|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Chessville
Advertise to Single insert:
|
6-28-2008
Chess
Media Another item from last week was about Nabokov, problemist. A fascinating article by Chessville’s Robert T. Tuohey, which should engage all you literate people out there, and also all you chess problemists. If you missed it, well worth a look. What particularly struck me is that it is unclear from the following extract if Nabokov is talking about composing chess or literary problems – or even if he is differentiating one from the other? But whatever I can say about this matter of problem composing, I do not seem to convey sufficiently the ecstatic core of the process and its points of connection with various other, more overt and fruitful, operations of the creative mind, from the charting of dangerous seas to the writing of one of those incredible novels where the author, in a fit of lucid madness, has set himself certain unique rules that he observes, certain nightmare obstacles that he surmounts, with the zest of a deity building a live world from the most unlikely ingredients—rocks and carbon, and blind throbbings.
Dear USCF Board, and interested parties, I wish to raise official questions about the recently concluded US Women's Champion final, on an on the record basis. It is the general opinion of the super-site Chessbase that what we recently witnessed was that Americans degraded and demeaned the game of chess by their conduct during the Women's championship final.
Did the players know the RULES? Other items of substance came from the pen of Mr. Berry, who wrote about question 4:
And so to the RULES themselves, clear as day, or as mud? Mr. Berry continued to say:- “More importantly, what Anna did on these moves appears to be typical and not actually “illegal” despite what some players commonly believe. Mike Atkins, an experienced blitz director who helped write the new USCF blitz rules, says, “If Player A has moved and is reaching for the clock, in blitz it is perfectly acceptable to be making your move in response. As long as you allow the opponent to punch the clock first… This is not illegal.” Does that mean you can or cannot move on opponent’s time? Obviously if you allow the opponent to punch the clock first… First? Before touching your pieces? Although you can be ‘making your move in response’ which means exactly what? preparing to move a piece, or actually completing a move with a piece? Certainly someone, even of Krush’s experience, did not seem to understand what was ‘perfectly acceptable’ in blitz, which might been just coffee house chess, were also the rules for deciding a national championship. As to question 1 above – Helluva Rules No answer to that one from the board, and I think we can safely conclude that whether it was degrading or demeaning, remains an open question. It would be fair to say that non-board members responded rather than answered the question – but the responses who in terms of denial that anyone should have said degrading or demeaning. The politest public remark I can find is “It’s a helluva way to pick a champion,” said John Fedorowicz. I suggest USCF change the name of US championship rules to just that: Helluva Rules.
The current world record is by GM Susan Polgar for 326 Simultaneous Games Played with a 96 percent win rate in Palm Beach, Florida on Aug. 1, 2005. Her opponents ranged from 4-year-old Hannah Boshell, who lasted one more round than her older sister, Hunter, to 95-year-old Jona Lerman, who’s been playing the game for more than eight decades. Honorable Gossip this week has it that there may be a new attempt at the record – perhaps by Susan Polgar herself. Warning! Don’t try this at home – I may have misheard the total distance Susan Polgar walked around that circle, but I thought I heard 12 miles.
And in a more closely contested final, Nakamura beat the young Russian top seed Dmitry Andreikin, 4-2, to claim the $1090 (700 Euro) first prize, invitation to the FiNet and Ordix opens, hotel room and breakfast at the Hilton Mainz Hotel by the banks of the Rhine, just 1 block from the picturesque Old Town. All of last week, qualifiers were held here on ICC for the coveted spots in the 16-player KO Mainz Chess Classic online Chess960 finals. The full list of finalists and results can be found at our dedicated Mainz Chess960 page.
6-21-2008 Yerevan Chess Giants ~ Karen Asrian Memorial Took place June 8th and 15th 2008. After the death of Armenian GM Karen Asrian, the event was renamed to the Karen Asrian Memorial. Time control 25' + 10' inc. Round 12 standings Official website: http://www.chessgiants.am/
After
corresponding with a principal organizer this week, and then extensively
with the entire organizing committee, Chessville has agreed to be a primary
news outlet for an astounding attempt at a Guinness Book of Records event,
in Chess!
Prevention First is a nonprofit agency
dedicated to strengthening the foundations of children and families by
empowering them to successfully handle difficult, everyday life situations
and extraordinary challenges such as violence and substance abuse, and has
been in existence for over 40years.
LIFE & LETTERS And there is analogy to USCF's recent lurches into the void – I see no sensible rehearsals of what to do on getting into trouble in exposed situations. No viable exit plans - and only grim determination to brute force issues through, at the expense of engaging situations beyond any control, and with potential lethal effects. Certainly it is the main view at Chessville that we wish to preserve and protect the game, and I think many players do the same - that's why they read us. On the contrary, those who boost USCF seem far more content to boost the organization, which is to say, the fortunes of those who run that organization - and to continue my analogy above - have now pushed themselves as high as they can go in difficult conditions, but are faced with either an unrehearsed and very difficult descent, or to take the long easy route out - but risking survival itself in getting off the hill before the sun sets, forever! That is some level of unwarranted risk, and willy-nilly people undertake the risk on their own behalf which is their own business, but what business do they have with what is entrusted to them as our National resources in chess? That, my dear Larry, if I may subscribe the general editorial opinion of my Chessville colleagues, is a very pertinent question and our constant context.
To thank those good individuals who responded to our appeal for infra-structural help. There are a couple more jobs going, plus we are always looking for innovative columnists – one short-fall of our current offerings is a bit of chess history…
AEROSVIT-2008 The 3rd International Chess Tournament
'AEROSVIT-2008' takes place 7th-20th June 2008 in Foros, Crimea, Ukraine. Round 5 standings
were One other interesting point so far is White v Black Scores. White has scored 14 wins, Black has 3 wins and there are 13 draws. Could Carlsen handle the lead? Well, here are the Round 9 standings 1 Carlsen - 7.0 Carlsen has an extraordinary performance rating of 2895, but is not in this round of the World Championship cycle – lets hope he stays around long enough for the next one, whenever that may be. The scene was set for the last rounds; Susan Polgar commented on the GM play:
Final standings: 1. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2765 8
Official site: www.ukrchess.org.ua/aerosvit2008 6-14-2008 In Memoriam
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) - Karen Asrian, an Armenian chess grandmaster who was the ex -Soviet nation's reigning champion and won the 2006 Chess Olympiad, died Monday after suddenly losing consciousness, the Armenian Chess Federation said. Asrian was ranked 92nd by the World Chess Federation, or FIDE. Apparently feeling ill, Asrian pulled his car into a court yard in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, early Monday and lost consciousness, the Armenian Chess Federation said. An ambulance crew pronounced him dead at the scene, possibly of a heart attack, it said. A moment of silence was held in his memory before the opening of a speed-chess tournament in Yerevan on Monday after his death was announced by Armenian player Smbat Lputian. The Yerevan Chess Giants is taking place between June 8th and 15th 2008. After the death of Armenian GM Karen Asrian, the event was renamed to the Karen Asrian Memorial. Time control 25' + 10' inc. Standings after 10 rounds: 1. Leko, Peter g HUN 2741 6½ Official website: http://www.chessgiants.am/ Big Report on Chess News USA and Canada
This year’s edition of chess rivalry between the armed services is already showing hints of historical proportions. For the first time ever in the history of military chess, a lone Air Force tigress laid waste to a field of mesmerized men by defeating the top boards of both the Army and Navy teams.
The winner of the team competition is determined by adding scores of the top four scorers for each team, and the team with the highest score earns the bragging rights as champion. Besides the team event, the top finisher of each team will take the first four team spots. The remaining two spots will go to the other top placers regardless of service. In this scheme, any team can possibly (and only) take three spots in the US Armed Forces Chess Team. The upside to this arrangement is that each service will at least be represented. In addition, it also effectively removes the possibility for one service to exclusively comprise the team. The downside is evident as it is possible for players to
earn a berth on the US Armed Forces Team by simply becoming the top scorers
of their respective services. These players may not necessarily be in the
top ten on the wall chart. When this happens, the US Armed Forces Team
essentially is not fielding its strongest team based on results. The format of the tournament is 7-round Swiss but no player will be paired against his teammate. The six-player team will represent the US Armed Forces in this year’s edition of the NATO Chess Championship to be held in Brussels, Belgium. The dates are yet to be announced. 2008 INTER SERVICE CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYER LIST AIR FORCE Rank Rating ARMY NAVY MARINES BANIEL IS CHAMPION, DULGER MADE HISTORY! Reports Chessville’s own correspondent, Andres D. Hortillosa Army Specialist Baniel succeeded in demolishing the Air Force surgeon Dr. (Colonel) Echaure in the last round to secure top honors finishing with 5.5 points. A weeklong stellar performance earned him a hallowed place in the tradition-rich annals of military chess. His name is forever etched in the record books alongside world famous players like IM Emory Tate. The sensation of the tournament, Elena Dulger of the Air Force finished in clear second. The young airwoman’s impressive performance commences a new beginning in military chess. For the first time ever, a woman player makes the roster of the US Armed Forces Chess Team for the NATO Chess Championship in Brussels, Belgium. The noted IM Elizabeth Phatz represented Germany last year. Other members of the team for the prestigious NATO event are: Tech Sgt. Robert A. Bucholtz (Air Force), Lt. Commander Paul L. Choate (Navy), and Corporal Carrelli (Marines). The last spot is being determined this very moment by a playoff match between MSgt. Dan P. Ranario (Air Force) and Captain Christopher Pitts (Army). The unique rules for determining the composition of the team call for a playoff match between the 5th and 6th finishers if not all services have a player in the top four. The Marine qualifier finished 17th but because each service must be represented by its top scorer regardless of final standing, he makes the team. This scheme puts players who finish in 4th, 5th and 6th places, respectively, in a playoff scenario. If the team is chosen by the order of their respective standings, the members would be in this order: Baniel (Army), Dulger (Air Force), Bucholtz (Air Force), Ranario (Air Force), Pitts (Army) and Choate (Navy). In this configuration, two are Army, three are Air Force and just one Navy will comprise the team. The Marines will not be represented but the team yields the strongest field. Decisive results in the last round changed the ranking order dramatically. Pitts (Army) defeated Keough, the top seed for the Air Force. Macaspac (Army) who normally makes the team lost to Ranario (Air Force). Both Pitts and Ranario, with their decisive games in the last round, earned them a playoff and the winner the last spot on the team. The Air Force bested the Army for the team championship by one point, Air Force totaled 26.5 points and the Army totaled 25.5 points. Had West won his struggle against Adkins, the team event for this year would have been tied between the two perennial rivals at 26.5 points each. The Navy finished in the distant third with 11.5 points. The Marines with just two players finished with 6.5 points. Top 5: Team Final Standings Chess news from Susan Polgar
Many top tanked players didn’t take part in the US Championship this year, so there is a chance to see Nakamura and Kamsky at the Las Vegas Chess Festival June 5 to 8, 2008 at the Riviera Hotel. Players of note include: Top finishers at the National Open: SP World Open for Boys and Girls: Girls under 8 Co-Champions: Annie Wang, Nicole Zlotchevsky,
Alisha Chawla, Queena Deng 4-1 Official website: http://www.lvchessfestival.com/
USCF announced last week that the flagship print chess magazine Chess Life will become an optional purchase with USCF membership. USCF will also terminate its scholastic magazine Chess Life 4 Kids. The plan is the mind-child of President Goichberg and is receiving severe criticisms in the chess community.
