Chess is certainly the most widely spread scientific amusement even known among civilized nations. The Chess-amateur must travel far indeed in these days to find himself debarred from the indulgence of that pleasant recreation, the knowledge of which will often prove to be a surer passport in foreign lands than all the mysterious symbolism of Freemasonry. Among the most remote regions of the golden East, or the fabled West, in the torrid South, or on the frozen shores of the North, amongst the great military nations and amidst men devoted to commercial enterprise, the Chess-player, who is essentially a cosmopolite, will speedily find a circle of friends through the more than Masonic influence of this ancient and absorbing game.
Howard Staunton, The Chess Tournament (1873)

Kramnik has not played even one nice game in his whole life and does not deserve anything except to be pitied.
Chess Fans from Bulgaria, Darmstadt, Germany

For deliberate practice to work, the demands have to be serious and sustained. Simply playing lots of chess or soccer or golf isn't enough. Simply taking lessons from a wonderful teacher is not enough. Simply wanting it badly enough is not enough. Deliberate practice requires a mind-set of never, ever, being satisfied with your current ability. It requires constant self-critique, a pathological restlessness, a passion to aim consistently just beyond one's capability so that daily disappointment and failure is actually desired, and a never-ending resolve to dust oneself off and try again and again.
David Shenk, The Genius in All of Us, 55

Oulan-Bator, capitale de la Mongolie, est le lieu improbable choisi par la Fide pour organiser le 5ème Grand Prix féminin d'échecs, du 29 juillet au 12 août 2010.

La Française Marie Sebag (2519) - 4ème Elo sur les 12 joueuses engagées - participe à ce tournoi majeur avec pour la première fois en lice pas moins de 4 championnes du monde : Maïa Chiburdanizde (1978-1991), Zhu Chen (2001-2004), Antoaneta Stefanova (2004-2006) et Yu Yuhua (2006-2008).

Les parties sont retransmises en Direct à 8h, heure de Paris. Ce matin, la numéro 1 tricolore, Marie Sebag a annulé avec les Blancs face à la Chinoise Xu Yuhua pour le compte de la première ronde.

Ruslan Ponomariov holds a one point lead over Le Quang Liem and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov with just two rounds to go. Ponomariov beat local player Arkadij Naiditsch when the latter was outplayed in a queenless middlegame. Le and Mamedyarov played an interesting Catalan where both tried for an advantage and a draw was the right outcome. Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Leko drew a midly diverting Catalan.

Contrary to what was expressed in an open letter last week, Veselin Topalov is, after all, willing to play Candidates Matches in Russia. However, he is “refusing to play a match with a Russian player in Russia, if that match is connected to the title struggle,” his manager Silvio Danailov said in an interview with Sport Express this week.

Last week in an open letter Veselin Topalov declared that he wouldn’t “participate in any stage of the cycle for the World Chess Title that takes place in Russia, in order to avoid problems and conflicts that already took place there”. The former world’s number one anticipated FIDE’s decision to move the Candidates Matches, scheduled for March-April 2011, from Baku, Azerbaijan to Kazan, Russia. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s reaction to Topalov’s open letter was that he would send the Bulgarian a letter ‘asking not to take hasty decisions’.

In an interview with Sport Express, his manager Silvio Danailov has now stated that Topalov is, after all, willing to play in Russia.

You should read his letter more carefully. It doesn’t say that Topalov refuses to play in Russia. He’ll go to Khanty-Mansiysk for the Olympiad and will represent Bulgaria on board one. Topalov is refusing to play a match with a Russian player in Russia, if that match is connected to the title struggle. The chances of Topalov meeting a Russian player in Kazan aren’t high as for that they’d both need to get to the final, though it’s a possibility.

In the interview, translated at Chess in Translation, Danailov doesn’t mention the name of Vladimir Kramnik, who is the only Russian player who qualified for the Candidates Matches.

The Russian player we played a match against in 2006 in Elista doesn’t exist for us!

Danailov also talks about the World Championship match in Sofia between Anand and Topalov, and once again reacts sharply to the happenings surrounding the vulcano eruption and Georgios Makropoulos’ decision to postpone the first game one day.

Links

• Original Sport Express interview
• Translation into English

Il torneo dei Candidati assegnato alla Russia!

• la decisione presa nonostante le precedenti minacce di ritiro di Topalov
• update la reazione del Manager di Topalov
  

Il Presidential Board della FIDE, riunito in Tromso, ha assegnato alla città di Kazan (Russia) il Torneo dei Candidati che determinerà lo sfidante del Campione del Mondo Anand e che si dovrebbe disputare in un periodo compreso tra il 1 Marzo e il 31 Maggio 2011. La notizia, pubblicata dal sito chessdom.com, ha sorpreso l'intera comunità scacchistica. Tutti davano, infatti, per certo che almeno una parte della manifestazione sarebbe stata ospitata dall'Azerbajan, la cui federazione aveva già provveduto a versare un acconto di 150.000  euro. La Federazione Internazionale, sempre secondo Chessdom, ha però cambiato idea facendo comunque  salva la nomina dell'azerbajano Mamedyarov quale giocatore invitato dagli organizzatori.  Con la scelta di una sede russa viene dunque superata definitivamente la questione Aronian che, a causa delle tensioni esistenti tra Armenia e Arzebajan, avrebbe avuto serie difficoltà a disputare il torneo in Azerbajan. Proprio per questo motivo sembrava, infatti, ormai certo che quarti e semifinali del Torneo dei Candidati si sarebbero disputati in due sedi diverse.

E tutti vissero felici e contenti? Macchè! Pochi giorni prima Veselin Topalov, seguendo il solco della tradizione degli scacchisti che amano complicare la vita a chi deve gestire questo sport, aveva fatto sapere, tramite una lettera aperta, che per lui sarebbe stata inaccettabile una seconda sede  russa. Secondo Veselin, infatti, il trattamento riservato a lui ed al suo team durante il Match Mondiale, perso contro Kramnik in Elista (Russia) nel 2006, era stato decisamente "unpleasant." Questa situazione, con una evidente forzatura, era stata paragonata proprio alla questione Aronian. Ma la decisone presa dalla FIDE ha comunque superato questa possibile obiezione. E', poi, per certi versi paradossale che la dichiarazione di non voler giocare contro un russo in Russia sia stata rilasciata proprio da chi ha da poco giocato, nella propria patria, un match valevole per il Titolo Mondiale contro il Campione in carica. La FIDE non ha, comunque,  tenuto in alcuna considerazione la lettera del bulgaro ed ha assegnato alla città di Kazan  addirittura tutta la manifestazione! Come reagirà l'ex Campione del Mondo FIDE? Nel caso in cui si dovesse davvero ritirare dalla manifestazione, Topalov sarebbe sostituito dal russo Grischuk (3° classificato del Grand Prix FIDE) ma è difficile immaginare che il bulgaro rinunci effettivamente alla possibilità di riconquistare il Titolo.

update 30 luglio La reazione di Danailov, Manager di Topalov e Candidato alla presidenza ECU

Come era ampiamente prevedibile, arriva l'immediata (mezza) marcia in dietro di Silvio Danailov. Il Manger di Topalov, intervistato dal sito russo sport-express.ru, parla diffusamente del Match Mondiale perso contro Anand e successivamente si sofferma sulla lettera aperta di Topalov precisando che Veselin non intendeva affermare che non avrebbe disputato un Torneo dei Candidati in Russia, ma che non avrebbe sfidato un giocatore russo in Russia! L'unica riserva posta da Danailov prima di confermare la presenza dell'ex Campione del Mondo FIDE in Kazan riguarda, e su questo non si nutrivano dubbi, i termini del contratto ed il montepremi.  E se la Finale dovesse essere  tra Topalov e Kramnik? la risposta di Danailov è stata: "Veselein si è espresso chiaramente nella sua lettera".

la lettera aperta di Topalov

Alexander Grischuk spera ...




... ma c'e' da scommetere che Topalov non rinuncerà!?




Nel frattempo l'invito di Mamedyarov è salvo!




mentre Anand, al riparo da ogni polemica, attende sereno lo sfidante




Il cremlino di Kazan




Kazan, sede del Torneo dei Candidati nel 2011

Partecipanti al Torneo dei Candidati ordinati in base all'elo della lista del 1° gennaio 2010, con Topalov numero 1 in quanto perdente del match mondiale di Sofia.

1. Topalov 2805, perdente del Mondiale 2010
2. Carlsen 2810, rating (media lista elo luglio 2009 - gennaio 2010)
3. Kramnik 2788, 2° giocatore con il rating più alto
4. Aronian 2781, 1° Classificato Grand Prix
5. Gelfand 2761,  1° Classificato World Cup 2009
6. Mamedyarov 2741, over 2700 nominato dagli organizzatori
7. Radjabov 2733, 2° Classificato Grand Prix
   
8. Kamsky 2693,  perdente della sfida Topalov-Kamsky

Créon, une jolie petite ville française située dans le département de la Gironde en région d'Aquitaine, organise son 15ème Festival International d'échecs du 26 juillet au 1er août 2010.

Le crû 2010 nous réserve une belle surprise avec un 1er tournoi fermé de maîtres. Dix joueurs participent à cet événement, dont notre ami Maxime Lagarde, médaillé de bronze au dernier championnat du monde dans la catégorie minime, en photo ci-contre © Chess & Strategy

As the victim of a hit-and-run accident caused by a reckless motorcycle driver, Chess Informant Editor-in-chief Zdenko Krni? sustained serious injuries and head trauma, when he was coming home from work. He died at the Emergency Center hospital in Belgrade, without regaining consciousness. Mr. Krni? was 62, and a Belgrade resident.

Del 30 de julio al 21 de agosto de 2010, tendrá lugar en los club ajedrez CajaCanarias e Isla Bonita, el torneo de ajedrez ”Centenario Cajacanarias”, que con motivo del centenario de nuestro patrocinador, intentará reunir a lo mejorcito del ajedrez palmero, dado los interesantes premios que tendrá el evento.

El Torneo valdrá para la obtención de Elo internacional y se realizará a un ritmo de juego de 90 minutos más treinta segundos de incremento, y a lo largo de sus nueve rondas los tres primeros clasificados tendrán de premio participar con todo los gastos pagados en el campeonato de España Absoluto de ajedrez, que se disputará en Tenerife del 4 al 12 de septiembre.

La primera ronda del torneo se disputará en el Club Cajacanarias de ajedrez, para a continuación, jugar en los dos principales clubes de nuestra isla, jugándo en su club el jugador que lleve blancas.

Jugadores de la talla de Alberto Hernández, Sergio Hernández, Eduardo Pizarro, Francisco de la Banda, Borja Rodríguez, Juan Manuel Acosta, Sara García, José Antonio Herrera, Jacinto Iglesias, Tomás Cano, Manolo Haddad, Daniel Guerra, Alain Pérez, Atreyu Piñero, Aitor Piñero, Miguel Angel Morcuende, José Gonzalo, Odama Santana, Amanda Ramos, Felipe Díaz, Athanas Cristoff, Abel Lorenzo, Pablo Segura, Diego Acosta, Nerea Crespo y muchos otros,  tienen previsto participaren este evento, que sin duda será uno de los principales atractivos del ajedrez palmero durante el mes de agosto.

Las bases del torneo están en este enlace:

Bases-de-juego-centenario-cajacanarias-2010

Fabiano Caruana won the Young Grandmaster Tournament in Biel today. The Italian was the strongest in a necessary play-off with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, whom he beat in the final.

The play-off final between Fabiano Caruana and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son

The Young Grandmaster Tournament was part of the Biel Chess Festival in Switzerland, which takes place July 17-30. Anish Giri, David Howell, Fabiano Caruana, Maxim Rodshtein, Parimarjan Negi, Dmitry Andreikin, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Wesley So and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son played.

Round 9 & play-off

As leaders Caruana and Vachier-Lagrave drew in the last round, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son was able to catch the two in the standings by beating Giri. In fact the Vietnamese finished first on tiebreak. As regulations dictated, on Thursday morning a rapid play-off was played between the players who finished on shared 1st place. It was decided that the numbers 2 and 3 played each other and the winner would play Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son.

But first things first: the final round on Wednesday. From a quiet King’s Indian Attack, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son slowly outplayed Anish Giri, who might regret his 17th move (e.g. 17…Rfe8 looks close to equal). After a forced sequence of moves an ending was reached where White had more than enough compensation for the pawn.

Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son-Anish Giri
Biel 2010

Position after 28.Rxb7.

The Vietnamese continued to play strongly and although Black might have been able to hold the draw, the win seemed fully deserved.

Rodshtein must have missed a win somehere against Tomashevsky. Both 37.Qd4! and 40.Ne4! seem to lead to a decisive advantage. Andreikin reached equality remarkably easily against So, using the Old Indian. The ending was soon better for Black thanks to his superior knight, but it was never winning. Caruana and Vachier-Lagrave drew relatively quickly to secure the rapid play-off.

Play-off

And so we come to this morning’s action. Caruana and Vachier-Lagrave first both won one rapid game (10 minutes & 10 seconds increment) with the white pieces. What exactly happened in the first game is not yet clear to us – was one more move played (Bxg3) and did the Frenchman touch his queen? It’s more likely that the game was saved incompletely. In any case, he recovered well and won a nice, tactical ending to level the score.

Vachier-Lagrave continued strongly, and reached a promising position again with the white pieces in the Armageddon blitz game.

Vachier-Lagrave-Caruana
Biel 2010

Here 38.Rb2?! allowed 38…Qa4! and the tables turned, as …Qd1 and Ra1 cannot be prevented. White should still be able to hold it, but the defence proved too difficult.

Caruana had an even narrower escape in the first game of the final against Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, as he defended an ending two pawns down to a draw. In the second game he struck decisively.

Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son-Caruana
Biel 2010

Here 30.Rc2 should draw. 30.b3?! was answered by the strong 30…a3! and after 31.Ra8 Ra5 32.Rxa5 bxa5 33.Nd4 Nb4 34.Nb5 Nxa2 35.Nxa3 Nc1 Black won a pawn, which was, like in almost any knight ending, decisive.

Games rounds 9 & tiebreak

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Fabiano Caruana with the winner's medal in Biel

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN: Young GMs, Tiebreak via TWIC

Being a database programmer, perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised when I recently dreamt I had to develop a chess database. But it wasn’t an ordinary chess database.

Carceri XIV – Giovanni Battista Piranesi

I was told by a faceless person to make a chess database of all chess games ever played. If that doesn’t sound like much, it’s because that was not all. The man told me it must also contain all chess analyses ever made, as well as every comment, opinion or text ever written about any move. It would be a database of all existing chess knowledge -an endless chess library. It was like making the chess version of Jorge Luis Borges’ Total Library. The ultimate Mega Database – an entire chess universe.

I started by collecting all existing chess books ever written – both ancient manuscripts and newly printed books. I visited all chess libraries in the world and went through all privately owned chess book collections. But this clearly wasn’t enough. I had to visit every chess player in person to ask for any scoresheets of games that they had in their possession. Then, I went through all local club magazines and internet blogs to find games I missed. This reminded me that I had to get all chess magazines as well. And, of course, I downloaded all digital books, DVD’s, game analyses and instruction guides on chess.

When I had rubricized all material and put it in a more or less logical order, I started thinking about how to put everything in a database. It didn’t take me long to realize I wouldn’t be able to use existing chess database software. It would just be too impractical. For 1.e4 alone, hundreds if not thousands of comments somehow had to be entered in the database, and this can’t be done with a regular database program. While it is possible to add comments in different languages in some software, you can’t add comments by different sources – at least not dynamically.

So I started thinking about how to develop this chess database myself. Basically it had to contain many more dimensions than the current ones – in fact, it had to have an infinite amount of possible entries for comments and analyses. All published praise of 47…Bh3!! and 23…Qg3!! had to be entered into the database somehow. Actually, it should also be possible to add multiple annotation symbols, because perhaps some commentators had awarded these moves not with two, but only with one exclamation mark (a grave sin, I must say). The database design must take this into account as well.

With the help of data warehouse design techniques, I was able to establish which dimensions my database should have. Obviously there should be dimensions with information about the sources (the books themselves), and information related to the games, or game fragments. This could be players’ names, the year in which it was played, where it was played, and so on. The moves and sub variations (including move number, to keep track of things) should be stored in a different dimension (or, in its technical term, a ‘fact table’). Any game, including its sub-lines, could develop like a garden of forking paths, leading to an infinite amount of moves.

'Datavault' model of a data warehouse

The same was obviously true of comments. But there was an additional problem: comments could not only be related to moves, but also to people who had written them. in his books, Kasparov often refers to older authors, for example. At this point in my dream, my faceless principal interrupted my musings. He ordered me to also store all information about the people who had written the annotations: what use would the project otherwise be? This implied I had to include all biographies of chess commentators in my database. And of course, the commentators could also be chess players themselves, so they should also be linked back to the players and games dimensions.

When I had finished my design – or at least thought I had – a long-feared question arose in my head: where to start? Which data should be put into the database first? Would it be wise to work ‘backwards’ in time, starting with the most recent chess books and adding entries in the database for every name, move or comment that returned a blank? Wouldn’t it be wiser to start with the first chess manuscripts – the recent reconstruction of Francesch Vicent’s mysterious treatise, the surviving games of Ruy Lopez, or perhaps even the first ancient Arab chess problems?

In the end, I decided it wouldn’t really matter – it was a Sisyphus job in any case – and so I started with a game collection from 2010. It happened to be a new book on Capablanca. Slowly but steadily I worked my way back. Then I realized I had forgotten something crucial. Within comments, there could also be references to other works – references to database entries that didn’t exist in my digital library yet! I was suddenly faced with what is sometimes called ‘orphans’ – database references that can’t be traced back (anymore) to their primary dimension. In order to proceed, I had to put all titles in the system first. And so I started again.

My success didn’t last long. I soon found out that many chess authors use references to non-chess related literature all the time. Kasparov quotes Ilf & Petrov, Donner quotes Nietzsche. Once you start paying attention to it, chess and literature are completely intertwined. To be complete, the entire world literature should be included in the list as well. And that’s only the beginning of a myriad of problems. For instance, how to deal with references to literature that has been lost over the centuries?

I now realized the entire Total Chess Library idea would be quite pointless without having access to each and every chess book ever written; every game or analysis – including those that have been destroyed, mutilated, lost for good. I was trapped in a labyrinth I had created myself.

Then I woke up, of course. While I cycled to work, I thought about what use such a megalomanic project could be. Nobody would ever be able to use this monstrous database. The information would be sitting there in some kind of super computer without anyone ever touching it. At first I felt anger, then sadness. Then I felt like nothing had really changed. It was just like work.

As I switched on my laptop at work and opened the data warehouse environment I was currently working on, I remembered the words from another Borges story, The Library of Babel:

At that time it was also hoped that a clarification of humanity’s basic mysteries — the origin of the Library and of time — might be found. It is verisimilar that these grave mysteries could be explained in words: if the language of philosophers is not sufficient, the multiform Library will have produced the unprecedented language required, with its vocabularies and grammars.

For four centuries now men have exhausted the hexagons … There are official searchers, inquisitors. I have seen them in the performance of their function: they always arrive extremely tired from their journeys; they speak of a broken stairway which almost killed them; they talk with the librarian of galleries and stairs; sometimes they pick up the nearest volume and leaf through it, looking for infamous words.

Obviously, no one expects to discover anything.

Today is an official rest day in Biel, but yesterday, the young stars looked determined to make it not one but two breaks in a row.

After the fourth round, we expressed the hope that the youngsters would play more enterprising chess in the rounds to come, but they probably didn’t read our request – or didn’t care – since both in round 5 and 6, a majority of the games ended in quick draws.

For instance, we don’t have to spend much time on such fifth round games as Howell-Tomashevsky (draw in 16 moves) and Negi-Truong Son (draw in 22 moves). And this trend continued in the sixth: Tomashevsky-So (24 moves), Andreikin-Rodshtein (20 moves), Giri-Negi (20 moves) and the needlessly overlong Truong Son-Caruana (31 moves). What’s up with these guys? What are they afraid of? It’s anyone’s guess.

So let’s focus on the few exciting games that were played yesterday and the day before. First of all, there was the surprise loss of tournament leader Wesley So against Fabiano Caruana in round 5.

Black’s knight on g4 is attacked, but White’s knight on h7 is also an instability in the positon. So comes up with an fascinating solution:

16…cxd4! This is probably better than 16…Ngf6 17.dxc5 with an edge for White. However, Black had two other interesting moves, namely 16…Nde5!? and 16…Nxf2!?, the latter with the idea 17.Qxf2 f5! and the knight on h7 is trapped. The result is a double-edged position.

17.exd4 Probably best. After 17.hxg4 Ne5! 18.exd4 Nxd3 19.Qxd3 Qxd4 Black is fine despite the fact that he’s a piece down for the moment. Now, So did withdraw his knight, and after 17…Ngf6 18.Bf4 Qe7 the position was roughly equal. However, two moves later Black became active a move too soon:

Black is OK after a move like 20…Nd5, and even 20…Rxd4 seems possible, but after 20…b5? Caruana replied with the cunning 21.Bc7! totally disrupting the coordination of Black’s pieces. After 21…Rd7 22.Qc6 Ra7 23.Bb6 White had an edge due to the bishop pair. Still, it wasn’t all misery for Black until he failed to grab back a sacrificed pawn.

White is a pawn up, but after 33…Bd5! with the idea Nc6, Black seems to have sufficient counterplay. Instead, So played the active-looking 33…Rxf1+? 34.Kxf1 Bf3 but it transpired that White could hold on to his pawn after 35.Ke1 Nc6 36.Rb5 and Black didn’t have enough compensation – he never saw it back.

Also in the 5th round, Maxim Rodshtein played a good game against Anish Giri, basically outplaying him straight from the opening.

Black seems to be winning back the pawn, but alas, White has the strong pseudo-sacrifice 27.Qxc5! Bxc5 28.Rxc5 with a crushing bind, which he converted after a subsequent blunder by Giri. A well-deserved win for Rodshtein.

The only other decisive game of the past two days was Howell-Vachier Lagrave. David Howell is having a pretty miserable time in Biel, and in the sixth round, things went wrong once again after a well-played opening and middlegame phase.

Despite his doubled e-pawns, White has a pleasant plus due to Black’s weakened kingside. There are several attractive plans in the position, such as 26.Rg3 with the idea of doubling rooks, or 26.Rdf1 with the idea Qd1 and perhaps Qg4 to follow, but there’s also the tactical solution 26.Nxd6 Qxd6 27.Rxg5 after which something like 27…Rf2 doesn’t work in view of 28.Rdg1, winning.

But for some reason Howell played the defensive 26.Nc3? which gave Black to opportunity to grab the initiative with 26…Nf3!.

A few moves later, Black was fully activated:

Now, White’s 26th move might have been useful after all, as 31.Nxa4! seems possible: 31…Nxa4 32.Qa5 with serious counterplay. It wasn’t to be. Howell thought he had time for the solid-looking 31.Ka2? but was surprised by 31…Rh1! after which White has problems holding on to his e-pawns.

After 6 rounds, the Italian Fabiano Caruana has taken the lead with 4/6, closely followed by no less than five players with 3,5. Anish Giri has a bit of a disappointing tournament so far with 2,5 points. For Negi and Howell, the tournament can already be considered lost. Let’s hope the players use their offocial rest day well.

Standings after Round 6:

1. Caruana 4
2. So, Tomashevsky, Andreikin, Vachier Lagrave, Rodshtein 3,5
7. Truong Son 3
8. Giri 2,5
9. Negi, Howell 1,5

Games start daily at 14.00 CET, except July 25, which is a rest day.

Biel Young Grandmasters Games round 5 & 6

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN via TWIC

Le tournoi des Grands-Maîtres

Dix jeunes champions sont les stars de la 43ème édition du Festival d'échecs de Bienne 2010, qui se tient du 19 au 28 juillet. Qui de Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave et Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son va l'emporter ?

Después de unos días de descanso se retoman las competiciones y actividades del Club Isla Bonita y se realiza el primer torneo de rápidas del verano 2010 con la participación de ajedrecistas de la talla de Juan Manuel Acosta, Felipe Ramos, Isidro Cruz, Abel Lorenzo, Nauzet González entre otros miembros del Club. Algunos otros jugadores se encuentran descansando por estos días de verano para reincorporarse a las actividades ajedrecísticas de La Palma.

En esta ocasión los vencedores fueron Juan Manuel Acosta e Isidro Cruz quienes acumularon 4,5  y 3,5 puntos respectivamente.  La próxima jornada se realizará el lunes 2 de agosto. Para hoy martes se realizará el ranking de la segunda división.

?NOTIZIE? IMPORTANTI dal Consiglio-Luglio 2010

La Federazione Italiana Scacchi comunica dal suo sito?, tramite il verbale del Consiglio di sabato 24 Luglio, alcune importanti notizie e decisioni che riguardano gli scacchi in ambito nazionale, di seguito una mia selezione su quelle più rilevanti :?

?

• L'acquisto di una nuova sede per la FSI. Si tratta di un punto importante che rientrava tra gli obiettivi del programma proposto durante la campagna elettorale del 2009. Il costo è di 650.000 mila euro, la nuova sede si troverà a Milano in Viale Regina Giovanna 12, è più grande di quella attuale e dovrebbe disporre di una sala per le riunioni. L'attuale sede in Via Cusani era invece provvisoria in quanto non di proprietà ma in locazione. Tale operazione darà ulteriore sicurezza e dignità alla FSI.
  
• Il Campionato Italiano Individuale ( CIA) 2011? si svolgerà a Perugia (nel 2010 a Siena).
• Artur Kogan sarà l'allenatore della nazionale italiana alle Olimpiadi 2010 di Khanty-Mansyisk in Russia, mentre Mihalcisin Adrian sarà contattato per il prossimo Stage Federale.
• Cristina Rigo (Trentino) e?Valdo Eynard (Lombardia) ricevono dal CONI la medaglia di bronzo per meriti sportivi.
• Franco De Sio e Francesco Buonocore ottengono la nomina di Arbitro Internazionale.

?

• Campionati Italiani U16- modifica: 1) apertura dal basso verso l'alto delle fasce d'età, cioè consentire al giocatore di fascia di età inferiore di giocare in fasce superiori (esempio un Under 8 potrà decidere di giocare l'Under 12 se lo ritiene opportuno). 2) I Campionati maschili diventeranno "assoluti", così da permettere alle ragazze di confrontarsi con i maschi per il titolo di categoria se lo riterranno opportuno.
  
• Istituzione del Campionato Italiano ONLINE, cadenze 1-3-5 minuti.
  
• Il giovane MF Francesco Rambaldi ha ottenuto il passaggio di Federazione da quella francese a quella italiana.
• Elezioni Fide: il CF ha deliberato di astenersi per le prossime elezioni FIDE per regioni di opportunità vista la posizione di Rivello come Presidente della commissione etica, organo deputato a decidere su due ricorsi in essere.
• Elezioni ECU: il CF ha deliberato di votare per Alì Nihat Yazici, Presidente della Federazione Turca.
• La FSI ha candidato Roberto Rivello per il Board Fide e la Commissione Etica; Agostino Scalfi per il Board ECU.
• Regione Val D'Aosta: possibile il rinnovo del contratto di sponsorizzazione anche per il triennio 2011-2013? in cambio dell'assegnazione di alcune manifestazioni FSI, a mesi la conferma.
  

Chaque mardi, notre ami le maître international canadien d'échecs Jean Hébert nous propose sa lettre d'information HPE.

Le tournoi des Grands-Maîtres :

Dix jeunes grands-maîtres sont les stars de cette 43ème édition du Festival d'échecs de Bienne 2010, qui se tient du 19 au 28 juillet, en 9 rondes. Après 8 rondes, Fabiano Caruana et le Français Maxime Vachier-Lagrave pointent en tête avec 5 points sur 8. Ronde décisive aujourd'hui !

Superbe reportage vidéo du Festival International d'échecs de Bienne réalisé par BNJ Multimédia, avec l'interview de l'organisateur Olivier Breisacher, qui met en avant le mariage harmonieux entre les échecs et l'internet. Notre sport a eu la chance de se développer avec Internet et ses milliers de passionnés qui suivent les parties en direct.

A voir également le témoignage du grand-maître suisse Yannick Pelletier qui explique la manière de se préparer contre un adversaire, comme celle d'un sportif. Travailler sa condition physique pour tenir la distance et regarder les ouvertures que joue son adversaire. Mais peut-on gagner sa vie aux échecs ? réponse d'Olivier Breisacher.

Chess.FM

Over at chessclub.com (aka ICC), I have been doing some Game of the Days for Chess.FM online broadcasts. I remember way back when Tony Rook started Chess.FM.  At some point, I suggested Skype be used.  Tony Rook was bought out, new leadership took control of ICC, and … Skype was introduced as a broadcast platform.   I did Game of the Day for Rounds 9 and 10 of Dortmund 2010 Sparkassen (Naiditsch-Kramnik and Leko-Naiditsch).  I learned from a viewer that Naiditsch is pronounced NIGH-ditch not NAY-ditch.

Chess.Com

Over at chess.com, I composed some video lectures on “When to Use (and When Not To Use) Computer Engines.

Some reasons so far to use the engines:

1) you play a game or observe a game where the opponent plays an inferior opening and you forget what to do (or, if you are observing, the inferior side “gets away with it” illogically) – check later with a computer!

In Lecture 1, I went over 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Qb6? 6. e5! Bc5 7. Ndb5! as an example to see the comprehensive, computer-backed, refutation.

2) you see a high level game giving an inferior opening some rough treatment and you want to meld that into a complete way of dealing with it – check with the computer!  In lecture 2, I went over the Blumenfeld Declined (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 b5 5. Bg5!) as an example.  Why am I the only person who heard of the Dutch Blumenfeld theme tournament?

Chukcha Jokes

Chukcha (Russian Eskimo) is going to Moscow and his friends ask him to bring back some butter.

They tell him to find it on sale, simply find the longest line.

He found the Lenin’s Tomb line instead.

When asked why he did not bring back any butter, he said “I found the longest line, but when I got closer, I found out the salesman was dead.”

And for Some Dutch Scenery

Mark Ginsburg and Christine Syben in Delft, Holland December 1989 - photo E. Tall

• Event: Fremont Open
  
• Date: July 31 - August 1.
• Location: Club Sport.
  
• Format: 4 round swiss in 3 sections (M/X, A/B and U1600).
• Schedule: Register: Saturday 9:00-9:45. Rounds: both days at 10:00 and 3:30.
• Time control: 30/90, G/60.
• Entry fee: Postmarked by 7/26: $60. On site: $70. Play up for $10 per section.
  
• Prize fund: $2400 based on 70 paid entries, including $350 for 1st place in M/X.
• Contact: kenneth.zowal (at) sbcglobal (dot) net
  
• Tournament Flyer
  
• Advance Entry List
  

José Antonio Herrera jugó hoy sus dos primeras partidas en el Campeonato de España Sub.18 ,que tiene lugar en el Hotel Anibal de Linares. En el Campeonato, también participan los grancanarios Alejandro Alvarado y David Navarro, por lo que sólo son tres los representantes canarios, de un total de 124 jugadores participantes.

El Sub. 18 de España, cuenta con 7 titulados, de los cuales el número uno del ranking es el catalán Alvar Alonso con 2521 puntos elo.

En las dos primeras rondas, José Antonio, que es el número 29 del torneo, ha obtenido punto y medio, tras sus tablas frente al madrileño Héctor García en la primera ronda y vencer a Miguel López, también procedente de Madrid.

Alejandro Alvarado, el campeón juvenil de Canarias lleva 1,5 puntos,mientras que David Navarro, acumula también punto y medio. Mañana martes 27 de julio tendrá lugar a partir de las 17:00 horas, la tercera ronda con interesantes partidas para los jugadores canarios.

Toda la información del torneo, partidas y la retransmisión en estos enlaces:

Retransmisión Sub.18 2010

Resultados y clasificaciones Sub.18 2010

Borja Rodríguez Ferraz, se clasificaba en el puesto 20 de la clasificación general del Campeonato de España Sub.16 que finalizó hoy domingo 25 de julio en el Hotel Anibal de Linares.

Borja Rodríguez, obtenía 6 puntos, los mismos que  Kevin Meneses (11º) y David Navarro (13º) los otros dos canarios mejor clasificados del torneo. Con 5,5 puntos  quedaban Borja Molina (27º) y Pablo Rodríguez Lapetra (31º).  La lanzaroteña Lissette Maridueña, obtenía 4 puntos y se clasificaba en el puesto 96 de la general y Cristina González con 3 puntos  era la 104de un total de 131 jugadores participantes en el campeonato de España Sub.16.

En cuanto al Elo, no salió bien parado el palmero, ya que se dejó 18 puntos, lo que demuestra la gran dificultad de sumar puntos en un campeonato de España, ya que aunque sólo perdió una partida de las nueve jugadas, ganaba 4 y entablaba otras cuatro.

En este su primer año de la categoría, el campeón de Canarias cadete, pudo comprobar la dureza de un torneo, que a cada año que se sube el nivel aumenta. En Linares Borja estuvo apoyado el  entrenador Grancanario, Francisco Alvarado.

El campeonato de España fue ganado por el Maestro Fide madrileño David Antón con 8 puntos, mientras que en fémina repitio la valenciana Irene Nicolás Zapata, que hace una semana también se adjudicó el Sub.14.

Toda la información del torneo en estos enlaces:

Campeonato de España Sub.16 2010

Retransmisión Campeonato España Sub.16

A few days ago, we published an open letter by GM Sutovsky about the current FIDE Candidates Matches problems. Yesterday, Veselin Topalov published an open letter in response to the news that part of the matches might be played in Kazan, Russia.

According to Russian newspaper Kommersant, the Russian Chess Federation has asked FIDE President Ilyumzhinov to move part of the Candidates Matches from Baku, Azerbaijan – not a very pleasant place for Armenian GM Levon Aronian, though Armenian sources appear to in fact deny that he won’t play in fact Baku – to Kazan, Russia.

This, in turn, has prompted Veselin Topalov to write an open letter announcing he refuses to play in Kazan or any other place in Russia, in part because of what happened back in 2006, during ‘Toiletgate’. Here is Topalov’s open letter as it appeared on Chessdom:

July 22th, Sofia, Bulgaria

Dear President of FIDE, Dear members of the PB,

I am writing an open letter to you regarding the next World Championship Cycle. After many promises and changes I learn that a new place for the Candidates matches is being discussed, the one of Kazan, Russia.

I believe that it is a strategic mistake to stage almost all the cycle in one country. Four events of the FIDE Grand Prix, the World Cup, and now possibly Candidates Matches are in Russia. This transmits the message that FIDE can’t find sponsors and Organizers from other countries, which is very sad.

I would also like to state that for me the venue of Kazan, or any other venue in Russia, is totally unacceptable for another reason. Everybody still remembers the unpleasant situations which my team and I had to face during the WCC Match in Elista 2006.

Having in mind all this, I would like to declare that I would not participate in any stage of the cycle for the World Chess Title that takes place in Russia, in order to avoid problems and conflicts that already took place there.

The venue of Baku was rejected by Aronian and this looked natural for everyone. Before that, FIDE have changed their own rules and regulations to avoid the WCC rematch Topalov-Kramnik with Sofia as a venue. I believe it is logical to ask, if I play any matches in the future, (especially against Russian GMs), that they should be outside of Russia.

With respect,
Veselin Topalov

In the fourth round of the Young Grandmasters Tournament in Biel, the players showed their mature attitude by collectively avoiding too much risk.

Report and analyses by IM Robert Ris

With the help of a Tartakower Defence in a Queens Gambit Declined, Parimarjan Negi secured his first half point of the tournament. Against the Idian, tournament leader Wesley So avoided the critical line in this variarion by going for 11.Bxe7, whereas 11.Bg3 is the main line. The imbalanced feautures of knight vs bishop were soon gone when So opted for 18.Na4. The emerging ending didn’t offer either side any prospects and hence on move 28 the players shook hands.

Hardly more inspiring was Evgeny Tomashevsky’s effort to slay Fabiano Caruana’s favorite Meran Defence. The rock-solid Russian tried to avoid the sharp theoretical lines with the modest 10.Bd2, but Caruana seemed well aware of all finesses in the position.

Here Caruana played the accurate 16…a5! to prevent White from playing b2-b4, burying the bishop on b7. Tomashevsky replied with the theoretically new move 17.Rac1, but it couldn’t change the evaluation of this harmless line. Not surprisinlgy, the players decided to call it a day just four moves later.

In the encounter between Dmitry Andreikin and David Howell, the Englishman totally misplayed his beloved Grünfeld.

In a well-known line, Howell made the surprise move 11…Nb4?! which isn’t likely to attract many followers. (11…Ne7 and 11…Na5 are the main moves, with the last one being played among others by Kasparov against Karpov in Amsterdam, 1988.) Andreikin anticipated strongly to this dubious concept: with natural developing moves, he forced Black’s pieces to retreat until they lacked all coordination.

Howell desperately sacrificed a pawn, which was duly returned few moves later, as White’s rooks entered powerfully on the 7th rank. In a very sad position for Black, it was Andreikin’s turn to convert his advantage into his first full point.

25.Ng5! Bxg2 (25…fxg5 26.Bxe4 +-) 26.Nxh7! A strong intermediate move, threatening Nxf6+ and Rh7 mate. Black resigned four moves later.

In Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son vs. Maxim Rodsthein, the older watchers must have been relieved to see that the lessons of the legendary masters are not forgotten by the computer generation! The first 14 moves were copied from a classic: the twelfth match game Botvinnik-Smyslov, Moscow 1958, which was won by Mikhail Moiseevich.

In this position, Smyslov played 14..Qc7 with the idea Rfc8, but Rodshtein deviated with 14…Rc8, a move that was seen in another old game Ornstein-Ogaard from 1978. In fact, it is considered dubious by GM Marin. (Probably Smyslov was right after all, and Qc7 is the best move here.)

A few moves later, the Vietnamese didn’t play Ornstein’s brave attempt 17.Qxc8!? which needs to be carefully checked again. In the game, although White’s a-pawn might have been quite annoying for Black, Truong Son’s advantage was of marginal value. With precise play, Rodshtein managed to keep the balance and find a move repetition.

Last but certainly not least, there was the theoretical battle between Anish Giri and Maxime Vachier Lagrave. Perhaps fearing his opponent’s thorough preparation, the World Junior Champion opted for a King’s Indian instead of his usual Grünfeld. Giri was not impressed and obtained a pleasant edge, despite Vachier’s improvement in the opening.

15…Nd4 This is better than 15…Bf6 which turned out to be somewhat better for White in Fressinet-Stellwagen, Novi Sad 2009.

However, Black’s dynamic possibilities didn’t really work out and so White’s positional trumps started to count when he finally succeeded in bringing his kingside pieces into play again. However, suddenly Giri offered a draw in a position where his advantage was really starting to grow.

In the final position, White can play on without any risk and in fact Black’s position seems very annoying to defend. Let’s conclude it’s just my silly opinion…

This round showed that the next generation may be young, but is also wise and knows all about the importance of sometimes taking a draw instead of going for broke. While this may be good for their development, let’s hope for just a little more action in the rounds to come.

Standings after Round 4:

1. So 3
2. Tomashevski, Caruana, Andreikin 2,5
5. Vachier-Lagrave, Giri, Rodshtein, Truong Son 2
9. Howell 1
10. Negi 0,5

Games start daily at 14.00 CET, except July 25, which is a rest day.

Biel Young Grandmasters Games round 4, analysed by Robert Ris

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN via TWIC

Wesley So won his second game in the third round of the Young Grandmasters Tournament in Biel, grabbing the sole lead in an extremely strong field.

Report and analyses by IM Robert Ris

After a long hard working day yesterday, fellow countrymen Dmitry Andreikin and Evgeny Tomashevsky didn’t really want to hurt each other. The impact of their marathon games was still visible when soon out of the opening, a funny kind of English hybrid, an endgame with opposite coloured bishops was reached. Not much later hands were shaken.

Three rounds into the tournament, at least one thing can be concluded so far: it’s not yet Parimarjan Negi’s week. After two unfortunate losses with Black, the Indian totally lost track against Fabiano Caruana in mishandled Closed Sicilian, which is normally not Negi’s style at all. And indeed, almost everything went wrong for White right from the beginning. Caruana could easily could penetrate on the queenside, whereas White’s forces couldn’t even dream of finding reasonable squares.

Here Negi made a strategical error with 17.Nd5? Better would have been e.g. 17.Nb2 when at least Black can’t immediately force a breakthrough on the queenside.

17…Nxd5 18.exd5 Bxa4 19.bxa4 Rb4 and Black was better already.

“Fortunately” for the Indian, the game ended abruptly after a bad blunder, which may actually make it easier for him to forget the game than if he had been tortured for fifty more moves.

The most dramatic game of the day was the encounter between Maxim Rodshtein and Wesley So. Evidently, both players have studied the recent developments of the topical Grünfeld Indian with 7.Bc4, and it was So’s turn to be the first to deviate from the recently played game Giri-Bok, Dutch Championship 2010, in which after 19 moves the following position was reached:

Bok had played the cautious 19…a6 and indeed, So’s 19…gxf5!? looks very suspicious at first glance -really, who would want to open the residence of his majesty? – but soon Black’s intentions became clear when all his pieces were directed to g2! White’s kingside seemed to be under severe pressure, but the Israeli had everything well protected until move 38.

One move ago, White could have easily transformed the game into an dead equal ending. 38.Qf4 is still possible now, but instead Rodshtein blunders horribly:

38.Qh4?? Bxg2+! 39.Bxg2 Qc1+ and White resigned in view of 40.Kh2 Nf3+ 41.Bxf3 Qg1 mate.

Maxime Vachier Lagrave hasn’t yet reached the level we may expect from a player of his calibre. Against Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, he didn’t get anything with White again, despite Black’s somewhat “modern” opening setup (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 h6!?) and actually White had to be a little careful.

However, Black’s pawn centre was soon stopped by the white rooks. Further on in the endgame, when Black threatened to get his other rook on the second rank (always a sign for extreme caution), the Frenchman correctly gave a pawn away. His activity assured him a liquidation into a rook ending with f against g+h which was once more proven to be an easy affair: draw.

Finally, David Howell decided to test Anish Giri’s memory in a tricky Petroff with 8.Nc3 and 9.Qe1!?, a line many GMs have fallen victim to. Giri passed the test with honour and accepted his opponent’s proposal for a draw on move 27.

Standings after Round 3:

1. So 2,5
2. Tomashevski, Caruana 2
4. Rodshtein, Vachier-Lagrave, Giri, Andreikin, Truong Son 1,5
9. Howell 1
10. Negi 0

Games start daily at 14.00 CET, except July 25, which is a rest day.

Biel Young Grandmasters Games round 3, analysed by Robert Ris

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN via TWIC

Michael Adams will be odds on when the British Championship starts in Canterbury on Monday. A large 73-player field will take on the England No1 but the great majority of these have little or zero chance in the title race. Adams, coupled with the lack of start fees, has scared off most potential rivals so that only five other GMs will compete.

Judged by his current form, Adams will not be taking it easy. The 38-year-old Cornish former world title finalist used to be in the global top six but in 2009 he drifted back below the elite 2700 rating level and briefly lost his No1 spot to Nigel Short.

Recently Adams has sharpened his play, cut down on draws, and surged back up the ratings. The latest live ratings show him 23rd in the world and back within shouting distance of the small group who play in the major invitation events. So I guess Adams will aim for at least 9/11 at Canterbury and may even attempt to beat the all-time championship record total of 10/11.

This unspectacular Turkish League game shows how a strong GM can psyche out a lesser light. Adams's opening (10...g5?!) is a touch risky and 12 Qh5! Qg6 13 Qxg6 would give an endgame plus. Instead White shuffles around, drops behind on the clock, and blunders by 25 f4? (Ba2) when his game collapses. At the end if 32 Kg2 Nxe4 33 dxe4 Rxe4 wins.

E Can v M Adams

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 Nc3 d6 5 Na4 h6 6 Nxc5 dxc5 7 d3 Nge7 8 Be3 Qd6 9 Nd2 b6 10 0-0 g5?! 11 a3 a5 12 Bb5?! 0-0 13 Bc4 Kg7 14 Kh1 Ng6 15 g3 Bh3 16 Rg1 f5 17 exf5 Bxf5 18 f3 Rad8 19 Ne4 Qe7 20 Qe2 Nd4 21 Bxd4 exd4 22 Rae1 Bd7 23 Nd2 Qd6 24 Ne4 Qc6 25 f4? Rde8 26 Ba2 a4 27 Rgf1 gxf4 28 gxf4 Nxf4 29 Rg1+ Kh8 30 Qf3 Nh3 31 Qg3 Nf2+ 0-1

3149 1 Qd2. !f Kb8 2 Qf4+ Ka8 3 Qa4+ and 4 Qxe8 mate. If Rh8 2 Qa5+ 3 Qe5+ and 4 Qxh8. If Rf8 2 Qd1! Kb8/Re8/Rh8/Rg8/Rf3+ 3 Qd6+/Qa4+/Qa1+/Bxg8/Qxf3.

Le tournoi d'échecs fermé Sparkassen Chess-Meeting de Dortmund se déroule du 15 au 25 Juillet avec 6 super grands-maîtres d'échecs et en 10 rondes.

International Master Irina Krush was seen more than a decade ago selling autographed cards at the World Open. There was never been a question of her talent and in the 2010 she has shown again why her chess spirit gets so much acclaim. Krush came into the tournament with a sour memory from the 2008 tiebreak against IM Anna Zatonskih. That tournament ended famously in a dispute with Zatonskih getting the win.

In this tournment Zatonskih admitted to not playing her best chess, but still held the lead until the last round when Krush squeezed a win against the hapless Abby Marshall. Krush stated that it was her toughest battle. She ended on +7 (TPR 2686) which has to be considered a dominant performance. In the post-game interview, Krush felt good about her play and credited yoga with helping her calm her nerves. It is already well-known that Krush is an avid fan of rap music and vowed to do a number at the closing ceremonies if someone would write one!

Krush will play in the Moscow Blitz before representing the U.S. Women’s team in Khanty-Mansiysk for the 2010 Olympiad. Zatonskih and WFM Tatev Abrahamyan, both ending on 7.5/9, will join her as teammates. Abrahamyan was in top form losing only to Krush.

IM Samuel Shankland, won the under-18 championships two years ago, has two GM norms, but has had a rough go lately. After narrowly missing his last GM norms and playing badly as of late, he entered the U.S. Junior with high hopes. As the number-two seed, he would be in competition with GM Ray Robson and other promising juniors for the crown. His start was not auspcious. He promptly lost his first two games which may have cemented his notion of quitting chess, a pronouncement made prior to the tournament. However, Shankland steadied himself and made perhaps one of the greatest comebacks in U.S. history by scoring 6/7 to force a tiebreak.

Perhaps Robson is the most disappointed of all after coasting through the tournament and building what was thought to be an unsurmountable lead. He would face FM Warren Harper needing on a draw to clinch. Harper had lost five straight games and a draw seemed doable. However, things went terribly wrong for Robson as he was brutally crushed. Parker Zhao then had a chance to win the tournament if he beat FM John Bryant. Going into the ending two pawns up, it appears that Zhao would win, but he made some serious errors in the ending and Bryant was able to hold a draw. This would force a three-way playoff.

Since Robson had the best tiebreaks, he could take a bye and play the winner of Shankland-Zhao. After beating Parker Zhao in a nice attacking game, Shankland would face top junior in Robson, who many feel represents the future of American chess. In an unusual twist, Shankland bid 31 minutes for his time and would receive black with draw odds. In the “Fantasy Variation” of the Caro Kann (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3), he passed the test with flying colors and stated in the post-game interview that he was surprised at his opponent’s choice.

By virtue of his win, Shankland earns a spot in the 2011, but in the post-game interview had nixed the World Junior Championship citing previous committments. However, it may well be the opportunity for earning the final GM norm and may help put the young star back on track for future chess endeavors.

Official Site: http://www.uschesschamps.com
Games: Women | Juniors

El Maestro Internacional peruano Miguel Muñoz Pantoja, domina con 5,5 puntos de seis rondas, la IV edición del Torneo Internacional Hotel Avenida de Canarias de Vecindario, que comenzaba el pasado domingo 18 de julio en el Teatro Víctor Jara de éste municipio sureño de Gran Canaria.

El torneo cuenta con 29 titulados y 125 jugadores de 10 países participantes, de los cuales cuatro son Grandez Maestros encabezados por  el gallego Iván Salgado, el cubano Reinaldo Vera y el bosnio Kurajica, además del serbio residente en Gran Canaria Dragan Barlov.

Trasnscurridas 6 rondas tras el peruano Pantoja, se situan a medio punto de la cabeza los GM Iván Salgado, Kurajica, Vera y los MI Lariño y Arturo Vidarte. De los canarios destaca el buen papel del Maestro Fide Marcos Adrián Pérez con 4,5 puntos y el veterano MF grancanario Menvielle.

El torneo, que está organizado por el Club Ajedrez La Caja de Vecindario, cuenta con el arbitraje del árbitro internacional Pablo Arranz. Muchos jóvenes participantes en el evento y entre ellos una amplia representación canaria provenientes del programa de Tecnificación, que patrocina la Dirección General de Deportes del Gobierno de Canarias.

El sábado a partir de las 10:30 de la mañana, el torneo se desplaza a la capital de la isla para disputar un intenso bliz en el Club de la Caja del barrio de Escaleritas.

Mañana viernes se disputará la séptima ronda que estará muy entretenida  y reñida por los duelos que en ella se vivirán.

Para aquellos que quieran seguir en directo el Torneo y seguir sus resultados en directo ponemos los siguientes enlaces:

Directo Vecindario 2010

Resultados, emparejamientos y clasificaciones

Galería de fotos

Del 30 de julio al 21 de agosto de 2010, tendrá lugar en los club ajedrez CajaCanarias e Isla Bonita, el torneo de ajedrez ”Centenario Cajacanarias”, que con motivo del centenario de nuestro patrocinador, intentará reunir a lo mejorcito del ajedrez palmero, dado los interesantes premios que tendrá el evento.

El Torneo valdrá para la obtención de Elo internacional y se realizará a un ritmo de juego de 90 minutos más treinta segundos de incremento, y a lo largo de sus nueve rondas los tres primeros clasificados tendrán de premio participar con todo los gastos pagados en el campeonato de España Absoluto de ajedrez, que se disputará en Tenerife del 4 al 12 de septiembre.

La primera ronda del torneo se disputará en el Club Cajacanarias de ajedrez, para a continuación, jugar en los dos principales clubes de nuestra isla, jugándo en su club el jugador que lleve blancas.

Jugadores de la talla de Eduardo Pizarro, Francisco de la Banda, Eduardo Ros, Borja Rodríguez, Juan Manuel Acosta, Sara García, José Antonio Herrera,Jacinto Iglesias, Tomás Cano, Daniel Guerra, Alain Pérez, Odama Santana, Diego Acosta, Nerea Crespo y muchos otros,  tienen previsto participaren este evento, que sin duda será uno de los principales atractivos del ajedrez palmero durante el mes de agosto.

Las bases del torneo están en este enlace:

Bases-de-juego-centenario-cajacanarias-2010

Después de disputadas tres partidas en los Campeonatos de España de la categoría Sub.16, los ajedrecistas canarios están dejando muy buenas sensaciones, ya que Kevin Meneses, Pablo Rodríguez, Borja Molina y David Navarro, llevan 2,5 puntos, mientras que Borja Rodríguez está con dos victorias y una derrota. Cristina González y Lissette Maridueña están ambas con un punto.

El torneo comenzaba el pasado martes 20 de julio con 131 jugadores inscritos, siendo los tres primeros del Ranking, tres Maestros Fide, lo que habla mucho del nivel de juego de este campeonato.

Borja Rodríguez, comenzaba su andadura frente al gallego Hernique Rey, al que derrotaba, para perder en la ronda del martes por la tarde frente al catalán Ferran González. Hoy miércoles 21 de julio, ganaba al valenciano José María Sanchez, por lo que está  en el puesto 42 de la general con dos puntos en su marcador de tres posibles.

Toda la información del torneo y la retransmisión de sus 15 primeras partidas en estos enlaces:

Retransmisión Campeonato España Sub.16

Campeonato de España Sub.16 2010

El pasado sábado 17 de julio, tuvo lugar el IV Torneo de Ajedrez “Fiestas de Las Tricias”, Garafía, que tuvo como ganador al ajedrecista de El Paso Abel Lorenzo, seguido de Felipe Ramos y Antonio Ramos.

El torneo estuvo muy entretenido, participando muchos jugadores de la zona. La clasificación del mismo fue la siguiente:

IV torneo de Ajedrez Fiesta de Las Tricias – Villa de Garafía
17 de Julio de 2010, Las Tricias

Cat. Absoluta:
1º.- Abel Lorenzo
2º.- Felipe Ramos
3º.-Antonio Ramos

Club “Puntagorda-Garafía”:
1º.- Cristian Rguez.
2º.- Dimas Rguez.

Cat. Alev-Inf:
1º.- Amanda Ramos
2º.- Sarita Pérez
3º.- Yefrey Rguez

Promoción deportiva Puntagorda-Garafía:
1º.- Esther Pérez
2º.- Minerva Pérez
3º.- Adrián Pérez

El torneo fue organizado por el Club ajedrez de Puntagorda-Garafía, que tiene como responsable a Jua Gutierrez, colaborando con el evento las siguientes entidades:  Cabildo Insular, Cajacanarias, Club de ajedrez “Cajacanarias”, Club de ajedrez “Isla Bonita”, Ayto. de la Villa de Garafía, Ayto. de Puntagorda, Club de Ajedrez “PUNTAGORDA-GARAFÍA”, Bar-Parilla-Tasca Pino de La Virgen, Bar “La Brasa” y, por supuesto: Comisión de Fiestas de Las Tricias. También hay que felicitar muy especialmente a la comisión de fiestas (Camenluiza, Patri…), por su estupenda organización y trato.

La entrega de Trofeos y premios: Domingo, 25 a las 22:00 h. (plaza de las Tricias)

Desde el Club Ajedrez Puntagorda- Garafía,  invitamos a todos aquellos ajedrecistas que lo deseen a los próximos ”torneos de verano” de la zona:
Sábado, día 31 de Julio, a las 17:00 h. III torneo “Fiesta de las Papas Asadas” Tinizara 
 (Tijarafe)

Lunes, día 9 de agosto, a las 16:00 h.VII torneo “Fiesta Patronal de Puntagorda”, 
 Puntagorda (Bajos del Pino de La Virgen). 

Lunes, día 16 de agosto, a las 17:00 h. VI torneo “Fiesta Patronal de la Villa de 
Garafía”  Santo Domingo, Garafía  

En todos los torneos: Libre inscripción, todas las categorías. Suizo, 7 rondas, 10 min./finish (Ajedrez F.I.D.E.)

También: Trofeos por categorías (ojo: las comisiones de fiestas son las que deciden cuando los entregan), y algunos premios en METÁLICO.

  VISORE

Sito Ufficiale

Articolo di presentazione di Darkstorm

• 5° T Bentivegna - GM Evgeny Sveshnikov 2487 0-1
  
• GM Jakubowski 2506 - Bove 1-0
• 6° T LIVE h.17
• MI Staniszewski  2389 - Bentivegna
• Bove - MI Wieczorek 2315

GM Sergej Zhigalko, bielorusso, n°1 di tabellone



GM Jon Ludvig Hammer n°3, un altro campione dalla Norvegia!



MF Alessio Valsecchi



MF Alessandro Bove



MF Francesco Bentivegna



"Rynek", la piazza mercato della città vecchia di Varsavia

• SITO UFFICIALE

• RISULTATI

MEGAUPDATE a fine articolo: foto in esclusiva per Scacchierando!

6T: Pono 4, Le 3,5, Mamedyarov e Kramnik 3, Naiditsch 2,5, Leko 2

15-25 luglio: Kramnik, Leko, Mamedyarov, Ponomariov, Le Quang Liem, Naiditsch: inizia lo Sparkassen Chess-Meeting di Dortmund. L'evento è davvero tra i più importanti della stagione, paragonabile al Corus e a Linares. I sei giocatori disputeranno un doppio girone all'italiana, di conseguenza si tratterà di un torneo a 10 turni, questa è una recente innovazione nel formato, visto che sino a pochi anni fa 8 giocatori si affrontavano unicamente ?all'andata?, totalizzando così 7 turni in effetti forse non abbastanza per dare una chiara indicazione della forma dei partecipanti.

Novità invece assoluta qui a Dortmund sarà l'applicazione della Regola di Sofia: i giocatori non potranno quindi offrire la patta ai propri avversari. A detta degli organizzatori questo ?garantirà che ogni partita sarà combattuta sino alla fine?. L'esperienza sembra dimostrare che non è proprio così, ma si apprezza lo sforzo fatto per diminuire le patte, che a detta di molti l'anno scorso sono state decisamente troppe.?

Gli Organizzatori: Gerd Kolbe (Direttore), Uwe Samulewicz (Direttore della Sparkasse di Dortmund), Birgit J?rder (Sindaco), Stefan Koth (Direttore del Torneo)

Come ovvio in un supertorneo, i ?superpartecipanti? hanno davvero poco bisogno di presentazioni:

l'ex Campione del Mondo Vladimir Kramnik (Elo 2790, numero 4 al mondo)?è chiamato a difendere il primato nel ?suo? torneo: ha infatti vinto qui a Dortmund qualcosa come 9 volte, testa di serie numero 1 quest'anno, facile voglia puntare alla doppia cifra.

Peter Leko (2734, 16)?è anche lui in qualche modo ?a casa?: secondo gli organizzatori è difficile immaginare un Dortmund senza di lui: lo ha vinto 3 volte (importante in particolare nel 2002, quando il torneo ebbe valenza di Candidati, portando Leko, vincitore su Topalov, a sfidare per il Titolo proprio Kramnik) ed è inoltre molto legato alla Germania: parla il tedesco e ha conosciuto la moglie proprio qui a nord delle Alpi.

Arkadij Naiditsch (2684, 51)?è invece davvero il giocatore di casa: benché nato a Riga, in Lettonia, rappresenta da anni il Top degli scacchi tedeschi e dal 2003 viene costantemente chiamato a difendere il nero-rosso-oro della bandiera tedesca qui a Dortmund. Non è una supercorazzata come molti degli altri partecipanti e di conseguenza ha dovuto registrare risultati non eclatanti, ma nel 2005 è riuscito a uscire vincitore in un campo che vedeva ?noti spingilegno? come Kramnik, Topalov, Svidler, Adams e Van Wely.

Benché molti non riescano a pronunciare nella stessa frase le parole ?Campione del Mondo? e ?Ruslan Ponomariov? (2734, 14)?è innegabile che non è esattamente da tutti imporsi a 18 anni come Campione del Mondo FIDE, menchemeno trovandosi di fronte in finale tale Vassily Ivanchuk. Da allora (2002) non ha fatto sfracelli ma si è dimostrato giocatore, benché con alti e bassi, capace di competere bene con gli over 2700. Arriva da un'ottima World Cup, è al varco per vedere se lo stato di forma può continuare.

?

Invitare Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2761, 6), già presente nel 2008, non sembra essere stata una pessima idea da parte degli organizzatori: ?The Shark? è noto per il suo gioco aggressivo e tattico, capace di trovare sempre nuove idee quando si tratta di mettere pressione all'avversario. Tra l'altro arriva da una vittoria alla President Cup di Baku (assieme a Kramnik e Kamsky): se è al top della forma, aspettiamoci buone cose.

I cinque giocatori fin qui nominati sono stati invitati dall'organizzazione e hanno gentilmente accettato: per essere qui?Le Quang Liem (2681, 55)?ha invece?dovuto vincere un ?torneuccio? quale l'Aeroflot di Mosca (probabilmente l'Open più forte del Mondo). Nel 2005 è diventato Campione del Mondo under 14, ha iniziato a ?farsi le ossa internazionali? rappresentando il Vietnam in 2 Olimpiadi (2006 e 2008) e ora è pronto per confrontarsi con l'élite. Come molti asiatici in rapida crescita, è quasi impossibile stabilire la sua reale forza di gioco: vedremo cosa saprà fare a Dortmund. A dargli il benvenuto sarà il Campione in carica Kramnik: la sorte gli ha assegnato il primo turno.

A proposito: ecco la tabella degli incontri:

Giorno di riposo dunque il 20 luglio. E chi passasse da quelle parti proprio il 20 luglio avrà la possibilità di incontrare i Campioni presenti, di ottenere il loro autografo e di partecipare all'estrazione di diversi premi, sono piccole chicche che si fanno apprezzare.

Il tempo di gioco previsto è di 100 minuti per le prime 40 mosse, poi 50 per le successive 20 e infine 15 minuti per finire, il tutto con 30 secondi di abbuono a partire dalla prima mossa. A quanto affermato dagli organizzatori, l'esperienza indica che in 4 ore saranno finite circa la metà delle partite, mentre dopo 6 ore l'80/90 % delle sfide dovrebbero essere finite. Chi non avrà modo di essere online alle 15, orario di inizio delle partite (l'ultimo turno è invece previsto per le 13), ha quindi un'idea di quando poter tornare a casa per i risultati

La media Elo dei partecipanti è di 2734, 10 punti in meno dell'anno scorso per pura cronaca, rendendolo un torneo di Categoria XX?

La sede di gioco sarà, come da qualche anno a questa parte,?il? Teatro Cittadino

All'epoca dell'edizione 2007 (Fonte: Chessbase)

Come in ogni megatorneo che si rispetti sono stati organizzati diversi eventi di contorno: segnaliamo il Torneo dedicato all'ex Cancelliere tedesco Helmut Kohl, un round robin a 10 giocatori, evento ?minore? di tutto rispetto: 3 GM, Eckhard Schmittdiel (GER, Elo: 2485), Romuald Mainka (GER, 2484) e?Mihail Saltaev (UZB, 2495), 1 WGM, Carmen Voicu (RUM, 2346), 1 IM, Markus Sch?fer (GER, 2382) e 2 FM, Laurence Webb (ENG, 2313) e Patrick Zelbel (GER, 2345).?

Dal 17 al 25 si disputeranno anche due Open, il primo riservato a chi ha un punteggio Elo superiore a 1700 e il secondo per chi lo ha inferiore ai 1900.

Il Torneo ad oggi:

E' dal 1973 che la Sparkassen (Cassa di Risparmio) di Dortmund sponsorizza il torneo. L'evento si è rapidamente imposto tra i principali del panorama scacchistico, aggiungendo edizione dopo edizione nomi illustri sul libro dei vincitori: Ciocaltea, Andersson, Keene, Hort, Gruenfeld, Ribli, Geller...All'inizio degli anni '90, per non farsi mancare nulla, il libro suddetto ha anche incamerato i nomi di Kasparov (1992) e Karpov (1993). Ma da allora il torneo è diventato ?proprietà? di Kramnik, che lo ha vinto 4 volte di fila dal 1995 al 1998, lo ha ?lasciato? a Leko nel 1999 per poi riprenderselo nel 2000 e nel 2001. L'allora Campione del Mondo ha visto poi trionfare nuovamente Leko (2002), Bologan (2003), Anand (giusto per non avere buchi nel curriculum immagino ) (2004), il giocatore di casa Naiditsch (2005), per poi imporsi nuovamente nel 2006 e nel 2007. Leko non ha perso il vizio di interrompere le serie locali di Kramnik e nel 2008 ha nuovamente vinto. Kramnik, dal canto suo, non ha perso quello di vincere a Dortmund e nel 2009 è tornato in vetta, distanziando di un punto gli inseguitori Carlsen, Jakovenko e lo stesso Leko.

Scacchierando in diretta da Dortmund!

All'arrivo, la sede di gioco si mostra imponente

Pronti ad entrare...

...un'occhiata a come procede il Torneo...

...e finalmente siamo in Sala da gioco!

La "concorrenza" è numerosa, ma il nostro inviato si avvicina ai giocatori

Naiditsch - Ponomariov

Naiditsch - Ponomariov bis

Mamedyarov - Le

Kramnik - Leko: 1/2 1/2 fisso

Un bis anche per chi ha disputato un Match mondiale

Peter Leko all'apparente ricerca di qualcosa per riempire il bicchiere

"Aiutato" dalla programmazione del Teatro, il nostro inviato infine ci saluta

Scacchierando ringrazia Andreas Kuhn per il gentile e ottimo lavoro

Scacchierando danke an Andreas Kuhn fur die freundliche und gute Arbeit

Il sito ufficiale http://www.sparkassen-chess-meeting.de/2010/

• IV turno MI Shytaj - GM Lazaro Bruzon 2653 1/2!
• V turno MI Shytaj - GM Kogan 2541 1/2
• VI turno GM Almeida Quintana 2559 - MI Shytaj 

3º turno: la Fierro patta con il GM di casa, De la Riva




WGM Cory T. Deisy

? and the winner is....

2 INVITI PER I GIOVANI per i TORNEI DI SENIGALLIA !

Il Blog Scacchierando è lieto di annunciare i nomi dei due fortunati e meritevoli giovani che hanno vinto il "pass gratuito" per i due Festival di Senigallia di fine Luglio ed inizio Agosto:
RosaMaria Casolino e Nicola Altini !

L'iniziativa prevede la partecipazione gratuita (soggiorno + iscrizione) ad alcuni Festival Internazionali organizzati da Scacchi Randagi e ASD Alto Cosentino (per i nati dal 1992 in poi).Tali gratuità sono messe a disposizione di Scacchierando che decide a quali giovani attribuirle? tra quelli che hanno scritto una email alla redazione per proporsi.

Negli ultimi mesi si sono avvalsi di tale opportunità con successo:

• Giacomo Gregori e Roberto Palazzotto che hanno partecipato al torneo Costa Viola in Gennaio.

• Gerardo Consalvo che ha disputato il Festival di Fabriano a Giugno.

• Ed ora è la volta di RosaMaria Casolino e Nicola Altini a Senigallia.

Chi saranno i giovani che meriteranno di partecipare ai prossimi tornei di Fermo, Amantea e Livigno? Sta a voi deciderlo, leggendo il regolamento a fondo pagina ed inviando una mail di candidatura per il concorso/progetto di crescita.

REGOLAMENTO e PROSSIMI EVENTI

I giovani Under 18 possono scrivere una email a info@scacchierando.net per candidarsi? per i tornei di:

• FERMO (Marche) = 20-28 Agosto
  
• AMANTEA (Calabria) = 29 Agosto- 5 Settembre ( 4 inviti !!!)
  
• LIVIGNO (Lombardia) = 10 -18 Settembre

REGOLAMENTO DEL PROGETTO INVITI per i GIOVANI QUI

? ?? ?

?

Quel talent, ce Léo ! Aujourd'hui, le vice-président de la Fédération Française des échecs, Léo Battesti, revient sur Chess & Strategy pour nous présenter la nouvelle formule interactive du magazine fédéral Echec & Mat.

A l'ère du développement durable, on parierait qu'Internet a été créé pour servir les Echecs... Cette version numérique d'Echec et Mat en constitue une preuve supplémentaire.

Au menu, des reportages vidéos, des parties commentées, une centaine de diagrammes interactifs pour tous niveaux de jeu, des rubriques "Terre d'échecs", "Histoire", "Dossier" bénéficiant de cette nouvelle technologie. Mais aussi un sondage et un Quiz doté d'une dizaine de cadeaux !

Inscrivez-vous gratuitement en envoyant votre e-mail à la FFE.

2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés

Jour J pour les dix jeunes grands-maîtres qui seront les stars de la 43ème édition du Festival d'échecs de Bienne 2010 du 19 au 28 juillet.

Le club d'échecs de Strasbourg organisait son 1er Open International du 14 au 17 juillet 2010, le 1er tournoi international d'envergure dans la capitale européenne depuis 1973. A cette occasion, France 3 a réalisé un superbe reportage vidéo mettant en avant les valeurs de notre sport.

Le Festival international d'échecs d'Avoine, qui se tient du 17 au 25 juillet 2010, fête son quart de siècle avec un nouveau record de participants.

Aux échecs, de belles combinaisons tactiques s'apparentent au jeu de la séduction entre la dame blanche et le roi noir avec souvent un feu d'artifice à la clé.

Dans le même registre, le magicien de Riga, Mikhail Tal raffolait des sacrifices qui, bien que souvent douteux, étaient quasiment impossibles à réfuter devant l'échiquier. Une mine d'or pour s'entraîner aux échecs !

Nous vous invitons à tester votre habilité technique au calcul des variantes grâce notre rubrique quotidienne S'entraîner.

Résolvez nos exercices de mat en 2 coups, 3 coups ou même beaucoup plus. A chaque fois, le niveau est indiqué (Facile, Moyen ou Fort), un indice facultatif est proposé, et bien sûr la solution est donnée. Pour un entraînement optimal des neurones, nous vous conseillons de ne pas bouger les pièces sur un échiquier et bien sûr, pas d'ordinateur avec un logiciel d'échecs entre nous.

Trouvez le tacticien en vous sur Chess & Strategy Tactic !

2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés

Le Festival international d'échecs d'Avoine, qui se tient du 17 au 25 juillet 2010, fête son quart de siècle avec un nouveau record de participants.

Née en 1906 à Moscou d'un père tchèque et d'une mère anglaise, cette joueuse d'échecs s'installe en Angleterre à partir de 1921.

La même année, elle remporte le championnat féminin d'Angleterre et devient l'élève de Geza Maroczy l'année suivante. À partir de 1927, il est organisé en marge des Olympiades d'échecs masculines (il n'y a pas encore d'olympiades réservées aux femmes) un tournoi individuel féminin considéré comme un véritable championnat du monde féminin. Cette brillante championne d'échecs gagne tous les tournois d'avant-guerre, ne laissant aucune chance à ses concurrentes : en sept tournois consécutifs, elle enregistre 78 victoires, 4 nulles et une seule défaite !

Elle rivalise avec les meilleurs joueurs, n'hésitant pas à participer aux tournois masculins. Elle termine 2e à Ramsgate en 1929 derrière Capablanca, ex aequo avec Rubinstein, et 3e à Maribor en 1934.

Alors pourriez-vous citer le patronyme de cette championne du jeu d'échecs ?

Je vous livre une position exemplaire pour aiguiser votre sens de l'attaque. Une position que j'ai jouée en juin dernier contre un adversaire côté 2081 et que même Crafty 22.01 n'est pas capable de résoudre ! La force de la combinaison repose sur le principe universel de la double menace. Ici il s'agit d'une menace de mat couplée à une menace de prise de la dame. Autant dire une combinaison mortelle.
Voici la position de départ. Les blancs ont 2 pions d'avance mais ont un roque exposé à la pression de 4 pièces noires. Ils menacent de s'emparer du Cg4, mais est-ce suffisant pour repousser l'attaque ?

Lorsqu'on est dans le camp de l'attaquant, il faut y réfléchir à 2 fois avant de battre en retraite et plutôt envisager les suites forcées. Ici l'ordinateur recommande1...Ch2 avec une suite avantageuse sur le plan positionnel : 2.Cxh2,Fxh2+ 3.Rh1 et après 3...f6, les blancs ont quelques difficultés à placer le fou blanc et à développer le Cb1 et la Ta1. néanmoins, j'ai trouvé plus percutant en remarquant les points suivants : 1) les noirs ont une menace de mat par Dh2 qui 4 pourrait être soutenue par le fou de cases noires et le cavalier en g4, mais pour l'instant elle est empêchée par la position respective du fou de cases noires et de la dame (dans le mauvais ordre) et surtout défendue par le Cf3 2) La prise du Cf3 par le Fb7 non seulement supprimerait cet important défenseur mais aussi menacerait de prendre la dame en d1, ce qui permet de gagner du temps pour l'attaque... à condition que la dame blanche ne bouge pas. Ce dernier argument fait comprendre qu'il faut garder une forte initiative et ne pas laisser aux blancs le temps de s'organiser !

Après quelques temps de réflexion, j'ai trouvé la séquence suivante : 1...Fh2+. Le fou est imprenable sous peine de 2...Dxh2 mat. Le coup forcé est donc 2.Rh1. Pour l'instant, c'est simple (position 2)

C'est maintenant qu'il est le plus dur de trouver la suite. Mon objectif est toujours de laisser l'accès de la case h2 pour la dame noire dans l'espoir d'un mat soutenu par le fou ou le cavalier, et de m'emparer du Cf3 en temps utile. J'ai joué 2...Fg1!!

Ce coup est excellent car il remplit le premier objectif (dégager l'accès à la dame) tout en introduisant un piège, car le fou est quasiment imprenable : sur 3.Cxg1?? suit 3...Dh2#  et sur 3.Txg1?? suit 3...Cxf2#! (une variante de mat à l'étouffée). Reste   3.Rxg1 mais le temps perdu à reprendre le fou est fatal aux blancs à cause de 3...Fxf3 qui attaque la dame et permet en même temps de menacer le mat en h2. Cette mésaventure survient aussi si les blancs choisissent de laisser le fou en place et de s'emparer du Cg4, comme ce fut le cas dans la partie : 3.hxg4,Fxf3 (position 4)

on voit bien que les blancs ont le choix entre mourir le ventre plein, sauver leur dame (ex 4. Dxf3) et concéder le mat ou prévenir le mat par 4.Rxg2 ou 4.Txg2 mais perdre leur dame : 4...Fxd1. On aurait pu croire que l'avantage des noirs n'est pas si grand après la récupération du fou par 5.Txd1 mais la position reste très inférieure et mon adversaire a perdu 18 coups plus tard.

Moralité lorsque l'attaque est engagée il ne faut plus reculer, et comme disait Sielmann, les coups se jouent d'eux-mêmes !

Sam Ford playing Bernard Parham in a blitz battle during a tribute to Parham at the Gary Public Library.

Gary, Indiana is most famously known as the hometown of the famous Jackson 5 which featured megastar Michael Jackson. Gary was a place of refuge for many southern families looking for opportunities in the north. However another refuge as been found in chess as the state has had a long history.

Leroy Muhammad, a St. Louis legend, has been a resident in Gary, Indiana for several years. He has informed The Chess Drum that he will host monthly tournaments. The next event will take place on July 27th at the Gary Public Library. Some of the players will be Bernard Parham (2.Qh5 fame), blitz legend Sam Ford and FM Aleksandar Stamnov.

How does white get a win from this position?

Endgame study by Prokes, 1944. White to play and win.

RB Is there anything more headache-inducing than an endgame study? And the simpler the position, the more intense the pain. I think, after almost an hour, that I've found the first three moves of the winning sequence, but I can't seem to find the knockout blow.

1 Kf6 seems obvious and good – go for the diagonal opposition! Since 1...g5 loses immediately to 2 Kg6, Black's only move is 1...Kh7. Now 2 g4 is equally obvious (after 2 h4 h5 White can make no further progress). Black has only two options, and since 2...h5 allows 3 g5, when the black king will be forced to retreat to the back rank and White will gobble up the pawns, 2...g5 is the sensible continuation. Now, I thought, I have him: 3 Kf7, gaining the opposition and forcing the king away from the defence of the pawns. Except there's a flaw in the plan: Black doesn't have to retreat but can play 3...h5 when White has nothing more than a draw after 4 gxh5 Kh6.

DK I don't share Ronan's feelings about so-called "simple positions". With so few pieces on the board I always feel I have a chance to find the truth in the position, just by the mechanical process of elimination.

Actually Ronan has almost cracked it. His logic is impeccable and has brought him to 1 Kf6 Kh7 2 g4 g5 3 Kf7 h5 – but this is no draw. White wins using a similar breakthrough to Magnus Carlsen's in last week's game. It's extremely rare that two chess games are identical, but patterns do recur. 4 h4! is the very visual winning move. The main variation runs 4...gxh4 5 g5 h3 6 g6+ Kh6 7 g7 h2 8 g8(Q) h1(Q) 9 Qg6 checkmate. After 4 h4 Black could try 4...Kh6 but White wins with 5 Kf6 gxh4 6 g5+ Kh7 7 Kf7 transposing to the line above.

Incidentally, in the starting position 1 Kf7 would only draw: 1...Kh7 2 g4 g5 3 Kf6 h5! 4 Kxg5 (in this case 4 h4 gxh4 5 g5+ Kg8 even wins for Black) 4...hxg4 5 hxg4 Kg7 gaining the opposition with a standard drawing position.

chess@guardian.co.uk