Dear Teamliquidians. The M-Tel MASTERS is upon us (http://www.mtelmasters09.com).
The M-tell MASTERS is currently one of the biggest chess tournaments in the world and it's held over the course of ten days (so plenty of time to enjoy ourselves).

Participants are none other than ;
Topalov (2812)
Carlsen (2770)
Ivanchuk (2746)
Shirov (2745)
Wang (2738)
Dominguez (2721)

For more information be sure to check the site. The first game between Topalov and Carlsen is about to start (http://www.mtelmasters09.com/en/live.html for a live feed). Enjoy watching

Results :
+ Show Spoiler [Results of Round 1] +

+ Show Spoiler [Magnus Carlsen (2770) - Veselin Topalo…] +

1-0. Carlsen crushed Topalov and forced him to resign after only 36 moves.
Topalov is statistically the strongest player at the tournament and Carlsen the second strongest.
After this convincing victory I am inclined to believe Carlsen is going to win the entire tournament.

[Event "M-Tel Masters 2009"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.05.13"]
[Round "1.3"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "2812"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2770"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 Nd7 8. Bd3
dxc4 9. Bxc4 g6 10. O-O Bg7 11. e4 O-O 12. e5 Qe7 13. Qe2 b5 14. Bd3 Bb7 15.
Be4 Rfd8 16. Rac1 Rab8 17. Rfd1 a6 18. h4 Ba8 19. Rc2 Rdc8 20. Rdc1 Qf8 21. a4
c5 22. axb5 cxd4 23. Nxd4 Bxe4 24. Nxe4 Rxc2 25. Rxc2 axb5 26. Nc6 Rb6 27. f4
Qa8 28. Ne7+ Kh7 29. h5 Ra6 30. hxg6+ fxg6 31. Rc7 Ra1+ 32. Kf2 Qd8 33. Qd3
Qxe7 34. Rxd7 Qh4+ 35. Kf3 Qh5+ 36. Kg3 1-0

+ Show Spoiler [Vassily Ivanchuk (2746) - Alexei Shiro…] +

0 - 1. Shirov won by Resignation after 24 moves.

[Event "M-Tel Masters 2009"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.05.13"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Black "Shirov, Alexei"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "2745"]
[ECO "B52"]
[WhiteElo "2746"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 g6 7. d4 cxd4 8.
Nxd4 Bg7 9. f3 O-O 10. Be3 Nc6 11. O-O Rac8 12. b3 e6 13. Rc1 Rfd8 14. Qd2 d5
15. exd5 exd5 16. c5 Nxd4 17. Bxd4 Ne4 18. Qe3 Nxc5 19. Rcd1 Bxd4 20. Rxd4 Qc6
21. Ne2 Ne6 22. Rd2 d4 23. Nxd4 Qb6 24. Rfd1 Rd5 0-1

+ Show Spoiler [Yue Wang (2738) - Domingues Perez Lein…] +

1/2 - 1/2.

[Event "M-Tel Masters 2009"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.05.13"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Wang, Yue"]
[Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[BlackElo "2721"]
[ECO "D82"]
[WhiteElo "2738"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 c5 6. dxc5 Qa5 7. Rc1 dxc4 8.
Bxc4 O-O 9. Nge2 Qxc5 10. Qb3 Nc6 11. Nb5 Qh5 12. Ng3 Qh4 13. Nc7 e5 14. Bg5
Qxg5 15. h4 Qg4 16. Nxa8 e4 17. Nc7 Na5 18. Qb5 Nxc4 19. Qxc4 Bd7 20. Nd5 Nxd5
21. Qxd5 Bxb2 22. Rc2 Bc6 23. Qg5 Qxg5 24. hxg5 Be5 25. Ne2 Rd8 26. Rd2 Re8 27.
O-O Kg7 28. Rc1 h6 29. Nd4 Bxd4 30. gxh6+ Kxh6 31. exd4 Rd8 32. a3 f5 33. g3
Bd5 34. Kf1 g5 35. Ke2 Kg6 36. Rdc2 Bc6 37. Ke3 Kh5 38. Rc5 Bd5 39. Ra5 Kg4 40.
Rcc5 Be6 41. Rxa7 b6 42. Rc1 Bd5 43. Rg7 Ra8 44. Rc3 Ra4 45. Rg6 b5 46. Rf6 Bc4
47. Rd6 Bd3 48. f4 Kxg3 49. Rg6 g4 50. d5 b4 51. axb4 Ra2 52. d6 Bb5 53. Rg7
Re2+ 54. Kd4+ Kxf4 55. Kc5 Rd2 56. Kxb5 Rxd6 57. Rc1 Re6 58. Rf1+ Kg3 59. Rf7
Re5+ 60. Kc4 e3 61. R7xf5 Rxf5 62. Rxf5 e2 63. Re5 Kf2 64. b5 e1=Q 65. Rxe1
1/2-1/2

HeaDStrong

Scotland785 Posts

May 13 2009 13:36 GMT

wow didn't know that Shirov is doing so well these days. makes me happy because he's latvian playing unfer the flag of spain. pretty sad (if youre a fan of latvian chess) story behind that...

kefkalives

Australia1272 Posts

May 13 2009 14:18 GMT

Tell us the story please humbug.

Daigomi

South Africa4316 Posts

May 13 2009 14:26 GMT

Haha, can't believe that Carlsen is so high now. Last time I saw he was still around 20th in the world. That kid is a machine

How's Radjabov doing these days?

IMlemon

Lithuania296 Posts

May 13 2009 14:40 GMT

Carlsen, wow. I kinda stoped following chess scene a year or two ago, and he was still in low 2600s.

Sick.

