CHESS Lubomir Kavalek- April 18, 2005 Arnold Denker, the dean of American chess, passed away on Jan. 2 at age 90. Denker became U.S. champion in 1944 and successfully defended the title in 1946 in a match against Herman Steiner. He also won six Manhattan Chess Club championships. In 1950 he became an international master, and in 1981 FIDE awarded him the title of honorary grandmaster. His major international success came in 1946 in a star-studded tournament in the Dutch city of Groningen, where he shared 10th-12th places.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61895-2005Jan9.html?nav=rss_style/columns/c... CHESS Lubomir Kavalek- April 18, 2005 Peter Leko, the Hungarian world championship challenger, won the prestigious Corus tournament yesterday in the Dutch coastal town of Wijk aan Zee. He was the only undefeated player in the event, scoring 8 12 points in 13 games. Last year's winner, Vishy Anand of India, finished with eight points. Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria was third with 7 12 points. The world champion Vladimir Kramnik and his Russian compatriot Alexander Grischuk, together with Judit Polgar of Hungary and England's Michael.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50091-2005Jan30.html?nav=rss_style/columns/... CHESS Lubomir Kavalek- April 18, 2005 Great chess players are not getting any younger. Bent Larsen, one of the most original and fascinating players of the last century, celebrated his 70th birthday last Friday. We will have more next week about the Danish grandmaster, who was once acknowledged as the "tournament world champion."http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12632-2005Mar6.html?nav=rss_style/columns/c... CHESS Lubomir Kavalek- April 18, 2005 Indian superstar Vishy Anand is the highest-rated player among the 14 colorful grandmasters at the traditional Corus tournament, underway in the Dutch coastal town of Wijk aan Zee. Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria was leading after yesterday's second round with two wins, against former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov and the current classical world champion, Vladimir Kramnik.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14674-2005Jan16.html?nav=rss_style/columns/... CHESS Lubomir Kavalek- April 18, 2005 Emil Sutovsky, an Israeli grandmaster, won the spectacular Aeroflot Open in Moscow last Thursday and qualified for a super-tournament in Dortmund, Germany. The former world junior champion shared first place with Vladimir Akopian of Armenia, Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, and two Russians, Andrei Kharlov and Alexander Motylev. They all scored 6 12 points in nine games, but Sutovsky won the tie-break, playing more games with the black pieces.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58771-2005Feb27.html?nav=rss_style/columns/... CHESS Lubomir Kavalek- April 18, 2005 In the January 2005 rating list issued by the World Chess Federation (FIDE), Garry Kasparov of Russia is still on top with a 2804 rating. Vishy Anand of India is second with 2786; Bulgaria's Veselin Topalov moves to the third spot with 2757. World champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia has 2754, and his opponent, Peter Leko of Hungary, is fifth with 2749. Russia's Alexander Morozevich and England's Michael Adams share a rating of 2741. Peter Svidler, a four-time Russian champion, has 2735. The...http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43457-2005Jan2.html?nav=rss_style/columns/c... CHESS Lubomir Kavalek- April 18, 2005 Two major open tournaments collided last week in Europe. The event at Cappelle-la-Grande, France, attracted 590 players from 52 countries. It finished Saturday with international master David Shengelia of Georgia and grandmaster Michail Brodsky of Ukraine sharing first place with 7.5 points in nine games.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40632-2005Feb20.html?nav=rss_style/columns/... CHESS Lubomir Kavalek- April 18, 2005 Upon my arrival at the JFK Airport in New York from Europe on Wednesday, the U.S. customs official quickly found out that chess is my profession and said: "The kid won it!"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12509-2004Dec19.html?nav=rss_style/columns/... CHESS Lubomir Kavalek- April 18, 2005 The prestigious 2004 Book of the Year Award at ChessCafe.com went to Pal Benko and Jeremy Silman for their impressive "Pal Benko: My Life, Games and Compositions." It is their second success; they also won the 2004 British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award for the same work.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21961-2005Feb13.html?nav=rss_style/columns/... CHESS Lubomir Kavalek- April 18, 2005 Happy birthday, Bent Larsen! The legendary Danish grandmaster and world championship candidate turned 70 on March 4. An optimist by nature, Larsen was one of the fiercest fighters in the last century and one of the few players capable of challenging the Soviets for the world championship. He came close, participating in seven Candidates matches. But when his chances were the best, he was stopped twice by players who became world champions: Boris Spassky in 1968 and Bobby Fischer in 1971.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32536-2005Mar13.html?nav=rss_style/columns/... |