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Source: Susan Polgar Blog

In two big events taking place right now (Biel and North Urals Cup), all 7 games had decisive results. The two biggest ones are the losses of the two #1 seeds: Carlsen and Humpy Koneru.

GM Carlsen (2775) - GM Alekseev (2708) [C65]
28.07.2008 / Biel - Round 7

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Nc3 0–0 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.Nxe5 Qd4 8.Be3 Qxe5 9.d4 Qe7 10.dxc5 Nxe4 11.Qd4 Bf5 12.0–0–0 Rad8 13.Qb4 Qe6 14.Kb1 b5 15.b3 Qe5 16.Nxe4 Bxe4 17.Bd4 Qf5 18.Qc3 f6 19.f3 Bd5 20.Rhe1 Rd7 21.Bf2 Rfd8 22.Rd4 h5 23.h3 Bf7 24.g4 hxg4 25.hxg4 Qg5 26.Kb2 Rxd4 27.Bxd4 Qd5 28.Rd1 b4 29.Qxb4 Qxf3 30.Rd2 Qxg4 31.Bc3 Qc8 32.Rg2 Bd5 33.Rg1 Qf5 34.Qb7 Kf7 35.Qxc7+ Rd7 36.Qc8 Be4 37.Qh8 Qh7 38.Qc8 Qf5 39.Rf1 Qe6 40.Qh8 Re7 41.Rd1 Re8 42.Qh2 Bf5 43.Rd2 Re7 44.Qb8 Rd7 45.Rf2 Bg6 46.Rh2 Qe8 47.Qg3 Qe4 48.Rg2 Re7 49.Rd2 Rb7 50.Qh2 Re7 51.Qb8 Bf5 52.a4 Bg6 53.a5 Bf5 54.a6 Bg6 55.Qg3 Bf5 56.Rg2 Bg6 57.Rh2 Bf5 58.Qb8 Bg6 59.Ka3 Bh7 60.Rd2 Bf5 61.Qh8 Qe3 62.Kb2 Qe4 63.Rf2 Qg4 64.Qh2 Bg6 65.Qd6 Qe6 66.Qxe6+ Kxe6 67.Ba5 Be4 68.c4 g5 69.Bd2 Rg7 70.Re2 f5 71.b4 g4 72.b5 cxb5 73.cxb5 g3 74.Re1 Kd5 75.Be3 Bd3 76.Rd1 Ke4 77.Rxd3 Kxd3 78.Bg1 f4 79.b6 f3 80.b7 Rg8 81.c6 f2 82.c7 fxg1Q 83.c8Q Qd4+ 84.Ka2 Black wins 0–1

Click here to replay the game.

Source: Susan Polgar Blog

Source: United States Chess Federation http://main.uschess.org/index2.php?option=com_rss&feed=RSS2.0&no_html=1
Maxx Coleman and Tim Maroney both earned 5.5/6 at the U.S. Junior Open (July 25-27, Lindsberg, Kansas), but Coleman took the trophy and the title on tiebreak.

Source: Susan Polgar Blog

24 parents, coaches, and family members are taking part in the 2008 SPNI Friends and Parents Open (20 in the rated section and 4 in the unrated section). Therefore, as you can see, a whole section for parents and family members of the SPNI participants is emptied.

Source: Susan Polgar Blog

Source: Susan Polgar Blog

Round 7 results:

Carlsen, Magnus - Alekseev, Evgeny 0-1
Dominguez Perez, Leinier - Pelletier, Yannick 1-0
Onischuk, Alexander - Bacrot, Etienne 0-1

Standings after 7 rounds:

1. Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2708 5
2. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2775 4½
3. Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2708 4½
4. Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2691 3½
5. Onischuk, Alexander g USA 2670 3
6. Pelletier, Yannick g SUI 2569 ½

Source: Susan Polgar Blog

Source: United States Chess Federation http://main.uschess.org/index2.php?option=com_rss&feed=RSS2.0&no_html=1
The Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls kicked off Sunday with 52 players. The favorite, Courtney Jamison, is fresh off a medal performance in Argentina. Also playing are Ashley Carter, who played in all 5 Polgars and Sylvia Yang, World Youth medallist.

