Everything/Anything and…Chess…"Despite the documented evidence by chess historian HJR Murray, I've always thought that chess was invented by a goddess"–George Koltanowski: from the foreword to:"Women in chess, players of the Modern Age"
This is a game I played against a player called ‘The Duke of Wellington’ – just his nickname. Of course, with a much lower rating than this Duke, I lost the game, but thought it was a good game and good experience. You can play through the game where I played white by clicking on the above link.
I have also discovered that Napoleon played also chess! He played a game against the Duke of Wellington though he was not the only person to play chess against Napoleon. Both the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon Bonaparte where gentlemen chess players – Napoleon had a higher rating. Chess just before battle of Waterloo – Night 17th June 1815.
The whole art of Chess consists in getting at what is on the other side of the board. Duke of Wellington
Lord Uxbridge: By God, sir, I’ve lost my Queen! Wellington: By God, sir, so you have.
Wellington describing Napoleon Game Play. Source – chess.com
Image – google images
Johann Baptist Allgaier (June 19, 1763 – January 3, 1823) was a German-Austrian chess master and theoretician. He was also the author of the first chess handbook in German – Neue theoretisch-praktische Anweisung zum Schachspiel.
This is a game played by Napoleon vs the Turk, alias Johann Allgaier.
Three games purporting to be played by Napoleon are in existence. One of these (a Scotch Game) said to have been played in St Helena between Napoleon and Bertrand, and first printed in Capt. Kennedy’s Reminiscences in the Life of Aug. Fitzsnob (Waifs and Strays, 1862), is certainly fictitious. The second game, said to have been played with Mme von Rémusat, 29 March 1804, and a third game (I.L.N., 1844, 352), played against the Automaton in Vienna, are also of very doubtful authenticity.’ from H.J.R. Murray’s A History of Chess. – Source: chess.com
During this game, the Turk was operated by Johann Allgaier The automaton was a chess playing machine known as the Turk. It was invented by a Hungarian baron called Wolfgang van Kempelen in 1770. However, the machine did not really play chess. It was a trick. The automaton was a large box, large enough for someone to hide inside and it was this person who played the game. In 1809 Napoleon played against the Turk. (1)e4e5 (2)Qf3 Nc6 (3) Bc4Nf6 (4) Ne2Bc5 (5) a3d6
Tata Steel Round 5 Results – from the site of Tata Steel Standings after round 5 Chess tournaments take a lot of deep thinking. One thing I like about chess players – they are ‘nice’ in games. Chess is a gentleman’s game. Is it thinking or worry? Game 6 I like those cushions! (searching the internet….)
Jorden van Foreest commented on his game in round 6.
Beth’s top 5 moves – from the movie: The Queen’s Gambit This is the opening we played in my game below – see link – and it’s called: The Philidor’s Defence
When I was at school, I got the looks from boys as chess was always just seen as a boys’ game. Luckily, time has changed, however, there are still some of the opposite sex that still think this is true and sadly even some of the Chess Grand Masters. I will not elaborate on this as I already done so a few years ago on my blog. After all the media attention, this Grandmaster denied what he said, but we know what he said is what he meant. Sometimes, when I write my own poems, I do like to weave some chess into my poems – you might find some on my blog to read and spot the random reference to chess in a random poem.
This was one of my online games from a few years ago, which I really enjoyed. If you click the link below the image, you van view the game and play through the game by using the arrows. I played black in this game. This image shows the end position.
I have watched this movie: The Queen’s Gambit and enjoyed it thoroughly. If you haven’t done so, you are missing out, even if you don’t know anything of chess, you will still enjoy it.
Beth Harmon – ~The Queen’s Gambit
The Queen’s Gambit – a Netflix Music from the movie: The Queen’s Gambit
This chess opening is called: The Queen’s Gambit
This chess opening is called, The King’s Gambit.
The Final Position on the board in the Netflix Movie.
This is one of my own poems. It is a cento. A cento is a poem written using other author’s lines or passages. This ‘cento’ though has been written using my own poems. The poems I used are all from my Afrikaans poems. I do write English too, but as I said before, it’s just playing with words. I don’t try to be professional. I decided a few years ago to do my ‘bit’ for Afrikaans on the 14th August every year. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen last year and I couldn’t let another year go by without having one on this day! This is the history behind the 14th August.
The Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (Afrikaans for “Society of Real Afrikaners”) was formed on 14 August 1875 in the town of Paarl by a group of Afrikaans speakers from the current Western Cape region. From 15 January 1876 the society published a journal in Afrikaans called Die Afrikaanse Patriot (“The Afrikaans Patriot”) as well as a number of books, including grammars, dictionaries, religious material and histories. Die Afrikaanse Patriot was succeeded in 1905 by today’s Paarl newspaper. You can read more about this Society on this link on the site of Wikipedia.
If you are Afrikaans, I hope you enjoy these couple of lines.
My siel op haelwit wolke
In gietende reën sypel my gedagtes: eindloos! Ek stuur vir jou die goud van sondeurdrenkte landskappe in die galery van my stille gemoed. My opgevoude gedagtes steek vas en onderhou my geheue wat onvermydelik verstrengel is en soos gister vind jy my siel op haelwit wolke; my gedagtes wentel om die aura van my taal en rol ragfyn ligstraaltjies voor my uit: wat die tuimelende bergstilte laat rol oor die dansende blou waters na die holtes van my gedagtes.
==Nikita 14/08/2015
Mantovani is one of my real big favourites. On this video you’ll find a whole library of his music to keep you company. I hope you enjoy!
If you are a regular reader of my blog, you would know that I do play chess myself too. I’ve blogged quite a few chess games in the past. This is one of my most recent chess games on chess.com Time is little to play rated chess games and I was tricked into this game, but managed to escape the worst. Rated games involve more concentration and I tend to play friendlies just for fun and I feel I can ‘escape’ or shut down from normal work and enjoy the game.
I like how I managed to checkmate my opponent, though he was very close to checkmate me! I played white in this game – not my favourite colour, as I discovered I play better games when I play black. If you are interested, please click here to play through the game. If you are a chess player yourself, please feel free to leave a comment and Dan, if you read here, you might want to analyse my game…hehe.
This painting is a great painting, read the explanation of Wikipedia. Click HERE to play through the chess games of Di Bona on the site of chessgames.com. Di Bona was called ‘the wandering knight’. Giovanni Leonardo di Bona or Giovanni Leonardo da Cutri (both given names can be seen also in the reversed order Leonardo Giovanni), known as Il Puttino (Italian Small Child) (1542–1587) was an early Italian chess master. Giovanni Leonardo was born in Cutro, Calabria. He studied law in Rome. In 1560, he lost a match to Ruy López in Rome. In 1566–1572, he travelled and played chess in Rome, Genoa, Marseille, Barcelona. He had played many times against Paolo Boi in Italy and they were regarded as being equal in their chess strength. Giovanni Leonardo di Bona won the first known international master tournament in the history of chess in Madrid in 1575, therefore becoming the strongest chess master of the time. After their success at the Court of Spain, Leonardo and Paolo Boi, both travelled, although separately, to Lisbon, where they tested their chess skill against Il Moro, the eminent chess champion of King Don Sebastian, of Portugal. Again, they both succeeded, first Leonardo, soon followed by Paolo Boi, in defeating Il Moro. And again the King was generous with his rewards. After this triumph, Giovanni Leonardo di Bona, having been called the wandering knight (Il Cavaliere errante) by King Don Sebastian, left Portugal to return to Italy and settle in Naples where he became the chess master for the Prince of Bisignano.
Source: Wikipedia
This game on the following link,[where I played black] is a more recent game, which I played in 2011. I usually like Knights more than Bishops and in this game you can see why. I would like to call this Knight ‘the wandering Knight‘ [as well] I love my Pawns too, they can be very powerful pieces on the board. Click HERE to play through the game.
I’ve been looking at some of my games played a few years ago and just to post a game to go with these two games from chessgames, I’ve decided on this game HERE – for no particular reason. You can play through the game on the link. I played black.
End position of my game
One of my very old games, played in 2006- I was black and you can see my rating – not that I was really bothered to improve my rating, time to really think about moves, doesn’t exist in my life of full time teaching. [hehe] I liked how I was chasing my fellow countryman around on the board, whilst he was in a really strong position early on in the game.
A game played in 2005 – and I like how I used my bishops here. My opponent resigned on this point.
In this game – where I played black – I was lucky. My comments on this game: a very interesting game I’d played in a long time – well, that was in 2006. I like the checkmate in this game.
Indeed the name Prokofiev needs little introduction, as one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century. However his connection to chess might be a little less obvious, even to the musically enlightened. As to David Oistrakh, he was one of the very greatest violinists, whose virtuosity ranked alongside Fritz Kreisler and Jasha Heifetz. Both of them were passionate chess players, though Prokofiev more than one would believe.
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev, born April 23, 1891, died March 5, 1953 was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century, which include Igor Stravinsky, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Among his best-known works are the 3rd Piano Concerto, the third and fifth symphonies, as well as composed family favourites, such as the ballet Romeo and Juliet – from which “Dance of the Knights” is taken – and Peter and the Wolf. Sergei Prokofiev fell in love with chess at an early age, and during his lifetime never lost his passion for the royal game, befriending chess greats such as Capablanca and Alekhine.The composer met Alekhine in his native Russia in 1900 during an international tournament held there. Alekhine was a member of the organizing committee and Prokofiev had volunteered to accommodate the guests and the players. As the years passed, their friendship solidified. He met Capablanca in January 1914 in Petersburg where the Cuban champion was playing a series of simultaneous games. Prokofiev tried his luck and even managed to win a game!
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 Bf5 4.Qb3 Nc6 5.Qxb7 Na5 6.Qa6 Nxc4 7.Nc3 e6 8.e4 dxe4 9.Bxc4 exf3 10.Qc6+ Nd7 11.g4 Bg6 12.Bg5 Be7 13.Bxe7 Kxe7 14.O-O-O Re8 15.h4 h5 16.gxh5 Bxh5 17.Nb5 Kf8 18.d5 Qf6 19.dxe6 Ne5 20.Qc5+ Kg8 21.exf7+ Bxf7 22.Bxf7+ Qxf7 23.Kb1 Rab8 24.Nxc7 Rbc8 25.Rc1 Re7 26.Qd6 Rexc7 27.Rxc7 Qxc7 28.Qe6+ Kh8 29.a3 Qc2+ 30.Ka1 Nd3 31.Rb1 Nxf2 32.h5 Qc6 33.Qf5 Ne4 34.Qxf3 Nd2 35.Qxc6 Rxc6 36.Rd1 Rc2 37.Rg1 Rc5 38.Rg6 Rxh5 39.Ra6 Nb3+ 40.Ka2 Ra5 41.Rxa5 Nxa5 42.b4 g5 43.Kb2 g4 0-1 Another great combination: Chess and music! What’s missing is the poetry! The closest I could get was the poem by Robert Frost. Please click HERE to read the entire article on Chessbase.
Fire and Ice – Robert Frost
Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice.
You can read my entry on Dance of the knightson this link. The music is also the theme music to The Apprentice.
A young Sergey Prokofiev with his inseparable board
and chess books. [Image: chessbase]
Prokofiev in his later years remained faithful to his true love [Image: chessbase]
Through a search engine term about Visual Impaired chess players, I’ve decided [back in 2009!] to create an entry about Chess for Visually Impaired Chess players. You can also read about Cecil Vosloo, South Africa’s champion.
How Visually Impaired Play ChessThe Chess Board of 64 squares has the following modifications:
All the Black squares are raised about 3-4 mm above the white squares. By feeling the squares, the player is able to determine whether the square is a black or a white one.
Each of the squares on the Board has a hole in the centre so that the pieces can be fixed in these holes.
Each of the pieces has a downward projection (nail) at the base, which fits into the hole in the squares on the Board, thereby fixing the piece securely on the board.
All the Black pieces have a pin fixed on their heads helping the player distinguish between a white and a black piece.
The players therefore, by feeling the raised or the lowered squares can figure out whether the piece is on a black or a white square. By feeling the shape of the piece, they can determine whether the piece is a Pawn, Rook, Bishop, Knight, Queen or King. The touch of the pin on the pieces helps the player from distinguishing a white piece from a black one. The player is therefore able to have a clear picture in his mind of the position on the Board. He is now ready to take on any opponent, sighted or otherwise.After making every move, the visually impaired person is required to announce the move aloud, so that his opponent comes to know of the move. Instead of writing the moves on a Score Sheet, the visually impaired player writes the moves in Braille or records the moves on a tape recorder.
A little while ago, – in 2009 to be honest! -I did a search on visually impaired chess players on the web, as someone found my blog through a search engine term linked to visually impaired chess players. I came across Cecil Vosloo, a visually impaired chess player from South Africa on a site where he left some details about himself. I contacted him and he’s sent me some more info about himself. Visually impaired people have always been closed to my heart. As a student, and later as a teacher, I worked with visually impaired children and met Mariette, a High School student, who loved chess. We played many games – during the evenings when I did study duty in their hostel and I was always amazed by her bubbly personality, despite her visual disability. She tried to remember the layout of the chess board and where every chess piece was after each move. She had to observe the board from my point of view and from hers! That must be quite difficult, as you need to remember where both players pieces are and what your opponent tries to do and what you want to do!
On the site where I found Cicel, this was his personal message:My name is Cicel Vosloo. Born and bred on a farm, my dream was to become a farmer. This wasn’t to be though, because, whilst fighting a neighbour’s fire, my face was was terribly burnt, resulting in the loss of my sight. My initial anger gave way to the realisation that God provided me with a challenge, that, with His support I would be able to meet. Whilst attending a college for the blind, I started playing chess. In 2007 I won the national chess competition, which gave me a new lease on life.Currently I am ranked the number two South African Braille Chess Player and am honoured to be invited to represent South Africa in the Braille Chess Olympiad, an international event, in Greece in October 2008.
Via email Cecil sent me the following in October 2009:
Well, where do I start? I like the outdoors, BBQ’s and South Africa’s sunny weather. For me personally, I enjoy chess very much. I had been playing blind cricket for about three years, for the Gauteng club, but due to all sorts of interests, I’ve decided to quit. I had been playing chess since the beginning of the 2000’s and it came as an amazing surprise as how much you can actually learn from chess, how many friends you make and the respect you are treated with. It is not always easy to get around to get to clubs, and then of course the transport problem when you need to play tournaments far from home. It was my first time at an Olympiad in 2008, it was mind blowing -the tricks the guys pull for a win, amazing, but of course all in the rules. South Africa is far behind the rest of the world when it comes to blind chess.
Since Greece I played in 6 tournaments:January – Piet Roberts Open – 3.5/6 sightedMarch – Gauteng Open – secondApril – Top Eight – forthJune – Kolonade – firstJune – Louis Braille Open – secondAugust – SA Nationals – third.
I did contact Cecil again, as this entry got ‘lost’ as one of my 100+ drafts! So Cecil has now updated me with more info about him and his chess whereabouts.
July 2011 update: In 2010 I played in the sighted S.A. Open, got four wins, two draws out of nine games. In 2011 I won our blind Top Eight tournament. I won the Gauteng Open and also took part in the Commonwealth Chess Tournament which was recently held in South Africa. I got 5 points out of 11, it was a very tough tournament, 699 players took part. It was a great experience and I’m now working on getting into the team for next years Braille Olympiad. Next month is our blind S.A. tournament and I’m aiming to do well there too.
Update 27/7/2011 from Rista: Chess South Africa: SA Open 2010 4 wins, 2 draws out of 9 rounds, which was stunning. He was the only blind player in this tournament.SA Braille Closed – [Top 8] 2011 – Cicel scored 6 out of 7, he won 5 games, 2 draws.Gauteng Braille Open – Again Champion!Commonwealth and SA Open 2011 – Cicel was awesome in this tough tourney. He won the first prize for Visually Impaired players.The Braille SA Championship is 13 – 14 Aug. Cicel is a favourite to win. The Top 8 will get invited next year April to the closed championship where a decision will be made about who to present South Africa internationally and they will get to go to India.Click HERE for the results of the Braille tournament where you can see Cecil’s photo as the Champion.