One upshot of these draconian measures is that the principal of Chesscafe who retails USCF’s book and equipment business has made several complaints including the mention of lawyers – Hanon Russell is himself a lawyer and is probably not kidding around. He seems to have taken great offense at President Goichberg’s actions, not only cutting back the magazine but also by using other retailers without any due process, or notification to himself; behavior he says which hurts his business prospects representing USCF. Interactions between Russell and board-member Bauer are in danger of becoming more than a little uncivil, and the confrontational tone can surely only end in tears. Here is Bauer’s comment to Russell:
Since these acrimonious interchanges are with USCF’s dedicated trading agent, it would surprise me to hear about any mediation services taking place before law-suits are engaged in earnest, and the inevitable ending in divorce.
USCF Chess in Education workshop to be held in Dallas, August 7, 2008. Contact: Alexey Root alexey.root@gmail.com The United States Chess Federation (USCF) Chess in Education workshop is open for registration. USCF workshop: co-organizers Dr. Alexey Root and Dr. Tim Redman, sponsors USCF, U.S. Chess Trust, The University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB), Texas Tech University (TTU), and The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) Thursday, August 7, 2008: 1:00-1:30 USCF Chess in Education committee business meeting (John Buky and Joseph Eberhard, co-chairs).
Looking to combine educational goals with chess? Dr. Root presents an activity from her most recent book that teaches the geometry of the board along with the particular way in which knights move, all wrapped up in a fun story. Come hear, and participate in, “Coco Can’t Wait.” 2:00-3:00 Keynote Speaker Russell Harwood, Chess Program Director UTB/TSC, presents, The Chess Boom in Brownsville, Texas, and Tips for Duplicating it Where You Live. Scholastic chess is booming in Brownsville, Texas, and the surrounding communities. Of the 50 schools in the Brownsville Independent School District, at least 35 have active chess programs. Six different Brownsville ISD schools have won national chess championships, led by Dr. Americo Paredes Elementary’s seven national titles. Two elementary school students have tied for individual national championships, and many others have finished in the top five. The chess success of our local schools got the attention of Dr. Juliet Garcia, President of The University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College, who formed a chess program at UTB/TSC so that area students would have the opportunity to earn scholarships and compete in chess at the university level. The Brownsville Independent School District has gotten onboard, and now allocates about $400,000 per year to their chess program. Chess has become a source of pride to BISD, UTB/TSC, and our community, and is now part of our identity. How did all of this come about? How can these results be duplicated elsewhere? Are there other successful models in our area? How does the future look? These questions and more will be addressed during this informative presentation. 3:30-4:00 Jerry Nash, Scholastic and FIDE Director for USCF, presents Strategies to Introduce Chess as an Educational Tool: Coordinating the Five Communities. Scholastic chess has seen a dramatic increase within the last twenty years. In 1988, the United States Chess Federation’s youth and scholastic members totaled approximately 7000. By 2002, the two age groups combined for over 53,000 members. The state of chess in education may be characterized by its status as two types of programs: after-school and curriculum instruction. By far the majority of scholastic chess programs fall within the after-school category. The coordination of four communities – educational, civic, business, and political communities – along with the chess community is critical for the development of opportunities to demonstrate the value of chess for instruction. 4:00-4:30 Rosalyn B. Katz, author of The New Jersey Chess Bill; Chess in the Classroom; Start Playing Chess; and, Play Better Chess, presents Make it Legal – Chess Legislation and Application. New Jersey’s Chess Bill was passed in 1993. Fifteen years later, we examine such questions as: What good did it do? How and why was it done? How did we overcome obstacles and constraints? Is similar activity a viable option for your state? How can we go even further? Those interested in expanding chess in their own states in a legalistic and practical way, will find an organized approach to success. Booklets about the process will be provided for those in attendance by the NJ State Chess Federation. Roz will offer individual consultation, at no additional charge, from August 6th through August 11th for promoters developing action plans for their own states.
In his talk for the Chess in the Schools and Communities Conference (CISCCON) , Professor Redman spoke on “Chess and Syntax: An Hypothesis.” In that paper, he noted that among the counterintuitive results coming from valid research in chess and education was the effect that chess had on increasing reading scores among young chess players. He offered as an hypothesis explaining this result that chess possesses a kind of syntax, and that learning this para-syntactic system indirectly but noticeably helps students. In this paper, Dr. Redman furthers his work on that question. Agreeing with his colleague Dr. Alexey Root that we must modify chess instruction to meet educational goals, he will explain some lesson plans that teach chess through emphasizing instruction that explains it in syntactic and rhetorical terms relevant to language arts instruction. Address for participant registration: For USCF workshop, send advance fees (made out to U.S. Chess Trust Chess in Education fund) to:Dr. Alexey Root, 500 Sunrise Cove, Denton, TX 76209, 940-484-2265, alexey.root@gmail.com
Anna Zatonskih tells Tom Braunlich what happened from her perspective at the termination of the US Championship: TB: What is your response about the controversy stirred up by Irina in her Open Letter published on Chess Life Online a week after the tournament which protested the playoffs? AZ: Close to the end of the game Irina knocked her rook over and never put it back. The USCF rules say: “If, during the course of a move, a player inadvertently knocks over one or more pieces, that player must not press the clock until the position has been reestablished.” I remember my very fast thoughts at this point: If I will press ‘pause’ and claim win or extra-time based on illegal actions… I will lose on time! The “Pause” button is a very small one on the front of the clock. So I only had 2 seconds and I didn’t have a time to do it! I know Irina didn’t do it on purpose but I had to move my rook as fast as I could. I didn’t see any other choice for me. Irina pointed out (in her Open Letter) that I started couple of my moves before she pressed her clock. I’ve always liked to watch on YouTube how strong chess players play blitz. I was amazed how they can make good decisions in just a fraction of a second. During those games players with a 2600-2800 ratings and even world champions occasionally moved before their opponents pressed the clock. This is a common thing in blitz games. Here is the full interview: http://main.uschess.org/content/view/8500/463/
I tried it and it works, get your own courtesy the innovative Chess Ratings Service, CXR at www.cxrchess.com. I selected on of many options to add to the tool-bar including a direct Wikipedia button in case I ever want to find anything at Chessville. [In-house joke]. The truth is Chessville is perhaps the most quoted source at Wiki, and there is so much stuff on this site – its hard to find, no?
But it seems the study is somewhat controversial with those who claim its all ‘just practice’. Soon we can make our own assessment.
According to the LIVE ratings, Carlsen is #2 with a rating of 2792. 1 Anand 2798,1 -4,902
The 3rd International Chess Tournament 'AEROSVIT-2008' takes place 7th-20th June 2008 in Foros, Crimea, Ukraine. The usual very strong cast of participants is present: Carlsen Magnus g NOR 2765, Svidler Peter g RUS 2746, Ivanchuk Vassily g UKR 2740, Shirov Alexei g ESP 2740, Karjakin Sergey g UKR 2732, Jakovenko Dmitry g RUS 2711, Alekseev Evgeny g RUS 2711, Eljanov Pavel g UKR 2687, Volokitin Andrei g UKR 2684, Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter g ROU 2684, Van Wely Loek g NED 2676, Onischuk Alexander g USA 2664. Average rating 2711.7 Elsewhere there is a note about Carlsen now being #2 in the world, but look at this lead against high quality competition!
One other interesting point so far is White v Black Scores. White has scored 14 wins, Black has 3 wins and there are 13 draws. Official site: www.ukrchess.org.ua/aerosvit2008
The annual tournament took place 22nd May - 2nd June in Saraevo. Format: double round robin.
Official site: www.skbosna.ba 6-7-2008 Chess News USA and Canada
North American Chess Association The US G30 and G60 championship events will take place June 28-29, 2008. For full information on the events, click here.
First result already in: Final Standings of US Game 10 Championship – perhaps the result is no surprise, captioned is Nakamura looking over Gata’s shoulder, and the game board displays a Taimanov Sicilian. 1 GM HIKARU
NAKAMURA 6.0 From a field of 99 players. Official website. Chess news from Susan Polgar.
Here is One of Many ‘Chess-Monkey’ Letters Dear Parrot, I idolize both Anna and Irina. I viewed them as co-champions when I heard the results. For me, Blitz is nonsense, and it didn't prove anything except that the organizers ought to re-think this approach. All of these women are terrific and I hope they will all play head-on against the men next time. I agree with Irina that using blitz games to decide an important championship event is, indeed, degrading. It is not fair to the contestants, and it is not fair to the fans. The clock-punching monkeys analogue is a good description of this circus stunt. Many would argue that Blitz is not even chess; the outcome could be decided better by a match of Hopscotch. I truly hope that players can come together and agree not to participate in any such monkey business.
