Results of Candidates

Candidates R14 – leaders lose, Carlsen qualifies

1.4.2013 - Magnus Carlsen overpressed a messy position against Peter Svidler and was swiftly punished. However Kramnik gambled all of his chips, and Ivanchuk simply took them all! Carlsen’s luck has not abandoned him and he is now the official challenger against Anand for the World Chess Championship, edging out the Russian’s great performance by virtue of his better tiebreak. Full report with GM analysis.

 

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From March 14 to April 1, 2013, FIDE and AGON – the World Chess Federation’s commercial partner – are staging the 2013 Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship 2013. It will be the strongest tournament of its kind in history. The venue is The IET, 2 Savoy Place, London. The Prize Fund to be shared by the players totals €510,000. The winner of the Candidates will become the Challenger to Viswanathan Anand who has reigned as World Champion since 2007. The main sponsor for the Candidates is State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic SOCAR, which has sponsored elite events chess in the past.

Round fourteen report

By GM Alejandro Ramirez

The most spectacular tournament of recent years has come to an end. The drama of the last few rounds has been unprecedented in recent memory. The excitement brought spectators flocking to every chess site, even to the point of overloading some of them! The fans were eager to know who would challenge Anand, and here is how it all unfolded.

Round 14 April 1 at 14:00
Magnus Carlsen	0-1	Peter Svidler
Vassily Ivanchuk	1-0	Vladimir Kramnik
Boris Gelfand	½-½	Alexander Grischuk
Levon Aronian	1-0	Teimour Radjabov
Playchess commentary: GM Maurice Ashley

Gelfand-Grischuk ½-½

Grischuk’s Gruenfeld was more than sufficient to neutralize any attempts for a lastround victory by the Israeli, and the game ended in a draw after White’s king was too exposed and had to allow a perpetual.

Aronian-Radjabov 1-0

Aronian, who after the first half seemed to be the only one with chances to stop Carlsen from playing Anand, suffered some serious setbacks in the second half and tried to have a strong finish. Radjabov, who probably wants to forget this tournament as soon as possible and losing over thirty (!?) rating points in the process, was looking to at least not lose the last round. Unfortunately the Armenian’s will was stronger and a complicated game led to an interesting endgame in which White had two rooks for Black’s queen. Although theoretically equal, the endgame was more pleasant to play with White, and after Radjabov made just one slip Aronian’s brutal attack on the king was enough to win the game.

Carlsen-Svidler 0-1

Everyone knew the tournament situation. Carlsen would look for a win, and try to clinch first place regardless of Kramnik’s result. A typical Spanish gave White a very minimal edge, and both sides tried to attack the enemy king using their knights and long range bishops. On move 31, disaster strikes. Svidler’s simple mate threat on g2 can be parried in two ways: one is a simple tactic that uses Black’s king on f8 to not only trade off the dangerous light squared bishop, but it also won a pawn. The other simply gave Black a strong attack. Carlsen, maybe exhausted from his efforts, chose the latter and almost paid dearly. The advantage was too strong; the pair of bishops and extra pawn were too much even for the Norwegian magician. Svidler defeated Carlsen.

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Carlsen, Magnus2872–Svidler, Peter2747C77FIDE Candidates 20131401.04.2013Ramirez,Alejandro

1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 a6 4.a4 f6 5.0-0 e7 6.d3 The increasingly popular quick d3 system, yet again seen in London. Carlsen crushed Svidler with the black side of this system, surely he can also outplay him with white. b5 7.b3 d6 8.a3 0-0 9.c3 b710.d2 d7 11.a4 d8!? Very solid play, though there were viable alternatives for sure. The idea of moving the knight from c6 is nothing new in the Spanish. It is now being rerouted to f4. 12.axb5 axb513.xa8 xa8 14.e2 e6 15.g3 c5 16.f5 d8 17.c4 bxc418.xc4 White has a maybe microscopically more pleasant position. His bishop on c4 is well placed, the knight on f4 is relatively uncomfortable, but Black still has many resources. c7 19.e1 e820.c1 h520...d4 already blunders the game. 21.3xd4 cxd4 22.xg7+-21.g321.b4! cxb4 22.xb4 Would've given him a pleasant edge, but the symmetrical position gives Black good chances for a draw. 21...g6 22.h6+ g7 23.g5 xg5 24.xg5 d5 25.exd5 xd526.g4 f3 Svidler thought this idea was very strong, and that Carlsen underestimated it. However, it is possible both missed White's resource on move 31. 27.f6+ g8 28.h6+ f8 29.e329.xf7 xf6 30.h6+ e7? Suggested by Svidler.30...g8‼ is just a draw, according to the engines, as there are no good discoveries. Notice how in no variation can White take on e5 as the opening of the e-file will be lethal to him because of his weakened back rank. 31.xe5+? d5 32.xd7 xe1# 31.g5! Was missed by both players. 29...b7 30.h4 h3 31.f3? The start of Carlsen's demise.31.d5! This strong resource would've simply left White a pawn ahead. White's knight on h6 can be left en prise! xd5 32.xc5+g7 33.xd5 xh6 34.xf7 a534...c8? Svidler admitted he had no idea what was going on, and this was his suggestion. However this loses to the very strong...35.e7! and Black is closed to getting mated. 35.xe8 xe1 36.xe5 White's three pawns are stronger than the piece, and it is in Black's best interest to give it back immediately.xf2+ 37.xf2 xh2+ 38.e1 With only chances for White. 31...f4 32.gxf4 xh4 33.xf7 xf3 34.f2 g4+ 35.g3exf4 Now Black's advantage is clear and decisive. The pair of bishops is too strong. 36.xe8+ xe8 37.xg4 xg4 38.g5 h6 39.f7h5 40.h6 d1 41.f2 f3 42.h3 f4 43.f7 g5 44.e1 g4Simple calculation, White cannot stop the pawns. 45.hxg4 hxg446.xd1 g3 47.e1 g2 48.f2 h2 Carlsen loses, but his lucky stars had not yet abandoned him.

