Archive for April 22nd, 2009

In Nalchik there is a player coming up from behind. Vladimir
Akopian started badly, but won his last two games to move up the table. People
forget that the Armenian was runner-up in the FIDE knockout world
championship in 1999, and has a plus score against Garry Kasparov. Dennis Monokroussos, our Playchess
lecturer, shows us a stunning Akopian win against the greatest player ever.

“Major pieces vs. Minor pieces” is the subject of Daniel King’s latest Powerplay-DVD. These positions are not only difficult to play but
hard to evaluate because a wide range of criteria must be considered. Amateurs can learn more from the masters here than in any other middlegame theme. Mark Donlan reviews the DVD at
chesscafe.com. Buy
“Powerplay 9″ or read this review.

Grischuk vs Akopian could be quite exciting. The two players were at the top
and bottom of the table, Grischuk will want to regain his lead while Akopian
has just won two in a row. What will down-in-the-dumps Ivanchuk do against Leko?
Lev Aronian has black against Etienne Bacrot. And Peter Svidler is bound to
go after Rustam Kasimdzhanov. Live coverage on Playchess
and on our Flash client.

Sergey Karjakin played an explosive game against Gata Kamsky, and at one stage (move 27) was basically lost. He fought back to win after his opponent had let the opportunity slip. Boris Gelfand got hammered by a heavy pieces attack on his exposed king, with Pavel Eljanov doing the attacking with the black pieces. Pictures and GM commentary to follow, here for now is our express report.

In Nalchik there is a player coming up from behind. Vladimir
Akopian started badly, but won his last two games to move up the table. People
forget that the Armenian was runner-up in the FIDE knockout world
championship in 1999, and has a plus score against Garry Kasparov. Dennis Monokroussos, our Playchess
lecturer, shows us a stunning Akopian win against the greatest player ever.

In Nalchik there is a player coming up from behind. Vladimir
Akopian started badly, but won his last two games to move up the table. People
forget that the Armenian was runner-up in the FIDE knockout world
championship in 1999, and has a plus score against Garry Kasparov. Dennis Monokroussos, our Playchess
lecturer, shows us a stunning Akopian win against the greatest player ever.

There are two rest days in the FIDE Grand Prix tournaments, and they are used to give the players an outing in the local surroundings. After round five in Nalchik they were taken to the spectacular Chereksky region of Kabardino-Balkaria, which contains the second-deepest lake in the world. “It is difficult to describe in words the beauty surrounding us,” said Levon Aronian. Pictorial.

There are two rest days in the FIDE Grand Prix tournaments, and they are used to give the players an outing in the local surroundings. After round five in Nalchik they were taken to the spectacular Chereksky region of Kabardino-Balkaria, which contains the second-deepest lake in the world. “It is difficult to describe in words the beauty surrounding us,” said Levon Aronian. Pictorial.

Forget Sunday’s table. In round six Shakhriyar Mamedyarov beat the leader Alexander Grischuk, while Levon Aronian beat a completely out-of-form Vassily Ivanchuk. Peter Svidler won with black against Pavel Eljanov and Vladimir Akopian moved up the ladder with a victory over Sergey Karjakin. Now Aronian leads, with four players behind him. Full report with commentary.