Σκακιστικά νέα

The eventful second day of the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz finally produced a sole leader. Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia, who is the only player so far to have defeated Garry Kasparov, is leading the tournament with 8 points.

Nepomniachtchi is being closely followed by a pack of players who are only a point behind. Fabiano Caruana, Quang Liem Le, Levon Aronian and Hikaru Nakamura all have 7/12.

The highly anticipated Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz kicked off today and marked the return of chess legend Garry Kasparov.

Chess fans gathered at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis early to once again watch the legendary World Champion at the chess board. Even though Kasparov drew all his games, the intensity could be felt throughout the room and it was quite the show for all audiences.

GM Garry Kasparov is coming out of retirement for the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz is new to the Grand Chess Tour in 2017. This $150,000 event will feature six of the 2017 Grand Chess Tour players and four wildcard picks.

The standing tradition of the Sinquefield Cup of no repeat winners remained as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave emerged as the winner of the 2017 tournament!

Entering the round, the eventual winner was tied with Viswanathan Anand and Levon Aronian with Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin just half a point behind them.

The day started off well for the Frenchman as Anand had a quick draw against Welsey So, while Aronian was already suffering in Carlsen’s hands.

Round eight of the Sinquefield Cup did not bring any changes to the top of the leaderboard. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Viswanathan Anand and Levon Aronian all drew their games and remain ahead of the field by half a point.

Sergey Karjakin had the only decisive result of the round and has joined Magnus Carlsen in the chase, as the two are half a point behind the leaders.

As we inch closer and closer to the grand finale, the competition for first place is getting close. As Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s preparation failed to bring him home the full point, he was joined by Levon Aronian and Viswanathan Anand, both of whom won their games.

The three are leading the tournament with 4.5/7 and are being chased by Magnus Carlsen who is only half a point behind.

The 2017 European Senior Chess Championship will be held from 11th-21st August in Sabadell, Spain.

The Championship will be played in two categories: Senior 50+ and Senior 65+. The separated women’s competition will be organized only for 50+ group while women in 65+ group will play in Open competition with separate prizes.

The top seed in 50+ category is GM Zurab Sturua (GEO 2548), 2014 World Senior Champion, 2015 and 2016 European Senior Champion. The top seed for Female 50+ category is WGM Berend Elvira (LUX 2294).

The chess library of a famous coach Mark Dvoretsky (1947-2016) was solemnly donated to Adi Akhmad Sports Club (Troitskoe, the Republic of Ingushetia) at the Palace of Culture of Nazran.

The day after the rest day produced only one decisive game but quite a lot of action! Levon Aronian took advantage of Wesley So’s poor form and won the game in style, which improved his position in the standings.

Magnus Carlsen, who is chasing the leader by half a point, gave his all to close the gap but had to settle for a draw against Hikaru Nakamura.

Grandmaster Aleksandr Lenderman is the clear winner of the 118th US Open Chess Championship after concluding the event with 8,0/9 points.

396 players competed in the single section of the Championship that took place from 29th July to 6th August at the Sheraton Waterside Hotel in Norfolk, Virginia.