El torneo que nunca falla

Aronián, Gélfand, Leinier y Vallejo darán 
espectáculo en el Auditorio 

LEONTXO GARCÍA (Jefe de Comunicación)

Muy pocos torneos de élite se han celebrado durante 23 años consecutivos, como el Ciudad de León, donde el ajedrez ha echado raíces en el tejido social que ni siquiera la crisis económica logra romper. Cuatro primeros espadas –Levon Aronián (Armenia, 1982), Borís Gélfand (Israel, 1968), Leinier Domínguez (Cuba, 1983) y Paco Vallejo (España, 1982)- convertirán el deporte mental en un espectáculo rápido y vibrante, de nuevo en el magnífico Auditorio y con televisión en directo, del 3 al 7 de junio.

96 niños de diferentes lugares se acercaron el sábado hasta Collado Villalba para disputar la 3ª edición de este Festival de Ajedrez que organizan conjuntamente el Club 64 Villalba (http://www.ajedrez64villalba.com) y la Concejalia de Infancia y Juventud de Collado Villalba.

Desde Burgos, Ciudad Real, Segovia, Valladolid y por supuesto de todos los rincones de la Comunidad de Madrid se acercaron a jugar el torneo a pesar del mal tiempo que hacia, y es que el ajedrez es deporte de fin de semana y levanta pasiones entre los más pequeños de la casa y más sabiendo los premios que había, probablemente los mejores de toda la Comunidad junto con el Torneo Mirabal. En este caso a los 5 primeros clasificados les esperaban tableros electrónicos NOVAG, software de ajedrez como FRITZ12 y otros, libros de ajedrez…. Todo por supuesto aparte de su correspondiente trofeo, en total 28 premiados, 7 por cada categoría.

An interesting development is taking place at the European Individual Championships in Rijeka, Croatia. Participants in the tournament have shown their aversion to the “zero tolerance” rule which states that a player must be present when the round starts or suffer a forfeit. It was a matter of time before a protest would put an end to the policy. There would be nothing else to do if players held fast to the protest.

This issue became the focal point of a controversy at the 2008 Olympiad where FIDE instituted the rule change without testing it. There were about 20 forfeitures at the Olympiad and inconsistent rulings on the matter. A good percentage of the forfeits involved African and Caribbean teams.

There have been other high profile cases such as the Chinese Championship where Zhou Jianchao forfeited to Ding Liren, the eventual champion. Hou Yifan also forfeited despite being in the hall, but not at the board. Discussion on this issue has not abated since it had been imposed. The other getting a lot of attention was the policy on cell phones ringing. That rule has been widely accepted an automatic infraction and loss of game.

A petition was circulated and 110 players (more than 25% of total) signed in support of a 30-minute grace period. Organizer Damir Vrhovnik had this to say,

The organizers are trying to do their best for the sake of our players. In accordance to that, on the behalf of Organizing committee and myself, I support the participants’ request. However, this question is under the European Chess Union’s jurisdiction and therefore, they are the ones who must make the decision.

What does this mean? It probably means that the organizers will capitulate and make the allowance. FIDE rules do allow for flexibility and leave it to the discretion of the organizers. However, this is the first protest of the rule which is said to be draconian. At the 2008 Olympiad, there was a vote and the players voted overwhelmingly for a grace period.

One of the main problems with imposing this rule in Dresden, Germany was the fact that all federations were not housed in a village. In some cases, teams had to take an hour tram ride while others were within walking distance. Of course, there may be no such exception made at the 2010 Olympiad. However, the following regulation is still in the rulebook,

7.4 Start and finish of the session

Five minutes before play commences, the Tournament Director must announce the approaching start of the session by a double acoustic signal.

The beginning of the playing session shall be announced by a single acoustic signal. Once the signal for the start of the round has been given, the clock of the player with the white pieces shall be started by his opponent. If the player of the black pieces is not present at the appointed time, his clock shall be started by the player with white, but without any move being made by the latter. Then, when the player of the black pieces arrives, he shall start his opponents clock and the latter shall make his first move. If both players are absent, whites clock shall be started by the Match Arbiter. Any player arriving at the chessboard more than one hour late shall forfeit the game. If both players arrive more than one hour late, the game shall be declared lost for both of them.

FIDE: http://www.fide.com/fide/handbook?id=94&view=article
Main Site: http://www.eurorijeka2010.com/home
ChessBase: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6171

Having read mostly chess improvement books and opening manuals lately, I was delighted to see a new publication in the best tradition of chess writing: a serious tournament book. Strangely, it’s a tradition that seems rather unpopular these days – a very unfortunate development indeed.

The tournament book tradition has given us many classics, e.g. Bronstein on Zürich 1953, Alekhine on Nottingham 1936 and, more recently, Jan Timman on Curacao 1962. Nowadays, tournament books are a rare guest among the countless opening guides, chess tutorials and personal game collections. Still, a serious tournament report has many advantages over these other genres.

If a single game is like a newspaper column, and a game collection is like a short story, a collection of all games from one tournament is, in my view, like a full-grown novel, with different story-lines and intricate plots, small personal dramas and highlights, seemingly trivial details and an intricate plot leading up to a satisfying or thought-provoking finish. I would like you to see Mihail Marin and Yuri Garrett’s Reggio Emilia 2007/2008, published by Quality Chess, as an intriguing and well-written novel, rather than ‘just another’ chess book on the market.

On of the characteristics of a good tournament book is that all games are seriously analysed. As Garrett, the tournament’s technical director, writes in the introduction, in the current book, 25 out of the total of 45 games are analysed by at least one of the combatants, 3 of them present the views of both players and the remaining 20 have been annotated by GM Mihail Marin.

One of the very nice things is of this is that quick, ‘boring’ draws are also seriously analysed. This is something you don’t see in regular game collections or in New in Chess magazine, but I’ve always found it very instructive to see how the big guys make these draws, especially with such an outstanding explicator as Marin commenting them:

Korchnoi-Almasi
Reggio Emilia (2) 2007

How realistic are White’s chances of retaining even a tiny edge? In the absence of knights, there is no way to take advantage of the relative weakness of the d6-square. Speaking about “ifs”, under certain circumstances a knight jump to f6 would have been devastating. The way it is, I see only one (highly unrealistic) possibility: exchange all the rooks in order to avoid any form of counterplay, install the queen on e4 to dominate both wings, and advance (by some miracle) the b-pawn to b5, in order to put the black pawns placed on dark squares in potential danger. Admittedly, there is no way all this could happen.

16.Bxb7 Maybe Korchnoi’s initial intention was to keep control of the long diagonal with 16.Qf3. However, in this case he would have lost control of another important avenue, the d-file, after 16…Bxe4 17.Qxe4 Rad8 18.Rad1 Rd7! followed by …Rfd8. This would also have led to plain equality.

16…Qxb7 17.Qe2 Rfd8 18.Rad1 Qc6 19.f4 g6 20.Qg2 This is the only way to try to activate his position, but the almost complete simplifications that follow lead to a dead draw.

20…Qxg2+ 21.Kxg2 h5 22.Kf3 Kf8 23.Ke4 Rxd1 24.Rxd1 Rd8 25.Rxd8+ Bxd8 26.h3 Ke8 27.g4 hxg4 28.hxg4 Kd7 When this position was reached, Korchnoi said in a loud voice, “What can I do?” A draw was agreed.

Of course, the tournament not only consisted of solid draws, but also of some very spectacular and beautiful chess. And again, Marin takes us by the hand towards a crystal-clear understanding of the games.

Almasi-Marin
Reggio Emilia (5), 2008

28.e6! White sacrifices his central pawn to clear the e5-square for his knight and make the e-file available for his rook. Black’s contorted piece coordination, which was quite functional in the closed position before Almasi’s breakthrough, will soon lead me to defeat. (…)

28….Qxe6 29.Ne5 c6 To tell the truth, I was still optimistic at this point, especially since, judging from his physical reaction, I knew Almasi had overlooked this defensive resource. My pleasant state of mind was not altered by his next strong move.

30.Bd2!! I would have enjoyed playing one of my favourite type of defensive positions – an exchange down – after 30.Nxg6 hxg6. Then Black has practically no weaknesses and his structure is much better than White’s. Moreover, if the black knight reaches the e4-square, White would be in trouble.

In this fragment, we see Marin at his best. He honestly describes his emotions yet manages to stay objective all the time, enabling him to explain the technical details without ever becoming boring or repetitive. He also shows a constant concern for the reader trying to make assessments of the arising positions. Marin even comes to the rescue in annotations by the other participants, when they have not been explicit enough to Marin’s satisfaction. The very first game of the book is a good example: Zoltan Almasi analyses his victory over Pentala Harikrishna in a solid, but rather clinical fashion, so Marin jumps in at several points in the analysis to add useful comments like “It may seem that Black has regrouped his forces harmoniously and his kingside counterplay is developing without problems. However, White’s space advantage in the centre and on the queenside should not be underestimated.”

Reggio Emilia 2007/2008 (it started on December 29, 2007) was in many ways perfect for a tournament book. Not only were there a number of world-class players such as Vugar Gashimov and David Navara, but also the legendary Viktor Korchnoi was present, as well as two rising stars from Asia (Pentala Harakrishna and Ni Hua), and of course Mihail Marin himself. As is good practice in a literary review, I won’t give away the ending of the ‘novel’, nor any other spoilers. In the end, however, it’s the moves and the games that tell the story of this tournament, not the results.

I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself into this tournament (even though I had never seen a single game from it before), identifying with the players and the problems they were facing during the games, and I suddenly felt it as a real loss that such books are hardly ever written anymore these days. I think a tournament book is the closest a chessplayer can come to identifying with fictional characters, and it’s a true pleasure to be able to enjoy the excitement of chess for once without having to think about improving my own game or updating my opening or endgame knowledge. This is simply top level chess entertainment.

Apart from the tournament itself (the heart of the book) there are numerous interesting extras in Reggio Emilia 2007/2008, such as excellent interviews with the players, a history of the Reggio Emilia tournament (including some memorable games from past editions) and a sympathetic description by Garrett of how this particular tournament was organised. Garrett is a keep observer who not only loves to watch the games but also the players themselves:

It was also interesting to witness the cultural differences between the players, ranging from Almasi’s assertive comments to the hesitant and modest ones by the Chinese warrior, Ni Hua (…). Gashimov whispered his fascinating comments, which were charcterized by a wildly tactical approach (albeit with that raw touch so typical of the young player who has yet to fully exploit his potential).

I hope readers will consider buying this very charming book; perhaps it will energize publishers to publish more serious tournament reports. It’s too beautiful a tradition to be written off already.

Links

• Get yourself a copy of Reggio Emilia 2007/2008
• Read more book reviews

Naiditsch, Vallejo, Jobava, Pelletier, Timofeev, Martinovic, Skoberne, Krasenkow, Inarkiev, Nisipeanu, Efimenko, Maiorov and Nepomniachtchi are the names of the thirteen players who are still on 100% in Rijeka. Three rounds at the European Individual Championship have been played.

The 11th European Individual Men and Women’s Chess Championship is held from 5th to 19th of March 2010 in Rijeka, in new Zamet Centre sports hall. The event is organized by chess club “Rijeka”, in agreement with the Croatian Chess Federation under the auspices of the City of Rijeka and the European Chess Union. It is open to all players representing the chess federations which comprise the European Chess Union (FIDE zones 1.1 to 1.9) regardless of their title or rating. There is also no limit of participants per federation.

The championship is based on Swiss system in accordance with the ECU Tournament Rules and FIDE Rules of Chess. The rate of play is 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. As always, the European Championship is a qualification event for the next World Cup. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 22 players will qualify.

Rounds 1-3

Top seed Zoltan Almasi started with a draw with Black against Italian GM Lexy Ortega. In this first round, played on Saturday, Russian top GMs Alexander Motylev and Evgeny Tomashevsky, the reigning European Champion, also started with draws. The biggest upsets were IM Artem Smirnov beating GM Evgeniy Najer, IM Pavel Potapov beating Viktor Laznicka, FM Burak Firat beating GM Konstantin Sakaev and FM Danny Raznikov beating GM Zaven Andriasian. On one of the lowest boards, Dutch GM Friso Nijboer was held to a draw by Denis Kadric (2171).

The second round saw two draws on the top boards, in Stefansson-Bacrot and Movsesian-Ragger. Moldav top GM Viktor Bologan lost to Bulgarian GM Valentin Iotov and GM Avetik Grigoryan defeated GM Kiril Georgiev. Ivan Cheparinov, long-time team member of Veselin Topalov, lost to Spanish GM Josep Manuel Lopez Martinez, but another Bulgarian of the same generation did better: IM Momchil Nikolov defeated GM Boris Savchenko. FM Hamitevici Vladimir managed to beat GM Mateusz Bartel in this round.

Round 3 was played on International Women’s Day, and all the women playing in the tournament received a rose “as a small sign of appreciation to all women players and all the ladies participating in the organization of this big sporting event”.

Dutch ladies Lisa Schut, Anne Haast and Arlette van Weersel, with roses at the chess boards

In the women’s section there are four leaders with a perfect score after three rounds: Tatiana Kosintseva (RUS), who is the only survivor from the ten best rated players, Monica Socko (POL), Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (SCO) and Irina Chelushkina (SRB).

Back to the men. After three rounds there are still 13 players with a 100% score. Among them are the two young international masters Sasa Martinovic (CRO) and Jure Skoberne (SLO) who in round 3 defeated GMs Vorobiov and Howell respectively. David Navara, these days boasting a 2708 rating, lost to Yannick Pelletier yesterday. Cheparinov went down again, this time against IM Artem Smirnov. IM Pavel Povatov and FM Burak Firat had more successes: the former defeated GM Tomi Nyback, the latter beat GM Gregorz Gajewski.

Today’s round will see some interesting encounters: Vallejo Pons-Timofeev, Krasenkow-Jobava, Naiditsch-Efimenko, Pelletier-Inarkiev, Skoberne-Nisipeanu, Nepomniashtchi-Maiorov and Adams-Martinovic. In the women’s section there are two clashes at the top: Arakhamia-T.Kosintseva and Socko-Chelushkina.

A nice curiosity about the European Individual Men and Women’s Chess Championship in Rijeka

For the first time, there will be a ‘priest’ to represent – unofficially – the State of Vaticano. Unofficially because Vaticano is not (yet) affiliated to FIDE.

The name of the priest who will partecipate to the European Championship is Don Valerio Piro, from Neapolis; he got the formal authorization from Cardinal Sepe (note that Cardinal is more than Bishop; the Cardinal reports directly to the Pope).

Don Valerio is candidate-master for the Italian Chess Federation. Officially he is registered as Italy, but he will play with the flag of Vaticano. This is the first partecipation of a representative of the little State that is not afffiliated to FIDE. But only for the moment, as there are many priest that are good chessplayer.

Historically, the first (important) was Ruy Lopez – the inventor of the famous opening. The last one is William Lombardy, assistant of Bobby Fischer.

There is the idea to organize a championship for ‘ecclesiastics’ (priests, friars, monks, nuns), then there will be the possibility to create a Chess Federation of the state of Vaticano. So may be that it will be possible to see a team fom Vaticano also in the Olympiads.

The news had a good interest in the Italian newspapers and press agency. Please find enclosed the links (sorry, but the articles are in Italian!). Please note that the most important ‘catholic’ newspaper, Avvenire, dedicated a complete page to the news.

• http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/regioni/campania/2010/02/28/visualizza_new.html_1709041681.html
• http://napoli.repubblica.it/dettaglio/scacchi-parroco-di-boscotrecase-primo-sacerdote-agli-europei/1875352
• http://www.ilvesuvio.it/index.php?page=0&news=8711
• http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/Regioni/Campania/Prete-ai-Campionati-europei-di-scacchi-Al-mio-rientro-lezioni-in-parrocchia_70956501.html
• http://www.libero-news.it/regioneespanso.jsp?id=360194

Thanks and best regards!
Adolivio Capece

Selection of games rounds 1-3

Game viewer by ChessTempo

The venue is the Zamet Centre (16,830 m2), which hosts various facilities: a sports hall with max 2,380 seats, local community offices, a library, 13 retail and service spaces and a garage with 250 parking spaces.

These days the sports hall is occupied with tables, seats and chess sets...

...and hundreds of chess players

Croatian chess fans watching the games from the side

Vallejo Pons, from Linares to Rijeka, with Michael Adams next to him

Local hero GM Marin Bosiocic (r.), here against GM Ernesto Inarkiev, has many fans

Top seed GM Antoaneta Stefanova (l.), here against WGM Sopiko Guramishvili

Second seeded is IM Nadezhda Kosintseva, but another favourite...

...is her sister Tatiana, two times European Champion already

Photos courtesy of the official website, more here

Links

• Official website
• All details and statistics
• Games in PGN: Men | Women via TWIC

GM Pontus Carlsson (Sweden)

Pontus Carlsson of Sweden is currently competing in the European Individual Championship being held in Croatia. The tournament is extremely strong despite not featuring any of the top 20 players in the world. Carlsson sits in the #204 position in a field of 408 participants. Carlsson has been playing sparingly in the past year and is trying to get back on track.

GM Zoltan Almasi of Hungary is the top seed at 2720. There are some rising young Grandmasters in the lineup such as Fabiano Caruana (Italy) along with Anish Giri (Netherlands) and Eltaj Safarli (Azerbaijan). They will be looking to make an impact among the approximately 200 Grandmasters vying for the prestigious title.

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr29567.aspx
Official Website: http://www.eurorijeka2010.com/

• Live
  
• Caruana - GM Potkin
• Femminile
• MI Cmityle - Sedina
  

Si disputa oggi il quarto turno del Campionato Europeo. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale dove i lettori potranno commentare le partite.
Per sapere cosa è successo nel terzo turno, clicca QUI

GM Caruana, Fabiano (ITA, 2680) - GM Potkin, Vladimir (RUS, 2606)  Siciliana Scheveningen [Stefano Bellincampi/Megalovic] 
1. e4 c5 2. Cf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Cxd4 Cc6 5. Cc3 a6 6. Ae3 Cf6 7. Ae2 d6 8. f4 Ad7 Fabiano, con posposizione di mosse, è rientrato in una Siciliana Scheveningen nella quale il nero sta ritardando - contrariamente al solito - lo sviluppo del lato di re. Infatti dopo 8..Ad7 Fabiano sta analizzando da un pò. 9. g4 E infatti parte l'attacco con 9.g4!. Secondo me ha giocato g4 perchè il cavallo nero non può andare in d7. E' vero che forse Potkin può giocare 9..Cxd4 e 10..Ac6, ma Fabiano vuole sfruttare l'ordine di mosse del nero 9..h6 Ora è chiaro che il nero non potrà arroccare corto, come del resto Fabiano, che immagino giocherà Dd2 e 0-0-0 10. h4 Dc7 11. Dd2 b5 12. a3 Ca5 a questo punto Caruana potrebbe decide di arroccare lungo o di accendere la miccia giocando 13. e5 13. e5 dxe5 14. fxe5 Dxe5 15. Af4 Dc5 16. b4 De7 17. bxa5 e5 18. Cdxb5 axb5 19.

MI Cmilyte, Viktorija (LTU, 2485) - MI Sedina, Elena (ITA, 2334)
difesa slava
1. Cf3 Cf6 2. c4 c6 3. d4 d5 4. Cc3 dxc4 5. a4 Af5 6. Ch4 Ac8 7. e3 e5 8. Axc4 exd4 9. exd4 De7+ 10. Ae2 Dc7 11.  Ag5 Cbd7 12. Dd2 Ad6 13. De3+ Rf8 14. Cf5 h6 15. Ah4 Cb6 16. Cxd6 Dxd6 17. De5
 
Tempo di Riflessione 90' x 40 mosse + 30' per terminare la partita + 30" di incremento per mossa a partire dalla prima mossa.

Viktorija Cmilyte, l'avversaria di Elena Sedina

Safarlj e Golod, gli avversari di Shytaj e Dvirnyy

Ivan Cheparinov. Dopo un inizio non esaltante il bulgaro oggi affronterà Corrado Astengo

1	5		GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	ESP	2708	3		3	GM	Timofeev Artyom	RUS	2655		36
2	37		GM	Krasenkow Michal	POL	2652	3		3	GM	Jobava Baadur	GEO	2695		10
3	11		GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	GER	2691	3		3	GM	Efimenko Zahar	UKR	2640		48
4	83		GM	Pelletier Yannick	SUI	2611	3		3	GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	RUS	2667		24
5	175		IM	Skoberne Jure	SLO	2509	3		3	GM	Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter	ROU	2661		28

8	15		GM	Caruana Fabiano	ITA	2680	2½		2½	GM	Potkin Vladimir	RUS	2606		89
69	209		IM	Shytaj Luca	ITA	2472	2		2	GM	Safarli Eltaj	AZE	2606		90
76	219		IM	Dvirnyy Daniyyl	ITA	2450	2		2	GM	Golod Vitali	ISR	2590		102
128	33		GM	Cheparinov Ivan	BUL	2657	1		1½		Astengo Corrado	ITA	2136		345
109	135		GM	Godena Michele	ITA	2561	1½		1½	IM	Kargin Arseny	RUS	2400		256
114	149		GM	Brkic Ante	CRO	2543	1½		1½	FM	Bentivegna Francesco	ITA	2361		276
151	251		IM	Reutsky Sergei	RUS	2404	1		1		Pantaleoni Claudio	ITA	2179		336
155	257			Nedilko Vasily	UKR	2400	1		1	FM	Barlocco Carlo	ITA	2173		337
161	274		IM	Lanzani Mario	ITA	2371	1		1		Neagos Raul-Alexandru	ROU	2110		350
164	279		FM	Valsecchi Alessio	ITA	2360	1		1		Hetzer Volkhard	GER	2091		355
134	312			Feher Adam	HUN	2260	1		1	IM	Brunello Sabino	ITA	2476		205
138	320			Sgnaolin Davide	ITA	2234	1		1	IM	Vernay Clovis	FRA	2440		224
145	328			Sheskin Matan	ISR	2207	1		1	IM	Piscopo Pierluigi	ITA	2418		242
176	338			Kadric Denis	BIH	2171	½		½	GM	Ortega Lexy	ITA	2479		203

8	13		IM	Cmilyte Viktorija	LTU	2485	2½		2½	IM	Sedina Elena	ITA	2334		56
44	60		IM	Zimina Olga	ITA	2319	1½		1½	WGM	Przezdziecka Marta	POL	2254		98
42	115		WIM	Brunello Marina	ITA	2217	1½		1½	WGM	Charkhalashvili Inga	GEO	2338		54
72	118		WIM	Kazimova Narmin	AZE	2212	½		½		Brunello Roberta	ITA	2043		143
74	144			Tonel Giulia	ITA	2023	½		0	WGM	Nemcova Katerina	CZE	2264		89

sito ufficiale

Live Stream

risultati su chessresult

 articoli di presentazione di Angelmann  

 Report fotografico di Ruigino Tonel

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

Alexander Morozevich has withdrawn from the Amber tournament, which starts in six days from now in Nice, France. The Russian is replaced by his compatriot Alexander Grischuk. To get you a bit in the mood already, today we present a video with footage from 2008 and 2009.

The 19th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament takes place at the Palais de la Mediterranée in Nice, France, from March 12 to 25, 2010. The event is organized by the Association Max Euwe of chess maecenas Joop van Oosterom, which is based in Monaco. The total prize-fund is € 216,000.

The world’s number one player, Magnus Carlsen, is the top-seed in Nice. Also present are Levon Aronian, the winner of the past two Amber tournaments, and Vladimir Kramnik, who won the Amber tournament a record six times.

The following twelve grandmasters will take part (between brackets their country and their rating in the March 1, 2010 world rankings): Magnus Carlsen (Norway, 2813), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia, 2790), Levon Aronian (Armenia, 2782), Alexander Grischuk (Russia, 2756), Boris Gelfand (Israel, 2750), Peter Svidler (Russia, 2750), Vasily Ivanchuk (Ukraine, 2748), Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan, 2740), Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine, 2737), Sergey Karjakin (Russia, 2725), Leinier Dominguez (Cuba, 2713) and Jan Smeets (The Netherlands, 2651).

Every day four sessions will be played, two blindfold sessions and two rapid sessions. The first session starts at 14.30 CET. The fourth session finishes around 20.00 CET. The final round on March 25 starts at 12.30 CET. March 17 and 22 are rest days. The rate of play is 25 minutes per game per player. With every move made in the blindfold games 20 seconds is added to the clock, with every move made in the rapid games 10 seconds is added.

Below you’ll find an appetizer video. Like in previous years, many more will be posted on the official website during the tournament. Besides, you can expect something new this year: live chess with audio commentary, streaming footage from the playing hall and live commentary sessions with the top GMs!

Video

Link

• Official website

• Dvirnyy patta con il GM Salgado Lopez e sale a 2!
• Corrado Astengo batte il MI Pancevski
  
• Femminile
• Sedina - MI Mariya Muzychuk 1/2
  

Nel terzo turno Caruana si prende un giorno di riposo e, con il nero, patta velocemente con il GM Aleksandrov (2601). Prosegue l'ottimo torneo di Dvirnyy che patta, sempre con il nero, con il giovane Grande Maestro spagnolo Ivan Salgado Lopez (2592).

Come da pronostico, vince Shytaj che raggiunge Danyyl a quota 2. Godena patta, con il nero, con il MF Bajarani (2395). Michele sale cose a quota 1.5 insieme a Bentivegna che patta con il MI ungherse Banusz (2517). Termina con una patta anche il derby tra Brunello e Lanzani. La sorpresa negativa arriva da Ortega, che con il bianco perde contro il MF austriaco Platzgummer. Anche da Piscopo ci si aspettava qualcosa in più di una patta con il bileorusso Elkin (2189)

Tra i tanti italiani venuti a Rijeka senza particolari ambizioni, da segnalare la vittoria di Corrado Astengo contro il MI Pancevski (2423)!

Femminile giornata meno felice delle precedenti per la comitiva delle ragazze. Perdono la Zimina, Marina Brunello e la Tonel. La Sedina patta con Mariya Muzychuk e resta nelle zone alte della classifica mentre questa volta è Roberta Brunello ad ottenere un buon risultato: patta con la WGM croata Medic.

Per sapere cosa è successo nel secondo turno, clicca QUI


GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej (BLR, 2601) - GM Caruana, Fabiano (ITA, 2680)
difesa slava
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Cf3 Cf6 4. e3 Af5 5. Ad3 Axd3 6. Dxd3 e6 7. O-O Cbd7 8. b3 Ce4 9. Cfd2 f5 10. f3 Cxd2 11. Cxd2 Ad6 12. e4 Dh4 13. g3 implicita proposta di patta, confidando che dopo il sacrificio di alfiere in g3 il nero dia il perpetuo con la donna Axg3 14. hxg3 Dxg3+ 15. Rh1 Dh3+ 16.Rg1 Dg3+ Caruana decide di non andare a scoprire se il nero abbia chance di vittoria dopo la cattura del pe4, e si prende una giornata di riposo 1/2


MI Sedina, Elena (ITA, 2334) - MI Muzychuk Maria (UKR, 2444)
Francese Tarrasch

GM Dzagnidze, Nana (GEO, 2479)  - MI Zimina, Olga (ITA, 2319) 
gambetto di donna rifiutato

Il diciannovenne Grande Maestro spagnolo Ivan Salgado Lopez
L'avversario di Dvirnyy

Mariya Muzychuk, Nana Dzagnidze e Svetlana Matveeva
le avversarie di Sedina, Zimina e Marina Brunello


una panormaica della sede di gioco

1	4		GM	Navara David	CZE	2708	2		2	GM	Pelletier Yannick	SUI	2611		83
2	88		GM	Saric Ivan	CRO	2607	2		2	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	ESP	2708		5
3	89		GM	Potkin Vladimir	RUS	2606	2		2	GM	Adams Michael	ENG	2704		7
4	10		GM	Jobava Baadur	GEO	2695	2		2	GM	Kotronias Vasilios	GRE	2593		99
5	90		GM	Safarli Eltaj	AZE	2606	2		2	GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	GER	2691		11

6	94		GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej	BLR	2601	2		2	GM	Caruana Fabiano	ITA	2680		15
69	100		GM	Salgado Lopez Ivan	ESP	2592	1½		1½	IM	Dvirnyy Daniyyl	ITA	2450		219
102	136		GM	Maslak Konstantin	RUS	2560	1		1	FM	Valsecchi Alessio	ITA	2360		279
149	203		GM	Ortega Lexy	ITA	2479	½		½	FM	Platzgummer Fabian	AUT	2383		269
150	205		IM	Brunello Sabino	ITA	2476	½		½	IM	Lanzani Mario	ITA	2371		274
135	209		IM	Shytaj Luca	ITA	2472	1		1		Feher Adam	HUN	2260		312
160	242		IM	Piscopo Pierluigi	ITA	2418	½		½		Elkin Leonid	BLR	2189		334
101	262		FM	Bajarani Ulvi	AZE	2395	1		1	GM	Godena Michele	ITA	2561		135
113	276		FM	Bentivegna Francesco	ITA	2361	1		1	IM	Banusz Tamas	HUN	2517		161

16	14		GM	Dzagnidze Nana	GEO	2479	1½		1½	IM	Zimina Olga	ITA	2319		60
29	42		IM	Matveeva Svetlana	RUS	2373	1½		1½	WIM	Brunello Marina	ITA	2217		115
7	56		IM	Sedina Elena	ITA	2334	2		2	IM	Muzychuk Mariya	UKR	2444		25
66	114		WIM	Ivakhinova Inna	RUS	2218	½		½		Tonel Giulia	ITA	2023		144
68	143			Brunello Roberta	ITA	2043	0		0	WGM	Medic Mirjana	CRO	2279		83

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Le 24ème open international d'échecs "Pierre & Vacances" de Cannes se déroule du 28 février au 7 mars dans le cadre festif du Festival International des Jeux.

Au programme, trois tournois d'échecs, échelonnés par niveau de classement Elo: l'Open A (Elo 2200 et plus), l'Open B (2100 et moins), et l'Open C (1600 et moins) en 9 rondes.

Dans le tournoi majeur, le grand-maître français Tigran Gharamian (en photo ci-contre) s'impose au départage devant le Belge Vadim Malakhatko et le surprenant Indien Deep Sengupta, tous trois à 7 points sur 9. Dans le tournoi B, Franck Gertioso est déclaré vainqueur, et la Russe Natalia Borisova s'adjuge le tournoi C avec 9 points sur 9!

Hicham Hamdouchi 2601 (6)  1/2 Tigran Gharamian 2609 (6½) 
Deep Sengupta    2480 (6½) 1/2 Christian Bauer  2610 (6) 
Alexandr Fier    2601 (6)  0-1 Vadim Malakhatko 2549 (6) 

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• Live h.15:30
• Caruana - GM Evdokimov
• Godena - Inarkiev
• Femminile
• MI Mkrtchian - Sedina
• Marina Brunello - MI Khurtsidze

Si disputa oggi il secondo turno del Campionato Europeo individuale. L'andamento del primo turno è stato, per i nostri colori, molto più positivo di quanto dica il 7.5/27 ottenuto complessivamente dai giocatori italiani. Gli azzurri erano, infatti, nettamente svantaggiati dal pronostico in ben 22 scacchiere.

Nel secondo turno Caruana è chiamato subito a dare continuità al suo cammino. Se si vuole puntare in alto non si può, con il bianco, rallentare con il GM Evdokimov. Impegno ben più arduo per Godena che affronterà il Grande Maestro russo Inarkiev. Entrambe le partite verranno trasmesse in diretta. Dvirnyy, terzo ed ultimo italiano ad aver conquistato l'intera posta in palio nel primo turno,  se la vedrà con il GM Arutinian.

Dopo le prestigiose patte del primo turno, Ortega, Piscopo e Lanzani proveranno a confermarsi contro tre giocatori sulla carta nettamente più forti: Volokitin, Postny e Romain. Dopo le preventivabili sconfitte del primo turno, Brunello e Shytaj si troveranno di fronte a due giocatori non titolati. 

Torneo Femminile La Sedina e Marina Brunello incontreranno due Maestri Internazionali di alto livello: l'armena Mkrtchian e la georgiana Khurtsidze. Le partite di ambedue le nostre rappresentanti verranno trasmesse in diretta.

Volokitin, Postny e Romain
tre scogli durissimi per Ortega Piscopo e Lanzani

 Mkrtchian e Khurtsidze
due temibili avversarie per la Sedina e Marina Brunello

deep thought
una bella immagine tratta dal sito ufficiale

II turno, prime scacchiere

1	120		GM	Stefansson Hannes	ISL	2574		GM	Bacrot Etienne	FRA	2714		2
2	3		GM	Movsesian Sergei	SVK	2709		GM	Ragger Markus	AUT	2572		122
3	121		GM	Nevednichy Vladislav	ROU	2572		GM	Navara David	CZE	2708		4
4	5		GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	ESP	2708		GM	Ruck Robert	HUN	2570		124
5	7		GM	Adams Michael	ENG	2704		GM	Jankovic Alojzije	CRO	2569		126

Incontri degli italiani

11	15		GM	Caruana Fabiano	ITA	2680		GM	Evdokimov Alexander A	RUS	2564		132
19	135		GM	Godena Michele	ITA	2561		GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	RUS	2667		24
81	219		IM	Dvirnyy Daniyyl	ITA	2450		GM	Arutinian David	GEO	2576		114
90	13		GM	Volokitin Andrei	UKR	2687		GM	Ortega Lexy	ITA	2479		203
97	47		GM	Postny Evgeny	ISR	2641		IM	Piscopo Pierluigi	ITA	2418		242
107	75		GM	Edouard Romain	FRA	2617		IM	Lanzani Mario	ITA	2371		274
121	85		GM	Andriasian Zaven	ARM	2609			Sgnaolin Davide	ITA	2234		320

124	324			Mihalinec Damir	CRO	2232		IM	Brunello Sabino	ITA	2476		205
127	328			Sheskin Matan	ISR	2207		IM	Shytaj Luca	ITA	2472		209

Incontri delle italiane

6	7		IM	Mkrtchian Lilit	ARM	2503		IM	Sedina Elena	ITA	2334		56
24	115		WIM	Brunello Marina	ITA	2217		IM	Khurtsidze Nino	GEO	2434		28
46	60		IM	Zimina Olga	ITA	2319		WFM	Cherednichenko Elena	UKR	2100		140
49	125		WIM	Solic Kristina	CRO	2192			Tonel Giulia	ITA	2023		144
66	143			Brunello Roberta	ITA	2043			Papp Petra	HUN	2263		90

Regolamento

Calendario Il torneo si disputa sulla lunghezza di 11 turni (6-17 marzo). L'inizio delle partite è previsto per le ore 15:30. Unico giorno di riposo sabato 13 marzo. Il 18 marzo si svolgeranno gli eventuali Tie-breaks.

Criteri di spareggio in caso di arrivo a pari merito sono previsti i seguenti criteri di spareggio tecnico:
a)  Median-Buchholz 1
b)  Buchholz
c)  Numero di vittorie 
d) Punteggio Progressivo.

Spareggi Rapid sono previsti gli spareggi (15'+10" per mossa) solo per stabilire:
a)  il Campione Europeo
b)  i vincitori di Medaglie
c)  I qualificati (22) alla prossima World Cup.

Tempo di Riflessione 90' x 40 mosse + 30' per terminare la partita + 30" di incremento per mossa a partire dalla prima mossa. 

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Baby, let's quit playing chess,
You've been to my address,
You keep checking me out,
I wanna get loud,
Stop playing mouse and cat,
I'm telling you that,
I'm gonna win,
I'm checking you in

Today the first round of the European Individual Men and Women’s Chess Championship will be played. In Rijeka (Croatia), Almasi, Bacrot and Movsesian are the top seeds. In the women’s section the favourites are Antoaneta Stefanova, Nadezhda Kosintseva and Anna Muzychuk.

The 11th European Individual Men and Women’s Chess Championship will be held from 5th to 19th of March 2010 in Rijeka, in new sports hall „Center Zamet“.

The event is organized by chess club “Rijeka”, in agreement with the Croatian Chess Federation under the auspices of the City of Rijeka and the European Chess Union. It is open to all players representing the chess federations which comprise the European Chess Union (FIDE zones 1.1 to 1.9) regardless of their title or rating. There is also no limit of participants per federation.

The championship will be based on Swiss system in accordance with the ECU Tournament Rules and FIDE Rules of Chess. The playing time will be 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. As always, the European Championship is a qualification event for the next World Cup. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 22 players will qualify.

Yesterday the opening ceremony was held at the Sports Centre Zamet in Rijeka. From the organizers’ press release:

The Championship was officially opened with the symbolic first move by Rijeka’s Mayor Vojko Obersnel who pointed out that the City of Rijeka, the neighbouring City of Opatija and the entire Region shall live the next two weeks in the rhythm of this Championship. He also said that the hosts can not wait to show their hospitality to all the chess enthusiasts. Obersnel wished good luck and a lot of success to all the players, wishing that this event will be unforgettable for them.

A warm welcome was also offered by the Executive Committee President Damir Vrhovnik who said that it is a special pleasure to host 590 chess players coming from 41 different European countries, among whom there are 246 grandmasters, and that this confirms that this Championship in Rijeka is the strongest male and female chess championship ever held in the organization of the European Chess Union. “I believe that this chess spectacle, along with invested efforts and our wish for its best possible organization will position Rijeka and Croatia on the European chess map”, Vrhovnik concluded.

Representing Croatian Chess Federation, its president Stjepan Šurlan greeted the guests and pointed out how this Championship is a great honour for Rijeka, as well as for the Federation, which is proud of its rich tradition and organization of chess competitions.

The President of European Chess Federation, Boris Kutin, pointed out that there is no need to be a chess expert to understand that in this moment Rijeka is the capital of the chess world. “I wish everyone a pleasant stay, good luck and success, but also to enjoy the competition“, Kutin said.

A musical introduction to the typical local atmospehere of the city and the region that hosts this competition was given by a fenale capella group singers Klapa Luka, and at the end, the ceremony was closed by the dance group Flash Dance Unit.

Today the 1st round starts at 15.30 PM. Live games here.

Links

• Official website
• All details and statistics

Chess players love wooden chess sets for their massive, easy-playing pieces, their obvious superiority over cheap plastic stuff and their distinguished classical look. But what about their sustainability?

I got interested in this question after seeing an advertisement for a truly magnificent chess set called the ‘Endangered Parrots of the World Chess Set’. Created by Grant Dawson Collections in the United States, it is “hand made from certified sustainable North American hardwoods (walnut and maple), food safe natural finishes with recycled glass ball feet, and features 32 lead-free pewter playing pieces finished in 24k gold or sterling silver.”

The set is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, but it’s not exactly cheap: if you’re interested, you can buy it here for the nice sum of $5000. It’ll buy you this:

Endangered Parrots of the World Chess Set

That’s much more expensive, for instance, than the slightly less serious Freshwater vs. Saltwater Fish Chess Set or the various Animal Chess Sets that are sold on the internet. (”Endangered species will live on, healthy and free, in your own controlled temperature living room. Beware if you lose a piece or you could be in trouble with the Feds.”)

This is all good fun, of course (in fact, I can’t help mentioning a marvellous – if not really environmentally ‘correct’ – Through the Looking-Glass chess set, with pieces vanishing as soon as they are captured!) – but what about regular, Staunton-style chess sets?

I personally became interested in deforestation and sustainability issues after a visit a few years ago to Easter Island (which was completely deforested by its original people) and after reading Jared Diamond’s influential book Collapse (2005) about the collapse of great civilizations in the past and present, which deals about deforestation in great detail. As Diamond writes:

More than half of the world’s original area of forest has already been converted to other uses, and at present conversion rates one-quarter of the forests that remain will become converted within the next half-century. Those losses of forests represent losses for us humans, especially because forests provide us with timber and other raw materials, and because they provide us with so-called ecosystem services such as protecting our watersheds, protecting soil against erosion, constituting essential steps in the water cycle that generates much of our rainfall, and providing habitat for most terrestial plant and animal species. Deforestation was a or the major factor in all the collapses of past societies described in this book.

I tried searching for the word ’sustainable’ on a couple of well-known chess vendor sites such as The House of Staunton and the online shop of the London Chess Centre, but got a No products matched your search criteria in all cases. (One of the very few hits I got at all on Google was for a recyced chess set on Cool Gadgets.com. Pretty cool indeed, but hardly useful for even the smallest-sized chess tournament.)

I looked for more information online on the type of wood that’s used in chess sets. Again, it’s not easy finding out about this. On one site, I learned that “rosewood is a very popular type of wood used for chess men.” This would be bad news, since rosewood is in fact a tropical hardwood which is hugely overexploited. Still, a quick look at some retailer’s sites show that this is indeed one of the most commonly used wood for chess sets. According to the BBC,

The most reliable way to choose environmentally friendly timber and wooden products is to look out for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo. The FSC is a charity which certifies wood, paper and other tree products that have come from sustainability managed forests. (…) Wood from trees native to Europe, such as pine, oak, beech and birch, pose lower environment risks than those from tropical and subtropical trees such as mahogany, teak, rosewood and ebony.

The widely-used Digital DGT wooden boards are made of rosewood. On the website of the USCF Shop, too, most chess sets (both pieces and boards, and both ‘tournament’ and ‘luxury’ sets) seem to be made from rosewood, ebony or mahogany. And on this site, too, the word ’sustainable’ doesn’t return any pages. (There are ecologically sustainable types of rosewood, such as Santos Palisander, but again it is unclear (at best) whether this palisander type is used for the chess boards advertised on these websites.) In fact, one of the very few websites that explicity features ’sustainable chess sets’ is the English ShopWiki, which links the so-called Negiel Decorative Staunton Wooden Chess Set:

Folding wooden chess set by Negiel, comprising of an ornate stained wooden chess board and traditional Staunton style weighted chess pieces. Quality product made in Europe from carefully selected high quality sustainable wood.

The sustainable Negiel Staunton chess set doesn't look so bad, does it? (Apart from the wrongly placed king and queen, that is.)

It’s also quite cheap (certainly compared to the Endangered Parrots one!): £44.99, and it will be in stock from April this year on. But again, on the above-mentioned online shops, you’ll search in vain for the Negiel chess set, as far as I can tell.

I phoned Joris van Vuure of Chess and Go Shop Het Paard in Amsterdam, one of the largest chess equipment sellers in The Netherlands, to ask him what, if anything, he knew about sustainable chess sets. “Well, to be honest I’ve never thought about it,” Joris van Vuure told me. “Our customers – including the Dutch Chess Federation – simply never ask for it. They are obviously interested in the price and quality of the chess sets, but not their sustainability. Our top-selling chess sets are mostly made of mahogany, palissander or boxwood. Boxwood pieces are usually painted, which you can easily recognize because the black pieces are really black, whereas the others have a natural dark wood colour. I personally thought boxwood is sustainable, but I’m not sure.”

In fact, the sustainability of boxwood (or buxus as it says on the chess sets) is questionable. It’s an extremely hard type of wood which makes it very suitable for many things, including chess pieces, but it’s often overexploited and its sustainability really depends on where the plant was cultivated. Even if some boxwood would deserve to get the benefit of the doubt (Het Paard sells a lot of them, which is a good thing!), rosewood, mahogany and other tropical hardwoods wouldn’t.

Van Vuure says their shop would be interested in marketing explicitly sustainable chess sets, possibly even with an FSC logo, but he doubts whether customers would want to pay more for them. “In fact, many of our customers explicitly say they want nice wooden products rather than plastic ones, which obviously look cheap and actually have a bad image environmentally speaking. It’s a complicated issue, but if we could market it in a good way, without confusing customers, why not?”

Exactly how bad is it that we chess players mostly use unsustainable wooden chess sets, and what can be done about it? To quickly answer the first question: I have no idea – but it certainly doesn’t help. As often with these things, it’s clearly better in any case to be part of the solution, instead of the problem. Besides, I’m pretty sure more chess sets are being sold each day than expensive musical instruments made of the same materials, so there’s another clue. Finally, while unsustainble furniture at least looks really nice, I really wouldn’t be able to spot the difference between a maple chess set and a boxwood one. Nor would I much care: as long are the pieces are heavy (which can be achieved in other ways as well) and they don’t look too distracting, it’s all perfectly fine by me.

The second question seems tougher. I can advice you to buy a sustainable chess set next time, and you can tell your chess-playing friends, but even if you’d be willing to follow my advice, when will that be? And how effective will that be in the grand scheme of things anyway? It’ll also look decidedly pedantic to complain with your local club staff about the nice sets they just bought to please their club members: gee, thanks for the support!

This is an example of what marine scientist Jennifer Jacquet, who studies the overfishing problem, calls horizontal agitation:

Horizontal agitation is peer pressure combined with a pejorative element of what is socially or environmentally unacceptable. One friend lambasts me if she sees me with a disposable coffee cup. Another one does when I drive instead of walk. A British colleague in fisheries told me he could no longer bear dinner with his “middle-class friends” because they would pester him about the hypocrisy of his seafood consumption.

Although horizontal agitation can be beneficial, as studies have shown, Jacquet thinks there’s a better way: vertical agitation.

Choosing a MSC-certified fish over another is not going to relieve overfishing — not when one trawler today can remove 60 tonnes of fish from the ocean in a single haul. The way to get big changes quickly and maximize the effect of our scrutiny is with vertical agitation.

Vertical agitation means working higher in the demand chain. Rather than consumers hassling consumers, vertical agitation implies consumers hassle mega-consumers (chefs, managers, retailers, universities) or government. Today’s conservation movement, like the industries it seeks to revolutionize, must make big changes quickly. It can do this best with vertical agitation. (…) [A] colleague, Claire Nouvian, managed to arrange a meeting with President Sarkozy and vertically agitated him into supporting a CITES listing of bluefin tuna.

In terms of chess sets, the problem is obviously not as big as, say, slavery or the extinction of the bluefish tuna. Nor will buying sustainable chess sets alone save the world’s rainforests. But, as Joris van Vuure says, why not give it a try? At least unsustainable chess sets are not subsidized by FIDE! Chess organizers and federations could use nicely made plastic chess sets only (there are nice plastic sets, I’ve seen them myself!) or they could ask retailers about sustainable wooden sets. They might even be subsidized because of it!

Retailers, especially small ones already offering that little ’something extra’ to customers, should in my view seriously consider importing (and marketing) more sustainable wooden chess sets made of, for instance, oak or beech, even if perhaps they don’t always look as posh as some of the tropical of subtropical hardwood products. After all, in no-nonsense tournament chess, nobody ever really looks at the pieces for their beauty, do they? As long as they’re not distracting, surely it’s the chess that matters, not the board and pieces?

Finally, FIDE (Gens una sumus) itself should also be listening closely. Since they seem to have a liking for introducing weird new rules, here’s a suggestion for them: order all FIDE-rated tournaments to play with plastic or sustainable wooden chess sets. And they shouldn’t just do it because they like new rules, either. Like most ’sustainability’ initiatives, it could actually save them real money in the long run. What with all the financial troubles of our dear World Chess Federation, might this not be music to their ears?

Today is the 75th birthday of the legendary Bent Larsen, the strongest Danish grandmaster in history and together with Bobby Fischer the “Best of the West”, before this title went to Jan Timman. We’re congratulating with unique photos from the past and present.

Photo: Peter Heine Nielsen

His full name is Jørgen Bent Larsen. He was born March 4, 1935 in Thisted, Denmark. Larsen has been a six-time Danish champion, and a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on four occasions: 1965, 1968, 1971, and 1977. He won three Interzonal tournaments: Amsterdam 1964, Sousse 1967, and Biel 1976.

