Black to move. How should Black proceed?

Source: ChessToday.net

GM Carlsen (2776) – GM Aronian (2750) [D45]
Linares 2009 (8), 28.02.2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4 h6 8.Bd2 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5 10.Be2 Bb7 11.e4 Be7 12.g5 hxg5 13.Nxg5 b4 14.Na4 c5 15.Nxc5 Nxc5 16.dxc5 Rc8 17.Qa4+ Bc6 18.Bb5 Bxb5 19.Qxb5+ Qd7 20.Qxd7+ Nxd7 21.Ke2 Rh4 22.Rac1 Rxc5 23.Rxc5 Bxc5 24.f4 e5 25.h3 exf4 26.Nf3 Rh6 27.Bxf4 Re6 28.Nd2 Bd4 29.Rb1 Ra6 30.a3 bxa3 31.bxa3 Rxa3 32.Nc4 Ra2+ 33.Kd3 Bf2 34.Bd6 Nb6 35.Bb4 Nxc4 36.Kxc4 Bb6 37.Kd5 Rg2 38.Rb3 Rg5+ 39.e5 Bc7 40.Bd6 Bxd6 41.Kxd6 Rg6+ 42.Kd5 Rb6 43.Rc3 Kd7 44.Rf3 Ke7 45.Rc3 Rb7 46.Rc6 g6 47.Ra6 Kf8 48.Ke4 Kg7 49.Kf4 Re7 50.Ra5 Kh6 51.Kg4 a6 52.Rxa6 Rxe5 53.Rb6 Re3 54.Ra6 f5+ 55.Kh4 Re4+ 56.Kg3 Kg5 57.Ra3 Re2 58.Kf3 Rh2 59.Kg3 Rb2 60.Ra8 Rb3+ 61.Kg2 Kf4 62.Ra4+ Ke3 63.h4 Rb6 64.Kg3 Rd6 65.Rf4 Rd1 66.Rf3+ Ke4 67.Rf4+ Ke5 68.Ra4 f4+ 69.Kg2 Rd2+ 70.Kf3 Rd3+ 71.Kg2 Rg3+ 72.Kh2 Kf5 73.Ra6 Re3 74.Ra5+ Re5 75.Ra2 Kg4 76.Rg2+ Kh5 77.Kh3 Ra5 78.Rg1 Ra3+ 79.Kh2 Ra6 80.Kh3 Ra5 81.Rg2 Rc5 82.Rg1 f3 83.Kg3 Rf5 84.Rf1 f2 85.Kh3 Rf3+ 86.Kg2 Kg4 87.h5 Rg3+ 88.Kh2 Kf3 89.Ra1 Rg2+ 90.Kh1 Rg5 91.Ra3+ Kf4 92.Ra4+ Kg3 93.Ra3+ Kh4 Black wins 0–1

Click here to replay the game.

Topalov vs Kamsky

The official site of the Topalov vs Kamsky match, wccc2009.com, has quotes from the press conference, which took place after game 7:

Veselin Topalov: ‘This game was very complex, with mutual mistakes. I was trying to minimize mine. Made at least two but Gata made more and got into time trouble.’

Asked to comment on the whole match Veselin Topalov said: ‘A very tough match with many hard games. Gata played well but in game 2 got into heavy time trouble. As a whole, the match was very tough.’

Gata Kamsky: ‘This game was interesting and extremely complex. In the heat of the battle I played Rb8 which was a mistake. Veselin played better as he committed less errors.’

Asked by a Bulgarian radio reporter if he ‘is satisfied with the organization of the match in Sofia’, GM Kamsky answered with his fabulous oriental smile: ‘I am satisfied with the organization of this match, which was relatively interesting, but I am not an organizer but a player.’

Bulgarian reporter from a private TV cable network asked the American GM ‘is your chess better now, after having an almost 10 year break?’.

Kamsky once again used his oriental smile: ‘No, I don’t think so…’

Source: ChessToday.net

Black to move. How should Black continue?

Source: ChessToday.net

Chess: a game to grow up with

The Piemontese regional committee F.S.I., with the F.S.I. council patronage, will organize in Turin, from February 25 to 27th 2009, an International Convention on the theme: “Chess: a game to grow up with”, based on the chess teaching methods in school and on the chess teaching potentialities in the development of cognitive competences and learner’s personalities.

