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Alekhine's Parrot
TheParrot
Says…Welcome
to the archive of the weekly leader of chess events around the world. Chessville
welcomes your Feedback to TheParrot on this week’s news by
writing to
TheParrot@Chessville.com where selected letters will be
featured.
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9-20-2008
Chess
Media – Chess Aid
Hurricane relief effort – you can help
On
Monday, September 22, Indian GM Harikrishna Pentala , sponsored by the
Sun Group , will conduct a 25 board simultaneous exhibition at the
Texas Tech Student Union Building after his 4th round game
(approximately 7:30 pm).
Half of the proceeds raised from this event will be used to help
victims of the recent hurricane in Texas. Millions of lives were
effected in one way or another and we are trying to do all we can to
help. |
Just Kidding? - 1
Hello Parrot, am <name>
I would like to know if you sell bird
cage. If you do please let me know the types you have and the
payment you accept.
Right here the answer is seeds, we can always
use seeds.
Whereas, in the editorial department I hear
the answer is wool, gathering-wool. |
Special thanks to GM Pentala and all who are involved in this effort! If you
would like to contribute, please send a check payable to Susan Polgar
Foundation (501(c)(3) non-profit organization) 6923 Indiana Avenue (Suite
154) Lubbock, Texas 79413 . Thank you! Chess news from Susan Polgar
Source:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1290139/fullcredits#cast
MATE
– The Movie
I see that
advertising for the forthcoming chess movie “Mate” now formally lists Susan
Polgar as a producer. Of course, details of the film are a tight
secret, but the Parrot was able to find out that the advertising poster is
not USCF President Bill Goichberg in a ski-mask, nor the mysterious
FSS.
Just
Kidding 2,
World Championship
Here is an
extract from an interview with FIDE Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos:
Q: And the
question that most of us are interested in. Will match Kamsky-Topalov take
place as planned?
A: You know that we have a sponsor. At least he claims that he wants to be a
sponsor for this match to take place in Ukraine. He was supposed to send the
money to FIDE many months ago. For the last few weeks we are hearing
"tomorrow, tomorrow, the money is going to be transferred". FIDE President
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who knows the sponsor,
they are friends, is aware of the
serious situation and that is why he personally guaranteed the prize
fund. So even if the sponsor does not proceed with deposing the
prize fund to FIDE bank account, because this is the key point, then
Mr.Ilyumzhinov will find the solution.
Our problem, at the moment, is that as long
as money is not on the FIDE bank account, we cannot even go to Ukraine
and speak with the potential organizer. We cannot sign the final
undertaking with the players before we know where are they going to
play. On the other hand, up to this point, we could have had
already discussed several details concerning this match.
In fact, to tell the
truth, the side of Gata Kamsky is not very helpful. I invited
the players to discuss technical details that do not depend on the
playing venue. But the Kamsky team is waiting to see who is the
organizer and where the match is going to take place and only then
they want to arrange the details. In my opinion, this is not
fair. One example, just to illustrate, I asked if there should
be private rooms for the players or not. If the match takes
place in Sofia, then no, if it is in Ukraine then we will have them.
In my opinion, this should be solved irrespective of the organizers.
Are there private rooms or not? There are many similar details
that do not depend on where the match will actually take place.
We should agree now on the private rooms, what kind of control, what
kind of let's say "anti-cheating" measures will be taken.
I have to say that negotiations with Anand and Kramnik, regarding
their own match, were much easier than the situation that we are
facing now. |
True Chess Stories
A Conversation with Maurice Ashley where we
chatted about reactions to his
Blitz DVD which
features 4 GMs, Joel Benjamin, Hikaru Nakamura, Alex
Shabalov and Larry Christiansen.
Christiansen! I remember yelling at the TV,
resign Christiansen! in one of his games, not understanding how he
could play on. So much for my naïve understanding of LC! – 10 moves
later… some thunder-storm had swept over the board completely changing
the picture, and… but that’s a teaser!
The second thief [of the DVD] to come by
my house was the father of a local prodigy, who of course said “my 7
year old son would LOVE to see that”, and with as much
grace as the first thief, basically just stole it!
About 2 weeks later we met again at the chess
club and he said there had been all sorts of trouble about the DVD.
That his son watched it, and watched it again, and in fact watched it
12 times in the space of 3 days until the child’s mother took it away
from him!
So, I
told Maurice this anecdote over the phone, and he asked if she hated
him? “Not at all, I replied, I doubt she even knows your name, but she
knows mine!” At which the GM remained sensibly silent, though I
thought I heard a chuckle or two down the line. |
Category
15 Begins Stateside
2008 SPICE Cup International Invitational Tournament
Texas
Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Chief Organizer: Susan Polgar Category:
XV | FIDE Average: 2605.5 | USCF Average: 2666.5 September 19-28, 2008, Day
off on September 23.
Highest rated 10-player International RR tournament in U.S.
history has begun. Spice takes the cake – they made it too.
