus Carlsen, as last year he scored an exceptional performance rating of 2918 with 7.5/10 (5 wins and 5 draws). The ever-dangerous Vassily Ivanchuk must be considered a contender, as he won the event in 2009 and is capable of some truly stunning chess. Hometown favorite Nisipeanu is the lowest-rated participant at 2662, however don’t count him out either as his creative and inspired play is reknown for taking down top players.

Carlsen still has no problem handling Nakamura

Board 1 featured a heavyweight match-up between two of the world’s strongest players, 20 year old Carlsen (Norway) against 23 year old Nakamura (USA). Lately, Carlsen seems to have had no problem handling Nakamura, and this game was no exception. Carlsen opened with d4 and Nakamura responded with an interesting variation bent on attacking white’s king. Carlsen quickly seized control of the center and the initiative. Nakamura’s queenside attack was just too slow, as white bust through on the kingside with 20. h6! Nakamura attempted to defend with the help of complicated tactics, however Carlsen stayed strong and achieved a solid positional victory in 38 moves.

The Board 2 game between Ivanchuk (UKR) and Radjabov (AZE) was quite interesting from a theoretical standpoint. Ivanchuk opened with d4 and Radjabov responded with his typical King’s Indian Defense - leading Ivanchuk to play an aggressive variation of the Four Pawns Attack involving 6. Bg5 and 7. f4. In this kind of set-up black usually attempts to exploit the dark squares behind white’s center however Radjabov chose a different plan involving 7. ...c6, 8. ...Nc7, and 9. ...Ne6 - intending to open the center with c5 and have the opportunity to place the knight on d4. This use of time proved dubious, as white was able to consolidate his large center and easily complete his development. With a strong positional combination starting with 16. f5! and 18. Bxf6!, Ivanchuk clearly achieved a winning positional advantage which he smoothly converted in 35 moves to start the tournament with a W.

The Board 3 game between Nisipeanu (Romania) and Karjakin (Russia) was a short draw, as white forced a 3-fold repetition in 20 moves. The first round went as expected, without upset. It will be interesting to see how Carlsen shakes off the rust, as his last rated event was the Tata Steel tournament in January, 2011. Recently, Nakamura has looked better than ever - coming off a strong victory against Ruslan Ponomariov in their May International Match in St. Louis. It will be exciting to see if Naka can maintain his climb towards 2800.

Sorry I couldn't do any videos on the game, I'm in rural Oklahoma where the internet just isn't fast enough for me to upload the videos.

For the original post on the 5th Kings Chess Tournament check out Will's website.

5th edition of Bazna Kings Super Tournament

The 5th edition of Kings Tournament will take place in Medias - 11 - 22 June 2011
Tournament category XXI - ELO average 2758

http://www.turneulregilor.com/

Rate of play

Time control: 120 minutes for the first forty moves, 60 minutes for the next twenty moves and then each player will be allotted 15 minutes until the end. Starting with move 61 each player will receive an increment of 30 seconds per move.

Tournament rules

No draw agreement by the players are allowed before move 30.
Any such draw claim will be permitted only through the Chief Arbiter in the following cases:

• a triple-repetition of the position,
• a perpetual check,
• in theoretically drawn position.
The final standing of the players will be determined according to points. In case of sharing of places - the following criteria will be decisive for the tie-break:

• A greater number of wins.
• The result of the direct mini-matches between contenders.
• Berger.
• A tie-break match will be played in case of a tie for the first place in the tournament between the first two players in the final standing (according to points, or the additional criteria). The match will consist of two games with a time-control of 15 minutes per player + 3 seconds added for every move played. In case of a tie, another match of two blitz-games will be played with a time-control of 5 minutes per player + 3 seconds for every move played. In case of another tied result – there will be played a last "sudden-death" decisive game with a time-control 5 minutes for the whole game for the White-player and 4 minutes for the whole game for Black-player. The White-player will only need a victory in this game to win the tournament; whole the Black-player will win the tournament by just not losing that final decisive game.
• In case the first place might be shared by more than two players – the final standing will be determined according to the criteria that have been mentioned above.

The players:

Magnus Carlsen
Sergey Karjakin
Vassily Ivanchuk
Hikaru Nakamura
Teimour Radjabov
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu

Kings' Tournament

Kings Tournament 5th edition
Tuesday, 07 June 2011 11:34

Following the tradition of investing in intelligence, started in 2007 with the first edition of the Kings Tournament, the Chess Club “Elisabeta Polihroniade” as organizer, and Romgaz Company as unique sponsor of the event, bring on the Romanian chess stage a new edition of the Kings Tournament.

