The DDL Topco Juices Chess Tournament began yesterday at the Kei-Shar’s Sports Club. The eight round swiss system tournament will be played in a junior and a senior category. For the juniors, the tournament is being used as a qualifier for the upcoming national chess championships. DDL has also sponsored the qualifiers for the seniors, and this tournament will be played shortly.
The seven top finishers among the juniors will gain automatic entry to the nationals. Queen’s College student Cecil Cox is the current national champion, and, therefore, has been seeded to the nationals. Among the favourites for the top seven finishers are the Motilall brothers, Ron and Raan, Saeed Ali, Kana Khan, Khalil Gajraj, Rashad Hussein, Sham Khan and Sheriffa Ali.
Within the senior rank, Taffin Khan is the favourite to take first. Recently, Taffin has been winning the local tournaments, and with his UMADA Cup experience in Trinidad and Tobago, he should emerge victorious. His opposition should come from Webster, who placed second in the last tournament, Nandalall, who gave a sterling performance in the FIDE-rated tournament, and a few others who have not been consistent with their performances this year but who could surprise their opponents at the most unlikely moment. The tournament promises to be a rigorous one for both the juniors and seniors.
In international chess, Norweigan teenage prodigy Magnus Carlsen defeated world champion Vishy Anand in the Arctic Securities Rapid Tournament. This was a huge game for the chess world because Carlsen is the highest rated player in the world at 2826, and Anand is the current world champion (2800). On September 10, as part of his fashion promotion for G-Star, Carlsen will play a one day match against the Rest-of-the-World at the Cooper Star Hotel in New York City. It’s a one day match in which registered users can play against the world’s highest-ranked grandmaster.
Carlsen’s opponents will receive coaching as they play from top French player, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, US’s Hikaru Nakamura and Hungarian grandmaster Judit Polgar, the strongest female player in the history of the game. Garry Kasparov will be present as an ambassador for the event. Kasparov has said: “Having chess tournaments back in the main cities of the world should be a priority for the World Chess Federation and it’s great to see the Raw World Chess Challenge taking place in the spectacular surroundings of New York City. I know from my own internet match versus a world team in 1999 that the combination of expert advisers and the knowledge of the masses is a hard nut to crack, and the Raw World Chess Challenge’s short time limit will bring extra intensity to the game. As an Ambassador for the Challenge, I will try and stay neutral, but I promise to give a few tips to the world team ‘live’ from the studio on the tenth of September.”
Reporting live from the event will be Jamaica-born grandmaster and chess teacher Maurice Ashley.
Carlsen v Anand
The Arctic Securities Chess Stars Rapid Tournament took place in Norway a week ago. It was a double round robin with four players: world champion Vishy Anand; Magnus Carlsen, the number one ranked player in the world; Judit Polgar, one of the strongest female players in the world and Jon Ludvig Hammer. The time controls were 20 minutes per player per game plus a 10 second increment after each move.
Anand and Carlsen met in the finals in a Queen Pawn game.
Carlsen, M (2826) – Anand, V (2800)
Arctic Stars Final Kristiansund NOR (1), 30.8.2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 0-0 5.Bg2 c6 6.0-0 d5 7.Nbd2 Bf5 8.b3 Ne4 9.Bb2 Na6!? 10.Nh4 Nxd2 11.Qxd2 Be6 12.Rac1 Qd7 13.Nf3 Rfd8 14.Rfd1 Nc7 15.Qa5 Ne8 16.e3 Bg4 17.Rd2 Bxf3 18.Bxf3 e6 19.Rdc2 Nd6 20.a4 f5 21.Qe1 a5? 22.Bc3?! dxc4 23.Bxa5 cxb3 24.Rb2 Rdc8 25.Rxb3 Bf8 26.Rcb1 Ra7 27.Kg2 Nc4 28.Bb4 Bxb4 29.Rxb4 Nd6 30.Qc3 Rca8 31.Qc2 Ra6 32.h4 h5 33.e4! R8a7 34.exf5 Nxf5 35.Re1 Ra5 36.Qb3 Kf7 37.Re4?! Ne7 38.Qc2 Nd5 39.Rc4 Ra8 40.Re5! Ne7
41.Bxh5! Rxe5 42.dxe5 Qd5+ 43.Bf3 Qxe5 44.Re4 Qd6 45.h5! Rf8 46.Qb2 b5 47.axb5 cxb5 48.Qxb5 Nf5 49.Qb7+ Kf6 50.Qh7 gxh5 51.Bxh5 Qd5 52.Bf3 Qd2 53.g4 Ng7 54. g5+ ! Black Resigns. 1—0.