Title Name FIDE USCF Country
1. Grandmaster Alexander Onischuk 2670 2741 USA
2. Grandmaster Harikrishna Pentala 2668 2724 India
3. Grandmaster Varuzhan Akobian 2610 2656 USA
4. Grandmaster Leonid Kritz 2610 2647 Germany
5. Grandmaster Gregory Kaidanov 2605 2678 USA
6. Grandmaster Julio Becerra 2598 2647 USA
7. Grandmaster Victor Mikhalevski 2592 2680 Israel
8. Grandmaster Kamil Miton 2580 2702 Poland
9. Grandmaster Hannes Stefansson 2566 2598 Iceland
10. Grandmaster Eugene Perelshteyn 2555 2591 USA
Round
1 results
Akobian 1-0 Perelshteyn
Becerra 1/2 Onischuk [captioned]
Stefansson 1/2 Pentala
Kaidanov 0-1 Kritz
Mikhalevski 1-0 Miton
Official websites:
www.SusanPolgar.blogspot.com and
www.SPICE.ttu.edu. Games will be broadcast on
www.MonRoi.com
Liverpool
– European Individual Championship, Result
Here are the final standings of the top 15 at the European
Union Championship (by tiebreaks order)
1 WERLE, Jan NED g 2591 8
2 LAZNICKA, Viktor CZE g 2601 7½
3 ADAMS, Michael ENG g 2735 7½
4 SHORT, Nigel ENG g 2655 7½
5 DAVID, Alberto LUX g 2568 7
6 L'AMI, Erwin NED g 2610 7
7 VACHIER-LAGRAVE, Maxime FRA g 2681 7
8 FRIDMAN, Daniel GER g 2637 7
9 BERG, Emanuel SWE g 2592 7
10 BACROT, Etienne FRA g 2691 7
11 HOWELL, David ENG g 2561 7
12 TIVIAKOV, Sergei NED g 2645 7
13 LUTHER, Thomas GER g 2570 7
14 SMEETS, Jan NED g 2593 7
15 BELIAVSKY, Alexander G SLO g 2606 7
Jan Werle has just captured the 2008 European Union
Championship by drawing French GM Vachier-Lagrave. Super-GM Adams who
could have caught up with Werle with a win inexplicably took a 13-move draw.
Indeed, that was not the only short draw: here is
commentator John Saunder’s opinions of round 9:
“The afternoon got off to a disappointing start when the
clash of the English titans failed to live up to its billing. Mickey
Adams and Nigel Short concluded hostilities in 12 moves. This
sparked off some disapproving emails to us, and messages on chess forums
lamenting their lack of fighting spirit. It is hard to argue with
some of the sentiments expressed though perhaps the ire needs to be
directed towards the format of modern tournaments rather than the players
themselves who have a living to make and a limited shelf-life...”
GM Werle (2591) - GM Vachier-Lagrave (2681) [A05]
European Union Championship, 18.09.2008
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Qa4+ Bd7 6.Qh4 Bc6
7.Qd4 Rg8 8.e3 Bg7 9.Qc4 Nb6 10.Qb3 e5 11.e4 N8d7 12.d3 Qe7 13.Be2 Nc5
14.Qc2 Ne6 15.a4 a5 16.0–0 g5 17.Be3 Game drawn ½–½
GM Berg (2592) - GM Adams (2735) [C92]
European Union Championship, 18.09.2008
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.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Ng5 Rf8 12.Nf3 Re8 13.Ng5 Game drawn
½–½
Official website:
http://www.liverpoolchessinternational.co.uk
Record Breaking
Olympiad in Dresden
Record-breaking Olympiad
Official Dresden Olympiad Website:
http://www.dresden2008.com/
FIDE
and Organizing Committee enable further registrations. Clear already:
largest Olympiad of all times.
Three days after the official
registration deadline it is obvious that Dresden will not only be a reform
but also a record-breaking Olympiad. The so far highest number of
participants was listed in Torino in 2006 but will be beaten by length in
Dresden. After the closing of the registration period the national
federations have nominated 148 for the open and 114 teams in the women’s
tournament.
Despite the enlargement of the women’s
teams to now four seated and one substitute players already more women teams
than in 2006 have registered. The most impression number is, however, the of
active participants. Including the 309 registered coaches and accompanying
persons, 80 arbiters and 35 FIDE Officials this number is up to 1984.
The world chess association FIDE and the Organizing Committee agreed to give
another ten federations the chance to participate, providing they will
register until Friday, 19. September 2008. This exception does include all
federations that have already contacted the organnizers in whatever way.
Federations which have not yet done so will receive no further chance for
late registration. |
Last Week the Parrot commented on Chess and
Violence, citing 3 recent examples. Reviewing an interview question
with a now-board member, Randy Bauer, he made the following response.
The Parrot is interested in what aspects of his promise has been made
true?
Question 2: To what extent do
you feel the USCF has any obligation to establish and maintain ethical
standards in the recruitment and security of women and children in US
chess? How would you go about implementing such a program? Should
the USCF, in the process of establishing such standards,
conference with both women and parents of scholastic players to gain
their insights and hear their recommendations? Should USCF
develop standards and certifications for chess teachers?
I think the USCF should stress ethical
standards in all of its programs and the services it provides to its
members. Likewise, the USCF definitely should solicit regular
feedback from its members and stakeholders as well. I pushed for
greater opportunities for member communication while on the Board the
last time. As with many things, it is often couched as a question of
resources, but I think it is a priority and that opportunities are
available.
The USCF has an active and involved scholastic
council, and I think they are the appropriate vehicle for developing
standards and/or certification for chess teachers or instructors. |
Final figures and detailed participation lists of nations will be published
in the following days. Official Dresden Olympiad Website:
www.dresden2008.com
Bilbao
- results: Final standings (scoring System is: 3 points per win, 1
point per draw, 0 point per loss)
1 Topalov - 17.0
2 Aronian - 13.0
3 Carlsen - 13.0
4 Ivanchuk - 12.0
5 Radyabov - 10.0
6 Anand - 8.0
Official website:
http://www.bilbaofinalmasters.com/
Women’s
World
Championship Final
After very tense playoff games GM Alekandra Kostniuk managed to defeat her
14 year old GM-elect oponent Hou Yifan.