Robyn Fielding
I think the penultimate move actually shows both players with hands on the clock at the same time - this means that Irina was about to punch the clock button after her move, but Anna had already moved and was pushing the button at the same time - as you note, the video framing makes it difficult to see if punching the button was before, after or simultaneous with Irina. The video quality is also insufficient to read the clock data. According to Irina Krush her last glance at the clock showed something like 6 seconds for herself and 2 seconds for Anna Zatonskih. Unless Anna actually moved on Irina's time it is not credible from the video footage to think that it was Irina who timed-out. What do you think?: here again is the URL. I know Tom B, the TD, and am on good terms with him, and also understand that he has made an initial response to this issue, stating that he will present further rulings – and of course he can only act from the rules. As far as I can see, there are several things wrong here - in fact by both players - an initial early offence is that Irina had not righted a rook before hitting the clock, but then there is 'hovering' over clock and board by both players, mostly Anna - and this at minimum obstructs the other players view of the board, and perhaps even opportunity to move your pieces or hit the clock without encountering the hand of the other player [again see for yourself, especially surrounding the situation when a piece is eliminated by Irina, and seems to fall over on Anna's side of the board - finally there is moving on opponents time, which obviously happened, and I must presume is permissible under Armageddon rules. It both Fide and Blitz rules are varied, and it is allowable to move on opponent's time, then that aspect of things is eliminated. Otherwise the rules state that releasing the piece constitutes 'a move' [in the sense that no other move may be made instead] they also say that a player should have opportunity to punch their clock. [I cited rule numbers previously, both for Official Blitz and Fide rulings.] In terms of 'when a game is over' at least the Fide rule says that it an offense is registered, then the result of game is still open. Unfortunately it does not say registered by whom - eg, if the TD sees an offence or cheating - is that sufficient reason to declare an inquiry? What, according to Armageddon rules is the role of the TD here? I suppose, as the video makes clear, a delay in making a complaint may also be justified - reviewing the video may only be possible after it is published, and perhaps the player had an intervening travel day as well? Much seems to depend on these technical factors: # if you can move on the other person's time? # what constitutes a reasonable objection time in this specific circumstance? # the role of the TD to intercede? I don't know answers to any of those questions yet. Until they are answered then very reasonable doubts exist about the fairness of the result. If there is determined to be no error, then let us never resolve any championship like this again!
Chess Media: Down Memory Lane Here is a completely self-indulgent piece of nostalgia from my old county team [somewhat after I left it, and also missing its previous international star player P. H. Clarke – replaced here on the top board by a ‘goodish’ young player who continued his chess career to attain a top-ten world ranking [currently #13 in world] and play in a World Championship Final. Played at Plymouth, Devon on 15th March 1985:
Even defaulting one game, the Cornish team score a massive result against the much more populated neighboring county, Devon. The emerging young power-house first appeared in English county chess in the 1981/82 season. Here he is on board 15.
I am not sure of the current ‘conversion’ rate of English grades to American ones, but Clarke was considered to be a very strong master, perhaps IM level, and represented England in many Olympiads. A result 12 November 1983 played at Exeter woke everyone up to the young player’s potential. Board 4 M. Adams 1 - 0 M. L. Newbury. This was a significant result since Mr. Newbury was rated about 185, and Mickey Adams was still 11 years of age! The top result showed something of the strength of the county’s chess teams at that time since Cornwall’s population is now about 500,000 whereas Devon’s is 1,000,000.
And [Laugh] I couldn’t resist this photograph, 1981/82 of the top club in Cornwall, Camborne – Redruth, there is a bearded Parrot in the back row! To his right is Ian George who wants to know if anyone can identify the lady and girl in the front row?
I see that as well as the Olympics proper, the International Mind Games World Thing is also to be held in Beijing and that it includes chess, which will be drug tested by WADA, even though no one can actually think of a single reason to drug-test for chess. Even Fide can’t say why – and USCF ‘urges’ Fide not to do it. But Fide does.
Have a rice day.
A press announcement from Chess Express Ratings proclaims:- CHESS TOOLBAR Chess Express Ratings, Inc. (“CXR”) is making available a free CHESS TOOLBAR for use with the Internet Explorer or Fire Fox browser. We believe that this is the only chess-oriented toolbar available anywhere. Features include:
CXR membership is NOT required to obtain the free toolbar. The download can be obtained by clicking “free chess toolbar” from the CXR home page.
Derek Montgomery (BEN FOSTER), Sergeant First Class, having just come back from serving in the war in Iraq, is battling his own post-war injuries, and his own emotional battles, as well- the love he left behind when he went off to fight has created a new life and a new love without him. But little does Derek know that the biggest challenges he will face are yet to come with his new assignment to 'Casualty Notification' duty- a new role means he must be the man that gives the news that no family wants to hear- that their loved one is not returning home from war.
And the fine line between the two begins to blur as soon as Derek meets Olivia (SAMANTHA MORTON) when he arrives at her house to notify her that she has lost her husband in the war. What begins as an instant interest turns into a deeper fascination, and eventually, an unexpected longing… and complication. As our main characters look to connect with each other and themselves after the profound experience of serving for their country, THE MESSENGER explores the bittersweet-ness of memory, loss, unlikely love, and the time it takes to heal.
THE MESSENGER features Oscar-nominated actor WOODY HARRELSON ('The People Vs. Larry Flynt', 'Indecent Proposal', 'Cheers') as Tony, BEN FOSTER as Derek ('3:10 to Yuma', 'X-Men: The Last Stand'), and SAMANTHA MORTON as Olivia ('In America', 'Minority Report'). This beautiful script is written by OREN MOVERMAN, (writer of 'I'm Not There' and 'Married Life'), who also makes his directorial debut. Executive Producer is MARK GORDON (Saving Private Ryan, The Patriot, Speed) who is producing along with Reason Pictures. Filming starts May 20th in New York City.
AEROSVIT-2008 The 3rd International Chess Tournament 'AEROSVIT-2008' takes place 7th-20th June 2008 in Foros, Crimea, Ukraine. The usual very strong cast of participants is present: Carlsen Magnus g NOR 2765, Svidler Peter g RUS 2746, Ivanchuk Vassily g UKR 2740, Shirov Alexei g ESP 2740, Karjakin Sergey g UKR 2732, Jakovenko Dmitry g RUS 2711, Alekseev Evgeny g RUS 2711, Eljanov Pavel g UKR 2687, Volokitin Andrei g UKR 2684, Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter g ROU 2684, Van Wely Loek g NED 2676, Onischuk Alexander g USA 2664. Average rating 2711.7 Time control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves then 30 minutes to the end of the game with addition of 30 sec. after each move starting from the first move. International arbiter Oleg Tovchyga (Ukraine). The Shahcom Company provides live coverage of games in the playing hall and via internet on the official site and our site utilizing electronic boards "Shahcom". GM Mikhail Golubev will annotate games live. The first playing day is 8th June. Official site.
The traditional Bosna-2008 tournament takes place 22nd May - 2nd June in Saraevo. Format: double round robin. Round 6 standings:
1 Morozevich - 5.0 Official site: www.skbosna.ba
This is from the website: http://chess.liverating.org/ A number of players including Hikaru Nakamura, Dominguez, Milov, Gashimov, Wang Yue, Movsesian, and Eljanov broke the 2700 barrier!
1 Anand 2798,1 -4,9 Chess news from Susan Polgar 5-31-2008 Chess News USA and Canada
Mil-Chess Now that Chessville has its own reporter
on Military Chess, it will be interesting to note the report on the
forthcoming tournament: For the first time, there will be a woman competing as one of the six players from the Air Force in the upcoming Interservice Chess Championships which will feature the top 6 military players from the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps in Tucson AZ (June 8-14) at Davis Monthan Air Force Base. Her name is Elena V. Dulger, from Hill AFB. This is the first time ever a woman has qualified from ANY service. During the qualifying rounds she achieved a 2000+ performance rating. Source: Kris D'Alessandro, US Army CFSC.
As an additional comparison I chose the third graphic profiling performance of Batchimeg Tuvshintugs, who quite evidently vastly favors White pieces over Black.
A fascinating and important letter from Irina Krush, published as an open letter about her play-off experience in the US Championships – here are significant extracts from it with only minor cuts – material well justified publishing at length in this column since it almost certainly too long for print publications such as Chess Life: Open Letter by Irina Krush We then proceeded to the final Armageddon game, that was to be played without increment. As the defending champion, I was told by the organizers that I had to choose how the time would be divided, and Anna would choose the color she wanted to play. I decided that White would be given 6 minutes, Black 4:30. Anna chose to be Black with draw odds. The relevant part of the game is not that I had the initiative throughout, and maintained a winning position until the end. The relevant part is, of course, the clock, since I was deemed to have "lost" the title of US Women's Champion due to my time running out while Anna had 1 second left. So, about the clock. Tom Braunlich, one of the organizers of the event, wrote in his report "At one point Anna had 2 seconds left compared to about 20 for Irina." This is a plainly incorrect appraisal of the time situation. Then Tom, in an attempt to explain how my 20 seconds ran out before Anna’s 2, wrote that "Anna’s draw odds were a big advantage here – she could blitz out moves hardly thinking (just moving the piece nearest to the clock), while Irina actually had to do something with her moves since she had to win." Unfortunately, this statement also has no basis in reality. Despite having a winning position, I didn't need to "do something with my moves"- all I needed to do was move quickly and the person with much less time would flag first. And, in fact, that's what I did. I moved instantly, as can be seen very clearly in the video you've posted of that game. I moved instantly, all the while having a significant time advantage until I got to 0 seconds while Anna had 1. How could this have happened? First of all, let’s establish what the true clock situation was. Tom was certainly off in his estimate, but the essence of what he said was absolutely true: I had a large lead in time, let's say 8 seconds to 3 at one point, or as Anna herself says in her interview, “I realized that I had two seconds. I was so shocked that I am going to lose right now. She has six (seconds). I played Rb8-e8 because it was so close to clock.” So let's take 6 seconds to 2. Watching the video, seeing me move instantly, how could 6 seconds lose against 2?
The sad thing is, no one stepped in as this was happening. No arbiter, no organizer, did anything to ensure that fair play was being observed in the final moments of the game. It was a free-for-all, where the person with the worse blitz habits “won.” People have pointed out that I should have registered my protest during the game, or immediately after. Unfortunately, while I was certainly in disbelief as I watched my opponent complete 3 moves with her last remaining second and saw myself lose on time despite starting out with a large time lead, during the game and immediately after, I had no clear grasp of how she had accomplished this. It happened too quickly for me to understand, but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen, and that it should be ignored. An injustice that wasn’t brought to light at the moment it occurred is no less of an injustice. Moreover, in our particular situation, it is not an injustice that is difficult to redress. As no one in our tournament was in any way affected by our playoff, no games need to be replayed, no scores adjusted, no ratings recalculated- all that needs to be changed is the way the ending of this story is told. It has been announced that Anna, by virtue of conserving 1 second on her clock, is the 2008 U.S. Women’s Champion. I fervently dispute Anna's claim to the sole possession of this title. I do not believe that a Champion emerges through one second they have managed to keep on their clock through illegal means. In my view, a winner of a tournament is someone who at some point, perhaps in some minuscule and barely perceptible way, lifts themselves above their competitors. I would be interested to hear any view that holds that Anna, through legal techniques, did anything to earn the title of Champion over me.