Chess games I played recently [not Cecil!]. These chess games are really nothing to get excited about. The only reason why I get excited about it is because it is of my less good games – especially the game on the first link- and I also put in a lot of conditional moves in this game as my opponent was one of those very slow movers, whilst I wanted to finish the game in real time…very impatient me. [lol] I got near to the end very excited, as I put 6 complete moves in as conditional moves [just out of frustration to get the game done!] and when I logged back on, it was all done. You will see how many pieces I offered and also how unnecessary I lost my one knight! I played black and the Philidors defence as opening in this game. I offered many pieces near to the end as I knew it would be a win for me. Have fun playing through it! Click HERE to play through the second game I played. ClickHERE to play through the first game against this same player [links will open in a new window]. In this game I was more focused too and played – as in many other games – the Kings Pawn opening. The last move – Qb7+ isn’t active in the pgn-viewer, although you will see the move [for some reason it prefers to stay inactive].
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1233404 On one of the chess sites, I’m busy playing a tournament and this particular player sent me the above link on chessgames, to highlight a ‘better’ move for one of the moves I’ve made. When looking at the game, I realised that our game was almost this game, in particular the first few moves. I felt sort of ‘thrilled’ by the idea of playing the start of Morphy’s famous game called: ‘Night at the Opera’. The moves in blue are the first moves of our game -I played white- and you can compare it with Morphy’s game in this entry.[maybe, if I didn’t castle, I could have had move 9 with move 7 – which was Morphy’s move – he castled move 12.] I hope you like Dolannes Melody by Jean-Claude Borelly, you can listen to it at the bottom of this post.
In 1858 the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard invited the American master Paul Morphy to the Paris Opera to watch The Barber of Serville, then asked their guest to play chess with them. Morphy was more interested in watching the opera, but could not courteously refuse.
Morphy played white, while Brunswick and Isouard consulted on black. He took his opponents apart in 17 moves, enabling him to watch the rest of the show without distraction, and incidentally proving that teaming two mediocre players does not double their talents.
This game is one of the best known in chess, exemplifying as it does the advantages of quick development over the pursuit of minor advantages. The game features a queen sacrifice that leads directly to mate.
The score of the game follows:
Paul Morphy vs Duke of Brunswick & Count Isouard, Paris Opera House, 1858. Philidor’s Defense.
Paul Morphy “The Pride and Sorrow of Chess,” was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was also one of the first chess prodigies in the modern rules of chess era.
The “Opera game” – a casual game against inexperienced opponents, but at the same time one of the clearest and most beautiful attacking games ever. Often used by chess teachers to demonstrate how to use time, develop pieces and generate threats.
While most of the audience was following the performance of The Barber of Seville, Paul Morphy was busy at the chessboard, facing noble opposition. His opponents, working together, played well enough for a while, but they allowed Morphy to set two deadly pins.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. d x e5 B x f3 5. Q x f3 d x e5 6. Bc4 Nf6 7. Qb3 Qe7 8. Nc3 c6 9. Bg5 b5 10. N x b5 c x b5 11. B x b5 + Nbd7 12. O-O-O Rd8 13. R x d7 R x d7 14. Rd1 Qe6 15. B x d7 + N x d7 16. Qb8 + N x b8 17. Rd8 mate
These two images found on google and edited it slightly – beautiful poster – the second image.
I spoilt myself the last few days with a few chess games and even a few tournaments, but work is calling again! The following two games were played against the same opponent – you will notice in both games, my Knights were used – in conjunction with the Queen – to checkmate my opponent. I always prefer to save my Knights – I will even sacrifice my Bishops in order to keep my Knights for the reason as in these games and also for their tricky moves.
It is time to enter for the South African Open 2010. Click the image for the Official website of the organisers: Ramlodi. The link is also on my blog’s side bar. Last year we had 3 GM’s to play in this tournament online from different continents and it was the first Fide tournament to be played online. You can visit the official website or follow some of the links here. Games/photos will be followed and blogged here as results will become available during the tournament.
Please click here for the ONLINE entry form. [Links will open in a new window] NON-Citizens of South Africa: Click click here to pay via PayPal or visit the Official site for the same link.
The Venue: Tswane University of Technology [Pretoria] Venue: Inside [Theunis Bester Hall] – see more pics on the Official site.
History of the South Africa Chess Open Championships
The Cape Town Chess Club is the oldest chess club in the country, boasting an un-interruped existence since its foundation in 1885! However, it is almost certainly not the first club that was formed. Besides the reference above to a club which met in Cape Town in 1847, the Grahamstown Journal of 29 December 1969 reports the result of a match of three games played by correspondence that year between Amateur Chess Club of Port Elizabeth and the Grahamstown Chess Club. Grahamstown won all three games.
The 1st SA Championship, Cape Town 1892
At the Cape Town Chess Club’s 7th Annual General Meeting in March 1892, J.H. Clark, one of the club’s most prominent member introduced a proposal that a general chess tournament, open to all chess players in South Africa, be held in Cape Town under the auspices of the Cape Town Chess
Club. This proposal was received with enthusiasm and the club set about organising the tournament. The Metropolitan Hall in Burg Street was the venue. The tournament was opened by the club’s President, the Bishop of Cape Town, and others on the platform were General Cameron, officer commanding the local British forces. Prize money offered amounted to £25. The rate of play was 25 moves per hour, with sessions of four hours duration, but few games lasted that long. Eleven players were accepted for the Championship proper and ten played in the Minor tournament, both being round-robins. The tournament was to last six days, during which the contestants had to play 10 games. This heavy schedule was quite acceptable to all, it seems. Rivett and Roberts each scored 9½ out of 10. They then contested two games to break the tie, the first beginning at 4pm on the sixth day of the tournament. Roberts won this and at 7:30pm that same day the second game commenced. Rivett was successful so the title was shared.
The 2nd SA Championship, Cape Town 1897
After a lapse of five years the Cape Town Chess Club again took the initiative and staged the second SA Championship in 1897. The committee has budgeted for a total expenditure of £200 and it is noteworthy that the full amount was subscribed by donors, among whom was President Steyn of Orange Free State, who gave £5. The Prizes in the Championship were £30, £20, £10 and £5, with a further £10 for consolation prizes. For the Minor tournament, which attracted a field of 11, £25 was
allocated for prizes. The tournament was in fact a triumph for the Cape Town players, for after Roberts came Cameron
with 9 points and then another club representative Friedman was tied with Kummel for third and fourth placings, each scoring 8½.
The 3rd SA Championship, Durban 1899
The 4th SA Championship, Johannesburg 1903
The 5th SA Championship, Cape Town 1906
Anand – Game 4 -28th April Game 4: Anand leads by one point after the second Catalan opening in the match.
The fourth game of the FIDE World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand of India and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria saw another Catalan opening on the board. This is the first opening that was played twice in the match, the players are obviously willing to have a theoretical discussion. Topalov was the one to deviate from the second game, as early as on move 5, when he played the sharper Bb4+ instead of a6.
Similar to the earlier Catalan game, Black clutched onto the extra pawn while White tried to take advantage of his faster pieces’ development. Anand aggressively advanced in the center to break opponent’s pawn formation and open up the files and diagonals. At the same time, Topalov was carefully clearing the queenside in order to reduce the positional pressure.
The game appeared to be taking a normal course but then Anand’s sudden Knight movement (e3-g4) caught Topalov without guard and on the wrong foot. Not hesitating much, Anand knocked a piece sacrifice on h6 and picked a strong attack against the Black King. Still precision was needed in carrying out the assault, but Anand never blinked and found the crushing 25. e5!
Topalov continued for a few moves more, but resigned at the imminent danger of a mate. Anand takes the lead in the match 2,5-1,5, tomorrow is a rest day and the games continue on Friday at 15:00 Source: Official Site
Anand crushes Topalov in fourth game
The fourth game of the World chess championship match in Sofia saw Viswanathan Anand’s best performance to date with a slashing attack against challenger Veselin Topalov.
“Anand really played brilliantly today,” said commentator Zurab Azmaiparashvili, having watched the World champion sacrifice a pawn, then a knight and then a bishop to create a winning assault against
Topalov’s exposed king.
Anand was pleased with his performance. “It was a very complex position with a lot of tension on the queenside,” said Anand. “I thought (my 23rd move) was clinching it but you can’t be 100 per cent sure.”
Anand explained that in a key variation he was prepared to give away both his rooks as well to ensure a checkmate: “Once I saw that I knew I was winning.”
Poor start
After a poor start, Anand, 40, has taken the lead for the first time in the €2 million match and the Bulgarian challenger is looking shaky. “I though I had a decent position,” said Topalov, “but if I was able to answer so simply what went wrong then the result might have been different.
“Certainly my (20th move) was especially bad.”
Playing with white pieces, Anand used the Catalan Opening which had brought him success in game two but Topalov, 35, defended differently this time. Soon Anand sacrificed a pawn and Topalov needed no invitation to grab the material and attempt to hang on to it.
Anand’s unorthodox 10th move, moving a knight to the edge of the board, appeared to be new. However, a member of Team Anand, computer expert Eric van Reem, explained that Anand was following an earlier game, a precedent apparently unknown to Topalov who began thinking hard for the first time in the game.
Excellent compensation
Soon it became clear that Anand had excellent compensation for his pawn when the apparently offside knight moved to the centre, stymieing Topalov’s freedom of movement. Although the position was highly unbalanced — the type of game at which Topalov usually excels — Anand’s speed of play indicated that he had checked the ideas at home with his team and had everything under control.
Anand was coy when asked if the sacrifices were prepared with his team. “I won’t be able to tell you that until the match is over,” said Anand, who has managed to keep the identity of some of his helpers secret as well.
On the 23rd move, after cogitating for only five minutes, Anand sacrificed a knight and Topalov immediately found his king under massive fire. Another sacrifice followed and Topalov was soon defenceless. The challenger resigned after 32 moves and three-and-a-half hours’ play.
Anand leads Topalov 2.5-1.5 with eight games remaining after Wednesday’s encounter. The fifth game, with Topalov holding the first move, will be played on Friday starting at 5.30 p.m. IST. Source: http://beta.thehindu.com/sport/other-sports/article414219.ece GAME 5 – 30th April -Topalov vs Anand 1/2
Bulgaria Chess Master Topalov Hopes to Crush Anand’s Defense
Click on the image for a clear view -the article continues here:
“We hope to have finally figured out the secret of Anand’s defense. We have five people on our team working with top notch computers on this task, and we hope to see results today,” Danailov explained.
The first move of the fifth game of the Sofia World Chess Title Match was made Friday by Nobel Prize winning professor of economics Robert Mundell, known as “the father of the euro”.
Danailov said Topalov’s team met Professor Mundell during a tournament in China which was won by the Bulgarian chess master.
“I wanted to invite Professor Mundell as a guest during the last M-Tel Masters tournament but he was busy then. This time, however, he managed to find time to be our guest,” Danailov explained.
“It is a pleasure for me to be here. I have come as an economist and a fan of chess,” said the Nobel Prize laureate expressing his happiness to be present at the event.
After the second rest day, the FIDE World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand of India and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria continued today with game five in which Topalov played with White pieces.
The first symbolic move were made by the “father of the euro” professor Robert Mundell. The President of Bulgaria Mr. Georgi Parvanov visited the match.
The opening was replay of game three in which Anand used the Slav defence and comfortably held a draw. The expectation were that Topalov will find an improvement in the variation and fight for opening advantage.
But it was Anand who first diverted from the earlier game by moving 15…h5 instead of 15…h6. Topalov continued with the logical 16. Ne2 having in mind Nf4, to exploit the newly created situation with Black pawn on h5. Anand established strong Knight outpost on e5 and traded off a pair of Rooks to reduce White’s chances of gaining initiative.
After further exchange of minor pieces, an endgame with Rook and Bishop versus Rook and Knight has arisen. Anand’s 29…g5 initiated changes in the pawn structure, which allowed him to solve one issue and concentrate on pieces’ play.
Black Knight gradually suppressed White Bishop, which eventually landed on the backward d1-square. Right after the time-control, Topalov offered moves repetition before the situation goes out of the hand. Or perhaps it was a psychological move, attempting to test Anand’s resolve to play for a win, in case of which White would also have chances for full point.
But Anand needed no risk and accepted the threefold repetition. Draw signed on move 44. The current score is 3-2 in favour of Anand who tomorrow plays with White pieces. Live coverage on the official website starting at 14:45 local time.
Anand blacks out Topalov’s ambitions
Viswanathan Anand has retained his narrow lead over Veselin Topalov with a solid draw in the fifth game of the Indian’s world title defence in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Anand, playing black for the third time in the match, repeated the Slav opening which had neutralised Topalov’s ambitions in game three, and also came armed with a new 15th move.
Soon afterwards, as Anand was considering his 17th move, the playing hall — and indeed the entire Military Club — was plunged into darkness by a power blackout. The game timers were stopped by the arbiter but both players remained firmly in their seats, analysing in the dark.
Ten minutes later, emergency power provided some flickering light on the stage and five minutes later the light was good enough for the game to resume.
“I don’t know what would have happened if the lights had not gone on for an hour or more,” admitted Anand. “I don’t know what the rules are for such a situation.”
However, while play continued, the video screen above the players, relaying the game to the audience in the Military Club and to hundreds of thousands of viewers on the internet, remained inoperable. Audible protests from some of the frustrated spectators in the theatre were quickly muted by security guards and five minutes later normal broadcasting of the moves resumed.
Both players reacted calmly to the unexpected interruption, although Anand spent some time re-orientating himself with the position before he made his next move.
“It is very easy to make a mistake after a break in concentration like this,” said Anand, “so I decided to invest an extra ten minutes just to be sure.”
Once again Anand’s opening preparation proved superior to that of his Bulgarian challenger. “I missed Anand’s [22nd move],” confessed Topalov. “It was very strong. I will need to be more precise in future games.”
With other strong pawn moves Anand soon solved all his problems. “I managed to stabilise the position,” explained Anand, “after which I have nothing to complain about.”
Before long Topalov found himself staring at an equal endgame which offered no chances for a win to either player. After four hours play, both players could find nothing better than to repeat moves and a draw was agreed after 44 moves.
The draw was a perfectly satisfactory result for Anand as he retains a 3-2 lead in the best-of-12 contest and will hold the advantage of the first move, equivalent to the serve in tennis, in the next two games.
Anand refused, however, to express any comment on the state of the match so far, saying “I’m just taking it game by game.”
Benjamin Franklin playing chess…’And lastly, we learn by chess the habit of not being discouraged by present bad appearances in the state of our affairs; the habit of hoping for a favorable chance, and that of preserving in the search of resources.’ -Benjamin Franklin, ‘The Morals of Chess’
I like playing chess on chesscube for a couple of reasons…I always find someone to play a quick realtime game -my time is little and I’m not anymore interested in playing games going on for ages – I like the interface and the colours. This first game was played today and I was just on time to win this game…as I’m always in a hurry…I try to think fast, move fast – and sometimes end up with fast blunders too. My opponent spent 7 minutes before he decided to sacrifice his Queen -and in the process I did the same and won his Bishop. I have the pgn-file for you to follow if interested.
Mmmm…I always keep my Knights as long as I can…wonder if you can spot in this next game why…I have some of the colours of chesscube on this image too. Very visual for someone like me…This player resigned the game.
Image: wikimedia – The World Chess Championship 1984 was a match between challenger Garry Kasparov and defending champion Anatoly Karpov. After 5 months and 48 games, the match was eventually abandoned in controversial circumstances with Karpov leading five wins to three (with 40 draws), and replayed in the World Chess Championship 1985.
Image: wikimedia – The Word CC 1985 The 1985 World Chess Championship was played between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov in Moscow from September 3 to November 9, 1985. Kasparov won. The match was played as the best of 24 games. If it ended 12-12, Karpov would retain his title.
2009 – September – and the word biggest Chess Engines meet again…25 years on. Follow their games live on the top link on my blog’s side bar or click HEREto follow their games live. [the best link to follow their games live is the next link at the bottom of this entry…the site is chessok.com]
Click on this link to play through their blitz-games. The link will open in a new window.
