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Playing online with Video Fritz/Playchess
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2327.103

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Speed Chess Suggestion
2439.1

Dan Heisman Updates His Guidelines Page
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Carlos Torre Memorial Participants
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DGT Chessboard
2438.1

Corr. Chess
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One Year Anniversary of Dan Heisman's Chess.FM Show 2453.1

Lilknight's Miniature
2451.1

Mike Rosensaft's KI Tactics 2447.1

Player49 Wants Help With the Caro Kann
2440.1

Trompowsky Problem
2448.1

Accelerated Dragon 2450.1

Queen's Indian Resources
2446.1

More: Endgame Study 2420.18

 

 

 

GAMES

S Kidambi (IM) - Koneru Humpy (GM)
41st National 'A' Chess Championship (1), 2003

1.d4 d6
2.Nf3 Nf6
3.c4 Nbd7
4.Nc3 e5
5.Bg5 Be7
6.e3 0-0
7.Qc2 c6
8.Bd3 h6
9.h4 Re8
10.dxe5 Nxe5
11.Nxe5 dxe5
12.0-0-0 Qa5
13.Bxf6 Bxf6
14.Rdg1 e4
15.Nxe4 Be5
16.Kb1 b5
17.Nd2 Rb8
18.Nb3 Qd8
19.Rd1 Qf6
20.cxb5 cxb5
21.Nd4 Bb7
22.f3 b4
23.Bh7+ Kh8
24.Be4 Rec8
25.Qd3 Ba6
26.Qd2 Bc4
27.b3 Bb5
28.g4 Rd8
29.g5 Qb6
30.f4 Bxd4
31.exd4 a5
32.f5 a4
33.f6  axb3
34.fxg7+ Kg8
35.gxh6 bxa2+
36.Ka1 b3
37.Rhg1 b2+
38.Qxb2 Qxh6
39.Qd2 Qe6
40.Bc2 Be2
41.d5 Qb6
42.Bh7+ Kxh7
43.Qxe2 Qf6+
44.Kxa2 Ra8+
45.Kb3 Rdb8+
46.Kc4 Ra4+
        0-1
 

Bonin,J (2339) - Shabalov,A (2597) [D46]
Marshall Chess Club Championship New York (4), 10.12.2003

1.d4 Nf6
2.c4 c6
3.Nc3 d5
4.Nf3 e6
5.e3 Nbd7
6.Qc2 Bd6
7.Be2 0-0
8.0-0 dxc4
9.Bxc4 b5
10.Bd3 Bb7
11.e4 e5
12.dxe5 Nxe5
13.Nxe5 Bxe5
14.h3 b4
15.Na4 Bd4
16.Be3 Bxe3
17.fxe3 Nd7
18.e5 h6
19.e6  fxe6
20.Bc4 Qe7
21.Qg6 Rf6
22.Rxf6 Nxf6
23.Rc1 Rd8
24.Nc5 Bc8
25.Nd3 Rf8
26.Nf4 Bd7
27.Qd3 Rf7
28.Ng6 Qc5
29.Qd4 Qg5
30.Ne5 Re7
31.h4 Qg3
32.Rf1 Nd5
33.Rf3 Qe1+
34.Kh2 Be8
35.Rg3 h5
36.Qc5 Rb7
37.Qd6 Nf6
38.Bxe6+ Kh7
39.Bf5+ Kg8
40.Nd3 1-0
 

Shapiro,D (2264) - Becerra Rivero,J (2558) [A41]
Marshall Chess Club Championship New York (3), 09.12.2003