Alexandra wrote one day to say that Chessville was her favorite English
language chess-site, and Chessville this week made inquiries to interview
her opponent.
It’s difficult to know who to praise more.
9-13-2008
Chess Media
– Chess & Violence 1,
Chess Problems not Life Problems
No,
this isn’t about chess politics. It is about real politicians
selecting chess as something desirable in 2008.
Alberto Murillo immigrated to Salinas from
Mexico for the fourth grade. That’s when his math teacher urged him to
master the chessboard. “I would not be here right now if it wasn't for
chess. Chess helped me through school, get to college and I know it could
help other students, too,” Salinas chess coach Alberto Murillo said. City
leaders have already launched chess activities in libraries and recreation
centers in an effort to help calm down crime on the streets. “This is our
salvation to ending some of the problems we're having in our community, by
getting these kids early on like some of the ones you see today,” Salinas
City Councilman Sergio Sanchez said. Kids at local elementary schools said
they agree.
Read the entire article including a video
link:
http://www.ksbw.com/news/17435545/detail.html
Chess
Media
– Chess & Violence 2,
Women as 2nd Class Chess Citizens?
In 2005 the issue of women as 2nd class
citizens in chess arose, and I engaged in a conversation with an English
player, first on the subject of Vera Menchik’s era, then on today’s
conditions. I was completely startled when, at length, she volunteered this
response:
“…actually although we are The North
Circular league I live near Canary Wharf in East London. Certainly I
have heard of Vera Menchik. It was a tragedy that she died early.
A truly gifted player and I agree with Alekhine that it was a pity she was
playing below her level. I think if I had been Vera I would have not
worried about the Women’s Championship.
As regarding the worst experience I ever
endured. I was punched in the face by an arbiter called <I have
removed the individual's name> at the Sutton Congress in 1994. This
happened in public and I was left unconscious on the floor. Two things
struck me (excuse the pun) as particularly bad about the incident. He
lied about hitting me despite witnesses. The British Chess Federation
went to great lengths to hide the incident and a fellow organiser <I have
removed the individual's name> stated that it wasn't important as it was
only a woman and not someone like Mickey Adams. Still that’s chess for
you.” 2/18/2005.
Chess
Media
– Chess & Violence 3,
Chess Youth Safe?
Back in 2008 - another issue which isn’t
going away is the predatory activity by some adult mentors and
teachers in chess. Efforts to engage USCF on this subject have
proved fruitless over the years – the cost and liability of auditing
chess teachers is deemed too high. Yet sadly, here is yet
another instance of abuse of what happens without back-ground checks,
and what is now universally accepted as standard practice in Boy
Scouts and Little League.
"FORT
COLLINS - An arrest warrant has been issued for child sex offender and
former chess coach Robert Snyder for violating probation. Snyder
was released from the Larimer County Detention Center late last month.
He was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to
sexual assault on a child and unlawful sexual contact. He was
sentenced to at least 10 years of sex offender intensive supervised
probation after his release." Source:
http://www.9news.com/ |
The Parrot asked an
insurance professional who has offered personal policies to
individual chess players, Mr. Rob Mitchell, of Nashville TN., his
professional point of view of the likely costs of background testing,
and on insurance for Chess Teachers? In terms of background
testing, what was in his opinion a minimum standard, for example, are
3 references as /minimum/ standard sufficient?
Dear
Parrot, Thank you for the opportunity to address this topic.
Professional liability insurance for teachers is not a new subject.
Most if not all independent schools have a liability policy that
covers their teachers. Many teachers unions provide access
through group plans for chess teachers to get coverage. Others
simply acquire the professional liability coverage on their own.
A nurse or a dental hygienist has an individual liability policy that
covers them independent of the hospital or clinic for which they work.
Most
employers are requiring references prior to hiring and employee.
Drug and background checks are now quite commonplace. The
potential liability to an affiliated organization should the person
they hired prove to be someone with a criminal background can be
substantial. That is why they need to do background checks; to
mitigate their risk.
Customary costs for professional liability insurance may run as little
as $250 a year to $600 a year on a private purchase. A small
price to pay if you are going into a real business. - Rob Mitchell |
Chess Media
– Gossiping
with Inspector Keene
Last weekend I
tracked down an unusual use of a Grandmaster – solving a murder, so
contacted Ray Keene who did the solving and learned that his
investigation was to be the subject of a television program.
“But is this a fictional murder, or a real one?” I asked. “Very
real”, he replied.
Read for
yourself. |
During our Conversation Ray asked a puzzle
question. I was joking him about being “Inspector Keene” after
the famous Inspector Morse, and his sidekick Lewis. |
“Do you know the origin of those names?”
Quizzed Ray.
Obviously this is chess related – and this Parrot
scored 50% of the answer. Can readers do better? |
Ray
is a Chessville columnist and also has
his own new site where he
features a couple articles, one on Kasparov, and another being my Chessville
interview with him, where
he explains how he escaped search by the KGB smuggling samizdat materials on
Refuseniks out of Russia. In the interview Ray answers questions about chess
in the old Soviet Union, and the state of chess in the world today.
