Your judgement, please - Pt. 46

Retirado do site Chessbase.com.

The wrong choice of ending
27.01.2010 – In round 7 in Wijk, Nigel Short was within touching distance of a win over Ex-World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. In the position in the diagram he had to decide whether to exchange queens or to gobble up another pawn with Qxc5. Short chose 50.Qxc5, but after 50...Be6! 51.g4 Bxf5 52.Qxf5 Qb2+ the activity of the black queen turned out to be the decisive drawing factor, despite Black being two pawns behind. But how should the minor piece ending after 50.Qxf6 gxf6be evaluated? Can the extra pawn be made to tell in the struggle of knight against bishop? Yes, says GM Karsten Müller in ChessBase Magazine Online.

What should White play: 50.Qxc5 or Qxf6? Analysis Short-Kramnik by GM Karsten Müller

Your judgement, please - Pt. 45

Retirado do site Chessbase.com.

Wijk aan C
28.01.2010 – Seeing all these superstars at the Corus Tournament 2010, one can easily forget that also the C-group provides a wealth of highly interesting chess. For example this game, where White after Black's last move 23...Bg7-f6 had to parry the attack on his queen. The strike 24.Rxf5 in your opinion leads to what?
A) advantage for White;
B) balanced play;
C) advantage for Black.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

The strike 24.Rxf5 in your opinion leads to what?
A) advantage for White;
B) balanced play;
C) advantage for Black.

Your judgement, please - Pt. 44

Retirado do site Chessbase.com.

A stunning exchange sacrifice...
24.01.2010 – ...in the Marshall Attack was unleashed by Peter Leko in the 4th round in Wijk aan Zee versus Lenier Dominguez. Playing black, here he was facing the question of whether it would be advisable to immediately occupy the long diagonal with 23...Bc6 despite the riposte 24.d5, blocking it with tempo. What do you think?
A) this wins for White;
B) Black prevails;
C) the position eventually remains balanced.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

How do you assess the position after 23...Bc6 24.d5?
A) this wins for White;
B) Black prevails;
C) the position eventually remains balanced.

Magnus Carlsen: ’O garoto de meio milhão de jogadas’

Retirado do site Revista Veja.

A revista Veja publicou em sua edição de número 2149, de 27 de janeiro, reportagem sobre o GM Magnus Carlsen: ’O garoto de meio milhão de jogadas’.

Leia a reportagem na íntegra pelo link: http://veja.abril.com.br/270110/garoto-meio-milhao-jogadas-p-106.shtml

Your judgement, please - Pt. 43

Retirado do site Chessbase.com.

El caballo es mal defensor
Si tiene que actuar él solo, el caballo muchas veces tiene problemas en el final para defender uno de los flancos. Si los peones no tienen una posición muy particular que le favorezca, normalmente no suele servir para ello. A eso se debe el sacrificio de pieza 35.Txc4!? Txc4 36.Cxc4 Rxc4 37.Re4!, jugado en la partida Lock vs. Webb en el torneo magistral de Hastings. Las blancas causaron serios problemas prácticos al oponente negro. ¿Cuál es su valoración de la posición tras dicha secuencia? ¿Aún podrán empatar las negras o triunfarán los peones del bando blanco? El GM Karsten Müller ha analizado la posición para ChessBase Magazine Online...- Análisis de la partida Lock vs. Webb por el GM Karsten Müller... - DVDs de entrenamiento de finales en la tienda de ChessBase...

Las blancas intentaron 35.Txc4!? Txc4 36.Cxc4 Rxc4 37.Re4!

¿Aún podrán empatar las negras o triunfarán los peones del bando blanco?

Your judgement, please - Pt. 42

Retirado do site Chessbase.com.

To sacrifice or not to sacrifice?!
19.01.2010 – A complicated position arose during time trouble in Tomashevsky (2708) vs Fier (2653). The pawn structure leaves us in no doubt: it was a King's Indian. The sacrifice 35...Bxg4 is on the cards, but calculating through all the consequences accurately is hardly possible. What does your intuition tell you?
A) The sacrifice is unsound. Black does not get sufficient compensation.
B) The sacrifice is playable. The position remains balanced.
C) 35...Bxg4 decides the game in Black's favour.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

Black to move
How do you assess 35...Lxg4

A) The sacrifice is unsound. Black does not get sufficient compensation.
B) The sacrifice is playable. The position remains balanced.
C) 35...Bxg4 decides the game in Black's favour.

Your judgement, please - Pt. 41

Retirado do site Chessbase.com.

'The best game of the last 20 years'...
16.01.2010 – ... Jan Timman wrote about this encounter between two absolute top grandmasters of the 70s and 80s. Here Black played 21...Bb5 and later succumbed in a remarkable attack. How would you assess the position after 21...Nxc7 instead?
A) The second player maintains his plus pawn without risk;
B) White gets the advantage;
C) the result is a draw by perpetual check.

The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

How would you assess the position if Black played 21...Nxc7 in the diagrammed position?

A) The second player maintains his plus pawn without risk;
B) White gets the advantage;
C) the result is a draw by perpetual check.

Your judgement, please - Pt. 40

Retirado do site Chessbase.com.

The automatic recapture...
09.01.2010 – ... of the bishop was what White expected in this position after 25.Bxg7, yet immediately after his move he suddenly realised the possibility 25...Qxb3 26.axb3 Rba6. How would you assess the situation after that?
A) Black checkmates;
B) this eventually leads to a position with equal chances;
C) White gets the advantage.

The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

Position after 25.Bxg7

How would you assess the situation after 25...Qxb3 26.axb3 Rba6.

A) Black checkmates;
B) this eventually leads to a position with equal chances;
C) White gets the advantage.

Calendário de eventos enxadrísticos - Janeiro/2010

Retirado do site Clube de Xadrez.

Calendário de janeiro/2010

Atualizado em 05/01 às 10h41 (horário de verão) - Retrospectiva2009 - bom dia, João Paulo Mendes Parreira! - IRT da Final do Campeonato Mineiro inaugura, logo mais e com rodada dupla, o Calendário 2009 - Jornal "O Estado de São Paulo" está sob censura há 158 dias

5 a 10: IRT Final do Campeonato Mineiro Absoluto 2009 - 12 finalistas - premiação: R$600,00 ($200,00 ao campeão) - Belo Horizonte - logo mais 13h: Laerte da Carvalho x José Carlos da Silva, Lucas de Oliveira x João Paulo Marques, Frederico Gazel x Daniel Castro, Bruce Ramos x José Antonio Nery Junior, Osmar da Silva Junior x João Carlos da Costa e Gilmar Machado x MF Roberto Junio Molina. Às 18h: José Carlos x Molina, João Carlos x Gilmar, Nery Junior x Osmar, Castro x Ramos, Marques x Gazel e Laerte x Lucas. Amanhã haverá nova rodada dupla, nos mesmos horários.

8 a 10: IRT Auriberto Ticianelli - fechado, 12 jogadores - Maceió

9: 2º Torneio Início Galeria Borba Gato - premiação: R$300,00 ( $100,00 ao campeão ) - São Paulo

10: 1º torneio da série do Restaurante Frango Assado - ritmo 21 minutos - Sumaré - SP

12 a 17: 2º IRT Casa do Xadrez - fechado, 12 jogadores, 7 com rating Fide - Belo Horizonte

14 a 17: IRT Magistral Aberto Petrolina - PE

16 e 17: Campeonato Cearense Feminino 2009 - premiação: R$300,00 ( $150,00 à campeã ) - inscrições gratuitas - Fortaleza

16 e 23: 7º Aberto de Verão Galeria Borba Gato - relógio digital de xadrez ao campeão - São Paulo

16 a 24: IRT Memorial Vanderley Cason de Melo - fechado, 14 jogadores - Campinas - SP

16 a 24: IRT Campeonato Fluminense Absoluto 2009 - Rio de Janeiro

16 e 17: Semifinal e Final Feminina do Campeonato Absoluto Alto Paranaíba e Triangulo Mineiro de Xadrez Pensado 2009 - Valendo 6 vagas para a Final - 500,00 para Semifinal e 100,00 para a Final Feminina - camisetas do evento aos 30 primeiros inscritos - Araxá

17 e 18: Campeonato Cearense Feminino 2009 - inscrições gratuitas - Fortaleza

22 a 24: 2º IRT Memorial Bobby Fischer - premiação: R$2.000,00 ($800,00 ao campeão) - João Pessoa

23 e 24: Campeonato Cearense do Interior - Quixadá

24: 2º torneio da série do Restaurante Frango Assado - ritmo 1 minutos - Sumaré - SP

25: 4º Campeonato de Duplas Inter-Bairros de São Paulo

25: Torneio Relâmpago Cidade de São Paulo, agora valendo pelo Campeonato Estadual da modalidade

31: - Torneio Mensal de Xadrez do Sesc Interlagos/1ª Etapa do Grand Prix. Inscrições antecipadas até 30/01, 13 h, pelo e-mail xadrez@interlagos.sescsp.org.br

Entrevista de Magnus Carlsen a revista Time

Retirado do site Chessbase.com.

