12-27-2008

Hugh Edward Myers has passed

That is sad to hear.  Myers was a dedicated chess-lover who always spoke his mind forthrightly.  As a player he was not among the great but was still very good, peak Elo about 2300.

He had some noteworthy accomplishments, such as playing in two FIDE Olympiads (for the Dominican Republic) and leading his team to victory in the 1994 US Amateur Team Championship.  He played many top masters, taking a few GM scalps, e.g. Lombardy and Rossolimo.  Edward Winter had a high opinion of Myers, and cited him in several articles, such as this one on the termination of the first Karpov- Kasparov match.  Myers was perhaps the first to detect the major inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the spin Kasparov put on that event.

In his Myers Openings Bulletin, a home-typed magazine, he explored many unorthodox lines, e.g. 1.b4 e6 2.Bb2 Nf6 3.b5 d5 4.e3 c5 5.f4.  In reviews he laid unstinting scorn on chess hacks, in particular Eric Schiller.  He authored two well-regarded books, "Exploring the Chess Openings" and "The Nimzovich Defense."  The latter is regarded by some as the definitive work on 1.e4 Nc6.

Myers' attempt to mix MOB and autobiography in book form, "A Chess Explorer" (Davenport, Iowa, 2002) did not, alas, work very well in my opinion, and I was unable to give it a very favorable review.  [See also Rick Kennedy's review here at Chessville. - Ed.]  Still, I had considerable respect for him, and am sad to hear of his passing.

This notice is by Taylor Kingston

Rare Chess Sets

By Jay M. Grossman
ECCENTRIC STAFF WRITER
December 21, 2008

An epic struggle of good over evil echoes throughout the home of George and Vivian Dean.

The battlefield takes form in the shape of a chess set. The armies are cast in silver and bronze, porcelain and marble.

The Bloomfield Township couple owns one of the most extensive collections of antique chess sets in the world. Thirty of those sets will be on display at the Detroit Institute of Arts in the exhibition: Master Pieces: Chess Sets from the Dr. George and Vivian Dean Collection.

Their oldest set dates back almost 500 years to the 16th century. Their collection also boasts a Faberge set worth millions of dollars and another set that's linked to Napoleon Bonaparte.

Each board is unique. Each one has its own story to tell.

"Napoleon was an avid chess player," George Dean said. "He wasn't a great player, but he loved to play chess."

The set comes from the Cafe de la Regence in Paris, known as the chess center of the world in the early 19th century.

"All the great players would gather at that place and there was a table where Napoleon would play against various individuals.

"And there was a plaque overriding the table that said, 'Here Napoleon played chess.' That chess set sat there through the 19th century and it is now part of our collection."

His collection includes a Civil War set that was purchased in Russia at a museum in St. Petersburg. The Union king is Abraham Lincoln and the queen is Ulysses S. Grant. The Confederate king is Jefferson Davis and the queen is Robert E. Lee.

FINGERS AND THUMBS

A chess set made of silver created by Salvador Dali in 1964 is certainly the most unique in the Dean collection.

Dali made the set in homage to Marcel Duchamp, the leader of the Dadaist movement and an avid chess player. All the pieces except for the rooks and the two queens were modeled after Dali's fingers.

"He took his fingers and made casts of his fingers and thumbs," Dean said. "The king was his middle finger crowned with a tooth that he had lost when he was 3 years old. He used his wife's index finger and made her the queen.

"His thumbs were the knights and the castles were modeled after salt shakers from the Hotel Saint Regis in New York City."

The Faberge set was purchased in 1977 from a London art collector. It is easily the rarest set in the Dean collection.

The 1905 set was a gift from the Russian royal family to Aleksei Nikolaevich Kuropatkin, a famous general who led the Czarist forces into Manchuria to battle Japan.

Russia lost

"He came back very depressed from losing the war, and in order to buoy his spirits the royal family commissioned Faberge to create the chess set," Dean said. "And along the perimeter of the board is written, 'To our dearly beloved Commander-In-Chief for his faithful duties in Manchuria...' so it has a history to it, and it has a beauty and uniqueness that makes it a very important set."

A family doctor and avid art collector, Dean began the collection with his wife in 1962.  Source

Saving USCF – Mortgage not lawsuits

Here’s one opinion from Steve Owens:

“Citing figures up thread, the mortgage is about $410,000 outstanding with about $4100 monthly (or $50,000 annually) in payments. The bequest is $350,000 which would leave about $75,000 left.  Why not initiate a fund raising drive to get out from under the note by year's end 2009?  If we can raise thousands of dollars for a legal defense fund, then we can raise $75,000 to get clear of the bank note.  That extra $50,000 on the operating budget would go a long way toward insuring a viable USCF.

Fund raising aimed at erasing the mortgage would do a lot more good with much more tangible results than the defense fund.  As others have noted, it is a politically neutral endeavor that will benefit the USCF and ensure that we have our building no matter what political nightmare the voters thrust upon us.”

Biggest Chess Dudes

Source: http://chess.liverating.org/

World Simul Attempt – “Wear comfortable shoes”

 The chess record attempt will take place during the match Kamsky - Topalov in Sofia.

On Februrary 21st 2009, during the Kamsky - Topalov match in Sofia, GM Kiril Georgiev will make a Guiness record attempt facing 450 players in a simul. For the unique event a labyrinth of chess boards will be built in the Expo center.

The event will be dedicated to the 130th anniversary of naming Sofia capital of Bulgaria. To qualify for the Guinness world record the simultaneous master GM Georgiev has to win at least 80% of the games (360 out of 450 games). More details will be published later this week on Chessdom.com.

GM Susan Polgar holds the previous record

The previous record belongs to GM Susan Polgar. It was set in an exhibition simul in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, in July 2005. 326 simultaneous Games Played (309 wins, 14 draws, 3 losses) in 16 hours and 30 minutes.

In the event GM Polgar broke four international records including: largest numbers of simultaneous games played (326, with 309 won, 14 drawn and 3 lost); most consecutive games played (1,131); highest number of games won; and highest percentage of wins (96.93%). Moreover, she had to walk over 15 kilometers!

Source: Chessdom.com

USCF Elections – A

In a public newsgroup thread I asked Sam Sloan why he can't seem to notice a question I have put to him on many occasions. Here it is:

"Should USCF board members be required to pass an ordinary high-school background check?"

Simple question - can be answered yes or no.

Since I anticipate no answer will be obtained from Sam Sloan himself - do others think a membership organization comprised mostly of scholastic members should require its executive board to admit this requirement?

Other chess politicos can answer too - remember, responses can be at any length, but the first word has to be Yes or No.

If parents of chess kids, or those responsible for chess kids read this - they might add their liking to the idea.

Berkeley – Results

Final Standings:

1. GM Giorgi Kacheishivili 7.5 /10
2. GM Zviad Izoria 7.0
3-5 GM Josh Friedel, IM Irina Krush, FM Daniel Rensch 6.0
6-7 GM Vinay Bhat, IM David Pruess 5.5
8-12 GM Jesse Kraai, IM Justin Sarkar, GM Dashzegve Sharavdorj, Marc Esserman, WIM Iryna Zenyuk 5.0
13-15 IM Lev Milman, FM Daniel Naroditsky, FM Dale Haessel 4.0
16 FM Bela Evans 3.5
17 IM Sandor Kustar 3.0

IM norms earned: FM Rensch, Esserman, WIM Zenyuk (IM + WGM norm)

Carlos Torre – Onishuk Wins

Quarterfinal results:

Onischuk - Sadvakasov 1½-½
Harikrishna - Ehlvest 2-3
Moiseenko - Akobian 1½-2½
Tregubov - Quezada 1-3

Semifinal results:

Akobian - Onischuk 2-3
Quezada - Ehlvest 1½-½

Final result:

Onischuk 1½-½ Quezada

Official website: http://www.carlostorre.org.mx/inicio2008.htm

Big Berkeley

The 2008 Berkeley International is taking place from December 14 to 23 in Berkeley, California.

