AICF may reconsider ban on GM Gopal

CHENNAI: The All India Chess Federation (AICF) has expressed its willingness to reconsider its ban on Grandmaster GN Gopal.
Talking to TOI on Wednesday, AICF secretary DV Sundar said the federation would look into the matter again if the player appealed against the ban.
"We have kept the options open and we have told the player that he can appeal against the decision," said Sundar.
GN Gopal was banned by AICF afer the Kerala-based GM took part in a tournament in Canada skipping the National A in Mangalore late last year.
The chess fraternity, including the Chess Players Association of India, had reacted sharply against the decision. AICF came under pressure because World champion Viswanathan Anand and some former national champions also supported Gopal.
Sundar said the federation would organise a series of GM tournaments in India to give more opportunities to the players. The first of it will be an open tournament with 26 GMs in Mumbai from April 30 to May 10.

Anand finishes fourth as Grischuk wins Linares tourney

LINARES (Spain): World champion Viswanathan Anand had to content with a fourth place finish following his final round draw against Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the Magistral Ciudad De Linares chess tournament on Sunday.
Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk of Russia won the tournament after settling for a draw with Levon Aronian of Armenia. Grischuk finished with eight points in all and tied for the top spot along with Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine.
The tiebreak favoured Grischuk as he had won three games in the event compared to two victories by Ivanchuk who drew with Lenier Dominguez of Cuba in his final round game. The tiebreak favoured player with more decisive games and despite remaining unbeaten, Ivanchuk finished second.
Carlsen finished third on 7.5 points, a half point ahead of Anand who in turn had half a point more than Aronian, Wang Yue Of China and Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan. Dominiguez finished last on 6 points.
The final day did not have even a single decisive game and the standings remained same as they were after the penultimate round.
Grischuk gained a great deal from his performance here as apart from the trophy and winner's cheque, the Russian also earned right to take part in the Grand Slam final scheduled to be held in Bilbao, Spain later this year.
This was by far the best performance ever by Grischuk who was the semifinalist in the world championship of 2000 when it was held at New Delhi.
For Anand the final day did not have much excitement as Carlsen played solid and safe with his black pieces. Anand came back to the queen pawn and faced the Grunfeld defense, got just an optical advanatage out of the opening and when Carlsen regrouped his forces well, the draw was agreed after 29 moves.
Grischuk had to defend well with black against Aronian and he did precisely that. It was a King's Indian defense where the Armenian got a whiff of an advantage but Grischuk neutralised in quick time. A series of exchanges led to a balanced position with queens, rook and a minor piece onboard but it was quite difficult for Aronian to make progress. The game lasted 41 moves.
Ivanchuk did not get any chance either against Dominguez who played the white side of a closed Ruy Lopez. Equalising early, Ivanchuk was never in any troubles and exchanged pieces at will to get a level rook and minor piece end game where the draw was a just result.
The other match of the final round saw Wang Yue settling for a draw with Radjabov.

Abhijeet wins, Sasikiran loses again

WIJK AAN ZEE (The Netherlands): World Junior champion Abhijeet Gupta came back reckoning for top honours with a fine positional triumph over veteran Grandmaster Oleg Romanishin of Ukraine in the 9th round of the 'C' group of Corus International chess tournament.
But Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran suffered a defeat at the hands of David Navara of Czech Republic in the 'B' group to make it a mixed day for the Indian contingent.
Abhijeet took his tally to a respectable 5.5 points out of a possible nine and is now in joint third position along side Frank Holzke of Germany and David Howell of England.
The lead position remained unchanged after Tiger Hillarp Persson of Sweden played out a draw with D Harika and inched himself up to 6.5 points. The second place is held by Wesley So of Philippines who made short work of local hopeful Ali Bitalzadeh.
In the 'B' group Sasikiran will look forward to saving some of the vital elo points.
The Indian has 3 points and is playing much below his expected score. Abhijeet played his moves well to beat the experienced Romanishin. Expectedly the Ukrainian employed the Nimzo Indian and faced the Capablanca variation.
Abhijeet got a bind in the center and slowly his pieces gained in strength.
Romanishin opted to go for an inferior endgame to cut down on some pressure but ended up losing a pawn for effectively no compensation.