Chess is a game that rarely draws a massive amount of attention from the global public, but a rematch between Kasparov and Karpov reminds us that it throws up the occasional great rivalry.
When Garry Kasparov challenged Anatoly Karpov in 1984 for the chess world championship, it was the beginning of a titanic struggle.
The contest lasted five months and featured a series of successive draws of 17 and 15 games. It was controversially ended by the chess authorities over fears for the health of the players, both of whom had lost weight during the struggle. Kasparov had been resurgent at the end, although Karpov still held a lead.
In 1985, Kasparov beat Karpov for the title. They played for it again in 1986 and again Kasparov won. In 1987, Kasparov was one down going into the final game, but recovered to tie the series and therefore retain his crown.
It was a great chess rivalry, but it was more than that to the watching public and pundits.
“It was very symbolic of what was happening to the Soviet Union,” says grandmaster Raymond Keene, chess correspondent for the Times. “It was obvious the USSR was going through a period of great turmoil.”
And the rivalry was perfect in pitching a brilliant, brooding outsider against the Soviet establishment’s main man.
“Kasparov was a southerner, half-Jewish, half-Armenian, much younger, in the vanguard of a change, taking on the golden boy of the old Soviet Union,” says Keene.
Keene organised the London matches of the third series between the players in 1985, which took place both in the UK and Leningrad. He was surprised by the stark disparity between the Soviet and the Western ways of organising things.
In London, after the matches, a list of moves with annotation was faxed all over the world within 15 minutes of the conclusion. In Leningrad, a sheet bearing only the moves was typed up, a press officer with a minder was taken to the local party HQ where the only photocopier was to be found, the sheet was copied and then manually handed only to the journalists present at the event.
“They were still mired in Soviet bureaucracy and fear of publicity. I thought ‘this place is doomed’.
“It was a gigantic metaphor for the collapse of a creaking, unviable, introspective, conglomerate empire.”
There had been other rivalries that never succeeded in sparking the imagination. Mikhail Tal against Mikhail Botvinnik in the early 1960s had the same hallmarks of the non-Russian outsider against the Soviet stalwart, but failed to develop into a sustained struggle. And the earlier battle between Vasily Smyslov and Botvinnik is probably one for chess aficionados only.
The other rivalry that spread outside the world of chess was between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. Their famous 1972 world championship match became another symbol of the struggle between civilisations.
Fischer was the Western maverick up against Spassky, the emblem of the powerful Soviet machine. And Fischer won.
“It was about Western individualism, depth of analysis, use of the technology available,” says Keene.
And the notion that ideas of a greater struggle would be imposed on chess was an invention of the Stalinist era.
The Communist official Nikolai Krylenko took his board games seriously. He was reported to have said: “We must organise shock brigades of chess players, and begin immediate realisation of a five-year plan for chess.”
He might have approved of the great rivalries with an ideological flavour that grew up in the 1970s and 80s. He would have been less delighted that on both occasions the Soviet establishment’s representative was bested.
Other sports have individual rivalries. Tennis has had some great ones.
But perhaps only boxing, with its system of champion and challengers, comes close to replicating the way that the protagonists have to study each other’s play and personality, even live in each other’s skin, during the mind-bogglingly detailed preparations for a world championship series.
CHESSA: Click on Chessa’s logo – first image in this post – and it will take you to the official site of Chess South Africa. The link will open in a new window. Click here to follow some of the games live on Chesscube. If you are not registered on Chesscube, it will take you a few seconds and you can watch live games. You can click on “play” to register. Games start 18:30 and 9:30 local time. The final round on Saturday – 11th July – starts at 11:00-16:00 local time. To follow the games, you need to go to the SA Open-room on Chesscube (on the chatroom-list). Enjoy!
Images: SAOpen2009.com
In Cape Town, theSouth African Open 2009 is taking place, it started yesterday. Players from all over the world are taking part. GM G Jones (ENG), GM D Komavor (UKR) and a few FM’s and IM’s are taking part too – from countries other than South Africa. Excitingnews: Ryan van Rensburg (2106) (SA) drew a game against GM Dimitri Komarov (2530) (UKR). Ryan has also beaten IM Watu Kobese (2493) (SA) in round 7 and in round 8 he drew a game against IM MABUSELA, JM (2244)! Ryan drew in round 9 his game against IM P Wang (2453) and in round 10: Ryan drew his game against FM NP van der Nat (2322) and also, FM CCA De Villiers -2179- (SA) drew against GM G Jones-2550-(ENG).
GM A Simutowe (Zambia) is the winner of the SA Open 2009. Please click HEREfor the final results. The link will open in a new window. Visit the next link to see some photos of the players.
GM Amon Simutowe from Zambia. He gained his third norm (rating of 2500) and qualified as a GM, the first for Africa, south of the Sahara. Please click here to play through his games on chessgames.com. The link will open in a new window.
From Chesscube: The South African Open is being contested by 208 with the following nations being represented in the field: AUS, ENG, EB, EK, FRA, GER, HUN, KEN, MAW, MOZ, NAM, NWP, NZL, RSA, UK, UKR, WP, ZIM. With 2 GM’s, a handful of IM’s, and a couple of FM’s/CM’s in the field, you are for sure to see good chess. There are 3 games being played live exclusively to ChessCube of SA Open. To watch these games all you have to do is go into the SA room and you can watch straight away. Games are commencing at 9:30 and 18.30 each day – local time.
In a world first for chess, some of the matches will be played online. This is a format many internet chess players have been waiting for – an online event being played simultaneously over 2 continents, yet officially recognized and rated by FIDE!
From Melbourne, Australia, behind the computer screens will be GM Gawain Jones (GBR, ELO 2550), IM Puchen Wang (NZL, ELO 2453), IM Mirko Rujevic (AUS, ELO 2282), and IM Leonid Sandler (AUS, ELO 2332) on standby. On the other end of the computer terminal at Cape Town, South Africa, will sit their opponents. The South African opponents will be paired each round, as will all the other players, using the Swiss Pairing system. This means that three different South African players will play online every round.
“Having these players compete in the tournament from another location using the Internet is a world first. Each Australian player will use a computer to connect to ChessCube and play their game, and will be supervised by the arbiter on that side. Similarly the players paired against them in Cape Town will play their games online using a computer, and will be supervised by an arbiter on this side,” commented Mr. Mark Levitt, founder of ChessCube. FIDE rated event over the internet! FIDE have agreed to officially rate the games played over the Internet. ChessCube powering the community and the SA Open
ChessCube as a playing platform has been bringing innovative ideas into online chess playing for the last couple of months, turning into one of the busiest and most populated web chess servers with player peaks reaching over 3000 players online simultaneously, and a growing base that has eclipsed half a million users. The platform has turned into something that the chess world has been missing at previous online chess communities – it is a place where one can socialize and have fun at the same time.
Now ChessCube are taking a step further and create a tournament, part of which will take place online, and will be officially recognized by FIDE.- source: chessdom
All links in this post will open in a new window. You can also find the link to the official site of the SA Open 2009 on my blog’s side bar.(top)
At the same time, the African Youth Chess Championships are taking place in Cape Town too. This is a very first for Africa and South Africa has been fortunate to be chosen to host the tournament. Please follow this link to follow the results.
Schedule – please click on the image for a larger view
Click here for the Official site of Chess South Africa – Chessa – This championship started in Cape Town yesterday. The venue is Wynberg Boys High School in Cape Town. Click herefor the venue-details. Chess Cube is a South African chess site to publish the results and you can follow the results/pairings on this link, another site where you can play chess online too. I’m quite sure you will be impressed with the interface of Chess Cube. Click hereto play chess on chesscube. Chess Cube is also the site which the English Chess Federation uses for playing chess. You will find different chat rooms on Chess Cube for different countries too, so, have your chat in your language if you wish! Chessa chess calendar. Follow this link for all details of chess tournaments in South Africa throughout the year.
Top 40 Chess players in South Africa, Anzel Solomons (F) is in position 41 with a rating of 2043 On this link you can see the complete list of the top 100 chess players in South Africa as by 28th April 2009.
RESULTS: SA OPEN 2009
Results of the first 13 players in round 1. Please click HEREfor pairings in round 2 and you will find the menu to more results on the top menu-bar.
On these 3 images you can see the scores of the first 38 players after round 2. On the official site – link in this post and on my side bar – you will find links to more results and the pairings. Click on the images for a larger view.
SA Open 2009: Results round 3 – top 14 players
SA Open 2009: Pairings round 4 – top 13 boards
SA Open round 4: results – top 14
SA Open : Pairings round 5 – Top 14 boards
SA Open: Results round 5 – Top 14 players
SA Open: Results round 6 – Top 14 players
SA Open: Results round 7 – Top 14 players
SA Open: Results round 8: Top 14 players
SA Open 2009: Results round 9- top 14 players
SA Open 2009: Results Round 10 – top 14 players
SA Open 2009: Results round 10: Position 15-28
SA Open 2009: Results round 11 – Top 14 players
Chess games of participants during the SA Open via the internet on Chesscube
I’ve thought to blog one of my most recent games – while I’m in blogging chess-stuff the last 2 days! Actually, I don’t have time to blog now, but hey, I need a break too, hehe..I am actually waiting for the South Africans! What’s going on with CHESSA’s site today! I can’t get the results for my entry about the SA Women’s! Can someone give them a shout ple….ase! Update: Thank you! They’re back online! I could hear alot of shouting going on!
This game was a friendly against of one my big favourite players. He’s a very good player and sometimes makes some moves just to let me win, that’s what I think, but he’s denying it completely by saying he hates to lose and therefore doesn’t do it on purpose. We started this game a few days ago and when I forked his King/Queen with my Knight, he made another blunder and then resigned. I preferred to capture his Bishop in the second fork, instead of his Rook as I knew how deadly his Bishops are. On the first image you can see my two Knights conferencing about some moves..hehe…I love my Knights and will always do everything to keep them. Although he’s a much stronger player than I am, I do like to play him as he’s racking my brains with his moves. Here are the moves in this game.
1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Bb5 e6 5. Bd2 Qd7 6. Bc3 a6 7. Bxc6 bxc6 8. Nd2 c5 9. Ne2 Be7 10. O-O cxd4 11. Bxd4 c5 12. Be3 d4 13. Bf4 Bd8 14. c4 Ne7 15. b3 O-O 16. h3 h6 17. Nf3 Bh7 18. Bg3 Nf5 19. Bh2 Ba5 20. Ng3 Ne7 21. Nh5 Nc6 22. Nh4 Bc7 23. Re1 a5 24. Qg4 g6 25. Nf6+ Kh8 26. Nxd7 Bb6 27. Nxb6 Click on this Wiki-link for Chess Openings. Did you know that there are 318,979,564,000 possible ways to play the first four moves of a chess game on each side of of the board.
This game was a game against a different player and it shows you how you can get your Queen trapped when you bring her out too early. I prefer not to bring her out early unless I have to for a reason. I think this player learnt a good lesson and I myself saw what can happen if you play carelessly around with your Queen.
…and if Elmer can play chess…so can anyone else too..hehe.
She was created in a poem called Caïssa written in 1763 by English poet and philologist Sir William Jones.
Scacchia ludus was the basis for the poem written by William Jones in 1763. While Scacchis may have been the first Goddess of Chess, Caïssa is certainly the most famous and sustaining. In the poem Caïssa, Mars becomes infatuated with a nymph named Caïssa but she does not return the favor and is in fact a bit repulsed by the God of War. Not one to give up the fight, Mars enlists the aid of an ally, Euphron, the God of Sports and Games. Euphon creates the game of chess and designs a beautiful and elaborate board and chess set for Mars to give to Caïssa. In the poem, Mars gains Caïssa’s attention this way and teaches her how to play. As the game progresses, Caïssa’s resistance wears down and in the end, Mars wins more than just the game. But Caïssa wins eternal fame.
…fram’d a tablet of celestial mold,
Inlay’d with squares of silver and of gold;
Then of two metals form’d the warlike band,
That here compact in show of battle stand;
He taught the rules that guide the pensive game,
And call’d it Caissa from the dryad’s name:
(Whence Albion’s sons, who most its praise confess,
Approv’d the play, and nam’d it thoughtful Chess.)
Mars then presents the game of chess to Caissa in an attempt to win her affection.
For chess players, Caissa is often invoked as a source of inspiration or luck, e.g. “Caissa was with me in that game.”
Image: sbchess.sinfree.net
Caissa is also spelled Caïssa.
Caïssa is quite frequently referred to in chess commentary. Garry Kasparov uses this reference now and again, especially in his epic volume My Great Predecessors. It is used as a substitute for being lucky – “Caïssa was with me” – especially in unclear situations, for example in sacrifices. Caïssa as a concept has also been explored by some who seek the evidence of the sacred feminine in chess. The first (Russian) computer program that won the World Computer Chess Championship (in 1974) was also named Caïssa.
On this next link – which will open in a new window – you will also find a bit of info about Caïssa and a link to mythology-images.
The poem is based on Scacchia ludus (‘The Game of Chess’) written in 1510 by Marco Girolamo Vida– an Italian poet and later Bishop of Alba – where the nymph is called Scacchis. Jones also published an English language version of the poem.
CAISSA or
The Game at Chess- a Poem.
(written in the year 1763, by Sir William Jones)
(pronounced ky-eé-sah)
Of armies on the chequer’d field array’d,
And guiltless war in pleasing form display’d;
When two bold kings contend with vain alarms,
In ivory this, and that in ebon arms;
Sing, sportive maids, that haunt the sacred hill
Of Pindus, and the fam’d Pierian rill.
Thou, joy of all below, and all above,
Mild Venus, queen of laughter, queen of love;
Leave thy bright island, where on many a rose
And many a pink thy blooming train repose:
Assist me, goddess! since a lovely pair
Command my song, like thee devinely fair.
Near yon cool stream, whose living waters play,
And rise translucent in the solar ray;
Beneath the covert of a fragrant bower,
Where spring’s nymphs reclin’d in calm retreat,
And envying blossoms crouded round their seat;
Here Delia was enthron’d, and by her side
The sweet Sirena, both in beauty’s pride:
Thus shine two roses, fresh with early bloom,
That from their native stalk dispense perfume;
Their leaves unfolding to the dawning day
Gems of the glowing mead, and eyes of May.
A band of youths and damsels sat around,
Their flowing locks with braided myrtle bound;
Agatis, in the graceful dance admir’d,
And gentle Thyrsis, by the muse inspir’d;
With Sylvia, fairest of the mirthful train;
And Daphnis, doom’d to love, yet love in vain.
Now, whilst a purer blush o’erspreads her cheeks,
With soothing accents thus Sirena speaks:
“The meads and lawns are ting’d with beamy light,
And wakeful larks begin their vocal flight;
Whilst on each bank the dewdrops sweetly smile;
What sport, my Delia, shall the hours beguile?
Whall heavenly notes, prolong’d with various art,
Charm the fond ear, and warm the rapturous heart?
At distance shall we view the sylvan chace?
Or catch with silken lines the finny race?”
Then Delia thus: “Or rather, since we meet
By chance assembled in this cool retreat,
In artful contest let our warlike train
Move well-directed o’er the field preside:
No prize we need, our ardour to inflame;
We fight with pleasure, if we fight for fame.”
The nymph consents: the maids and youths prepare
To view the combat, and the sport to share:
But Daphnis most approv’d the bold design,
Whom Love instructed, and the tuneful Nine.
He rose, and on the cedar table plac’d
A polish’d board, with differing colours grac’d;
Squares eight times eight in equal order lie;
These bright as snow, those dark with sable dye;
Like the broad target by the tortoise born,
Or like the hide by spotted panthers worn.
Then from a chest, with harmless heroes stor’d,
O’er the smooth plain two well-wrought hosts he pour’d;
The champions burn’d their rivals to assail,
Twice eight in black, twice eight in milkwhite mail;
In shape and station different, as in name,
Their motions various, not their power the same.
Say, muse! (for Jove has nought from thee conceal’d)
Who form’d the legions on the level field?
