.jpg) Alekhine's Parrot
Welcome
to the weekly leader
of chess events around the world.
8-9-2008
|
Beat
The
Parrot!
- Suggest a better
chess caption than the Parrot.
- Caption must relate
to current chess news and events.
- Winning captions will
receive an actual prize!
- Submit entries
directly to
TheParrot.
- The review committee [me and my
hound-dog] decision will be final, and no appeal allowed.
- Other rules will be made up as we
go along.
So,
Beat the Parrot... |
“To
relieve the monotony, Kelly
sometimes plays chess with a crook”
To celebrate national
Sheep Week, you can have a go at this one, or answer the question in
Rare Chess Pictures this week. |
MAGNANIMOUS MAGNUS
ON ICC!
Do You Want To Play Magnus
Carlsen on the Internet Chess Club
(ICC) and help raise money for a good cause? You may remember last
year that World Champion Vishy Anand raised $10,000 on ICC for a
charity that was close to his heart? Well, this year young rising
Norwegian star Magnus Carlsen has magnanimously agreed to do a similar
fundraising simul at ICC, with 100% of the monies raised going to help a
young fellow grandmaster in need of urgent medical treatment.
Serbian GM Dusan Popovic tragically
took ill earlier this year and diagnosed with chronic kidney failure and
now is in urgent need of a transplant. You can read more about
Dusan's plight here.
Magnus Carlsen will be giving of
his time to help a fellow player in his hour of need by hosting a
simultaneous exhibition on ICC on Monday, August 11, with matches
beginning at 2pm U.S. Eastern Daylight Time (7pm GMT)
You can PLAY! You can HELP!
Internet Chess Club is offering
on eBay 18 seats to play in the simultaneous exhibition with
Super-Grandmaster Carlsen. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to
play whom many believe will soon become the world #1 and world champion -
and at the same time help towards a good cause. Twelve seats will be
sold in a Dutch Auction, and six seats are offered in this listing at a
fixed price. To view the auctions, go to: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZinternetchessclub
The six people who donate $500 each
for these special fixed-price seats will receive a two-year subscription (or
two-year renewal) to ICC; a downloadable copy of the latest version of
Junior, the three-time world champion chess engine; and a one-year
subscription to the world's leading chess magazine, New
In Chess—for a total
value of about $250!
Your winning bid will earn a seat
to play Super Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen on ICC. The time control will be 90
minutes with a 5 second increment. Seats will only be available to players
under the rating of 2200 and they will play with the black pieces.
Notes: All payments must be
made by PayPal or credit card within 24 hours of the close of the auction in
order to allow time to properly prepare for this event. You need not be an
ICC member in order to participate; you will receive instructions via email
upon payment.
ICC members can also pay a modest
sum of 5 chekels (or donate more) to play in two large online qualifiers
(Saturday, 9 August, 5pm ET and Sunday, 10 August, 4pm ET) with the two
winners - and the player with the highest accumulated score from both
qualifiers - winning through to play in the Magnus Carlsen simultaneous.
Please remember that ALL 100% of
the proceeds raised will go directly to GM Dusan Popovic's medical fund for
his kidney transplant - please give generously to his cause.
The Magnus Carlsen Simultaneous
takes place Monday, August 11th with matches beginning at 2pm U.S.
Eastern Daylight Time (7pm GMT).
JOHN B. HENDERSON
Director of Marketing
Internet Chess Club
VISHY and SUSAN Contribute
A letter of Support for this
Initiative from Susan Polgar states:
I also supported the
fundraising effort right from the start to help GM Dusan Popovic when I
was informed about this by our friends at Chessdom. I posted about
it here several times. I personally donated $250 to ICC for GM
Popovic. I urge others to contribute what they can. Our
thoughts and prayers are with him. Susan Polgar
Message of support (and
donation of $750!) from World Champion Viswanathan Anand:
 I was really saddened when I
first heard of GM Dusan Popovic's plight. At such a young age, he has to
confront a serious health condition that needs a lot of courage and
persistence to combat. I wish him all the best. As a chessplayer, we all
know what it is to fight. I am sure he will use these fighting skills he
would have honed over the chessboard.
While I know Dusan will be
receiving unstinting support from his family and friends, I congratulate
Magnus Carlsen in stepping forward in his hour of need with his
spontaneous and magnanimous gesture to play on the Internet Chess Club to
help the cause.
