• You are in grades 9-12 and are rated above 2000.
• You are in grades 9-12, are rated above 1600 and wish to face tough competition.
• You are in grades K-8 and are rated above 1800 and feel that you need to face older and stronger opponents to get better.
• You are in grades K-12, are rated above 1200, and simply want to get your butt kicked--just for a learning experience.
  

• Top players tend to be more interested in qualifying for Denker than winning a state championship. Plus, one or two masters might go to Ohio for nationals instead.
• The Denker Qualifier presents a great opportunity for all of the talented elementary and middle school kids to compete against the top high school players. I expect most of the A and B rated K-6 and K-8 kids to be back in their normal age groups at the CalChess Scholastics.
• There won't be many weak players at the Denker Qualifier (currently 17 of 28 early entries are over 1800). On the other hand, the CalChess Scholastics attracts school teams, including many lower rated players.
  

We were surprised to find that the previous Lubbock Chess Club had disbanded several years ago. In our online search we found a newsletter generated by the TTU Knight Raiders that led us to a “chess game night” at Barnes & Noble on a Friday night. There, we met several members of the Knight Raiders and the idea of reviving the Lubbock Chess Club was born.

2. What is the relationship of the Lubbock Chess Club with SPICE and/or the TTU Knight Raider Chess Club?

Once we began playing routinely several nights a week with members of the Knight Raiders, it was brought to Susan Polgar’s attention that we were interested in starting Lubbock Chess Club.

She immediately jumped in and helped us to initially organize our efforts and to locate a weekly meeting place. Combined with the ongoing support and participation of the Knight Raiders, we have had very successful club attendance to date.

3. Who is welcome to come and play with the Lubbock Chess Club? Are novice chess players and kids welcome to play?

All are welcome. Male or female, any age or skill level. Chess is a game for people of all ages and you can learn to play at any time. So come play even if you have never seen a chess board or if you are a highly advanced player.

4. How many players typically come and play at the Lubbock Chess Club, and what is the typical strength of those players?

It varies. We have an average of 18 to 20 regular players. Some nights we have as many as 30 plus players and 12 to 14 on others.

5. Is there a fee to join the Lubbock Chess Club?

At this time there is not a fee to join the club. However, in order to provide for the membership in the future we are in the process of formalizing the club with officers, by-laws, constitution and, of course, fees. Preliminary discussion on fees has been $20 per year for an adult membership, $15 per year for college students, and $10 per year for persons younger than 18.

6. What are some upcoming events that the Lubbock Chess Club is planning?

Since we are still getting off the ground we don’t have any events on the current schedule. We plan on sponsoring tournaments, leagues, chess ladders, and blitz tournaments in the future.

7. Why do you like playing chess?

In my opinion, chess is the ultimate game having a positive effect on a player’s attitude toward learning and cognitive achievement.

Chess play engages the human brain and employs new ways of thinking, imaginative processes, and creativity. Chess also develops your critical and analytical thinking ability and contributes to the increase of intelligence, problem solving skills, memorization and concentration. A little competition is also great for mental alertness, patience, sportsmanship, as well as challenging your sense of accomplishment.

8. How do you like playing chess at Lin’s Buffet on Mondays?

Lin’s provides us with a large, open, comfortable area to meet and play along with a wide variety of delicious food items to choose from. They offer a 10 percent discount to all members and, while we encourage dining, it is completely optional.

8. Where do you see the Lubbock Chess Club six months from now, and one year from now?

The current version of the Lubbock Chess Club is in its infancy. In the future we hope to offer chess instruction for any age and a comprehensive chess library available to all members.

Our primary purpose is to have fun and to promote the popularity of chess. We hope to eventually conduct tournaments and other forms of chess competition.

I feel that our membership will increase with time and advertising. As for the community, we hope to reach out to the school districts in the Lubbock area and promote the subject of chess and hopefully integrate it into their scholastic curriculum.

Source: http://www.lubbockonline.com

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

He watched Max Euwe become World Champion. He chatted with Emanuel Lasker, and saved dozens of Jewish babies during the Second World War. Last night I had the privilege to play a club game against 99-year-old Professor Dr Johan van Hulst. I couldn’t beat him.

Photo: Fred Lucas

Professor Dr Johan Wilhelm van Hulst was born in Amsterdam on January 28th, 1911. He’s a Dutch emeritus professor of education and a politician. Starting as a teacher and mentor, from 1942 to 1960 Van Hulst was Principal of the Pedagogical Academy in Amsterdam and in that capacity he was responsible for rescuing hundreds of Jewish babies and children from the nursery of the Hollandsche Schouwburg. For this he received the Yad Vashem Distinction in 1973. About this period he said:

“The director of the kindergarten, our neighbor, asked me if she could use the school because the nursery was full. I made available an empty room and a part of the garden. Soon, this became the flight route for the children. Many children were smuggled away from the school. Members of the resistance could just walk in and out, because the Germans did not notice the school. Probably because I deliberately acted like I didn’t want anything to do with the Hollandsche Schouwburg and the Jews.” Source: Verzetsmuseum

Van Hulst earned a doctoral education and psychology and graduated in 1961. From 1956 to 1981 he was member of the Senate of the Dutch government and from 1961 to 1968 Member of the European Parliament. He’s a former Chairman of the political parties CHU and CDA and held many other functions. Van Hulst is also author of numerous scientific publications and books; the last was published when he was 95.

Consultation between (L-R) Gerard Leijenhorst, Johan van Hulst (CDA chairman for the Senate) and Ruud Lubbers (chairman CDA for the Parliament)

In the chess world he is no stranger either. He was quite a strong player himself and in fact was once invited to play for the Dutch team at one of the Olympiads. However, Van Hulst had to decline the invitation, with the knowledge that he would lose his job as School Principal if he would play. This was the moment he decided that he wouldn’t pursue a chess career. But for decades he has played in the special group for (former) parliamentarians at the Corus Chess Tournament, and won it many times, including the 2010 edition, at 99 years old.

Johan van Hulst giving one of his famous speeches,
during the 2010 Corus Chess Tournament | Photo Fred Lucas

I play chess myself very little these days. This season I’ve probably played just three or four games at my Amsterdam club Caïssa. Last year the ‘Max Euwe’ chess club ceased to exist and its members transferred to Caïssa. On the first club night in September last year, we met with our new club members, and one of them was the distinguished Professor Van Hulst. He is an honorary member of the Caïssa Chess Club, and has been a member for about seventy years.

“I have been a spectator at all of Max Euwe’s matches in Holland,” he told us on that Tuesday night. “During one of the early games of the 1935 match, Emanuel Lasker was one of the spectators. I asked him what he’d think of Euwe’s chances.” We were listening in awe to Mr Van Hulst, a magical figure already, who saw Euwe play, who talked to Lasker… Of course we immediately asked: “What did Lasker answer?” Van Hulst, smiling: “I remember very clearly. He said Alekhine should be considered slight favourite, considering the time control they were playing.”

Johan van Hulst in 2007 | Photo Fred Lucas

Later that evening he also told about the period of the Second World War. “I was the chairman of a chess club here in Amsterdam. At the end of the 1930s the situation for our Jewish members became more and more difficult. At some point they weren’t allowed to play anymore, so we decided to secretly play at their houses instead of at the club. Later this had to stop as well.

One night an SS officer walked into our club. ‘I want to be come a club member and play here,’ he told me. I had to think deeply, and then I responded: “Are you a Christian? You have to be a member of our Christian community too, you know.’ This way I managed to get rid of him.”

Van Hulst still plays almost every week. He’s being brought and picked up by taxi, and needs a walker or a stick to move around. “Not long ago he had to skip a club night,” the current chairman of the club told me. “The next week he came and apologized for his absence, but he had a very good reason. His daughter had turned 60.”

Last night I decided to go to my club, and to my surprise I was paired against Professor Van Hulst. Remembering the many stories, and with deep respect for my opponent, I had trouble concentrating. But that’s no excuse; I simply played badly. More importantly, except for the opening I believe he played quite strongly, as if there was no age difference of 65 years.

Van Hulst-Doggers
Amsterdam (Caïssa) 2010

Game viewer by ChessTempo

After the game I said: “I won the opening, you won the ending.” He answered with “I’m an old man, you know. I’m getting tired after a few hours of play.” Then he asked me about my rating. I told him it was a bit over 2200. “Aha! Well, perhaps I shouldn’t tell you mine, then. Well, OK, it’s 1600.”

After that he stood up, grabbed his walker, adding “I’m satisfied about the game.” He went for his coat. “I’m satisfied too,” I replied, having enjoyed the evening, and feeling OK about a draw against this man. But he was quick in pointing out that this was just nonsense: “I don’t think you have any reason to be satisfied!” I smiled, knowing that he was right. In the end he was the one who had won.

Photo © Fred Lucas;
for another photo see also Schaaksite

Following the visit this week by FIDE General Secretary Ignatius Leong and Asian Chess Federation Deputy President Casto Abundo to Vientiane, the Lao Ministry of Education and Ministry of Sports have agreed to establish a chess in schools program in Laos.