Knocking off a piece and storming away had no power or intention to take away anything my opponent had been working for during this tournament. When my opponent moved on my time, however innocuous that may appear to be, I believe that she was committing one of the worst transgressions possible: depriving me, through unfair means, of the just rewards of my labor. That is where the aggression lies in this situation, and not in my expression of frustration and anger over being wronged. I want this point to be clear: my reaction at the end of the final game had nothing to do with “losing” and everything to do with the way it happened and my perception of something unfair having occurred. I had hoped to resolve this matter in a friendly way, without being forced to voice my indignation in public. Four days ago, I wrote a letter to Anna explaining my position, urging her to study the video of our final game, and if she agreed with my conclusions about what happened, to write a few sentences for uschess.org where she’d communicate her non-objection to sharing the title with me. In any case, I told her, I looked forward to hearing what she had to say. Unfortunately, I have not heard back from her, and since there is no guarantee that I ever will, I decided to go ahead and make my views known to the chess community. What do I hope to accomplish through this letter? First and foremost, I want the truth to finally be relayed to the American chess public. As I’ve mentioned, the final tournament report that was offered to you was misleading, and I have yet to see a retraction of its false assertions. Secondly, I believe that to continue into the future, unthinkingly parroting that Anna Zatonskih is the 2008 U.S. Women’s Champion with no regard for how she “won” this title, is a travesty of truth and justice. I believe I have at least as much right to this title as she does, and I would like this right to be acknowledged. To this end, I am asking for responses to this letter from Frank Berry and Bill Goichberg, the President of the USCF. This event was held under their auspices, and I would like to know what they think of the results, given the evidence of what transpired. To conclude, I will state that sharing the title would be an acceptable outcome for me, but I would certainly welcome any initiative to decide the title in over-the-board games, with real time controls that don’t degrade the participants into clock punching monkeys. Sincerely,
The upcoming feature film MATE is psychological thriller of mystery and suspense in the vein of MEMENTO and THE USUAL SUSPECTS. About MATE : In a world of corruption and deceit, two former world chess champions cross paths and are unsuspectingly drawn into a deadly game of mystery and suspense. Michael Foster and Kyle Kessler are long time archrivals in the highly competitive game of sixty-four squares. Each has staked his claim to be the best grandmaster of his time. Each has arguably been deemed the greatest chess champion to ever play the game. Yet, beneath the surface of tactics and strategies, there is a truth that engulfs them beyond their calculated geniuses; a truth that suddenly turns their world upside down; a truth that unfolds and forces them on the run from a group of killers who have coerced them into a dangerous game of intrigue. In the world of sixty-four squares, where lies intersect the truth, nothing is what it seems. Inside the mind of a chess king, reality is merely an illusion.
Chess Media: Chessville too? I am currently sworn to secrecy for a week, but seems like Chessville will also be in the movies! I know this message is a tease, but this is my way of saying nothing about something which seems quite real. Don’t shoot the messenger!
The Shahcom Company will provide live coverage of games in the playing hall and via internet on the official site and our site utilizing electronic boards "Shahcom" You are able to watch the games of "3rd PIVDENNY BANK CHESS CUP" from our Archive section. Five rounds were played in the first day of Pivdenny Bank Chess Cup. 1-2. Drozdovskij, Yuri g UKR 2581 4 Official site: worldcup.pivdenny.com
Now Playing… The traditional Bosna-2008 tournament takes place 22nd May - 2nd June in Saraevo. Format: double round robin.
Round 3 standings Illustrated is the playing arena, with large electronic display boards in the background. GM Susan Polgar had this to say about his Friday May 29th performance: When he is on, he is virtually unstoppable. At this pace, Morozevich is approaching 2800! After 6 games, he has 4 wins and 2 draws against opponents around 2680 average for a performance in the mid 2900! GM Morozevich (2774) - GM Sokolov (2690) [C45] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4
4.Nxd4 Bb4+ 5.c3 Bc5 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 Ne7 8.0–0 0–0 9.Bg5 f6 10.Bh4 d6
11.Nd2 Ng6 12.Bg3 f5 13.exf5 Bxf5 14.Bxf5 Rxf5 15.a4 a6 16.Qb3+ Kh8 17.Qb7
Rb8 18.Qxa6 Rxb2 19.Ne4 h5 20.h4 Rb6 21.Qc4 Qg8 22.Qe2 Rb8 23.Ng5 Nf8
24.Qxh5+ Nh7 25.Rae1 Bb6 26.Re7 Rbf8 27.Kh2 R5f6 28.a5 White wins 1–0 5-24-2008 Chess News USA and Canada
Sooner or later the First part of the Parrot will have to be renamed, “Chess News of The Americas.” This week the Parrot made some delightful connections with chess organizers in the Caribbean, and Chessville intends to report the chess scene there more frequently. A big and innovative tournament is taking place in Jamaica this summer – and there is also an annual youth chess event in Barbados – both deserving greater publicity, which Chessville is pleased to supply. Of course, it would be good to have a regular reporter from Mexico too…
Official announcements now confirm the quality the event – which last time I heard any news was a category 15, with average ratings 2600+ USCF. This update now exceeds 2600 FIDE. As of this moment, the 2008 SPICE Cup (which will take place at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas from September 19-28, 2008) is a FIDE Category 15 event with an average rating of 2603 FIDE and 2675 USCF. We will announce the next group of players shortly. We did not anticipate the amount of grandmasters requesting for invitations. With only three spots remaining, there are nearly 20 requests by GMs with ratings from 2570 to 2700. One of our goals is to be able to add a group B by next year. Here are the confirmed players so far:
USA - GM Onischuk, Alexander 2728 USCF / 2663 FIDE
Average USCF rating so far: 2675 Source: Susan Polgar
Anyway – like Ivanchuk’s recent performance, it is unsual to rip off 5 wins against your peers, but Anna [captioned] just went 6! Here is her nice win with black in a French.
Abrahamyan, T (2239) - Zatonskih, A (2458) [C02]
With one round to go these were the leader standings: Men's leaders:
1
Shulman, Yury GM 2664 USA 6.5
1
Krush, Irina IM 2515 USA 7.0 Endgame: Final Results In the men’s, GM Yury Shulman handily won the 2008 Frank K. Berry U.S. Championship with a score of 7 from 9 games and an undefeated 7-2 score, a half-point ahead of GM Alexander Onischuk. The drama in the women’s competition was that Irina Krush drew her last round game which went 100 moves, but Anna Zatonskih won her game, giving both players 7.5 points to share first place. Then the women’s title was resolved the same day. It is interesting to read the following comments by GM Susan Polgar who was also awarding the ‘best fighting game’ award sponsored by goddess chess:
There is a video of the action here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=fNQjXHjRkNQ Nothing at all against Anna who won the title, but personally I thought winning this way was disgusting; was no test of skill between the two players, especially after Irina had already played so long that day. I think the viewer will attest for themselves that Irina’s attitude in the video clip is not just about losing, but perhaps something to do with having to play high speed ‘smack the clock’ skittles after already performing to what must be a level of exhaustion. http://monroi.com/the-2008-fkb-us-chess-championship-results.html
"They were really amazed at how beautiful it was here," said David Utara, a fourth-grade teacher and the chess coach at Mary E. Rodman Elementary School. "They're learning that if you work really hard you can come to a place like this. They normally don't see much of the city - they rarely get off their block." Bearing in mind that students this young sometimes need to be reminded about pesky things like decorum, the tournament's master of ceremonies, Steve Alpern, who directs the city schools' chess program, urged them before the first 35-minute round to display good sportsmanship, shake hands with opponents, and behave civilly in both victory and defeat. (Alpern said later that his position is being eliminated under a proposed restructuring of the school system's finances.) Just before play began, Alpern said, "I want everybody to take a real big breath." The cavernous room hushed and, after a moment, the only sound heard was the soft clicking of chess pieces knocking each other off. Bernard Thomas, a 10-year-old player from Pimlico Elementary/Middle School whose opponent unassailably protected his knight, was an early victim. "He beat me," Bernard said in a whisper, apparently a bit stunned at the speed of his fall. His 12-year-old sister, Desire Thomas, did better. She finished off her adversary with a series of moves that prevented his king's escape from the back rank with deft positioning of two rooks. "She's phenomenal," said Desire's coach, Lee Rutledge, who normally teaches sixth-grade English at Pimlico. The middle school team, he said, won the Maryland girls' championship this year and last with Desire's help, and last year she was the individual winner in that tournament's novice division. "The kids who play chess get a lot of their identity from being good at something that's hard," Rutledge said. "It gives them a lot of confidence with other things they take on in the classroom." Reporting Source: Nick Madigan of the Baltimore Sun
|
A majority of USCF board members are voting to terminate USCF’s magazine Chess Life as part of the subscription. This distinctly odd decision is led by board members Goichberg, Bauer and Hough, with the intent to make purchase of the magazine voluntary. Since Chess Life is perhaps not the most valued chess publication in the United States, and each month for example, contains less chess than this column contains every two weeks – never-mind all Chessville’s columnists. In terms of quality of reporting Chessville is certainly not put in the shade by the anodyne 6 week old news vehicle which is Chess Life. What on earth will Chess Life be like if circulation is reduced even more, and’ as it has been put, ‘market force’s are allowed to work? I would say they already are! Chessville seems to have twice as many monthly readers as USCF has adult members.
Yet another report from the Chess Journalists of America [the CJA] mentions the matter of peculiarities in its election system, specifically that of the distribution of blank ballots, and otherwise even CJA members on USCF’s board never receiving any ballots. While editorially we have not yet received information from all sides of the issue in order to re-present it to you the chess public, [pending] I personally have read enough to resist signing up with the CJA for another 5 years.
