Anand is The New Undisputed World Champion!

Yes, Viswanathan Anand (India) finishes undefeated with 9.0 points out of 13 games to be the undisputed world champion after the final rounds draw against Peter Leko. His close challangers, Boris Gelfand (Israel) and Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) can't challange Anand even if they both win their final games.

It is a very memorable victories by Anand, India and Asia because in my opinion, this is the "first" time Asian player won the World Championship "undisputedly". Although Anand won the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000 after defeating Alexei Shirov 3.5 - 0.5 in the final FIDE Knock-out World Championship in Teheran in 2000, it's hardly "recognised" because the credibility of knock-out format and many tops player like Kasparov and Kramnik didn't participated.

Win this win, Anand could proudly claim as the world champion in Classical, Rapid and Blitz. What a true champion! Congratulation Anand!!!!

My Old Blog

Hi there,

This is my former blog address http://nusamahkota.blogspot.com/

there's many interesting article there. feel free to visit it.

Arianne Caoili

Arianne (middle) with Arshak Petrosian ( Leko father in law & second)

WIM Arianne Caoili from Australia is accompanying his boyfriend GM Levon Aronian in Mexico. I've write an article about him in the past. Read it here .

One more intersting facts is last year, Arianne once told that Aronian is an old friend whom she has known since she was eight or ten. "There is no romantic link between us," read it here

Blitzing With Shamsul Baharin

Sam (red shirt)in one of his blitz game against Max.

Last night i played a couples of blitz game with my old friend and Nusa Mahkota teamate- Shamsul Bahrin, Shamsul or Sam have been "missing" in local tournaments for quite sometime... i don't know what is his reason to "quit" serious chess but i'm sure he will not completely forget chess because he was a hardcore blitz player!...i lost all my games against him ...3 minutes, 5 minutes....and i couldn't dare to play bullet (1 minute) against him because that's his specialty.




Shamsol was the webmaster for Minda Catur-once Malaysian top site on chess...but unfortunetly...it no more active for unknown reason.

Putrajaya Chess Course for Arbiter and officer , 10-11 September2007- Part 2

This is the remaining photo during the Putrajaya Chess Course for Arbiter and Officer from 10-11 September2007 at Residen Hotel, UNITEN, Bangi. This course was organised by Putrajaya Chess Association. Read the previous article here

The participants

...teach them chess at standard 1 and 2, and then...

'...let them choose.....

...to play chess or football, hockey,badminton...etc.etc..

Yes...that is part of interesting points by Gregory Lau (Greg) during the chess course, he said that by his own experience, standard 1 and 2 is the critical phase in a chess player development. One of the reason is that in later years, students tend to choose pysical sports like football, hockey, badminton and others. Greg is from Malaysian Chess Federation.

Interview With Ahmad Maliki: Presiden of Putrajaya Chess Association

Interview With Ahmad Maliki

Presiden of Putrajaya Chess Association,

FIDE Rating 2254, ex-national player

Hairulov: When do you start to play chess and please tell a little bit about your involvement in chess.

Maliki : I started to play chess when I was 5 years old...actually…my brother taught me how to play chess…he was the school chess player so he need a sparing partner. He “force” me to be his playing partner . At 5 years old, that was how I start to play chess. I played for my school in form 1 in secondary school.

Hairulov: You were involved in national and international chess tournaments. Tell a little bit about it.

Maliki: I played in Malaysia Sports and School Council (MSSM) in school level. I become champion once and I also…lost in others MSSM tournaments . I have won the National Champion under 20 and was selected to play for Malaysia in Asian tournament and as usual…I lost. I once played for my country in World Under Age in German…if I’m not mistaken, I played in under 18….and I lost also…..

Hairulov:hahaha

Maliki: I didn’t achieve a good result on the tournaments....maybe because we don’t have the proper training system.

Hairulov: You’re working with a government agencies and you also the President of Putrajaya Chess Association. Please tell a little bit about Putrajaya Chess Association?

Maliki: Actually I’m working with the Department of Environment. The idea to form Putrajaya Chess association came trough when we observe that there’s no group of chess player to gather and play chess in a proper place in Putrajaya. So, I’ve discussed this matter with 2-3 chess enthusiast in Putrajaya. Actually, we try to form a chess club but after referring to the Commissioner of Sport, we were advised to form association instead of club because there’s still no chess association in Putrajaya. They want us to form an association and later, clubs will be form under it. I was inform that there’s 11 schools in Putrajaya and 7 of them have form a chess club and if god willing, we will form more chess club in other schools in Putrajaya.

