Online Qualifiers and Updated Articles

I have expanded upon my articles on correspondence chess and playing chess online. The CC article now includes a list of advantages of correspondence and I also have revised some of the technical details.

Apart from revising the online chess article, I also added a new section on online qualifying tournaments. The text makes reference to the Gibtelecom Chess Festival and Dos Hermanas, but there is actually a series of qualifying tournaments on right now. Running on the weekend of May 28th-30th, Internet Chess Club members can take part in the Arctic Chess Challenge qualifier with the winner receiving automatic invite, air fare, hotel & breakfast and 400 ($485) euro cash prize! There will also be an additional $700 on offer for prizes on the ICC during the online qualifier.

Click here for more information about the Arctic Chess Challenge 2010.

Anand Wins World Championship

Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (2787, IND) retained the World Championship title by successfully defending it against challenger Veselin Topalov (2805, BUL). I remember watching the 12th game online last night. Anand and Topalov were on an equal score. The opening was the Queen's Gambit Declined and the middlegame looked very drawish to me. I went to sleep fully expecting that the game was drawn and the World Championship would be taken into extra tie-break games, but I was surprised today to learn that Anand had won. He had played ambitiously against Topalov's passive play and was able to break through.

Here are the final results (click the image to enlarge):



I will give an overview of all the games shortly. Watch my 2010 Topalov-Anand World Chess Championship page for any updates. Currently, I have discussed 6 of the games from the WCC, and I will add the other 6 very soon.

Lilienthal passes away at 99

Hungarian Grandmaster Andor Lilienthal (1911-2010) passed away yesterday at the age of 99. Born in Moscow, he spent the vast majority of his life in Hungary. He has scored wins against World Champions José Raúl Capablanca, Emanuel Lasker, Vasily Smyslov, Max Euwe and Mikhail Botvinnik, and has also beaten other greats such as Najdorf, Tartakower, Bronstein and Taimanov. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living grandmaster, and the last surviving person from the original group of grandmasters awarded the title by FIDE in 1950.

Click here to see ChessBase's tribute article to Andor Arnoldovich Lilienthal.

Midway into Topalov-Anand World Championship

We are halfway through the 2010 Topalov-Anand World Chess Championship. Anand is currently leading 3.5-2.5. His early opening deviations (from previous games in the same match), aiming to bypass Topalov's preparation, are working well for him.



(Click image for enlargement.)

I have written a summary of all the games of the match so far. This summary page will be updated again at the end of the match.