WGM Shahade, Jennifer is a 2-time US Women’s Champion. She was born on December 31, 1980. Her current FIDE rating is 2322. Happy Birthday!

Negi draws huge relief from latest feat
1 Jan 2009, 0013 hrs IST, Mohammad Amin-ul Islam,TNN

NEW DELHI: The presence of strong Grandmasters and arrival of fresh talent gave a competitive edge to the National ‘A’ Chess Championship which concluded in Mangalore on Tuesday.

However, a few like Parimarjan Negi were able to hold their own with the Delhi GM earning a third-place finish – his best performance at the Nationals so far.

But more than a third-place finish, breaking into an elite group of Grandmasters with 2600 plus Elo rating has come as a huge relief for Negi who missed the National title by a whisker.

“I wanted to get into 2600 for some time. You can say I’ve been able to fulfill a part of my dream. But it’s not yet complete,” Negi told TOI on Wednesday.

His latest feat does come as a relief as all this while there was this disquieting awareness of a gap between promise and performance. In the past, Negi would garner some Elo points only to loose them in later events. “This is chess. If you win points, you can also loose some,” he explained.

“The performance at the Nationals would be counted and I’m losing some points again. So the 2600 will stay only for a short period,” he added.

In Mangalore, Negi was running neck-and-neck with eventual winner Surya Sekhar Ganguly till the 10th round. But a loss against the run of play to Akshayraj Kore in the 11th round punctured his dream. Against Deepan Chakraborty in the 12th and final round, Negi struggled and finally settled for a draw.

“There was time pressure. And I also made some mistakes,” said Negi, who now wants to regain some valuable points in the New Year.

Source: http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Small Master in game of genius
By Yasir Abbasher, Senior Reporter
Published: December 30, 2008, 23:46

Al Ain: At first sight, you could think that he was accompanying his father or elder brother to watch matches of the Asian Chess Champions League, but this shy, diminutive boy was in fact a tough contestant in the game of genius with some big wins already in his bag.

Ward Al Tarboushi, the FIDE Master of chess and the player of Al Shulah Chess Club in Syria, is one of the youngest participants in the first Asian Championship on club level and have successfully collected 3.5 points from his first five matches which made him advance to 25th on the players ranking list bearing in mind that when the championship started he was ranked 58th.

“Al Tarboushi started playing chess when he was only five years old and soon he began beating counterparts his age. Later he started defeating elder opponents and he surprised every one when he emerged as the Syrian champion before he was nine years old,” Mouaz Al Boushi, the secretary general of the Syria Chess Federation (SCF) and the player’s coach told Gulf News.

Ward continued his brilliant performances and he became the youngest ever Syrian to win a FIDE Master norm when he won the Arab Juniors in 2004 in Doha, Qatar.

“Al Tarboushi continued dominating the Arab Juniors Chess Championship and won its title four times successively from 2005 in Qatar, Morocco and Abu Dhabi collecting full points without losing a single game.

“In 2005 he took part in the World Juniors Chess Championship in France and finished 10th from 124 competitors from all over the world.” Al Boushi added.

“Al Tarboushi represents the Syrian hopes of national chess champion in the near future. All he needs is a qualified coach who can improve his game because now he even beats the local coaches in Syria, but the lack of sufficient financial funds in the SCF prevents us from providing him with quality coaches.

“Taking part in this tournament will surely help him to gain experience and upgrade his game. We are grateful for Shaikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Bin Shakbout, the President of the Asian Chess Federation, for organising this championship which provide the young players with a good chance to play against some of the world’s best players,” Al Boushi said.

Source: http://www.gulfnews.com

So posts RP’s highest chess rating
Updated January 01, 2009 12:00 AM

Grandmaster Wesley So continued his meteoric rise as he gained 17 points in the last quarter to post the highest rating ever in the International Chess Federation (FIDE) list by a Filipino.

The 15-year-old So, the seventh youngest in the world to obtain the GM title, gained 5.50 points in the fourth Pichay Cup International and a whopping 11.60 in last December’s Dresden Olympiad to leapfrog from 2610 last October to 2627 in the quarterly list released recently.

So’s current rating is now the highest posted by any Filipino since GM Mark Paragua peaked at 2621 in April three years back.

While also remaining RP’s highest ranked player, So came merely seven points shy of barging into the elite top 100 headed by Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov with 2796.

The teenage sensation also improved from No. 11 to No. 9 in the World Juniors ranking and third in the whole of Asia next to Chinese No. 4 GMs Wang Hao (2691) and No. 7 Li Chao (2628).

Vintage GM Eugene Torre, Asia’s first GM, was stagnant the last quarter but still kept his grip at No. 2 with 2560 ahead of newly minted GM John Paul Gomez, Paragua and GM Joey Antonio with 2539, 2537 and 2519, respectively.

Rounding up the top 10 were GM Darwin Laylo (2504), International Masters Rolando Nolte (2488), Roland Salvador (2476) and Richard Bitoon (2473) and GM Bong Villamayor (2471).

Source: http://www.philstar.com

White to move and checkmate in 5.

Puzzle by Zakhodiakin, presented by Andreas

8/8/8/p7/8/8/4RKR1/kb6 w – - 0 1

The following was published by GM Golubev for ChessToday.net.

Ivanchuk vs. Leko
by GM Mikhail Golubev

The Ivanchuk vs. Leko match will take place in Mukachevo, Ukraine on 3-5 January. Six rapid chess games will be played. The main organiser is Joseph Resh who was born and grew up in Mukachevo. The official website of the match is www.ivanchukleko2009.com (in English and Russian). I’ll visit the match and probably play there in a rapid chess tournament, which will take place there at the same time.

Dominguez elected best Cuban chess player of 2008
www.chinaview.cn 2008-12-31 08:19:50

HAVANA, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) — The Great Cuban Master Leinier Dominguez, world champion of quick games, was chosen without surprises as the best Cuban chess player in 2008, authorities said on Tuesday.

Dominguez became the first Latin American who surpassed the 2,700 Elo points (method to calculate the skill level of chess players) this year, National commissioned on games-science Erie Reyes said on Tuesday.

Dominguez, who has 2,719 Elo points, won the International tournament “Jose Raul Capablanca In Memoriam” and finished second in the contests of Biel, Switzerland and Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Dominguez became one of the 10 best chess players in Latin America for his results during the season.

According to Dominguez, his first presentation next year will be at the super tournament of Wijk Ann Zee in the Netherlands.

Dominguez, who is 25, currently is the 21st best player of the world, according to the last ranking of the Chess World Federation(FIDE), published in October.

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com

UMBC chess team ties for first in Pan-Am tourney
Dec 30, 2008 5:04 PM (1 hr 43 mins ago) AP

BALTIMORE (Map, News) – The director of the chess program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County says his team tied for first at the Pan Am Championships.

Alan Sherman is in Dallas where he says the UMBC team tied the University of Texas at Dallas team in round 6. He says UMBC’s team beat Dallas’ a-team before tying the b-team in the final round of play and in the overall competition.

The six-round tournament involving 29 teams from schools such as Harvard, Yale and NYU began Dec. 27 and ended Tuesday afternoon, when the winners were announced.

As a result of the win, Sherman says UMBC automatically earns a berth in the Final Four of College Chess in April.

Source: AP

UT-Dallas, UMBC tie for first in Pan-Am tourney
The Associated Press
Dec. 30, 2008, 5:12PM

DALLAS — The University of Texas at Dallas will be back to defend its title in the Final Four of College Chess.

Texas-Dallas tied the chess team from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County on Tuesday in the Pan Am Championships.

Stanford and the University of Texas at Brownsville will round out the field in the Final Four, which will be held in April in Dallas.

James Stallings, director of Texas-Dallas’ chess program, said it came down to the very last game, which lasted five hours Tuesday.

Texas-Dallas and UMBC each had four wins and two draws for the final score of 5-1. Brownsville and Stanford each had four wins, one loss and one draw.

Texas-Brownsville will be in the Final Four for the first time in the school’s history.

The six-round Pan Am tournament involving 29 teams from schools such as Harvard, Yale and NYU began Dec. 27 and ended Tuesday afternoon.

The #1 seed UMBC and #3 seed UTD B tied for first at the 2008 PanAm Collegiate Championship with the score of 5-1. UMBC defeated UTD A last night but only drew against UTB B.

IM Gergely Antal of Texas Tech tied for 1st with IM Zhe Quan (NYU) for the best performance on board 1.

Congratulations to UMBC, UTD B and IM Antal!

Bathers play chess in a pool of steaming hot water in the Szechenyi Thermal Bath, one of the largest spa complexes in Europe. Szechenyi’s neo-baroque baths were built in 1913 and are the largest thermal baths in Budapest, Hungary. The baths are a popular place to relax for locals and foreigners. Thousands of tourists arrived in Budapest to enyoy the last days of this year and first day of 2009.

Photo by Attila Kisbenedek
LA Times
December 30, 2008

Salo Flohr Memorial
Played on Saturday, 27th December, in Prague
Report by Chessdom.com

GM Salo Flohr, one of the world’s best chessplayers between two Wars and a world title candidate, would celebrate his 100th birthday these weeks. He spent his best years in Prague, and therefore the city and the Prague Chess Society organized a rapid tournament and a party to his commemoration. The playing venue was Hotel Best Western Kampa, which already hosted Kramnik – Navara match earlier this year.