1.d4 g6
2.c4 Bg7
3.Nf3 d6
4.Nc3 c5
5.g3 cxd4
6.Nxd4 Nc6
7.Be3 Nf6
8.Bg2 Bd7
9.f3 0-0
10.0-0 a6
11.Rc1 Ne5
12.b3 b5
13.cxb5 axb5
14.Ndxb5 Bxb5
15.Nxb5 Rxa2
16.Nc3 Ra8
17.h3 Rc8
18.f4 Ned7
19.Na4 Rxc1
20.Qxc1 d5
21.Qd2 e6
22.Bd4 Qb8
23.Qb2 Rc8
24.Rb1 Nh5
25.Bxg7 Nxg7
26.e4 dxe4
27.Qd4 Rd8
28.Bxe4 e5
29.Qf2 Nf6
30.Bg2 Ngh5
31.fxe5 Qxe5
32.Rf1 g5
33.Kh2 g4
34.Re1 Qb8
35.Re3 gxh3
36.Bxh3 Rd1
37.Qf5 Qd6
38.Qf3 Rd2+
39.Bg2 Qd7
40.Kg1 Qd4
41.Kf1 Ng4
42.Re8+ Kg7
43.Qc3 Nxg3+
44.Qxg3 Rf2+
          0-1
 

Aguilar,M - Panno,O [B33]
Mendoza II Memorial Pereyra Mendoza ARG (3), 07.12.2003

1.e4 c5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.d4 cxd4
4.Nxd4 Qb6
5.Nb3 Nf6
6.Nc3 e6
7.Be3 Qc7
8.f3 Bb4
9.Bd2 0-0
10.Bd3 d5
11.0-0 dxe4
12.fxe4 Ne5
13.Bg5 Be7
14.Qe2 a6
15.Bf4 Bd6
16.Rad1 b6
17.Bg5 Be7
18.Bf4 Bb7
19.Rfe1 Bd6
20.h3 Nf3+
21.Qxf3 Bxf4
22.Ne2 Be5
23.c3 Nd7
24.Qh5 g6
25.Qh4 Rfd8
26.Nbd4 Bg7
27.Rf1 Ne5
28.Ng3 Nxd3
29.Rxd3 e5
30.Ndf5 Rxd3
31.Nh5 gxf5
32.Nxg7 Qd8
33.Qh6 Rd6
         0-1
 

S S Ganguly - Roktim Bandhodhpay
41st National A Chess Ch. (5)

1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.Bb5 a6
4.Ba4 Nf6
5.0-0 Be7
6.Re1 b5
7.Bb3 d6
8.c3 0-0
9.d4 Bg4
10.Be3 exd4
11.cxd4 d5
12.e5 Ne4
13.Nc3 Nxc3
14.bxc3 f5
15.Bf4 Na5
16.Bc2 Nc4
17.Qd3 Rb8
18.e6 Rb6
19.Ne5 Nxe5
20.Rxe5 Bf6
21.Rxd5 Qxd5
22.e7 Qd7
23.exf8Q+
            Kxf8
24.a4 b4
25.a5 Re6
26.f3 Bh5
27.d5 Bxc3
28.Qxf5+ Qf7
29.Qxf7+ Bxf7
30.dxe6 Bxe6
31.Rb1 Bd4+
32.Kf1 c5
33.Ke2 Bc3
        1-0
 

Bruzon,L (2603) - Lugo,B (2418) [C60]
It Resort and Casino Decameron DOM (6), 09.12.2003

1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.Bb5 Bb4
4.c3 Ba5
5.Na3 Nge7
6.Nc4 a6
7.Ba4 b5
8.Nxa5 Nxa5
9.Bc2 Nac6
10.0-0 d6
11.h3 0-0
12.d4 Ng6
13.a4 Rb8
14.axb5 axb5
15.Be3 h6
16.Qd2 exd4
17.cxd4 d5
18.e5 Nce7
19.Ne1 Bf5
20.Nd3 Nh4
21.f4 Be4
22.Ne1 Rb6
23.Kh2 Nhf5
24.Bf2 h5
25.Qe2 Bxc2
26.Qxc2 Qd7
27.g3 Rc6
28.Qd2 Nh6
29.Nd3 Qf5
30.Rac1 Rg6
31.Rxc7 Ng4+
32.hxg4 hxg4
33.Rh1 Rh6+
34.Kg1 Rxh1+
35.Kxh1 Qe4+
36.Kg1 Nf5
37.Nc5 Qb1+
38.Kg2 Ra8
39.Qd3 Ra1
40.Qxb1 Rxb1
41.Nd3 b4
42.Rc1 1-0

 

 

 

Past issues of The Chessville Weekly can be viewed at our archives.

Volume 2  Issue 50                                                         December 14th, 2003

In This Issue

20 Questions
with GM Joel Lautier

The Mad Aussie's
Chess Trivia

Test! with The Kennedy Kids

New At Chessville

More KID Fireworks
with IM Andrew Martin

Pablo's Chess News

Position of the Week

New On The Net

"If a man has talent and cannot use it, he has failed.  If he has talent and only uses half of it, he has partly failed.  If he has talent and learns somehow to use the whole of it, he has gloriously succeeded and won satisfaction and a triumph few men ever know."
- Thomas Wolfe

Still Available Directly From Chessville:

Chessville has a limited number of Bad Bishop videos available at a very low price, and with

FREE SHIPPING

within the USA!  Each tape will be sent within the US via Priority Mail for FREE!!  (Write for actual shipping costs to other destinations.)

$24.45

Check it out!

Accelerated Dragon Assault is Sold Out!

The Scheming Scandi: Only 2 Left!


Position of the Week








[FEN r2qr2k/ppp2ppB/2npb2p/3n2N1/5Q1P/2B5/PPP2PP1/2KR3R w - - 0 16]

White to move and win - Find the Solution
 

New At Chessville

(12/14)  Interview with GM Joel Lautier:  The former World Junior Champion (1988), currently ranked #32 in the latest FIDE rating list at 2666, is a founding member of the Association of Chess Professionals.  GM Lautier recently agreed to play 20 Questions with Chessville...

"...the professional chess world is currently in a complete mess...The ACP has one simple goal: to transform chess, which in effect is still an amateur sport, into a professional one...the ACP will contest FIDE's further attempts at reducing the classical time control in most tournaments..."

Bits and Pieces

with
International
Master
Andrew Martin

(12/14)  KID Fireworks - Part 2:  Andrew's new book, King's Indian Pressure Play, published by Thinkers Press, will soon be appearing on the bookshelves.  To whet the appetite, this month's Bits and Pieces column includes a few snippets from the book - four illustrative games, one each week, fully annotated with Andrew's unique commentary and opening insight.  This week's game looks at the line beginning: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 c5 6.d5 0-0 7.Nf3 a6!?

(12/14)  Problem of the Week: Tactical training with our weekly puzzle.

(12/14)  Chessprint for December 14, 2003  "for the sheer joy of chess"

(12/13)  Annotated Game: A Visit With the Modern Benoni [A63] from the 1996 Swedish Championships, Wengholm,A - Hjelm,N.  Annotated by Jens Madsen.  For other games, see our Index of Annotated Games.

Online Chess League
Hall of Champions

(12/13)  The victors from the OCL's Fall 2003 tourney have taken their place alongside the Champions of the Past.  Visit the OCL Hall of Champions and learn more about the Online Chess League.  Another tournament will be starting next month!

(12/13)  Test!:  Another Kennedy Kids story, from the creative mind of Rick Kennedy.  "Time to see what you know about chess!" my brother said as he sailed into the room. "Don't bother reaching for a pawn - a pencil will do."  Can you make the grade?

(12/10)  New additions to the MyChessSite downloads page:  The Taormina Claude Pecaut Memorial Closed 2003 Tournament.  45 games, in a 6 kb zipped ChessBase file.
 

20 Questions with GM Joel Lautier
of the Association of Chess Professionals

GM Joel Lautier, former World Junior Champion (1988), is currently (December 2003) ranked #32 in the latest FIDE rating list at 2666, and is a founding member of the Association of Chess Professionals.  GM Lautier recently agreed to play 20 Questions with Chessville.  Some excerpts:

I'd like to state the obvious: the professional chess world is currently in a complete mess.  Matches for the reunification have been announced and cancelled several times over the past year by the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.  The final result looks like a joke...

The ACP has one simple goal: to transform chess, which in effect is still an amateur sport, into a professional one.  Chess is a game practiced and followed by millions of fans all over the world, yet it has remained to this day unable to capitalize on this huge potential.  We would like to emulate the successes of golf and tennis, namely to set up a circuit of well run professional tournaments all linked together as in a chain...

And I'd like to remind everyone that we shouldn't forget about women's chess too.  This part of our game has a tremendous appeal that few organizers seem to notice, although it is quite obvious to any chess fan...

