Ju Wenjun 1st Hangzhou Champion

Chinese is quick generationing their ladies player. Ju Wenjun (b.1991) is now very likely a new serious force as she just put the 1st Hangzhou Chess trophy to her wardrobe. Ju Wenjun was also a 2010 Chinese Champion. Still a WGM, Ju killed off Nana, Anna and Yifan, then drew all the rest combatant. Final result in Hangzhou:

Final standings:


1 WGM Ju Wenjun CHN 2515 - 6.5
2 IM Harika Dronavalli IND 2513 - 5.5
3 GM Zhao Xue CHN 2470 - 5
4 GM Kosintseva Nadezhda RUS 2560 - 5
5 GM Zhu Chen QAT 2485 - 4.5
6 GM Hou Yifan CHN 2575 - 4.5
7 GM Sebag Marie FRA 2510 - 4.5
8 GM Dzagnidze Nana GEO 2537 - 4
9 GM Kosintseva Tatiana RUS 2557 - 3
10 IM Zatonskih Anna USA 2522 - 2.5

For a gift of second place, Harika Dronavalli is now a GM!

Chess World Cup 2011-Megaranto to challenge Le Quang Liem

Round 1 pairing has been released for Chess World Cup 2011. I highlight some interesting pairing base on fame and rating. UPDATED. Megaranto will play Le Quang Liem. Not a very nice pairing for me, because two of my favorite player should eliminated each other in round 1.

GM Judith Polgar will play for first time (?), officially against Woman Champion GM Hou Yifan, who happened also one of the highest elo rating woman on earth. Also in our dream now, the updated pairing listed GM Movsesian as Hou Yifan opponents, and Judith to play Fidel Corales of Cuban.

Round 1 Pairing - Chess World Cup 2011 (UPDATED)

1 GM Karjakin, Sergey RUS - IM Kaabi, Mejdi TUN

2 GM Ivanchuk, Vassily UKR - FM Steel, Henry Robert RSA
3 GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar AZE - Ibrahim, Hatim EGY
4 GM Ponomariov, Ruslan UKR - IM Gwaze, Robert ZIM
5 GM Gashimov, Vugar AZE - IM Hansen, Eric CAN
6 GM Grischuk, Alexander RUS - IM Genba, Vladimir RUS
7 GM Radjabov, Teimour AZE - GM De La Paz Perdomo, Frank CUB
8 GM Kamsky, Gata USA - IM Di Berardino, Diego Rafael BRA

9 GM Svidler, Peter RUS - GM Salem, A.R. Saleh UAE
10 GM Jakovenko, Dmitry RUS - GM Lima, Darcy BRA
11 GM Vitiugov, Nikita RUS - GM Bezgodov, Alexei RUS
12 GM Almasi, Zoltan HUN - GM El Gindy, Essam EGY
13 GM Vallejo Pons, Francisco ESP - GM Cori, Jorge PER
14 GM Navara, David CZE - GM Kabanov, Nikolai RUS
15 GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime FRA - GM Rahman, Ziaur BAN
16 GM Dominguez Perez, Leinier CUB - GM Moradiabadi, Elshan IRI

17 GM Wang, Hao CHN - GM Ivanov, Alexander USA
18 GM Leko, Peter HUN - GM Shankland, Samuel L USA
19 GM Moiseenko, Alexander UKR - GM Esen, Baris TUR
20 GM Le, Quang Liem VIE - GM Megaranto, Susanto INA
Megaranto listed previously against Michael Adams, this updated pairing is not a very nice one for SE Asian chess fans. Both should know each other more now, the games is coming up months ahead, with a short time perhaps it is better to have a known opponent. Only Utut Adianto and Megaranto to enter KO World Cup for Indonesia, in 2004 Utut historical KO Alexey to enter round 2.