Sasi held by Motylev at Corus chess

WIJK AAN ZEE (The Netherlands): Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran played out a draw with Alexander Motylev in the eighth round of the 'B" group of Corus chess tournament.
Sasikiran took his tally to 3 points with the draw and it seems that the fortunes of the top seed Indian in the fray are just not changing.
Ahead of the second rest day Sasikiran again could not get much to hope for with his white pieces as Motylev kept himself in contention in a Queen pawn game and after the dust subsided the players just had a level position on board. The peace was signed in 32 moves.
It turned out to be a bad day for Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta too in the 'C' group as he went down to Grandmaster Friso Nijboer of Holland.
The loss dented Abhijeet's chances in the event considerably after Tiger Hillarp Person of Sweden managed to eek out a win against Mexican Manuel Leon Hoyos.
Persson emerged as the sole leader in this section on 6 points out of a possible eight and stretched his lead to a full point after top seed Wesley So of Philippines blundered and lost to Frank Holzke of Germany.
Wesley remained on 5 points and in sole second spot despite the disaster and Abhijeet now shares the third spot with David Howell of England and local hopeful Manuel Bosboom who played out a draw with D Harika in this round.
Playing the black side of a Ruy Lopez Abhijeet was surprised early in the opening after sacrificing a pawn and did not get a chance to recover during the remaining part of the game.
The Indian was forced to spend a lot of time in the early middle game and Nijboer increased his advantage after a couple of more inaccuracies by the Indian world junior champion.

An interview with World Chess Champion Anand of India

Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand of India just defeated Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in a 12-game World Championship match in Bonn, Germany to retain his title. The final score was 6.5 - 4.5. The match prize funds are 1.5 million Euros ($2.35 million U.S.).
Here is the continuation of my column last week.
Susan Polgar: What role do computers play in today's chess?
Viswanathan Anand: Well, I think it is like having the best tactical player in the world at your disposal 24/7.
Clearly, you have to find a way to use that. And of course as the processors get better, the computer goes a little bit further out. So nowadays, we have engines even suggesting non-tactical moves, simply because they look so far ahead. And I think it is a great help.
But of course you have to make sure that you don't drown in that information, so you have to keep track of what you do. Essentially, it comes down to the same thing, getting to the heart of the position, some key concepts, and then being able to get to the bottom of things.
SP: How have you been able to maintain your top level for two decades?
Anand: I think it is basically easy, because chess is fascinating and it is very easy to keep that. And of course when I start to lose it, I take off for a few months and maybe take a vacation and do something else and things usually come back after that.
Sometimes you manage to stop on your own, and sometimes it takes a heavy defeat to stop you. But anyway, usually after you stop for a while, you'll get it back, as long as you maintain this kind of balance with the right amount of chess. You need practice and you need to maintain that tournament tension to have that feeling. If you stay away for too long, you lose that and then it is harder to come back.
But if you can sort of manage this kind of balance, it's nice. I like to lose myself in my hobbies as well, like astronomy and traveling. And this is nice because it allows you to put chess in the proper place.
SP: How many countries have you visited and do you have a favorite?
VA: Actually, I just reached forty-nine. So I am hoping to get to fifty.
SP: Can you tell me about the chess in the school's program in India?
VA: We currently have a program called Mind Champion's Academy. It is an idea from the IT company that I work with (NIIT), they already do all the computer education through many schools in many states, so something like 4,000-plus schools, with a total student population of more than 1.4 million. And of that, more than 70,000 have played in a competition this year. The nice thing is that we also reach out to non-traditional areas; not only the cities, but small towns and villages as well. So hopefully in five to ten years, we will start to see the effect of this as more and more people enter the chess world.
But the idea for the students is that even if their attraction for chess is limited, we think it is a good tool to help their academics, to develop certain skills and so on. So it is a win-win situation and that's what I'm excited about. Obviously when I come back now, it is a program that I'll continue.
SP: What role does chess play in education?
VA: I think nowadays, children need all the help they can get and generally children learn better in the form of a game. So in that sense, chess has a role because it teaches them problem solving, but in a fun way, because they will reject anything that bores them.
For chess, I think there is an incentive because it will help the sport. But frankly, it is a big help for the schools and it gives the kids something to do. Perhaps it will replace other less healthy alternatives. To give them anything that's fun and positive is good.
I think that's one area where chess will grow, because many countries are doing the same thing, and all based on the theory that chess develops skills that are useful. I think it's something that will prosper.
SUSAN POLGAR is a professional chess player, champion and founder of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence at Texas Tech, susan.polgar@ttu.edu.

