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Alekhine's Parrot

Welcome to the weekly leader
of chess events around the world.

7-5-2008

While looking for a caption of Pony Express to illustrate the Alex Baburin letter below, I thought I’d have a go at a caption for it. Then I thought, “are readers wittier than me?”  So I then thought I’d introduce an image every week – not necessarily a chess one, but the goal is to suggest a chess caption, and challenge readers to do better. Winning captions will receive an actual prize! The review committee [me and my hound-dog] will weigh current chess events in mind in awarding first prize.  Other rules will be made up as we go along.  This week you get 2 choices – beat the Parrot with either the Pony express caption below, or try this one!

 

Its new, its boring, its been done before, but... Beat The Parrot!

“2009 US Women’s Chess Champion Play-off Pentathlon, Part 3
– The Egg Race”

 

Chess Media
GM Baburin
wants your opinion

GM Baburin comments on the [slow] July FIDE rating list:

The trouble with omitting Foros is that FIDE broke its own rules on several occasions in the past (i.e. for Linares).  I am not calling on FIDE to break rules again – I think that FIDE should set a different deadline for submitting tournaments for rating - the current period of 15 days is ridiculous in this day and age – do chess organisers deliver tournament cross-tables using horses?  Do FIDE guys calculate them using pen and paper?  Hardly...  With e-mail and computer calculations something like 2 days would be a reasonable deadline – and then FIDE should make no exceptions!

 

And here is your prize for beating the Parrot, from a Chessville advertiser:

The Colle just grew up … and now it eats “silver bullets” for breakfast!

ZUKE ‘EM:
The Colle-Zukertort
Revolutionized

Refining the main line, Refuting the pet defenses, Redefining what an opening book should be. New ideas against … practically all defenses  www.zukertort.com

You win, you get one!

This may sound like a theoretical dispute for some chess fans, but for the chess pros affected it could mean serious loss (or gain) of income! If you have an opinion on these matters and would like to share it with other CT readers, drop me a note to ababurin@iol.ie

Check Your State – SPICE Cup Reps

Susan Polgar writes: PLEASE CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY (SusanPolgar@aol.com) IF YOU QUALIFIED AND YOUR NAME IS NOT LISTED!

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
   Conf Sayaka Foley
Arkansas
   Conf Crystal Qian

 

[Caption, see beat the Parrot competition above]

“Carlsen wins again, I gotta get this to FIDE – you guys hurry up and fix the wires already!”

California (Northern) Conf Rebekah Liu
California (Southern) Conf Nisha Deolalikar
Colorado Conf Alexandra Lasley
Connecticut Conf Alexandra Wiener
Delaware Conf Ann Marie Fitch
District of Columbia
Florida Conf Rita Mirchandani
Georgia Conf Ananya Roy
Hawaii Conf Ashbea Oyadomari
Idaho Conf Erica Barkell
Illinois Conf Sonya Vohra
Indiana Conf Emily Tallo
Iowa Conf Dhrooti Vyas
Kansas Conf Katrina Pritchard
Kentuck
Louisiana
Maine Conf Sorel Edes
Maryland Conf Fiona V. Lam
Massachusetts Conf Michelle Chen
Michigan Conf Ashley Carter
Minnesota Conf Morgan Mahowald
Mississippi Conf Melanie Newell
Missouri Conf Joanna Gossell
Montana
Nebraska Conf Elizabeth Oliver
Nevada
New Hampshire Conf Avary Bell
New Jersey Conf Eve Zhurbinskiy
New Mexico Conf Rebecca Anne DeLand
New York Conf Linda Diaz
North Carolina Conf Amelia Wheeless
North Dakota
Ohio Conf Brianna Conley
Oklahoma Conf Michelle Farell
Oregon Conf Taylor Bailey
Pennsylvania Conf Shinan Jin
Rhode Island
South Carolina Conf Hannah Whatley
South Dakota Conf Kaitlynn Loos
Tennessee Conf Autumn Douthitt
Texas Conf Sylvia Yang
Texas Conf Rheanna English
Utah Conf Jamie Olsen-Mills
Vermont
Virginia Conf Susan Brown
Washington Conf Leanne Hwa
West Virginia Katherine E. King
Wisconsin Conf Mira Ensley-Field
Wyoming
WILD CARD Conf Victoria Bian
Special Invitation Conf Courtney Jamison
SPNatOpen Conf Claudia E. Munoz
LVPolgarWorldGirls Conf Annie Wang-U8
LVPolgarWorldGirls Conf Alisha Chawla-U8
LVPolgarWorldGirls Conf Rebecca Lelko-U19
All Star Team Conf Michelle Xueying Chen

Chess Media – Ding-dong

“Our Nigel” speaks up again at Chessbase and causes a [usual] furor, this time with the UK Telegraph’s Jonathon Rowson, Scotland’s top player. Nigel Short is for sure a plain-speaker, and unlikely diplomat, and instead of indepent country teams, opined on a joint UK team incorporating Scotland with the English one. A too-and-fro interchange ensued, Short mocking Fide’s acceptance of each individual UK country, and causing this reponse from Rowson on Short:

In a brief remark published on Wednesday, he labeled the notion as offensive and betraying "complete ignorance of the unique geopolitical situation in Britain, where several nations peacefully coexist within one nation state".

But this elicited an angry reaction from Short, who mocked the status quo where five federations are recognized by FIDE, chess's governing body.

The Parrot doesn’t really understand why Our Nigel brought this all up – or what it would achieve if there was any ‘unification’, except that the Parrot’s family lived in the Highlands of Scotland for a thousand years, and hardly recognised even the Lowlands as being very different from the Sassenachs proper – and with substantially differing culture and values. Sassenachs in the highlands is a version of ‘Saxons’, and a relatively polite terms used to describe English people.

While the interchange will no doubt continue for a week, I suggest to GM Rowson an old saw: “There is good, even in a Saxon.” Though, in truth, it is not much said.

Chess Media
USCF Board dislikes
interviews, likes leaks

 

I will post a few items (of dozens and dozens) of leaks by the board to Jerry Hanken (now that I have a written consent by the other side) and others as soon as I have a chance. Then all USCF members will see the pattern of conduct by the board majority, wrote Susan Polgar this week.

The item below will show the conduct of Bill Goichberg and other board members (this was copied / sent / forwarded to other USCF insiders and it floated around and even landed on one of the public forums and finally it got back to me). There was no discussion or debate, just an under the table deal instigated by the President himself.

 

State of Play

A week is a long time in chess politics and this week the fur flew and a gauntlet too. Susan Polgar offered to resign if USCF material was released and her statements were proved wrong. On the other hand, she said, if she was proved right, President Bill Goichberg should resign along with the rest of the board.

If you would like to read more about the specifics of ‘the gauntlet’ try this URL.

"What should we do about military liaison? ...I see no evidence that she has done any work for USCF as a board member; she seems motivated entirely by self interest....

...Probably just as well, as if she did speak to him it's not likely she would have been working in the interests of USCF.

...I wish we could remove her as Scholastic liaison, but don't know who could replace her. At least, one of you should become military liaison. If you could discuss this with each other and one of you make a motion that the other be the liaison, that would be very good."

And the truth is that Susan Polgar has been working with top levels of military chess for this year’s event – The Parrot knows because he was too. I also know there was no independent USCF presence, didn’t cost USCF a red cent, and why why why when so many other things need attention, are board members conspiring in the dark to destructively compete with existing healthy relationships in promotion of chess?

Mangalia Chess Festival With New Scoring System

Chessdom made the first report about the innovative 3, 1, 0, scoring system – what do readers think?

European Champion Sergei Tiviakov wins with 23 points from 9 rounds.

The 2nd Mangalia International Chess Festival, popular "Neptun", took place on June 21-29 at the Romanian Black Sea coast. The tournament was exceptionally strong, with European Champion Sergei Tiviakov as top seeded, but the first thing that catches the wandering journalist's eye is highly unusual scoring system.

Here are the tournament rules: each game bears three points instead of the "normal" one. In case of decisive result, the winner receives three points, the defeated signs zero. But if the game ends in a draw, each player takes one point and then they move in to play Armageddon blitz game (5 minutes for White, 4 for Black + draw odds) for the remaining third point. Thus a game can give 3-0 or 2-1 score.
 

 

Editors Note

Readers are asked to consider this variation of 3, 1, 0, scoring system at Mangala, rather than the Armageddon finish.  The Parrot thinks he knows your opinion on that.  The twist with this particular tournament is that by playing another blitz game the result can be that you score 2 points as result of your initial draw, and therefore the result of two drawn games can be 4 points, whereas for a win and a loss only 3 points.  The result can actually reward drawish play rather than penalize it as in other 3, 1, 0 systems.

Any opinions or experience of these novel systems out there?  Write to the Parrot.

However, in regard with FIDE rating calculations, the usual 1; 0.5; 0 system applies. This extravagant scoring plan will surely cause lots of discussion, particularly in combination with the issue of Armageddon games, raised after the US Women's Championship tiebreak.

Final leader standings:
1. GM Sergei Tiviakov (NED 2635) - 23 points (5 wins)
2. IM Jean-Pierre Le Roux (FRA 2482) - 20 (6)
3-6. GM Erwin L'Ami (NED 2600), GM Viorel Iordachescu (MDA 2584), GM Dmitry
Svetushkin (MDA 2568) and IM Gergely Szabo (ROU 2516) - 19 etc

Big Bucks at Bilbao

[convert Euros to Dollars at 1.5] The Bilbao super tournament will take place on September 2-13, 2008. The field is very strong with 6 players competing in a double round robin format: Anand, the in form Vassily Ivanchuk, Veselin Topalov, Magnus Carlsen, Teimour Radjabov and Levon Aronian.  Time control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and another 60 minutes to finish the game. The total prize fund amounts to €400,000:

€150,000 for 1st
€70,000 for 2nd
€60,000 for 3rd
€50,000 for 4th
€40,000 for 5th
€30,000 for 6th

The players:

Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2798
Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2781
Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2777
Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2775
Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2744
Aronian, Levon g ARM 2737

Susan Polgar will be joining former WC Boris Spassky and the best chess commentator in the world Mr. Leontxo Garcia at the commentary booth.

The Sparkassen Chess-Meeting takes place in Dortmund 28th June - 6th July 2008. Participants: Kramnik Vladimir RUS 2788, Mamedyarov Shakhriyar AZE 2752, Leko Peter HUN 2741, Ivanchuk Vassily UKR 2740, Van Wely Loek NED 2676, Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2634, Naiditsch Arkadij GER 2623, Gustafsson Jan GER 2603.  Official site

Round 1
Gustafsson - Kramnik 1/2
Mamedyarov - Leko 1/2
Naiditsch - Nepomniachtchi 1/2
Ivanchuk - Van Wely 1/2

 

Round 2
Gustafsson - Naiditsch 1-0
Kramnik - Van Wely 1-0
Leko - Ivanchuk 1-0
Nepomniachtchi - Mamedyarov 1/2

TheParrot Squaawks….!

Conversations in the real world.

Last week's public and private mail brought more denial of disaster - directly from those shoved in front of the bus to explain the world's dismay at the finale of the US Women's championship – and accusations published at the presumably neutral German site Chessbase, some by Euro-TDs used language such as 'demeaning', 'degrading', as well as those who opined that the American championship decider for women was not even chess as they know it. The answers from the proxies were to wonder if such reprobation even existed? Besides, why was I being personal about it. Personal, I asked?

To report what genuinely seem like widespread dismay is to make the matter, so I am to understand from officials, my personal issue - and no form of journalism they ever encountered. This will not surprise USCF watchers, who note extensively in private, that all is personal there. Perhaps any other form of the art is indeed strange to them, and they should get out more?

The point of all [as Bill Clinton much said] is that it ain't personal! US Chess is not a 'brand' or some form of private-member club as we see recently argued by a delegate; it is a trust.

And what is entrusted to USCF on behalf of chess in America is currently questioned by many parties on the chess scene to the point of its effectiveness - as it should be, as all public trusts should be if those who grant them that trust are to play their own part of responsible citizens.

Now - that questioning does not challenge USCF's right to pursue what it does with our trust. Not normally. But when widespread acts of denial exist, and then posturings by proxy representatives only address the organization itself – not the benefit to the chess community - these reactions bring about a necessary challenge to what is actually being managed?

When things go wrong, and keep going wrong, but there is denial and seeming indifference to widespread opinion, and when so much red ink flows… then its time to ask the question if USCF can manage what is entrusted to it?

This question must be in the form of a challenge, since it is simply not possible to adjust or correct what is not even admitted to be wrong!

"Polgar's latest screeds" as a flak named a usenet thread this week, raise the issue of who benefits from any action – in question was respective girls and boys tournament funding. It is not certain the Denker is better placed in Texas than in Jersey City, but it is a viable question to raise, especially since it ostensibly is a million dollars better off in Texas for off-set colleague tuition, and player overhead. There may be reasons why a Texas location is not suitable, but current location and funding doesn’t appear to be about player benefits.

 

Squaaawk Back

dear parrot,

you write of Susan Polgars' possible attempt to beat 'her own simul record'. are you aware that her record is a matter of dispute between her Andrew Martin who claims that he actually holds the record. not surprisingly, his claim is made in a rather gross, annoying and ill-tempered (may i use the term 'macho' ?) manner - he has posted it on the web - while Susan Polgars' response is measured and gracious. (maybe by now they've both had the wisdom to 'un-post their exchange and move on )

i suppose that a serious point - if there is one worth squawking about - is that there are no 'official rules' for simuls that would allow one to actually be 'official champion'.

(martin's ill-tempered contribution to the matter managed to stop any interest on my part in any of his products and endeavors - however valuable they may be in themselves)

simuls are, largely, 'stunts' whose virtues, if any, are to call good attention to chess - a sort of 'GuinnessPolgars' World Records' thing to cause a gasp in response - and perhaps recruit a new player or sponsor.

ever since i read the exchange between ms. polgar and Mr. martin on the matter, i've been waiting for an opportunity to squawk! thanks for providing one.

James Breeden

When that question, and such others as the recent Mil-Chess dialog [see above] are not discussed in public, but only by a partial US board contest, and they conspiring against other board members to the effect that USCF would want to destructively compete with other chess promoters already engaged in Mil-chess - this orientation has not any public benefit.

These types of issues raises a much bigger questions about USCF's role in chess in the USA. Is it so compromised that it has become dysfunctional, beyond a bit of tweaking to put it right?

I personally am pleased to encounter every view point - no real chess fan should be excluded - but when secret conversations persist even at board level, and publicly proxy agents for these people seek to repress discussion of issues by abusing those who vigorously promote the game… that is no public benefit either.

When some writers of very uncertain character seek to manipulate conversations that have anything to do with our children in chess [those who seem unlikely to even pass a high-school level back-ground check], neither does that forward us.

Yet this is the ‘corporate-culture’ of chess in the USA. But its not the only chess culture, and methinks its time for a national conversation which is not dominated by loud, borish, and invested voices – and where the chess burocracy is not the only topic on the table.

 

Squaaawk Back

With the USCF's most recent fiscal year having just ended on May 31, 2008, one can't help but wonder what its loss will be for that year.
Does that sound presumptuous?  Perhaps, but it's hard to believe they would have been in the black.  Will the numbers come out by the end of the summer or will there be any foot-dragging?
 
For the record, if you look at their recent financial statements on the USCF website, they look rather 1970's-ish.  In other words, they appear to have been typed on a manual typewriter--rather crude looking in this day and age.
 
Howard S. Sample
Toledo

The chess public seem very ready to discuss real foundations for chess in the C21st.

Conspiratorial sentiment conceived in the basement of chess HQ, does not seem at all likely to appreciated or supported in a complex society and where more engaging stratagems are indicated to negotiate and promote a national trust.

Squaaawk back to TheParrot…  Hey!  It’s your game.
Speak up or have other people speak for you.

Rare Chess Pictures:  A Chess Set inspired by the novel 'Alice through the Looking Glass' where the pieces magically turn transparent when they touch the board.

In ‘Alice through the Looking Glass’ by Lewis Carroll, Alice falls through a mirror and on the other side of the mirror, she becomes a piece in a game of chess. Inspired by this, the chess pieces have an opaque mirror finish, when they touch the surface of the board they magically turn transparent and reveal the identity of the piece contained inside them. When removed from the board they revert to being opaque, hiding the identity of the piece.

This is a comment on how a chess piece has no value unless it is in play on the board. If removed from the board, a pawn and a queen are equal, in that neither have any value.

The theme of 'Alice through the Looking Glass' is the difference between the real world and the world behind the mirror. In keeping with this theme there is a contrast between the unlit mirrored piece and the clear glass piece. Each unlit mirrored piece is a smooth and modern shape. Each lit piece is clear glass, with the negative shape of a traditional, delicate Staunton chess piece enclosed within it. In the book the White Knight talks about how he thinks better when he is upside down. In a reference, the White Knights in the set only work when they are placed upside down. This joke is hidden to all but those who know the background of the chess set.

The Chessboard is made out of LightPoints a material manufactured by Schott, which is
glass that has LED's embedded in it; the pieces are coated with Mirona, a Material that turns transparent when light shines through it. When the piece is placed on the board it completes the circuit and lights up the LED under it turning it transparent, like magic.

This product was designed in response to a brief set by Schott UK Ltd. for Final year students of Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.

Afore ye go:

Next week, reader’s captions to beat the Parrot will appear here!

 

Write to TheParrot.


                    

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The Parrot's Archives

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TheParrot's Special Reports

  • Polgar & the USCF:  A Parrot Special Report combines the text of GM Susan Polgar's remarks, published in last week's Squaawk, and the USCF's carefully worded response.  Also, a further response from Ms. Polgar.

  • Scholastics - the Soul of Chess?:  Is the Scholastic chess movement actually bad for chess?  Maybe, or so argues Tom Braunlich in an article extracted here at Chessville (Scholastics and the Soul of Chess).  TheParrot's Special Report addresses some very strongly worded reader opinions, along with Braunlich's reply.

  • USCF's Book & Equipment Deal with Chess CafeIt all started with the following posting by Larry Parr in one of the public newsgroups last week:  "Gentlemen, The USCF Executive Board has caved to the ChessCafe.  That is the report I received from a source.  By a 5-1 vote the EB has decided WITHOUT OFFERING A PUBLIC TENDER to alter favorably for the Cafe the terms of its contract and to extend the Cafe's sales agreement until 2012. Further, the Cafe will have over $100,000 of its $250,000-plus debt to the USCF forgiven. The vote was 5 to 1."

  • USCF's Fingerfehler:  A related issue has also surfaced, the alleged blacklisting or boycotting of certain authors by USCF Sales.  USCF Sales is the name of the business entity, operated by Hanon Russell of Chess Café, which has contracted with the USCF to provide book & equipment (B&E) sales on their behalf.  TheParrot received this message (12/29/2005) from GM Raymond Keene, regarding the controversy on USCF Sales...

  • Who Cares? - Women and Children in Chess Months ago the Parrot wrote to the USCF board via Bill Hall Executive Director of USCF, asking after standards in place to avert offense to women and children in chess.  These concerns, although according to Hall were delivered to the board, have not been addressed nor even acknowledged.  Perhaps this is a cultural thing, but in some cultures is not dishonorable nor some game of politically correct words, to actively protect women and children from offence - in fact it is considered manly.  The issues before the board were about the treatment of women and children, and the lack of standard evident in the works of USCF agents paid and unpaid – and who even sometimes wrote anonymously, but let it be known that they wrote as USCF agents.  And what happens if you don’t …  Now we have a collision of speculations about new board member Sam Sloan's standards with these non-existent USCF standards...


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