21 GM Adams, Michael ENG - GM Paragua, Mark PHI
22 GM Shirov, Alexei ESP - GM Leon Hoyos, Manuel MEX
23 GM Jobava, Baadur GEO - GM Guliyev, Namig AZE
24 GM Caruana, Fabiano ITA - GM Pridorozhni, Aleksei RUS

25 GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian RUS - IM Ortiz Suarez, Isan Reynald CUB
26 GM Bacrot, Etienne FRA - GM Robson, Ray USA
27 GM Wang, Yue CHN - GM Fier, Alexandr BRA
28 GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny RUS - GM Zhao, Zong-Yuan AUS
29 GM Efimenko, Zahar UKR - GM Babula, Vlastimil CZE
30 GM Malakhov, Vladimir RUS - GM Felgaer, Ruben ARG
31 GM Sutovsky, Emil ISR - GM Vorobiov, Evgeny E. RUS
32 GM Movsesian, Sergei ARM - GM Hou, Yifan CHN

33 GM Polgar, Judit HUN - GM Corrales Jimenez, Fidel CUB
34 GM Fressinet, Laurent FRA - GM Jumabayev, Rinat KAZ
35 GM Eljanov, Pavel UKR - GM Zherebukh, Yaroslav UKR
36 GM Berkes, Ferenc HUN - GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas KAZ
37 GM Andreikin, Dmitry RUS - GM Mareco, Sandro ARG
38 GM Morozevich, Alexander RUS - GM Halkias, Stelios GRE
39 GM Zhigalko, Sergei BLR - GM Filippov, Anton UZB
40 GM Riazantsev, Alexander RUS - GM Bluvshtein, Mark CAN

41 GM Motylev, Alexander RUS - GM Drozdovskij, Yuri UKR
42 GM Wojtaszek, Radoslaw POL - GM Pashikian, Arman ARM
43 GM Potkin, Vladimir RUS - GM Shulman, Yuri USA
44 GM Nielsen, Peter Heine DEN - GM Postny, Evgeny ISR
45 GM Grachev, Boris RUS - GM Romanov, Evgeny RUS
46 GM Inarkiev, Ernesto RUS - GM Salgado Lopez, Ivan ESP
47 GM Mamedov, Rauf AZE - GM Gupta, Abhijeet IND
48 GM Kobalia, Mikhail RUS - GM Lysyj, Igor RUS

49 GM Bologan, Viktor MDA - GM Adly, Ahmed EGY
50 GM Bu, Xiangzhi CHN - GM Socko, Bartosz POL
51 GM Onischuk, Alexander USA - GM Ivanisevic, Ivan SRB
52 GM Bruzon Batista, Lazaro CUB - GM Quesada Perez, Yuniesky CUB
53 GM Yu, Yangyi CHN - GM Parligras, Mircea-Emilian ROU
54 GM Korobov, Anton UKR - GM Zhou, Jianchao CHN
55 GM Harikrishna, P. IND - GM Rodshtein, Maxim ISR
56 GM Li, Chao b CHN - GM Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son VIE

57 GM Kasimdzhanov, Rustam UZB - GM Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter ROU
58 GM Akopian, Vladimir ARM - GM Negi, Parimarjan IND
59 GM Feller, Sebastien FRA - GM Iordachescu, Viorel MDA
60 GM Timofeev, Artyom RUS - GM Azarov, Sergei BLR
61 GM Ni, Hua CHN - GM Khairullin, Ildar RUS
62 GM Fridman, Daniel GER - GM Lupulescu, Constantin ROU
63 GM Alekseev, Evgeny RUS - GM Ragger, Markus AUT

64. GM So, Wesley PHI - GM Ding, Liren CHN
Ding is one of So competitor in Asia realm of chess. Both should know a handy knowledge to each other.Previous So vs Ding match went not well for the So, Ding will need to think hard to avoid  a revenge.

2011 Fide Women GP and World Team Championship in China

Two very strong chess event started in July on Mainland China soil. The Women's FIDE GP started earlier in Hangzhou. Ju Wenjun, this young Chinese champion top the standing after four rounds ahead of World Champion Hou Yifan. USA champion Anna Zatonskih who rarely got into this GP business must survive and now at the bottom of standing . See tournament chess-result page here.