2011 is an anniversary year for the organizers of the most important chess tournament in Romania, the Kings Tournament being at its 5th edition.

Kings Tournament keeps the promise of lifting the competitive level with each new edition, this year’s participants lifting the Tournaments category at the maximum level of XXI with an 2758 ELO rating.

Internationally, the Kings Tournament benefited of the International Chess Federation’s interest who have sent as a representative on managements behalf, Mr. Nigel Freeman, FIDE treasurer, at every organized edition starting in 2007 with the competition’s first edition. Kings Tournament 3rd edition welcomed the presence of the International Chess in School Union president (ISCU), Mr Alexander Kostiev, and at the 5th Edition the European Chess Union (ECU) was the tournaments observer represented by President Boris Kutin.

Thanks to the fame gained along the years, Kings Tournament was introduced in the Grand Slam of Grand Slam Association Spain, that offers the winner the opportunity to participate to the great final in Bilbao. Kings Tournament was introduced in the Grand Slam starting in 2011 alongside the tournaments from Nanjing China, Wijkaan Zee Holland (started in 1938), Linares (started in 1978) and Bilbao Spain.

During the 2010 edition the organizers of the greatest worldwide tournament (GSCA) met in Medias where they decided to accept “Kings Tournament” in Grand Slam thanks to the special conditions ensured by the organizers.

Kings Tournament 5th edition will take place during 11 -22 June 2011 within the Natural Gas Documentation and Information Centre in Medias. The favorite of the 2011 Kings Tournament is the Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen, the winner of the 5th 2010 Edition and the youngest winner of the tournament. Magnus is on the second place on the list published on the 1st of May by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) with a 2815 rating, after the world champion Viswanathan Anand. The winner of the 3rd 2009 Edition of the Kings Tournament, Vassily Ivanchuk promises an exceptional tournament where he will try to surpass his younger rival to the title. The Ukrainian Ivanchyk is on the 5th place on the FIDE list with a 2776 rating. Among this edition’s participants is GM Sergey Karjakin, a “wonder” of chess, who holds the record for the youngest IM, at the age of 11 and 11 months, as well as the youngest Grand Master in history (at the age of 12 and 7 months). Karjakin represents Russia and takes the 6th place on the FIDE list with a 2776 rating. Number 1 of the United States of America and participant to this Edition of the Kings Tournament is GM Hikaru Nakamura, number 8 worldwide with a 2774 rating on the FIDE list. In December 2010 Nakamura takes the 5th place at the London Chess Classic tournament, performance that ensured his official place among the first 10 players of the world, January 2011. Number 13 on the FIDE list with a 2744 rating, Teimour Radjabov is a frequent participant of the Kings Tournament being one of the candidates to this year’s title. He is the UNICEF ambassador in Azerbaidjan and the winner of the tournament from Holland in Wijk aan Zee 2007 (ex-aequo), the World Quickplay Finish Cup in 2008 at Odessa and of Elista Grand Prix (ex-aequo). Invited by the organizers, GM LIVIU-DIETER NISIPEANU, participant to all former editions of the Kings Tournament and the European Champion in 2005 and number one in Romania, the Fide list puts him on the 89th place worldwide with a 2662 rating. At the 2010 edition of the Kings Tournament, Dieter was on the 5th place. Taking into account the value of this year’s contestants, the organizer and the sponsor of the most important chess tournament held in Romania wish all the contestants good luck to this anniversary edition and may the best win! http://www.turneulregilor.com/

Ivanchuk caught Le at the Capablanca Memorial

Ivanchuk won the final three games, including a victory of Le Quang Liem in the final game, to earn a share of first at the 2011 Capablanca Memorial in Cuba.

