 "Chess (#1177)")
FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov's friendships have often been controversial. He used to play chess with the late Muammar Gaddafi. Now it's his Assad connection. Kirsan was in Syria sometime ago, opening chess clubs in Aleppo and Damascus and donating chess sets.
This may have triggered the US Treasury Department sanctions inhibiting his freedom. The next world title match is to be played in the US in October 2016. But Kirsan had to cancel a trip to the US where he was to negotiate match details. In a TV interview to a Russian channel, Kirsan claimed his Syrian connections are purely about chess.
The December FIDE list confirms that Anish Giri is the #8 candidate. The Dutch GM had an average rating of 2787 through 2015, while Vladimir Kramnik (averaged 2783) is next. Magnus Carlsen has had a poor year by his standards. The world champion remains comfortably at #1. But his rating has slumped from a June 2015 high of 2876 to 2834, which is the lowest he's been rated since 2011. However, only Fabiano Caruana (peak of 2844 in October 2014 ) and the long-retired Garry Kasparov (2851 lifetime peak) have ever exceeded Carlsen's current rating.
Meanwhile, 16-year-old Murali Karthikeyan showed splendid fighting spirit to win the national championship. The young GM started with 0/2 and lost in the final round. But he picked up the pace in-between to score 8.5 points from 13 games. This fetched gold ahead of Vidit Gujrathi (8.5) who took silver. S P Sethuraman (8) was third. Gujrathi's only loss was against Karthikeyan.
The Chinese federation has adopted the World Cup format with its mini-matches and knockouts, with two sets of eight players (in open and women's events). The fabulous Wei Yi beat Bu Xiangzhi in the Open, with a fantastic combination while Tan Zhongyi beat Ju Wenjun in the women's event.
In the Diagram, WHITE TO PLAY (White: Wei,Yi Vs Black: Bu,Xiangzhi, China Kings Match 2015), black is near a breakthrough. But White come first, after 39.Rxh7!! Qxh7 [forced - 39...Kxh7 40.Rh1+ Kg8 41.f7+ Kxf7 42.Rh7+ Ke8 43.Qh8# is easy]
40.Qxb6 [Although 40...Rxc2? 41.Qd8+ Kf7 42.Qe7+ Kg8 43.Qe8# is lost, It's hard to believe white has enough in this line] But the engines say White has a win.
Black played 40...Qf7 41.Rh1 Ra8 [Or 41...Qxf6 42.Qb8+ Qf8 43.Rh8+!] 42.Bd1 Qxf6 43.Bg4 Re8 [Maybe 43...Qxf2+ 44.Qxf2 Raa2! 45.Qxb2 Rxb2+ 46.Kf3 Rxb3+ 47.Kf4 Kg7 48.e5 dxe5+ 49.Kxe5 is a vertical chance]. Now white finished with 44.Qa7 Qe5 45.Rh7 Rxf2+ 46.Kxf2 Rf8+ 47.Kg2 Qxe4+ 48.Kh2 Rf2+ 49.Qxf2 Kxh7 50.Qf7+ Kh8 51.Qf4 Qc2+ 52.Kh3 Kg7 [Or 52...cxb3 53.Qh6+ Kg8 54.Be6#]
53.Qd4+ Kh7 54.Qxc4 Qf2 55.Qf4 Qg1 56.Qf3 (1-0).
Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player
This may have triggered the US Treasury Department sanctions inhibiting his freedom. The next world title match is to be played in the US in October 2016. But Kirsan had to cancel a trip to the US where he was to negotiate match details. In a TV interview to a Russian channel, Kirsan claimed his Syrian connections are purely about chess.
The December FIDE list confirms that Anish Giri is the #8 candidate. The Dutch GM had an average rating of 2787 through 2015, while Vladimir Kramnik (averaged 2783) is next. Magnus Carlsen has had a poor year by his standards. The world champion remains comfortably at #1. But his rating has slumped from a June 2015 high of 2876 to 2834, which is the lowest he's been rated since 2011. However, only Fabiano Caruana (peak of 2844 in October 2014 ) and the long-retired Garry Kasparov (2851 lifetime peak) have ever exceeded Carlsen's current rating.
Meanwhile, 16-year-old Murali Karthikeyan showed splendid fighting spirit to win the national championship. The young GM started with 0/2 and lost in the final round. But he picked up the pace in-between to score 8.5 points from 13 games. This fetched gold ahead of Vidit Gujrathi (8.5) who took silver. S P Sethuraman (8) was third. Gujrathi's only loss was against Karthikeyan.
The Chinese federation has adopted the World Cup format with its mini-matches and knockouts, with two sets of eight players (in open and women's events). The fabulous Wei Yi beat Bu Xiangzhi in the Open, with a fantastic combination while Tan Zhongyi beat Ju Wenjun in the women's event.
In the Diagram, WHITE TO PLAY (White: Wei,Yi Vs Black: Bu,Xiangzhi, China Kings Match 2015), black is near a breakthrough. But White come first, after 39.Rxh7!! Qxh7 [forced - 39...Kxh7 40.Rh1+ Kg8 41.f7+ Kxf7 42.Rh7+ Ke8 43.Qh8# is easy]
40.Qxb6 [Although 40...Rxc2? 41.Qd8+ Kf7 42.Qe7+ Kg8 43.Qe8# is lost, It's hard to believe white has enough in this line] But the engines say White has a win.
Black played 40...Qf7 41.Rh1 Ra8 [Or 41...Qxf6 42.Qb8+ Qf8 43.Rh8+!] 42.Bd1 Qxf6 43.Bg4 Re8 [Maybe 43...Qxf2+ 44.Qxf2 Raa2! 45.Qxb2 Rxb2+ 46.Kf3 Rxb3+ 47.Kf4 Kg7 48.e5 dxe5+ 49.Kxe5 is a vertical chance]. Now white finished with 44.Qa7 Qe5 45.Rh7 Rxf2+ 46.Kxf2 Rf8+ 47.Kg2 Qxe4+ 48.Kh2 Rf2+ 49.Qxf2 Kxh7 50.Qf7+ Kh8 51.Qf4 Qc2+ 52.Kh3 Kg7 [Or 52...cxb3 53.Qh6+ Kg8 54.Be6#]
53.Qd4+ Kh7 54.Qxc4 Qf2 55.Qf4 Qg1 56.Qf3 (1-0).
Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player