This means the ACP will contest FIDE's further attempts at reducing the classical time control in most tournaments, since repeated polls, initiated by FIDE but never taken into account, have proven that a large majority of professional players are against the current 90 minutes duration for the whole game.

At the moment, however, FIDE is not functioning properly, to put it mildly.  Its president has spent millions of dollars but unfortunately to no avail, the mess is greater than ever and even absolute top players like Kasparov or Kramnik play very few games, simply because there are not enough tournaments any longer.  Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has certainly earned the gratitude of many players for giving them opportunities for a good income, however, he has been unable to build a self-supporting and lasting structure.  The day he stops signing the checks, FIDE immediately goes bankrupt...

Read all of this fascinating interview with GM Joel Lautier.
 

Test! with The Kennedy Kids
by Mary Elizabeth, as retold by Rick Kennedy

"Time to see what you know about chess!" my brother said as he sailed into the room. "Don't bother reaching for a pawn - a pencil will do."

Jon really likes to test me: test my patience, test my self-control, test my good will.  A written exam was something new.  I sat down at the kitchen table and looked at Part I.

PART I:  MATCHING

Who said...?

1)  "Chess is life."
2)  "Chess is a struggle."
3)  "Chess is the art which expresses the science of logic."
4)  "Chess is a form of intellectual productiveness."
5)  "Chess is a fairy tale of 1001 blunders."
6)  "Chess is a sea in which a gnat may drink and an elephant may bathe."
7)  "Chess is undoubtedly the same sort of art as painting or sculpture."

a)  Mikhail Botvinnik
b)  Jose Raul Capablanca
c)  Bobby Fischer
d)  Indian proverb
e)  Emanuel Lasker
f)  Seigbert Tarrasch
g)  Savielly Tartakower

"Easy," I said, going right to work. If you know about the chess greats, you know how they looked at chess, and what they would say.  (Can you match the quotes with the players?)

The next part was a bit harder...

Test Yourself, with The Kennedy Kids
 

KID Fireworks

Bits and Pieces

with
International
Master
Andrew Martin

KID Fireworks:  Andrew's new book, King's Indian Pressure Play, published by Thinkers Press, will soon be appearing on the bookshelves.

PLAY YOUR PART IN
A WORLD RECORD!

Saturday 21st February 2004 at Wellington College, Crowthorne, IM Andrew Martin will attempt to set a world record for simultaneous chess games to raise money for youth activities and charities.
Get more info here!


To whet the appetite, this month's column includes a few snippets from the book - four illustrative games, one each week, fully annotated with Andrew's unique commentary and opening insight.  This week's game looks at the line beginning:
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 c5 6.d5 0-0 7.Nf3 a6!?

 

Cebalo,M (2510) - Pavlovic,M (2565)
[E76] MTO Biel (3), 2003

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 c5 6.d5 0-0 7.Nf3 a6!?








The red rag is held out in front of Cebalo and he does not disappoint us.  7...a6 is the introduction to a very provocative line...

Find out why, read KID Fireworks with IM Andrew Martin

Miss Last Week's Column? Check it out!
 

The Mad Aussie's Chess Trivia
From Graham Clayton

Lesser Lights:  When the USSR championship was held in one of the outlying republics, rather than in the major cities like Moscow or Leningrad, one of the top local players would be invited to compete.  The first time this happened was in 1937, when the Georgian champion Ebralidze was invited to compete in the 10th USSR championship, which was being held in Tbilisi.  He was outclassed, finishing last of the 20 players with 5/19.

Lighting It Up:  While the USSR championship was usually dominated by the top players over the years, there were times when an "outsider" won the championship.  Here is a list of some of the lesser-known USSR champions between 1920 and 1991:

  • Ratmir Kholmov 31st Championship, Leningrad 1963

  • Alexander Zaitsev 36th Championship, Alma-Ata 1968/69

  • Vladimir Savon 39th Championship, Leningrad 1971

  • Iosif Dorfman 45th Championship, Leningrad 1977

  • Vitaly Tseshkovsky 46th Championship, Tbilisi 1978

  • Lev Psakhis 48th Championship, Vilnius 1980

  • Victor Gavrikov 52nd Championship, Riga 1985

  • Mikhail Gurevich 52nd Championship, Riga 1985

  • Alexander Chernin 52nd Championship, Riga 1985

  • Alexei Vyzhmanain 57th Championship, Leningrad 1990

  • Artashes Minasian 58th Championship, Moscow 1991

  • Elmar Magerramov 58th Championship, Moscow 1991

Submit your trivia to the Mad Aussie!
 

