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"
New Delhi: Viswanathan Anand will defend his World Chess Championship title against world number one Magnus Carlsen in his home city as FIDE today chose Chennai as the venue for the prestigious match.
Even as it has been reported that Carlsen was not keen to play in Chennai and instead preferred Paris as the venue, the FIDE Presidential Board confirmed Chennai as the venue during a meeting at Baku, Azerbaijan today.
The match between the Indian and his Norwegian opponent will be played from November 6 to 26.
“The agreement was signed today at Baku by Bharat Singh, Hony Secretary All India Chess Federation and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov,” a press released stated.
Anand had defeated Boris Gelfand of Israel to retain his title in 2012. Source: Zeenews.india
Farewell Farewell
A variation on the Cento – used Shakespeare-lines about Chess
There stands the castle! My day’s delight is past great shouts within and all cry
A horse! A horse! I have a horse and a wandering knight. My skipping king ambles up and down
A wandering knight? The knight is here … a mean knight
Images: Official site of London Classic/Ray Morris-Hill
Players left to r: Luke McShane, Hikaru Nakamura, Mickey Adams, Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, Malcolm Pein Tournament Director, Magnus Carlsen, Judit Polgar, Levon Aronian and Gawain Jones
Jason Kouchak – during the Opening Ceremony of the London Classic 2012
Jason Kouchak is a widely-acclaimed concert pianist who plays popular music and jazz as well as classical music. Jason was born in France and studied piano at the Royal College of Music in London, and at Edinburgh University. He has performed in major concert halls in London, Paris, St Petersburg and other venues in Europe and Asia. He has recorded five albums, including his own compositions, and appeared on BBC TV and the Japanese NHK channel. He has made regular guest appearances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and recorded and performed with Julian Lloyd-Webber. Jason’s tastes and talents underline the long-established link between chess and music. He is a committed and enthusiastic competition chess player, and played in the 2011 London Classic Open and 2009 Gibraltar tournaments as well as in other domestic chess competitions. Visit his site: Jasonkouchak.com
It’s the London Chess Classic – again! It started today and I hope to attend it next Saturday, as my favourite – Anand is playing. The link of the official site is on the side bar – with the logo of the London Classic. Today’s games started with a small opening ceremony. There were a couple of musicians to entertain the group of spectators in the auditorium. Chess is free at the classics for children! On this LINK you can read my entry about the classics in 2009. You can see my photos of the 2009 event. For the 2011 classics I had tickets, but unfortunately fell ill and couldn’t go. How sad.
This is a ‘cento‘ which I wrote a little while ago, by using Shakespeare lines. A ‘cento’ is a poem written by using lines or passages of other authors in a new form or order. I used different plays of Shakespeare where he quoted something about the game of chess.
A Game of Chess Sweet lord, you play me false For a score of kingdoms you should wrangle and I would call it fair play How fares the king? His hour is almost past
A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse! And I have horse – will follow where the game makes way. I have his horse! Give me another horse! So, the good horse is mine. My day’s delight is past, my horse is gone. The rascal hath removed my horse.
Are the knights ready to begin their triumph? A wandering knight? I am undone! The knight is here! Great shouts within all cry ‘the mean knight!’ Great is the humour of this dreadful knight.
I dare thereupon pawn My life I never held but as a pawn I have not pawn’d to you my majesty? I pawn’d thee none! I’ll send some bishop to entreat The bishop will be overborne by thee Wat says my bully rook?
There stands my castle! His queen, it was his queen! Queen of queens, how far dost thou excel? Come hither, come! Come, come, and take a queen Sir your queen must overboard! Will take your queen Farewell sweet queen!
I’ll move the king. The skipping king, he ambles up and down This may gall him for some check No mates for you! We’ll draw! My lord, your son drew my master Where’s the master? Play the men! Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown
Enjoy a some classical music – Haydn’s symphony nr 101 in D – the clock part 3- one of many favourites and Villar Rides. Unfortunately, not the whole track, but at least 3/4 of the track.
It’s again time for the FIDE World Chess Championship – this time Anand vs Gelfand at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Follow the link of the official site to read more.The prize fund is 2.55 million US Dollars. The winner gets $1,530,000 (60%) and the loser $1,020,000 (40%) Official site: Chess FIDE Moscow
This is the second entry on my blog, on THIS LINK you can follow the first 6 games – with some chess graphics too. Six games have been played. Six draws. Is it Anand’s tactic, is he warming up? What about a prediction: 6 more draws within the next week.
Game 7 – move 8
Game 7 – Anand explained where his ‘mistake’ was – the Bishop on C8!- which he lost
Game 7 moves – [grrr for the Houdine comments in the PGN-file too- I tried to remove it neatly]
Click HERE to play through game 7. The link will open in a new window.
Anand during the interview after Game 7 – explaining his Bishop-mistake +My opinion about move 26: unnecessary lost of his Knight on E4 too.