Within the convention, that will be held in English, with simultaneous translation into Italian, will find place, first of all, the presentation of some of the main and most recent scientific research plans on the subject and also the exposition of an outline, as much complete as possible, of the chess teaching experience and concrete methods in schools all over the world.

The convention will also be, on the other side, an opportunity to show the various realities of Italian chess teaching, to gather concerning precise data, and to compare them with the different international experience.

Both national and regional school representatives will attend to the convention, so that the goal of this meeting would also be to create and serve as a model for a closer cooperation between chess teaching and school instruction.

On the occasion of the convention, the Youth Didactic Commission for School – F.S.I. will also hold meetings finalized to draw up an ultimate document, which will be showed in the convention conclusive session, containing guiding lines for a predisposition of a common didactic protocol suitable, in the school system, throughout Italy, in order to better qualify the Chess Instructor role.

Should this be an important and appreciated opportunity to meet, compare and examine closely, we hope you will attend numerous to the contest and convention.

We thank you beforehand for your attention,

The president of the F.S.I. Piemontese regional committee
Dott. Roberto Rivello

Official website: http://www.turinchessinschools.com/

White to move. How should White proceed?

Source: ChessToday.net

18th Amber Blindfold and Rapid tournament
March 14-26, 2009 Nice, France

The 18th Amber Blindfold and Rapid tournament, organized by the Association Max Euwe in Monaco, takes place from March 14 (first round) to March 26 (last round) at the Palais de la Mediterranée, splendidly located on the famous Promenade des Anglais in Nice. The total prize-fund is € 216,000.

This year’s field is stronger than ever with all the world’s best players taking part.

The twelve participants are (in alphabetical order):

World Champion Viswanathan Anand (India), Levon Aronian (Armenia), Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Vasily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Gata Kamsky (United States), Sergey Karjakin (Ukraine), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), Peter Leko (Hungary), Alexander Morozevich (Russia), Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) and Wang Yue (China).

Every day four sessions will be played, two blindfold sessions and two rapid sessions. The first session starts at 14.30 hrs. The fourth session finishes around 20.00 hrs. (Note: the final round on March 26 starts at 12.30 hrs. March 18 and 23 are rest days.)

Official website: http://www.amberchess2009.com/

BODY,.aolmailheader {font-size:10pt; color:black; font-family:Arial;} a.aolmailheader:link {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} a.aolmailheader:visited {color:magenta; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} a.aolmailheader:active {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} a.aolmailheader:hover {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} Premiere in the Schachbundesliga

The 12th and 13th round of the Schachbundesliga take place on the 28th February and 1st March of 2009. The top teams of Baden-Baden, Eppingen and Bremen will meet in Eppingen with very strong line-ups for some top-class matches. For the first time in the history the Schachbundesliga will publish the line-ups of these teams two days in advance in order to offer all chess fans an overview of some upcoming matches.

The top match of the whole season will be Bremen against Baden-Baden on Sunday. Bremen will compete with the strongest line-up ever in his history. Four rounds before the season ends Baden-Baden is clearly leading the Schachbundesliga but Bremen has the opportunity to handle them their first loss. This and all other matches of the Schachbundesliga will be covered live in the internet.

Playing venue Tegernsee:
Saturday, 28th of February, 2 pm (12th round)
TV Tegernsee – SV Mülheim Nord
Bayern München – SF Katernberg
Sunday, 1st of March, 10 am (13th round)
SV Mülheim Nord – Bayern München
SF Katernberg – TV Tegernsee

Playing venue Solingen:
Saturday, 28th of February, 2 pm (12th round)
Aljechin Solingen – SC Kreuzberg
SV Wattenscheid – USV TU Dresden
Sunday, 1st of March, 10 am (13th round)
SC Kreuzberg – SV Wattenscheid
USV TU Dresden – Aljechin Solingen

Playing venue Hamburg:
Saturday, 28th of February, 2 pm (12th round)
Hamburger SK – SC Remagen
SF Berlin – SG Trier
Sunday, 1st of March, 10 am (13th round)
SC Remagen – SF Berlin
SG Trier – Hamburger SK

Playing venue Eppingen:
Saturday, 28th of February, 2 pm (12th round)
SC Eppingen – Werder Bremen
OSG Baden-Baden – Turm Emsdetten
Sunday, 1st of March, 10 am (13th round)
Werder Bremen – OSG Baden-Baden
Turm Emsdetten – SC Eppingen

