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The 17th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament 2008 was held from March 15 to March 27 in Nice (France).
1. Aronian - 14.5; 2-5. Kramnik, Leko, Topalov, Carlsen - 12; 6-8. Anand, Morozevich, Ivanchuk - 11; 9. Karjakin - 9.5; 10-12. Mamedyarov, Gelfand, van Wely - 9.
In round 1 Anand attacked Kramnik in the Dutch structure and won with a queen sacrifice!
Site: http://www.amberchess2008.com/

The German Bundesliga 2007-2008 takes place 19th October 2007 - 20th April 2008. 1. OSC Baden-Baden 22; 2. SV Mulheim-Nord 17; 3. Werder Bremen 16.
Site: http://www.schachbundesliga.de/

The 10th World University Chess Championship 2008 took place in Novokuznetsk (Siberia), 4th-10th March.
1-2. Dmitry Bocharov; Igor Lysyj - 7 from 9 scores. Women: 1-2. Irina Vasilevich, Natalija Pogonina - 6.5 from 9 scores.
1. Russia 27, 2. China 22.5, 3. Mongolia 22.5.
Site: http://www.wucc2008.org/

The Morelia - Linares 2008 tournament took place 15th-23rd February (Mexico) and 28th February - 7th March (Spain). 1. Viswanathan Anand - 8.5; 2. Magnus Carlsen - 8; 3-4. Levon Aronian, Veselin Topalov - 7.5; 5. Teimour Radjabov - 7; 6. Vassily Ivanchuk - 6.5; 7-8. Peter Leko, Alexei Shirov - 5.5.
R13: Ivanchuk-Anand 1/2. A quick draw.
Radjabov-Shirov 1-0. Teimour trapped a rook.
Aronian-Carlsen 1/2. Levon had an advantage.
Topalov-Leko 1-0. Better was 21...c5 with equality.

R12: Anand-Leko 1/2. Endgame.
Carlsen-Topalov 1-0. A sharp fight, Magnus sacrificed three pawns and checkmated! Veselin made a fatal mistake, 34...Nc6, correct was 34...Kg8 or 34...Qd5 with equality.
Ivanchuk-Radjabov 1/2. Looks drawish. 26...Bh6 is interesting.
Shirov-Aronian 1/2. A theoretical duel in the Spanish Marshall. Alexei had an extra knight after 59.f8N+.

R11: Topalov-Shirov 1-0. A theoretical duel in the Gruenfeld.
Leko-Carlsen 1-0. Peter grabbed a pawn in the endgame.
Radjabov-Anand 1/2. A quick draw.
Aronian-Ivanchuk 1/2. A quick draw.

R8: Anand-Shirov 1-0. Viswanathan gradually outplayed the rival, won a pawn and the game.
Radjabov-Leko 1/2. A sharp fight!
Ivanchuk-Carlsen 0-1. A chaotic struggle, unclear.
Aronian-Topalov 1-0. With equality, but then Veselin erroneously traded his queen.

R6: Aronian-Leko 1/2. 9.Qa4 is a novelty. A sharp fight! Black could try 9...Qxf2+, 19...h4.
Ivanchuk-Shirov 1/2. Alexei had the initiative.
Topalov-Anand 1/2. Perpetual check.
Radjabov-Carlsen 1-0. Better was 25...b6, Teimour won with the nice 27.Ba6.

R5: Topalov-Carlsen 0-1. Magnus levelled in the Alekhine Defence, grabbed the central pawn.
Aronian-Shirov 1/2. Two bishops, a quick draw.
Leko-Anand 0-1. Endgame, probably Peter could win.
Radjabov-Ivanchuk 1/2. Teimour attacked with 17.f5. Perpetual check.

R4: Shirov-Topalov 1-0. Alexei outplayed the rival in the endgame.
Carlsen-Leko 1/2. Peter easily levelled in the Nimzo.
Anand-Radjabov 1/2. Teimour had two bishops for the sacrificed pawn.
Ivanchuk-Aronian 0-1. Vassily could win with 30.Qxf5, then with 35.h6 or 37.Qb4, also 38.Qe5 was better.