As well as
writing with Chessville he has columns in
The Spectator, The Times, The Sunday Times, the International Herald
Tribune, and has some 130 books published.
An
insufficiently reviewed title is one by Ray Keene on Tony Miles. The
blurb reads in part, “Miles also won numerous first prizes in international
tournaments. He feared no-one and his will to win was legendary, as
exemplified by the front jacket photograph of this book. Taken at the
Tilburg 1985 tournament, this shows Miles in play on a form of stretcher
against grandmaster Djinjihashvili. Although suffering from terrible
back pain, Miles insisted on competing, even from this unorthodox position,
the only one in which the pain subsided. Characteristically Miles went
on to win shared first prize in the event.
Tony Miles died tragically
early in November 2001. This book is a memorial to him, written by a
Grandmaster rival who faced him many times over the board.”
Liverpool–
She Loves Chess, Yeah Yeah Yeah!
THE highest caliber chess tournament in Britain
England began at Liverpool’s World Museum last Tuesday. Fifty
Grandmasters battle for chess championship honor, reports Liza Williams,
Liverpool Daily Post.
Taking
part are
Michael Adams,
England's highest ever rated player. His highest ranking was world
number 4, achieved from October 2000 to October 2002 with a rating of 2755.
He is currently number 13 in the world and the number one British chess
player with a rating of 2735. Nigel Short is one of England's
greatest ever players, former World Championship Challenger and European
Union Individual Champion 2006. His highest rating was 2712 in 2004.
A total of 150
contestants – 50 of them Grandmasters – made their first moves in the
4th European Open Championships.
Michael Adams,
who won his first round match against Charles Kennaugh and said: “It
is great to be in Liverpool again. I was here last year for the match
against the Chinese. It is great to be in this historic venue.
Nigel Short,
said: “It is a lot stronger than two years ago, it is a very tough
event.
It follows
hugely popular events in Liverpool in 2006 and 2007, including the
Great Britain v China match last year. Earlier this year, over 1,000
people took part in the British Championships, in St George's Hall,
Liverpool.
Cllr Bradley
said: “Welcome to Liverpool, European Capital of Culture. This chess
tournament is a major part of Culture Year – I am very pleased it has
come to Liverpool.
“It is the
strongest field ever to be received in the UK and we are very proud to
be hosting it.” Organisers expect worldwide attention for the event,
with up to 5m visits per day to the games shown live on the tournament
web. |
Last year Chessville’s corres team organizer Rob
Mitchell got up a team to challenge 2450-rated Elena Dembo, who is
appearing at Liverpool this year.
Also
Appearing among the 50 GMs and worth keeping an eye on is 2250 rated
Yang-Fan Zhou.
|
Results of tops
boards at round 4:
1 ABERGEL, Thal........... 2499 (3) ½ - ½ ADAMS, Michael.......... 2735 (3)
2 BITALZADEH, Ali......... 2310 (3) ½ - ½ VACHIER-LAGRAVE, Maxime. 2681 (3)
3 FRIDMAN, Daniel......... 2637 (3) ½ - ½ CONQUEST, Stuart C...... 2536 (3)
4 BACROT, Etienne......... 2691 (2½) ½ - ½ GORMALLY, Daniel W...... 2504 (2½)
5 MIEZIS, Normunds........ 2540 (2½) 1 - 0 TIVIAKOV, Sergei........ 2645 (2½)
For information and
results,
log on here.
Bilbao
Round 9 results:
Anand, Viswanathan - Topalov, Veselin ½-½
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Aronian, Levon ½-½
Radjabov, Teimour - Carlsen, Magnus ½-½
Standings
with one round to go:
1. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2777 14
2. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2737 13
3. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2781 12
4. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2775 12
5. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2744 7
6. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2798 7
Official website.
Women’s World Championship
Semi-Final
Played by blitz playoff.
M-elect Hou (2557) - GM Koneru
(2622) [B06]
WWC - Blitz Playoff - Game 2, 12.09.2008
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 a6 5.f4 Nd7 6.Nf3
e6 7.Bd3 b5 8.e5 Ne7 9.Bf2 Nb6 10.Bh4 Qd7 11.a4 b4 12.Ne4 Nbd5 13.Qd2
Nf5 14.Bf2 f6 15.c4 bxc3 16.bxc3 fxe5 17.fxe5 0–0 18.0–0 Bb7 19.a5 Bh6
20.Nfg5 Qe7 21.c4 dxe5 22.dxe5 Nb4 23.Bc5 Bxg5 24.Qxb4 Be3+ 25.Kh1 Qh4
26.Qxb7 Bxc5 27.Nf6+ Rxf6 28.Bxf5 Rff8 29.Bxe6+ Kh8 30.Qd5 Bf2 31.Qd3
Rad8 32.Qe2 Bg3 33.h3 Bf4 34.Qg4 Qh6 35.Rae1 Rfe8 36.Qxf4 Qxf4 37.Rxf4
Rxe6 38.Rf7 c5 39.Rc7 Rd2 40.Rb1 Re8 41.Rbb7 White wins 1–0
Hou wins the blitz playoff 2-0 and will move on
to the final to face Kosteniuk of Russia.
Another awful Armageddon play-off arose earlier –
see for yourself
if you think this is chess at all. The Armageddon finish starts about
1minute 35 seconds into the tape. When the Parrot took on the same
issue with USCF he was accused of being ‘personal’ about the finals –
now it seems the whole world is being personal about them. USCF have
not deemed to notice public reaction, and the Fide Arbiter didn’t seem
to care about knocked over pieces and two players each with
insufficient winning material, King and Knight each, slapping things
around. As with the US Women’s championship, so with the
Women’s world Championship.
