The Premier Chess Club of Northeast Ohio!
Who invented chess? Listening to Russian GMs at the 1991 Reggio Emilia tournament the young Vishy Anand got the impression that they owned the game. “But didn’t we Indians invent chess?” he asked himself. In an essay in TIME Magazine the reigning World Champion looks at the origins of the game and its route from India to Persia to Spain, one that reflects
his own chess journey.
The US Championship, “between one woman with a Russian-sounding name and another woman with a Russian-sounding name,” was decided “the most ridiculous tie breaker in sports history,” writes an AOL blogger. The controversy continues, while on this side of the Atlantic we were taken to task for carelessly naming regions from an island to the west of Europe. Excerpts from your letters.
What long-term strategical
implications do the moves 1.e4 c5 carry with them? Well, any at all? Yes,
says none less than former world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov. His DVD “Strategy –
Step by Step” is a real eye-opener for most of us. Starting with
the very first moves of the games he analyses six of his strategic masterpieces
in great depth.
Buy it
now or read more.
Alexei Shirov and Andrei Volokitin scored final round victories, while Vassily Ivanchuk won another game, wrestling the full point from Pavel Eljanov in a queen ending. Tournament leader Magnus Carlsen held Ukrainian co-prodigy Sergey Karjakin to a draw to take the category 19 tournament by a full point, with a 2877 performance. Express report.
Vassily Ivanchuk defeated Loek van Wely with the black pieces to join Pavel Eljanov (who drew against Karjakin) in second place. Alexei Shirov defeated Peter Svidler in a Slav, and Magnus Carlsen drew a marathon 79-move game against Andrei Volokitin. With a round to go Carlsen is a point and a half ahead and therefore already the winner of Aerosvit 2008. Express report.
The city of Druten in The Netherlands is paying host to an exposition of chess paintings and artifacts – “Schaakkunst” in Dutch. They include new works and new artists, fifteen in all, who have produced a wide variety of realistic and surrealistic objects, most of which you can buy in the online chess shop. We bring you some sample paintings that make for a visual treat.
Ten teams are part of this league, which is played on weekends (Fridays in Iran) in different cities all over Iran. The first rounds started this year, 1387 according to the Iranian calendar. Sixty players, including five GMs, four IMs and nine FMs were present – one was very sadly missed: GM Karen Asrian, who passed away tragically last week. Pictorial report by Arash Akbarinia.
He began as the ultimate chess prodigy, an assistant to a world championship
candidate at eleven, the youngest grandmaster in history at twelve and a half.
On Wednesday night our Playchess lecturer
Dennis Monokroussos shows us how today, at 18, Sergey Karjakin is able to combine
positional and tactical motifs to match the best players in the world. The show is free.
Romania’s Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu defeated Alexei Shirov after a fatal king move by the latter. Magnus Carlsen played a 16-move draw today, while one of his nearest rivals, Ukrainian GM Pavel Eljanov, defeated compatriot Andrei Volokitin to come within theoretical striking distance. With two rounds to go Carlsen leads by a point and a half. Express report.
Vassily Ivanchuk defeated Alexei Shirov on the black side of an Exchange Gruenfeld, in 36 moves. With this he advanced into the group of three “chasing” Magnus Carlsen, who is two full points ahead. Alekseev beat Nisipeanu and van Wely beat Volokitin. Carlsen drew against tail-ender Alexander Onischuk. Express report.
The final tiebreak game that decided the 2008 US Women’s Chess Championship in favour of Anna Zatonskih led to a protest by Irina Krush, who lost in a controversial manner. The critical phase was caught on video, which our readers could view in slow motion. “This film has been dissected as much as the Zapruder JFK assassination film,” writes Julian Wan of Ann Arbor, USA. Selected letters.
The Karen Asrian Memorial rapid chess tournament in Yerevan ended today with a clear victory for Armenia’s top GM Levon Aronian, who defeated Michael Adams 1½:½ in the last two games; while Peter Leko, who had been leading most of the time, lost ½:1½ to Alexander Morozevich. The draw average in this event was 65%. Final report.
“Where were we? Ah, yes, the winning streak…” Magnus Carlsen came out of the free day refreshed and ready to rumble. His opponent, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, playing white, went down to the typical relentless pressure exerted by the 17-year-old Norwegian. Magnus once again has a performance of over 3000. Express report.
The Karen Asrian Memorial rapid chess tournament in Yerevan ended today with a clear victory for Armenia’s top GM Levon Aronian, who defeated Michael Adams 1½:½ in the last two games; while Peter Leko, who had been leading most of the time, lost ½:1½ to Alexander Morozevich. The draw average in this event was 65%. Final report.
Masters are occasionally invited to nominate their single best game, and here
the Editor of Chess
Notes chronicles the sometimes surprising choices made by the old-timers (particularly in the first half of the last century),
as well as nominations for the greatest masterpiece of all time and, even, a
proposal for the ‘perfect game’.
It started as the “Chess Giants Yerevan 2008″, but after the sudden and tragic death of top Armenian GM Karen Asrian at the age of 28, the Armenian Chess Federation decided to interrupt the event for a few days, and then rename it to the “Karen Asrian Memorial”. This will be the name it will bear in the future. The tournament ends tomorrow. Round twelve report.
This is becoming quite incredible: Magnus Carlsen beat Alexei Shirov (who blundered in a drawn position on move 61). His score is now 4.5/5, with a performance just a point shy of 3100. If the world rankings were published today he would be number two behind Vishy Anand. Three other games were decided in a day of exciting chess. Round five report.
Naturally it couldn’t go on forever. Magnus Carlsen, the ultimate fighter, took a break in round six and drew in eighteen moves against Evgeny Alexeev. All other games were drawn. At halftime Carlsen leads by a point and a half, ahead of two young Ukrainian grandmasters. Saturday is a free day. Express report.
What is the most important factor in chess excellence? Is it a natural talent for the game, have it or give up? Or is it motivation and training, talent being a minor factor? Dr Robert Howard of the University of New South Wales in Australia is a psychologist who is carrying out a online survey on this subject. Anyone with an FIDE rating is invited to participate.
He is not the usual child prodigy. His rise into the upper echelons of world
chess in the last few years has nonetheless been dramatic, and our Playchess
lecturer Dennis Monokroussos believes that top Armenian GM Levon Aronian has
as good a shot as anyone to become a world champion sometime in the near future.
Dennis illustrates this in his Wednesday night show.
Football – soccer to the Americans – is one of the most popular games on the planet. Currently the European Championship is being staged, and a whole continent is gripped by football fever. The game also inspires men to come up with profound sayings, paradoxical koans, gems of wisdom. The German striker Lukas Podolsky produced one that will go down in football and chess history. Digression.
Magnus Carlsen won another game, this time with black against Ukrainian GM Pavel Eljanov. This put the Norwegian in the lead with 3.5/4 and a performance so far of (dare we say it?) 3050. He is followed by the other “youngster”, 18-year-old Sergey Karjakin, who beat Dmitry Jakovenko and has 3.0/4 points with a 2883 performance. Express report.
A great day for the host country: all three Ukrainian players scored, defeating a Russian, a Romanian and an American GM. Meanwhile Alexei Shirov scored a second victory, over Dmitry Jakovenko, to take the lead in the Black Sea tournament. And good news: Magnus Carlsen’s bags have been located and delivered at the hotel. Round two report.
The Modern Benoni is one of the
sharpest openings against 1 d4. Black is ready for active counterplay, especially
with his pawn majority on the queenside. But it takes a first-class teacher
like Andrew Martin to explain to you the critical positions without beating around
the bush. ‘Thumbs up!’ says Bob Long after 4+ hours of enjoyment with this new
video course.
Buy it
now or read Bobs review.
Another exciting round in Foros, Ukraine. Magnus Carlsen outplayed Loek van Wely to go into the sole lead. Eljanov, Alekseev and Jaovenko won their white games against Shirov, Svidler and Volokitin respectively. The draw average is 44%, while exactly half of all games were won by White (and one by Black). Express report.
The top seed was in the clear lead right to the final round, where he stumbled over Uzbek GM Anton Fillipov. This loss put Michal Krasenkow into a tie with seven other players, and cost him around $4000 in prize money. But a superior tiebreak made him the winner of the tournament anyway. In close contention: India’s remarkably talented female GM Koneru Humpy. Report by Praful Zaveri.
At the 2008 Women’s Chess Championship IMs Anna Zatonskih and Irina Krush tied for first, then played rapid and blitz tiebreakers, and finally a very dramatic Armageddon game, which Anna won in the last possible second. Irina has protested in an open letter that her opponent was making moves before she had completed her own. You can watch the scene in a forensic video – in slow motion.
We have received word that one of Armenia’s leading grandmasters, Karen Asrian, died today. Apparently he suffered a heart attack while driving a car. Karen Asrian won the title of Armenian champion three times. He also earned a gold medal at the 2006 Olympiad held in Turin. His final rating, in April this year, was 2630. In memoriam.
The capital of Armenia is playing host to a rapid chess tournament, with eight players holding a two-game mini-match per day, starting at 18:00h local time. Average rating: 2719. To start things off, Alexander Morozevich and Peter Leko won a game each, against Boris Gelfand and Bu Xiangzhi respectively. All other games were drawn. Day one report.
There was no real battle for first place. The team Kievchess from, you guessed it, Kiev, took first place after a half-hearted challenge by the youngsters of a team called “Lviv University named by I. Franko”. One member of the victorious Kiev team is remarkable: FM Illya Nyzhnyk, rated 2397, who holds his own in blitz against grandmasters. Illya is eleven. Pictorial report by Anastasiya Karlovich.
The first round of the traditional tournament that is taking part in the sanatorium complex Foros on the shores of the Black Sea saw top seed Magnus Carlsen win a fine game against veteran Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk. Alexei Shirov took a point with the black pieces against Loek van Wely. The event is a category 19 with an average Elo of 2711. Illustrated report.
Whose name has been inscribed by the World Champion Vishy Anand in the prize copy of My
Best Games? And who will be receiving Fritz 11 signed by him? All
is now revealed, as the Editor of Chess
Notes presents the remaining four solutions in the Chess Explorations quiz
– including victories by James A. Leonard and Rudolf Loman. Announcement of the winners.
Is the driving force behind the game of chess the desire of players to use the queen – the mother piece – to attack and neutralise the king – the father piece, in a monumental Oedipal struggle? Certainly a number of Freudian psychologist have held this view, which is described in David Shenk’s book “The Immortal Game”. Evolutionary psychologist Massimo Pigliucci takes issue with the theory.
In Part Six of his ChessBase Workshop series on configuring Fritz, Steve Lopez solves one of the biggest mysteries concerning the
software: what do the “Tournament” settings under the “Options”
tab control? The veil is lifted in the latest ChessBase Workshop.
With four white piece wins and no losses British GM Nigel Short, former world championship challenger, finished this tournament in Romania with 7.0/10 points. In joint second were veteran grandmasters Lajos Portisch and Ulf Andersson. Henrique Mecking, who had been doing well until round eight, lost twice and dropped to seventh place. Big illustrated report.