Official website: http://dotq.org/chess

Standings after Round 7

5 / 7: GM Zviad Izoria, GM Giorgi Kacheishivili, IM Irina Krush
4.5 / 7: GM Josh Friedel
4 / 7: GM Dashzegve Sharavdorj, FM Daniel Rensch, FM Marc Esserman
3.5 / 7: IM Lev Milman, IM Justin Sarkar, FM Daniel Naroditsky, WIM Iryna Zenyuk
3 / 7: GM Jesse Kraai, GM Vinay Bhat, IM David Pruess
2.5 / 7: IM Sandor Kustar, FM Bela Evans
2 / 7: FM Dale Haessel

Euro Rapid Championship

Radoslaw Wojtaszek Superior at the European Rapid Championship

8th Amplico AIG Life Tournament, 20-21st December
Report by Chessdom.com

The winner of the 8th Amplico AIG Life tournament and new European Rapid Champion is Poland's star Radoslaw Wojtaszek, with incredible score of 11,5 points out of 13 games. Wojtaszek, Vishy Anand's second, made only 3 draws and won all remaining games.

Shared on 2-5th were Valery Popov (Russia), Alexey Aleksandrov (Belarus), Nikita Vitiugov (Russia) and Luka Lenic (Slovenia) with 10,5.

Best female player was Anna Muzychuk (Slovenia) and she finished 18th with 9,5. Natalia Zdebskaja, who performed very well on Saturday, finished on 32nd place.

Final standings:

1. GM Wojtaszek, Radosław POL 2599 - 11.5
2-5. GM Popov, Valerij RUS 2542, GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej BLR 2617, GM Vitiugov, Nikita RUS 2638 and GM Lenic, Luka SLO 2569 - 10.5
6-16. GM Krasenkow, Michal POL 2624, GM Azarov, Sergei BLR 2613, GM Fridman, Daniel GER 2630, GM Jussupow, Artur GER 2570, GM Fedorchuk, Sergey A. UKR 2603, GM Gritsak, Orest UKR 2519, GM Shirov, Alexei ESP 2726, GM Zhigalko, Sergei BLR 2592, GM Macieja, Bartlomiej POL 2600, GM Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios GRE 2572 and GM Markowski, Tomasz POL 2605 - 10.0
17-31. GM Drozdovskij, Yuri UKR 2587, IM Muzychuk, Anna SLO 2508, GM Gajewski, Grzegorz POL 2577, GM Miśta, Aleksander POL 2559, GM Zhigalko, Andrey BLR 2568, GM Sulskis, Sarunas LTU 2572, GM Mitoń, Kamil POL 2604, GM Cyborowski, Lukasz POL 2504, GM Gustafsson, Jan GER 2634, IM Tomczak, Jacek POL 2461, GM Zinchenko, Yaroslav UKR 2536, GM Malisauskas, Vidmantas LTU 2479, IM Lipka, Juraj SVK 2426, IM Ipatov, Alexander UKR 2472 and GM Malakhatko, Vadim BEL 2633 - 9.5 etc.

News by GM Mateusz Bartel

12-20-2008

 Rare Chess sets on display

A collection of rare and unusual chess sets from around the world will be on display from Dec. 26 to March 22 at the Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave. "Master Pieces: Chess Sets from the Dr. George and Vivian Dean Collection"

Chess Media – CXR Does It Again

CXR Shatters the Price Barrier!

Chess Express Ratings is shattering the price barrier with some exciting new price options for its service.  Effective immediately, the annual dues for adults are reduced from $12.00 to only $7.00.

Furthermore, multi-year memberships (and Life Memberships) are now available, offering additional savings.  The current $5.00 annual dues for scholastic players is scheduled to increase to $7.00 in 2010, but students can “lock in” the current rate with a multi-year membership.

The biggest news is the introduction of Tournament Memberships.  These are temporary memberships intended to cover a particular rated event.  The cost is only $1.50 per player (per event) and is paid by the tournament organizer, not by the player.  The Tournament Director does not have to be concerned with checking membership expiration dates or collecting membership dues from the players.

This new option is ideal for TDs and for tournament players.   Local clubs will generally find the traditional annual memberships more economical, particularly for frequent players.

For more details, please visit www.cxrchess.com or telephone CXR, at: (718) 793-5995.

GM Antonio wins sixth US title
abs-cbnNEWS.com  12/14/2008 9:47 PM

Veteran Filipino Grandmaster (GM) Rogelio Antonio won his sixth title in the US circuit after nabbing the over-all championship in the 2008 Super Blitz Open Chess tournament at the Chess Palace in Los Angeles, California Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

A report posted on BilliardPhilippines.com said Antonio scored 8.5 after ten-rounds in the tournament.

Next stop for the Calapan, Oriental Mindoro native will be the prestigious Joseph Ileto Memorial Open Chess in Monterey, California on Sunday (Monday in Manila).

Antonio’s campaign in the US chess circuit is supported by National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr., Philippines Sports Commission (PSC) chairman William “Butch” Ramirez and Filipino boxing idol Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao.

The Super Blitz Open Chess was Antonio’s sixth victory this year following his success in the 2008 Motor City Open, 17th North American Fide Invitational, Los Angeles Open, 8th Universal Annual Swiss Chess Open and the G/19.

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com

First Indonesian WGM is 16

Here’s a good picture from the recently concluded Olympiad in Dresden of Irene Kharisma Sukandar being photographed with GM Susan Polgar.  Irene is the first woman in Indonesian history to attain the chess world's highest title.  Several Indonesian men have already attained the title of grand master.

Source: http://www.hindu.com
 

Big International Tournament – Nanjing, China

Special Note of Thanks to Susan Polgar for these game scores – the Parrot’s location is under siege by ice, and more ice, making reporting of chess games via the web very uncertain.  In fact I’ve bought Susan a Christmas present after checking with her husband if she had it in her library.  No – came back the answer, the trouble is, I’ve started reading it, and now its to be a birthday present.

Latest:

Official site: http://www.chess-pearlspring.com/yindex.htm
Information and photo: http://blog.sina.com.cn/chessnews

Bu almost wings Toppy plus Black is OK! Latest Scores:

GM Movsesian (2732) - GM Svidler (2727) [B12]
18.12.2008, Nanjing, China

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 h6 6.0–0 Ne7 7.b3 c5 8.Ba3 Nec6 9.dxc5 Be7 10.Nc3 a6 11.Na4 Nd7 12.b4 0–0 13.Re1 Qc7 14.h3 Rfd8 15.Qd2 Be4 16.Bb2 Bxf3 17.Bxf3 Ncxe5 18.Qf4 Nxf3+ 19.Qxf3 Qc6 20.Qb3 b6 21.Qg3 d4 22.Bxd4 Bf8 23.Nxb6 Nxb6 24.Bf6 Nd5 25.Bxd8 Rxd8 26.Rad1 Rc8 27.a3 a5 28.c4 Nxb4 29.axb4 axb4 30.Rd3 Bxc5 31.Qh4 Bb6 32.Re4 Ra8 33.Rg4 Qc5 34.Qf6 Qxf2+ 35.Qxf2 Ra1+ 36.Kh2 Bxf2 37.Rf4 Bb6 38.Rd7 b3 39.Rb7 Bc5 40.Rfxf7 Bd4 41.Rf3 b2 42.Rfb3 Rc1 43.R7b4 Be5+ 44.g3 Rc2+ 45.Kg1 Bd4+ 46.Kf1 e5 47.c5 Kf7 48.c6 Ke6 49.Rb7 Kd6 50.c7 Kd7 51.Ke1 Kc8 52.Kd1 Rh2 53.g4 Rxh3 54.Kc2 Rxb3 55.Rxb3 Kxc7 56.Rf3 Kd6 57.Rf7 e4 58.Rb7 e3 59.Kd3 Ke5 60.Rb4 g5 61.Ke2 Bc3 62.Rb7 Kd4 63.Rd7+ Kc4 64.Rd1 Bd2 Black wins 0–1
 

