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| Interviews From Rijeka - Antoaneta Stefanova, Pia Cramling and Zoltan Almasi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grandmaster Mišo Cebalo interviewed some of the top rated players currently competing at the European Individual Chess Championship in Rjeka, Croatia. Watch the videos with Antoaneta Stefanova, Pia CRamling and Zoltan Almasi, in English and Croatian. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:22:53 +0100 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Echecs & Justice : l'Affaire Andruet sur le Nouvel Obs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Second article du Nouvel Obs ce matin sous la plume de Louis Morice. La défense de Sacha Rhoul, extradé du Maroc vers la France, conteste la légitimité de la procédure. L'avocat du père de Gilles Andruet, explique pourquoi, selon lui, elle était justifiée. Le 22 aout 1995, à Saulx-les-Chartreux dans l'Essonne, une femme découvre un corps sur les rives de l'Yvette. Gilles Andruet a été sauvagement assassiné dans la nuit. Champion d'échecs, le jeune homme était couvert de dettes. Interdit bancaire, le fils du champion automobile Jean-Claude Andruet cherchait peu avant sa mort à encaisser un chèque de 347.900 francs, somme correspondant au montant de la vente d'un pavillon hérité de sa tante.
| Rencontré dans un casino, Joseph Liany s'était alors proposé de l'aider. Ils ont déposé le chèque sur un compte ouvert à la banque Chaabi. L'établissement avait été choisi par la famille Liany et les Liany avaient une procuration sur ce compte. L'argent pourrait donc être le mobile du crime.
| |
| Retrouver tous nos billets sur l'Affaire Andruet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:35:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Affaire Andruet : Sacha Rhoul n'aurait pas dû être extradé ? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coup de théâtre ! D'après le Nouvel Obs, deux documents prouvent que Sacha Rhoul, condamné par contumace en France à quinze ans de prison pour avoir participé au meurtre de Gilles Andruet (photo des archives de l'AFP ci-contre), est bien marocain et n'aurait donc pas dû être extradé vers Paris.
|
| On a du mal à le croire : pourquoi, brusquement, alors que la justice marocaine n’a jamais permis l’extradition de ses nationaux, la Cour suprême marocaine a rendu le 4 mars 2010, un arrêt qui a autorisé l’extradition de Sacha Rhoul, 39 ans, ressortissant français d’origine marocaine et donc marocain ?
| |
| Condamné par contumace, en 2006, à quinze ans de prison par la cour d’assises de l’Essonne pour avoir participé au meurtre, en 1995, de Gilles Andruet, un champion de France d’échecs devenu accro des casinos, Sacha Rhoul vit au Maroc depuis 1998 où il a repris l’exploitation de la maison familiale transformée en hôtel de luxe. Il s’est présenté à la police en 2001 sans y avoir été contraint. Sa double nationalité franco-marocaine lui avait valu d’être mis en examen au Maroc en vertu de la Convention d’entraide judiciaire, signée en 1957, entre les deux pays. Et c’est sur la base de ce texte que des poursuites ont été initiées au Maroc à la demande de la France.... Retrouver tous nos billets sur l'Affaire Andruet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:28:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UN PETIT EXERCICE TACTIQUE QUOTIDIEN... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
... provenant de parties célèbres sélectionnées par le site chessvideo.tv est désormais incorporé dans ce blog. Rien de tel qu'un petit entrainement supplémentaire pour garder la forme ! Il suffira de rechercher le lien "chess puzzle of the day" dans la liste des liens, en bas à droite, pour retourner à ce message. La position proposée changera tous les jours ! Pour la résoudre, cliquer sur l'image... Le niveau est assez simple et les combinaisons sont jolies, à base de sacrifices de pièces lourdes, en général. A consommer sans modération... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:42:00 GMT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| More Viewer Games and Questions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In this week's video Dennis answers more of your questions. He's got further coverage of the perennial bishop vs. knight debate as well as discussion of rook endings and the finer points of attacking chess. Make sure to check out Dennis' latest lesson ASAP! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:35:18 CST | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Individual Chess Championship 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 11th European individual men and women's chess championship is taking place on 5th to 19th of March 2010 in Rijeka, Croatia. The tournaments are qualifiers for the next World Cup, part of the World Championship cycle. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 22 players will qualify. Prize fund is 150.000,00 EUR for the men section and 75,000.00 EUR for the women.In the usual opening speeches it was stressed that with 425 participants in men's competition and 165 by women, as well as with 246 grandmasters, all the records are beaten, which creates a serious challenge for all the future organizers. The rating leaders in both competitions are Zoltan Almasi (HUN) and Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL). Three rounds have been played and 13 players in men and 4 in women's section have singled out on the top with perfect three points: Men - GM Naiditsch Arkadij (GER 2691), GM Vallejo Pons Francisco (ESP 2708), GM Jobava Baadur (GEO 2695), GM Pelletier Yannick (SUI 2611), GM Timofeev Artyom (RUS 2655), IM Martinovic Sasa (CRO 2509), IM Skoberne Jure (SLO 2509), GM Krasenkow Michal (POL 2652), GM Inarkiev Ernesto (RUS 2667), GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter (ROU 2661), GM Efimenko Zahar (UKR 2640), GM Maiorov Nikita (BLR 2510) and GM Nepomniachtchi Ian (RUS 2656). Women - GM Socko Monika (POL 2465), GM Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan (SCO 2447), WGM Chelushkina Irina (SRB 2319) and GM Kosintseva Tatiana (RUS 2524). Full results can be found on the official website. The games are starting at 15:30 with live relay of the top 60 boards. In addition, there is live video coverage that features multiple web cameras that focus on top boards, as well as general views of the playing hall, showing players, spectators, and guests. As the games progress, the remaining interesting positions and battles are featured. ![]() View from the sea ![]() The playing hall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:02:33 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fischer's Birthday | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fischer's birthday with weird video and interview clip of him talking about life on other planets and god. And the Beatles. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2010-03-09T17:25:16Z | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Echecs & Justice : l'affaire Andruet sur RTL | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
C'est une information que RTL nous révélait dès samedi : le Franco-Marocain Sacha Rhoul était dans un avion entre le Maroc et la France. Il a été écroué à Fleury-Merogis (Essonne) et sera rejugé en fin d'année.
Sa dernière partie au Chpt de France 1995
| Rappelons que Gilles Andruet (ci-dessus, photo des archives de l'AFP), ancien champion de France d'échecs 1988 et joueur de casino invétéré, avait été roué de coups dans la nuit du 21 au 22 août 1995 à l'âge de 37 ans. Son corps avait été retrouvé quelques jours plus tard au bord d'une rivière de l'Essonne. Le père de la victime, Jean-Claude Andruet, ancien champion de France de rallye, avait demandé le 16 février l'extradition du meurtrier de son fils, Sacha Rhoul, qui selon lui, se trouvait à Marrakech...
| | Retrouver tous nos billets sur l'Affaire Andruet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:54:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chess.com Podcast #51 - The Grob Attack | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:16:54 PST | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The political chess game | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We long ago abandoned the practice of sending our readers to every article or international news report that contains the word "chess". But when a Euronews story contains video footage of a world class grandmaster (Boris Gelfand) playing the Deputy Prime Minister of his country (Natan Sharansky), who is assisted by the current PM (Benjamin Netanyahu), we make an exception. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best of the Week #9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| And we are back for Best of the Week! Any suggestions? Post here and tell us about your favorite videos and threads!
The forums have been exceptionally busy and there were many passionate and interesting discussions going on. The merits and disadvatages of ebooks, the Hippo, the KID, and"hope chess" were some of the topics. There was also a revival of katar's e4 e5 repertoire thread with a discussion about Italian lines. The training journals section has seen a new journal by coobe. We also have a "boring training diary" now. That's new, and not all that boring really ;-). In addition to that, studentofchess has posted a few long updates in his journal. Finally, some videos! Steve Farmer strikes again with a historic game. It's Nezhmetdinov-Cernikov from 1962, and if you know Nezhmetdinov, you know there will be sacs! Andrewrun has made a lot videos about games against cvtv members in the last month, but this time we got JWhis doing the commentary. And Veteran cvtv member whiskeytown has resurfaced with a video about absorbing positional ideas. That's that for this week, keep the pieces moving! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:49:39 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grischuk replaces Morozevich at Amber | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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! VideoLink | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:18:55 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TV ChessBase Schachbundesliga.de | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Am Montag nach dem Spitzenkampf Baden-Baden gegen Werder Bremen wurde in
einer Sondersendung von TV ChessBase einige Schlüsselpartien des Wettkampfes
gezeigt. Jan Gustafsson kommentierte, begleitet von Niclas Huschenbeth und
André Schulz die Partien Gashimov-Anand, Nielsen-Nybäck, Adams-Efimenko und
Roiz-Naiditsch. Wer die Live-Sendung verpasst und/oder keinen Premiumzugang
zu den Aufzeichnung im Fritzserver hat, hat nun die Analysen auch in einem
Webstream (in kleinerem Bildformat) auf der Webseite der Schachbundesliga
anschauen. Zum Video auf Schachbundesliga.de... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Echecs & Justice : l'affaire Gilles Andruet sur Tf1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Si vous avez raté le reportage dimanche 7 mars sur TF1, pas de panique ! L’émission hebdomadaire Sept à Huit présentée par Harry Roselmack est proposée en Replay sur le Net. Révélations people de Bachar Kouatly, passage des échecs au black-jack... | Rappelons que Gilles Andruet, ancien champion de France d'échecs 1988 et joueur de casino invétéré, avait été roué de coups dans la nuit du 21 au 22 août 1995 à l'âge de 37 ans. Son corps avait été retrouvé quelques jours plus tard au bord d'une rivière de l'Essonne. Le père de la victime, Jean-Claude Andruet, ancien champion de France de rallye, avait demandé le 16 février l'extradition du meurtrier de son fils, Sacha Rhoul, qui selon lui, se trouvait à Marrakech... | | Retrouver tous nos billets sur l'Affaire Andruet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:10:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Echecs & Justice : l'affaire Andruet sur Tf1 à 18h50 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A voir ce soir sur TF1 à partir de 18h50, l’émission hebdo Sept à Huit présenté par Harry Roselmack (photo ci-contre) avec un reportage sur l'Affaire Andruet. Rappelons que Gilles Andruet, ancien champion de France d'échecs 1988 et joueur de casino invétéré, avait été retrouvé mort dans le département de l'Essonne le 22 août 1995, après avoir été battu à mort et drogué, sur fond de dettes dans un casino. Le père de la victime, Jean-Claude Andruet, ancien champion de France de rallye, avait demandé le 16 février l'extradition du meurtrier de son fils, Sacha Rhoul, qui selon lui, se trouvait à Marrakech. Sacha Rhoul était hier soir dans un avion entre le Maroc et la France. | | Retrouver tous nos billets sur l'Affaire Andruet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:15:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: fichier pgn en fichier video | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Donc si je t'ai bien compris , ce " Media Encoder" de Shredder 8 n'a rien avoir avec ce que je cherche.
Apparement pas de logiciel transformant directement un fichier pgn en fichier video. Pas de possibilité sans passer par une video capture. Un programme en c++ lisant les pgn pour les visualiser sur un échiquier me parait assez facile ( d'ailleurs il y en a beaucoup sur Internet ) . La où je bloque, c'est a l'encodage du fichier video ? Message: http://lefounumerique.xooit.com/t788-fichier-pgn-en-fichier-video.htm?p=2246 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:22:56 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dutch Defense, Stonewall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Get ready to play in a chess tournament this weekend. Here's a little video to help you get your engine started. (-or to just learn a little more about the game.) The Stonewall has pawns on KB4, K3, Q4, and QB3. Either Black or White can move into this formation. In my experience, it is really hard to bust this formation. I recall Max Euwe's book on the middlegame had an extensive chapter on how to bust this formation. This is one formation I recommend for beginning players. Chess events in your area . . . and visit jrobi who created these wonderful videos. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Echecs & Justice : tournant dans l'affaire Andruet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Suite à l'arrestation récente d'un ressortissant français au Maroc, Sacha Rhoul, accusé du meurtre en France de Gilles Andruet en 1995 et condamné par contumace en 2009 à quinze ans de réclusion criminelle, TF1 diffusera un nouveau reportage le dimanche 7 mars 2010, dans l’émission Sept à Huit. Nous vous proposons ce matin, un extrait du JT du 17 février 2010 de la chaîne de télévision TF1 © TF1 Rappelons que Gilles Andruet, ancien champion de France d'échecs 1988 et joueur de casino invétéré, avait été retrouvé mort dans le département de l'Essonne le 22 août 1995, après avoir été battu à mort et drogué, sur fond de dettes dans un casino. Le père de la victime, Jean-Claude Andruet, ancien champion de France de rallye, avait demandé le 16 février l'extradition du meurtrier de son fils, Sacha Rhoul, qui selon lui, se trouvait à Marrakech. Retrouver notre précédent billet sur l'Affaire Andruet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:21:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Master Analysis: A Bishop vs Knight Ending | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This week, FM Dennis Monokroussos analyzes a recent Grandmaster game which concluded in a bishop vs knight ending in: A Textbook Bishop vs. Knight Ending? In the video Dennis goes over some key concepts in B v N endgames, and highlights how each piece should be used to try and gain the advantage.
PS: I recommend you pay attention and watch a little slower than usual to get the most out of this video! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:56:54 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chess.com Podcast #50 - The Nimzo Pin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thu, 04 Mar 2010 07:03:29 PST | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Chessboxing season starts in London | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top of the bill is a thrilling heavyweight encounter between Sergio “The Phoenix” Leveque from Italy and Dutchman, Hubert Van Melick. Chessboxing entails alternating sessions of four minutes at the chessboard and two in the boxing ring. You can win by checkmate or knockout. In two weeks the new season begins, with the first fights in London. Press release and videos. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bundesliga: Werder Bremen beats Baden-Baden | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the 10th round of the Schachbundesliga, Werder Bremen won 5-3 against Baden-Baden. It was the first loss in more than three years for the German champion. The match took place last Saturday at the Kongresshaus of the Stadthalle in Heidelberg, and match winners were Alexander Areshchenko and Michael Roiz who defeated Michael Adams and Arkadij Naiditsch respectively. All other matches ended in a draw. On Sunday Baden-Baden recovered and easily defeated Hamburger SK with 1.5-6.5. On board 1 Anand beat Kempinski with a nice combination. Shirov, Movsesian, Naiditsch and Heine Nielsen also scored full points. Werder Bremen did even better by crushing host club Heidelberg-Handschuhsheim 7.5-0.5. Winning 2.5-5.5 against SK Turm Emsdetten, SG Solingen managed to reach a shared first place together with Baden-Baden and Werder Bremen. ![]() Selection of games played last weekendGame viewer by ChessTempo ![]() The venue, with Baden-Baden against Werder 'Green Shirts' Bremen ![]() The World Champion, scoring 1.5/2 this weekend... ![]() ...including an easy draw with Black against Vugar Gashimov using fine, Archangelsk Ruy Lopez preparation ![]() Peter Svidler, another Baden-Baden top gun... ![]() ...but it was Bremen's Michael Roiz, together with... ![]() ...Alexander Areshchenko who decided the important match Photos by Christian Bossert & Georgios Souleidis Links | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:19:12 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: fichier pgn en fichier video | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eric Warolus a écrit: Pardon je me suis trompé en faite pour voir...Marie Sebag tu dois avoir un certain encoder (sous programme qui permet de lire un format de video)L'interface va contrôlé que tu l'a est si ce n'est pas le cas ton Media Encoder t'enverra sur le lien pour le télécharger si il est grisé c'est que tu l'a de mémoire il s'agit de "windows Media Player 9" ou quelque chose comme ça Message: http://lefounumerique.xooit.com/t788-fichier-pgn-en-fichier-video.htm?p=2235 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:57:35 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: fichier pgn en fichier video | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ce que tu indiques correspond à la ligne du menu " Chess Media System ".
cette commande ouvre un fichier.WMF sur le dvd chessBase ou sur un autre support. La ligne qui m'interpelle quelque part, c'est " Media Encoder ". Message: http://lefounumerique.xooit.com/t788-fichier-pgn-en-fichier-video.htm?p=2234 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:08:06 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: fichier pgn en fichier video | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Si tu as un dvd chessbase c'est avec celà que tu ouvira le dvd pour avoir d'un coté l'échiquier de l'autre ...Marie Sebag Message: http://lefounumerique.xooit.com/t788-fichier-pgn-en-fichier-video.htm?p=2232 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:19:41 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: fichier pgn en fichier video | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Merci pour l'info , le logiciel camstudio fonctionne tout aussi bien et de la meme façon que le programme hypercam.
Mais ce que je souhaite, c'est otenir un fichier video a partir d'un fichier pgn avec une manipulation plus simple et plus rapide qu'avec une video capture d'écran. En cherchant dans mes programmes d'echecs, j'ai trouvé dans Shredder 8, une ligne de menu qui a peut-etre un rapport avec ce que je cherche. Dans le meu Fenetre, puis cliquant sur "Fenetres" une ligne de menu apparait "Media Encoder" , qui est grisé. Quequ'un peut-il m'éclairer sur ce "Media Encoder" et pourquoi est-il grisé ? D'avance merci. voici une capture d'écran de Shredder 8 ![]() Message: http://lefounumerique.xooit.com/t788-fichier-pgn-en-fichier-video.htm?p=2231 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:44:59 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ein trickreicher Turm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Zugegeben, mit der Analyse das Endspiels der letzten Woche haben wir Ihnen ein
hartes Stück Arbeit zugemutet. Und weil Sie jetzt so gut in der Materie drin
sind, gibt es diese Woche gleich noch so einen harten Brocken. Nach 72...Tb4+
musste Weiß in der Partie Romanov-Vescovi eine wichtige Entscheidung treffen:
Weicht er mit dem König nach g5 aus, um selbst möglichst schnell mit seinem
h-Bauern zu laufen, oder ist etwa 73.Kh3 die bessere Wahl? Arbeiten Sie beide
Varianten aus, aber seien Sie gewarnt. Hier lauern Tricks! ChessBase Magazin Online... Video-DVD Turmendspiele im Shop... Größeres Diagramm... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NEU: Nigel Davies: French Defence Strategy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Die Französische Verteidigung ist ein erstklassiger
Kandidat für das eigene Eröffnungsrepertoire, besonders für die nicht mehr ganz
so jungen Spieler, denen die Zeit für umfangreiche Studien fehlt. Der solide
schwarze Aufbau rückt das positionelle Verständnis der Spieler in den
Vordergrund und ist immun gegen scharfe und trickreiche Varianten. Je öfter man
Französisch spielt, desto besser wird man diese Eröffnung auch beherrschen. Auf
seiner neuen DVD erklärt Nigel Davies die Strategie hinter der Französischen
Verteidigung, indem er typische Bauernstrukturen untersucht und Pläne und Ideen
für beide Seiten erläutert. Die verschiedenen Konzepte werden anhand besonders
prägnanter Partien demonstriert. Das erlaubt es dem Zuschauer, nicht nur sein
Verständnis der Eröffnung Schritt für Schritt zu verbessern sondern dabei auch
immer unterhaltsames und kreatives Schach zu genießen. Wer sich diesen
Trainingskurs angesehen hat, der wird in seiner nächsten Französischpartie nicht
gleich mit seinem Latein am Ende sein, wenn es im Mittelspiel darum geht, einen
stellungsgemäßen Plan zu entwickeln. Auch das Lernen konkreter Varianten wird
anschließend viel leichter fallen, weil sich die Logik der einzelnen Züge in das
umfassende Verständnis der Stellungstypen einfügt. Videotrainingskurs in
englischer Sprache. Gesamtspielzeit : 4 Stunden. Demovideo ansehen... Nigel Davnies: "French Defence Strategy" im Shop kaufen... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polgar gewinnt Sizilianischen Themawettkampf | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Der Wettkampf zwischen Judit Polgar und Gregory Kajdanov war keine besonders
gute Werbung für die Sizilianische Verteidigung. Alle vier Partien mit
regulärer Bedenkzeit wurden nämlich von Weiß gewonnen. Der anschließende
Stichkampf mit zwei Blitzpartien endete 1:1. Schließlich entschied eine so
genannte "Armageddonpartie, in der Weiß mit 6 Minuten gewinnen musste,
während Schwarz mit 5 Minuten ein Remis zum Sieg genügte. Diese Partie
entschied Judit Polgar für sich. Den Wettkampf hatte der Privatmann und
Schachliebhaber Jeff Smith in South Carolina organisiert. Zum Abschluss
schaute als Ehrengast Judits Schwester Susan Polgar vorbei und eröffnete die
Partie. Turnierseite bei Monroi... Video, BIlder, Partien... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Echecs à Nancy : le finish en Live à 9h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Yannick Pelletier (en photo ci-contre) pourra-t-il rentrer un jour dans le sacro-saint groupe des joueurs à plus de 2700 points Elo ? Pour le savoir, suivez le Maître International Etienne Mensch qui réalise quotidiennement les interviews vidéo des joueurs du Festival de Nancy. Au programme du jour, Yannick Pelletier détaille sur son parcours dans le tournoi majeur. Flash Info: Dans le tournoi B des Maîtres, Xavier Bedouin s'impose brillamment en 23 coups face au leader Dmitry Stets et décroche une norme de MI. Dans le A, Nikolai Ninov bat le leader Yannick Pelletier et s'adjuge une norme de GMI. Côté compétition, incertitude totale pour la victoire finale puisque Yannick Pelletier, Evgeny Postny et Julio Granda Zuniga occupent la tête du classement avec 5 points sur 8. Autre enjeu tout aussi capital, Nicolas Brunner et Nikolai Ninov doivent absolument gagner pour remporter une norme de GMI.
