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Alekhine's Parrot

TheParrot Says…Welcome to the archive of the weekly leader of chess events around the world.  Chessville welcomes your Feedback to TheParrot on this week’s news by writing to TheParrot@Chessville.com where selected letters will be featured.

3-29-2008

Chess News
USA and Canada

US Seniors

An apparent PRESS RELEASE from The United States Chess Federation (USCF) announces the 2008 US Senior Championship to be held at the Boca Marriott Hotel, Boca Raton, Florida from April 28 to May 3.

One feature of the event is Dr. George Dean, who will be giving a talk on his collection, the evolution and historical significance of the chess pieces and some anecdotal tales about how he acquired some of the sets such as the world’s only two Farbarge chess sets.

Where is it?

All the World Champions up to the time of Fischer played there.  Past winners include Rubinstein, Euwe, Alekhine, Capablanca, Fine, Reshevsky, Gligoric, Bronstein, Smyslov, Keres, Korchnoi, Larsen, Botvinnik, Tal, Spassky, Portisch, Karpov, Timman, Nunn, Speelman, Short, Bareev, Judit Polgar, Khalifman, Sasikiran.

Clue: The first Women’s World Chess Champion, Vera Menchik, lived there.

I looked at USCF’s Chess Life OnLine for a URL for this tournament, and it wasn’t there. So I pressed ‘Press’ and nothing happened. Well, USCF have been having Senior moments for 25 years, and at least this is appropriate coverage. Wait… the link was just a bit s  l  o  w  and did come up, but did not list this tournament.  zzzzzzzzz

North American Chess Association
Announces

9th North American FIDE Invitational
Chicago, IL - March 22 - March 28, 2008

10 players from around North America come together in the ultimate mental challenge with 7 of them in search of gaining their International Master titles bestowed by the World Chess Federation, FIDE.  Participants include:

IM Mesgen Amanov - TKM
IM Angelo Young - PHI
IM Arjun Vishnuvardhan - IND
FM Mehmed Pasalic - GER
FM Raja Panjwani - CAN
FM Gauri Shankar - IND
FM Teddy Coleman - USA
FM Igor Tsyganov - USA
FM Albert Chow - USA
NM Marc Arnold - USA

Who is it?

A New columnist joins the ranks of Chessville’s authors, who will write about two things – tactics and strategy generally, and also chess in the military.

I introduce to you Andy Hortillosa, who I think is Captain Hortillosa, but I’m sure he will introduce himself with his chess.

 

Event specifics can be found at www.nachess.org/fideAll games will be broadcast LIVE on the World Databank of Chess by MonRoi at www.monroi.com/wdc - but I couldn’t even find a listing at Monroi for the tournament, instead I found this information at http://www.nachess.org/fide/ and then tried to find a photo or two of the players, but there were not any at all.

With two rounds to go here are round 7 standings:

1st - 5.5/7.0
FM Pasalic

2nd - 5.0/7.0
NM Arnold

3rd - 4.5/7.0
FM Panjwan

4th - 4.0/7.0
IM Amanov

5th - 6th - 3.5/7.0
IM Young, FM Coleman

7th - 3.0/7.0
IM Vishnuvardhan

8th - 9th - 2.5/7.0
FM Tsyganov, FM Shankar

10th - 1.0/7.0
FM Chow

Why did they do it?

I recently decided to collide with chess publisher Bob Long, who wrote here at Chessville last week.

“Bob”, I said, “How come you published my favorite chess book of all time, the Thinker’s Press, Thoreauvian ‘Journal of a Chess Master’?”

Then we started talking of this and that and the other thing, and I said, “Wait, Wait! What about a 20-Questions interview at Chessville?”

So if you would like to ask a contemporary chess publisher a question or two, check out Chessville’s forum, where editor Atkins will select half a dozen questions or so to forward to Bob.

But! Hand’s off Gerzadowicz, he’s mine!

Chess News WORLDWIDE and the Americas:

Chess and Mathematics
Prof. Dr. Christian Hesse to give lecture on “Chess and Mathematics”

The new patron of the Chess Olympiad Dresden 2008 is Christian Hesse, Professor for Mathematics at the University Stuttgart. The avowed chessfriend will promote the worldwide largest chess event which will take place in Germany for the first time after 38 years from 12 to 25 November 2008. He will publicly lobby for the event in Dresden. Thus, Hesse wants to get involved with promoting an attractive programme of collateral tournaments in the first place. Besides, the former youngest German professor plans to give a public lecture in the frame of the workshop „Chess and Mathematics“ from 21 to 23 November 2008.

The special edition stamp sale for the Chess Olympiad 2008 was launched at 9 am this morning by Dresden's incumbent mayor Dr. Lutz Vogel together with the president of the Saxon parliament, Erich Iltgen, and Dr. Heidi Brandt as representative of the Deutschen Post AG with a short ceremony. For one day the special branch post office can be found in the city hall cellar from 10am to 3pm for all souvenir hunters to purchase the collector’s pieces on the occasion of the Chess Olympiad 2008 in Dresden. The postmark which will be stamped with was designed especially for this promotion day.

Chess playing sportsmen
ACP [Fri Feb 15th, 09:00]

Greek basketball player Papadopoulos and Brazilian football star Baptista have a common passion: playing chess as a pastime.  In an article which appeared on a website of the Real Madrid, both famous sportsmen claim to have learnt the game at an early age.  Since then, they enjoy playing chess as a way of relaxing during competitions and keeping their mind fresh.  Real Madrid organized a game between them and interviewed them on their passion for chess.  The full article can be found in Spanish here.

Reading the article, it transpires that Papadopoulos is probably a better chess player than Baptista.  Not only was he born in Russia, which he claims to be the ideal country for becoming a good chess player.  But Baptista himself admits never to have studied games of strong players.

However it is, we were pleased to read an article where famous sportsmen reveal their passion for our game.  We remember that boxing champions Lennox Lewis and the Klitschko brothers made no secret either of their love for chess.

Annual
Amber
Over

March 15 to March 27
Blindfold and Rapid, total 2008 prize-fund is 216,000 Euro. Participants:

   Vishy Anand, India
   Vladimir Kramnik, Russia
   Veselin Topalov, Bulgaria
   Alexander Morozevich, Russia
   Shakhriyar Mamedyarov , Azerbaijan
   Peter Leko, Hungary
   Vasily Ivanchuk, Ukraine
   Levon Aronian, Armenia
   Boris Gelfand, Israel
   Magnus Carlsen, Norway
   Sergey Karjakin, Ukraine
   Loek van Wely, The Netherlands

Final Blind Standings:
   1-4. Aronian 6.5

   Kramnik 6.5
   Morozevich 6.5
   Topalov 6.5
   5-7. Anand 6
   Carlsen 6
   Leko 6

Both Gelfand and Ivanchuk won their rapid games to even up the match score against Mamedyarov and Topalov.  Therefore, there are no changes in the final combined standings of the 2008 Amber.

Final Round Rapid Results:
Van Wely-Anand 1/2-1/2
Karjakin-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Gelfand-Mamedyarov 1-0
Ivanchuk-Topalov 1-0
Aronian-Leko 1/2-1/2
Carlsen-Morozevich 1/2-1/2

Final Combined Standings are:
   1. Aronian 13½


[captioned with Carlsen at Gibraltar]

   2. Carlsen 11
       Kramnik 11
       Leko 11
       Topalov 11
   6. Anand 10
       Ivanchuk 10
       Morozevich 10
   9. Karjakin 8½
 10. Gelfand 8
       Mamedyarov 8
       Van Wely 8

Sorry no pictures, once again, and once again the organizers make a no-copying presentation, and text reporting was also brief or completely absent on what has to be the toughest event in the chess calendar. So if you want to see the players go to the Official website.

Next up,

Leko vs Carlsen in Miskolc, Hungary

 

Press release

But!  I gleaned this information from Chessbase who didn’t say who released what, so assume this commentary is all ‘the release’.

The present year’s most prestigious clash in Hungary is going to be organized at the National Theater of Miskolc.

The No. 1 Hungarian GM, Péter Lékó takes up a duel of eight games against the Norwegian Wunderkind, the challenger, Magnus Carlsen this time.

As the first move of the Lékó+ series Péter Lékó played against Michael Adams in 2005.  The exciting duel ended up with a tie of 4-4.

In 2006 Lékó’s opponent was the twelfth world champion of chess, Anatolij Karpov, who, during his carrier, gained 166 competition victories, setting a record that can not likely be broken in the future.  The two leading players fought in the new shrine of chess, the beautiful National Theater of Miskolc.

The auditorium was totally sold out.  The fans on the spot and via internet were amazed by the games – with good reason.  The homepage of the event, www.lekokarpov.hu received more than three millions clicks.

What to Play? When the KID was really young. Continued from last week. Moves and commentary draw on The King Hunt in Chess, W. H. Cozens. 1970.

White: A. Alekhine, Black: F. D.Yates

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.Nc3 d6 6.Nf3 Nc6  7.d5 Nb8 8.e4 bNd7 9.0-0 a5  10.Be3 Ng4 11.Bd4 gNe4 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.c5

That’s where we left the soon to become World Champion in 1923, after 13. c5, and the result did the KID all sorts of good.

13...dxc5
14.Bxc5 b6
15.Bd4 Ba6
16.Re1

Threatening f4 then an exchange of dark square bishops leaving Alekhine to prosecute his favorite attack against a weakened King position.

16...Qd6!

This sets up a truly diabolical trap if white proceeds 17. f4. Do you see it? Alekine did, and proceeded otherwise. So what was he afraid of… continued below – analysis moves are in red type.

Then, analysis moves:

17.f4 Nd3
18.Bxg7 Qc5+
19.Kh1 Nf2+
20.Kg1 Nh3+
21.Kh1
[its easy now, isn’t it?]

ANALYSIS

21. …Qg1+!
22. Rxg1 Nf2++

But – Alekhine saw it, and instead played:

17.Bf1 Bxf1

16.Rxf1 c5 [and this game continues next week, but beware, dear reader, since here is another snare – would you capture en passant in this position?


 

 

Lékó put himself in the lead by winning the third game, and he could preserve his advantage till the end, gaining a victory of 4.5-3.5.

Check out Chessville's Forum

This week you can find 20-Questions for Bob Long; or chat about the Pirc Robatch; or How to take your game to the next level; or about 30 other topics.  One technical area is that by agreement with Convekta, you can ask them questions about their software – they monitor the thread and reply directly – so if you have Rybka or Chess Assistant questions, that’s the place to go.  Its moderated, its couth, and you are welcome!

3-22-2008

Chess News
USA and Canada

XIX Pan American Youth Festival 2008, Villa Carlos Paz, Provincia de Córdoba - Argentina; June 29 – July 6, 2008.

I. INVITATION

The Confederation of Chess for America (CCA), the Federación Argentina de Ajedrez and the Asociación de Ajedrez de la Provincia de Córdoba are pleased to invite all National Federations of the Americas to the XIX Pan American Youth Festival 2008.

This event will be held in the touristic city of, Villa Carlos Paz, Cordoba, located in the central region of the Republic of Argentina: from June 29 to July 6, 2008.

The International Airport of Cordoba, Ingeniero Tarabella (Pajas Blancas) is located 50 minutes away from the tournament site in Villa Carlos Paz.

There are excellent hotels and touristic venues near the tournament site. All of this, plus, the pleasant climate and the cordiality Argentineans are known for, will allow the chess players to feel at home.

II. GENERAL CONDITIONS

This event will be following the rules and regulations written in this invitation. In case of any omissions, the Regulations for the Pan American Youth Festival will be in effect. These regulations can be found at http://www.presamerica.com.mx/.

Participant Age Requirements: General (Absoluta) / Girls
Under 8: Players must be born after January 1, 2000
Under 10: Players must be born after January 1, 1998
Under 12: Players must be born after January 1, 1996
Under 14: Players must be born after January 1, 1994
Under 16: Players must be born after January 1, 1992
Under 18: Players must be born after January 1, 1990

Tournament Format: 9 Rounds, Swiss System.

Time Control: 90 minutes per player plus 30 seconds incremental per each move. For manual clocks the time control is 2 hours per player, sudden death.

DaVinci Riddles, & Greco Revisited

Following the discovery of two chess diagrams which appeared in last week’s Parrot, a lively correspondence has emerged, and various commentators are researching several aspects of them.

Firstly, those looking at the materials as direct chess instruction might wonder what just two pages of tolerably obscure chess positions can indicate? Are these part of a wider range of papers, collected together in a Codex, and which circulated around Europe before Greco?

Secondly, there are those who examine the materials more symbolically, including the interesting mathematics invoked by 64 squares – as well as medieval sub-structures of drawings which often reveal complex geometries.

Pending more research and reports, the two sides of things are not necessary mutually exclusive, but I would like to ask readers a question.

“What happened to Greco?”

His own secret chess instruction materials were published in Paris between 1610 and 1612, then, the most famous chess teacher in Northern Europe simply vanished from the scene.

In about 1650 a story emerged that he went to the West Indies, but why would a chess teacher go there?

Characteristic: Each National Federation may register as many players as it wishes.  All participants must be endorsed by their FIDE recognized, national federations.

Tie Breaks System
1. The Sum of the progressive scores.
2. Bucholz
3. By age in favor of the youngest player.

TITLES, PRIZES AND OTHER CONDITIONS:

General Section (Absoluta) Categories Under 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18: The FIDE Master Title is awarded to the Champion of this category.

Girls Section Categories Under 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18: The FIDE Women Master Title will be awarded to the Champion of this category.

Note: In case of a first place tie, the titles will be given to up to three players per category.

General Section (Absoluta) Categories Under 16 and 18: The Champion of this category will earn a 9 Rounds Norm towards their International Master Title.

Girls Section Categories Under 16 and 18: The Champion of this category will earn a 9 Rounds Norm towards their Women International Master Title.