GM Ivanchuk (2786) - GM Aronian (2757) [A20]
18.12.2008, Nanjing, China

1.c4 e5 2.g3 f5 3.d4 exd4 4.Nf3 Bb4+ 5.Nbd2 Nf6 6.Bg2 Nc6 7.0–0 Bc5 8.Nb3 d6 9.Nfxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 0–0 11.Nc2 Qe8 12.b4 Bb6 13.Be3 Bxe3 14.Nxe3 f4 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.Qxd5+ Kh8 17.Rfe1 Rf6 18.Rad1 c6 19.Qe4 Qf7 20.Rd4 Bg4 21.Qd3 Rf8 22.Qd2 h5 23.Bf3 fxg3 24.hxg3 Bxf3 25.exf3 Rxf3 26.Re2 c5 27.bxc5 dxc5 28.Rd8 Qxc4 29.Rxf8+ Rxf8 30.Re5 b6 31.Rxh5+ Kg8 32.Rh4 Qe6 33.a4 a6 34.Rh5 c4 35.Qd4 Qf7 36.Rd5 c3 37.Rd6 b5 38.Rxa6 Rc8 39.Qg4 Qc4 Black wins 0–1
 

GM BuXiangzhi (2714) - GM Topalov (2791) [D43]
18.12.2008, Nanjing, China

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 c6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 Nd7 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 g6 10.0–0 Bg7 11.Qc2 Qe7 12.Rad1 0–0 13.Rfe1 a6 14.a3 b5 15.Ba2 c5 16.d5 c4 17.dxe6 Qxe6 18.b3 Ne5 19.Nxe5 Qxe5 20.Nd5 cxb3 21.Bxb3 Bb7 22.Nb6 Be4 23.Qa2 Rae8 24.Nd7 Qg5 25.f4 Qf5 26.Nxf8 Bxf8 27.Bd5 h5 28.Rd4 Bc5 29.Bxe4 Rxe4 30.Rxe4 Qxe4 31.Kh1 Qd3 32.a4 bxa4 33.Qxa4 Qc3 34.Rf1 Qd3 35.Qa1 Kh7 36.e4 Qxe4 37.Qxa6 Be7 38.f5 gxf5 39.Qc8 Kg6 40.Qg8+ Kf6 41.Qh7 h4 42.Ra1 Qf4 43.Qh8+ Kg6 44.Qg8+ Kf6 45.Rd1 Bd6 46.Qd8+ Ke6 47.Re1+ Be5 48.Qb6+ Ke7 49.Qg1 Kf6 50.Rf1 Qe4 51.Qb6+ Kg7 52.Qb3 Kg6 53.Qf3 Bd6 54.Qc3 Be5 55.Qa3 Qe2 56.Qc1 f6 57.Re1 Qf2 58.Qe3 Qc2 59.Qf3 Qd2 60.Rf1 Qc2 61.Re1 Qd2 62.Rd1 Qb4 63.Rf1 Qe4 64.Qb3 Kh6 65.Qd1 Kg6 66.Qd2 Qc4 67.Rc1 Qe4 68.Re1 Qc4 69.Rc1 Qe4 Game drawn ½–½
 

Standings after 8 rounds:

1. Topalov Veselin 2791 5.5 2887
2-3. Bu Xiangzhi 2714 4.5 2797
2-3. Aronian Levon 2757 4.5 2800
4. Svidler Peter 2727 4.0 2751
5. Movsesian Sergei 2732 3.0 2659
6. Ivanchuk Vassily 2786 2.5 2606

Stop Press – with one round to go looks like Toppy tops the field, and also attains a 2800 rating again. Scoring 3.5 from 4 in the second half, he’s on fire – here is a very nice win with the black bits over Peter Svidler:

GM Svidler (2727) - GM Topalov (2791) [B12]
Nanjing 2008, China, 20.12.2008

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3 Nd7 7.Nbd2 c4 8.a4 h6 9.b3 cxb3 10.Nxb3 Rc8 11.Ra2 Qc7 12.Bd3 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 Ne7 14.0–0 Qc4 15.Rb1 b6 16.Qf1 Nc6 17.c3 Qxc3 18.a5 Be7 19.axb6 axb6 20.Qd1 Qc4 21.Nc1 Nb4 22.Ra7 Qc2 23.Qxc2 Nxc2 24.Bd2 Na3 25.Ra1 Nc4 26.Rb7 Nb8 27.Ra8 0–0 28.Raxb8 Nxd2 29.Rxc8 Nxf3+ 30.gxf3 Rxc8 31.Ne2 Bd8 32.f4 g6 33.Kg2 Kf8 34.Kf3 Ra8 35.Ke3 Ra3+ 36.Kd2 Bh4 Black wins 0–1
 

Round 9 results:

Svidler 0-1 Topalov
Bu 1/2 Aronian
Movsesian 1/2 Ivanchuk

Standings after 9 rounds:

1. Topalov Veselin 2791 6.5 2910
2-3. Bu Xiangzhi 2714 5.0 2798
2-3. Aronian Levon 2757 5.0 2795
4. Svidler Peter 2727 4.0 2712
4. Movsesian Sergei 2732 3.5 2671
6. Ivanchuk Vassily 2786 3.0 2622

Final round matchups:

Topalov Veselin - Movsesian Sergei
Ivanchuk Vassily - Bu Xiangzhi
Aronian Levon - Svidler Peter

Fischer Film Nixed – NY Times

Hollywood, it seems, is still trying to get this recession thing sorted out.

Over the past three months the major studios, their specialty divisions and some of their biggest independent producers have been moving toward production with some films that are noticeably more downbeat than those that have buoyed the marketplace lately.

The mismatch speaks more to the film industry’s internal dynamics than to any lack of common sense. Scripts that had been in development for a year or more were finally judged ready to shoot just as the jolt of an economic crisis hit the national psyche.

So pictures conceived in the bubble were being born as it burst. That is leaving studio executives with slightly tougher, more challenging schedules than they might choose were they to start from scratch today — or forcing them to make difficult choices.

Thus, Universal Pictures now says it is not planning to shoot the once seemingly imminent “Bobby Fischer Goes to War,” a drama about the 1972 chess showdown between Mr. Fischer and Boris Spassky.

New Russian Woman Champion

Nadezhda Kosintseva just won the Russian women's championship. The championship took place from December 5-14, 2008 in Moscow.

Final standings:

1. N. Kosintseva (2468) 6.5

2-3. T. Kosintseva (2513), Bodnaruk (2381) 5.5

4-5. Shadrina (2429), Romanko (2398) 4.5

6-9. Pogonina (2474), Korbut (2459), Ovod (2429), Gunina (2381) 4.0

10. Stepovaia (2386) 2.5

Official website: RussiaChess.org

12-13-2008

Rare Chess sets on display

A collection of rare and unusual chess sets from around the world will be on display from Dec. 26 to March 22 at the Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave. "Master Pieces: Chess Sets from the Dr. George and Vivian Dean Collection" includes more than two dozen sets ranging from the 16th to the 20th centuries from Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the U.S. Dean is a physician from the Detroit area. Details: (313) 833-7900.  Chess news from Susan Polgar.  Alas, no pictures yet.