It is also nice to see the
next generation coming together for a cause that is far greater than the
game itself. It is, as Dusan himself states, to be a "game of life" and I
am sure the whole chess community will come together as one to participate
and contribute to the fundraising efforts on ICC. For my part, I
personally pledge $750 to the fund and urge everyone to contribute what
they can on the day.
My prayers, thoughts and best
wishes are with Dusan and his family during this time and I am sure, like
me, the chess community would all wish to see his return to active duty at
the chessboard as quickly as possible.
Regards, Viswanathan Anand
---------------------------------
 Chess
Media
– ABC TV & Chessville team-up
…and its
all about you, well… maybe?
Chessville
reached an agreement with Amanda Gershkowitz, Casting Associate Producer for
ABC families hit reality show 'Wife Swap.' Please read carefully what
follows, which is ABC’s approved text, and then contact Amanda directly at
her numbers or e-mail address below, if you would like to learn more.
We are
currently casting for our fifth season and we are looking for great families
that love to play competitive chess!
The premise of
Wife Swap is simple: for seven days, two wives from two different families
with very different values exchange husbands, children and lives (but not
bedrooms) to discover what it's like to live a different family's life. It's
an interesting social experiment and a great way to see your family in a
whole new light. It is shot as a documentary series, so NO scripts and no
set. It's just one camera that is documenting your life.
Families that
appear on the show will receive a financial honorarium for lost wages, time
and commitment. And if you refer a family that appears on the show you would
receive $1000.
Here at 'Wife
Swap' we look for a two-parent home with at least one child between the ages
of 6 and 17 living at home full time.
If you are
interested, please email me your contact information and tell me a little
about your family. Or if you would like to refer a family, please email me
their contact information and I will be in touch.
Amanda Gershkowitz | Casting Associate
Producer | Wife Swap
1790 Broadway
|
11th Floor|
New York
|
NY 10019
tel. + 1 646 747 7949 | fax. + 1 212
586 3419
amanda.gershkowitz@castingrdf.com
|
Chessville’s Icelandic source
reports about Fischer:
"...there is a rumour he will be
[dug] up to get his DNA. Iceland Supreme Court has recently
ruled that the distribution of his estate can't be a private one as
Miyoko wants, but has to be an official one, as the Targ family would
like and then there is a claim from his said daughter Jinky Ong in the
Philippines. So the [circus] goes on."
"You may have heard about the recent
big earthquake in Iceland, 6.3 on R. The epi-center of it was
only a mile or so away from Bobby Fischer's grave, close to Selfoss,
so his body has probably been turned around in the coffin, who knows."
Independent
research reveals:
Among other things, an
article from 4-20-08 identifies "Targ", referenced in the original
message above, as "Within hours of Fischer's death from kidney
disease, on January 17, Sverrisson received a call from the chess
champion's ex-brother-in-law, Russell Targ, the former husband of
Fischer's late sister, Joan, whom Fischer never forgave for leaving
her. Targ was not calling to commiserate, but to make it clear he
would be flying to Reykjavik to secure the interests of his two sons,
Fischer's nephews." |
No rest for the
wicked?
Fischers’s Bones
Caption: the last photograph taken of Robert James Fischer,
copyright permission granted Chessville by Einar S. Einarsson. |
|
The Icelandic
newspaper Morgunbladid reports:
Iceland´s Supreme Court ( Hæstiréttur) has recently ruled that the
distribution of Bobby Fischer´s estate can´t be a private one as
Miyoko Watai had insisted, but has to be an official one, as the
Icelandic attorney for the Trag family G.O. Jonsson demanded,
furthermore there is also a claim from lawyer S. Egtimo representing
Bobby´s s said daughter Jinky Ong in the Phillipines Therefore it is
up the District Court of Reykjavík to restart the procedure. |
Sochi
Round 1 results:
Grischuk, Alexander - Karjakin, Sergey 1-0
Radjabov, Teimour - Al-Modiahki, Mohamad 1-0
Gelfand, Boris - Jakovenko, Dmitry ½-½
Cheparinov, Ivan - Gashimov, Vugar ½-½
Svidler, Peter - Kamsky, Gata ½-½
Navara, David - Ivanchuk, Vassily ½-½
Wang Yue - Aronian, Levon ½-½
Apologies for the brevity of news
on this event, the site has not been operational this week.
Official website:
http://sochi2008.fide.com |
A reader writes:
One famous GM describing another younger GM's
style as being "dangerous - like a drunk with a machine-gun" which @
the time I found rather amusing but can't for the life of me remember
who they were :) ..