From left, ACF Deputy President Casto Abundo witnesses FIDE General Secretary Ignatius Leong hand over chess manuals to Laos Deputy Minister of Education LyTou Bouapao who agreed to establish Chess in Schools in Vientiane. Looking on are Ministry of Education Director General for Physical Culture & Sports Mr Chantaly, and Soulasith Oupravanh, Director General, International Sport Relation Department.

Meeting at the Ministry of Sports are, from left, Director General International Sport Relations Department Soulasith Oupravanh, ACF Deputy President Casto Abundo, FIDE General Secretary Ignatius Leong, Director General Elite Sports Department Sengphone Phonhamath, Lao National Olympic Committee Vice President Kasem Inthara and Minister of Education Director General for Physical Culture & Sports Mr. Chantaly.

Left to right: FIDE General Secretary Ignatius Leong and Somphou Phongsa, Lao National Committee of Sports and Culture Vice President,exchanging copies of the Memorandum of Understanding witnessed by ACF Deputy President Casto Abundo (right). Looking on in back are Sengphone Phonhamath, Director General Elite Sports Department and Soulasith Oupravanh, Director General International Sport Relation Department.

Asian Chess Federation president Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan had requested the FIDE General Secretary to assist in activating chess in Laos and Cambodia and tasked the ACF Deputy President to revitalize their dormant chess federations.

In his capacity ten years ago as Southeast Asian Zone President, Leong had visited Laos and Cambodia to establish their national chess federations.

During the recent 3-day visit from 24 to 26 February 2010, they met with officials of the Lao Ministry of Education, Lao National Committee of Sport and Physical Culture, and Lao National Olympic Committee and visited a model school in Vientiane. In the discussions, it was emphasized that children who learn chess perform better in school than those who do not.

In a spirit of cooperation, FIDE and the ACF shall provide technical support to assist in setting up a chess in schools program in Vientiane to advance the interests of chess in the Laos People's Democratic Republic (Laos PDR).

FIDE and the ACF will send FIDE Trainers and Arbiters to train chess teachers, chess administrators and arbiters in Laos. FIDE and the ACF shall provide the technical expertise and chess equipment to help the development of chess in Laos. Leong invited the Lao National Committee of Sport to a familiarization visit to Singapore to witness firsthand the Chess in Schools program and a Chess Academy.

The Lao National Committee of Sport pledged to restructure the Lao Chess Federation and participate in the 2010 Asian Games and 2011 Southeast Asian Games chess competitions.

FIDE President Invited to Cambodia


Earlier, Leong also visited Cambodia and held meetings with the National Olympic Committee Secretary General and several top officials. They expressed interest to support chess particularly because their Prime Minister is a strong player in Cambodia traditional chess which is quite similar to our international chess. In March, there will be a Prime Ministers Cup tournament in Cambodian traditional chess with over 200 players and they have invited the FIDE President to meet and play with their Prime Minister.

FIDE General Secretary General Ignatius Leong (center) giving chess sets and clocks to Mr Ly Hout (left), President of Cambodia Chess Federation and Mr Vath Chamroeun, Secretary-General of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia.

The chess federation officials from ten years ago had left Cambodia and hence communications with FIDE ceased. Chess is now under the Cambodia Chess Federation - re-organised in 2006 with Xiangqi, Cambodian traditional chess and International Chess. They had no information about Chess and appealed for a chess trainer who can teach in Mandarin language to all those who play Cambodian traditional chess so they could be converted easily, similar to the way China started in the '70s.


The Cambodian Chess Federation has a playing hall on the first floor of a Chinese restaurant owned by the CCF President who is a businessman and consultant to the NOC to create a lottery company for NOC. Both the NOC and the CCF are aware that Chess playing could keep the people away from drugs and is a healthy sport for all. The NOC is considering hosting the SEA Games 2015 and we can build on our relationship.

March is Girls Chess Month in North Carolina! On Saturday the 13th, from 1-3pm, we are having our monthly Girls and Women’s Academy—moms welcome and encouraged to join—at Borders Bookstore in South Park Charlotte. $15 or $25 mom/daughter

Girls Chess!

Ladies at the Academy

Then on the 26th as a warm-up for the States we are hosting a Kings and Queens match, where boys are invited to challenge the girls! This is also at Borders from 3:45-5:00 pm. $5

On March 27th is the Annual Girls State Championships, for girls and young ladies up to 19 years old, from anywhere in the state of NC, at host site Myers Park Traditional School, from 9-3pm. There are two sections: Beginners and Championship. The Championship section vies for a $500 Scholarship to the college of her choice!

This is a unique opportunity offered by the North Carolina Chess Association. Prizes for everyone! $20 by March 20/thereafter $30

All ages are Welcome at the Academy

All events sponsored by Over The Chessboard, a proud affiliate of 9Queens. Please email Jessica Martin, founder of Over The Chessboard, and Vice President of Scholastic Chess in North Carolina, for more information, or to register for these events. jmartin@overthechessboard.com www.overthechessboard.com

Following the visit this week by FIDE General Secretary Ignatius Leong and Asian Chess Federation Deputy President Casto Abundo to Vientiane, the Lao Ministry of Education and Ministry of Sports have agreed to establish a chess in schools program in Laos.

From left, ACF Deputy President Casto Abundo witnesses FIDE General Secretary Ignatius Leong hand over chess manuals to Laos Deputy Minister of Education LyTou Bouapao who agreed to establish Chess in Schools in Vientiane. Looking on are Ministry of Education Director General for Physical Culture & Sports Mr Chantaly, and Soulasith Oupravanh, Director General, International Sport Relation Department.

Meeting at the Ministry of Sports are, from left, Director General International Sport Relations Department Soulasith Oupravanh, ACF Deputy President Casto Abundo, FIDE General Secretary Ignatius Leong, Director General Elite Sports Department Sengphone Phonhamath, Lao National Olympic Committee Vice President Kasem Inthara and Minister of Education Director General for Physical Culture & Sports Mr. Chantaly.

Left to right: FIDE General Secretary Ignatius Leong and Somphou Phongsa, Lao National Committee of Sports and Culture Vice President,exchanging copies of the Memorandum of Understanding witnessed by ACF Deputy President Casto Abundo (right). Looking on in back are Sengphone Phonhamath, Director General Elite Sports Department and Soulasith Oupravanh, Director General International Sport Relation Department.

Asian Chess Federation president Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan had requested the FIDE General Secretary to assist in activating chess in Laos and Cambodia and tasked the ACF Deputy President to revitalize their dormant chess federations.

In his capacity ten years ago as Southeast Asian Zone President, Leong had visited Laos and Cambodia to establish their national chess federations.

During the recent 3-day visit from 24 to 26 February 2010, they met with officials of the Lao Ministry of Education, Lao National Committee of Sport and Physical Culture, and Lao National Olympic Committee and visited a model school in Vientiane. In the discussions, it was emphasized that children who learn chess perform better in school than those who do not.

In a spirit of cooperation, FIDE and the ACF shall provide technical support to assist in setting up a chess in schools program in Vientiane to advance the interests of chess in the Laos People's Democratic Republic (Laos PDR).

FIDE and the ACF will send FIDE Trainers and Arbiters to train chess teachers, chess administrators and arbiters in Laos. FIDE and the ACF shall provide the technical expertise and chess equipment to help the development of chess in Laos. Leong invited the Lao National Committee of Sport to a familiarization visit to Singapore to witness firsthand the Chess in Schools program and a Chess Academy.

The Lao National Committee of Sport pledged to restructure the Lao Chess Federation and participate in the 2010 Asian Games and 2011 Southeast Asian Games chess competitions.

FIDE President Invited to Cambodia


Earlier, Leong also visited Cambodia and held meetings with the National Olympic Committee Secretary General and several top officials. They expressed interest to support chess particularly because their Prime Minister is a strong player in Cambodia traditional chess which is quite similar to our international chess. In March, there will be a Prime Ministers Cup tournament in Cambodian traditional chess with over 200 players and they have invited the FIDE President to meet and play with their Prime Minister.

FIDE General Secretary General Ignatius Leong (center) giving chess sets and clocks to Mr Ly Hout (left), President of Cambodia Chess Federation and Mr Vath Chamroeun, Secretary-General of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia.

The chess federation officials from ten years ago had left Cambodia and hence communications with FIDE ceased. Chess is now under the Cambodia Chess Federation - re-organised in 2006 with Xiangqi, Cambodian traditional chess and International Chess. They had no information about Chess and appealed for a chess trainer who can teach in Mandarin language to all those who play Cambodian traditional chess so they could be converted easily, similar to the way China started in the '70s.


The Cambodian Chess Federation has a playing hall on the first floor of a Chinese restaurant owned by the CCF President who is a businessman and consultant to the NOC to create a lottery company for NOC. Both the NOC and the CCF are aware that Chess playing could keep the people away from drugs and is a healthy sport for all. The NOC is considering hosting the SEA Games 2015 and we can build on our relationship.

Speak To Me So That I Can See You

Speak to me, so that I can see you, ?

So that the Sun begins to shine more brightly, ?

So that I'm later not regretting ?

That time ran out before I told your story.?

The story of the leaves that quietly whisper, ?

Of dew drops twinkling on morning grass,

?Of wind that comes in Spring, and one that's strong, ?

Of February skies without a cloud, ?

Of happiness that comes at sunrise, ?

As those first rays of lilac turn to red.