Game 8 Anand vs Gelfand 1-0
Game 9 – Gelfand vs Anand – 1/2-12
Game 10 Anand vs Gelfand – 1/2-1/2
Game 10 moves
Countdown starting – game 11
Anand – Gelfand – taking their positions
Standings
Game 11 Gelfand vs Anand – move 16
Anand – game 11
Game 11 – Gelfand
Game 11 – draw agreed
Game 11 Gelfand vs Anand – 1/2 – 1/2
Game 12 – Anand vs Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Standings: Anand 6 – Gelfand 6. Now – for the tie break on Wednesday! Still crossing my fingers for Anand!
It’s again time for the FIDE World Chess Championship – this time Anand vs Gelfand at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Follow the link of the official site to read more.The prize fund is 2.55 million US Dollars. The winner gets $1,530,000 (60%) and the loser $1,020,000 (40%) Chess FIDE Moscow Anand vs Gelfand – Official site here.
The World Chess Championship 2012 is a match between the current world champion Viswanathan Anand of India and Boris Gelfand of Israel, winner of the Candidates tournament. The match started on 10 May and is expected to end on 30 May 2012. It is played in the Engineering Building of the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Russia and will determine the World Chess Champion. The match is held under the auspices of FIDE, the World Chess Federation. The prize fund is 2.55 million US Dollars.
The defending champion is Anand, having held the title since 2007. He last defended his title by winning the World Chess Championship 2010 against Veselin Topalov. The challenger is Gelfand, who won the tournament of eight-player Candidate Matches.- Wikipedia
The State Tretyakov Gallery is the national treasury of the Russian fine art and one of the greatest museums in the world. Founded in 1856 by the Moscovite merchant Pavel Tretyakov, the Gallery was donated to the city of Moscow in 1892. Throughout the years, the Tretyakov Gallery developed into not only an immense museum known around the world, but also an important research center engaged in the preservation, restoration and study of its treasures, as well as raising public awareness of them. Today, the Tretyakov Gallery is home to over 170,000 works of art.
The Tretyakov Gallery Engineering Wing which will host the match is designed for large exhibitions, conferences and other cultural events. Source: chessbase
Magnus Carlsen, the highest-ranking chess player in the world, is in London for a tournament which will choose the player to challenge the reigning world champion, the Indian Viswanathan Anand.
On a rest day in the tournament, Magnus Carlsen spoke to the BBC’s Tim Franks, and outlined the similarities between chess and physical sports.
He said: “I think there are many elements of sport in chess. We prepare very seriously for the games, the main objective is winning, the players prepare physically as well as mentally, and it’s very tough – you get seriously tired playing long games.”
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday 19 March 2013. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-21840944/magnus-carlsen-chess-is-like-physical-sport
Anand vs Topalov ..the battle continues! Anand is my favourite…go Anand! See my other entries HEREandHERE where you can see chess graphics of their other games, especially on the first link.
See the Official Website’s link to the sidebar of my blog…top right.
The FIDE World Chess Championship match resumed on Monday with Viswanathan Anand once again having the White pieces, as according to the regulations, the piece colors are alternating halfway through the match.
The players seem to be very persistent in thorough investigation of the Catalan opening, as the same setup appeared four times when Anand had White pieces.
Once again Topalov switched the variation, and included 4…Bb4+ instead of 4…dxc4. Later on, instead of the almost automatic 8. Qc2, Anand preferred the rare 8. Bf4, which prompted Black to immediately capture the pawn on c4 and then hang on it with b5.
The similar position was seen in the encounter Gelfand-Ivanchuk. Topalov varied from that game by playing 11…Bd7.
Anand accepted the gift in the view of exchange on a8, and the game became highly imbalanced as Black caught up the initiative.
A timely opening of the a-file and breach to the 7th rank gave Anand solid counterplay. After the exchange of the Bishops, it appeared that White managed to stabilise and block the dangerous d-pawn.
Topalov brought his heavy artillery to the 2nd rank, but could not achieve more than perpetual check as White kept the enemy Queen under contact attack.
But Anand refused the possibility of perpetual, on two occasions, and continued to fight for more. Nevertheless, the Black passed pawn demanded lots of caution, and White was unable to gain more with the Knight burdened on f2. The draw was finally agreed on move 58.
Game eight is taking place tomorrow, with Veselin Topalov playing the White pieces. Live commentary at the official website is starting at 14:45 local time.
Anand retained the title of the World Chess Champion
The last classical game of the FIDE World Chess Championship was opened with Lasker variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined as Viswanathan Anand sought for a solid defence in which White would have only minimal chances to score a victory. The opening went quietly until Anand moved the slightly unusual 16…Nf6. This was the moment where Veselin Topalov took a bit longer to decide on the middlegame plan.
Topalov allowed Black to trade the Be4 and in return he forced an isolated pawn on c5. But is was not easy to besiege this pawn as Black successfully coordinated pieces and obtained excellent counterplay.
White took some time to consolidate the position and avoid tactics on the back-rank and against the Knight on d2. Anand silently offered a moves repetition with Bd3-a6, but Topalov snubbed the offer.