Final standings

1-2.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2776	*	*	½	1	1	1	½	½	½	½	0	1	6½	2809
1-2.	Le, Quang Liem	g	VIE	2687	½	0	*	*	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	6½	2826
3.	Andreikin, Dmitry	g	RUS	2687	0	0	½	½	*	*	½	½	1	½	1	1	5½	2752
4.	Navara, David	g	CZE	2702	½	½	½	0	½	½	*	*	½	0	1	1	5	2713
5.	Dominguez Perez, Leinier	g	CUB	2726	½	½	½	0	0	½	½	1	*	*	½	½	4½	2673
6.	Bruzon Batista, Lazaro	g	CUB	2693	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	½	*	*	2	2475

Official website: http://www.capablanca.co.cu

Liem leading by a full point with 1 round to go

Standings with 1 round to go

1.	Le, Quang Liem	VIE	2687	*	*	½	.	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	6½
2.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	2776	½	.	*	*	1	1	½	½	½	½	0	1	5½
3.	Andreikin, Dmitry	RUS	2687	½	½	0	0	*	*	½	.	1	½	1	1	5
4.	Navara, David	CZE	2702	½	0	½	½	½	.	*	*	½	0	1	1	4½
5.	Dominguez Perez, Leinier	CUB	2726	½	0	½	½	0	½	½	1	*	*	½	.	4
6.	Bruzon Batista, Lazaro	CUB	2693	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	½	.	*	*	1½

Official website: http://www.capablanca.co.cu

Capablanca Memorial LIVE!

Live chess broadcast powered by ChessBomb and Chessdom

Ivanchuk: I can still become World Champion

Here is a fantastic interview with Ivanchuk which was sent to me by Wesley So's family. Enjoy!

Vassily Ivanchuk: I can still become World Champion
By mishanp on February 5, 2011

Vassily Ivanchuk’s stunning win in Gibraltar reminded us all of his enormous chess talent, while his recent long interview with the Ukrainian Zaxid.net addressed the missing piece of the jigsaw – why is it that a genius like Ivanchuk has failed to mount a serious World Championship challenge?

Ivanchuk just won the strong Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, conceding only two draws to finish on 9/10 with a 2968 performance. The win moves the brilliant but erratic Ukrainian grandmaster into 5th place on the live chess rating list.

Before the event began Ivanchuk was interviewed by Danilo Mokrik for Zaxid.net, and gave a frank and charming insight into his chess career and life. Although we’ve always guessed, for instance, that Ivanchuk is fanatical about chess and struggles with nerves, it’s a thrill to hear his own take on the situation. He reveals his continuing ambitions, and… well, only Ivanchuk could answer a question about the computerisation of chess by revealing how he became addicted to on-line checkers!

Vassily Ivanchuk: I can still become World Champion in classical chess

For more than 20 years now you’ve been in the absolute elite of world chess. During that time many of the players from your generation – and even those younger than you – have lost their place and been overshadowed, but you’ve held on at the top. What’s the secret?

Maybe it’s the fact that I still retain a great interest in chess – an interest at the level of fanaticism. I still find it interesting to sit and examine games, learn new openings and endeavour better to understand the peculiarities of my opponents’ styles. I still have the desire to fight, and perhaps ambitions that haven’t quite been satisfied. So I still feel I have the motivation I need to get ready again and again for a serious struggle.

Despite the fact that you’re no longer among the youngest of chess players, you still play a lot – no less than many of your younger colleagues. Don’t you get tired?

To be honest I am a little tired, and at the moment I feel I should play a little less – so that I’ll have time to acquire a reserve of nervous energy. Otherwise you get situations where at a certain moment your head simply switches off and your hand starts to make moves quickly. For a professional that’s unacceptable, but when you get tired that is, unfortunately, what happens.

So now you’re giving yourself a little more time to rest?

Yes, a little more, but that isn’t always beneficial. It matters what you do instead of playing. I feel the need for active recreation – I’ve even thought about buying myself skates and going ice-skating, and spending more time in the fresh air. There are still lots of beautiful places in Western Ukraine that I haven’t been to, like Morshin and Bukovel. I want, somehow, to spend my time more actively.

So how do you maintain your physical shape? That’s also important for a chess player…

When it’s warmer I play tennis. Otherwise I exercise, and sometimes go to the gym, though unfortunately not that often. I’m going to try to do that more frequently. I feel it’s necessary.

And how much time do you find to spend on chess?

It’s hard to say, because chess, and the way you train for it, is quite unusual. For example, it’s not even obligatory to sit at a computer or a chessboard. I can also walk in the park and analyse some important position in my head. Moreover, it’s by no means certain that working using such a method will have any less effect than if I sit at a computer. It depends much more on getting into a mental state that allows you to discover new ideas.

How do you feel about the fact that many chess players and commentators call you a genius?

It’s hard to say how I feel… Sometimes, perhaps, it gives me an extra incentive to put in more work, but at other times, as they say, success goes to your head. Then you don’t always objectively accept defeats, but instead think, “How’s that possible? How could I make such bad moves?” and I’m not always able to recover quickly.