Note: In case of a first place tie, FIDE Master Titles and FIDE Woman Master Titles will be awarded for the second and third places.

In case there isn’t a tie for first place, in the categories under 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18; the players in second and third places will receive the Candidate FIDE Master Title. In the Girls Section, the title for the second and third places will be the Candidate FIDE Woman Master.

Full information from ajedrezfedarg@hotmail.com

Atatürk International Women Masters Chess Tournament in Turkey.

The youngest player of this tournament won the event by a full point. Yifan Hou took a quick draw against Javakhishvili to ensure herself of a first place finish. Zhao Xue defeated the former tournament leader to finish clear third while Pia Cramling drew Anna Ushenina to finish in clear second.

Final round results:

WIM YILDIZ Betul Cemre 2207 0 - 1 GM CHEN Zhu 2548
GM CRAMLING Pia 2524 ½ - ½ IM USHENINA Anna 2484
WGM YIFAN Hou 2527 ½ - ½ IM JAVAKHISHVILI Lela 2470
WGM XUE Zhao 2517 1 - 0 IM ATALIK Ekaterina 2408
IM DRONAVALLI Harika 2455 ½ - ½ IM KRUSH Irina 2473

Final standings:

1. WGM YIFAN Hou 2527 CHN 7
2. GM CRAMLING Pia 2524 SWE 6
3. WGM XUE Zhao 2517 CHN 5½
4. IM ATALIK Ekaterina 2408 TUR 5
5. IM JAVAKHISHVILI Lela 2470 GEO 4½
6-7. GM CHEN Zhu 2548 QAT 4
IM DRONAVALLI Harika 2455 IND 4
8. IM KRUSH Irina 2473 USA 3½
9. IM USHENINA Anna 2484 UKR 3
10. WIM YILDIZ Betul Cemre 2207 TUR 2½

This news first reported by Susan Polgar.  Official site.


Annual Amber

March 15 to March 27; Blindfold and Rapid, total 2008 prize-fund is 216,000 Euro.

Participants:

Vishy Anand, India
Vladimir Kramnik, Russia
Veselin Topalov, Bulgaria
Alexander Morozevich, Russia
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov , Azerbaijan
Peter Leko, Hungary
Vasily Ivanchuk, Ukraine
Levon Aronian, Armenia
Boris Gelfand, Israel
Magnus Carlsen, Norway
Sergey Karjakin, Ukraine
Loek van Wely, The Netherlands

The average rating of the players is 2752, which is a Category 21 FIDE event.

Leaders in Blindfold Chess:
   1-4. Ivanchuk, Kramnik, Topalov, Carlsen 2½/4

Leaders in Rapid Chess:
   1. Aronian 3
   2-5. Anand, Leko, Topalov, Ivanchuk 2½

Full Combined Standings:
   1-3. Topalov, Aronian, Ivanchuk 5
   4. Anand 4½
   5-7. Leko, Carlsen, Kramnik 4
   8-10. van Wely, Mamedyarov, Karjakin 3½
   11-12. Gelfand, Morozevich 3

Stop-press: Current combined standings:
   1. Aronian    6½
   2. Anand      5½
      Carlsen    5½
      Ivanchuk   5½
      Kramnik    5½
      Leko       5½
      Topalov    5½
   3. Karjakin   5
   4. Mamedyarov 4
      Morozevich 4
      Van Wely   4
   5. Gelfand    3½

Official website.

Check out Chessville's Forum

Last week … fascinating discussions on the future of chess, the universe and everything.  This week, the same old backward pawn struggles, discussed.  It is a moderated forum, so there are no bad questions there, instead – good company from other chess players!

The Championships of Russia among boys and girls under 20 take place in Saint-Petersburg 8th-18th March. Time control: 1 hour 30 min. for 40 moves, 30 min. till the end of the game with an increment of 30 sec. per move since the first. The players who will take 1st place in the tournaments get right to participate in the World Championships under 20.

What to Play?  This is when the KID really was a young opening. F.D. Yates was born in Yorkshire in 1884, and never made a very big splash in chess until his mid twenties - while at the Karlsbad tournament in 1923 he played A. Alekhine, who was soon to become World Champion.

In the 1930’s Max Euwe completely drove the KID out of fashion and mostly it was Boleslavsky who brought it back after WWII.

White: Alekhine, Black:Yates

1.d4 Nf6
2. c4 g6
3. g3 Bg7
4. Bg2 0-0
5. Nc3 d6
6. Nf3 Nc6
[a provocation to White to play d5, when the knight redevelops to b8 and d7 or a6.]
7. d5

7. … Nb8
8. e4 bNd7
9. 0-0 a5
[protecting c5 from a pawn to b4 advance]
10. Be3 [Alekhine frustrates the Nc5 plan another way, so Yates goes about establishing it on e5 instead.]
10. … Ng4
11. Bd4 gNe4
12. Nxe5 Nxe5
13. c5 
[Let’s pause here at the edge of a famous game and assess if White’s plan to extend the range of his king bishop and also play f4 is sound?  Game continues next week.]

Moves and commentary draw on
The King Hunt in Chess, W. H. Cozens. 1970

No apologies for giving these results in full – there are the brightest of the bright in Russia, and in a year or two will be all over the chess headlines – and of course because Chessville has big readership in Eastern Europe.  One very noticeable fact in showing the results in full is to view the decisive game rate, especially its gender relation, and also white-black scoring, subjects now occupying the attention of rules maker all over the world.

Final standings:
   1 Sjugirov - 8.0    [Sanan Sjugirov, captioned]
   2 Chadaev - 8.0
   3 Ponkratov - 7.5
   4 Andreikin - 6.5
   5 Linchevsky - 6.5
   6 Romanov - 6.0
   7 Papin - 4.5
   8 Nechepurenko - 4.5
   9 Popov - 4.5
   10 Shimanov - 4.5
   11 Rakhmanov - 4.0
   12 Lovkov - 1.5

Round 1
Shimanov - Papin 1-0
Sjugirov - Popov 1-0
Linchevsky - Lovkov 1-0
Romanov - Chadaev 1/2
Ponkratov - Nechepurenko 1-0
Andreikin - Rakhmanov 1/2

     

Round 2
Papin - Rakhmanov 1/2
Nechepurenko - Andreikin 1/2
Chadaev - Ponkratov 1-0
Lovkov - Romanov 0-1
Popov - Linchevsky 0-1
Shimanov - Sjugirov 0-1

     

Round 3
Sjugirov - Papin 1/2
Linchevsky - Shimanov 1-0
Romanov - Popov 1-0
Ponkratov - Lovkov 1/2
Andreikin - Chadaev 1/2
Rakhmanov - Nechepurenko 0-1

Round 4
Papin - Nechepurenko 1-0
Chadaev - Rakhmanov 1-0
Lovkov - Andreikin 0-1
Popov - Ponkratov 0-1
Shimanov - Romanov 1/2
Sjugirov - Linchevsky 1/2

     

Round 5
Linchevsky - Papin 1/2
Romanov - Sjugirov 0-1
Ponkratov - Shimanov 1-0
Andreikin - Popov 1/2
Rakhmanov - Lovkov 1-0
Nechepurenko - Chadaev 1/2

     

Round 6
Papin - Chadaev 0-1
Lovkov - Nechepurenko 0-1
Popov - Rakhmanov 1-0
Shimanov - Andreikin 1/2
Sjugirov - Ponkratov 1/2
Linchevsky - Romanov 1/2

Round 7
Romanov - Papin 1-0
Ponkratov - Linchevsky 1-0
Andreikin - Sjugirov 0-1
Rakhmanov - Shimanov 0-1
Nechepurenko - Popov 1/2
Chadaev - Lovkov 1-0

     

Round 8
Papin - Lovkov 1-0
Popov - Chadaev 1/2
Shimanov - Nechepurenko 1-0
Sjugirov - Rakhmanov 0-1
Linchevsky - Andreikin 1/2
Romanov - Ponkratov 0-1

     

Round 9
Ponkratov - Papin 1/2
Andreikin - Romanov 1-0
Rakhmanov - Linchevsky 1/2
Nechepurenko - Sjugirov 0-1
Chadaev - Shimanov 1-0
Lovkov - Popov 1/2

Round 10
Papin - Popov 1/2
Shimanov - Lovkov 1/2
Sjugirov - Chadaev 1/2
Linchevsky - Nechepurenko 1/2
Romanov - Rakhmanov 1-0
Ponkratov - Andreikin 1/2

     

Round 11
Andreikin - Papin 1-0
Rakhmanov - Ponkratov 1/2
Nechepurenko - Romanov 1/2
Chadaev - Linchevsky 1/2
Lovkov - Sjugirov 0-1
Popov - Shimanov 1-0

 

 

View games     Games in PGN

The participants of the girls tournament: Charochkina Daria 1990 wm 2383 Moscow, Vasilkova Svetlana 1988 wm 2359 Moscow, Girya Olga 1991 wf 2342 Moscow, Gunina Valentina 1989 wf 2295 Moscow, Bodnaruk Anastasia 1992 wf 2317 Moscow, Tarasova Viktoria 1989 wm 2267 Saratov, Ivakhinova Inna 1989 wm 2250 Ulan-Ude, Ambartsumova Karina 1989 wf 2228 Moscow, Severiukhina Zoja 1990 wf 2199 Izhevsk, Meleshko Anna 1989 wm 2215 Primorsk region, Shlakich Anna 1991 2244 Saint-Petersburg, Savina Anastasia 1992 2202 Moscow.

Final standings
1 Bodnaruk - 8.5    [Anastasia Bodnaruk, captioned]
2 Gunina - 7.0
3 Vasilkova - 6.5
4 Charochkina - 6.5
5 Girya - 6.0
6 Savina - 6.0
7 Severiukhina - 5.5
8 Ivakhinova - 5.0
9 Tarasova - 5.0
10 Shlakich - 4.5
11 Ambartsumova - 3.0
12 Meleshko - 2.5

Round 1
Shlakich - Tarasova 1-0
Vasilkova - Savina 1/2
Severiukhina - Girya 1-0
Charochkina - Meleshko 1-0
Bodnaruk - Ivakhinova 1-0
Ambartsumova - Gunina 0-1

     

Round 2
Tarasova - Gunina 0-1
Ivakhinova - Ambartsumova 1-0
Meleshko - Bodnaruk 0-1
Girya - Charochkina 0-1
Savina - Severiukhina 1-0
Shlakich - Vasilkova 1/2

     

Round 3
Vasilkova - Tarasova 0-1
Severiukhina - Shlakich 1/2
Charochkina - Savina 1-0
Bodnaruk - Girya 1/2
Ambartsumova - Meleshko 1-0
Gunina - Ivakhinova 1-0

Round 4
Tarasova - Ivakhinova 1/2
Meleshko - Gunina 0-1
Girya - Ambartsumova 1-0
Savina - Bodnaruk 0-1
Shlakich - Charochkina 0-1
Vasilkova - Severiukhina 1-0

     

Round 5
Severiukhina - Tarasova 1-0
Charochkina - Vasilkova 1-0
Bodnaruk - Shlakich 0-1
Ambartsumova - Savina 0-1
Gunina - Girya 0-1
Ivakhinova - Meleshko 0-1

     

Round 6
Tarasova - Meleshko 1-0
Girya - Ivakhinova 1-0
Savina - Gunina 1-0
Shlakich - Ambartsumova 0-1
Vasilkova - Bodnaruk 1-0
Severiukhina - Charochkina 1-0

Round 7
Charochkina - Tarasova 1/2
Bodnaruk - Severiukhina 1-0
Ambartsumova - Vasilkova 1/2
Gunina - Shlakich 1-0
Ivakhinova - Savina 1/2
Meleshko - Girya 0-1

     

Round 8
Tarasova - Girya 1/2
Savina - Meleshko 1-0
Shlakich - Ivakhinova 0-1
Vasilkova - Gunina 1-0
Severiukhina - Ambartsumova 1-0
Charochkina - Bodnaruk 0-1

     

Round 9
Bodnaruk - Tarasova 1-0
Ambartsumova - Charochkina 0-1
Gunina - Severiukhina 1-0
Ivakhinova - Vasilkova 1-0
Meleshko - Shlakich 1/2
Girya - Savina 1/2

Round 10
Tarasova - Savina 1-0
Shlakich - Girya 1/2
Vasilkova - Meleshko 1-0
Severiukhina - Ivakhinova 1-0
Charochkina - Gunina 0-1
Bodnaruk - Ambartsumova 1-0

     

Round 11
Ambartsumova - Tarasova 1/2
Gunina - Bodnaruk 0-1
Ivakhinova - Charochkina 1-0
Meleshko - Severiukhina 1-0
Girya - Vasilkova 0-1
Savina - Shlakich 1/2

 

 

 Big game downloads are available here.     Official site.

3-15-2008

Chess News
USA and Canada

Chessbags of the Week

An editorial flurry of comments broke out among Chessville’s staffers last week about JanXena’s handbag mention – [as well as a discussion on the serious issue of playing conditions and remuneration for women in chess] – so the Parrot decided to investigate what women chess players keep in there?

A wide ranging survey of five male chess cronies answered the question “what do women players keep in their handbags” this way:

a) one supercomputer running Rybka, with wireless link to “earrings”
b) last 3 month’s Vogue magazines
c) 2 year’s supply feminine hygiene products
d) 107 cosmetic products
e) 22 credit cards
f) one can pepper spray
g) one police whistle / ear-piercing air-horn / illegal Chinese tazer set to ‘max’.

Dear Reader, who are you?

Recent analysis of our readership is very interesting.  There is a strong following of Chessville in the USA, and in Canada, but also throughout Spanish-speaking Central and South America.

There is substantial readership from Eastern Europe, and from India.