Source: Susan Polgar Blog

Stefanova,A (2550) - Pogonina,N (2469) [A57]
5th North Urals Cup Krasnoturinsk RUS (2), 28.07.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.Qc2 bxc4 5.e4 g6 6.Bxc4 d6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.0–0 0–0 9.h3 Nbd7 10.Nc3 Rb8 11.Re1 Bb7 12.Bf4 Ne8 13.a3 Nc7 14.Rad1 Nb6 15.Ba2 Ba6 16.Nd2 Nb5 17.Nxb5 Bxb5 18.e5 Ba4 19.b3 Bb5 20.exd6 exd6 21.Ne4 Nc8 22.Nxc5 Rb6 23.Ne4 h6 24.Be3 Rb7 25.Bd4 Bxd4 26.Rxd4 Bd7 27.Qd2 Kh7 28.Qf4 Bf5 29.Ng3 Bd7 30.b4 Kg7 31.Rde4 Rc7 32.Qd2 Qf6 33.R4e3 Kg8 34.Rf3 Qg7 35.Bb1 Kh8 36.Rfe3 Qf6 37.Re4 Kg7 38.Rd4 Qg5 39.Rf4 f5 40.h4 Qf6 41.h5 Qc3 42.Qxc3+ Rxc3 43.hxg6 Kxg6 44.Rg4+ Kh7 45.a4 Rf7 46.Rf4 Kg6 47.a5 Ne7 48.Rd4 Kg5 49.Ne2 Rc8 50.Nf4 Kf6 51.Bd3 Rff8 52.Ne6 Rg8 53.Nf4 Rc3 54.Rb1 Rb8 55.Ne2 Rc7 56.g3 Be8 57.Rh4 Kg7 58.Nd4 Bd7 59.b5 Nxd5 60.Bxf5 Nc3 61.Re1 Bxf5 1–0

Sebag,M (2530) - Koneru,H (2622) [C99]
5th North Urals Cup Krasnoturinsk RUS (2), 28.07.2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 cxd4 13.cxd4 Nc6 14.Nb3 a5 15.Be3 a4 16.Nbd2 Bd7 17.Rc1 Qb7 18.Qe2 Rab8 19.Bd3 exd4 20.Nxd4 Ne5 21.Bb1 Rfe8 22.f4 Ng6 23.Nf5 Bxf5 24.exf5 Bd8 25.Qf2 Ne7 26.Bd4 Bb6 27.Ne4 Bxd4 28.Qxd4 Nxe4 29.Bxe4 d5 30.Bd3 Qd7 31.f6 Nc6 32.Qc5 gxf6 33.Bxb5 Rxe1+ 34.Rxe1 Qa7 35.Qxa7 Nxa7 36.Bxa4 Rxb2 37.Re7 Nb5 38.Rb7 Rb1+ 39.Kf2 Nc3 40.Rxb1 Nxb1 41.Bb3 Nc3 42.Ke3 Kf8 43.Kd3 Nb5 44.Bxd5 Ke7 45.a4 Na7 46.Kc4 Nc8 47.Kc5 Kd7 48.a5 Kc7 49.a6 Kb8 50.Bxf7 Ka7 51.Bc4 Ne7 52.Bd3 1–0

Cramling,P (2544) - Xu Yuhua (2483) [E12]
5th North Urals Cup Krasnoturinsk RUS (2), 28.07.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qb3 c5 6.Bg5 Bb7 7.a3 Ba5 8.dxc5 Na6 9.c6 dxc6 10.Qc2 c5 11.Rd1 Qc7 12.e3 Be4 13.Bd3 Bxd3 14.Rxd3 0–0 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Ke2 Bxc3 17.Qxc3 Qe7 18.Nd2 f5 19.g4 fxg4 20.h3 f5 21.Qe5 Rad8 22.Rxd8 Rxd8 23.hxg4 Qd7 24.Qc3 Qg7 25.gxf5 exf5 26.Qc2 Rf8 27.Nf3 Kh8 28.Rh5 h6 29.Qd2 Nc7 30.Qd6 Rf6 31.Qd8+ Kh7 32.Qd3 Qg6 33.Rh3 Ne6 34.Ne5 Qe8 35.f4 Qd8 36.Qc2 Ng7 37.Rh1 Qa8 38.Rg1 Qe4 39.Qxe4 fxe4 40.Rd1 h5 41.Rd7 a5 42.Nf7 h4 43.Kf2 Kg6 44.Ng5 Nf5 45.Nxe4 Re6 46.Ng5 Rxe3 47.Nf3 Rb3 48.Ne5+ Kf6 49.Rd2 Ng3 50.Kg2 Kf5 51.Nf3 Kg4 52.Ne5+ Kxf4 53.Ng6+ Kg5 54.Ne5 h3+ 55.Kg1 Re3 56.Rd5 Nf5 57.Nd3 Re2 0–1