The second top tournament located in Ningbo, south of Shanghai. Only one female presented in this city though, that is Judith Polgar playing for Hungary in a TEAM WORLD Championship. The line up countries are:
1.China (host country)

2.Russia (winner 2009)
3.Ukraine (Olympiad 2010)
4.Israel (Olympiad 2010)
5.Hungary (Olympiad 2010)
6.Azerbaijan (Europe qualifier)
7.India (Asia qualifier)
8.USA (America's qualifier)
9.Egypt (African qualifier)
10.Armenia (FIDE President's nomination)

See http://ningbo2011.fide.com/

Chess World Cup 2011 Qualifiers

UPDATED World Cup 2011 Qualifiers:



From World Cup 2009:
01. R. Ponomariov (UKR)
02. V. Malakhov (RUS)
03. S. Karjakin (RUS)

b) Women's World Champion 2010:
04. Hou Yifan (CHN)

c) Junior World Champions 2009 and 2010:
05. M. Vachier-Lagrave (FRA)
06. D. Andreikin (RUS)

d) From FIDE Rating List, 20 players, average 7/2010 and 1/2011:
07. A. Grischuk (RUS) 2766,50
08. S. Mamedyarov (AZE) 2766,50
09. V. Ivanchuk (UKR) 2751,50
10. T. Radjabov (AZE) 2746,00
11. P. Eljanov (UKR) 2739,50
12. A. Shirov (ESP) 2735,50
13. P. Svidler (RUS) 2732,00
14. V. Gashimov (AZE) 2727,50
15. Wang Hao (CHN) 2727,50
16. P. Leko (HUN) 2725,50
17. Wang Yue (CHN) 2725,00
18. D. Jakovenko (RUS) 2722,00
19. G. Kamsky (USA) 2721,50
20. E. Bacrot (FRA) 2721,50
21. D. Navara (CZE) 2719,50
22. L. Dominguez (CUB) 2716,00
23. N. Vitiugov (RUS) 2715,00
24. M. Adams (ENG) 2714,50
25. F. Caruana (ITA) 2709,00
26. A. Morozevich (RUS) 2707,50
27. L. Fressinet (FRA) 2702,00
28. F. Vallejo Pons (ESP) 2697,50

e) 46 players from European Championships 2010 and 2011
29. I. Nepomniachtchi (RUS) 2010
30. B. Jobava (GEO) 2010
31. A. Timofeev (RUS) 2010
32. Z. Efimenko (UKR) 2010
33. I. Lysyj (RUS) 2010
34. Z. Almasi (HUN) 2010
35. E. Tomashevsky (RUS) 2010
36. M. Rodshtein (ISR) 2010
37. I. Salgado Lopez (ESP) 2010
38. A. Pashikian (ARM) 2010
39. R. Mamedov (AZE) 2010
40. S. Movsesian (ARM) 2010
41. V. Akopian (ARM) 2010
42. E. Alekseev (RUS) 2010
43. S. Halkias (GRE) 2010
44. F. Berkes (HUN) 2010
45. V. Potkin (RUS) 2010
46. B. Grachev (RUS) 2010
47. B. Socko (POL) 2010
48. L. Nisipeanu (ROU) 2010
49. E. Vorobiov (RUS) 2010
50. Y. Drozdovskij (UKR) 2010
51. V. Babula (CZE) 2010
52. R. Wojtaszek (POL) 2011
53. J. Polgar (HUN) 2011
54. A. Moiseenko (UKR) 2011
55. M. Ragger (AUT) 2011
56. S. Feller (FRA) 2011
57. S. Zhigalko (BLR) 2011
58. A. Korobov (UKR) 2011
59. E. Inarkiev (RUS) 2011
60. E. Postny (ISR) 2011
61. S. Azarov (BLR) 2011
62. I. Khairullin (RUS) 2011
63. M. Kobalia (RUS) 2011
64. N. Guliyev (AZE) 2011
65. Y. Zherebukh (UKR) 2011
66. A. Riazantsev (RUS) 2011
67. V. Iordachescu (MDA) 2011
68. C. Lupulescu (ROU) 2011
69. D. Fridman (GER) 2011
70. A. Motylev (RUS) 2011
71. I. Ivanisevic (SRB) 2011
72. M. Parligras (ROU) 2011
73. E. Romanov (RUS) 2011
74. B. Esen (TUR) 2011

