Can you name this chess player?

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

Source: http://www.chessvista.com

The 2nd Batavia Amsterdam Chess Tournament, also called the Max Euwe Challenge, is taking place 19 – 28 February in Cafe Batavia 1920, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The playing venue is located just across Amsterdam Central Station. The tournament is the brainchild of Bas Beekhuizen (chess photographer) and sponsor Peter Tames (Cafe Batavia 1920). In 2010 the Max Euwe Centre joined as a co-sponsor.

Final standings:

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

Round 6 top board pairings:

Full pairings here.

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

Masuda, Eva take joint lead in National Women Chess
February 27, 2010
Updated: Bangladesh Time 12:00 AM

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

Carol Andrews
Created: 2/27/2010 11:35:55 PM

GREENSBORO, NC — A chess tournament is underway this weekend in Greensboro. The In State Chess Championship began Friday at the Koury Convention Center.

Hundreds of players as young as 4 years old are trying their hand at the game that requires both skill and strategy.

This is the first time the event has come to Greensboro and the top winner will receive a 15 hundred dollar scholarship.

The tournament, sponsored by Elon University, Stearns Financial Services Group, YMCAs of Greensboro and NC A&T State University, will end Sunday.

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

White to move. How should White proceed?

4r3/1pb1r3/2p4k/4N1pp/p2PP3/PbP5/1P2K3/6RR w – - 0 1

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

Gotth’ Art Cup 2010

Standings after 6 rounds:

Group A

Group B

Official website: http://www.chesspremier.com/gotart.html

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

Zagreb Open 2010
Wednesday, 24 February 2010 00:50

The 2010 Zagreb Open, organized by the Zagreb Chess Union and split into two rating groups, will be held in Croatian capitol from 25th February until 4th March. The tournament is conveniently set to serve the players as a warm-up for the European Individual Chess Championship which is starting on 6th March in Rijeka, also Croatia. Guests from Bulgaria and Montenegro will challenge the top local players during the 9-rounds Swiss event. GM Mikhail Ulibin arrives after sharing the first place in the 9th Schach-Open Burgdorf.

Top seeded players:
1 GM Kožul Zdenko CRO 2617
2 GM Radulski Julian BUL 2577
3 GM Gleizerov Evgeny RUS 2565
4 GM Brkić Ante CRO 2564
5 GM Palac Mladen CRO 2563
6 GM Chatalbashev Boris BUL 2561
7 GM Šarić Ibro BIH 2556
8 GM Ulibin Mikhail RUS 2548
9 GM Drasko Milan MNE 2537
10 GM Blagojevic Dragisa MNE 2528
11 GM Cebalo Mišo CRO 2500
12 GM Popchev Milko BUL 2499
13 GM Stanojoski Zvonko MKD 2499
14 GM Ferčec Nenad CRO 2492
15 GM Šarić Ante CRO 2480
16 GM Žaja Ivan CRO 2471

Source: FIDE

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

Max Euwe Year
Source: FIDE

It is 75 years ago that Max Euwe became the 5th World Champion by beating Alexander Alekhine in a tensely contested match. Honouring a request of the Dutch Chess Federation, FIDE has recognized Euwe’s achievement and aptly declared 2010 ‘Euwe year’. Undoubtedly FIDE also wished to honour the achievements of the Dutchman in his capacity as 3rd President of the World Chess Federation. It was under Euwe’s presidency (1970-1978) that FIDE expanded considerably; today it has a worldwide membership of 169 countries.

In the Netherlands the Max Euwe Foundation will organize a number of events in 2010 to celebrate its eponymous hero. The heart of the Foundation is the Chess Centre in Amsterdam which has its domicile on the Max Euwe Square (close to the Donner Bridge).

It was in the Chess Centre that Hans Bouwmeester lectured on Max Euwe in January this year. At present the ‘Max Euwe Challenge’ takes place in the Café Batavia close to Amsterdam Central Station. The round robin presents young Dutch talents with the opportunity to play for title norms. Further activities for the young are training sessions by Yasser Seirawan, Mark Dvoretsky and Lubomir Ftacnik; while in May several training matches of 4 games will take place between talented Dutch youngsters and experienced grandmasters.

The month of June will see a ‘square festival’ promoting chess to the general public. The Euwe year will end in December with the opening of a new exhibition on Max Euwe in the Chess Centre, and the presentation of a new book on Max Euwe.

For more information on the Max Euwe Centre see: http://www.maxeuwe.nl/en/index.html

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

White to move. How should White proceed?

8/1p3qp1/p1p2p2/2P2P1p/2p4P/7k/1K3P2/3Q4 w – - 0 1

There is no right solution so far. Keep trying

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

The 2010 Gotth’ Art Cup is taking place from February 22 to March 4, 2010 in Szentgotthard, Hungary.

Standings after 5 rounds:

Group A

Group B

Official website: http://www.chesspremier.com/gotart.html

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

On Chess: Royal game worthy of term ‘sport’
Saturday, February 27, 2010 2:54 AM

In 2006, the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, included chess among the 40 official medal sports.

How is this so when the visual appeal of a chess contest often seems a notch or two below that of grass growing?

The physical demands of the five- or six-hour battle that constitutes a chess game were revealed most dramatically when Danish grandmaster Bent Larsen and Russia’s Mark Taimanov were treated for high blood pressure after catastrophic losses to Bobby Fischer during his 1971-72 run to the world title.

Offering testimony to the sporting nature of chess is dadaist artist and international celebrity Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), who had hoped to find a gentle art form when he turned to the game for refuge from the growing commercialism of the art world.

