Game of the year?

Carlsen may be #1 on the ratings list, and Anand and Gelfand may be playing for the FIDE title, but Levon Aronian gets my vote for "People's Champion."  Yesterday's win against Anish Giri was extremely cool:

"Giri wins Reggio Emilia as Nakamura falters"

Bummer.

Story at Chess Life Online.

Nakamura earns spot in Melody Amber

Tough break for Anish Giri (who lost his first game in the final round).  Congratulations to Nakamura!

NH Chess homepage is here: Chess Life Online is working on a report now...

And don't miss the great (and FREE) video analysis of selected games on chess.fm!  Edit: GM Miguel Illescas's commentary on Nielsen's win over Giri is outstanding.

human cluster

Another Anand interview on ChessBase.

World Championship tactics

This position could have occurred in today's game if White had played 41.Rxa8:

Topalov-Anand, game 12 (variation after 41.Rxa8)

Black to play and win

Hint: Black's Christmas list might include eliminating a certain defensive piece, then clearing the way for yet another piece, no matter the cost.

Anish Giri explains at ChessBase.  Interactive board here.

Anish Giri annotates Game 11

At ChessBase.

 Interactive JavaScript board is here.

Anish Giri on Game 9

Check it out on ChessBase!

Interactive board.

World Championship, Games 4-6

With the match half over, the score in Sofia, Bulgaria , is 3½ points for World Champion Viswanathan Anand and 2½ ponts for former champ Veselin Topalov.  In games 5 and 6, both Anand and Topalov played at an extremely high level.  But if you're an amateur like me, you don't have to feel guilty about skipping these very interesting draws.

But Anand's sudden and brilliant attack win in Game 4 is fascinating: please don't skip that!  Everyone's favorite teenage Dutch GM of Nepalese/Russian ancestry, Anish Giri, annotates on ChessBase.  (Interactive board here.)

More free English-language coverage at the official site and here: 

• The Week in Chess
• US Chess Online
• ChessBase (round 6 and round 5)
• Dejan Bojkov's blog
• ChessVibes (game 6 and game 5)

And there's good gossip as always at The Daily Dirt.

Tomorrow is a rest day: play continues at 7 a.m. Chicago time on Monday, May 3, with Anand having White a second consecutive time.

Linares midpoint

Topalov is +2 after beating Grischuk today; nobody else is above breakeven.  Details at TWIC.

Anish Giri annotates the epic Topalov-Grischuk battle on ChessBase.

tactics from Corus: So-Giri

15-year-old Anish Giri's mother is Russian, his father is from Nepal, so naturally he plays for the Dutch federation.  He'll be playing in the A section of Corus next year!

Anish Giri: winner of the Corus B section

Here's the crucial position from Giri's game against another prodigy, Wesley So of the Phillipines:

So-Giri, Corus 2010

White to play: what's the best move?

A) 36.Ne2  B) 36.Qxd1 C.) 36.Qxd4 D) 36.Ra2

White is up two bishops (!) for a bunch of pawns.  But getting mated would be bad.  

Hint: one move probably wins, one move probably draws, one move definitely draws, and one move definitely loses.