f) 19 players from Americas
75. R. Felgaer (ARG) Zonal 2.5
76. S. Mareco (ARG) Zonal 2.5
77. Y. Shulman (USA) Zonal 2.1
78. S. Shankland (USA) Zonal 2.1
79. R. Robson (USA) Zonal 2.1
80. A. Onischuk (USA) Zonal 2.1
81. A. Ivanov (USA) Zonal 2.1
82. A. Fier (BRA) Zonal 2.4
83. D. R. Di Berardino (BRA) Zonal 2.4
84. L. Bruzon (CUB) Zonal 2.3
85. M. Leon Hoyos (MEX) Zonal 2.3
86. E. Hansen (CAN) Zonal 2.2
87. D. Lima (BRA) Continental 2010
88. M. Bluvshtein (CAN) Continental 2011
89. Y. Quesada Perez (CUB) Continental 2011
90. J. Cori (PER) Continental 2011
91. F. Corrales Jimenez (CUB) Continental 2011
92. I. R. Ortiz Suarez (CUB) Continental 2011
93. F. De La Paz Perdomo (CUB) Continental 2011

g) 19 players from Asia/Oceania
94. Ni Hua (CHN) Continental 2010
95. A. Gupta (IND) Continental 2010
96. Le Quang Liem (VIE) Continental 2010
97. Wesley So (PHI) Continental 2010
98. Zhou, Jianchao (CHN) Continental 2010
99. P. Harikrishna (IND) Continental 2011
100. Yu Yangyi (CHN) Continental 2011
101. Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (VIE) Continental 2011
102. R. Jumabayev (KAZ) Continental 2011
103. Li Chao B (CHN) Zonal 3.5
104. Bu Xiangzhi (CHN) Zonal 3.5
105. Zhao Zong-Yuan (AUS) Zonal 3.6
106. Ziaur Rahman (BAN) Zonal 3.2
107. S. Megaranto (INA) Zonal 3.3
108. M. Paragua (PHI) Zonal 3.3
109. P. Negi (IND) Zonal 3.7
110. A. Filippov (UZB) Zonal 3.4
111. M. Kazhgaleyev (KAZ) Zonal 3.4
112. Salem R. Saleh

h) 6 players from Africa
113. M. Kaabi (TUN) Zonal 4.1
114. H. Ibrahim (EGY) Zonal 4.2
115. R. Gwaze (ZIM) Zonal 4.3
116. A. Adly (EGY) Continental 2011
117. E. El Gindy (EGY) Continental 2011
118. H. R. Steel (RSA) Continental 2011

i) 6 nominees of the FIDE President
119. R. Kasimdzhanov (UZB)
120. E. Sutovsky (ISR)
121. P. H. Nielsen (DEN)
122. Ding Liren (CHN)
123. V. Bologan (MDA)
124. E. Moradiabadi (IRI)

j) 4 nominees of the local Organising Committee
125. N. Kabanov (RUS)
126. A. Pridorozhni (RUS)
127. A. Bezgodov (RUS)
128. V. Genba (RUS)

Russians: 26
Chinese : 9
Ukraine: 8
USA : 6
Cuba : 6
Azeris : 5
Armenians : 3

Ladies :  2 (Hou Yi Fan as Woman's Champions and Judith Polgar)

AAI Chess Final Round

Echoing another worldwide internet report on this excellent tournament, I also expressed big impression on it. Not only the line up consist of interesting player I like (Hou Yifan ...(uh struggling), Wesley!, Caruana etc) vs the host Indian stars , Sasikiran ( veteran now) and Negi. The result reflects the fighting spirit on board, very less percentage of draws result and all interesting fight. More on that, the Indian timezone perfectly fit our South East Asia wake up eye.

Final round playing were :
Negi - Laznicka - 0.5
Caruana - So - 0.5
Hou - Sasikiran - 0.5

Caruana is on best standing so far, playing So that vanished chances to be champion in India, but Sasikiran now playing Hou the less point player from the start of tournament. Will be another fighting final round to come.