White established the Knight on c4, while Black Bishop possessed a long diagonal from a8. Exactly in this moment, Topalov erred in an attempt to prevent Black’s e5-e4. He played e4 himself, but Anand did not hesitate long before breaking the formation with 30…f5 and 31…e4.
Topalov carelessly traded the pawn on e4 and fell under a strong attack. The Black battery Queen-Rook-Bishop worked perfectly in the pursuit after White King. It looked like the game was over, and even Anand admitted that he couldn’t see a defence for White, but Topalov found some remarkable resources and managed to prolong the game.
But with a series of precise moves, Anand managed to convert the advantage and bring victory home on move 56. The final score is 6,5:5,5.
Thus Anand retained the title of the World Chess Champion! Congratulations!
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.”
Please click HERE to play through annotated videos of the games of Anand and Kramnik, 2008. The link will open in a new window. It is also the “movies”-link on my blog..top page.
Images: Official site
The big day has arrived! Opening ceremony on today…Monday 13th October
LIVE CHESS…click on the link on the top right of my blog! Follow this new link with the games I blog and chess graphics about their games….
14th October – 2nd November 2008….Who is going to be the winner?? The battle for the highest Chess Title! You can find the OFFICIAL LINK on my side-bar in the “Admin”-section as well in the “Chess” section…look out for the same image as the image in top of this post…I will be following the Championships and blog about it too…you can also find a link underneath my “welcome” image…on the side bar of my blog..(right hand side- top – the link will open in a new window) Please click hereto look at statistics between the 2 players on Wiki…the link will open in a new window. Schedule for the World Chess Championship 2008:
All games start at 3pm! 2pm UK local time and 9am Eastern USA time. Game 1 Tuesday October 14 —1/2 Game 2 Wednesday October 15 Game 3 Friday October 17
Game 4 Saturday October 18 Game 5 Monday October 20
Game 6 Tuesday October 21
Game 7 Thursday October 23
Game 8 Friday October 24
Game 9 Sunday October 26
Game 10 Monday October 27
Game 11 Wednesday October 29
Game 12 Friday October 31
Tiebreak Sunday November 02
On this link of Chessgamesyou can play through Kramnik and Anand’s games where they played one another. A new window will open when you click on the link! If you slide down to Anand, you will find more games to play through and at the bottom of this post you will find more links on my blog…- with games to play through- that were all played during tournaments.
Where: Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn
Overall Prize fund: 1,5 Million Euro
The match will consist of twelve games, played under classical time controls, in the period from October 14 to October 30, 2008. If there is a tie at the end of these games a tiebreak will be played on November 02, 2008. The prize fund, which will be split equally between the players, is 1,5 million Euro (approximately 2,1 million US Dollars) including taxes and FIDE licensee fees.
V. Kramnik and V. Anand. World Chess Championship Tournament Sep. 2007, Mexico City
Image: Official Site
1886 – 1946
Wilhelm Steinitz (Austria/USA) was the first official World Champion in the chess history. In 1886, he defeated Johannes Hermann Zukertort in the first classical tournament for the World Chess Champion title. They played 20 games against each other – and Steinitz won by 12.5:7.5 points. Steinitz defended his title up to 1894. Emanuel Lasker (Germany) deprived Steinitz of his title and remained champion for 27 years – a unique record in the chess history. The next World Chess Champions were José Raoul Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine and Max Euwe.
1948 – 1993
Since 1948, World Chess Federation (FIDE) started to organize the World Chess Championships. After Alekhine´s death in 1946, the new World Champion had to be determined. Thus, there was a tournament with several players where Mikhail Botvinnik (USSR) became a winner. Since that time, the reigning Champion should defend his title in a match against a challenger. Vassily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrossian and Boris Spassky – all of USSR – were the next World Champions. In 1972, Bobby Fischer (USA) broke through the dominance of the Soviet players by defeating Boris Spassky in Reykjavik. In 1975 Fischer refused to fight for his title, and as a result his challenger Anatoly Karpov was appointed as new Champion. Karpov – who played two times against Viktor Korchnoi and once against Garry Kasparov – kept his title until November 1985. Then it was Kasparov, who defeated Karpov by 13:11 points and became the new World Champion. 1986, 1987, and 1990 Kasparov succeeded in reserving his chess crown against Karpov, before he broke away from FIDE in 1993.
1993 – 2006
In 1993 Kasparov refused to defend his title under the conditions provided by FIDE – and together with his challenger Nigel Short (England) the World Champion decided to leave FIDE by holding the Championship match under the auspices of the new founded “Professional Chess Association” (PCA). Kasparov won the match against Short and retained the title of “Classical World Champion”. Two years later he won the next title match against Viswanathan Anand (India) in the New York World Trade Center. Finally it was Thursday, the 2nd November 2000, when Kasparov’s era ran out: with 8.5:6.5 victory Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) dethroned Kasparov, who did not manage to win a single game. Kramnik, at that time 25 years old, became the 14th Classical World Chess Champion. In October 2004 the next Championship took place: In Brissago (Switzerland) Kramnik held out against the attacks of the Hungarian Peter Leko and kept his title. Leko was qualified for this match by having won the Candidates’ tournament in 2002 in Dortmund.