Final Scores and Crosstable
Official site: www.mtelmasters.com
Here is the list of players:
1. Morozevich Alexander Russia 2774 Chess news from Susan Polgar
Havana, May 7 (Prensa Latina) The drawing of lots by elite chess players will focus the opening ceremony of the 43rd Capablanca Memorial International Chess Tournament, scheduled for Wednesday evening at the Neptuno-Triton hotel resort in Havana. With a 3-way tie for first going into the last round. GM Dominguez was the only one among the 3 to score a decisive victory to win clear first. Final round results:
Dominguez Perez, Lenier - Arencibia
Rodriguez, Walter 1-0 Final standings:
1. Dominguez Perez, Lenier g CUB 2695
6 Official website: www.inder.cu/capablanca
Kamsky versus… well, on Tuesday this week there was still no sign of the promised money, and no one, let alone Fide, was making any announcements. On Thursday which is 7 days past the latest deadline, there were still no announcements, confirmations, from anyone at all! Somewhere out there $935,000 was supposed to have been transferred. Wouldn’t you think professional chess players deserve professional business management? But that’s enough from me otherwise I will begin to sound like Topalov’s manager, Mr. Danilov – who could be said to be more than a tad skeptical of Fide’s (in)activities. 5-17-2008 Chess News USA and Canada
US Championship Leaders after 4 rounds:
1 Kudrin, Sergey GM 2610 USA 3.5 Women's leaders:
1-2 Zatonskih, Anna IM 2490 USA 4.0
I was going to write a sidebar this week on the Colle, Torre and Stonewall opening systems, then saw this recent illustrative game against the Stonewall.
2008 Elementary Nationals, Pittsburgh 1.d4 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.Bd3 g6 4.Nd2 Bg7 5.f4 O-O 6.Ngf3 Nbd7 7.O-O c5 8.c3 b6 9.b3 Bb7 10.Qc2 Rc8 11.Bb2 Qc7 12.Ne5 Nxe5 13.fxe5 Nd7 14.Rac1 Qc6 15.Nf3 f6 16.exf6 exf6 17.Nd2 f5 18.Nf3 c4 19.bxc4 dxc4 20.Be2 Rfe8 Okay! Black has clearly seized the initiative. The game ended 0-1 at move 46. Now, this was a well-contested game by both sides, and hardly illustrates all the possibilities of the Stonewall, but certainly shows how to compete with it. In subsequent columns I think it is best to proceed with the more modest Colle, which observes all opening principles of developing each piece with only one move, and to keep Tarrasch happy, develop all the pieces too! It risks little while negotiating the opening and retains mid-game prospects. Tough luck with this one Mr. Holecek, many players would be puzzled to say specifically where you went wrong. Tom’s mum plays the Colle-Zukertort, and I suppose is familiar with its family of openings, and her family with what to do against it. And if world champions can do it…
One good thing to report is that a Chessville columnist on behalf of www.goddess.chess has created a prize for best fighting chess in the competition, for the second year running. The prize was boosted this year by an anonymous contribution ~ thank you, to whoever that was <grin> and I further understand that this year’s prize will be judged by Grandmaster Susan Polgar.
This is an actually story that happened to me in Pittsburgh during the National Elementary Championship. The tournament was held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. I could not book a room at the closest hotel to the playing site. So I had to stay at a nearby hotel along with many other chess parents. Tommy and I usually walk about 8 - 10 minutes each way to go to and from the hotel and the Convention Center. We decided to take the taxi from the Convention Center back to our hotel on night because Tommy was not feeling well and I wanted him to get extra rest. When we got on the cab, our driver Nick recognized who I am. He is a chess player and loves the game. He asked if I am in Pittsburgh to do a speaking engagement or simul. I told him that I was only there as a Chess Mom. He also asked how my sisters are doing.
GM Bu Xiangzhi (2708) - GM Ivanchuk
(2740) 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0–0 e6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 d6 9.Rd1 a6 10.b3 Nbd7 11.e4 Qc8 12.Bb2 0–0 13.Qe3 Re8 14.Rac1 Qc7 15.h3 Rac8 16.Nh2 Qb8 17.Ng4 Ba8 18.Nxf6+ Bxf6 19.Na4 Be7 20.e5 Bxg2 21.exd6 Bxd6 22.Kxg2 Nc5 23.Nc3 Be5 24.b4 Nb7 25.Qxb6 Rxc4 26.Na4 Rxc1 27.Rxc1 Bxb2 28.Nxb2 Qa8 29.Qc6 Nd6 30.Qxa8 Rxa8 31.Rc6 Nf5 32.Rc7 h5 33.Nd3 h4 34.g4 Nd4 35.a4 f6 36.Nc5 e5 37.a5 Ne2 38.Ne6 Nf4+ 39.Nxf4 exf4 40.Rc6 Kf7 41.g5 Kg6 42.gxf6 gxf6 43.Kf3 Kg5 44.Rc5+ f5 45.Rc6 Rb8 46.Rb6 Ra8 47.Ke2 Re8+ 48.Kd3 Re4 49.Kc3 Re2 50.Rxa6 Rxf2 51.Rd6 f3 52.Rd1 Kf4 53.Kb3 Re2 54.a6 Re3+ 55.Kc4 f2 56.Rf1 Kg3 57.b5 Ra3 58.Kb4 Ra2 59.Kb3 Ra5 60.Kb4 Ra2 61.Kb3 Ra5 Game drawn ½–½
Round 7 standings This week’s drama is that Ivanchuk has slowed down, permitting draws after 5 straight wins, but Topalov took over the charge to become a very clear challenger in second place. I remember two years ago in Mexico Toppy was at the bottom of the chart, then switching to Linares, Spain, simply slaughtered everyone, to come out on top. Official site
Coming up: The 3rd International Chess Tournament 'AEROSVIT-2008' will take place 7th-20th June 2008 in Foros, Crimea, Ukraine. Participants: Carlsen Magnus g NOR 2765, Svidler Peter g RUS 2746, Ivanchuk Vassily g UKR 2740, Shirov Alexei g ESP 2740, Karjakin Sergey g UKR 2732, Jakovenko Dmitry g RUS 2711, Alekseev Evgeny g RUS 2711, Eljanov Pavel g UKR 2687, Volokitin Andrei g UKR 2684, Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter g ROU 2684, Van Wely Loek g NED 2676, Onischuk Alexander g USA 2664. Average rating 2711.7 Time control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves then 30 minutes to the end of the game with addition of 30 sec. after each move starting from the first move. The rest day - Saturday, June 14th. International arbiter Oleg Tovchyga (Ukraine).
A Press Release from GM Mikhail Golubev states
Karpov to face Korchnoi at the 4th
Pivdenny Bank Chess Cup
The participants are: The games between the veterans Karpov and Korchnoi will be of special interest. In 1978 they played the first of their world championship matches in Baguio, Philippines.
The winners of the three previous Pivdenny Bank Chess Cups were: The official site will be at: http://worldcup.pivdenny.com The main organiser of the tournament is Bank Pivdenny (http://en.bank.com.ua), which is the largest bank in the southern part of Ukraine. Pivdenny also organised the 2007 and 2008 ACP World Rapid Chess Cups, which were won by Peter Leko (Hungary) and Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), respectively. Source: Press Center of the 4th Pivdenny Bank Chess Cup. 5-10-2008 Chess News USA and Canada
And … the Caribbean “Dear Parrot”
We, the Eight Rivers Chess Club located in Ocho Rios, Jamaica W.I. are
trying to develop the game of chess on the Island and we would appreciate
your support. We are planning an open chess tournament in Jamaica next
August 2nd & 3rd. I was wondering if you or any of your club members
would
We are also planning an amateur Tournament to run simultaneously. We are intending to give cash and other prizes to the winners, but no details are available on that yet! The venue is located at Rooms On The Beach, a good hotel in Ocho Rios on the North Coast of the Island. I know it is early, but I want to make as many chess players as possible aware, so that they can plan their visit.
If you are interested please call me at 1 876 974 7825 or 1 876 877 9288;
I'll give you more
1 GM Alexander SHABALOV 2697 Current Champion US Women's Championship:
1 IM Irina KRUSH 2515 Current Champion (2007 SPICE Cup) Information courtesy Tom Braunlich for CLO.
A press release for Chess Express Ratings (www.cxrchess.com), Forest Hills, NY, May 7th, also known as “CXR”, announced May 7th the creation of the "Tournament Significance Index” (TSI). Up until now, when we heard of someone’s tournament victory, we had no way to compare the significance of the achievement with that of a rival’s success someplace else. Except for the very well known events, we may not even have a correct idea of the strength of either the event or its winner. Chess Express Ratings, best known for bringing literally dozens of performance metrics to the sport of Chess, has developed a mathematical formula which - without bias - calculates a “Section Significance Index” (SSI) for each section of a tournament. The formula takes into account time control, number of rounds, effective number of players participating, and the game-weighted average rating of the contestants. The minimum requirements for a section to qualify for an SSI are:
~ at least 4 players Instead of reporting more of this service, I though, “wait a minute! I’m a chess reporter, I’ll call them up and ask some questions!” And that is how it came about that the Parrot interviewed Russ Mollot, which you can read near the bottom of this column.
Chess News WORLDWIDE:
Coming Up The 4th PIVDENNY BANK CHESS CUP will take place in Odessa, Ukraine from 30 May - 2 June 2008. The prize fund is USD 35,000. As usual, some of the world's most famous chess players will compete in this rapid chess tournament. So far, Anatoly Karpov (Russia), Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine) and Boris Gelfand (Israel) have all confirmed their participation. This year, the number of contestants will be reduced from 10 to 8, and the time control will be somewhat shortened, but in exchange, the grandmasters will play not one but two games against each other. The winners of the three previous tournaments were: 2005 GM Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine), 2006 GM Joel Lautier (France), 2007 GM Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine).
Also coming up Capablanca Chess Tournament
Havana, May 7 (Prensa Latina) The drawing of lots by elite
chess players will focus the opening ceremony of the 43rd Capablanca
Memorial International Chess Tournament, scheduled for Wednesday evening at
the Neptuno-Triton hotel resort in Havana. [caption] According to a report from the Cuban News Agency -AIN-, the order of the matches for the nine sessions of the competition will be defined after each of the ten Grand Masters (GM) randomly pick numbers that may mark their fate. The elite group will be granted the 15th category of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) for having an average ELO of 2,602 points. Heading the group is Cuba’s Leinier Dominguez (2,695), who is in the 26th position in world ranking.