High in the midst the reverend kings appear,
And o’er the rest their pearly scepters rear:
One solemn step, majestically slow,
They gravely move, and shun the dangerous foe;
If e’er they call, the watchful subjects spring,
And die with rapture if they save their king;
On him the glory of the day depends,
He once imprison’d, all the conflict ends.
The queens exulting near their consorts stand;
Each bears a deadly falchion in her hand;
Now here, now there, they bound with furious pride,
And thin the trmbling ranks from side to side;
Swift as Camilla flying o’er the main,
Or lightly skimming o’er the dewy plain:
Fierce as they seem, some bold Plebeian spear
May pierce their shield, or stop their full career.
The valiant guards, their minds on havock bent,
Fill the next squares, and watch the royal tent;
Tho’ weak their spears, tho’ dwarfish be their height,
Compact they move, the bulwark of the fight,
To right and left the martial wings display
Their shining arms, and stand in close array.
Behold, four archers, eager to advance,
Send the light reed, and rush with sidelong glance;
Through angles ever they assault the foes,
True to the colour, which at first they chose.
Then four bold knights for courage-fam’d and speed,
Each knight exalted on a prancing steed:
Their arching course no vulgar limit knows,
Tranverse they leap, and aim insidious blows:
Nor friends, nor foes, their rapid force restrain,
By on quick bound two changing squares they gain;
From varing hues renew the fierce attack,
And rush from black to white, from white to black.
Four solemn elephants the sides defend;
Benearth the load of ponderous towers they bend:
In on unalter’d line they tempt the fight;
Now crush the left, and now o’erwhelm the right.
Bright in the front the dauntless soldiers raise
Their polish’d spears; their steely helmets blaze:
Prepar’d they stand the daring foe to strike,
Direct their progress, but their wounds oblique.
Now swell th’ embattled troups with hostile rage,
And clang their shields, impatient to engage;
When Daphnis thus: A varied plain behold,
Where fairy kings their mimick tents unfold,
As Oberon, and Mab, his wayward queen,
Lead forth their armies on the daisied green.
No mortal hand the wond’rous sport contriv’d,
By gods invents, and from gods deriv’d;
From them the British nymphs receiv’d the game,
And play ech morn beneath the crystal Thame;
Hear then the tale, which they to Colin sung,
As idling o’er the lucid wave he hung.
A lovely dryad rang’d the Thracian wild,
Her air enchanting, and her aspect mild:
To chase the bounding hart was all her joy,
Averse from Hymen, and the Cyprian boy;
O’er hills an valleys was her beauty fam’d,
And fair Caissa was the damsel nam’d.
Mars saw the maid; with deep surprize he gaz’d,
Admir’d her shape, and every gesture prais’d:
His golden bow the child of Venus bent,
And through his breast a piecing arrow sent.
The reed was hope; the feathers, keen desire;
The point, her eyes; the barbs, ethereal fire.
Soon to the nymph he pour’d his tender strain;
The haughtly dryad scorn’d his amorous pain:
He told his woes, where’er the maid he found,
And still he press’d, yet still Caissa frown’d;
But ev’n her frowns (ah, what might smiles have done!)
Fir’d all his soul, and all his senses won.
He left his car, by raging tigers drawn,
And lonely wander’d o’er the dusky lawn;
Then lay desponding near a murmuring stream,
And fair Caissa was his plaintive theme.
A naiad heard him from her mossy bed,
And through the crystal rais’d her placid head;
Then mildly spake: “O thou, whom love inspires,
Thy tears will nourish, not allay thy fires.
The smiling blossoms drink the pearly dew;
And ripening fruit the feather’d race pursue;
The scaly shoals devour the silken weeds;
Love on our sighs, and on our sorrow feeds.
Then weep no more; but, ere thou canst obtain
Balm to thy wounds, and solace to thy pain,
With gentle art thy martial look beguile;
Be mild, and teach thy rugged brow to smile.
Canst thou no play, no soothing game devise;
To make thee lovely in the damsel’s eyes?
So may thy prayers assuage the scornful dame,
And ev’n Caissa own a mutual frame.”
Kind nymph, said Mars, thy counsel I approve;
Art, only art, her ruthless breast can move.
but when? or how? They dark discourse explain:
So may thy stream ne’er swell with gushing rain;
So may thy waves in one pure current flow,
And flowers eternal on thy border blow!”
To whom the maid replied with smiling mien:
“Above the palace of the Paphian queen
Love’s brother dwells, a boy of graceful port,
By gods nam’d Euphron, and by mortals Sport:
Seek him; to faithful ears unfold thy grief,
And hope, ere morn return, a sweet relief.
His temple hangs below the azure skies;
Seest thou yon argent cloud? ‘Tis there it lies.”
This said, she sunk beneath the liquid plain,
And sought the mansion of her blue-hair’d train.
Meantime the god, elate with heart-felt joy,
Had reach’d the temple of the sportful boy;
He told Caissa’s charms, his kindled fire,
The naiad’s counsel, and his warm desire.
“Be swift, he added, give my passion aid;
A god requests.” – He spake, and Sport obey’d.
He fram’d a tablet of celestial mold,
Inlay’d with squares of silver and ofgold;
Then of two metals form’d the warlike band,
That here compact in show of battle stand;
He taught the rules that guide the pensive game,
And call’d it Cassa from the dryad’s name:
(Whence Albion’s sons, who most its praise confess,
Approv’d the play, and nam’d it thoughtful Chess.)
The god delighted thank’d indulgent Sport;
Then grasp’d the board, and left his airy court.
With radiant feet he pierc’d the clouds; nor stay’d,
Till in the woods he saw the beauteous maid:
Tir’d with the chase the damsel set reclin’d,
Her girdle loose, her bosom unconfin’d.
He took the figure of a wanton faun,
And stood before her on the flowery lawn;
Then show’d his tablet: pleas’d the nymph survey’d
The lifeless troops in glittering ranks display’d;
She ask’d the wily sylvan to explain
The various motions of the splendid train;
With eager heart she caught the winning lore,
And thought ev’n Mars less hateful than before;
“What spell,” said she, “deceiv’d my careless mind?
The god was fair, and I was most unkind.”
She spoke, and saw the changing faun assume
A milder aspect, and a fairer bloom;
His wreathing horns, that from his temples grew,
Flow’d down in curls of bright celestial hue;
The dappled hairs, that veil’d his loveless face,
Blaz’d into beams, and show’d a heavenly grace;
The shaggy hide, that mantled o’er his breast,
Was soften’d to a smooth transparent vest,
That through its folds his vigorous bosom show’d,
And nervous limbs, where youthful ardour glow’d:
(Had Venus view’d him in those blooming charms,
Not Vulcan’s net had forc’d her from his arms.)
With goatlike feet no more he mark’d the ground,
But braided flowers his silken sandals bound.
The dryad blush’d; and, as he press’d her, smil’d,
Whilst all his cares one tender glance beguil’d.
He ends: To arms, the maids and striplings cry;
To arms, the groves and sounding vales reply.
Sirena led to war the swarthy crew,
And Delia those that bore the lily’s hue.
Who first, O muse, began the bold attack;
The white refulgent, or the mournful black?
Fair Delia first, as favoring lots ordain,
Moves her pale legions tow’rd the sable train:
From thought to thought her lively fancy flies,
Whilst o’er the board she darts her sparkling eyes.
At length the warrior moves with haughty strides;
Who from the plain the snowy king divides:
With equal haste his swarthy rival bounds;
His quiver rattles, and his buckler sounds:
Ah! hapless youths, with fatal warmth you burn;
Laws, ever fix’d, forbid you to return.
then from the wing a short-liv’d spearman flies,
Unsafely bold, and see! he dies, he dies:
The dark-brow’d hero, with one vengeful blow
Of life and place deprives his ivory foe.
Now rush both armies o’er the burnish’d field,
Hurl the swift dart, and rend the bursting shield.
Here furious knights on fiery coursers prance,
but see! the white-rob’d Amazon beholds
Where the dark host its opening van unfolds:
Soon as her eye discerns the hostile maid,
By ebon shield, and ebon helm betray’d;
Seven squares she passed with majestic mien,
And stands triumphant o’er the falling queen.
Perplex’d, and sorrowing at his consort’s fate,
The monarch burn’d with rage, despair, and hate:
Swift from his zone th’ avenging blade he drew,
And, mad with ire, the proud virago slew.
Meanwhile sweet smiling Delia’s wary king
Retir’d from fight behind the circling wing.
Long time the war in equal balance hung;
Till, unforseen, an ivory courser sprung,
And, wildly prancing in an evil hour,
Attack’d at once the monarch and the tower:
Sirena blush’d; for, as the rules requir’d,
Her injur’d sovereign to his tent retir’d;
Whilst her lost castle leaves his threatening height,
And adds new glory to th’ exulting knight.
At this, pale fear oppress’d the drooping maid,
And on her cheek the rose began to fade:
A crystal tear, that stood prepar’d to fall,
She wip’d in silence, and conceal’d from all;
From all but Daphnis; He remark’d her pain,
And saw the weakness of her ebon train;
Then gently spoke: “Let me your loss supply,
And either nobly win, or nobly dir;
Me oft has fortune crown’d with fair success,
And led to triumph in the fields ofChess.”
He said: the willing nymph her place resign’d,
And sat at distance on the bank reclin’d.
Thus when Minerva call’d her chief to arms,
And Troy’s high turret shook with dire alarms,
The Cyprian goddess wounded left the plain,
And Mars engag’d a mightier force in vain.
Strait Daphnis leads his squadron to the field;
(To Delia’s arms ’tis ev’n a joy to yield.)
Each guileful snare, and subtle art he tries,
But finds his heart less powerful than her eyes:
Wisdom and strength superior charms obey;
And beauty, beauty, wins the long-fought day.
By this a hoary chief, on slaughter bent,
Approach’d the gloomy king’s unguarded tent;
Where, late, his consort spread dismay around,
Now her dark corse lies bleeding on the ground.
Hail, happy youth! they glories not unsung
Shall live eternal on the poet’s tongue;
For thou shalt soon receive a splendid change,
And o’er the plain with nobler fury range.
The swarthy leaders saw the storm impend,
And strove in vain their sovereign to defend:
Th’ invader wav’d his silver lance in air,
And flew like lightning to the fatal square;
His limbs dilated in a moment grew
To stately height, and widen’d to the view;
More fierce his look, more lion-like his mien,
Sublime he mov’d, and seem’d a warrior queen.
As when the sage on some unfolding plant
Has caught a wandering fly, or frugal ant,
His hand the microscopic frame applies,
And lo! a bright hair’d monster meets his eyes;
He sees new plumes in slender cases roll’d;
Here stain’d with azure, there bedropp’d with gold;
Thus, on the alter’d chief both armies gaze,
And both the kings are fix’d with deep amaze.
The sword, which arm’d the snow-white maid before,
He noew assumes, and hurls the spear no more;
The springs indignant on the dark-rob’d band,
And knights and archers feel his deadly hand.
Now flies the monarch of the sable shield,
His legions vanquish’d, o’er the lonely field:
So when the morn, by rosy coursers drawn,
With pearls and rubies sows the verdant lawn,
Whilst each pale star from heaven’s blue vault retires,
Still Venus gleams, and last of all expires.
He hears, where’er he moves, the dreadful sound;
Check the deep vales, and Check the woods rebound.
No place remains: he sees the certain fate,
And yields his throne to ruin, and Checkmate.
A brighter blush o’erspreads the damsel’s cheeks,
And mildly thus the conquer’d stripling speaks:
“A double triumph, Delia, hast thou won,
By Mars protected, and by Venus’ son;
The first with conquest crowns thy matchless art,
The second points those eyes at Daphnis’ heart.”
She smil’d; the nymphs and amorous youths arise,
And own that beauty gain’d the nobler prize.
Low in their chest the mimic troops were lay’d,
And peaceful slept the sable hero’s shade
I think Caïssa was with me in this game…haha.. I played against one of my all time favourite players. We always have five games going at any one time and I always try to save my Knights. In this end position, you can see why I do save them whenever I can. I know most players prefer Bishops, but I always prefer my Knights! See the pgn-file which I’ve copied here to look at.
Now, for another all-time-favourite…the music of Ravel…the ostinato from Bolero, though I do apologise for the funny sound you will hear.
Boléro became Ravel’s most famous composition, much to the surprise of the composer, who had predicted that most orchestras would refuse to play it. It is usually played as a purely orchestral work, only rarely being staged as a ballet.
Classical music and chess are two of my “melodies of love”..if you know what I mean..and today I want to share Dolannes Melody, by the master himself, the French artist, Jean-Claude Borelly! If you’re a chess player, try playing a game while listening to this music, you surely will have a good game. Wasn’t it Philidor that was a composer too…and a world chess champion! Today’s chess game, which I played on Chesscube, was really one of “those” games – for me…a plain silly start. No excuses. Sometimes you play (well me, not you) and you make certain moves and you don’t know what on earth caused you those moves. If you look at these images, you will see what I mean. You see, this is “typical-me”..Frailty, thy name is woman!) not thinking about the game, but just playing for the fun of it..and then, suddenly, the tables get turned…and your opponent refused to move as he knows he’s in trouble…and..”The rest is silence.” I wonder if you will identify some quotes I’ve used here and know from which play? You can now play through two games interactively. Down in this post you will find the links to play through it. Game 2 is a game I’ve played earlier tonight on Chesscube. My opponent is a 1708 strong player. I beat him in our first round and in the second I lost due to a silly Knight-move! If it wasn’t for my Knight-move, I could have beaten him, but that shows you again.. absent-minded-me! Please click on the images for a larger view.
You will see how he used his Knight (my favourite piece – see how I used my Knights later on!) to “spoil” it for me! –“O! what a rogue and peasant slave am I!”
–“Let me be cruel, not unnatural; I will speak daggers to her, but use none.”
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
..hmmm…first Knight to move in with a Knight-fork…”Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me. You would play upon me; you would seem to know my stops; you would pluck out the heart of my mystery.”
..and my second ready to slay his King..another Knight-fork…gmf! that will teach him to chase my Dame around and slaughter my men! –“The rest is silence..
And my dearest opponent begged me to stop..and on his knees he prayed his last prayers…his poor King in rags! –“The play’s the thing, wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King!” –“Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince; And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
Do you think it’s true what Kasparov said?
Game 1: Please click HERE to play through the game. The game will open in a new window.
Update: Game 3…Another game I played on Chess cube….my opponent’s time ran out…although he was about to lose the game too…please click HERE to play through the game where I played white. Out of desperation he forced me to capture his Queen in order to have a lost myself, but I didn’t mind that much as I knew I had a Pawn-advantage. I loved the position of my Knights during the middle-game as I could use them effectively.
Now, for the climax! Do enjoy Dolannes Melody and if you like it, I’ve got a link – Grumpy Boss’s blog – where you can download it from rapidshare. But you also have to download the Rar-software to unzip it…good luck, it’s worth doing it for a wonderful piece of music like this, and you not only get the one track, but the complete album! Follow the link. Dolannes Melody
Jean-Claude Borelly
African Junior Chess Championhips 2008_2009… Please scroll down a little bit..I do apologise for this mixed post! I didn’t know I was going to have time to blog the African Juniors and didn’t want to start a new entry…
Melissa Greeff and Kareim Wageih - Winners of the African Junior CC 2008_9
Finally I got my picture! Image from the Official site of Chessa. Melissa Greeff – from South Africa and Kareim Wageih – from Egypt, are the winners of the 2008_9 African Junior Chess Championship that took place in South Africa. For a larger view you may want to click on the image. See more images at the bottom of this post and 5 pages of lovely photos on the official site (link in this post).