Hairulov: I was inform that Putrajaya is quite active in organizing chess activities such as courses for arbiter and chess officer. Please tell a little bit about it?

Maliki: Actually our association is not to active and we are still new. The programmed that you mention just now is part of our promotion. Actually we receive a set back when half or near 75% of our first commities such as secretary, treasurer resign, can’t be traced or have transfer to other place and it effected our activity for about 4-5 months. Due to the problems, I planned a coaching programmed before engaging new members. We planned to have a grand meeting after Aidilfitri.
Putrajaya Chess Association were given exemption, this association is different with other state association where we only need a minimum of two club only. In Putrajaya, there’s many government agencies and schools that can form their own club.

Hairulov: What is your expectation for Putrajaya Chess Association?

Maliki: My hope is we will be the model to other states that still haven't form their own chess association, to follow our step to develop chess.

Hairulov: Thank you Maliki.

Maliki: Your welcome.

Putrajaya Community Chess Tournaments 2007-Part 2

Below are the remaining photo from the Putrajaya Community Chess Tournaments 2007

Mohd Azani (left) vs Raman A/L Subramanian , Round 1 (1-0)

Stonemaster Fadli with his dubious looking shirt –SUKAN WANITA KEBANGSAAN ?! and brilliant English flat cap!. Fadli drop by at the tournament to distribute pamphlets for the next coming stonemaster tournament

Muhammad Farhan Aimran – under 12 (Round 2)

Mohd Taupek(left) on his way to blunder a winning position in round 2
against Abdul Rahman (right) who escaped with a draw !

Norfarhana (white) beat Anis Amsyar Badrol (black) in round 4 with the help of her “second” Mikhail Tal stare!

Shamsuddin Mat Isa the arbiters of the tournaments making announcement at the stage.

The players checking the pairing



Muhammad Farhan Aiman (above left) vs Amin Khalili Termizi (above right) - under 12
and
Ahmad Syaril Tohit ( below left) vs Muhammad Danial (below right) – under 12


Hairulov (yours truly) receiving the runners-up prize :)

Temuramah Bersama Ahmad Maliki

Temuramah Bersama Ahmad Maliki
Presiden Persatuan Catur Putrajaya,
FIDE Rating 2254, bekas pemain catur kebangsaan


Hairulov: Bila anda mula bermain catur dan ceritakan serba sedikit sejarah penglibatan anda dalam sukan catur.

Maliki : Saya sebenarnya mula “menyentuh buah catur” sewaktu saya berusia 5 tahun dimana saya......sebenarnya .....abang saya yang mengajar saya bermain catur....dia mewakili sekolah dalam suka catur, jadi dia perlukan sparring partner. Dia telah memaksa saya menjadi sparring partner . Itulah permulaan saya bermain catur iaitu sejak berumur 5 tahun. Saya mula mewakili sekolah dalam sukan catur mulai tingkatan 1.

Hairulov: Anda ada terlibat dengan beberapa kejohanan catur diperingkat kebangsaan dan antarabangsa. Sila ceritakan serba sedikit?

Maliki: Penglibatan saya diperingkat sekolah adalah sehinga peringkat Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Malaysia (MSSM) . Saya pernah menjadi juara MSSM dan saya juga pernah..... kalah dalam MSSM :) . Pada peringkat remaja saya pernah menjadi juara kebangsaan peringkat umur bawah 20 tahun dan terpilih mewakili Malaysia bermain diperingkat Asia dan macamlah biasalah....kalah. Saya pernah bermain mewakili Malaysia di Kejohanan Catur Remaja Dunia di Jerman .....jika tak silap saya bagi kategori umur di bawah 18 tahun......itupun kalah juga...

Hairulov:hahaha

Maliki: Saya tidak mencapai keputusan yang baik dalam kejohanan-kejohanan tersebut....mungkin disebabkan kita tidak mempunyai sistem latihan catur yang sepatutnya.

Hairulov: Saya difahamkan anda berkhidmat dengan sebuah agensi kerajaan dan anda juga adalah Presiden Persatuan Catur Putrajaya. Boleh cerita serba sedikit mengenai Persatuan Catur Putrajaya?

