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Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013Hi everyone, The European Chess Club Cup 2013 will take place on 19-27 October, 2013, in the conference center of the 5-star Rodos Palace Convention Resort which is regarded as one of the finest deluxe hotels on the Island of Rhodes.Rodos Palace offers luxurious accommodation, exquisite dining facilities and numerous recreational amenities, on a superb location just 2.5 km from the Medieval City of Rhodes!From each National Club Championship in European countries, one (1) to four (4) clubs qualify to the European Club Cup, depending on the strength of each national event. The European Club Cup will be held in 7 rounds for both categories (open/men teams with 6 boards and women teams with 4 boards), played with the Swiss system.The time control will be 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. Players may only agree to a draw after the 40th move has been made by black.According to FIDE regulations, the European Club Cup offers the possibility for players to achieve GM, IM, WGM and WIM norms based on 7 games.Rodos PalaceThe winners of the European Club Cup (currently SOCAR Azerbaijan) and the European Women’s Club Cup (currently Cercle d’Echecs de Monte Carlo) qualify directly to next year’s European Club Cup.The total amount of 51,000 EUR, provided by travel agency AT Holidays, will be awarded to the winners of the European Club Cup, in both team and individual rewards! The prize distribution is described below in the official regulations of the event. Do not forget to consider the event’s sponsor AT Holidays when planning your next trip to Greece.Special prices @ official hotel, the 5-star Rodos Palace***** 53 euros per person per day in a double room, including breakfast, lunch and dinner (full board).***** 78 euros per person per day in a single room, including breakfast, lunch and dinner (full board).All registrations and bookings in Rodos Palace will be made through the Organising Committee and AT Holidays. The deadline for club registrations and bookings is 19 August 2013.How to reach the Island of RhodesThe international airport of Rhodes (IATA code: RHO) is connected daily with many European capitals. The major airlines serving Rhodes are Olympic Airways and Aegean Airways. The sea port of Rhodes is also connected via ferry boats with Athens (Piraeus) and the nearby Turkish sea ports of Marmaris, Bodrum and Fethiye.The Organising Committee will provide bus transfer from the airport and the port to Rodos Palace Hotel on the days of arrival and departure, in accordance with the official regulations.The official website of the European Club Cup 2013 is http://www.rhodes2013.orgTournament Director: IO Nikos Kalesis – Tel.: (+30) 6938326161Fax: (+30) 2641500112, Email: eccc2013rodos@gmail.comFrom Alexandra Kosteniuk'swww.chessblog.comAlso see her personal blog atwww.chessqueen.comDon't miss Chess Queen™YouTube Channel

The European Chess Club Cup 2013 will take place on 19-27 October, 2013, in the conference center of the 5-star Rodos Palace Convention Resort which is regarded as one of the finest deluxe hotels on the island of Rhodes. Rodos Palace offers luxurious accommodation, exquisite dining facilities and numerous recreational amenities, on a superb location just 2.5 km from the Medieval City of Rhodes!From each National Club Championship in European countries, one (1) to four (4) clubs qualify to the European Club Cup, depending on the strength of each national event. The European Club Cup will be held in 7 rounds for both categories (open/men teams with 6 boards and women teams with 4 boards), played with the Swiss system.The time control will be 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. Players may only agree to a draw after the 40th move has been made by black.According to FIDE regulations, the European Club Cup offers the possibility for players to achieve GM, IM, WGM and WIM norms based on 7 games.The winners of the European Club Cup (currently SOCAR Azerbaijan) and the European Women’s Club Cup (currently Cercle d’Echecs de Monte Carlo) qualify directly to next year’s European Club Cup.The total amount of 51,000 EUR, provided by travel agency AT Holidays, will be awarded to the winners of the European Club Cup, in both team and individual rewards! The prize distribution is described below in the official regulations of the event.Do not forget to consider the event’s sponsor AT Holidays when planning your next trip to Greece.Special prices @ official hotel, the 5-star Rodos Palace***** 53 euros per person per day in a double room, including breakfast, lunch and dinner (full board). ***** 78 euros per person per day in a single room, including breakfast, lunch and dinner (full board).All registrations and bookings in Rodos Palace will be made through the Organising Committee and AT Holidays. The deadline for club registrations and bookings is 19 August 2013.How to reach the island of RhodesThe international airport of Rhodes (IATA code: RHO) is connected daily with many European capitals. The major airlines serving Rhodes are Olympic Airways and Aegean Airways. The sea port of Rhodes is also connected via ferry boats with Athens (Piraeus) and the nearby Turkish sea ports of Marmaris, Bodrum and Fethiye.The Organising Committee will provide bus transfer from the airport and the port to Rodos Palace Hotel on the days of arrival and departure, in accordance with the official regulations.Download full Regulations (PDF)Contact:The official website of the European Club Cup 2013 is http://www.rhodes2013.org Tournament Director: IO Nikos Kalesis – Tel.: (+30) 6938326161 Fax: (+30) 2641500112, Email: eccc2013rodos@gmail.comChess Daily News from Susan Polgar