Line-ups of the teams in Eppingen:

Baden-Baden
1 Alexei Shirov (2726)
2 Peter Svidler (2727)
3 Michael Adams (2734)
4 Sergei Movsesian (2732)
5 Etienne Bacrot (2705)
6 Pentala Harikrishna (2659)
7 Arkadij Naiditsch (2678)
8 Rustem Dautov (2601)

Werder Bremen
1 Shakhriyar Mamediyarov (2731)
2 Pavel Eljanov (2720)
3 Zahar Efimenko (2680)
4 Alexander Areshchenko (2664)
5 Laurent Fressinet (2676)
6 Georg Meier (2558)
7 Michael Roiz (2677)
8 Tomi Nybäck (2634)

SC Eppingen**
1. Sergei Tiviakov (2686)
2. Ferenc Berkes (2645)
3. Zoltan Gyimesi (2592)
4. Falko Bindrich (2517)
5. Robert Ruck (2574)
6. Peter Acs (2542)
7. Zoltan Medvegy (2556)
8. Namig Guliyev (2521)

Turm Emsdetten on Saturday
1 Michael Feygin (2569)
2 Ruud Janssen (2524)
3 Wouter Spoelman (2459)
4 Daan Brandenburg (2436)
5 Anish Giri (2466)
6 Alexandr Kabatianski (2436)
7 Martin Zumsande (2411)
8 Michiel Bosman (2346)

Turm Emsdetten on Sunday
1 Michael Feygin (2569)
2 Ruud Janssen (2524)
3 Wouter Spoelman (2459)
4 Anish Giri (2466)
5 Alexandr Kabatianski (2436)
6 Christian Richter (2403)
7 Martin Zumsande (2411)
8 Michiel Bosman (2346)

Official site an entrance site for the live coverage:
http://www.schachbundesliga.de
Teams of the Schachbundesliga and line-ups:
http://schachbundesliga.de/bundesliga_statistik/vereine.aspx

Interview with Hal Bond
by chessdom.com

Mr. Bond was the supervisor of Kamsky – Topalov match in Sofia, Bulgaria

Mr. Hal Bond from the Canadian Chess Federation is the match supervisor, whose nomination was accepted by both Kamsky and Topalov for the match in Sofia. Mr. Bond agreed to an interview for Chessdom.com during game 7 of the match.

Q: Mr. Bond, thank you for accepting the interview. What are your impressions about the match thus far? (note – 7th game was still in progress)

A: It’s been a very exciting match, every game has been played with serious intent, there’s been no quick draws and I am very pleased with the level of play, you know, the intensity, the battle – it’s great.

Q: As a match supervisor, appointed by FIDE, did you have any remarks or objections regarding the organization or conditions?

A: Both sides are very professional. The organizers have staged the match at a very high level, both players have enthusiastic managers, so this makes it interesting, but in fact they are both okay to work with. When we have some issues, we discuss them, we resolve them and the match continues.

Q: You probably talked with Mr. Sutovsky, has he had any objections?

A: There were a few small things at the beginning of the match, they were resolved within the first day and after that it’s been very smooth.

Topalov is back, watch out Anand
Submitted by Mohit Joshi
Sat, 02/28/2009 – 02:46
TopNews

Viswanathan Anand may have scored a facile win over Vladimir Kramnik to claim the world championship in 2008 but his next opponent for the title is likely to pose a more serious threat to the Indian Grandmaster. On current form alone, the Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov will be a tougher nut to crack than Kramnik. Topalov has earned the right to challenge Anand for the world championship title after beating Gata Kamsky of USA in a thrilling eight-game match by a 4.5-2.5 scoreline.

Speaking about the match against Kamsky, Topalov said it was extremely tough. “(It was) a very tough match with many hard games. Gata played well but in Game 2 got into heavy time trouble. My goal was to take risks in order to apply pressure but not to offer too many chances,” the Bulgarian revealed.

Kamsky had reached the final of the world championship in 1996 at the age of 22. He stopped playing chess from 1997 to 2005). Over the past four years, Topalov has been in great form, winning some of the most prestigious titles, including Linares, Corus, M-Tel Masters and some well-known rapid tournaments. It is, therefore, not surprising that the 33-year-old Bulgarian is the world No.1 player with an Elo rating of 2796 (Anand is 2nd at 2791).

