Chess (July): Magnus wins Tal Memorial, tops ratings list [View all]

[Jack Rabbit]

Last edited Sun Jul 1, 2012, 02:07 PM - Edit history (1)

The JR Chess Report and Gloat Free Scores theme music: Merrick, The Look Sharp, Be Sharp March (From a broadcast of The Gillette Cavalcade of Spots).

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[font size="4"]Magnus wins Tal Memorial with last round victory[/font]


[font size="1"]Portrait of Tal on his gravestone cropped from a photo by Unlikelylads in Wikipedia (Public Domain)
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Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, still the number one player in the world, defeated Britain's Luke McShane in the ninth and final round of the seventh Tal Memorial Tournament in Moscow on June 18 to take first place alone.

The last round starded with Magnus Italian national champion and American teenager Fabiano Caruana by a half point, but, while Magnus was beating McShane, il sengore Caruana lost his game to the number two player in the world, Armenian GM Levon Aronian, allowing Magnus to leapfrog over Fabiano in the standings. GM Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan finished equal with Fabiano in second place.

Magnus scored 5½ points, an unusually low score to win a nine-round tournament, even one as strong as this year's Tal. Magnus drew his first four games before taking a game in the fifth round from Radjabov, then drew his next three game before the final round with McShane.


[font size="4"]Anna Muzychuk, Koneru share first in Kazan[/font]


[font size="1"]Photo by Luigi Versaggi in Wikipedia Commons (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kazan)
(Creative Commons License, Attribution/Share Alike)
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Grandmaster Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia by way of Ukraine and Indian grandmaster Koneru Humpy shared first place in the fourth leg of the 2011-12 FIDE women's Grand Prix in Kazan, Russia, which ended after eleven rounds on June 22.

Both ladies won four game and drew seven for a totla of 7½ points. Anna Olegivna won her final game against Nadezhda Kosintseva to catch Susti Koneru in the standings.

Reigning world women's champion Hou Yifan of China and Viktorija Cmilyte of Lithuania tied for third place with 7 points each.

As a result of her equal first finish in Kazan, Anna Olegivna's star rises considerably. She became only the fourth woman to break the 2600 rating barrier behind Judit Polgar, Hou and Koneru and she is now a clear third just behind Hou in the July ratings.


[font size="4"]Bu Xiangzhi, Ni Hua take Danzhou Masters[/font]


[font size="1"]Photo by Nicolas Perrault (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Nicolas_M._Perrault] in Wikipedia
(Public Domain)
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Gandmasters Bu Xiangzhi and Ni Hua shared first place in the third annual Danzhou Masters Tournament in Danzhou on the island of Hainan in China in play that completed June 7.

Both men won three games and drew six in nine rounds.

Reigning Chinese national champion Ding Liren, Yu Yangyi and Wen Yang finished tied for third a point behind the leaders.


[font size="4"]Clichy wins French Team Championship[/font]


[font size="1"]From Wikipedia Commons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eugène_Delacroix_-_La_liberté_guidant_le_peuple.jpg)
(Public Domain)
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The 2012 French Team Championships were won by the team from Clichy, winning each of its matches in ten rounds in competition completed in Belfort on June 10.

The team from Chalons, where an allied army of Romans under Flavius Aetius and Visigoths under King Theodoric defeated the Huns under the command of Attila, finished second. A team from Evry and the defending champions from Marseille tie for third.

Indiviual scording leaders were Michael Krasenkow and Natacha Benmesbah, who both played for Chalons, with 9 out of ten each.


[font size="4"]Other News[/font]

Ten win births in Russian Championships in Tyumen From ChessBase.com, this report.

Banza Kings Tournament in Transylvania Postponed Read all about it (Chess.com).

Magnus still number 1 in FIDE July ratings This just in . . . FIDE's official top 100 list here.