Thanks to Russian journalist Evgeny Surov for
posting the video of Socko-S.Foisor at Youtube.
STOP PRESS:
we have arrived at 2 finalists: 14 year-old Hou defeated Humpy after a
blitz play-off and will now contest Russian GM Alexandra Kosteniuk for
the title. |
What’s in a Word?
Part 1
The word CHESS is tolerably complex in origin, and not
clearly a loan-word. There is the A. Sax CHESE; to chose, with a
secondary meaning to see "Even til the hegh bord he chese," being the
past participle in Syr Gowghter, 312. Some people think it is a loan
word from the Latin for Roman brass coins found in some places in
Gloucestershire, 'and so called by country people.' Not unlikely an
origin, many coins, stones etc, were original game pieces - CHESSIL;
gravel or pebbles [A. Sax], and the beach or gravel bank still named
for it. Earliest reference to a chess player I can find is Middleton's
CHESSNER. Likely most direct early reference is also A. Sax from
CHESTE (var. CHEESTE); strife, debate, which the atavist Gower uses.
The word CHEST is more clearly Latin, as is CHESTER, but the first
means 'coffin' and the second 'embalmer'. Neither likely candidates.
Whereas the word CHESTS means chess; "The playe at chests,"
//Nomenclature, p. 293.
Interesting is CHEKERE: (1) the exchequer //Langtoft
p. 312 (2) the game of chess //Rob. Glouc. p. 192. A later version is
A. Norm, (3) a chess-board, but CHECKERED is a checkered sermon, one
full of Greek and Latin quotations.
Much later we have CHECKSTONE; a game played by
children with round small pebbles. It is mentioned in the early play
of Apollo Shroving, 12mo. Lond. 1627, p. 49.
Unclear if the origin of CHEK; fortune; ill-fortune,
is from the French echec? CHEKE means (1) choked //Ritson, (2)
checked, as in the game of chess ; and hence used metaphorically. (3)
a person or fellow [Lincs.]
The word CHESS means in Lincolnshire; to crack. |
9-6-2008
9th
Montreal – “Empresa”
Yuri
Shulman wins a whole point ahead of the field.
Official
website
Rang |
|
Nom |
Cote |
FED |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
Pts |
SB |
1 |
GM |
Nakamura Hikaru |
2697 |
USA |
½ |
1½ |
2½ |
3 |
3 |
3½ |
4 |
5 |
5½ |
5½ |
23.75 |
2 |
GM |
Shulman Yuri |
2623 |
USA |
½ |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
4½ |
5 |
6 |
6½ |
6½ |
|
3 |
GM |
Akobian Varuzhan |
2610 |
USA |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
3½ |
4 |
4 |
4½ |
5½ |
5½ |
22.75 |
4 |
GM |
Mazé Sébastien |
2553 |
FRA |
0 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1½ |
2½ |
3½ |
4 |
4½ |
4½ |
17.25 |
5 |
GM |
Bluvshtein Mark |
2548 |
CAN |
1 |
1½ |
1½ |
2½ |
3 |
4 |
4½ |
5 |
5½ |
5½ |
22.25 |
6 |
GM |
Kovalyov Anton |
2548 |
CAN |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1½ |
2½ |
3 |
3 |
3½ |
3½ |
13.75 |
7 |
GM |
Nataf Igor |
2534 |
FRA |
½ |
1 |
1½ |
2 |
2 |
2½ |
3½ |
4 |
4½ |
4½ |
19.75 |
8 |
GM |
Charbonneau Pascal |
2499 |
CAN |
1 |
1½ |
2½ |
3 |
3½ |
3½ |
3½ |
3½ |
3½ |
3½ |
13.75 |
9 |
MI |
Roussel-Roozmon Thomas |
2486 |
CAN |
0 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1½ |
2 |
2½ |
2½ |
|
10 |
MI |
Zugic Igor |
2457 |
CAN |
0 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2½ |
3 |
3½ |
3½ |
16.25 |
12
Year Old Scores 2500 rating, right here in USA
The Florida
State Chess Championship just concluded on Labor day this past week in St
Petersburg Florida. The surprise of the tournament was 12 year old Lucas van
Beuzekom (1948), an 8th grader from Orlando Florida.
He
finished tied for 3rd place in the Open section, just a 1/2 point out of
first place with 4.5 out of 6. His only loss was to GM Julio Becerra (2640),
who tied for first with Ray Robson (2484).
Lucas was
tied for first going in to the last round where he had a draw with FM Mark
Ritter (2353). Along the way he managed to beat a virtual who's who of
Florida chess talent, including Andrew Cunanan (2197), Jeffery Haskel (2238)
and Corey Acor (2302).
The
performance rating for this tournament was just above 2500! an incredible
result for a 12 year old. The full results can be see here:
http://www.floridachess.org/2008FloridaChampionship.htm.
Un-Official
but up-to-date Ratings
Carlson #1
01 Carlsen
2791,3
02 Anand 2790,9
03 Morozevich 2787,0
04 Topalov 2786,2
05 Ivanchuk 2781,8
06 Kramnik 2771,9
07 Aronian 2754,1
08 Radjabov 2749,5
Chess
Media
–
Susan
Polgar has been making blog reports all week from Bilbao, including
interviewing all the players and reporting on the games and atmosphere.
