2008 in chess
Events in chess during the year 2008:
Events
(Top events in bold)
January
- January 1 – Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) gains 14 rating points to move from number three to head the FIDE top 100 players lists at 2799. Viswanathan Anand (India) also at 2799 is drops from first to second as he played fewer rated games in the previous reporting period. Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) is third at 2780. Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) loses 36 points to drop from number two to number nine. As on the previous list, a rating of 2627 is required to place in the top 100.[1][2]
- January 6 – 83rd Hastings International Congress ends in three-way tie between GM Vadim Malakhatko (Belgium), GM Nidjat Mamedov (Azerbaijan), and GM Valeriy Neverov (Ukraine). Earlier in the tournament IM Simon Williams (England) achieved a performance that should qualify him for the Grandmaster title (rating temporarily over 2500, he already had the required norms).[3]
- January 6 – 50th Reggio Emilia won by GM Zoltan Almasi (Hungary).[3]
- January 7 – 2nd ACP World Rapid Cup in Odessa won by GM Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan) over GM Alexander Grischuk (Russia) in a blitz playoff.[3][4]
- January 9 – Asian Team Championships in Visakhapatnam men's and women's gold medal won by China, with India winning silver and Vietnam bronze in both events.[5]
- January 11 – 2007/8 Australian Championship in Parramatta won by IM Stephen Solomon placing second (top finisher among Australians). GM Dejan Antic (Serbia) won the tournament.[6]
- January 12 – 33rd Ciudad de Sevilla won by GM Karen Movsziszian (Armenia).[6]
- January 13 – 5th Estonia–Finland match on 100 boards in Talinn won by Estonia 60.5–28.5. (Finland was short players, and only 89 games were played.)[5]
- January 19 – Venezuelan Champinship in San Felipe won by IM Eduardo Iturrizaga 10/11. This is IM Eduardo Iturrizaga's third consecutive championship title. WIM Maria Ubaldo won the women's championship for the second year in a row, 6.5/9.[5]
- January 21 – 68th Armenian Championship in Yerevan won for the third time and the second consecutive year by GM Karen Asrian on tie-break over six-time champion GM Artashes Minasian. Both scored 8/12 in a field of 13 with 11 GMs. WIM Lilit Galojan is the 62nd women's champion on tie-break over WIM Siranush Andriasian.[5]
- January 22 – Belarus Championship in Minsk won by GM Alexei Fedorov with 9.5/13.[5]
- January 24 – Viswanathan Anand named CNN-IBN's Indian Sportsperson of 2007 in recognition of his 20 year career and 2007 World Championship title.[7][8]
- January 25 – 115th New Zealand Championship in Aukland won by GM Murray Chandler with 9/11.[5]
- January 27 – Corus 2008 (Wijk aan Zee) A-group (category 20) won by GM Levon Aronian (Armenia) and GM Magnus Carlsen (Norway), tied at 8/13. This is the second time that the 25 year old Aronian shared first place at this tournament. Carlsen is only 17.[5]
- January 28 – Azerbaijan Championship in Baku won by GM Rauf Mamedov with 7/9.[9]
- January 29 – Croatian Championship in Split won by GM Hrvoje Stevic with 8/12.[9]
- January 31 – 6th Gibraltar Gibtelecom Chess Festival won by GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA) in a 2–0 playoff against GM Bu Xiangzhi (China) after both finished with 8/10. IM Zhao Zong Yuan became Australia's youngest ever GM at age 21 by scoring 6 in the first 9 rounds on the way to 6.5/10.[9][10]
- Cuban Chess Championship won by Yuniesky Quesada.[9]
February
- February 2 – "To Gligorić with Love", a rapid chess tournament in Pančevo honors Svetozar Gligorić (Serbia) on his 85th birthday. The 85 player field includes 23 GMs, 21 IMs, 12 FMs, 4 WGMs, and 1 WIM. Five players tie for first place, with GM Ivan Ivanisevic (Serbia) winning the trophy.[11]
- February 10 – 4th International Chess Festival Moscow Open held at the Russian State Social University won by GM Artyom Timofeev 7.5/9, overtaking the tournament leader GM Ernesto Inarkiev (7/9) by beating him in the final round in a 117-move game. IM Anna Muzychuk wins the women's section with 8/9. The tournament has a 5 million ruble prize fund (about US$205,760).[12][13]
- February 15 – 45th Indian Championship in Chennai won by GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly on tie-break over IM K Rathnakaran after both scored 9/11.[14]
- February 17 – Four Nations Chess Challenge in Oslo won by Sweden. England finishes second, followed by Latvia and Norway.[14]
- February 19 – European Senior Team Championship in Dresden
- February 22 – Aeroflot Open in Moscow won by 17-year-old GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) with the score 7/9. Regarded as the strongest open tournament in the world, the prize fund is US$200,000 with $30,000 for the winner.[15]
March
- March 7 – Morelia/Linares
- March 28 – Amber Rapid and Blindfold in Nice. Prize fund is €216,000.
April
- April 20 – 2007/8 Chess Bundesliga
May
- May 4 – 9th European Chess Championship in Plovdiv
- May 17 – Dutch Team Championship
- May 18 – M-Tel Masters in Sofia
August
- August 17 – 8th European Individual Senior Championship in Davos.
October
- October 30 – Anand–Kramnik 2008 World Championship match in Bonn
Deaths
- January 17 – Bobby Fischer (1943–2008), 64, the 11th World Champion, dies in Iceland.
References
- ^ Kramnik and Anand lead the January 1st 2008 FIDE ratings, chessbase.com, 30 December 2007, retrieved 2008-01-20
- ^ FIDE Top 100 Players January 2008, FIDE, January 2008, retrieved 2008-01-20
- ^ a b c Crowther, Mark (7 January 2008), THE WEEK IN CHESS 687, London Chess Center, retrieved 2008-01-20
- ^ Savinov, Misha (8 January 2008), "Radjabov wins ACP World Rapid Cup in Odessa", Chessbase News
- ^ a b c d e f g Crowther, Mark (28 January 2008), THE WEEK IN CHESS 690, London Chess Center, retrieved 2008-01-20
- ^ a b Crowther, Mark (14 January 2008), THE WEEK IN CHESS 688, London Chess Center, retrieved 2008-01-20
- ^ Grandmaster Anand is 2007's top sportsman, accessed 2008-01-25.
- ^ Anand elected Indian Sportsperson of the Year 2007, 24 January 2008, retrieved 2008-01-25
- ^ a b c d Crowther, Mark (4 February 2008), THE WEEK IN CHESS 691, London Chess Center, retrieved 2008-02-04
- ^ Friedel, Frederic (2 February 2008), "Nakamura beats Bu, wins Gibtel 2008", ChessBase News, retrieved 2008-02-08
- ^ Asik, Josip (6 February 2008), "To Gligoric with Love – a legend turns 85", ChessBase News, retrieved 2008-02-08
- ^ Atarov, Eugene (10 February 2008), "Artyom Timofeev wins Moscow Open 2008", ChessBase News, retrieved 2008-02-15
- ^ Crowther, Mark (11 February 2008), THE WEEK IN CHESS 692, London Chess Center, retrieved 2008-02-15
- ^ a b Crowther, Mark (18 February 2008), THE WEEK IN CHESS 693, London Chess Center, retrieved 2008-02-19
- ^ "Nepomniachtchi wins Aeroflot Open 2008", ChessBase News, 22 February 2008, retrieved 23 February 2008