Another favorite is Holland’s Sergei Tiviakov (2,634), 84th in the world, and holder of the European title. He is one of the four foreign players among the group of elite competitors. The others are Farruk Amonatov (2,625), from Tajikistan, Poland’s Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2,625) and German Igor Khenki (2,608).
With ELOs below 2,600 are locals Holden Hernandez (2,568), national champion Yuniesky Quesada (2,567), Jesus Nogueiras (2,559) and Walter Arencibia (2,534). GM Neuris Delgado (2,530), and International Master (IM) Fidel Corrales (2,502), who is waiting for FIDE's confirmation to be named GM, will take part in the event. Source: www.plenglish.com
Dear Parrot: ENCI Limburg Open chess tournament which is held this weekend in Maastricht (NL). With almost 400 players the ENCI Limburg Open is one of the biggest chess tournaments in Europe. With more than 25 titleholders the ENCI Limburg Open is a very attractive tournament which should definitely be covered on your website. For questions you can contact the organisation by mail at info@limburgopen.nl.
Final
standings: Radjabov and Cheparinov immediately flew to Sofia, for the 2008 Mtel Masters on Thursday. The Parrot notes that of the top 3 players Gashimov scored 3 times, all with White. Wang Yue twice with White and once with Black, and Carlsen twice with White and twice with Black. Interestingly, at the bottom of the chart Inarkiev scored twice. 5-3-2008
What I would like to ask is that if you are a (b) type person, our editorial group at Chessville wants to talk with you about your own column, your own reporting on chess in the sub-continent. Interested? Write to this Parrot! Chess News USA and Canada
Susan Polgar’s Blog reported earlier this week: "This is Mr. Kelly Atkins, one of the editors and forum host at chessville.com. He will be visiting SPICE and Texas Tech today to do an exclusive behind the scene college chess report. Many people hear about the incredible success of SPICE in a very short period of time. But how do we do it? After this visit, Kelly will report the behind the scene secret of success of SPICE and its plans in the future."
Look for Kelly’s special report on SPICE: [caption Jerry Perez, Dr. Hal Karlsson (one of the discoverers of water on Mars), GM Susan Polgar, Kelly Atkins.] Photographer unknown.
US Senior Open – RESULT Stop-press: Susan Polgar reports; “Going into the final round, IM Kaufman and Foygel were both 4-0. IM Bradford and GM Gurevich were both 3.5 points. IM Kaufman defeated Foygel to win clear first and earn a spot in the Frank K. Berry US Championship in Oklahoma.” White:
Kaufman, Lawrence 2383 1.d4 d6 2.e4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Be3 a6 5.f4 b5 6.Bd3 Nd7 7.e5 Bb7 8.Nf3 c5 9.Be4 Qb8 10.dxc5 Bxe4 11.Nxe4 Qb7 12.Nc3 dxc5 13.Qd5 Qxd5 14.Nxd5 Rc8 15.O-O-O f6 16.Rhe1 fxe5 17.fxe5 Nxe5 18.Nxe5 Bxe5 19.Bh6 Nxh6 20.Rxe5 Ng8 21.Rde1 Kf7 22.Nxe7 Rc7 23.Nd5 Rd7 24.Nf4 Nf6 25.Rxc5 Rhd8 26.Nd3 Kg7 27.Rc6 a5 28.Nc5 1-0
Cllr John Burton, cabinet member for schools, said: "We are delighted to be involved in this scheme which will bring enjoyment and many educational advantages to pupils across Warwickshire. Under the scheme, each school in the county is entitled to 10 chess sets - made by a plastics firm from raw material donated by chemical companies. As part of the initiative, the council's extended services team is to launch chess as one of its children's university modules. The junior university scheme runs modules including story telling, break-dancing and Mandarin. After distributing the chess sets, extended services is aiming to organise sessions with accredited chess coaches to help young people learn and improve at the game.
After 10 minutes at the site I decided I couldn’t tell who was who from the pictures, so do not provide any, or any other information that is for sure, rather than a guess. Maybe you can do better, see the Official site. A Russian site reports leader scores:
Men:
Women - Final leading standings:
Big Deal in Baku When Sicilians go bad… GM Adams
(2729) - GM Svidler (2746) [B92]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.0–0 0–0 9.Be3 Be6 10.Qd2 Nbd7 11.a4 Qc7
12.Rfd1 Rac8 13.a5 Rfe8 14.h3 h6 15.Qe1 Qb8 16.Bf3 Rc4 17.Nd2 Rc6 18.Nf1
Rec8 19.Bd2 b6 20.Ne3 bxa5 21.Ncd5 Bxd5 22.exd5 Rc5 23.Bxa5 e4 24.Be2 Qxb2
25.Bxa6 Rb8 26.c3 Rxa5 27.Rxa5 Qb6 28.Rda1 Nc5 29.Bf1 Qd8 30.Rb5 Rc8 31.Ra7
Nfd7 32.Nf5 Bf8 33.Qe3 Qf6 34.Ng3 Qe5 35.Nxe4 Nxe4 36.Rxd7 Rxc3 37.Qe2 Qd4
38.Rd8 Rc1 39.Kh2 White wins 1–0 GM
Radjabov (2751) - GM Kamsky (2726) [B41]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6
5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Qc7 7.a3 b6 8.Be3 Bb7 9.f3 d6 10.Rc1 Nbd7 11.Be2 Be7 12.0–0
0–0 13.b4 Rac8 14.Nb3 Qb8 15.Kh1 Rfe8 16.Na4 Bd8 17.Bg1 h5 18.Bf2 Bc7 19.Nd4
Ne5 20.c5 dxc5 21.bxc5 b5 22.c6 Nxc6 23.Nxc6 Bxc6 24.Rxc6 bxa4 25.Bg1 Be5
26.Qxa4 Rxc6 27.Qxc6 Rc8 28.Qxa6 Rc2 29.Bd3 Rd2 30.Rc1 Qb2 31.Qc8+ Kh7
32.Rc2 Rxc2 33.Qxc2 Qxa3 34.f4 Bxf4 35.e5+ g6 36.exf6 Qd6 37.Qc5 Qxc5
38.Bxc5 Be5 39.Be7 h4 40.Bc4 g5 41.Bxe6 Kg6 42.Bc8 Bxf6 43.Bxf6 Kxf6 44.g4
hxg3 White wins 1–0
Round 10 standings: I have been trying to access the official site baku2008.fide.com all week, and you can too! But it didn’t work for me. 4-26-2008 Chess News USA and Canada
Big Focus on Chess USA
At just fourteen, she won her first U.S. Women's title with the convincing score of 8.5/9. At seventeen, she tied for first place with GM Igor Novikov in the NYC Mayor's Cup and earned her first grandmaster norm. Irina is also active in the chess community as a writer, photographer, teacher, and manager of the U.S. Chess League team, the New York Knights.
From 2002 through 2006, he attended the University of California at Berkeley, graduating with degrees in Statistics and Political Economy, and then went on to work at Cornerstone Research in Menlo Park, California. While working he has gotten back to playing chess and won his third and final GM norm in July 2007. Later that year, FIDE granted him the GM title conditional on his FIDE rating crossing 2500.
April 19 - April 25, 2008. All games held at the Touch Move Chess Center at 5639 N. Ashland Ave Chicago, IL 60660. The score with 3 rounds to go: 1st - 2nd
(5.0/6.0) IM Norm - 6.5/9; WGM Norm - 6/9; WIM norm - 4/9 For events specifics including round times visit - http://www.nachess.org/fide
IM David Vigorito claims online U.S. Championship Qualifying Spot World Chess Live - April 20, 2008 - The United States Chess Federation and World Chess Live are pleased to announce that, after a close competition, IM David Vigorito, representing Massachusetts, has won the fourth U.S. State Champion of Champions event and will now go forward to the 2008 Frank K. Berry U.S. Chess Championship, 13-21 May, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Fifty state champions from Alaska through California to Hawaii, and from Maine through to New York and Florida battled their way through the Eastern and Western Conferences held on WCL (the new sister-site of the Internet Chess Club), with the top four contesting the Finals. The four who battled their way through the Blitz Conference qualifiers to the Finals Weekend were: Western Conference: IM Vinay Bhat (Northern California) and IM Enrico Sevillano (Southern California). Eastern Conference: IM David Vigorito (Massachusetts) and IM-elect Ray Robson (Florida).
“It’s [the U.S. State Champion of Champions event] tough and demanding, yet at the same time innovative by being played online,” commented David Vigorito after winning the title. “It was nice to be able to go to Tulsa having won through -- and doubly so by representing my home-state of Massachusetts.” This unique event demonstrates that online chess and over-the-board chess can indeed be a perfect mix – even for one of the world’s most famous national championships. First, each player in the tournament had to prove themselves OTB by winning (or scoring highly in) their relevant state championship to be invited, then they had to play online on WCL (both in an all-play-all Blitz for the conference qualifiers, and then the G\60 knockout finals, with independent proctors officiating at each venue to ensure fairness throughout), with the winner going forward to the U.S. Chess Championship. Caption: Winner IM David Vigorito For further
information:
At stake in the Under 18 section is a Scholarship to the University of Texas at Dallas, valued at over $65,000 for an out-of-state student. KCF President Michael Khodarkovsky is happy that this year the tournament will include: "195 registered players and the strongest ever field of competitors so far."
Sections: Under 8,
11, 15, 19 Over $100,000 in scholarships and cool chess prizes are available. Details: http://www.vegaschessfestival.com/polgar/
“Nowadays I rarely play professional chess. Most of my time is dedicated to giving chess lectures, Simultaneous exhibitions, private lessons and training sessions.” See http://chesslessons.wordpress.com:80/.
Lilja Gretarsdottir - President of the Iceland Chess Federation spoke with journalists on her chess playing career and also the state of chess in Iceland.