Chess Media – Is Chess Really Good for Kids? 3 perspectives

Educational psychologists in England think so; organize event.

Source: Sheffield Star, England. SHEFFIELD'S youngest chess hotshots came together for the city's first ever open tournament for juniors. The event, held at The Source, near Meadowhall, was opened by Lord Mayor Jane Bird and attracted almost 80 under 18 players of all abilities. Some were absolute beginners while others were good enough to play in the England squad.

Evie Hollingworth won the Under-18 section with six wins out of six, Miles Edwards-Wright won the Under-12s contest and Suneet Kooner the Under-9s.

The event was organised by Sheffield and District Junior Chess Association and was sponsored by the educational psychology consultancy FocusPsychology.  The aim was to provide local juniors with the opportunity of enjoying and experiencing a chess tournament, with prizes for both experienced and inexperienced players.

More and more schools are setting up chess clubs, aware of the great benefits of chess for young people.  Besides being a source of lifelong pleasure, it represents an opportunity for young people to use their brains creatively.  It encourages independence of thought and a range of skills at different levels.

In the longer term, the association hopes chess clubs will be set up in all city schools, with the re-emergence of school chess leagues.

Same Idea. Different Place

By DAVE MASTERSON

Want to see how popular the game of chess has become in Highland Park? Check this out, mate.

An estimated 100 young members of the Highland Park Scholastic Chess Group will be competing in its first District 112 tournament Saturday at Edgewood Middle School. And the man most responsible for getting the seven-month-old organization off the ground can't wait to see the response of the participants.

"Have you ever been to a kids tournament?" asked Highland Park's Jerry Neugarten. "They're great. And the kids absolutely love them. They're an exciting experience for kids." [captioned is the state scholastic tournament last March]

The tourney is the culmination of an intense community effort, which has resulted in four chess groups covering the entire district.

Neugarten, who ran a scholastic chess organization in the state of New York for 11 years, is the driving force for the implementation of the Highland Park organization that distributes 11 schools into four clubs that meet either once or twice a week.

During the sessions, kids play informally for 45 minutes, then break down into skill-level groups for instruction, then play informally again at the end of the night.

Meanwhile in the Caribbean

Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth & Sports
Schools Encouraged to Introduce Chess to Stem Violence
KINGSTON (JIS): Wednesday, December 10, 2008

President of the Jamaica Chess Federation, Attorney-at-Law Ian Wilkinson, is encouraging more schools to introduce the game of chess to their curriculum to help address the spiraling level of violence plaguing the school system.

"If we get chess going fully into the schools and incorporated into society, we will reduce crime and violence significantly. The violence that we are experiencing now, the criminal behaviour being demonstrated by the youngsters ... once we get into their minds and teach them chess, we will be creating a totally different society because the intellectual capital of our country will go up tremendously", Mr. Wilkinson stated in an interview with JIS News.

Continuing, he asserted that "one of the beautiful things about playing chess is that it gives you such focus and such discipline that the kids who normally play chess don't have the time to become criminals. You hardly find those kids becoming violent".

This, the Chess Federation President contended, is because "playing chess helps to develop a lot of reasoning skills, logic and so on and from my experience, a lot of the people who [act violently] are people who can't reason well and therefore they turn to brute force as a way of compensating".

Chess is currently being taught in a number of schools in the corporate and rural areas and Mr. Wilkinson revealed that many of the aforementioned benefits are being realised to great effect.

"In a particular school that I will not mention, some of the students were regarded as very bad, you know bad, bad boys with weapons and teachers and other persons were afraid of them", he recounted.

"But, we went into that particular school and other schools with similar problems and we have been teaching those kids chess and it was tough at first having regard to the personalities, but you would be amazed how we have slowly won them over. The teachers are singing our praises, the kids are better behaved, even some of the 'baddest' ones, and some of them now spend an hour or two just playing chess, because it keeps them out of trouble. They are fascinated by it and it is helping them with their Math and English," he added.

According to Mr. Wilkinson the game of chess has been proven to be a great academic tool and that is another reason why the Federation is actively supporting chess in schools programme.

"With respect to tests done in Europe, Asia, Africa and here in the Caribbean - Cuba and Venezuela are two good examples - all the results show that children who play chess tend to develop academically because what you do when you play chess, you are actually exercising the brain," he articulated.

The Chess Federation President further contended that "just as when you would go to the gym and lift weights you build your muscles, so when you are playing chess you exercise and build the brain and it becomes better and you are able to think better".

On Saturday, December 13 the Jamaica Chess Federation will host a public chess exhibition at the Half-Way-Tree Transportation Centre, to expose the Jamaican public to what the game is all about. The event will begin at noon.

Source: http://www.jis.gov.jm  Chess news from Susan Polgar

But how do we spend our US Chess Bucks?

The Parrot’s source at USCF, who we will call Deep Rook, reports that since June this year USCF have spent $120,000 of them bucks on legal fees.

Of course, bad news comes in clumps, and the line for all tournament revenue and expense shows Revenue $246,301, Expense $300,091, net loss $53,790

Whereas, the year to date budget seems to be merely adrift by rather more. The year to date actual variance from the budget is -$328,928.

Which I think deserves a little red ink, as in year to date status =  $328,928. Is the reader catching the drift?

Small Warning – I got Chinese Pop-ups! Official site.  Information and photo.

Latest Scores:

Rank Name Fed/Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pts
1 Aronian Levon ARM 2757 *** 1 ½   ½ 2
2 Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2786 0 ***   ½ ½ 1
3 Sergei Movsesian SVK 2732 ½  *** 0 1  1½
4 Bu Xiangzhi CHN 2714   1 *** ½ ½ 2
5 Peter Svidler RUS 2727  ½ 0 ½ ***  1
6 Veselin Topalov BUL 2791 ½ ½  ½  *** 1½

This is a repeat from last week – but worth noting. Czech it out for yourself at the Official website and if you do, try that chess video on the right of the page – the one called Random Street Chess.

If anyone can translate for me; the text begins Psycholog a šachista Petr Bakalář připravil kuriózní šachový experiment… and after you play the video there seem to be other videos from all over the place.,, the San Francisco one was certainly exciting… but also check out the StreetChessMovie trailer, set on Market and 5^th SF… but if you go there avoid Jorge who makes about $350 a day, he says, and wait for the “Chess Claus” at the end !!!

Fide Furor – Drugs in the Rugs and in Ivanchuk?

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan for Der Spiegel Online. Original article by By Maik Grossekathöfer. Here are a few extracts:

Grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk refused to submit a urine sample for a drug test at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden and is now considered guilty of doping. The world of chess is outraged that he could face a two-year ban.

The article summarizes recent events: Who knows what was going through Ivanchuk's head when, on Nov. 25 in Dresden, the last day of the Chess Olympiad, he lost to Gata Kamsky? What we do know, however, is that when the game against the American ended, a judge asked Ivanchuk to submit to a drug test. Instead, he stormed out of the room in the conference center, kicked a concrete pillar in the lobby, pounded a countertop in the cafeteria with his fists and then vanished into the coatroom. Throughout this performance, he was followed by a handful of officials.

No one could convince Ivanchuk to provide a small amount of urine for the test. And because refusal is treated as a positive test result, he is now considered guilty of doping and could be barred from professional chess for two years.

The article then offers back-ground on dope testing in chess: German grandmaster Helmut Pfleger, an internist and psychotherapist from Munich, says that because a player cannot know in advance exactly when these symptoms will begin, "a performance-enhancing dose is hardly possible." Pfleger tested the effects of beta-blockers on himself in 1979, in a match against Russian player Boris Spasski. "My blood pressure and pulse plunged, and my game fell apart completely."