Topalov’s dominance was perhaps best seen in the 2005 world chess championship in San Luis, Argentina, where he demolished the field consisting of Anand, Svidler, Leko, Morozevich, Kasimdzhanov, Adams and Polgar. In the first seven games, he scored an astonishing six wins and a draw.

Perhaps, the only blemish in the last four years came in 2006 when he lost the unified world championship match to Vladimir Kramnik in controversial circumstances. By losing the title match, Topalov missed out on a chance to be a part of the 2007 world championship which was held in Mexico City.

With the Topalov-Anand match likely to be held this autumn, the Indian maestro can hardly afford to stay relaxed. The year hasn’t began on a note for him as he is struggling in the current Linares tournament.

Source: http://www.topnews.in

Can you name this famous chess player?

To find out, go to http://www.nwchess.com/nwcmag/pdf/NWC_200903_teaser.pdf

Special thanks to Rusty Miller for providing this to us.

White to move. How should White proceed?

4Q3/r1p2pk1/5bp1/2N1R3/2r5/p1q5/2P1K1P1/3R4 w – - 0 1

Cy Young sequel for Tribe’s Lee?
February 27, 2009

GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) — Stretched out on a chair in front of his locker, Cliff Lee delicately balanced a laptop computer on his thighs.

Scratching his head, the AL’s reigning Cy Young Award winner plotted his next move in an online chess game before heading outside for another day of spring training.

Lee was locked in — just as he was all last season. Baseball’s king of the mound.

The left-hander, demoted to the minor leagues a year earlier, came out of nowhere to have an historic 2008. Lee went 22-3, led the league in wins and ERA, became the Indians’ first 20-game winner since 1972, started the last All-Star game at Yankee Stadium and pitched with a single-minded purpose every time out.

“Unbelievable. I can’t even try to explain it,” said Indians catcher Kelly Shoppach, who was behind the plate for 29 of Lee’s 31 starts.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before. You rarely see it for an inning and he was able to do it for an entire season. It was pretty impressive, to say the least.”

Lee spent the offseason collecting hardware for his efforts. He picked up awards from coast to coast and even had his high school jersey retired in his hometown of Benton, Ark., where they celebrated Cliff Lee Day.

Here is the full article.

Connecticut State Scholastic and Open Championships

This year the UConn Chess Club in conjunction with the University of Connecticut School of Engineering will host the Connecticut State Chess Championships. The scholarship offered by the School of Engineering will be incorporated with the prizes given to the Connecticut High School State Champion. USCF membership is required. USCF site link: click here



Mail-in entry form is shown below. Please include check with form.

ENTRY FORM

The venues and details of the tournament are given below:

Mar. 22 Connecticut State Chess Association K-6 Scholastic State Championship Preliminaries – EAST Sponsored by the UCONN School of Engineering & UCONN CC. UCONN Francis L. Castleman Building (CAST), Rooms 204 & 206, 261 Glenbrook Rd., Storrs, CT 06269. Parking in North Garage. 4 – SS, G/30. 6 Sections: K-6th Open, (Open to all), Reserve K-6th U-700, K – 3rd Open, Reserve K-3rd U-700, 1st Grade Open, Kindergarten Open. All EF: $50 by 3-25, $60 after. CSCA membership required, $5, other states OK. Checks payable to “UCONN”. Reg.: 8-9:30 AM, Rds. 10-11-12:30-1:30. Half point byes available in rds. 1-3 only, no last round byes. Please bring a board, set & clock. Prizes: Trophies to Top 5, Books to 6th-8th CT residents in each section. Books donated by USCF Sales/ChessCafe. com. Top 5 in each section eligible to play in CSCA Tournament of Scholastic Champions Finals on 3-29 in Storrs. Trophies to Top 5 teams of top 4 from 1 school combined from all sections. Free commemorative UCONN chess sets to 1st 100 entrants. Info & Entries to: Tom Hartmayer, 963 Mansfield City Rd., Storrs, CT 06268. 860-989-5394, tomhart3@charter.net, www.uconnchess.uconn.edu, www.engr.uconn.edu, UCONN Map admissions.uconn.edu/virtualtour/search/.

Teaching the game of life through chess
Mundelein Review – Waukegan,IL,USA

For as long as Frank Swindell can remember, chess has been a part of his life. He still has the first wooden chess game he bought for 75 cents as a child.