?And what is happiness? We all say "happiness" so often…

?So much about it can be said.?

One day, it will arrive without a warning?

And change the way your eyes perceive this world.

?You'll see the world in fairy tales enclosed,?

You'll see it wrapped in tender, rosy Spring.?

And then within that Spring, whose entrance will be sudden, ?

With ringing laughter, you will outpour your love,?

And as around the snow your scatter cherry roses, ?

A burning fire will ignite in people's hearts. ?

Speak to me so that I can see you. ?

So that I always feel this thrilling passion,

?This gust of freshest wind that came upon me roughly.

?The gust of love, of fantasies, and hopes.

11.26.1999

He recently completed high school without huge success, but 19-year-old Magnus Carlsen is now already at the top of the chess world, following the footsteps of his mentor, legendary chess champion Garry Kasparov.

On New Year’s Day, the mop-haired, sulky-looking Norwegian teen became the youngest player to ever top the rankings of best players published by the International Chess Federation (FIDE).

Now he is setting his sights on the title of world champion.

“It’s been one of my goals for many years to become the number one player and that’s about as far as you can reach in chess without winning the world championship. Obviously it’s a big thing,” Carlsen said.

“The downside, of course, is that you have to answer questions like this a lot,” he added, matter-of-factly.

Initiated into chess early on by his father, as a boy Magnus nevertheless preferred other pastimes which he explored on his own.

Aged two, he could recite all car brands; as a five-year-old, he built monumental creations out of lego; then he moved on to memorising the world’s countries, their flags, capitals, and areas…

But he was soon brought back to chess by the desire to beat his older sister at the game.

He played in his first tournament at the age of eight and burst onto the chess scene when in 2004, at 13, he beat former world champion Anatoli Karpov, pushed Kasparov to a draw and became a chess grandmaster.

“The Mozart of Chess” was born, as the Washington Post put it.

The teen quickly became a regular of the chess circuit, where he could be seen with his shirt untucked and at times yawning and stretching during games.

Despite his sluggish appearance, he climbed the chess hierarchy at dazzling speed.

So much so that only a month after his nineteenth birthday, he wowed the chess universe as the youngest player to ever top the world rankings.

Kasparov, who has coached Carlsen since 2009, was 20 years and nine months old when he made it to that milestone.

“Before he is done, Carlsen will have changed our ancient game considerably,” Kasparov told Time magazine in January.

The Russian player has helped the young Norwegian add a good measure of calculation and a broader repertory of openings to the extraordinary intuition that guides his quick and exact moves.

But Carlsen also seeks to be a regular teen, spending his free time chatting on the Internet and playing football, squash and tennis.

School, on the other hand, is definitely not his cup of tea.

“I’ve focussed on chess for many years, so I didn’t care too much in the last few years,” he said when asked about his final exam results.

“Magnus has normally been excellent at whatever he is interested in and if he’s not interested, then the results are not necessarily excellent,” his father Henrik intervened, explaining “there were probably not enough subjects (in school) in the last few years that he was definitely interested in.”

The benevolent figure has accompanied his son throughout his chess career, and is quick to admit he hasn’t beat Magnus at the game for nine years.

“If I can understand what he’s doing when he is playing, then I’m happy,” he added.

For Magnus, the only title left to conquer is that of world champion, which he can only aspire to obtain in 2011 or 2012, because of the unpredictability of FIDE’s system.

The chess prodigy admits he thinks about the title, but without obsessing over it.

“A lot of players have got lost waiting for world championship matches… And for me, it’s much easier to think that the World Championship is far in the future and I won’t focus on it too much,” he said.

“As for now, I’m focussing more on playing in tournaments and on winning them and staying at the number one rank,” he added.

In the 6th round of the Linares super-tournament, Veselin Topalov was in trouble against Francisco Vallejo until the Spaniard suddenly blundered a full rook. By then Gashimov and Gelfand had already drawn in a very theoretical Petroff. The last game to finish was Grischuk-Aronian, which also ended in a draw. Thanks to his win, Topalov is the world’s number one player in the live ratings again.

The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin.

This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.

Round 6 report by Rick Goetzee

Ljubomir Ljubojevic

Ljubojevic met his wife-to-be at the 1981 tournament. He then decided to settle in Linares, also because there was quite a bit of chess activity in the region, apart from the yearly grandmaster tournament. In those years there were plans to bring chess to schools, but unfortunately they didn’t materialise. According to Ljubojevic this is a great pity, as he was often approached by parents telling him that their children would love to learn chess and he visited schools to talk about the game.

The press room, at the first floor of the Teatro Cervantes

Recently a second attempt has been launched. Only two cities in Andalusia have plans to integrate chess in the school curriculum: Sevilla and Linares. Ljubojevic says that it is a pity that it took almost thirty years before a second attempt was made but ‘better late than never’.

Ljubo doesn’t like the Sofia rules: ‘they are funny’. In his view top chess players are artists and artists have good days and bad days and this should be accepted as part of the game. Also he thinks it’s hard to enforce the rule, because if strong players want to make a draw they will find a way through a perpetual check or move repetition. “It is done because organisers think it will favour chess. What they should do is invite the right people, then they won’t have to worry about short draws.”

There was some confusion at the start of today’s round at the board of Topalov-Vallejo. A guest made the first move and started the clock but Vallejo’s clock started to run. The arbiter had to intervene to reset the clock.

Topalov and Vallejo pointing out the error to arbiter Faik Gasanov

Then Vallejo took three minutes to reply to Topalov’s 1.c4. After an English opening the game became very sharp as Vallejo setup an attack against Topalov’s king. It was hard, even for Ljubo, to give a correct evaluation of the position although it seemed that Vallejo was better. His main problem was the clock, having only one minute left for the last twelve moves. He played well for a long time till he hung a full rook on the 38th move and overstepped the time limit on move 40.

According to GM Larry Christiansen on ICC’s Chess.FM, Gashimov proved to have done a lot of good homework against Gelfand’s Petroff. He achieved a promising position from the opening without counterplay for Black. However, Gelfand defended accurately and a draw was agreed in a knight endgame.

Grischuk decided to burn the midnight oil against Aronian, trying to win a rook vs knight endgame with an extra pawn for Black. In an empty pressroom there was still the voice of Leontxo Garcia continuing his commentary for the tournament website. Finally, at move 101, the players decided to call it a day.

Before we’ll leave you, we’d like to point out that GM Anish Giri, reigning Dutch champion and winner of the Corus B group this year, is doing wonderful commentary for Chessbase each round. This round he did Topalov-Vallejo, over here.

Games round 6 with brief annotations

Game viewer by ChessTempo

The town hall of Linares which proudly shows...

...the tournament poster - something the Spanish are really good at

Andalusian palm trees in sunny Linares

The entrance of the venue; the Teatro Cervantes

Photos © Rick Goetzee

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN via TWIC

Guadeloupe is a beautiful island with a budding chess community. Located in the eastern Caribbean and like Martinique, is a part of overseas department of France. Guadeloupe recently celebrated their carnival and federation President Olivier Mouëza was proud to show off pictures to the fete.

The island has hosted an open chess tournament in June 2009 which drew a number of strong players including France’s GM Jean-Marc Degraeve and the USA’s GM Maurice Ashley. The tournament was won by GM Namig Guliyev of Azerbaijan with 6/7.

Currently the Guadeloupe Championship in progress. The defending champion Yves Ber has already been upset by Mouëza. The federation is now planning an event to raise funds for Haiti, a fellow Francophone nation. Mouëza has been in touch with Sabine Bonnet of the Academie d’Echecs.

GM Maurice Ashley signing autographs for Guadeloupean schoolkids in June 2009. Photo from echecs-guadeloupe.com.

Shaun Smith, Chess-in-Schools (CIS) has organized a training match between two of the brightest stars in the U.S. chess scene. Both Justus Williams (2141) and Josh Colas (2114) are well-known here at The Chess Drum, but the world will see both talents on display at the Internet Chess Club on February 17th and 18th. Below is a report written for the USCF Online by Smith.

From February 17-18, Justus Williams and Joshua Colas, two of the highest rated 11-year olds in the nation (#2 and #4 respectively), will face off in a rated match at IS 318K (4 rounds of G/60). Justus and Joshua are both rated over 2100 and are both on pace to break the record for the youngest African American master, currently held by Kassa Korley who became a master at age 15. Close friends Justus and Joshua recently played on the same team at the USATE. The match will take place over two days (February 17 + 18th) with rounds at 9:30am and 12:30pm each day.This is a perfect time to host the match as New York public schools are currently not in session due to mid-winter recess. The games will be broadcast live on the Internet Chess Club. To watch (Follow J-Williams or J-Colas) at 9:30am and 12:30pm both days.

The winner of the match will receive multiple prizes including a brand new Monroi PCM generously donated by Monroi.

USCF Online: http://main.uschess.org/content/view/10161/576

CHESS MOVIE (working title) from Rescued Media on Vimeo.

Tucson chess players, coaches, parents, teachers and enthusiasts come by Lineweaver Elementary School on Saturday February 20 to meet Elizabeth Vicary- nationally renowned chess teacher from IS 318 Brooklyn and star of the upcoming documentary Chess Movie. Beginning at 12 noon Elizabeth will answer questions and provide information on how to create and sustain your own chess club, regardless of your skill level or experience. For more information email jhoffman@9queens.org.

CHESS MOVIE (working title) from Rescued Media on Vimeo.

Tucson chess players, coaches, parents, teachers and enthusiasts come by Lineweaver Elementary School on Saturday February 20 to meet Elizabeth Vicary- nationally renowned chess teacher from IS 318 Brooklyn and star of the upcoming documentary Chess Movie. Beginning at 12 noon Elizabeth will answer questions and provide information on how to create and sustain your own chess club, regardless of your skill level or experience. For more information email jhoffman@9queens.org

Kean Smith, President of The Bahamas Chess Federation (BCF) said that “The Bahamas Chess Federation (BCF) was delighted to welcome Grand Master Dave Norwood (2503) to Nassau. Last year September, GM Norwood visited Nassau and agreed to play a 30 board chess simultaneous when he returns in February, 2010.

In addition, he committed to raising $10,000 to help the BCF defray the costs of hosting the 15 country Caribbean Chess Sub Zonal which is schedule for June this year. We were delighted that he kept his commitments on both counts because without his support, we would not be the first country in the English Speaking Caribbean to host this tournament.”

GM Norwood said that he is happy to assist with the development of chess in the Bahamas particularly because of its benefits to school age children and the community at large. He said that he looks forward to continue working with the BCF as much as his schedule permits.

Permanent Secretary of The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, Mr. Archie Nairn brought remarks on behalf of the Minister of Sports, Hon. Charles Maynard. Mr. Nairn said that the Ministry is happy to see the progress the BCF has made and is making as a developing sport in the Bahamas. He continued by saying that he is delighted to see an annual resident like GM Norwood become part of the Bahamian community and support our development in such a tangible way. Mr. Nairn encouraged the BCF to develop chess in other islands. Following his comments, the Chess Simultaneous began.

GM Norwood begins his game with scholastic player Sanni Carlos
of St. Augustine College. Photo by Andre White.

GM Norwood is British born Grand Master who earned his title in 1989. In addition to being an Oxford graduate, he is the author of two chess books and is a former Chess Columnist at the Daily Telegraph. He is only the third GM to play a chess simultaneous in The Bahamas since the BCF became a member of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) in 1974. The other Grand Masters were GM Lothar Schmid who played a simultaneous in 1974 and GM Raymond Keene in the mid 1980’s.

From left to right: GM Norwood, Wilshire Major, Polina Major and
BCF 2009 National Champion, Yan Lyansky (Photo/ Andre White)

In the photo above Norwood makes his move while his fiancée Rebecca kibitzes. Eight-year old Polina Major (wearing red cap) ponders her next moves while National Champion, Yan Lyansky, does the same. Polina is one of the up and coming players having played in the World Youth Chess Championship 2009 which was held in Turkey.

The Simultaneous was a great success. A total of 26 players from the Bahamian chess playing community participated in the simultaneous. Norwood won 24 games and was held to two draws. The players who drew with Norwood were 2008 National Chess Champion, Ken Gibson and Joseph Ferguson. They were both delighted with their result in the exhibition being the first Bahamians to draw with a GM in a chess simultaneous.

The Simultaneous attracted players who had remained inactive for many years like Marvin Taylor, Andrew Moss and Dereck Moss. It also attracted Hadren Simmons who is visiting the Bahamas from New Jersey, U.S.A. participated in the event.

From left to right: Kean Smith, Hadren Simmons and GM Norwood.
Photo by Andre White.

42-year-old Konstantin Chernyshov won the strong Moscow Open with 7 out of 9. The Russian GM finished shared first with another 40+ grandmaster, Evgeny Bareev, and both Le Quang Liem and Ernesto Inarkiev also ended on 7 points. Chernishov had the best tiebreak: most wins.

The 6th Moscow Open took place January 30-February 7 at the Russian State Social University in Moscow, Russia. The festival consisted of many different events, and attracted 1,500 participants from 30 countries worldwide. The main event, a very strong 9-round Swiss, consisted of 187 players, including 73 grandmasters and 49 masters. The time control was 1 hour and 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move 1.

The tournament was surprisingly won by 46th seeded Konstantin Chernyshov. In the last round the grandmaster from Voronezh drew with Vietnamese GM Le Quang Liem and so the two ended the tournament with 7 points, together with Evgeny Bareev and Ernesto Inarkiev. Chernyshov was declared winner as he had the highest number of wins. Le Quang Liem ended second and Bareev third. The prize fund of the main tournament was 2,500,000 rubles (60,000 Euros) and the first prize 500,000 (12,000 Euros).

Chernyshov and Liem shaking hands for their last-round game

Selection of games

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Another famous name who could be found in the playing hall almost every day was Alexei Shirov. The reason? He came to support his girlfriend Olga Dolgov, who played in the women’s tournament (and who could be found in the playing hall of the Corus Chess Tournament almost every day, supporting her boyfriend). Besides, Shirov decided to meet with relatives and school friends, as he mentioned in an interview at the tournament website.

Apparently the two believe in the power of love. The interview was conducted when Sasikiran was leading the tournament. Shirov: “Naturally, he is very high class player. Besides, not so long ago he got married, and this also gives an additional impetus.”

Winter in Moscow, chess in Moscow

One of the playing halls in the university

Second on tiebreak: Le Quang Liem

Third on tiebreak, still going strong: Evgeny Bareev

Fourth on tiebreak: Ernesto Inarkiev

Krishnan Sasikiran had a good start, but finished on shared 5th-15th

Vladimir Belov, also shared 5th-15th

Bu Xiangzhi, also shared 5th-15th

Open tournament tiger Evgeny Najer, this time shared 15th-28th

Top seed Alexander Motylev, also shared 15th-28th

Giovanni Vescovi from Brazil, shared 15th-28th

Semen Dvoirys ended on 5.5 points

Ian Nepomniachtchi, also shared 15th-28th

Hou Yifan ended on a disappointing 4.5/9

Evgeny Sveshnikov still plays and ended on 4 points

Photos © Maria Fomynikh, Eldar Mukhametov, Yana Melnikova

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN via TWIC

Hikaru Nakamura has quite a story to tell. Born in Osaka, Japan and arriving in the U.S. at the age of two, Nakamura has been gracing the pages of chess magazines since he began breaking many of Bobby Fischer’s records. One of the first indicators of chess talent is the age record for National Master.

There have been many talented players to come through the scholastic ranks, but many either quit playing after high school, or shortly after reaching National Master. When Nakamura entered Dickinson College, there were fears that America would lose yet another promising talent along the likes of Grandmasters Michael Wilder and Patrick Wolff.

Under the early tutelage of his stepfather FM Sunil Weeramantry and the mentorship of older brother Asuka Nakamura, young Hikaru shattered the record reaching the mark in 10 years, 79 days. In 2008, his record was later lowered to 9 years, 11 months by Nicholas Nip, a player who is no longer active. Five years later, he broke Bobby Fischer’s long-standing record by earning Grandmaster status in 15 years, 79 days.

Media comparisons to Fischer immediately heightened when he won the U.S. Championship at age 16. However, Nakamura reminded everyone, “I’m not Bobby Fischer.” He was intimating the point that Fischer was an unbalanced individual who only thought of chess. Of course, this was only half the story with Fischer, but certainly he was one who could not operate comfortably outside of the chess realm.

When you talk to Nakamura, he is comfortable talking about a wide range of topics including his beloved Vancouver Canucks hockey team. He also has a variety of interests including music, finance, sports and politics. Many of the existing stereotypes of Nakamura are based on history from his teen years and commentary from online chess servers.

Chief Organizer Erik Anderson (left) stands next to GM Hikaru Nakamura and WGM Rusudan Goletiani after both were crowned the 2004 U.S. Champions.

Nakamura’s talent was hardly questioned on the U.S. scene as he had put together an impressive résumé of wins. At the closing ceremonies of the 2003 U.S. Championship, winner Alexander Shabalov singled out a young Nakamura and stated that he had a bright future in chess. In American tournaments, Nakamura’s brash style has become a breath of fresh air in a sport that had become stagnant with the same players competing every year in the U.S. Championships and the open tournaments. His victory the next year was definitely good for chess.

Once Nakamura joined the elite class in the U.S., he carried a reputation as being an isolationist and distrustful of his colleagues. He rankled many when he made comments about collusion among the U.S. elite. “That’s actually why I still work alone. It’s very hard to trust anybody.” However, as Nakamura begin to ascend to a world-class level, he enlisted some help. After the 2009 U.S. Championship, he mentioned that he had been working with National Master Kris Littlejohn. This choice of a second puzzled many, but has paid dividends.

Viktor Mikalevski ponders Gata Kamsky’s next move while Nakamura-Najer reaches the climatic stage of the 2009 World Open. Photo by Daaim Shabazz.

In U.S. chess, there had been too many “friendships” between top players which resulted in many quick draws and dispirited play. Nakamura was dismissive of these tactics and forced the issue with his ‘play-to-win’ attitude. His determination affords him psychological capital when an opponent understands that they have to fight when they are already content on drawing. This fighting spirit came into great effect when he won his first U.S. Championship at age 16. However, in an important interview in Salon magazine, there were still had doubters.

“The finish is very good but few purists will rank his play in the same league as Fischer’s — it lacks elegance,” wrote chess scribe Alan Goldsmith. Another chess writer, Bobby Ang, wondered, “When Nakamura reaches the higher echelons of the chess elite, will his style work?” Citing a benchmark of great contemporary players, Ang asked of Nakamura, “Can his brilliance overcome the tactical mastery of Alexei Shirov? Will his will-to-win be sufficient to breach the solid fortifications of Vladimir Kramnik, or Peter Leko? Is his much-touted resourcefulness of a high enough standard to battle with Rustam Kasimdzhanov? I doubt it very much.” (see link)

Nakamura’s sales pitch to Europe was more difficult, but he was beginning to pick up momentum. Tournament organizers were attracted to his brash, no-nonsense style. He has since broken through in a number of strong tournaments and is now comfortably ensconced in the top 20. Many detractors rail at the notion that Nakamura has not gotten the opportunities to face the elite level. They cite his skipping Corus “B” in 2008 for the Gibraltar Masters as a snub. Nakamura cited inadequate conditions, but made good on his trip by winning Gibraltar.

He added a few more accolades including the 2009 U.S. Championship, 960 World Championship and the Cap d’Agde Rapid Tournament (over Anatoly Karpov and Vassily Ivanchuk). There were still doubters who stated that he couldn’t win in a strong classical tournament. After playing poorly in the London Classic, Nakamura finally got his coveted invite to Corus “A” and made a strong showing with 7.5/13 (4th place). Magnus Carlsen, the winner of the tournament, identified Nakamura as a new rival.

On various chess blogs, the conversation of Nakamura ascendancy is a popular topic. Naysayers continue to claim Nakamura is not worthy of “elite” status for very specific reasons. After he refutes these reasons, another set will be created and standards increased. At this point, pundits state that Nakamura has to make top 10 to be considered seriously as a World Championship. Last year, it was top 20.

Of course, the candidacy of players such as Magnus Carlsen, Sergey Karjakin or Teimour Radjabov was recognized almost immediately. What is the difference? The theory was that the European stars were “battle-tested” and Nakamura had not faced tough competition. Many top chess journals, websites and blogs take liberties to print negative portrayals of the young American star. Even his head-to-head blitz victory over Carlsen in Norway was trivialized.

So the question…”Is Nakamura the ‘Real Deal’?” Does he have World Championship potential? When Vladimir Kramnik was asked this question, he seems to believe that Nakamura is a legitimate talent, but stopped short of giving a full endorsement. Most of the fans and journalists believe that Carlsen is the heir apparent to Viswanathan Anand or Veselin Topalov, but it is not certain if Carlsen will maintain his level. The performance of Anish Giri turned some heads and the Chinese and Indians deserve attention. If one looks at Nakamura, he has many things going for him.

GM Hikaru Nakamura at 2010 Corus in Wijk aan Zee.
Photo by Fred Lucas.

Will these factors mean that he has enough to win a World Championship? Time will tell. One thing that is true is that if Nakamura has his goal set and resources are not an issue, he will have more than an adequate shot at winning the World Championship. He is only 22 years old and he will continue to get better. The downside is does not have a sponsor and gets limited help from his federation which means that he does not have the luxury of focusing purely on chess development.

In a 2005 interview with the New York Times, Nakamura summed up his chances.

”If I am able to get up there and play for the actual title of the world championship, then once again, everyone will be excited,” Mr. Nakamura said, noting how chess gained wide appeal when Mr. Fischer toppled Boris Spassky, the Soviet world champion, in 1972. ”There have been plenty of great players since Fischer but none have been American players.” (see link)

Nakamura has the tenacity, the nerves and still has some areas of improvement in his game. Given Carlsen’s breach of 2800, there will be a new cadre of players to vie for the world crown. With the right combination of training, sponsorship and tournament invitations, Nakamura hopes to be one in that number.

"The admitted class for fall 2008 also excels beyond academics. It includes a world champion in youth division sailing, a student who wrote a symphony during high school, a back-up dancer for a pop star on a U.S. concert tour, a national chess tournament champion, an international Irish dance competition winner, several Olympic and Junior Olympic medalists and a set of quadruplets."

• Final standings
• Photos at top: Charles, Evan and Kevin
• Photos at right: Brian and Sankash

ChessOK has new, freshly printed chess books to offer:

— Theory and Practice of Chess Endings 1
— Theory and Practice of Chess Endings 2
Excellent endgame books. The author, grandmaster Alexander Panchenko, being one the most known coaches of Soviet Union Chess School collected the material for nearly 20 years. It has been used it to train from the beginners to grandmaster levels many of his students. Panchenko considers that chess training should begin from the endgame. Those books teach you typical moves and plans in all kinds of endgames and then test the acquired knowledge.

— King’s Gambit
King’s gambit is one of the oldest openings, but its still actual, despite the age. International grandmaster Nikolai Kalinichenko collected and commented 300 most representative games in King’s gambit, that would help you become familiar with many subtleties, and tactical ideas in this opening.

— Play 2…Nf6! in the Sicilian
The author, a recognized expert on the variation, has summarized and fully systemized his many years of experience in the given field. His views are subjective - but this is what makes them valuable. Playing this variant with black can often be an unpleasant surprise for white.

Also don’t miss out two new articles: Aquarium Hidden Treasures, Part two which speaks of many not-so-obvious features and tricks of Aquairum and Networked Computers with Aquarium 2010 which describes how to use Aquarium in a network of the computers to increase the analysis power.

I.S. 318 has been one of the most successful scholastic programs in the U.S. They have won 26 national championships and boast a cadre of young stars that will help add to the tally. A wife and husband team of Katie and Nelson Dellamaggiore is trying to raise funds to film a movie about the school and have founded a company called, “Rescue Media.” The minimum goal is $4000. The company has various donor levels and offer a variety of awards based upon the award amount. On the right is a link to the promo page.

The video features interviews of a number of players includings several who have been featured here on The Chess Drum. Justus Williams talks about his aspirations and also his challenges. I.S. 318 star Alexis Paredes is also featured. There is also a young player who talks about how chess has helped him to grapple with his ADHD condition. Darrian Robinson and Rochelle Ballantyne are also featured. Elizabeth Vicary has combined her passion for teaching with the raw talent of the players and along with John Galvin have helped to created a powerhouse.

The world has been gripped by the horrific images stemming from the Haitian earthquake. There has been support to various non-govermental and humanitarian organizations. However, there is no way to know whether a given person will get the assistance they need. Families lost their homes, prized possessions and family records, so the burdens are heavy. The impact of these losses are incaluable. The Bonnet family is one of thousands of families experiencing this ordeal at this time.

Sabine Bonnet is a noted member of the Haitian chess community and led a major effort for youth chess with the L’Acadamie d’Echecs. The dream of teaching chess to the youth became a passion, but her dreams have been dashed for the time being. She is now facing a tremendous challenge in regaining a normal life.

Fortunately, she, her husband and children were able to escape serious injury. I spoke to her and she stated that she lost everything and things are “very difficult”. Her main concern seemed to be getting her two children (ages 7 and 5) back into school, but of course there are day-to-day needs as well.

Below is the link to a fundraiser for Sabine, her husband, Jean Rene and their children. While chess is the least of our concerns for Haiti at this moment, we hope that this will be a small example of the chess community supporting Haiti and its citizens. Please give what you feel you can give.

(Note: Thanks to Adia Onyango of New York who brought to my attention the chess initiative of Sabine Bonnet. Thereafter, we tried contacting Sabine and she eventually responded to both of us!)

• Current ratings: 2420 USCF and 2359 FIDE.
• Earned SM status in November 2009.
• Earned FM title in July 2009.
• Earned NM title in July 2008.
• Best tournament of life at 2009 Western States Open: 2700 performance!
• 1st GM scalp: Beat super GM Loek van Wely at 2009 Western States Open.
  
• 1st IM scalp: Beat IM Ricardo DeGuzman at 2008 CalChess Labor Day.
• 1st NM scalp: Beat NM Albert Rich at 2007 Silicon Valley Ch. while rated 1623.'
• Represented CalChess at 2008 Denker Invitational.
• CalChess Scholastic Champion for K-3 in 2001, K-8 in 2007 and K-12 in 2008.
• Big $$$ at World Open: 2nd U2000 in 2007 and 3rd U2200 in 2008.
• USCF rating jumped +556 in 2007 (1549 to 2105), including +384 over first 3 months.
• Break from competitive chess--2002 through 2006.
• Won U1400 in 2001 World Open at age 7.

Here’s a confession: I’ve had Viktor Moskalenko’s latest book Revolutionize Your Chess in my possession for weeks already, but I’ve been reluctant to review it. The reason, quite simply, is this: I don’t like it at all.

I loved Moskalenko’s previous work, The Flexible French, hands down. I positively reviewed it back in 2008, and I also rather liked his book on the Budapest Gambit. This time, however, Moskalenko has written a completely different kind of book – a much more ambitious kind of book, to say the least. On the cover we read that this book is ‘a brand-new system to become a better player’. Now, I don’t know about you, but whenever I hear the word ’system’ together with the words ‘to become a better player’, I tend to turn sober right away and put on my most sceptical glasses. Haven’t we heard such claims before, and haven’t authors learned from the past? Apparently not. Well, as the saying goes, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, so let’s just see what Moskalenko’s got up his sleeve.

By the way, what’s with all these ‘improve your chess’ books recently? It’s almost as if all modern chess titles focus on the improvement of the reader, of you, rather than on providing amusement and interesting stuff. I think this is a misunderstanding of many reader’s motivations to buy books. I, for one, am not at all primarily interested in improving my chess by means of chess books – I read them because they tell me something interesting, not because I want to score points. The most important thing is to enjoy chess, no? Improving is only of secondary interest to me, but hey, that’s just me of course. More importantly, I think improving one’s chess can be achieved by studying any chess book seriously. As far as I’m concerned, this doesn’t have to be mentioned in the title time and again.

Anyway, back to Revolutionize Your Chess. First, I would like to invite you to read the first few paragraphs of the book’s foreword in full. Then, I will comment upon it.

Thanks to decades of research and the development of computer programs, chess theory is quite well developed as far as the opening and the endgame are concerned. Still, once they have reached a certain level most players fail to make real progress. They focus their study on openings, a limited amount of strategic themes and classical tactics in the middlegame, and a collection of standard endgame themes. Which means that they do not understand much of what they are doing when they are sitting behind the board themselves, facing real chess problems.

How can this be? The answer is quite simple: the general rules of the game have not been discovered yet. Famous chess researchers have developed various systems which have been universally accepted in the chess world. But these systems are highly theoretical and often not very realistic. We need a modern, dynamic system. And I intend to offer you one in the present book.

Frankly, I find this introduction amazing. Amazingly silly, that is. If, as Moskalenko claims, the general rules of the game have not been discovered yet, how come there are thousands of grandmasters adopting them, tens of thousands of IMs who play well above the level of the ‘most players’ Moskalenko intends as his audience? How did all these very strong players acquire their current or past level of play without these ‘general rules of the game’? Apparently, they’re all doing fine without Moskalenko’s new system! Even if we grant Moskalenko the idea that these players, too, have still not grasped the ‘right’ system, or that they somehow ’intuitively’ acquired it, how to explain why some players did ‘get’ this intuition and others didn’t? I hope you see the logical trap Moskalenko has set for himself on the very first page of the book. It makes his task for the other 340 pages considerably more difficult.

But let’s not waste time with this introduction, which may, after all, have just been a commercial stunt. (Disappointing all the same, since I expect a more honest approach from the New in Chess editors.) More interesting are Moskalenko’s ideas about the history of the present ‘general rules of the game’, even if they, too, are hopelessly flawed. After introducing the well-known Elements of Steinitz (and, later, of Alexander Kotov), with its ‘permanent and temporary advantages’, Moskalenko mysteriously writes:

These elements are in general quite useful in practical play, and the list has not changed much in chess literature until today. However, I think that the main problem of Steinitz’s theory is that there is not much of a mention of dynamic chess, where the key rule is: to give checkmate! In fact, in dynamic chess, many permanent advantages become temporary, and temporary advantages may become permanent at any time.

I’ve puzzled over this statement for quite some time, especially the part about temporary advantages becoming permanent, but I failed to understand it. My conclusion is that it’s either truly brilliant or truly stupid. I mean, isn’t it a characteristic of a temporary thing to be able to change into, well, something else – say, something permanent? For instance, according to Moskalenko, one of Steinitz’ temporary advantages is ‘bad piece position of the opponent’. Surely Steinitz understood that if the position of a bad piece didn’t change during the game, it could become a permanent disadvantage? Shouldn’t we give that credit to the first World Champion? I think we should.

Of course, I acknowledge it’s entirely possible that it’s just me who doesn’t understand what Moskalenko is up to here. Perhaps his theory makes perfect sense to grandmasters and not to amateurs. Or it makes perfect sense to people who don’t like to think things through that much. After all, I like to see myself as a philosopher, too, and perhaps I’m just looking for problems that really aren’t there? But in that case, what kind of audience did Moskalenko have in mind, and shouldn’t he have done more effort to be a little more explicit in what he means, especially given the ambitions he has clearly expressed? 

And it gets worse. While describing Emanuel Lasker’s six general rules of attack and defence - based upon Steinitz’ - in Lasker’s Manual of Chess, of which the first rule is: ‘In chess only the attacker wins’, Moskalenko writes: ‘My problem here is that what Lasker explains are philosophical concepts. What can you do with these ideas concretely, when you’re sitting at the board?’
This sounds fair enough (if still a little vague), but look at what Moskalenko wrote just a few paragraphs back: ‘the key rule is: to give checkmate!’ How is this more practical than Lasker’s rule that in chess only the attacker wins? Also, what to make of Moskalenko’s previous statement that ‘Steinitz’ elements are ‘quite useful in practical play’? If the rules work in practical play, how can they be too philosophical? I don’t get it.

In the last paragraph of the foreword, Moskalenko promises to ‘make an attempt to systemize this dynamic approach to our game’. But in fact no such systemization is made in Revolutionize Your Chess at all. What Moskalenko does – and, fortunately, often quite well – is explain what chess skills a complete player needs, and what elements may play a role in determining these chess skills, and the ability to make good evaluations during practical play.

First, there are the ‘Chess Skills’. Moskalenko mentions opening knowledge, endgame knowledge and middlegame knowledge (which consists of strategic and tactical skills) and then mentions tactical and strategical skills again as separate skills. The sixth skill he mentions is ‘Basic Knowledge of the Chess Rules’. This ‘chess rules knowledge’, Moskalenko explains, again include tactics and strategy. Rather confusing, if you ask me.

Of slightly more interest are Moskalenko’s six ‘Personal Skills’: memory, disposition (the will to win), psychological skills, physical condition, discipline and concentration. Indeed these are useful and very important skills; still, identifying such skills is hardly original, let alone ‘revolutionary’, since it’s been done many times before by authors like Mark Dvoretsky, Jonathan Rowson and Alex Yermolinsky, to mention just a few recent ones. 

In the next chapter, Moskalenko elaborates on the ‘general chess rules’ mentioned before. He introduces his ’dynamic system with Five Touchstones’, the core of the book, as follows:

This ‘pragmatic style’ [by the Soviet School, led by Botvinnik - AWM] considers the classical chess laws in a more dynamic way. Advantages may change during a game, or may even be overruled by an endangered position of the king, or by the factor which has thus far been neglected in theoretical works: Time. This dynamic factor should be included in any chess system if we want to call it conclusive.

And sure enough, the author lists ‘Moskalenko’s Five Touchstones’ of dynamic chess as follows:

• T1 Material
• T2 Development
• T3 Placement of Pieces and Pawns
• T4 King Position
• T5 Time

Again, Moskalenko stresses that a chess player should especially ’sense when the factor time (T5) is prevalent, in order to get a firm grip on the key moments of the key moments in the game.’ But doesn’t this all sound very, very familiar to you? Fans of Jonathan Rowson will no doubt recognize the five ‘dimensions in chess’ from chapter 7 of his book Chess for Zebras (material, opportunity, time, quality, psychology). Note the inclusion of ‘time’ in Rowson’s list. Tellingly, Moskalenko’s bibliography does not include Chess for Zebras, but we could forgive Moskalenko for this were it not for the fact that this talk of ‘dimensions’ – including a ’Time’ dimension - in chess is not at all Rowson’s invention but … Garry Kasparov’s.

As Rowson had already discussed in an even earlier book, The Seven Deadly Chess Sins (talk about listing elements of chess!), Kasparov thinks of chess as a game of three dimensions: Material (piece value), Quality (positional features) and Time (initiative). In The Seven Deadly Chess Sins, Rowson even adds another ‘Time’ dimension to this list: time on the clock, or ‘ticking time’. The details are of no concern to us now – what is, is that Moskalenko is apparently unaware of this discussion, nor of the fact that Robert Hübner has discussed (and demolished) Kasparov’s dimensions theory as well (in ChessBase magazine, 2003). Particularly, Rowson writes in Chess for Zebras:

Hübner argues, convincingly, that Kasparov’s tiradic conception is incoherent because the three different dimensions collapse into each other: ‘Time’ and ‘Material’ are relevant only in so far as they are ‘Quality’. Hübner expresses this by saying that time is a dynamic factor, while material is a static one, but the only way the importance of these dynamic and static features can be assessed is by their relevance to quality, and then cease to operate as distinct dimensions. (…)

Time is sometimes absolutely vital, and a single tempo can make a decisive difference, but sometimes Time is completely irrelevant, and having lots of extra tempi doesn’t matter at all. So ‘time’ doesn’t exist on the chessboard in any unitary way, because the value of one move varies enormously.

Rowson discusses the various aspects of these concepts in great detail, agreeing with Hübner as saying that ‘the significance of these expressions for the description of chess structures has been overestimated because they can be applied in every situation’, but at the same time conceding that such an approach can have ‘considerable pedagogical weight’.

Again, let’s not go into too much detail – what’s important to note is that Moskalenko’s discussion on his own elements is extremely simplistic by this standard. (What about Moskalenko’s touchstones ‘collapsing into each other’? Can’t they, too, be applied in almost any situation?) And this is especially painful because Moskalenko boasts that ‘in most books about chess rules the concept of Time is simply ignored, and in practice their chess laws do not work – or do not make much sense – for this precise reason.’ He fails, however, to see that perhaps they fail in practice precisely because concepts like Time and Material (and indeed all other ‘touchstones’) are such tricky philosophical ideas in the first place.

Summing up my problems with the theoretical part of Revolutionize Your Chess, I conclude that:

• Moskalenko attacks a strawman when he says the current models do not work well in practice;
• the suggestion that previous models were ‘too theoretical’ is demonstrably untrue;
• the concept of breaking down chess into five dimensions or ‘touchstones’ is not ‘revolutionary’ at all;
• Moskalenko’s model (and just about all other theoretical concepts he introduces) invites a host of philosophical questions not addressed in the book;
• while accusing others of failing to provide a ‘theoretical framework’, Moskalenko’s system, too, is just a list of basic elements that can mostly be found in any good book on how to improve your chess.

Let’s now turn to the practical application of Moskalenko’s theory in analysis and game situations. Moskalenko is a great chess instructor and, as always, he chooses his examples well.  No doubt they are interesting, as was obviously the case in his previous books. But in the current book, the comments are often needlessly confusing because Moskalenko wants to include his touchstones all the time. Consider the following typical example:

Moskalenko-Barria, Bilbao (rapid) 2005

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Na6?!

Black develops his knight in a strange fashion. The idea …Na6-b4 must be wrong, as it wastes two tempo (-T5 and a delay of T2) in the opening.

6.e4 Bg4 7.Bxc4 Bxf3 Black spends two more tempi (-T5 and -T2) to trade B x N.

8.gxf3 But in exchange he gets a better pawn structure (-T3 for White).

8…Nb4

The key position of this opening. Now White can choose.

9.d5!? The signal for dynamic play! I chose this ambitious advance in order to fight for space, hindering the development of the black kingside at the same time (T3 versus T2). Of course, after the natural 9.Be3 White has better chances, but after 9…e6 the position is quite blocked, and it will not be easy for White to exploit his lead in development.

9…cxd5? This might be the decisive mistake, since it weakens b5 (threat Bb5+) and therefore the king’s position (-T4). But what to play? The best solution was the dynamic counter 9…e6 10.dxe6 Qxd1+ 11.Kxd1 fxe6 12.Be3 +=.

First of all, all these T-numbers look extremely distracting. I kept leafing back to the page where the touchstones are listed to see which T is which, disrupting my concentration. Moskalenko himself admits this on the following page when he says that ‘keeping score on all the touchstones throughout the game is hard, if not impossible’, but then assures us we will acquire an intuition for it in due course. (By the way, recall what I said about having fun reading chess books. Did you enjoy all these T’s?)
However, I seriously wonder how it helps me to know that the manoevre Na6-b4 is a minus T5 and T2, if I know it’s such a common way to develop the knight in many other Slav lines? What makes the current situation different from, say the line 5….Bf5 6.Ne5 Na6!? as played by Kramnik? Indeed, isn’t 6.Ne5 in this line also a -T5 and a -T2, since after all it ‘wastes a tempo’, and why, then, is it the main line in the Slav all the same?

Another huge problem in just this one example is Moskalenko’s use of the word ‘dynamic’: he considers both 9.d5 and 9…e6 to be dynamic, but fails to give any reasons as to why he thinks this is the case. And wasn’t this precisely his problem with older methods – that they failed to define and realize the concept of ‘dynamics’? And even if we would have a definition, what use is dynamic play when the alternatives, such as 9.Be3, are sometimes better objectively? Shouldn’t we learn to play the best moves first?

Okay, perhaps I’m reading way too much in this one example. To be sure, there are better examples in the book, but they all suffer from the same illness: too much focus on the touchstones for the sake of the touchstones only. I’m sure you can improve your chess if you study the examples closely - but then again you can also learn a lot from studing the examples of any other good chess book that offers good explanations.

On top of that, there are numerous other flaws in the book. Moskalenko’s big chapter on the Opening features examples from 1.d4 openings only – bummer for 1.e4 players who thought they were being ‘dynamic’ by opening with the king’s pawn! (In fact most examples from the chapter on the middlegame are also taken from 1.d4 openings.)

Finally, it struck me that, unlike an author like Lars Bo Hansen, Moskalenko mainly uses his own games as illustration to a specific topic when he’s winning them. For me, this was the final nail to this book’s coffin. Don’t get me wrong, Viktor Moskalenko seems like a sympathetic author and he sure is a respected and very strong grandmaster, but in this book he comes across as a bit of a show-off who pompously presents his ‘revolutionary’ ideas whithout any kind of self-reflection and knowledge of chess-philosophical matters. The book does contains good stuff, but I liked the Viktor Moskalenko of The Flexible French much, much better. I hope he returns soon.

Links

• Get yourself a copy of Revolutionize Your Chess
• Read more book reviews

• Tuggeranong Chess Club - Monday nights 7pm Vikings Rugby Union Club, Ricardo St, Wanniassa
• ANU Chess Club - Wednesday nights 7:30 pm, 4th Floor, Asian Studies Building, Childers St, Australian National University
• Canberra Chess Club - Wednesday nights 6pm Magpies City Club, Canberra City
• Belconnen Chess Club - Friday nights Belconnen Community Centre, Belconnen Town Centre

• Souths Junior Chess Club - Thursday 4:00 - 5:45 pm, Holy Trinity School, Curtin

• Norths Junior Chess Club - Friday 4:00 - 6:00 pm Aranda Primary School, Aranda

• Street Chess - Saturday 11am-3pm City Walk, Canberra City

Jamaica will hold its 2010 John Powell Open on January 30th-31st. The tournament is in the honor of one of the federation’s founding members. Powell passed away in 2007. Below is the press release from Peter Myers.

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR THE JAMAICA CHESS FEDERATION
DATE JANUARY 28, 2010

National Master John Powell (left) contemplates his next move during his last game played three days before his passing in October 2007.

The Jamaica Chess Federation (JCF) will be staging the third John Powell Memorial Chess Open at the Campion College Auditorium this weekend. The tournament will be divided into three sections, an Open section in which anyone can play, an Intermediate section for entrants with a JCF rating under 1600 and an Amateur section for entrants with a JCF rating under 1300.

Prizes will be awarded to the top three players in each section, the best Under 10, 12 and 14 year-old players, best rural player, best female player, best junior and best new player.

The tournament, which was previously called the New Year’s Open, was renamed in honour of National Master John Powell, a founding member of the JCF and former President, who passed away in October of 2007.

Powell was considered to be an extraordinary chess administrator who was one of the catalysts for the growth and development of the sport in Jamaica, particularly at the secondary school level during the 1980s and early 1990s.

Powell was also one of the strongest players in Jamaica at the height of his chess-playing career during the 1970s and 1980s, achieving the title of National Master in 1975. He was widely considered to be the strongest Jamaican player never to have won the National Championships outright. He tied for first three times, 1973, 1980 and 1988, however he lost on tiebreak to NM Harold Chan in 1973, NM Robert Wheeler in 1980 and NM Robert Wheeler again in 1988.

Powell represented Jamaica at many Chess Olympiads, winning a silver medal for Jamaica on board 4 in the Olympiad of 1984, which was held in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Powell was still actively playing up to his untimely passing in 2007.

Full details here!

Iranian chess grandmaster Morteza Mahjoob, who holds the world record for the most number of simultaneous matches, is bent on reviving old Persia’s passion for the ancient game.

Chess was outlawed for nearly a decade after the 1979 Islamic revolution that overthrew the Shah, sidelining Iran from the international chess map.

The 29-year-old Mahjoob, one of seven Iranian international grandmasters — five men and two women, has worked to reverse this and “promote this sport nationwide,” he told AFP.

This fueled his bid to break the record for simultaneous games when he played 500 opponents in Tehran’s Enghelab sports complex last August in a feat monitored by FIDE, the World Chess Federation.

“I had less than five seconds for each move, while each competitor had 20 minutes for his or hers… And I had to walk more than 500 metres (yards) for each round.

“It actually took 18 hours, from 10 am … until 4 am the next day, and given the high temperatures that month it was quite a challenge,” he said.

Though Mahjoob was “really worried”, he won 397 games and “broke the record recorded in the Guinness Book of records,” confirmed Dave Jarrett of FIDE in an email. This sidelined Bulgarian grandmaster Kiril Georgiev who set the world record only six months months earlier playing 360 opponents.

Now Filipino international grandmaster Rogelio Antonio will try to break Mahjoob’s score in April by playing 600 simultaneous matches at Ninoy Aquino stadium in Manila, according to organisers.

The attempt was to have taken place this weekend but organisers said it had been postponed.

But Mahjoob is undaunted. “I always knew that this record would some day be broken, but did not expect it would be this fast.” If sidelined by Antonio, he said he is already “working to regain the world record again during the coming summer.”

“I don’t know how many more (players) but hopefully one hundred more,” he said — meaning 700 simultaneous games.

Mahjoob trained for more than a year for last August’s event, including an exhaustive physical fitness regime. “In this kind of competition as well as having a trained mind, one has to be in good physical shape.

But his real start came as a youngster when he saw his first game.