It is undisputed, however, that caffeine can give a chess player a leg up, but the stimulant is no longer on the list of banned substances. Many players are passionate coffee drinkers.

Read the entire article here: http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,595819,00.html

And the upshot is:

1. The personal consequences to the number 3 player in the world

2. World-wide outrage over Ivanchuk’s treatment

3. Renewed calls for chess to be treated as a game not an ‘Olympic’ sport

4. Reduced confidence in Fide’s governance, the organization concurrently seem to be losing track of the Grand-Prix Series too [Carlsen and Adams have dropped out]

5. A wake up call to National Federations to the degree of ‘representation’ practiced by Fide. The Question must be asked; “Who are they representing. Is it us?”

Chessville interviewed a proponent of Drug Testing who worked with Fide.  Read what he has to say here.

12-6-2008

It is with extreme sadness that I have to report that Bob Wade, International Master, arbiter, journalist, coach, organiser, writer, chess archivist, friend to chess and friend to me, died 29th November 2008 at 3am from pneumonia, he had been in the Elisabeth Hospital in Woolwich for three days for complications from a common cold.

[caption, Bob Wade 1998. Photo © John Henderson]

Robert Graham Wade was born April 10th 1921 in Dunedin, New Zealand and died in London, England Saturday 29th November 2008.

Bob's influence on the game covered every area imaginable, and made him a true giant of the game. His kindness and generosity will stay with all those who knew him.

Playing career

His playing career was that of a solid middle ranking professional. He was three time New Zealand Champion, twice British Champion, played in seven Olympiads and one Interzonal (see his Wikipedia entry).  He also played in a lot of tournaments against the world's best, especially in Eastern Europe and Cuba (playing in a number of Capablanca Memorial tournaments).

He regarded himself lucky to do so and bemoaned the fact that the top players don't play against a wider range of opponents.  His last major event was the Staunton Memorial in London in July where he was really set up to lose, even a single draw would have left him with a higher rating.  He fought gamely it has to be said.  A far better result was achieved in 2006 in the Queenstown Chess Classic where he scored 6/10 including a draw against the winner Murray Chandler.  He played a final game for the Athenium Chess Club in recent weeks.

It is not really in his playing results however that his influence lies.  He used to have the reputation of playing maverick openings.  He lived to see a number of these "Wade Variations" make it to use and respectability at the very highest level.

Mark Crowther adds to the tribute.

He’s Done it Again

Dr. Albert Alberts has written a second MAMS title, Man Assisted Machine Shach [Chess], How to Fool Fritz 2, which is currently being distributed to readers for review.  [See reviews of his first book here and here. - Ed.]

Exploring a fascinating interaction with the Machine, Dr. Albert’s work is certainly pregnant with ideas – whether you play against computers or just like his ideas about deliberately unbalancing the position.  The thing to note is that these are very carefully calculated risk factors.  Full reviews will appear here at Chessville soon, but the title is on sale – I think Amazon have it.  Of himself he says…

“I have an inborn, rebellious, obstinate, suspicious, but nonetheless good-humored temperament inclined to engage in a high-risk on-edge lifestyle.  Reentering the Halls of Caissa in the computer era after having been absent for 40 years, naturally I ignored the lessons of our former chess teacher, No football for the coach!  The dogma of the enduring moderate advantage?  No such thing!  Unmitigated Audacity!  Provoke!  Defy defy defy!  We are NOT going to go Dutch here.  Sacrifice!  Be bigger then Life.  Live now!  Pay later!  Don't die before you are dead!”

The author, incidentally, has 3 Nobel assists to his credit.  [See his column here at Chessville too. - Ed.]

Ladies versus Veterans Czech Coal Chess Match Ladies versus veterans Mariánské Lázně, where seventy-two years old Goethe met his seventeen years old Ulrika, will see the legendary chess players battling against promising young female chess talents. The legendary players of the sixty-four square board, among them names such as the former World Champion Anatoly Karpov or the best Czech chess player of the second half of 20th century, Vlastimil Hort, will compete against the young chess female players, including the World under-eighteen Vice-Champion, the Czech player, Kateřina Němcová. Viktoria Cmilyte, Anna Ushenina and Jana Jacková will also be playing for the Team of Lasses. Old Stagers Team will consist, apart from above named Karpov and Hort, of the famous German grandmaster Wolfang Uhlmann and the Iceland grandmaster and former FIDE president, Fridrik Olafsson. The two-round match of the four member teams will take place in the hotel Cristal Palace, in Mariánské Lázně, from 29th November to 6th December 2008. The games will be played daily and they will start at 16:00 CET, with the exception of the last day, when games will start at 13:00. Each game will be commented for the audience by grandmaster Marek Vokáč and by the international master Michal Konopka.

Alec Keen and Yo! Veh The title refers to a couple of famous chess players - and naturally, these are first contacted in books by people who have scarcely any better idea of how to pronounce these names than yourself. Thereby whole tribes of chess players deceive each other innocently.   Therefore "Alekhine" a late change in spelling from what is normally rendered "Aljecin" is amusing differently pronounced by varieties of Russians. In the guttural north even the first letter seems different: the 'a' being like acorn rather than apple - but maybe that is just my ear? Moscow central gets in most syllables that I can detect, since Russian seems crispest there - and I hear ale - ee - yo - keen whereas my buddy from Baku in the soft south doesn't say it that way, or at least blends the middle two syllables into one dipthong sounding utterance On meeting actual Russian and mentioning the players name, often one kindly translates for the other what is intended, especially if they hear an English rendition of the French spelling as Alec Keen [otherwise they shrug as if you were talking about Santa.]   Worst of all is Max Euwe - which another local buddy, being Dutch, says like  -yo veh-  though his equally Dutch wife renders as -you view- On asking Sam Palatnik how to pronounce his name, he smiled and said carefully, "Sam". Anyone want to phonetically try "Pirc"? One correspondent suggests “peerts.”

Tickets (price 40 CZK for adult, 20 CZK for children, students and pensioners) will be up for sale from 25th November in chess shop H.S.H. Computer (Václavské nám. 66, Praha 1, entrance from Mezibranská street) and at the reception of the hotel Cristal Palace (Hlavní 61, Mariánské Lázně).

Total score with 1 round to go was announced as Veterans 12 - Ladies 16, but I think that’s a mistake, and the score should favor the Veterans not the Ladies.

Czech it out for yourself at the Official website: http://www.praguechess.cz/ and if you do, try that chess video on the right of the page – the one called Random Street Chess.

If anyone can translate for me; the text begins Psycholog a šachista Petr Bakalář připravil kuriózní šachový experiment… and after you play the video there seem to be other videos from all over the place.,, the San Francisco one was certainly exciting… but also check out the StreetChessMovie trailer, set on Market and 5^th SF… but if you go there avoid Jorge who makes about $350 a day, he says, and wait for the “Chess Claus” at the end !!!

Another New Format for Whirled Championship

New format for World Championship
30 Nov 2008, 2342 hrs IST, Hari Hara Nandanan, TNN

CHENNAI: The world chess federation (FIDE) has put in place a new format for the World Championship, starting the next cycle in 2011.

This decision was taken at the general assembly of the FIDE Congress during the Olympiad in Dresden.

According to All India Chess Federation (AIFF) secretary DV Sundar, eight players will play a round robin or knockout event (the organiser has the right to decide on this) and the participants will be two each from the Grand Prix and the World Cup, the loser of Gata Kamsky- Veselin Topalov, the loser of Viswanthan Anand vs Kamsky or Topalov, the highest ranked player and a player nominated from the host country, if he is above 2700 Elo rating.