And he wanted to share his love of the game with the next generation, which is why he started his company, Chess Utopia, 14 years ago.

What began as a volunteer job teaching his children and their friends after school has blossomed into a full-time position where Swindell teaches chess to 300 to 500 kids a week at seven schools and several park districts. He also teaches a gifted program in the summer and is going to start teaching senior women in Libertyville soon. After his students improve, they are invited to attend his chess center to begin practicing for tournaments.

“I hope they gain life skills,” Swindell said. “I’m constantly explaining to them that if they make a bad choice in life, just like if they make a bad choice in chess, they have to live with it.”

One of the schools Swindell teaches at is Fremont Intermediate School. About two years ago, 10 of those students started participating in tournaments, and since the start of this school year, the team has won four scholastic tournaments, which were the Benjamin Scholastic, the Mayor Daley’s Holiday Classic, the Chess Utopia competition and the Arlington Heights Chess Tournament.

Two of those Fremont tournament players are Jeff and Joey Bikus, who have both been named top-100 chess players in the nation for their grade, Swindell said. He added that .01 percent of scholastic players earn that honor.

“I felt pretty good about accomplishing that,” Joey said.

Here is the full article.

Schools Scholastic Chess Teams Excel at Regional Tournament

Wakulla.com – Crawfordville,FL,USA

Wakulla County Schools Scholastic Chess Teams Excel at Regional Tournament

Led by Riversprings Middle School 6th Grade Teacher, Marlene Adams, thirteen Wakulla County School students competed January 24, 2009 in the Florida Scholastic Chess Leagues North Florida Regional Championship in Gainesville, Florida.

Shadeville Elementary students Sydney Wheeler and Jacob Chapmen competed in the Kindergarten – 3rd Grade divisions (K-3), and placed 8th as a team.

The K-5 team members include Shadeville Elementary students Lucas Briggs, Bryce Cole, and Maria Parmer, all 4th graders, and 5th grader Jamie Wheeler; Riversink Elementary student Aaron Price, 5th grade; and homeschooler Gary Germanton, 4th grade. With a total of seven wins between them they were able to secure 3rd place overall, and First Runner Up in the 2009 Florida Superstars Invitational.

The K-8 team members include Riversprings Middle School students Joseph Briggs, and Jake Hunter, both 8th graders, Daniel McCullers, 7th grade, and J.P. Piotrowski, 6th grade. Jake Hunter lead the team winning three of his five matches, earning him 5th place overall. The RMS team won eight of their matches, placing 2nd overall, and earning an invitation to the 2009 Florida Superstars.

Here is the full article.

Les échecs à la télévision tous les dimanche à 15h30, c’est possible!

BODY,.aolmailheader {font-size:10pt; color:black; font-family:Arial;} a.aolmailheader:link {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} a.aolmailheader:visited {color:magenta; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} a.aolmailheader:active {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} a.aolmailheader:hover {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} Kulaots and Gansvind became champions of Estonia on February, 20-26th in small small town Rakvere the individual championships of Estonia. At men definition of the champion needed carrying out of two additional parties as two chess players – international grand master Kajdo Kulaots and the champion of the Europe on a fast chess among youth international master Alexander Volodin have typed identical quantity of – on 6,5.

First additional party Kulaots has won, the second has come to the end in a draw, thus, the international grand master has won the sixth title of the champion of Estonia, having received together with a medal the check for 20 000 Estonian crones (1700 USD).

Volodin became the silver prize-winner, bronze has got to international master Tarvo Seeman – 6 from 9 possible. At women a rank champions has won master FIDE of Valery Gansvind, the typed 8,5 from 9. Champions has gained eight victories and one meeting has finished in a draw – in a party with international master Lejli Pyarnupuu (7) which became the silver prize-winner of the championship. Bronze at 14-years ôriin Narva (6,5).

Tables of the championship:
Men:
http://www.maleliit.ee/tabelid/2009/EEMV/index.php? akt=10tur=1list=1

Women:
http://www.maleliit.ee/tabelid/2009/EEMV/index.php? akt=10tur=2list=1
Parties:
http://www.maleliit.ee/modules.php? name=Partiidprint=1a=163

Report by Grigor Airapetyan
Chess academy “Shahh & Garde” (Tallinn, Estonia)
http://sgcc.ucoz.ru/
http://sahhgarde.borda.ru/