Three best chess players of the Czech republic – GM Navara, GM Hracek and GM Laznicka – together with another 6 GMs and 7 IMs, were invited to take participation. Players who personally knew Flohr are also included – e.g. GM Vlastimil Hort and the writer Vlastimil Houška.

The tournament was played as a 7 round Swiss, with time control of 15 minutes + 15 sec per move. The prize fund was 77.000 Kč (almost €3.000) and the winners were awarded with glass vases designed by Bořek Šípek and Jiří Pačínek.

The young GM Robert Cvek finished on the top with 6.0 points, half a point clear ahead of GM Viktor Laznicka and GM Zbynek Hracek.
Final standings (37 participants):

1. GM Cvek Robert (2517 CZE) 1. Novoborsky Sk – 6.0
2. GM Laznicka Viktor (2562 CZE) 1. Novoborsky Sk – 5½
3. GM Hracek Zbynek (2587 CZE) 1. Novoborsky Sk – 5½
4. IM Jirka Jiri (2432 CZE) Tj Bohemians Praha – 5.0
5. GM Navara David (2613 CZE) Sk Mahrla Praha – 5.0
6. GM Jirovsky Milos (2487 CZE) Sk Mahrla Praha – 5.0
7. GM Vokac Marek (2452 CZE) 1. Novoborsky Sk – 5.0
8. IM Jirovsky Pavel (2331 CZE) Sokol Kolin – 4½
9. Lamser Jan (CZE) Sk Litomerice – 4½
10. IM Pisk Petr (2322 CZE) Tj Podluzan Prusanky – 4.0
11. IM Konopka Michal (2407 CZE) Sachovy Klub Zikuda Turno – 4.0
12. Vanek Tomas (2269 CZE) Tj Glaverbel Czech Teplic – 4.0
13. GM Hort Vlastimil (2478 GER) Sk Porg Praha – 4.0
14. Boleslav Petr (2021 CZE) 1. Novoborsky Sk – 4.0
15. Nemec Igor (2041 CZE) Sachovy Oddil Tj Dukla Pr – 4.0

News and photos by Novoborsky SK

Sasikiran on top
The Hindu
India’s National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 30, 2008

CHENNAI: India’s K. Sasikiran is sitting pretty after the end of the sixth and penultimate round in the 19th City of Pamplona international chess tournament in Northern Spain on Sunday.

Posting his third win in a row, the top seed from Chennai is leading the Category 16 (average Elo 2644) tournament by one point with one round still to be played.

Sasikiran was brilliant from move 28 onwards as he scored an unconventional attacking win against the second seed Michael Roiz of Israel to move to 4.5 points. Vladimir Malakhov (Rus) and Francisco Vallejo (Esp) are behind him.Rating performance up.

Sasikiran needs a draw with the black pieces against Aleksander Delchev of Bulgaria in the final round for a clear title on Monday.

This splendid result so far has pushed Sasikiran’s rating performance to a whopping 2831.

After remaining quiet in the first three games, Sasikiran starting winning from Boxing Day onwards and beat GMs Fabiano Caruana (Ita), Francisco Vallejo (Esp) and Michael Roiz (Isr).

In the first three games he drew with Vladimir Malakhov (Rus), Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus) and Ivan Salgado (Esp).

India had a podium finish in this event in 2005 when P. Harikrishna finished second to Ruslan Ponomariov. — Arvind Aaron

www.chesspamplona.com

Ganguly wins sixth successive National ‘A’ chess title
30 Dec 2008, 1617 hrs IST, PTI

MANGALORE: Surya Sekhar Ganguly clinched a record sixth successive title after agreeing to a draw against M Shyam Sundar of Tamil Nadu in the final round of the 46th National ‘A’ chess championship on Tuesday.

Shyam Sundar, playing the French defence against Ganguly, had earlier rejected an offer for a draw. But they reached a blind alley after 30 moves and agreed to split the point.

Ganguly, playing for PSPB, is now just two titles short of surpassing Praveen Thipsay’s record and needs another four to get the better of Manuel Aaron, who has won the National ‘A’ title nine times.

Parimarjan Negi was held to a draw by Deepan Chakravarthy. Negi shared the second spot with Akshayraj Kore on 7.5 points. But since Kore had won the match between them, he was adjudged runners-up and Negi finished third.

The rest of the matches too ended in draws. LIC’s Sriram Jha split point with world under-16 champion B Adhiban of Tamil Nadu in 21 moves, K Rathnakaran of Railways drew with team-mate MS Thejkumar and Neelotpal Das of PSPB was held by S Satyapragyan.

Both Rathnakaran and Das made sure that they would finish within the first six as that would allow them to compete at international tournaments.

Source: http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com