In fact it’s not only about the games themselves, but also the time between games. For me the big problems are other things – waiting, getting butterflies in your stomach, expectation and nerves. For that reason, perhaps, it’s better for me to play in rapid chess tournaments which end after a day or two: you play 26 blitz games in one day, and that’s it – you can forget about it, like a nightmare, and start something else. But not all tournaments are arranged like that, and I also want to play classical chess – which means you have to prepare and withstand the tension between games. It’s particularly difficult when the tournament’s an important one, and it’s not going as well as you’d like.

Full interview here.

Climbing back to the top 5

Ivanchuk climbs to 5th place in live rating of world's best chess players
04-02-2011 11:32

Ukrainian grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk from Lviv has won the 2011 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, according to the publication on ZAXID.NET.

In the last round, Ivanchuk defeated German grandmaster Daniel Fridman. Thus, Ivanchuk earned eight wins and played two games in a draw, which guaranteed him victory at the tournament...

This victory will help Ivanchuk climb to 5th place in the live rating of the world's best chess players.

Rank	Name	Rating	Change	# games
01	Anand	2816,6	+6,6	13
02	Carlsen	2814,9	+0,9	13
03	Aronian	2807,8	+2,8	13
04	Kramnik	2785,4	+1,4	13
05	Ivanchuk	2778,8	+14,8	19
06	Karjakin	2776,0	0	0
07	Topalov	2775,0	0	0
08	Nakamura	2773,9	+22,9	13
09	Mamedyarov	2772,0	0	0
10	Grischuk	2746,7	-26,3	13
11	Gashimov	2745,8	+9,8	9
12	Radjabov	2744,0	0	0
13	Ponomariov	2743,2	-0,8	13
14	Wang Yue	2734,0	0	0
15	Gelfand	2733,0	0	0
16	Kamsky	2730,0	0	0
17	Svidler	2729,5	-0,5	5
18	Nepomniachtchi	2729,4	-3,6	13
19	Wang Hao	2727,7	-3,3	13
20	Vachier-Lagrave	2727,6	+12,6	15

http://www.nrcu.gov.ua
http://chess.liverating.org

Chess King Invanchuk, Chess Queens Dzagnidze and Melia rule Gibraltar

Ivanchuk has the best score and best rating performance of the tournament. On the women's side, two players are tied with 7 points, Dzagnidze and Melia, both from Georgia. Dzagnidze also has the best rating performance by a female at 2672.

Final standings

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1
1	GM	Ivanchuk Vassily	UKR	2764	9.0	2968
2	GM	Short Nigel D	ENG	2658	8.5	2883
3	GM	Kulaots Kaido	EST	2577	7.5	2750
4	GM	Roiz Michael	ISR	2649	7.5	2743
5	GM	Caruana Fabiano	ITA	2721	7.0	2681
6	GM	Dzagnidze Nana	GEO	2550	7.0	2672
7	GM	Gopal Geetha Narayanan	IND	2597	7.0	2651
8	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	ESP	2698	7.0	2648
9	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	IND	2667	7.0	2647
10	GM	Georgiev Kiril	BUL	2669	7.0	2641
11	GM	Lafuente Pablo	ARG	2561	7.0	2637
12	GM	Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter	ROU	2678	7.0	2629
13	IM	Melia Salome	GEO	2449	7.0	2610
14	GM	Kacheishvili Giorgi	GEO	2585	7.0	2608
15	GM	Erdos Viktor	HUN	2593	7.0	2607
16	GM	Ikonnikov Vyacheslav	RUS	2580	7.0	2598
17	GM	Iordachescu Viorel	MDA	2634	7.0	2538
	GM	Fier Alexandr	BRA	2571	7.0	2538
19	GM	Fridman Daniel	GER	2655	6.5	2695
20	GM	Adams Michael	ENG	2723	6.5	2665
21	IM	Kosintseva Nadezhda	RUS	2552	6.5	2654
22	GM	Bologan Viktor	MDA	2693	6.5	2623
23	GM	Buhmann Rainer	GER	2572	6.5	2598
24	GM	Mikhalevski Victor	ISR	2579	6.5	2595
25	GM	Akobian Varuzhan	USA	2618	6.5	2583
26	GM	Onischuk Alexander	USA	2689	6.5	2575
27	IM	Bellaiche Anthony	FRA	2458	6.5	2568
28	GM	Edouard Romain	FRA	2634	6.5	2550
29	GM	Berg Emanuel	SWE	2627	6.5	2548
30	IM	Harika Dronavalli	IND	2520	6.5	2537
31	IM	Zatonskih Anna	USA	2493	6.5	2530
32	GM	Gallagher Joseph G	SUI	2501	6.5	2482
33	IM	Vaibhav Suri	IND	2421	6.5	2472
34	GM	Zhukova Natalia	UKR	2441	6.5	2447
35	GM	Jones Gawain C B	ENG	2593	6.5	2440
36	GM	Le Roux Jean-Pierre	FRA	2551	6.5	2425
37		Henriksson Johan	SWE	2243	6.5	2335