Lothar Maximilian Lorenz Schmid (10 May 1928-18 May 2013) is a German chess grandmaster who was born in Dresden. He is best known as the arbiter of several World Chess Championship matches. Also a collector of chess books and paraphernalia, he owns the largest known private chess library in the world and has a renowned collection of chess art masterpieces and chess boards and pieces from all around the globe. Lothar Schmid played for West Germany at eleven Chess Olympiads.In 1950, at second board at the 9th Olympiad in Dubrovnik (+7 ?1 =4)In 1952, at second board at the 10th Olympiad in Helsinki (+7 ?1 =4)In 1954, at second board at the 11th Olympiad in Amsterdam (+6 ?4 =3)In 1956, at second board at the 12th Olympiad in Moscow (+4 ?2 =7)In 1958, at third board at the 13th Olympiad in Munich (+6 ?3 =4)In 1960, at second board at the 14th Olympiad in Leipzig (+7 ?2 =5)In 1962, at third board at the 15th Olympiad in Varna (+4 ?2 =2)In 1964, at third board in at the 16th Olympiad Tel Aviv (+7 ?2 =5)In 1968, at second board in at the 18th Olympiad Lugano (+6 ?0 =6)In 1970, at second board in at the 19th Olympiad Siegen (+7 ?1 =4)In 1974, at first board in at the 21st Olympiad Nice (+5 ?3 =7) Schmid is also a well known chess arbiter, awarded the International Arbiter (IA) title in 1975.[1] He was the arbiter for the Fischer–Spassky 1972, Karpov–Korchnoi 1978, Kasparov–Karpov 1986 World Championship matches, and also Fischer–Spassky 1992 (the 'Revenge Match').Source: Wikipedia Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar

http://www.calgaryinternationalchessclassic.comChess Daily News from Susan Polgar

Gata Kamsky of New York won his fourth U.S. Championship title after defeating fellow GM Alejandro Ramirez in a two-stage playoff. Both had 6.5 of 9 points in the 24-player, 10-day event in St. Louis. Irina Krush of New York finished 8-1 and won the women’s championship round robin, defending her title, her fifth in all dating back to 1998. Ramirez, Timur Gareev and Alexander Onischuk, who took second, third and fourth, all are from Texas. Of the New England players, Larry Christiansen of Cambridge tied for sixth and Sam Shankland, a student at Brandeis, tied for 12th. Others with ties to the region included Robert Hess (student at Yale), tied for 14th, Alexander Ivanov of Newton, and Jorge Sammour-Hasbun of Rhode Island, both tied for 20th, with 3-6 in the ultra-strong event. Two changes were announced last week to the USCF rating system, effective this weekend. One affects the number of effective games for players below 2355 (99 percent) to enable ratings to go up or down more quickly, changing the K factors for various skill levels. The second only affects higher rated players in fast time controls, now that play is rated in four ways, based on time controls and correspondence games, each with separate ratings. Carissa Yip, 9, of Chelmsford, has qualified for the www.chessKid.com 2nd Online National Championship, June 14-17, sponsored by www.chess.com. The sections were doubled from two to four this year, and each will be an eight-player round robin, Carissa in the under-age-10 group. ChessKid.com offers a free chess curriculum download suitable for both classroom and informal instruction of youngsters by parents. The 82nd Mass. Open will be next weekend at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel in Marlboro, with six rounds, two each on Saturday through Monday. On each day there will be a scholastic side event, all detailed at www.masschess.org. Also on the site this week is a statement by Richard “Doc” Kinne, the incoming editor of Chess Horizons, announcing his new format and publication dates and deadlines. Results of Norway’s “supertournament” that ended yesterday can be found at www.norwaychess.com. Two Americans, Kamsky and Hikaru Nakamura, are next competing in the FIDE Grand Prix in Greece, Tuesday until June 4 (www.fide.com). David Vigorito of Andover won last weekend’s 42-player Beantown Open in Braintree, and Jesse Nicholas of Newton won the Boylston Chess Club of Somerville’s May Grand Prix. Carissa Yip was clear third, gaining about 50 rating points. Answer to quiz: Black wins big time with 1. ... Na5 and white’s queen is trapped. The game from 2011 at the Metrowest Chess Club of Natick is presented in the www.tacticstime.com e-book of 1,000 positions, which will be available in print later this year at www.newinchess.com. Source: http://www.telegram.comChess Daily News from Susan Polgar

I hope the previous five parts of this article managed to convince you that the King and Pawn endgames are very complicated.  Therefore, a decision to go for such an endgame is a major commitment and shouldn't be taken lightly. In the final part...