Another decision taken at the meeting was that a player will forfeit his game if he arrives late at the board, like it was done at the Olympiad. This will now hold good for all the events.  Source.  Chess news from Susan Polgar

Top-10 Board-1 Open Performances at Dresden Olympiad
 

 Three 2800+ performances, and a further indication of Kamsky’s strength, measured against the world’s best.

Corus, Category 19 – Greatest Chess Show on Earth?

Participants are announced for the grandmaster group A:

GM Alexander Morozevich RUS 2787

GM Magnus Carlsen NOR 2786

GM Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2786

GM Levon Aronian ARM 2757

GM Teymour Radjabov AZE 2751

GM Wang Yue CHN 2736

GM Michael Adams ENG 2734

GM Sergei Movsesian SVK 2732

GM Sergei Karjakin UKR 2730

GM Gata Kamsky USA 2729

GM Leinier Dominguez CUB 2719

GM Loek van Wely NED 2618

GM Daniel Stellwagen NED 2605

GM Jan Smeets NED 2604

Average rating : 2720
Category : 19

11-15-2008

This Week’s Headline: It’s all about the Dresden Olympiad 1. Each team will have four main players and one reserve player in both sections. In previous years, the Men’s Olympiads would have 4 players plus two reserves while the Women’s section would only have three players plus one reserve.

More than 2,000 participants and 152 registered nations exceed the previous Turin Olympiad 2006. A total of 275 teams, 156 in the main tournament, include a second German team, teams for deaf, blind, and correspondence players. In the women's sections there are 119 teams.

Please someone – give this guy Joe Gallagher a medal from me for drawing a 2737 player.

Of all other team results, this one might also deserve special attention against the mighty Ukraine:

Look at them 2700 ratings! Good chess Vietnam! Of other results we see a few new stars in chess perform well, here is a good win with the black bits for young Wesley So.

I don’t know what the best team performance was, but this one from Iran certainly is a contender:

In terms of pretty-good against the odd performances, here is big result for Canada especially if you look at the ELOs where Canada is 100 or even 200 points adrift of their opponents.

Contrasted with these heroics in the ‘men’s, in the women’s competition the Russians behave as strong as they look:

But look at this! Just above the Iranian men held Hungary to an equal score, and below the Iranian women’s team giving up about 150 points per board… holding Germany?

Meanwhile, another fantastic result is from Argentina – once again, check the ELO differential of the players:

Apart from Russia, China is probably the team to beat – and in these competitions its converting those big ELO advantages to as many points as possible that gains the title. China can do it, and they will surely challenge the Russians until the very end:

One could go on – but England! This is no fair to your boards 3 and 4, since the competition in every game is going to be very intense for them, and playing up this many points, impossible? I mean, a draw against 200+ opposition is a lifetime result. Having to play up 300 or 400 points is a memory the ladies may not treasure.

Finally, here are the results for the US Women, which I think is not quite good enough given their ELO advantage.

Finally, two of the other ‘American’ teams faced off against each other reports the Cuban News Agency: Guantanamo, Nov 14 (Solvision)

Cuba male squad beat Estonia for the first time in Chess Olympiads 3-1 in the World tournament taking place in Dresden Germany.

Cuban best player, Leinier Dominguez, 21st in the world ranking, and with a 2719 ELO, drew with black pieces his rival Kaido Kulaots (2,556) in a very long match that lasted 94 moves.

The same result was obtained by Cuban third player Yunieski Quesada in his match against Riho Liiva (2,460) that only lasted 7 and a half minutes.

Cuba’s victory was secure with the wins of Lazaro Bruzon and Holden Hernandez, both playing with white pieces, who defeated GM Meelis Kanep and IM Olav Sepp, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Women squad beat Canada 3.5-0.5, when only Lisandra Ordaz could not win her game against Yuan Yuanling. The other three Cuban women (Maritza Arribas, Sulennys Piña, and Oleiny Linares) won their respective games, giving the Caribbean nation a good start.

Official Olympiad Site

There is also a full time Web TV Channel which you can access via the official site.  At least it says you can, but my attempts over successive days has not worked.  Maybe it will work for you?

Berkeley International Masters December 14-23, 2008, an international chess tournament will be held in Berkeley, California, where California's best will meet the nation's best, and the nation's best will meet top players from around the world. The tournament will be open to anyone with a fide rating of 2200 or higher. It will be a 10 round swiss, with games daily at 2 pm at the Berkeley Chess School. The time control will be 40/2, G/1. International title norms will be possible. Before, during, and after the tournament, there will be events where local chess players may meet some of the elite competitors. Entry is free to all Grandmasters.

So Far, so good. A list of players who at time of press have confirmed for Berkeley: Grandmaster Jesse Kraai Grandmaster Sergey Kudrin Grandmaster Sharavdorj Dashzegve Grandmaster Master Vinay Bhat International Master Josh Friedel International Master Irina Krush International Master David Pruess International Master Sandor Kustar International Master John Donaldson FIDE Master Bela Evans FIDE Master Sam Shankland FIDE Master Daniel Naroditsky FIDE Master Daniel Ludwig FIDE Master Daniel Rensch National Master Michael Aigner National Master Iryna Zenyuk

The tournament will also cover travel expenses and provide rooms for some (depending on entries and sponsorship). Non-grandmasters will pay an entry fee based on their fide rating and date of registration. That schedule can be found at http://dotq.org/chess-schedule.

Full information about prizes and everything you need to know view the following URLs:

Brit Rapid-Play – 300 Top Players Compete at Game-30

THE British Rapid Play Championships, one of the top dates on the UK chess calendar, will take place at North Bridge Leisure Centre over the weekend of November 29 and 30.

The main event for the 11-round tournament is comprised of four sections - Minor (under 101), Intermediate (under 131), Major (under 161) and Open depending on the abilities of players and usually attracts a total in excess of 300.

The games are played over 30 minutes each on the clock.  Details of the tournament can be obtained from Steve Burton on 0113 2568157.

11-8-2008

Chess Media – A Massive Chess Politics Issue

Lots of chess politics in this edition of the Parrot.  I have a sense that if it were paraphrased or abbreviated this Parrot would be accused of hyperbole, spin and also making it up.

Therefore, at the expense of publishing very much text, here are a few examples of what goes on in the world championship reunification process – one which is not exactly bringing anyone together – and certainly not to play chess!  In fact, Fide have suggested that unless the managers get the money together then they will over-call the issue and simply eliminate on of the candidates.

Let’s start with something less depressing, a poem about depression from a GM who at least admits a higher source of resolution is necessary to resolve certain divisions.

Chess Media –

Lets say you are a GM with a bi-polar disorder …
A letter to Chessville from Andras Adorjan

Whether the choice USCF made or the recommendation by board member GM Susan Polgar is the wisest choice now seems moot – since the president of USCF Bill Goichberg seemed to act for the federation without even informing other board members of his intent.  No clarification has been received from USCF to the following statement: i.e., is it a legal one to act for the board when you have a quorum, but do not even inform other board members of the topic?

In a message dated 11/7/2008 9:32:22 A.M. Central Standard Time, Chessoffice writes:

World Champ via Lawyers and Money Interests?

Too cynical?  Fide seemed to have issued the following statement – and declared in advance that players will be eliminated unless bankers come up with the moolah...  But read for yourself Fide’s idea of a ‘re-unification’ world championship actually means:

Moscow, 6 November 2008
Announcement of the FIDE President concerning the match Topalov - Kamsky

Dear chess friends,

As already known, FIDE had initially reached a decision to award the Challenger's Match Topalov - Kamsky to the Bulgarian Chess Federation which offered a prize fund of 150,000 USD.

