Archive for April 27th, 2009

I have been analyzing More Games with the Left Hook Grand Prix (1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.a3!?), two of which cover the critical variations following 5…e6 6.b4!? (White’s “left hook” punch — though 6.d4 is also interesting): 6….d5 (hitting back immediately in the center) and 6…b6 (refusing to give up the center even to gain a pawn). I especially enjoyed looking at Igor Glek – Daniel Stellwagen, Wattenscheid GER 2007, which I had previously discounted but which I now consider one of the most important games for Left Hook theory. And I couldn’t resist throwing in some of my own games, including a few I’ve played at my new favorite play site Buho21 (where I should soon break the 2200 barrier playing as “urusov”).

Related articles include:

• Left Hook Grand Prix with a3
• The Left Hook Grand Prix Revisited
• Fun with the Left Hook Grand Prix
• The Grand Prix with a3
• Grand Prix Attack, Explained
• Grand Prix Attack Bibliography (Updated)

The New York Times reports how an acting Mayor in Sochi (where the Russian
Team Championships were held) who had managed to avoid confronting his critics
or even acknowledging their existence, was outfoxed by a well-known chess
grandmaster. Anatoly Pakhomov was running for reelection, Garry Kasparov was supporting his
rival Boris Nemtsov. Here’s
the NYT story.

The Arnold Eikrem Memorial, part of the 125th anniversary celebrations of the Oslo Chess Club, saw an exciting finish in true Norwegian social democratic spirit: it ended with half the field sharing first place! The open, Knut Bockman Cup, was won by the new shining star on the Norwegian chess heaven, FM Frode Urkedal (15) with a stunning 8.0/9. Pictorial report by GM Leif E. Johannessen.

At the top Levon Aronian and Peter Leko drew their games, to remain in first and second place respectively. Vassily Ivanchuk beat Alexander Grischuk, winning his first game in this tournament – he has lost three and is at the end of the table. Boris Gelfand ground down Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, and a clean-shaven Etienne Bacrot beat Sergey Karjakin. Commentary by GM Sergey Shipov.

Leader Levon Aronian faces Rustam Kasimdzhanov with
the black pieces. Peter Leko, who is second, also has black and plays Pavel
Eljanov. Young Evgeny Alekseev will look eagerly for chances against Gata Kamsky. You can watch
all seven games from Nalchik live – and discuss them with other visitors
– on Playchess, or follow the moves
on our Flash client.

The World Chess Federation has opened the bidding for the next World Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov, scheduled for April 2010. At the same time FIDE has reacted to concerns of players and decided not to simply change the K-Factor in its rating calculation, but to in fact publish two parallel lists for a year and then review the results. Press releases.

Reputed to be France’s third most prestigeous open tournament of the calender year, the organizing Metz Alekhine Chess Club succeeded in surpassing expectations with the participation of 26 GMs and ten IMs in a field of 101 players from more than a dozen countries. The prize fund was 10,000 Euros, with four players tying for first, amongst them our reporter GM Kevin Spraggett.