On the other hand, FIDE continued organizing its own World Chess Championships from 1993 on. The FIDE title holders between 1993 and 2006: Anatoly Karpov (1993), Alexander Khalifman (1999), Viswanathan Anand (2000), Ruslan Ponomariov (2002), Rustam Kasimdzhanov (2004) and Veselin Topalov (2005).
The split of the chess world into two competitive championships ended in 2006. The duel between the Classical World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik and FIDE World Chess Champion Veselin Topalov took place in Elista from 23 September to 13 October 2006. In a historic battle this unification match combined both titles in one FIDE World Chess Championship. Having won this important event, Vladimir Kramnik became an undisputed World Chess Champion. Continue to read more on the Official site here: http://www.uep-worldchess.com/
Image: chessgames.com
VLADIMIR KRAMNIK
(born Jun-25-1975) Russia
Vladimir Kramnik was born in Tuapse, on June 25, 1975. In 1991 he won The World Under 18 Championship, and began a string of international success. At the Manila Olympiad 1992, he achieved a gold medal for best result on reserve board. Major tournament triumphs were soon to follow, such as Dortmund 1995, Tilburg 1997, and Wijk aan Zee 1998. Dortmund became a favorite stop, as Kramnik would go on to win seven more times, either as shared champion, or clear first. In 2000 Kramnik won his first Linares tournament, completing his set of victories in all three of chess’s “triple crown” events: Corus, Linares, and Dortmund. Kramnik would later capture additional Linares victories in 2003 (shared) and 2004.
In 2000 Kramnik reached the pinnacle by defeating long-time champion Garry Kasparov for the World Championship in London by the score of 8 1/2 to 6 1/2. Kasparov was reported as saying, “He is the hardest player to beat in the world.” The year 2002 saw Kramnik play an eight-game match against the program Deep Fritz (Computer) in Bahrain. The match ended in a 4-4 tie, with Kramnik and the computer each winning two games and drawing four. In 2006 the German organization Universal Event Promotion (UEP) would stage a return match of six games, which Kramnik lost, +0 -2 =4.
In 2004, Kramnik successfully defended his title by drawing a 14 game match against Hungarian GM Peter Leko in Brissago, Switzerland. His next title defense was in 2006, in a reunification match with the holder of the FIDE world title, Veselin Topalov. As part of his preparation for the match, Kramnik played first board for Russia in the 37th Chess Olympiad (2006), where he won the gold medal for best performance rating of all participants (2847). He also took part in the Dortmund Sparkassen (2006) supertournament, tying for first place with Peter Svidler.
The $1 million Kramnik-Topalov World Championship Match (2006), was played in Elista from September 21 to October 13, and drew record numbers of online followers on most major chess sites. After much controversy surrounding a forfeit in round 5, Kramnik won in the tiebreak phase, thereby becoming the first unified World Chess Champion since the schism of 1993.
Kramnik lost the unified World Champion title when he finished second to Viswanathan Anand at the Mexico City FIDE World Championship Tournament (2007). Kramnik will exercise his entitlement to a match for the World Championship against Viswanathan Anand in Bonn, Germany, starting 14 October 2008.
NOTABLE GAMES:
Kramnik vs Leko, 2004 1-0
Kasparov vs Kramnik, 1996 0-1
Leko vs Kramnik, 2004 0-1
Gelfand vs Kramnik, 1996 0-1
Kramnik vs Kasparov, 1994 1-0
Kramnik vs Kasparov, 2000 1-0
Leko vs Kramnik, 2004 1/2-1/2
Kramnik vs Anand, 2004 1/2-1/2
Kramnik vs Kasparov, 2001 1-0
Kramnik vs Morozevich, 2007 1-0
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS:
Kasparov-Kramnik World Championship Match (2000)
Kramnik-Leko World Championship Match (2004)
Kramnik-Topalov World Championship Match (2006)
It is an almost senseless challenge to describe Vladimir Kramnik in only a few lines. His personality has too many facets; his areas of interests are too diverse. What is clear is that Kramnik is not solely fixated on chess. Current affairs interest him just as intensively as numerous sport and cultural activities, several of which he regularly engages in. The cosmopolitan would love to enjoy life ever more intensively, but his drive to succeed holds this inclination within limits. What is it that marks out a world chess champion in him even though he doesn’t focus exclusively on chess?
People close to Kramnik often claim that this has something to do with his creative nature and strategic gifts. Kramnik considers chess less as a sport and more as the art of carrying out a long-term plan. The harmonious interplay of his pieces and the beauty of his game are already legendary. He is always searching for creative and new solutions, particularly when he is playing.