Write to TheParrot, if you wish, and tell us about chess playing and conditions in your country.  We are pleased to be perhaps more international in scope than any other site reporting chess, and our general philosophy of publishing is “of the players, for the players.

As a world game we would like to report you all to each other since we are together a world community.

Cordially, The Chessville Team

The average guess of the weight of the bag was 17 pounds, and that every women player had at least 3 bags, with exactly similar contents, but in different colors, some of which was due to spilt make-up.

On the serious side Chessville is become active in support of players remuneration, and we are all pleased to announce that Goddesschess  is once again sponsoring a $350 "Fighting Chess" prize for the upcoming 2008 U.S. Women's Chess Championship!  AND Susan Polgar has agreed to be the judge for the "Fighting Chess" prize at The Frank K. Berry U.S. Women's Chess Championship.

Prizes -$25,000. Seeding - The 10 contenders for the title will be determined as follows:

  • U.S. Women's Champion (Irina Krush)

  • 6 Top-Rated Women players on the March Rating List

  • 3 Wild Cards selected by Frank K. Berry (One of these wild cards will be top female finisher at the Qualifier Open)

MonRoi  will again be a sponsor, and will carry the official website and host LIVE games.

Just to be fair each male crony had to turf out his wallet and have the contents analyzed, and with remarkable consistency each had:

a)      $28 cash
b)      one debit card
c)      one USCF membership card, expiration date 1999
d)      one ‘Lucky-Brand’ condom, expiration date 1999
e)      one business card; ‘Steve’s auto repair and towing, reasonable rates’
f)        one business card; ‘Steve’s repair-all and not-bad used-tool shop’
g)      one spare car key
h)      one electronic key-card, ‘Marriott Hotel’

Average weight, 5 ounces. Average age of wallet was 17 years. Now, if any chess player’s out there do not ‘profile’ with the above, write to the Parrot.

Chess News WORLDWIDE

Women have Draw Problem  [They don’t know how to do it.]

After the last round of Linares and all those draws, it is interesting to review the first round of the Atatürk International Women Masters Chess Tournament in Turkey.  Here are results of previous rounds, which contain completely unexpected results; the previous Women’s World Champ going 0-4:

The first two rounds were very decisive, with 9 from 10 games not resulting in draws.  Though round 4 produced 4/5 draws.

Krush 1-0 Zhu Chen
Javakhishvili 1-0 Zhao Xue
Ushenina 0-1 Hou Yifan
Yildiz 0-1 Cramling
E. Atalik
1-0 Harika

Luck? Well… here are round 2 results:

[ps, the caption for the two players might well be ‘absolute attention!’]

GM CHEN Zhu 2548 0 - 1 GM CRAMLING Pia 2524
WGM YIFAN Hou 2527  1 - 0 WIM YILDIZ Betul Cemre 2207
WGM XUE Zhao 2517  1 - 0 IM USHENINA Anna 2484
IM DRONAVALLI Harika 2455  1 - 0 IM JAVAKHISHVILI Lela 2470
IM KRUSH Irina 2473 ½ - ½ IM ATALIK Ekaterina 2408

Skipping a round, here are results from Round 4, and current standings:

GM CHEN Zhu 2548 0 - 1 WGM YIFAN Hou 2527
WGM XUE Zhao 2517 ½ - ½ GM CRAMLING Pia 2524
IM DRONAVALLI Harika 2455 ½ - ½ WIM YILDIZ Betul Cemre 2207
IM KRUSH Irina 2473 ½ - ½ IM USHENINA Anna 2484
IM ATALIK Ekaterina 2408 ½ - ½ IM JAVAKHISHVILI Lela 2470

Standings after 4 rounds:

WGM YIFAN Hou 2527 CHN 3½ [caption]
IM ATALIK Ekaterina 2408 TUR 3
GM CRAMLING Pia 2524 SWE 3
IM DRONAVALLI Harika 2455 IND 2½
IM KRUSH Irina 2473 USA 2½
WGM XUE Zhao 2517 CHN 2½
IM JAVAKHISHVILI Lela 2470 GEO 2
IM USHENINA Anna 2484 UKR ½
WIM YILDIZ Betul Cemre 2207 TUR ½
GM CHEN Zhu 2548 QAT 0

Quaere? Is Irina [captioned top] the most active American player overseas, of either gender?  Another fun thing to do is to visit the official site and learn to use the navigation buttons in Turkish – this is well worth the effort, since the photographs are good, and there are lots of them.

Here is another picture of Irina listening to an unidentified man, and deserves one of those “make up your own caption” labels.  From Irina’s body language I hope he is not lecturing her on <yikes> overweight handbags.

You can also watch live from the Official Site.

Annual Amber - March 15 to March 27

Blindfold and Rapid, total 2008 prize-fund is 216,000 Euro. Participants:

Vishy Anand, India
Vladimir Kramnik, Russia
Veselin Topalov, Bulgaria
Alexander Morozevich, Russia
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov , Azerbaijan
Peter Leko, Hungary
Vasily Ivanchuk, Ukraine
Levon Aronian, Armenia
Boris Gelfand, Israel
Magnus Carlsen, Norway
Sergey Karjakin, Ukraine
Loek van Wely, The Netherlands

The average rating of the players is 2752, which is a Category 21 FIDE event.  Official website.

Check out Chessville's Forum

Last week I was joking around over there with a writer who was commenting on how daft chess players are perceived by the general public, and I said, “write a column about it.”  He is wavering…

The Championships of Russia among boys and girls under 20 take place in Saint-Petersburg 8th-18th March. Time control: 1 hour 30 min. for 40 moves, 30 min. till the end of the game with an increment of 30 sec. per move since the first. The players who will take 1st place in the tournaments get right to participate in the World Championships under 20.

Participants boys tournament: Popov Ivan born 1990 g 2595 Moscow, Andreikin, Dmitry 1990 g 2573 Saratov, Romanov Evgeny 1988 g 2543 Chelyabinsk region, Rakhmanov Alexander 1989 g 2524 Moscow, Nechepurenko Roman 1988 f 2495 Ufa, Ponkratov Pavel 1988 m 2489 Chelyabinsk, Papin Vasily 1988 m 2475 Rostov region, Chadaev Nikolai 1988 m 2471 Moscow, Lovkov Roman 1988 f 2457 Saint-Petersburg, Linchevsky Daniil 1990 m 2440 Leningrad region, Shimanov Alexander 1992 m 2441 Saint-Petersburg, Sjugirov Sanan 1993 m 2491 Lipetsk region.

What to Play?

More eye-watering moves from English Players in the English Defence. Featured Game is Garces-Keene, Lausanne 1977.

1.d4 e6
2. c4 b6
3. e4 Bb7
4. Nc3 Bb4
5. Bd3 [Keene’s own annotation notes that 5. d5?! Posed black no problems in Tartakower Reti, Goteborg 1920, after 5… Qe7! 6. Be2 Nf6 7. Qd4 ed 8. ed Qe4 ‘black was at least equal’]

5…f5 [diagram of the eye-waterer...

...other moves tried have been 5… Bxc3+, Bronstein – Miles, Teeside 1975, black attempting a Nimzo blocked middlegame, but Bronstein was better by move 12.]

6.Qe2 Nf6
7. Bg5
[if 7.f3 0-0! –not fe 8. fe Bxc3+ 9. bc Nxe4 10. Qh5+ g6 11. Qg4 Nf6 12. Qh3 0-0 13. Bg5 Mason-Tinsley, London 1899, though Keene asks what happens now if 13. …Qe8.]

7. … fe
8. Bxe4 Bxc3+
9. bc Bxe4
10. Bxf6 Qxf6
11. Qxe4 Nc6
12. Nf3 0-0
13. 0-0

and we have threaded the maze – the questions for players is, who would you rather be?  What are your ambitions as white and black?  Another diagram is indicated at this point, see below.

 

Round 5 standings
   1-2 Linchevsky, Sjugirov - 4.0
   3-4 Ponkratov, Chadaev - 3.5
   5-6 Andreikin, Romanov - 3.0
   7 Papin - 2.5
   8-9 Nechepurenko, Rakhmanov - 2.0
   10 Shimanov - 1.5
   11-12 Lovkov, Popov - 0.5

Participants girls tournament: Charochkina Daria 1990 wm 2383 Moscow, Vasilkova Svetlana 1988 wm 2359 Moscow, Girya Olga 1991 wf 2342 Moscow, Gunina Valentina 1989 wf 2295 Moscow, Bodnaruk Anastasia 1992 wf 2317 Moscow, Tarasova Viktoria 1989 wm 2267 Saratov, Ivakhinova Inna 1989 wm 2250 Ulan-Ude, Ambartsumova Karina 1989 wf 2228 Moscow, Severiukhina Zoja 1990 wf 2199 Izhevsk, Meleshko Anna 1989 wm 2215 Primorsk region, Shlakich Anna 1991 2244 Saint-Petersburg, Savina Anastasia 1992 2202 Moscow.

Round 5 standings
   1 Charochkina - 5.0
   2 Gunina - 4.0
   3 Bodnaruk - 3.5
   4 Shlakich - 3.0
   5-7 Girya, Savina, Severiukhina - 2.5
   8 Vasilkova - 2.0
   9-10 Ivakhinova, Tarasova - 1.5
   11-12 Ambartsumova, Meleshko - 1.0

Shahcom Company provides live coverage of games in the playing hall and via Internet.
Rounds start at 15-00 Moscow time (+3 GMT).

What to Play?  ...Continued

Here is the make-or-break point of this game.  13…Na5?!  Allowed White to get a better game Sosonko – Keene, Haifa 1976, since White plays 14.Ne5!

In this featured game versus Garces, Keene improves with 13.Qf4! and a draw was agreed at move 26.  Perhaps the greater point is that Black has snookered White’s winning chances at move 13 in positions where White neither advances his d-pawn to d5 and also does not prevent the pin and exchange by playing a3.

Is this satisfactory?  Not to English players, who continued to Question White.  Let’s go a little deeper next time.

3-8-2008

Chess News
USA and Canada

Letter of the Week

From Dennis M. Taylor,
Assistant Attorney General
,
Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs,
1 North Capitol Street, NE, Room 9401, Washington, DC 20001

Dear Parrot,

While I certainly understand your frustration, “no board” for USCF is no option.  USCF is a corporation; corporations are legally run by boards.  Yes, the best boards set policy and review how staff implements that policy.  Yes, USCF and its board problems are an abomination.  However, a board must be in place.  I have done extensive work with USA Table Tennis.  USATT has had some unbelievable board activities over the past five years. However, I was always able to tell people that as bad as things were at USATT, USCF was worse.

That is especially true now.  The US Olympic Committee essentially performed a coup at USATT and will be placing people of its choosing on the Board.  Principal among these will be people from the world of business that know how to run an organization.  I suspect that some of them will have no clue as to how to properly play the sport.  Until something similar happens at USCF, I fear that the internecine feuding will rule the day, and the organization will sink to new depths.

My statements are not an endorsement or repudiation of any one USCF board member or any group of USCF board members.  Regrettably, I have fallen into a “pox on both your houses” mentality.

Sincerely, Dennis M. Taylor

Chess Tributes

Every time I watch an awards show the most genuine response from the recipient seems to be that it is awarded by peers.

Here is one of the most remarkable chess tributes of all time, the following being merely the last paragraph of it:

And even though until the end, for example in Buenos Aires, 1939, as I am about to demonstrate, he could still evolve true pearls of the chess art, he had not sufficient stamina for obtaining practical success in a big tournament.  All the same, Capablanca was snatched from the chess world much too soon.  With his death we have lost a very great chess genius whose like we shall never see again.

  -  Alexander Alekhine

The game then illustrated was J. Enevoldsen (Denmark) J.R. Capablanca (Cuba)

From 107 Great Chess Battles, 1939-1945; Edited and translated by Edward Winter. Dover.

[Editor:  Here is that game:

Enevoldsen,J - Capablanca,J [E32]
Buenos Aires ol (Men) f-A (14), 1939

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 d6 7.g3 Qe7 8.Bg2 e5 9.d5 a5 10.b3 Nbd7 11.Nf3 Nc5 12.Nd2 Bf5 13.0-0 Nfe4 14.Nxe4 Bxe4 15.f3 Bg6 16.Be3 b6 17.b4 Nd7 18.Rfc1 axb4 19.axb4 f5 20.f4 exf4 21.gxf4 Nf6 22.h3 Rxa1 23.Rxa1 Re8 24.Ra3 Bh5 25.Qc2 Ne4 26.Bd4 Qh4 27.e3 Qe1+ 28.Kh2 Bf3 29.Ra2 Re7 30.Qa4 Kf7 31.Qa8 Nd2 32.Bxf3 Qf2+ 33.Kh1 Qf1+ 34.Kh2 Nxf3+ 35.Kg3 Nxd4 0-1


June 5 to 8, 2008         Riviera Hotel & Casino
LAS VEGAS INTERNATIONAL CHESS FESTIVAL

Susan Polgar World Open for Girls and Boys

The Susan Polgar World Open Chess Championship for Girls June 7-8

The Susan Polgar World Open Chess Championship for Boys June 7-8

Full information: http://www.vegaschessfestival.com/polgar/


Player of the Week:

Youngest US Master ever! Nicholas Nip has broken the US Chess Federation's record for the youngest master at the tender age of 9 years and 11 months, shattering the previous record of 10 years and 79 days held by Hikaru Nakamura. His new rating on the MSA website stands at 2207. Nicholas earned the final 20 rating points on March 5 in a G/60 quad tournament at the Mechanics' Institute in San Francisco, defeating FM Ron Cusi (2339) in the climactic game.

The youngest master record is considered one of the most hallowed marks of the USCF. Future World Champion Bobby Fischer was considered a prodigy when he became a master at the age of 13.

Chess reporter of the Week is Michael Aigner, who broke the story. Photo of Nicholas by ChessDryad. Check out Michael’s site for his full commentary at www.fpawn.com.

Joke of the Week

This week’s joke is provided by Windows Vista chess program, as seen on U-Tube. With a black pawn on c2 White castled Queenside, and then black ignored a capture which would win the game, so White proceeded with RxK [I’m not making this up], and then, the game carried on… If you think the rules of chess haven’t really changed since Elizabeth the First and Isabella of Spain played it, 400 years ago, you’d think maybe they should employ a real chess player to inform the techno-nerds of what the rules are, wouldn’t you? But… What do you think after watching this old nonsense about Chess Titans?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOqaQlIZcGU

Coming Soon, to a Chessville near you

Having recently introduced a new column on Women’s Chess, JanXena, the next new CV column will be from the Military on mil-Chess and also Tactical Training.

Then there are plans to ‘do’ a history of Hastings in serial format; a chess bio or two; a new column on openings; maybe a ‘constant-joke’ column on chess from real life experiences.

Finally, we have a writer all set to go, but can’t decide what his topic is!

But most of all, these initiatives come from you, the chess public. If you would like to write with us, or help with Chessville’s infrastructure, write to This Parrot!

 

Chess News WORLDWIDE

Its not over ‘till the Riot Police Sirens Sing

The crushing display of police force was sign that authorities would allow no critical mass of dissent or independent opposition as the Kremlin celebrates Medvedev's victory.

"Fifteen years ago I wouldn't have thought that my children would be growing up in a country that reminds me so much of the Soviet Union," said Alexander Ivanov, 48.

In St. Petersburg, Garry Kasparov — the former chess champion who is now an ardent Kremlin foe — and his co-leader in the Other Russia opposition coalition appeared at a simultaneous protest.  Unlike in Moscow, the group had permission for the rally in St. Petersburg.

A crowd estimated by police at up to 3,000 gathered in a square and marched toward the heart of the city, shouting "Down with the Police State!" and "This City is Ours!" Police did not intervene.

Zyuganov, Medvedev's nearest challenger with almost 18 percent in near-complete results, said he would dispute the outcome. Zhirinovsky, with 9 percent, threatened to do so as well.

What to Play?

As ani fül no, strong players do not move their queen out in the openings, unsupported by the rest of the crew…

Karpov-Miles, Bugojno 1978

     1.c4 b6
     2.d4 e6
     3.d5 Qh4

A shocking move – Hort commented “here we see an example of chess from another planet… I think Miles deserves the credit for this queen move – it seems to be quite interesting and is probably a playable idea.”

Indeed, neither then nor subsequently, was 3.Qh4 refuted, comment the authors of The English Defence, Keene, Plaskett and Tisdall.  Macmillan, 1987.

Liberal opposition leaders Kasparov and Mikhail Kasyanov were barred from running after authorities said they did not meet the strict requirements for gaining a spot on the ballot.  Associated Press writers Lynn Berry, Maria Danilova, Angela Charlton, Peter Leonard and Mansur Mirovalev contributed to this report.

OMON, riot police officers detain activists of the vocal opposition group co-led by former chess champion Garry Kasparov as they try to hold an unsanctioned protest over Russia's presidential election, Moscow, Monday, March 3, 2008.  Police detained dozens of people at a planned opposition protest Monday over Russia's presidential election, in a strong show of force the day after an election that was dismissed by Kasparov and other liberal opposition leaders as a farce.  (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)

2700 CLUB: Morelia Linares

The second half of this super-strong contest is about to resume in Linares – here was the picture so from the first half in Morelia:

1 Anand - 4.5
2-3 Shirov, Topalov - 4.0
4-5 Aronian, Carlsen - 3.5
6-7 Radjabov, Ivanchuk - 3.0
8 Leko - 2.5

The stage was set for the final round:

Standings after 13 rounds:

1. Anand 8.0
2. Carlsen 7.5
3-4. Aronian, Topalov 7.0
5.Radjabov 6.5
6. Ivanchuk 6.0
7-8. Shirov, Leko 5.0

Final round 14
March 7th

Vishy Anand (8) - Veselin Topalov (7)
Magnus Carlsen (7.5) - Teimour Radjabov (6.5)
Peter Leko (5) - Levon Aronian (7)
Alexei Shirov (5) - Vassily Ivanchuk (6)

And the winner is [opens envelope] after 69 moves the last contender for the top place Magnus Carlsen couldn’t overcome his opponent, and with four draws in the last round, Vishy kept sole control of his lead, and wins it!  Although it must be said, Carlsen is also a big winner here, and his ELO has soared to make him perhaps number 4 in the world – not bad when you consider he is half the age of two players ahead of him.

But Carlsen will not become world champion!

Not with a huge qualifying cycle, and a money-based system during a recession, and a risky knock-out section…

Final round 14 results:

Vishy Anand (8) 1/2 Veselin Topalov (7)
Magnus Carlsen (7.5) 1/2 Teimour Radjabov (6.5)
Peter Leko (5) 1/2 Levon Aronian (7)
Alexei Shirov (5) 1/2 Vassily Ivanchuk (6)

Final Standings

1. Anand 8.5
2. Carlsen 8.0
3-4. Aronian, Topalov 7.5
5.Radjabov 7.0
6. Ivanchuk 6.5
7-8. Shirov, Leko 5.5

The Championships of Russia among boys and girls under 20 take place in Saint-Petersburg 8th-18th March. Time control: 1 hour 30 min. for 40 moves, 30 min. till the end of the game with an increment of 30 sec. per move since the first. The players who will take 1st place in the tournaments get right to participate in the World Championships under 20.

Participants of the boys tournament: Popov Ivan born 1990 g 2595 Moscow, Andreikin, Dmitry 1990 g 2573 Saratov, Romanov Evgeny 1988 g 2543 Chelyabinsk region, Rakhmanov Alexander 1989 g 2524 Moscow, Nechepurenko Roman 1988 f 2495 Ufa, Ponkratov Pavel 1988 m 2489 Chelyabinsk, Papin Vasily 1988 m 2475 Rostov region, Chadaev Nikolai 1988 m 2471 Moscow, Lovkov Roman 1988 f 2457 Saint-Petersburg, Linchevsky Daniil 1990 m 2440 Leningrad region, Shimanov Alexander 1992 m 2441 Saint-Petersburg, Sjugirov Sanan 1993 m 2491 Lipetsk region.

Participants of the girls tournament: Charochkina Daria 1990 wm 2383 Moscow, Vasilkova Svetlana 1988 wm 2359 Moscow, Girya Olga 1991 wf 2342 Moscow, Gunina Valentina 1989 wf 2295 Moscow, Bodnaruk Anastasia 1992 wf 2317 Moscow, Tarasova Viktoria 1989 wm 2267 Saratov, Ivakhinova Inna 1989 wm 2250 Ulan-Ude, Ambartsumova Karina 1989 wf 2228 Moscow, Severiukhina Zoja 1990 wf 2199 Izhevsk, Meleshko Anna 1989 wm 2215 Primorsk region, Shlakich Anna 1991 2244 Saint-Petersburg, Savina Anastasia 1992 2202 Moscow.

Shahcom Company provides live coverage of games in the playing hall and via Internet.  Rounds start at 15-00 Moscow time (+3 GMT).

3-1-2008

Chess News USA and Canada

Check out the Chessville Forum:  This week we received Answers from Mickey Adams including those posed to him from Chessville’s own forum. The very last question was if he himself wanted to ask Forum members any questions? And he did…

College last-4 live-broadcast this year with GM commentary.  UMBC CHESS CLUB HOSTS THE 2008 President’s Cup “FINAL FOUR OF COLLEGE CHESS” April 5-6, 2008.  The Commons UMBC, room 329.

University of Texas at Dallas (UTD)
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
New York University (NYU)
Miami Dade College (MDC)

COMMENTARY Move-by-move by IGM Sam Palatnik who is Twice Junior Chess World Champion and Twice European and Soviet Union Champion.

[Caption, The Parrot plays Sam Palatnik at ‘distance chess’, but its hard to make the pieces levitate, even for IGMs.]

SCHEDULE

April 5 Round 1 (10 a.m. – 3 p.m.), Round 2 (5 p.m. – 10 p.m.)
April 6 Round 3 (9 a.m. – 2 p.m.), Closing Ceremony (2:30 p.m.)

WEBCAST OF GAMES live from http://www.monroi.com/ and http://www.chessclub.com/

Chess News WORLDWIDE

RESULT: The chess festival "Young hopes of the North-West" took place in Kirishi (Leningrad region) 23d-25th February.

Participants: Kirill Alekseenko (born 1997) - silver medalist of Russian Championship under 10, Championship of Europe 2007, Maria Butuc (1993) - Champion of Russia 2007 under 14,

The Right Steppes

Chess Bloomed in England in the early 1800s by virtue of the efforts of J. H. Sarratt, and later by Howard Staunton. So how did it really get going in Russia?

In his ‘Chess and Culture’ (Leningrad, 1929) Y. G. Rokhlin proudly recorded an account of incorrigible illiterates brought to see the light by their interest in chess, and added typically, ‘This example is very typical.’  And literacy itself was only the first step, because ‘in the right conditions the steps from chess to literature, then to education, then to political awareness can be taken automatically.

All of this seems far from plausible to the western observer, but the Chess Section produced sufficient results to keep the authorities convinced.  The number of officially registered players rose from 1,000 in 1923 to 24,000 in 1924 as the registration system was extended, but then it continued to rise, and had reached 150,000 by 1929.

The task of spreading chess across the Soviet Union was taken quite seriously, as the master Fyodor Dus-Khotomirsky later recalled in his memoirs: “During the next seven years, from 1924 to 1931, I travelled through almost the entire Soviet Union – from the White Sea to the Caucasus, from the Baltic to Vladivostok – passing on my experience and knowledge to the young people of eight Soviet Republics…”

A consequent expansion in chess publishing.  Krylenko himself edited the popular magazine ‘64’ from 1924 onwards.

These extracts taken from Chess: The History of a Game, Richard Eales (1985).  Facts on File Publishing

Alexander Ganichev (1994) - silver medalist of NW Russian region between boys under 12-14, Vadim Pischikov (1994) - winner of the Leningrad region Cup, Evgeny Polonovsky (1994) - Champion of NW region of Russia under 12, Champion of Leningrad region under 10-14, Vladimir Smirnov (1994) - Champion of Kirishi under 14. During the festival take place: the rapid chess tournament (23.02), classical chess tournament "Participants against computers" (23.02), round robin tournament "Chess 960" (24.02), Sheveningen tournament between participants and local team club "Kinef" (25.02), simults by GM Evgeny Alekseev against participants of Festival and GM Konstantin Sakaev against local chess club "Gambit".

The Shahcom Company provided live coverage of the games of the rapid chess and "Chess 960" tournaments in the playing hall and via Internet. The round starts at 10 a.m. Moscow time (+3 GMT).

Chess 960 (24 February)

Won by Maria Butuc

 

Rapid chess (23 February)

Won by Kirill Aleekseenko

2700 CLUB: Morelia Linares:  The second half of this super-strong contest is about to resume in Linares – here is the picture so far from the first half in Morelia:-

1 Anand - 4.5
2-3 Shirov, Topalov - 4.0
4-5 Aronian, Carlsen - 3.5
6-7 Radjabov, Ivanchuk - 3.0
8 Leko - 2.5

Immediately noticeable on an individual basis are the Anand 3 wins, all with the black bits – and the overall analysis of White and Black scores look like this:

White Wins: 8
Black Wins: 7
Draws: 12

Decisive : Draw ratio = 15 : 12

Play resumes Saturday, March 1, 2008 with this line up:

Vishy Anand - Magnus Carlsen
Vassily Ivanchuk - Veselin Topalov
Teimour Radjabov - Levon Aronian
Alexei Shirov - Peter Leko

2-23-2008

Chess News - Worldwide

World #4 Moro Gonzo!
Drops out of World Champ Cycle

"The cycle would last almost four years. In 2008 we begin to qualify for the 2011 world championship match. Even at the time of the Botvinnik versus Smyslov rivalship it was not like that".  Alexander Morozevich told his interviewer GM Golubev this week.

2700 CLUB: Morelia Linares

Another super-strong field contest each other, starting in Morelia, Mexico, February 15 – 23, and for the second half of the tournament in Linares Spain, February 28 - March 7.  Eight players are engaging in this double round robin event:

GM Viswanathan Anand. GM Veselin Topalov. GM Vassily Ivanchuk, GM Teimour Radjabov, GM Peter Leko, GM Levon Aronian, GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Alexei Shirov.

In a round 5 match-up Carlsen shocked Topalov with Alekhine’s Defense, and maintained the initiative throughout the game.  What’s instructive about every game of chess is trying to assess which side you would rather be as the game progresses, and if there is some clear point when this decision is certain.  In just 10 moves between 15 and 25 the activity and power of the black pieces undeniably answer the question.

Chessville is booming. And who is to blame?

One culprit for making the site a great success all around the word is publisher David Surratt, who is well known to chess people, and who knows a lot about chess.  But what does he know about his almost-namesake who got it all going in England almost 200 years ago?

The leading player and writer at London in these early days was J. H. Sarratt, a schoolmaster who regularly styled himself, ‘Professor of Chess.’ Sarratt was very much a man of the new age, who taught chess as a social or intellectual accomplishment.  William Tuckwell, an Oxford surgeon who founded the Brazen Nose Club in 1810, was stated by a friend to have received lessons from ‘the great J. H. Sarratt, whose fee was a guinea a lesson.’

Sarratt published his Treatise on the Game of Chess in 1808, which was an attempt to be post-Philidorian’.  While this single volume may be criticized, Sarratt’s influence on the stimulation of chess in England was powerful: he began the process of making available in English the whole inherited literature of chess by publishing two volumes of translations; Damiano, Ruy Lopez and Salvio (1813), and Gianutio and G. Selenus (1817).