Current guesses are Tal, Stein and Nezhmetdinov.
Anyone know better, when this was said, where
said, which GM spoke of the referenced GM or where the quotation is
located in chess literature?
Trouble is; a Certain Dr. Dowd already came up
with the answer – see “afore ye go” at the end of the column. |
The Najdorf Memorial
Takes place August 2-10, 2008. It is
a category 15 event.
Round 6 results:
Sasikiran, Krishnan - Kempinski, Robert
1-0
Socko, Bartosz - Berg, Emanuel ½-½
Olszewski, Michal - Macieja, Bartlomiej 1-0
Rozentalis, Eduardas - Balogh, Csaba 1-0
Krasenkow, Michal - Nyback, Tomi ½-½
 Standings
after 6 rounds:
1. Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2684 5
[captioned]
2. Socko, Bartosz g POL 2627 4
3. Krasenkow, Michal g POL 2639 3½
4. Nyback, Tomi g FIN 2639 3½
5. Berg, Emanuel g SWE 2592 3
6. Balogh, Csaba g HUN 2624 2½
7. Rozentalis, Eduardas g LTU 2599 2½
8. Kempinski, Robert g POL 2613 2
9. Macieja, Bartlomiej g POL 2606 2
10. Olszewski, Michal m POL 2458 2
Official
website:
http://www.poloniachess.pl/najdorf2008/
|
North
Urals Cup
- Result
I have been following this
tournament for a long time for three reasons – the first is that it is
in an aluminum manufacturing town in the Urals, ‘not far from the
taiga’ says my Russian friend, and he was the first to live broadcast
it to the net. It is also an extremely high level woman’s
tournament. |
 |
Final Cross-Table
|
# |
Name |
Fed. |
Title |
Rating |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
Score |
Place |
|
1 |
Cramling Pia |
SWE |
GM |
2544 |
|
0 |
0 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
0 |
½ |
3 |
6 |
|
2 |
Xu Yuhua |
CHN |
GM |
2483 |
1 |
|
½ |
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
3½ |
5 |
|
3 |
Koneru Humpy |
IND |
GM |
2622 |
1 |
½ |
|
1 |
½ |
0 |
0 |
½ |
3½ |
4 |
|
4 |
Pogonina Natalya |
RUS |
WGM |
2469 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
|
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
2½ |
8 |
|
5 |
Ushenina Anna |
UKR |
IM |
2476 |
0 |
1 |
½ |
½ |
|
½ |
½ |
1 |
4 |
2 |
|
6 |
Stefanova Antoaneta |
BUL |
GM |
2550 |
0 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
½ |
|
1 |
½ |
4½ |
1 |
|
7 |
Sebag Marie |
FRA |
IM |
2529 |
1 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
|
½ |
4 |
3 |
|
8 |
Muzychuk Anna |
SLO |
IM |
2504 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
|
3 |
7 |
A big score for Antoaneta Stefanova, here pictured in an early round playing
Marie Sebag, who eventually finished equal second on points scored.
Thanks to Olesya Aleynikova for English translations
of each round, which are also available at the
Official website.
|
British
Championship
The 95th British
Championship is in the final stage. After round 8 (of 9), GMs
Conquest, Lalic and IM Gordon are tied for the lead.
Here are the
leaders:
1 Conquest,
Stuart ENG g 2536 6
2 Gordon,
Stephen ENG m 2508 6
3 Lalic,
Bogdan CRO g 2533 6
4 Arkell,
Keith ENG g 2506 5½
5 Eggleston,
David ENG f 2372 5½
6 Gormally,
Daniel ENG g 2504 5½
7 Hawkins,
Jonathan ENG 2232 5½
8 Hebden,
Mark ENG g 2520 5½
9 Jones,
Gawain ENG g 2549 5½
10 Kolbus,
Dietmar GER m 2393 5½
11 Williams,
Simon ENG g 2496 5½
Caption
top:
Board 1: GM Mark Hebden v “Chessville’s own”
GM Nigel Davies
Caption
bottom:
IM Susan Lalic v GM Gawain Jones
Official website
|
|
Editor: A late flash update - the tournament is over, and the winners are...
GM
Keith Arkell, English Champion 2008; IM Jovanka Houska, British Ladies
Champion 2008;
and GM Stuart Conquest British Champion 2008
St George's Hall, site of the 2008 British Championship
MORE
BRIT ACTION – STAUNTON MEMORIAL
 The
Category 13 Staunton Memorial takes place from August 7-18 2008, with the
rest day on August 13. There will be eleven Grandmasters and 87- year-old IM
Bob Wade participating.
Here are the players:
Michael Adams (ENG) 2735
Ivan Sokolov (NED) 2658
Nigel Short (ENG) 2655
 Loek
van Wely (NED) 2644
Erwin L'Ami (NED) 2610
Jan Smeets (NED) 2593
Jan Werle (NED) 2591
Jan Timman (NED) 2561
Peter Wells (ENG) 2526
Jonathan Speelman (ENG)
2524
Alexander Cherniaev (RUS)
2431
Bob Wade (ENG) 2167
Most fascinating game so
far is illustrated here from Round 1
Smeets,Jan -
Adams,Michael,
White has just played
19.Ke4? Which provides Adams with a fantastic shot – can you see it?
Answer in Afore Ye Go, below.
According to Chessbase,
the last time Adams and Short competed against one another in a classical
tournament in their country was at the English KO Championship in 1991.
The Staunton memorial will be the first time ever that these two players
have played together in an all play-all tournament there. Source:
Chess Today.
Chessville’s columnist
GM Ray Keene, OBE, is also reporting the
tournament in his regular Times [of London] column.
Official
website.
 TheParrot
Squaawks….!
The end of
it all?
This week a $25,000,000 lawsuit has been
brought and served at the USCF Delegates Conference, Dallas Texas.
There are 15 named parties to the suit, and many of them attend the
conference, including USCF President Bill Goichberg, and USCF Executive
Director Bill Hall. The suit is brought by lawyers acting for Susan
Polgar, and follows suits brought against her and her husband by other
parties in an on-going imbroglio of factors over the past year including a
recent one filed in the State of Texas.
It is unclear if USCF’s insurance will
cover the amount should GM Polgar succeed, since it is in effect a
counter-suit and in response to matters brought against them in the state of
Texas. USCF’s annual income is in round numbers only about $3 million
per year, and much of that comes from their retail outlet Chess Cafe, with
whom they are also in dispute.
|
Should the Plaintiff succeed then this will
likely end USCF completely, which is merely a more immediate result
than slowly bleeding to death, laying off its staff, and attempting to
cope with six-figure losses every year.
The current USCF Executive Director, Mr. Bill
Hall, who has presided over these loses is thought to have been
recommended to another 2-year term at the delegates conference now
taking place – and in fact, this is what transpired. It is
unclear if other candidates for the post were even canvassed, or if
this represents the opinion of the whole board – or even if the voices
of those concerned over his financial performance has been raised in
official minutes.
It is also not known, or public knowledge, what
salary Mr. Hall will now receive, or the basis for bonus payments
should they exist. These factors constitute Official Secrets at
USCF, like many other financial matters – as with their relationship
with Chess Cafe.
The 25-personned paid staff at USCF in 2008 seem
to maintain one or two core functions in US chess. The first of those
is the ratings system, which is to say, essentially the scholastic
rating system. The second has to do with national championships, which
it no longer funds, but only administers. |
Those named in a
Suit at LUBBOCK COUNTY, TEXAS, IN THE 72ND
DISTRICT COURT: JUDGE RUBEN G. REYES
SUSAN POLGAR, Plaintiff,
UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA CHESS FEDERATION, INC. and
BILL GOICHBERG,
JIM BERRY,
RANDY BAUER,
RANDALL HOUGH,
all Individually and in their Representative Capacities as Members of
the Executive Board of the United States of America Chess Federation;
BILL HALL, Individually and in his Representative Capacity as
Executive Director of the United States of America Chess Federation;
BRIAN MOTTERSHEAD;
HAL BOGNER;
CHESS MAGNET, L.L.C.;
CONTINENTAL CHESS INCORPORATED;
JEROME HANKEN;
BRIAN LAFFERTY;
SAM SLOAN;
KARL S. KRONENBERGER;
KRONENBERGER BURGOYNE, L.L.P.;
Defendants. |
It is thought three honest and
techno-savvy nuns could run the rating system. Championships are in
effect already in the hands of sponsors. International events seem to
be of little interest to USCF.
An immediate
effect of the Polgar suit will be to level the playing field, so that those
issuing accusations also have something to lose by doing so – and to object
to the endless and very personal speculations which have heretofore been
‘free’ by suggesting in the courts there is a formal consequence to making
them.
|
 |
Squaaawk back to
TheParrot… Hey!
It’s your game.
Speak up or have other people speak for you. |
|
Rare Chess Pictures:
Sometimes there are no words adequate to even
begin to explain people’s conception of chess.
Not only is the Sheep and Cow set only likely to
appeal to shepherds, and that equally rare occupation, chess editors –
but what is the idea being demonstrated here in this little-known
opening?
In fact, In addition to the caption for Beat the Parrot, here is
another chance to win a prize by sending your suggestion to the
Name That Opening competition. |
Kelly's Dream
Set |
  Afore
ye go:
The Parrot wins Beat the Parrot again!
Pathetic entries last week by the World will not even be mentioned, except
that the Parrot wishes to point out that “Got Slime” is practically at the
genius level, and also the score stands - Parrot 3 : World 1
Also – from the sidebar above “which GM
said what about another?” The Answer is:
Watson was British Rapidplay Chess
Champion in 1992 and British Chess Champion in 1994. Boris Spassky once
famously described his style of play as that of a drunk with a machine gun.
- Dr. Stephen Dowd.
Smeets-Adams
Game:
19...Nxe5!
Another
hammer-blow, the main point being that 20.Kxe5 Be7! regains the material.
With Smeets by now in time-trouble, his position quickly collapses.
20.h6
Ng4 21.hxg7 Rhg8 22.Kf5 Rxg7 23.f3 Nf2 24.Rh2 Bc5 25.Bh6 Rg6 26.Nd2 Bd4
27.Bg5 Re8 28.Rxf2 Re5+ 0–1
A great show
of tactical control by Adams.
|
And here is your prize for beating the
Parrot, from a Chessville advertiser:
The Colle just grew up … and now it eats
“silver bullets” for breakfast!
ZUKE ‘EM : The Colle-Zukertort
Revolutionized
Refining the main line, Refuting the pet defenses, Redefining
what an opening book should be. New ideas against … practically all
defenses
www.zukertort.com. You win, you get one! |
Write to TheParrot
Top of the Page
The Parrot's Archives
TheParrot's Special Reports
Polgar &
the USCF: A Parrot Special Report combines the text of GM Susan
Polgar's remarks, published in last week's Squaawk, and the USCF's
carefully worded response. Also, a further response from Ms. Polgar.
Scholastics - the Soul
of Chess?: Is the Scholastic chess movement actually bad for
chess? Maybe, or so argues Tom Braunlich in an
article extracted here at Chessville (Scholastics
and the Soul of Chess).
TheParrot's Special
Report addresses some very strongly worded reader opinions, along with
Braunlich's reply.
USCF's Book &
Equipment
Deal with Chess Cafe: It all started with the following posting by Larry Parr in one of the public
newsgroups last week: "Gentlemen, The USCF Executive Board has caved to the
ChessCafe. That is the report I received from a source. By a 5-1 vote the
EB has decided WITHOUT OFFERING A PUBLIC TENDER to alter favorably for the
Cafe the terms of its contract and to extend the Cafe's sales agreement
until 2012. Further, the Cafe will have over $100,000 of its $250,000-plus
debt to the USCF forgiven. The vote was 5 to 1."
USCF's
Fingerfehler: A related issue
has also surfaced, the alleged blacklisting or boycotting of certain authors
by USCF Sales.
USCF Sales is the name of the business entity, operated by Hanon Russell of
Chess Café, which
has contracted with the USCF to provide book & equipment (B&E) sales on
their behalf. TheParrot
received this message (12/29/2005) from GM Raymond Keene, regarding
the controversy on USCF Sales...
Who Cares? - Women and
Children in Chess:
Months ago the Parrot wrote to the USCF board via Bill Hall Executive
Director of USCF, asking after standards in place to avert offense to
women and children in chess. These concerns, although according to
Hall were delivered to the board, have not been addressed nor even
acknowledged. Perhaps this is a cultural thing,
but in some cultures is not dishonorable nor some game of politically
correct words, to actively protect women and children from offence - in fact
it is considered manly. The issues before the board were
about the treatment of women and children, and the lack of standard evident
in the works of USCF agents paid and unpaid – and who even sometimes wrote
anonymously, but let it be known that they wrote as USCF agents.
And what happens if you don’t …
Now we have a collision of
speculations about new board member Sam Sloan's standards with these
non-existent USCF standards...
Top of the Page
|
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