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Ivanchuk-Kramnik 1-0

“If someone had told Volodia (Kramnik) that Carlsen would lose today, I’m afraid he wouldn’t have gone with the Pirc…” is the translation of Vallejo Pons earlier Facebook status. Truer words could not have been spoken! Knowing that the odds of Carlsen losing with White twice in one tournament were astronomical, Kramnik went for the all-out kill against Ivanchuk. However the Ukrainian is not someone to be trifled with.. He punished Kramnik’s excessive opening aggression, and quickly took over the initiative. A strong positional sacrifice left him with the pair of bishops and pressure all over the board, especially against the queenside pawns. Black’s position became increasingly worse with every move, until White’s passed b-pawn was too strong. It was all over. Ivanchuk equally slayed Kramnik and Carlsen, and the Norwegian edges out on tiebreak.

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The ABC of Chess Openings - 2nd Edition

by Andrew Martin

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Ivanchuk, Vassily2757–Kramnik, Vladimir2810B08FIDE Candidates 20131401.04.2013Ramirez,Alejandro

1.d4 d6 2.e4 The Pirc. An obscure opening in the realm of elite players. Kramnik wasn't satisfied with neutralizing Ivanchuk, he was risking everything for the win. f6 3.c3 g6 4.f3 g7 5.e2 0-06.0-0 a6 7.h3 A classical and sedate approach. Strong both because of its positional value, but also because it steers the game away from the sharp complications Kramnik is so desperately looking for. c68.g5 b5 9.a3 h6 10.e3 e5 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.c1 h7?Already a mistake, however the 'correct' move was far from human.12...d4 13.xh6 b7 14.xg7 xg7 15.d1 c5 16.e3e7 And Black has some compensation, but no more. 13.c5 e8 14.d1 d7 15.b4 c8 16.e3 White has more space, better coordinated pieces and actual prospects of invading d5, unlike Black who cannot move to d4. Also White is the one that can break the queenside. A very uncomfortable situation for Black. d817.a4 bxa4 18.xa4 e6 19.c4 h5 20.c3 hf4 21.d5b5 22.b3 c6 23.a5 b7 24.g3! A valiant sacrifice. With the h-pawn gone, White can occupy the h-file, putting pressure on every side of the board. Further, Black is left without a plan and without the strong knight on f4. xh3+ 25.g2 hg5 26.h1 g8 27.xg5xg5 28.f3 xd5 29.xd5 c6 30.c4 c8 31.b3 h5 32.e3e6 33.ha1 h4 Giving back the pawn does not alleviate Black's problems - he doesn't even get access to the f4 square. However it was hard to suggest much of anything, let alone a way to win this game.34.gxh4 d8 35.xa6 c8 36.h1 c7 37.xe6 xe6 38.b5!White's now up a pawn, and Black has the horrible choice between exposing his king to a strong attack or allowing a strong passed pawn on b6. b738...cxb5 39.xe6 fxe6 40.xe6+ f7 41.xg6+- 39.b6 c5 40.b1 f8 41.d5 b8 42.ba1 d6 43.a8 xd544.xb8 xb8 45.exd5 d6 The b-pawn is too strong, White has only to march his king forward. 46.a6 b7 47.f1 The King goes to a6, the game is over, Kramnik resigns and Magnus wins the tournament!

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Pictures by Ray Morris-Hill

GM Daniel King shows the highlights of the last round

Current standings

The table displays Kramnik ahead on traditional tiebreak points, but the Candidates Tournament rules counts the number of wins – Carlsen five, Kramnik four – to break the tie, after the first tiebreaker, score against each other, was even.

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Aronian, L-Radjabov, TCarlsen, M-Svidler, PIvanchuk, V-Kramnik, VGelfand, B-Grischuk, A

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The King’s Indian

by Viktor Bologan

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Aronian, L2809–Radjabov, T27931–0E71FIDE Candidates1401.04.2013

1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 g7 4.e4 d6 5.h3 0-0 6.g5 a67.f3 c5 8.dxc5 a5 9.d3 dxc5 10.0-0 c6 11.d5 e612.b3 b5 13.ac1 bxc4 14.xc4 xe4 15.b7 ac8 16.xe7xd5 17.xf8 b8 18.xb8 xb8 19.xd5 xf8 20.xe4 d721.b3 xa2 22.cd1 e5 23.d8+ e7 24.b8 xf3+ 25.xf3d4 26.g3 a5 27.e1+ f6 28.e2 b1+ 29.g2 a4 30.b7a3 31.d5 a2 32.xf7+ g5 33.h4+ h6 34.ee7 g5 35.e41–0