Interestingly she reports on top GM habits; beginning with Aronian she says,
“It is interesting to see how all the players
develop their daily routines / rituals during the tournament. I know I had
mine when I was active.
For example, Topalov is first to come down
(by himself) to the lobby to wait to be driven (along with the other
participants) to the playing site. As he is always early, he then goes for
a short walk to get some fresh air around the park behind the hotel.
Ivanchuk with his second Mexican GM Manuel
Leon are usually next to come down and they always have the last minute
coffee before the game.”
In other news, an
out-of-sorts Carlsen caught a bug in Moscow and is not playing well, whereas
she talked with Vishy Anand about chess in India, and learned that now
170,000 children receive chess education in schools.
Coming
Up
The World Chess Championship will be held from
October 11 to 30, 2008 in the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal
Republic of Cermany in Bohn, between Vishvanatan Anand (India) and Vladimir
Kramnik (Russia). The match will consist of twelve games played under
classical time control. If there is a tie at the end of these games a
tie-break will be played on October 30, 2008. The prize fund, which will be
split equally between the players, is 1.5 million euro (approximately 2.1
million dollars) including taxes and FIDE licensee fees.
Information courtesy Rolf Behovits - Press Officer
Bilbao
FC?
Aronian,
Carlsen, Radjabov, Ivanchuk, Anand, and Topalov. This year the scoring
system will be NOT the traditional chess scoring system. They are using the
soccer scoring system with 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.
In addition,
players who do not attend the official reception at Bilbao's Town Hall on
September 1st or the closing ceremony on September 13th will be fined
€6,000!
“In an
earlier post, I mentioned that I spoke to some of the players. I finally had
a chance to speak to Topalov at the Opening Ceremony. We tried to figure out
when we saw each other last. We think it was at the Zonal in Budapest in
1993 and Intel Grand Prix a year later. Time really flew by so quickly :)”
--wrote Susan Polgar early this week.
Standings after 4 rounds:
1. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2777 8
2. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2775 7
3. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2737 5
4. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2744 3
5. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2781 3
6. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2798 3
Malcolm Pein sets the stage for us:
The
qualifying events were Corus Wijk aan Zee, Linares and MTel Sofia. All six
are ranked in the world’s top dozen with the field headed by the world
champion Vishy Anand for whom this is the last competitive outing before
he defends his title against Vladimir Kramnik.
The most
innovative feature of the event is that it will take place in the street
but that does not mean the spectators will be allowed to kibitz and there
is no risk of rain stopping play as a large glass playing hall complete
with areas for commentators and spectators has been constructed in the
Plaza Nueva, in the centre of Bilbao's Old Town.
To
encourage fighting chess, players will score three points for a win and
one for a draw. In addition the ‘Sofia Rules’ which forbid draw offers
will be in force.
Women’s
World Championship – Final 8
Upper bracket
Ushenina (2476) vs. Kosteniuk (2510)
Stefanova (2550) vs. Cramling (2544)
Lower
bracket
Koneru (2622) vs. The winner of Shen Yang
(2445) and N. Kosintseva (2460)
The winner of Yifan Hou (2577) and Sedina (2344) vs.
Mkrtchian (2436)
8-30-2008
9th
Montreal – “Empresa”
Round 4 results:
Nakamura, Hikaru - Charbonneau, Pascal ½-½
Maze, Sebastien - Shulman, Yuri 0-1
Kovalyov, Anton - Akobian, Varuzhan 0-1
Bluvshtein, Mark - Roussel-Roozmon, Thomas 1-0
Nataf, Igor-Alexandre - Zugic, Igor ½-½
Standings after 5 rounds:
1 Shulman, Yuri g USA 2623 4
2-3 Akobian, Varuzhan g USA 2610 3½
Charbonneau, Pascal g CAN 2499 3½
4-5 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2697 3
Bluvshtein, Mark g CAN 2548 3
6-7 Nataf, Igor-Alexandre g FRA 2534 2
Zugic, Igor m CAN 2457 2
8-9 Kovalyov, Anton m ARG 2548 1½
Maze, Sebastien g FRA 2553 1½
10 Roussel-Roozmon, Thomas m CAN 2486 1
Official
website
Polgar
Offers
Olive-Branch
Lawyers for Susan Polgar attempt to settle
several suits, issued the following statement Friday August 29th,
2008, Addressed to Mr. Bill Hall, Executive Director USCF:
(1)
United States of America Chess Federation, Inc., will pay One Dollar
($1.00) to Susan Polgar; |
What not to Play
How not to play the Colle
White: Parrot // Black: Anon
Correspondence Training Game
1. d4 Nf6
2. Nf3 d5
3. e3 Bf5 [a common device against the Colle, White needs to
decide how to treat it]
4. Nc3 [4.c4 is recommended here]
4… e6
5. Bd3 Bg6
6. Ne5 Bd6
7. O-O Nd7
8. Nxg6 [why did white exchange his best piece instead of
continuing to develop?]
8… hxg6 [the Rook becomes ‘developed’ on its home-square, h8!]
9. Nb5 [understandably an attempt to remove the other bishop,
but overlooking a one-move strike after which the game is practically
over. 9. g3 is a necessary defense]
9. …Bxh2+
10. Kh1 c6 [black can wait until the discovered check nets more
material]
11. Na3 [and white obliges by providing it with a target.]
11. …
Qc7
12. Qf3 Bd6+
13. Kg1 Bxa3
Resigned [Lesson Learned: In the Colle, White needs to remain alert to
black’s tactical opportunities, rather than simply play to a model
pattern. 9.Nb5 was wrong because it ignored a vulnerable pawn, and 8.
Nxg6 neglected completing development to give up an already
well-placed knight.] |
2)
United States of America Chess Federation, Inc., will issue a written public
apology to Susan Polgar and to the USCF membership relative to its
participation in the events, acts and/or omissions as alleged by Susan
Polgar in the above referenced litigation; and
(3) United
States of America Chess Federation, Inc., will agree to the entry of an
appropriate cease and desist order of the Court relative to any and all
future acts of slander, slander per se, tortious interference with existing
and future contracts, business disparagement, and tortious interference with
any future business relationships of Susan Polgar.
In making
this offer of compromise and settlement, Susan Polgar specifically retains
and reserves any and all claims and causes of action she has or may have
against all other persons, entities or parties including but not limited to
those parties named in the above referenced litigation.
Susan Polgar
makes this offer of compromise and settlement solely for the purpose of
allowing USCF, Inc., and its membership, to avoid the burden and expense of
protracted litigation and with the knowledge and understanding that the
mission, spirit and assets of the USCF have been grievously compromised and
subverted by the actions of members of its Board, its Administration and its
attorneys acting in furtherance of their personal interests.
Chess
Media – Ground Control
to Major Greg
Reports
indicate that astronaut Greg Chamitoff is defeating ground controllers in
Houston's Mission Control at chess!
Last week I asked around if anyone had the game score, and a kind person
replied that he had, but the game seemed to have faulty notation, which he
corrected thus:
[Event ""]
[Site "Space!"]
[Date "2008.08.23"]
[White "Greg Chamitoff"]
[Black "Ground Control"]
1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 c6 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. e3 e6 6. Ne5 Qa5 7. Bd3 Nxe5 8.
Bxe5 Ba3 9. Qc1 Bb4 10. O-O b6 11. a4 Ba6 12. Nb5 O-O 13. Bxf6 gxf6 14.c3
cxb5 15. Rd1 Rac8 16. axb5 Bxc3 17. Rxa5 Bxa5 18. Qb1 Bb7 19. b4 f5 20. bxa5
bxa5 21. Rc1 a4 22. Rxc8 Bxc8 23. Qb4 Bd7 24. Qxa4 Rc8 25. Qxa7 Rc1+ 26. Bf1
Bc8 27. Qa8 Kg7 28. b6 h6 29. b7 Bxb7 30. Qxb7 Kf6 31. f3
But, though that is the official game-score:
“Something has gone slightly wrong as White's 28th move was b7! i.e. it
moved from b5 to b7 in one move. Initially I assumed that they had missed a
move out and that Black played h6 around here, but in fact Black's 31st move
was h6, so I think White might have inadvertently made an illegal move.”
I also see an amusing commentary by “Fat Lady”, who wrote:
FIDE's jurisdiction covers the entire earth and the airspace up to 200 miles
above it. The International Space Station is orbiting just beyond this at
220 miles and at first NASA thought they could get away without paying the
usual game fee to FIDE.
However, since half the moves are being played
on the surface of the earth, it has been ruled that for legal purposes this
game should be considered to be have been played at the average of zero and
220 miles above the earth, i.e. 110 miles.
This is well within the area controlled by FIDE
and so all normal FIDE rules and fees apply.
Coming
Up, Category 15 in USA
The upcoming SPICE Cup will take place from
September 19-28 at Texas Tech University (Student Union Building) in
Lubbock, Texas.
In addition to having the games broadcast LIVE
on MonRoi, ICC and other sources, we will also try to show LIVE video feeds
and taped video interviews. Here are the players:
USA - GM Onischuk, Alexander 2741 USCF / 2670
FIDE
IND - GM Pentala, Harikrishna 2724 USCF 2668 FIDE
GER - GM Kritz, Leonid 2647 USCF / 2610 FIDE
USA - GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2656 USCF / 2610 FIDE
USA - GM Kaidanov, Gregory 2678 USCF / 2605 FIDE
USA - GM Becerra, Julio 2647 USCF / 2598 FIDE
ISR - GM Mikhalevski, Victor 2680 USCF / 2592 FIDE
POL - GM Miton, Kamil 2702 USCF / 2580 FIDE
ISL - GM Stefansson, Hannes 2598 USCF / 2566 FIDE
USA - GM Perelshteyn, Eugene 2591 USCF / 2555 FIDE (Defending Champion)
Average FIDE: 2605.5 (Category 15)
Average USCF: 2666.5
This will make the 2008 SPICE Cup the highest
rated 10 person International RR event in U.S. history. Chess news from
Susan Polgar
Who
is this? A 1930’s Hollywood star? Maybe looks a bit of a villain?
Not exactly,
this is Mr. GM Wang Yue, who just went 6 games without defeat in Holland
then was held to a draw by Norwegian GM Agdestein. Facing 2587 rated
Jussupov, he uncorked this beauty, and finished with a 3034 performance
rating:
GM Wang (2704) - GM Jussupow (2587)
[E21] 28.08.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4
e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 0–0 5.Bg5 d6 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Qc2 Qe7 8.Be2 Re8 9.0–0 Bxc3
10.bxc3 e5 11.Nd2 h6 12.Bh4 Nf8 13.Ne4 g5 14.Nxf6+ Qxf6 15.Bg3 Bf5 16.Qb3 b6
17.Rad1 Qg6 18.Rd2 Nd7 19.f3 e4 20.f4 g4 21.Qa3 Qe6 22.Qa6 Nf8 23.Bd1 Qc8
24.Qa3 Ng6 25.c5 d5 26.Bb3 Rd8 27.c4 c6 28.cxd5 cxd5 29.Rc1 Qb7 30.Rdc2 Rac8
31.Qb4 h5 32.Qb5 h4 33.Be1 Rc6 34.cxb6 Rxb6 35.Qa5 Rd7 36.Ba4 Ra6 37.Qb5
Qxb5 38.Bxb5 Ra3 39.Bxd7 Bxd7 40.Rc5 Be6 41.f5 Bxf5 42.Rxd5 Be6 43.Rd8+ Kh7
44.Bc3 h3 45.d5 Bf5 46.Rc2 Kh6 47.d6 hxg2 48.Kxg2 Kg5 49.Kg3 Be6 50.d7 a6
51.Bd4 Rd3 52.Rc6 1–0
Tal
Memorial –2008, Result
The Tal Memorial is taking place in
Moscow 17th-31st August. The players are: Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander
Morozevich, Evgeny Alekseev, Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexei Shirov, Gata Kamsky,
Ruslan Ponomariov, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Peter Leko and Boris Gelfand.
After the main event will take place a blitz tournament with qualfiers on
the 27th and 28th and the invitees Anatoly Karpov and Magnus Carlsen.
1st round starts 18th August at 3pm local time (+3 GMT).
But
things warmed up in round 7 with changes at the top and 4/5 games decisive,
including a big set back for the previous leader Morozevich who lost to the
ultimate victor, Ivanchuk.
Round 7
Ivanchuk - Morozevich 1-0
Gelfand - Kramnik 1/2
Ponomariov - Shirov 1-0
Alekseev - Mamedyarov 1-0
Kamsky - Leko 0-1
Final
standings
1 Ivanchuk - 6.0
2-5 Morozevich, Gelfand, Ponomariov, Kramnik - 5.0
6 Leko - 4.5
7-8 Kamsky, Alekseev - 4.0
9 Mamedyarov - 3.5
10 Shirov - 3.0
Official site
The French Championship took place in Pau 11th-23rd August 2008.
–Result
Final
standings:
1-2 Bacrot, Vachier-Lagrave - 8.5
3 Fressinet - 7.0
4-5 Bauer, Maze - 6.0
6 Sokolov - 5.5
7 Feller - 5.0
8-9 Nataf, Abergel - 4.5
10 Degraeve - 4.0
11 Apicella - 3.5
12 Vaisser - 2.5
Etienne
Bacrot [caption] won the Play-off against Vachier-Lagrave 1-0, 1/2
Official site
Women’s
World Championship
For a week
the official fide site hasn’t worked, so I hesitate to offer it to readers,
but perhaps it will have improved by the time you attempt it – relays from
other sites also fail -
nalchik2008.fide.com. The only news I have, if it can be called news,
are those players who refused to play for safety reasons, and here they are:
Zapata, Karen PER
Sebag, Marie FRA
Chiburdanidze, Maya GEO
Krush, Irina USA
Javakhishvili, Lela GEO
Korbut, Ekaterina RUS
Gvetadze, Sopio GEO
Bosboom Lanchava, Tea NED
Lomineishvili, Maia GEO
Khukhashvili, Sopiko GEO
Khurtsidze, Nino GEO
The first day’s play was marked
by the absent players’ boards being set-up then forfeited to their
opponents.
In the world of real politics
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia will not be isolated
over its conduct in Georgia and warned the Europe not to "serve" the United
States. He also stressed Russia does not fear any Western sanctions,
saying that if forced to choose between life and sausage, "we choose life."
It seems to this writer that
the absent women, when forced to choose between life and bombs, chose life.
8-23-2008
Un-Beatable Parrot!
After a
magnificent season of applying captions and challenging the world to do
better. Parrot declares victory and flies off. Beat the Parrot will return
in the Fall. Last week’s effort is recorded below in Afore ye go.
{Editor's Note: We
received the following image of an alleged Parrot sighting, without any
accompanying explanation. Readers are left to form their own
conclusions about The Parrot's current, err, doings.]
Chess
in Prison
I read about a
chess in the prisons program this week in
this article.
The
program began in April when Carolyn Young, a counselor and classification
administrator at the jail, decided that the maximum security prisoners, in
jail for violent crimes, had little to do.
Young brought in a chess coach
she knew from her church. He taught at the jail briefly and then
recommended Ken Clayton, 70, of Columbia, as his replacement. Clayton
is a master level chess player who previously taught chess in jail settings
and as far afield as Vietnam.
Clayton said he volunteers at
the jail to help the players turn their lives around. "These guys
made a mistake, they're going to have to pay for it, but they deserve a
chance to do something differently," he said.
Jeremiah Lewis, 21, who was in jail on a violation of
probation charge, said he had learned chess in school but was beginning to
master the game through Clayton's lessons.
"It helps me
use my brain more. I won't be so quick to lash out," Lewis said of the
class. Lewis, who was released from jail Aug. 7, said he plans on pursuing
the game further.
So this
Parrot contacted Dave Rudel, author of the new Zuke-Em! title on the
Colle-Zukertort, an all purpose white opening system, and said,
“Hey
Dave, would you consider giving….”
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