Archive for July 12th, 2009

New Jersey’s Andrew Ng took first place in the 2009 U.S. Cadet Championship, July 7-10 in Crossville, Tennessee. Close behind was fellow NJ rising star Victor Shen, who won a grueling 150 move game against NM Rohan Agarwal to claim sole possession of 2nd place. If anyone has any games from the event (including the contestants themselves), please send them to me at michael.goeller@rutgers.edu. Links:

• Andrew Ng Is the 2009 Cadet Champion by Alan Kantor
• Andrew Ng Leads Cadets by Alan Kantor (with update)
• Agarwal Shoots for Cadet Title by Michael Aigner (with update — and Twitter)
• Cadet Championship Set for Crossville by Alan Kantor

Chess authors and publishers have a tendency to become over-excited, to put it mildly, when trying to induce potential customers to part with their money. But a darker side also emerges on occasion. With some grim examples the Editor of
Chess Notes shows that there are cases where hype tips over into something far more reprehensible.
It is time for a reality check.

This is definitely his tournament: Vladimir Kramnik won it eight times previously, and after an inauspicious start the former World Champion mopped up in the second half to finish a full point ahead of his nearest rivals. They were Peter Leko, Magnus Carlsen and Dmitry Jakovenko, all at 5.5/10 points. Kramnik’s performance: 2848. Final report with statistics.

Send your favourite Kramnik game to magazine@chessbase.com
and tell us what you particularly like about the game you have nominated. All
entries will be put into a draw (don’t forget to include your name and address),
with the winner getting a DVD “My
Path to the Top” signed by Vladimir Kramnik himself. All
entries must be received by Saturday 18. 7. 2009. The judges’ decision is final.

Vladimir Kramnik played a fine black game against his compatriot Dmitry Jakovenko, and was a hair’s breadth away from winning the game and the event. But he untypically missed the chance and with the other two games drawn there are four contenders for first place (Kramnik is half a point up on the other three). Note: the game on Sunday start at 13:00h CEST! Round nine report.

Vladimir Kramnik played a fine black game against his compatriot Dmitry Jakovenko, and was a hair’s breadth away from winning the game and the event. But he untypically missed the chance and with the other two games drawn there are four contenders for first place (Kramnik is half a point up on the other three). Note: the game on Sunday start at 13:00h CEST! Round nine report.