These activities stimulated William Lewis to publish a new edition of Stamma (1818), Greco (1819) and Carrera (1821).  J. S. Bingham produced a translation of Ponziani (1820), and John Cochrane’s Treatise on the game of chess was published (1822).

These extracts taken from Chess: The History of a Game, Richard Eales (1985).

GM Topalov (2780) - GM Carlsen (2733) [B04]
20.02.2008, Morelia 2008

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 dxe5 5.Nxe5 c6 6.Bd3 Nd7 7.Nxd7 Bxd7 8.0-0 g6 9.Nd2 Bg7 10.Nf3 0-0 11.Re1 Bg4 12.c3 c5 13.Be4 cxd4 14.cxd4 e6 15.Qb3 diagram

[The first decision points comes after White’s 15. Qb3, diagram, and while white is still cramped, it doesn’t look terrible, does it?] 15...Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Bxd4 17.Bxd5 Qxd5 18.Qxd5 exd5 19.Rd1 Bg7 20.Kf1 Rfd8 21.Bg5 Rd7 22.Rd2 h6 23.Be3 d4 24.Rd3 Rc8 25.Bd2 Rc2 26.Rb1 diagram

[Just a few moves later black has kept his pawn, activated both his rooks and white has no compensation whatever] 26...Re7 27.a4 f5 28.b3 Rec7 29.Be1 Kf7 30.Rd2 Rc1 31.Rxc1 Rxc1 32.Ke2 Rb1 33.Rd3 Ke6 34.h4 Kd5 35.Bd2 Ke4 36.Rg3 f4 diagram

[Caption – a very cool move, since obviously 37. Rxg6 fails to d3++, and now the rest, as they say in chess-books, is a matter of technique.] 37.Rd3 Be5 38.f3+ Kd5 39.Be1 Bd6 40.Bd2 g5 41.hxg5 hxg5 42.Be1 g4 [a diversion of the f pawn to allow the king to advance] 43.fxg4 Ke4 0-1

The picture at the end of Round 5 looked like this:

Round 5 standings
1 Anand - 3.5
2 Aronian - 3.0
3-5 Shirov, Topalov, Carlsen - 2.5
6-8 Radjabov, Ivanchuk, Leko - 2.0

And Carslen’s topsy-turvey performance continued into round 6, with just more round in Morelia to go before the 2700-club goes to Linares for the second half of the tournament:

Round 6 results:
     Radjabov 1-0 Carlsen
     Topalov 1/2 Anand
     Ivanchuk 1/2 Shirov
     Aronian 1/2 Leko
Standings after 6 rounds:
     1. Anand 4.0
     2. Aronian 3.5
     3-5 Topalov, Shirov, Radjabov 3.0
     6-8 Carlsen, Leko, Ivanchuk 2.5

Official site: www.ajedrezmorelialinares.com.mx

Late Result:  The 4-Nations Tournament between Norway, Sweden, England and Latvia.  England came second behind Sweden in the Four Nations Chess Challenge Oslo - Norway, 15 - 17 February 2008.  Following defeat to the eventual winners on day 1, England recovered with victories against Latvia and Norway to take clear second place.

Final Result: Sweden 20 points, England 14 points, Latvia 13.5 points and Norway 12.5.

Captions are of WIM E. Hagesæther (NOR) vs WFM Chevannes (ENG); and GM Pontus Carlsson (SWE) vs IM Espen Lie (NOR).

Congratulations to Kanwal Bhatia, who made the best score on board 8 on her England debut, and also to David Howell, Simon Williams, Stewart Haslinger and Harriet Hunt, who all made plus scores.Full details of the event can be found on the official web site:- http://www.bergensjakk.no/four_nations_2008/

Brits Make a Chess Studio – ECF announce: The ECF Online Chess Club is still rapidly increasing in size. Over 800 members are now signed up. The facilities are improving all the time and a recording studio has now been set up in England for live broadcasts/lessons/lectures/shows etc There will be a premium service coming online in the not too distant future for which there will be a charge. Naturally all the basic facilities remain free. Come and join the fun at ecfclub.chesscube.com. We look forward to meeting you online!

The Parrot recommends a look at the playing screen at the site above – is this the future of chess media? Combining the interactivity of the computer with video materials always seemed natural and the way to go.

2600 CLUB: AEROFLOT the traditional Aeroflot tournament takes place in Moscow from 14 to 22 Feb.  Participants: Akopian Vladimir ARM 2700, Bologan Viorel MDA 2663, Amonatov Farrukh TJK 2649, Motylev Alexander RUS 2644, Jobava Baadur GEO 2643, Khalifman Alexander RUS 2638, Najer Evgeniy RUS 2634, Asrian Karen ARM 2621, Alexandrov Aleksej BLR 2618, Guseinov Gadir AZE 2617, Bocarov Dmitry RUS 2600

Final Result:
1 GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian 7.0 RUS 2600 2822

2 GM Motylev, Alexander 6.5 RUS 2644 2761
3 GM Dreev, Alexey 6.5 RUS 2633 2767

4 GM Rodshtein, Maxim 6.0 ISR 2614 2717
5 GM Volokitin, Andrei 6.0 UKR 2674 2706
6 GM Grachev, Boris 6.0 RUS 2601 2736
7 GM Guseinov, Gadir 6.0 AZE 2617 2727
8 GM Amonatov, Farrukh 6.0 TJK 2649 2701

Here is the final chart.  News from Susan Polgar.  Official website: http://www.aeroflotchess.com/

2-16-2008

Chess News - USA and Canada

Fide Say: KAMSKY – TOPALOV match. FIDE has accepted an offer for the WCC Challengers Match Kamsky - Topalov 2008 by the Bulgarian Chess Federation.  This offer included a net prize fund of 150,000 USD and has been approved by the FIDE Presidential Board since June 2007.

Fide then add a note that they will continue to search and improve the offer.  The bids, including all original documents and particulars, shall arrive by registered post to the FIDE Secretariat in Athens, Greece by the deadline of 11 April 2008.  The match is scheduled for Nov.-Dec. 2008, after the Anand-Kramnik match.

The Bad Bishop’s Tale

"English attempts to ban chess were largely limited to the clergy.  In 1274, a decree issued from Abingdon forbade the monks to play chess anywhere within the bounds of the monastery.  In 1291, the Archbishop Peckham condemned the prior and canons of Coxgord Priory, Norfolk, for “being led astray by an evilly-disposed person… who had actually taught them to play chess, which heinous vice was to be banished, even if it came to three days and nights on bread and water.”  These harsh prohibitions were to no avail, and chess thrived in English monasteries, as it did among continental clergymen."

An extract from Birth of the Chess Queen
by Margaret Yalom

Chess News - Worldwide

First of all, a salute to my correspondence opponent from Yugoslavia, who is losing with both Black and White.  He is rated about 1900, but won’t read this notice.  That’s because he is blind.  I don’t know how people can play that well without sight of the board.  If I too played blind he would beat me hollow.  So…!  This is to celebrate you, Mr. M., who will never read this notice.

Correspondents have pointed out : “There is a list of U.S. Braille Chess Association tournament winners at http://www.crisscrosstech.com/usbca/winnerslist.html. (Oddly enough, they use a *very large* type size.)  I think it corresponds to the U.S. Blind Championship, but I'm not absolutely certain.  The late Al Sandrin was probably of master strength at his peak.”

And: “In the UK, the Braille Chess Association has a website at "http://www.braillechess.org.uk", and runs a team currently lying 2nd in Div 4 of the 4NCL.   Many other countries have similar teams and/or organizations; there are some links at the site just mentioned.

Editor:  Chessville's links collection contains the following Chess Sites for the Visually Impaired:
     Association Italian Blind Chess players
     Austrian Blind Chess Federation
     Braille Chess Association
     Braille Chess Association of Ireland
     All India Chess Federation for the Blind
     International Association For The Blind And Visually Impaired Chess Players
     United States Braille Chess Association

Current Big One: Moscow

4th International Chess Festival
Moscow Open 2008
– with 274 players

Artyom Timofeev became the winner of The 4th International Chess Festival Moscow Open 2008 took place 2nd-10th February 2008. Participants: Akopian Vladimir GM ARM 2700, Malakhov Vladimir GM RUS 2689, Inarkiev Ernesto GM RUS 2681, Zviaginnsev Vadim GM RUS 2677, Timofeev Artyom GM RUS 2664, Tiviakov Sergei GM NED 2649, Amonatov Farrukh GM TJK 2649, Miroshnichenko Evgenij GM UKR 2647, Areshcenko Alexander GM UKR 2645, Motylev Alexander GM RUS 2644, Jobava Baadur GM GEO 2643, Moiseenko Alexander GM UKR 2643, Sutovsky Emil GM ISR 2642, Naiditsch Arkadij GM GER 2638, Efimenko Zahar GM UKR 2638, Tregubov Pavel GM RUS 2636, Najer Evgeniy GM RUS 2634, Dreev Alexey GM RUS 2633, Riazantsev Alexander GM RUS 2628, Kobalia Michael GM RUS 2623, Volkov Sergey GM 2623 RUS, Asrian Karen GM 2621 ARM, Aleksandrov Aleksej GM 2618 BLR, Guseinov Gadir GM 2617 AZE, Macieja Bartlomiej GM 2617 POL, Smirin Ilia GM 2616 ISR, Rodshtein Maxim GM 2614 ISR, Burmakin Vladimir GM 2611 RUS, Potkin Vladimir GM 2609 RUS, Vitiugov Nikita GM 2609 RUS, Fedorov Alexei GM 2607 BLR, Korotylev Alexey GM 2607 RUS, Kuzubov Yuriy GM 2606 UKR, Kaidanov Gregory S GM 2604 USA, Grachev Boris GM 2601 RUS, Bocharov Dmitry GM 2600 RUS etc. (274 players)

Leader final standings:

1 Timofeev - 7.5
2-10 Riazantsev, Volkov, Efimenko, Lastin, Jobava, Inarkiev, Kazhgaleyev, Moiseenko, Kurnosov - 7.0
11-22 Motylev, Naiditsch, Kobalia, Korobov, Potkin, Khairullin, Zabotin, Malakhov, Areshchenko, Aleksandrov, Rodshtein - 6.5
23-44 Popov Ivan, Kuzubov, Glek, Smirnov, Novikov, Lysyj, Naumkin, Tregubov, Asrian, Zvjaginsev, Khismatullin, Andreikin, Yemelin, Iordachescu, Evdokimov, Yandemirov, Burmakin, Demchenko, Vovk, Korotylev, Deviatkin, Pileckis, Zakhartsov - 6.0

Official site: moscowchessopen.ru

2700 CLUB: Morelia Linares

Another super-strong field contest each other, starting in Morelia, Mexico, February 15 – 23, and for the second half of the tournament in Linares Spain, February 28 - March 7.  Eight players engage in this double round robin event:

GM Viswanathan Anand. GM Veselin Topalov. GM Vassily Ivanchuk, GM Teimour Radjabov, GM Peter Leko, GM Levon Aronian, GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Alexei Shirov.

Morelia schedule [times are local]

14 February Opening ceremony 20:00 h Teatro Ocampo. Morelia (Michoacán - México)
15 February Ronda 1 15:30 h Teatro Ocampo. Morelia (Michoacán - México)
16 February Ronda 2 15:30 h Teatro Ocampo. Morelia (Michoacán - México)
17 February Ronda 3 15:30 h Teatro Ocampo. Morelia (Michoacán - México)
18 February Rest day
19 February Ronda 4 15:30 h Teatro Ocampo. Morelia (Michoacán - México)
20 February Ronda 5 15:30 h Teatro Ocampo. Morelia (Michoacán - México)
21 February Rest day
22 February Ronda 6 15:30 h Teatro Ocampo. Morelia (Michoacán - México)
23 February Ronda 7 15:30 h Teatro Ocampo. Morelia (Michoacán - México)

 Chessville coverage - Download all the games - Official site (Morelia)

2600 CLUB: AEROFLOT

The traditional Aeroflot tournament takes place in Moscow from 14 to 22 Feb.

Participants: Akopian Vladimir ARM 2700, Bologan Viorel MDA 2663, Amonatov Farrukh TJK 2649, Motylev Alexander RUS 2644, Jobava Baadur GEO 2643, Khalifman Alexander RUS 2638, Najer Evgeniy RUS 2634, Asrian Karen ARM 2621, Alexandrov Aleksej BLR 2618, Guseinov Gadir AZE 2617, Bocarov Dmitry RUS 2600.  Official website: http://www.aeroflotchess.com/

A quarter of a million chess sets given away… hey Brits, get on it!

Andy Reed MP today announced the giving away of chess sets to schools. The chess sets are available for schools as part of a scheme to provide a quarter of a million chess sets into the school network. Negotiations with manufacturers and distributors means that ten sets and boards can be presented to every school in England.

At a recent meeting in the House of Commons Holloid Plastics Ltd made a big-hearted offer to encourage interest in chess. They agreed to sponsor 250,000 chess sets to be distributed to schools throughout England. The allocation will be made in packages of 10 chess sets on a “first come first served” basis.

The offer give schools the opportunity to receive free of charge 10 chess sets for use to encourage more chess to be played in schools. The offer made in conjunction with the English Chess Federation is to encourage more young people to play chess.

The Loughborough MP told inLoughborough: “This offer is a great opportunity for school to receive chess sets and revive interest in chess. I encourage and call on all schools in the Loughborough area to apply for these sets.  I hope that chess can be taken up by a new generation of school children and this offer is a great way for schools to encourage chess to be played. I hope that school in Loughborough will make use of this opportunity.”