In many games, they say, he sees things that no computer can calculate and no other grandmasters could discover. The ingenious ideas would come to him quite easily, providing him with moments of pure joy. The artistic vein in the 32-year-old Muscovite must have been given to him in his cradle. His father Boris is a well-known sculptor; his mother Irina a music teacher. No wonder that journalists all over the world have dubbed Kramnik an “artist” or “painter”.
Kramnik started to play chess at the age of five. At 12, his enormous talent was recognized in Moscow and encouraged. As a teenager, Kramnik got better and better – at only 16, he won the U18 World Championship. The list of his victories is long. He has already finished all major tournaments in the world as the victor. And he holds a record which made sporting history: Kramnik was unbeaten at the highest level in 86 classical games over 18 months up to July 2000. World Championship
Thursday, November 2, 2000, London: Vladimir Kramnik became the World Chess Champion with a brilliant 8.5-6.5 result against Garry Kasparov (Russia), who could not win a single game. After Garry Kasparov had congratulated him, the greatest dream of his life became true. Exulting, Kramnik threw his arms up into the air in triumph. The audience’s applause and the subsequent tumult will not be forgotten. It was a historic moment in the history of chess: Kramnik had not only won the lion’s share of the two-million dollar prize money; his victory had ended Kasparov’s 15-year-long reign on the chess throne.
First Challenge
In 2004, he faced off in another World Championship Match, this time in Switzerland : Kramnik successfully defended his title against the Hungarian super grandmaster Péter Lékó. In a complex strategic battle, he pulled off a supreme coup, winning in the 14th game – the last in the match – with a 7:7 tie. Kramnik was lucky because it was agreed before the match that he had to be beaten outright based on points – the challenger Lékó came heart-wrenchingly close to doing so.
2005 was a year of ups and downs for the World Champion. Kramnik was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, entered intense medical treatment, and disappeared from the tournament hubbub for six months. The break seemed to rejuvenate the Russian – at his comeback in the 2006 Chess Olympiad in Turin , he had the best individual score of all 1,000 participants. Kramnik was successful in several tournaments thereafter and on 1 January 2008 he again occupied the no. 1 position in the FIDE world ranking list.
The Unification Match
In October 2006, Kramnik faced the biggest challenge: the unification match that would decide who the next unique, absolute World Champion would be. In a historic fight against all sort of adversities, Kramnik defeated the FIDE champion Veselin Topalov ( Bulgaria ) to become the first unified World Champion after 1993, the one and only official World Chess Champion. His win in Elista was one of the most impressive victories in all of sports history.
Highlights:
– World Chess Champion 2000-2007
– Undefeated in three World Championship Matches
– Three-time Olympiad winner as a member of the Russian team
– Russian Honoured Master of Sport
– Current ELO rating: 2788
Please click HERE to play through Kramnik’s games on chessgames.com The link will open in a new window.
VISWANATHAN ANAND All games on these links will open in a new window.
Please click HEREto play through a ‘Petrov Defence’- game which was played in 2003. This Sicilian game was played in 2001and this Sicilian Najdorf was played in 2003. (born Dec-11-1969) India
Viswanathan Anand, or “Vishy” as he is known to his fans, became in 1984 the youngest Indian to earn the title of IM at the age of fifteen. At the age of sixteen he became the Indian Champion. In 1987, he became the first Indian to win the World Junior Championship. At the age of eighteen, he became India’s first grandmaster. His prowess at quick-play chess earned him the nickname “The Lightning Kid.”
Anand contested a match with Garry Kasparov for the PCA World Chess Championship in 1995, but lost. Three years later he won a knockout tournament in Groningen to qualify to play for the FIDE title against Anatoli Karpov, but was defeated in rapid tie-breaks. a game by them in 1996 with the Reti-opening.
In 1998, he won the strongest Linares tournament ever, with an average rating of 2752, making it a category 21 event. In 2000, he beat Alexey Shirov to become the FIDE World Chess Champion. He is a four-time winner of the Chess Oscar award and the 2003 FIDE World Rapid Chess Champion. In spring of 2006, following a record-extending fifth victory at Corus Wijk aan Zee (2006), Anand became only the fourth player ever to crack the 2800-Elo mark in FIDE ratings, following Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, and Veselin Topalov. 2007 was a year of two memorable milestones for Anand. First, he finally achieved his longtime goal of becoming world #1 in ratings. After winning his second victory at Linares-Morelia (2007), he overtook Topalov to claim first place on FIDE’s April list. His second great success came at the FIDE World Championship Tournament (2007). Leading throughout the event, Anand captured the unified World Chess Champion title with an undefeated +4 score. A few months later, he won the Morelia-Linares (2008) outright for the third time. Anand’s first title defense will be in a match against challenger Vladimir Kramnik in October 2008. Please click HERE to play through the games of Anand. The link will open in a new window.