Muzychuk,A (2504) - Ushenina,A (2476) [B12]
5th North Urals Cup Krasnoturinsk RUS (2), 28.07.2008
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.dxc5 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Bb5 e6 7.b4 Nge7 8.Nbd2 g6 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Nxf3 Bg7 11.Rb1 0–0 12.Bf4 a5 13.a3 Qc7 14.0–0 axb4 15.axb4 Rfb8 16.c4 Rd8 17.Qe2 dxc4 18.Qxc4 Nxe5 19.Qe4 Nxf3+ 20.Qxf3 e5 21.Bg5 h6 22.Be3 f5 23.Rfd1 Nc6 24.h4 e4 25.Qf4 Ne5 26.Bc4+ Kh8 27.h5 g5 28.Qxf5 Nxc4 29.Qxe4 Nxe3 30.Qxe3 Qf7 31.Rd6 Re8 32.Qd3 Re7 33.Qg6 Qa2 34.Rbd1 Rf8 35.R6d2 Re1+ 36.Kh2 Qe6 37.Qxe6 Rxe6 38.Rd7 b6 39.Rb7 bxc5 40.bxc5 Rxf2 41.Rdd7 Bf8 42.Rd8 Kg8 43.Rb6 Rff6 44.Rbb8 Rc6 45.Rbc8 Rxc8 46.Rxc8 Rf5 47.c6 Rc5 48.Kg3 Rc4 49.Kf3 Kf7 50.Ke3 Bd6 51.Kd3 Rc1 52.Ke4 Ke6 53.Rh8 Rc4+ 54.Kd3 Rxc6 55.Rxh6+ Kf5 56.Rg6 Rc1 57.Ke3 Bf4+ 58.Kf2 Kg4 59.h6 Rc2+ 60.Kf1 Rc1+ 61.Kf2 Bg3+ 62.Ke2 Re1+ 63.Kd3 Bf4 64.h7 Rh1 65.Rg7 Kg3 66.Ke4 Kxg2 67.Kf5 Kf3 68.Rb7 g4 69.Rb1 Rh5+ 70.Kg6 Rh2 71.Rb3+ Ke4 72.Rb4+ Kf3 73.Rb3+ Be3 74.Kg7 Ke4 75.Kg8 Bd4 76.Rg3 Kf4 77.Rd3 Be5 78.Rd7 g3 79.Rf7+ Ke4 0–1

Official website: http://www.northuralscup.ru

Source: Susan Polgar Blog

Source: Susan Polgar Blog

White to move. Can you find the best continuation?

6k1/2n1pr1p/1n1qN1p1/1Q1P1p1P/1p6/2b2NP1/5P2/R5K1 w - - 0 1

Source: Susan Polgar Blog

Source: Susan Polgar Blog

7th round (July 28th):

Magnus Carlsen - Evgeny Alekseev
Leinier Dominguez - Yannick Pelletier
Alexander Onischuk - Etienne Bacrot

Standings after round 6

1. GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2775) 4.5
2. GM Leinier Dominguez (CUB, 2708) 4.0
3. GM Evgeny Alekseev (RUS, 2708) 3.5
4. GM Alexander Onischuk (USA, 2670) 3.0
5. GM Etienne Bacrot (FRA, 2691) 2.5
6. GM Yannick Pelletier (SUI, 2569) 0.5

Official website: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch/cms/

Source: Susan Polgar Blog

Source: Susan Polgar Blog

The strong annual Marx György Memorial is taking place right now in Paks, Hungary.

Round 3 results:

Vachier-Lagrave – Sargissian ½-½
Stellwagen - Beliavsky ½-½
Acs - Berkes 0-1

Standings after 3 rounds:

1-3. Berkes, Stellwagen, Beliavsky 2
4. Vachier-Lagrave 1½
5. Sargissian 1
6. Acs ½

Official website: http://www.ase.hu/marxgy/2008/index_eng.html

Source: Susan Polgar Blog

Source: Jim West On Chess http://jimwestonchess.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss
Steve Ferrero, who is editor of Atlantic Chess News, took these pictures at Saturday’s Viking quads in Somerset.

Among others, you will see James Luxich, Louis Sturniolo, Sal Geraci, Patrick Mazzillo, Anna Matlin, and me.