Game 5 Drawn

The game can be replayed at http://www.anand-topalov.com/en/game5.html

After the second rest day, the FIDE World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand of India and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria continued today with game five in which Topalov played with White pieces.The first symbolic move were made by the "father of the euro" professor Robert Mundell. The President of Bulgaria Mr. Georgi Parvanov visited the match.The opening was replay of game three in which Anand used the Slav defence and comfortably held a draw. The expectation were that Topalov will find an improvement in the variation and fight for opening advantage.But it was Anand who first diverted from the earlier game by moving 15...h5 instead of 15...h6. Topalov continued with the logical 16. Ne2 having in mind Nf4, to exploit the newly created situation with Black pawn on h5.Anand established strong Knight outpost on e5 and traded off a pair of Rooks to reduce White's chances of gaining initiative.After further exchange of minor pieces, an endgame with Rook and Bishop versus Rook and Knight has arisen.Anand's 29...g5 initiated changes in the pawn structure, which allowed him to solve one issue and concentrate on pieces' play.Black Knight gradually suppressed White Bishop, which eventually landed on the backward d1-square. Right after the time-control, Topalov offered moves repetition before the situation goes out of the hand. Or perhaps it was a psychological move, attempting to test Anand's resolve to play for a win, in case of which White would also have chances for full point.But Anand needed no risk and accepted the threefold repetition. Draw signed on move 44.The current score is 3-2 in favour of Anand who tomorrow plays with White pieces. Live coverage on the official website starting at 14:45 local time.

Game 4 Decisive Again! Anand 2.5-Topalov 1.5

The game can be replayed at http://www.anand-topalov.com/en/game4.html

The fourth game of the FIDE World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand of India and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria saw another Catalan opening on the board. This is the first opening that was played twice in the match, the players are obviously willing to have a theoretical discussion.Topalov was the one to deviate from the second game, as early as on move 5, when he played the sharper Bb4+ instead of a6.Similar to the earlier Catalan game, Black clutched onto the extra pawn while White tried to take advantage of his faster pieces' development.Anand aggressively advanced in the center to break opponent's pawn formation and open up the files and diagonals. At the same time, Topalov was carefully clearing the queenside in order to reduce the positional pressure.The game appeared to be taking a normal course but then Anand's sudden Knight movement (e3-g4) caught Topalov without guard and on the wrong foot.Not hesitating much, Anand knocked a piece sacrifice on h6 and picked a strong attack against the Black King.Still precision was needed in carrying out the assault, but Anand never blinked and found the crushing 25. e5!Topalov continued for a few moves more, but resigned at the imminent danger of a mate. Anand takes the lead in the match 2,5-1,5, tomorrow is a rest day and the games continue on Friday at 15:00.

Sardinia Tournament this Saturday

Sat. May 1st At the Sardinia Community Center(Town Hall),12320 Savage Rd, Sardinia NY 2 sections: Adults: 3SS, G45, EF $10, Rds.:11am,1pm,2:30pm. Prizes based on entries Scholastic: 1-4pm Round Robin-Play as many games as possible in 3 hrs! EF$5, Trophy for 1st place. All Scholastic players will receive a prize! For info call Tom Warner 716-560-4160 E-mail warner689@roadrunner.com

All SQUARE WCC Game 2 recap

The game can be replayed at http://www.anand-topalov.com/en/game2.html

After the second game-Anand-Topalov 1:1

The FIDE World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand of India and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria continued today with the second game which started at the "usual" hour - 15:00 local time. Following Anand's defeat in the first game, most of the chess fans were wondering whether he will try to equalise the score with White pieces, or adopt a more cautious strategy and wait for the rest day on Monday to recollect his confidence.The answer was provided soon - Anand opened with a very popular Catalan opening, in which White aims for the initiative and long-term pressure. Topalov responded with an early 4...dxc4 which creates imbalances in the position.The moving pace was considerably slower compared to the first game. Both players, although probably still within the home preparation, carefully considered their steps.Anand sacrificed a pawn in the opening in exchange for the quick development and positional pressure. His first longer thought was before move 15, on which he offered Queens' trade. White was not bothered much with the doubled a-pawns, as his Rooks obtained excellent activity on the open files.Both pairs of Knights were firmly entrenched in the central positions and the play revolved around the c-file and queenside.But then the hasty 25...Ne3 by Topalov, which the official match commentator GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili marked as "unnecessary", allowed Anand to seize a nice positional advantage and collect Black queenside pawns.Topalov tried to reduce the pressure by offering trade of one pair of Rooks, but his opponent wisely declined.After establishing a pair of passed pawns on 'a' and 'b' files, Anand obtained decisive advantage and it was just a matter of time before Topalov resigns. Black gave up on move 43, in the lost Rook endgame.With this victory, Anand equalises the score in the match to 1-1. Monday is rest day, the third game will be played on Tuesday, 15:00 local time.

Topalov-Anand 1:0 WCC Game One Recap

The game can be replayed at the official site at http://www.anand-topalov.com/en/game1.html The comments below also come from the official site: Veselin Topalov won the first game of the match of The FIDE World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand of India and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria had started today at the Central Military Club in Sofia. The beginning was postponed by one day to allow Anand better rest after the 40-hour journey on the road from Germany and further two hours to meet Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boiko Borisov's previously arranged schedule. The entire chess world was eagerly anticipating the start of the match, especially in Bulgaria where it turns into the top sport event of 2010. The drawing of lots at the Wednesday's opening ceremony gave the white pieces in the first game to Topalov. Topalov opened with 1.d4 and Anand defended with Gruenfeld Indian, an opening he tested last year in the rapid match versus Peter Leko, and then continued to use it at the top events like 2009 Tal Memorial. The players blitzed their way into a variation that was seen in the first game of the last year's Challenger match between Topalov and Gata Kamsky, which was also held in Sofia. In that game Topalov did not achieve advantage and later switched to different system against Gruenfeld. But now he is back with the same line, deviating on move 16. Instead of f2-f4, as played against Kamsky, Topalov employed 16. Rac1 which was seen in an earlier top level game Karjakin-Carlsen, Foros 2008. Anand followed the standard plan with Qd6 and f6, to slow down White's advance with e4-e5. Meanwhile, Topalov moved his Knight closer to the enemy King, and a sudden Rook lift with 23. Rf3 highlighted the fragile nature of Black's castle. With Nxf6 sacrifice looming over his head, Anand dove into his first longer thought, but immediately erred and run into a worse version of the piece sacrifice. After penetrating both Rooks to opponent's 7th rank, a nice final touch with 29. Bb5! marked a complete domination of White pieces. Soon Anand resigned, and this triggered huge applause in the playing hall.

Anand video-interview from Chessbase.com

Hope you will enjoy this video-interview as much as I did. Looking for good games in Sophia. Here is the link: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6267

2010 National High School Championships - Round Two Results

Round Two, Games started at 7pm. Miles James defeated an Ohio player and now has 2 points, Christian Collier also has 2 points after defeating a player from Pennsylvania Penn, James Hampton loss to a player from Wisconsin, Joshua Hampton loss to a player from Illinois North, Andrew Pencille loss to a player from Missouri.

Round three comes early tomorrow morning starting at 9am, 2pm, 7pm and the competition doesnt end.

2010 National High School Championships - Round One Results

The Buffalo Dark Knights, represented by (l-r) James Hampton, Joshua Hampton, Walter Brown, National Tournament Director, Christian Collier, Front - Miles James and Andrew Pencille. Walter Brown gave the team a welcome and some brief announcements before their first round.

Round One started at approximately 1:15pm after the parents and coaches were asked to leave a convention floor of over 1300 players, over 359 teams from 36 states.

Scoring the first points was Christian Collier, Sr at East High School, defeated a player from Missouri, participating in the Unrated Section, he is now ranked in 11th place out of 110 players, the next win came from Joshua Hampton, Sophomore at East High School, who defeated a player from Wisconsin and is now in 25th place out of 110 players, our first loss was James Hampton, Sophomore at East High School, he was defeated by a player in North Carolina, the second loss was from Andrew Pencille, from Charles Upman in Lockport, now is ranked 123rd place and finishing the round with a come back win was Miles James, Olmstead #64, defeated a player from Ohio and now is in 48th place out of 227 players, playing alone in the U800 Section. The East High School team now is in 15th place out of 32 teams with 2 points.

Round 2 starts at 7pm, Swiss, Game 120 with delay but no reduction in time for delay.

The Buffalo Dark Knights departed early friday morning around 5am and arrived in Columbus, Ohio around 11:20am. Chess Moms Lucy, Marilyn and Cathy all were stellar in their efforts in making this trip work. With the Sabres playoffs in town, almost cancelled our efforts by booking all the minivans in the Buffalo area and the East High School after school program failed to support the team due to Liablity issues but the Moms pulled thru with funds for the team to move forward. We finally booked a van at 4pm on thursday night and departed at 5am friday.

Special thanks to Dr James Paul for his efforts in chess prepartions and a donation to the team. Other Chess teams representing the Buffalo Niagara region are Bishop Timon, the Global Concept Charter Chess Club and The Chess Club of Buffalo, homeschoolers Reagan and Kevin Lyle who drove down. Submitted by Mc Duffie, Chess Ambassador

3RD ANNUAL DAVID EVANS JR MEMORIAL Results

A total of 40 players came out this past Saturday to play chess in the memory of Army Private David Evans, Jr. It was once again hosted by NYS Senator Antoine M. Thompson and The Archangel 8 Chess Academy, an affiliate of the United States Chess Federation. This event is in it's third year and has been supported by Senator Thompson each and every year.

The cross-table is at http://main.uschess.org/assets/msa_joomla/XtblMain.php?201004100331

Matt Leahy won the ARMY ONE Scholastic Section with a perfect 5/5. Second went to John Osborn 4/5 whose only loss was to Matt. Four players tied for third-sixth with 3/5.

The Senator Thompson U1500 Section was captured by Joe Covley (1299>>1424) who was a perfect 4/4. Second through Fifth was tied among David Gluchowski (1354), William Rich (1302), Sean Jones (1241), and Steve Baer (1142) who all scored 3/4.

In the Purple Heart Open Section, NM Barry Davis (2065) was first with 3.5/4. Second through Fourth was shared by Eric Grabowski (2109), Harish Srinvasin (1893), and Glenn Westcott (1851) whom all recorded 3/4.

Our next Grand Prix will be Saturday, May 15th. Advance paid entries must be received by wednesday, May 12, 2010.

SAVE THE DATE:The 4th Annual "MAYOR'S CUP" BUFFALO MASTERS AND CLASS CHAMPIONSHIPS, SAT & SUN, JUNE 5TH AND JUNE 6TH, BUFFALO STATE COLLEGE, CAMPBELL STUDENT UNION, 1300 ELMWOOD AVENUE, BUFFALO, NY 14222. 6 Rounds, Swiss, Game 120, FIDE Rated. More details as they develop.

If you have any comments or suggestions, please email me at arcangel8chess@yahoo.com.

Submitted by Mc Duffie, USCF Tournament Director, Chess Ambassador

Katz, Madden tie in Sardinia

Alanna Katz continued her excellent play at Sardinia as she won for the 3rd month in a row last Saturday even though she had to settle for a draw with Ryan Madden in the final game and a tie for 1st place. Ryan, who was 2 pawns down at one time, fought back and set up a "fortress" that Alanna could not crack.

Alanna defeated Chris Darling and last months Buffalo winner Pat Patterson before drawing Madden while Ryan beat Carl Raymore and Mike Jocko. Raymore and Darling split the U1500 prize.

In the Scholastic section a record 17 players turned up and after 3 hours of play there was a 3 way tie between Christian Collier of Buffalo, Francis Kilcoyne from Hornell,NY, and Todd Thompson from the Pioneer chess club, all with 9pts. Todd won the coin flip and waited while Collier and Kilcoyne played an exciting Blitz game with Kilcoyne winning with only 6 seconds left on his clock! He then defeated Thompson to claim the trophy.

The cross table is at http://main.uschess.org/assets/msa_joomla/XtblMain.php?201004037621

Thanks to all for your support. Next tournament is May 1. Let's see if Alanna can keep up her streak!

Bishop Timon-St. Jude Open

17 players participated in the Bishop Timon- St. Jude Open held March 27,2010. In the open section there was a 3 way tie for first between Barry Davis(2065) Mark Johnson (1738) and David Biddle (1705). In the Under 1500 section newcomer Eric Muhammad made a smashing debut scoring 3.5 out of 4. En route to victory Eric defeated Shaka Davis (264) Robert Simpson (1230) Mike Jocko (1583) and drew Dr. James Paul (1391). Second place in the under 1500 was Khadir Muhammed another newcomer. Khadir scored 3 out of 4 losing only to John T. Nelson after having a winning position. Congratulations to all the winners and thank you for supporting Buffalo Chess. The cross table is at http://main.uschess.org/assets/msa_joomla/XtblMain.php?201003273951