R3: Leko-Shirov 1/2. A theoretical duel in the Sicilian, with equality.
Carlsen-Anand 0-1. Viswanathan had a clear advantage.
Aronian-Radjabov 1/2. Looks drawish, KID.
Topalov-Ivanchuk 1-0. Veselin gained an advantage in development, grabbed a pawn.

R2: Anand-Aronian 0-1. Anand grabbed a pawn in the Spanish Marshall. 24...f5 looked risky, but 28.Qd3 and 29.Nd2 were bad, 30.Nf3 was fatal mistake, Levon won with 30...Re3.
Ivanchuk-Leko 1-0. The opponents traded pieces, peace? No peace. Vassily gave his queen for two rooks. 38...Bh3 was correct.
Radjabov-Topalov 1/2. Spanish Berlin, slightly better for Teimour, but 18.Rd2 is mistake.
Shirov-Carlsen 1/2. Sicilian, slightly better for Alexei. Perpetual check.

R1: Shirov-Anand 0-1. Viswanathan sacrificed the exchange in the Sicilian. A sharp fight!
Topalov-Aronian 1-0. White pawns were weak, but Veselin had two bishops, grabbed all. 15...exf4 and 16...a5 were mistakes, 15...Re8 is better.
Leko-Radjabov 1-0. Peter had a small edge, gradually outplayed the rival.
Carlsen-Ivanchuk 1/2. Magnus pressed on the d-pawn. A draw by repetition.
Games (56, zipped pgn)
Site: http://www.ajedrezmorelialinares.com.mx/

The Cappelle la Grande Open 2008 took place 16th-23rd February in France. 1-8. Gashimov; Arutinian; Fedorchuk; Kryvoruchko; Chernyshov; Deviatkin; Kotronias; L'Ami - 7/9.

Hoolt Sarah Moiseenko Alexander Spraggett Kevin. Photos: www.cappelle-chess.com

Site: http://www.cappelle-chess.com/

The Aeroflot Open 2008 took place 14th-22nd February in Moscow, Russia. 1. Nepomniachtchi, Ian - 7/9. 2-3. Motylev, Alexander; Dreev, Alexey - 6.5.
Site: http://www.aeroflotchess.com/

The Pfalz Open 2008 took place in Neustadt (Germany) 15th-23rd February. 1. Markowski,Tomasz - 7.5/9.
Site: http://www.pfalzopen.de/, live games

The German Championship 2008 took place in Bad Worishofen 15th-23rd February. 1. Fridman,Daniel - 7.5/9.
Site: http://www.schachclub-tuerkheim-bw.de/, live games

The Gibtelecom Chess Festival 2008 took place 22nd-31st January at the Caleta Hotel in Gibraltar.
Play-off: Hikaru Nakamura - Bu Xiangzhi 2-0. 1-2. Hikaru Nakamura; Bu Xiangzhi - 8/10; 3-9. Areshchenko, Alexander; Bologan, Viktor; Efimenko, Zahar; Gopal, G.N.; Gurevich, Mikhail; Ni, Hua; Wang, Hao - 7.5.
There are many good games in the Dutch Defence, e.g. Stefanova-Gurevich 1-0 (But Mikhail made mistakes, see my CD "Dutch A80-A85"), Hillarp Persson-Bellin 0-1.
Site: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/