Pablo's Chess News

Pablo's Chess News  Chessville coverage of:

  • XVI Carlos Torre Memorial (December 12-20 / Merida, MEXICO)  13 players lead after the 2nd round

  • Lindsborg Invitational (December 13-14 / Kansas, USA)
    Karpov, Morovic, Onischuk, Shulman, Charbonneau & Donaldson

  • First Saturday Tournaments (December 2003 / Budapest)
    December tournaments in play / Kamil Miton takes is in 1st after 7 rounds

  • Santo Domingo Chess Tournament (November 27 - December 5)  Vadim Milov won by better coefficient (7.5/10)

  • More!

other online chess news resources
The Week In Chess (TWIC) The most complete Tournament News
Mig's Daily Dirt - Commentary on Current Chess Events
The Chess Oracle Monthly International Chess News
The Campbell Report Correspondence Chess News
Net Chess News - News and More
 

New On The Net

Chessbase
     Kasparov: Russia is turning into a police state
     Top 10 reasons to play 1.h3
     16-year-old wins study championship.  Here is a report and all the competition studies.
     Steve Lopez's ChessBase Workshop: ChessBase Opening Encyclopedia 2004 has arrived!
     Ten years in ten days – the Kasparov effect
     A comprehensive database of chess literature - The Ken Whyld Association

The Chess Cafe
     Review: The Chess Artist by J.C. Hallman
     Endgame Study:
A. Neumann 1887
     Misha Interviews…:
Interview with Sergei Shipov
     Endgame Corner by Karsten Müller:
The Damned Pawn Part 2, The "Second Troitzky-line Solved!"
     The Kibitzer by Tim Harding:
How Much Longer Can Man Match
the Computer?
     The Instructor by Mark Dvoretsky: Theoretical Discoveries Part 2
     Chess Notes by Edward Winter:
C.N.s 3120-3121

Chess Assistance
     Interesting endgame studies books

The Telegraph Chess Club
     David Norwood:
pros and cons of exotic tournament locations

Tigerchess
     New Look!  Join GM Nigel Davies Yahoo-based Discussion Group

Times of India: Mumbai wows visually impaired chess champs

Mid-Day
    
New battleground for Ratnayake
    
The star at the Blind chess tourney
    
Chess for the blind: Gadodia sole leader

About.com Chess
     Online Chess Play Sites III

Chandler Cornered - Geoff Chandler
    
Man v Machines part II (The Englund strikes again)

Mechanics' Institute Chess Room
    IM John Donaldson's Newsletter: #169, 12/10/2003  1) Anatoly Karpov to play in Lindsborg; 2) Matthew Gross leads Fall TNM; 3) Berkeley Chess Club Moves; 4) Here and There; 5) Appeal for Donations

The Chess Drum
    
GM Nigel Short  issues a response

     Endgame: New York's Peter Roberts on Short's essay

Net Chess News - New Look!

Tim Krabbé's Open Chess Diary
     230.  9 December 2003: The Bishop's Pair

Seagaard Chess Reviews - Chess Endgame Training

World Chess Network
     Larry Evans On Chess -
SOMETHING BORROWED

RusBase Part Three - New Material From 1967 & 1968

USCF - 2004 Majestic Chess All America Team Members Announced

Annotated Games

The Telegraph Chess Club
     Malcolm Pein: Adams-Baburin, Kilkenny Open 2003
     Nigel Short: Barua-Harikrishna, Indian Ch., Calcutta 2003

David Sands (Washington Times)
     Alekseev-Ramirez, Santo Domingo 2003; Sadler-Pelletier, Bundesliga 2003

World Chess Rating
     M.Labollita (ARG) (2446) - R.Claverie  (ARG) [C05]
     Shipov on the World Computer Chess Championships