Chess in the form we know it today started in Southern Europe in the 15th Century. It has been shown relatively recently that stronger players start playing chess early in life, their is a greater probability that they are left handed and were born in the winter months or early spring. [Which might explain why I am good at chess being a left handed Capricorn ~ Ed]

If your school would like to receive these sets then please contact the address below:

The English Chess Federation
The Watch Oak
Chain Lane
Battle
TN33 OYD
Email office@englishchess.org.uk

Four nations chess challenge
Oslo - Norway, 15 - 17 February 2008
Report by http://www.chessdom.com/

A Traditional International chess Festival "Finek-2008" took place in Saint-Petersburg 25 January - 1 February.  The organizers were: Saint-Petersburg State University of economics and finances, Chess Federation of Russia Northwest region with a sponsorship of bank "Viking" - the first commercial bank of Russia and Saint-Petersburg - one of the eldest credit institutions of Saint-Petersburg.  This year there were 3 grandmasters tournaments - two men and one women.  30 chess players from 5 countries took part in the Festival including 12 international grandmasters and 13 international masters.  The winners were: tournament A - S.Savchenko (Ukraine), E.Gorovykh (Saint-Petersburg), D.Linchevsky (Gatchina, Saint-Petersburg region), tournament B - GM S.Vysochin (Ukraine), E.Levin (Saint-Petersburg), Y.Tikhonov (Byelorussia) women tournament: m Y.Gromova (Saint-Petersburg), T.Molchanova (Saint-Petersburg), GM S.Petrenko (Moldova).

2-9-2008

Chess News - USA and Canada

Last week we noticed: A New Chess course announced Wednesday for mainstream educators wishing to teach chess.  Susan Polgar and Paul Truong have created a 64 page Adobe.pdf document which will be subsequently reviewed here at Chessville.  And this week we have found the principal of an accredited school willing to grapple with Chess and Ed, and to say his piece on his sense of worth of it all!

Just Gossip, semi-substantiated, of course, but...

He’s back! Retired Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov will take part in two exhibition  matches in the south Bohemian chateau Hluboká nad Vltavou March 30.  The opponents of the 44-year-old Russian are yet to be announced.  Source: www.praguepost.com

New York Times have fired one correspondent of their chess blog and hired GM Benjamin as replacement.  I think the last entry to the ‘Gambit blog’ was by this Parrot who pointed out a few details, chessically speaking, about what was reported and what not.  Let’s hope that the GM can provide content fit for adult attention, and be wary of celebrating the scandal of the week, or indeed, sort-of USCF board pronouncements, accidentally forwarded.

Chess News - Worldwide

Current Big One: Moscow
4th International Chess Festival Moscow Open 2008 –with 274 players

Leading Round 6 standings:
1-9 Riazantsev, Inarkiev, Timofeev, Efimenko, Volkov, Motylev, Lastin, Jobava, Popov Ivan - 5.0
10-35 Zvjaginsev, Korobov, Malakhov, Moiseenko, Kharitonov, Yemelin, Naiditsch, Tregubov, Svetushkin, Najer, Rychagov, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Kobalia, Deviatkin, Potkin, Le Quang Liem, Kuzubov, Yudin, Smirnov, Zabotin, Lysyj, Oleksienko, Shomoev, Zherebukh, Kurnosov, Safarli - 4.5

One participant in the tournament who is currently scoring about 50% against ‘the kids’ is the venerable player Evgeny Vasjukov [captioned].  If any publisher out there really wants to know what went on in the era of Soviet chess, this is the guy to interview!

Is chess a true finite game?  Philosophers and Mathematicians, please weigh-in.

    Games theorists like to discuss the possibilities of solving chess, and if theoretically it is a win for white, for black or drawn. But it seems the issue is not so simple, since here is a 16th definition of Finite Games - which differentiates predictive theory, from the play itself:

    "One obeys the rules in a finite game in order to play, but playing does not consist of only obeying the rules.

    The rules of a finite game do not constitute a script.  A script is composed according to the rules but is not identical to the rules.  The script is the record of the actual exchanges between players - whether acts or words - and therefore cannot be written down beforehand.  In all true finite play the scripts are composed in the course of the play.

    This means that //during the game// all finite play is dramatic, since the outcome is yet unknown.  That the outcome is not known is what makes it a true game.  The theatricality of finite play has to do with the fact that there is an outcome.

    Finite play is dramatic, but only provisionally dramatic.  As soon as it is concluded we are able to look backward and see how the sequence of moves, though made freely by the competitors, could have resulted only in this outcome.  We can see how every move fit into a sequence that made it inevitable that this player should win.

    The fact that a finite game is provisionally dramatic means that it is the intention of each player to eliminate its drama by making a preferred end inevitable.  It is the desire of all finite players to be //Master Players//, to be so perfectly skilled in their play that nothing can surprise them, so perfectly trained that every move in the game is foreseen at the beginning.  A true Master Player plays as though the game is already in the past, according to a script whose every detail is known prior to the play itself."

- James P. Carse

Harder to find from the site are the results of the ‘Ladies Tournament’, but I found Irina there!  After getting up to speed at Corus she seems to be doing very well and is joint leader.  Here were the match-ups for round 6, all players have 4 points:

Ushenina Anna WIM Vasilkova Svetlana
IM Muzychuk Anna IM Tairova Elena
WGM Kovanova Baira IM Lahno Kateryna
IM Krush Irina WGM Melia Salome
WFM Malgina-Sterliagova Tatiana WGM Zhukova Natalia
IM Harika Dronavalli IM Gvetadze Sopio
WFM Girya Olga IM Matveeva Svetlana
IM Vasilevich Irina WFM Bodnaruk Anastasia

Grin and ‘Bear’ it Handbag Scandal!  One report on the women’s competition reads:

The female hall is similar to a labyrinth:  tables are located very close to each other, and it is possible to pass between them easily only at the beginning of the round. All passages are blocked by handbags.

I provide two pictures to illustrate gender difference in playing conditions.  Official site

FIDE Say:

3.1. MATCHES. For the first cycle of 2008/9, all players in the World Championship (i.e. Kramnik or Anand) and Challenger matches (Topalov or the World Cup 2007 winner) will be invited to participate in the Grand Prix from the outset. Given the organisation of both these matches in the third quarter of 2008, these players will all be asked to commit their participation in the Grand Prix series by not later than 31st January 2008. Should any of these players decline to participate in the Grand Prix series, the President may nominate a player to replace and this player must be rated among the top 40 players in the World.

Name

Title

Country

Rating

Games

B-Year

Kramnik, Vladimir

GM

RUS

2799

9

1975

Anand, Viswanathan

GM

IND

2799

3

1969

Topalov, Veselin

GM

BUL

2780

14

1975

Kamsky, Gata

GM

USA

2726

32

1974

 

3.2. QUALIFICATION. The FIDE World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk 2007 will be used to determine three qualifiers for the 2008/9 Grand Prix Series. Excluding the winner, these will be the players who have qualified to the semi final stages of the World Cup.

 

Name

Title

Country

Rating

Games

B-Year

Shirov, Alexei

GM

ESP

2755

49

1972

Carlsen, Magnus

GM

NOR

2733

37

1990

Karjakin, Sergey

GM

UKR

2732

36

1990

3.3. RATING. Based on an average calculation to two decimal places, of the January 2007 rating list and the October 2007 rating list in the year prior to start of the cycle, seven qualifiers will be selected (excluding the four players who will be playing the matches as defined in Article 2.1). If players have the same average rating, the number of games played between January 2007 and September 2007 (rating period) will be used to determine ranking. To ensure active participation in the future, a minimum of twenty five (25) games is being recommended in the four rating lists including and prior to the October rating list in the year of qualification i.e. 2009, 2011 etc.. Given the short notice in the first edition of the Grand Prix, this regulation will not be applicable in the 2008-2009 series. If any player, qualified by rating, does not accept to play in the Grand Prix series, then the selection process using the average rating (Oct-07 & Jan-07 to two decimal places) plus number of games played in the rating period (Jan-07 + Apr-07 + Jul-07 + Oct-07) will be adopted to identify reserves, until the number of qualifiers required for the Grand Prix is completed. The first seven players and reserves are as follows :

No.

Name

Nat.

Oct-07

Games

Jan-07

Games

Avg

1.

Ivanchuk, Vassily

UKR

2787

20

2750

33

2768.50

2.

Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar

AZE

2752

11

2754

25

2753.00

3.

Leko, Peter

HUN

2755

21

2749

9

2752.00

4.

Morozevich, Alexander

RUS

2755

19

2741

15

2748.00

5.

Aronian, Levon

ARM

2741

14

2744

13

2742.50

6.

Radjabov, Teimour

AZE

2742

9

2729

6

2735.50

7.

Gelfand, Boris

ISR

2736

21

2733

19

2734.50

Reserve players

1st

Adams, Michael

ENG

2729

16

2735

0

2732.00

2nd

Svidler, Peter

RUS

2732

25

2728

28

2730.00

3rd

Polgar, Judit

HUN

2708

9

2727

6

2717.50

4th

Grischuk, Alexander

RUS

2715

23

2717

16

2716.00

FIDE has announced the following dates and venues for the 2008/2009 Grand Prix Tournaments:

2008  

April 20th

May 6th

Baku, Azerbaijan

2

2008

July 30th

August 15th

Krasnoyarsk (or other Russian city), Russia

3

2008

December 13th

December 29th

Doha, Qatar

4

2009

April 14th

April 28th

Montreux, Switzerland

5

2009

August 1st

August 17th

Elista, Russia

6

2009

December 7th

December 23rd

Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic

 

Reserve cities are Istanbul and Teheran.

Each Tournament will be a 14 player all play all. The winner of the Grand Prix will play with the winner of the 2009 World Cup for the right to challenge the World Champion in 2010.

Hrvoje Stevic became the Champion of Croatia. The Croatian chess championship took place in Split, 16th-29th January 2008, round robin, 11 grandmasters including European U18 champion Ivan Saric, Ex European champion (2006) Zdenko Kozul and 3 ex-World junior champions (Kurajica, Cvitan, Stevic). The participants: Kozul Zdenko g CRO 2600, Zelcic Robert g CRO 2587, Palac Mladen g CRO 2575, Dizdar Goran g CRO 2564, Brkic Ante g CRO 2558, Kurajica Bojan g CRO 2556, Hulak Krunoslav g CRO 2552, Jankovic Alojzije g CRO 2541, Cvitan Ognjen g CRO 2535, Stevic Hrvoje g CRO 2531, Jovanovic Zoran g CRO 2525, Saric Ivan m CRO 2482, Rezan Sasa m CRO 2390.

Final standings:
1 Stevic - 8.0 [captioned]
2 Zelcic - 7.0
3-6 Kurajica, Hulak, Jankovic, Jovanovic - 6.5
7-8 Saric, Cvitan - 6.0
9-10 Palac, Dizdar - 5.5
11 Kozul - 5.0
12-13 Rezan, Brkic - 4.5
 
Information courtesy Mladen Zelic;  Official site.

The Next Big One: Linares!

In about two weeks another super-strong field contest each other, starting in Morelia, Mexico, February 15 – 23, and for the second half of the tournament in Linares Spain, February 28 - March 7.

8 players will engage in this double round robin event:

GM Viswanathan Anand
GM Veselin Topalov
GM Vassily Ivanchuk
GM Teimour Radjabov

GM Peter Leko
GM Levon Aronian
GM Magnus Carlsen
GM Alexei Shirov

Letter of the Week:

Gert Jan Slottboom of the The Netherlands writes about Parrot Show Cage #1:

Hello Parrot,  I have a similar chess set made in Zakopane.  It is the same area as Krynica.  That is the south of Poland (Carpathian Tatra mountains).

In answer on your questions:

  1. Yes, the set is Polish.

  2. These sets have been made from the early 20th century till the present day.  This set is probably from the fifties.

  3. This is indeed the traditional style of carving.  The way the pieces are carved and painted today is hardly (if not) changed over the years.  The sets are made of poplar wood.

  4. The pieces represent country folk in their local costumes.  The ‘whites’ in the local dress of the region and the ‘blacks’ in the dress of the Ural people.  Maybe a passive resentment against the Russian oppression at the time?

  5. As far as I know these sets are always made this way and no other people or groups were depicted.

  6. Sets like this can make many hundreds, depending their age, quality and condition.

  7. These sets are individually crafted but in larger quantities.  However, they are rather rare.

  8. As stated before: chess sets of this design are made from the early 20th century till the present day.  By no means a one-of set.  How many are made is not to trace.

  9. I have done some carving.  Basically you need a good selection of chisels, and a first aid kit.

  1. Believe it or not, I have seen an experienced carver in the Czech Republic producing up to two comparable chess sets a day.

 I hope my answers are of any help to you. Kind regards.

What the Parrot wants to know is if any reader has tried hand-craving [not lathe-turned] chess pieces as has Mr. Slottboom; and can we see a picture of the set, and what other advice would they offer? The Parrot wants to have a go at this too.

Four nations chess challenge

Oslo - Norway, 15 - 17 February 2008
Report by http://www.chessdom.com/

Four Nations Chess Challenge will be a match between Norway, Sweden, England and Latvia in Oslo - Norway, 15 - 17 February 2008.  It is a part of the preparation of the teams for the upcoming Chess Olympiad in Dresden 2008.  For this reason the rate of play is 40 moves in 90 minutes and 30 minutes for the rest with 30 seconds increment per move.

The games will take place in Bridgesenteret, Oslo.  All games from the Norway match and the top man and woman board (board 1 and 6) from the other match will be live on the internet.  The other games will be available at Chessdom.com  after every round.  There will be live commentary at the playing venue by IM Torstein Bae.  Entry is free and visitors are welcome.

England was the first to announce their team and Mr. Dag Danielsen, Secretary General of the Norwegian Chess Federation, sent us the other teams together with the schedule.

Schedule

Round 1: Norway - Latvia, England - Sweden (start 17:00 CET)
Round 2: Norway - Sweden, England - Latvia (start 15:00 CET)
Round 3: Norway - England, Sweden - Latvia (start 10:00 CET)

Norway Chess team

1. GM Kjetil A. Lie 2556
2. GM Leif Erlend Johannessen 2521
3. GM Berge Ostenstad 2482
4. GM Rune Djurhuus 2452
5. IM Espen Lie 2428

Average rating men 2488

6. WIM Sheila B. Sahl 2227
7. WIM Ellen Hages�ther 2234
8. WFM Silje Bjerke 2162
9. Torill Skytte 1971
10. Yerazik Khachatourian 2044

Average rating women 2128

England chess team

1. GM Gawain Jones 2562
2. GM David Howell 2528
3. GM Peter Wells 2520
4. IM Stephen Gordon 2501
5. GM Stewart Haslinger 2495

Average rating men 2521

6. WGM Harriet Hunt 2457
7. WFM Sabrina Chevannes 2074
8. Kanwal Bhatia 2054
9. Sarah Hegarty 1974
10. Amisha Parmar 1995

Average rating women 2111


Sweden chess team

1. GM Emanuel Berg 2593
2. GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson 2567
3. GM Evgenij Agrest 2541
4. GM Jonny Hector 2520
5. GM Pontus Carlsson 2481

Average rating men 2540

6. GM Pia Cramling 2531
7. WIM Svetlana Agrest 2255
8. WIM Christin Andersson 2209
9. Inna Agrest 2121
10. Ellinor Frisk 2109

Average rating women 2245


Latvia chess team

1. GM Normunds Miezis 2553
2. GM Maris Krakops 2525
3. GM Evgeny Sveshnikov 2506
4. IM Arturs Neiksans 2470
5. Vitalijs Samolins 2444

Average rating men 2500

6. WGM Dana Reizniece 2309
7. WIM Ilze Berzina 2281
8. WIM Tatjana Voronova 2242
9. WFM Viktorija Ni 2132
10. WFM Renate Praude 2131

Average rating women 2219

2-2-2008

Boris Bacynzskyj (1945-2008)  FM Boris Bacynzskyj of Philadelphia passed away on January 16.  A friendly giant who stood 6-foot-6, Boris was an institution at the Franklin Mercantile Chess Club in Center City Philadelphia for four decades.  Boris played a lot of chess in the late 1970s and early 1980s but by the middle of that decade he had become active in computer chess and co-authored two early books on the subject.  He also found time to teach chess to thousands of kids including members of the Vaux Junior High School chess team which won seven national junior high chess championships.  Boris was also a member of the US Chess League's Philadelphia Inventors.   Check out one of his wins here: FM Boris Baczynskyj (PHI) vs NM Nicolas Yap (SF)  1-0.

Chess News
USA and Canada

Frank Brady was on National Public Radio this week talking about Fischer the genius player and Fischer the ‘son-of-a-bitch’ of a man.  Dr. Brady, who is president of the Marshall Chess Club, contributed to the aired discussion for some 20 minutes.

And the New Fischer movie is… Universal and Working Title partners Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner have tapped Kevin Macdonald [captioned] to direct "Bobby Fischer Goes to War."  Macdonald won an Oscar for the documentary "One Day in September" before making his scripted directing debut on "The Last King of Scotland."  His next pic, "State of Play," is an adaptation of the British miniseries that stars Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Helen Mirren.  Wrote Michael Fleming of Variety, this week.

Press Release January 29th, 2008: National Chess Championships coming to Lindsborg, Kansas.  In 2008 it will be the site of three major national chess championships in June and July.  The Karpov Chess School’s Executive Director, Tom Brownscombe, said the United States Chess Federation (USCF) notified him that Lindsborg submitted the winning bids for three national championship events: The U.S. Junior Open, U.S. Junior Closed Championship, and the U.S. Cadet Championship. More information here.

A New Chess course announced Wednesday for mainstream educators wishing to teach chess. Susan Polgar and Paul Truong have created a 64 page Adobe.pdf document which which will be subsequently reviewed here at Chessville.

Chess News WORLDWIDE

The 6th edition of Gibraltar's Gibtelecom Chess Festival takes place from 22-31 January 2008 at the Caleta Hotel, one of Gibraltar's best hotels.

Chinese GM Bu Xiangzhi maintained his sole lead at Gibraltar with a hard-fought win today against GM Bologan. His score after 8 rounds is 7.5 with a performance around 3000! His current rating is 2691 and he will stand to gain nearly 20 points, which will make him the highest rated Chinese player ever.

He was at one time the youngest Grandmaster in the world. After a few years of not making as much progress as he would like, he is now back on track to be one the world's elite players.  Official site.

Bu, Xiangzhi (2691) - Bologan [captioned] (2663)
Gibraltar, 29.01.2008

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.0–0 d6 6.d4 Nc6 7.Nc3 a6 8.b3 Rb8 9.Nd5 e6 10.Nxf6+ Qxf6 11.Bg5 Qf5 12.Qd2 Nxd4 13.Nxd4 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 Qxg5 15.Qa7 Bd7 16.Bxb7 a5 17.Rfd1 Rfd8 18.Bf3 Qc5 19.Qxc5 dxc5 20.Rd3 Kf8 21.Rad1 Ke7 22.Re3 a4 23.Rd5 axb3 24.axb3 Ra8 25.Rxc5 Ra7 26.Rd3 Rb8 27.e4 f6

Corrective Letter to TheParrot

In your treatment of NYC and chess, you note, "Herman Helms. Active even in his 90's. Wrote for the Brooklyn Eagle. (Folded 1954) and the New York Times chess column. Can not locate his address of birth."

Though Helms wrote indefatigably for the New York Times -- one could find him in his 90s at midnight in the Manhattan CC copying down the winners of its Rapid Transit tournaments (10 seconds per move) every Friday -- he was never its columnist.  Al Horowitz has the honor of being the paper's first chess columnist.  Helms, however, was chess columnist for the New York World Telegram (Folded 1967, four years after Helms's death).

Aben Rudy
Scottsdale, AZ, USA

Editorial Footnote: Helms was formally recognized in 1943 by the United States Chess Federation as the 'Dean of American Chess', and held this designation until his death at age 93 in 1963. Helms was called "the most important journalist in American chess history" by Arnold Denker and Larry Parr, in their well-respected 1995 book The Bobby Fischer I Knew And Other Stories.

28.e5 f5 29.g4 fxg4 30.Bxg4 Rf8 31.b4 c6 32.Bf3 Rb8 33.Bxc6 Rxb4 34.Rh3 h5 35.Be4 Be8 36.Kg2 g5 37.Rg3 g4 38.h3 Rd7 39.hxg4 Rd4 40.Bf3 h4 41.Rh3 Rbxc4 42.Rxc4 Rxc4 43.Rxh4 Rc5 44.Rh7+ Kf8 45.Rh8+ Ke7 46.Rh7+ Kf8 47.Kg3 Rxe5 48.Kf4 Ra5 49.Rh8+ Ke7 50.Be4 Ra4 51.Rh7+ Kf8 52.f3 Bg6 53.Rb7 Bxe4 54.fxe4 Ra5 55.g5 Rc5 56.g6 Rh5 57.Rh7 Ra5 58.e5 Kg8 59.Rd7 Rb5 60.Ra7 Rb1 61.Kg5 Rf1 62.Rf7 Rg1+ 63.Kf6 Rf1+ 64.Kxe6 Rg1 65.Kf6 Rf1+ 66.Ke7 Rg1 67.e6 Rxg6 68.Rf1 Kg7 69.Kd7 Rg2 70.e7 Rd2+ 71.Ke8 Ra2 72.Rg1+ Kh7 73.Re1 1–0

The drama of the final round was revealed by top board pairings:

1 GM Bu, Xiangzhi 7.5 CHN 2691 - GM Ni, Hua 7.0 CHN 2680
2 GM Nakamura, Hikaru 7.0 USA 2670 - GM Efimenko, Zahar 7.5 UKR 2638
3 GM Gopal, G.N. 7.0 IND 2528 - GM Bologan, Viktor 7.0 MDA 2663


 

 

New Aussie GM.  Zong-Yuan Zhao of Australia completed his final clinching norm when he beat Gildas Goldsztein. Congratulations to him.

LATE NEWS – a huge fight resulted between Bu and Nakamura for the title – and against one of the world’s best blitz players, Bu could not cope settling for second place after the 2-0 result. Nakamura won  £12,000 first prize, Bu £8,000. [about $25k and $15k, respectively]

The Next Big One: Linares!

In about two weeks another super-strong field contest each other, starting in Morelia, Mexico, February 15 – 23, and for the second half of the tournament in Linares Spain, February 28 - March 7.  Eight players will engage in this double round robin event:

GM Viswanathan Anand
GM Veselin Topalov
GM Vassily Ivanchuk
GM Teimour Radjabov
GM Peter Leko
GM Levon Aronian
GM Magnus Carlsen
GM Alexei Shirov

1-26-2008

Chess News
USA and Canada

Forget it!  Everyone in the world has been looking at the monster category 20 Corus event in Wijk aan Zee. I don’t know what’s happened to USCF’s on-line magazine, the last entry was last year.

Chess News WORLDWIDE

One of the strongest tournaments ever has been underway for 2 weeks, and things were relatively sedate – a few fierce fierce battles, some shortish draws, but no real fireworks until Topalov met Kramnik, and a remarkable game ensued, one for the history books, and for chess theory.

Topalov later commented that his knight sacrifice in the Kan had been long prepared, and in some lines he had analysed to move 40. Watching the games live it was obviously the result of substantial preparation, since at move 20 I noticed Toppy’s clock read 1:59 and Kramnik’s 1:00.

I strongly recommend all players take a look at the game, since we are all going to be analysing it for a long time.  I take the liberty of showing the game score here with a few GM notes from Susan Polgar:

GM Topalov (2780) - GM Kramnik (2799)
[D43] 22.01.2008

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.0–0 Nbd7 11.Ne5 Bg7 12.Nxf7 Kxf7 13.e5 Nd5 14.Ne4 Ke7 15.Nd6 Qb6 16.Bg4 Raf8 17.Qc2 Qxd4 18.Qg6 Qxg4 19.Qxg7+ Kd8 20.Nxb7+ Kc8 21.a4 b4 22.Rac1 c3 23.bxc3 b3 24.c4 Rfg8 25.Nd6+ Kc7 26.Qf7  White has a small edge but the position is extremely complicated! 26...Rf8 27.cxd5 Rxf7 28.Rxc6+ Kb8 29.Nxf7 Re8 30.Nd6 Rh8 31.Rc4 Qe2 32.dxe6 Nb6 33.Rb4 Ka8 34.e7 Nd5 35.Rxb3 Nxe7 36.Rfb1 Nd5 37.h3 h5 38.Nf7 Rc8 39.e6 a6 40.Nxg5 h4 +- 41.Bd6!!  This move gives White an almost decisive advantage.  It is still a way to go but Topalov is in good shape. 41...Rg8 42.R3b2 +- Qd3 43.e7 Nf6 44.Be5 Nd7 45.Ne6 1–0  [Editor's Note:  This game is also heavily analyzed (not once, but twice!) by Dr. Albert Alberts in his Corus Diaries.  Be sure to check out the refutation he found!]

Nice story?  The very next day we see it again!  Here are my own on-the-fly commentary notes, while also writing on 8 other games – some of the captions below are of other lookers-on.  There’s Anatoly, and Mickey Adams is passing by Carlsen-Leko, and who really wants to fight Viktor?  Irina Krush is representing American interest in Group C, and is about mid table.  I’ve been watching some of her games, and she is becoming as aggressive as Judit Polgar.  Maybe Irina would like to fight Viktor?

Timman Ljubo are in a ... [lol] wait!! 12.Nxf7 - where have we seen this before?  So this game is Toppy-Kramnik, part two.  But - an improvement? at 17, where Ljubo plays Rhg8 which Timman answers with 18.a4 follow the stem game yesterday to white's 17.  Latest move is 18... Ba8, with time about equal at an hour each.  I imagine everyone at Corus looked at this game last night, and who knows what teams worked on plans for white and for black?  19.Rfe1 - just as fascinating a position as yesterday, with the interim moves perhaps only being parenthetical to the big sac attack?  I must say that black's position looks awful with a bishop on a8 staring at its own pawn at c6.  Seemingly invited is the capture Qxd4...

19 ...Nc7
20 d5 [!?!] ... cxd5
21 axb5 a5
22. b3 time remaining white /black 0:47 to 0:34
22 ... cxb3
23 Qh7 [there it goes] ....d4
24 Bh5 Nxb5
25 Nf7 [what?] ?!?!?
25 ... b2
26 Rab1 Nc3
27 Nxh6 Rh8
28 Qxg7+ Kd8
29 Nf7+ Kc7

[No apologies, btw for illustrating this var today or yesterday, we are all going to be examining them for years!  So might as well make an archival copy here on usenet and get used to the positional possibilities.]

30 Nxh8 Nxb1
31 Ng6 Rd8
32 h4 Nd2
33 hxg5 b1=Q
34 Rxb1 Qxb1+
35 Kh2 Nf1+
36 Kh3 Ne3 [time remaining: 22 mins to 1 min.]
37 fxe3 Qh1+
38 Kg4 Qxg2 [time remaining: 20 mins to 1 min
and the a8 bishop eventually plays a huge part in the game!
39 Qf7 dxe3 [wow - I didn't think there was time for that]
40 Nh4 Qe4+ [time control]
41 Qf4 a4
42 Bf7 Nc5

0-1 Black strikes back!

