Chess Commander

Besides round reports, currently the website of the European Championship in Rijeka has two interesting news items. It's reported that Silvio Danailov is running for President of the European Chess Union, and that 110 participants have protested against the zero-tolerance rule. At the European Championship website we're informed of the following: Mr. ...

Black to move. Is this a draw or win for Black?

8/1b3B1k/8/8/Kp2pp2/2P5/4P3/8 b - - 0 1

If the announcement, made just a few months ago, that Magnus Carlsen and Garry Kasparov were working together was news, then I suppose the announcement that they aren't working together is worth mentioning. At least they felt it was worth a whole press release, which is really more of a time-honored way of keeping names in the news when there isn't really news. Other than tweaking the press release a tiny bit before it went out, I don't have any inside info on this. I'm certainly not privy to their financial arrangements.

From casual conversations and public information, including the release itself, I sum it up as follows. They had a one-year arrangement and now that year is up. With Carlsen already the #1, the goal they had set at the start, perhaps as a two-year plan, already achieved, it didn't make much sense to continue as before. So Carlsen is taking the next step, which is taking charge and building up all the muscles he needs to be a complete pro. He also saves the no-doubt-considerable expense of hiring the former world champ. Kasparov's role will be more of an occasional consultant, with Carlsen setting the agenda and asking for advice instead of following another's gameplan. They both keep some benefits from what turned out to be a great PR (and chess) move for both of them -- and great PR (and chess) means money. The announcement also keeps some of the GK shadow around when Carlsen plays, which can't hurt. Even if they don't work together much the threat can be stronger than the execution.

I'd say that the impact of their collaboration will be debated endlessly, but of course that's already happened. Carlsen has candidates matches coming up at some point, and I'm sure Kasparov's input there will be useful. And if Magnus makes it to a world championship match, their relationship could be a major factor. Especially if his opponent is Anand.

After 4 rounds at the European Individual Chess Championship, only 2 remain perfect in the overall section and 1 in the women's section.

Leaders after 4 rounds:

Rk.			Name	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	Rp	n	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1		GM	Jobava Baadur	GEO	2695	4,0	5,5	10,5	4	3371	4	4	2,66	1,34	10	13,4
2		GM	Efimenko Zahar	UKR	2640	4,0	4,5	9,5	4	3349	4	4	2,48	1,52	10	15,2
3		GM	Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter	ROU	2661	3,5	5,5	11,0	3	2854	4	3,5	2,75	0,75	10	7,5
4		GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	RUS	2667	3,5	5,5	10,5	3	2883	4	3,5	2,63	0,87	10	8,7
5		GM	Pelletier Yannick	SUI	2611	3,5	5,0	10,0	3	2889	4	3,5	2,27	1,23	10	12,3
6		GM	Adams Michael	ENG	2704	3,5	5,0	10,0	3	2875	4	3,5	2,85	0,65	10	6,5
		GM	Lupulescu Constantin	ROU	2598	3,5	5,0	10,0	3	2869	4	3,5	2,30	1,20	10	12,0
8		GM	Timofeev Artyom	RUS	2655	3,5	5,0	9,5	3	2901	4	3,5	2,47	1,03	10	10,3
		GM	Maiorov Nikita	BLR	2510	3,5	5,0	9,5	3	2806	4	3,5	1,90	1,60	10	16,0
10		GM	Sokolov Ivan	BIH	2638	3,5	5,0	9,0	3	2844	4	3,5	2,69	0,81	10	8,1
		GM	Szabo Gergely-Andras-Gyula	ROU	2525	3,5	5,0	9,0	3	2814	4	3,5	2,03	1,47	10	14,7
12		IM	Skoberne Jure	SLO	2509	3,5	5,0	8,5	3	2788	4	3,5	1,94	1,56	10	15,6
13		GM	Mamedov Rauf	AZE	2639	3,5	5,0	8,5	3	2845	4	3,5	2,67	0,83	10	8,3
14		GM	Nepomniachtchi Ian	RUS	2656	3,5	4,5	10,0	3	2851	4	3,5	2,75	0,75	10	7,5
15			Nabaty Tamir	ISR	2485	3,5	4,5	8,5	3	2589	3	2,5	1,01	1,49	10	14,9
16		GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	ESP	2708	3,5	4,0	9,5	3	2913	4	3,5	2,69	0,81	10	8,1
17		GM	Iordachescu Viorel	MDA	2621	3,5	3,5	7,0	3	2776	4	3,5	2,93	0,57	10	5,7

Women's leaders:

1	GM	Socko Monika	POL	2465	4,0	4,0	9,0	4	3115	4	4	2,80	1,20	10	12,0
2	GM	Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan	SCO	2447	3,5	6,0	12,0	3	2704	4	3,5	2,40	1,10	10	11,0
3	IM	Cmilyte Viktorija	LTU	2485	3,5	4,5	8,5	3	2647	4	3,5	2,91	0,59	10	5,9
4	IM	Muzychuk Anna	SLO	2533	3,5	4,5	8,0	3	2692	4	3,5	2,91	0,59	10	5,9
	IM	Skripchenko Almira	FRA	2456	3,5	4,5	8,0	3	2643	4	3,5	2,79	0,71	10	7,1
6	GM	Cramling Pia	SWE	2523	3,5	4,0	8,0	3	2685	4	3,5	2,90	0,60	10	6,0
7	GM	Kosintseva Tatiana	RUS	2524	3,5	3,5	7,5	3	2716	4	3,5	2,74	0,76	10	7,6
8	WGM	Galojan Lilit	ARM	2380	3,5	3,5	7,5	3	2614	4	3,5	2,52	0,98	15	14,7

Full standings here: http://chess-results.com/tnr29567.aspx?lan=1

Netanyahu Ties in Chess Against Gelfand
March 9, 2010
Filed under: Israel News
Y.W. Editor @ 2:25 pm

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday took an hour from his busy schedule for a game of chess against world champion Boris Gelfand. Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman Natan Sharansky was at the prime minister’s side, assisting and lending support. Sharansky is known as a formidable chess player.

The game ended in a tie, as did an earlier game between Sharansky and Gelfand.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
www.theyeshivaworld.com

Chess... an alternate universe?
Tuesday, 9 March 2010

Steve after his bizarre journey meeting the Queen...

It was discovered tomorrow that the game of Chess is not of this world. Many people have experienced strange reactions when playing chess likened to 'visiting a Star Wars set only real'. It appears that when the first move, typically 1.e4 was made they found themselves whisked off the planet and playing against a very different opponent then they sat down with.

We spoke to a white faced chess player who had just come back from a game on 'Alpha Centauri' and he told us of his experience.

"It happened as soon as I moved e4, a flash and whirr of colour like a spiral and I felt myself falling. I blamed it on the MSG in the Chinese meal I had yesterday until I found myself seated opposite a strange blob that had no recognisable human attributes and smelled faintly of a concoction called 'Gengo' - a mix of genes and wormhole shavings."

We played the game in silence (or so I thought) apart from the occasional colour changing of this creature which seemed to give me a feeling of euthoria especially when it turned pink.

When I captured it's queen the blob disappeared for a couple of seconds and returned as an exact replica of Queen Victoria which quite frankly didn't surprise me at all.

It tried to make contact with me at this point but I was overcome with a strange emotion that I had met my mother for the first time.

"The game progressed and the blob/Viccy won, which made it turn a shade of peachy green, I thought it was gonna be sick - I then felt myself sucked in a vacuum and before I knew it, I was back opposite my opponent!" He shuddered as if the temperature has just dropped.

So there we have it. Who'd a thought it? Chess really is a Universal game.

Source: http://www.thespoof.com

Local students to compete in chess tourney
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
The Hillsboro Argus

Chess for Success will host Oregon's largest scholastic chess tournament Friday and Saturday at the Oregon Convention Center.