Maliki: Sebenarnya saya berkhidmat dengan Jabatan Alam Sekitar. Idea penubuhan Persatuan Catur Putrajaya sebenarnya timbul apabila kita mendapati bandar Putrajaya ini belum ada kelompok atau group catur yang ada berkumpul untuk bermain catur. Jadi , setelah saya berbincang dengan 2-3 orang “kaki” catur di Putrajaya kita cuba menubuhkan kelab catur pada awalnya. Kita cuba menubuhkan kelab untuk menghidupkan budaya catur tetapi setelah kita merujuk kepada pihak Pesuruhjaya Sukan, pihak mereka telah menasihatkan supaya ditubuhkan persatuan catur di Putrajaya, memandangkan Putrajaya belum mempunyai pertubuhan catur lagi. Mereka meminta kita menubuhkan persatuan catur supaya daripada persatuan akan ditubuhkan kelab-kelab catur yang akan bernaung dibawah persatuan tersebut . Sekarang ini saya difahamkan ada 11 sekolah di Putrajaya dan telah ada 7 kelab catur di sekolah –sekolah tersebut dan insyaallah, kita akan tubuhkan lagi kelab-kelab catur di sekolah-sekolah di Putrajaya.

Hairulov: Saya difahamkan Persatuan Catur Putrajaya agak aktif menganjurkan aktiviti-aktiviti catur seperti Kursus Untuk Arbiter dan Pegawai Catur baru –baru ini. Boleh anda terangkan serba sedikit?

Maliki: Sebenarnya persatuan kita tidaklah terlalu aktif dan persatuan kita masih baru. Program yang disebutkan tadi itu adalah sebahagian daripada promosi kita. Kita sebenarnya menerima sedikit tamparan dimana lebih daripada separuh atau hampir 75% ahli jawatankuasa penaja persatuan ini seperti Bendahari, Setiausaha bertukar , menarik diri dan ada yang tidak dapat dikesan menyebabkan aktiviti persatuan terjejas hampir 4-5 bulan. Akibat daripada itu saya telah merancang aktiviti-aktiviti coaches atau kejurulatihan terlebih dahulu sebelum mencari ahli-ahli jawatankuasa yang baru. Kita bercadang untuk adakan mesyuarat agung persatuan kita insyaallah selepas Hari Raya Aidilfitri tahun ini.
Persatuan Catur Putrajaya telah diberi kelonggaran, Persatuan ini adalah berbeza daripada persatuan-persatuan catur negeri yang lain dimana syarat minimum jumlah keahlian (kelab) yang bernaung dibawah Persatuan Catur Putrajaya adalah minimum 2 kelab sahaja. Di Putrajaya, banyak agensi kerajaan serta sekolah-sekolah yang boleh menubuhkan kelab catur masing-masing.

Hairulov: Apa harapan ada terhadap Persatuan Catur Putrajaya?

Maliki: Harapan saya ialah Persatuan Catur Putrajaya akan menjadi model kepada persatuan-persatuan catur negeri yang masih belum ditubuhkan atau juga bagi persatuan-persatuan catur negeri yang seperti “hidup segan mati tak mahu” supaya mengikuti langkah kita bagi memajukan sukan catur.


Hairulov: terima kasih Maliki.

Maliki: Sama-sama.

Putrajaya Community Chess Tournament 2007

The Putrajaya Community Chess Tournament 2007 took place in Dewan Serbaguna Presint 9, Putrajaya on 15 September 2007. The tournament is organise by Putrajaya Chess Association sponsered by Perbadanan Putrajaya. About 200 participatants compete in this swiss 6 rounds event with rapid time control 20 minutes. The tournaments were devided by three category, 16 years and above , below 16 and below 12 .

Muhammad Rizal Jusah (left)-2007 Putrajaya Community Chess Tournament Champion (above 16)!

Yours truly [hairulov :)] compete in the 16 and above category and manage to be the runner-up with 5.5 points - equal points with the winners and defending champion Muhammad Rizal Jusah photo above but Rizal have the better tie-break. Rizal is a teachers in Sekolah Menengah Alam Shah, Putrajaya.

hairulov(left) in action

Special thank to Mr. Ahmad Maliki, the new President of Putrajaya Chess Association and ex-national player as the main person behind the succesfull of this tournaments. Perbadanan Putrajaya the generous sponsor of this event provide a good prize money.
8 players receive prize money in each category. The champion for each category receive RM 450 (16 years and above), RM 350 ( below 16 )and RM 300 (below 12).