Le Direct Live à 9h + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Les appariements de la ronde 9 : Sophie Milliet 2404 0-1 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 Nikolai Ninov 2511 1-0 Yannick Pelletier 2602 Evgeny Postny 2648 1-0 Anthony Wirig 2497 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 1/2 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 Nicolas Brunner 2420 0-1 Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - La Grille - Appariements A & B Les résultats de la ronde 8 : Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 1/2 Sophie Milliet 2404 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511 Yannick Pelletier 2602 1/2 Evgeny Postny 2648 Anthony Wirig 2497 1-0 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 1/2 Nicolas Brunner 2420Les résultats de la ronde 7 : Nikolai Ninov 2511 1/2 Sophie Milliet 2404 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 1-0 Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 Evgeny Postny 2648 1/2 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 1-0 Yannick Pelletier 2602 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Anthony Wirig 2497Les résultats de la ronde 6 : Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 1/2 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Yannick Pelletier 2602 Sophie Milliet 2404 1/2 Evgeny Postny 2648 Anthony Wirig 2497 0-1 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640Les résultats de la ronde 5 : Anthony Wirig 2497 1/2 Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 0-1 Yannick Pelletier 2602 Evgeny Postny 2648 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 1/2 Sophie Milliet 2404 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501Les résultats de la ronde 4 : Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 0-1 Evgeny Postny 2648 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 0-1 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 Yannick Pelletier 2602 1-0 Anthony Wirig 2497 Sophie Milliet 2404 0-1 Nicolas Brunner 2420 Nikolai Ninov 2511 1/2 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578Les résultats de la ronde 3 : Yannick Pelletier 2602 1-0 Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 Anthony Wirig 2497 1/2 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 1-0 Sophie Milliet 2404 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 0-1 Evgeny Postny 2648 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511Les résultats de la ronde 2 : Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 0-1 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 1/2 Yannick Pelletier 2602 Sophie Milliet 2404 0-1 Anthony Wirig 2497 Nikolai Ninov 2511 1-0 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 Evgeny Postny 2648 1/2 Nicolas Brunner 2420Les résultats de la ronde 1 du tournoi A : Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 1-0 Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 Yannick Pelletier 2602 1/2 Sophie Milliet 2404 Anthony Wirig 2497 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 1/2 Evgeny Postny 2648 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:27:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Book reviews | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In the Chess Articles section, we've posted two new book reviews. Josh Specht examines Maurice Ashley's The Most Valuable Skills in Chess and John Nunn's Understanding Chess Endgames. Ashley's book is targeted toward beginning players and focuses on the elements of tactics, while Nunn's endgame book is a practical guide for players of all strengths. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:34:40 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best of the Week #8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best of the Week time! From now on we're going to run this feature on Friday, so that you can plan your weekend better. ;-)
Our forum has been really busy lately: We had a collection of assorted chess wisdom, Armis started an interesting discussion about the virtues of 1.Nf3, and katar put a lot of work into collecting lots of endgame videos on the site. He also listed them by endgame type. Have a look at this tremendous resource! In video news, Calm has started a series of analysis videos about a recent tournament. Augelmo recaps the Minnesota Open 2010.And last but not least, Steve Farmer takes a look at a historical game again. This time Korchnoi vs Hubner. And just in case you missed it: Denis is back for 45 minutes of Viewer Questions & Games! Comments or suggestions? Head over to the forum and give us your opinion! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:15:24 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lawrence Trent: Defensa de los Dos Caballos | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| En este DVD, el MI Lawrence Trent presenta un amplio repertorio y un análisis temático de la jugada con más iniciativa, aunque bastante menos documentada 1 e4 e5 2 Cf3 Cc6 3 Ac4 Cf6 4.Cg5 en la Defensa de los Dos Caballos. Etiquetado una vez como un ataque "loco" y "primitivo" por los antiguos maestros, las blancas ignoran su desarrollo para atacar inmediatamente el talón de Aquiles de la posición negra en f7. Sin embargo, con nada menos que cinco campeones mundiales y súper GMs de la actualidad, como Nigel Short e Hikaru Nakamura poniendo en práctica esta romántica opción, 4.Cg5 no solo elude los muy transitados caminos teóricos de la Ruy López, sino que que aporta una alternativa emocionante y perfectamente sólida para el primer jugador. ¡Sin duda 4.Cg5 no es una jugada que se deba ridiculizar! En inglés. Metraje de vídeo: 4 horas 45 minutos. Más información... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: fichier pgn en fichier video | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| personnellement j'utilise camstudio qui est léger et que tu trouve sur http://camstudio.org/ un de mes extrait
http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/zi9hIpcxCms&hl=fr_FR&fs=1&border=1 Message: http://lefounumerique.xooit.com/t788-fichier-pgn-en-fichier-video.htm?p=2226 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sat, 27 Feb 2010 10:14:10 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: fichier pgn en fichier video | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| tiens ça ne mache pas ?
je recommence http://www.youtube.com/v/2hg8Uz7R_Bg Message: http://lefounumerique.xooit.com/t788-fichier-pgn-en-fichier-video.htm?p=2223 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:37:12 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: fichier pgn en fichier video | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| voici la video : Message: http://lefounumerique.xooit.com/t788-fichier-pgn-en-fichier-video.htm?p=2222 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:31:21 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| fichier pgn en fichier video | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonjour,
Afin de visionner le déroulement d'une partie ( avec les pièces et le diagramme ) sur le grand écran plat du living (relié à un disque dur multimedia en réseau), je souhaiterais transformer un fichier pgn en fichier video par exemple en avi. En effet le disque dur multimedia lit les mp3, les jpg et les avi mais pas les pgn , quelle lacune !!!!
Existe-t-il un logiciel spécifique qui ferait cela ou un programme d'echecs complet style Fritz, Chessmaster, ... ? Avec un logiciel de capture video , type hypercam, la réalisation est possible mais la manipulation est un peu lourde. Y-a-t-il une méthode plus simple ? Merci Message: http://lefounumerique.xooit.com/t788-fichier-pgn-en-fichier-video.htm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:26:08 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alekhine's Defense | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Get ready to play in a chess tournament this weekend. Here's a little video to help you get your engine started. (-or to just learn a little more about the game.) I've found this to be easy to play from Black, especially against weaker players. As White, I used to be tempted to advance all 4 pawns but I usually did badly. This is, of course, the whole point of the Alekhine Defense: to tempt W to advance his pawns so that you can break up his center. Book lines lead to obscure positions. While the obvious move 1. ... Nf6 was played for a century before, it is named "Alekhine" because of his great success with this move Budapest in 1921. Play that Game! Chess events in your area . . . and visit jrobi who created these wonderful videos. www.jacklemoine.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Echecs à Nancy : statu quo avant le finish demain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sophie Milliet (en photo ci-contre) avec les Noirs aurait-elle pu battre hier Nikolai Ninov sur une Petroff hybride ? Pour le savoir, suivez le Maître International Etienne Mensch qui réalise quotidiennement les interviews vidéo des joueurs du Festival de Nancy. Au programme du jour, Sophie revient sur son parcours dans le tournoi majeur. A voir également dans le tournoi de Maîtres, Xavier Bedouin, François Brethes, Joachim Iglesias et enfin l'arbitre le plus discret du circuit, Nadir Bounzou. Côté compétition, Yannick Pelletier, Evgeny Postny et Julio Granda Zuniga sont en tête du classement tous à 5 points sur 8. Le duel franco-français entre l'intrépide MI Jean-Baptiste Mullon et Sophie Milliet s'est soldé par le partage des points.
Le Direct Live à 14h + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Les résultats de la ronde 8 : Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 1/2 Sophie Milliet 2404 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511 Yannick Pelletier 2602 1/2 Evgeny Postny 2648 Anthony Wirig 2497 1-0 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 1/2 Nicolas Brunner 2420Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - La Grille - Appariements A & B Les résultats de la ronde 7 : Nikolai Ninov 2511 1/2 Sophie Milliet 2404 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 1-0 Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 Evgeny Postny 2648 1/2 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 1-0 Yannick Pelletier 2602 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Anthony Wirig 2497Les résultats de la ronde 6 : Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 1/2 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Yannick Pelletier 2602 Sophie Milliet 2404 1/2 Evgeny Postny 2648 Anthony Wirig 2497 0-1 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640Les résultats de la ronde 5 : Anthony Wirig 2497 1/2 Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 0-1 Yannick Pelletier 2602 Evgeny Postny 2648 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 1/2 Sophie Milliet 2404 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501Les résultats de la ronde 4 : Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 0-1 Evgeny Postny 2648 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 0-1 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 Yannick Pelletier 2602 1-0 Anthony Wirig 2497 Sophie Milliet 2404 0-1 Nicolas Brunner 2420 Nikolai Ninov 2511 1/2 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578Les résultats de la ronde 3 : Yannick Pelletier 2602 1-0 Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 Anthony Wirig 2497 1/2 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 1-0 Sophie Milliet 2404 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 0-1 Evgeny Postny 2648 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511Les résultats de la ronde 2 : Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 0-1 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 1/2 Yannick Pelletier 2602 Sophie Milliet 2404 0-1 Anthony Wirig 2497 Nikolai Ninov 2511 1-0 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 Evgeny Postny 2648 1/2 Nicolas Brunner 2420Les résultats de la ronde 1 du tournoi A : Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 1-0 Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 Yannick Pelletier 2602 1/2 Sophie Milliet 2404 Anthony Wirig 2497 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 1/2 Evgeny Postny 2648 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sat, 27 Feb 2010 13:44:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Plus d'échec grâce à Clara Morgane ! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]()
Plus qu'un nouveau déodorant, il agit durant plusieurs heures et change progressivement de parfum. C'est bien connu, les filles se lassent rapidement et quand bien même vous avez réussi à les séduire, il est bien plus compliqué de conserver leur attirance pour vous sur le long terme! A l'occasion du lancement de son nouveau produit, Axe organise un concours dont l'égérie n'est autre que Clara Morgane, la femme favorite des jeunes français (sondage IFOP2). Via le site dédié, participez à un concours original: le but du jeu est de garder Clara sous votre charme, le plus longtemps possible. Du style intello au rockeur en passant par le look bling bling, AXE met à disposition une application photo élaborée qui rassemble tous les accessoires rêvés pour garder les filles sous son charme plus longtemps. A la clef, de nombreux lots (iPods, écrans etc), mais surtout, une séance de shooting photo avec la star, et qui sera ensuite affichée dans votre ville! Un bon moyen d'augmenter votre karma charme,non?!
Doublez vos chances d'être l'heureux élu qui posera aux côtés de la star, en témoignant de vos expériences: les filles qui se lassent, vous connaissiez mainenant c'est fini ?! N'hésitez pas à laisser votre commentaire sur le sujet, ici même… vous avez une heure pour gagner un shooting photo avec Clara. Bonne chance à tous !
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:06:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Echecs à Nancy : 3 hommes en tête | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Solodovnichenko serait-il un joueur d'échecs plutôt tricky ? Pour le savoir, suivez le Maître International Etienne Mensch qui réalise quotidiennement les interviews vidéo des joueurs du Festival de Nancy. Au programme du jour, Jean-Baptiste Mullon décode son parcours dans le tournoi de GMI. Entretien suivi de révélations de son adversaire du jour Julio Granda Zuniga, devenu une légende du noble jeu sans ordinateur. On croit rêver ! Côté compétition, Yannick Pelletier -vaincu par Solodovnichenko - est rejoint en tête par Evgeny Postny et Julio Granda Zuniga, tous à 4,5 points sur 7. Le duel entre l'intrépide MI Jean-Baptiste Mullon face et le "GMI Offline" Julio Granda Zuniga tourne court en faveur du Péruvien. Sophie Milliet (en photo) annule opportunément avec les Noirs face à Nikolai Ninov.
Le Direct Live à 14h + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Les résultats Live de la ronde 7 : Nikolai Ninov 2511 1/2 Sophie Milliet 2404 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 1-0 Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 Evgeny Postny 2648 1/2 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 1-0 Yannick Pelletier 2602 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Anthony Wirig 2497Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - La Grille - Appariements A & B Les résultats de la ronde 6 : Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 1/2 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Yannick Pelletier 2602 Sophie Milliet 2404 1/2 Evgeny Postny 2648 Anthony Wirig 2497 0-1 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640Les résultats de la ronde 5 : Anthony Wirig 2497 1/2 Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 0-1 Yannick Pelletier 2602 Evgeny Postny 2648 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 1/2 Sophie Milliet 2404 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501Les résultats de la ronde 4 : Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 0-1 Evgeny Postny 2648 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 0-1 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 Yannick Pelletier 2602 1-0 Anthony Wirig 2497 Sophie Milliet 2404 0-1 Nicolas Brunner 2420 Nikolai Ninov 2511 1/2 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578Les résultats de la ronde 3 : Yannick Pelletier 2602 1-0 Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 Anthony Wirig 2497 1/2 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 1-0 Sophie Milliet 2404 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 0-1 Evgeny Postny 2648 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511Les résultats de la ronde 2 : Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 0-1 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 1/2 Yannick Pelletier 2602 Sophie Milliet 2404 0-1 Anthony Wirig 2497 Nikolai Ninov 2511 1-0 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 Evgeny Postny 2648 1/2 Nicolas Brunner 2420Les résultats de la ronde 1 du tournoi A : Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 1-0 Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 Yannick Pelletier 2602 1/2 Sophie Milliet 2404 Anthony Wirig 2497 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 1/2 Evgeny Postny 2648 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:49:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best of the Week #8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best of the Week time! From now on we're going to run this feature on Friday, so that you can plan your weekend better. ;-)
Our forum has been really busy lately: We had a collection of assorted chess wisdom, Armis started an interesting discussion about the virtues of 1.Nf3, and katar put a lot of work into collecting lots of endgame videos on the site. He also listed them by endgame type. Have a look at this tremendous resource! In video news, Calm has started a series of analysis videos about a recent tournament. Augelmo recaps the Minnesota Open 2010.And last but not least, Steve Farmer takes a look at a historical game again. This time Korchnoi vs Hübner. And just in case you missed it: Denis is back for 45 minutes of Viewer Questions & Games! Comments or suggestions? Head over to the forum and give us your opinion! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:15:24 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Viewer Game + Questions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In this week's premium video, FM Dennis Monokroussos goes over a viewer game and your questions. The topics he covers include a line of the Winawer French, opposite-colored bishop endgame fortresses, and just how exactly the determination gets made about what counts as a sideline, a main line, or a main main line. Give it a watch and remember to reply with your comments or questions right there in the thread! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:02:06 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best of the Week Revival | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| And we are back with this popular feature. Since the last Best of the Week quite some time has passed, so we're not taking "the Week" literally this week. Instead, we'll look at some of the events that have happened in February.
First of all, curtains has resurfaced for a video and zibbit has continued his Reykjavik City Championship recap. Meanwhile, Augelmo has started a series of videos about a certain Saturday match of his. To find out what this is about check out his first analysis video here! There's more! Jwhis's interesting Cardinal Open games, katar's in-depth SCID workshop, a discussion about the ethics of winning on time in losing positions, and finally, a shoutout for thechesser who started making videos recently. Comments or suggestions? Check out the forum and give us your opinion! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sun, 21 Feb 2010 05:12:17 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dennis Goes Over Some Recent Blitz Games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This week, FM Dennis Monokroussos presents a couple of recent blitz games he played. The first goes over an interesting knight and bishop endgame, and the second an attacking game against a GM's Slav defense. As always, this video is freely available to all registered members of the site, so make sure to check it out! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sat, 20 Feb 2010 12:19:18 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mr. Smith liebt Schach | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Jeff Smith ist ein großer Schachenthusiast. In seiner Studienzeit hat er
selber aktiv gespielt. Und auch als er bei Toyota Karriere machte blieb er
dem Schach treu. Inzwischen ist Jeff Smith Unternehmensberater, hat etwas
Geld und dachte, dass es vielleicht nett sei, bei sich zu Hause in South
Carolina einen kleinen Wettkampf zu veranstalten. Also lud er zwei
Schachspieler ein - seinen Trainer Gregory Kajdanov und die beste Frau der
Schachgeschichte Judit Polgar - und ließ die beiden ein Match spielen. Weil
er die Sizilianische Verteidigung mag, ist es ein Themawettkampf mit den
Sizilianischen Varianten Drachen, Scheveningen, Najdorf und Sweshnikow. Ein
bisschen Preisgeld gibt es auch: 16.000 US-Dollar. Nach drei Partien steht
es 2:1 für Kajdanov. Turnierseite bei Monroi... Partien, Bilder, Videos... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VIDEO: Interview Veselin Topalov | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() The closing ceremony started with music from the Andrés Segovia Choir ![]() Host was Leontxo Garcia ![]() The players in front row enjoying the ceremony ![]() Organizer Paco Albalate, during the rest of the year French teacher ![]() Arbiters Juan Vargas and Faik Gasanov with Paco Albalate ![]() A speech by the President of the Spanish Chess Federation, Javier Ochoa de Echagüen ![]() Paco Vallejo receives last prize from the mayor of Linares himself, Juan Fernández ![]() Boris Gelfand with Javier Ochoa de Echagüen ![]() Vugar Gashimov with Antonia Olivares, a Province delegate occupied with turism ![]() A speech by the secretary general of sports of the Andalucía region, Manuel Jimenez ![]() Levon Aronian and Vugar Gashimov ![]() Topalov and Aronian just received the prize (excellent olive oil) for 'most beautiful game' ![]() All players together on stage during one of the speeches ![]() The mayor of Linares gives Topalov the trophy ![]() The trophy (1st prize): a mine shaft - Linares was a mining city until 1991 ![]() Proud winner of Linares 2010: Veselin Topalov ![]() Some final words by the mayor... ![]() ...and a final group photo with all players and authorities. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:52:42 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Viewer Game + Questions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In this week's premium video, FM Dennis Monokroussos goes over a viewer game and your questions. The topics he covers include a line of the Winawer French, opposite-colored bishop endgame fortresses, and just how exactly the determination gets made about what counts as a sideline, a main line, or a main main line. Give it a watch and remember to reply with your comments or questions right there in the thread! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:02:06 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Echecs à Nancy : Yannick Pelletier en tête | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Le Festival d'échecs de Nancy se déroule du 22 au 28 février au conseil général de Meurthe et Moselle. Pour notre plus grand plaisir, le Maître International d'échecs Etienne Mensch (en photo ci-contre) réalise quotidiennement les interviews vidéo des joueurs du Festival de Nancy, les agrémentant de musique country. Côté compétition, Yannick Pelletier vire en tête dans le tournoi majeur avec 4,5 points sur 6. A l'autre extrémité du classement, on retrouve l'intrépide Jean-Baptiste Mullon alias JB 0000, qui a néanmoins sauvé l'honneur en marquant ce matin un premier demi point face à Anthony Wirig puis un second face à Nikolai Ninov.
Le Direct Live à 16h + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Les résultats de la ronde 6 : Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 1/2 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Yannick Pelletier 2602 Sophie Milliet 2404 1/2 Evgeny Postny 2648 Anthony Wirig 2497 0-1 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - La Grille - Appariements A & B Les résultats de la ronde 5 : Anthony Wirig 2497 1/2 Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 0-1 Yannick Pelletier 2602 Evgeny Postny 2648 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 1/2 Sophie Milliet 2404 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501Les résultats de la ronde 4 : Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 0-1 Evgeny Postny 2648 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 0-1 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 Yannick Pelletier 2602 1-0 Anthony Wirig 2497 Sophie Milliet 2404 0-1 Nicolas Brunner 2420 Nikolai Ninov 2511 1/2 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578Les résultats de la ronde 3 : Yannick Pelletier 2602 1-0 Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 Anthony Wirig 2497 1/2 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 1-0 Sophie Milliet 2404 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 0-1 Evgeny Postny 2648 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511Les résultats de la ronde 2 : Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 0-1 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 1/2 Yannick Pelletier 2602 Sophie Milliet 2404 0-1 Anthony Wirig 2497 Nikolai Ninov 2511 1-0 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 Evgeny Postny 2648 1/2 Nicolas Brunner 2420Les résultats de la ronde 1 du tournoi A : Aliaksei Charnushevich 2501 1-0 Jean-Baptiste Mullon 2458 Yannick Pelletier 2602 1/2 Sophie Milliet 2404 Anthony Wirig 2497 1/2 Nikolai Ninov 2511 Julio Granda Zuniga 2640 1/2 Evgeny Postny 2648 Nicolas Brunner 2420 1/2 Yuri Solodovnichenko 2578 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:55:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VIDEO: Grischuk-Topalov | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:14:39 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VIDEO: The Draw | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:18:37 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Linares R9: Grischuk beats Topalov | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. A six players, double round-robin, with Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705). Rounds start at 16:00 CET, with rest days on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time. Round 9Just two rounds ago Veselin Topalov seemed sure of his first tournament victory in Linares, but two days later this picture has changed dramatically. Alexander Grischuk defeated the tournament leader with the white pieces in round 9 and should now be considered favourite for victory, since this year the first tiebreak rule is the individual enounters. Update: Here I forgot that Grischuk lost to Topalov in the first stage. The tiebreak rules are: 1. Individual result.
Grischuk was ‘pretty much happy’ with his play, as he said after the game. And he had all the reason, since he had simply played a good game, and certainly better than Topalov. Slightly under pressure, the Bulgarian continued to play quickly, to try to create complications; a strategy we also saw for example during his match against Kamsky a year ago. This time his opponent kept his calm and didn’t give away the advantage. During the last phase Topalov didn’t defend optimally and so Grischuk won the ending with RBN vs Q easily, where it should have been more difficult. Gashimov-Vallejo was drawn, and way before move 40, before which officially one is not allowed to agree to a draw. However, an exception is made in clearly drawn positions, and this was one of them.
Later Gelfand and Aronian also split the point and for the Armenian this was the 9th consecutive draw. His comment after the game: “A personal record! I once had eight, but never nine!” Tomorrow we’ll have a video with Grischuk’s reaction after the game as well as a video on ‘the draw’, with comments by Gashimov, Vallejo, Aronian and Gelfand. Unfortunately the Hotel Anibal’s internet speed is too slow to upload. Games round 9Game viewer by ChessTempo Linares 2010 | Pairings and resultsLinares 2010 | Round 9 Standings
![]() Calle Cervantes (Cervantes Street)... ![]() ...where Teatro Cervantes, the venue, is located ![]() Only three boards fill the stage this year... ![]() ...and just 10-20 spectators showed up on Tuesday ![]() But the press room is crowded as always... ![]() ...with, amongst others, Ljubojevic and Topalov's two Dutch seconds, Erwin l'Ami and Jan Smeets ![]() As always, the games shop across the street of Hotel Anibal is dedicated to chess again... ![]() ...with the flags of all the participants... ![]() ...and all kinds of chess sets.... ![]() ...creating a beautiful picture ![]() The January issue of the Spanish chess magazine Jaque Does that cover photo look familiar? Sharp vision! It’s by yours truly, also published over here; the report on the London Chess Classic for Jaque was done by me. Links | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:46:57 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Absperrungen und Bodychecks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Die Diagrammstellung mit Weiß am Zug entstammt der Partie Bu Xiangzhi-McShane, ein
fortgeschrittenes Turmendspiel, wie es ähnlich schon in Tausenden Partien
vorkam und immer wieder vorkommen wird. Schwarz wird bald den Turm für den
a-Bauern geben müssen, und dann ist die entscheidende Frage, ob das Duo
schwarzer König und f-Bauer günstig genug aufgestellt ist, um gegen Turm und
König remis zu machen. Zum Waffenarsenal des Schwarzen gehören dann
insbesondere Bodychecks, um den weißen König auf Distanz zu halten, Weiß
dagegen kann mit Absperrungen arbeiten. Schärfen Sie Ihre analytischen
Fähigkeiten, indem Sie die Lösung ausarbeiten und mit GM Karsten Müllers
Analyse vergleichen. Es lohnt sich! ChessBase Magazin Online... Video-DVD Turmendspiele im Shop... Größeres Diagramm... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Echecs à Linares : Topalov vainqueur ! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coup de théâtre à Linarès. A une ronde de la fin, Topalov s'est fait rattraper au classement par le Russe Alexander Grischuk. Comment le Bulgare va-t-il digérer sa défaite d'hier et terminer le tournoi. Le duel à distance entre ces deux champions d'échecs constituera indéniablement la clé du tournoi.
Flash Info : Dans une finale de tours et pions égale, Topalov fait craquer Gelfand et s'adjuge le tournoi de Linarès !
Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Les résultats de la ronde 10 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Boris Gelfand 2761 Levon Aronian 2781 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - Vidéos - Le Live sur Chessdom Les résultats de la ronde 9 : Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Veselin Topalov 2805 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781Les résultats de la ronde 8 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Boris Gelfand 2761 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759Les résultats de la ronde 7 : Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705Les résultats de la ronde 6 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Boris Gelfand 2761Les résultats de la ronde 5 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Francisco Vallejo 2705 0-1 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Boris Gelfand 2761Les résultats de la ronde 4 : Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781Les résultats de la ronde 3 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736Les résultats de la ronde 2 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Boris Gelfand 2761 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781Les résultats de la ronde 1 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:06:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chess.com Podcast #49 - Playing with Your Bishop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:00:03 PST | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Echecs à Linares : la ronde 9 en Live à 16h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde du 13 au 24 février en Espagne : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov. A deux rondes de la fin, Topalov maintient son leadership au classement, devançant d'un point le Russe Alexander Grischuk. Le duel du jour entre ces deux champions d'échecs constituera indéniablement la clé du tournoi. Mais "Topi" serait-il en période de doute ? Après sa nulle samedi face à Gashimov en fort zeitnot, l'attaquant bulgare rate le gain dimanche face à Aronian. Rendez-vous à 16h !
Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Les appariements de la ronde 9 : Alexander Grischuk 2736 - Veselin Topalov 2805 Vugar Gashimov 2759 - Francisco Vallejo 2705 Boris Gelfand 2761 - Levon Aronian 2781Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - Vidéos - Le Live sur Chessdom Les résultats de la ronde 8 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Boris Gelfand 2761 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759Les résultats de la ronde 7 : Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705Les résultats de la ronde 6 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Boris Gelfand 2761Les résultats de la ronde 5 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Francisco Vallejo 2705 0-1 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Boris Gelfand 2761Les résultats de la ronde 4 : Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781Les résultats de la ronde 3 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736Les résultats de la ronde 2 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Boris Gelfand 2761 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781Les résultats de la ronde 1 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tue, 23 Feb 2010 06:57:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: Deep Fritz 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Salut Stanislas,
Naturellement je pense que Deep fritz 12 sortira en français prochainement, comme cela a été le cas pour toutes les autres versions anterieures. ceçi dit, à ta place je ne regretterais pas l'achat de Fritz 12 par rapport à la version deep : vendre 100 euros la version deep de fritz me semble complement absurde par rapport au marché actuel des moteurs , quand on voit que des moteurs gratuits multiprocessseurs ... De plus la difference de niveau entre une version simple processeur et multiprocesseur de fritz me semble presenter peu interet : il s'agit du meme moteur, qui calcule les memes coups : si tu laisses fritz 12 reflechir plus longtemps, tu obtiendras la meme variante que celle calculée par deep fritz ! si tu possedes fritz 12 , je pense que c'est dejà un tres bon choix . inutile de posseder deepfritz 12.. oriente toi plutot vers Shredder 12 ou attends rybka 4 ! les cours videos dont tu parles sur fritz 12 : les seuls cours en francais sont ceux de la petite souris française qui donne ses cours pour debutants en video ... mais tu n'auras jamais les cours de kasparov ou autre gmi en francais , mais toujours en anglais. cordialement thierry Message: http://lefounumerique.xooit.com/t781-Deep-Fritz-12.htm?p=2205 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:28:48 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chess reigns in Amsterdam as Dutch cabinet resigns | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Max Euwe Challenger tournament is being held in the picturesque Cafe Batavia 1920, right at the corner of Central Station. It is a modest, round robin tournament for ten local heroes and promising young talent, where spectators can spend a typical Amsterdam afternoon at the bar, ordering special Dutch beer or enjoying a typical Dutch meal. The tournament lasts until February 28, and the games can be watched live from 14.00 CET here. ![]() The tall 'Gebouw Batavia 1920' cafe The Batavia 1920 cafe is located in the oldest part of Amsterdam, close to the infamous red-light district. While the area is currently heavily under construction due to a new subway network, it hasn’t lost all of its Golden Age splendour. ![]() A view from the backside of the cafe: the 13th century Old Church, the oldest building in Amsterdam Highest rated player this year is semi-retired IM Li Riemersma (2431), who is one of four participants living in the Dutch capital. Other notable chess figures are Israelian IM Yochanan Afek and Rumanian WGM Alina Motoc, the girlfriend of Dutch GM Erwin L’Ami. Dutch youngsters like FM Christov Klein and WIM Lisa Schut will no doubt try to achieve some norm here. Two Indians are also playing: Gurpreet Pal Singh and 13-year old Khosla Shiven. ![]() Dutch talent Christov Klein ![]() Lisa Schut taking a moment to herself ![]() Koshla Shiven's board happens to be opposite ... a typically Dutch 'coffeeshop' The opening round was a bad day for the ladies as both Lisa Schut and Alina Motoc lost their first round games against FM Arno Bezemer and IM Xander Wemmers respectively. Christov Klein, on the other hand, was succesful against Afek while young Shiven drew Henk Vedder, who is a well-known figure in the Dutch chess scene. In the second round, things heated up as Lisa Schut crushed rating favourite Riemersma in a nice attacking game, young Shiven beat Bezemer and Wemmers won his second game in a row, defeating Afek. Wemmers, who confessed that he hadn’t prepared for his game against the well-known endgame composer and subsequently managed to convert a worse middlegame into a win, is now in the clear lead. ![]() Xander Wemmers - Yochanan Afek: 1-0 ![]() Gurpreet Pal Singh - Alina Motoc: 1/2-1/2 ![]() At the bar, the games are closely watched by visiting GM Dimitri Reinderman and friends Meanwhile, a rather more unique chess activity could be witnessed in another famous Amsterdam area called De Pijp. There, in art gallery Juliètte Jongma, an exposition was opened by Dutch artist Guido van der Werve. Van der Werve, who acquired international fame with his incredible short movie Number Eight, also known as The Icebreaker, now showed his latest movie Number Twelve, a film about a game of chess being played at the New York Marshall Chess Club between Van der Werve and GM Leonid Yudasin, played on a chess piano, designed and constructed by Van der Werve himself. ![]() The chess piano The chess piano produces a note (or two notes) whenever a move is played on the board. The eight files of the chess board represent the scales of the notes on an octave, while from queenside to kingside the key changes from minor to major. This fantastic object inspired Van der Werve to a musical composition which can be played and read both as a piece of music and a real game of chess. (In fact, a King’s Gambit accepted.) The Number Twelve movie is a recording, at the Marshall Chess Club, of that musical game between the artist and Yudasin, accompanied by a real orchestra. It also features scenes from Mount St. Helens and the San Andreas fault line. At the current exposition in Amsterdam, which can be seen until April 4, photographs by Van der Werve are also on display. These were all inspired by moments from Van der Werve’s game against Yudasin. ![]() One of the chess-music inspired photographs by Guido van der Werve There was also a small blitz tournament, all games being played on the chess piano, in which yours truly participated as well. It was an extraordinary experience, not only because one has to actually press the squares while moving, just like pressing a key on a piano – making castling a particularly interesting and enjoyable event – but mainly since many moves strangely produce real musical harmony and sometimes the first hint of a melody can even be heard. A small video will be added as soon as possible. ![]() The blitz tournament was enjoyed by the (mostly non-chess playing) audience as much for the music the players produced as for their speed of play (Henk-Jan Visser vs. Frenk van Harreveld) Van der Werve is a musician himself and it’s clear that his chess piano is really an ode to formidably made chess boards (with beautifully made, wooden, heavy pieces) as well as ultra high-quality musical instruments. Oh, and finally, this weekend the Chess Championship of Amsterdam also started in yet another historical area, De Watergraafsmeer. Politicians often say their work is a lot like chess. After this weekend’s resignation of the Dutch government, one can only hope some of its ministers will visit Amsterdam a bit more often to see the real thing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:19:12 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best of the Week Revival | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| And we are back with this popular feature. Since the last Best of the Week quite some time has passed, so we're not taking "the Week" literally this week. Instead, we'll look at some of the events that have happened in February.
First of all, curtains has resurfaced for a video and zibbit has continued his Reykjavik City Championship recap. Meanwhile, Augelmo has started a series of videos about a certain Saturday match of his. To find out what this is about check out his first analysis video here! There's more! Jwhis's interesting Cardinal Open games, katar's in-depth SCID workshop, a discussion about the ethics of winning on time in losing positions, and finally, a shoutout for thechesser who started making videos recently. Comments or suggestions? Check out the forum and give us your opinion! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sun, 21 Feb 2010 05:12:17 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chess What Matters | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() Click here or on the image to view the video. Chess What Matters Saturday, February 20, 2010 John-Thomas Kobos FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Two of the world's highest ranked chess players checked in to the Central Valley Saturday afternoon to battle brave locals. Organized competitive chess started in the 16-Century. Players claim it takes minutes to learn but years to master. Well, Saturday afternoon in Clovis 100 players had the chance to square off one by one against International Master Sofia Polgar and her older sister Susan Polgar an International Grandmaster. "I'm sure there's some kind of anxiety but on the otherhand it's an experience to play a former world champion and it's hopefully a lifelong experience for them," said Susan. Sophia added: "It's a great way to interact and make new friends." Both sisters, who are world renowned and top of their fields, acknowledged they can be a bit intimidating and so does their competition. "They're human beings but their skill level is something I aspire to," said teacher P.R. Gaffney. 10-year old Gunho Moon said he was probably going to lose pretty fast because: "I'm not so good at chess." He added, "My dad wanted me to play." However, 10-year old Gunho Moon said he is excited to participate. These sisters will alternate moves on each board until the game is over and they cannot discuss strategy. This is the first time they've ever been challenged this way. Susan said: "It's more of a challenge than if we were to play separately on 50 boards each because our styles are different." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2010-02-21T02:10:00.000-06:00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I want you to Join the CJA today! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() Dear chess friends and chess Journalists! I am addressing this post to all of you out there who love chess, who have ever played chess, or written about chess in any way or form. Yes, that's you, reading these lines! Journalism is the craft of conveying news, descriptive material and opinion via a widening spectrum of media. These include newspapers, magazines, radio and television, the internet and even, more recently, the mobile phone. I love the word "widening"! That means that any of you, who have ever written about chess in any medium, not only in the printed media, such as books, magazines, and newspapers, but also in new technologies, such as video (video podcasts, YouTube, video sharing sites), audio (songs, audio podcasts), photographs (photography sites), blogs, home pages, social sites (Twitter, Facebook) are journalists in some way, and at the very front of chess promotion! Yes, again, I'm speaking about YOU reading this post! It's now possible from one's cell phone to update one's blog or Twitter account in seconds and that's one of the fastest way to relay or receive information. I read "tweets" every day from chess enthusiasts around the world with the freshest chess news. Today chess lovers can find out in real time how their chess heroes are playing, watch their games, and see tournament results tables. Even webcams are often installed in chess tournament halls, it makes you feel you're right there with the players, all this is journalism of the 21st century, and we are all part of it! I thank every single one of you who has ever created any such kind of chess journalism. You are making the game cooler, younger, more alive! I want you all to join the CJA! But let me first start with the beginning. I first become acquainted with the CJA thanks to its president, Jerry Hanken, who came to me in August of 2004 at the US Open in Fort Lauderdale and introduced me to the organization he cared so much about, the CJA. He told me all the benefits of being a member, and how I could not afford not to be a member. Jerry and I even played in that 2004 US Open Blitz tournament (Nakamura won the tournament, I came in second), and gave me a real fight in his favorite English opening. I immediately then joined the CJA, and since then have always been proud to be a member. When Jerry invited me to become Vice-President of the CJA 2 years ago, he told me not to worry, as long as he's around, I won't have to do much. Jerry called me often to discuss new articles (read his article about me) and work went on as usual. He was very strong in his opinions, and always faithful to putting chess #1 in all his decisions. Suddenly the unthinkable happened, on October 1, 2009, I got the sad news that Jerry passed away, from complications of diabetes (read USCF post and a blog post). I had just spoken to him while he was in the hospital some days earlier and he was in good spirits, hoping to go home soon. In memory of Jerry Hanken, I will be holding high the torch for the CJA, let is prosper and continue to promote chess! The CJA stands for "The Chess Journalists of America", but I don't want you to think it's limited depending on where you live, this is truly a worldwide association, and I intend to do my best to help promote it to the whole chess world. One of the very best features of the CJA is its fantastic yearly AWARDS PROGRAM. One of the main goals I have as President of the CJA is to recognize any of you who really do something to promote chess, in any positive, original way you do so. There are close to 20 awards categories in the Awards Program, such as (I use the 2009 categories, these may change a little for 2010): • Chess Journalist of the Year • Best Chess Column • Best Achievement in Correspondence Chess • Best Chess Art • Best Chess Photograph • Best Tournament Report • Best Regular Newspaper Column • Best Chess Web Site • Best Historical Article • Best Interview • Best Editorial • Best Review • Best Analysis • Best Instructive Lesson • Best Humorous Contribution • Special Recognition Award I will gladly consider other categories upon request, due to new technologies, such as best Chess Podcast, best Chess YouTube Channel, best Chess Tweet, best chess poem, best chess iPhone app, best chess playing site, best live chess viewer, or any other you can think of. This will be difficult for the judges, but I will do my best to help. Feel free to add any comments to this post if you have any suggestions. The CJA Awards are very prestigious. The winners get recognized officially with a beautiful certificate, of course also on the web, and in the most widely circulated chess magazine in the world, Chess Life (both printed and online versions). I have the honor of having won the 2009 "Chess Journalist of the Year" award, succeeding eminent chess journalists Macauley Peterson (2008), Mig Greengard (2007), Peter Tamburro (2006), Frisco del Rosario (2005), Andrew Soltis (2004), Fred Wilson (2003), Yasser Seirawan (2002), Hanon Russell (2001), Al Lawrence (2000). Don't you want to try to be the next "Journalist of the Year"? Before becoming CJA President, I have applied for several awards, and have won "Best Chess Art" (see my chess comic on the cover of the CJA Magazine #130), "Best Chess Video or Podcast" (for my Chess Killer Tips free video podcast, "Best Deep Analysis" (for my game Huss-Kosteniuk, which I commented in a magazine and also on video), so I'm sure you can also apply for an award, and get recognized for what you do for chess. This should be plenty to convince you to become CJA members. The good news is that the cost to become a CJA member (and also get the quartely CJA magazine) at this time is only $10 for the USA and $15 for any other place in the world! That's a very low price for all the benefits you get from being with equally minded colleagues. To make it easier for people to sign up to the CJA or renew their memberships, there are now additional options, perfect for people outside the USA who don't find it convenient to send a check. a) Send a check made for $10 (USA) or $15 (outside USA) made out to CJA, c/o Randy Hough, 1826 W. Garvey Ave. #5, Alhambra, CA 91803, USA b) Pay by Paypal (Paypal does not require registration, any credit card should work) via my webshop, all monies received will be transferred to the CJA: ![]() If you have any questions about the CJA and have any doubt about should you become a member or not, feel free to contact me by email, and I will gladly personally answer your questions. More information can also be found on the CJA web site. Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk Women's World Chess Champion Chess Journalist of the Year CJA President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:37:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dennis Goes Over Some Recent Blitz Games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This week, FM Dennis Monokroussos presents a couple of recent blitz games he played. The first goes over an interesting knight and bishop endgame, and the second an attacking game against a GM's Slav defense. As always, this video is freely available to all registered members of the site, so make sure to check it out! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sat, 20 Feb 2010 12:19:18 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NEU: Lawrence Trent: Two Knight‘s Defence | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Viele 1.e4-Spieler suchen ihr halbes Schachleben
nach einer zuverlässigen und zugleich scharfen Waffe gegen 1.e4 e5 2.Sf3 Sc6.