Robert Byrne (NY Times): Mamedyarov-Topolov, Benidorm 2003

Lubomir Kavalek (Washington Post): Ivanov-Rivera, Philadelphia 2003

Jack Peters (LA Times): Lein-Shabalov, King's Island Open, Ohio 2003

Jonathan Berry (Globe and Mail)
     Shredder-Fritz, World Computer Ch. Playoff Game #1, Graz 2003

Puzzles & Problems

Chessville - Problem of the Week
MagnateGames - A problem each day
Bruno's Chess Problem of the Day
National Scholastic Chess Foundation - Problem of the Week
Chesshaven - Tactical Exercise of the Day
The London Times - Winning Move & Column, Both Daily

Tell us about your favorite site that you would like us to keep an eye on for you.  Write: Newsletter@Chessville.com
 

Position of the Week: Solution









Winawer - Steinitz, Nuremberg, 1896

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qe3 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bd2 0-0 7.0-0-0 Re8 8.Bc4 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 Nxe4 10.Qf4 Nf6 11.Nf3 d6 12.Ng5 Be6 13.Bd3 h6 14.h4 Nd5 15.Bh7+ Kh8   Diagram

16.Rxd5 Bxd5 17.Be4 f6 18.Bxd5 fxg5 19.hxg5 Ne5 20.g6 1-0

* * * * * * * * *

Last week's position brought some interesting emails:
 







Petrov, A
"Palamede" 1838

     1. Nd2+  Ka2
     2. Nc3+  Ka3
     3. Ndb1+  Kb4
     4. Na2+  Kb5
     5. Nbc3+  Ka6
     6. Qa8 Mate

(5. Na3+ also wins)

 First, Oliver Mass wrote: "I think I found an improvement in the position of the week...If we add a white Bishop on e4, 6. Qa8 mate is no longer possible, thus enabling the following much nicer and longer solution
(mate in 14 moves: 13 consecutive knight checks followed by a discovered check by the king):

1.Nd2+ Ka2 2.Nc3+ Ka3 3.Ndb1+ Kb4 4.Na2+ Kb5 5.Na3+ [ 5.Nbc3+ also works] 5...Ka6 6.Nb4+ Ka7 7.Nb5+ Kb8 8.Na6+ Kc8 9.Na7+ Kd7 10.Nb8+ Ke7 11.Nc8+ Kf8 12.Nd7+ Kg8 13.Ne7+ Kh8 14.Kg2 mate.

Now the question remains whether the position with the additional Be4 is legal.  I think yes: the white h-pawn could have come to h7, the Black light-squared bishop to g8.  With h7xBg8B! White could have obtained his second light-squared bishop.  Black could have lost his queen with b4xQc5."

About three hours later Pavel Perminov wrote: "The solution of yours for this study isn't correct, though you've shown only one move of the main line. This study is a symbolism, i.e. it is a chess representation of exile of Napolion from Moscow in the war of the 1812 between Russia and France.  In this study BK represents Napoleon, WK - Alexander the First - Russian tsar. WQ is the detachment of Bagration. 2N - Russian cavalry. WB - the river Rubikon.  The correct solution is as following:

1. Nd2+ the cavalry begins to press out the French out of Moscow
Ka2 2. Nc3+ Ka3 3. Ndb1+ Kb4 4. Na2+ Kb5 5. Na3+ Ka6 6. Nb4+ (6. Qa8# is of course correct but only in chess-sense. It is said that Bagration had made a mistake which allowed Napoleon to escape the humiliating capture on the Russian territory.  Thus to mate now is too early) 6. ... Ka7 7. Nb5+ Kb8 8. Na6+ Kc8 9. Na7+ Kd7 10. Nb8+ Ke7 11. Nc8+ Kf8 (Napoleon crosses over the river Rubikon and it was very important moment. From that on the attack of Russians became overhang.) 12. Nd7+ Kg8 13. Ne7+ Kh8 14. Kg2+ (Alexander The First issues in Moscow the resolution of the victory and defeat of army of Napoleon, i.e. WK mates the BK)"
 

 

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Chess
Quotes

Interview with GM Joel Lautier:

I'd like to state the obvious: the professional chess world is currently in a complete mess.  Matches for the reunification have been announced and cancelled several times over the past year by the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.  The final result looks like a joke: the official FIDE World Champion, Ruslan Ponomariov, is now offered a spot in the first round of a knockout tournament to be held in Spring, while his challenger, Garry Kasparov, has somehow taken his place since he will only play the final match against the winner of the knockout tournament.  Not even in the troubled boxing world do you see such an absurd situation where the current champion has to qualify to gain the right to meet his "challenger"!