NOTABLE GAMES: Karjakin vs Anand, 2006 0-1
Anand vs Topalov, 2005 1/2-1/2
Anand vs Lautier, 1997 1-0
Anand vs Bologan, 2003 1-0
Anand vs Kasparov, 1995 1-0
Anand vs Ponomariov, 2002 1-0
Radjabov vs Anand, 2002 0-1
Kramnik vs Anand, 2004 1/2-1/2
Anand vs Karpov, 1996 1-0
Anand vs Kramnik, 2005 1-0
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS:
Kasparov-Anand World Championship Match (1995)
Karpov-Anand World Championship (1998)
FIDE World Championship Knockout Tournament (2000)
FIDE World Championship Knockout Tournament (2001)
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Kasparov-Anand World Championship Match (1995)
Karpov-Anand World Championship (1998)
FIDE World Championship Knockout Tournament (2000)
FIDE World Championship Knockout Tournament (2001)
Acclaimed as the Fastest Brain in the world, Viswanathan Anand is the World Number one and World Champion. It is his success in the world scene that has made this ancient Indian game, a mass sport in India.The critics rate him as one of the biggest natural talents ever in the history of chess. His hallmark lightening speed and intuitive play came to be recognised when he became the first Indian Grandmaster in 1987.
On 29th September 2007 Anand became World Champion for the second time in his career. By winning the event in Mexico Anand becomes the Undisputed Champion, ending many years of schism in the chess world. An feat that is unique as he achieved it while being the World No.1. A honour shared by a select few. Anand became the first Asian to win the World Championships in 2000. In 2007 Anand reached the number one spot on the world ranking lists by winning the prestigious Linares tournament. He becomes the seventh person in modern chess history to reach the coveted spot. This is the first for an Indian and Asian . He won the prestigious Melody Amber, Blind & Rapid chess in Monaco in 2003, 2005, 2004(Rapid), 2006, 2007(Rapid). The Leon Magistral for the seventh time, Corsica Masters five times & the Mainz Classic a staggering ten times. His results in rapid chess make him one , if not the greatest player ever in chess history . If his talent as a Rapid chess player is legendary, his records in classical chess have been superlative. In January 2006, he became the only player in chess history to win the Corus Chess event 5 times in the tournament’s 70-year history. He has won the prestigious Corus event 5 times (1989,1998,2003,2004 & 2006), Linares Super Tournament 3 times (1998 , 2007 and 2008), Dortmund Sparkassen 3 times (1996,2000 & 2004) and other important events like, Madrid Masters, Biel etc.
One of the few non-Soviet players in the sport, Viswanathan Anand has been feted with many international awards. He is the proud recipient of the Chess Oscars given for the best player of the year . He received this award four times. (1997,1998, 2003,2004) (An unique distinction he shares with Bobby Fischer).In India he has received the civilian awards, Padma Vibhushan,Padma Bhushan, the Padmashree and the Arjuna Award. He is the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. He has received other prestigious awards from private organisations .
Having travelled to close to 50 countries, Anand is also fluent in Spanish and German. One of the projects closest to heart is the NIIT Mind Champions Academy which aims at taking chess to over 1 million children from both Government and Private schools in India . Known as the Gentleman Champion in the chess world, Anand is a spokesperson for Vidyasagar, a NGO that crusades for the Inclusion of children with cerebral palsy and he also represents Avahan, the Bill& Melinda Gates Foundation initiative on AIDS. Anand is a keen follower of current affairs, world business and astronomy. Source: http://www.uep-worldchess.com/
On all of these links – on my blog – you will find games of Kramnik or Anand which you can play through — games they played during different tournaments.
ARONIAN Levon IVANCHUK Vassily –1-0
CARLSEN Magnus RADJABOV Teimour–1-0
TOPALOV Veselin ANAND Viswanathan–1-0 Image: chess.com The organisers are certainly making original efforts to make chess more accessible to spectators by placing the players in an “Aquarium” i.e. a giant, soundproofed glass box. This innovation was first seen earlier this year at the M-Tel Tournament, but in Bilbao the “Aquarium” will be situated outside in The Plaza Nueva in Bilbao.
Round 1 Round 3…Carlsen vs Topalov..image:chess.com Round 5 …6th Sept
Bilbao will receive from September 2 to September 13, the strongest tournament of the History of the Chess. A tournament of the category XXII with Elo’s average of the participants of 2775,63. Further more, for the first time ever an event of such characteristics will take place in the street, in the Plaza Nueva, right in the centre of Bilbao’s Old Town.
The six players participating are currently among the world’s top ten chess players headed by world’s champion and number one Viswanathan Anand. Along with him, Magnus Carlsen (number two), Vasili Ivanchuk (number three), Véselin Topálov (number six), Teimur Radyábov (number seven) and Levon Aronián (world’s number ten currently) will compete in Bilbao. No tournament had managed so far to gather such a high Elo’s average level (scoring system to order players’ ranking).
For the first time in a world’s elite tournament and surrounded by a strong international controversy, the Final Masters is going to apply the football scoring system, earning three points per game won and one point per draw, though players will not be allowed to agree a draw being the competition’s referee who will determine it.
