Chess

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013Hi everyone, Cool chess puzzle via Chess King. Here is a neat position from the game Aisenstadt – Margolis, Leningrad, 1957. White has a nice tactic to get a winning position. Can you see how?Check your answer with Chess King.From Alexandra Kosteniuk'swww.chessblog.comAlso see her personal blog atwww.chessqueen.comDon't miss Chess Queen™YouTube Channel

Chess wizard Tanraj Sohal has won the 2013 Canadian Chess Championship held in Ottawa, Ontario on May 19-20, 2013 in his grade level. SURREY – Chess wizard Tanraj Sohal has won the 2013 Canadian Chess Championship held in Ottawa, Ontario on May 19-20, 2013 in his grade level Sohal, a sixteen-year old Grade 11 student from Surrey, has won won the Canadian Chess Championship trophy in his grade level for the eighth time. He earlier won the 2013 Fraser Valley Regional in Surrey and BC Provincial Chess Championship held in Richmond, BC. Canadian Chess Challenge is the annual event where each province is represented by their 12 Provincial Champions (one player from Grades 1 to 12). Canadian Chess Challenge is organized and sponsored by the Chess’n Math Association, Canada’s National Scholastic Chess Organization. Each player plays 9 round robin matches over two days in their respective grade against each of the provincial champions.Source: http://thelinkpaper.caChess Daily News from Susan Polgar

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013Hi everyone, A Russian fan contacted Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk on Twitter (@chessqueen) recently to tell her about two music videos with slideshows of some of her photos. The first song is truly a chess song, called “e2-e4? by the Russian group “Recital” of 1984 (the year the 12th Women's World Chess Champion was born) and with chess lyrics, the singer is Alexander Kalyanov. The second is by the group VIA, music by Viacheslav Dobrynin, and singer Alexei Kondakov. Both videos are posted at GM Kosteniuk's personal blog ChessQueen.com.From Alexandra Kosteniuk'swww.chessblog.comAlso see her personal blog atwww.chessqueen.comDon't miss Chess Queen™YouTube Channel

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013Hi everyone, Manny Pacquiao (centre) watching Filipino GM Julio Sadorra beat IM Wang Chen of China. With Pacquiao are GM Eugene Torre (left) and NCFP Chairman/President Prospero A. Pichay, Jr.Here is the latest chess news via Fide. Four Philippine players are in the lead pack at the halfway mark of the Manny Pacquiao Chess Cup Asian Continental Chess Championship at the Midas Hotel and Casino in Metro Manila, Philippines. GM Mark Paragua grabbed solo lead with 4.5 points after beating erstwhile leader compatriot Julio Sadorra in the 5th round. Sadorra, a senior business administration student at the University of Texas in Dallas, Filipino GMs John Paul Gomez and Richard Bitoon, top seed Vietnamese GM Le Quang Liem and Chinese GM Li Chao trail by half-point behind with 4 points each.There was exciting chess in all the rounds. Paragua penetrated the French Defense of Sadorra with his Rook on the seventh rank and delivered checkmate on the 33rd move. Gomez beat Chinese GM Li Shilong, Bitoon outsmarted compatriot GM Joey Antonio, Li Chao smashed GM Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam while Le Quang Liem was held to a draw by GM Lalith Babu of India.The top five qualify for the World Chess Cup to be held this August in Tromso, Norway. In the women's chess division, the champion qualifies to next year’s Women’s World Chess Championship. WGM Mary Ann Gomes of India outclassed WGM Guliskhan Nakhbayeva of Kazakhstan to create a four-way tie for first along with IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul of Mongolia, WGMs Guo Qi and Wang Jue of China with 4.0 points each. Munguntuul drew with WGM Huang Qian of China; Guo bested WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh An of Vietnam; Wang nipped WIM Hoang Thi Nhu Y of Vietnam. WFM Antoinette San Diego blasted WGM Swaminathan Soumya of India to lead the group of 3.5 pointers with WGMs Huang Qian and Tan Zhongyi and WIM Ni Shiqun of China, WGM Nafisa Muminova of Uzbekistan and IM Pham Le Thao Nguyen of Vietnam. The chess tournament is organised by the GM Eugene Torre Chess Foundation and sponsored by eight-division world boxing champion and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, Cafe Puro, Alaxan, Oriental and Motolite Corp. and held under the auspices of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, Asian Chess Federation and Fide. Top games are broadcast live on http://www.asianchessonline.com.From Alexandra Kosteniuk'swww.chessblog.comAlso see her personal blog atwww.chessqueen.comDon't miss Chess Queen™YouTube Channel

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013Hi everyone, Three rounds have been already played at the Sigeman Chess Tournament 2013. The field is very strong and evenly matched, so the score of the three players that are sharing the lead is only +1, according to a Chessdom report.Richard Rapport is among the leaders thanks to his second round victory over experienced GM Nigel Short. The young Hungarian played with white and delivered mate after 52 moves. The Englishman used his usual creative play but was not able to get an advantage as he wished. The position seemed quite balanced when, right after the time control, Short started to blunder in a queens and rooks endgame. Rapport profited from these mistakes and got his first full point of the event.In the third round, Rapport faced another member of the leading pack, Ivan Sokolov. The game was a Benoni proposed by the Hungarian, which finished in a rather short 25 moves draw.Ivan Sokolov gained his edge in the tournament after beating Emanuel Berg with white in the first day of competition. Sokolov used a correct position style to outplay his opponent in a King’s Indian Defense. He gained an advantage very early in the game, but had to work hard to convert it into a win. Berg only signed his defeat after 62 moves.Sokolov already played against the other two leaders, drawing against both. He will have a chance to grab sole lead in the fourth round, as he will have the white pieces against Hans Tikkanen, who lost his last game with white.Dutch GM Loek Van Wely was the last one to join the leading pack. His victory with black over Hans Tikkanen in today’s third round puts him in the fight for first place. The players battled in a Reti Opening where Van Wely went for the initiative from the beginning, leaving his king uncastled. The tactical phase of the game was handled precisely by the Dutch who forced his opponent to resign right after the time control.Van Wely comes from playing successfully in Oceania where he grabbed clear first place in Sidney and shared second place in Canberra. His good performances might allow him to go back to the 2700+ Elo club. If he manages to do so, we will see him once again at the main world events.Standings after 3 rounds:1 Rapport, Richard HUN 2674 22 Sokolov, Ivan NED 2642 23 Van Wely, Loek NED 2689 24 Short, Nigel D ENG 2681 1½5 Berg, Emanuel SWE 2561 1½6 Grandelius, Nils SWE 2556 1½7 Tikkanen, Hans SWE 2537 18 Hector, Jonny SWE 2512 ½From Alexandra Kosteniuk'swww.chessblog.comAlso see her personal blog atwww.chessqueen.comDon't miss Chess Queen™YouTube Channel

