Candidates update

In the remaining games:

• Shirov won a pawn and then the game against Adams
• Polgar could only draw with Bareev
• Aronian and Carlsen played a very interesting game finishing in a draw by perpetual

So, Bareev, Rublevsky, Kamsky, Grischuk, and Leko are through. Polgar, Ponomariov, Bacrot, Malakhov and Gurevich are out. Adams, Shirov, Carlsen, Aronian, Kasmidzhanov and Gelfand have to return tomorrow for the play-offs.

Candidates - Ponomariov Eliminated

Early news from today's games: Ponomariov eliminated as Rublevsky forces a draw by repetition after just 19 moves. Kasmidzhanov and Gelfand also drawn in 19 moves, so they go into a play-off tomorrow.

Aronian looks to have good pressure against Carlsen, Bareev vs. Polgar is complicated, and Shirov vs. Adams is just 13 moves into a Petroff.

Polgar'd!

We should see some exciting chess in the Candidate's matches today: trailing by one, it's a must win situation for Shirov against Adams, Ponomariov against Rublevsky, and Polgar against Bareev.

Two down with two play, Judit Polgar seemed dead and buried, but played a superb attack yesterday to give herself a chance in her match with Evgeny Bareev:

After 19 moves of a Caro Kan, Bareev moved his queen into d4 choosing active play rather than passive defence to counter Polgar's looming kingside storm.




















Polgar's next few moves lure the queen offside, but Black's defences appear sufficient:

20 Nc3 Qxd2; 21 Rad1 Qxc2; 22 Rxd7 Qxb2;

Bareev was now probably expecting 23 Qxe6+, after which Black can hold the position, but Polgar finds a way to keep up the pressure:

23 h5! gh?

It's difficult to see (Fritz recommends ... gh as well), but this is the losing move. The only way to defend against the coming attack was 23 ... Rf7. Defending the e-pawn also loses, e.g. 23 ... Rae8; 24 hg hg; 25 Rxg7+ Kxg7; 26 Qh6+ Kg8; 27 Qxg6+ Kh8; 28 Kg2 +-.

24 Qxe6+ Kh8; 25 Rxg7! Kxg7; 26 Qh6+ Kg8; 27 g6 hg; 28 Qxg6+ Kh8; 29 Kh1 Rf4; 30 Qxh5+ Kg8; 31 Rg1+ Kf8; 32 Qh8+ Kf7; 33 Qg7+ 1-0 it's mate in 5

Kamsky, Grischuk, and Leko have all won their matches already against Bacrot, Malakhov and Gurevich respectively, whilst Aronian vs. Carlsen and Kasimdzhanov vs. Gelfand are all square.

You can follow today's games online at the official site.

Hartlepool Open

I woke up this morning to find this surprise post by Martin on the blog (my fault for giving him an account!):

It's a bit difficult for Roger to write about his performance at Hartlepool so I thought I would chip in.

I spectated in the final round and was delighted to see Roger doing so well, especially after all the effort he's put in to his chess site. He was playing Jimmy Simpson on top board and needed a win (draw, ed.) to seal the tournament. The Hotel is a nice place to play chess, but it can be rather hot and stuffy. The referee had Roger's half of the room in serious shade as the sun had been bright in the morning. I tried to get him to open a few curtains top help my photography without flash, but he didn't want anyone disturbed. One problem with chess venues is they tend to have soft light as they are rooms for people to socialise in. So Roger and Jimmy faced each other at dusk. Like gunslingers.

Queen's Gambit Declined Exchange Variation, with Roger firing first. A hit Jimmy's c6 pawn was left weak. He countered on the kingside and Roger's position had a lot of holes on the white squares. Jimmy manoeuvred a bishop into f3 and he was setting up to sac a rook on g3 and mate with Queen on h1.

Alan Harvey thought he was in big trouble, but the white knight got across in time via e2 and turned the game round. I think the knight then went to f4 and suddenly black was struggling.

Martin Seeber

Hey, I like the gunslinger analogy! To give some background: Jimmy's always a tough opponent, there are no quick or easy games against him. Actually, a normal game against Jimmy is like a heavyweight fight in the 'good old days' of 15 rounds slugging punch for punch, with the verdict usually a split decision. We've met quite a few times, and whilst the results have been better for me, Jimmy's certainly had the better positions in our last few encounters. Sunday was tense as Martin describes, post match we found a line that appeared to crown Jimmy's attack, although Fritz reckons I might have been able to scrape a draw exchange for pawn down. Jimmy missed the move and my pieces developed new life.

Martin is moving into chess photography, we'll get some of his photos to display on Chess Tales.

New Amazon Feature

Amazon have come up with an interesting new 'product preview' feature. If you hover over the link below for the Chess Tales favourite:

Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge (Cadogan Chess & Bridge Books)

You should get a pop-up box with image, price, etc.

If you don't, please let me know, there are some compatability problems.

I often put recommended books on Chess Tales with links to Amazon so that you can buy them. The choice on Amazon for Chess is fairly limited, but the prices can be very low, and they pay a small commission on any sales. Unfortunately, the link is only to Amazon UK. Let me know if you'd like to see options for buying in other countries as well, or if you'd like links to specialist chess suppliers.

New Chess Sites

I've been contacted by a couple of new chess sites that look quite interesting.

Chessdom is a mix of news, interviews, tournament reports and bits and pieces. They have some grandmaster analysis (by GM Dmitrov) and interviews with high profile players. They also claim to be the official media partner for a number of top tournaments that are coming up. Content is a little sparse at the moment, but it could be one to watch. The site is Bulgarian and available in English, Bulgarian and Russian.

Chess.com is a whole collection of things: forums, blogs, some news pieces, analysis, etc. A social networking site for chess if you like. They have definitely bagged the most desirable web address, and the site appears to have potential. At least one of our Chess Tales regulars is a contributor there.

There was one other, but they've not replied to my email, so we'll leave them off for now!

Friday Chess Puzzle 8

From this position, how does Black, 2 pawns down and threatened with mate, turn the tables?

Answers to roger AT 21thoughts DOT com. I'll publish the solution on Wednesday.

Today's "Friday Chess Puzzle" is taken from Gennady Nesis's book: Tactics in the King's Indian