Magnus Carlsen en 'Time'
En muy poco tiempo, la prestigiosa revista "Time" ha publicado dos reportajes sobre Magnus Carlsen. El 25 de diciembre publicó una entrevista con la súper estrella de ajedrez en la cual nuevamente demostró un fino sentido de humor. Preguntado por el trágico destino de los que otrora niños prodigios Morphy y Fischer, el noruego de 19 años opinó que es fácil dejarse llevar por completo por el ajedrez, pero que por ahora no tenía la sensación de ir a volverse loco. A Magnus el ajedrez no le parece un arte, sino un tipo de combate. La meta para él siempre es vencer a su oponente y encontrar siempre las jugadas más desagradables posibles para el rival. Se suele entrenar exclusivamente en el ordenador. "A veces nos vienen a visitar a casa y piensan que deberíamos tener muchos tableros de ajedrez. Entonces les contesto: 'Puede que en alguna parte tengamos uno, pero ahora no sé muy bien, dónde está'". Ayer "Time" publicó otro retrato del noruego, titulado "A Bold Opening for Chess Player Magnus Carlsen" (Una apertura valiente para el ajedrecista Magnus Carlsen) escrito por Eben Harrell, que pueden leer en inglés en la web de Time...

Your judgement, please - Pt. 39

Retirado do site Chessbase.com.

Barriers
05.01.2010 – An active king often plays a decisive part in rook endings. If it can support a passed pawn in its advance, then the king and pawn form an extremely deadly duo. So the ability of the rook to cut off the king horizontally or vertically from one of the theatres of war and thus to restrict its activity is an important weapon in the arsenal of endgame technique. Karsten Müller has selected a recent endgame in which the theme of the barrier and the struggle against it are in the foreground.

Analysis of Brynell-Popov for ChessBase Magazine Online.

Position after 73...Re4

The strongest players of all time

Retirado do site Chessbase.com.

05.01.2010 – According to the current FIDE rankings Magnus Carlsen is the strongest player in the world. But his rating of 2810 is not the highest ever. That was achieved by Garry Kasparov, who in the July 1999 FIDE list reached 2851 points. Two other players have at some stage had higher ratings than Magnus. Here's a list of all Super-GMs (over 2700) and their top ratings.

Top Ratings of Super-GM

Three years ago Przemek Jahr of Pila, Poland, sent us a list of all players who had reached a rating of 2700 or higher, giving their highest ever ratings and the year and the FIDE list in which it was achieved. Chess fan Kostantin Ikonomovski of Jankovec, Macedonia, has been updating this list meticulously and sent us the latest version that incorporates all list up to the January 1st 2010 FIDE rankings.

Konstantin is a member of the amater team of Alkaloid for many years; "That meant that I used to have four extra vacations every year on company expences," he writes, "always in some wonderful places throughout the former Yugoslavia. I carry beautiful memories of this."

Top ten players of all time

The highest rating ever, by Garry Kasparov, is 38 points more than any other player in history. Five players have crossed the 2800 mark, five players have come within twenty points of it. Here's the complete table.

Super-GMs who achieved a 2700 or higher rating

#	Surname, Name	Nat.	Born	Max	When	01.10
1	Kasparov, Garry	RUS	1963	2851	1999.07	2812
2	Topalov, Veselin	BUL	1975	2813	2006.07	2805
3	Kramnik, Vladimir	RUS	1975	2811	2002.01	2788
4	Carlsen, Magnus	NOR	1990	2810	2010.01	2810
5	Anand, Viswanathan	IND	1969	2803	2006.04	2790
6	Morozevich, Alexander	RUS	1977	2788	2008.07	2732
7	Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	1969	2787	2007.10	2749
8	Aronian, Levon	ARM	1982	2786	2009.11	2781
9	Fischer, Robert	USA	1942	2785	1972.04	2785
10	Karpov, Anatoly	RUS	1951	2780	1994.07	2619
11	Svidler, Peter	RUS	1976	2765	2006.01	2744
12	Leko, Peter	HUN	1979	2763	2005.04	2739
13	Radjabov, Teimour	AZE	1987	2761	2009.01	2733
14	Gelfand, Boris	ISR	1968	2761	2010.01	2761
15	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	AZE	1985	2760	2008.01	2741
16	Jakovenko, Dmitry	RUS	1983	2760	2009.01	2730
17	Gashimov, Vugar	AZE	1986	2759	2010.01	2759
18	Shirov, Alexei	ESP	1972	2755	2008.01	2723
19	Adams, Michael	ENG	1971	2755	2000.07	2694
20	Movsesian, Sergei	SVK	1978	2751	2009.01	2704
21	Grischuk, Alexander	RUS	1983	2750	2009.04	2736
22	Wang, Yue	CHN	1987	2749	2010.01	2749
23	Kamsky, Gata	USA	1974	2745	1996.07	2693
24	Ponomariov, Ruslan	UKR	1983	2743	2002.04	2737
25	Bareev, Evgeny	RUS	1966	2739	2003.10	2643
36	Eljanov, Pavel	UKR	1983	2736	2010.01	2736
27	Polgar, Judith	HUN	1976	2735	2005.07	2682
28	Nakamura, Hikaru	USA	1987	2735	2009.09	2708
29	Karjakin Sergey	RUS	1990	2732	2008.01	2720
30	Bacrot, Etienne	FRA	1983	2731	2005.04	2713
31	Vachier-Laqrave, Maxime	FRA	1990	2730	2010.01	2730
32	Navara, David	CZE	1985	2725	2006.10	2708
33	Alekseev, Evgeny	RUS	1985	2725	2009.09	2703
34	Ni, Hua	CHN	1983	2724	2009.04	2657
35	Dominguez Perez, Lenier	CUB	1983	2721	2009.04	2712
36	Malakhov, Vladimir	RUS	1980	2716	2009.09	2716
37	Salov, Valery	RUS	1964	2715	1995.01	2644
38	Wang Hao	CHN	1989	2715	2010.01	2715
39	Van Wely, Loek	NED	1972	2714	2001.10	2652
40	Bu, Xiangzhi	CHN	1985	2714	2008.10	2682
41	Akopian, Vladimir	ARM	1971	2713	2006.07	2700
42	Cheparinov, Ivan	BUL	1986	2713	2008.01	2660
43	Short, Nigel	ENG	1965	2712	2004.04	2707
44	Sasikiran, Krishnan	IND	1981	2711	2009.01	2664
45	Vellejo-Pons Francisco	ESP	1982	2711	2009.11	2711
46	Beliavsky, Alexander	SLO	1953	2710	1997.07	2657
47	Motylev Alexander	RUS	1979	2710	2009.07	2697
48	Almasi Zoltan	HUN	1976	2710	2010.01	2710
49	Tomashevsky Evgeny	RUS	1987	2708	2009.11	2705
50	Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	ROM	1976	2707	2005.10	2681
51	Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	UZB	1979	2706	2001.10	2702
52	Sokolov, Ivan	BIH	1968	2706	2004.01	2649
53	Tal, Mikhail	LAT	1936	2705	1980.01	2705
54	Dreev, Alexey	RUS	1969	2705	2003.10	2650
55	Milov, Vadim	SUI	1972	2705	2008.07	2644
56	Jabava Baadur	GEO	1983	2704	2010.01	2704
57	Rublevski, Sergei	RUS	1974	2703	2009.07	2697
58	Krasenkow, Michal	POL	1963	2702	2000.07	2656
59	Smirin, Ilia	ISR	1966	2702	2001.07	2668
60	Khalifman, Alexander	RUS	1968	2702	2001.10	2616
61	Azmaiparashvili, Zurab	GEO	1960	2702	2003.07	2637
62	Bologan, Viktor	MDA	1971	2700	2005.04	2692
63	Tiviakov, Sergei	NED	1973	2700	2005.10	2662
64	Naiditsch Arkadij	GER	1985	2700	2008-04	2687

Colour codes: Veteran active, Retired, Deceased

Your judgement, please - Pt. 38

Retirado do site Chessbase.com.

The huge space advantage...
01.01.2010 – ... of White in the diagram position was obvious, yet with 24...Qb6 Black had produced the double threat 25...Bxa3 and 25...Nxe5 26.Bxe5 Rxe5. How would you assess the position now?
A) White can win material;
B) he is optically better, but there is nothing concrete;
C) looks are deceptive, the first player is on the defence.

The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

Position after 24...Qb6
A) White can win material;
B) he is optically better, but there is nothing concrete;
C) looks are deceptive, the first player is on the defence.