Full results here.

Ivanchuk wins Gibraltar with 9/10!

Super GM Ivanchuk has just captured the 2011 Gibraltar title after defeating GM Daniel Fridman in the final round. His final score is 9 points with 8 wins and 2 draws. His performance is nearly 3,000!! This is another spectacular result by the amazing Ivanchuk!

Ivanchuk retains Gibraltar lead

After 9 rounds, Ivanchuk is performing around 2950 with the score of 8/9!!

Leaders after Round 9

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1
1	GM	Ivanchuk Vassily	UKR	2764	8.0	2947
2	GM	Short Nigel D	ENG	2658	7.5	2849
3	GM	Fridman Daniel	GER	2655	6.5	2732
4	GM	Kulaots Kaido	EST	2577	6.5	2715
5	GM	Roiz Michael	ISR	2649	6.5	2712
6	GM	Gopal Geetha Narayanan	IND	2597	6.5	2674
7	GM	Bologan Viktor	MDA	2693	6.5	2662
8	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	IND	2667	6.5	2653
9	GM	Mikhalevski Victor	ISR	2579	6.5	2633
10	IM	Melia Salome	GEO	2449	6.5	2612
11	GM	Erdos Viktor	HUN	2593	6.5	2601
12	GM	Edouard Romain	FRA	2634	6.5	2590
13	GM	Sengupta Deep	IND	2530	6.0	2718
14	GM	Adams Michael	ENG	2723	6.0	2680
15	GM	Korchnoi Viktor	SUI	2544	6.0	2670
16	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	IND	2690	6.0	2665
17	GM	Caruana Fabiano	ITA	2721	6.0	2654
18	IM	Kosintseva Nadezhda	RUS	2552	6.0	2649
19	GM	Lafuente Pablo	ARG	2561	6.0	2635
20	GM	Dzagnidze Nana	GEO	2550	6.0	2629
21	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	ESP	2698	6.0	2618
22	GM	Buhmann Rainer	GER	2572	6.0	2617
23	GM	Georgiev Kiril	BUL	2669	6.0	2612
24	GM	Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter	ROU	2678	6.0	2600
25	GM	Kacheishvili Giorgi	GEO	2585	6.0	2573
26	GM	Ikonnikov Vyacheslav	RUS	2580	6.0	2570
	IM	Bellaiche Anthony	FRA	2458	6.0	2570
28	GM	Berg Emanuel	SWE	2627	6.0	2554
29	GM	Cmilyte Viktorija	LTU	2526	6.0	2534
30	IM	Harika Dronavalli	IND	2520	6.0	2530
31	GM	Lemos Damian	ARG	2553	6.0	2513
32	GM	Kanep Meelis	EST	2531	6.0	2510
33	GM	Fier Alexandr	BRA	2571	6.0	2507
34	GM	Iordachescu Viorel	MDA	2634	6.0	2499
35	IM	Vernay Clovis	FRA	2446	6.0	2472
36	IM	Das Arghyadip	IND	2479	6.0	2469
37	GM	Cabrera Alexis	ESP	2518	6.0	2466
38		Tate Alan	SCO	2292	6.0	2413

Full standings here.