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Schedule and results

Round 1 March 15 at 14:00 Levon Aronian ½-½ Magnus Carlsen Boris Gelfand ½-½ Teimour Radjabov Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Alexander Grischuk Peter Svidler ½-½ Vladimir Kramnik Playchess commentary: GM Daniel King	Round 2 March 16 at 14:00 Magnus Carlsen ½-½ Vladimir Kramnik Alexander Grischuk ½-½ Peter Svidler Teimour Radjabov 1-0 Vassily Ivanchuk Levon Aronian 1-0 Boris Gelfand Playchess commentary: GM Chris Ward
Round 3 March 17 at 14:00 Boris Gelfand 0-1 Magnus Carlsen Vassily Ivanchuk 0-1 Levon Aronian Peter Svidler 1-0 Teimour Radjabov Vladimir Kramnik ½-½ Alexander Grischuk Playchess commentary: GM Yasser Seirawan	Round 4 March 19 at 14:00 Magnus Carlsen 1-0 Alexander Grischuk Teimour Radjabov ½-½ Vladimir Kramnik Levon Aronian  ½-½ Peter Svidler Boris Gelfand ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk Playchess commentary: GM Daniel King
Round 5 March 20 at 14:00 Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Magnus Carlsen Peter Svidler ½-½ Boris Gelfand Vladimir Kramnik ½-½ Levon Aronian Alexander Grischuk ½-½ Teimour Radjabov Playchess commentary: GM Yasser Seirawan	Round 6 March 21 at 14:00 Peter Svidler 0-1 Magnus Carlsen Vladimir Kramnik ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk Alexander Grischuk ½-½ Boris Gelfand Teimour Radjabov 0-1 Levon Aronian Playchess commentary: GM Chris Ward
Round 7 March 23 at 14:00 Magnus Carlsen ½-½ Teimour Radjabov Levon Aronian ½-½ Alexander Grischuk Boris Gelfand ½-½ Vladimir Kramnik Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Peter Svidler Playchess commentary: GM Alejandro Ramirez	Round 8 March 24 at 14:00 Magnus Carlsen ½-½ Levon Aronian Teimour Radjabov 0-1 Boris Gelfand Alexander Grischuk 1-0 Vassily Ivanchuk Vladimir Kramnik 1-0 Peter Svidler Playchess commentary: GM Alejandro Ramirez
Round 9 March 25 at 14:00 Vladimir Kramnik ½-½ Magnus Carlsen Peter Svidler ½-½ Alexander Grischuk Vassily Ivanchuk 1-0 Teimour Radjabov Boris Gelfand 1-0 Levon Aronian Playchess commentary: GM Maurice Ashley	Round 10 March 27 at 14:00 Magnus Carlsen 1-0 Boris Gelfand Levon Aronian 1-0 Vassily Ivanchuk Teimour Radjabov ½-½ Peter Svidler Alexander Grischuk 0-1 Vladimir Kramnik Playchess commentary: GM Yasser Seirawan
Round 11 March 28 at 14:00 Alexander Grischuk ½-½ Magnus Carlsen Vladimir Kramnik 1-0 Teimour Radjabov Peter Svidler 1-0 Levon Aronian Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Boris Gelfand Playchess commentary: GM Chris Ward	Round 12 March 29 at 14:00 Magnus Carlsen 0-1 Vassily Ivanchuk Boris Gelfand ½-½ Peter Svidler Levon Aronian 0-1 Vladimir Kramnik Teimour Radjabov ½-½ Alexander Grischuk Playchess commentary: GM Daniel King
Round 13 March 31 at 14:00 Teimour Radjabov 0-1 Magnus Carlsen Alexander Grischuk ½-½ Levon Aronian Vladimir Kramnik ½-½ Boris Gelfand Peter Svidler 1-0 Vassily Ivanchuk Playchess commentary: GM Daniel King	Round 14 April 1 at 14:00 Magnus Carlsen 0-1 Peter Svidler Vassily Ivanchuk 1-0 Vladimir Kramnik Boris Gelfand ½-½ Alexander Grischuk Levon Aronian 1-0 Teimour Radjabov Playchess commentary: GM Maurice Ashley

The games start at 14:00h = 2 p.m. London time = 15:00h European time, 17:00h Moscow, 8 a.m. New York. You can find your regional starting time here. Note that Britain and Europe switch to Summer time on March 31, so that the last two rounds will start an hour earlier for places that do not swich or have already done so (e.g. USA). The commentary on Playchess begins one hour after the start of the games and is free for premium members.

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

Vishy Anand and Rocky Balboa

He's not a machine, he's a man!

6.4.2013 - That's what Rocky's trainer says about the seemingly invincible Russian challenger Ivan Drago. And when wife Adrian says: “It’s suicide – you've seen him, you know how strong he is, you can't win,” Rocky replies “The only thing I can do is just take everything he's got. But to beat me, he's going to have to kill me." What does all this have to do with chess? GM Jonathan Rowson explains.

 

From March 14 to April 1, 2013, FIDE and AGON – the World Chess Federation’s commercial partner – staged the 2013 Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship 2013. It was the strongest tournament of its kind in history. The venue was The IET, 2 Savoy Place, London. The Prize Fund, shared by the players, totalled €510,000. The winner of the Candidates is the Challenger to Viswanathan Anand who has reigned as World Champion since 2007. The main sponsor for the Candidates was State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic SOCAR.

World Championship match Anand vs Carlsen

Column by GM Jonathan Rowson

There’s a turning point in the film Rocky IV when World Champion Rocky fights back against the seemingly invincible Russian challenger, Ivan Drago. After an implausibly generous series of reciprocal blows to the head, the panting cold war pugilists reach their respective corners, where Rocky’s manager highlights some indisputable facts: “Now he’s worried. You cut him, you hurt him. You see. He’s not a machine, he’s a man.”

We recently discovered that the seemingly invulnerable world number one, Magnus Carlsen, is also human. He just earned the right to play Viswanathan Anand in a World Championship Match in November by winning the Candidates tournament in London on tiebreak, but only after two uncharacteristic losses near then end and a pinch of good fortune.

Magnus is clearly the best tournament player in the world, and he appears to be younger, fitter and hungrier for the title than Vishy. However, because he is human, he cannot always perform at his best, and his lack of match experience is significant because it will add to the kind of fatigue and pressure that made him appear merely human in London.

In fact, it occurs to me that the 20 or so years and 80 or so rating points that separate Magnus from Vishy are not that different from the differences in age, height and muscle definition that separated Drago from Rocky. Now I know it’s Hollywood, but I like the fact that Rocky’s victory began with his early resolve not to accept the prevailing narrative that he was doomed. When Rocky’s wife Adrian says: “It’s suicide. You've seen him, you know how strong he is. You can't win.”

Rocky replies: “No, maybe I can't win. Maybe the only thing I can do is just take everything he's got. But to beat me, he's going to have to kill me. And to kill me, he's gonna have to have the heart to stand in front of me. And to do that, he's got to be willing to die himself. I don't know if he's ready to do that. I don't know.”

In a recent interview for India Express Vishy expressed the same powerful sentiment without the hyperbole: “Carlsen will be ridiculously difficult to play against... I'm fully aware of the magnitude of the task facing me, and Magnus' rank and rating speak for themselves. Having said that I don't feel any obligation to follow the predictions. That's what we are playing the match for. To have a chance to write our own script.”

Heartening stuff, but of course Magnus is a little more astute than Drago, and his plan for the match is both chillingly simple and entirely credible: “I intend to make lots of good moves.”

Vishy has no unsuspected right hook with accompanying sountrack to help him retain his title, so in addition to the usual grind of opening preparation I suggest two things: start now to play training games against computers who ‘just keep going’, even if that means enduring painful losses for a few months – Magnus will seem easy by comparison. He should also hire an outstanding physical trainer to become, at 43, fitter than he has ever been before. He not only has to learn to ‘keep going’, but to enjoy it as much as Magnus does.

In the final round Magnus, tired, nervous and in time trouble, showed his human side by succumbing to a vicious counter-attack. He won the event nonetheless because his main challenger, Kramnik, also lost, so the chess world has the match it wanted.

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Games - CBM 150

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Carlsen, M.2872–Svidler, P.27470–1C84FIDE Candidates1401.04.2013

1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 a6 4.a4 f6 5.0-0 e7 6.d3 b57.b3 d6 8.a3 0-0 9.c3 b7 10.d2 d7 11.a4 d812.axb5 axb5 13.xa8 xa8 14.e2 e6 15.g3 c5 16.f5d8 17.c4 bxc4 18.xc4 c7 19.e1 e8 20.c1 h5 21.g3g6 22.h6+ g7 23.g5 xg5 24.xg5 d5 25.exd5 xd526.g4 f3 27.f6+ g8 28.h6+ f8 29.e3 b7 30.h4h3 31.f3?

f4! 32.gxf4 xh4 33.xf7 xf3! 34.f2 g4+ 35.g3 exf436.xe8+ xe8 37.xg4 xg4 and Black soon won. 38.g5 h639.f7 h5 40.h6 d1 41.f2 f3 42.h3 f4 43.f7 g544.e1 g4 45.hxg4 hxg4 46.xd1 g3 47.e1 g2 48.f2 h20–1

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Grandmaster Jonathan Rowson is Scotland's strongest player. He won the British Championship in three consecutive years (2004-2006) before developing a career outside of chess. He holds degrees in a range of social science disciplines from Harvard, Bristol and Oxford Universities and is currently Director of the Social Brain Centre at the RSA in London. He is best known in the chess world for his books The Seven Deadly Chess Sins and Chess for Zebras and the 50 review columns he wrote for New in Chess magazine. He is currently preparing a compilation of his weekly columns for The Herald, Scotland's national paper, which he has been writing since 2006. He lives in London with his wife Siva, from India, and their three-year-old son, Kailash. He can be followed on Twitter at @jonathan_rowson.

Links

Most games simultaneously. Grandmaster Susan Polgar player 326 opponents simultaneously at a shopping mall in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on July, 2005. She won 309, drew 14, and lost 3. Her winning percentage was 96.93%. The previous record was 321. International Master Andrew Martin played 321 opponents simultaneously at Wellington College, Berkshire, England on February 21, 2004. He won 294 games, drew 26 games, and lost one game (to Talal Shakerchi). It took him 16 hours and 51 minutes. He walked over 5 miles and played over 7,000 moves. The previous record was 310, achieved in 1996 in Sweden by Ulf Andersson. On December 24, 2010, there were 20,500 players in a multi-simul held in Ahmadabad, India.
Most games lost in a tournament. Nicholas MacLeod lost 31 games at the 6th American Chess Congress at New York 1889.
Most games won in a tournament. Gustav Neumann won all 34 of his games at Berlin 1865.
Most gold medals. Vasily Smyslov won 10 chess Olympiad gold medals, 5 European Championship gold medals, the World Championship gold medal, 4 USSR Team Championship gold medals, 2 Spartakiad gold medals, 1 All-Union Chess Olympiad gold medal, and 2 European Club Cup gold medals, for a total of 25 gold medals in chess.
Most Grandmasters in one tournament. In 1989, the Belgrade Grandmaster’s Association had 98 grandmasters participating, the most grandmasters in one tournament.
Most games simultaneously, winning all games. In 1966, Jude Acers played 114 opponents at the Louisiana State Fair, and won all 114 games.
Most insulting chess prize. In 1926, Aron Nimzovich defeated Paul Johner at Dresden and won the brilliancy prize. It consisted of 5,000 cigarettes. Nimzovich did not smoke and was almost allergic to tobacco smoke.
Most moves in a chess game. The longest chess game is 269 moves between Ivan Nikolic vs. Goran Arsovic, Belgrade, 1989. The game ended in a draw. The game lasted over 20 hours.
Most moves in a chess game with a winner. The longest chess game with a winner is 193 moves when Yedael Stepak beat Yaakov Mashian in the Israel Championship seminfinals in 1980. It is also the longest game in time, lasting 24 hours and 30 minutes.
Most moves in a world championship chess game. The longest world championship game is 124 moves in the 5th game of the 1978 Korchnoi-Karpov match in Baguio City, Philippines. The game ended in a stalemate.
Most national championships. International Master Carlos Armando Juarez Flores (born in 1965) has won the national championship of Guatemala 24 times, from 1980 to 2012. From 1993 to 2007, he won 15 in a row.
Most opponents in consecutive games of chess. The record for the most consecutive games played with different opponents is 1,131 by Grandmaster Susan Polgar in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on August 1-2, 2005. She won 1,112 games, drew 16 games, and lost 3 games in 16.5 hours. Her winning recod was 99.03%. The previous record was 1,102 opponents by Woman Grandmaster Anna-Maria Botsari at Kalavryta, Greece, on February 27-28, 2001. The simultaneous exhibition took 17 hours. The previous record was by Ye Jiangchuan, who played 1,004 opponents in 28 hours, 33 minutes, starting on December 31, 2001. He won 912 and drew 76.
Most participation in a chess tournament. Edgar McCormick (1914-1991) played in the U.S. Open 37 times, more than anyone else.
Most queens. In Szalanczy-Nguyen, Budapest 2009, 6 Queens were on the board at the same time.
Most rapid blindfold games. In 2011, FIDE master Marc Lang played 60 players in a rapid blindfold exhibition.
Most simultaneous games. On Feb 8-9, 2011, Iranian GM Ehsan Ghaem-Maghami played 604 players in 25 hours. He won 580, drew 16, and lost 8, for a 97.35% winning score.
Most state titles. Howard Ohman (1899-1963) won the Nebraska State Chess Championship 25 times.
Most titles. John Kalish, born in 1937, won the national championship of Okinawa 25 consecutive times, from 1959 to 1984. Ortwin Sarapu (1924-1000) won the New Zealand championship 20 times. Ingrid Larsen won the Danish women’s championship 17 times. Arkadijs Strazdinis was won the the New Britain, Connecticut chess club championship 30 times, from 1952 to 1994. From 1952 to 1975, he had won it 23 times in a row.
Most tournaments won. John Curdo (born in 1931) of Boston has won 865 chess tournaments in his career. Anatoly Karpov has won over 170 chess tournaments, more than any Grandmaster in history.
Most US chess championships. Bobby Fischer won the U.S. Chess Championship 8 times. Gisela Gresser (1906-2000) won the women’s U.S. Chess Championship 9 times.
Most valuable chess set. The world’s most valuable chess set in the world is the Faberge chess set, owned by Dr. George Dean.
Most voluminous chess book. In 2001, Linder wrote Kings of the Chess World. It is 972 pages.
Most wins against world champions. Paul Keres defeated 9 world chess champions in his career.
Most world championship career wins. Lasker had 52 career wins in world championship play.
Most world championship games. Botvinnik played 157 world championship games. He won 36, lost 39, and drew 82.
Most wins in a match. In 1929, Alekhine had 11 wins in his world championship match with Bogoljubow.
Number of chess players. The World Chess Federation (FIDE) estimates there are over 700 million chess players in the world. It is estimated that there are over 200 million people who have played chess on the Internet. It is estimated that there are 45 million chess players in the United States. There are 7.5 million FIDE registered chess players in over 160 countries.
Oldest candidate. Vasily Smyslov played in the Candidates Final match at the age of 63 years. He lost to Kasparov, but remained No. 3 in the world.
Oldest chess author. David Lawson (1886-1980) wrote Paul Morphy: The Pride and Sorrow of Chess at the age of 89.
Oldest chess club still in existence. Zurich Chess Club, founded in 1809.
Oldest chess player. Jane Lady Carew (1797-1901) was a chess player who lived to 104. Jared Moore (1893-1995) was a chess player who lived to the age of 101. He was the oldest player to play correspondence chess. He was active in postal chess until he was 100 years old. In 1914, Joseph Henry Blackburne tied for 1st in the British Championship. In 1988, Smyslov was 67 when he played in the 55th USSR Championship.
Oldest grandmaster. Arthur Dake (1910-2000) was the oldest competitive chess grandmaster. He was still playing in rated chess tournaments at the age of 89. Yuri Averbakh, born in 1922, is the oldest grandmaster in the world. Enrico Paoli (1908-2005) received an honorary Grandmaster title at the age of 88. He was still playing chess at the age of 97. Vassily Smyslov won the Staunton memorial at Groningen at the age of 75. Jaanis Klovans was 60 when he finally earned his grandmaster title.
Oldest master. Oscar Shapiro (1910-2000) became a chess master at the age of 74. In 1991, Bernard Friend became a chess master for the first time at the age of 71. Gyorgy Negyesy (1893-1992) was a Hungarian master who died just short of his 99th birthday. He was the longest-lived master. In 1992, A. Grachev became a Sooviet master for the first time at the age of 83.
Oldest movie with a chess scene. In 1903, R.W. Paul (Paul’s Animatograph Works of England) made a silent movie called A Chess Dispute. It featured two men playing chess, then getting into a fight over a disputed move.
Oldest national champion. In 1948, Edith Price won the British Ladies’ Championship at the age of 76. She had previously won in 1922, 1923, 1924, and 1928.
Oldest printed chess book. The oldest printed book with chess content in Summa Collationum by John of Walyes in 1470.
Oldest state champion. Harlow Daly (1883-1979) won the chess championship of Maine at the age of 85. In 1961, Robert Scrivener won the chess championship of Mississippi at the age of 80.
Oldest world champion. William Steinitz was 58 years, 10 days when he lost his title to Emanuel Lasker on May 26, 1894.
Perfect scores. Gustav Neumann went 34-0 at Berlin in 1865. Henry Atkins went 15-0 at Amsterdam in 1899. Emanuel Lasker went 13-0 at new York in 1893. Capablanca went 13-0 at new York in 1913. Alekhine went 11-0 in the Moscow Championship in 1919-1920. Bobby Fischer went 11-0 in the US Championship in 1963-64.
Richest chess master. Joop J. van Oosterom of the Netherlands is a billionaire. He was the 19th World Correspondence Chess Champion.
