BOTW 2016.05.23
BOTW 2016.05.22
With a short lull between Super-Tournaments, we turn to other chess news for the Best of the Web: stories and interviews with GMs Evgeny Bareev, Lev Aronian, and Hou Yifan.
Interview: Evgeny Bareev
The Toronto Star has a very short but good story on GM Evgeny Bareev, who has moved from Russia to Toronto and is now Canada's highest FIDE-rated player. Bareev has twice been ranked #4 in the world (1992 and 2002) and won the U16 World Championship:
"Bareev fell desperately ill from exhaustion, and couldn’t sleep due to a high fever for three days. “There is always (a) price, so I paid my price,” he says. “I thought I would die.”
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/05/22/a-grand-new-future-for-canadas-chess-hopes.html
Interview: Lev Aronian
When chess media reports on Armenian GM Lev Aronian these days it it often with a wistful and what-might-have-been tone. Lev has been so promising for so long but has come up short in every Candidates match that he is starting to receive a respectful but sad send off.
While it is true that there is only one player in the FIDE top 10 who is older than him, Aronian is still rated 2784, and ranked 7th -- one spot ahead of Challenger Sergey Karjakin -- and he will be (only?) 34 this year, and he hasn't given up on himself:
I’m a strong but at the same time a universal player who can do a lot of things, but does not know himself well enough yet. That’s why I think I need to further explore my opportunities. - Lev Aronian
That's from an interview Lev gives to a new Armenian publication -- Champord -- founded by his fiancée, WIM Arianne Caoili. There are a few questions about how he recovers from losses, and a little about why he thinks he hasn't yet reached his best; but some readers may find the most memorable thing about the interview to be the sexism implicit in a number of questions.
http://champord.am/levonaronyan-victories-are-built-upon-defeats/
Hou Yifan Drops Out of Women's World Championship Cycle
Hou Yifan, the current Women's World Champion -- and by far the highest-rated woman in the world -- explains why she won't play in the upcoming Women's World Champinship Cycle in an interview with ChessBase.
The short answer: the constantly changing format is too unpredictable and devalues the Women's World Championship title, and FIDE has ignored her complaints about this for years.
Her suggestion: copy the Men's format.
http://en.chessbase.com/post/why-hou-yifan-has-dropped-out-of-the-cycle
Two Upcoming Events
Shakmir/Gashimov Memorial
May 25 - June 4, 2016.
Shamkir, Azerbaijan.
Is the next Super-Tournament, and features top players Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, Sergey Karjakin, Shak Mamedyarov, Timour Radjabov, Hou Yifan and more.
Continental Championship
May 27 - June 6, 2016
El Salvador
Canadian GM Anton Kovalyov will be playing. He qualified for the 2015 World Cup by finishing in the top 4 at the previous Continental Championship in Montevideo... and went on to win two matches at the World Cup.
With 15 days before the first round, there are 76 players registered for the Continental, but only 14 players rated 2500+, with Lazaro Bruzon (2679) the top seed.
Homepage
http://www.ajedrezenelsalvador.org/continental2016/
Standings/Results
http://www.chess-results.com/tnr218432.aspx?lan=1