The list of failures by the FIDE management in the last years is truly amazing: first the considerable reduction in prizes in the World Championship knockout tournaments (from five to three million dollars), now the complete standstill of the World Championship cycle since January 2002.  There has also been the much criticized speeding up of the classical time control, which has severely damaged the quality of the games, without adding any TV (or any other media, for that matter) coverage to our tournaments, although this was allegedly the idea.

This intolerable situation, where we can see our sport crumble to pieces with every traditional tournament that disappears and the media interest in our game dwindling dramatically, has prompted us to act and create a new organization, the Association of Chess Professionals.

The ACP has one simple goal: to transform chess, which in effect is still an amateur sport, into a professional one.  Chess is a game practiced and followed by millions of fans all over the world, yet it has remained to this day unable to capitalize on this huge potential.  We would like to emulate the successes of golf and tennis, namely to set up a circuit of well run professional tournaments all linked together as in a chain.

We want to establish a calendar of tournaments well in advance so professional players can prepare accordingly.  We want to create a valuable commercial product so that organizers, journalists, media people and others living from chess can do their jobs properly and actually benefit from it.

And I'd like to remind everyone that we shouldn't forget about women's chess too.  This part of our game has a tremendous appeal that few organizers seem to notice, although it is quite obvious to any chess fan.  I am certain that if a poll was conducted, it would reveal that both Judit Polgar and Alexandra Kosteniuk would be in the top five most popular chess players.

Indeed, it has always been our wish that membership should not be limited to chess players only, like the GMA in former days.  Hence the name we chose, Association of Chess Professionals and not Association of Chess Players.  Besides the obvious resemblance with the ATP, the Association of Tennis Professionals, which represents an inspiring model for us, we wanted to emphasize the fact that all actors of the professional chess stage are important.  Players, organizers, arbiters, journalists, chess programmers, et al are all part of the same play and have common interests.

Certainly, the collapse of the single FIDE world championship title as it existed until 1993 dealt a heavy blow to the attractiveness of our sport.  The ongoing uncertainty about what is to be considered the legitimate championship title has repelled many potential sponsors and will continue to do so until the chess world solves that problem.

At the moment, however, FIDE is not functioning properly, to put it mildly.  Its president has spent millions of dollars but unfortunately to no avail, the mess is greater than ever and even absolute top players like Kasparov or Kramnik play very few games, simply because there are not enough tournaments any longer.  Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has certainly earned the gratitude of many players for giving them opportunities for a good income, however, he has been unable to build a self-supporting and lasting structure.  The day he stops signing the checks, FIDE immediately goes bankrupt.

Read all of the Interview with GM Joel Lautier

 

 

 

GAMES

Davies, N - Hanley, C  Bury Quickplay, 2003

1.Nf3 d5
2.c4 c6
3.g3 Nf6
4.Bg2 Bg4
5.Ne5 Be6
6.d4 Nbd7
7.cxd5 Bxd5
8.Nf3 e5
9.0-0 exd4
10.Nxd4 Bxg2
11.Kxg2 g6
12.Nc3 Bg7
13.Bg5 h6
14.Bf4 0-0
15.Qd2 Kh7
16.Rad1 Re8
17.e4 Qe7
18.Rfe1 Rad8
19.Bc7 Rc8
20.e5 Ne4
21.Nxe4 Rxc7
22.f4 Nc5
23.Nd6 Rd8
24.Qc2 Ne6
25.Nf3 Rcd7
26.h4 Kg8
27.h5 Nf8
28.hxg6 fxg6
29.Nd4 a5
30.Nb3 Ne6
31.Qxg6 a4
32.Nf5 1-0

 

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