tag: Kings Tournament 2010 - Page 1

Medias R10: Magnus Carlsen wins with two-point lead

6/25/2010 – In all three games of the final round Black was victorious: Radjabov beat Gelfand, Ponomariov beat Nisipeanu and Carlsen beat Wang Yue. This left the youngest player with the highest rating two full points clear of the field, with an incredible 2918 performance. That translates to a FIDE rating of 2826, the second highest in chess history. Final report with commentary by Dorian Rogozenco.

Medias R8: Carlsen draws (at last), leads by one point

6/22/2010 – For a while there, towards the end of his game against Boris Gelfand, it looked as though the Norwegian super-GM was going to pull off a fifth victory. Actually Magnus Carlsen had escaped from some pressure exerted by his Israeli opponent. Radjabov-Ponomariov ended in a draw, while Wang Yue messed up his white game against Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu and lost. GM commentary.

Medias R7: Carlsen wins fourth game in a row

6/22/2010 – The Kings Tournament has moved to its original location in Bazna, and Magnus Carlsen continues his amazing series, scoring his fourth consecutive win, this time on the white side of a Sicilian Dragon against Teimour Radjabov. The performance of the 19-year-old Norwegian: 2955. Gelfand defeated Nisipeanu and is now alone in second place. Commentary by GM Dorian Rogozenco.

Medias R6: Carlsen's hat-trick against Ponomariov

6/21/2010 – Two games in round six of this Category 20 Super-GM ended in draws, but the ever astonishing Magnus Carlsen struck out again, for the third time in succession and with the black pieces, this time goading Ruslan Ponomariov into complication which the young Norwegian understood better. His performance so far is 2919, his "live rating" 2821. Commentary by GM Dorian Rogozenco.

Medias R5: Carlsen strikes again, leads the field

6/20/2010 – It's not easy being the hot favourite in a Category 20 tournament – anything but clear victory would be considered a sensation. Well, top seed Magnus Carlsen has set to work. After three draws he has won two games in a row and leads the field ahead of Radjabov and Gelfand. On the free day there was a soccer match. Pictures and GM commentary of round five.

Medias R4: Carlsen plays the King's Gambit in the King's Tournament!

6/18/2010 – Have we seen this opening in top tournament play in the current century? After all it's supposed to be refuted. Magnus Carlsen used it in his game against top Chinese GM Wang Yue (possibly to avoid the Petroff) and won a full point. Radjabov and Ponomariov also won their games, making it 3-0 for White in this round. Radjabov and Carlsen lead. GM commentary by Dorian Rogozenco.

Medias R3: Radjabov beats Ponomariov

6/16/2010 – After errors by Ruslan Ponomariov in a King’s Indian Teimour Radjabov built up pressure and won rather easily in 48 moves. Nisipeanu-Wang Yue was a quiet draw in the Petrov’s Defence. Carlsen-Gelfand saw the Moscow Variation of the Semi-Slav. Gelfand neutralized White’s attacking intentions and in fact got a slightly better endgame, which was a draw. GM commentary by Dorian Rogozenco.

Medias: Round one commentary

6/15/2010 – Round one of the category 20 event in Romania saw two wins and a draw. Nisipeanu and Gelfand won brilliant games, although they differed a lot. The Romanian grandmaster capitalised on the strategic inaccuracies of his opponent, Teimour Radjabov, while Boris Gelfand slowly but firmly destroyed Wang Yue's defensive bastions to take the full point. Commentary by GM Dorian Rogozenco.

Medias R01: Gelfand and Nisipeanu win

6/14/2010 – This year's Kings Tournament is being held in Medias, Romania (the previous editions were in the nearby Bazna). The event is a category 20 double round robin with six players, all but one over 2700. In round one Gelfand and Nisipeanu beat Wang Yue and Radjabov, while top seed Magnus Carlsen drew against Ruslan Ponomariov. Commentary to follow, for now here's our express report.
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