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Nakamura and Ivanchuk dominate Cap d'Agde

Résultats de la ronde 4 du Groupe A : Lundi 25 à 13h00

Kosintseva Nadezhda	(2565)	-	Karpov Anatoly	(2619)	:	0-1
Polgar Judit	(2682)	-	Nakamura Hikaru	(2733)	:	0-1
Milliet Sophie	(2388)	-	Bu Xiangzhi	(2695)	:	0-1
Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son	(2633)	-	Edouard Romain	(2636)	:	1/2-1/2

Résultats de la ronde 4 du Groupe B : Lundi 25 à 15h00

Pelletier Yannick	(2592)	-	Kosintseva Tatiana	(2573)	:	1/2-1/2
Ivanchuk Vasily	(2754)	-	Hammer Jon Ludvig	(2633)	:	1-0
Zhu Chen	(2480)	-	Lahno Kateryna	(2539)	:	0-1
Gharamian Tigran	(2658)	-	Le Quang Liem	(2694)	:	0-1

Résultats de la ronde 5 du Groupe A : Lundi 25 à 17h00

Karpov Anatoly	(2619)	-	NGuyen Ngoc Truong Son	(2633)	:	0-1
Bu Xiangzhi	(2695)	-	Kosintseva Nadezhda	(2565)	:	1-0
Edouard Romain	(2636)	-	Polgar Judit	(2682)	:	0-1
Nakamura Hikaru	(2733)	-	Milliet Sophie	(2388)	:	1-0

Résultats de la ronde 5 du Groupe B : Lundi 25 à 19h00

Kosintseva Tatiana	(2573)	-	Gharamian Tigran	(2658)	:	0-1
Lahno Kateryna	(2539)	-	Pelletier Yannick	(2592)	:	0-1
Hammer Jon Ludvig	(2633)	-	Zhu Chen	(2480)	:	1-0
Le Quang Liem	(2694)	-	Ivanchuk Vasily	(2754)	:	1/2-1/2

http://www.capechecs.com/resultats/index.php?t=masters

Who is the strongest player in the world now?

Who is the strongest player in the world today?
	Carlsen
	Anand
	Kramnik
	Aronian
	Topalov
	Ivanchuk
	Another player
pollcode.com

Judit did it again! Ivanchuk is out of this world!

After losing her first game at this Olympiad yesterday, Judit bounced back to beat GM Fier of Brazil with the Black pieces today. Almasi also won to give Hungary a 3-1 victory over Brazil.

1. Leitao, Rafael ½-½ Leko, Peter
2. Milos, Gilberto 0-1 Almasi, Zoltan
3. Fier, Alexandr 0-1 Polgar, Judit
4. Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag ½-½ Berkes, Ferenc

Ivanchuk wins AGAIN (He's 6/6 on board 1. His Fischer like performance gives Ukraine first place after 7 rounds.

1. Ivanchuk, Vassily 1-0 Jobava, Baadur
2. Ponomariov, Ruslan ½-½ Gagunashvili, Merab
3. Eljanov, Pavel ½-½ Mchedlishvili, Mikheil
4. Efimenko, Zahar ½-½ Pantsulaia, Levan

Armenia lost to Azerbaijan. This creates serious doubt for Armenia to three-peat.

1. Aronian, Levon ½-½ Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
2. Akopian, Vladimir ½-½ Radjabov, Teimour
3. Sargissian, Gabriel ½-½ Mamedov, Rauf
4. Pashikian, Arman 0-1 Guseinov, Gadir

Only 1 Russia can win and it's Russia A today. They won by a slim margin of 2.5 - 1.5 to keep the Gold medal hope alive.

1. Nepomniachtchi, Ian ½-½ Kramnik, Vladimir
2. Alekseev, Evgeny ½-½ Grischuk, Alexander
3. Vitiugov, Nikita ½-½ Svidler, Peter
4. Tomashevsky, Evgeny 0-1 Karjakin, Sergey

The U.S. suffered a costly setback today with a tie against Poland.

1. Nakamura, Hikaru 0-1 Wojtaszek, Radoslaw
2. Kamsky, Gata ½-½ Socko, Bartosz
3. Onischuk, Alexander 1-0 Macieja, Bartlomiej
4. Shulman, Yuri ½-½ Miton, Kamil

Iran is making a strong statement about their chess improvement with a tie against Russia C team.

1. Jakovenko, Dmitry 1-0 Ghaem, Maghami Ehsan
2. Rublevsky, Sergei 1-0 Moradiabadi, Elshan
3. Pridorozhni, Aleksei 0-1 Toufighi, Homayoon
4. Kabanov, Nikolai 0-1 Golizadeh, Asghar

England is out of the medal hunt after a huge loss against Belarus.

1. Zhigalko, Sergei ½-½ Adams, Michael
2. Teterev, Vitaly 1-0 Short, Nigel D
3. Podolchenko, Evgeniy1-0 Howell, David W L
4. Stupak, Kirill ½-½ Jones, Gawain C B

Full results: http://ugra-chess.com/results.php?tmnt=1&rn=7