Read the whole thing here. Chess News WORLDWIDE:
Top men participants: Movsesian Sergei 2695 SVK, Vallejo Pons Francisco 2684 ESP, Volokitin Andrei 2684 UKR, Almasi Zoltan 2674 HUN, Nikolic Predrag 2674 BIH, Akopian Vladimir 2673 ARM, Fedorchuk Sergey 2671 UKR, Motylev Alexander 2666 RUS, Bologan Viorel 2665 MDA, Georgiev Kiril 2665 BUL, Timofeev Artyom 2664 RUS, Efimenko Zahar 2660 UKR, Roiz Michael 2659 ISR, Tomashevsky Evgeny 2658 RUS, Fressinet Laurent 2656 FRA, Predojevic Borki 2651 BIH, Areshchenko Alexander 2650 UKR, Moiseenko Alexander 2650 UKR, Ivanisevic Ivan 2649 SRB, Sakaev Konstantin 2649 RUS
Top women participants: GM Cramling Pia 2539 SWE, GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2538 BUL, IM Socko Monika 2505 POL, IM Muzychuk Anna 2486 SLO, GM Lahno Kateryna 2479 UKR, IM Danielian Elina 2479 ARM, GM Hoang Thanh Trang 2477 HUN, IM Ushenina Anna 2474 UKR, WGM Pogonina Natalija 2470 RUS, IM Cmilyte Viktorija 2466 LTU, IM Javakhishvili Lela 2466 GEO, GM Peng Zhaoqin 2455 NED, IM Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan 2452 SCO, WGM Zhukova Natalia 2450 UKR, IM Paehtz Elisabeth 2449 GER. IM Dzagnidze Nana 2443 GEO, IM Skripchenko Almira 2443 FRA, IM Ovod Evgenija 2437 RUS.
Official site: http://www.eicc2008.com
Standings after 3 rounds: 1 Grischuk 2716
RUS 2.5
Round 4
results: GM Mamedyarov (2752) - GM
Carlsen (2765) [E17] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4
e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 [Regular Parrot readers will recognize
features of the English Defence and the Accelerated Queen’s Indian featured
earlier this year. A game Bilek-Schussler, Helsink 1978 went 1.c4 b6,
2. d4 Bb7, 3. Nf3 e6, 4.g3 Bxf3 – in other high level games this year Black
has chosen Ba6]. Why Resign? See the ‘Final Word’ at the bottom of the Page.
Polgar defeats GM Uhlmann in demonstration games a couple of times at castle, before 1,200 guests. Susan Polgar in her role of Ambassador of the Chess presented to the Chess Olympiad at Dresden, 2008, where 75 nations are registered to take part. [The following is from the German Press…] The celebrated Hungarian-American chess genius Susan Polgar celebrated her birthday on April 19th, 2008 at the Dresden Residence Castle. The former chess world champion was, on her great day, the star visitor of this year’s Press Gala. The glamorous meeting of journalists, politicians and business representatives this year will be themed “Rochade in black and white” – on the occasion of the Chess Olympiad Dresden 2008 from 12 to 25 November. Along with Susan Polgar, the grand masters Wolfgang Uhlmann and Lothar Schmid, Winfried Lehmann, president of the Organizing Committee, Chairman Dr. Dirk Jordan, director Jörn Verleger as well as the 26-year-old artist and ambassador of the Chess Olympiad Dresden 2008, Vaile, followed the invitation of the host and celebrated together with over 1,200 ball guests until early morning. During the blitz match with commentary upon for visitors by Dr. Dirk Jordan, Susan Polgar twice defeated her ambassador colleague, the Dresden chess legend Wolfgang Uhlmann, in an uphill struggle. He took it calmly. For him, this weekend’s sportive highlight is the finale of the 2nd German Chess League. The male players of the USV TU Dresden are right before their ascension into the 1st league. www.dresden2008.de or www.dresden2008.com
The 4th
PIVDENNY BANK CHESS CUP will take place in Odessa, Ukraine from 30 May -
2 June 2008. The prize fund is USD 35,000. As usual, some of the
world's most famous chess players will compete in this rapid chess
tournament. So far, Anatoly Karpov (Russia), Ruslan Ponomariov
(Ukraine) and Boris Gelfand (Israel) have all confirmed their participation. This year, the number of contestants will be reduced from 10 to 8, and the time control will be somewhat shortened, but in exchange, the grandmasters will play not one but two games against each other. The winners of the
three previous tournaments were: The main organiser of the tournament is Bank Pivdenny (en.bank.com.ua), which is the largest bank in the southern part of Ukraine. Pivdenny also organised the 2007 and 2008 ACP World Rapid Chess Cups, which were won by Peter Leko (Hungary) and Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), respectively. The 4th Pivdenny Bank Chess Cup will be covered at the Pivdenny chess site, worldcup.pivdenny.com. 4-19-2008
10th North American FIDE Invitational - Chicago April 19 - April 25, 2008. All games held at the Touch Move Chess Center at 5639 N. Ashland Ave Chicago, IL 60660.
IM Norm - 6.5/9; WGM Norm - 6/9; WIM norm - 4/9. For event specifics including round times visit - http://www.nachess.org/fide.
Even so, let us not concentrate on yet another chess cheater on his cell-phone when the 14-year old youngest Philippine GM scores a great tournament championship victory in Dubai. Now rated 2540, but with a massive 2700 level performance rating, the young player scored 7 points to clinch the win and also $4500. Good show! Mr. So.
Not everything in the April Fool’s joke was false! In fact other parts of the Fool’s Day are also true – and the Parrot also wants to point out that the origin of the joke was from Susan herself. Susan wrote, “The festivities in Dresden this weekend will be amazing. There will be tons of mainstream media, celebrities, important business people, politicians, etc. I was told that there will only be two representatives from the chess community, grandmaster Wolfgang Uhlmann and myself. I just gave a long interview to the biggest newspaper in Dresden. They will be doing a 4-page chess special every single day during the Olympiad. All the announcement will be officially made by this weekend. I will keep you posted.” Ural win Russian Team Championship – Result It must feel good to have a team like this, and they certainly performed: Board 1: Radjabov, Board 2: Shirov, Board 3: Kamsky, Board 4: Grischuk, Board 5: Malakhov, Board 6: Akopian
4-12-2008
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg)
Simul
record attempt
John
Henderson has been kind to send us these reports: Second seed GM
Hikaru Nakamura (Smallville) of the USA reasserted his authority as one of
the top dogs on ICC on Sunday by winning the 
Last years attendance by GM Maurice Ashley certainly was a big step forward
and encouraged this years attempt:
In
spite of the nice leading edge when first place was almost guaranteed,
Magnus Carlsen played for a win against Ukrainian Andrei Volokitin who owes
him for a catastrophic 0-4 score in their earlier encounters. The long and
tense battle finished in a draw after 80 moves, and after Eljanov drew with
Karjakin, the first place at the 2008 Aerosvit Foros was secured for Carlsen.
Vassily Ivanchuk once again "shocked" his opponent with an early Qf6, and
this time it paid off as he forced Loek Van Wely to resignation practically
right after the opening.
Grandmaster,
Armenian chess champion Asrian dies at 28
Paired
against LCDR Choate (USCF 2050), Elena Dulger (USCF 1828) humbled the Navy’s
top player in the first round. She then vanquished 1LT Macaspac (USCF 1986)
in the second round, this year’s Army champion and top seed. After two
rounds, the leaders with perfect scores are: Bucholtz (Air Force), Carrelli
(Marines), Dulger (Air Force), and Baniel (Army).
1:30-2:00
Dr. Alexey Root, [captioned] author of Science, Math, Checkmate: 32 Chess
Activities for Inquiry and Problem Solving, presents a classroom activity.
4:30-5:00
Dr. Tim Redman, [2nd caption] editor of Chess and Education:
Selected Essays from the Koltanowski Conference, presents Chess and Syntax:
Some practical applications for teachers.
Chessville
has agreed to publish significant results from a chess study by Dr. Robert
Howard of the University of New South Wales, a psychologist working in
education. The Parrot wrote back and forth with him this week:
2
Carlsen 2792,2 +27,2
Round
5 standings 
Final
standings
Last
weekend Chessville gave its permission to allow its home-page to appear in a
forthcoming movie – as well as Convekta from Moscow, to allow their chess
playing engine to appear in…'THE MESSENGER' COMES TO NYC THIS SPRING. THE
MESSENGER is a moving story that follows the lives of those who are most
personally affected by wars- the soldiers who fight in them, and the
families who lose those they love to them.
And
even more difficult for Derek is the order that he must do the work
alongside Captain Tony Stone (WOODY HARRELSON)- his superior with whom he
immediately clashes. Tony has been around the block, is more experienced,
and has an opinion on how Derek should do everything - inside and outside
military life.
This
is the story of hope, redemption, and life after war- of the life that comes
after death.
Nakamura
joins 2700 Club!
Chess
Media: Big new Chess Movie
Morozevich
Alexander RUS 2774, Movsesian Sergei SVK 2695, Dominguez Perez Leinier 2695
CUB, Sokolov Ivan 2690 NED, Timofeev Artyom 2664 RUS, Predojevic Borki 2651
BIH.
Frank
K Berry US Chess Championship
1.e4
e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Be2 Rc8 7.a3 c4 8.0-0 Na5 9.Nbd2 Bc6
10.g3 Qd7 11.Nh4 Ba4 12.Qe1 Ne7 13.f4 h5 14.h3 Kd8 15.g4 hxg4 16.hxg4 Kc7
17.Qg3 Kb8 18.Ndf3 Ka8 19.Be3 Bc2 20.Rac1 Bh7 21.Ng5 Bg8 22.f5 exf5 23.gxf5
f6 24.e6 Qe8 25.Nh3 Bh7 26.Bg4 Rd8 27.Nf4 g5 28.fxg6 Bxg6 29.Rce1 Be4
30.Nfg2 Bg7 31.Bf3 Bxf3 32.Rxf3 Rg8 33.Bf4 Nac6 34.Bc7 Rc8 35.Bd6 Qh5 36.Qf2
Rh8 37.Rg3 Qh7 38.Qf4 Bh6 39.Qf3 Bg5 40.Rh3 Rcg8 41.Kh2 Bxh4
0-1
For
many of the students, it was also the first time they had set foot on the
university's Homewood campus, a grand and unsullied place far removed from
the battered neighborhoods some of them call home.
be
interested in coming here to participate. It is to be a Rated
tournament over 6 rounds and 2 days. The strength of player we are
expecting is good club level. We are expecting between 75 and 100
persons to participate from all over the Island of Jamaica. The
Jamaican Chess Federation will be officiating.
