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Motions Passed By The USCF Executive Board in Fiscal Year 2005-2006

World News:
Aronian Edges Field for Linares Victory

Favorites Faulter at Women's World Championship

Chess In the Media: Chess Stories Across the USA and Around the World

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Aronian Edges Field for Linares Victory

Peter Leko dropped his last two games while Levon Aronian came on strong to win the 2006 Linares tournament. Aronian faced off with Leko in the final round, winning with the black pieces to take first place with a score of 8.5/14.

Veselin Topalov, who started off scoring just 2.5 points in the first half of the tournament, came on strong and nearly pulled off a miraculous tournament victory. Topalov defeated Leko in round 13, setting up a dramatic four-way tie at 7.5 points. Topalov, Leko and Aronian were joined by Teimour Radjabov, with all four having a chance to take clear first in the final round.

While Aronian defeated Leko, the other two competitors could not find victory. Topalov took a draw against Francisco Vallejo Pons with the black pieces, while Radjabov, also playing black, drew Etienne Bacrot.

Here are the complete final standings:

Aronian, Levon 8.5/14
Radjabov, Teimour 8.0
Topalov, Veselin 8.0
Leko, Peter 7.5
Ivanchuk, Vassily 6.5
Svidler, Peter 6.5
Bacrot, Etienne 6.0
Vallejo Pons, Francisco 5.0

Here is Aronian's dramatic round 14 win over Leko to clinch the Linares championship. White: Leko, P (2740)
Black: Aronian, L (2752)
Morelia/Linares, Round 14
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 b4 9. d3 d6 10. a5 Be6 11. Nbd2 Qc8 12. Nc4 Rb8 13. Bg5 Kh8 14. h3 Ng8 15. c3 bxc3 16. bxc3 f5 17. Ba4 fxe4 18. Bxc6 exf3 19. Bxe7 Nxe7 20. Bxf3 Ng6 21. Bg4 Nf4 22. Ra2 Qb7 23. Bf3 Qb3 24. Rc2 Nxd3 25. Qxd3 Qxc4 26. Qxc4 Bxc4 27. Bc6 Rb3 28. g3 g5 29. Re3 Ra3 30. Be4 Rxa5 31. g4 Bd5 32. f3 Bxe4 33. fxe4 Ra1+ 34. Kg2 Rff1 35. Ree2 Rg1+ 36. Kh2 Rh1+ 37. Kg3 Rag1+ 38. Rg2 Re1 39. Rgf2 Re3+ 40. Kg2 Rexh3 0-1

Favorites Faulter at Women's World Championship

Sixteen players remain from a 64 player field after two rounds of the Women's World Chess Championship in Ekaterinburg, Russia. The knockout tournament has claimed many victims already - including the three top seeds, who all fell in the second round.

GM Antoaneta Stefanova, GM Humpy Koneru and GM Pia Cramling - the top 3 seeds in that order - were all eliminated in the second round. Stefanova and Koneru each fell 3-1 after a rapid tiebreak, while Cramling lost 1.5-0.5 to the Netherlands' Zhaoqin Peng.

The only American in the field, IM Irina Krush, won her first round match 2.5-1.5 over Argentina's Claudia Amura. In the second round, Krush was eliminated 1.5-0.5 by Tatiana Kosintseva.

With the top seeds eliminated, the highest remaining seeds are #4 Alexandra Kosteniuk and #5 Maia Chiburdanidze, both grandmasters who have ratings over 2500. Kosteniuk has cruised through her first two matches, 2-0, while Chiburdanidze has also won comfortably by winning the first game in each of her matches, then drawing her second games.

We will provide continuing coverage of the Women's World Chess Championship in next week's edition. For complete details, results, and schedule, visit the official tournament site.