But decades of play and study, including stints on the French Olympic chess team, taught Duchamp that the aesthetics in chess were trumped by its essentially competitive, sporting nature.

He concluded that “Chess is a sport. A violent sport. This detracts from its most artistic connections. If it is anything, it is a struggle.”

We are reminded of Fischer’s observation: “Your body has to be in top condition. Your chess deteriorates as your body does. You can’t separate body from mind.”

Source: http://www.dispatch.com

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

White to move and win.

7b/4K1kn/8/8/5P2/8/R7/8 w – - 0 1

Zakhodiakin, 1930

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

Vishy Anand saves his strength before world meeting with Veselin Topalov
Leonard Barden
Saturday 27 February 2010

Vishy Anand, who defends his world title against Veselin Topalov at Sofia in April, kept his powder dry in his warm-up event at Corus Wijk where the Indian, 40, played at full force in only a few games. In contrast Topalov, 34, has played hard in almost every game this week at the Linares elite tournament in Andalusia, where he won first prize with 6.5/10, half a point ahead of Russia’s Alex Grischuk.

The Bulgarian squeezed points from tiny advantages and by round six had regained the world No1 spot on the live ratings from Magnus Carlsen. These daily updated rankings have a huge following and their prestige is now not far short of the official world title. Topalov dropped back to No2 after his ninth-round defeat by Grischuk but overall he can be well satisfied with his Linares performance.

Topalov was also laying down a marker for a possible future title clash with Carlsen and answering critics who said he could hope to beat Anand only if his manager, Silvio Danailov, introduced similar dubious offboard tactics to the infamous 2006 “Toiletgate” series against Vlad Kramnik. Given Anand’s deep preparation methods, which defeated Kramnik in 2008, the Indian remains a marginal favourite, but basically the match looks too close to call.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

National Day Chess Tourney
Written by Azaraimy HH
Saturday, 27 February 2010 08:16

Bandar Seri Begawan – Chess is fast becoming a sport where age and gender pose no boundary to the game and physical strength has no bearing on the match.

This is clearly shown during the 26`h National Day Rapid Chess Championship which started yesterday and the Blitz Chess Championship on Sunday organised by the Brunei Chess Federation (BCF). All that it takes to compete is mental fitness, skills and experiences, said BCF. Among those that are competing in the Rapid category are participants from Sabah. The Championship is open to all regardless of height and weight, age and gender. Under the Rapid category, the tournament is played in nine rounds as per playing schedule.

Each player has 20 minutes per round to complete the game. During the game yesterday, the Bulletin witnessed a young player was pitted against an experienced player and an adult was pitted against a young girl. Pairing are being automatically selected using a computer software programme called the `Swiss Manager’ pairing system courtesy of the FIDE (World Chess Federation) – an administration and pairing programme for chess-tournaments (round robin, team-round robin, swiss-system, team swiss-system tournaments).

The player with highest points at the end of the tournament will be declared as the champion. In case of any tie, the tie break scores of each player shall be considered in accordance to the following order: 1) Buchholz 2) By total number wins with Black. The Championship is being held at the Brunei Chess Centre, BSB. In the Blitz category, play is much faster where the tournament will be played in nine rounds as per playing schedule. Each player will have five minutes per round to compete the game. — Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

Source: http://www.brudirect.com

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY
Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE)
The Susan Polgar Foundation and the Knight Raiders

present

3rd Annual Lubbock Open Scholastic Chess Championship
Saturday, March 27, 2010
A 4 Round Swiss System Tournament (Game/30)
Event Site: Monterey High School “New Box”, Lubbock, TX
Contact Info: 806-742-7742 E-mail: Spice@ttu.edu

Description of Tournament: A USCF rated Individual and Team Scholastic Championship

Games are played in five sections: Primary (K-2), Elementary (K-5), Middle School (K-8), High School (K-12) and Novice section K-8 (no USCF membership required). There is a total of 30 minutes maximum per player per game.

On-site registration and check in 8:45am-10:00am. All players must check in by 10:15am, if arrives later will receive a ½ point bye for the first round.

Round schedule:

1 10:30 AM
2 11:45 AM
3 1:15 PM
4 2:30 PM

Entry Fees: $10 received by 3/14; $15 received by 3/26, or on site $20. A valid USCF membership required in all sections, except Novice K-8. It can be obtained at www.uschess.org or onsite on 3/27 until 10am.

Prizes: Trophies for top 6 finishers in each section. Trophies to top 3 school teams in each section. Team prizes are based on the top 3 individual scores from the same school or same club within the same section.

Also special trophy for top Sibling, top Parent/Child and top Coach/Student teams.

Special valuable chess prizes to the top overall finisher and top girl in each section sponsored by the Susan Polgar Foundation! Prize giving ceremony will be held shortly after the end of the last game which is around 4:00pm.

Chess boards and sets will be provided. Bring a chess clock if you have one.

Please register send Entry Blank and Fees to TTU-SPICE send to: SPICE Box 45080 Lubbock, TX 79409-5080
Additional information on www.SPICE.ttu.edu

—————————————————————————————————-

Entry Form: Please PRINT all information and make check/money order to TTU-SPICE.
Name: ________________________ Phone: (_____) _____________School_________
Address: ____________________ City/State: __________ Zip:___________________
Email: ______________________________ DOB: ___________Section____________
USCF Rating (if any) _____USCF ID#:_______ Amount Enclosed (No cash, please) $______

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar