Chess

Latvian Grandmaster Alexei Shirov held a clock simultaneous exhibition against 12 students of the Northwestern Federal District in St. Petersburg, Russia.The time control was 90 minutes plus 10 seconds per player, but the famous Grandmaster managed his time wisely and succeeded in winning all 12 games.After the session Shirov analysed all games with the players. The venue for the event was Hotel Ol’gino in St. Petersburg.Russian Chess FederationChess Daily News from Susan Polgar

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Rules and Conditions for the 10th Annual Susan Polgar Foundation Girls' Invitational (SPGI) July 20 – 25, 2013 at Webster University (St. Louis, Missouri) THIS WILL BE THE STRONGEST AND BIGGEST SPGI EVER! More than 50 players have already registered with many more states to submit names shortly.- Approximately $200,000 in chess scholarships, chess prizes, and iPad mini, etc. (Full tuition and fees scholarship to the top finisher! *)- Webster University will provide complimentary room and meal accommodation on campus for qualifiers! The annual Susan Polgar Girl’s Invitational, the most prestigious all-girls event in the United States, will be held at Webster University (St. Louis, Missouri). • There will be an intense training session with Susan Polgar, followed by a 6 round (g/90+30) FIDE rated championship tournament. • The traditional Blitz, Puzzle Solving, Bughouse events will stay the same as in previous years. • There will be many chess prizes awarded, including iPad mini, and scholarships to Webster University. Each state is allowed one representative to be nominated by June 1, 2013. Official representative alternates may be substituted no later than June 15. (Susan Polgar and/or the Polgar Committee may allow the host state to enter an additional qualified player.) Susan Polgar and/or the Polgar Committee may allow exceptions to the June 1 entry/alternate deadline. Should the state affiliate fail to respond to the notice for this tournament, Susan Polgar and/or the Polgar Committee may determine the candidate from that state. Players must have been enrolled in a school (up to 12th grade) located in the state they represent, also of the year in which the tournament is held. Home-schooled students who are under the age of 19 on July 25th of the year in which the event is held or students who have never attended college on a full time basis prior to June 1 of the year in which the tournament is held, are eligible to represent the state in which they reside. Exception: If a player graduates from high school early and is already attending college, she may still represent her state if nominated. This is the decision of each state affiliate. VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: The participants of the Susan Polgar Girl’s Invitational DO NOT have to be high school students. Any qualifier under the age of 19 (by July 25th of the year in which the tournament is held) is eligible!Special invitation for this year only: All past participants of the SPNI and SPGI (Susan Polgar National Invitational/Susan Polgar Foundation Girls’ Invitational 2004-2012) are invited to participate in the 2013 SPGI. The idea is to have the past participants learn my method of training so they can go back home and share their knowledge with the younger players. However, registration MUST be made ASAP since space is limited. There will be mutual training sessions for all, however separate section & prizes for alumni participants over the age of 19. Players are required to furnish the organizer an emergency phone number and the e-mail address of a parent/guardian. There is no entry fee to participate in the 2013 SPGI; however, players are responsible for their own travel. For all state representatives, and qualifiers from the SPNO or SPWO, Webster University will provide complimentary room and meal accommodation on campus. For alumni participants, wild card/special invites, coaches, parents, or other family members, inexpensive accommodations are available for housing and dining on Webster’s campus. Please note that all reservations and registrations MUST be made (and accommodation expenses prepaid) no later than June 25, 2013. Prizes: Trophies / plaques will be awarded to the winners of the Susan Polgar Foundation Girl’s Invitational Puzzle Solving, Blitz, and the SPGI Championship. Co-champions are

Standings after 6 rounds1 Nakamura, Hikaru USA 2784 4½2 Gelfand, Boris ISR 2755 43 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar AZE 2753 3½4 Carlsen, Magnus NOR 2864 3½5 Andreikin, Dmitry RUS 2713 36 Caruana, Fabiano ITA 2774 37 Karjakin, Sergey RUS 2782 2½8 Kramnik, Vladimir RUS 2803 29 Anand, Viswanathan IND 2786 210 Morozevich, Alexander RUS 2760 2Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar

White to move. How should white proceed?Source: ChessToday.netChess Daily News from Susan Polgar

Logjam Atop Leaderboard at U.S. Junior ClosedBy Brian JerauldSAINT LOUIS (June 19, 2013) -- Still, no one can find distance in the standings at the 2013 U.S. Junior Closed Championship.Today marks the players? rest day after Tuesday?s round 5 pushed the nine-game round-robin tournament past its halfway point. But despite a finish line that now looms, seven of ten players still sit within a point of each other, now with three tied atop the standings at 3.5/5 points.California IM Daniel Naroditsky, the field?s highest-rated player, was the sole leader entering Tuesday and has yet to lose a game this week at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. But his fifth-round draw against FM Sam Sevian slowed the pace, and wins from both FM Luke Harmon-Vellotti and FM Robert Perez brought them both up to speed. Harmon-Vellotti?s come-from-behind shocker over IM Victor Shen made it two wins and a draw against the field?s three top-seeded IMs; and Perez has shrugged off a slow start to the tournament to notch three straight victories, including Tuesday?s turnaround matchup versus FM Yian Liou.After an outstanding opening that found Shen up two pawns, including one passed on the sixth rank, he did everything he could to let his solid position slip away against Harmon-Vellotti ? and he eventually got his wish. The game transposed to a Queen?s Indian, with Shen grabbing a solid foothold in the center and prepping his bishops for dominance. But Harmon-Vellotti?s 12. ? Qf6 was very suspicious, begging for Shen?s 13. Bc3 response. The move showed Shen?s position clearly winning, with an advantage in development, a better dominance of space and several tactical opportunities brewing. He quickly converted it to a material advantage.But after wrecking the black queenside, Shen found trouble re-coordinating his pieces and was never able to find traction behind his three passed pawns, including two connected. Meanwhile, Harmon-Vellotti slowly pieced together a harmonious defense and let Shen sink into time pressure.?That was going into a winning endgame [for Shen], so I just tried to make it as complicated as possible,? Harmon-Vellotti said. ?And then he blundered in time trouble.?Indeed, with under five minutes on his clock and eight more moves until time control, Shen offered up 32. Rxb5 with tactical eyes. But Harmon-Vellotti defied the play with 32. ? Rbxb6, ultimately releasing nearly all of white?s pressure and gathering the d6 passer. Even still with winning chances, Shen struggled to find any continuance, and Harmon-Vellotti wreaked havoc on the white king with his remaining knight and rook. The move 57. ? h5 kicked off a race to queen ? one that Shen actually won, but left him positionally inferior.?[Shen] was winning all the way down to [53.]Kg1,? Harmon-Vellotti said. ?I think if he had gone Ke1, he would have won.?Perez performed his own climb out of a dark position thanks to an outstanding endgame and some fantastic work with his king. The game progressed through an unusual line of the Sicilian, but one Liou was up to the task of pressing. For more than 20 moves, he kept Perez on the defensive and looked primed to push solid queenside space into an advantage.But his 23. Ncd5 ignited a massive swap-out of material, ultimately leaving Perez with a bad bishop and Liou in control of the outpost ? though limited in attacking ideas. ?He was still better, but compared to what the position was before, I was able to get rid of a lot of pieces and centralize my king,? Perez said. ?Yeah, my d6 was weak, but bad bishops defend good pawns.?That d6 pawn was more than ?good? ? it was the winner ? as it was able to work its way over to the e-file and eventually down to its queening square. And it would not have been possible without the major play of Perez?s king, who helped open up some lanes against Liou?s kingside pawns and then escorted his passer to safety.After 37. Rdxe5 dxe5 38. Bxf8 won white a pivotal pawn advantage, 42. c5 allowed

Chess playing kids learn all the right moves By Georgia Sparling | Jun 19, 2013 Mattapoisett — Leaning in, brows furrowed in concentration, mental wheels spinning, the kids of the Mattapoisett chess club are a strategic bunch. Composed primarily of third and fourth graders, the group started a few months ago at the Mattapoisett library. Lee Estes, 17 and his brother Adam, 15, help facilitate the group. “You don’t have to be a certain personality type to be good at chess,” said Lee, a junior at Bishop Stang High School. “You do have to be relatively disciplined, but you also just need to know the game.” Every Wednesday night, one of the Estes brothers sets up a row of chessboards and waits for the kids to filter in. On this particular evening, kids fill up every space at the table. Without much preamble (but with a little bit of trash talk), the kids begin carefully moving pieces around the board. Carissa Bailey, a third grader at Center School, is new to the game, and said a friend originally invited her to the group. “I like how there are a lot of different techniques you can use to win the game,” she said. Strategy is something that Lee focuses on when helping the kids learn the game, which he and his brother started playing as children. “I just sit in and make sure people know the basic rudiments of the game, and help them understand the strategies they can do,” said Lee. “I really do let them play their own games.” The group is a safe place for kids to learn the art of chess, and new players are always welcome. To help the kids develop more nuanced strategies, they switch partners after every game. Each pairing gives the opponents something new to learn. “It’s interesting because it’s not just a game of strategy,” said Lee. “It’s a game of people.” Nine-year-old Michaen Scully, of Fairhaven, has been playing the game for more than two years. “I just think it’s fun,” said Michaen. The chess players meet in the children’s wing of the Mattapoisett Library every Wednesday, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Call the library at 508-758-4171 for more information.Source: http://sippican.villagesoup.com Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar

Official website: http://dilijan2013.fide.comChess Daily News from Susan Polgar

Round 6 resultsAnand, Viswanathan - Nakamura, Hikaru 0-1 Gelfand, Boris - Carlsen, Magnus ½-½ Andreikin, Dmitry - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar ½-½ Caruana, Fabiano - Kramnik, Vladimir ½-½ Morozevich, Alexander - Karjakin, Sergey ½-½ http://russiachess.orgChess Daily News from Susan Polgar

http://dilijan2013.fide.comChess Daily News from Susan Polgar

12th Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Latest Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013Hi everyone, We have here a nice letter from Ludovic Hubler, Head of Programmes and Field Operations, Peace and Sport, L'Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport.Peace and Sport and FIDE were together in Palestine this week to follow up on the “Chess for leadership and creativity” common project launched in November 2011, part of the common worldwide program “Chess for Peace”. “Chess for leadership and creativity” is the third common project after Haiti and Colombia. This project mainly focuses on Palestinian women empowerment using chess as a tool. During this trip, FIDE was represented by IM Damir Levacic, President of the Mediterranean Chess Union. Peace and Sport was represented by Ludovic Hubler Head of Programmes and Field Operations. During this four-day trip, the team visited each of the 5 beneficiary centers: Qatanna (near Ramallah), Shiraa (Bethlehem), Al Mahawer (near Hebron), Kfar Akeb and Las Khamis (near Jerusalem) and of course met with the Palestinian Chess Federation. Ludovic Hubler writes, "I have to say that Damir and myself were quite impressed to see the progresses made by each of the beneficiary centers. Their level has increased a lot over the past year and a half, to the point that one of these centers (Qatanna) is now considered the best in Palestine for women. Some of the beneficiary girls have even participated in International competitions (Russia, Qatar and Turkey) and one of them managed to meet 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, Peace and Sport Champion for Peace and “godmother” of the project." "I’d like to, through this email, acknowledge the work done by FIDE expert Damir Levacic who gave all his energy to teach some new techniques for the beneficiary people and to play with some of them. Everybody there enjoyed his visit as well as Melissa visit last year. Everybody seems to have kept a great memory of her stay there. We are in touch for the next steps in our cooperation."Also Read:Chess Queen Kosteniuk’s Peace Message: Play Chess, No Wars!From Alexandra Kosteniuk'swww.chessblog.comAlso see her personal blog atwww.chessqueen.comDon't miss Chess Queen™YouTube Channel