Trezeguet

United States2656 Posts

May 13 2009 15:04 GMT

Agreed, carlsen has rocketed to the top

HeaDStrong

Scotland785 Posts

May 13 2009 15:09 GMT

i dont remember it in great detail, but after the USSR fell apart, things were sketchy and Alexei Shirov didn't get a latvian citizneship and to live in latvia (his home), he had to have a visa and renewing it all the time was like a pain in the ass and for reasons unknown they wouldnt give him the citizenship. so he got fed up and said fuck this and moved to spain where he was met with arms wide open. so because of some stupid birocracy bs latvia lost their second best chess player.

(the first being Mikhail Tal, which, hands down, is the best (or best to watch) player ever walked on the surface of the planet. they call him the magician from riga)

maybe not the kind of sad you might think, but it upsets me for obvious reasons.

d(O.o)a

Canada5066 Posts

May 13 2009 16:04 GMT

What does the number next to their name man? <- chess noob.

Durak

Canada3685 Posts

May 13 2009 16:07 GMT

It's their rating. ELO.

miseiler

United States1389 Posts

May 13 2009 16:53 GMT

#10

But the US championships are on now!
http://saintlouischessclub.org/US-Championship-2009-Live

Psh to your supergms!

GO NAKAMURA

Quint

467 Posts

May 13 2009 18:14 GMT

#11

Nakamura is so BM on playchess.com, it is not even justified anymore by his incredible blitz skills. Sure, chess over the internet has its own rules but Nakamura is abusing things like the option to check if your opponent has disconnected (which is extremely annoying especially if you have mere seconds left on the clock) far too often. Same goes for his unjustified accusations of cheating every time he loses a game. As he is arguably the #1 or #2 in blitz (him vs Anand would be great), chessbase will not retaliate in any way - since playchess.com is "the place where the masters play" (more accurate would be "the place where masters play their 1/0 or 3/1 games one or two times a month). /rant

I am very interested in how Ivanchuck will perform - after his shared first place with Alexander Grischuck in Linares, I hope that he will be more stable in his tourneyplay. He is maybe the most gifted players of all, yet his game suffers so much from his weak nerves (check youtube for the game of him vs Carlsen, where he only had a few seconds left on the clock - a total wreck).

Carlsen will continue to demolish every opponent in front of him, sooner or later he will fight for the world championship. With the exception of Kramnik or Anand, I really dont see anyone else able to stop him if he continues to improve at that pace.

kerr0r

Norway319 Posts

May 13 2009 18:42 GMT

#12

Meh, Go > chess...

But what the hell, Carlsen hwaiting! :D

Aylear

Norway3988 Posts

May 13 2009 19:02 GMT

#13

Go Carlsen!

Quint

467 Posts

May 13 2009 19:03 GMT

#14

On May 14 2009 03:42 kerr0r wrote:
Meh, Go > chess...

I used to challenge people for a game of chess everytime they made above mentioned statement in a forum or discussion group. Up to now, most of them were either total scrubs (knowing little more than the basic rules) or simply horribly (blundering pieces in quick succession). One guy beat me in a good game, but since I consider myself nothing more than an advanced beginner my point remains: If you dont possess a certain skill, giving you enough insight into the game, you cant make statements like that - its like someone at D+ saying that there is nothing more to Starcraft than a few well executed buildorders with little to no actual strategy involved. But of course strategy is important in Starcraft, and mindgames and psychology also play a huge role in chess too.

Chess has of course less variety than Go, nevertheless the game will almost always get exciting if at least one player takes the initiative - it is not the theory but the players who make the game interesting.

Phrogs!

Japan521 Posts

May 13 2009 19:41 GMT

#15

Wow Quint I just checked that Ivanchuk-Carlson video you mentioned on youtube, wow he was so visibly nervous.

Everyone gotta love Carlson and he's damn good, looking forward to him doing well in this tournament!

Aylear

Norway3988 Posts

May 13 2009 19:46 GMT

#16

On May 14 2009 04:41 Phrogs! wrote:
Wow Quint I just checked that Ivanchuk-Carlson video you mentioned on youtube, wow he was so visibly nervous.

Everyone gotta love Carlson and he's damn good, looking forward to him doing well in this tournament!

Carlsen is not Swedish! Stop putting o's in his name!

yejin

France493 Posts

May 13 2009 20:37 GMT

#17

Is there a video stream or just game reports ? I know a few stuff about chess and would LOVE to watch that live.

food

United States1951 Posts

May 13 2009 20:50 GMT

#18

On May 14 2009 00:09 [GMTA]_HumBug wrote:
i dont remember it in great detail, but after the USSR fell apart, things were sketchy and Alexei Shirov didn't get a latvian citizneship and to live in latvia (his home), he had to have a visa and renewing it all the time was like a pain in the ass and for reasons unknown they wouldnt give him the citizenship. so he got fed up and said fuck this and moved to spain where he was met with arms wide open. so because of some stupid birocracy bs latvia lost their second best chess player.

(the first being Mikhail Tal, which, hands down, is the best (or best to watch) player ever walked on the surface of the planet. they call him the magician from riga)

maybe not the kind of sad you might think, but it upsets me for obvious reasons.

basically he is a Russian playing under Spanish flag. Sad story for Latvian chess club indeed.

Pellucidity

Netherlands377 Posts

May 14 2009 00:22 GMT

#19

Updated the Results of Round 1. It was a very exciting round. Be sure to check it out.

FastEddieV

United States614 Posts

May 14 2009 00:26 GMT

#20

I prefer to watch guys like Nakamura play on ICC. I've never seen him BM there. Pretty cool guy from what I've seen. A few years ago he won the US championships against this one guy who always played the center game (e4 d5) coming back from what looked at one point like a lost game to winning it. He and Kamsky are my favorite American players.