Anand is the World Chess Champion

Game 11. Anand holds it together to retain his title

Anand 1/2 Kramnik; Game 11.

Commentary IM Malcolm Pein

Well this is a pleasant surprise, I thought we were only going to get tengames but Vlad did as he promised and kept fighting to the end.
1.e4
I had a feeling this was coming. Anand invites Kramnik to play his Petroff Defence which can be very drawish, particularly if White wants it to be
1...c5
Given the match situation this is the best option Kramnik has to head for an unbalanced position. A Sicilian was widely expected in this circumstance
2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6
A Najdorf, I wonder if Kramnik has ever played this before
6.Bg5
[6.Be3 Is another theoretical battleground but Bg5 is a sound choice as it both a proven moveand limits Black's options]
6...e6 7.f4
7...Qb6 the Poisoned Pawn would not suit Kramnik now as White has many forced drawing lines there
7...Qc7 8.Bxf6 gxf6
I recall Anatoly Karpov being forced to play a sharp Sicilian against Nigel Short at their Candidates SF at Linares in 1992. Karpov also allowed Bxf6 gxf6 and Short gave him a good tonking. That was a Richter Rauzer from memory and Black castled kingside.
9.f5
[9.Be2 Nc6 10.Nb3 Qb6 11.Qd2 h5]
9...Qc5
This looks very odd as it contradicts the basic rules of developing your pieces but Kramnik had to prevent fxe6 and Qh5+
10.Qd3 Nc6 11.Nb3
We are following Kavalek - Chandler Bundesliga 1982
11...Qe5
[11...Qb6 12.0-0-0 Bh6+ 13.Kb1 Bf4 coming to e5 looks reasonable also]
12.0-0-0 exf5
[12...exf5 Good heavens, Black does not usually do this. It might win a pawn but it ruins the pawn structure and opens lines towards the king. The d5 square is screaming for equine occupation 13.Kb1 Be7 14.exf5 Bxf5 15.Qf3 0-0-0 16.Bxa6!]
13.Qe3
We can only admire Kramnik's bravado even if he hasn't got much choice but he is at least making Anand think. The threat is Rd5
[13.Nd5 fxe4 14.Qxe4 Be6; 13.Nd5 Rb8 14.exf5]
13...Bg7 14.Rd5 Qe7 15.Qg3
Now if Rg8 then Qh4 later can be annoying
[15.Qg3 0-0 16.exf5 Ne5 17.Bd3]
15...Rg8 16.Qf4
Hmm, Kramnik may be able to play Be6 and escape with his king to the queenside which seems reasonable
[An implausible variation is 16.Qf4 Be6 17.Rd1 fxe4 18.Nxe4 Bg4 19.Nxd6+ Kf8 20.Bc4 Bxd1 21.Rxd1 Ne5 22.Be2 Rd8 23.Nf5 Rxd1+ 24.Bxd1 Qc7 25.Qb4+ Ke8 26.Nd6+ Kf8 27.Nf5+]
16...fxe4
Looks like the king will be headed to f8 now, this is perfect for Kramnik a very wild position
17.Nxe4 f5
[17...Be6 18.Nxd6+ Kf8 19.Rd1 Bg4 20.Qxg4?? Bh6+ is a nice cheapo and this line seems to be sounder for Black than the game]
18.Nxd6+ Kf8
Anand has to watch his back rank now but I wonder if he will be attracted to the idea of taking on c8. Although the knight on d6 is a mighty piece it could come under attack after Be5 for example and after the bishop on c8 is exchanged the f5 pawn is very weak
[18...Kf8 19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.Kb1 Qe1+ 21.Qc1 Qe4]
19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.Kb1
[20.Qd6 Nb4 21.Qxe7+ Kxe7 22.Rd2 Bh6-+ Illustrates why it's better to have the king on b1. Now Qe1 can be met by Nc1 or Qc1]
20...Qe1+ 21.Nc1
and now there is a nasty Qd6+ Ne7 Qd8+ cheapo on the horizon
21...Ne7 22.Qd2
Forcing a queen exchange as Rd8+ is threatened
[22.Qd6 Qe6 23.Qd8+ Rxd8 24.Rxd8#]
22...Qxd2 23.Rxd2 Bh6 24.Rf2
Holding g2 so that the bishop can come out. Vishy just has a somewhat advantageous endgame. g3 and Bg2 is a threat. Perhaps Kramnik has to play Be3 to try and confuse matters. Vishy can also be content with the presence of opposite coloured bishops, if he doesn't win they make the draw more likely
24...Be3
and Kramnik offered a draw. After Rf3 he is worse and has no winning prospects. In the end a very decent match indeed
1/2-1/2

Result: Viswanathan Anand retains World Championship

World Chess Championship Game 10.

Kramnik delivers a win at the last moment:

Kramnik -Anand Game 10. Commentary IM Malcolm Pein
1.d4
Kramnik has promised to fight to the end but after his admittal that he was overlooking 1 move mates in his analysis we can only assume that he is not himself. Indeed his 2 year unbeaten run and rise to power was ascribed to his ability to eliminate blunders and here he has missed quite a few shots
1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 c5 5.g3
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, for what may be his last stand Kramnik plays the Kasparov Variation
5...cxd4 6.Nxd4 0-0 7.Bg2 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Qb3
I might have known, a long and highly analysed line where White plays for a small edge and grinds away. Expect a flurry of moves now
9...Qa5 10.Bd2 Nc6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.0-0 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Ba6 14.Rfd1 Qc5 15.e4 Bc4 16.Qa4 Nb6 17.Qb4
Now Qxb4 is thought to be slightly better for White. Vishy played Qh5. against Kasparov at Wijk aan Zee 2000 and drew but with difficulty #
17...Qh5 18.Re1
A new move that anticipates Be2. I guess Anand may have a think now
[18.Be3 Be2 19.Rd2 Rab8 20.Bxb6 axb6 21.Qd6 Bf3 was Kasparov - Anand but 18...Rfc8 was played subsequently by Short and Leko]
18...c5
This seemed obvious as otherwise Be3 creates some instability for the knight and bishop on the queenside
19.Qa5
I guess Rfc8 or Be2 here
19...Rfc8 20.Be3 Be2
Now the question is what has Kramnik come up with ?
21.Bf4 e5 22.Be3
Putting the question to the c5 pawn. If you are not inspired by this bear in mind White is playing for a small edge in a static position but I agree where it comes from is far from obvious
[22.Bxe5 Nc4 23.Qa6 Qxe5 24.Rxe2 Qxc3 25.Rd1 Rd8=]
22...Bg4
Now White may seize the vacant f1-a6 diagonal or grab the pawn Bxc5. Kramnik thought this inaccurate.
[22...Bg4 23.Bxc5 Nc4 24.Qb5 Be6 Black has good control of the queenside and this may ensure equality]
23.Qa6!
I like this creeping move it controls key squares
23...f6?
Virtually the decisive mistake according to Kramnik [23...Be6 24.Bf1 Qf3] and the game will continue on.
24.a4!
Black is gradually being driven back here, very nice play from Kramnik this is his kind of position
24...Qf7 25.Bf1!
Kramnik takes control of c4 tactically and a5 comes next #
[25.Bf1 Be6 26.Reb1 Bc4 27.Bxc4 Qxc4 28.Rxb6; 25.Bf1 Be6 26.Reb1 Bc4 27.Bxc4 Nxc4 28.Rb7 wins]
25...Be6 26.Rab1 c4?
I don't understand this but the position already looks unpleasant. How does Black hang on to his a pawn ? Qa6 was a lovely move
[26...Rab8 27.a5]
27.a5 Na4
[27...Nd7 28.Rb7]
28.Rb7 Qe8 29.Qd6!
The threats are Re7 and Qb7 they can't both be prevented, what a nice game by Kramnik, he got his kind of position and played it beautifully #
[29.Qd6 Bf7 30.Qb4 with the simple plan of a6 and taking on a7 with total control; 29.Qd6 Rd8 30.Qb4 Rab8 31.a6 when Black can hardly move and a7 falls]
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