Sweden is now a regulated market, which means that as a player you can only play at casinos with a license. See all regulated casinos in Sweden by Mr casinova.
Now that we're done with the Pogonina vs Chess.com game, I would like to share with you some impressions and games from the last tournament I have been playing in, the Russian Club Cup in Dagomys. Chess.com has been providing nice updates on the event, but here's a reminder anyway. This tournament is arguably the strongest national chess league in the world, which attracts most Russian top players, as well as many foreign guests. The men's division had about 1/3 of all the 2700+ players in the world, while the women's event was also far from weak. Here is the list of participants, including some big names.
Our team, AVS, boasted an average rating of 2500+, and was a clear rating favorite to win the Cup. In fact, last year we tied for 1st with Spartak Vidnoe, but they had a better tie-break. This time we were very optimistic about our chances. On a separate note: as you all know, the rating favorite doesn't always win (otherwise we would have seen both Russian teams on top at every World Team Championship, Olympiad, etc.). A lot depends on the team's atmosphere, and understanding between the members. I can't complain in this respect since our team was very friendly and supportive. However, the first few rounds somehow became a true nightmare for us!
In the first round AVS (average rating 2507) was to face the biggest underdog in the field - Dvorets (average rating 2294). That is an incredible rating difference, so the question was not if we would win or not, but how many board points we would "present" (if at all) to our competitors.
I traveled to Dagomys with Nikolai (many of you already know this super-baby, thanks to my and David Pruess' articles). My chess was very rusty (having missed half a year of practice, then played a few games at the Russian Superfinal before withdrawing due to health issues, then again a few months of lack of practice). The general tip for such a situation is to play it safe, stay out of complications, don't spend too much time thinking. Quite the opposite of what I did. My opponent, a young and gifted Georgian player Nazi Paikidze, who burst into the adult chess scene by winning the elite Moscow Open this year, managed to nicely capitalize on my mistakes while playing White.
First of all, let's take a look at a few critical positions of the game and see if you will be able to handle them (available only in the original article).
Here is the full game with annotations:
So, our team lost 2,5-1,5 to opponents who made only one draw in the subsequent rounds. Quite a nice start, isn't it?
Chess Elite fuses the power of one of the strongest Chess Engines in App Store with the power of Mobile and Web so that you can play your favourite game on the go. The game is perfect for beginners as well as advanced players because the Chess Elite community is home to players with varying skill levels. Natalia is planning to pop in from time to time to play a game with the Chess Elite community players.
Correspondence play Chess Elite gives you the chance to play with your friends as well as pros from all over the globe. Push Notification support ensures that you are informed about challenges received & moves made in an online game.
Elo Rating & Chess Clubs Judge your Chess skills against other players with an Elo Rating system. Chess Elite Clubs categorize players based on Elo Rating, while Smart Groups include Most Active Players, Most Promising Players etc.
Chat With Opponents Make use of the chat feature to discuss about the game with your opponent during correspondence play. Utilize this to share Chess tips with weak players and learn Chess tactics from strong players.
Other Features Include
Career summary
Player info
Sort feature
Analysis mode
Multiple boards
Ongoing game replay
About 99Games
99Games is all about creating fun, exciting and infectious games for the iPhone and iPod touch. We love gaming and believe in creating games that will be cherished by generations together. Games priced from free to premium, for novices and aces, for young and old; we have the entire package right here for you.
The President's Cup held in Baku, Azerbaijan, was a round robin rapid & blitz event with most of the strongest players of the host participating (e.g. Shakhriar Mamedyarov and Teimour Radjabov, Guseinov and R. Mamedov), and a few elite international grandmasters (Kramnik, Kamsky, J. Polgar, Sutovsky).
Kramnik has been announced the winner due to higher tie-breaks. Mamedyarov, who managed to beat the ex-World Champion with White, expressed his pity that there were no additional matches. Vladimir came back by saying he has lost due to his adventurous play, otherwise he would have equalized easily. Thus, the atmosphere got a little bit heated, so everyone was waiting for the blitz.
The blitz event was a round robin including 14 players (8 from the main group and some local qualifiers). It has essentially been a race between Kramnik, Mamedyarov and Radjabov. Once again, Vladimir and Shakhriar finished with equal scores.
This time a tie-break match was arranged, which Shakhriar won 2-0! previous
P.S. Images are courtesy of Azerisport.com. It is a pleasure to state how popular chess is in Azerbaijan: they have three 2700+ players, regularly hold top-level events, and chess even occupies one of the premium spots at their sports websites! Where else would you see that?
Thanks to our friends from Europe Echecs for the videos!
In games 5&6 we have witnessed hard-fought draws in the Slav and Catalan respectively. Both contenders have demonstrated superb positional chess (and what would you expect from 2800-level players?). The only issue that made the news was the blackout during round 5, which didn't influence the game much though.
The first half of the match has passed. It seems that Anand is in top shape and has a better opening preparation than Topalov. On the contrary, Veselin is playing well, but not at his maximum. A lot will depend on the match strategies, psychological and physical conditions of the players. With 3,5-2,5 in Anand's favor and 6 rounds to go, anything can happen.
Do you have a hunch on the things to come? Any new openings? Scandals? Final result?
Career summary