Group A

1. M. Carlsen 6½
2. L. Aronian 6
3. V. Kramnik, T. Radjabov, M. Adams, V. Ivanchuk, V. Anand 5½
8. S. Mamedyarov, V. Topalov, P. Leko 5
11. J. Polgar 4½
12. L. van Wely 4
13. B. Gelfand 3½
14. P. Eljanov 3

But by Round 11, it was a different picture, after these results, Aronian moved into sole first place:

L. Aronian 1-0 L. van Wely
V. Ivanchuk 1/2 M. Adams
J. Polgar - P. Eljanov 0-1
V. Topalov 1/2 S. Mamedyarov
B. Gelfand 0-1 T. Radjabov
P. Leko 1/2 V. Kramnik
M. Carlsen 0-1 V. Anand

At press time, with 2 rounds to go, here was the picture:

Group A

1. L. Aronian 7
2. T. Radjabov, M. Carlsen, V. Anand 6½
5. V. Kramnik, M. Adams, V. Ivanchuk 6
8. S. Mamedyarov, V. Topalov, P. Leko 5½
11. J. Polgar 4½
12. P. Eljanov, L. van Wely 4
14. B. Gelfand 3½

Group B

1. S. Movsesian 8
2. E. Bacrot, N. Short 7½
4. P. Harikrishna, I. Nepomniachtchi 6½
6. D. Stellwagen, E. L’Ami 5½
8. Y. Hou, H. Koneru, I. Cheparinov 5
11. J. Smeets 4½
12. M. Krasenkow 4
13. G. Sargissian 3½
14. W. Spoelman 3

Group C

1. F. Caruana 8
2. F. Nijboer, P. Negi, D. Reinderman 7
5. J. van der Wiel 6
6. S. Li, M. van der Werf, P. Carlsson, A. Braun 5½
10. E. Grivas, I. Krush 5
12. A. Ushenina 4½
13. Z. Peng 4
14. D. Ruijgrok 1½

Honorary Group

1. L. Ljubojevic, V. Kortchnoi 3
3. L. Portisch, J. Timman 2

The 6th edition of Gibraltar's Gibtelecom Chess Festival takes place from 22-31 January 2008 at the Caleta Hotel, one of Gibraltar's best hotels.  Official site.

Caption; at board 2, Elisabeth Paehtz versus Bu Xiangzhi.

In 2008, the line-up includes four top Chinese players: Wang Yue, rated 2698 and Bu Xiangzhi, rated 2691, Ni Hua, rated 2680, and Wang Hao, rated 2665.  In fact, practically the full Chinese squad (which beat Russia and the UK in 2007) is playing in Gibraltar!  The challenge to the top Chinese players is headed by the USA's Hikaru Nakamura, rated 2670 and Viktor Bologan, rated 2663.

There are live board displays and live commentary from GM Stuart Conquest throughout the event. In association with the congress there is a ‘Team of Four’ Blitz Tournament, and Hikara Nakamura looks like he is having fun. Whereas on the next table I must assume that is a Fide-approved substance, in the caption where Gawain Jones is playing Tigran Petrosian and Mark Hebden playing Anna Muzychuk.  Photo Credits; Zeljka Malobabic for Monroi.

Parrot’s Diary, Stardate January 25th in the year of the Rat [almost].

Its been a thundering New Year for Chessville.  Firstly, we have a new columnist to write about Women in Chess.  If you missed it last week, check out JanXena!  [caption; 1301-1333 Zürich Le Roi Otto IV de Brandenburg jouant aux échecs avec une femme]  Our femme is also threatening to write about fashion, whatever that is.

Next, another new column coming soon!  Featuring the United States Marine Corps, Navy, Army, Air Force and Coast Guard – in a regular report on mil-chess.

Thirdly, Chessville itself moved around in hyperspace and landed in a place where it is now securely reflected by six servers around the country, reducing outages?

What else – well… some eye-watering exchanges this week at the political level of chess, but more of that below.

And finally, even the publisher has broken down to agree he needs help on the structural side to support all these journalistic efforts. If you are interested in contributing about 2 to 4 hours to chess per week, write to us! [Caption; Chessville editorial meeting.]

Okay, now for CHESS SPAM as received at Chessville this week.  Should one buy them a big set?

Firstly, are these children normal?  And why would you want your chess-kids doing this just because you paid a lot of money for the set?  Where are you going to put all this stuff in the winter, did you think of that?  Does your lawn even have a flat bit?  Come on, Chess Mums and Dads, think about it!  Like what the neighborhood children will say about your children, and will you leave it out overnight… right!  You just paid over four hundred bucks for it, and a missing pawn is going to cost $30 plus shipping.  And do you really think these two are going to bring it indoors themselves?  And if they do, will they ever take it out again?  Maybe you can set it up for your big lawn-party of the year, and uncle Albert can insist on playing one of your kids, getting bad-tempered as they fork his queen.  Look, real chess kids stay indoors… and play on-line against people called Weirdo*Vibes from Sweden.  Its climate-controlled in there, private, and doesn’t take 30 minutes to set up, and another 30 to… you could get 4 pieces into the wheel barrow at any one time to take them back to the garage.  And there are 32 pieces… but you’re the proud parent of the young geniuses who will almost certainly not switch allegiances to kite-flying next month.

1-19-2008

Chess News
USA and Canada

Headline: Bobby Fischer 1943-2008

Bobby Fischer died from kidney failure 17th January 2008. He'd been in hospital for two months but was released to go home after the doctors said his case was hopeless, he may have also been in hospital his final days.  Born March 9th 1943 he became world champion in 1972.

Icelandic confirmation: http://mbl.is/mm/frettir/ and BBC.

We at Chessville all been off the air for a few weeks, while we restructure, including a new column on women in chess, with which we have been engaging ourselves with a title, thereupon settling after this Parrot’s initial joke, on “JanXena on Les Echecs des Femmes.”

Also – somewhere in our pages you can find our own reporter at Wijk aan Zee for the massively strong Category 20 Corus tournament. Dr. Alberts’ Diary is not boring – not even armed with Fritz.  One of the Corus players he reports upon is…

Jugadora!! Chess in Spanish: here is an interesting site, http://www.sidurchess.com:80/ with among other things, an interesting array of photos of Judit Polgar, jugadora de Ajedrez.

So… If Fischer was Liszt…

Judit Polgar’s frequent opponent on the top circuit is Mickey Adams, who wrote to say that his own interview is derailed until February, since he, like Judit, is at Corus. Chessville is currently interviewing Mickey, with guest questions from several GMs including a world champion. One question we asked Mickey was, who he is like?

Chessville: When Mark Taimanov was asked in Chessville 20 Questions interview to compare musical style with Great chess players, he replied:

Well, for me the resemblance between Capablanca and Mozart is absolutely evident.  I would compare Lasker with Beethoven, and Steinitz with Bach.  Alekhine with his wealth of ideas and sense of harmony is akin to Rachmaninoff.  Smyslov's harmony is closer to that of Chaikovsky's.  Fischer is as monumental as Liszt.  Tal reminds me of Paganini - the same self-abandon and fatalism.  Botvinnik is associated for me with Wagner.  Karpov's chess is as simple and as complicated as Prokofiev's music.  Kasparov with his dynamic play brings to mind Shostakovich and his symphonies...


Of himself he said: "As to my style, by comparison to names of great composers I feel an involuntary certain shyness. But, probably, a parallel with creativity of Frederic Chopin is the closest."

So!  If Tony Miles was John Lennon [agree?]: Who is Mickey Adams?

Big News for the MIDWEST
Champions of chess to share their passion.  Couple hope to launch scholastic, club program, By Steve Young,
syoung@argusleader.com.  PUBLISHED: January 5, 2008

A pair of chess grandmasters have landed on Sioux Falls' doorstep, hoping to transform the chess-playing landscape in this region with their arrival.

Alex Yermolinsky, a two-time United States champion, and his wife, Camilla Baginskaite, the U.S. women's champion in 2000, arrived in the community a month ago.

Their ambition is to develop the largest scholastic chess program in the Midwest, taking the game into every school and youth organization in the area that they can.

They will be introduced Sunday at a free chess expo and clinic at 2 p.m. at the Sioux Falls Public Library, 201 N. Main Ave.

The couple and their two children - Eddie, 9, and Greta, 4 - came from San Francisco, where Yermolinsky was "Grandmaster in Residence" at the Mechanics' Institute for eight years before he and the club had a parting of ways this year.

Having visited Sioux Falls for past Governor's Cup chess tournaments, Yermolinsky and Baginskaite were encouraged by area chess enthusiasts to relocate to South Dakota.

They always liked the area when they visited, Yermolinsky, 49, said. And they liked the school system as well.

"Obviously, there are places where chess is more popular than Sioux Falls," Yermolinsky said. "But I wanted to apply my talents someplace that didn't have many chess players. I thought maybe I could do a better job starting from scratch. It probably would be more challenging and interesting."

The challenge now will be trying to develop the kind of chess program that can provide a living in this area, Yermolinsky said.

Parrot’s Diary, Dateline 1066: LOUIS THE FAT

The Norman's introduced chess to Hastings - William the Conqueror [captioned, right] was a chess player and once broke a chess board over the head of his nephew, Louis the Fat [caption, below on throne], having accused him of cheating. Fortunately the arbiters no longer permit this kind of behavior at Hastings.

The present Congress grew out of the great interest in chess shown in the
1880's. On 15th June 1882 an advertisement appeared in the local paper which read: "A meeting of those interested in chess will be held at the Albert Temperance Hotel, Queens Road, Hastings on Wednesday 28th June 1882. The meeting was attended by a group of professional and business men who formed the Hastings and St Leonards Chess Club. Herbert Dobell was elected Secretary which proved to be a significant event for the whole chess world.

His vision meant that regular regional matches were held and County matches were played at Hastings for the first time.

The Parrot’s sidebar on Openings has flown to its own [future] column. Here is the new one on

CHESS HISTORY

This week a retrospective on Kotov, and a conversation with another chess columnist on his title: The Soviet School of Chess:

> >> Kotov did not beat Botvinnik, but became the 3rd Soviet named 'grandmaster', [Botvinnik first 1935, Levenfish second, 1937].

> >  Actually, the first "Grandmaster of the USSR" was Boris Verlinsky (1888-1950), who received the title in 1929. Soltis, on page 57 of "Soviet Chess 1917-1991" says the title "was abolished in 1931 and not revived until Botvinnik received it in 1935."

> Ah! I didn't know that. But [laugh] I bet Kotov did - but possibly forgot to mention the recount?

  Oh, I'll bet he did not forget, unless we mean the kind of forgetting involved in an Orwellian "memory hole." As you point out, Kotov was very much one of the foremost Communist propagandists among the Soviet GMs. I doubt he would write anything contrary to the prevailing political winds; rather he'd add plenty of his own air. Kotov's political connections were many and powerful. It was rumored that his greatest international triumph, when he won the 1952 Interzonal ahead (by a full three points!) of a field including Petrosian, Geller, Taimanov, Gligoric and other greats, was due to opponents fearing his connections with the Soviet secret police.

> > Bronstein, in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," puts a more sinister spin on this, saying that Verlinsky's title was retroactively rescinded so that Botvinnik could become the new official "first"; he seems to imply that Botvinnik's egotism was behind this.

> In any case, the book I cited has the most remarkable introduction in it of any title I ever read. The Dover introduction begins with a warning that the contents are often untrue. {!} "It is stated, for example, that the growth of the Soviet School took place immediately after the October Revolution in 1917; in actual fact, it was not until 1934, when the leading Soviet players began venturing abroad... that the USSR was recognized as any sort of chess power at all. As late as 1940 there were only five international Grandmasters in the Soviet Union."

As well as other matters of history the editor also feels it right to mention that a 'group of players from Riga' did not invent the Latvian, but Greco did. They continue to talk about the striking inconsistencies in treatment, especially of Alekhine, where the editor says that nowhere in his writing do we find any indication he was 'keenly aware of his separation from his native land' or that 'he had made a great mistake leaving it in 1921.'

Obvious the political tide had turned and 'Russia's Greatest Player' was barely mentioned in Nicolai Grekov's /Soviet Chess/ (1948.)

These may seem rather serious reservations, but in the final para it states a need to separate propaganda from the Truth. I can’t do better than to render it whole:

 "Specifically we should be aware that this book was originally published for dissemination among English-speaking peoples and that literature of this type, though helpful in our ultimate understanding of the game, is very often riddled with distortion. The publishers of this Dover edition are very much concerned that readers be aware of the propaganda techniques employed, even in the history of chess, by the Soviet Union."  New York City, Dover Publications Inc, May 1961.

An annual festival was started which included lectures and exhibitions.  The festival was enhanced by leading players of the day including Lasker, Gunsberg, Janowski and Teichmann and especially by J. H.Blackburne, who later became a resident of Hastings.  The strength of the club increased and this paved the way for the great Hastings Tournament of 1895 - still regarded as probably the greatest chess tournament ever held.

Chess News WORLDWIDE

Parrot’s Diary, Tuesday 8th. Mickey Adams wrote me yesterday to excuse himself from our interview until early Feb, since he is off to Wijk aan Zee for the Corus event. Here is the amazingly powerful field comprising Category 20 players - I'm not sure I ever saw such a strong group at this event, not even when Kasparov took part.

GM Vladimir Kramnik 2799
GM Viswanathan Anand 2799
GM Veselin Topalov 2780
GM Shakhryar Mamedyarov 2760
GM Peter Leko 2753
GM Vassily Ivanchuk 2751
GM Levon Aronian 2739
GM Boris Gelfand 2737
GM Teymour Radjabov 2735
GM Magnus Carlsen 2733
GM Michael Adams 2726
GM Judit Polgar 2707
GM Pavel Eljanov 2692
GM Loek van Wely 2681

Chessville's own reporter also wrote this morning, and he is making his way armed with Camera and Fritz. See Dr. Alberts’ Diary.  Another correspondent points out that: the tournament field has an average ELO of 2742, one of the strongest in all chess history.

To put this into perspective, Montreal 1979 (Tal, Karpov, Spassky, Portisch, Ljubojevic, Timman, Larsen, Hort, Huebner, Kavalek) was only a Category 15 with an average ELO of 2622.


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