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

Zambia withdraws from Africa Chess ChampionshipLUSAKA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Zambia chess players will not take part in the 2013 African Chess Championships because Chess Federation of Zambia has failed to raise funds to send the team, the Zambia Daily Mail reported on Thursday.Zambia was expected to send four players for the championships which kicks off on Friday in Tunisia."Unfortunately, the team is not going. We have not managed to get sponsors for the team to travel," Chanda Nsakanya, Chess Federation of Zambia secretary, was quoted as saying by the paper.The official however said the country will send the players for a tournament in Tanzania. Source: http://news.xinhuanet.comChess Daily News from Susan Polgar

Metropolitan Chess, Inc. hosted a Grandmaster norm round robin tournament from May 08 to May 12, 2013. This tournament was the 26th in its series and was held in Suite C855 of the California Market Center on 110 East 9th Street, Los Angeles 90079. The tournament was organized by Ankit Gupta, FA, IO. The participants included: GM Magesh Panchanathan (IND), GM Vladimir Georgiev (MKD), GM Enrico Sevillano (USA), IM Zhanibek Amanov (KAZ), FM Alex Kretchetov (RUS), and Madiyar Amerkeshev (KAZ).The tournament was a 6 player double round-robin (all play all), with rounds scheduled as follows – 8th: 1:00 PM & 7:00 PM, 9th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 10th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 11th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 12th: 10:00 AM & 4:00 PMGM Magesh Panchanathan took clear first in the tournament finishing with 6.5/10.0. NM Madiyar Amerkeshev earned an IM norm with a final result of 5.0/10.0.The tournament was sponsored by California Market Center, Fashion Business, Inc, Chess.com, MonRoi, LawyerFy, the Law Offices of Steinfl & Bruno, EventForte Inc, and Betty Bottom Showroom. Keep updated with events by Metropolitan Chess, Inc, by visiting www.metrochessla.com Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar

REGISTRATION AND LICENSING OF PLAYERSThere has recently been a large increase in the problems caused by the registration of new players. These problems include duplicate registration, delisting and relisting and wrong federations and these cause a lot of extra work for FIDE. In order to try and solve these problems, FIDE intends to institute the following changes in registration and licensing which will have to be approved by the Executive Board in September. The aim of these regulations is to make the job of Federations and FIDE easier.In order to ensure that all players who wish to play can play, FIDE intends to introduce a new category called FIDE (FID) to cover those who are, for whatever reason, without a Federation. These players cannot take part in FIDE and Continental events and must adhere to any regulations made by the Federation of which they are a citizen. In order that players are encouraged to join their own Federations rather than play as FIDE, FIDE will charge any player €60 to be so rated. However FIDE does understand that there are circumstances at present where players are unable to be members of a Federation.The new regulations to be approved are as follows:1. All National Chess Federations (NCF) shall be required to register their Players with FIDE. The FIDE Regulations on Registration, Transfers and Eligibility shall apply.1.1 All players who already have a FIDE ID Number (FIN) before 1 July 2013 shall be considered to be registered and licensed.2. The NCF (or FIDE) shall issue the FIN if the Player does not have one at the time of registration. NCF will register the Player with FIDE by providing information containing the Player’s Name, Gender, Place & Date of Birth, Citizenship and Contact e-mail. It is optional if a Photograph or a ID such as a Passport can be provided. On the FIDE Rating List, information on Player’s Name, Gender, Year of Birth shall be included.3. A Player who registers to compete in any FIDE rated competition shall be required to provide his FIN. If the player has no FIN, then the Organizer must follow one of the options below:3.1 Request the Organizer’s NCF to register the player and provide a FIN under Organizer’s NCF flag. The FIN must be provided before the tournament is submitted for rating. FIDE will inform the player of his FIN via his contact e-mail.3.2 If the player without a FIN claims or provides proof of citizenship or residence in a different country other than the Organizer, then the player can only be allowed to play after:3.2.1 registration with his appropriate NCF, or3.2.2 acquiring a provisional license under FIDE flag.4. If the FIN is acquired according to art. 3.2.2, the player shall provide the information required in art. 2 and to pay €60 either directly to FIDE or through the Organizer. FIDE or the Organizer shall issue the FIN and a provisional license under FIDE flag bearing information from art. 2 above.4.1 The provisional license under FIDE flag expires on 30 June the following year. Before 1 July, the license must be renewed with payment of €60 to FIDE without further notification from FIDE, failing which, the license is annulled.5. A tournament report will not be rated if there are players without a valid FIN. Federation’s Ratings Officers should ensure that all players have a valid FIN before sending the tournament to FIDE to be rated.6. Whenever a NCF delists and subsequently re-lists a player, the NCF shall pay FIDE a fee of €25.Please send the comments to office@fide.comChess Daily News from Susan Polgar