Richest chess match. In 1992, Fischer won $3,650,000 for defeating Spassky, who took home $1.35 million in their world championship match. In 1990, Kasparov won $1.7 million for defeating Karpov, who took home $1.3 million in their world championship match.
Richest chess tournament. In May 2005, the HB Global Chess Challenge was held in Minneapolis. It was the richest open chess tournament in the history of chess, with a $500,000 prize fund. 1st place was $50,000, won by GM Zviad Izonia. There were 1,514 players in the tournament.
Shortest chess career. Carlos Torre played international chess for less than one year, in 1925. He then gave up the game. Rudolf Charousek only played in 4 international tournaments, then had to give up chess because of his tuberculosis. He died at the age of 27. Miss Fatima played for 2 years, winning the British Women’s Chess Championship in 1933. She then left England and returned to India, never to be heard of again.
Shortest game. The shortest game, 1.g4 e6 2.f4?? Qh4 mate, may have been played between Lance Darling and Richard Wood in Seattle in 1983. The shortest decisive game in master play was Z. Dordevic – M.Kovacevic, Bela Crkva 1984. It last 3 moves (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 c6 3.e3 Qa5+). The shortest game in world championship play is 9 moves in the 21st game of the Botvinnik-Petrosian match in Moscow in 1963.
Shortest world championship win. On May 31, 2012, Vishy Anand defeated Boris Gelfand in 17 moves.
Slowest chess move. In London 1851, Elijah Williams took 2 hours and 30 minutes over one move. In 1980, International Master Francisco Trois took 2 hours and 20 minutes for his 7th move against Luis Santos at Vigo, Spain. He only had two possible moves to consider with his knight.
Streaks. Bill Martz played 104 consecutive USCF-rated games without a loss. From 1873 to 1882, Steinitz won 25 games in a row without a loss or a draw. He was undefeated for 9 years and 283 days. Capablanca went undefeated for 8 years and 40 days, from 1916 to 1924. In that time he played 63 games, winning 40 games and drawing 23 games. Bobby Fischer won 20 straight games from 1970 to 1971 at the very top level of grandmaster chess.
Strongest chess computer. The strongest chess computer is Houdini 3, with a rating over 3300, followed by Rybka.
Strongest chess tournament. In 2011, the Tal Memorial in Moscow was a Category 22 tournament, with an average rating of 2776, making it the strongest tournament ever. Four players were rated 2800 or more. The 1996 Las Palmas tournament was a Category 21 tournament with the average rating of 2756. The event took place from December 9 through December 21, 1996. The six best players in the world participated in a double round event. The event was won by Kasparov (2785), followed by Anand (2735), Kramnik (2765), Topalov (2750), Karpov (2775), and Ivanchuk (2730). Five of the six have been world champions. In Vienna 1882 and Linares 1993, 9 of the top 10 players in the world participated. Both tournaments had the top 8 players in the world, and the 10 best player in the world, only missing the 9th ranked player in the world.
Strongest Swiss System tournament. In 1989, the Belgrade Grandmaster’s Association had 98 grandmasters participating, making it the strongest Swiss System tournament of all time.
Worst score. In 1901, at the Monte Carlo chess tournament, Colonel C. Moreau lost all 26 games. In 1889, Nicholas MacLeod lost 31 games in the 6th American Chess Congress in New York. John Schulten played a series of matches with Lionel Kieseritsky, winning 37, drawing 10, and losing 107 games.
Youngest American champion. Bobby Fischer was the youngest American chess champion ever, at the age of 14.
Youngest arbiter. The youngest international arbiter of a major tournament was Sophia Gorman (Rohde) who, at age 19, was an arbiter at the FIDE World Candidates tournament.
Youngest Candidate for the World Championship. Bobby Fischer was the youngest Candidate for the World Chess Championship at the age of 15.
Youngest chess author. Murray Chandler (1960- ) wrote A White Pawn In Europe at the age of 15.
Youngest country champion. Niaz Murshed won the championship of Bangladesh at the age of 12 years and 309 days. Henrique Mecking won the championship of Brazil at the age of 13. In 2000, Humpy Koneru won the British Ladies’ Championship at the age of 13 years and 4 months. Nigel Short tied for 1st in the British championship at the age of 14. Bobby Fischer won the U.S. Championship at the age of 14.
Youngest expert. On April 16, 2011, Awonder Liang (born April 9, 2003) became the youngest chess expert (rated over 2000) in the United States Chess Federation (USCF) at the age of 8 years and 7 days.
Youngest gold medallist. Judit Polgar won a gold medal in the 1988 Saloniki chess olympiad at the age of 11. In 2000, Alexander Grischuk won a gold medal at the age of 17 in the Istanbul Olympiad. In 1992, Vladimir Kramnik won a gold medal at the age of 17 in Manila Olympiad.
Youngest grandmaster. Sergey Karjakin, born in 1990, became a grandmaster at the age of 12 years, 7 months. On August 20, 2002 he fulfilled his 3rd and final GM norm at the international tournament in Sudak. The youngest American grandmaster is Hikaru Nakamura, who earned the title at the age of 15 years, 2 months. The youngest female grandmaster is Hou Yifan, who became a grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 6 months. Currently, the world’s youngest GM is Wei Yi, who became a GM at the age of 13 after getting his third GM norm at the 2013 Reykjavik Open.
Youngest international master. In 2001, Hikaru Nakamura became America’s youngest International Master at the age of 13.
Youngest national champion. Arturo Pomar won the championship of the Balearic Islands at the age of 11.
Youngest national junior champion. Bobby Fischer was the youngest national junior champion at the age of 13.
Youngest master. On March 23, 2013, Awonder Liang of Wisconsin, born April 9, 2003, became the youngest master at the age of 9 years, 11 months and 13 days. His USCF rating was 2207 after playing in the Midwest Open Team Chess Festival in Dayton, Ohio. Etienne Bacrot, born in 1983, became the youngest FIDE master at the age of 10.
Youngest Olympiad player. In 1986, Heidi Cueller played for the women’s Guatemala chess team in the chess Olympiad at Dubai. She was 10 years old. In 1970, 11 year old Schermann of the Virgin Islands played at Siegen. 12 year old Kiem Tjing-Tjin-Joe of Surinam played in the 1982 chess olympiad.
Youngest Olympiad team. In 2002, the average age of the Azerbaijan team at Bled was 16 years, 5 months.
Youngest player in a national championship. In 1995, Irina Krush played in the U.S. Women’s Championship at the age of 11. In 1976,Nigel Short qualified to play in the British Championship at the age of 11. In 1995, Luke McShane played in the British Championship at the age of 11.
Youngest player of a published game. Jose Capablanca had one of his games published when he was 4 years old.
Youngest player to beat a master. In 2011, Awonder Liang, age 8, beat an International Master. In 2012, Joaquin Perkins (1598), age 8, beat Pablo Pena (2220), In 1993, Irina Krush, age 9, beat a chess master rated 2257.
Youngest player to beat an International Master. On August 5, 2011, at the age of 8 years and 118 days, Awonder Liang (born April 9, 2003) became the youngest player to beat an International Master (IM). He defeated IM Daniel Fernandez (USCF rating of 2448, FIDE rating of 201) at the US Open in Orlando, Florida.
Youngest player to beat a grandmaster. In 1999, David Howell, age 8, became the youngest player to beat a grandmaster (GM) . He defeated GM John Nunn in London. In 2009, Hetul Shah, age 9, beat GM Nurlan Ibrayev in a tournament game in India. On July 29, 2012, Awonder Liang (born April 9, 2003) became the youngest person ever to defeat a GM in a standard time limit tournament game. He defeated GM Larry Kaufman at the Washington International in Rockville, MD. Awonder was 9 years, 111 days old at the time.
Youngest state champion. In August, 1948, Charles “Kit” Crittenden of Raleigh, NC, won the North Carolina chess state championship at the age of 14 (Chess Review, September, 1948, page 5, says that Kit was 13 at the time – an error).
Youngest world chess champion. Ruslan Ponomariov, born October 11, 1983, became the youngest world chess champion on January 23, 2002 at the age of 18 years, 104 days. Maya Chiburdanidze, born January 17, 1961, became the youngest women’s world chess champion in 1978 at the age of 17.
– Bill Wall

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Great Chess Composers

Great Chess Composers

Compositions are chess positions other than which arises during a chess game, usually, but not necessarily, composed for solving. The chess problem and the composed chess ending are the true art forms of chess. Orthodox compositions consist of direct mate problems or an ending with the demonstration of a win or a draw. Many times it calls for mate in a specified number of moves. A chess composition consists usually of a position on the chess board, a stipulation in the form of words by the composer (or problemist), and a solution. It may also have the element of difficulty, a theme, and judged on originality.

Unorthodox compositions, known as Fairy Chess, may have no relationship to the real game of chess. It has invented pieces such as Grasshopper (hops over other pieces), Camel (a leaper), Zebra (a leaper), Nightrider (moves like a knight, but more squares), etc. It may even use unorthodox chess boards.

Retrograde analysis is a branch of composition based on determining the play leading to the given position.

Studies are positions in which White (who usually plays first) has to reach a clearly won or drawn position following the best play from both sides.

Chess compositions can be classified into groups such as direct mates (two-movers, three-movers, and more-movers), selfmates, helpmates, etc. A selfmate is a composition in which White is to play and force Black to deliver mate. A helpmate is a composition in which Black and White cooperate to reach a mate for White.

A chess composition is called cooked if it has a solution that differs from the author’s solution or intention.

Here are some famous chess composers.

Fadil Abdurahmanovic (1939- ) is a Bosnian Grandmaster of chess composition (1992) and an International Judge of Composition. His best work is in the form of helpmates and fairy problems.

Yochanan Afek (1952- ) is a chess composer of endgame studies and problems. In 1989, he was awarded the title of International Master for chess composition by FIDE. Her has published about 120 studies and he has won 11 first place awards for his compositions.

Iuri Akobia (1937- ) of Soviet Georgia has composed over 300 studies. He has written several chess books on endgame composition.

Edith Helen Baird (1859-1924) of England, born Winter Wood (known as Mrs. W.J. Baird), is the most famous female chess composer. She published her problems using the name “Mrs W. J. Baird.” She composed over 2,000 problems. In 1902 she wrote 700 Chess Problems, which took her 14 years to complete. In 1907, she wrote The Twentieth Century Retractor (take a move back to make a stronger move to mate or win the game), which was full of Shakespeare quotes.

Pal Benko (1928- ) is an International Grandmaster and Endgame Composer. He was born in France, grew up in Hungary, and settled in the USA. He was awarded the title of International Master of Chess Composition by FIDE. He has won 24 first place awards for his chess compositions. He recently composed several chess problems that were in this month’s Chess Life magazine in recognition to Bobby Fischer’s 70 birthday if he had lived.

Vladimir Bron (1909-1985) was a top Soviet chess composer and master. He composed over 400 studies during his lifetime. In 1969 he wrote Selected Studies and Problems. He won 31 first prizes for his chess compositions in composing tournaments. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster for chess composition.

Ignazio Calvi (1797-1872) was an Italian chess player and composer. He was perhaps the first person to use under-promotion (not promoting to a queen) in endgame studies.

Luigi Centurini (1820-1900) was an Italian chess player and composer who specialized in bishop vs. rook and queen vs. rook endings.

Vitaly Chekover (1908-1965) was a Russian master and composer of around 150 studies. He was a specialist on knight endings. Together with GM Yuri Averbakh, he published a four-volume encyclopedia on endgames in 1956.

Andre Cheron (1895-1980) was the chess champion of France in 1926, 1927, and 1929. He wrote the four-volume Lehr- und Handbuch der Schachendspiele from 1952 to 1971. He is one of the most famous endgame composers. In 1959, FIDE awarded him the title of International Master of Chess Composition. He composed over 300 studies during his lifetime.

Eugene Beauharnais Cook (1830-1915) of New Jersey was the first American chess composer of note. In 1868 he wrote American Chess Nuts, a collection of over 2,400 positions. He was President of the New Jersey Chess Association and was the Problem Editor of the Chess Monthly. He personally composed over 800 chess problems. When he died, he had the third largest chess book collection in the world. His library of over 2,500 chess books was presented to Princeton University. (Nowadays, a library of 2,500 chess books is common. I personally have a library of over 5,000 chess books – Wall)

Thomas Rayner Dawson (1889-1951) was the Problem Editor for the British Chess Magazine and the Fairy Chess Review. He was considered the father of Fairy Chess and invented many fairy pieces and new chess conditions for chess problems and compositions. He composed 5,320 fairy chess problems, 885 directmates, 97 selfmates, and 138 endings. He was awarded prizes for 120 of his problems. He invented the Nightrider and the Grasshopper. The Nightrider moves like a knight, but then can continue to moves as a knight as long as the spaces visited by all but the last jump remain empty. The Nightrider is denoted as an inverted knight. The Grasshopper is denoted as an inverted queen. It moves as a chess queen, but must jump exactly one piece when it moves, and it stops, directly at the square after the piece it jumped. Pieces jumped by a grasshopper are not captured.

Vincent Lanius Eaton (1915-1962) was one of America’s greatest chess composers. He graduated from Harvard at the age of 18. He worked as a scholar at the Library of Congress. From 1939 to 1941 he was the Problem Editor of Chess Review. He published over a thousand chess problems. He was an International Judge for Chess Composition.

Nikolai Grigoriev (1895-1976) was a Russian chess master and problem composer. He composed over 300 studies and was an authority on pawn endings and rook and pawn endings.

David Gurgenidze (1933- ) from Soviet Georgia, has published over 600 studies and has won 32 first prizes. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster for chess composition by FIDE.

Edgar Holladay (1925-2003 ) was one of America’s leading chess problemists. He conducted the problem department in the American Chess Bulletin. He composed chess problems for over 70 years, composing over 2,000 problems.

Bernhard Horwitz (1807-1885) was a German composer of around 400 studies. Along with Josef Kling, he authored the first anthology of endgames in 1851.

Genrikh Kasparian (1910-1995) was one of the first Grandmasters of Chess Compositions. He is considered to have been one of the greatest composers of chess endgame studies ever. In 1972, he was the first person to be awarded the title of International Grandmaster of Chess Composition by FIDE. In 1980 he wrote Domination in 2545 Endgame Studies. He composed about 600 studies and won 57 first places.

Cyril S. Kipping (1891-1964) of England was one of the most prolific composer of chess problems in the world. He composed over 7,000 chess problems in his lifetime. He was the Problem Editor of “The Chess Amateur” and the General Editor of “The Problemist” magazine. From 1935 to 1958, he was the Problem Editor of “Chess” magazine.

Karl Leonid Kubbel (1891-1942) was a Russian endgame composer and problemist. He composed over 1,500 endgame studies and problems. He is considered one of the greatest of all endgame composers.

Sam Loyd (1841-1911) was known as the Puzzle King. He produced over 10,000 puzzles in his lifetime. He was the most famous American chess composer. He composed over 700 chess problems. He was the chess problem editor of “Chess Monthly Magazine.”

Comins Mansfield (1896-1984) was one of the most famous of all problem composers. He composed chess problems for 72 years. In 1972 he was one of the first four to be awarded the title of Grandmaster for Chess Compositions. The other three were Genrich Kasparyan, Lew Loschinsky, and Eeltje Visserman. He was the first British chess player to become a chess Grandmaster (but for Composition, not over-the-board play).

William Meredith (1835-1903) was a problem composer. He composed about 200 chess problems in his career. A problem in which there are from 8 to 12 men on the board is called a Meredith (a problem of less than 8 men is called a miniature). His father was once the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1849-1850).

Geoffrey Mott-Smith (1902-1960) was a prolific chess problem composer. He was once known as the world’s leading authority on games.

John Nunn (1955- ), is a British grandmaster and composer of over 300 studies. In 2004 and 2007, he won the world championship for solving of chess compositions. He is an expert in compiling endgame tablebases for chess-playing engines.

Joseph Peckover (1897-1982) was the best known American chess composer in the early 20th century. He was born in England but immigrated to New York in 1921. He was the endgame editor for the American Chess Quarterly from 1961 to 1965. He composed over 100 endings.

Vasily Platov (1881-1952) and Mikhail Platov (1883-1938) were Latvian brothers that teamed together to compose over 300 endgames. In 1928 they wrote Selection of Chess Studies.

Richard Reti (1889-1929) was a Czech master and composer of about 300 studies.

Henri Rinck (1870-1952) was a French endgame composer. He settled in Spain in 1910. In 1952 he wrote 1414 Fins de Parties. He published 1,670 chess studies and won 58 first place prizes. He is considered one of the founders of modern endgame composing.

John Roycoft (1929- ) is an English GM of chess composition. In 1965, he founded EG, the quarterly chess magazine entirely dedicated to endgame studies.

Aleksei Selesniev (1888-1967) was a strong Soviet endgame composer and chess master.

William Shinkman (1847-1933) was one of America’s greatest chess composers. He published over 3,500 problems.

Alexei Troitsky (1866-1942) is regarded as the greatest chess composer of endgame studies. He has over 1,000 studies to his credit. He is considered the father of the contemporary school of study composition.

Milan Vukcevich (1937-2003) was an International Master and International Composition Grandmaster. He was editor of StrateGems, the publication of the Society of U.S. Chess Problemists. In 1988, he became the first American to be awarded the title of Grandmaster for chess composition.

Alain Campbell White (1880-1951) was an American problem composer and chess patron. For 32 years, from 1905 to 1936, he published the Christmas series of chess problems. He did more than any other player to promote worldwide interest in chess problems.