I’m not in a mood to explain anything about my own games in this post. Ask me why…and I’ll tell you it’s because of politiciants ranted about what was written in a book they’ve read, believed all the rubbish and think they know everything after what some stupid guy wrote! (ok, that was a couple of years ago, but still…the idea! who says what was was written in that book was the truth anyway! You should go and visit a place to see what’s going on before you make any accusations or act upon what was written in a book! Silly – if you ask me!) Well, you shouldn’t ask me more on this, unless you want to see me ranting tomorrow whole day! And those same “people” won’t move a finger about what’s going on in Zimbabwe. Could somebody please write them a book about Zimbabwe!!! People are dying of hunger, calling for help…much worse is going on than what was written by “someone”, but do they care…no! They think they care..does anyone ever really care what’s going on in another country…who cares about Mugabe killing his own people? Is he God-sent..that they don’t do anything?
Ek wip sommer my agterend vir hierdie Engelse Barones wat dink dat as jy ‘n boek lees, dat alles in ‘n boek waar is…sy was seker lekker blond gewees. Dis alles in die hansard, skree as jy die link wil hê, maar maak gereed om jou te vererg.
Ok, I’ll shut-up and keep my thoughts to chess…that’s much better – for my soul at least. I’ve decided to upload only a few images about games I’ve played recently..some good games, some silly stupid games. Chess Cube is a quite newish chess site which is worth to check out. You can follow this link or the link on my blog’s side bar – with the white knight’s-head. Links in the post will open in a new window.
The Hastings Chess tournament is also now on and on THIS LINK you will find games from the 1920’s till 2004 played at Hastings tournaments. Games can also be downloaded. I also have a few chess graphics of games played by earlier Chess Grandmasters, which I dug out on Chess World. Sometimes if I play through these games, I think..oh, that’s easy, or that looks like such an easy game, or…hmm..I think I can play a game like that too! but…gmf..when it comes to the real game…it’s not always so easy peasy, but I guess I need to follow the “rules” more, as I’m following my “own” rules. I’m playing not too much now, but prefer to go on Chess Cube for a quick real time game, there’s always someone to play with. I do like Chess Cube’s interface, it’s cool. Chess Cube is a South African site, also now a site which the English Chess use for their chess club. At the bottom of this post you will find a link to the English Chess-forum-site and the image with the link shows you the page you get when you go to “their” club…but once you’ve clicked on “log in”..it takes you straight away to the main page of Chess Cube. On Chess Cube you can also join your country’s chat room, if you like. The African Junior Chess Championship is now taking place in South Africa! You will find a link to the official site with more information in this post too.
Chess.com-game..I played white. I guess it was a good checkmate in this game.
Chess.com-game..I played white in this game, my American opponent wasn’t “impressed” with my play…by that I think you know what I mean..
Sneumann vs Steinitz
Maroczy vs Pillsbury
Steinitz vs Lasker
Chess.com-game..this game wasn’t a good game for me…although it might look like it was.
Chess Cube-game..I like the position here..I played white in this game too..how come are all these games I’m blogging games where I played white!…just wondering..
Flags of the African countries taking part in the championships
African Junior Chess Championship: 28th December 2008 – 6thJanuary2009. Please click here for the African Juniors link for more information.
The Amanzintaba Resort at Bronkhorstspruit, South Africa, where the African Junior Chess Championships are taking place. Amanzintaba means: “Water from the mountain”, this link will take you to the resort’s homepage. Bronkhorstspruit is near Pretoria, about 30 mins’ drive on the N4 Highway. Thaba in Northern Sotho means “mountain”…I’m not sure if they’ve changed the spelling of “thaba” in this resort’s name..this is my knowledge of Northern Sotho.
African Junior Chess Championship: Schedule
African Junior Chess Championships 2008_9: Girls top 5 after round 7
African Junior Chess Championships 2008_9: Open section after round 7
South African girls taking the lead in the African Juniors- girls section
African Junior Chess Championship: Open section after round 8
African Junior Chess Championships: Round 9 – The final round…
Results: Round 9 - South African girls taking the first 5 places, well done!
Results: Open section: Round 9, the final round. Egypt taking the lead again.
For a larger view, please click on the images
For more images about the African Juniors…please follow my link to the official site in this post. There are 5 pages of lovely pics to see, also pics about their free day. Chess Cube interface…ahh…you can see I played black here! Please click here for the English Chess Forum link. The link will open in a new window. English chess -url…http://ecfclub.chesscube.com/
I believe this is a good combination: chess, poetry, art and music! I’ve started recently reading Dean’s poetry blog and glad that I’ve discovered his blog. This poem in this post, is today’s entry on his blog and I’ve really enjoyed it and thought to share it with you. If you’re a lover of poetry, make sure to visit his blog, if you don’t, you will regret it! If you don’t like poetry, then you still should visit his blog and you will immediately fall in love with his poems! I have a present for you today too, let’s call it an early Christmas present if you like, a composition by Jim Brickman. Finally, for my chess-lovers (and those who think they might become chess-lovers!) I’ve got a few games here (do check back as I have about ten more to blog in this entry!) played a few days ago in the Dresden Olympiad. This post is almost as good as “wine women and song!”:) All links will open in a new window.
Remember me to the world
And all the beautiful girls
I never kissed; if there’s one regret
That is it: that I left any lovelies’
Lips unblessed, her heart repressed
Remember me to the wind, which
Blows wherever it goes; still, or not
Any feeling does not cost, but what you
Do with it: recall I am that
Innocent, awake to only wonder told
Remember me to the sun; the heat,
The blaze, worries public or hidden,
I have had them all, unbidden: most
Of all when you see that woman or girl,
Remember me, my dear, to the blessed world
Read more about Dean on his biography-link on his blog!
Over 500 poems and prose poems published since 1972 in over 130 literary publications in Canada, the USA, England, Australia, New Zealand, etc., such as Descant, Carleton Literary Review, Poetry WLU, The Prairie Journal, Freelance, Nexus, Bitterroot, Oxalis, Bogg, Aileron, RE:AL, Art Times, Pegasus, Impetus, On The Bus, and many others. More have been published in newspapers, magazines, online and in anthologies, recorded and paper.
Music: Jim Brickman: Dream comes true
Please click HERE to play through the game of Nyback from Finland vs Carlsen played in round 6, Dresden 2008.
Carlsen
Please click HERE to play through the game of Dominguez from Cuba vs Gata Kamsky in round 6, Dresden 2008.
Please click HERE to see more results of games played in round 1 and round 2. The link will open in a new window. At the bottom of this post you will find a link to play through games of round 5, where South Africa played Luxembourg.
On this link you can play through games played in round 6. The link will open in a new window.
Click on the top image/logo to access the official site of Dresen 2008, it will open in a new window and on the “live” image for the live games.
South African players: Men
South African players: Ladies
Dresden Schedule
The South African women’s team at Dresden
All images in this post: HERE the official chess blog of Chess SA. The link will open in a new window.
Carmen de Jager
Monique Sischy
Melissa Greeff
Jenine Ellappen
Anzel Solomons
Henry Steel
Watu Kobese
Please click HERE to play through a game of Watu Kobese against Jennifer Shahade played in Philadelphia in June 1998. The game was Kobese’s.
Kenny Solomon
Johannes Mabusela
Daniel Cawdery
Some of the round 3 results- click on images for larger view
Melissa Greeff round 3 move 39 …0-1
Melissa Greeff round 3 move list
Daniel Cawdery round 3 end position 1/2
Daniel Cawdery round 3 move list
Monique Sischy round 3 end position 0-1
Monique Sischy round 3 move list
Round 4 16 Nov women’s team against Norway and men’s team against Pakistan
Melissa round 4 move 18
Jenine round 4 move 17
Anzel round 4 move 17
Monique round 4 move 17
Daniel round 4 move 17
Henry round 4 move 14
Kenny round 4 move 12
Johannes round 4 move 12
South Africa vs Pakistan Images from players: chesssaol.wordpress.com
South African Ladies’ team vs Latvia
Results of the ladies’ team after round 4
Results of the men’s team after round 4
Round 5 results: South Africa vs Luxembourg 17th November 2008
Henry Steel vs Jeitz Christian Dresden round 5…1-0
Mietek Bakalarz vs Kenny Solomon Dresden round 5 …0-1
Pierre Gengler vs Johannes Mabusela Dresden round 5…1/2
Watu Kobese vs Fred Berend Dresden round 5…1-0
Watu Kobese round 5 move list
Kaydanovich vs Monique Sischy Dresden round 5…0-1
Round 5 Monique Sischy move list
Anzel Solomons vs Gelina Melnik Dresden round 5 …1-0 Please click HERE to play interactively through the games of round 5. The link will open in a new window.
Click on the top image/logo to access the official site of Dresen 2008, it will open in a new window and on the “live” image for the live games. Click HERE for round 1 live games. The link will open in a new window. Then click on the country and it will take you to a window where you can click on “live”. There is a separate link to the Women’s section.
Please click on THIS LINK to see more images of the South African team at Dresden and for more results. The link will open in a new window.
„There is an incredible treasure of all kinds in this beautiful place” wrote Goethe about Dresden. Today Saxony’s state capital has rebuilt its glamorous position step by step. Dresden as cultural metropole is a worldwide center of attraction – and a strong location for economy and science. Dresden’s microelectronics cluster (ZMD, AMD, Infineon), Fraunhofer Institutes, the Max-Planck Institutes, the Technical University and the College of Arts represent an environment offering a mentality which is also determining for chess. Thus, Dresden is, for example, City of Science 2006.
Intelligence has here been at home already very early. 1083 the Bohemian daughter of a king, Judith, brought along a precious chess game as dowry to Saxony. Therewith, Dresden’s match as a chess city was begun. Alone since 1991 210 international and national relevant chess events could be experienced. Stars like Anatoly Karpov or Garry Kasparov are in Dresden oftentimes. Even the castling is close by to relax.
Elena Winkelmann is one of Germany’s greatest chess talents. Here she is playing in front of the emblem of the EURO 2007 and the Chess Olympiad, the Crown Gate of the Zwinger.
A dignified framework: the venue of the Olympiad 2008 in the ICD Dresden is located directly on the river banks on the old side of the city. Church of our Lady, Semper Opera, Castle, Bruhl’s Terrace – the famous baroque ensemble is only a few steps away. And every visitor right away feels the special flair of hospitality and love for cultural engagement in the whole city. Read on the Official Site more about Dresden. Image: Dresden2008
Please click HERE to access the official site where you can locate your country to view the players/teams that will take part. The links in this post will all open in a new window.Please click HERE to read about Jennifer Shahade’s visit to South Africa and you can see images from her and her visit.
Simen Agdestein, Norwegian Grandmaster toured South Africa during March and said SA has great chess talent, the problem South Africans face…is the fact that they are far from Europe to play tournaments! You can see his image in this post where he played chess in a restaurant in South Africa.
Kenny Solomon
Carmen de Jager, Anzel Solomons and Monique Sischy
Image: Chessbase..Dresden Chess 2008…map with details
1. Congress Center Dresden (Playing Hall) 2. Hotel Maritim Hotel
3. Westin Bellevue
4. Museum Japanese Palais
5. Art‘otel
6. Freiberger Arena (Opening Ceremony)
Dresden: Schedule…Info: Chessbase
Image: spotlightgermany.com
Watu Kobese….Image: farm1.static.flickr.com/5/4967409_aa51644369
Please click HERE to play through a game of Watu Kobese against Jennifer Shahade played in Philadelphia in June 1998. The game was Kobese’s.
Grootmeester Simen Agdestein van Noorweë speel ‘n potjie informele skaak in ‘n restaurant in Pretoria. Sy hoed is ‘n aandenking van Suid-Afrika. Foto: Waldo Swiegers
SA hét talent, sê skaak-grootmeesterMar 03 2008 01:21:33:830AM – (SA)
Neels Jackson
Suid-Afrika se skaakspelers is erg ondergegradeer.
Dís die mening van mnr. Simen Agdestein, Noorweegse grootmeester, wat die naweek saam met ’n groep van sy skaakleerlinge in Suid-Afrika aangekom het om deur die land te toer. Hulle speel die naweek ook in ’n internasionaal gegradeerde toernooi by die Hoërskool Waterkloof in Pretoria.
Agdestein sê as Suid-Afrika nie so ver van Europa was nie en meer van sy spelers kon gereeld aan internasionale toernooie deelneem, sou die land al verskeie grootmeesters opgelewer het.
Hy was op sy dag die wêreld se no. 16-speler, maar hy lê hom nou toe op skaakafrigting by ’n Noorweegse sportskool. Hy is een van nege Noorweegse grootmeesters.
Dat hy ook ander talente het, blyk daaruit dat hy sy land agt keer as doelskieter van die nasionale sokkerspan verteenwoordig het.
Hy het ook aan die Noorweegse weergawe van Strictly come dancing deelgeneem, maar sê hy het vroeg uitgeval weens ’n swak ronde met die tango.
Die sportskool waar hy skaakafrigting doen, het ’n samewerkingsooreenkoms met die Hoërskool Waterkloof se skaaksentrum gesluit. Die Noorweërs se besoek is deel van dié ooreenkoms.
Skaak help kinders volgens hom nie net met hul verstandelike ontwikkeling nie. Dit verryk ook hul lewe deurdat hulle mense op ’n ander manier leer ken.
Hy bestempel dit as ’n geson-de aktiwiteit – baie beter as rekenaarspeletjies, wat hy as “ silly ” bestempel.
Image: Wikipedia..The symbol of the 6th Olympiad held in 1935 in Warshaw by J Steifer.
Birth of the Olympiad
The first Olympiad was unofficial. For the 1924 Olympics an attempt was made to include chess in the Olympics Games but this failed because of problems with distinguishing between amateur and professional players.While the 1924 Summer Olympics was taking place in Paris, the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad also took place in Paris. FIDE was formed on Sunday, July 20, 1924, the closing day of the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad. FIDE organised the first Official Olympiad in 1927 which took place in London.The Olympiads were occasionally held annually and at irregular intervals until World War II; since 1950 they have been held regularly every two years.
Read more about the history of the Chess Olympiad on this link which will open in a new window.
Image: Wikipedia
Bobby Fischer’s score card from his round 3 game during the Chess Olympiad in 1970…he played against Miguel Najdorf in Warshaw.
Children in Nepal playing chess! Image: susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2008/11/picture-of-the-day-global-chess.html
Dresden Opening Ceremony images
Dresden Opening Ceremony
Results: Round 1
Dresden round 1: South Africa’s Woman’s team against Tunisia
Results round 1: Hong Kong vs South Africa
Dresden round 1: England vs Turkey
Round 2 results – games played on Friday 14th November 2008
Melissa Greeff Round 2 move 19
Melissa Greeff Round 2 draw
Melissa Greef Round 2 move list – 1/2
Monique Sischy Round 2 move 14 – 1/2
Watu Kobese round 2 move 20
Watu Kobese Round 2 Dresden end position and move list – 1/2
I have a couple of articles/posts on my blog about chess and the link between chess and academic performance, the research that was done by various people, the reasons why your child should play chess etc. Today’s article is no difference and I’ve added an article about chess and the 7 dimensions, which you might enjoy and then 3 of my own games. I’ve taken out my opponents’ nicknames this time. Two games were friendlies and the last game was a rated game. As Ray mentioned the other day on his blog- (if you love playing chess, please play him on chess.com, his blog-link is on my blog roll and you can leave him a message on his blog, but be aware, he’s no softy when it comes to chess! Don’t come back to me crying! lol!) -that I used to blog only games where my opponents were defeated…(no comments…:) Anyway…I have blogged awhile ago some of my games where I was the complete loser! Enjoy the games here…You will notice that I played white in all three the games. You can play through these games, the game-links will open in a new window. If you wanna play me, I do play now on chess.com. If you follow the link on my sidebar, register, then you will automatically be a friend of me and we can play!
You will also find an article you might not be able to read…that’s Afrikaans! The article is about Ezet, she took part in the World Youth Championships that ended last week in Vietnam. The link of the Saffa-players and their results is also available to be viewed. On this link here you can find the official site of the World Youth Chess Championships in Vietnam. The link will open in a new window. http://wycc2008.vietnamchess.com/index.php
Chess Improves Academic Performance
Chess has long been recognized throughout the world as a builder of strong intellects, but only recently has the United States begun to recognize chess’s ability to improve the cognitive abilities, rational thinking and reasoning of even the least promising children. Chess brings out latent abilities that have not been reached by traditional educational means. It promotes logical thinking, instills a sense of self‑confidence and self‑worth, and improves communication and pattern recognition skills. It teaches the values of hard work, concentration, objectivity, and commitment. As former World Chess Champion Emmanuel Lasker said, “On the chessboard lies and hypocrisy do not survive long.”
