Below is a list of events in chess during the year 2007:
Events
(Top events in bold)
January
January 1 – Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) lost 30 rating points but still tops the FIDE rating list at 2783. Viswanathan Anand (India) is second at 2779 and Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) is third at 2766. There is only one change in the players in the top eleven: Peter Svidler (Russia) dropped from number 4 to number 12 with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan) jumping from 12 to 4. At number 13 and rated 2727, Judit Polgár (Hungary) is the only woman in the top 100. Top juniors are Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan, number 11 at 2729), Magnus Carlsen (Norway, number 24 at 2690), and Sergey Karjakin (Ukraine, number 29 at 2678). Viktor Korchnoi (Switzerland) reenters the world top 100 at age 74, earning the 85th position with a rating of 2629.[1][2]
January 5 – David Howell, age 16 years 1 month, becomes the youngest British Grandmaster ever. His second-place finish at the Rilton Cup in Stockholm with the score 7/9 gives him his third grandmaster norm and a rating of 2501.[3][4]
January 11 – Moscow-London "Ice Chess" exhibition game is played by satellite link on large outdoor boards in Moscow and London with giant pieces sculpted of ice in the shapes of local landmarks. Anatoly Karpov (Russia) and Nigel Short (England) serve as honorary captains with eight-year-old Russian and English chess prodigies choosing the moves. The game is agreed drawn after about an hour of play, with the pieces melting due to temperatures above freezing in both cities.[8][9][10][11]
January 27 – Estonian Championship in Tallinn won by GM Meelis Kanep after a playoff against GM Kaido Kulaots. WIM Tatyana Fomina won the women's title after a three-way playoff.[13]
March 24 – Belgian League won by CRELEL Liège. Also qualifying for the European Team Championships are Namur finishing second and Rochade finishing third.[19]
April 1 – With an Elo rating of 2786, GM Viswanathan Anand (India) becomes the sixth player to top the FIDE rating list since its inception in 1970. The April list drops former number one Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) to number two at 2772. Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) remains at number three also at 2772. Alexander Morozevich (GM) rises to a career high fourth in the world at 2762. A rating of 2623 is required to make the top 100.[19][22]
April 9 – 45th Doeberl Cup in Canberra won by GM Ian Rogers (New South Wales) for the eleventh time.[23]
April 15 – "Chess Legends" Lajos Portisch (Hungary) and Boris Spassky (France) draw a six-game rapid match in Heviz, Hungary, both players winning one game and drawing four.[23]
May 12 – Baku Chess Festival won by GM Arkadij Naiditsch (Germany) over a field of 147. Naiditsch scores 7½/9 after a last round victory as Black over top seed GM Nigel Short (England).[26][30]
May 29 – 42nd Capablanca Memorial in Havana elite section (ten GM single round-robin, category 15) won by GM Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) 7½/10, two points ahead of the field.
May 30 – 1st World Women's Team Championship in Ekaterinburg won by China with 17 points, ahead of Russia at 15 and Armenia at 14. Teams from ten national Federations participated.[34][35]
June 24 – 3rd European Union Individual Championship in Arvier won by GM Nikola Sedlak (Serbia) on tie-break over GM Michele Godena (Italy), both scoring 8/10 in a field of 110.[28]
June 30 – Aerosvit tournament in Foros (12 GMs, category 18) won by GM Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) with 7½/11. GM Sergey Karjakin (Ukraine) placed second at 7.[38]
July 1 – Dortmund Sparkassen won by GM Vladimir Kramnik (Russia). Kramnik scored 5/7, a full point ahead of the field of eight GMs in this category 20 single round-robin. This is Kramnik's eight victory in this event since 1995.[38]
July 8 – Irish Championship in Dublin won by IM Brian Kelly and FM Stephen Brady with 6½/9 finishing as part of a four-way tie for 3rd–6th. The field of 52 included several foreign players who were not eligible for the title, including 4 GMs.[39]
July 8 – GM Ian Rogers retires from competitive chess after winning the Lidums Checkmate Open. He had been the top Australian player for more than twenty years.[40]
July 15 – Fabiano Caruana becomes the youngest ever Grandmaster in the history of both the United States and Italy surpassing the prior record of Hikaru Nakamura.[41]
August 18 – 5th Staunton Memorial at Simpson's-in-the-Strand, London, features six British and six Dutch players (11 GMs, 1 WGM, category 13) in a single round-robin. GM Michael Adams (England) is the individual winner with 8½/11. The Dutch players compile a higher total score: Netherlands 38, UK 28.[44]
^ abCrowther, Mark (22 January 2007), THE WEEK IN CHESS 637, London Chess Center, archived from the original on 17 February 2008, retrieved 2008-01-21
^ abcdCrowther, Mark (29 January 2007), THE WEEK IN CHESS 638, London Chess Center, archived from the original on 12 February 2008, retrieved 2008-01-21
^Crowther, Mark (19 February 2007), THE WEEK IN CHESS 641, London Chess Center, archived from the original on 17 February 2008, retrieved 2008-01-21
^Crowther, Mark (5 February 2007), THE WEEK IN CHESS 639, London Chess Center, archived from the original on 17 February 2008, retrieved 2008-01-21
^ abcdefCrowther, Mark (26 February 2007), THE WEEK IN CHESS 642, London Chess Center, archived from the original on 17 February 2008, retrieved 2008-01-21
^ abcdCrowther, Mark (12 March 2007), THE WEEK IN CHESS 644, London Chess Center, archived from the original on 16 January 2008, retrieved 2008-01-21
^ abcCrowther, Mark (19 March 2007), THE WEEK IN CHESS 645, London Chess Center, archived from the original on 17 February 2008, retrieved 2008-01-21
^ abcdCrowther, Mark (2 April 2007), THE WEEK IN CHESS 647, London Chess Center, archived from the original on 17 February 2008, retrieved 2008-01-21
^ abcdeCrowther, Mark (26 March 2007), THE WEEK IN CHESS 646, London Chess Center, archived from the original on 17 February 2008, retrieved 2008-01-21
^ abcdCrowther, Mark (9 April 2007), THE WEEK IN CHESS 648, London Chess Center, archived from the original on 11 February 2008, retrieved 2008-01-21