At the Classics

Results: Round 4 – Saturday 12th December

On the way to the Olympia Centre – where the London Chess Classic is being held

Black bird in a tree

Hammersmith-area – traffic and weather

The players…

Kramnik looked away shyly when I winked at him [hehe] and Nigel suddenly said to Michael Adams…you know what, she’s the only woman around here![NOT – there were many others]

aha! got him smiling!

The stage

And everyone wants the best shot

And I got mine too

Kramnik watching the electronic board

The electronic board, we were allowed to click-click only the first 5 min into the games

A Semi-giant set in the foyer – a lovely set

Art in the foyer, do I see a pawn’s head in this piece of art – or is it my chess-brain working overtime?[hehe]

bikes outside

Headless London pawns lined-up – standing vigilant – for McShane’s and Howell’s game?

Into the night

My impression/opinion of the London Chess Classic

It was great to see these GM’s in real life, they are all great people and great players. It was great to see them playing  live on the stage, to see how they respond and their reactions during a tournament. I was very excited to see them as Kramnik is one of my favourite players. Carlsen too, as he’s young and many students can associate with him and he can be of an inspiration to many young players wanting to reach their goal of becoming a GM too?

The venue was great, it wasn’t my first time at the Olympia. If I can have a moan about a few things and maybe, just maybe someone will pick it up and do something about it. Firstly, the Ladies’ toilet near the auditorium was changed into a Gents room. The nearest Ladies was in the East Hall in a maze of corridors with doors enough to take 6mil people to heaven at any one time. I waited for an old lady as I knew she wasn’t going to find her way back. She was already stressed out when she saw me, saying she found it hard to find it – despite the little arrows you could follow. Secondly, the T-shirts were all in sizes Large -and up and then in a small, but no medium-sized-shirts. I was told by Philippa – the wife of Malcolm Pein [organiser of the tournament] – she’s an ex Saffa and spoke to me in Afrikaans, how nice! – that these shirts were not available in a medium-size- as they reasoned that females were not really going to buy it – duh! Was I going to be the only female wanting a shirt? Then I must be of a very rare specie! I did buy a large though, a mug and a pen. I think I will sleep in this large, baggy shirt.[lol]

The games. The chess games were great – sort of. I was very annoyed with Howell and McShane’s game. They didn’t have a good game, it was a boring game, right from the start. Later on I didn’t even follow their game on the board. Magnus played a good game up to a point and I lost interest. Kramnik’s game wasn’t up to the standard I expected from him and I didn’t follow his game – they finished first and quite early too. I was still thinking how to go about to get some autographs when Kramnik disappeared from the stage. One guy was lucky, he was near the exit on Kramnik’s side. You would think they would go to the foyer to mingle with the common chess players and where you can grab them for an autograph. I lost interest in all the games that were left and we left about 6pm. Our parking ticket was £25, all worth it, but will I do it again to see my favourite players in action? I don’t know, maybe. Maybe if us women don’t have to walk two miles for a ladies room, the chess games worth it and t-shirts in medium size [lol] [I must add, the first time I did use the toilet for disabled people, but I was given the look when I wanted to use it again]

On this photo I’m sitting on the right at the far end – you can’t see me! but you can see hubby on the left. The photo is from the official site. We played three games. We arrived at about 12:15-ish and played till about 13:40.

Denise Frick – South African-player taking part in the Women’s Invitational – image: Official site

Plippa – at the bookstall – image: Official site

The games

[Event “London Chess Classic”]
[Site “London ENG”]
[Date “2009.12.12”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Carlsen, Magnus “]
[Black “Nakamura, Hikaru “]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ChessCat “CHESSCAT 1.0”]
[ECO “D17”]
[Opening “QGD Slav”]
[PlyCount “90”]
[Variation “Czech defence”]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Nh4 Bc8 7.e3 e5 8.Bxc4 exd4 9.exd4 Be7 10.O-O O-O 11.Re1 Nd5 12.Nf3 Be6 13.Qb3 Na6 14.Bd2 Nab4 15.Ne4 Bf5 16.Ne5 a5 17.Nc5 Bxc5 18.dxc5 Qc7 19.Bxb4 Nxb4 20.Qf3 Be6 21.Bxe6 fxe6 22.Qb3 Qe7 23.Nf3 Nd5 24.Rac1 Rf4 25.Ne5 Raf8 26.Nd3 Rd4 27.Rc4 Rxc4 28.Qxc4 Qf6 29.g3 Rd8 30.Kg2 Qf5 31.Nc1 Rf8 32.Qe2 Nc7 33.Nd3 Rd8 34.Ne5 Rd5 35.Kg1 Rxc5 36.Nc4 Qf8 37.Rd1 Rd5 38.Rxd5 exd5 39.Qe5 dxc4 40.Qxc7 Qb4 41.Qc8+ Kf7 42.Qf5+ Ke7 43.Qe5+ Kf7 44.Qf5+ Ke7 45.Qe5+ Kf7
1/2-1/2

[Event “London Chess Classic”]
[Site “London ENG”]
[Date “2009.12.12”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Kramnik, Vladimir “]
[Black “Adams, Michael”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ChessCat “CHESSCAT 1.0”]
[ECO “D37”]
[Opening “QGD”]
[PlyCount “92”]
[Variation “classical variation (5.Bf4)”]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.a3 c5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.Be5 Bg4 12.Be2 Ne6 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 d4 15.Bxd4 Nxd4 16.Qxd4 Qxd4 17.exd4 Rac8 18.O-O Rc7 19.Rad1 Rd8 20.Rfe1 Kf8 21.Re2 g6 22.g3 Bf6 23.d5 Be7 24.Kg2 Bd6 25.Rde1 Rc5 26.Be4 Rdc8 27.f4 Rc1 28.Kf3 Rxe1 29.Rxe1 Rc5 30.g4 a5 31.a4 Rc4 32.b3 Rc3+ 33.Re3 Rxe3+ 34.Kxe3 h6 35.f5 gxf5 36.Bxf5 Ke7 37.h4 f6 38.Bc8 b6 39.Ke4 Bg3 40.h5 Bh4 41.Kf5 Bg5 42.Kg6 Kd6 43.Be6 Ke7 44.Bc8 Kd6 45.Be6 Ke7 46.Bc8 Kd6
1/2-1/2

[Event “London Chess Classic”]
[Site “London ENG”]
[Date “2009.12.12”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Short, Nigel”]
[Black “Ni Hua “]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ChessCat “CHESSCAT 1.0”]
[ECO “C11”]
[Opening “French”]
[PlyCount “127”]
[Variation “Burn variation”]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Nbd7 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.c3 h6 8.Bh4 c5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Qf3 cxd4 11.Bb5+ Ke7 12.Ne2 Qd5 13.Qxd5 exd5 14.Nxd4 f5 15.O-O-O Kf6 16.Ne2 Be6 17.Nf4 Rd8 18.Bc4 d4 19.Bxe6 fxe6 20.Rxd4 Bc5 21.Rxd8 Rxd8 22.Nh3 h5 23.Re1 e5 24.Re2 e4 25.Kc2 h4 26.f3 Re8 27.fxe4 fxe4 28.b4 Bd6 29.Rf2+ Ke5 30.Ng1 Rg8 31.g3 hxg3 32.hxg3 Rxg3 33.Ne2 Rf3 34.Rg2 Kd5 35.Nd4 Rh3 36.Nb5 Be5 37.Rd2+ Ke6 38.Nd4+ Bxd4 39.Rxd4 Rh2+ 40.Kb3 Re2 41.a4 e3 42.Kc4 Ra2 43.a5 e2 44.Re4+ Kd6 45.Kd3 b6 46.axb6 axb6 47.Rxe2 Rxe2 48.Kxe2 b5 49.Kd2 Ke6 50.Kd1 Kd5 51.Kc2 Kd6 52.Kd2 Ke6 53.Ke3 Ke5 54.Kd3 Kd5 55.c4+ bxc4+ 56.Kc3 Kc6 57.Kxc4 Kb6 58.b5 Kb7 59.Kc5 Kc7 60.b6+ Kb7 61.Kb5 Kb8 62.Kc6 Kc8 63.b7+ Kb8 64.Kb6
1/2-1/2

[Event “London Chess Classic”]
[Site “London ENG”]
[Date “2009.12.12”]
[Round “4”]
[White “McShane, Luke “]
[Black “Howell, David “]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ChessCat “CHESSCAT 1.0”]
[ECO “A15”]
[Opening “English opening”]
[PlyCount “79”]

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.Ne5 Qd6 7.Nxc6 Qxc6 8.Qxc6+ bxc6 9.g3 Bg7 10.Bg2 Rb8 11.b3 O-O 12.Bb2 Nxc3 13.Bxc3 Bxc3 14.dxc3 c5 15.O-O-O Rb6 16.c4 Rd6 17.Rd5 Bb7 18.Rxd6 Bxg2 19.Rdd1 Bxh1 20.Rxh1 Rd8 21.Rd1 Rxd1+ 22.Kxd1 Kf8 23.Kd2 Ke8 24.Ke3 Kd7 25.g4 f6 26.Ke4 Ke6 27.h3 f5+ 28.Kf4 Kf6 29.g5+ Ke6 30.e4 fxe4 31.Kxe4 Kd6 32.f4 e6 33.h4 a6 34.a3 a5 35.Kf3 e5 36.Ke4 exf4 37.Kxf4 Ke6 38.Ke4 Kd6 39.Kf4 Ke6 40.Ke4
1/2-1/2

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Opus 8 at the Classics

Magnus Carlsen from Norway – is he the Mozart of Chess?

The Big Eight

and…this is my ticket for Saturday!

Click HERE for the Official site. The link will open in a new window.

Standings after round 3

Enjoy the Music of Mozart – Piano Concerto no 20 in D Minor

Pairings for round 4 – Saturday 12th December – I was hoping to see Carlsen vs Kramnik in action, but…you can’t have your bread on both sides buttered…

Howell vs Carlsen – round 3

Womens Invitational-section

Denise Frick –  South African WIM is taking part in this section

David Howell and Magnus Carlsen round 3 – draw

Howell vs Carlsen – move 48  round 3

Howell vs Carlsen move 60 round 3

Howell vs Carlsen – move 79 – 1/2 round 3

Magnus Carlsen: the rise and rise of chess’s answer to Mozart

If Magnus Carlsen had not had an elder sister, he would never have been gnawed by sibling rivalry, and if he had not been gnawed by sibling rivalry, he might never have become a world-famous chess-player. On such accidents of birth, genius can depend.

“I first tried interesting Magnus in the game when he was four or five,” says Henrik Carlsen, father of the precocious Norwegian teenager, just turned 19, who has been called the Mozart of chess. “But he was too young. It was only when he was eight, watching me play chess with his elder sister, Ellen, that he caught the chess bug in earnest. By the age of nine, he was able to beat me. By the age of 13, he was an international grandmaster.”
Not just a grandmaster, one of the elite of world chess, but at 13 years, four months and 27 days, one of the youngest Grandmasters in the history of the game. That turbulent American genius Bobby Fischer did not become a grandmaster until he was 15 and a half, middle-aged in comparison, while Russia’s Garry Kasparov, often regarded as the greatest chess-player of all time, was 17, practically senile, before he reached the same mark.

It is the sheer precociousness of the young Norwegian – Carlsen is now ranked number one in the world – that has captured the imagination of chess lovers, who will be able to see him in action at the London Chess Classic next week. The comparisons with Mozart are inescapable. Kasparov has now retired from top-flight chess, but is so fascinated by the prospects of this Scandinavian wunderkind that he has signed up as his coach. Imagine being a fly on the wall at their training sessions. The intellectual voltage would kill you.

Carlsen sounds mildly irritated when the Mozart comparison is wheeled out. “I’m not sure why people have to talk like that. It’s not something I ever think about.” But he concedes that the life of a chess prodigy can sometimes be lonely. “I think that’s the price of success in many walks of life. If you want to get to the top, there’s always the risk that it will isolate you from other people.”

Ultimately, it is a love of the game, the Norwegian insists, not some stern work ethic, that drives him on. “I spend hours playing chess because I find it so much fun. The day it stops being fun is the day I give up. Without the element of enjoyment, it is not worth trying to excel at anything.”

As for Carlsen’s genius – and one can hardly avoid the word – there were clues long before he started showing his paces at chess. Before he was two, he could solve jigsaw puzzles with more than 50 pieces. From jigsaws he graduated to Lego, constructing models that would have challenged teenagers. Feats of memory came easily to him. By the age of five, scarily, he knew the area, population, flag and capital of every country in the world.

“Boys are very good at focusing their attention on one thing at a time,” reflects his father. “Girls are better at multitasking. I would not say Magnus is naturally hard-working. In fact, he can be quite lazy at times. But when he is following his intuition and curiosity, there is no stopping him.”

If the life of a child chess prodigy can be quite intense, Carlsen has not been put under relentless pressure by ambitious parents. Instead he has enjoyed a normal, even outgoing, childhood. In 2003, when he was still 12, his parents took him and his sisters out of school for a year, packed them into a minibus and, in the adventure of a lifetime, embarked on a tour of Europe.

The itinerary was partly dictated by the international chess tournaments in which Carlsen was due to play. But there was also time for sightseeing, museum visits, even three weeks on a beach in Crete. What an exhilarating contrast to normal schooling.

You could never call Magnus Carlsen normal, not with his extraordinary talents. But if his natural milieu is the chessboard, there is a part of him that loves the great outdoors, fresh air and physical exercise. Ask him if he would rather have been a world-famous footballer than a chess-player, and his answer might surprise chess fans.

“I would probably have to say yes. Who could resist being a famous footballer? Chess only appeals to quite a small minority. It does not have the cachet of a mainstream popular sport.”

What lessons from his childhood would he want to pass on to his own children, if and when he has them? “I can’t say I’ve given that much thought. I guess what my parents taught me is that, as a parent, you need to be supportive without being pushy. They were very happy to let me play in tournaments and made sacrifices so that I could, but they didn’t force their own agenda on me. They let me follow my own enthusiasms.”

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London Chess Classic 2009

Please click on the image for a larger view

 

The Chess Player- 1954: Andy Warhol

This early drawing has a surreal quality created by the larger-than-life chess pieces and study of a face, surrounding the young man playing chess. In his later work Warhol would continue to play with scale, enlarging objects and people to increase their iconic status. The colour in this image was possibly completed at one of Warhol’s colouring parties, hosted at the fashionable Serendipity 3 café after it opened in 1954. He would encourage his friends – some of whom would have helped him create the original illustrations – to colour the works with an inventiveness that adds to their whimsical nature. This process looks forward to the production methods of Warhol’s legendary studio, the Factory, in the 1960s.

Art of Warhol here. The link will open in a new window.

David Howell

ENG

2613

The 8th Player in this tournament is David Howell

Cream of world chess to play in new London tournament.
London Chess Centre is proud to announce a world-class chess tournament to be held in London in December, 2009. The event will be an elite eight-player all-play-all in the most prestigious tournament in the capital since former world champion Anatoly Karpov won the Phillips and Drew Masters in 1984.

Since then, despite London hosting three world title contests, there has not been a tournament in which England’s leading players could lock horns with the world’s best on home soil. The December 09 tournament will be the first in a series of events designed to reinvigorate UK chess and promote the game and its undoubted educational benefits in schools and communities.

The tournament will be FIDE Category 19 with an average FIDE rating of 2700 and a minimum prize fund of €100,000. The eight players will comprise of three English and five world-class Grandmasters from abroad. Included in the prize fund will be a €10,000 Brilliant Game award along with separate prizes for each victory with the White and Black pieces. Matches will be covered live online where fans will be able to vote for Game of the Day.

The tournament has applied for membership of the prestigious annual Grand Slam of Chess which culminates in Bilbao and boasts a €400,000 prize fund.

The games will be under Classical Chess time control; 40 moves in two hours, 20 in the subsequent hour then an additional 15 minutes plus an increment of 30 seconds a move until the end of the game. The tournament will further benefit from the use of Sofia Rules which disallow early draws. Players will receive three points for a win and one for a draw.

Source:
http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html#london09

Click on the image for a larger view for the Olympia Conference Centre at spot marked as A.

Contact Malcolm Pein (IM) Director London Chess Centre:

Chess Centre: 020 7388 2404 (London)

New London tournament to be in the Olympia Conference Centre.
I am delighted to announce that the London Chess Classic 2009 will be staged at one of London’s most prestigious venues; the Olympia Conference Centre. Olympia will provide excellent facilities including a 400 seat soundproof auditorium, two commentary rooms and multimedia presentation. There will be ample space for Open, weekend and Speed Chess tournaments plus junior training which will run alongside the main event from December 8th-15th inclusive.

The London Chess Classic 2009 will be the highest level tournament in London for 25 years and will be the first in a series of events designed to increase enthusiasm for chess in the UK and promote the game and its undoubted educational benefits in schools and communities. It is also our objective to bring the world championship to London in the Olympic year 2012.

England’s four leading Grandmasters; Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Luke McShane and David Howell will be pitched against a world class field that includes a former world champion Vladimir Kramnik and 18 year old Magnus Carlsen ranked world number three and widely seen a future holder of the world crown. One of China’s finest players; Ni Hua and the US Champion Hikaru Nakamura, complete the field.

Spectators will be treated to live commentary on the games from Grandmasters and will be able to play tournament or informal games all day. Ticket information will be available in September. For those who cannot attend there be will live coverage and commentary on the games on the internet.

Contact Malcolm Pein (IM) Director London Chess Centre:

Chess Centre: 020 7388 2404. E-Mail: info@chess.co.uk.

Maybe, just maybe, I’ll get a chance to meet some of the Grandmasters in London – if I’m lucky! Meanwhile, the Scots want their Chessmen back!
THE BRITISH Museum has put a set of elaborately carved chess figures at the heart of a new gallery despite demands that they be returned to Scotland.

The 82 Lewis Chessmen, which are between 800 and 900 years old and made from walrus and whale ivory, were seen in a Harry Potter film and inspired the children’s TV series Noggin The Nog.

Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland, wants them repatriated to Edinburgh to be reunited with the rest of the set discovered on the Outer Hebrides in the early 19th century.

Just as the Greek government wants the Elgin Marbles in London to be returned to Athens, Mr Salmond claims it is “unacceptable” for the British Museum to have 82 of the figures while the other 11 are in the National Museum of Scotland.

Read the entire article here.

…and from South Africa: -click on the image for a clear view

Cartoon: wonkie.com

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World Junior Chess Championships 2008

See my new post on this link…with the results of round 8  onwards…please click here:  https://chessaleeinlondon.wordpress.com/2008/08/10/final-results-rounds-8-13-world-juniors-in-turkey/

 On this link you can see all the standings and results of the first 10 boards in each round from round 8-13 and the final results.

 

 

 You will also find the Official site on this new link! I don’t update this post with results for rounds 8-finals! All new results on the link here!…please follow the new link for new results!

Please click HERE for the Official site. See my new post on this link…with the results of round 8  onwards… please click here:

https://chessaleeinlondon.wordpress.com/2008/08/10/final-results-rounds-8-13-world-juniors-in-turkey/

Pairings for round 8 …tomorrow…10th Aug at 15:00

 

World Juniors: Standings after round 7…first 10 places

 

World Junior Girls: Standings after round 7…first 10 places

Click on the images for a larger view. I will update this page with info on a daily basis and more on England and South African players…from round 8 on, I will also blog the top players from both sections…in a new post.  All images of players are from the Official site. The top half of this post is about the Girl’s section and after the banner in the middle, you will find info on the World Junior’s section…

World Junior Chess Championship (Girls)

Pairings and results Girls Juniors- round 7: 8th Aug 15:00

19  HEGARTY Sarah 1966 ENG vs WGM CORKE Anya 2255 HKG–0-1
33 WFM WIID Daleen 1931 RSA vs DAI Irmak 0 TUR–1-0

Pairings and results round 6: 7th Aug 15:00

21 WFM GASIK Anna 2211 POL vs  HEGARTY Sarah 1966 ENG–1/2
30 WFM WIID Daleen 1931 RSA vs  BOYARCHENKO Marie 1895 LUX– +

World Junior Girls…round 6 board 1: Muzychuk vs Abrahamyan move 26

World Junior Girls, round 6 board 2: Harika vs Dauletova move 23

World Junior Girls round 5

more girls having fun! 
 

Pairings and results: World Junior Girls…round 5: 6th Aug at 15:00

19  HEGARTY Sarah 1966 ENG vs WFM SGIRCEA Silvia-Raluca 2167 ROU–1/2
30  ANTONOVA Nadezhda 1883 TJK vs WFM WIID Daleen 1931 RSA –1-0

World Junior Girls…round 5 board 1 move 24

World Junior Girls round 4 board 1 move 12
1 WGM MUZYCHUK Mariya 2413 UKR vs IM HARIKA Dronavalli 2461 IND

World Junior Girls round 4 board 2 move 5
2 WIM MAJDAN Joanna 2323 POL vs WFM ABRAHAMYAN Tatev 2277 USA

Pairings and results rounds 1-4: Girls Junior….click on the image for a larger view.

On THIS LINK you can view more results of round 2 of the Girls Junior section.
On this link you can see more pairings of the Junior Girls section.
Please click HERE to see more results on round 1 of the Junior Girls of round 1.

Image: Official site

World Junior Chess Championships 2008

Image: World Junior Chess Championships: Pairings and results: rounds 1-4
Please click on the image for a larger view.
Please click HERE to see more results of round 1.
Please click HERE to view more results of round 2 of the Junior Section.

World Juniors…round 4, board 6…David Howell…move 8

David Howell, round 4 move 59

Board 6…England’s player…David Howell vs Hrant Melkumyan
Pairings and results: World Junior Chess….round 5 : 6th Aug at 15:00

1 GM HOWELL David 2561 ENG vs GM SAFARLI Eltaj 2527 AZE–1-0
35  CONSTANTINOU Peter 2225 ENG vs  ENCHEV Ivajlo 2367 BUL–1/2
46  VAVRIC Pavel 2218 MDA vs RAMSURRUP Pratish 1809 RSA–1-0

World Juniors…round 5…board 1…David Howell move 29

World Juniors…round 5…board 2

World Juniors round 5 board 1

Pairings and results: World Juniors: round 6: 7th Aug 15:00

2 WGM HOU Yifan 2557 CHN vs GM HOWELL David 2561 ENG– 1/2
34 IM KARTHIKEYAN Pandian 2402 IND vs  CONSTANTINOU Peter 2225 ENG–1/2
51  RAMSURRUP Pratish 1809 RSA vs  OZTOSUN Gorkem 0 TUR– 1-0

World Junior Chess board 2 round 6: David Howell, move 23

World Junior Chess board 1 round 6: Le Quang Liem vs Li Chao..move 22

Pairings and results: World Juniors round 7: 8th Aug 15:00

1 IM BRAUN Arik 2533 GER vs GM LI Chao B 2590 CHN–1-0
2 GM HOWELL David 2561 ENG vs GM RAMIREZ Alejandro 2531 CRC–1-0
31  CONSTANTINOU Peter 2225 ENG vs  CASPI Israel 2412 ISR–1-0
48  SOUSA Ricardo 2133 POR vs  RAMSURRUP Pratish 1809 RSA–1/2

Junior Chess round 7 boards 1 and 2…final position…click on the image…

Schedule of the Championships


Schedule

The championships will be held in Gaziantep from 2 August 2008 (arrival day)  to 16 August 2008 (departure day). The venue is Şehit Kamil Municipality Sport Hall in the centre of Gaziantep.

Image: Wikipedia…Province of Gaziantep in Turkey

 

South African players that will take part in the World Junior Chess Championships

The South African team that played at St Lo, France early in July

Image: SAJCA.com

Image of the old town…farm3.static.flickr.com

Image: farm1.static.flickr…Gaziantep museum

Our wish came true when we found these four houses, each older than 100 years, in the heart of the old city. They were built out of the soft stone, quarried in and around Antep and known for their capacity to keep the habitats cool in the heat of the summer and warm and easy to heat in the winter. With their 4 meter high walls surrounding the courtyards, the old houses in Antep were designed to reflect the cultural and religious background, which put high priority on privacy. Once in the courtyard, you are cut-off from the sound of the busy city right outside.

Gaziantep, the biggest city in the Southeast of Turkey and the sixth biggest in Turkey, is one of the first settlements in Anatolia.
Ruins which belong to the Stone Age, Chalcolithic and Copper ages; Hittite, Mitani, Assyrian, Roman and Byzantine, Islam and Turkish – Islamic Period can be traced everywhere in the area
The region was under the Hittite control in the 1700s BC. The ancient city of Duluk, which is north of the city today, was an important religious center of the Hittites. During the period of Caliph Omar, as a result of the religious wars to spread the Islam out of the Arab Peninsula, the Muslim troops defeated the Byzantine army at the War of Yermuk in 636 under the command of lyaz Bin Ganern. The area, including Gaziantep region became Muslim soil, its people converted to Islam and Omeriye Mosque was built in this period as a symbol of the conquest.
After the Manzikert victory in 1071, Suleiman Shah conquered Antep and its surroundings in 1084 and annexed the area to the Seljuk Empire. On August 20,1516 Yavuz Sultan Selim Khan came to Antep and stayed here for three days. After the Mercidabik victory against Memaluks in 1516 the city came under the reign of the Ottoman Empire.
Gaziantep and the surrounding area, which was occupied by the French and English troops after the World War I, received recognition everywhere in the world for its defense and unique heroism which amazed the world. TheTurkish Grand National Assembly granted Antep the “GAZi” (war hero) title on February 8, 1921 because of this achievement.

Gaziantep, which was called Ayintap, Antep, Kala-i Fusus, Hantap,Antep and finally Gaziantep got its name from the depth of its history.

Source: Follow this link and you can  click on the “Gallery” link to see more fantastic images… enjoy! http://www.anadoluevleri.com/default_eng.php

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