Students from W.L. Henry, Lincoln Street and Patterson elementary schools will be among more than 500 students competing to be 'king or queen of the boards.'

Students at all levels - elementary, middle and high school - will come together for team and individual competition. Of the 60 schools participating, 19 are Chess for Success schools.

Play begins at 9 a.m. on both days.

Chess for Success is not just a chess program looking for the next Bobby Fischer. It is a leading education organization for K-8th-grade students in Oregon and Southwest Washington that uses the game of chess to help kids become smarter and self-confident.

For nearly 20 years, Chess for Success has helped thousands of students in low-income schools succeed in the classroom and in life. Chess for Success is addressing two community needs: closing the achievement gap for low-income and minority students; and preparing students to be a successful part of tomorrow's global workforce.

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com

Gjon Feinstein, my friend who makes his living teaching chess, has a great way to get kids over the hump of not wanting to put their pieces next to the opponent’s king, even if it would win the game. He calls it the “in-your-face” checkmate.

Today, as I do every Tuesday, I supervised the Aptos Libary chess club. Recently I have started bringing a notebook so that I can copy positions down from the kids’ games and talk about them later. In today’s meeting I set up a position from a game that was played last week.

Here White played a very poor move, 1. Rbf7?, which both loses material and loses the attack. My first question for the group today was whether anybody could find a better move for White. That was a very easy question; the kids quickly found 1. Nxg5. It’s obviously better to take the opponent’s piece than to let him take your own piece.

But that is far from being the end of the story. Next I asked them, “What does the move 1. Nxg5 threaten?” I asked them to name two specific threats. Again, they found one of them pretty quickly: White threatens 2. Nf7+, which forks the king and queen. At first they thought this was checkmate, until I pointed out that Black can play 2. … Kxg7 because the rooks are no longer connected. Still, 3. Nxd6 wins the queen for a rook. Alternatively, Black could play 2. … Rxf7, but either way he loses material.

However, no  one could figure out what White’s second threat was.  So I phrased the question a different way. “Suppose Black sees that you are threatening 2. Nf7+, and plays 1. … Qxh2? What would you play next?”

Well, some of the kids still wanted to play 3. Nxf7+, so I patiently explained that Black would play 3. … Kxg7 and you’ve basically given up the rook for nothing. What else can White play? Various ideas were suggested: 3. Bb4; 3. Ne6; even 3. Nxe4. Amazingly, none of the kids could see that White has a checkmate in two moves. (I didn’t tell them this, of course, because in your games no one is going to tell you it’s mate in two.)

Finally I gave them a hint: always look first at checks and captures. You would think someone would have found it then, but no! The next suggestion I got was 3. Rg8+. But this is nevertheless an interesting idea, because Black could make a mistake and play 3. … Rxg8?? (This was in fact the first defense that was suggested.) I told them there was something horribly wrong with this move, and again I suggested looking for checks and captures. That’s when someone (I don’t remember who) hit on 4. Rxh7 mate!

That’s when the light-bulb moment occurred. After I showed them this move, I mentioned that my friend calls this an in-your-face checkmate. All of a sudden, a boring lesson turned interesting to them. “In your face!” they all started chanting and saying to each other.

After letting this general celebration go on for a minute or so, I said, “Let’s go back to the previous position. Is there some way we can play an in-your-face check here?”

This time they finally caught on: “2. Rh7 check!”

“Is it a checkmate this time?”

“No!”

“Where can the Black king go?”

“To the square next to the rook.”

“Okay, 2. … Kg8. Now, can you play another in-your-face check?”

“The other rook to g7.”

“3. Rbg7+! Very good! Is it a checkmate now?”

“Yes, it is!”

Double in-your-face action

“Fantastic!” I said. “You’ve just played a double in-your-face checkmate!”

This elicited another chorus of “in your face“s. At this point I felt it was a good time to bring the lesson to an end and let the kids go back to their games. But for the remaining fifteen minutes or so, whenever I saw an opportunity for one of them to play an in-your-face check or checkmate, I would ask them if they could find it. Most of the time they did. All in all, I felt as if some kind of understanding was reached.

I learned something from this episode, too. You may understand something perfectly yourself, but that doesn’t mean that you can get someone else to see it, especially when they are between the ages of 7 and 12. But it might take just one little phrase, like “in your face,” to get the lightbulb to turn on. Of course, I can’t take any credit for this; it was Gjon’s idea. The mystery, to me, is how do you find these magic words?

P.S. By the way, if this had been a more advanced group, there is still more to talk about in the initial position. Obviously 1. … Qxh2 wasn’t such a great defense after all, since it allowed mate in two. What would be Black’s best try? (This might lead to the idea of moving the rook away from f8 to vacate the square for the king.) And after that, is 2. Nf7+ really White’s best answer, or is there possibly something even better?

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The World Chess Federation unveils new rules banning performance enhancing drugs.

Britain's first ever grandmaster, the late Anthony John Miles, was not just strong but also extremely creative. When this fiery player clashed with Anatoly Karpov, it was pure provocation facing ice-cold strategy. In his Playchess presentation Dennis Monokroussos shows us Karpov succeeding – next week it will be Miles taking down his illustrious opponent. Be there at 9 p.m. ET.

Currently the FIDE rules require that players must be seated at the board no later than zero seconds past the scheduled start of a game. This has led to some unpleasant situations in the past. At the 11th European Individual Championships 110 participants signed a petition to change the grace period to 30 minutes. In the tournament Baadur Jobava and Zaher Efimenko lead. Round four report.

Bulgaria's Silvio Danailov to Run for President of European Chess Union
WEDNESDAY, 10 March 2010
SPORT

GM Veselin Topalov's manager, Silvio Danailov, said he would run for president of the European Chess Union (ECU), chessdom.bg informs. Reportedly, Danailov will present his campaigning platform in the Croatian city of Rijeka this weekend. If elected, Danailov pledges to raise interest in Europe's big chess tournaments and draw more sponsors to the international chess movement. Bulgaria's President Parvanov was the first to mention that a Bulgarian might run for President of the European chess union, following talks with FIDE boss Kirsan Ilyumzhinov last December.

Source: http://paper.standartnews.com

Petition from chess players at the 11th EICC in Rijeka
The zero default time questioned again
Report by Chessdom

The participants of the European Individual Men and Women's Chess Championsh in Rijeka have submitted a petition to the Organizing committee and the ECU President Boris Kutin in which they request changing the delay tolerance from 0 to 30 minutes. They require this measurement to be valid from the 4th round. The petition was signed by 110 participants.

Due to request, on the behalf of Organizing committee, the president of the Executive Committee Damir Vrhovnik said: “The organizers are trying to do their best for the sake of our players. In accordance to that, on the behalf of Organizing committee and myself, I support the participants' request. However, this question is under the European Chess Union' jurisdiction and therefore, they are the ones who must make the decision“.

The rules of chess according to FIDE

At the Presidential Board Meeting 2009 Q1 the zero default time was discussed and it was decided that, "the PB approved changes in the Laws of Chess including that the default time would be zero unless otherwise specified in the regulations of the tournament." The specific FIDE rule is now present in the Laws of Chess, saying,

6.6 a. Any player who arrives at the chessboard after the start of the session shall lose the game. Thus the default time is 0 minutes. The rules of a competition may specify otherwise. b. If the rules of a competition specify a different default time, the following shall apply. If neither player is present initially, the player who has the white pieces shall lose all the time that elapses until he arrives, unless the rules of the competition specify or the arbiter decides otherwise.

As per tournament regulations in Rijeka (text here) no specification about time of appearance at the board is present, thus, the FIDE regulations for zero default time are valid.

Stay tuned for more details on the matter, we will bring you all reactions by the arbiters, appeals committee, the players, ECU, and FIDE officials.

Klitschko sends positive message with academic achievement
WBC champion credits parents for success and praises younger brother
By K. R. Nayar, Senior Reporter
Published: 00:00 March 10, 2010

Abu Dhabi: The World Boxing Council (WBC) Heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko is a role model for all aspiring sportsmen. He is the first professional boxing champion to hold a PhD in sports science.

"I owe my success in sports to the encouragement from my parents. My mother was always supportive and my father always pushed me to box," remarked Klitschko, whose father was a former Soviet Air Force Colonel and mother a teacher.

Klitschko's younger brother Wladimir Klitschko is the current IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring Magazine world heavyweight champion. When asked about his brother, a proud Klitschko said: "If there is one guy who can beat me, he is my younger brother. I am afraid to fight him."

...Klitschko is a close friend of world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik and has even played with him many times. His doctoral thesis was on talent and sponsorship in sports. The Kiev University of Physical Science and Sports conferred him with the PhD.

Source: http://gulfnews.com

If you're in a philosophical mood, here's an amusing YouTube mash-up with astronomy, "there's something out there" text, and Bobby Fischer video clips voiced over one by of the less scurrilous segments of the many interviews Fischer gave to Philippine radio during, I believe, his captivity in Japan. Most of it sounds like the epiphany of a 9th-grade science student, but there is an innocent charm to it for that. ht DC

"Can I go off the air singing a little "All You Need Is Love?"

And he does. Sort of. Fischer would have been 67 today. He died two years ago in Iceland, ending one of the greatest and then saddest stories in the history of chess. It's a pity that "the pride and sorrow" was already taken by his countryman Paul Morphy.

Yearbook 94 has just arrived! "All serious chess players should read these outstanding books", is what Carsten Hansen wrote about The Chess Player's Guide to Opening News on ChessCafe Please, have a look at the full contents.

Black to move and win. How should Black proceed?

Source: ChessToday.net (check out Chess Today website for more information about the best daily chess newspaper)

Having read mostly chess improvement books and opening manuals lately, I was delighted to see a new publication in the best tradition of chess writing: a serious tournament book. Strangely, it's a tradition that seems rather unpopular these days - a very unfortunate development indeed. The tournament book tradition has given ...

Mar 09, 2010
Happy Birthday Bobby Fischer
Source: USA Today

On this day in 1943, one of the greatest chess players in history was born.

Bobby Fischer's talent, known in the chess world for decades, would become evident world-wide when he defeated Russian Boris Spassky for the world title in 1972.

Later, Fischer's erratic personality and anti-Semitic rants would dominate his life. Click here for his confrontation with ABC's Jeremy Schaap. The chess champion passed away in 2008.

Here is a news report on Fischer's victory against Spassky.

Update March 5, 2010

Today Alexander Morozevich informed the organizers of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament that much to his regret he was forced to withdraw from the tournament for private reasons. Alexander Grischuk has accepted the invitation to come to Nice at such short notice to replace his countryman. Alexander Grischuk is the reigning Russian champion and is the current number 7 in the world rankings.

March 13-25, 2010, Nice, France

The 19th Amber Blindfold and Rapid tournament, organized by the Association Max Euwe in Monaco, takes place from March 13 (first round) to March 25 (last round) at the Palais de la Mediterranée, splendidly located on the famous Promenade des Anglais in Nice. The total prize-fund is € 216,000.

The twelve participants are (in alphabetical order): Levon Aronian (Armenia), Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Leinier Dominguez (Cuba), Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan), Boris Gelfand (Israel), Alexander Grischuk (Russia), Vasily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Sergey Karjakin (Russia), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), Ruslan Ponomariov, Jan Smeets (The Netherlands) and Peter Svidler.

Every day four sessions will be played, two blindfold sessions and two rapid sessions. The first session starts at 14.30 hrs. The fourth session finishes around 20.00 hrs. (Note: the final round on March 25 starts at 12.30 hrs. March 17 and 22 are rest days.)

http://www.amberchess2010.com/

Rijeka 2010 with fantastic live video coverage
multiple cameras and professional team bring the EICC experience live

Rijeka 2010 EICC is setting an example in online chess live video coverage. Up to now we have mostly seen a single static webcam, difficult to load the image from, or blocked by some of the spectators. Now you can fully enjoy the experience of a massive chess event, no matter if you are in Rijeka or in the other end of the world, via this live coverage.

The live video coverage features multiple web cameras that focus on top boards, as well as general views of the playing hall, showing players, spectators, and guests. As the games progress the remaining interesting positions and battles are featured.

The coverage starts at 15:00 CET, follow it now at the official website.

Silvio Danailov candidate for ECU President
Danailov to hold reception during EICC

Silvio Danailov, executive director of the Grand Slam Chess Association and manager of Veselin Topalov, will run for ECU President. The candidacy of a Bulgarian representative has been a rumor since December, when President Georgi Parvanov announced after his meeting with the FIDE President Kirsan Ilymzhinov that Bulgaria will have its own candidate for ECU. Now the news is official via announcement on the EICC Rijeka page.

Rijeka, 09.03

Mr. Silvio Danailov, vice-president of the Bulgarian Chess Federation will host a reception for delegates and guests of the ECU General Assembly on Saturday, 13th March at 9PM, in Opatija at the hotel Millenium (M. Tita 109).

At the reception Mr. Danailov will announce his candidacy for the President of the European Chess Union at the upcoming elections and will present the basic guidelines of his programme.

Here is part of the program that the team of Danailov is preparing. He will be in direct competition with another important figure in chess - Ali Nihat Yazici, his presentation was brough to you exclusive by Chessdom during the ETCC in Novi Sad.

Stay tuned for details and updates on the coming ECU race.

Deep likely to be awarded with the GM title
TNN, Mar 9, 2010, 12.59pm IST

NEW DELHI: Deep Sengupta is likely to be awarded with the Grand Master title on March 23, on the FIDE Presidential Board meetings, provided All India Chess Federation takes prompt action in this regard.

IM Sengupta made the 1st GM norm in Gurgaon International Open Tournament in January 2009.

Sengupta won a GM norm during the Doeberl Cup in Australia.

Sengupta made it a memorable event for India by winning the first place and gaining his second GM norm in the process in April 2009. GM Deepan Chakravarthy, who beat eventual champion Sengupta in the last round, finished third.

A strong Indian contingent of 15 players participated in this tournament. WFM Pon. N. Nkrithika scored her 3rd and final WIM norm, while the Indian champion WIM Kruttika Nadig finished in top 15 with 5,5 points. Other Indian prize winners were IM Sriram Jha (7th position) and GM Abhijit Kunte (8th position).

For his 3rd norm, Sengupta finished joint first with Tigran Gharamian and Vadim Malakhatko with 7/9 points in the Cannes Festival, 2010, France.

His live rating has crossed the 2500 mark at 2519.7. He will be the 22nd GM for India. Along with Sengupta, Arghyadip Das, V. Saravanan, Saptarshi Roy, all four Indians participated.

Sengupta earned the 3rd & final GM norm. His live rating has crossed the 2500 mark at 2519.7. Thus he is qualified to become India's 22nd Grand Master. Arghyadip Das also earned a GM norm.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Abu Dhabi prepares for Grand Prix Blitz tournament
Entries free and open to all, Abu Dhabi Chess and Culture Club board member says
Staff Report
Published: 00:01 March 9, 2010

Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi National Islamic Finance (ADNIF), the Islamic finance and banking arm of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), joined hands with the Abu Dhabi Chess and Culture Club (ADCC) to unveil the 2010 ADNIF Grand Prix Blitz Chess tournament.

Starting from Thursday, the 2010 ADNIF Grand Prix Blitz Chess Tournament will see a total of ten monthly events. Ten players will be entered into the final showdown along with two invited stars.

Addressing a press conference here yesterday, Aref Al Khouri, ADNIF general manager said: "This sponsorship reflects our strong relationship with Abu Dhabi Chess and Culture Club. It also confirms ADNIF's understanding and appreciation of roles played by arts, sports and recreational activities to encourage and facilitate sustainable development and welfare."

Monthly prizes

"ADNIF, officially launched last year, looks forward to support projects and activities that benefit all segments of society," he added.

"The sponsorship also reflects ADNIF and NBAD's commitment to serving and building Abu Dhabi and the wider UAE nation by supporting milestone events and financing projects in different economic sectors to achieve the Abu Dhabi Vision 2030," Al Khouri said.

Hussain Abdullah Khouri, ADCC board member, said entries were free and open to all nationalities and genders.

"Even if someone misses the deadline for the first event they can still join at any stage. We will be considering six of their best performances. We will also be having monthly prizes and a grand final will be held to coincide with the National Day Celebrations," Khouri added.

The ADCC official thanked Abu Dhabi Sports Council, under whose umbrella the Grand Prix is being held.

Source: http://gulfnews.com

Naiditsch, Vallejo, Jobava, Pelletier, Timofeev, Martinovic, Skoberne, Krasenkow, Inarkiev, Nisipeanu, Efimenko, Maiorov and Nepomniachtchi are the names of the thirteen players who are still on 100% in Rijeka. Three rounds at the European Individual Championship have been played. The 11th European Individual Men and Women's Chess Championship is held from 5th ...

White to move. Is this a draw or loss for White? How should White proceed?

8/8/6R1/8/3n4/4k3/r6P/6K1 w - - 0 47

Founder of Lubbock Chess Club answers some questions about group

Sunday, March 07, 2010
Story last updated at 3/7/2010 - 4:37 pm
Avalanche Journal

This week we have a special interview conducted by Chase Watters, member of the Texas Tech Knight Raiders nationally ranked chess team, and former president of the Texas Tech Knight Raiders Chess Club. His guest is Sam Houchin, founder of the new Lubbock Chess Club.

1. How did you revive the Lubbock Chess Club into existence?

I was invited to a game night at a friend’s house. We played several group-oriented games and as the evening began to wind down my friend, and host for the night, Chris expressed an interest in playing chess. He brought out the board and the rest just followed suit. Soon, several of us were playing weekly and we started searching for a local club to join.

We were surprised to find that the previous Lubbock Chess Club had disbanded several years ago. In our online search we found a newsletter generated by the TTU Knight Raiders that led us to a “chess game night” at Barnes & Noble on a Friday night. There, we met several members of the Knight Raiders and the idea of reviving the Lubbock Chess Club was born.

2. What is the relationship of the Lubbock Chess Club with SPICE and/or the TTU Knight Raider Chess Club?

Once we began playing routinely several nights a week with members of the Knight Raiders, it was brought to Susan Polgar’s attention that we were interested in starting Lubbock Chess Club.

She immediately jumped in and helped us to initially organize our efforts and to locate a weekly meeting place. Combined with the ongoing support and participation of the Knight Raiders, we have had very successful club attendance to date.

3. Who is welcome to come and play with the Lubbock Chess Club? Are novice chess players and kids welcome to play?

All are welcome. Male or female, any age or skill level. Chess is a game for people of all ages and you can learn to play at any time. So come play even if you have never seen a chess board or if you are a highly advanced player.

4. How many players typically come and play at the Lubbock Chess Club, and what is the typical strength of those players?

It varies. We have an average of 18 to 20 regular players. Some nights we have as many as 30 plus players and 12 to 14 on others.

5. Is there a fee to join the Lubbock Chess Club?

At this time there is not a fee to join the club. However, in order to provide for the membership in the future we are in the process of formalizing the club with officers, by-laws, constitution and, of course, fees. Preliminary discussion on fees has been $20 per year for an adult membership, $15 per year for college students, and $10 per year for persons younger than 18.

6. What are some upcoming events that the Lubbock Chess Club is planning?

Since we are still getting off the ground we don’t have any events on the current schedule. We plan on sponsoring tournaments, leagues, chess ladders, and blitz tournaments in the future.

7. Why do you like playing chess?

In my opinion, chess is the ultimate game having a positive effect on a player’s attitude toward learning and cognitive achievement.

Chess play engages the human brain and employs new ways of thinking, imaginative processes, and creativity. Chess also develops your critical and analytical thinking ability and contributes to the increase of intelligence, problem solving skills, memorization and concentration. A little competition is also great for mental alertness, patience, sportsmanship, as well as challenging your sense of accomplishment.

8. How do you like playing chess at Lin’s Buffet on Mondays?

Lin’s provides us with a large, open, comfortable area to meet and play along with a wide variety of delicious food items to choose from. They offer a 10 percent discount to all members and, while we encourage dining, it is completely optional.

8. Where do you see the Lubbock Chess Club six months from now, and one year from now?

The current version of the Lubbock Chess Club is in its infancy. In the future we hope to offer chess instruction for any age and a comprehensive chess library available to all members.

Our primary purpose is to have fun and to promote the popularity of chess. We hope to eventually conduct tournaments and other forms of chess competition.

I feel that our membership will increase with time and advertising. As for the community, we hope to reach out to the school districts in the Lubbock area and promote the subject of chess and hopefully integrate it into their scholastic curriculum.

Source: http://www.lubbockonline.com

Pinoy rules Singapore chess meet
Cebu Daily News
First Posted 08:19:00 03/09/2010
Correspondent Marlon Bernardino

INTERNATIONAL MASTER (IM) Enrique Paciencia of the Philippines stamped his class to rule the “Ang Mo Kio Community Centre Hong Bao Rapid Chess Challenge 2010” Open tournament held recently in Singapore.

The Tacloban City-native Paciencia, the 2009 Singapore International Chess Festival champion out-dueled Aussie Steve O’Reily in the seventh and final round to finish with 6.0 points on five wins and two draws, the same output of compatriot IM Yves Ranola and Singaporean Mark Chan.

Paciencia, a former mainstay of Adamson University clinched the title with a higher tie break points. Rañola settled for second while Chan wound up in third place.

Rañola split the point with fellow RP Junior champion NM Roberto Suelo Jr. in the final round while Chan beat countryman Linson Lim.

Suelo finished in 4th over-all with 5.5 points, half a point ahead of another Filipino entry NM Arlan Cabe who settled for 5th over-all with a superior quotient in the group of 5.0 pointers.

Source: http://globalnation.inquirer.net

ChessHeroes is two years old

On this day, March 5, my chess blog ChessHeroes was born. CH is now two years old! We have posted around 800 posts here, met many people from all walks of life, from different places and different races and through the years, here's (only) a dozen things I could think of about being an amateur blogger, the toughest job in the world!

The Lubbock Chess Club started to meet regularly at the current location not long ago (probably less than 2 months). The club meets at Lin's Buffet (5608 Slide Road - near South Plains Mall) on Mondays from 5-9 p.m.

Tonight, the club had 40 players, including a handful players who came for the first time. There are over 60 active players who have played at at this new location, raging from 500 to 2600.

Members of SPICE/Texas Tech Knight Raiders will be on hand to give you a mental work out. You can get more information at www.texastechchess.blogspot.com or www.lubbockchessclub.wordpress.com.

It's not everywhere that you find European chess sets sold around Tokyo. But over the last 2 days I found a couple of places near where I live. One joint basically sells all kinds of wooden toys, while the other is a sort of general store (called "Village Vanguard") for knick-knacks. I was even pleasantly surprised to find the same glass chess sets that Chess Discount Sales once gave away in some tournament (I think the SIO) being sold around here for a very cheap 1,000 yen.

For serious tournament players, the local JCA seems to be the only retailer of popular programs like Fritz or books and boards. But in my case, I have no worries. I pretty much packed all my chess software, a digital clock and a couple of boards when I left.

Here are over 215 pictures so far from the 2010 SP National Open for Boys and Girls in Carefree, Arizona. Approximately 300 young players are competing for over $100,000 in prizes including chess scholarships to Texas Tech University, high tech netbook computers, and a lot more.

http://picasaweb.google.com/SPICEChess/2010SPNO

The rest of the prize giving pictures will be uploaded soon.

After three rounds in the European Championship Dieter-Liviu Nisipeanu was in the lead. The Romanian GM scored three consecutive wins, including one against Dimitri Reindermann. Perhaps he was helped in his efforts by an article in ChessBase Magazine, because in CBM 132 his compatriot Mihail Marin examined in detail a variation of the Alekhine Defence, which then was up for discussion in the game. The Dutch player chose a line which our author had rejected and received the ultimate punishment for doing so. Marin has provided a few notes on the game, and a thorough analysis will follow in CBM 136. Here is Nisipeanu - Reindermann

We long ago abandoned the practice of sending our readers to every article or international news report that contains the word "chess". But when a Euronews story contains video footage of a world class grandmaster (Boris Gelfand) playing the Deputy Prime Minister of his country (Natan Sharansky), who is assisted by the current PM (Benjamin Netanyahu), we make an exception.

White to move. How should White proceed?

Source: ChessToday.net

Round 4 top board pairings:

Bo.	No.			Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg		No.
1	5		GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	ESP	2708	3		3	GM	Timofeev Artyom	RUS	2655		36
2	37		GM	Krasenkow Michal	POL	2652	3		3	GM	Jobava Baadur	GEO	2695		10
3	11		GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	GER	2691	3		3	GM	Efimenko Zahar	UKR	2640		48
4	83		GM	Pelletier Yannick	SUI	2611	3		3	GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	RUS	2667		24
5	175		IM	Skoberne Jure	SLO	2509	3		3	GM	Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter	ROU	2661		28
6	35		GM	Nepomniachtchi Ian	RUS	2656	3		3	GM	Maiorov Nikita	BLR	2510		170
7	7		GM	Adams Michael	ENG	2704	2½		3	IM	Martinovic Sasa	CRO	2509		174
8	15		GM	Caruana Fabiano	ITA	2680	2½		2½	GM	Potkin Vladimir	RUS	2606		89
9	79		GM	Lysyj Igor	RUS	2615	2½		2½	GM	Sargissian Gabriel	ARM	2675		16
10	17		GM	Kurnosov Igor	RUS	2674	2½		2½	GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej	BLR	2601		94
11	81		GM	Petrosian Tigran L	ARM	2612	2½		2½	GM	Areshchenko Alexander	UKR	2670		18
12	21		GM	Moiseenko Alexander	UKR	2668	2½		2½	GM	Lupulescu Constantin	ROU	2598		96
13	98		GM	Erdos Viktor	HUN	2593	2½		2½	GM	Bareev Evgeny	RUS	2667		22
14	23		GM	Grachev Boris	RUS	2667	2½		2½	GM	Melkumyan Hrant	ARM	2582		110
15	29		GM	Riazantsev Alexander	RUS	2660	2½		2½	GM	Halkias Stelios	GRE	2580		111
16	101		GM	Stocek Jiri	CZE	2591	2½		2½	GM	Khismatullin Denis	RUS	2657		34
17	41		GM	Fridman Daniel	GER	2650	2½		2½	GM	Mastrovasilis Dimitrios	GRE	2574		119
18	145		IM	Nikolov Momchil	BUL	2550	2½		2½	GM	Sutovsky Emil	ISR	2650		42
19	43		GM	Zhigalko Sergei	BLR	2648	2½		2½	GM	Kovacevic Aleksandar	SRB	2574		118
20	45		GM	Gustafsson Jan	GER	2646	2½		2½	GM	Ragger Markus	AUT	2572		122
21	147		GM	Zelcic Robert	CRO	2547	2½		2½	GM	Zvjaginsev Vadim	RUS	2643		46
22	49		GM	Mamedov Rauf	AZE	2639	2½		2½	GM	Lopez Martinez Josep Manuel	ESP	2548		146
23	51		GM	Sokolov Ivan	BIH	2638	2½		2½	GM	Grigoryan Avetik	ARM	2565		131
24	61		GM	Delchev Aleksander	BUL	2625	2½		2½		Podolchenko Evgeniy	BLR	2502		179
25	159		GM	Szabo Gergely-Andras-Gyula	ROU	2525	2½		2½	GM	Kokarev Dmitry	RUS	2622		68
26	71		GM	Iordachescu Viorel	MDA	2621	2½		2½	IM	Sulashvili Malkhaz	GEO	2490		190
27	185		IM	Hovhannisyan Robert	ARM	2498	2½		2½	GM	Belov Vladimir	RUS	2619		72
28	199			Nabaty Tamir	ISR	2485	2½		2½	GM	Khairullin Ildar	RUS	2617		76
29	3		GM	Movsesian Sergei	SVK	2709	2		2½	GM	Chirila Ioan-Cristian	ROU	2487		192

Women's top board pairings:

Bo.

No.

Name

FED

Rtg

Pts.

Result

Pts.

Name

FED

Rtg

No.

1

24

GM

Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan

SCO

2447

3

3

GM

Kosintseva Tatiana

RUS

2524

4

2

17

GM

Socko Monika

POL

2465

3

3

WGM

Chelushkina Irina

SRB

2319

61

3

25

IM

Muzychuk Mariya

UKR

2444

2½

2½

GM

Stefanova Antoaneta

BUL

2555

1

4

28

IM

Khurtsidze Nino

GEO

2434

2½

2½

IM

Kosintseva Nadezhda

RUS

2554

2

5

3

IM

Muzychuk Anna

SLO

2533

2½

2½

WGM

Bodnaruk Anastasia

RUS

2384

40

6

5

GM

Cramling Pia

SWE

2523

2½

2½

WGM

Zawadzka Jolanta

POL

2404

32

7

9

WGM

Zhukova Natalia

UKR

2492

2½

2½

IM

Matveeva Svetlana

RUS

2373

42

8

13

IM

Cmilyte Viktorija

LTU

2485

2½

2½

IM

Sedina Elena

ITA

2334

56

9

27

IM

Moser Eva

AUT

2437

2½

2½

GM

Dzagnidze Nana

GEO

2479

14

10

39

IM

Bojkovic Natasa

SRB

2384

2½

2½

IM

Rajlich Iweta

POL

2459

18

11

41

WGM

Galojan Lilit

ARM

2380

2½

2½

WFM

Gunina Valentina

RUS

2457

20

12

21

IM

Skripchenko Almira

FRA

2456

2½

2½

IM

Purtseladze Maka

GEO

2299

71

13

51

WGM

Cosma Elena-Luminita

ROU

2346

2½

2½

IM

Ushenina Anna

UKR

2452

22

http://chess-results.com/tnr29567.aspx?lan=1

Round 3 top board results:

Bo.	No.			Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg		No.
1	4		GM	Navara David	CZE	2708	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Pelletier Yannick	SUI	2611		83
2	88		GM	Saric Ivan	CRO	2607	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	ESP	2708		5
3	89		GM	Potkin Vladimir	RUS	2606	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Adams Michael	ENG	2704		7
4	10		GM	Jobava Baadur	GEO	2695	2	1 - 0	2	GM	Kotronias Vasilios	GRE	2593		99
5	90		GM	Safarli Eltaj	AZE	2606	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	GER	2691		11
6	94		GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej	BLR	2601	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Caruana Fabiano	ITA	2680		15
7	96		GM	Lupulescu Constantin	ROU	2598	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Kurnosov Igor	RUS	2674		17
8	18		GM	Areshchenko Alexander	UKR	2670	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Stocek Jiri	CZE	2591		101
9	98		GM	Erdos Viktor	HUN	2593	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Moiseenko Alexander	UKR	2668		21
10	24		GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	RUS	2667	2	1 - 0	2	GM	Bosiocic Marin	CRO	2577		113
11	28		GM	Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter	ROU	2661	2	1 - 0	2	GM	Reinderman Dimitri	NED	2576		115
12	110		GM	Melkumyan Hrant	ARM	2582	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Riazantsev Alexander	RUS	2660		29
13	112		GM	Pavasovic Dusko	SLO	2579	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Nepomniachtchi Ian	RUS	2656		35
14	36		GM	Timofeev Artyom	RUS	2655	2	1 - 0	2	GM	Hera Imre Jr	HUN	2574		117
15	116		GM	Yemelin Vasily	RUS	2576	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Krasenkow Michal	POL	2652		37
16	118		GM	Kovacevic Aleksandar	SRB	2574	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Fridman Daniel	GER	2650		41
17	119		GM	Mastrovasilis Dimitrios	GRE	2574	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Zhigalko Sergei	BLR	2648		43
18	48		GM	Efimenko Zahar	UKR	2640	2	1 - 0	2	GM	Iotov Valentin	BUL	2568		127
19	131		GM	Grigoryan Avetik	ARM	2565	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Mamedov Rauf	AZE	2639		49
20	146		GM	Lopez Martinez Josep Manuel	ESP	2548	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Sokolov Ivan	BIH	2638		51
21	170		GM	Maiorov Nikita	BLR	2510	2	1 - 0	2	GM	Socko Bartosz	POL	2637		53
22	68		GM	Kokarev Dmitry	RUS	2622	2	½ - ½	2	IM	Nikolov Momchil	BUL	2550		145
23	72		GM	Belov Vladimir	RUS	2619	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Szabo Gergely-Andras-Gyula	ROU	2525		159
24	174		IM	Martinovic Sasa	CRO	2509	2	1 - 0	2	GM	Vorobiov Evgeny E	RUS	2616		77
25	192		GM	Chirila Ioan-Cristian	ROU	2487	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Lysyj Igor	RUS	2615		79
26	80		GM	Howell David W L	ENG	2612	2	0 - 1	2	IM	Skoberne Jure	SLO	2509		175
27	2		GM	Bacrot Etienne	FRA	2714	1½	½ - ½	2	IM	Hovhannisyan Robert	ARM	2498		185

Full results here.

• FTP Publishing on Blogger to WordPress: Migration Guide by Ravi
• Migrating from Blogger to WordPress (FTP Blogs) by Ben Frain
  Be sure to check the comments area here, which suggests it may actually be easier than he says.
• Move from Blogger to WordPress without Losing GoogleRank by Jason Fitzpatrick at Lifehacker
• Migrate Your Blog from Blogger to WordPress with All the Google Juice by Amit Agarwal at Digital Inspiration
• Move from Blogger to WordPress and Maintain Permalinks and Traffic by Arpit Jacob

These seem pretty helpful, but I get the sense that WordPress may be working behind the scenes to make the process even easier.  Just wish they would do more to announce what they are up to.  Seems like a great opportunity for them to gain customers.  I have backed up our site and started experimenting with The Center Square blog to see how this will go.  I'll keep you posted on my progress and welcome reader advice.

Kasparov - Caruana perhaps in October at Milano

It could take place in October at Milano - a mini-match between the number one Italian player Fabiano Caruana, who will be 18 years old on the 30th of July, and the ex-champion of the world Garry Kasparov, who is the trainer of the number one FIDE rated player in the world, Magnus Carlsen.

Valerio Luciani, whose publishing house Ediscere has published (in Italian) the celebrity series of Kasparov's books "My Great Predecessors", has informed the Italian magazine "Torre & Cavallo" that the negotiations have entered an advanced stage, and that the competition could be of four games either rapid or blitz.

Obviously, for events to take place involving persons of this caliber, the signing of contracts in required.

http://www.messaggeroscacchi.it/?p=2210

Special thanks to Lou for the information.

Caxias do Sul, Brazil

XI International Open rapid tournament took place in Caxias do Sul in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul on 6-7 March, 2010.

Final standings:

1-2. Vassily Ivanchuk (2748, UKR) and Sandro Mareco (2533, ARG) - 8 out of 9,
3-5. Gilberto Milos (2606, BRA), Krikor Mekhitarian (2490, BRA) and Giovanni Vescovi (2629, BRA) - 7½, etc. (221 players).

Henrique Mecking scored 7 points; Ulf Andersson scored 6½ points.

Source: ChessToday.net

Interview with GM Le Quang Liem
After Moscow and Aeroflot Open, by Yana Melnikova
Report by Chessdom

Le Quang Liem of Vietnam, winner of the two major international tournaments in Russia - Moscow Open and Aeroflot Open, shared in an interview with Yana Melnikova his impressions of Moscow and how he is preparing for a competition.

Yana Melnikova - Liem, congratulations on your victory in the Aeroflot Open. In the recently concluded tournament Moscow Open, you also had excellent result - took the bronze after sharing first place. Tell us why you decided to play in Moscow?

Le Quang Liem - Russia is the country of chess, and here I can play against very strong chess players. I liked both of the tournaments. They are organized at a high level, very professional, very ambitious. I want to highlight the "Aeroflot" - I believe this is the strongest open tournament in the world. Next year I will gladly play in Moscow again.

Yana Melnikova - Is the victory in the Aeroflot Open the biggest success in your career?

Le Quang Liem - I think so. But earlier, I also successfully competed in strong tournaments - for example, in 2009 I won major open tournaments in India and China, and many competitions in my own country.

Yana Melnikova - Tell us about your road to success. With whom do you work?

Le Quang Liem - I have been playing chess since childhood. Most of the time I work on my own, but I do have a few trainers. About a year ago I began to collaborate with GM Evgeny Bareev, and I believe that my good results arrived mostly thanks to him. Evgeny did a lot to help me to progress, he can identify weaknesses in my game and help me make steps for the overall improvement.

Yana Melnikova - Do you play on the Internet chess zones? What is the role of the blitz games?

Le Quang Liem - I play on ICC and on Playchess. I try not to stay online for a very long time because I don't think that playing blitz will help me increase my chess level. For me it is purely entertainment, I go to play a couple of games only when there is spare time.
Yana Melnikova - How much do you work on chess?

Le Quang Liem - On average, about four hours a day.

Yana Melnikova - What are your future plans, objectives for the near future?

Le Quang Liem - My goal is to reach the level of 2700, as soon as possible. I won in Aeroflot and got the opportunity to play in Dortmund. This is my chance to show the skill at a high level, and I will work very hard to make a proper preparation.

Yana Melnikova - Did you like it in Moscow?

Le Quang Liem - Yes, of course! The people are very friendly. There is a lot of snow though, quite different from my country.

Mainstream media about Le Quang Liem's victory at Aeroflot Open

New M&M’s Chess Scubes – Each collectable pack features an M&M’s character as a chess piece i.e. knight, bishop, king, queen, king etc., with 32 pieces to collect and play with two full chess sets. Each pack includes 140g of M&M’s peanut or milk chocolate.

Source: http://www.moodiereport.com

White to move. How should White proceed?