Chess was outlawed in 1981 because it was thought to encourage betting, which is forbidden in Islam. But in 1988 the Islamic republic’s founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or Islamic religious decree, permitting chess as long as no gambling was involved.

The game, driven underground, made a vigorous comeback.

“One day I went to a park near my home to get a notebook from my friend and … saw two grown-ups playing chess on a bench,” Mahjoob told AFP.

“To kill time I gazed at them moving their pieces around the board and it was there and then that I learnt chess. I asked one of them if I could play … I told him I had just learnt it by watching him! But the man let me play and I beat him in my first game.

“I was 13 then and it made me realise that I had potential in chess,” he recalled.

Mahjoob won grandmaster status in 2007 and today ranks 668 in FIDE’s list of active world players and 60 among active Asian players. He runs two chess schools with a dozen coaches and 800 trainees.

Both his website and that of the Iranian Chess Federation feature a picture of Khomeini’s hand-written fatwa. “It paved the way for Iran’s progress in the world of chess,” Mahjoob said.

The country, which had no grandmasters and only three international masters prior to the revolution, now ranks 49 on FIDE’s list of the 139 top chess countries and has some 200,000 residents playing competitively, according to national chess officials.

Budding champions and chess classes abound, both privately and in city hall-run cultural centres. Competitions are held on every level from national down to local schools, and state-run television broadcasts key games, also showing women players in Islamic dress.

Mahjoob, father of a three-year-old girl and married to a chess coach, has been wooed by neighbouring United Arab Emirates to train their national team — even more so since his world record — but says he’s not interested.

“Like any athlete, I love to reach the summit,” said Mahjoob, who cites legendary Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov as a role model.

“I would love to become the world chess champion.”

Following several initiatives in the chess world, ChessVibes takes the one-time opportunity to ask your help for the victims of the recent earthquake in Haïti.

The website of the United States Chess Federation reports a simultaneous exhibition in Charlotte, NC at Myers Park High School, where people who donated to Haïti could play against FM Mike Klein. Over on The Chess Drum, there are several articles on the earthquake in Haïti. Editor Daaim Shabazz wrote to colleague chess journalists:

I met the Haitian team at the 2006 Olympiad and they were very genuine and were enthusiastic about chess. They missed the 2008 Olympiad because of a series of hurricanes. They had a small, but thriving chess community and a chess academy before the earthquake struck. Although FIDE has not made a personal statement of support, I would hope they will make some plea to help re-establish the community once things have stabilized. In the meantime, words of support and financial donations will help. I have been unable to make contact with anyone in the Haitian chess community thus far, but I’m still waiting to hear from several people.

Here at ChessVibes headquarters, too, we feel the situation in Haïti is so extreme that a little extra support won’t hurt. Therefore, we ask all readers to make a donation to a relief organization.

For Dutch residents, we recommend a donation to Giro 555. For all others, we like The Red Cross and Partners in Health. If you’re not sure what will happen to your money, whether it will be well spent and other such questions, this recent article on Slate may help you decide. Even though there currently is a lot of chaos in Haïti, help is more needed than ever – not just for now, but also in the future. As the Slate article says:

Much of the life-saving happens before the international agencies even arrive. While soliciting donations to help in the immediate aftermath of a disaster may be easier, funding ways for communities to respond to disasters and take efforts to reduce the risks of future disasters (e.g., hurricane awareness programs, flood warning systems) could save more lives in the long run.

We hope more chess players and chess sites will call for action and help the victims of the disaster in Haïti. Thank you for your support!

A chess challenge is open to kindergarten through fifth-grade students in the Beaverton School District from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30 at Fir Grove Elementary School, 6300 SW Wilson Ave.

Chess is a way for students to learn essential life skills for success in the classroom and beyond. Chess for Success, the only program of its kind in Oregon, is a leader in after school education.

Children who do well at the regional tournaments qualify to compete in the Chess for Success State Championship Tournament March 12 and 13 at the Oregon Convention Center.Source:

http://www.oregonlive.com

Chess news from Susan Polgar

The Hastings Masters, as ever generously supported by the local council, had two significant English successes besides the triumph of the 19-year-old David Howell and Mark Hebden, 51, who shared first prize with players from France and Romania.

Jonathan Hawkins qualified for the international master title with his third IM performance in as many tournaments. The remarkable feature was that he did it aged 26, living in Durham away from major chess centres, and that he learned his skills from a computer without a human coach. Hawkins was graded 102, a weak novice, at age 14, and 158, moderate club standard, at 19, but he has surged in his mid-twenties. He lost only to Howell at Hastings, scored several impressive wins, and looked ready to make a serious bid for the higher grandmaster title.

The other notable performer was 13-year-old Peter Williams, whose parents incurred the wrath of Hampshire education authorities five years ago when his primary school refused to allow time off for chess. They opted for home tuition, although his chess advance was slower than hoped. But at Hastings Williams made his breakthrough in style with a splendid 5.5/9 including a win and a draw against IMs, narrowly missing an IM score, and establishing himself in the top rank of English juniors.

C Maduekwe v J Hawkins

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 Nf3 O-O 6 h3 e5 7 d5 Nh5 8 Nd2 Qe8 9 g3 f5 10 Be2 Nf6 11 g4 Na6 12 g5 Nxe4 13 Ndxe4 fxe4 14 Nxe4 Bf5 15 Ng3 e4 16 Nxf5 gxf5 17 Rb1 f4 18 h4 Nc5 19 Bg4 Nd3+ 20 Kf1 Bd4 21 Be6+ Kh8 22 f3 Qg6 23 Rh2 exf3 24 b4 Qe4 25 Rb3 Nxc1 26 Qxc1 f2 27 Qb1 Qe5 28 Rhh3 Kg7 29 Qd1 Rae8 30 Rbd3 Be3 31 Qc2 Rxe6 32 dxe6 Qxe6 33 Qc3+ Kg8 34 Rh1 Qg4 35 c5 Qg1+ 0-1

3122 1 Rah1! Nxb 3 (better Qd7) 2 Qh3! Qf8 3 Rh7+ Rxh7 4 Qxh7+ Kf8 5 Qh8+ Kf7 6 Rh7+ wins the queen.

Justus Williams and Josh Colas will face off in their second match. This match will be the best-of-five and Game/60 time control.

In October, two of America’s brightest stars faced off in a highly-anticipated blitz match in typical New York tradition. The match with Justus Williams and Josh Colas was followed widely. Josh prevailed 9-3.

Since then, both 11-year old boys have continued to improved and have soared over 2100. Given the parity of the two chess All-Americans, another proposed match has been scheduled for February 19th at I.S. 318.

Sponsored by Chess-in-Schools’ Shaun Smith, the five-game match with a time limit of 60 minutes. The games will be carried on Chess Live and there is a cash prize being offered in a winner-take-all battle. Stay tuned for more details!

The President of the Spanish CF Javier Ochoa visited the city of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire) from 2 to 8 December invited by the Spanish Embassy in the frame of the Embassy’s cultural activities.

Spain’s Chess Federation President Javier Ochoa with Congolese chess officials.

The Embassy initiated its program of cooperation with the Chess Federation of Congo in 2008 by providing financial support via Mel Carbajo and Felix Costales Artieda, Ambassador of Spain in Congo, for the 1st Tournament “Ville de Kinshasa”.

This year the project made a step forward and in addition to the 2nd tournament in which participated more than 60 players and was won by Gaspard Mashala (who is also president of the Katanga Liga) a chess workshop was organized where, following the request of the CF of Congo, Javier Ochoa explained some details and ideas of the Shveshnikov variation of the Sicilian Defense and gave simultaneous exhibitions, some of which with time control, in order to estimate the level of the local players and to comment of various technical issues.

In the simultaneous exhibitions only Eustache Kazadi of Kinshasa managed to beat the master, while Gaspard was the only one to make a draw in the games with time control. A. Kabangu was another challenger in the games with time control.

Javier Ochoa plays a round of blitz in full view of Congolese kibitzers.

A few hours after his arrival at Kinshasa the President of the Spanish CF organized a meeting with his colleague Guy Esungi Botetsi and the executives of his Federation in order to review some issues of mutual interest and help them organize a future working plan.

The Spanish Embassy also scheduled during those days two important meetings with the Ministers of Sport and Education which were also attended by the President of the Spanish CF and the Spanish Ambassador, Guy Esungi Botetsi, President of the CF of Congo.

Ochoa meets with with Guy Esungi Botetsi, President of Congo Chess Federation.

The outcome of the meetings was the support and the official commitment that Congo will participate for the first time in the 2010 Olympiad and a promise that the Ministry of Education will support the Project of Chess in Schools as presented by the President, Guy Esungi. During the meeting the Small Fritz, one of the working tools that Spanish CF uses for the Spanish project, was presented to the Minister and various units of the device were donated to the CF of Congo. The Spanish CF also donated a chess board fresco.

The local CF was in charge of the organization of the tournament, while Felicien Betu, Karl Yale, Pierrot Kayemba and Odon Zanga acted as Arbiters assisted by Angela María Rivera Yepes of the Spanish Embassy who had been preparing everything for months.

Javier Ochoa de Echagüen expressed his gratitude to the Ambassador Felix Costales for this excellent initiative.