Der junge englische IM Lawrence Trent schlägt auf seiner ersten DVD für ChessBase eine
spannende Repertoireerweiterung vor. Nach 3.Lc4 und der klassischen Replik
3...Sf6 geht es mit 4.Sg5 gleich zur Sache. Von den alten Meistern als albern
oder primitiv abgestempelt, haben gerade im letzten Jahr Spieler wie Hikaru
Nakamura, Nigel Short oder David Navara mit dieser scharfen Fortsetzung
gepunktet. Es gibt also gute Gründe, 4.Sg5 nicht einfach zu verlachen sondern
sich vielmehr die neuen Ideen und Varianten genau anzusehen. Für alle, denen die
langen und oft trägen Spanischen Varianten zu mühselig sind, erschließt Lawrence
Trent auf dieser DVD in fast 5 Stunden Gesamtspielzeit ein aufregendes neues
Gebiet, auf dem es vieles zu entdecken gibt. Videoausschnitt aus der Einleitung ansehen (in reduzierter Qualität)... Lawrence Trent: "Two Kinght's Defence" im Shop kaufen... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Topalov beats Grischuk, leads by a point | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin. This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time. Round 5 reportSome of you have already discussed the tournament website, and the fact that the contents is only in Spanish. That’s disappointing indeed, but even worse was the ‘Fotogaleria’ page which contained only a Marca announcement video for the first few days. However, today we suddenly noticed two video playlists with some videos, not of the highest quality yet, but it’s better than nothing. Below that, indeed a photo gallery has now been added. Just to let you know. The game of the day was of course the encounter between the two tournament leaders, Topalov and Grischuk. It certainly provided excellent entertainment for the chess fans, but the number of mistakes was above average, at this level of play. Again it seemed that Topalov was avoiding the most theoretical lines, this time against Grischuk’s Najdorf Sicilian. Just when his opponent was about to consolidate a slight positional advantage, the Bulgarian came up with a dangerous but highly creative concept: avoiding the exchange of queens with 20.Qb2 and sacrificing a knight (21.Nf5) to bring Bg2 to life. Grischuk replied with a strong defensive set-up (…a5 + …Ra6) and was suddenly winning after the slow (or ‘lazy’, as The Doctor used to call it) 26.Kb1. 27…Kh7, avoiding the Ne5 pin, would have won material. Topalov then missed the winning 29.Qc1 but it must be said that the ideas behind that one are very computeresque. It was Grischuk’s turn to miss the very promising 31…Qg3 after which an equal (but slightly more comfortable for White) ending was reached. Around move 52 Grischuk suddenly collapsed.
Against Vallejo, Gashimov was confident enough to go for the Benoni again, and it’s really amazing how the grandmaster from Azerbaijan keeps on surviving, and even winning these positions that are actually just better for White. He just knows them very well and has a great sense of timing and counterchances, like his compatriot Radjabov in the King’s Indian. Moves like 19.Nb6 or 20.Ncd2 should be better for White, and 26.Qxc8 was a clear misjudgement of Black’s play on the queenside.
Less entertaining was Aronian-Gelfand, except for the fact that White’s novelty was deviating from a 1929 game. In a middlegame with opposite-coloured bishops Gelfand sacrificed a pawn and confidently held it to a draw, helped by the unsafe white king.
Photos © María José Sánchez Rivera Games round 5 with brief annotationsGame viewer by ChessTempo Linares 2010 | Pairings and resultsLinares 2010 | Round 5 Standings
Links | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:43:47 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ruhm, Reichtum und Ehre! - Videowettbewerb der DSJ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Die Deutsche Schachjugend sucht Kreative. Mit einem Filmwettbewerb fordert
die Deutsche Schachjugend alle Schachfreunde auf, mal einen richtig guten
Werbespot für das Schach zu drehen. Der Clip soll höchstens drei Minuten
lang und bisher noch nicht veröffentlicht sein. Teilnehmen können
Einzelkünstler, aber auch Gruppen (z.B. Schulschach-AGs). Unter allen
Einsendungen trifft eine Jury eine Vorauswahl. Die endgültige Abstimmung
über den besten Clip erfolgt dann über das Internet. Dem Sieger winken laut
DSJ Ruhm, Reichtum und Ehre: Neben 200 Euro Preisgeld gibt es eine
öffentliche Preisverleihung im Rahmen der DSJ-Meisterschaften. Der prämierte
Film soll dann als Werbefilm für Schach verwendet werden. Einsendeschluss
31.März 2010. Ausschreibung... DSJ-Seite... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Peter Lalic Youtube Chess | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| From: Peter Lalic "Hi! I like your blog, and noticed that it has the intention to teach improving players. Therefore, I am just wondering if you would be so kind to post a link to these chess videos: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=4CF48F864CFA7853 Hopefully they are instructive. The latest games are presented with notation as well. Please take this as an example for consideration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIRBdyk3Obc Thank you very much. Peter" I love to get these kind of e-mails. From my inbox directly to my friends that read the blog: PRESTO! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Video Commemoration at The Drum | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Chess Drum celebrated its 9th year in existence on February 12th. I have just posted a commemorative video for the 9th Anniversary of The Chess Drum. Below is the 15-minute version. Enjoy! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:56:27 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chess.com Podcast #48 - P-P-P-Puzzle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:08:16 PST | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chess Fever DVD Free Shipping | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() Dear Friends! I just heard from the company that manufactures my DVD that my new DVD "Chess Blitz Fever" will be ready in less than 4 weeks. So before it comes out, I offer free shipping to anybody who orders it, regardless of where it has to be shipped, from Alaska to Tumbuktu. I will ship the DVD to you the day it comes out. The DVD has a whole section of useful tips on how to better play blitz chess, and is followed by the dual screen presentation of my 8 best wins at the recent World Blitz championship in Moscow, against (the linked names go to YouTube samples on my channel): • Alexander Morozevich • Alexander Grischuk • Vugar Gashimov • Levon Aronian • Arkadij Naiditsch There is more than 2 hours of video on the DVD, and I guarantee it is both entertaining and instructive. I am very happy about how the DVD came out, the quality is the best I have ever done, and I hope you will like it! You will become a better chess player after watching my DVD! You may want also to buy my new book "Diary of a Chess Queen", and I will write a personal autograph for you or your loved one. This book contains not only 64 of my career best games, but also is the story of how I started to play chess 20 years ago and how it led to my becoming the 12th women's world chess champion. Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk Women's World Chess Champion | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:11:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Linares R1: empatando bajo la lluvia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| La primera ronda del XXVII Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez "Ciudad de Linares" comenzó con tres empates, en un día con lluvia y frío. El resultado suena pacífico, pero en realidad hubo lucha en los tres tableros sobre el escenario del Teatro Cervantes. La partida más corta fue la de Aronian y Grischuk con 26 movimientos y la última en terminar fue Gelfand vs. Gashimov, que únicamente firmaron las paces tras casi seis horas de lucha. Mañana se enfrentarán Topalov vs. Gashimov, Grischuk vs. Gelfand y Vallejo vs. Aronian. Fotos, partidas y vídeo... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Linares 2010 Starting | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2010 Linares chess tournament, part of the Grand Slam circuit and one of the top chess events in the world, is starting today with the games of the first round. The field is reduced to six players, which will compete in a double round robin event. Tournament director Juan Fernandez underlined at the opening ceremony that he is happy the tournament has a category XXI despite the economic crisis and expressed the desire the competition to share venue with Morelia, UAE, or another city in 2011. Last year champion Alexander Grischuk and FIDE Grand Prix winner Levon Aronian are making another consecutive appearance. Former World Champion Veselin Topalov, who skipped the last year event because of the FIDE Challengers match against Gata Kamsky, is back to play in one of his favourite tournaments. He noted, "It will be very important to enter the World Chess Championship match against Anand with a victory in Linares. However, it will not be easy, as the competition is very strong." Boris Gelfand was invited after his win at the prestigious FIDE World Cup, while Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan is making a debut at the super-tournaments. Francisco Vallejo Pons was happy returning to Linares five years after his last participation and shared, "It is an honor for a Spanish player to participate in the most prestigious tournament in the world." Pairings of the first round are: Francisco Vallejo Pons - Veselin Topalov (draw signed) Levon Aronian - Alexander Grischuk (draw) Boris Gelfand - Vugar Gashimov, still in progress The presentation video Official website ![]() Francisco Vallejo Pons | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:01:03 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Echecs à Cappelle : la ronde 1 en Live à 16h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notre ami Stéphane Gouvart lance aujourd'hui son 26ème Open International d'échecs de Cappelle-la-Grande du 13 au 20 février 2010 au célèbre Palais des Arts.
Le Direct Live à 16h Cappelle est devenu au fil des ans un tournoi d'échecs incontournable du calendrier international. Surprise, Chess & Strategy devient cette année le partenaire média de l'Open Ch'ti le plus relevé au Monde avec plus de 100 GMI. Des conditions de confort exceptionnelles (échiquier en bois, petit drapeau), une kyrielle de grands-maîtres venus de l'Est, une avalanche de bénévoles ch'tis constituent les 3 ingrédients de sa réussite. Nous suivrons le parcours de l'espoir français des échecs, Maxime Lagarde (Elo 2423, en photo), entraîné par le GMI Olivier Renet. Obtenir le titre de Maître International reste son objectif prioritaire... alors rendez-vous à 16h pour la première ronde ! Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - Les appariements Rd 1 - Les résultats Rd 1 Visualiser toutes nos vidéos sur YouTube Lundi 21 Décembre 2009, le champion d'échecs Maxime Lagarde nous avait accordé une interview dans les salons de la Mairie de Saint-Mandé où se déroulait la seconde phase du Top 16 Jeunes. Avec un classement de 2393 Elo et une première norme de MI obtenue cette année, ce sympathique prodige niortais de 15 ans fait indéniablement partie de l'élite française des échecs. Maxime est entrainé depuis peu par le GMI pédagogue Olivier Renet et joue aujourd'hui pour le célèbre club francilien Clichy Echecs. Au programme de cet entretien : Nous évoquons ses entraineurs successifs, sa fulgurante progression en termes de classement Elo et ses succès en 2009 (vainqueur de l'accession du championnat de France à Nîmes, médaille de bronze aux championnats du monde à Kemer en catégorie des moins de 16 ans). Maxime Lagarde révèle également pour les lecteurs de Chess & Strategy sa méthode d'entrainement aux échecs et ses lectures préférées. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sat, 13 Feb 2010 11:37:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Download Videos on your iPhone/iPod Touch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In case you missed the announcement in our forums, we are proud to announce a new feature: video downloads for your mobile devices! Underneath each video, you will see a new section called "Mobile Downloads," which gives you a link where you can download the video. Check out this video demo I recorded, which goes through the entire process of downloading a video to syncing it to my iPhone.
All existing members have a few downloads to try out, so please test out this feature and leave us feedback about how well it worked for you! Right now the videos are tested and confirmed to work on the iPhone and iPod Touch, so if you have other mobile devices please try to watch one of the videos and let us know how it goes! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sat, 13 Feb 2010 05:42:54 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chess in cinema – the ultimate collection | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The user FightLuX posted four “Chess Rhapsodies” on YouTube. The music might not be a treat to anyone’s ears, but the collection is impressive: 0:04 – “Shakhmatnaya goryachka” directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin 0:03 – “Straw Dogs” directed by Sam Peckinpah with Dustin Hoffman 0:04 – “Checkmate” [porno!] by Dyanna Lauren 0:04 – Star Trek TOS (1×01) Furthermore, the info of the YouTube user refers to a website (in Italian) with a large collection of chess in films, telefilms, videoclips, TV shows, commercials, animations and cartoons. Is there any other board game that’s represented so much in our culture? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:43:29 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Google Issues | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Video's on the front page don't seem to play. These are still downloading through Podcast sites, e.g. iTunes, and all archive (i.e. not on the first page) videos play fine. We are working on the fix and will have this sorted very shortly. Thank you for your patience. Meanwhile, check out the free videos on www.chess.com ! Mike | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:48:30 PST | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chess.com Podcast #47 - The Quiet Game | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:10:47 PST | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Two Simple KIDs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In this week's lesson, Dennis presents two simple King's Indians. Dennis was white in both games, and he shows us how to exploit strategic errors in the opening and middlegame. If you've ever been afraid of the fearsome KID or are just looking for a wild ride, check out Dennis' latest offering! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:43:04 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. Chess: Changing of the Guard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis has released a DVD that choronicles the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship. The video features video footage from the top players in the U.S. and their expressions on a variety of topics. The preview appears to capture the intensity of the event as well as the beauty of the venue. Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield have been the hosts of the championship since the USCF parted ways with the previous sponsor. This production appears to share a glimpse of the important role the Sinquefields are playing in what appeared to be a dying chess scene. Price: US$11.99 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:41:08 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Review: Marcel Duchamp – The Art of Chess | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A few weeks ago I visited an exhibition in the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, Spain. The exhibition featured some very explicit classic Japanese erotic paintings (there was actually a warning sign at the entrance of the exhibition, prohibiting visitors below 18 years of age) which served as a source of inspiration for Picasso and his contemporaries. Though I had seen some of these paintings before, I was amazed how deeply such works from a competely different culture had influenced some of Picasso’s works. For me it was yet another proof that what makes a true artist is his ability to be inspired by literally everything around him. A contemporary of Picasso’s, Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) is without a doubt the most famous chess-playing painter of all time. In fact, apart from being obsessed by it, he was a rather strong chess player, who played in the French Championship (in 1924) and scored real results against some of the world’s chess playing sub-top of the 1920s and 1930s. It was Duchamp who famously said that, “while all artists are not chess players, all chess players are artists.” A new book by Francis Naumann, Bradley Bailey and Jennifer Shahade focuses on Duchamp’s artistic life as a chess player and his chess life as an artist. Marcel Duchamp – The Art of Chess, published last year by Readymade Press, is an inspiring little book, beautifully illustrated and beautifully printed, which made me realize Duchamp is not only my hero but also an example and a teacher with an important lesson. ![]() The Chess Game (1910) The three authors focus on different aspects of Duchamp’s chess-art life. Francis Naumann, an art scholar and curator in New York, describes the development of Duchamps artistic works as if it were a game of chess, starting with the learning of the rules (1902-1912) and the opening (1912-1918) and so on, until the endgame which ended in Duchamp’s death in 1968. My first impression of this method was that it was hardly original, life being described as a game of chess having been tried from medieval storytellers to Garry Kasparov. But when I read on, I found out that this method actually fits Duchamp’s life quite well, and there are several others who have noted the parallels.
Here we already see the way Duchamp looks at things: from a broken angle, taking the common analogy somehow literally to the domain of chess and giving it quite an original twist at the end. Naumann himself drily notes that serious chess games (such as Duchamps played regularly), “rarely progresses to such a dramatic terminal point; the losing player usually resigns first.” It shows Naumann’s no-nonsense approach to his subject and he goes on to describe in great detail the various aspects of chess as a major influence on Duchamp’s work. ![]() Portrait of Chess Players (1911) From the well-known post-impressionist The Chess Game (1910) and the Cubist Portait of Chess Players (1911), Naumann takes us to the infamous Nude Descending a Staircase No.2 (1912) and he prepares our mind for this work with the following quote from Duchamp:
Again, we see how relevant chess is as a metaphor to describe Duchamp’s artistic works: what chess player wouldn’t recognize what Duchamp is hinting at here? In chess, it’s not about the beauty of the wooden pieces but about the potential movement of the pieces. And so it is in Nude Descending a Staircase, which is not a painting of a nude descending a staircase, but rather, as Duchamps put it:
![]() Nude descending a Staircase No. 2 (1912) Naumann coins the possibility that, since The Nude is restricted to wood colorings, “tracing its origin to a chess piece is not entirely implausible, particularly when we consider the fact that the queen is the most mobile piece on the board, a feature reinforced by her rendition in multiple form.” Again, to his credit, Naumann is not forcing his ideas upon the reader in order to fit the analogy of chess and art too rigorously, but merely suggesting possibilities and ways of thinking to enhance aesthetic pleasure. Reading Naumann’s essay, I increasingly felt drawn into Duchamp’s world where one thing can so easily be linked to another that you really feel like you’ve entered Wonderland or went Through the Looking-Glass, where a slightly puzzled but intrigued Alice remarks: Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas-only I don’t exactly know what they are! An even more ambitious approach is taken by art professor Bradley Bailey, who makes the case for the idea that in Duchamp’s huge The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even – also known as The Large Glass – (1915-23), “chess is a critical and largely unrecognized thematic element.” ![]() The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass), 1915-1923 Bailey, it seems to me, makes more bold assumptions than Naumann. In his description, for instance, of the famous photograph (taken in 1963) of Duchamp and nude model Eve Babitz playing chess, he writes:
Such statements can, of course, be read with rigorous skepticism, but that would be missing the point of art in the first place. Art – and modern art in particular – is associative by definition, and Bailey’s essay is one long associative excercise, obviously backed by solid research, references and a vast amount of art experience. I did find his writing slightly more academic than Naumann’s, and I suspect readers unfamiliar with the way art conaisseurs tend to talk about their passion will probably be put off a little by all this erudition and huge display of knowledge, ranging from medieval manuscript to World War architecture. All the same, Bailey makes a convincing case that The Large Glass does indeed contain more than a haunting hint of chess and it more or less proves the work is so rich that such a lenghty essay can be written about this work alone. A final, not unimportant question is how good a chess player Duchamp was, anyway? Edward Lasker (not to be confused with Emanual Lasker) called him a “master among amateurs” and said that “it there were official rankings of United States chess players in the 1920s and 1930s, Duchamp have certainly ranked among the top twenty-five.” WGM Jennifer Shahade, who analysed Duchamp’s games and picked 15 for the book (chosen for “their quality and their importance to Duchamp himself”), takes a more nuanced position on the question:
Shahade’s analyses are accurate and easy to follow, with a focus on weaker players. This is perfectly reasonable as it is the only way of presenting Duchamp’s chess games to a broad audience. The game layout and diagrams are somewhat tougher to follow, since they are based on Duchamps own Design for Chessmen (Buenos Aires 1918). It’s an interesting concept, but still one that doesn’t exactly help following the game from the book only. Especially the king is a strange piece in Duchamp’s design: it looks more like a pigeon with a crown to me – but then again this probably shows I’m still in Wonderland where Duchamp wants me to be anyway. Here’s an example of Shahade’s game comments, combining general statements and concrete analysis: F. Michel [sic; in my database, his name is listed as 'Edmond Michel' - AWM] - Duchamp
Shahade refrains from mentioning the stronger alternative 13…a5! as indicated by D. Primel in the ChesBase MegaBase and prefers to talk about general ideas. As said, this can easily defended, but the chess player in me sometimes wished for just a little more depth. What I found impressive in both Shahade’s and Naumann’s part of the book, though, is their restraint in hinein-interpreting: they do not indulge in far-fetched and hard-to-prove pseudo-theories of how Duchamp was magically inspired by chess and art respectively; instead, they take the rational approach and describe his efforts in a cool yet sympathizing way. The effect? The focus is on Duchamp’s creations themselves and not on their interpretation – or their interpretors. The beauty of many Duchamp paintings, and indeed in his chess games, for Duchamp the chess player was in some respects quite ahead of his time, the beauty of all this is in the eye the beholder: Duchamp is providing the rough material and the spectactor is invited to let his head “be filled with ideas”. I find this to be an important general lesson: art and indeed all creative effort is not about making things accurate or even reasonable – that’s the realm of science. It’s about generating ideas, now matter how wild or far-fetched, and enabling new associations to be made in one’s gray matter. This is also how chess can become art: when it transcends the completely rational. Reading about Duchamp inspires me to try and do the same, to achieve something more than just chess prose or good journalism. The stuff in The Art of Chess provides an excellent playground for this, both to Duchamp fans and to chess players who had never heard of him. If you’re interested in having your chess mind turned upside down in an artistic way (or your artistic mind in a chessy way!), this is the book for you. Update Feb 10: Jennifer Shahade, incidentally, has also played against a (male) nude as part of her Duchamp research project. You can watch the video here. Links | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:15:10 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ChessBase Workshop: The Search Mask | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| For chess enthusiasts who wants to explore the possibility of using modern software study their hobby more thoroughly, an ideal start is ChessBase Light, which one can download on the right of this newspage. It is completely free. In his latest ChessBase Workshop installment by Steven Lopez shows you what you can do with the standard unregistered version. Streaming video. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Progressez aux échecs avec Jean Hébert ! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chaque mardi, le maître international d'échecs canadien Jean Hébert nous propose sa lettre d'infos échiquéennes. A la Une cette semaine: À l'aube du départ Paris, en route vers le tournoi de Cappelle-la-Grande qui commence samedi. Le fait que je sois fébrile depuis au moins une semaine indique à coup sûr que je ne suis pas un véritable joueur professionnel. Ceux-ci voyagent constamment à l'année longue d'un tournoi à l'autre et doivent très certainement avoir développé une accoutumance qui doit réduire considérablement leur niveau d'anxiété. Ce n'est pas exactement mon cas. Suis-je bien préparé pour ce tournoi et celui qui suivra à Cannes (dans le cadre du "Festival des Jeux") ? Je le saurai bientôt, mais je peux d'ores et déjà affirmer que tout en étant mieux préparé que jamais (ce qui n'est pas énorme vu que je me suis toujours présenté aux compétitions sans préparation spéciale), je réalise que colmater un répertoire d'ouvertures pour le préparer à affronter une opposition de niveau GM représente une tâche colossale. Difficile en quelques semaines ou même quelques mois de compenser pour des années de négligence (justifiée...) à ce chapitre. Cadeau Bonux: Trouvez le tacticien en vous ! Pour en savoir plus :
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Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:26:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Fabulous 10s: Mesa Showdownt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mesa ShowdownIM Danny Rensch and his American Chess Events hosted an interesting “Experience vs Youth” event in Mesa, Arizona in January 2010. GM Yermolinsky, Danny and I represented the “A” squad in a Scheveningen-style pairing system. “Youth” (in some cases adults younger than I) took on the “A” team and some interesting games were played. There were even a few upsets. A young player Chakraborty downed Danny in a Sicilian endgame. Yermo was held to a draw by the very same Chakraborty although I was able to defeat this upstart by confusing him as black in a Sozin Sicilian. I drew in round one after messing up a good position vs. young NM David Adelberg. It turns out Adelberg was trying out a suggestion from GM Fedorowicz that he had gleaned at the World Youth. Yermo and Danny were able to dispatch Adelberg. And so the vicious circle goes. [Event "mesa showdown"] Pedram Atoufi 2331 – M. Ginsburg 2427 Sicilian Scheveningen Game in 1 hour I think this is white’s best chance. In Milman-MG, North American Open 2009, white allowed the exchange of knights on d4 and black’s position was fairly easy to handle. 10…Qc7 11. Bf3 Rfd8 12. Nb5?! Nothing is gained by this knight expedition. 12…Qb8 13. c4 a6 14. N5d4 Nxd4 15. Nxd4 b5 15…e5!? is interesting and possibly a little stronger. 16. cxb5 axb5 17. Qb3 b4 18. e5 At the time I thought this was a blunder. But, it’s actually all right! 18…dxe5 19. fxe5 Qxe5 20. Bxa8 Ng4! White after the game admitted he had totally overlooked this nasty zwischenzug. Black doesn’t have to recapture any pieces yet. And indeed, I thought I was winning now. But white after some cogitation finds a resource! 21. Rf4! Forced but adequate! 21…Qxe3+ The rather annoying fact is the ‘brilliant followup’ 21…Ba4 trying to deflect the white queen off e3 is met by the calm 22. Nc6! and white is fine. There is luck in chess; white missed black’s 20th move, is being led downstream by force, and has amazing defensive shots to hold the game in the aftermath. Readers – have you experienced this? Your opponent totally does not see a strong tactic, then down the road has shot after shot to keep afloat. I would call that luck in chess, although some might disagree and say it’s just happenstance. 22. Qxe3 Nxe3 23. Nc6! The eternal point! White keeps the balance. 23…Bxc6 24. Bxc6 Bc5 25. Kh1 e5 26. Rf2 f5 27. h3 This position is about equal with black’s very active minor pieces keeping white at bay. But,eventually 0-1 The game result was only decided when white went wrong in time-trouble. I will locate and post the other moves. In Other News: Must-See VideosThere are certain videos chess players must watch to become stronger. Techno Viking (pay attention to the altercation starting at 0:38) Arbeit Nervt by Deichking Did you think I would only assign you two videos?![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:36:32 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Impressions of Oslo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() To my last post trip trivia I received many answers ranging from Paris to Cuba, Miami, Rome, even Yekaterinburg! Well, the truth is that I'm in Oslo, Norway right now. Just last night I was having dinner during the closing ceremony of the Gibraltar tournament, and now I'm writing this post from the wonderful Grand Hotel of Oslo where Barack Obama was staying when he got the Nobel prize last year. Here is how the hotel looks inside. More like a museum, isn't it?: ![]() I was invited to Oslo for several reasons and tonight I had a very successful meeting, the agreement of which I will let you know tomorrow. By the way I also had another meeting with the President of the Norwegian Chess Federation Joran Aulin-Jansson. Norway is bidding to host the 2014 Chess Olympiad in Tromso and this September in Khanty-Mansiysk during the Chess Olympiad 2010 we will find out the name of the winner. I hope that Norway will win. Here are two on-line articles that just came out tonight about my visit to Oslo: here and here, they are in Norwegian but you can use google translator which works very nice (translation of the first and second article). Tomorrow I will have one more day in Oslo and will give a simul to the local kids and on Sunday I will be going back to Paris... to play in the French Blitz Championships! By the way, the link to my YouTube video with game with Magnus Carlsen is here, in the unlikely case you haven't already seen it ;-) Chess is Cool! Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk Women's World Chess Champion | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:39:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A Second Look By Dennis Monokroussos | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FM Dennis Monokroussos did not miss the excellent coverage of the Tucson Open 2010 by Steve Farmer (sfarmer29), and this week presents his examination of a very interesting game also analyzed by sfarmer29 (who graciously gave permission for Dennis to do so).
In A Second Look At A Crazy Game, Dennis re-examines the game Hu-Mueller, a Blumenfeld Gambit, and discusses some interesting ideas and lines he found. If you have the time, make sure to check out both Steve Farmer's analysis of the game along with Dennis'. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:41:17 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gibraltar : Etienne Bacrot joue les départages à 15h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Le Direct Live à 15h, la retransmission en Vidéo, toutes les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Les appariements de la ronde 10 : 1 Gustafsson, Jan 7.0 2627 1/2 Movsesian, Sergei 7.0 2708 2 Vallejo Pons, F 7.0 2705 1/2 Adams, Michael 7.0 2694 3 Bacrot, Etienne 6.5 2713 1-0 Cramling, Pia 6.5 2528 4 Bindrich, Falko 6.5 2512 - Kamsky, Gata 6.5 2693 5 Zhukova, Natalia 6.5 2462 1/2 Fressinet, Laurent 6.5 2670 6 Fridman, Daniel 6.5 2654 - Lenderman, Alex 6.5 2560 7 Javakhishvili, Lela 6.5 2493 - Sandipan, Chanda 6.5 2622 8 Boskovic, Drasko 6.5 2454 - Koneru, Humpy 6.5 2614 9 Geetha Narayanan G 6.5 2584 - Stefanova, Antoaneta 6.5 2545 Les résultats de la ronde 9 : 1 Gustafsson, Jan 6.5 2627 1/2 Bacrot, Etienne 6.0 2713 2 Movsesian, Sergei 6.0 2708 1-0 Halkias, Stelios 6.0 2566 3 Naumann, Alexander 6.0 2525 0-1 Vallejo Pons, F. 6.0 2705 4 Adams, Michael 6.0 2694 1-0 Lemos, Damian 6.0 2556 5 Koneru, Humpy 6.0 2614 1/2 Kamsky, Gata 6.0 2693 6 Fressinet, Laurent 6.0 2670 1/2 Javakhishvili, L. 6.0 2493 7 Sandipan, Chand a 6.0 2622 1/2 Boskovic, Drasko 6.0 2454Cette année, le tournoi en 10 rondes au système suisse, s'honore de la présence de la championne du monde d'échecs en titre, la russe Alexandra Kosteniuk... une raison de plus pour suivre cet événement échiquéen aux côtés de Laurent Freyd, arbitre international français, nommé arbitre principal du Master.
Les résultats des Français | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:13:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rapide homologué gratuit organisé par Tous aux échecs ! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() Vendredi 26 février 2010 2ème Rapide « Tous aux Echecs » de la Maison du Bas Montreuil homologué FFE (adultes et jeunes) 5 rondes de 15 min + 3sec/coup R1 : 20h00, pointage à 19h45 gratuit (limité aux 50 premiers inscrits) licence B obligatoire lots de vidéos offerts par Diagonale TV inscription indispensable par mail : xavier.rubini@free.fr contact : Alicia Duffaud 06 88 02 72 44 site : www.tousauxechecs.fr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:03:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2ème Rapide homologué du Bas Montreuil | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() Vendredi 26 février 2010 2ème Rapide « Tous aux Echecs » de la Maison du Bas Montreuil homologué FFE (adultes et jeunes) 5 rondes de 15 min + 3sec/coup R1 : 20h00, pointage à 19h45 gratuit (limité aux 50 premiers inscrits) licence B obligatoire lots de vidéos offerts par Diagonale TV inscription indispensable par mail : xavier.rubini@free.fr contact : Alicia Duffaud 06 88 02 72 44 site : www.tousauxechecs.fr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wed, 27 Jan 2010 05:56:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| “Tote Stellungen” in Regelwerk, Komposition und Partie | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In einer Partie wird eine Mattstellung erreicht. Doch beide Spieler machen noch einen weiteren Zug. Erst dann stellen sie das Matt fest und beenden die Partie. In einer Turnierpartie zwischen Großmeistern wäre dies schon sehr seltsam, oder. Vergleichbares geschieht aber regelmäßig in bestimmten Remisstellungen. Und kein Schiedsrichter greift ein. Nach den Regeln ist die Partie beendet. Trotzdem wird ein weiterer Zug gespielt, aufgeschrieben und alles auch noch veröffentlich. So geschehen gerade wieder in der Partie Arndt Lauber gegen Konstantin Landa am letzten Bundesligawochenende. Regelwerk Die aktuelle Version der FIDE-Schachregeln (siehe hier) wurde im November 2008 beschlossen, vom DSB übersetzt (siehe hier), und gilt seit dem 1. Juli 2009. Im Artikel 1.3 heißt es: “Ist eine Stellung erreicht, in der keinem der beiden Spieler das Mattsetzen mehr möglich ist, ist das Spiel “remis” (unentschieden).” Daraus folgt: Lässt sich für eine Stellung zeigen, dass ein Matt nicht mehr möglich ist, ist die Partie sofort beendet. In einigen anderen Artikeln wird der Inhalt von 1.3 aufgenommen und ausführlicher formuiert. Ich zitiere Artikel 5.2 b): “Die Partie ist remis, sobald eine Stellung entstanden ist, in welcher keiner der Spieler den gegnerischen König mit irgendeiner Folge von regelgemäßen Zügen mattsetzen kann. Eine solche Stellung heißt “tote Stellung”. Damit ist die Partie sofort beendet, vorausgesetzt, dass der Zug, der die Stellung herbeigeführt hat, regelgemäß war (siehe Artikel 9.6).” und Artikel 9.6: “Die Partie ist remis, sobald eine Stellung entstanden ist, aus welcher ein Matt durch keine erdenkliche Folge von regelgemäßen Zügen erreichbar ist. Damit ist die Partie sofort beendet, vorausgesetzt, der Zug, der diese Stellung herbeiführte, war regelgemäß.”
Interessant ist die Geschichte des Artikels 1.3. (Im Folgenden stütze ich mich übrigens auf die Sammlung älterer FIDE-Schachregeln von Otto Janko (siehe hier). Eine kommentierte Geschichte der Regeländerungen wäre hilfreich. Ich konnte aber keine finden und freue mich über jeden Hinweis.) Er taucht zum ersten Mal in den FIDE-Schachregeln von 1996/97 auf (siehe hier: “If the position is such that neither player can possibly checkmate, the game is drawn.”) Die weiteren oben angeführten Ergänzungen wurden dann in späteren Fassungen hinzugefügt (siehe z. B. hier). In den FIDE-Schachregeln von 1992/93 (siehe hier) gab es noch keine allgemeine Formulierung, sondern in dem damaligen Artikel 10.4 nur eine Aufzählung besonderer Stellungen, König gegen König, König und Leichtfigur gegen König, und König und Läufer gegen König und Läufer bei Läufern auf gleicher Farbe: “The game is drawn when one of the following endings arises: (a) king against king; (b) king against king with only bishop or knight; (c) king and bishop against king and bishop, with both bishops on diagonals of the same colour. This immediately ends the game.” Artikel 10.5 stellte dann noch klar, dass ein bloßer König nicht gewinnen kann. Gegenüber 1992/93 gab es also 1996/97 eine sinnvolle Erweiterung. In der Version der FIDE-Schachregeln von 1977 (siehe hier) fehlte noch jeder Hinweis auf später so genannte “tote Stellungen”. Groben Unfug wie eine Spielen auf Zeit mit König und Springer gegen König hätten die Regeln damals noch zugelassen. Hier hätte der Schiedsrichter eingreifen müssen. Schachkomposition Die Komponisten von Schachproblemen haben einen besonderen Sinn für die offiziellen Schachregeln. Ich verweise nur auf den schönen Artikel “In the Twilight Zone of Chess Rules” von Jens Kristiansen. Berühmt ist die so genannte “Pam-Krabbé-Rochade” (siehe hier und hier), die zu einer Präzisierung der Rochade-Regeln führte.
Zum Zeitpunkt der Komposition entsprach die Pam-Krabbé-Rochade vollkommen den Regeln. Weder König noch Turm hatten gezogen. Und nur der Turm übersprang ein vom Schwarzen bedrohtes Feld. Durch die Einführung der weiteren Bedingung, dass nämlich König und Turm auf einer Reihe stehen müssen, wurde die vertikale Rochade dann aber bald ausgeschlossen. Nach der Aufnahme des Artikels 1.3 in die FIDE-Schachregeln 1996/97 durfte man rückblickend fast erwarten, dass Schachkomponisten sich der neuen Regel annehmen würden. Wenige Jahre später war es dann soweit. Andrew G. Buchanan beschreibt seine Entdeckung in seiner FAQ for Dead Reckoning so: “A weird thing happened. I stumbled across a chess rule that no one knew about before. No, really. The International Chess Federation updates the Laws of Chess every few years. Obviously, they don’t change the key stuff: like how a bishop moves. But they do fiddle around at the margins, and in 1997 they introduced a rule which has little impact on the real game, but does have consequences for chess problems. It wasn’t until late 2000 that anyone noticed these consequences. It happened to be me.” Um welche Regel es sich handelt, wissen wir ja schon. Jedenfalls machte sich Buchanan ans Werk und komponierte eine ganze Reihe von wunderbaren Aufgaben. Auf der Website Some Novel Chess Problems hat er eine ganze Sammlung zusammen mit einführenden und erklärenden Texten veröffentlicht. Hier zwei Beispiele, die zeigen wie solche Probleme funktionieren. Bei nur zwei Königen auf dem Brett zu fragen, wer zuletzt gezogen hat, mag auf den ersten Blick ganz sinnlos erscheinen. Aufgrund der “Tote-Stellung-Regel” lässt sich das Problem von Buchanan (siehe Diagramm) aber leicht lösen. Nehmen wir an Schwarz hat zuletzt gezogen. Dann ging der König von b8 oder a7 nach a8. War das Feld frei, war die Partie mit nur den Königen vorher schon beendet, und die Diagrammstellung konnte gar nicht mehr entstehen. Diesen Schluss nennt Buchanan “Dead Reckoning”, was ich ein bisschen holprig mit “Tote-Stellung-Überlegung” übersetze. Weiter: Der schwarze König muss auf a8 eine weiße Figur geschlagen haben. Bei einer Leichtfigur wäre die Partie vorher schon mangels Mattpotential beendet gewesen. Und bei einer Schwerfigur war der schwarze König gezwungen zu schlagen. Damit wäre die Partie ebenfalls bereits beendet gewesen. Wieder eine “Tote-Stellung-Überlegung”. Eine Bauernumwandlung auf a8 führt zu einer der beiden schon behandelten Fälle. Daher kann der schwarze König nicht zuletzt gezogen haben. Für den weißen König lässt sich dies dagegen zeigen. Er könnte z. B. auf c6 einen Turm oder Bauern geschlagen haben (Buchanans Erläuterung hier).
Im letzten Zug muss der schwarze Läufer nach b7 gezogen sein, entweder von a8 oder c8. Falls er auf b7 eine weiße Figur geschlagen hat, hatte Schwarz keine andere Zugmöglichkeit und die Partie war schon vorher beendet. Wieder eine “Tote-Stellung-Überlegung”. Ebenso, falls auf a6 ein schwarzer Bauer steht und der Läufer von c8 kam. Auch dann hatte Schwarz nur den Läuferzug nach b7. Die einzige Konstellation, in der Schwarz bei seinem letzten Zug eine Wahl hatte, ist die mit dem schwarzen Läufer auf c8 und einem weißen Bauern auf a6. Nur dann hatte Schwarz eine Wahl zwischen Läufer schlägt Bauer a6 und dem Schachgebot auf b7. Nur dann war die Partie nicht bereits vor dem schwarzen Zug beendet (Buchanans Erläuterung hier). Turnierpraxis Im Unterschied zu den Komponisten kümmern sich die Spieler nur wenig um die Schachregeln. Turnierordnungen geht es da im Übrigen nicht besser. Schiedsrichter können ein Lied davon singen. Über Unsicherheiten bezüglich der Rochaderegeln sogar bei Großmeistern gibt es einige Anekdoten (siehe hier). Wobei die Gründe in diesen Fällen eher in Aufregung oder Anspannung als in Unkenntnis zu suchen sein dürften. Im Falle der “toten Stellungen” fehlt es nicht allein an Regelkenntnis. Nach meinen Beobachtungen gibt es einen ausgesprochenen Widerwillen gegen die Vorstellung, dass nach dem Wegnehmen der letzten eigenen Figur die Partie bendet ist, ohne dass man seinerseits noch den letzten Stein des Gegners vom Brett nehmen dürfte.
Bemerkenswert ist, dass die Stellung nach 96.-gxf1L schon nach den Regeln von 1992/93 beendet war. Allerdings wäre dies nicht der Fall gewesen, hätte Landa mit 96.-gxf1D+ oder 96.-gxf1T+ in eine Schwerfigur umgewandelt. Danach wäre die Partie erst nach den Regeln von 1996/97 beendet gewesen. Dieser Unterschied ist insofern bedeutsam, als Weiß im Falle einer Zeitüberschreitung früher verloren hätte, später nicht (siehe hier und hier). Kleine Regelfrage zwischendurch: Wie ist die Partie zu werten, wenn Schwarz während der Ausführung seines 96. Zuges die Zeit überschreitet? a) Schwarz schafft es noch, seinen Bauern nach f1 zu setzen und den weißen Turm vom Brett zu nehmen, schafft es aber nicht, eine neue Figur auf das Brett zu stellen. b) Schwarz schafft es nur noch, seinen Bauern g2 anzuheben, aber nicht mehr, den weißen Turm f1 vom Brett zu nehmen. Im Fall b) liegt eindeutig eine Zeitüberschreitung vor. Im Fall a) scheint mir die Sache kniffliger zu sein. In Betracht kommen die Artikel 4.6 und 6.9 (siehe hier). Nur was wiegt schwerer: Dass der Zug nicht vollständig ausgeführt ist oder dass die Stellung bei jeder Umwandlung, also schon mit dem Bauern auf f1, remis und somit die Partie schon vor der Zeitüberschreitung beendet ist? Ich würde auf Remis entscheiden. Natürlich ohne Gewähr. Schluss Aus der Schlussstellung nach dem 97. Zug von Weiß in der Partie Lauber gegen Landa lässt sich übrigens leicht eine kleine Retro-Aufgabe formulieren (siehe Diagramm).
Angenommen, den letzten Zug hat Weiß gemacht. Auf welchem der drei Felder e1, e2, g1 kann der weiße König vorher nicht gestanden haben? – Mit wenigen “Tote-Stellung-Überlegungen” (”Dead Reckoning”) kommen Sie schnell zu einem eindeutigen Ergebnis. – Schon witzig, oder. In der Praxis halten die Turnierspieler offensichtlich an einer alten “Gewohnheit” fest und spielen fröhlich nach Partieende weiter (hier ein extremes Beispiel aus Schweden). Die Schiedsrichter lassen die Spieler gewähren und schweigen dazu. Aber was würde eigentlich passieren, wenn ein Spieler wirklich einmal in Mattstellung weiterspielt und noch einen Zug macht und aufschreibt? Ein bisschen neugierig bin ich schon… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:53:12 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Software für Blindschach-Übungen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Darbietungen von Blindschach und besonders Blind-Simultan-Schach sind immer eine Attraktion. Ein solches Spektakel fand vor zehn Jahren in Berlin statt, als Robert Hübner im Blindsimultan an acht Brettern gegen die erste Mannschaft des SC Kreuzberg antrat und fünf Siege und drei Remis erzielte. Harald Fietz hat darüber einen sehr schönen Bericht – “Blinder Durchblick” – geschrieben. Spektakulär ist auch das jüngst aufgetauchte Videozeugnis eines Blindsimultans von Mikhail Tal an zehn Brettern. Steve Giddens hat das Geschehen in einem Chessbase-Artikel zusammengefasst und teilweise ins Englische übersetzt. Bei dem Video handelt es sich übrigens um einen Ausschnitt aus dem 1968 gedrehten Dokumentarfilm “Seven Steps beyond the Horizon”. Warum Blindschach-Training? Das Spiel ohne Ansicht des Brettes ist beeindruckend. Aber auch am Brett müssen die Spieler gewissermaßen “blind” spielen. Denn die sichtbaren Bewegungen der Figuren auf dem Brett sind ja nur die Spitze des Eisberges. Größtenteils bleibt das Geschehen einer Schachpartie unsichtbar und spielt sich nur in der Vorstellungswelt der Spieler ab. Im Aufsatz “Die Psychologie des Schachspielers” (1909) schreibt Siegbert Tarrasch: “Eigentlich ist ja auch die gewöhnliche Partie, ist ja auch das ganze Schach Blindspiel. Man geht von einer gegebenen sichtbaren Stellung aus, kommt aber dann beim Berechnen auf eine ganz andere, die man sich völlig deutlich, durchaus plastisch vorstellen muss, um von ihr aus seine Berechnungen fortzusetzen. Man muss also völlig von der auf dem Brette sichtbaren Stellung abstrahieren, ja im Gegenteil, diese Stellung wird nur störend, denn sie erschwert die plastische Veranschaulichung der im Geiste geschauten Zukunftsstellung.” (zitiert nach W. Kamm: Siegbert Tarrasch. Leben und Werk, Unterhaching 2004, S. 562) Tarraschs Schilderung lässt an Jonathan Tisdall’s “Stepping-Stone-Technik” denken. Aber das ist ein Thema für einen anderen Beitrag. Hier möchte ich Tarraschs Hinweis folgen, dass die sichtbare Stellung durchaus zum Störfaktor werden kann. In seinem Artikel “Reflections on Becoming a Master Player” (2000) erinnert sich Kevin Spraggett an die 80er Jahre. Damals sorgte eine neue Generation sowjetischer Spieler für Aufsehen, weil sie während der Partie weniger auf das Brett als an die Decke, in die Zuschauer oder auf einen Punkt in der Ferne blickten. Die Ergebnisse waren allerdings ziemlich beeindruckend. Für Spraggett kombiniert diese neue Methode die gewöhnlichen Techniken (“usual ‘visual’ chess thinking”) mit Techniken des Blindspiels (”‘blindfold’ chess thinking“). Der Erfolg der neuen Methode beruht laut Spraggett darauf, dass sich die beiden Techniken ergänzen, man also mit ihnen zusammen besser “sieht” als mit einer allein. (”There are many things you don’t ’see’ in chess which you do ’see’ when you close your eyes, and of course, the reverse is equally true. I suggest you try some experiments!“) Laut Spraggett verwendeten diese von sowjetischen Trainern neu entwickelte Methode z. B. Shirov, Ivanchuk, Gelfand und auch Anand. Blindschach dürfte mithin für jeden Schachspieler ein wichtiges und spannendes Thema sein! Das Brett und immer nur das Brett Womit könnte ein Blindschach-Training beginnen? Hinweise dazu lassen sich bei Tarrasch in “Das Blindspiel” (1897) finden : “Ein Punkt ist nicht zu übersehen. Wer blind spielen will, muss das Brett beherrschen; er muss von jedem Felde die Farbe kennen, muss wissen, wohin von jedem Felde aus ein Springer ziehen kann, muss wissen (abgesehen davon, dass er es geistig sehen wird), dass ein Läufer auf b1 nach h7 zieht etc. Das Brett und immer nur das Brett! Die Figuren sind viel weniger wichtig! Am Brett ohne Figuren spielen, ist sehr leicht, kaum schwerer als mit Figuren.” (zitiert nach W. Kamm: s.o., S. 567) Das Brett und immer nur das Brett, schreibt Tarrasch. In der Tat ist es bereits für Anfänger und Kinder wichtig, sich mit dem Schachbrett vertraut zu machen. Dazu gehört die Benennung der Felder, der Linien, Reihen und Diagonalen, die Geometrie des Schachbretts, die Zugmöglichkeiten der Figuren sowie deren Wirkungen und Wechselwirkungen etc. Und vertraut macht man sich durch kleine Übungen, sowohl auf dem Brett als auch blind. Auch Spraggett betont im bereits genannten Aufsatz “Reflections on Becoming a Master Player” die Bedeutung des Schachbretts: “It has always surprised me how little time books spend explaining the importance of the chessboard in itself. It has an importance more than just being the ‘table’ onwhich the game takes place… Knowing the characteristics of the board is extremely important. Books spend too much time on the pieces, not realizing that much is missed by neglecting a closer study of the relationship of the board with each separate piece.” Wie gesagt, das Studium und die Verinnerlichung von Schachbrett und der Beziehungen der Figuren und Brett ist von Anfang an ein wichtiger Bestandteil der Schachausbildung. Tatsächlich haben aber selbst erfahrene Spieler hier oft Defizite. Dazu Spraggett: “A lot of players have difficulty visualizing a chess board. You can ask them to close their eyes and then quiz them on squares (what colour they are), on diagonals (what squares are attached to them), files, etc. My experience as a trainer is that many players have difficulty doing so. This is compounded by the popularly held belief that it is unimportant…” Trainieren der schachlichen Einbildungskraft (Visualisierung) Aber die Vertrautheit mit dem Schachbrett ist wichtig. Und Spraggett erklärt auch warum das so ist. Beim Schachspielen sehen wir nicht nur mit den Augen, sondern auch mit unserem Geist. Wobei es hier nicht auf die Worte ankommt. Wichtig ist, dass wir in unserer Vorstellung das Brett nicht als Ganzes sehen, sondern zerlegt in Teile. Es ist daher nötig, diese Fragmente sozusagen immer zusammen denken. Und damit dies funktioniert, müssen wir uns mit dem Schachbrett und den Figuren sowie deren Wechselwirkungen so gut vertraut machen, dass das Zusammendenken möglichst automatisch und fehlerlos abläuft. In Spraggetts Worten: “But it is important because of how the brain works! The thinking process in chess involves the use of our eyes as well as our ”mind’s eye”. Our mind’s eye sees the board in a different way, as it can not ‘visualize’ the board as a whole it must break the board down into components, with each component being geometrically related to the others. If we haven’t consciously understood the geometry of the board sufficiently and all of the implications with respect to each and every piece, then our mind’s eye (our way of imagining the board) will not appreciate the whole board, and hence certain tactical oversights may go unnoticed.” Hilfsmittel für Blindschach-Übungen Womit wir endlich bei den angekündigten Hilfsmitteln für das Blindschachtraining wären. Im Folgenden möchte ich kurz eine Website und zwei Programme vorstellen, die Übungen zum Vertraut werden mit dem Brett bieten. (Die Wiedergabe der Bilder und Screenshots erfolgt mit der freundlichen Genehmigung der Autoren.) Kurz ein paar Bemerkungen zum Vokabular: Im Englischen spricht man von “Vision”, “Board Vision” oder “Visualisierung”. Im Deutschen wird Visualisierung eher im engeren Sinn von Verbildlichung gebraucht, einer Umsetzung von Daten oder Sprache in Bilder. Beim Schach genügt vielleicht der alte Ausdruck “Vorstellung”. Allerdings gefällt mir “Einbildung” noch besser. Etwas altmodisch ließe sich von Trainieren der “schachlichen Einbildungskraft” sprechen. Wobei heutzutage für die gleiche Sache allerdings “Fantasie” und Trainieren der “schachlichen Fantasie” gebräuchlicher sind. Wie auch immer. Wichtig ist, dass es sich um eine aktive, schöpferische Tätigkeit handelt, die sich üben lässt! Die “Chess Drum-Chess Academy” von Daaim Shabazz Die Website “The Chess Drum” bietet im Rahmen ihrer “Chess Academy” eine ganze Reihe von Aufgaben. Klicken sie auf diesen Link und scrollen sie weit hinunter. Dann kommen Sie unter der Überschrift “Improve your Chess Skills!” zur Rubrik “Board Vision” (siehe Screenshot unten). In drei Tests finden Sie jeweils in vier verschiedenen Abschnitten insgesamt 155 Übungen. Klicken Sie auf einen der Tests, kommen Sie zu den Abschnitten. Ich habe hier “Test 2″ gewählt (siehe Screenshot unten). Unter “Square Dancing” finden Sie Fragen nach Felderfarben, etwa: Ist das Feld c6 ein weißes oder schwarzes Feld? Auch bei “Board Stretch” gibt es solche Fragen, allerdings auf einem größeren Brett. Eine sehr schöne Idee! Bei “Board Geometry” kommen die Figuren ins Spiel (siehe Screenshot unten). Sie werden z. B. gefragt, von welchen Feldern ein Springer sowohl nach e6 als auch nach h7 ziehen kann. Im Abschnitt “Blindfold Chess” geht es dann um Blindspiel-Aufgaben (siehe Screenshot unten). Sie werden etwa gefragt, welchen Zug Sie als Weißer in der Stellung nach 1.e4 e5 2.Sf3 f5 3.exf5 Kf7 4.Sx5+ Kf6 5.d4 Kxf5 6.Dg4+ Kf6 machen würden. Für die Eingabe der Lösungen genügt bei den Felderfragen ein Klick auf den entsprechenden Button. Bei den weiteren Aufgaben müssen Sie ein Feld, eine Zahl oder einen Zug in ein Feld eintragen. Dabei ist zu beachten, dass Sie die Vorgaben beachten (englisches Buchstabenkürzel für die Figuren, x für Schlagen etc.). Eine Kurzanleitung finden Sie auf der Webseite. Feedback erhalten Sie entweder sofort, oder indem Sie nach Eingabe der Lösungen einen Button klicken. Die Auswertung erscheint dann in einem Pop-up-Fenster. bei mir hat alles gut funktioniert. Fazit: Wer solche Übungen noch nicht ausprobiert hat, findet hier eine bequeme Möglichkeit zum Einstieg. Ein tolles Angebot! Der “Chess Blindfold Trainer” von Alf Magne Kalleland Wie die Übungen bei “The Chess Drum” ist auch der “Chess Blindfold Trainer” von Alf Magne Kalleland in Javascript geschrieben. Sie bearbeiten die Aufgaben ebenfalls im Browser. Hier der Link für die Online-Demo. Sie können sich die Dateien aber auch herunterladen und lokal auf Ihrem Rechner aufrufen. Hier der Link zum Programm auf dhtmlgoodies.com und hier der Link zu Beschreibung und Anleitung. Ich habe das Programm heruntergeladen und auf meinem Rechner die html-Datei des Programms mit dem Browser geöffnet (siehe Screenshot unten). Klicken Sie auf das Bild, kommen Sie zur Online-Demo, die genauso aussieht. Rechts sehen Sie, welche Übungen der Blindfold Trainer anbietet. “Color of Squares” sind Fragen zur Feldfarbe, “Diagonals” und “Knight Moves” zu Figurenbewegung und Brett. “Correct Move” und “Correct move (from sequence)” sind Aufgaben zum Blindschach. “Mixture” bietet eine Mischung aus allen. Wie viele Aufgaben es insgesamt sind, habe ich nicht gezählt. Aber es sind eine ganze Menge. In der Anleitung wird zudem beschrieben wie man selbst weitere Übungen ergänzen kann. Ein Beispiel für eine “Diagonals”-Aufgabe (siehe Screenshot unten). Liegen die Felder c8 und g4 auf einer Diagonale? Und noch ein Beispiel aus dem “Correct Moves”-Abschnitt (siehe die beiden unteren Screenshots). Eine Stellung wird angesagt und der nächste Zug ins Feld eingetragen werden. Nach Bestätigung der Eingabe öffnet sich eine Antwortseite, die das Ergebnis und die richtige Lösung mitteilt. Fazit: Der “Chess Blindfold Trainer” ist ein schönes kleines Programm. Praktisch ist zudem, dass man selbst eigene Aufgaben hinzufügen kann. Ausprobiert habe ich dies aber noch nicht. Die “Chess Training Tools” von Dietrich Kappe Die “Chess Trainings Tools” (aktuelle Version ist 1.4) sind in Java geschrieben. Daher muss die Java-Laufzeitumgebung auf Ihrem Rechner installiert sein. Diese können Sie hier herunterladen. Diese “Chess Trainings Tools” finden Sie zum Download entweder hier auf der Site von sourceforge.net oder hier auf der Site “Chess Training” von Dietrich Kappe. Nach dem Entpacken starten Sie einfach die jar-Datei und schon sehen Sie die Programmoberfläche mit geöffneter Hilfe-Datei vor sich (siehe Screenshot unten). Alles ist sehr übersichtlich und aufgeräumt. Für leichte Verwirrung sorgen nur die verschiedenen Namen für das Programm: “Chess Training Tools 1.4″ kennen wir ja schon. Unter dieser Bezeichnung haben wir es gefunden und heruntergeladen. In der Titelleiste heißt es jetzt “Chess Trainer 1.4.0″. Das klingt etwas anders, aber noch ähnlich. In der Hilfedatei ist nun aber die Rede von “CVT” für “Chess Visualisation Trainer”. Ich vermute, dies rührt von der gemeinsamen Herkunft mit dem kommerziellen Programm “Chess Eye” her. Eine teilweise freie Ergänzung ist “CVT Online“, wo nach Anmeldung jeder online Aufgaben bearbeiten kann. Allerdings ist die Menge der Aufgaben beschränkt. In welcher Weise, habe ich allerdings nicht ganz verstanden. Auch über die Geschichte von “Chess Eye” und “Chess Training Tools” weiß ich nichts zu berichten. Zurück zum Programm, das so einiges zu bieten hat. In der Menüleiste am oberen Rand können Sie die gewünschten Aufgaben auswählen. “Color”, “Same Color”, “Diagonal 2″, Diagonal 3″, “Knight” und “Knight 2″ beinhalten die uns schon bekannten Übungen zu Brett und Figuren. Daneben gibt es aber noch “Mate”, “Vision”, “Blindfold” und “Vince”. Bei “Mate” bekommen Sie eine Stellung in Schriftform (Stellung der Figuren) und müssen angeben, ob es sich um eine Mattstellung handelt oder nicht. D. h., Sie müssen die Stellung in Ihrer Fantasie aufbauen und prüfen. Und bei “Vision” bekommen Sie in Diagrammform die Stellung von König und Turm vorgegeben und müssen angeben, von welchen Feldern ein Doppelangriff durch die Dame möglich ist (siehe Screenshot unten). Im Beispiel habe ich nur ein Feld markiert (grün). In der Lösung werden mir meine Auslassungen gezeigt (rot). ![]() Übung "Vision" - Der Doppelangriff der Dame auf e5 wurde erkannt (grün), die beiden anderen auf c7 und g3 übersehen (rot). In der Lösung werden diese Fehler angegeben. (Screenshot) So weit, so gut. Der Hit des Programms von Dietrich Kappe sind aber die Übungen “Blindfold” und “Vince”. Bei “Blindfold” kann man selbst eine beliebige Partie im pgn-Format einfügen und wird dann Zug für Zug blind durch die Partie geführt, wobei man nach jedem Zug immer wieder fünf Fragen zur aktuellen Stellung beantworten muss (siehe Screenshot unten). Diese Übung hat einiges Potential. Wie man damit am günstigsten arbeitet, weiß ich noch nicht. Z. B. könnte man die Fragen auch nur alle drei oder fünf Züge beantworten. Oder man könnte nach verschiedenen Kriterien ganz bestimmte Partien auswählen. Die letzte Übung ist “Vince”, bei der man die Figuren in Teilen des Brettes oder auf dem ganzen Brett unsichtbar machen kann. Vor allem aber kann man gegen eine eingebaute (nicht sehr starke) Engine spielen und dabei eine Verzögerung der Darstellung einstellen. Dann wird auf dem Brett die bis zu sieben Halbzüge zurück reichende Stellung angezeigt. Man spielt real also immer “vor” der Brettstellung. Eine interessante Übung. Ich glaube, das kommerzielle Programm “Chess Vision Trainer” (man muss bei den Namen echt aufpassen!) von www.chesstechno.com ist auf dieser Idee aufgebaut. Fazit: Die “Chess Training Tools” sind eine tolle Sache und stehen dazu noch unter der GNU GPL. Ein Dankeschön an den Autor. Nachtrag Nach Fertigstellung des Artikels habe ich noch ein paar Online-Übungen im Web entdeckt, und zwar bei www.chessvideos.tv als Chess Visualization Trainer. Weitere Hinweise, Ergänzungen oder Kritik sind sehr erwünscht. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:21:58 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maurice Ashley’s Pawn Mower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Maurice Ashley wurde 1999 der erste farbige Großmeister im Schach. Wer mehr zu seiner Person wissen möchte, den verweise ich auf die entsprechenden Artikel bei Wikipedia (mit weiteren Links) sowie Chessbase und besonders auf das Porträt bei Chess Drum sowie Daaim Shabazz’ Artikel The Mind of a Grandmaster mit interessanten Audio-Interviews. Hier noch drei Videos: zwei kürzere Porträts, Americans in Focus: Maurice Ashley und Maurice Ashley: Life as a Grandmaster, und einen längeren, spannenden Bericht, Chess Grandmaster Maurice Ashley. Ich selbst kenne von Maurice Ashley nur sein Computerspiel Maurice Ashley teaches Chess (1997) und sein Buch Chess for Success (2003) – die Besprechung von Chessville hier. Beide finde ich ausgezeichnet und werde demnächst davon berichten, ebenso wie über sein neues Buch The most valuable Skills in Chess (2009), das gerade bei Gambit Publications erschienen ist. Hier soll es aber ausschließlich um Pawn Mower gehen. Sprachlich lehnt sich “Pawn Mower” an “Lawn Mower” an. Lawn ist der Rasen, Mower ist der Mäher, auf deutsch zusammen der Rasenmäher. Ein “Pawn Mower” ist also ein “Bauernmäher”. Allerdings fehlt im Deutschen der Gleichklang und auch das Mitklingen des “Rasenmäher Matts” bzw. Treppenmatts. Im englischen Sprachraum ist dagegen jedes Kind mit dem “Lawnmower Mate” vertraut. In der Sache ist Pawn Mower zunächst aber nur ein neuer Name für ein altes Spiel. Auf dem Schachbrett befinden sich eine weiße Figur und eine Anzahl schwarzer Bauern. Das Ziel besteht nun daran, dass die Figur alle Bauern schlagen muss, wobei mit jedem Zug geschlagen werden muss. Andernfalls ist die Aufgabe nicht gelöst.
Alle Beispiele dieses Artikels stammen übrigens von Maurice Ashley und sind im Web veröffentlicht. Durch Mausklick auf das Diagramm gelangen Sie zur Quellenseite. Die Wiedergabe erfolgt mit freundlicher Genehmigung der Herausgeber von “Pawn Mower” (s. u.). Vielen Dank!
In dieser Form dürfte wohl schon fast jeder Übungsleiter oder Schachtrainer seinen Schützlingen solche Aufgaben gestellt haben. Es genügt, einem Anfänger zu zeigen wie die Figur zieht, sei es Turm, Läufer, Dame oder Springer. Und sofort kann es an das Lösen mehr oder weniger kniffliger Aufgaben gehen. Dabei wird nicht nur spielerisch das Schlagen gelernt. Das wirklich Schöne daran ist, dass die Kinder großen Spaß dabei haben und beim Lösen spüren und erleben, was sie können und was in ihnen steckt. In seinem Computerspiel “Maurice Ashley teaches Chess” hat Ashley viele solcher Aufgaben in verschiedenen Schwierigkeitsstufen umgesetzt, damals noch unter der Überschrift “Search and destroy”. Gleichwohl gelingt es Maurice Ashley nun, dem alten Spiel neue Seiten abzugewinnen. Nicht nur durch den gelungenen neuen Namen. Sondern weil er das Spiel auch Nichtschachspielern nahe bringt und es als neues Rätselspiel ähnlich wie Sudoku vorstellt. Wie Schachanfänger benötigen auch Nichtschachspieler keine Vorkenntnisse um ihren Spaß an Pawn Mower haben zu können. Auf seiner Website www.mauriceashleychampions.com bietet Ashley auch eine Zeitschrift “Pawn Mower” an, die vierteljährlich erscheinen soll. Im folgenden Video präsentiert Maurice Ashley “Pawn Mower”. Wie es ihm gelingt die Moderatoren einzubeziehen und zu begeistern (“smiling ear to ear”), ist einfach sehenswert. Viel Vergnügen beim Zugucken!
Maurice Ashley lehrt übrigens seit seiner Jugend mit großer Leidenschaft Schach u. a. an Schulen. Wer ihm bei einem etwas ungewöhnlichen Unterricht mit Kindern zusehen möchte, findet dazu ein Video auf seiner aktuellen Website. Hier der direkte Link zu Basic Rules of Chess, 2008 Richmond Chess Camp. Eine Bitte: Falls Sie wissen, unter welchem Namen das Pawn-Mower-Spiel vielleicht bekannt ist, oder ob es in irgendwelchen Büchern oder Heften beschrieben worden ist, würde ich mich über eine Mitteilung sehr freuen. Zum Schluss als Appetithappen noch ein paar kniffligere Pawn Mower von Maurice Ashley. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:08:36 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Open de Gibraltar : le finish en Live à 10h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Avec 7 points sur 9, quatre joueurs se disputent ce matin la première place de l'Open d'échecs de Gibraltar. L'allemand Jan Gustafsson face au slovaque Sergei Movsesian (en photo ci-dessus) table 1, et l'espagnol Franscisco Vallejo Pons face au britannique Michael Adams, table 2. Côté tricolore, Laurent Fressinet et Etienne Bacrot, sont juste derrière avec 6,5 points et peuvent encore espérer le podium. Attention, les parties des premières tables se jouent à 10h pour permettre d'éventuels départages à 15h.
Le Direct Live à 10h, la retransmission en Vidéo, toutes les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Les appariements de la ronde 10 : 1 Gustafsson, Jan 7.0 2627 - Movsesian, Sergei 7.0 2708 2 Vallejo Pons, F 7.0 2705 - Adams, Michael 7.0 2694 3 Bacrot, Etienne 6.5 2713 - Cramling, Pia 6.5 2528 4 Bindrich, Falko 6.5 2512 - Kamsky, Gata 6.5 2693 5 Zhukova, Natalia 6.5 2462 - Fressinet, Laurent 6.5 2670 6 Fridman, Daniel 6.5 2654 - Lenderman, Alex 6.5 2560 7 Javakhishvili, Lela 6.5 2493 - Sandipan, Chanda 6.5 2622 8 Boskovic, Drasko 6.5 2454 - Koneru, Humpy 6.5 2614 9 Geetha Narayanan G 6.5 2584 - Stefanova, Antoaneta 6.5 2545 Les résultats de la ronde 9 : 1 Gustafsson, Jan 6.5 2627 1/2 Bacrot, Etienne 6.0 2713 2 Movsesian, Sergei 6.0 2708 1-0 Halkias, Stelios 6.0 2566 3 Naumann, Alexander 6.0 2525 0-1 Vallejo Pons, F. 6.0 2705 4 Adams, Michael 6.0 2694 1-0 Lemos, Damian 6.0 2556 5 Koneru, Humpy 6.0 2614 1/2 Kamsky, Gata 6.0 2693 6 Fressinet, Laurent 6.0 2670 1/2 Javakhishvili, L. 6.0 2493 7 Sandipan, Chand a 6.0 2622 1/2 Boskovic, Drasko 6.0 2454Cette année, le tournoi en 10 rondes au système suisse, s'honore de la présence de la championne du monde d'échecs en titre, la russe Alexandra Kosteniuk... une raison de plus pour suivre cet événement échiquéen aux côtés de Laurent Freyd, arbitre international français, nommé arbitre principal du Master.
Les résultats des Français | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:25:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| David Recuero en la Tv ! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
La Televisión del Principado de Asturias emitió hace unos días un completo reportaje de casi 4 minutos de duración dedicado a David Recuero. Se puede ver en este enlace o sobre el vídeo incrustado en esta noticia. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:37:46 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ausklang mit Erbsensuppe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Auch in diesem Jahr war das Corus-Turnier in Wijk aan Zee wieder eines der Highlights der
neuen Schachsaison. Eine Reihe von
jungen Spielern nutzte die Chance, sich in Szene zu setzten. Magnus Carlsen
gewann am Ende die topbesetzte A-Gruppe und fügte seinem aktuelle Elokonto
noch ein paar Pünktchen hinzu. Auf der Schlussfeier erklärte er in einer
kleinen Rede, wie wohl er sich in Wijk fühlt. Die B-Gruppe wurde von Anish
Giri gewonnen. Der junge Niederländer könnte vielleicht recht bald in die
Fußstapfen von Magnus Carlsen treten und ähnliche Erfolge feiern. Bis
September war es noch nicht klar, ob es in diesem Jahr auch wieder eine
C-Gruppe geben würde. Schließlich wurde diese doch noch realisierte und der
Wijker "Kindergarten" sorgte einmal mehr für viele packende Schlachten. Li
Chao hieß hier am am Ende der Turniersieger. Trotz allem könnte dies das
letzte "Corus-"Turnier gewesen sein: Im nächsten Jahr wird das Turnier
nämlich wahrscheinlich als "Tata"-Turnier ausgerichtet werden. Auf der
Schlussfeier erschien übrigens ein Überraschungsgast vom Rasenschach.
Fußballstar Edgar Davids hat seine Liebe zum Schach entdeckt und wollte
einmal die Top-Stars dieser Szene kennenlernen. (Foto: Leontxo hat Hunger) Video mit Jeroen van den Berg (Coruschess)... Impressionen... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sunny Beach 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() ![]() ?
Indovina indovinello?
In che paese si trova Sunny Beach?
Inghilterra? Irlanda? Forse Stati Uniti?
Nulla di tutto questo: Sunny Beach è collocata sulle coste della? Bulgaria!
Il nome dal sapore volutamente internazionale la dice lunga sul come sia concepito e sviluppato il posto: mega spiaggione sul Mar Nero condito da una sfilza di alberghi e ristoranti.
Questa è Sunny Beach, una delle principali mete turistiche della Bulgaria.
E allora, che aspettiamo? Telo da mare, costumi in valigia, e via a visitare the Black Sea!
![]() ?
Un primo vago dubbio mi è sorto durante l?atterraggio a Varna (mentre il pilota tentava affannosamente di non ucciderci tutti al colpo): ero in effetti un tantinello spiazzato dal fatto che dai finestrini si vedesse tutto bianco.
Dopo i primi due gradini della scaletta ero già quasi congelato. Tutto ganzo, bermuda e magliettina, ho iniziato a rimuginare sulle prime mosse clamorosamente sbagliate di questo torneo: un solo maglione (che voleva essere persino precauzionale) e niente giacca in valigia? Uhmmmmm
![]() ?
Raggiungo comunque Varna e appena messo piede in città, neanche dieci metri di cammino, guardate chi ti incontro:
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Questo volto non è mi è nuovo?
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Un altro mondo rispetto a noi.
Vabbe?, non ci possiamo sempre lagnare: prima piazziamo qualcuno al n. 1 del ranking mondiale, poi potremo semmai sperare che la sua faccia tappezzi le strade.
In ogni caso, il fortunoso ?incontro? mi catapulta immediatamente nell?atmosfera del torneo. Prendo l?autobus già bello concentrato e dopo un?oretta eccomi finalmente a Sunny Beach.
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![]() Sunny Beach
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Come avevo purtroppo intuito, l?evento predominante non è stato il torneo, bensì il tempo: praticamente un nubifragio fino al quinto turno (si sa che noi scacchisti abbiamo difficoltà ad usare altri riferimenti temporali). Poi un timidissimo sole.
E allora, perché la chiamate Sunny Beach? Tutta una trovata pubblicitaria depistante, evidentemente. Come anche il Mar Nero, che invece è azzurro, e ciò per me è stata una delusione completa (ma qui forse avevo capito male io).
Da oggi comunque non mi lamenterò più per le condizioni delle nostre strade quando piove. A Sunny Beach sembra di stare in una piscina, sia sulle strade che sui marciapiedi. Si allaga tutto!
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![]() ?Sunnyyyyy, yeeeesterday my liiife was filled with raaaaaain?
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Questa è una foto di repertorio che avevo pescato su web qualche giorno prima del torneo (durante la fase perlustrativo/decisionale): pensavo fosse un?eccezione, invece mi sono ritrovato esattamente in quelle condizioni.
Mi rendo conto che è una pecca per un reporter, ma perdonatemi: completamente zuppo e senza ombrello (qui non si usano e non ne vendono uno in tutta la città), non ero in vena di portarmi appresso la macchina fotografica sotto il diluvio.
Qui comunque si vede che sono abituati: a loro l?acqua fa un baffo! E io che non capivo perché tutti i ristoranti avessero questi rinforzi di plastica:
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Per caso piove qui?
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Del resto, quando si è ben attrezzati dal punto di vista tecnologico, si affrontano le intemperie senza timore:
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La solida difesa ?towel-wall??
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??che fa acqua da tutte le parti??
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Comunque, approfittando di una breve pausa della pioggia, eccomi a visitare... altra acqua: il Mar Nero!
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The Black Sea!
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Veduta satellitare
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La città vanta anche monumenti di interesse storico e culturale
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Clima a parte, i principali frequentatori del posto sono soprattutto scandinavi e tedeschi, mentre nessuno ha il coraggio di avventurarsi sin qui dall?Italia.
E lo credo! Il viaggio è sproporzionato, vista la distanza. Al ritorno ho dovuto prendere due autobus e tre voli aerei!
![]() Questo fa sì che io sia stato l?unico italiano a partecipare al torneo sin dalla prima edizione nel 2005.
Dunque, nessun tricolore in giro: ero in pieno incognito. Chi avrebbe mai potuto scoprirmi?
Invece, il primo tassista che incontro, il quale incrociava due parole due di inglese (praticamente solo le cifre del pedaggio), al termine del servizio mi saluta con un secco: ?Ciao!?
Stupefacente. Rimango sempre colpito dall?incredibile facilità con la quale all?estero riescono ad individuare la nazionalità dei turisti pur se questi ultimi parlano tutti in inglese.
Solo qualche tempo dopo, ripresomi dallo chock, nella mia mente è gradualmente riaffiorato un pallido ricordo: in bulgaro arrivederci si dice ?ciao?.
Aaaaah, me pareva!
![]() Comunque, sarebbe stato del tutto regolare. Di solito, se in Europa entri negli alberghi, e chiedi con perfetto accento anglosassone ?Good morning, do you have a room for a week??, ti senti generalmente rispondere, senza alcuna incertezza intepretativa, con frasi dal seguente tenore: ?Buon giorno signore! Spiacenti, siamo al completo. Come è andato il viaggio? Fa caldo lì da voi a Roma? Dal suo accento non mi è chiaro: lei abita a Prati o al Fleming? Mi scusi sa, ma io sono nuovo qui?.
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In ogni caso, italiani zero assoluto: proprio non sono abituati a vederci, e si sono accorti della nostra esistenza solo quando hanno beccato due scalippe a pallone (Italia-Bulgaria 2-0; settembre 2009; qualificazione per il mondiale di calcio 2010).
Pensate io stia esagerando? Allora guardate qui quanto siamo presi in considerazione:
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Forza Italia!
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Tra un po? c?è persino San Marino?
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Specie i giorni successivi all?evento calcistico, quando rispondevo che venivo dall?Italia, dal loro sguardo di replica trapelava un severo interrogativo: ?Ma che mi stai a sfottere, bello? Fai poco lo spiritoso! Oh? mica sarà veramente italiano, questo qui? In effetti non sono riuscito ancora a sganciargli un soldo??.
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Già: sul posto venite ?aggrediti? da tassisti; gente che vi propone il cambio di valuta; venditori ambulanti di frutta; gestori dei negozietti, e così via.
Tutti questi interlocutori, come prima regola, vi chiedono immediatamente da dove venite. Dunque il tizio per la strada vi pone questa domanda preliminare, palesemente ad uno dei seguenti fini (lascio a voi mettere la crocetta sulla risposta giusta):
Bene, ora mettete la crocetta e proseguite.
Non leggete sotto, ho detto; mettete la crocetta!
Ah già, che sciocco! E come fate: mica potete sporcare il video.
Bene, allora stampate tutto e mettete la crocetta.
Io aspetto.
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Fatto? Bravi, vi meritate le soluzioni.
Se avete risposto -C- siete considerati abili alla trasferta e vincete un?iscrizione gratuita per il torneo ?di Sunny Beach del 2010, a?patto di recarvicivi?civisivisssssi? visiciccccccci da soli.
Se avete risposto -B- siete dei bravi ed onesti cittadini: questa redazione vi suggerisce viaggi nel Nord Europa. Va aggiunto che come scacchisti costantemente topperete nel prevedere l?apertura che vi giocherà l?avversario.
Se avete risposto -A- il consiglio è di rimanere in Italia per i vostri tornei. Ogni tanto però potrete incontrare gli stranieri tramite le lampo su internet (preferibilmente unrated).
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?Mo? me lo segno??
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A Varna i tassisti non solo bloccano ogni turista che abbia la sventura di transitare davanti a loro, ma vanno in perlustrazione alle fermate degli autobus, in due, per agganciare clienti. Del resto, tutto il mondo è paese. Non è che a Fiumicino i tassisti si comportino diversamente, quando chiedono cento euro ai giapponesi. L?unica differenza è che noi siamo in grado di saltare a pie? pari la banale domanda ?Where do you come from??: l?italiano maturo è già ben preparato, ed è in grado di riconoscere automaticamente le varie nazionalità (in realtà, per noi da fuori è tutto facile, mentre al contrario vi è un apposito esame propedeutico per acquisire il patentino da tassista).
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Fortunatamente, ci sono anche altri mezzi di trasporto.
Il tizio sotto era eccitatissimo già solo per il fatto che l?avevo immortalato. Mi ha letteralmente ringraziato. Chissà cosa avrebbe fatto se avesse saputo di finire su internet!
![]() ?
Momenti di gloria
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Scorcio tipico della città
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Passeggiata serale
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Curiosa particolarità del posto, è stracolmo di negozi di tatuaggi. Una fissa qui: ogni stradina c?è ne è minimo uno.
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Proprio fissati
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Veduta notturna
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Il torneo si giocava all?interno di una struttura alberghiera, che consentiva diverse possibilità di sistemazione.?
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L?hotel a tre stelle
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?e quello a quattro, o meglio tre ?superior?
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C?era anche una bella piscina, ma sembra sia poco sfruttabile in settembre:
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Uno dei rarissimi momenti di sole
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Il tutto con un contorno di verde, che certo non guasta:
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![]() Pinetina di contorno
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I più anzianotti ricorderanno un noto classicone con John Wayne (?Un uomo tranquillo?, uno dei pochi in cui non fa il cowboy): il nostro eroe è alla prova in una gara di corsa a cavallo. Allo start, mentre tutti gli altri schizzano via, il giggiolone si gira, impenna, fa l?occhiolino alla donzella tra il pubblico e poi, finalmente, quando ha concesso un vantaggio adeguato, parte deciso.
Questa famosa scena mi è venuta in mente quando ho visto il g.m. Iotov, n. 1 di tabellone, che dall?alto dei suoi 2550 entrava al secondo turno con uno zero sul tabellone: alla fine giungeva sì appaiato ad altri due con 7 su 9, ma terzo per buholtz.
Nota assolutamente positiva, è stato un onore giocare arbitrati da un grande maestro: il g.m. Inkiov, che abbiamo ospitato qualche anno fa a Bratto. Ventzislavè molto tranquillo ed educato, e tratta i giocatori con estremo rispetto. Come sempre, la preparazione infonde sicurezza; la sicurezza dà serenità e consequenzialmente gentilezza.
Un simile riguardo nei confronti del giocatore è presente in Italia, ma direi che è un filino meno diffuso.
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Sala da gioco
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Una particolarità: penso sia stato l?unico torneo in vita mia in cui non ho visto un libro in vendita!
A Sunny Beach, infine, ho giocato tutte partite ?brevissime?. La cosa è alquanto singolare e dunque la riporto in dettaglio:
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Provate a controllare se vi è mai capitato: la maggioranza delle partite con il secondo foglio del formulario. Ovviamente nel doppio turno curavo di essere l?ultimo a finire. ? una tecnica per non perdere la concentrazione: se terminate troppo presto, vi tocca riposare e poi magari arrivate più freschi al turno pomeridiano. Ma così che gusto c?è?
Purtroppo all?ultimo turno ho rovinato la prestazione da record con una sciocca vittoria in diciannove tratti.
Che pollo! Nonostante questo incidente di percorso, dovuto al rilassamento proprio sulla linea del traguardo, è rimasta una media di quasi sessanta mosse a partita (per la precisione 58,22; tanto lo so che controllate).?
In conclusione: l?accoglienza climatica è stata a dir poco umoristica e il viaggio devastante. Eppure, nonostante tutto, rimane la sensazione positiva, legata al gradevole ricordo di aver partecipato ad un torneo così sconosciuto al nostro ?circuito?.
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Ciao a tutti e arrivederci a presto per il prossimo reportage
![]() Carlo
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I precedenti, spettacolari reportage di Carlo Marzano:
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Vienna, QUI
Cracovia, QUI
Bornholm, QUI
Stoccolma, QUI
Curacao, QUI | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2010-02-03T22:12:56+01:00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GM Gawain Jones with IM Watson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current New Zealand resident and now surely to be known the world over as that grandmaster with the deadly smirk, Gawain Jones, is featured in IM Watson's series of interviews for the ICC. Preview is available here. Also from the ICC are Macauley Peterson's videos from the just concluded Corus. The last one is great! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:20:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chess at I.S. 318: A Movie in the Making? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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I.S. 318 has been one of the most successful scholastic programs in the U.S. They have won 26 national championships and boast a cadre of young stars that will help add to the tally. A wife and husband team of Katie and Nelson Dellamaggiore is trying to raise funds to film a movie about the school and have founded a company called, “Rescue Media.” The minimum goal is $4000. The company has various donor levels and offer a variety of awards based upon the award amount. On the right is a link to the promo page. The video features interviews of a number of players includings several who have been featured here on The Chess Drum. Justus Williams talks about his aspirations and also his challenges. I.S. 318 star Alexis Paredes is also featured. There is also a young player who talks about how chess has helped him to grapple with his ADHD condition. Darrian Robinson and Rochelle Ballantyne are also featured. Elizabeth Vicary has combined her passion for teaching with the raw talent of the players and along with John Galvin have helped to created a powerhouse.
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Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:13:15 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chess.com Podcast #46 - Tactics Trainer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wed, 03 Feb 2010 05:22:52 PST | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Open de Gibraltar : la ronde 9 en Live à 16h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
En battant hier l'ukrainienne Natalia Zhukova, l'allemand Jan Gustafsson a pris le leadership de l'Open d'échecs de Gibraltar avec 6,5 points sur 8. Côté tricolore, Laurent Fressinet (en photo ci-dessus), et maintenant Etienne Bacrot, victorieux d'Alex Lenderman, font partie du groupe des poursuivants avec 6 points. A deux rondes de la fin, tout reste posible pour nos deux compatriotes d'autant que l'appariement du jour s'annonce plutôt favorable à Laurent, opposé à la géorgienne Lela Javakhishvili.
Le Direct Live à 16h, la retransmission en Vidéo, toutes les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Parmi les rencontres phares de cette 9ème ronde, nous suivrons aujourd'hui, les parties d'Etienne face à Jan Gustafsson et de Laurent contre Lela Javakhishvili. Les appariements de la ronde 9 : 1 Gustafsson, Jan 6.5 2627 Bacrot, Etienne 6.0 2713 2 Movsesian, Sergei 6.0 2708 Halkias, Stelios 6.0 2566 3 Naumann, Alexander 6.0 2525 Vallejo Pons, F. 6.0 2705 4 Adams, Michael 6.0 2694 Lemos, Damian 6.0 2556 5 Koneru, Humpy 6.0 2614 Kamsky, Gata 6.0 2693 6 Fressinet, Laurent 6.0 2670 Javakhishvili, L. 6.0 2493 7 Sandipan, Chand a 6.0 2622 Boskovic, Drasko 6.0 2454 Les résultats de la ronde 8 : 1 Koneru, Humpy 5.5 2614 1/2 Movsesian, Sergei 5.5 2708 2 Vallejo Pons, F. 5.5 2705 1/2 Sandipan, Chanda 5.5 2622 3 Kamsky, Gata 5.5 2693 1/2 Adams, Michael 5.5 2694 4 Halkias, Stelios 5.5 2566 1/2 Fressinet, Laurent 5.5 2670 5 Zhukova, Natalia 5.5 2462 0-1 Gustafsson, Jan 5.5 2627 6 Bacrot, Etienne 5.0 2713 1-0 Lenderman, Alex 5.5 2560Cette année, le tournoi en 10 rondes au système suisse, s'honore de la présence de la championne du monde d'échecs en titre, la russe Alexandra Kosteniuk... une raison de plus pour suivre cet événement échiquéen aux côtés de Laurent Freyd, arbitre international français, nommé arbitre principal du Master.
Les résultats des Français | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:31:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Open de Gibraltar : la ronde 8 en Live à 16h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L'ukrainienne Natalia Zhukova (en photo ci-dessus) et Humpy Koneru sont les seules joueuses parmi les 11 leaders de l'Open d'échecs de Gibraltar avec 5,5 points sur 7. Côté tricolore, Laurent Fressinet fait partie du groupe des échappés. Etienne Bacrot, Romain Edouard, Clovis Vernay et Sébastien Mazé restent en embuscade dans le peloton des poursuivants avec 5 points.
Le Direct Live à 16h, la retransmission en Vidéo, toutes les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Parmi les rencontres phares de cette 8ème ronde, nous suivrons aujourd'hui, le duel entre Natalia Zhukova et Jan Gustafsson et la rencontre entre Stelios Halkias et Laurent Fressinet. Les appariements de la ronde 8 : 1 Koneru, Humpy 5.5 2614 - Movsesian, Sergei 5.5 2708 2 Vallejo Pons 5.5 2705 - Sandipan, Chanda 5.5 2622 3 Kamsky, Gata 5.5 2693 - Adams, Michael 5.5 2694 4 Halkias, Stelios 5.5 2566 - Fressinet, Laurent 5.5 2670 5 Zhukova, Natalia 5.5 2462 - Gustafsson, Jan 5.5 2627 6 Bacrot, Etienne 5.0 2713 - Lenderman, Alex 5.5 2560 7 Cheparinov, Ivan 5.0 2660 - Speelman, Jon S 5.0 2525 8 Fridman, Daniel 5.0 2654 - Hoffmann, Michael 5.0 2508 Les résultats de la Ronde 7 de lundi : 1 Adams, Michael 5.0 2694 1/2 Zhukova, Natalia 5.0 2462 2 Sandipan, Chanda 5.0 2622 1/2 Gustafsson, Jan 5.0 2627 3 Maze, Sebastien 4.5 2554 1/2 Bacrot, Etienne 4.5 2713 4 Movsesian, Sergei 4.5 2708 1-0 Bhat, Vinay S. 4.5 2540 5 Malakhatko, Vadim 4.5 2549 0-1 Vallejo Pons, F 4.5 2705 6 Stefanova, Antoaneta 4.5 2545 0-1 Kamsky, Gata 4.5 2693 7 Fressinet, Laurent 4.5 2670 1-0 Cramling, Pia 4.5 2528Cette année, le tournoi en 10 rondes au système suisse, s'honore de la présence de la championne du monde d'échecs en titre, la russe Alexandra Kosteniuk... une raison de plus pour suivre cet événement échiquéen aux côtés de Laurent Freyd, arbitre international français, nommé arbitre principal du Master.
Les résultats des Français | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:29:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Progressez aux échecs avec Jean Hébert ! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chaque mardi, le maître international d'échecs canadien Jean Hébert (en photo ci-contre) nous propose sa lettre d'infos échiquéennes.
A la Une cette semaine: Formidable spectacle au tournoi Corus
Le tournoi Corus de Wijk ann Zee constitue à mon avis le meilleur spectacle échiquéen de l'année, notamment pour ceux qui ont la possibilité de suivre les
parties en direct. Bien sûr on retrouve dans le tournoi "A", la crème des meilleurs, notamment Carlsen, Anand et Kramnik, mais aussi dans les groupe "B" et "C" tout une gamme de joueurs plus intéressants les uns que les autres, notamment le jeune GM de 15 ans et champion des Pays-Bas, Anish Giri, et plusieurs autres jeunes joueurs qui constituent la prochaine vague de super GM.
Dans le tournoi "A", Alexei Chirov a pris un départ canon avec trois gains successifs, tandis que Carlsen et l'américain Nakamura, très en forme ces temps-ci, suivent de près à 2,5.
Cadeau Bonux: Trouvez le tacticien
en vous !
Pour en savoir plus :
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Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:47:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Open de Gibraltar : la ronde 7 en Live à 16h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L'ukrainienne Natalia Zhukova (2462), l'allemand Jan Gustafsson (2627), l'indien Chanda Sandipan (2622) et le britannique Michael Adams (2694) ont pris les commandes de l'Open d'échecs de Gibraltar avec 5 points sur 6. Les Français Etienne Bacrot, Laurent Fressinet et Sébastien Mazé sont en embuscade dans le peloton des poursuivants avec 4,5 points.
Parmi les rencontres phares de cette 6ème ronde, nous suivrons aujourd'hui, le duel entre Michael Adams et Natalia Zhukova (en photo) qui a battu Romain Edouard lors de la ronde précédente.
Le Direct Live à 16h, la retransmission en Vidéo, toutes les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Extraits des résultats de la Ronde 6 : 1 Gustafsson, Jan 4.5 2627 1/2 Adams, Michael 4.5 2694 2 Bacrot, Etienne 4.0 2713 1/2 Felgaer, Ruben 4.0 2591 3 Speelman, Jon S 4.0 2525 1/2 Movsesian, Sergei 4.0 2708 4 Kamsky, Gata 4.0 2693 1/2 Lenderman, Alex 4.0 2560 5 Guliyev, Namig 4.0 2516 1/2 Fressinet, Laurent 4.0 2670 6 Fridman, Daniel 4.0 2654 1/2 Malakhatko, Vadim 4.0 2549 7 Dzagnidze, Nana 4.0 2506 0-1 Sandipan, Chanda 4.0 2622 8 Zhukova, Natalia 4.0 2462 1-0 Edouard, Romain 4.0 2608 Extrait des appariements de la ronde 7 : 1 Adams, Michael 5.0 2694 Zhukova, Natalia 5.0 2462 2 Sandipan, Chanda 5.0 2622 Gustafsson, Jan 5.0 2627 3 Maze, Sebastien 4.5 2554 Bacrot, Etienne 4.5 2713 4 Movsesian, Sergei 4.5 2708 Bhat, Vinay S. 4.5 2540 5 Malakhatko, Vadim 4.5 2549 Vallejo Pons, F 4.5 2705 6 Stefanova, Antoaneta 4.5 2545 Kamsky, Gata 4.5 2693 7 Fressinet, Laurent 4.5 2670 Cramling, Pia 4.5 2528Cette année, le tournoi en 10 rondes au système suisse, s'honore de la présence de la championne du monde d'échecs en titre, la russe Alexandra Kosteniuk... une raison de plus pour suivre cet événement échiquéen aux côtés de Laurent Freyd, arbitre international français, nommé arbitre principal du Master.
Les résultats des Français | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sat, 30 Jan 2010 23:05:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Carlsen wins 72nd Corus Chess Tournament | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Corus Chess Tournament takes place January 16-31 in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands. Next to hundreds of amateurs, three Grandmaster Groups (A, B and C) with 14 players each play a closed round-robin. The rate of play is 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, and 30 seconds increment starting from move 1. Corus Chess Daily NewsCorus Chess NewsflashesGames round 13Game viewer by ChessTempo Round 1313:20 CET Carlsen takes up Caruana’s Ruy Lopez carefully, in Steinitz style while Kramnik and Karjakin are in a theoretical Queen’s Indian. Negi can still spoil Giri’s tournament, but in another Petroff the 15-year-old tournament leader looks OK after the opening. 13:44 CET 15:10 CET Shirov and Carlsen, both playing White, are still trying to win, although objectively, Dominguez doesn’t seem to have much to complain about. Carlsen-Caruana is a mess, only time will tell who’s better here. In the meantime, Anish Giri has made a draw to make sure he’s promoting to the A Group next year: a formidable achievement from the young Dutchman! 16:05 CET Meanwhile, Loek van Wely drew his game with Anand even though the experts claimed he was lost at some point, so this is definitely a small Dutch success. The same can be said for Jan Smeets, who managed a draw as well. His opponent Short apparently couldn’t find the win (and neither could the computer) so he decided to repeat moves with his clock ticking away. A disappointing end of a very promising game but perhaps this round will go down in history anyway if Shirov would miraculously manage to win the tournament after all! We’re sure many chess fans are rooting for him very hard right now…
16:45 CET Immediately after the game, Karjakin came up to him to tell him about it, but Shirov still couldn’t believe it. However, it may just be his lucky day after all, since Carlsen’s position against Caruana looks very, very bad, probably losing. This would mean Kramnik, Shirov and Carlsen will share first prize. Who would have thought? On a more quiet note, Chao added another win to his successful tournament; the Chinese beat Peng. Robin van Kampen is best Dutchman in this group. In B, Erwin L’Ami lost his first game of the tournament against Naiditsch. 17:26 CET
17:55 CET
Corus 2010 | Schedule & results Grandmaster Group ACorus 2010 | Schedule & results Grandmaster Group BCorus 2010 | Schedule & results Grandmaster Group CCorus 2010 | Round 12 Standings Grandmaster Group ACorus 2010 | Round 12 Standings Grandmaster Group BCorus 2010 | Round 12 Standings Grandmaster Group CLinks
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Sun, 31 Jan 2010 12:19:58 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Open de Gibraltar : la ronde 6 en Live à 16h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L'allemand Jan Gustafsson (2627) et le britannique Michael Adams (2694) ont pris les commandes de l'Open d'échecs de Gibraltar avec 4,5 points sur 5. Les Français Etienne Bacrot, Laurent Fressinet, Romain Edouard et Gabriel Battaglini sont dans le peloton des poursuivants avec 4 points.
Parmi les rencontres phares de cette 6ème ronde, à suivre aujourd'hui, le duel des leaders mais aussi nos 4 frenchies opposés respectivement à Ruben Felgaer, Namig Guliyev, Natalia Zhukova (en photo) et Ivan Cheparinov.
Le Direct Live à 16h, la retransmission en Vidéo, toutes les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Cette année, le tournoi en 10 rondes au système suisse, s'honore de la présence de la championne du monde d'échecs en titre, la russe Alexandra Kosteniuk... une raison de plus pour suivre cet événement échiquéen aux côtés de Laurent Freyd, arbitre international français, nommé arbitre principal du Master.
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Sun, 31 Jan 2010 06:44:00 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| R12 Corus live | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Corus Chess Tournament takes place January 16-31 in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands. Next to hundreds of amateurs, three Grandmaster Groups (A, B and C) with 14 players each play a closed round-robin. The rate of play is 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, and 30 seconds increment starting from move 1. Corus Chess Daily NewsCorus Chess NewsflashesGames round 12Game viewer by ChessTempo Round 1215:09 CET Leko and Carlsen (whose sister Ingrid, by the way, is currently playing in the amateur tournament in Gibraltar) repeated their game of the 2009 Tal Memorial until 12.0-0-0; today the Norwegian castled first before playing …Nc6. After one and a half hours of play they’ve reaced a rook ending that looks very drawish. Yet again Van Wely, who remains faithful to his Najdorf, seems to have fallen into some nasty 6.Bg5 preparation, this time by compatriot Jan Smeets. Against Dominguez, Ivanchuk copied Kramnik’s set-up during the World Blitz in Moscow last year: the Scandinavian with …g6. Kramnik himself uses the Petroff against Anand; not much has happened there yet. Shirov is in another theoretical Archangelsk Ruy Lopez against Karjakin; the two reached an ending in no time where White’s extra pawn doesn’t seem to be very relevant. Caruana-Nakamura is a Rauzer Sicilian that has some French tendencies while Short went for the rare 4…Nf6 Caro-Kann against Tiviakov. 16:17 CET O, and strictly speaking we’ve been cheering too early for Li Chao, who can still be caught of course if he loses tomorrow. Sorry about that.
Corus 2010 | Schedule & results Grandmaster Group ACorus 2010 | Schedule & results Grandmaster Group BCorus 2010 | Schedule & results Grandmaster Group CCorus 2010 | Round 11 Standings Grandmaster Group ACorus 2010 | Round 11 Standings Grandmaster Group BCorus 2010 | Round 11 Standings Grandmaster Group CLinks
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Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:09:30 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Meanwhile, chess rocks in Gibraltar too | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2010 Gibtelecom International Chess Festival takes place January 26-February 4 at the Caleta Hotel in Gibraltar. The rate of play in this 9-round Swiss is 40 moves in 100 minutes plus 20 moves in 50 minutes plus 15 minutes for all remaining moves with 30 seconds per move added from the start. Draws by mutual agreement in under 30 moves are not allowed, but genuine draws by repetition or stalemate are acceptable. The festival is the Rock’s biggest annual international event now in its eighth edition. This year the field is stronger than ever with top names such as Etienne Bacrot from France, Sergei Movsesian from Slovakia and Francisco Vallejo Pons from Spain, participating in the tournament for the very first time. Some 41 countries are represented in this edition of the festival. Most significant though is the very strong women’s field which has attracted the top women in the world – the current Women’s World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk from Russia, the world number two woman player Humpy Koneru from India, and the world number three, Hou Yifan from China. Almira Shripchenko, who this year made the final table of the world poker series in Las Vegas is also be playing in Gibraltar. Other competitors are GM Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria), and GM Chen Zhu (Qatar), and Pia Cramling (Sweden), a previous European women’s champion. ![]() Reigning World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is one of the many female top players in Gibraltar The Caleta Hotel in Gibraltar again plays hosts to the Gibtelecom International Chess Festival, which also includes several amateur tournaments. The festival’s total prize fund is £112,500 (EUR 129,750, US $179,910). The Masters has £96,600 in prizes, there are two Challenger Tournaments, each lasting five days, with prizes for each of £5,500. Two five-day Amateur Tournaments are also played with prize money of £2,300 each. ![]() The Caleta hotel, where the tournament takes place Over the years the festival has seen some of the world’s most famous players play in Gibraltar including Alexei Shirov, Emil Sutovsky , Hikaru Nakamura and Peter Svidler. Returning again this year is Michael Adams from England, and Gata Kamsky (USA). As always, GM Stuart Conquest provides live commentary during the rounds from the Caleta hotel, starting from 15:00 (GMT+1) for up to six hours. These are unmissable – in every sense of that word. If you have not been able to tune in to his live broadcasts, you can still hear them at your leisure. They have all been stored online and can still be watched here. ![]() 2008 British Champion Stuart Conquest provides live commentary Photos © Zeljka Malobabic, more here Yesterday afternoon (29 January) was very special indeed. You can watch five hours of commentary here and if you move to a point around 1:26 hours into the video, Boris Spassky (who celebrates his 73rd birthday today!) made an unscheduled visit to the commentary room. Seeing him in the audience, Stuart Conquest persuaded him to come alongside to talk “for a few minutes” – which turned into nearly three hours! At first Boris is off-camera (the organizers weren’t expecting him) but around 1:42 you can Boris talking about the games. After that there’s nearly three hours’ video film of the legendary ex-world champion. After four rounds there’s no player left with a 100% score. Bacrot, Adams, Fressinet, Fridman, Gustafsson, Sandipan, Koneru, Edouard, Felgaer and Gopal are all on 3.5/4. ![]() Two games from round 3 caught our eye; Adam’s brilliant win over Halkias and Cheparinov being held to a draw by a 2000-player beautifully. Game viewerGame viewer by ChessTempo Links | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sat, 30 Jan 2010 13:47:08 +0000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Festival d'échecs de Gibraltar : 3 Français en tête ! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Avec 3,5 points sur 4, les Français Etienne Bacrot (en photo), Laurent Fressinet et Romain Edouard trustent les premières places du tournoi d'échecs de Gibraltar. Après
s'être débarrassé de son adversaire ronde 3, le MI grec Spyridon Kapnisis en 25 coups, Laurent a sagement annulé ronde 4 face au britannique Michael Adams. Il se verra opposé aujourd'hui à Romain Edouard pour un duel franco-français.
Parmi les rencontres phares de cette 5ème ronde, on suivra bien sûr en Live, table 1 Etienne Bacrot face à l'indien Chanda Sandipan (2622). Ce soir, verra-t-on un Français seul au sommet du fameux Rocher ?
Le Direct Live à 16h, la retransmission en Vidéo, toutes les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Cette année, le tournoi en 10 rondes au système suisse, s'honore de la présence de la championne du monde d'échecs en titre, la russe Alexandra Kosteniuk... une raison de plus pour suivre cet événement échiquéen aux côtés de Laurent Freyd, arbitre international français, nommé arbitre principal du Master. |