In Marina, CA, an experiment with chess indicated that after only 20 days of instruction, students’ academic performance improved dramatically. George L Stephenson, chairman of the Marina JHS math department, reported that 55% of students showed significant improvement in academic performance after this brief smattering of chess instruction.
Similarly, a 5‑year study of 7th and 8th graders by Robert Ferguson of the Bradford, PA School District showed that test scores improved 173% for students regularly engaged in chess classes, compared with only 4.56% for children participating in other forms of “enrichment activities” including Future Problem Solving, Dungeons and Dragons, Problem Solving with Computers, independent study, and creative writing. A Watson‑Glaser Thinking Appraisal evaluation showed overwhelmingly that chess improved critical thinking skills more than the other methods of enrichment.
Educators at the Roberto Clemente School (C.I.S. 166) in New York report that chess has improved not only academic scores, but social performance as well. In 1988, Joyce Brown, an assistant principal and supervisor of the school’s Special Education department, and teacher Florence Mirin began studying the effect of chess on their Special Education students. When the study began, they had 15 children enrolled in chess classes; two years later they had 398‑
“The effects have been remarkable,” Brown says. “Not only have the reading and math skills of these children soared, their ability to socialize has increased substantially, too. Our studies have shown that incidents of suspension. and outside altercations have decreased by at least 60% since these children became interested in chess.”
Connie Wingate, Principal, P.S. 123 in New York, says of a New York City school chess program, “This is wonderful! This is marvelous! This is stupendous! It’s the finest thing that ever happened to this school. I am most sincere. It has been an absolute plus for the students who were directly involved as well as for the rest of the school… If I could say one thing to funders, it would be this. If they ever walked down 140th St. and 8th Ave. and had the opportunity to see where our children come from, they would know that these children deserve every single break that they can get. They are trying, through chess, to apply themselves and do something to better themselves. And that filters into the entire school and community… More than anything else, chess makes a difference… what it has done for these children is simply beyond anything that I can describe. The highest scoring student in out school is a member of the chess team. He became the highest scoring kid in the school after he joined the chess team. All four are in the top quarter of the school, and they weren’t before. Academically, they are doing much better in class, and it’s in no small part because of chess. Just how they feel about themselves, their self‑esteem, makes them all winners.”
Jo Bruno, Principal, P.S. 189, ‑Brooklyn, NY:. “In‑chess tournaments the child gets the opportunity of seeing more variety and diversity. There are kids who have more money than they have, but chess is a common denominator. They are all equal on the chessboard. I believe it is connected academically and to the intellectual development of children. I see them able to attend to something for more than an hour and a half. I am stunned. Some of them could not attend to things for more than 20 minutes.”
Jerome Fishman, Guidance Counselor, C.J.H.S 231, Queens, NY: “I like the aspect of socialization. You get into friendly, competitive activity where no one gets hurt. Instead of two bodies slamming into each other like in football, you’ve got the meeting of two minds. It’s strategic, and you use logic to plan an attack scheme. Aside from being good for the cognitive development of these youngsters, chess develops their social skills, too. It makes them feel they belong. Whenever we get a child transferred from another school who may have maladaptive behavior, our principal (Dr. Wilton Anderson) suggests chess as a way of helping him find his niche. It also helps kids learn how to be better friends. They analyze the game and talk it over afterwards. I even had a couple of kids who never had much in common start going to each other’s houses to play chess and swap Chess Life magazines. We’ve got kids literally lining up in front of the school at 6:45 am to get a little chess in before classes start.”
On this link you will find these articles to read. Articles on Chess.. The link will open in a new window.
Chess Improves Academic Performance
More Schools Learn Power of Checkmate
Chess Makes Kids Smarter
From Street Kids to Royal Knights
Role of Chess in Modern Education
One Boy’s Chess Story
Chess is the Gymnasium of the Mind
Chess and Education
World Youth Chess Championships…see the official link in top of this entry.
Ezet het aan die Wêreld Junior Skaakkampioenskappe deelgeneem en op die link kan die uitslae gevind word. Ezet Roos, ’n gr. 11-leerling van die Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool in Pretoria, gaan in Oktober vanjaar baie min van haar skoolbank sien. Dié talentvolle skaakspeler gaan aan twee toernooie in dié maand deelneem. Sy gaan eers na Beijing vir die World Mind Games en daarna na Viëtnam om aan die Wêreldjeugkampioenskap deel te neem.
Ezet het al ses keer na dié kampioenskap gegaan en het al elke jaar sedert sy tien jaar oud was Suid-Afrikaanse kleure gekry.
Ezet het ook haar skaakvermoëns in verskeie lande ten toon gestel.
“Ek was al in Spanje, Griekeland, Rusland en Turkye. Rusland is ’n vreemde land, maar die mense speel baie goed skaak. Hulle begin baie jonger as ons speel.”
Hoewel sy meen die Oos-Europese lande se gehalte van spel is veel beter as hier, sê sy Suid-Afrikaners hoef glad nie terug te staan vir lande soos Australië of Nieu-Seeland nie.
“Ons sukkel dalk teen lande soos Rusland, maar verder doen ons heel oukei.”
Volgens haar vereis skaak ’n ander soort fiksheid as ander sportsoorte.
“Mense dink skaak is nie ’n sport nie, maar net soos ander sportsoorte is dit onvoorspelbaar. Jy kan so hard oefen soos jy wil, maar jy weet nooit wat gaan gebeur nie.
“As jy in toernooie speel, moet jy vyf uur lank konsentreer. Jy is dalk nie soos met ander sporte uitasem nie, maar dit maak my baie moeg en ná ’n wedstryd wil ek net slaap.”
“The chessboard is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the Universe, the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature and the player on the other side is hidden from us”
(Thomas Huxley)
7 – Dimensions of Life article submitted by:Dr J Slobodzien The link of the article is at the bottom of the post and it will open in a new window.
1. Social / Cultural Dimension – I started seeing that your chess pieces are like family members and significant others in your life that you try to protect the best you can. We are all alike (black or white in chess) and we try to move and communicate in ways that will support our mutual goals. Unfortunately though, you end up losing the ones you love.
2. Medical/ Physical Dimension – In order to maintain a healthy body we must maintain a balance of moving (exercise), eating (our opponents pieces), and resting (knowing when not to move).
3. Mental/ Emotional Dimension – Chess forces us to think really hard about our actions, the consequences of our actions, and how our behavior affects others and the world around us. It also gives us opportunities to experience and deal with emotions – like anger, revenge, grief, and joy, etc.
4. Educational/ Occupational Dimension – Chess develops our attention span, concentration abilities, and memory – so that we can learn, be trained and skilled, and maintain satisfying work experiences.
5. Spiritual/ Religious Dimension – I didn’t notice a spiritual side to chess until one of my pawns first got transformed (born-again) into a Queen. At that point, I realized that our weakest members in life have the potential to become our strongest heroes. Chess also develops our faith in a set of organized beliefs and practices much like religion.
6. Legal/ Financial Dimension – Chess teaches us that there are consequences for not obeying the law (not playing by the rules of the game). There are also rewards for logically and systematically making the right moves in life.
7. Self-Control/ Higher Power Control Dimension- Chess teaches us that even though we may follow all the rules, all of the time – we do not have total control of our destiny (who wins the game and who loses). As Thomas Huxley so eloquently put it in his famous quote above (“the player on the other side is hidden”).
Please click HERE to play through the games of Anand/Kramnik on the site of nytimes(gambit). The link will open in a new window.
Images: Official site
Follow THIS LINKon my blog to see the results of all their games, move-by-move, also to follow many other links to sites with games played previously, including a link to the Official site…and…on THIS LINK ..also on my blog, you can go through annotated movies of their games played through the WCC 2008. Enjoy! Links will open in a new window.
News Article from the BBC:
Anand retains world chess title
Anand said he had given one of his best-ever performances
India’s Viswanathan Anand has retained his FIDE World Chess Championship title by beating Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik in the German city of Bonn.
Anand won three games, drew seven times and lost once en route to winning the competition by 6.5 points to 4.5.
He and Kramnik will share the total prize fund of 1.5m euros ($1.94m).
Anand became FIDE world champion last year by winning a tournament in Mexico, where Kramnik was again runner-up. Anand first won the title in 2000.
Kramnik, the Classical World Chess Champion, had competed in the 2007 World Chess Federation (FIDE) world championship with the understanding that if he lost, he would get a chance to reclaim the title by playing a match against the winner in 2008.
“Vladimir pushed me into giving my all. I’ve given one of my best-ever performances here in Bonn,” Anand, 38, told the AFP news agency after his victory on Wednesday.
“I tried everything, but it just wasn’t enough. Life is like that and defeat is part of it,” Kramnik conceded.
Anand, who was born in the southern Indian city of Madras (Chennai), divides his time between India and Spain.
Known as the “Tiger from Madras”, his achievements have triggered huge interest in the game in India with chess clubs mushrooming in many parts of the country.
How do astronauts pass the time in between whatever it is that they do whilst they are up there in space? There’s not much room to move about, so physical activities are pretty much out. You could listen to music or read, but what if you feel the need for a bit of friendly competition with ground control?
Greg Chamitoff is a 46 year-old American astronaut currently orbiting the earth as one of the crew of the International Space Station. He also happens to be a keen amateur chess player and didn’t want a little thing like being in space to stop him playing a game or two. He therefore took a lightweight chess set into orbit with him and challenged all the various mission control centres on earth to a joint game.
Millions of miles and 30 moves later, Greg was victorious. Buoyed by his success, he has now challenged each mission control centre to an individual game.
Read more about Greg Chamitoff here on his Wikipedia site and the his flight here on Nasa’s site.
Original article on Chess com where you can play through his game! This post entry was post no 980!
It’s been months since I’ve blogged one of my chess games! These games here were on draft for about a month and I’ve thought to get them out here now. I’m not going to say a lot about it, – like previous games – all I want to say is, play through the games, read what I’ve said and hey! the Grandmasters are busy playing and some of them finished the British Champs last week…I was definitely not invited,- not this year, and last year I was way to busy playing chess to go! hehehe..- so what you get here, is really, really a few games of a novice in comparing to those Grandmasters! and a few games of somebody that loooooooves the game and also somebody who plays it for the fun and enjoyment of the game! If you’re not into chess, please go through all the other posts, there’s a lot more than just chess on here! or, move on to the next blog, but I want to tell you one thing! You don’t know what you’re missing if you don’t play chess! It’s not that boring game you think it is! You want me to tell you more…shout!! and I can keep you busy for hours without end. Dig into this site for tons of chess stuff if you’re a chess lover too! and enjoy! Click on the links and the games will open up in a new window. Click on this link to play through a few games where I was a complete loser in most of them… https://chessaleeinlondon.wordpress.com/2008/02/08/chess-game-20/
I played white in this game. I haven’t got much to say, only that I didn’t capture his Knight in move 22, as I wanted to save my Rook, for in case …Bg5-f6…. and I was blocked by his Rook on move 26 and my Queen was driven back again. In move 36 I forked his King/Queen/Bishop and I think I couldn’t ask for a better end position.
White again…In this game I’ve thought at one stage the game was my opponent’s game and for some reason I missed the opportunity twice to capture his Knight! I think I wasn’t really focused in this game as I sometimes play my games just for the fun of chess! I finally turned this game into a win with my King and Rook. These games are all games where I won, but I’ve blogged a few games before where I was really the bad loser! So, please don’t think it’s all win, moonshine and roses for me!
Not much about this game where I played black… I enjoyed it and like some other games…my mind was set on something else and then, out of the blue, I realised (duh! hello!!) that I only have that one move! I don’t think my opponent realised that too…play through it and see what a sudden checkmate that was!
Nothing exciting about this game where I played white, except that I looooooove this game from move 30 onwards. Play through it and see how I used my Bishop/Queen whilst my own Rook was in danger too and with my Knights in place, I’ve thought it was really a good end. I invaded him from all sides here…lol
In this game I played white – a game against one of my favourite chess friends on Chess World. I often play him more for the fun and chat and thought to blog one of our games where he got into too much chat! That’s the problem on the chess site, I often chat too much and lose out on my games! hehehe… who cares! I would like “torridon” to know that I blog this game to “celebrate” our chess friendship on the site. He’s really a pleasure to play and makes me laugh about things in life.
Finally, two games I finished recently against the Earl… his rating is about double mine! and he refuses to play rated games, we always play friendlies only, as he knows one thing, and that’s with all the chatting, he comes only second! These two games are two brilliant examples of how he came second…oh, I’m only joking about the rated games! I’ve now discovered how to win a game against him and he knows for sure to be aware of my evil moves! He doesn’t know it yet, but I’m about to challenge him for a rated game! hehehe…I just wonder if he would accept it! Earl….? are you ready!?
I recently finished this game in a tourney and it’s the first tourney in ages which I won…I quite like the way I used my Knights. I will sacrifice a Bishop in order to keep my Knights! In this game I also saw the gap for my Rook to capture either a pawn or his Bishop…and if it’s the pawn first…his Bishop was going to be next as with the pawn-capture his King would be in check! I think that made him resigning the game.
One of those times in chess that you think..duh! hello! you can checkmate your opponent! and you feel like a real beginner, knowing very little! Can that be identified/classified as a type of syndrome…hehehe…
I think this is brilliant! Just think how the children can keep themself busy playing chess during breaks! and you will get more children interested in the game! As you can see from these images, these stands can be placed anywhere! I think these people deserve a 10/10 for this idea. See more info on this site: http://www.ramlodi.co.za/
There is little doubt that a development plan that benefits all the parties involved, is a development plan that is bound to succeed, and Mind Sports SA believes its development plan backed by Ramlodi Outdoor Advertising can put together an exciting and dynamic programme, where everyone wins.
Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) is an affiliate of the South African Confederation of Sport and Olympic Committee, and is responsible for the good governance and promotion of Historical figure games (also known as wargames), Board games (such as Diplomacy, Checkers, Draughts, Morabaraba, etc), and Computer games (whether they are played on ‘cell phones, Sony® PSP’s, personal computers or similar).
The programme is based on open-air game stands at schools, which receive a monthly payment while the game stand is sponsored, and MSSA is focussed on ensuring that the games played in an ever increasing number of schools.
The Morabaraba game stand, which has been used to develop strong mathematical skills. The programme’s official rollout has been aided by the Tshwane University of Technology, which has sponsored a number of game stands being distributed to schools, beginning at Pretoria West High, where a delighted Headmistress Rita Coetzee took delivery of the first two stands.
As soon as the stands were positioned in the quad, learners descended en masse to the game stands and began to play. Only when the bell rang signifying the end of break did the learners leave the stands.
Steven Kekana of Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) was also delighted with the response of the learners to the game stands, as the game of Morabaraba is well known to have a strong linear mathematical background, and has previously been used by Tshwane University of Technology to identify learners who have strong mathematical skills.
Additional stands will be set up at schools in Benoni, Johannesburg, Witbank, Nelspruit, Attridgeville, and Mamelodi within the month.
Watu Kobese IM (South Africa)..Image: farm1.static.flickr.com
This is a news article about Watu playing chess on the 29th June in Pretoria in a simul to raise money for the Ramlodi chess festival in July. A Grade 7-student (u/14) checkmated him in a game! Rian Cox is also a Springbok Chess player. Read more about the RAMLODIChess Festival here and you can visit the Official site here … On THIS LINK you can play through his games on Chessgames.
On THIS LINK you can read about the Chess simultaneous on the Kolonnade Centre’s site.
Skaakkampioen kom toe ’n Ermeloër teë
Jun 29 2008 06:13:41:670PM – (SA)
Mnr. Watu Kobese, Suid-Afrika se skaakmeester met die hoogste gradering tans, het Pretorianers – 40 van hulle – eergister by die Kolonnade-inkopiesentrum in Pretoria die stryd aangesê.
