2013-2014 Women's Grand Prix, Khanty-Mansiysk

I added the crosstable and PGN for the 2014 Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia) event to my page on the 2013-2014 FIDE Women's Grand Prix. Following the 2013 Women's Grand Prix, Tashkent, this was the fourth of six events in the Women's Grand Prix series.

The FIDE Calendar 2014 lists

• Tbilisi, Georgia; 18-Jun to 2-Jul-2014, and
• Erdenet, Mongolia; 24-Aug to 7-Sep-2014

as the two final events in the current Women's FIDE Grand Prix Series. Later this year will also see the

• Women's World Championship 2014; 11-Oct to 31-Oct-2014

This 2014 event will use the knockout system, a format abandoned by FIDE nearly ten years ago for the unrestricted World Championship.

Looking Forward to Carlsen - Anand II

In my previous post, Khanty-Mansiysk Candidates - Wrapup, I wondered,

Is this really the last post for the Khanty-Mansiysk Candidates? I wouldn't bet on it.

Good thing I didn't bet on it. First I updated my pages on World Chess Championship : Index of Players, to add the Candidates tournament. Then, with Carlsen - Anand II in mind, I went back to my Carlsen - Anand Wrapup post from December 2013 to review Match Resources.

The Google News search on 'Anand Carlsen' brought up over 1500 recent results, including an article from TheHindu.com, It will be a different match this time: Anand. It started,

For Viswanathan Anand, the wounds of the world championship defeat have healed, and the emotional turmoil has settled. Now, with uncluttered mind and renewed vigour, the five-time world champion is keen to return the favour to Magnus Carlsen when they meet again later this year in another summit clash.

"I have a fairly good idea what I want to change (about my game), and what went wrong (in Chennai). I will choose my team accordingly. I am waiting for the bid (for the world championship match venue) and I will have a clearer idea after that," said Anand at a promotional event here on Wednesday.

That sounds like the Anand that ruled the roost before the disastrous match with Carlsen. Their next encounter should be even more spell binding.

Khanty-Mansiysk Candidates - Wrapup

Last post for the 2014 Candidates Tournament? If so, let's first have a summary of the action from two major chess news sources.

Rd.	Chessbase	Chessvibes
R0	Who will win the 2014 Candidates? Part 1, Part 2 • All systems go for the 2014 Candidates tournament	Preview & Predictions by Top GMs
R1	The Madras Tiger breaks Aronian	Anand Beats Aronian in First Round
R2	Three wins and the race is on	Three Winners in Spectacular Second Round
R3	Anand grabs early lead with 2.5/3	Anand Beats Mamedyarov, Back in Sole Lead
R4	Aronian, Mamedyarov win	Mamedyarov & Aronian Win, Anand Maintains Lead
R5	Svidler pounces	Lucky Win For Svidler, Anand Still Leads
R6	Spoilt opportunities	Topalov beats Kramnik, Svidler Self-Destructs vs Mamedyarov
R7	Pandora's Box	Aronian Catches Anand in Fascinating 7th Round
R8	A solid round	Quick Draw Aronian-Anand, Karjakin Beats Svidler
R9	Decisive Round?!	Shocking 9th Round: Anand Wins, Aronian & Kramnik Go Down
R10	Kramnik's downfall	Kramnik Blunders, Loses to Svidler
R11	All Null	Four Draws, Anand Closer to Victory
R12	Time is running out	Missed Chances For Anand, Topalov Beats Svidler
R13	Anand-Carlsen rematch!	Anand Draws, Clinches Rematch with Carlsen
R14	Karjakin grabs second	Karjakin Second After Beating Aronian, Anand Undefeated

Then let's have a wrapup of my own posts, as in last year's

• 2013-04-10: London Candidates - Wrapup

Here are posts from this WCC blog:-

• 2014-03-12: Khanty-Mansiysk Candidates - Kickoff
• 2014-03-19: Khanty-Mansiysk Candidates - First Week
• 2014-03-26: Khanty-Mansiysk Candidates - Second Week
• 2014-04-02: Khanty-Mansiysk Candidates - Third Week

And here are posts from my main blog:-

• 2014-03-18: Iframes Don't Dance; Chessdom Chess Arena.
• 2014-03-24: Sicilian Najdorf 6.h3
• 2014-03-31: 2014 Candidates Openings
• 2014-04-01: An Empty Arena?

Is this really the last post for the Khanty-Mansiysk Candidates? I wouldn't bet on it.

Khanty-Mansiysk Candidates - Third Week

I added the crosstable, PGN, and cumulative score to my page on the 2014 Candidates Event. The previous report, Khanty-Mansiysk Candidates - Second Week, showed Anand with a solid lead. The cumulative score, reproduced below, shows that he led through the last six rounds of the double round robin and was never worse than tied for first.

Congratulations to the winner! Will he join that small group of World Champions who recovered the title after losing it?