Source: ChessToday.com

On March 3 Chessbase published a press release in which it was announced that Magnus Carlsen and Garry Kasparov won't continue their training sessions. With those achievements a major target has been met in the cooperation between these two chess players, even earlier than anticipated. Therefore it has been decided ...

White to move. How should White proceed?

Source: ChessToday.net

Monday, 8 March 2010

Advanced Parachute WGM Tournament in Cox's Bazaar

The Advanced Parachute WGM Tournament to be held from 7-14 March 2010 gets underway today at Uni-Resort in Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh.

After a 10 hour bus ride from Dhaka in a luxury bus through beautiful and often spectacular countryside, the participants which include GM and IM hopefuls (L-R in photo above) Veronika Minina (RUS), Dhyani Dave, Kiran Monisha Mohanty (IND), Shamima Akter and Tanima Parveen (BAN), were still all bright and sparky and very much looking forward to the games starting the following day.

The full list of participants can be found at: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr31218.aspx?lan=1

Organised by Six Season Chess Tournaments, this is the first of tournaments planned monthly by Grandmaster Niaz Murshed to provide title and rating tournaments for Asian players and there will be a GM event following this WGM tournament from 14-22 March 2010.

http://thefidetrainer.blogspot.com/2010/03/advanced-parachute-wgm-tournament-in.html

Players gear up for World Chess Olympiad Trials
By Olusola Babarinsa
March 8, 2010 12:55AM

Chess players invited by the Chess Federation of Nigeria (CFN) for the first stage of the World Chess Olympiad Trials, which holds in the National Stadium from 21st to 27th March, say they are ready to do the nation proud.

The invitation to participate in the trials was sent to 118 chess players after almost three hours of deliberation of the Chess Federation Technical Committee. The Chess Olympiad is schedule to hold in Khanty -Mansiysk, Russia from 19th September to 4th of October 2010.

The World Chess body, FIDE has written to all federations that preliminary registration must be forwarded by May 20th and the final list of players must reach the secretariat on or before 15th of July.

Bunmi Olape, who represented Nigeria at the 2004 Chess Olympiad in Mallorca, Spain, says nothing will stop him from representing his country at the global championships later in the year.

Olape, a National Master, said; "I have been representing Nigeria at different Olympiads since 2004, I don't see any reason why I should not scale through the trials. Though there are a lot of young players coming into chess now, I still believe I have what it takes to get into the finals and the championships itself. It is all about how prepared one is and I am prepared."

Here is the full article.

Chris John, Irene win 2009 best athlete awards
The Jakarta Post Mon, 03/08/2010 10:30 AM Sports

Boxing champion Chris John and rising chess star Irene Kharisma Sukandar have been named Indonesia’s best male and female athletes, according to a poll conducted by the country’s leading sports tabloid Bola.

The poll, whose results were announced Saturday, involved 14,694 respondents — the largest sample of its kind.

For the best female athlete award, Irene beat badminton players Maria Kristin and Liliana Natsir, as well as long-distance runner Trianingsih, who last month won a marathon event in Hong Kong — her first international feat this year.

Irene is the country’s first and only Woman Grandmaster titlist, who earned her 2008 title at the prodigious age of 16. She turns 18 in April.

She began known to the world of chess in the 2004 Chess Olympiad in Calvia, Spain, where she received her FIDE Master. In the 2006 event in Turin, Italy, she rose as International Master titleholder, and accomplished her best feat so far in 2008 when she earned her current title at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com

At the New York, 1889 tournament a master lost a game by forfeit after only eight moves because he was, in the words of a newspaper report, ‘laboring under excitement’. The Editor of Chess Notes looks at three great players with reputations for heavy dependency on alcohol, examining how they have been treated by contemporaries and subsequent writers.

This event is taking place from March 6th to 18th 2010 in Rijeka, Croatia. Top players include Almasi, Bacrot, Movsesian, Navara, Vallejo, Motylev, Adams, Tomashevsky, Alekseev, Baadur, Naiditsch, Akopian, Volokitin, Bologan and Caruana. After two rounds 34 players have perfect scores, in the women's section it is 17. The venue is spectacular: see if you can read its name from space.

Can you name this strong chess player?

White to move and win. Can you find the winning pattern?

R7/6k1/P6p/5p2/5Pp1/4K1P1/r6P/8 w - - 0 1

Dvoretsky, 2003

Round 2 top board results:

Bo.	No.			Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg		No.
1	44		WGM	Majdan Joanna	POL	2364	1	0 - 1	1	IM	Kosintseva Nadezhda	RUS	2554		2
2	3		IM	Muzychuk Anna	SLO	2533	1	1 - 0	1	WGM	Motoc Alina	ROU	2348		48
3	45		WGM	Girya Olga	RUS	2362	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Kosintseva Tatiana	RUS	2524		4
4	5		GM	Cramling Pia	SWE	2523	1	½ - ½	1	IM	Kachiani-Gersinska Ketino	GER	2346		50
5	52		IM	Gvetadze Sopio	GEO	2342	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Sebag Marie	FRA	2506		6
6	7		IM	Mkrtchian Lilit	ARM	2503	1	0 - 1	1	IM	Sedina Elena	ITA	2334		56
7	61		WGM	Chelushkina Irina	SRB	2319	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Javakhishvili Lela	GEO	2500		8
8	63		WGM	Vega Gutierrez Sabrina	ESP	2314	1	½ - ½	1	IM	Danielian Elina	ARM	2491		10
9	11		GM	Hoang Thanh Trang	HUN	2487	1	½ - ½	1	WGM	Kochetkova Julia	RUS	2313		65
10	64		WIM	Schneider Veronika	HUN	2314	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Paehtz Elisabeth	GER	2486		12
11	13		IM	Cmilyte Viktorija	LTU	2485	1	½ - ½	1	WGM	Kadziolka Beata	POL	2311		67
12	69		WIM	Borosova Zuzana	SVK	2307	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Dzagnidze Nana	GEO	2479		14
13	15		IM	Gaponenko Inna	UKR	2472	1	½ - ½	1	IM	Purtseladze Maka	GEO	2299		71
14	70		WGM	Paulet Iozefina	ROU	2303	1	½ - ½	1	IM	Melia Salome	GEO	2467		16
15	17		GM	Socko Monika	POL	2465	1	1 - 0	1	WFM	Mammadova Gulnar	AZE	2299		73
16	72		WGM	Berend Elvira	LUX	2299	1	½ - ½	1	IM	Rajlich Iweta	POL	2459		18
17	74		WGM	Doluhanova Evgeniya	UKR	2297	1	½ - ½	1	WFM	Gunina Valentina	RUS	2457		20
18	21		IM	Skripchenko Almira	FRA	2456	1	1 - 0	1	WGM	Aginian Nelly	ARM	2296		75
19	76		WGM	Calzetta Ruiz Monica	ESP	2296	1	½ - ½	1	IM	Ushenina Anna	UKR	2452		22
20	78		WGM	Vojinovic Jovana	MNE	2296	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan	SCO	2447		24

Full results here.

2010 European Individual Championship (Rijeka, Croatia)

Round 2 top board results:

Round 2 on 2010/03/07 at 15:30

Bo.	No.			Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg		No.
1	120		GM	Stefansson Hannes	ISL	2574	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Bacrot Etienne	FRA	2714		2
2	3		GM	Movsesian Sergei	SVK	2709	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Ragger Markus	AUT	2572		122
3	121		GM	Nevednichy Vladislav	ROU	2572	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Navara David	CZE	2708		4
4	5		GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	ESP	2708	1	1 - 0	1	GM	Ruck Robert	HUN	2570		124
5	7		GM	Adams Michael	ENG	2704	1	1 - 0	1	GM	Jankovic Alojzije	CRO	2569		126
6	9		GM	Alekseev Evgeny	RUS	2700	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Minasian Artashes	ARM	2568		128
7	123		GM	Sulskis Sarunas	LTU	2572	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Jobava Baadur	GEO	2695		10
8	11		GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	GER	2691	1	1 - 0	1	GM	Sanikidze Tornike	GEO	2566		130
9	125		GM	Sedlak Nikola	SRB	2570	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Akopian Vladimir	ARM	2688		12
10	127		GM	Iotov Valentin	BUL	2568	1	1 - 0	1	GM	Bologan Viktor	MDA	2684		14

Full results here: http://chess-results.com/tnr29567.aspx?lan=1

Top finishers:

Pl		Nom	Elo					Pts	Perf	Tr.	Bu.
1	g	GHARAMIAN Tigran	2609					7	2740	45	55
2	g	MALAKHATKO Vadim	2549					7	2733	43½	53½
3	m	SENGUPTA Deep (Final GM norm)	2480					7	2645	39½	46
4	g	FEDORCHUK Sergey A.	2641					6½	2653	39½	47½
5	g	BAUER Christian	2610					6½	2629	43½	53
6	g	HAMDOUCHI Hicham	2601					6½	2608	40½	49
7	m	ABASOV Nijat Azad Oglu	2510					6½	2597	38½	45½
8	m	DAS Arghyadip	2396					6	2621	42	50½
9	g	ITURRIZAGA Eduardo	2616					6	2600	41	50
10	g	FIER Alexandr	2601					6	2595	41	48½
11	g	DEGRAEVE Jean-Marc	2577					6	2580	43	51½
12	g	LEON HOYOS Manuel	2516					6	2537	41½	48½
13	m	SHANKLAND Samuel L	2491					6	2507	35	43½
14	g	SHCHEKACHEV Andrei	2546					6	2476	36	45
15	g	SULAVA Nenad	2539					6	2468	36½	45
16	m	HEBERT Jean	2418					6	2429	34	40½
17	g	BHAT Vinay S.	2540					5½	2518	40	48½
18	g	MILADINOVIC Igor	2559					5½	2513	43	52
19	g	APICELLA Manuel	2518					5½	2481	36	44
20	m	SARAVANAN V.	2356					5½	2469	35½	42
21	g	CORNETTE Matthieu	2554					5½	2454	34½	40½
22	m	AGUETTAZ Maxime	2399					5½	2449	36	42½
23	m	DANIN Alexandre	2519					5½	2442	38½	47½
24	m	BORGO Giulio	2442					5½	2353	34	42

Full standings here: http://www.echecs.asso.fr/Resultat2.aspx?URL=Tournois/2010/CannesFij/FIJA2010&Action=Cl

Photos from the 2010 European Individual Championship courtesy of Chessdom: http://photo.chessdom.com/displayimage.php?album=231&pos=20

Alexander Morozevich has withdrawn from the Amber tournament, which starts in six days from now in Nice, France. The Russian is replaced by his compatriot Alexander Grischuk. To get you a bit in the mood already, today we present a video with footage from 2008 and 2009. The 19th Amber Blindfold ...

Relentless Veselin Topalov wins again
By Jack Peters
March 7, 2010

The great double round robin in Linares, Spain, ended in a dramatic victory for world championship challenger Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria. Like a crafty pitcher who wins without his best stuff, Topalov succeeded without revealing any opening secrets he had prepared for his April match against champion Viswanathan Anand. Two of his four wins came from inferior positions, and only once did he outplay his opponent thanks to an advantage in the opening.

Topalov's legendary determination highlighted the final round. His cautious opponent, Boris Gelfand of Israel, reached an obviously drawn endgame, yet Topalov induced an almost imperceptible error that he exploited with an artistic and original finish. See today's puzzle!

Scores: Topalov, 6 1/2 -3 1/2 ; Grischuk, 6-4; Levon Aronian (Armenia), 5 1/2 -4 1/2 ; and Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan), Francisco Vallejo Pons (Spain) and Gelfand, each 4-6.

Grischuk, who won the 2009 tournament in Linares, played the highest-quality games, but he spoiled a promising position against Topalov in the fifth round. He did win the ninth-round rematch. Aronian was the only undefeated player.

Topalov's victory boosted his rating seven points, not quite enough to displace Magnus Carlsen of Norway from the top spot on the rating list. According to the unofficial rankings at liverating.com, Carlsen is rated 2812.9, while Topalov is 2812.2. Next are Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), 2789.9; Anand (India), 2788.7; Aronian, 2783.5; and Grischuk, 2769.6.

Sicilian Match

Grandmasters Gregory Kaidanov of Kentucky and Judit Polgar of Hungary tied a four-game match in Hilton Head, S.C., where Black was required to play the Sicilian Defense. The result was discouraging for Sicilian Defense advocates -- four consecutive wins for White. In a blitz tiebreaker, White won the first two games and then Polgar took the match by finally winning with Black.

Game analysis here: http://www.latimes.com/features/puzzles/chess/la-ca-chess7-2010mar07,0,7094111.story

Young whiz ready to take on the world
Representing Canada in world championship
By DOUG HEMPSTEAD, Ottawa Sun
Last Updated: March 7, 2010 6:38am

Agastya Kalra doesn’t even need to look at the board to beat his father at chess anymore.

The 12-year-old has been playing seriously since he was six, having learned the game of strategy and skill from his grandparents at the tender age of four. Back then he still lived in India, and chess was finally something he could do where he wouldn’t be out-matched by his cousins. In fact, even at four years of age, he could whoop both of them — one twice his age, the other six years his senior.

On March 19, the Ottawa boy will represent Canada at the world amateur chess championship in Chicago, having been unanimously chosen by the Chess Federation because of his dominance at the Canadian Amateur event in Kitchener.

“I was quite surprised when I first heard it,” said Kalra. “I never expected it.”

Others might not be so surprised — he is ranked among the top five players in his age group in Canada and has taken home hardware from tournaments all over Ontario and Quebec.

Because chess players square-off based on skill, not age, Kalra often finds himself up against opponents more than twice his age, and even more than his father’s age.

Here is the full article.

Teen gets first move in chess tourney
3/6/2010 10:01 PM

A local teen's chess skills landed her the opportunity to keep time during an international tournament and face off with a Grandmaster.

Tori Whatley was invited to make the ceremonial first move in Game 1 between chess Grandmaster Gregory Kaidanov and Hungarian Grandmaster Judit Polgar. The two squared off in a Sicilian-themed match on Hilton Head Island in late February.

Only seven spectators were invited to witness the match held in the Hilton Marriott Spa and Resort and hosted by Jeff Smith, a business consultant. Both Whatley and her father, David Whatley, the Merriwether Mavericks Chess Club coach, were present for the occasion. The match was broadcast worldwide via the Internet and was watched by thousands.

David handled the time controls for the four games of the main event. After a 2-2 tie was reached, Tori managed the time controls for the two blitz playoff games and the final Armageddon game. Kaidanov claimed rounds one and three while Polgar took rounds two and four and won the tournament.

"Tori and I are so grateful to Mr. Smith for allowing us to participate in this world-class matchup. The games were entertaining, instructional and inspiring," David said.

As a result of the intimate setting, both players were very accessible to the Whatleys for autographs, pictures and even dining together. According to the Whatleys, they even played a few casual games with those on hand. Tori played Kaidanov.

"That was the most fun I've ever had losing," said Tori of the experience.

At the end of the day, Smith gave Tori several gifts including the game clock used in rounds one and four, which she has shared with the Merriwether Mavericks Chess Club.

Tori and her father befriended Smith two years ago when Tori earned the privilege of representing South Carolina in the Susan Polgar National Invitational tournament held in Texas.

For more information on becoming a member of the chess club, e-mail whatleydavid@bellsouth.net.

Source: http://www.aikenstandard.com