The Corus Chess Tournaments 2008 took place in Wijk aan Zee (The Netherlands) January 11th-27th.
1-2. Aronian, Levon; Carlsen, Magnus - 8, 3-4. Anand, Viswanathan; Radjabov, Teimour - 7.5; 5-6. Leko, Peter; Ivanchuk, Vassily - 7; 7-8. Adams, Michael; Kramnik, Vladimir - 6.5; 9-11. Topalov, Veselin; Polgar, Judit; Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - 6; 12-14. Eljanov, Pavel; Gelfand, Boris; Van Wely, Loek - 5.
Games (91, zipped pgn)
R13: Leko-Mamedyarov 1-0 (Peter had harmonious play), Gelfand-Eljanov 1-0 (Black's kingside was weak).
R12: Kramnik-Carlsen 0-1 (Magnus gradually outplayed the rival: seized space on the kingside with f5, g5, then attacked on the queenside in the ending), Adams-Polgar 0-1 (Judit gained the better pawn structure), Eljanov-Topalov 1-0 (Veselin gave a piece).
R11: Carlsen-Anand 0-1 (A sharp fight, Magnus could make a draw with 33.Rxf5), Aronian-Van Wely 1-0 (Levon stormed with 24.Rxc6 and 26.Nd6+, better were 16...d4, 22...0-0), Gelfand-Radjabov 0-1 (29...Nh5 is correct), Polgar-Eljanov 0-1 (Pavel attacked).
R10: Van Wely-Carlsen 0-1 (Loek had a huge edge, then made fatal mistakes on 39-41 moves), Eljanov-Ivanchuk 0-1 (Vassily got the initiative on the queenside).
R9: Leko-Carlsen 1-0 (Peter pushed the a-pawn in the rook vs two knights endgame), Topalov-Kramnik 1-0 (12.Nxf7 is an interesting novelty, 17...Rhg8 looks better), Adams-Van Wely 1-0 (Michael pressured on the d-file, won the a5-pawn).
R8: Anand-Topalov 1-0 (Viswanathan stormed on the kingside with 29.f5, 31.g4).
R7: Aronian-Radjabov 1-0 (Levon grabbed a pawn), Polgar-Anand 0-1 (Judit had an edge in the Sicilian, but then made mistakes).
R6: Carlsen-Polgar 1-0 (Strong bishops, two extra pawns), Kramnik-Aronian 1-0 (25.Nc3 is a good novelty, 110 moves), Leko-Topalov 0-1 (Better is 49.Qa7+ with equality).
R5: Mamedyarov-Van Wely 1-0 (An edge with 31.f7), Topalov-Gelfand 1-0 (Veselin won a queen), Eljanov-Radjabov 0-1 (Teimour attacked with 25...f5).
R4: Kramnik-Eljanov 1-0 (Endgame), Van Wely-Topalov 1-0 (Loek won the exchange), Gelfand-Polgar 0-1 (Judit pushed his pawn on d2).
R2: Carlsen-Eljanov 1-0 (Magnus attacked with 40.f4), Gelfand-Aronian 0-1 (Two bishops).
R1: Radjabov-Anand 1-0 (Teimour had two strong pawns in the centre), Aronian-Topalov 1-0 (Veselin won the exchange, but Levon gathered pawns), Mamedyarov-Carlsen 0-1 (Looked drawish).

Corus B: 1. Movsesian, Sergei - 9.5; 2-3. Short, Nigel; Bacrot, Etienne - 8.5.
Corus C: 1. Caruana, Fabiano - 10; 2-3. Reinderman, Dimitri; Negi, Parimarjan - 8.
Corus Honorary: 1. Ljubojevic, Ljubomir - 4; 2-3. Timman, Jan; Korchnoi, Viktor - 3; 4. Portisch, Lajos - 2.

Site: http://www.coruschess.com/

The Croatian Chess Championship 2008 took place in Split 16th-29th January.
1. Stevic, Hrvoje - 8/12; 2. Zelcic, Robert - 7; 3-6. Kurajica, Bojan; Hulak, Krunoslav; Jankovic, Alojzije; Jovanovic, Zoran - 6.5.
Site: http://www.a1split.hr/prvenstvo/prvenstvo.html

The New Zealand Chess Championship 2008 was held in Auckland, January 15th-25th.
1. Chandler, Murray - 9/11; 2-3. Dive, Russell John; Steadman, Michael - 7.5.
Site: http://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/

The Australian Championships 2008 took place 2nd-11th January in Parramatta.
1. Antic, Dejan - 8.5/11; 2-3. Solomon, Stephen; Van Riemsdijk, Herman - 8; 4. Xie, George Wendi - 7.5.
Site: http://www.parramattachess.org/auschamps2008

Future Events

The World Chess Championship will be held from October 14th – 2nd November, 2008 in the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn, between Viswanathan Anand (India) and Vladimir Kramnik (Russia).
Site: http://www.uep-worldchess.com/

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