NIC’S Café Your Move ‘Un Classico’
Except for a move of venue from the time-honoured Hotel Anibal to the more spacious Teatro Cervantes in the centre of town, the 25th Linares tournament, organized for the third time in conjunction with the city of Morelia, closely resembled last year’s edition. Vishy Anand again took the lead in Mexico and again coasted home in Spain. He also scored the same number of points and suffered his only loss against the same opponent. Immediately behind Anand second place was claimed by Magnus Carlsen and while the World Champion once again raised his Elo above the 2800 barrier and reclaimed top position, the 17-year-old Norwegian collected enough points to leap to fifth place in the world rankings. Anand praised the wealth of new concepts and ideas he had seen and admitted that as a chess fan, too, he had thoroughly enjoyed a tournament that he described in his fluent Spanish as ‘un classico’. Oh, So Nice!
For the 17th edition the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament was moved from Monaco to the sumptuous Palais de la Mediterranée on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. Levon Aronian was the undisputed winner of what was probably the strongest Amber ever, finishing 2½ points ahead of the quartet Kramnik, Leko, Topalov and (yes, it’s him again) Carlsen. As our man-on-the-spot John Nunn observes with satisfaction: ‘The arrival of Aronian and Carlsen at the top is an invigorating breath of fresh air amongst a world elite which has been rather static for the past few years.’ How Wang Hao Won Again
The Reykjavik Open ended in a three-way tie for first place. Wang Hao took the title on tie-break. Another Title for Julio Granda
The second edition of the IberoAmerican championship was organized to coincide with the Morelia-Linares tournament. At the end of a prolonged battle Peruvian ace Julio Granda added the title of IberoAmerican champion to that of Continental champion that he won in Colombia last year. If It’s Necessary
Abram Khasin lost both his legs in World War II, yet, this tragedy didn’t stop him from becoming a beloved coach and master who played in the Soviet Championship five times. Genna Sosonko met the octogenarian in his new home in Germany and talked to an extraordinary man with a passion for life and an inborn talent for survival. Who’ll Stop Hou Yifan?
At the Atatürk Women’s International Masters in Istanbul, 14-year-old Hou Yifan was in a class of her own. Tug-Of-War
Evgeny Atarov compares the Moscow Open and the Aeroflot Open, two prestigious and popular tournaments that were held back to back in the Russian capital last February. Aren’t they in conflict with each other? On the Edge
Hans Ree read Chess on the Edge, a monumental 3-volume work by Bruce Harper and Yasser Seirawan, celebrating the inimitable style of Canadian grandmaster Duncan Suttles. Studying the Endgame
Endgame analyses and endgame studies are always entwined for Jan Timman. Rowson’s Reviews Winner’s Circle
Watching the games from Morelia and Linares, Garry Kasparov enjoyed Magnus Carlsen’s ‘resilience of mind and body’ and welcomed the return of the Sicilian to centre stage. Just Checking
Guess what’s Jeremy Silman’s biggest fear?
Did they play your opening?In this issue games with the following openings were annotated by world class players: Sicilian
Shirov-Anand, by Anand
Ivanchuk-Karjakin by Nunn
Hillarp Persson-Wang Hao, by Wang Hao
Timofeev-Efimenko, by Timofeev
Topalov-Ivanchuk, by Topalov
Carlsen-Gelfand, by Carlsen
Nepomniachtchi-Dreev, by Nepomniachtchi
Hou Yifan-Krush, by Hou Yifan
Carlsen-Mamedyarov by Nunn French
Kristjansson-Caruana, by Caruana Petroff
Mamedyarov-Kramnik, by Nunn Ruy Lopez
Radjabov-Carlsen, by Radjabov
Carlsen-Shirov, by Carlsen
Ivanchuk-Leko, by Leon Hoyos
Anand-Aronian, by Aronian Queen's Gambit Declined
Aronian-Anand, by Aronian Slav
Aronian-Gelfand by Nunn
Carlsen-Anand, by Anand
Gelfand-Anand by Nunn Queen's Gambit Accepted
Vescovi-Bachmann, by Vescovi Nimzo-Indian
Illescas-Granda Zuniga, by Granda Zuniga
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