Updated:
Final standings after the tenth round:

7 points – Fabiano Caruana (Italy)
6 – Krishnan Sasikiran (India)
5.5 – Viktor Laznicka (Czech rep)
5 – Wesley So (Philippines)
3.5 – Parimarjan Negi (India)
3 – Hou Yifan (China)

live on http://www.aaichess.com/live/

12th ASEAN Age Chess Championship

The city of Tarakan play a host for the 12th ASEAN Age Chess Championship. The result of Open section has come out. As reported by Potretcatur.blogspot.com , Chelsie is winning the gold at Girls Standard U20, and shall receiving WIM title as one of the prizes. Another four Indonesian chess player come on first spot. ASEAN Age Chess also join by non-ASEAN countries such as S.Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and India

ALL STANDARD EVENT
Open - U20:
1. Salcedo Richilieu PHI 2222 6.5
2. Mohamad Satibi INA 0 6.0
3. Turqueza Mari Joseph PHI 2181 6

Open - U16
1 Baskara Fiodias INA 0 6.5
2 FM Pham Hoai Nam VIE 2086 6.5
3 Vu Quang Quyen VIE 2018 6.0

Open - U14
1 Lu Chan Hung VIE 1981 8.0
2 Muhammad Luthfi Ali INA 0 7.5
3 FM Tran Tuan Minh VIE 2305 7.0

Open - U12
1 Arif Abdul Hafiz INA 0 8.5
2 Nguyen Tan Hoang Nam VIE 1771 8.0
3 Le Quang Tra VIE 0 6.0

Open - U10
1 Ivan Maxmillian Putra INA 0 8.0
2 Teh De Juan MAS 1685 7.5
3 Nitish Belurkar IND 1659 6.5

Open - U8
1 Huynh Hai Him VIE 0 7.5
2 Pham Phu Vinh VIE 0 7.5
3 Gutierrez Dennis III PHI 0 6.5

Girls - U20
1 WFM Sihite Chelsie Monica INA 2039 6.5
2 WIM Vo Thi Kim Phung VIE 2154 6.5
3 WFM Abdumalik Zhansaya KAZ 1989 6.5
(Chelsie winning the tiebreak, according to Indonesian offical at potretcatur.blogspot.com)

Girls - U16
1 Nguyen Thi Thuy Trien VIE 1894 6.5
2 Hoang Thi Hai Anh VIE 2012 6.0
3 Frayna Janelle Mae PHI 1830 6.0

Girls - U14
1 WFM Vu Thi Dieu Ai VIE 1832 7.5
2 Shania Mae Mendoza PHI 0 5.5
3 Tan Li Ting MAS 1826 5.5

Girls - U12
1 San Diego Marie Antoinette PHI 0 7.5
2 Revita Samantha Glo PHI 0 6.0
3 Nguyen Thi Minh Oanh VIE 1784 6.0

Girls - U10
1 Munkhzul Turmunkh MGL 0 7.0
2 Teh De Zen MAS 0 6.5
3 Le Thi Nhu Quynh VIE 0 6.5

Girls - U8
1 Ananda Astri H INA 0 8.0
2 Tran Vuong Mai Khanh VIE 1802 7.0
3 Yngayo Irish PHI 0 6.0

There are also Blitz and Rapid section, to be detail at chess-result . This result can be compared to 2010 edition of ASEAN Age chess here http://red-white-chess.blogspot.com/2010/06/11th-asean-age-group-dita-karenza-and.html

Wesley So tie first in Sigeman 2011

Coming far away from Manila to Malmo of the Scandinavian, Wesley So worth the trip with a first tie up, along with Anish Giri and Hans Tikkanen. On the way, Wesley So recorded Alexey Shirov to his list   "defeated Super GM of the '90s club", along with other member: Gata Kamsky,Vassily Ivanchuck and friends. The tournament of five rounds was comprised of selected "attacking" players in order to give a spectacular chess show, an idea need to be keep up by every chess organizer.

Final result: