All news

• Saratov

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  The Governer's cup In Saratov, Russia takes place from the 8th to the 20th of October. A twelve player round robin involving several members of the Saratov team that won the European Club Championship in 2009 and 2010. Saratov has a population nearing one million and is about 460 miles south-east of Moscow on the Volga river.

• Carlsen ahead of Ivanchuk

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  The leaders drew and so Magnus Carlsen and Vassily Ivanchuk finished equal first after the final round. Carlsen then won the Blitz tie-break 1½-½ to take the first place. The only decisive result in the tenth round was Viswanathan Anand's complicated win over Francisco Vallejo Pons, thus taking the World Champion above the Spaniard and into a third way tie with Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian.

• All to play for in Poikovsky

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  Alexander Motylev was the only winner in the seventh round of the 12th Poikovsky International. Three players lead, Karjakin, Caruana and Bacrot, with all ten participants being within one point of each other. It's so tight this year that everyone is still within a chance of winning the event!

• Carlsen catches Ivanchuk!

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  Magnus Carlsen beats the pre-round leader Vassily Ivanchuk, for the second time, and has now caught the Ukrainian in the standings. In a day with three white wins, Levon Aronian crushed Viswanathan Anand, while Francisco Vallejo Pons is off the bottom after beating Hikaru Nakamura (on time!).

• Four lead in Poikovsky

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  Fabiano Caruana and Victor Laznicka both won their second games today and join the leading quartet. The other pair, Sergey Karjakin and Etienne Bacrot, drew their individual encounter today. In the middle of the tournament are Zahar Efimenko, along with the American Alexander Onischuk who has drawn all six games so far.

• Kasparov by a short head

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  A Blitz match between Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short ended in a close-run 4.5-3.5 win for the favourite after Kasparov won the last game with the black pieces. The match in Leuven, Belgium celebrated the fifth anniversary of the 'Your Next Move' site.

• Sadler sizzles in Oslo

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  Englishman Matthew Sadler has been in hot form since his 'coming back' from an extended sabbatical of several years. Following on from a fine performance in the Sants open in Barcelona, here in the Oslo International he finished a full 1.5 points ahead of the second-placed player Spike Ernst.

• Nakamura and Carlsen reduce the gap

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  Wins by Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen have reduced the lead of Vassily Ivanchuk, who drew today. The victorious pair are now in equal second place. Both players employed a similar winning ploy: trapping a knight after their opponents had allowed their steeds to get stuck on the rim.

• Bacrot on target

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  Etienne Bacrot was the only winner in the fifth round of the Poikovsky tournament in Siberia, Russia. He won the exchange with a neat trick, but still had to work long and hard to break down Fabiano Caruana's resistance in a technically complex pseudo-endgame. Bacrot now replaces the Italian No.1 in the leading group.

• Vallejo upsets the leader

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  Francisco Vallejo Pons made the most of his chances against Vassily Ivanchuk converting his early positional advantage in the endgame. A passed d-pawn tied down the Ukrainian, but it was the passed a-pawn that made all the difference. Ivanchuk still leads, but the group behind him is tightening up.

• Five draws in Siberia

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  The two youngest players, Fabiano Caruana and Sergey Karjakin, played today. After their game ended in perpetual check, they continue to share the lead with Zahar Efimenko, who equalized easily as Black against Alexander Onischuk. In a tight contest over the first four days there have been four white wins and sixteen draws.

• Ivanchuk resumes winning ways in Bilbao

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  Despite having a traumatic experience at the end of his stay in Brazil, Vassily Ivanchuk was able to focus his thoughts on his first game in Bilbao. His victory over Hikaru Nakamura has left him well in control of the Grand Slam Final. Ivanchuk has thirteen points, and the chasing group of four players only seven.

• Karjakin and Efimenko win

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  The favourite Sergey Karjakin won a complicated struggle in the Caro-Kann where he sacrificed his b-pawn and then took advantage of his lead in development. The other winner, Ukrainian Zahar Efimenko, defended resolutely against Alexander Motylev's strong attack and turned the tables towards the time control. Today's winners share the lead along with Fabiano Caruana on 2/3.

• All draws in Poikovsky

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  With all five games being drawn in Poikovsky, the tournament leaders are still Fabiano Caruana and Viktor Laznicka. Etienne Bacrot was perhaps closest to winning in the second round, as he won a pawn, but Alexander Onischuk managed to activate in time to save the endgame.

• Caruana and Laznicka win

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  There were two decisive results in the first round of the 12th Poikovsky tournament. Victor Laznicka beat Lazaro Bruzon and Fabiano Caruana beat second seed Dmitri Jakovenko. Both of the losers went badly astray just before the time control.

• 12th Poikovsky tournament

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  The small town of Poikovsky in Siberia, Russia has organized an event in honneur of former World champion Anatoly Karpov since 2000. This year the ten player round robin runs from the 4th to the 13th of October and is headed by Sergey Karjakin.

• Radjabov obtains 3000 performance

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  The European Club Championship has finished with some impressive individual performances. Teimour Radjabov's 3000+ on board one, for second-placed Socar was exceptional, but it wasn't the highest! Denis Khismatullin managed an even better result on bottom board for Tomsk. Antoaneta Stefanova, playing board one for champions AVS, had the best result in the Women's Club Championship.

• Nakamura and Carlsen win

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  Hikaru Nakamura seized second place with a win over back-marker Francisco Vallejo Pons, while Magnus Carlsen outplayed the leader Vassily Ivanchuk. All six players managed to win at least one game in Sao Paulo. In a few days, after changing continents, the Masters Final will continue in Bilbao.

• Saint Petersburg Champions

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  Although Peter Svidler lost his individual game, his team-mates were able to do the necessary and the Russian team cames out winners over Mika 3½-2½. On the other hand, Baden-Baden's great run came to a sorry ending, as they were out-gunned by SOCAR. AVS (Stefanova, Lahno, Cmilyte etc) were women's champions

• A hat-trick for Ivanchuk

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  A third consecutive win has put Vassily Ivanchuk in a commanding position in Sao Paulo. His messy complicated struggle against Levon Aronian favoured the Ukrainian for most of the game. In the other games, Viswanathan Anand won with the bishop pair in a simplified game against Vallejo Pons, whilst Magnus Carlsen was unable to make headway against Hikaru Nakamura's solid Queen's Gambit.