Afterwards, and following consultations with both sides, FIDE gave the opportunity to Alexander Chernenko, the manager of GM Gata Kamsky, to bring in an improved bid with Lviv suggested by Mr Chernenko as the host city.  The prize fund offered by GM Gata Kamsky's manager was 750,000 USD.  Since then, FIDE received several letters, by banks supposed to co-operate with Mr Chernenko, stating that the funds were "on their way".  But up to this moment, and despite numerous reminders to Alexander Chernenko, no bank guarantees have been provided and of course no transfer of the prize fund has been made to the bank account of FIDE.

At this point I must say that I have deeply regretted the trust which I had shown to Alexander Chernenko, concerning the reliability of his offer.  The actions of Mr Chernenko indicate an abuse of right to invoke my guarantee which was declared after his own request and in good faith to help him secure the necessary funds.  Furthermore, I understand the complaints of the Bulgarian Chess Federation concerning the procedure followed, although FIDE was only trying to improve the financial conditions for both players.

In order to restore the procedure towards holding this very important match, FIDE announces the following:

a) The Bulgarian Chess Federation will be re-awarded with the event if it accepts in written form, by 14 November 2008 12:00 GMT, to hold the match with a prize fund of 250,000 USD plus 50,000 USD as contribution to FIDE and all organising expenses covered.  In this case, the dates of the match Topalov - Kamsky remain as already announced (29 Nov. - 12 Dec. 2008) and I intend to nominate FIDE Vice President Mr William Kelleher of USA as the FIDE Supervisor of the Organising Committee (*duties of the FIDE Supervisor as annex 1 to this announcement).  The confirmation letter of the Bulgarian Chess Federation should be sent by email at office@fide.com.  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots.  You need JavaScript enabled to view it and by registered post to the FIDE Secreteriat, address: 9 Syggrou Ave, 11743 Athens, Greece.

b) By 14 November 2008, 12:00 GMT, both players have to officially confirm, in written form and in a clear and explicit way, that they will play the match.  If GM Topalov refuses to confirm his participation, then GM Kamsky qualifies automatically for the 2009 WCC match.  If GM Kamsky refuses to confirm his participation, he will be replaced by GM Shirov (the runner-up of the World Cup 2007).  The confirmation letters should be sent by email at office@fide.com.  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots.  You need JavaScript enabled to view it and by registered post to the FIDE Secreteriat, address: 9 Syggrou Ave, 11743 Athens, Greece.

c) If the Bulgarian Chess Federation will not confirm that it accepts the financial requirements of (a), an open bidding procedure will be launched with a deadline of 31 December 2008.  The best bid will be awarded with the event which will then be held in February or March 2009.

The unfortunate handling of the situation by Alexander Chernenko has brought us to a point where the time limits are very tight.  With this procedure, FIDE puts the Challengers Match back on track and with a clear timetable.  We are all looking forward to a great match which will produce a worthy challenger to World Champion Vishy Anand for the year 2009.

Gens Una Sumus!
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
FIDE President

STOP-PRESS – Gata Kamsky replies to the USCF Board:

Dear President, gentlemen, Susan,

When I first seen Bill's letter I was happy, because finally USCF has been showing strong support for their representative.  Whether there could be a better solution or a more diplomatic one is a good question, but the reality is that there is no time to negotiate and given FIDE's strong-arm history of negotiating, it is not likely to succeed.  When I spoke with FIDE Vice President Mr. Makropoulos in Greece, it was decided that both my team and Mr. Topalov's team would meet during the rest day at the Olympiad in Dresden to negotiate and discuss everything, including technical details.

With their last public statement, Mr. Illumjinov not only attempted to revoke his personal guarantee of the match, but he also imposed the time limit of 1 week for the players to accede to his demands and at the same time re-awarded the bid to the Bulgarian Federation, which was the original FIDE's intention in the first place.  You all are aware of the clause in the FIDE regulation for this "special" match that gave the Bulgarian Chess Federation a privilege of matching any bid that is coming from my side, which effectively ruined any attempt to find and submit a bid from the United States.

Throughout the negotiations with my managers, FIDE did nothing to find a sponsor on their own, despite the fact that it was sole FIDE's decision to create this match and thus, to allow Mr. Topalov a backdoor into the final steps of the qualification proceedings for the world championship title, quite unfairly, I might add.

FIDE's entire purpose, for the chessplayers, for fairness has been changed into a special interest group organization and I personally believe that any negotiations with FIDE rulers or tsars, or whatever you like to call them, will be unsuccessful.

The time for the negotiation is over and the only way to fight FIDE is to expose their mistakes, and perhaps fight them in a court of law if and when FIDE broke the law.  Therefore, I would respectfully request all USCF Board members to unite and find ways to make sure that justice and fairness will prevail.

Sincerely,
Gata Kamsky

6^th Annual U Mass

Contact: Frank Kolasinski
Phone:   413-209-9450
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Springfield MA - November 1, 2008

Greetings to all my valued chess friends and supporters,

As a 501(c7) not-for-profit organization, the Western Massachusetts Chess Association attempts to do some "good will"/charitable work each year to assist the community in which most of us reside in. This year, WMCA is co-sponsoring the 6th annual UMass G/60, with ALL profits to go to support the UMass Chess Club at the UMass Campus in Amherst.

The ideas behind this are simple: Back in the early to mid-70's, the UMass CC sponsored many strong and lavish chess events, with grandmaster-style playing conditions. We hope our efforts to support the club will assist everyone in a return to this era, while helping to promote the revival of chess in the five college area as well! Please note the special entry fees offered to ALL master level players, as well as to ALL college students (please bring your college I.D.!) and new or unrated players.

The prize fund for this annual "fun" event is higher this year as well, in an effort to attract top level competition. All that is needed now is your support... by playing in this event, you help support a worthy cause and assist our efforts to promote the game that we all love.

I hope to see you across the board from me on Saturday, November 15th at UMass/Amherst!!

Best wishes,
Frank Kolasinski
President, Western Massachusetts Chess Association 
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/WesternMassachusettsChessAssociation/
http://www.westernmassachusettschessassociation.org/

6th annual UMass G/60
Co-sponsored by the UMass Chess Club and the Western Massachusetts Chess Association
Got questions? Call Frank at 413-209-9450 or e-mail: horseyman5000@aol.com
WMCA website: www.WesternMassachusettsChessAssociation.org

Cap d'Agde –
Big result for Nakamura

Anatoly Karpov was doing extraordinarily well until he ran into the USA’s Hikaru Nakamura. Another surprise was Ivanchuk’s handy dismissal of Carlsen.

But then enter Nakamura!

And Ivanchuk refutes Carlsen:

Should be a great final.

10-18-2008

The official website: http://www.russiachess.org/ contains more information but only in Russian language.

10-11-2008

Chess Media – World Championship

Three days away from when readers read this, and after the most protracted and uncertain process since the days of Fischer, the Anand-Kramnik match looks to be on next Tuesday. Frankly, this Parrot has forgotten the fate of the Kamsky-Topalov match… the last I remember was that the check was in the mail [for about 2 months].

Chess Express - yet another new product:

Perhaps the most innovative chess company in the US announces another incremental benefit to its range of services.

Oct 10, 2008                           FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CXR Adds Endgame Performance Statistics

Chess Express Ratings is proud to announce an exciting new addition to our toolbox of analytics.  Our Game History Report now shows your Endgame performance in rating points gained or lost, on average, when your games are at least 48 moves.  The 48-move minimum encompasses approximately one third of all chess games.

http://www.cxrchess.com/ViewGameHistory.php?PlayerID=181

http://www.cxrchess.com/ViewGameHistory.php?PlayerID=34

For any additional information, please email: info@cxrchess.com or telephone 1-718-793-5995.

