The Jack Rabbit Chess Report (August 30): Chuckie wins the Tal; 11 Players Boycott Women's Chmpship

[Jack Rabbit]

Chuckie Defeats and Overtakes Moro to Win the Tal



Ukrainian grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk defeated reigning Russian national champion Alexander Morozevich in the seventh round of the Mikhail Tal Memorial Tournament to come from behind to win the nine round event that finshed Wednesday.

Ivanchuk was also victorious over Hungarian GM Peter Leko in round six to begin his move. After six round, Morozevich was in the lead with 4½ points, while Ivanchuk had 2 victories and 4 draws for 4 points. Thus, Ivanchuk's win in round seven put him in the lead, a half point ahead of Morozevich.

Chuckie, as he is known to his fans, drew his remaining two games to end the event with 6 points out of nine games: 3 wins, 6 draws and no defeats. Meanwhile, Morozevich dropped his eighth round game to American grandmaster Gata Kamsky to fall further back. Moro took a short draw in the final round and settled for a disappointing second place tie among four players.

The other second place finishers were Israeli grandmaster Boris Gelfand, who won only one game but suffered no losses, former world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and Ukrainian GM Ruslan Ponomariov.

For the 39-year-old Ivanchuk, the Tal championship is the latest in a year-long run high finishes in elite tournaments which has seen him playing the best chess of his life.



Women's Knock Out Championship Begins in Russian Caucasus; 11 Players Boycott



The Knock Out Tournament to name the Women's World Chess Champion began Friday in Nalchik in the north Caucasus Kabardino-Balkaria region of Russia without the eleven women who were invited to attend.

The boycott of the event is in reaction to recent Russian invasion of the Republic of Georgia. The six Georgian women who were invited sent a letter to FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov asking that the event be postponed and relocated for safety. Ilyumzhinov responded by pleading with the women to play in Nalchik, saying that it would be wrong to mix politics and sport.

The six Georgians include former women's world champion Maia Chiburdanidze, who became world champion in 1980 at the age of 17 by defeating Nona Gaprindishvili in a match. The others are Lela Javakhishvili, Sopio Gvetadze, Maia Lomineishvili, Sopiko Khukhashvili and Nino Khurtsidze.

Kirsan (everybody calls the FIDE president by his first name), in addition to being the president of FIDE, is also the president of the Autonomous Russian Republic of Kalmykia, a post to which he was appointed by then-Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The other players who are not participating in the event are Tea Bosboom-Lanchava of Holland, who is a native of Georgia; Irina Krush of the United States, who is a native of Ukraine; grandmaster Marie Sebag of France; Karen Zapata of Peru; and Ekaterina Korbut of Russia.



Youth Crush Seniors in Amsterdam

A five-member team of Rising Stars defeated a five-member team of experienced grandmasters ranging in ages from 41 to 77 in the annual Youth-Experience Team Match in Amsterdam.

The event finished yesterday with the Youth Squad taking 33½ out of a possible 50.

China's Wang Yue was the leading scorer for the Rising Stars with 8½ points out of ten. For this, Wang wins an invitation to next spring's Melody Amber Rapid/Blinfold Tournament in Nice.



Calendar


Grand Slam Final, Bilbao 2-13 September.

Anand-Kramnik World Championship Match, Bonn October 14-November 2. Twelve rounds.

European Club Cup, Kallithea (Greece) 16-24 October.

Asian Championships, Tehran 21-30 October.

Chess Olympiad, Dresden 12-25 November.

Topalov-Kamsky World Championship Semifinal Match, Lvov 26 November-15 December. Eight Rounds.

FIDE Grand Prix, Doha 13-29 December.