Before
leaving Caracas, Eduardo Iturrizaga [caption], first Grand Master of
Venezuela, said he aspires to dominate at the José Raúl Capablanca In
Memoriam, although he still has to obtain the 2,600 ELO, threshold to enter
elite events.
Also
among the top players is Cuban Lazaro Bruzon [caption] (2,608).
Wait
a minute! Before we get started with around-the-world reporting, I
want to know why India is showing up as a massive source of readership at
Chessville? There are 2 possibilities; (a) the first being India has
more spammers hitting our site than any other country whatever, and (b)
that the subcontinent has discovered Chessville, and likes it.
International
master (IM) Irina Krush is the reigning U.S. Women's Champion, with a
USCF rating of 2515 and a FIDE rating of 2479. Irina has represented
the U.S. in numerous international competitions since the age of seven,
receiving medals in both World Youth and World Junior Championships.
She became a master at age twelve, and an International Master at age
sixteen. She has been an integral part of the U.S. Women's Olympiad
Team since the age of fourteen, helping the U.S. win a historic silver medal
at the 2004 Olympiad in Mallorca, Spain.
Vinay
Bhat learned how to play chess when he was six-and-a-half years old.
At the age of ten-and-a-half he set the then-current record for becoming the
youngest national master, breaking Bobby Fischer's record by two years.
That record was since broken by Hikaru Nakamura, and most recently, by
Nicholas Nip. Vinay also played extensively internationally,
representing the US in nine different World Youth competitions with top five
finishes on five different occasions.Vinay completed his IM title in 2000.
FM
Pasalic 
In
the semifinals, both Vigoreto and Sevillano scored convincing 2-0 wins,
respectively, against Robson and Bhat to set-up the final match-up of
Southern California versus Massachusetts. And in that final, it was
David Vigorito, 36, from Andover, MA, who snatched the final U.S. Chess
Championship qualifying spot by taking the title 1.5-0.5.
GM
Boris Alterman has put up a new instructive chess blog:
“I
cherish it personally more than competitively, in fact, and I enjoy the
beauty in chess when others play well. Somehow for me it is also a personal
connection to my grandmother, whom I adored. She was a person of an
incredible independence and free spirit, both on the chessboard and in life.
She always played the King’s Gambit and always went for the win no matter
what. I loved her dearly and she gave me chess. I never had a trainer or
anything like that, but I had my grandmother as an inspiration. (In spite of
this fact Lilja has been eleven-time Icelandic women champion! D.B.)’
Round
4 leading standings
Round
4 leading standings
Olympiad
Feed, Dresden:
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
No. |
|
Nombre |
Rtg |
FED |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
Pts. |
Rk. |
|
1 |
GM |
Michael ADAMS |
2729 |
ENG |
* |
1 |
1 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
|
½ |
5,0 |
1 |
|
2 |
GM |
Koneru HUMPY |
2603 |
IND |
0 |
* |
½ |
½ |
1 |
|
½ |
1 |
3,5 |
6 |
|
3 |
WGM |
Hou YIFAN |
2549 |
CHN |
0 |
½ |
* |
0 |
|
0 |
½ |
|
2,0 |
7 |
|
4 |
GM |
Zhang PENGXIANG |
2640 |
CHN |
½ |
½ |
1 |
* |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
4,0 |
3 |
|
5 |
IM |
Manuel P.CANDELARIO |
2537 |
ESP |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
* |
0 |
½ |
½ |
1,0 |
8 |
|
6 |
GM |
Fabiano CARUANA |
2620 |
ITA |
0 |
|
1 |
0 |
1 |
* |
0 |
½ |
2,5 |
4 |
|
7 |
GM |
Gabriel SARGISSIAN |
2643 |
ARM |
|
½ |
½ |
1 |
½ |
1 |
* |
½ |
4,0 |
2 |
|
8 |
GM |
Julio GRANDA |
2609 |
PER |
½ |
0 |
0 |
|
½ |
½ |
½ |
* |
2,0 |
5 |
|
The official site features some stunningly beautiful chess paintings
in honor of the origins of the tournament. Ruy López y su época : JUAN DE LUCENA: UNO DE LOS ANTECESORES DE RUY LOPEZ Ruy López y su época : MADRID, 1575: EL PRIMER TORNEO INTERNACIONAL DE AJEDREZ por Loli Iglesias |
|
The
Dutch Championship is taking place 2nd - 13th April. The participants
are: Sergei Tiviakov GM 2634, Daniel Stellwagen GM 2621, Erwin L'Ami GM
2600, Jan Smeets GM 2578, Sipke Ernst GM 2559, Friso Nijboer GM 2558,
Dimitri Reinderman GM 2526, Ruud Janssen IM 2504, Yge Visser GM 2477,
Jan-Willem De Jong IM 2474, Manuel Bosboom IM 2471, Daan Brandenburg IM
2435.
Nijboer was the early leader, but with 3 rounds to go young stars GMs Daniël Stellwagen (2621) and Jan Smeets (2578) are tied for first at the 2008 Dutch Championship with the score of 5.5 points in 8 games.
GMs Erwin L'Ami (2600), Spike Ernst (2559) and Dimitri Reinderman (2526) are half a point behind with 5 points.
This is a category 12 event with average rating of 2536. [Cool logo is from a sponsor.] Official site.
Check
out Chessville's Forum:
This week we have “correspondance anyone?” Here’s a pull quote:
“I've finally gotten it down to 14 current games, so I'm not so overwhelmed anymore. Never got to play Yelena. Rob tried to put me on the team, but it was full, so he started a second CV team and I've been playing on it (I think you're on both of them). Yelena was slaughtering everybody in sight, wasn't she? I played one 2700 guy and got rolled up in both games, but I'm doing pretty well against the 2200-2300 crowd - a man's got to know his limitations!
I've just really gotten into this. I love CC and it's much better suited to my abilities. I'm too old & careless to play blitz or OTB well, but with CC, I have the time to dig in and actually analyze enough to be competent.”—Max Shepische.
But watch out! If you post anything in that thread, the dread ‘Rob” might try to sign you up for a CV team! Then there is “do you allow the Marshall Attack?” another thread asks readers what they want to read in CV columns, and people are still going on about the Pirc-Robatch.
4-5-2008
We’re goinna miss you... I’m not sure if Chessville, in collaboration with Susan Polgar and Paul Truong, pulled the biggest chess April Fools spoof of all time last Tuesday April 1. |
|
|
But 1,000 phone calls, messages and e-mails in 24 hours, including from the NY Times, made us all give up the joke early. The song goes:
Sometimes you don’t know Sung by Melanie and also the Rolling Stones in the 60’s. If Susan and Paul had needed to validate their work in chess here in the USA, I would say from that massive and immediate response that they just heard from everyone. That is, everyone who actually cares for chess – and who does know ‘what they got’. Congratulations America!But there is a bigger joke – some elements of the ‘message’ were true! But it is not this Parrot’s place to announce them.
O Canada! Chessville’s readership in Canada seems to have doubled over the past year [as it has in India] – so what about proposing yourself as a Canadian chess correspondent? Currently you are outsourced to the lower 48! And you can’t leave it to Monroi to do all the work. Its OK, we understand hockey terms down here. |
|
| Chessville is also investigating correspondents from India and China to represent the vast number of players in those countries. |
|
Here is an encouraging extract from: http://www.thebeenews.com/: “These chess clubs are important, because they bring together children from all different backgrounds to play with one another. Beyond that, when children learn how to play chess, they learn how to sit still, concentrate, and think ahead.” And, kids also learn personal responsibility, added Young. “They get the credit for their successes. And, they can’t blame their losses on their family’s situation — or even on what they had for breakfast. The ‘field is level’ for every child. Winning at chess doesn’t take any special physical or mental skill — it takes concentration, and a will to succeed.” The program goes far beyond developing young chess mavens, Young continued. “As soon as a child joins the chess club, other students — and even some teachers — often think, ‘my gosh, they’re brilliant’. It really increases their self-esteem when they get good at playing chess. “Whether they achieve mastery of chess or not, kids who learn to play tend to do better in school. As they improve at the game, many of them start taking their studies more seriously. “We’re not really interested in creating chess masters in our after-school program. Our goal is to teach children skills that will carry forward in life.”
Krush wins 1st North American Match Challenge With a last round victory against IM Lilit Mkrtchian of Armenia. The first three rounds ended with hard draws bringing the decision down to the final round. The final match score is 2.5 - 1.5. All games can be replayed on the MonRoi World Databank of Chess at www.monroi.com/wdc.
North American Chess Association Announces: 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. 1st Place - 7.0 / 9.0 2nd Place - 6.5 / 9.0 3rd Place - 5.5 / 9.0 4th - 5th Place - 5.0 / 9.0 6th - 7th Place - 4.0 / 9.0 8th - 9th Place - 3.0 / 9.0 10th Place - 2.0 / 9.0 Chess News WORLDWIDE
Nijboer is the early leader.
This is a category 12 event with average rating of 2536. [Cool logo is from a sponsor] Official site. Check out Chessville’s Forum
|
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. This game continues with the puzzle posed last week, here is another snare – would you capture en passant in this position? Black has just played 18. …c5
Analysis: if 19.pxp ep or dc then 19…Qxd4! 20.Qxd4 Nf3+ and Nxd4 netting a whole piece. 19. Bxe5 Qxe5 25. Qe6+ Kh8 28. … Be5
I must remind viewers that in the very next year the player of the white pieces, Alekhine, was to become World Champion – but the middle game was the forte of Yates, and he shuffles the world’s best around with magnificent economy. 31. … Rh4
33. …Rxg4 [Cozens say this is an intuitive
sacrifice against no less than Alekhine, I wonder if he gives Yates enough
credit?]
43. Rc2 [making luft for the King, and the
only square available to the Rook, but which is undefended… allowing]
46. … Qd1!! Not bad for a KID. |
More Alekhine's Parrot Archives
|
2004 |
2005 |
|
2006 |
2007 |
|
2008 |
Advertisement
The Chessville
Weekly
The Best Free
Chess
Newsletter
On the Planet!
The
Chessville
Weekly
Archives
Visit the
Chessville
Chess Store
|
|
|
|
This site is best viewed with Java-Enabled MS Internet Explorer 6 and Netscape 6 browsers set at 800x600 screen size. |
|
Copyright 2002-2009 Chessville.com unless otherwise noted. |