Category Kasparov, Site: Harlem

Years ago a Russian friend in Petersburg wrote me that Gary showed up in Petersburg from Moscow at his own expense to play a simul against the best and brightest scholastic students there. Now Gary is here.

The Harlem Children's Zone, a remarkable anti-poverty and education initiative. The Zone was recently visited by Barack Obama, who praised the program and its president Geoffrey Canada in a speech last year.

Meanwhile, in Budapest

The three Polgar sisters will play a 100 board simul – the sponsor made this announcement:

"Aquaprofit Co. is a major sponsor of the Hungarian chess life for years; it is the name giving sponsor of the chess team of Nagykanizsa, which is one of the strongest chess teams in Hungary. Last year the management hired Judit Polgár to bring her back to the circulation of the domestic chess life. Besides it organized the successful Aquaprofit-Polgár chess day, this way, after ten years the world famous sisters played together again in Hungary.  The Aquaprofit Co. would like to continue this tradition this year as well: the 2nd Aquaprofit-Polgár Chess day will be held in the Palace of Arts at 3 pm on the 11th of October 2008."

Russian Championship

Round 6 results were all draws, but watch out for young Nikita Sitiugov to steal the tournament away from current leader, Petr Svidler.

Morozevich, Alexander - Alekseev, Evgeny ½-½
Sakaev, Konstantin - Svidler, Peter ½-½
Lastin, Alexander - Timofeev, Artyom ½-½
Tomashevsky, Evgeny - Inarkiev, Ernesto ½-½
Riazantsev, Alexander - Jakovenko, Dmitry ½-½
Maslak, Konstantin - Vitiugov, Nikita ½-½

Standings after 7 rounds:

1. Svidler, Peter g 2727 5
2. Alekseev, Evgeny g 2715 4½
3. Vitiugov, Nikita g 2638 4½
4. Timofeev, Artyom g 2670 4½
5. Morozevich, Alexander g 2787 4
6. Jakovenko, Dmitry g 2737 4
7. Lastin, Alexander g 2651 3½
8. Sakaev, Konstantin g 2640 3
9. Tomashevsky, Evgeny g 2646 3
10. Riazantsev, Alexander g 2656 2½
11. Maslak, Konstantin g 2544 2
12. Inarkiev, Ernesto g 2669 1½

Official website: http://www.russiachess.org/

World Mind Games

The drama as reported by Susan Polgar’s blog:
Many Surprises in the WMSG Pairs Blitz
Thursday, 09 October 2008 03:58

10-4-2008

Chess Media – Greg Takes On, 3^rd Grade!
American Astronaut is playing more chess.

NASA and the U.S. Chess Federation will host the first public chess match between International Space Station astronaut Greg Chamitoff and people on Earth next week. The match, which NASA has billed as Earth vs. space, will include championship chess team players from U.S. grammar schools, with help from the public at large.

Students in kindergarten through third grade on the U.S. Chess Championship Team and their chess club teammates from Stevenson Elementary School in Bellevue, Wash., will choose up to four moves before the public can vote on their choices. Once the public has voted, the move will be transmitted to orbit and it will show up on the USCF's Web site.

Category XV Results

2008 SPICE Cup International Invitational Tournament

Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Chief Organizer: Susan Polgar Category: XV | FIDE Average: 2605.5 | USCF Average: 2666.5 September 19-28, 2008, Day off on September 23.  Final Standings of SPICE Cup Invitational:

1-4 Pentala, Harikrishna g IND 2668, Onischuk, Alexander g USA 2670, Kritz, Leonid g GER 2610, Akobian, Varuzhan g USA 2610 5½; 5. Becerra, Julio g USA 2598 5; 6. Mikhalevski, Victor g ISR 2592 4½; 7. Perelshteyn, Eugene g USA 2555 4; 8-9. Kaidanov, Gregory S g USA 2605, Miton, Kamil g POL 2580 3½;10. Stefansson, Hannes g ISL 2566 2½

India’s Pentala Harikrishna won the Spice Cup chess with an exciting last-round win that not only got him into a four-way tie, but also earned him the title with the best tie-break score. Here is his last round victory:

Pentala, Harikrishna (2668) - Kaidanov, Gregory (2605)
2008 Spice Cup, Lubbock, Texas (9), 20.09.2008

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 Nf6 6.e3 Bf5 7.Qb3 Nc6 8.a3 Na5 9.Qd1 0–0 10.Nf3 Ne4 11.Rc1 c6 12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.Nd2 b6 14.b4 Nb7 15.Ba6 Qd7 16.0–0 Nd8 17.Nc4 f6 18.Nd2 Ne6 19.Bg3 c5 20.dxc5 bxc5 21.b5 c4 22.Nxc4 Nc5 23.Nd6 Nxa6 24.Nxf5 Qxf5 25.Qb3+ Kh8 26.bxa6 Qa5 27.Qb7 Bxa3 28.Rc7 Rab8 29.Qxa7 Ra8 30.Qb7 Qxa6 31.Rxg7 Qxb7 32.Rxb7 Kg8 33.h3 Rf7 34.Rb6 Rc8 35.Bf4 f5 36.Rd1 Bf8 37.Rd5 Kg7 38.Rbb5 Rc1+ 39.Kh2 Kg6 40.g4 fxg4 41.Rg5+ Kf6 42.Rb6+ Ke7 43.Rb7+ Ke8 44.Re5+ Be7 45.Bg5 Rxf2+ 46.Kg3 Rf3+ 47.Kxg4 Rg1+ 48.Kh4 1–0

Official websites: www.SusanPolgar.blogspot.com and www.SPICE.ttu.edu

Games will be broadcast on www.MonRoi.com

Meanwhile, in Elista…

No, this is not a caption competition, readers should not write in, it is a celebration of 10 years of ‘Chess City’ in Kalmykia, with President of the region and of FIDE Kirsan Ilyumzhinov attending a ceremony with another gentleman who looks remarkably like an ancient druid in front of the Cauldron of repute.

The official proclamation by Ignatius Leong, FIDE General Secretary, declares:

“In the steppes was built the world's first ever "chess city" which housed the foreign visitors who witnessed how a small city with a small population provided one of the best hospitality to the world chess community.  I am sure the visitors today still cherish the warm hospitality of Kirsan's citizens.”

It does not mention that certain Kalmykian women citizens went on hunger strike asking why they, poor peasants, should underwrite chess playing for rich nations?  Presumably these women have now adjusted their orientation to “warm hospitality” since that ever seems to be the case in these 100% democracies, such as the State of Kalmykia enjoys.

World Mind Games

The first world Mind Games event is being held in China, and features chess, here is a link to a blitz game featuring Hou Yifan. The official site is http://www.2008wmsg.org/en/

Worried Championship

During the Bilbao Masters tournament Veselin Topalov's manager IM Silvio Danailov told journalists that there were no news regarding the Topalov vs Kamsky match.  Now Stefan Sergiev, President of the Bulgarian Chess Federation, has appealed to FIDE President: "Mr. Ilyumzhinov, please inform me where and when the match will take place!"

The Answer appears to be:

The challengers match Topalov - Kamsky may take yet another turn of events.  Dubai has been named as one of the possibilities for host city for the match, scheduled to take place in November.  The final decision will be taken this Sunday.

The news has been announced by the FIDE President Kirsan Ilymzhinov to Yuri Vassilev, cited by Sport Express.  The FIDE President has confirmed one more time the guarantee for the prize fund and has named Dubai and Lvov as the two possible host cities of the event.

More Alekhine's Parrot Archives

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