Chess News for Week ending April 9

[Jack Rabbit]

Topalov wins exhibition match over Nisipeanu

Bulgarian grandmaster Veselin Topalov defeated grandmaster Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu of Romania in a short four-game match this exhibition match this week in Bucharest.

Topalov, who holds the FIDE version of the World Championship, won games 2 and 4, in which he played White. The other two games ended in draws.



The match was in honor of the anticipated admission of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union.

Here is a report on the second game of the match, which was played Friday, with games notes by grandmaster Mihail Marin.

It is hoped that Topalov will play a match later with year with ailing classical World Champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in an effort to reunify the world title.


Ivanchuk tied for lead in European Championship



The 7th European Championship Tournament is being held in the town of Kusadasi on the Aegean coast of Turkey from April 3 to 17.

After six rounds in the men’s division, top seeded grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine is tied for the lead with 5 points with Zdenko Kozul of Croatia and Predrag Nikolic of Bosnia. In the women’s division, the lead is shared by Corina Petin of Romania and Tea Bosboom-Lanchava of the Netherlands, both of whom have 5 points in six rounds. A player is awarded a full point for each victory while draws are worth a half point each.


Koneru leads India National Championship

Koneru Humpy, the only woman in the 21-player field, leads the National Championship of India in Visakhapatnam with 6½ points out of a possible seven, a full point ahead of her nearest rival, Chandra Sandeepan.



Ms. Koneru, 19, is the second highest ranked woman player in the world with only super grnadmanster Judit Polgar of Hungary outranking her.

The tournament concludes April 17.


Alexandra Kosteniuk appears in Penthouse, fully clothed



Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia, sometimes called and Anna Kournikova of chess, is the subject of an article in Penthouse magazine this month.

Perhaps to the disappointment of a few, Ms. Kosteniuk appears fully clothed in all photos accompanying the piece.

Ms. Kosteniuk, who also does work as a model and has appeared in Russian motion pictures, is the fourth-ranked woman in the world and the current Russian women’s champion. An attractive and friendly person, Ms. Kosteniuk seeks to use her charms to promote chess.

Veselin Tipalov and Liviu-Dieter Nisipanu from the official website of the match
Vassily Ivanchuk form http://www.ukrchess.org.ua/foto_u.html
Koneru Humpy from ChessBase.com
Alexandra Kosteniuk form http://www.broemski.com/weblog/archives/2005_02_01_archive.html

[mduffy31]

1. Let me get back from the edge of my seat.

Just kidding....

:silly:

[Doctor_J]

2. Topalov, Nisipeanu using a backdrop, just like *

it must be catching on. Does it translate to "Concentration", or "Chess Geeks are Chick Magnets"?

I saw that last babe on TV. I'd like to take my bishop to her castle.