The Final Masters has the official recognition of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and it will be played in a double round league during ten days (plus a two-day break). The total prize money amounts to €400,000, sum only exceeded by World Chess Championships: €150,000 for the first classified, €70,000 for the second one, €60,000 for the third one, €50,000 for the fourth one, €40,000 for the fifth one and €30,000 for the sixth one.
Another great novelty in this tournament will be the playing place: the street, allowing a lot of people to follow the games live and directly. A huge soundproofed and air-conditioned glazed case is under construction to this purpose and it will be placed in the Plaza Nueva in Bilbao under a marquee which will also accommodate The Agora for analysis and comments, a space located by the glass case where the audience will also be able to enjoy comments from Chess Grandmasters among whom we can name Boris Spassky and Susan Polgar.
Standings after round 3..click on the image for a larger view
Pairings and results: round 3 — 4th Sept 2008 RADJABOV Teimour vs IVANCHUK Vassily–1/2
ARONIAN Levon vs ANAND Viswanathan –1/2
CARLSEN Magnus vs TOPALOV Veselin–0-1
Rounds 3-10…Pairings…source:chessbase
Anand I couldn’t care less about my mental power or whatever it is said about me in the chess encyclopaedias in a hundred years time”. Viswanathan Anand is no doubt one of the greatest genius in chess history in the last fifteen centuries. But his easy-going character makes him the complete opposite of Fischer, Kárpov and Kaspárov. World champion and number one at the age of 38, he lives in Collado Mediano (Madrid), the rapid of Madras wants to polish even more his record in Bilbao at a month from the struggle for the crown with Russian Vladímir Krámnik.
“Although it is my second world title, this one is more valuable because in 2000 chess was suffering from a schism and there were two champions. Now I am the only one. The dream has come true” he explained in Mexico City on 1st October 2007, before calling his parents who live in Chennai (former Madras) and his “Spanish father”, Mauricio Perea.
Carlsen
The ‘Mozart of Chess’
His second places at the Wijk aan Zee Corus (Holland) 2008 and at the Ciudad de Linares 2008, where he repeated his 2007 achievement, are a sign that this 17 years old Norwegian is already mature for even greater achievements. Magnus Carlsen recommends parents of child prodigies: “to give them support but without putting pressure on them. My father taught me to play chess when I was 5, but I wasn’t interested at the time and he left me alone”. At the age of 2 he already solved difficult jigsaws; at 5 he remembered the capitals, flags, areas and inhabitants of every country.
At 8, Magnus felt jealous one of his sisters played chess and that is where a career only comparable in precociousness with the ones of the sacred manes began. At 13 Carlsen became the youngest chess grandmaster in the world; and today, at the age of 17, he is among the world’s top five players in the rankings. He sleeps up to eleven hours, is a passionate fan of the Real Madrid and Spain is the country he knows best. When he is not travelling he attends a special school for sports talents. He has his particular opinion about money: “I don’t really know what to do with it”. I spend much less than I earn”.
Ivanchuk An adorable absent-minded wise man
His sensational victory in the Mtel Masters, Sofia 2008 gave him the right to be in the Bilbao Final Masters. But even without this feat, Vassili Ivanchuk deserves a place among the top-class chess players: at almost 40, he is the oldest luminary though he is nevertheless at the peak of his career. Chess lover to the core, tireless worker of encyclopaedic knowledge he is a genius absent-minded wise man of whom everybody – even his most bitter rivals- speaks very fondly.
“My secret is I don’t know how I managed to win those five first games one after the other. I certainly did have a little bit of what it is called the luck of the champions. But the key is I wasn’t aware of what I was achieving; otherwise I would have never managed to do it. I believe I am at the best of my career. I don’t feel a bit old to stay in the elite; particularly if I compare myself to Víktor Korchnói, who is at his 77 years old still in the front line!”. So modestly explained Ivanchuk his win in Sofia –undefeated, with eight of ten possible points-, one of the best results in chess history.
Topalov An exemplary fighter on his way up
He defeated Kasparov in what was to be his last game (Linares 2005) and he is a clear symbol of the differences between the current chess elite and the times of the Ogre of Baku.Natural, modest and very friendly, a fighter and well disciplined about his everyday training, and tries to keep a good image. That’s Veselin Topalov, the 33 year-old Bulgarian from Salamanca world chess champion in 2005 and currently number four in the chess rankings, with the clear aim to take up again the crown in 2009.
“I will never forget what happened to me when I was 8 years old in Ruse, my native city. After defeating me, one of the best players of the area gave me a row, he pulled my ears and almost hit me because I had played too fast, without thinking. A year later I played with him again in the same tournament, and I won, he remembers about his childhood in Bulgaria.
Topalov admits that it is impossible to be among the world’s top ten chess players without innate talents: “If we put it into round numbers, 60% of my success is due to the effort and 40% to the talent”.