’n Oorlogsveld van 40 skaakborde is staangemaak terwyl Kobese opponente begin lok het.
“Ek glo skaak kry nie genoeg erkenning in Suid-Afrika nie. Selfs die onderwysdepartement moet verstaan dat skaak help met jou leerwerk en kognitiewe denke,” het die skaakfoendi gesê.
“ ’n Skaakbord het ’n X- en Y-as wanneer ’n mens byvoorbeeld aan wiskunde dink. Skaak is baie goedkoop en jy het geen spasie nodig daarvoor nie. Skaak is vir my soos musiek en kuns. Dis ’n intellektuele plesier. Dit leer jou ook om jou opponent te respekteer.
“Daar word gemeen dat skaak jou sosiale karakter weerspieël. Ek is ’n baie aggressiewe onkompromistiese speler. ’n Mens moet skaakfiks wees. Sodra jy slaplê, verlaag jou sin vir gevaar. ’n Rede vir my sukses is die vermoë om vinnig variasies te bereken op die skaakbord.
Soos ek aanstap van een opponent na die volgende, hou ek my moeilike opponente in gedagte en werk solank aan daardie skuiwe in my kop. Ek vrees Russiese spelers die meeste. Hulle leer skaak van vroeg af op skool.”
Terwyl die tuisopponente peinsend die skaakbord voor hulle bestudeer, stap Kobese al skuiwende van een spel na die volgende. “Skaak laat jou verder dink,” vertel Werner Buys (10) van Rayton. “Skaak is werklik fun en dit gee ’n mens kans om jou tyd ordentlik te bestee.”
En toe kom die groot gif in die klein botteltjie. Uit die 47 skaakspele wat Kobese gespeel het, was een spel ’n probleem.
’n Gr. 7-leerling van Ermelo en ’n o.14 junior skaak-Springbok, Rian Cox, vertel: “Ek het my ruiter vir twee van Watu se pionne opgeoffer, dit alles om Watu se koning oop te kry. En in die 21ste skuif was dit skaakmat.”
Hannah Kneen–8jr — van Johannesburg hou die volgende skuif van mnr. Watu Kobese, ‘n skaakmeester, dop. ‘n Geldinsameling is die naweek by die Kolonnade-inkopiesentrum in Pretoria gehou vir die Ramlodi-skaakfees wat op 18 Julie in Pretoria begin. Foto: Leon Botha
Please click Chessgames here to follow the results of games and to play through games played on any particular day!
If you click on the link of CHESSCLUByou can watch the “game of the day” on a movie!
Round 11 : Final round…results
Svidler, Peter ½ – ½ Van Wely, Loek
Ivanchuk, Vassily 1-0 Eljanov, Pavel
Karjakin, Sergey ½ – ½ Carlsen, Magnus
Volokitin, Andrei 1 – 0 Alekseev, Evgeny
Jakovenko, Dmitry ½ – ½ Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter
Onischuk, Alexander 0 – 1 Shirov, Alexei
Carlsen still leading!
Round 10 : Results
Van Wely, Loek 0 – 1 Ivanchuk, Vassily
Eljanov, Pavel ½ – ½ Karjakin, Sergey
Carlsen, Magnus ½ – ½ Volokitin, Andrei
Alekseev, Evgeny ½ – ½ Jakovenko, Dmitry
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter ½ – ½ Onischuk, Alexander
Shirov, Alexei 1 – 0 Svidler, Peter
Round 9 results:
Karjakin, Sergey ½ – ½ Van Wely, Loek
Volokitin, Andrei 0 – 1 Eljanov, Pavel
Jakovenko, Dmitry ½ – ½ Carlsen, Magnus
Onischuk, Alexander ½ – ½ Alekseev, Evgeny
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter 1 – 0 Shirov, Alexei
Ivanchuk, Vassily ½ – ½ Svidler, Peter
Results: Round 8
Van Wely, Loek 1 – 0 Volokitin, Andrei
Eljanov, Pavel ½ – ½ Jakovenko, Dmitry
Carlsen, Magnus ½ – ½ Onischuk, Alexander
Alekseev, Evgeny 1 – 0 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter Svidler, Peter ½ – ½ Karjakin, Sergey
Shirov, Alexei 0 – 1 Ivanchuk, Vassily
Round 7 results:
Jakovenko, Dmitry 1 – 0 Van Wely, Loek
Onischuk, Alexander 0 – 1 Eljanov, Pavel
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter 0 – 1 Carlsen, Magnus
Alekseev, Evgeny ½ – ½ Shirov, Alexei
Volokitin, Andrei ½ – ½ Svidler, Peter
Karjakin, Sergey ½ – ½ Ivanchuk, Vassily
Please click HERE to play through games of round 7.
Magical Magnus conjures win over Shirov
Round 5 at Foros and yet another elite Grandmaster crumbles in the face of Magnus Carlsen’s relentless pressure. Alexei Shirov is a formidable player and has himself come close to the World Championship crown, but today he became Carlsen’s latest victim.
Shirov answered 1.d4 with the Slav defence and Magnus chose the popular ‘Moscow’ variation in reply. A balanced opening developed into an even middlegame, but as in previous games, Magnus kept creating tricky problems for his opponent to solve and soon Shirov fell into time trouble as he sought to find the best answers.
It was on the 61st move that Shirov finally cracked, allowing Magnus to catch his King in a mating net.
Elsewhere on another exciting day, the closest challenger to Magnus failed to keep up the pace as Sergey Karjakin lost with the Black pieces against Andrei Volokitin. The other decisive games saw Nisipeanu put Van Wely to the sword in a Najdorf Sicilian and Svidler employed his favourite Grunfeld defence to good effect against Onischuk.
Vassily Ivanchuk fought hard against Dmitry Jakovenko, but an extra pawn in a Knight ending was not enough and the game ended all-square after 72 moves.
Magnus Carlsen now leads by a clear 1.5 points with a very impressive score of 4.5/5. If the world rankings were published today then Carlsen would be ranked second in the world, with only World Champion Vishy Anand ahead of him.
Please click HEREto play through the games of round 5…played on the 12th June.
Van Wely, Loek ½ – ½ Onischuk, Alexander
Eljanov, Pavel ½ – ½ Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter
Carlsen, Magnus ½ – ½ Alekseev, Evgeny
Svidler, Peter ½ – ½ Jakovenko, Dmitry
Ivanchuk, Vassily ½ – ½ Volokitin, Andrei
Shirov, Alexei ½ – ½ Karjakin, Sergey
Ukrainian Chess Federation International Chess Tournament from 7-20 June 2008
Please click HEREto play through the games of round 1and onTHIS LINKyou can see the results of rounds 2 and 3. On THIS LINK you can play through games played in round 2.
Results Round 3
Carlsen, Magnus 1 – 0 Van Wely, Loek
Eljanov, Pavel 1 – 0 Shirov, Alexei
Alekseev, Evgeny 1 – 0 Svidler, Peter
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter ½ – ½ Ivanchuk, Vassily
Onischuk, Alexander ½ – ½ Karjakin, Sergey
Jakovenko, Dmitry 1 – 0 Volokitin, Andrei
Standings …Round 4
Van Wely, Loek vs Alekseev, Evgeny
Eljanov, Pavel vs Carlsen, Magnus
Svidler, Peter vs Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter
Ivanchuk, Vassily vs Onischuk, Alexander
Karjakin, Sergey vs Jakovenko, Dmitry
Shirov, Alexei vs Volokitin, Andrei
Day of Rest…Balaklava…
~Day of Rest…Balaklava…Images: Official site of Aerosvit
Magnus Carlsen, Norway, 2765
Peter Svidler, Russia, 2746
Vasiliy Ivanchuk, Ukraine, 2740
Alexei Shirov, Spain, 2740
Sergey Karjakin, Ukraine, 2732
Dmitry Jakovenko, Russia, 2711
Evgeny Alekseev, Russia, 2711
Pavel Eljanov, Ukraine, 2687 See 4 more players’ photosHEREwith more information on all players.The list of participants:
1. Carlsen, Magnus NOR 2765
2. Svidler, Peter RUS 2746
3. Ivanchuk, Vassily UKR 2740
4. Shirov, Alexei ESP 2740
5. Karjakin, Sergey UKR 2732
6. Jakovenko, Dmitry RUS 2711
7. Alekseev, Evgeny RUS 2711
8. Eljanov, Pavel UKR 2687
9. Volokitin, Andrei UKR 2684
10. Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter ROU 2684
11. Van Wely, Loek NED 2676
12. Onischuk, Alexander USA 2664
June 8th, 2008, Round 1, Time 15:00…ALL rounds start at 15:00 —every day!
June 9th, Round 2
June 10th, Round 3
June 11th, Round 4
June 12th, Round 5
June 13th, Round 6 June 14th, REST DAY June 15th, Round 7
June 16th, Round 8
June 17th, Round 9
June 18th, Round 10
June 19th, Round 11
Foros, Crimea is the settlement in the Ukraine where this tournament is taking place…
The region is also known as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and lies on the northern coast of the Black Sea. The population is two million inhabitants, the capital is the city of Simferopol.
Foros, where the AeroSvit tournament is held, is a small village situated about 40 km from Yalta, in the southern part of Crimea. The climate conditions are gorgeous. Foros is the place were the dacha (summer-house) of the President of Ukraine is situated. The Russian writer Maxim Gorkiy lived and worked for some time in Foros. Today Ukrainian politicians and businessmen own summer houses there. Students spend their summers in Foros. There is the orthodox Foros Church and a beautiful national park. What is also good in Foros – you spell the name of the village exactly the way you pronounce it – F-o-r-o-s.
Source: chessbase
Last 2 Images: chessbase
In Foros, you will get this monument about Yuri Gagarin, the first man in Space! Click HERE to read more about him.
Chess champ takes on 20 opponents at Hay
May 25 2008 Media Wales
Former chess grandmaster Boris Spassky will today take on 20 opponents simultaneously – including one in Antarctica.
Spassky will take up the challenge at the Hay Festival, in mid Wales.
And, with Antarctica 8,000 miles away, it will be the longest distance live chess match ever attempted.
Spassky’s on-line opponent on the continent will be Ian McNab, a field technician with the British Antarctic Survey based on the Rothera Research Station.
His other 19 opponents, who include comedian Dom Joly, Liberal Democrat Welsh Assembly Member Peter Black, and a number of the area’s leading child chess prodigies, will play him in person.
Mr MacNab, 52, from Manchester, said: “I am not very optimistic. I would describe myself as an amateur, but I was quite good as a teenager. I don’t think that Boris has much to be afraid of.”
The former outdoor pursuits instructor is part of a British team of 21 scientists and experts who are undertaking a long-term monitoring of environmental and maritime changes in the region.
Their next physical contact with the outside world will not take place until the arrival of a supply ship in October 2008.
Spassky, a 71-year-old Russian, became grandmaster at the age of 18 and proceeded to win the Soviet Chess Championship twice.
He was in the world’s top ten players for most of the years between the mid 50s and the mid 80s.
The simultaneous chess match will take place at 6pm at Richard Booth’s Bookshop, in Lion Street, Hay-On-Wye.
The challenge pre-emts the former world number one’s talk at the annual literary festival tomorrow about his famous loss to Bobby Fischer, in Reykjavik, at the height of the Cold War in 1972.
Source of article : HERE … We visited Wales a few years ago and I wanted to travel back through this “town of books”…Hay-on-Wye…and on THIS LINK
you can read what I said about the town…I’ve added two pictures here from that link…and on THIS LINK you can see my pics about Aberystwyth, in Wales where we visited friends.
You can clearly see the slot to leave your money at the “Honesty Bookshop” in Hay-on-Wye.
Hay Castle is where the “Honesty Bookshop” is…where you pay 50p per book and you can see the slot on my first pic for the money!
Alexandra Kosteniuk is one of the beauties in the world of Chess! In this video you can see the game she played against GM Zoltan Almasi. It’s a blitz. Fast chess, also known as, blitz chess, lightning chess, bullet chess and rapid chess, is a type of chess game in which each side is given less time to make their moves than under the normal tournament time controls of 60-150 minutes (1-2½ hours) per player. Read HEREmore about blitz chess.
Please click HERE for the official site of Alexandra Kosteniuk. Alexandra Kosteniuk comments in detail her blitz game played in Moscow at the World Blitz Championships Qualifiers against one of the world’s top experts on the Berlin Wall defence.
Image…NYtimes
The model Carmen Kass in a five-minute blitz match against Viswanathan Anand in 2004.
Image:chessbase Read the review of this book here at the link at the bottom of this post….or click on the image to order the book.
Many of us, even those of us who don’t play either well or often, are familiar with chess. Some of us will be aware that some pieces are differently represented in different parts of the world, but I wonder how many of us are aware of the comparatively recent introduction of the queen?
Marilyn Yalom attempts three objectives in this interesting book. Firstly, and of most interest to me, she outlines a history of the game of chess and its likely spread across the world. Secondly, Dr Yalom explains the development of the piece currently known as the queen in most European chess play both in terms of its replacement of earlier pieces, and its emerging power. Finally, Dr Yalom makes a case for parallels between the emergence of the power of the chess queen and the rise of powerful female sovereigns in Europe.
While I am attracted to the notion of the role of the chess queen as a reflection of the rise of strong queens (such as Isabella of Castile), and a possible association with the cult of the Virgin Mary, this is of peripheral interest to me. What I did find fascinating was the history of the development of the game, especially the differences between cultures and countries. Dr Yalom advises that the chess queen did not appear on the board until about 1000: some 200 years after the game had been introduced to southern Europe. Yet, by 1497, the queen had developed from a weak piece (moving one square at a time on the diagonal) to the more formidable force that she is today.
Dr Yalom presents a wealth of information in this book. Whether you share her conclusions, her enthusiasm for the subject combined with her capacity to present a variety of interesting data in a readable and accessible way will make this an enjoyable read.
Those who are serious chess players may find some of the facts interesting. Those of us interested in the evolution of institutions of power and who choose to explore parallels between games of strategy and political realities should also enjoy this book.
Chess players in Baku, Azerbaijan are now busy playing round 11, follow their games live on the “live” link on my blog. By looking at the images of the players, they all look very serious! On the game-images you can see what the chess boards looked like up to the particular move that can also be seen on the image. Please click on the games-images for a larger view. All other images are from the Official site.
Results of finished games…
Karjakin 1/2 Radjabov1/2
Adams 1/2 Mamedjarov 1/2
Grischuk 1/2 Carlsen 1/2
Cheparinov 1/2 Kamsky 1/2
Inarkiev 1 Bacrot 0
Yue Wang 1 Peter Svidler 0
Vugar Gashimov 1/2 David Navara 1/2
On these images you can see players on their way and getting examined by security…seems like Svidler was in a good, relaxing mood and even smiled friendly at the camera!…..
This photo has nothing to do with Baku Chess…a photo I want to share…Svidler and Anand… I think Svidler might be my “next” favourite player – I have a few and can’t make up my mind though, but I do enjoy his friendly personality that reflects from many photos. On this photo he’s sharing a “joke” with Anand…wonder if he was trying to advise Anand on how to be the best…if you look at his finger…lol!
Pairings for rounds 12 and 13:
Round 12 on 04/05/08 at 15:00
Kamsky Gata – Svidler Peter
Inarkiev Ernesto – Yue Wang
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar – Bacrot Etienne
Carlsen Magnus – Adams Michael
Gashimov Vugar – Grischuk Alexander
Radjabov Teimour – Navara David
Cheparinov Ivan – Karjakin Sergey
Round 13 on 05/05/08 at 14:00
Karjakin Sergey – Kamsky Gata
Navara David – Cheparinov Ivan
Grischuk Alexander – Radjabov Teimour
Adams Michael – Gashimov Vugar
Bacrot Etienne – Carlsen Magnus
Yue Wang – Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
Svidler Peter – Inarkiev Ernesto
After round 11:
1 Wang Yue 2689 CHN 7
2 Grischuk Alexander 2716 RUS 7
3 Gashimov Vugar 2679 AZE 6½
4 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2752 AZE 6
5 Carlsen Magnus 2765 NOR 6
6 Adams Michael 2729 ENG 6
7 Radjabov Teimour 2751 AZE 5½
8 Kamsky Gata 2726 USA 5½
9 Bacrot Etienne 2705 FRA 5
10 Cheparinov Ivan 2695 BUL 5
11 Karjakin Sergey 2732 UKR 5
12 Svidler Peter 2746 RUS 4½
13 Inarkiev Ernesto 2684 RUS 4½
14 Navara David 2672 CZE 3½
Enjoy this video-report about round 11 from the Official Fide-Baku site
In Baku, Azerbaijan, it was a rainy day today….In this image you can see Radjabov sharing his umbrella. In Round 10, Carlsen and Navara drew their game and Grischuck and Mamedyarov. Ivan Cheparinov-(Bulgaria) won his game against Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan).
Follow THIS LINK to watch some press conferences about different players.
Other results:
Gata Kamsky 1/2 Wang Yue 1/2
Gashimov Vugar 1/2 Karjakin Sergey 1/2
Inarkiev Ernesto 1/2 Michael Adams 1/2
Svidler Peter 1/2 Bacrot Etienne 1/2
Follow the “live” link on the side bar of my blog to follow the games live.
Please follow THIS LINK to see more photos taken today in round 10.
…..is that an expression of a blunder?
Round 11 on 03/05/08 at 15:00
Cheparinov Ivan – Kamsky Gata
Karjakin Sergey – Radjabov Teimour
Navara David – Gashimov Vugar
Grischuk Alexander – Carlsen Magnus
Adams Michael – Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
Bacrot Etienne – Inarkiev Ernesto
Yue Wang – Svidler Peter
This video is from the Official website of Fide-Baku-2008
In this game I’ve thought that I had really a cool game! Very early in this game I was in really big trouble…if you look at black’s position after move 13. I made a desperate attack on his King, to prevent a checkmate! and by my Bishop-move…in move 14, I could relief my King from that pressure, but now my King was exposed! but at least not in checkmate…Knowing wat was coming..I moved my King with move 21 to F1. In move 38…my lovely Knight-to-the rescue…and I count myself lucky with move 42…to capture his Knight. From move 51 and on… I could have done better, but at least I had some Pawns left and pushed through with one Pawn. With black’s move in move 58, I sacrificed one Rook in order to prevent his Pawn from promotion as I knew that I was still safe with my Pawns left…with black’s move in 62….was just what I wanted! and I could finish the game in a very slow Rook/King @ lonely King… this opponent is rated much higher than I am and that’s why I’ve thought that was really cool play on my side….to recover from a early heart attack, my poor King… he’s now back from intensive care and all is well with him! hehehe…click on this link to play through the game…it will open in a new window.
Earl from the chess site sent me this quote when I commented on this game: Nimzovitch once said, regarding one of his games, “[My opponent] now succumbs to a very pretty attack (I would say this even if the game were played by my worst enemy, so why not when it’s me?).”
This is also a game played on Chess World…and I think you’ve noticed that I played white again in this game…
This next game was really a very tough game..and one of my longest games on the site…my longest game was 107 moves and you can view the game HERE on my blogger site…not only was it a long game, but also a game we started in July 2007! My opponent was a slow mover, but was also on holiday a few times. If you look at the image, you will see why I call it the Rooks/Queens’ game… I don’t want to elaborate on the game as you will see how tense this game was near to the end before my opponent resigned when you play through the game. Please click on the link and it will open in a new window. In this game my opponent’s rating was also about 300+ higher than mine. I played white in this game.
This is again one of my own games played on Chess World… I blog this game due to a couple of reasons. Firstly…to show you how easy you can get a piece trapped…-I played white in this game-…..my Rook with black’s move after move 16 …trapped! If… he had moved his Bishop to G7… I was Rook-less! Secondly… to show you how one can recover from a few thoughtless moves….really bad moves on my side…and how I gained control again. I captured his Knight… move 17 …..so by the way…if it’s your first time here…then you don’t know it… but I always capture a Knight if I can and I do prefer to keep mine in safety where possible… hey… horses are great animals and they do work for you…even if it’s on a chess board! lol! you should allow them to work for you…I really started panicking and was desperate with move 20 and with black’s Knight-move…ahw…what can I say! For some reason, black missed E5 with move 21 and from there…he missed my Rook too! and preferred to check instead…Move 23…brilliant move by black as I lost a pawn and my poor Knightie! Another desperate move on my side with move 26 and I sacrificed my Rook in order to capture black’s Rook, because I had other plans in my head…. With move 29-30… I saw the checkmate earlier….and was hoping for the right moment…the game was really getting tense and I couldn’t wait to make that devastating move…and with black’s move (32)Qf6… I knew he missed the checkmate and could I perform that last move to close the game. I used to have my Knights most of the time in my end games or in a checkmate…but in this game…very rare for me…I have one of my Bishops to-the-rescue. If you click on the link, the game will open in a new window.
Click on the images to see a larger view. These are results from round 4, the Chess Grand Prix tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan. If you click HERE you will find a games-link and you can play through the games played in the previous rounds…on the side bar of my blog, you will find a link to the current round’s games.
All images from the Official Fide-Baku-Chess-site.
The European Individual Chess Championship is now taking place in Bulgaria…men/women are battling for the top positions. On THIS LINK you can view their games live. Round 4 will be played today.
Please clickHEREfor results and standings where you can view more photos of the participants too.
Azerbaijan is now a world of chess! GrandMasters in the world of Chess are there for this prestigious event taking place in Baku. Round 4 results now available too. On my side bar you can follow the games LIVE. Look for the “Fide Grand Prix”-link! Read HERE more about Azerbaijan.
Please click HEREto play through the games of Gashimov vs. Svidler, Carlsen vs. Inarkiev and Navara vs. Grischuk in round 3 played on the 23rd April. Click HERE for the results of round 4.
On this table you can see the results after round 3. The video can also be seen on
Baku’s Official website and it’s about round 2! See more photos on this link too.
Peter Svidler: Image – Chessvibes
Michael Adams…Image: Chessvibes
Kamsky…examined by security before entering …Image: Chessvibes
Carlsen…and security…see more images on Chessvibes.com
Image: chess.com…Yelena Dembo Click on THIS LINK to play through a game of her played in this tournament in round 8 on the 29th April 2008. The 2008 European Individual Chess Championships are starting on the 21st April in
Plovdiv, Bulgaria. There are separate men’s and women’s titles at stake in 11-round Swiss events. Click HEREto play through the games interactively.
Participating in the women’s event is Yelena Dembo from the Chess.com site…
You can view her games HERE on Chess.com.
You can follow the games and results HERE …
The first move is officially made at the board of Magnus Carlsen (White) against Wang Yue (Black). Standing from left to right: Geoffrey Borg (CEO Global Chess), Elisabeta Polihroniade (Deputy Chief Arbiter), Azad Rahimov (Minister for Youth and Sport, Azerbaijan), Elman Rustamov (Chairman, President of Azerbaijan Chess Federation), Zurab Azmaiparashvili (Technical Adviser).
Baku 2008 has started, and with it the first FIDE Grand Prix Series.
Please click HERE for the Official website in Baku. There are videos to see and games in PGN Files.
I hope you all have a good weekend!! I’m that chicken in the image! …..and here’s a very short chess game, chess game 27…. to play through. I think in this game there are also only 27 moves!.. I played black in this game. The reason why I blog this game…you will see early on how easy it is to get your rook captured! I don’t like to use my Queen early in a chess game. I believe to develop the back pieces slowly before moving my Queen…you can also see how fast I had to get her back in safety, as she was threatened a few times…she was even trapped in that corner and I even sacrificed other pieces to save her at one point! and once again..like I said before…my dearest Knight… made my opponent resigning this game. My opponent has beaten me up in two other games! So, I really think this was just my luck! Some people can’t have it all! hehehe…Click on the link and the game will open in a new window.
This is chess game 26! In this game I played black. This was really a tough game….one of those challenging games. If you play through the game you will see why. Luckily…as always… I had a Knight-to-the-rescue. I will even sacrifice a Rook just to have my Knight! Exactly like in real life… that’s why Knights are there! hehehe… look at move 80! Fork! and from there one…it was really easy. If you play through the game, you will see why my opponent named this game after this nursery rhyme! See if you can work out why I couldn’t really move away from that advanced Pawn of my opponent…He resigned this game at the end. Enjoy playing through it by clicking on the link.
Ring a-ring o’ roses,
A pocketful of posies.
a-tishoo!, a-tishoo!.
We all fall down.
This nursery rhyme is about the black death…also called “The Plague”. The symptoms of the plague included a raised red rash on the skin (Ring a ring o’ rosies) and violent sneezing (Atishoo, Atishoo) A pouch of sweet smelling herbs or posies were carried due to the belief that the disease was transmitted by bad smells. The death rate was over 60% and the plage was only halted by the Great Fire of London in September 1666 which killed the rats which carried the disease which had been transmitting it to water sources. Read about Samuel Pepys and his connection with the Fire of London. Read on this link about the black death which was also called “The Plague” and on THIS LINK to read more about Ring-a-ring-a-rosie.
I blogged in December HEREabout chess boxing and you can see a video too on this link! Now it’s also in the UK! I’m glad I don’t have to box before I can play a game of chess! Wonder if they play some good chess games in this sport…or is it just for the fun…and because of the rules…that they make only a few moves to keep the organisers happy….hehehe…wonder if they have chess coaches…chess is about tactics…concentration…seems to me the skills these people need too…hehe… yeah yeah chess!! once again!
Opponents compete over the chessboard then hit each other in the boxing ring in a combination sport being introduced to north London.
Chessboxing features alternate rounds of chess and boxing, with the winner decided by either knockout, checkmate or a judge’s decision after 11 rounds.
The first UK chessboxing club has begun at Islington Boxing Club in Archway.
Founder Tim Woolgar said: “Boxing requires tactical thinking, a skill that is vital to playing chess.”
We train at a high level to ensure competitors learn how to fully defend themselves
Chessboxing originates from Berlin, where the world’s first tournament was held last November. Championships have also taken place in Amsterdam and Cologne.
“I’m interested in both chess and boxing, so I went to one of the Berlin championships and thought they combined the two perfectly,” said Mr Woolgar.
“Boxers need real strength of mind, which helps them compete in chess.”
Competitors are given 60 seconds to remove their gloves as they leave the ring to sit or stand at the chessboard.
Read the entire article HERE on the BBC’s site.
Image: National Geographic
To win, players must either checkmate or knock out their opponent within 11 rounds.
On ChessWorld, in the chess forum, we had a discussion about male/female players. The question was… are men
better at chess….? and some wondered why men are/were better… Some people think chess is a male game. I didn’t play chess when I was at school, although I could play, as there were always only boys playing…as I said before on my blog… I felt intimidated by those boys giving me the look of…”hey… you’re a girl…and you play chess!”… as if it’s actually a boy’s game…I think nowadays boys/men have accepted that chess is also a girls/female game and that we can actually also play the game, and sometimes even a bit better…also, I think it’s just a matter of statistics. For some men on the site, it’s even hard to lose a game to a woman! I experience it every now and then and quite recently had again such an experience of a male player that couldn’t handle the fact that a female was beating him.
We have also two tournaments going…where there are equally male/female players in both… I’m in the one tournament…and in this tournament the outcome looks positive for both sexes…in the other tourney it seems to be the females that will walk away as the winners…How do you feel? Are men better…is it a male game…what’s your opinion?
On THIS LINK you can follow the discussion about male/female chess on CW. This forum link will open in a new window.
In the following chess game, I played white. My opponent – this game was played more than six months ago, before this entry – was about 400+ ahead of me although he’s actually a 2000+ player, which means he would then be 800 ahead of me. He resigned at the end. You can click on the link and it will open in a new window to play through the game. I think it was also a bit of luck on my side. He wasn’t really impressed with the fact that I was beating him. Then, best of all, the game got more attention in the chess forum as an annotated game with a title: “Underdog wins”…Here is the game link ….Nikita1 vs. No6
, whilst I wanted to finish the game in real time…very impatient me. [lol] I got near to the end very excited, as I put 6 complete moves in as conditional moves [just out of frustration to get the game done!] and when I logged back on, it was all done. You will see how many pieces I offered and also how unnecessary I lost my one knight! I played black and the Philidors defence as opening in this game. I offered many pieces near to the end as I knew it would be a win for me. Have fun playing through it! Click 
Chess Queen Alexandra
Posted in Chess, chess books, chess games, Chess Grandmasters, GM Almasi, GM Kosteniuk, Hungary, Kosteniuk, Kosteniuk comments on her chess game, Marilyn Yalom, Russia, Viswanathan Anand, tagged Alexandra Kosteniuk, Alexandra Kosteniuk images, Anand, Birth of the Chess Queen, Blitz Chess, Carmen Kass, Chess, Chess Blitz, chess books, chess games, Chess games of Alexandra Kosteniuk, Chess Grandmasters, GM Almasi, GM Kosteniuk, Grandmasters, Hungary, interactive chess games, Interactive chess games of Alexandra Kosteniuk, Kosteniuk, Kosteniuk comments on her chess game, Marilyn Yalom, Russia, Viswanathan Anand, Zoltan Almasi on 16/05/2008| 12 Comments »
Click on the images for a larger view.
Please click HERE to play through chess games of Alexandra. The link will open in a new window.
10 January 2009: News article about Alexandra…the link will open in a new window.
http://www.miamiherald.com/277/story/847451.html
On this link on my blog, http://chessaleeinlondon.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/alexandra-kosteniuk-winner-of-nalchik/ you can follow the games played in the World Women’s Chess Championships in between Kosteniuk and Yifan. There’s also more pictures of her to see.
Alexandra Kosteniuk is one of the beauties in the world of Chess! In this video you can see the game she played against GM Zoltan Almasi. It’s a blitz. Fast chess, also known as, blitz chess, lightning chess, bullet chess and rapid chess, is a type of chess game in which each side is given less time to make their moves than under the normal tournament time controls of 60-150 minutes (1-2½ hours) per player.
Read HERE more about blitz chess.
Please click HERE for the official site of Alexandra Kosteniuk.
Alexandra Kosteniuk comments in detail her blitz game played in Moscow at the World Blitz Championships Qualifiers against one of the world’s top experts on the Berlin Wall defence.
Image…NYtimes
The model Carmen Kass in a five-minute blitz match against Viswanathan Anand in 2004.
Image:chessbase
Read the review of this book here at the link at the bottom of this post….or click on the image to order the book.
Many of us, even those of us who don’t play either well or often, are familiar with chess. Some of us will be aware that some pieces are differently represented in different parts of the world, but I wonder how many of us are aware of the comparatively recent introduction of the queen?
Marilyn Yalom attempts three objectives in this interesting book. Firstly, and of most interest to me, she outlines a history of the game of chess and its likely spread across the world. Secondly, Dr Yalom explains the development of the piece currently known as the queen in most European chess play both in terms of its replacement of earlier pieces, and its emerging power. Finally, Dr Yalom makes a case for parallels between the emergence of the power of the chess queen and the rise of powerful female sovereigns in Europe.
While I am attracted to the notion of the role of the chess queen as a reflection of the rise of strong queens (such as Isabella of Castile), and a possible association with the cult of the Virgin Mary, this is of peripheral interest to me. What I did find fascinating was the history of the development of the game, especially the differences between cultures and countries. Dr Yalom advises that the chess queen did not appear on the board until about 1000: some 200 years after the game had been introduced to southern Europe. Yet, by 1497, the queen had developed from a weak piece (moving one square at a time on the diagonal) to the more formidable force that she is today.
Dr Yalom presents a wealth of information in this book. Whether you share her conclusions, her enthusiasm for the subject combined with her capacity to present a variety of interesting data in a readable and accessible way will make this an enjoyable read.
Those who are serious chess players may find some of the facts interesting. Those of us interested in the evolution of institutions of power and who choose to explore parallels between games of strategy and political realities should also enjoy this book.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060090650/ref=cm_rdp_product
Read Full Post »