Below are the group photo of the prize winner for all category

16 and above prize winner

under 16 prize winner

under 12 prize winner

This tournaments can't be succesfully organised without the help off the very hard working commitee above !


....and Mohd Faizul Hilmi bin Zulkifli, one off the very active helper, volunteer, player!

Part 2 of this report will show more photos with captions from this tournaments!

World Championship 2007-Mexico start with draws :(

Anand-Gelfand (1/2-1/2) photo from europe-echecs.com

Hi all,

The World Championship has started today. All 4 games have ended with a draw. In my opinion, both favorites Anand and Kramnik are just nervous and did’nt want to start badly in first round so may be ½ a point is better then losing as white in the 1st round. Gelfand and Svidler surely did’nt hesitate to take the draw as black and against the top seeded! Grischuk-Leko is another dull game with typical Leko safe play.

Grischuk as shown by lovely video at europe-echecs.com, did’nt seems that he is focusing with his game, always looks to others and walking around the stage. You would not see this with Topalov, I watch he play live in Mtel and he is like glued to his chair and could’nt be bother with others game. Morozevich – Aronian game were the last to finish and they are the only players that show some fighting spirit as both player known as creative and entertaining players . But seeing the rest of their friends shake hand , they surely didn’t want to be the only player with 0 pints in first round so ½-1/2. what a bad start for the 1 st round. I wish Luis Renerto, the famous ex-Linares organizer were here!

So far, others site like Chessbase, The Week In Chess, Chessdom, Susan Polgar Blog and europe-echecs.com has don’t tremendous live coverage for the 1st round games with picture, videos and analysis but this is not the case for the official site. I go to the official site and this is what I get :-

Dear Chess Friends,

We apologies for the problems on the website these last few days, but we have been testing the games transmission software and links with our ISP, Telmex, to ensure that we offer the maximum reliability during the World Championship.
This has meant that the web site has been unavailable and we trust that in the next few days you will see the big improvement that has been achieved.

World Chess Championship Organizing Committee.


next few days?...come on!!!!

Putrajaya Chess Course For Arbiter and Officer 10-11 September 2007

The Participants

Putrajaya Chess Association headed by Mr. Ahmad Maliki (President) is organizing a chess course for arbiter and officer from 10-11 September2007 at Residen Hotel, UNITEN, Bangi, Selangor. The aim of this course is to teach participants which is teachers and civil servants from Putrajaya regarding the pairing system /laws & regulation, and module of chess trainings. With this course, the participants is expected to guide young and gifted players in schools and chess-clubs in Putrajaya.

19 participants (including yours truly!) attended the course started today . The instructor is Mr. Greogary Lau from Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF).

Funny Things Happen At UK-China Match 2007

Surfing all avaibale info in the internet for the UK - China 2007 match held at Liverpool, UK, I noted two funny thing happens during that match:-


1. Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Paul Clark the VIP who were invited to officiate the opening ceremonies made the first move as black against WGM Hou Yifan with the theoritical novelty 1.h5 ! read it here

W: WGM Hou Yifan vs B: Paul Clark (Lord Mayor of Liverpool)

UK-China Match 2007 , 4.9.2007

1....h5!?

2. Steve Giddins the "official reporter" mistakenly wrote "England" team face China in his 1st round report where as he should write United Kingdom (UK) . Read it here. For anybody who score Geography (or is it history?) as badly as me in school, below are the different between United Kingdom and England.


The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (also known as the United Kingdom, the U.K., or Britain) is a country to the north-west of mainland Europe. It comprises the island of Great Britain (of England, Scotland, and Wales), the north-east part of the island of Ireland and many small local islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border, sharing it with the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea. Great Britain, its largest island is linked to France by the Channel Tunnel.

for full info about UK, read it here




Source wikipedia,
bcmchess.blogspot, and
http://www.liverpoolchessinternational.co.uk/match_reports/rd2.htm

CZECH COAL CARLSBAD CHESS TOURNAMENT 2007: Top Seed Shirov Lost in Round 1!

Top seeded GM Alexei Shirov with ELO rating 2735 lost to local player GM Viktor Laznicka photo left from official website ELO 2594 -2nd lowest rated player in this tournament after GM Jan Timman .

Watch the fascinating Laznicka rook maneuver below.

Shirov,A (2735) - Laznicka analisa,V (2594) [B46]
Czech Coal Carlsbad CZE (1), 08.09.2007

The opening is Sicilian Taimanov and after Shirov played 13.Rab1

13.... Rb4! 14.Qe2 Rh4 15.Bd2 Qb6 16.g3 Rh5 17.Na4 Qd4 18.b4 Rxe5 19.Be3

19...Rxe3! 20.Qxe3 Qxe3 21.Rxe3 e5 22.c4 d4 23.Re2 f5 24.f3 Kd8 25.c5 Bg5 26.Nb2 Be3+ 27.Kg2 Nf6 28.Nc4 e4 29.fxe4 fxe4 30.Rxe3 dxe3 31.Be2 Nd5 32.Rb3 Be6 33.Nxe3 Kc7 34.Nc2 Rd8 35.Ra3 Nf6 36.Kf1 Rd2 37.Ne3 Rb2 38.Rxa6 Rxb4 39.Nc2 Rb2 40.Nd4 Bd5 41.Ra7+ Kb8 42.Re7 Rxa2 43.Nxc6+ Bxc6 44.Re6 Ra1+ 45.Kg2 Kc7 46.Rxf6 e3+ 47.Kh3 Ra2 48.Rf7+ Kd8 49.Bd3 Rd2 50.Ba6 Bd7+ 51.g4 e2 52.Bxe2 Rxe2 53.c6 Be6 54.Rxh7 Re4 55.Rh4 Ke7 56.Kg3 Rc4 57.c7 Rxc7 58.Rh7+ Bf7 59.h4 Kf6 60.h5 g5 61.Rh6+ Ke5 62.Rh8 Rc3+ 63.Kh2 Bd5 64.Rf8 Be4 65.Rf7 Rf3 66.Re7+ 66...Kf4 67.h6 Rf2+ 68.Kh3 Bg2+ 69.Kh2 Bf3+ 70.Kg1 Kg3 0-1

the official website is here

UK-China Match Round 5: China beat UK 5.5 - 2.5

China beat UK 5.5-2.5 in round 5. I was following the match lives and in my opinion the "actual" score should be vice versa. UK was better in majority of the board but as Steve Giddins said in his report The most striking feature of this UK-China match has been the bulldog tenacity with which all of the Chinese players defend bad positions.

Bellow are one of the example:-

GM Gawain Jones (2526) vs B: Wang Yue (2696)

UK-CHINA Match 2007, 08.09.2007, Round 5

Analysis by Fritz and hairulov

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.Bd3 Be6 12.0-0 Bxd5 13.exd5 Ne7 14.c3 [14.Nxb5 Bg7 15.Nc3 e4 16.Bc4 Qc7 17.Bb3 Bxc3 18.bxc3 Qxc3 Black will regain the pawn with better position] 14...Bg7 15.Qh5 Qd7 16.Rad1 0-0 [16...Rc8 17.Nc2 Rc5 18.Ne3 e4 19.Bb1 0-0 20.g3 b4 21.cxb4 Rb5 22.a3 Bxb2 23.Kh1 Rc8] 17.Bb1 h6 18.f4 e4 Black gains space 19.Nc2 a5 20.Kh1 b4 21.Ne3 The knight blocks e4 21...bxc3 22.bxc3 Rfc8 23.c4 Qa7 24.Rfe1 Bd4? I don't understand the motif off this move, it seems that white will playing Nxf5 anyway so i think the bishop is better stay at g7. [24...Rab8!?; 24...Qd7 25.g4] 25.Nxf5+- Nxf5 26.Qxf5 Re8 27.Bxe4 Bg7 28.g4 Kf8 29.g5 hxg5 30.Qxg5 Qf2 [30...Qe7 31.Qg4 Qf6 32.Re2+-] 31.Rg1 Qb2 32.Rg2 Qc3 [32...Qf6 33.Bf5 Re3 34.Rdg1+-] 33.Rg3 [33.Qf5 Ra7 34.Rdg1 Qe3+-] 33...Qf6 34.Bh7 Qxg5 35.Rxg5 Rac8 36.Rdg1 Bc3 37.Bd3 Bd2 38.R5g4 Rc7 39.f5 Bc3? [39...Re1+-] 40.Rg8+ Ke7 41.h4 [41.f6+ and White has prevailed 41...Bxf6 42.Re1+ Be5 43.Rxe5+ dxe5 44.d6+ Kxd6 45.Rxe8+-] 41...Rcc8+/- 42.R8g3 Kf6 43.h5 Bd4 44.Rb1 Rh8 45.Rh3 Rcg8 46.Re1 Bc5 47.h6 [47.Be2 Re8 48.Rh2 Re3+/=] 47...Rh7+/= 48.Re4 [48.a4 Rgh8+/=] 48...Rgh8= 49.Reh4 Bf2 [49...Rg8 50.a4=] 50.Rh5+/= Be1 51.Be2 Bd2 52.Rd3 Rxh6 53.Rxd2 Rxh5+ 54.Bxh5 Rxh5+ 55.Kg2 Ke5 56.c5 dxc5 57.d6 Rh8 58.d7 Rd8 59.Kf3 c4 60.Ke3 c3 61.Rd3 c2 62.Kd2 Kxf5 63.Kxc2 Ke6 64.Ra3 Rxd7 65.Rxa5 f5 66.Ra3 [66.a4!?= must definitely be considered] 66...Ke5 67.Rd3 Ra7 68.Kd2 Rxa2+ [68...Kf4 69.a3-/+] 69.Ke3=/+ Rh2 70.Rd8 Rh3+ 71.Kf2 Ke4 Black activates its king 72.Ra8 Kf4 73.Ra4+ Kg5 74.Rb4 Rh2+ 75.Kg3 Ra2 76.Kf3 f4 [76...Ra3+!? 77.Kf2 Ra8=/+] 77.Rb5

Compare this diagram and the previous diagram. Surely you would say Jones have ruin his position but i think the most accurate explanation is as Steve Giddins report in the official website about of one of UK players performance in the 2nd round ..."as the pressure of making a move every 30 seconds proved too much. Once again, her Chinese opponent deserves great credit for her tenacious defence, but even so, it was all too painful to watch. At one point, I feel sure I felt an earth tremor, caused by Akiba Rubinstein revolving in his grave, at the thought of what these FIDE dunderheads (to coin a phrase) have done to the endgame!..."

[77.Rxf4 Ra3+ 78.Ke4 Ra4+ 79.Ke5 Rxf4 80.Kd6 Kf5 81.Kd5 Kf6 82.Kc6 Ke5 83.Kc5 Ke6 84.Kb6 Kd6 85.Kb5 Rd4 86.Kb6 Rd5 87.Kb7 Rb5+ 88.Ka6 Kc6 89.Ka7 Ra5+ 90.Kb8 Ra1 91.Kc8 Ra8#] 1/2-1/2

Uk-China Match : Adams lost to Zhang Pengxiang!

China is leading UK 18-14 after round 4 of the UK-China match held in Liverpool. The most shocking result is GM Micheal Adams photo left lost to GM Zhang Pengxiang photo right. Although Zhang is not China no. 1 player, he is strong and experienced player and has beat Karpov in the past.

W: GM Michael Adams (2724)vs B: GMZhang Pengxiang (2694)

UK-China Match, Round 4, 07.09.2007

Analysis by Fritz and hairulov

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 The Sicilian Four Knights 6.Nxc6 (6.Ndb5 offer black to transpose to the Shevesnikov with 6...d6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Bg5) 6...bxc6

GM Michael Adams playing his move 7.e5

photo from http://www.liverpoolchessinternational.co.uk/index.htm

7.e5 Nd5 8.Ne4 Qc7 9.f4 Qb6 10.c4 Bb4+ 11.Ke2 f5 12.exf6 Nxf6 13.Be3 Qa5 14.Nxf6+ gxf6 15.Kf2 0-0 16.a3 Bc5 17.b4 Bxe3+ 18.Kxe3 Qc7 19.c5

White gains space 19...a5 20.Bc4 Ba6 21.Bb3 Kh8 22.Qd2 e5 23.Rhe1 Rad8 24.Rad1 Attacks the backward pawn on d7 24...axb4 25.axb4

25...d5 Zhang have to do something or else Adams will gradually improve his positional and space advantage 26.cxd6 Qb6+ 27.Kf3 c5! A good move by Zhang, now the position is open, Adam king's will feel uncomfortable 28.g4 [28.Qe3 Qxb4 29.Be6 Qb2= and; 28.Be6 cxb4 29.Kg3 is a brave line suggest by Fritz] 28...e4+ [28...cxb4!? and Black has air to breath 29.Be6 Bb5=] 29.Kg3 [Worse is 29.Rxe4 Bb7] 29...Bd3 30.Bd5 c4 31.Bxe4 [31.Rxe4?? would be a gruesome error 31...Rxd6 (‹31...Bxe4 32.Bxe4 Rde8 33.d7+/-) 32.Qe3 Qxe3+ 33.Rxe3 Rxd5-+] 31...Rxd6 32.Qc3 Rfd8 33.Bf3 Rd4 34.b5?! [34.f5!+/- should be played. Fixing the weakness on f6 and threatening to play move such as Re6-Rfe1] 34...Qd6! [34...Qxb5 35.Re6 Kg7 36.Qa3 Will give Adams the initiative.] 35.Qc1 Now Adams in the defensive. 35...h5 36.h3 [36.gxh5 Rg8+ 37.Bg4 f5-+] 36...c3 A strong passed pawn

37.b6?? Frustated by sudden turn off his position , Adams blunder [37.Qxc3 hxg4] 37...c2-+ 38.Rxd3 [38.Rd2? Qxf4+] 38...Rxd3 39.Qxc2 Qa3 40.Rf1 [40.Qc6 the last chance for counterplay 40...Rxf3+! the final nail in the coffin 41.Qxf3-+] 40...h4+ 41.Kxh4 Rxf3 42.Rxf3 Qxf3 43.Qc7 [43.Qc5 Qxf4 44.b7 Kg7-+] 43...Qd3 [43...Rd5 ends the debate 44.f5 Qe3-+] 44.f5 [44.b7 there is nothing better in the position 44...Qh7+ 45.Qxh7+ Kxh7 46.f5-+] 44...Qd2 [44...Qd2 45.Qxd8+ Qxd8-+] 0-1 a nice counterattacking game by Zhang Pengxiang!

UK-China Match : Short and Rowson having a tough time!

After 2 round, China is leading UK by 10-6 in the 800th Anniversary Summit Chess Match
UK v China held at Liverpool . It seems that UK will receive the same fate as the mighty Russians who lost 52.5-47.5 to China in The 4th China vs Russia Chess Match took place 18th-31st August 2007 in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia.

The most interesting part so far is the performance of GM Wang Hao-photo left . He score full points so far defeating GM Nigel “dunderhead” Short ( as mentioned by kibitzer in the Internet Chess Club) in the first round and GM David Howell in the second round.


Below are the 1st round encounter between GM Wang Yue and GM Nigel Short

W: GMWang Hao - B: GM Nigel Short

UK-China Match 2007 (Round 1) 4.9.2007

This is the position after Wang Hao played 47.Rc7

47... d4?? A serious mistake in losing position . Short should have aim for counter attack with 47...Kg8 48.Nxf7 Rf8 49.Nxg5 Rxf6 50.exd5 Rg6+-] 48.Rxf7+ Kg8 49.Rg7+ Kf8 50.Rf7+ [50.Nf5 secures the win 50...Nc5 51.Ne7+-] 50...Kg8 51.Rg7+ Wang Hao can afford to play around! 51...Kf8 52.Nf5 Rb8 53.Nh6 [53.Rxg5?! is not possible 53...Rb2+ 54.Kf1 Kf7=] 53...Rb2+ 54.Kf1 1-0





Former British Champion , GM Johnathan Rowson-photo left and authors of the famous books The Seven Deadly Chess Sins and Chess for Zebras show the worse individual performance so far for both team. He was beaten in the both rounds by GM Zhang Peng Xiang and GM Ni Hua .

W: GM Johnathan Rowson- B: GM Zhang Pengxiang

UK-China Match 2007 (Round 1) 4.9.2007

This is the position after Zhang Pengxiang played 27...Rd2

28.Be5? probably Rowson decisive "sin" in this game 28.Bc3 Rxf2 29.Rxf2 Bxf2 30.g4 and may be he can hope for some drawing chance! 28...Bxf2 29.Rf7 Re2 30.Ref6 Bh4 31.Rf8+ Rxf8 32.Rxf8+ Kd7 33.Bg3 Be7 34.Rb8 b5 35.h4 a5 36.h5 Bg5 37.Rg8 Bc1 38.Rg6 Re6 39.Rg7+ Re7 40.Rg6 Rh7 41.Rd6+ Ke7 42.Rxc6 Rxh5+ 43.Kg1 Bb2 44.Be1 b4 45.Kf1 Rb5 46.Ra6 Kd7 47.Ke2 Rd5 48.g4 Kc7 49.Bf2 Bc3 50.Be3 b3 51.g5 b2 (52. Rb6 Bb4 and the b-pawn queening!) 0-1

Rizal - IM Jimmy Liew- Part 2

Recently I posted an annotated game of Rizal versus IM Jimmy Liew - see here. Jimmy have found some hole in Rizal analysis. Below are the game with comments by Rizal, IM Jimmy Liew and Hairulov.

White:Rizal A Kamal (2022)Black: IM Jimmy Liew (2309)[C18] French WinawerMerdeka Standard (4), 2007

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.Qg4 Qc7 8.Bd3[8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 cxd4 10.Ne2 Nbc6 11.f4 dxc3 12.Qd3] 8...cxd4 9.Ne2 Nbc6 10.cxd4 h5 11.Qh4 b6 12.Rb1N[12.0–0 Ng6 is the theory]12...a5!? 13.Nc3?[13.0–0]13...Nxe5! 14.dxe5[14.Nb5 Nxd3+ 15.cxd3 Qc6 16.Bf4 was my calculation, and it may be better]14...Qxc3+ 15.Kd1 Bd7 16.Re1 Rc8 17.Rxb6 Ng6 18.Bxg6 fxg6 19.Re2 Rc4

20.Bb2!! Rxh4! [20...Qxb2? 21.Rxb2 Rxh4 22.Rb8+ Ke7 23.Rxh8 Rxh2 24.g3±] 21.Bxc3 0–0 22.h3 Ra4 23.Bb2 Rc8 24.Rd2 Rac4 25.c3 Ba4+ 26.Ke1 g5 27.Rd4 Rxd4 28.cxd4 g4 29.hxg4 hxg4 30.g3 Rc2 31.Kf1 Kf7!

32.Rb7+?A mistake based on a miscalculation [32.Ke1 and black cannot progress as 32...Kg6?? 33.Rxe6+ Kf5 34.Rb6 Ke4 35.Rb8 Kd3 36.Kf1 Kd2 37.Kg2 Rc7=] ( according to Jimmy, Black is winning even without Rb7+, by giving up the e-pawn . Then black can create mating threats against the white king.) (I agree with you Jimmy, 32. Ke1 didn’t improve too much to white position black can play 32...Ke7 33.Rb7+ Kd8 34.Rb6 white problem is his bishop on b2 is hanging! 34... Kd7 35.Kf1 Kc7 36.Rxe6 Rxb2] 32...Kg6 33.Ke1 Kf5 34.Rf7+ Ke4 35.Rb7 [35.Rf4+ This is the point which I had calculated as checkmate before making 32.Rb7? 35...Kd3 36.Rxg4 Rxb2 37.Kf1 Bd1 38.Rf4 (38.Rxg7 Bf3) 38...Be2+ 39.Kg2 Rb3–+]35...Kf3 36.Rf7+ Kg2 37.Rb7 Rxf2 38.Bc3 Ra2 39.Bxa5 Rxa3 40.Rxg7 Kxg3 41.Bb4
At this point it seemed that, Jimmy is going to win after all. I just wanted to avoid any unpleasant discovered attack on my Bishop. I thought to myself; why not just attack the Rook although it is very unlikely an IM will make such a mistake. Suddenly Jimmy reached his hand on his King but then pull it back. I began to get nervous and focused my view direction only towards the kingside. Then only Jimmy Liew decided to play on by..41...Kf4??I could not believe this. A blunder by Jimmy Liew. And captured his Rook quickly
[ take note Rizal, don't get too excited! according to Jimmy his last move was 41...Kf3 not 41...Kf4 :) ]42.Bxa3 and the great IM Jimmy Liew promptly resigned 1–0