Tournaments
-
Botswana added to list of visa troubles
Given that African federations raised the possibility of visa troubles in Germany at the 2004 FIDE General Assembly, the Dresden organizers should have forseen the current debacles. Botswana is the latest of African nations to have visa problems to attend the 2008 Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany. The tournament starts…
Read More » -
World Chess Beat (November 2008)
World Blitz Championship (November 7th-8th, Almaty, Kazahkstan) Cuban Grandmaster Lenier Domínguez Pérez (right) won the title with a dominating performance of 11.5/15. While not the favorite in a powerful field, it is not surprising that Dominguez had a good result. Cubans are typically fond of blitz and Dominguez showed his…
Read More » -
Ethiopians denied German Visas!
BREAKING NEWS!! Ethiopians denied visas for Olympiad! Kebadu Belachew has lobbied for the past four months for funding to send an Ethiopian contingent to the Chess Olympiad in Dresden. Initially, Ethiopia had been barred due to arrears in FIDE dues. After negotiating with FIDE, it was agreed that they would…
Read More » -
Uganda seeking support for Olympiad
A couple of weeks ago a story broke here about FIDE disqualifying three African federations, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uganda. Each federation has had tremendous challenges assembling teams, but recent developments has clear the teams for the biennial event to be held in Dresden, Germany. After a conference of FIDE officials…
Read More » -
Nakamura in Cap D’Agde Finals!
One of the strongest rapid events is coming to a close today in France and 20-year old Hikaru Nakamura will face Vassily Ivanchuk in the finals. This will be Nakamura’s biggest test of his career after having beat former World Champion Anatoly Karpov in the semi-final match. For the last…
Read More » -
WCC 2008: Anand retains title!!
Viswanathan Anand of India has retained his world championship title by accepting a draw from Vladimir Kramnik.This World Chess Championship further unifies the championship cycle using the match system The game was surprising in that all the games had begun with 1.d4, but Anand trotted out his traditional 1.e4. There…
Read More » -
WCC 2008: Kramnik crushes Anand, closes gap
Vladimir Kramnik came roaring back with a convincing victory over Viswanathan Anand in an interesting Nimzo-Indian. All pundits were speculating that Anand could close the deal with a draw, but the game entered a sharp middlegame where Anand went astray and his position collapsed in only a few moves. It…
Read More » -
WCC 2008: Anand escapes, holds +3
Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik pawn off. Photo by Frederic Friedel (ChessBase). “I thought I was lost,” stated Viswanathan Anand during the press conference of the World Chess Championship in Bonn, Germany. Indeed. Fans near and far thought this was Vladimir Kramnik’s chance to close the gap. There are a…
Read More » -
WCC 2008: Kramnik has failed to break through
Vladimir Kramnik went into this highly-anticipated match with a reputation as a superb match player. While his reputation is more legend than fact (having lost several matches), he is the only player to have beaten Garry Kasparov in a match. Kramnik was actually a slight favorite in this match, but…
Read More »