Radjabov The kid that knocked out Kasparov
Even though chess is along with music and mathematics the activity that more child prodigies produces, very few have impressed so much as Teimur Radyabov. At 12, when he became European Champion U-18, he already showed a strategic depth and good manners not expected from someone of his age. At 14 he became grandmaster. At 15 he defeated Kasparov with the black pieces in Linares. Today he is 21 and has settled among the elite, though everything shows that he’s still got a long way to go, as he will most probably demonstrate in Bilbao.
One has to go back as far as the legendary Bobby Fischer in the 60’s to find feats as resounding as when Radyabov defeated Kasparov in 2003. Also born in Baku, he had never lost with white pieces to a human rival in the classical game since May 1996. Bearing in mind that both of them were born in Baku and were Guéidar Alíyev’s protégées (President of the Azerbaijan KGB when Kasparov was young and of the Azerbaijani Government when Radyábov was a child) one can better understand Kaspárov’s angry outburst that night: he did not shake hands with the winner and had a very late dinner, thumping his fist on the table while having chicken.
Aronian
An easy-going winner
He could be the boy from the shop around the corner, jet he is a great chess luminary: he is only 25 years old but has already won the World Cup and the Linares and Wijk aan Zee (twice) tournaments. That naturalness, his universal style and belonging to a country where chess is the national passion, as well as a balanced nervous system configure the 25 year-old Armenian Levon Aronian as a very solid value.
“I’m not prepared to compete with the big ones. The only advantage I have over those beasts is my total ignorance and fresh thinking”, Aronian said at Christmas 2005, a few days after having won the World Cup in Siberia and some days just before his debut in the Wijk aan Zee Corus Tournament (Holland), where he shared the 7th place of 14 participantespants. Just a month later he triumphed in Linares, the chess Wimbledon, so surprisingly as convincingly.
Images from different rounds from the Official site.
About.com…classic chess…64 great chess games ever played…follow this link
Round 6 Image: zeenews.com Fifth draw for Anand in Chess Grand Slam Bilbao, Sept 09: India’s Viswanathan Anand continued to search for his first win of the Chess Grand Slam Final being staged here, as he played yet another draw in the sixth round.
The world champion, who is back by Tech giant NIIT, Monday drew with Vassily Ivanchuk in 32 moves and took his total to 2.5 points on the traditional points system.
But here in Bilbao with draws fetching one point and wins three, Anand has five, while the leader is young Magnus Carlsen with 11 points from three wins and two draws and one loss.
The Ivanchuk-Anand game was a staid draw coming out from a Slav Defence, with Ivanchuk making a token effort to gain advantage and Anand thwarting this effectively for a 32-move draw.
Anand’s game has been somewhat subdued leading to the feeling that the world champion is not revealing any of his major preparations that he may have made for the world title match against Vladimir Kramnik next month.
Veselin Topalov, who beat Anand in the fifth round, and has 10 points with two wins and four draws, follows Carlsen. Lev Aronian, the only player with two losses, is third with six points, and Anand, Teimour Radjabov and Ivanchuk have five points each.
The tournament is a six-player double round robin event, one of the strongest in the history of the game.
The scoring system in this tournament is different and experimental. Players get three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for losing a game. For rating purposes the traditional 1-½-0 system will be used.
The prize fund for the event is 400,000 Euros, with the winner receiving 150,000 Euros, the second place 70,000 Euros, and so on, with the sixth player getting 30,000 Euros. The sums are unprecedented for an event like this. Only world championships have exceeded the amount.
The Topalov-Radjabov clash was more volatile, with the Bulgarian GM looking set to chalk up another victory in Bilbao. But after massive trade-offs after the time control Black had solved all his problems and in fact undertook some tentative attempts to play for a win. The draw came with a repetition at move 73.
Carlsen continued his great run with a solid win over Aronian. He sacrificed a pawn, which was part of theory, but then young Carlsen played a novelty which involves a second sacrifice on move 15. It loosely resembled the Gelfand-Kramnik game in Mexico City 2007, but that ended in a draw.
The novelty led to Carlsen forcing Aronian’s king to be stuck in the middle. Carlsen got one pawn back and then launched a blistering attack. He wrapped up the game in 32 moves.
In the seventh round, Anand will have black pieces against Radjabov, while Carlsen clashes with Ivanchuk and Aronian meets Topalov.
Scores after six rounds: Carlsen (11 points); 2. Topalov (10 points); Aronian (6 points); Anand, Radjabov and Ivanchuk (5 points each).
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.
Spoken by great men:"Give me 20 divisions of American soldiers and I will breach Europe. Give me 15 consisting of Englishmen and I will advance to the borders of Berlin. Give me two divisions of those marvellous fighting Boers and I will remove Germany from the face of the earth." - Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery, Commander of the Allied Forces during WW2.
"The Americans fight for a free world, the English mostly for honour, glory and medals, the French and Canadians decide too late that they have to participate. The Italians are too scared to fight, the Russians have no choice. The Germans for their Fatherland. The Boers? Those sons of Bitches fight for the hell of it." American General, George 'Guts and Glory' Patton.
Chessalee 
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
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