Larsen is considered to be the strongest chess player ever born in Denmark, and strongest in Scandinavia at least until the emergence of Magnus Carlsen. Larsen won several dozen major international tournaments during his career, and was awarded the first Chess Oscar in 1967. Since the early 1970s, he has lived for part of the year in Las Palmas and in Buenos Aires, with his Argentinian-born wife.

Larsen became an International Grandmaster in 1956 with his gold-medal performance on board one at the Moscow Olympiad. He scored his first major individual international success by winning Mar del Plata 1958 with 12/15.

In the early 60s Larsen diversified his style, switching over to risky and unusual openings in some of his games, to try to throw his opponents off balance; this led to the recovery of his form and further development of his chess.

Clare-Benedict tournament, Copenhagen 1977, teammate IM Svend Hamann is looking on | Photo Thorbjørn Rosenlund

He experimented with e.g. Bird’s Opening (1. f4) and 1.b3, which is called the Larsen Opening or the Nimzo-Larsen Attack. Next Saturday a big rapid tournament will be held in the center of Copenhagen, with amongst others GM Lars Bo Hansen, GM Jonny Hector and GM Sune Berg Hansen. All games in the first round must start with 1.b3.

Larsen reached his top rank in the Elo rating system at the start of 1971, equal third in the world (with Korchnoi, behind Fischer and Spassky) with a rating of 2660. In the same year he famously lost the Candidates semi-final match in Denver 0-6 to Fischer, who went on to win the title.

Holding a Chess Informant at a lecture, appr. 1980 | Photo Thorbjørn Rosenlund

Larsen later claimed in a Kasparov.com interview (1998) that his one-sided loss to Fischer was due in part to his condition during the match: “The organizers chose the wrong time for this match. I was languid with the heat and Fischer was better prepared for such exceptional circumstances… I saw chess pieces through a mist and, thus, my level of playing was not good.”

Together with Fischer, Larsen was clearly the strongest tournament player from the West in the years 1965-1973. Victories include Le Havre 1966, Havana 1967, Winnipeg 1967, Palma de Mallorca 1967, Monte Carlo 1968, Palma de Mallorca 1969, Lugano 1970 and Teesside 1972. In the USSR vs Rest of the World match at Belgrade 1970, he played first board for the World side, ahead of Fischer, and scored 2.5/4 against Spassky and Leonid Stein.

In Buenos Aires, January 2010 | Photo Peter Heine Nielsen

Larsen has continued to play occasionally in tournaments to the present day. In 1999 he finished 7th of 10 in the Danish Championship, but in the 2000 event he was forced to withdraw when he became seriously ill with an edema, requiring brain surgery. He has played in only a few tournaments in Buenos Aires since then. In 2008 he playes his first tournament in four years, and avoiding theory in every game, the famous Dane only played very exotic openings and scored… 0 out of 9. It inspired us to ask the organizer of the Chess960 tournament in Mainz to invite Larsen.

For this article we used Wikipedia which has a large entry with much more details on Bent Larsen.

In 1950 Skakbladet had an annotation competition, and the winning game had the honour of being annotated game no. 2,500 in the magazine since its inception in 1904. The winner was Bent Larsen, and the editor with great political correctness told how, by a strange coincidence game no. 2,500 was won by an ordinary, totally unknown representative of the ordinary Danish club players. The winner was Bent Larsen – and the editor was never allowed to forget!

Ahead of the World Junior Championship in Copenhagen 1953, arguably the strongest ever, IM Jens Enevoldsen suggested a training match of six games between him and Larsen. He told me later that his plan was that it should end as a 3-3 draw so you historically you could say, that the old master passed the scepter to the future.

Enevoldsen was in fact very lucky that the match was still equal ahead of the last game which was a seasaw game with the players alternately better. Larsen went wrong in a better position, and disaster threatened Enevoldsen – he had a clear win, but if he won, who would ever remember the match.

So, he offered a draw that Larsen of course accepted though he didn’t understand a thing. Explanation followed when Enevoldsom immediately demonstrated the forced win, and even if a well behaved Larsen never said anything, Enevoldsen knew that he was furious, – and I never think that he forgave me!

I have had many experiences with Larsen, and I published his tournament book about the great victory in Manila 1973 on my small hobby publishing firm. It is but a very small part of a fantastic production of books and articles that still continues. Imagine what it means to a small country to have had authors like Niemzowitsch, Enevoldsen, and Bent Larsen ….!

Larsen emigrated from Denmark after a controversy with tax people and a growing dissatisfaction with the way the Danish state moved politically but he never quit his good relations to the ordinary Danish chess players – or his bad relations to the Danish Chess Federation that probably has never treated him like the world star he has been and is until these latest years.

There are lots of other memories but I would like to share one of his lesser known openings with you, played as white against Miguel Quinteros in Orense 1975. Never move you pawns too often in the opening. You know that but what do you think about…

1.c4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.e4 d6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Be3 e5 6.d5 Nce7 7.g4 Nf6 8.f3 h5? 9.g5 Nh7 10.Qd2 f5 11.h4 Nf8 12.c5 a6 13.b4 Nd7 14.a4 O-O 15.a5

White won from this position as a matter of simple tecnique.

Svend Novrup,
President of Association Internationale de la Presse Echiquenne

To celebrate Larsen’s 75th birthday, the Danish Chess Federation has dedicated a special edition of Skakbladet to the great master. The magazine can be downloaded at http://www.dsu.dk/skakblad/sb2010/larsen.pdf (in Danish only).

Tonight Larsen will be celebrated both in Copenhagen, Aarhus and in Koege in various arrangements. We already mentioned the rapid tournament next Saturday. In connection with the strongest chess tournament in Denmark, the Politiken Cup, GM Peter Svidler (Russia) and the leading Danish player, GM Peter Heine Nielsen, will play a combined rapid and blitz match in honour of Bent Larsen. The match takes place in Elsinore August 2-5. From October 11 till 22, ten Grandmasters will play Bent Larsen’s 75th year birthday tournament in Koege. The players are still to be announced.

Three points ahead, Buenos Aires 1979

Making a speech at the closing dinner for Nimzowitsch Memorial, Næstved 1985. | Photo Thorbjørn Rosenlund

A portrait from 1988 | Photo Thorbjørn Rosenlund

Danish Championship 1994 v. IM Klaus Berg | Photo Thorbjørn Rosenlund

In a boxing-ring with heavyweight World Champion Brian Nielsen, 1996 in Copehagen | Photo Thorbjørn Rosenlund

Member of honour, 1998, with The Danish Chess Federation at that time, Søren Bech Hansen | Photo Thorbjørn Rosenlund

With the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Niels Helveg Petersen (a strong amateur chess-player himself), 1999 | Photo Thorbjørn Rosenlund

In Buenos Aires, January 2010 | Photo Peter Heine Nielsen

The 2010 Reykjavik Open ended in a four-way tie between Abhijeet Gupta, Yuriy Kuzubov, Ivan Sokolov and Hannes Stefansson. The four grandmasters all ended on 7/9; Dutchman Sokolov had the best tiebreak.

The Reykjavik Open took place February 24 – March 3 in the capital of Iceland. It was a 9-round Swiss with 104 players (20 GMs, 16 IMs). The rate of play was 1.5 hours for 40 moves plus 30 minutes to end te game, with an increment of 30 seconds starting from move 1. The main sponsor was MP Bank, the bank started by grandmaster Margeir Pétursson and the only bank in Iceland that more or less managed to avoid the biggest damage in the crisis so far.

As always the Reykjavik open was quite a strong event, with 11 GMs rated higher than 2550 and six rated 2600 or higher. Besides the usual suspects (Baklan, Dreev…) there were the sometimes quite famous veterans (Westerinen, Ehlvest, Romanishin) and some of the biggest talents around (Nyzhnyk, Jorge and Deysi Cori).

In the end the first place was shared between Abhijeet Gupta (India), Yuriy Kuzubov (Ukraine), Ivan Sokolov (The Netherlands) and Hannes Stefansson (Iceland). Sokolov recovered well from his terrible result at his last open, the open in Cappelle-la-Grande. For local hero Stefansson it was the third time in a row that he ended (shared) first, and the fifth time in total.

Selection of games

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Veterans meet: Alexey Dreev (Russia) vs Oleg Romanishin (Ukraine)

Newcomers meet: Yuriy Kuzubov (Ukraine) vs Ilya Nyzhnyk (Ukraine)

Peruvian rising star Jorge Cori vs Iceland's number two (on rating still behind the inactive Johann Hjartarson) Hannes Stefansson

Ivan Sokolov (The Netherlands) vs Irina Krush (USA)

A draw in the last round between Hannes Stefansson and Abhijeet Gupta

The fifth victory for Stefansson

Photos courtesy of the tournament website

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN via TWIC

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.

• 1^ scacchiera Ortega - Almasi
• 3^ scacchiera Brunello - Movsesian
• 7^ scacchiera Shytaj - Adams
• Todorovic-Caruana
• Piscopo - Roiz
  

Ma la notizia di questa prima giornata sono gli accoppiamenti  di Ortega, Brunello e Shytaj che giocheranno rispettivamente in prima, terza e settima scacchiera contro Almasi, Movsesian e Adams! Anche per Piscopo impegno tutt'altro che semplice con il GM israeliano Roiz. Lanzani se la vedrà con Iordachescu. Il colore sorteggiato potrebbe giocare a favore dei nostri portacolori, che hanno pescato tutti il bianco. Sfide difficilissime anche per i due MF Bentivegna e Valsecchi che incontreranno i forti GM Markus e Khairullin.

Impegno sulla carta molto più semplice per Godena. Il Michelone nazionale affronterà  un giocatore croato non  titolato.

Infine le ragazze. La Sedina e la Zimina hanno pescato due giocatrici della parte bassa del tabellone mentre l'europeo parte subito in salita per le sorelle Brunello e la Tonel. A Marina è toccata la  WGM Zdbeskaja  mentre Roberta sfiderà la WGM Kochetkova. Anche Giulia affrontera una WGM, la Zakurdjaeva.

I turno, prime scacchiere

1	203		GM	Ortega Lexy	ITA	2479	0		0	GM	Almasi Zoltan	HUN	2720		1
2	2		GM	Bacrot Etienne	FRA	2714	0		0	GM	Carlsson Pontus	SWE	2478		204
3	205		IM	Brunello Sabino	ITA	2476	0		0	GM	Movsesian Sergei	SVK	2709		3
4	4		GM	Navara David	CZE	2708	0		0	IM	Durarbeyli Vasif	AZE	2476		206
5	207		GM	Arkell Keith C	ENG	2474	0		0	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	ESP	2708		5
6	6		GM	Motylev Alexander	RUS	2705	0		0	GM	Maiwald Jens-Uwe	GER	2474		208
7	209		IM	Shytaj Luca	ITA	2472	0		0	GM	Adams Michael	ENG	2704		7

Incontri degli italiani

15

217

GM

Todorovic Goran M

SRB

2453

0

0

GM

Caruana Fabiano

ITA

2680

15

39

241

IM

Piscopo Pierluigi

ITA

2418

0

0

GM

Roiz Michael

ISR

2652

39

71

273

IM

Lanzani Mario

ITA

2371

0

0

GM

Iordachescu Viorel

MDA

2621

71

73

275

FM

Bentivegna Francesco

ITA

2361

0

0

GM

Markus Robert

SRB

2618

73

76

76

GM

Khairullin Ildar

RUS

2617

0

0

FM

Valsecchi Alessio

ITA

2360

278

116

116

GM

Yemelin Vasily

RUS

2576

0

0

Sgnaolin Davide

ITA

2234

318

132

132

GM

Evdokimov Alexander A

RUS

2564

0

0

Pantaleoni Claudio

ITA

2179

334

133

335

FM

Barlocco Carlo

ITA

2173

0

0

GM

Grigoriants Sergey

RUS

2562

133

35

337

Sikanjic Bojan

CRO

2170

0

0

GM

Godena Michele

ITA

2561

135

Incontri delle italiane

36

36

WGM

Zdebskaja Natalia

UKR

2390

0

0

WIM

Brunello Marina

ITA

2217

115

56

56

IM

Sedina Elena

ITA

2334

0

0

WFM

Baciu Diana

MDA

2146

135

59

138

WFM

Coimbra Margarida

POR

2123

0

0

IM

Zimina Olga

ITA

2319

60

64

65

WGM

Kochetkova Julia

RUS

2313

0

0

Brunello Roberta

ITA

2043

143

65

144

Tonel Giulia

ITA

2023

0

0

WGM

Zakurdjaeva Irina

RUS

2313

66

impegno di grande prestigio per il Campione Italiano: Almasi N°1 del tabellone

Caruana, chiamato a fare decisamente meglio della scorsa edizione

le avversarie delle nostre ragazze: Zdebskaja Baciu Coimbra Kochetkova Zakurdjaeva

Regolamento

Calendario Il torneo si disputa sulla lunghezza di 11 turni (6-17 marzo). L'inizio delle partite è previsto per le ore 15:30. Unico giorno di riposo sabato 13 marzo. Il 18 marzo si svolgeranno gli eventuali Tie-breaks.

Criteri di spareggio in caso di arrivo a pari merito sono previsti i seguenti criteri di spareggio tecnico:
a)  Median-Buchholz 1
b)  Buchholz
c)  Numero di vittorie 
d) Punteggio Progressivo

Spareggi Rapid sono previsti gli spareggi (15'+10" per mossa) solo per stabilire:
a)  il Campione Europeo
b)  i vincitori di Medaglie
c)  I qualificati (22) alla prossima World Cup.

Tempo di Riflessione 90' x 40 mosse + 30' per terminare la partita + 30" di incremento per mossa a partire dalla prima mossa. 

VISORE


Siti Utili

sito ufficiale

Commenti in diretta del GM Cebalo

Live Stream

risultati su chessresult

 articoli di presentazione di Angelmann   prima parte  seconda parte

Con Caruana, Godena, Brunello, Ortega, Shytaj, Dvirnyy, Piscopo… Forza Azzurri!!

Alle 15,30 bianco in moto per una gara che, come già accennato nella prima parte di questa presentazione, si annuncia con tutte le caratteristiche del grande evento. Credo che il numero di professionisti di alto livello sia  oggi molto superiore rispetto al passato e la percezione di equilibrio che emerge scorrendo il tabellone iniziale, anche arrivando ben oltre il 50° posto della griglia di partenza, sarebbe stata difficile da riscontrare in un torneo di 20 o 30 anni fa.

Una gara resa molto particolare non solo dal titolo europeo in palio ma anche dalla qualificazione alla World Cup e dall’essere un open fortissimo, con un eccellente montepremi. Il tempo di gioco è di 90 minuti per 40 mosse più 30 minuti per finire la partita con 30 secondi di incremento a partire dalla prima mossa, uno dei tempi standard validi anche per il riconoscimento delle norme. Non mi sembra di aver letto deroghe rispetto ad eventuali ritardi, quindi partita persa se non si è alla scacchiera all’inizio della partita. Sistema svizzero ad 11 turni, tutto sommato non molti per gli oltre 400 partecipanti. Si gioca sempre alle 15,30 , con giorno di riposo sabato 13 (dopo il settimo turno) e ultimo round mercoledì 17, con gli spareggi previsti per il 18.

Il moderno Zamet Center, sede di gioo

Per titolo e medaglie dell’europeo e per l’assegnazione dei 22 posti di qualificazione per la World Cup sono infatti previste partite di spareggio (prima con coppie di 15 minuti + 10 secondi per mossa, poi con blitz da 5 + 2 e eventuale “armageddon”), con metodologia da attagliare al numero di giocatori che devono disputare gli spareggi. Il sito di riferimento è http://www.eurorijeka2010.com/home , con molte scacchiere in diretta: sembra di intuire 40 dal torneo open e 15 dal femminile. Risultati su chess results e faccio nuovamente riferimento a questo link per il superlativo campo di partenza.

Difficile parlare di favoriti e una singola gara di 11 turni diventa un po’ una lotteria. I più bravi e in forma emergeranno, certo, ma a fare la differenza potrà essere una sfumatura o una coincidenza. Gara tanto difficile che francamente non saprei dire se un top player potrebbe essere tanto tranquillamente pronosticato. Se in gara ci fosse anche un Aronian, o un Carlsen, vincerebbe? Forse… Tra l’altro, 20 o 30 punti Elo di differenza dicono ben poco sui valori in campo. Verrebbe da pensare che in un torneo come questo conta di più vincere, e che quindi possano essere favoriti i giocatori che pur prendendo maggiori rischi sanno essere più incisivi, ma di fatto bisogna anche non perdere!

I precedenti dicono che a 8,5 si colloca la quota podio / primo posto, il che significa 6 vittorie e 5 patte, o 7 vittorie 3 patte e una sconfitta. Con due sconfitte diventa davvero difficile. L’esperienza dimostra che bisogna comunque saper giocare una gara solida, senza impazienza, non sempre ad un avvio “fulminante” consegue un successo. Rispetto ai super open, come l’Aeroflot o Gibilterra, sembra incidere nella tipologia di gara l’aspetto della qualificazione alla World Cup, che può portare a considerazioni ben diverse negli ultimi turni. Potrebbe aiutare in parte la “traccia” dei precedenti in competizioni analoghe, ma il mio piccolo giro d’orizzonte a ritroso, tra europei, Mosca, Aeroflot e GibTelecom, non porta facilmente a qualche conclusione. Mi limito così a qualche considerazione, necessariamente del tutto personale, su alcuni giocatori, più con “domande” che non “pronosticando”.

Le mie prime simpatie, azzurri esclusi ovviamente, vanno a due creativi come Navara e Vallejo. Non mi aspetto tuttavia una gara da podio per il 25enne campione ceco, che sembra dedicare tempi minori agli scacchi rispetto ad altri top players, mentre Paco… Il Vallejo del recente periodo è parso trovare equilibri migliori pur mantenendo un gioco molto incisivo e a Linares mi è sembrato tenere magnificamente il campo.

Paco! (foto Chessbase)

Domande su due top parzialmente usciti dal “grande giro” come Bacrot e Adams. A 27 anni Etienne potrebbe proporre una piena maturità come giocatore ma il suo percorso sembra aver deviato, un po’ per il difficile confronto con i primissimi, forse con un rapporto di odio – amore per gli scacchi (che non consiglierebbe come “carriera” a suo figlio, come ha dichiarato), con qualche digressione con il poker. Scuola e talento di primissimo livello comunque, e un Aeroflot 2009 a dire che Bacrot può esprimersi bene anche in queste gare! Adams la vetta l’ha sfiorata più volte ed è difficile dire se a 38 anni sia l’età o una certa disaffezione a incidere sul suo minor rendimento degli ultimi tempi. In ottime condizioni di forma il campione inglese sembrerebbe perfettamente adatto a vincere un torneo come questo, con buona solidità ma abbastanza incisivo, specialmente con il bianco, da accumulare parecchie vittorie.

Zoltan Almasi, n° 1 del tabellone, sembra aver raggiunto una piena maturazione come giocatore ma non sembra esprimersi al meglio nelle furenti e incerte battaglie degli open. Più navigato in questi territori Sergei Movsesian, che con tutta probabilità sarà tra i protagonisti.

Alekseev (foto Russiachess)

Trio russo tra i primi 10 con Motylev, Tomashevsky e Alekseev, giocatori che sanno di norma essere protagonisti in gare come questa. Menzione particolare per il campione in carica Tomashevsky, 23 anni, che mi sembra persino capace di raddoppiare l’impresa, cosa finora mai riuscita e molto difficile da realizzare; tuttavia, credo che troveremo Evgeny nelle posizioni di testa nella fase finale, poi starà alla “lotteria” del torneo dire la sua. Per la prima volta dal 2007 Alekseev rischia di scendere sotto quota 2700; grande solidità e grande scuola ma il 25enne russo sembra aver perso un po’ di smalto… Potrebbero essere le ultime parole famose!

Mi sono accorto di essermi orientato esclusivamente (e involontariamente) sugli over 2700… Poca fantasia! D’altra parte, troppi i protagonisti. Mi aspetto un bel torneo da Inarkiev, che non solo ha dimostrato di saper eccellere in queste gare ma dà anche l’idea di una maturazione che potrebbe condurlo tra i primi trenta del mondo. Citerei anche gli ucraini Moiseenko e Korobov, considerando invece che una gara così tesa e abbastanza lunga può non favorire guerrieri navigati come Akopian o Bareev (altre ultime parole famose?).

Tanta curiosità per il torneo di Anish Giri, che ha vinto in modo così impressionante il Corus B da andare ben oltre le pur grandi attese sul suo talento. Naturalmente una gara non brillante non inficerebbe l’impresa realizzata a Wijk aan Zee, parliamo ovviamente di un giovanissimo (16 anni il prossimo giugno), mentre una gara da protagonista sarebbe ancora più impressionante… Tra gli altri giovani presenti ancora grandi potenzialità per Sanan Sjugirov, ormai diciassettenne, rendimento ancora alterno ma creatività come pochi, con un balzo in avanti che potrebbe arrivare in qualunque momento, anche se è difficile fare previsioni sul futuro del giovane russo. In lista d’attesa per quota 2700 il 20enne Ian Nepomniachtchi, specialmente se saprà trovare equilibrio tra le sue doti di attaccante e il necessario livello di gioco dei piani alti: Nepo tra i protagonisti in questo europeo? Perché no!

Anish Giri (foto Chessbase)

Parlando di giovani una piccola citazione la merita forse anche Fabiano Caruana…   (rendere i cori da stadio scrivendo un articolo non è facile, ma fate conto di sentirli!!). Finora Fabiano non sempre si è espresso al meglio negli open, dove anzi ha disputato alcune delle sue gare meno positive, ma… World Cup e Corus ci hanno restituito a mio avviso un Fabiano ben più forte, maturo e consapevole della propria crescita e credo che riuscirà a portare tali qualità anche in questo Europeo! Il suo gioco, che tanto raramente si accontenta della patta, potrebbe essere adattissimo a un open durissimo come questo e penso conti anche la considerazione degli avversari, che credo lo rendano ormai un giocatore non solo rispettato ma anche temuto! Mi sembra che le ultime prove potrebbero averlo temprato anche dal punto di vista della tenuta nervosa. Insomma, Forza Fabiano!!

Ovviamente gara terribile per tutti gli altri azzurri, ma siamo presenti in forze e con giocatori comunque capaci di fare bene. Michele Godena é sempre Super Michele, in grado di tenere la scacchiera contro chiunque. Conterà l’avvio della gara, il feeling che Michele troverà con la competizione, specialmente se riuscirà a superare i primi scontri contro avversari di rango. Rinnovata vis agonistica per Lexy Ortega, già in crescita la scorsa estate e fino ad arrivare al titolo italiano, una soddisfazione meritata!

Sabino Brunello (foto Scacchierando)

Percorsi diversi per Sabino Brunello e Luca Shytaj, con la fase di “stasi” per un Sabino comunque atteso ad una piena crescita e un Luca che deve fare i conti con il notevole impegno universitario. Per entrambi l’idea di una norma GM, molto difficile da realizzare in un torneo come questo. In linea di massima la norma si trova intorno ai 6,5 punti su 11, anche se ovviamente bisognerà fare i conti in base agli avversari effettivi e può essere realizzata anche sui primi 9 o 10 turni. Spero però che il pensiero della norma non condizioni la loro gara, in cui il piacere di giocare in un contesto così importante potrebbe avere la precedenza ed essere un buon viatico. Poi, se il torneo si svilupperà in positivo, si vedrà!

Luca Shytaj (foto Scacchierando)

Nel frattempo grandissimo tifo qui dagli spalti di Scacchierando, a sostegno anche di Dvirnyy e Piscopo! Anche la loro una gara tutta da seguire, e se l’età di Daniyyl pone all’orizzonte anche il titolo di GM non va sottovalutata la creatività di Pierluigi, che ha a sua volta notevoli margini di crescita, e non è detto che con un po’ di convinzione…

In gara poi Lanzani, Bentivegna, Valsecchi… Approfittando della vicinanza diversi altri italiani si sono concessi il piacere di una cornice così speciale, capeggiati dai veterani Barlocco e Valenti. Insomma, un bel po’ di azzurro in questa avventura europea e… Bianco in moto!

Con Sedina, Zimina, le sorelle Brunello e Tonel!

L?11? Campionato Europeo Individuale Femminile si preannuncia di altissimo livello. Infatti sono presenti cinque delle prime sette giocatrici europee, fatta eccezione per la n?1 mondiale Judit Polgar e la Campionessa Mondiale in carica Alexandra Kosteniuk. Tra l?altro nelle prime 10 posizioni della classifica mondiale ci sono solo due giocatrici extra-europee (l?indiana Humpy Koneru e la cinese Hou Yifan), quindi questo Campionato è sicuramente di valore assoluto.

Ma partiamo dalle nostre rappresentanti, che sono cinque:

MI Elena Sedina, Elo 2334

MI Olga Zimina, Elo 2319

MI Femminile Marina Brunello, Elo 2217

Roberta Brunello, Elo 2043

Giulia Tonel, Elo 2023

Ovviamente il loro compito è difficilissimo, considerando che, su ben? 165 giocatrici preiscritte, cioè?appena 3 in meno del record stabilito nella precedente edizione, disputata a San Pietroburgo (Russia), hanno numeri di tabellone variabili dal 58 della Sedina al 149 della Tonel. Di sicuro per le nostre sarà un'esperienza altamente formativa, perchè non capita?spesso di poter giocare 11 turni a questi livelli! ?

Vediamo ora l?elenco delle Top-20 partecipanti, in ordine di Elo:

1 GM Stefanova Antoaneta BUL 2555
2 IM Kosintseva Nadezhda RUS 2554
3 IM Muzychuk Anna SLO 2533
4 GM Kosintseva Tatiana RUS 2524
5 GM Cramling Pia SWE 2523
6 GM Sebag Marie FRA 2506
7 IM Mkrtchian Lilit ARM 2503
8 IM Javakhishvili Lela GEO 2500
9 WGM Zhukova Natalia UKR 2492
10 IM Danielian Elina ARM 2491
11 GM Hoang Thanh Trang HUN 2487
12 IM Paehtz Elisabeth GER 2486
13 IM Cmilyte Viktorija LTU 2485
14 GM Dzagnidze Nana GEO 2479
15 IM Gaponenko Inna UKR 2472
16 IM Melia Salome GEO 2467
17 GM Socko Monika POL 2465
18 IM Rajlich Iweta POL 2459
19 IM Dembo Yelena GRE 2457
20 WFM Gunina Valentina RUS 2457

Antonaeta Stefanova, n? 4 mondiale e n?1 del tabellone

la "slovena" Anna?Muzychuk, n? 3 del tabellone?

Tatiana Kosintseva, vincitrice nel 2007 e nel 2009

In questo Campionato è molto difficile pronosticare il nome della vincitrice, considerando il fatto che tra la n?1 Stefanova e la n?20 Gunina ci sono meno di 100 punti Elo di differenza. Certo, 11 turni sono molti e per vincere sarà necessario ottenere un punteggio molto alto. Lo scorso anno la russa Tatiana Kosintseva e l'armena Lilit Mkrtchian fecero 8,5 punti e dovettero sfidarsi in uno spareggio per stabilire la vincitrice. La vittoria andò alla Kosintseva, che quindi bissò il successo del 2007.

Tra le altre partecipanti possono vantare un successo nel Campionato anche la Zhukova (nella?1^ edizione,?2000), la?Stefanova (nel?2002 all'età di 23 anni) e la Cramling (nel 2003).

Vediamo l'albo d'oro della manifestazione:?

2000	Batumi, Georgia	?Natalia Zhukova?(UKR)
2001	Warsaw, Poland	?Almira Skripchenko?(MDA)
2002	Varna, Bulgaria	?Antoaneta Stefanova?(BUL)
2003	Istanbul, Turkey	?Pia Cramling?(SWE)
2004	Dresden, Germany	?Alexandra Kosteniuk?(RUS)
2005	Chişinău, Moldova	?Kateryna Lahno?(UKR)
2006	Kuşadası, Turkey	?Ekaterina Atalik?(TUR)
2007	Dresden, Germany	?Tatiana Kosintseva?(RUS)
2008	Plovdiv, Bulgaria	?Kateryna Lahno?(UKR)
2009	St. Petersburg, Russia	?Tatiana Kosintseva?(RUS)

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Sono previsti 11 turni di gioco dal 6 al 17 marzo, con turno di riposo il 13. Eventuali spareggi si giocheranno il 18.?L'orario di inizio delle partite è fissato alle ore 15,30.

Tempo di riflessione: 90 minuti per 40 mosse + 30 minuti per finire + 30 secondi di incremento a mossa.

Sito ufficiale, QUI

Partite in diretta, QUI

E' obbligatorio un bel FORZA RAGAZZE!

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190 GM in gara, con 95 over 2600!!

Cerimonia inaugurale il 5 e primo turno di gara sabato 6 per l?undicesima edizione del Campionato Europeo Individuale, che si svolgerà nella vicina Rijeka, fino al 18 marzo (eventuali tie-breaks e cerimonia di chiusura). Una edizione??davvero da record, a partire dal montepremi (180.000 Euro tra maschile e femminile) e, soprattutto, guardando alla straordinaria partecipazione, come il sottotitolo preannuncia: oltre 400 partecipanti nel torneo maschile, 190 GM, con 95 over 2600 e ben 9 over 2700!!

L?Elo non sarà più quello di una volta ma la percezione di una ulteriore crescita resta. Almasi, Bacrot, Movsesian, Navara, Vallejo, Motylev, Adams, Tomashevsky, Alekseev? Ad elencare i primi del tabellone si fa torto a tanti giocatori di grande spicco e preferisco fare riferimento al link di Chess Results per la completa griglia di partenza! Capeggia gli under 20 Caruana, seguito da Nepomniachtchi, Giri, Edouard, Khairullin, Howell, Saric, Safarli, Sjugirov? (si sarà notata la neutralità? ).

Segnali di crescita per una manifestazione che non ha una grande tradizione, di fatto nata, a partire dal 2000, in collegamento alla World Cup ? Campionato del Mondo, con le ?fantastiche? innovazioni apportate dal Presidente Fide Ilyumzhinov. In passato un solo debole precedente (riportato da Wikipedia), un ?Campionato europeo? organizzato dalla federazione tedesca durante la 2? guerra mondiale, a Monaco di Baviera nel settembre 1942. Mancavano ovviamente i rappresentanti dei paesi in guerra con la Germania, non erano ammessi giocatori ebrei, nessun crisma ufficiale, solo una piccola isola di scacchi nella tragedia della guerra, pur con importanti partecipazioni come quelle di Alekhine, Keres e Bogoljubov e ottimi giocatori come Junge, Richter, Foltys, Barcza, Stoltz e il nostro Mario Napolitano. Vinse il campione del mondo davanti a Keres.

Un precedente illustre!

Forse l?assenza per tanto tempo di un campionato europeo non stupisce se si pensa alla storia degli scacchi, tanto centrata sulla vecchia Europa. Il salto dai campionati nazionali al campionato del mondo era in fondo breve, con in mezzo alcuni grandi tornei internazionali, a loro volta di risonanza mondiale. Fatto sta che si deve arrivare al 2000 per la prima edizione del Campionato della European Chess Union, svoltosi a Saint Vincent, con la vittoria di Pavel Tregubov, 8,5 su 11. 120 i partecipanti, 35mo e migliore degli azzurri Michele Godena, con 6,5. Buona anche la prova di Fabio Bellini, a 6 punti.

Nel 2001 seconda edizione a Ohrid, in Macedonia, con una crescente partecipazione, 204 giocatori su 13 turni. Judit Polgar partì male, senza riuscire a completare la rimonta, fermandosi a mezzo punto dalla coppia di testa. A 9,5 vittoria per Emil Sutowski davanti ad un diciassettenne Ponomariov. Tanti i forti giocatori costretti a posizioni di rincalzo, per una gara dimostratasi già allora come durissima e non particolarmente rispettosa, almeno in parte, delle gerarchie. Sempre Super Michele il primo degli italiani, con una performance (2550) ancora migliore dell?anno precedente (vittorie importanti con Guliev, Mitkov e Conquest), pur dovendosi accontentare, con 6,5 , del 96mo posto.

?

Emil Sutowski

In tono parzialmente minore l?edizione 2002, a Batumi in Georgia, con soli 101 partecipanti. Vittoria solitaria a 9,5 su 13 per Bartlomiej Macieja, sconfitto al primo turno da Shengelia ma poi protagonista fino al successo. Sul podio attraverso le partite rapide di spareggio rispettivamente Gurevich e Volkov. Sargissian arriva anche lui nel gruppo a 9 punti, imbattuto ma frenato da diverse patte. Unico partecipante per noi Godena, ancora una volta autore di un?ottima gara (6,5 su 13, p. 2536), eccellente nella prima fase (vittorie con Aronian, Asrian, Kacheishvili) ma cedendo nel finale (sconfitte con Volkov, Marin e Jobava). In una intervista su Torre?& Cavallo Aronian ha ricordato quella partita, con parole di stima per il nostro campione.

Bartlomiej Macieja

Quarta edizione a Istambul, tornando oltre le 200 presenze. Prima volta per gli over 2700 con Ivanchuk e Grischuk, che ottengono la qualificazione per la World Cup ma restano distanti dal podio (rispettivamente 12? e 17?). La qualificazione per la Coppa del Mondo è un elemento da tenere ovviamente in considerazione nell?andamento del torneo. La vittoria arride a Zurab Azmaiparashvili con 9,5 su 13, argento per Malakhov e bronzo per Graf, entrambi a 9 punti. Godena, 80? a 7 punti, sfiora una performance da 2600 in una gara di buona continuità, con diverse patte di prestigio e battendo Fridman e Smirin! Il campionato europeo, con il suo alto livello scacchistico e una gara densa e tesa, si addice molto alle caratteristiche di Michele. Bene anche Ennio Arlandi, con una prova da 2500, diverse sconfitte ma con lampi importanti, superando avversari come Hracek, Banikas e Naiditsch!

Molte ottime partecipazioni di Michele Godena (foto Scacchierando)

Nel 2004 si torna in Turchia, ad Antalya, per l?importante sigillo di Ivanchuk, che supera agli spareggi Pedrag Nikolic, entrambi a 9 su 13. Cominciano a brillare diversi campioni di oggi, con Aronian terzo e ottime prestazioni per Navara, Gashimov, Mamedyarov e il già affermato, nonostante i soli 17 anni, Radjabov. Una sola sconfitta per Aronian, manco a dirlo con Ivanchuk, a tutt?oggi sua bestia nera! Solo 74 i partecipanti e nessun italiano presente.

Il triplo dei partecipanti, 229, nella bella edizione del 2005, a Zegrze in Polonia, in cui Nisipeanu, con un notevole 10 su 13, mette in mostra un gioco estremamente incisivo e di grande tecnica, precedendo due già quasi star come Radjabov (9,5) e Aronian, nuovamente terzo vincendo la volata del gruppo a 9 punti. Quarto il 15enne Karjakin, quinto Ivanchuk, sesto Eljanov, 7? piazza per il compianto Karen Asrian e dimostrazione di classe per l?ottavo posto di Beliavsky. Sempre Godena il primo degli azzurri, a 6,5 , con una sfortunata sconfitta al primo turno con Dreev che ne inficia un po? la gara.

Livio Dieter Nisipeanu

A partire dal 2006, a Kusadasi, nuovamente in Turchia, si torna agli 11 turni. 138 i partecipanti e livello meno alto rispetto al 2005. Zdenko Kozul, n? 17 del tabellone con 2606 (nel 2005 sarebbe stato il 53?!), ottiene una prestigiosa vittoria con 8,5 , precedendo di mezzo punto un Ivanchuk imbattuto. Patta tra i due, entrambi a 5 su 6, al 7? turno ma con Kozul che ottiene nei due turni successivi successi importanti con Nikolic e Naiditsch, mentre Vassily si ferma sul pari con Kiril Georgiev e Inarkiev, senza più riagguantare il GM croato. Per gli azzurri a 5 punti la coppia Manca Godena.

A Dresda 2007 403 i partecipanti, con 62 over 2600! Gara equilibratissima, con ben 7 giocatori a 8 su 11. Buchholz e performance (2763) darebbero ragione a Jakovenko, n? 1 del tabellone iniziale, ma alle previste partite di spareggio Tkachiev si aggiudica l?oro, davanti a Sutovsky e al giovane campione russo. Eccellente quarto posto per Pavasovic, davanti a Cheparinov, Sakaev e al ventenne russo Iljin, allora IM, un giovane che non gioca molto ma evidentemente dotato di notevole talento. Godena (6) e Manca (5,5) a difendere i nostri colori, con la partecipazione anche di un 15enne?Felix Stips (4), che riesce a difendersi onorevolmente guadagnando anche punti Elo! Una sezione di Scacchierando è dedicata alla manifestazione.

Vladislav Tkachiev (da Chessbase)

Bella soddisfazione per Tiviakov a Plovdiv (Bulgaria) 2008, primo da solo con 8,5. 70 gli over 2600 e 337 i partecipanti. Le partite di spareggio del gruppo di 9 giocatori a 8 punti consegnano l?argento a Movsesian e il bronzo a Volkov. Prima partecipazione per Caruana: Fabiano resta a lungo nelle posizioni d?avanguardia (tra l?altro vincendo con Savchenko e Stevic) ma la sconfitta contro Bologan ne interrompe la corsa. Chiusura comunque a 6,5 con una performance di 2625. La sezione di Scacchierando per l?edizione 2008.

Siamo ormai alla storia recentissima con Budva, Montenegro, 306 giocatori con 62 over 2600. Gara durissima ed equilibrata, con 11 giocatori che chiudono a 8 punti e 23 che arrivano a 7,5! Nelle partite di spareggio prevale Tomashevsky, con l?argento a Malakhov e il bronzo a Jobava. Scarso feeling con la gara per i tre alfieri azzurri, con Caruana, Godena e Bruno che chiudono appaiati a 6 punti. Anche qui la nostra sezione per chi volesse dare un?occhiata di dettaglio a quanto accaduto nel 2009.

Evgeny Tomashevsky

Ho scritto prima che il Campionato Europeo non ha una grande tradizione ma, attraverso tanti giocatori e tante pagine di scacchi, è forse meglio parlare di una tradizione giovane!

Per domani il secondo articolo, entrando un po? di più in questo 11mo Campionato?di Rijeka 2010. Nel frattempo, un forza azzurri intermedio ci può stare!

Primo premio: 300 euro !

Premi speciali per le categorie nazionali: leggi il Bando!

Scacchierando e la Prisma Scacchi sono lieti di presentare la 4^ edizione del concorso a premi ?COMMENTANDO? e invitano alla partecipazione tutti gli appassionati italiani, dal maestro all?amatore!

Dopo il successo delle precedenti edizioni la Prisma Scacchi ha confermato la sponsorizzazione dell'evento! La Redazione, da parte sua, ha aumentato l'aggiunta in denaro, portandola a 150 euro per il primo premio, che quindi?quest'anno sarà di ben 300 euro! .

Abbiamo anche deciso di confermare la modifica apportata nella scorsa edizione?alla composizione del montepremi al fine di?incentivare la partecipazione dei giocatori di categoria nazionale, i quali - oltre a competere nella classifica assoluta - beneficeranno di due premi loro riservati... .

Partecipare è semplice: basta inviare al blog almeno una propria partita commentata entro il 3 maggio. Dopo una prima selezione, effettuata dalla redazione di Scacchierando, sarà disputata la finale tra le migliori, che verranno giudicate da una Giuria di esperti (i nomi verranno resi noti in un articolo di prossima pubblicazione).

Come sempre, teniamo a precisare che la qualità della partita non ha grossa importanza: verrà giudicato il valore dei commenti. Quindi - anche se siete dei "Non Classificati" - non abbiate remore: partecipate, partecipate, partecipate! Alla peggio la vostra partita non sarà selezionata per la finale .

Altra raccomandazione: non scrivete commenti troppo lunghi, rischiate di annoiare la Giuria! La lettura deve risultare interessante, la "giusta" lunghezza dei commenti è un requisito importante.

Buon ?Commentando? a tutti!

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Regolamento del Concorso

Art. 1 Possono partecipare tutti gli scacchisti inviando via e-mail all'indirizzo del blog una o due proprie partite commentate, possibilmente in formato chessbase (è ammesso anche il formato pgn).

Art. 2 Le partite dovranno essere inviate entro il 3 maggio 2010.

Art. 3 Le partite verranno esaminate dalla redazione di Scacchierando, che sceglierà le finaliste. Le stesse verranno pubblicate sul blog a partire dal 17 maggio 2010.

Art. 4 Le partite finaliste verranno esaminate da una Giuria esterna, formata da giocatori titolati, che decreterà la classifica finale.

Art. 5 Criteri di valutazione:
a) qualità ?scacchistica? e valore didattico del commento.
b) pertinenza e validità delle analisi.
c) piacevolezza della lettura (ambiente del torneo, tensione della partita ed eventuale zeitnot, richiami di cultura scacchistica, ecc.), ivi compreso l?equilibrio complessivo del commento e la sua "giusta" lunghezza.
d) le valutazioni saranno effettuate tenendo conto del livello di gioco del commentatore (dal "Maestro" si pretenderà molto di più che dal "Non classificato").

Art. 6 Montepremi:

Classifica assoluta
1? premio: 300 euro, di cui 150 per l'acquisto di libri presso la Prisma Scacchi
2? premio: 100 euro per l'acquisto di libri presso la Prisma Scacchi

Classifica categorie nazionali ed esordienti
1? premio: 100 euro per l'acquisto di libri presso la Prisma Scacchi
2? premio: Orologio digitale offerto dalla Prisma Scacchi.

I premi non sono cumulabili. I premi in denaro sono divisibili.

Art. 7 La redazione di Scacchierando si riserva la possibilità di apportare le modifiche eventualmente
necessarie per assicurare il buon andamento del concorso.

Tutte le partite finaliste:

2009, QUI

2008, QUI

2007, QUI

Pendant les années 1980 et au début des années 1990, il est le meilleur joueur d'échecs occidental faisant face aux champions soviétiques. Mais sauriez-vous citer son patronyme ?

La Palme d'Or Chess & Strategy de cette semaine revient à Jean Audoubert, premier lecteur à avoir donné la bonne réponse mercredi matin à 6h56 précises. La palme d'argent est décrochée par Olivier Caleff à 6h57 et la palme de bronze revient à Philippe Boyadjis pour sa réponse à 7h37.

2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés

Suite à une erreur signalée par Jean Audoubert, nous republions la question people du mercredi.

Pendant les années 1980 et au début des années 1990, il est le meilleur joueur d'échecs occidental faisant face aux champions soviétiques. Mais sauriez-vous citer son patronyme ?

Du 11 au 18 avril, Troyes, "la cité en forme de bouchon de champagne" accueillera le 48e championnat de France Jeunes 2010, dans le très bel espace Argence, en plein coeur de la ville.

Passionné d'échecs qu'il pratique au club de Noyon mais aussi face à son ordinateur, Boris Boulnois qui a décroché en janvier le titre de champion de Picardie dans la catégorie poussins sera du voyage.

Le talent n'attend pas le nombre des années ! Boris Boulnois, âgé de 8 ans seulement, en est l'illustration même. Ce jeune joueur d'échecs du club de Noyon est le nouveau champion de Picardie catégorie poussin. Domicilié à Beaulieu-les-Fontaines, il vient tous les mercredis après-midis s'entraîner au club. « Mon mari et moi jouons quelquefois, sans être des passionnés. Il y a trois ans, j'ai expliqué les règles à Boris et cela lui a plu. On a commencé à faire des parties ensemble. Avant de l'inscrire au club afin qu'il se perfectionne », raconte Annie, sa maman.

2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés

Veselin Topalov briefly took the #1 spot during the Linares Super GM tournament, but then fell back off Magnus Carlsen (2813, +3) to remain in the #2 spot. The World Champion challenger is behind Carlsen by mere percentage points on the unofficial live list. Unfortunately, Linares did not make the calculations and the official list shows him eight points back (2805, +0). Topalov is gearing up for his big match with World Champion Viswanathan Anand (2787, -3).

Vladimir Kramnik (2790, +2) has supplanted Anand at the #3 position. He had a strong showing at Corus, but that was only worth an increase of .19 points. Levon Aronian (2782, +1) holds steady at #5 while Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2760, +20) vaulted into the #6 position from #11. Alexander Grischuk (2756, +20) jumped eight places on the strength of his Russian Championship.

Peter Svidler (2750, +6) and Boris Gelfand (2750, -11) are tied for 8th-9th. Gelfand plummeted in the World Team Championship after his World Cup win. Chinese #1 Wang Yue (2749, +0) has been relatively inactive since bowing out of the World Cup. The biggest winner of the top 100 is Vietnam’s Le Quang Liem (2689, +42), the winner of 2010 Aeroflot tournament. Hikaru Nakamura also saw a big gain (2735, +27).

In women’s chess, Judit Polgar remained as “Queen of the Hill” (2682, +0) with Humpy Koneru closing in (2622, +8). At one time there was almost 200 ELO points separating the top two positions. Hou Yifan (2570, -20) dropped a ton of points after the Moscow Open. One lady rising on the horizon appears to be Nadezhda Kosintseva (2554, +21) who won the Russia Women’s Championship. Zhao Xue (2490, -16) dropped under 2500 for the first time in three years and Ju Wenjun (2500, -12) is now the nation’s #2. Zhao and Xu Yuhua (2478, +0) may be preparing to make way for the wealth of Chinese talent coming through.

As far as juniors are concerned, Carlsen will remain at the top for as long as he is eligible. At 2813, he is almost 100 ELO points from Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2727, -3). Sergey Karjakin (2725, +5) is on position #3 and Le Quang Liem (2689, +42) has been touted as the new young star on the scene. Wesley So (2665, +9) keeps gaining and is now the strongest Filipino player in history. So is in the #6 spot. Anish Giri (2624, +36) won Corus B and vaulted over 2600. He is the youngest on the top 20 junior list and has gained some notoriety for annotating games from the Linares tournament. Watch this young man!

FIDE: http://ratings.fide.com/toplist.phtml

Peter Doggers relayed a report from a Russian website that 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov will seek to win the FIDE Presidency. This comment comes after much grumbling about FIDE temperamental policies. “It is necessary to restore order,” said a resolute Karpov. He continued to strengthen his argument, “The problems with the World Championship, the calendar, changes of decisions, changes during a cycle, this didn’t happen before. Besides, the prestige of the World Champion should return to its old level.”

The current President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov ran in 2006 on the platform of unifying the World Championship and providing more visibility for professional chess. While the championship cycle had been mended with the ascendancy of Viswanathan Anand, the process was fraught with a number of midstream changes. Ilyumzhinov and his cabinet are also responsible for a number of unpopular changes including the “no tolerance” rule.

It is not clear what Karpov’s platform will be, but leading up to the 2010 Olympiad in Siberia, he will certainly have one laid out. It is ironic that an interesting interview can be found on the Chess Fidelity site that Ilyumzhinov used for his campaign. Karpov predicted that Ilymuzhinov’s chances were 100%. In this interview Karpov talked about his championship days, Bobby Fischer, his FIDE candidacy in 2005. In that view he made some interesting comments about the FIDE elections.

Source: http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/karpov-candidate-for-fide-president/#more-22636

Interview: http://www.chessfidelity.com/elections.php?txt_id=75

1. FM Danya Naroditsky 2388
2. FM Steven Zierk 2380 -- gained 74 points in 4 months!
3. NM Gregory Young 2268
4. NM Yian Liou 2229
   
5. NM Rohan Agarwal 2197
6. Evan Sandberg 2159
7. Samuel Sevian 2144 -- gained 84 points (provisional) in 4 months!
   
8. Hayk Manvelyan 2087
   
9. Kyle Shin 2061