News from Nice and Istanbul
: Created:22 Mar 2008 , byHou Yifan wins the Ataturk Women's Tournament and in France, Viktor Kramnik shows an excellent example of sportsmanship
Three weeks after her fourteenth birthday, China's rising star Hou Yifan scored 7 points from 9 games to finish in first place, a point ahead of Sweden's Pia Cramling. This girl is going places!
Meanwhile a stupendously strong field is contesting the 17th annual Melody Amber tournament being held for the first time in Nice. Looking at the video (www.amberchess2008.com or visit chessbase.com) the players seem to enjoy this tournament which features alternate rounds of blind and rapidplay games. I am struck firstly by the high standard of the blind games and secondly by the excellent English of all the competitors.
Inevitably a few mistakes do occur in the blind games and in round six today Boris Gelfand made a tragic "fingerfehler" (finger slip) against former world champion, Viktor Kramnik when he captured a Black knight with 25.Qxe4?? allowing 25...dxe4. Kramnik says in commentary that he intended to propose a draw after the correct exchange 25.Nxe4 so despite the gift of his opponent's queen he offered a draw anyway. Gelfand said after the game, "He is a gentleman".