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013Hi everyone,Cuban Grandmaster Leinier Dominguez improved his ranking after defeating Vassily Ivanchuk in the third round of the Thessaloniki Grand Prix. Ivanchuk lost on time failing to execute the last 40th move. Dominguez was ready to repeat the moves but there was no time to claim a draw. The remaining games were drawn and five players continue to share the lead.Results, pairings, standings and photo gallery are updated.Rank after round 31 2 GM Kamsky Gata 2741 USA 22 9 GM Morozevich Alexander 2760 RUS 2 3 12 GM Grischuk Alexander 2779 RUS 24 10 GM Caruana Fabiano 2774 ITA 25 6 GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2699 UZB 2 6 5 GM Svidler Peter 2769 RUS 1½7 11 GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2723 CUB 1½8 1 GM Topalov Veselin 2793 BUL 1½9 3 GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2742 UKR 1½10 8 GM Bacrot Etienne 2725 FRA 111 4 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2755 UKR ½12 7 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2775 USA ½Svidler Peter - Caruana Fabiano 1/2-1/2Gruenfeld Indian defence is the favourite opening of both players and it was very interesting to follow how the theoretical battle will develop. Svidler used the early 3.f3, which is nowadays a popular option for the players who also did some research on the Saemish King's Indian. The Russian himself faced this system with black on several occasions and this morning he was going through the notes trying to find some way to surprise Caruana. Caruana also has vast experience as he already played Anand, Aronian, Gelfand and Jobava.The curious fact is that the same actors already contested this line in the Tashkent Grand Prix, only with reversed colors. Svidler played a slightly different move order, forcing white's advance d4-d5, and the game was eventually drawn. White employed the new direct approach that was introduced by Grandmasters Jones and Sanikidze, but black improved on the move order and maintained the balance. Svidler pushed the passed pawn all the way to e7, but there was no way to promote the Queen as Caruana forced repetition of moves.Kasimdzhanov Rustam - Morozevich Alexander 1/2-1/2Morozevich's games are always enterprising and this was no exception. It started as a King's Indian defence and after white's early h3 black decided to steer the play into Maroczy structure.Morozevich didn't wait long to become original as his Nbd7 and b6 allowed Kasimdzhanov to shuffle the Knight to the dominant d5-square. After white's 18.b4 black decided to "sacrifice" the dark-squared Bishop for the Rook on a1. He proceeded to kick the Knight from d5, albeit at the cost of weakening the d6-pawn, and pushed a5 in order to open some files for the Rooks.Despite the material advantage, Morozevich said later that he was not happy with his position and that he is worse. White had active pieces and a potentially strong pair of Bishops. Black returned the exchange in order to activate the pieces. White was still slightly better but he missed the right moment to push f2-f4 and black managed to liquidate to an equal Rook endgame.Kamsky Gata - Grischuk Alexander 1/2-1/2Kamsky was not in the mood to contest the theoretical lines of the King's Indian or Gruenfeld defence and instead opened with his pet London System.This is a quiet opening but it can turn to be very dangerous for black if he is not careful. This is exactly what happened in the game after Grischuk's 10...b6. Later in the press conference Sasha expressed dissatisfaction and said "I played the opening like a complete beginner."The annoying 11. e5 forced black to lose some time to regroup the pieces, while Kamsky amassed his forces on the kingside.The American champion obtained solid advantage and continued to impose threats around the black King. Grischuk urgently sought counterplay on the other side of the board. At one point, instead of delivering a deadly sacrifice on f7, Kamsky played the slower 27. f4, allowing black to complicate the matters with a nice tactical sequence. White was still somewhat better, bu

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013Hi everyone, The 7th Asian Dragons International Chess Tournament 2013 will be held in Taipei, Taiwan, from July 30 to August 6. The Asian Dragons Invitational Tournament was held for the first time in Kaohsiung in 2007 - being the first international chess event held by the Chinese Taipei Chess Association. The purpose of the tournament was to provide opportunity for developing players with ratings below 2200 to compete against players with similar strength, offering them a friendly yet competitive environment. With this purpose in mind, the tournament was played in round-robin format for the Open section and Under 16 section with players coming from the following countries: Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Korea and the host federation, Chinese Taipei. The chess tournament was quite a success and requests poured in for participation. Players have been invited from Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Singapore, and Korea. Starting from 2013, the organisers are opening the invitation to all federations. 1. TOURNAMENT1.1 Swiss System 9 rounds2. TOURNAMENT RULES2.1 System of PlayThe tournament is FIDE rated and will be conducted as per FIDE Laws of Chess. The tournament will be conducted as Swiss system of 9 rounds and will be played according to FIDE regulations.2.2 Time controlThe time control is 90 minutes for each player for the entire game with 30 seconds increment per move from move one.2.3 Tie-breakFIDE Tie-Break Regulations shall be applied. Details of Tie-Break will be announced during Technical Meeting. 2.4 Chief Arbiter shall make announcement accordingly before the start of the games. If a player is not present during the start of the games, he/she shall lose by default.3. ELIGIBILITY & PARTICIPATION3.1 Eligible to participate are all players with Fide rating 1600~2200 for Open Section; Fide rating under 2200 for Youth Under 16 Section. 3.2 The host federation has the right to accept unrated local players to a maximum of one fifth of the total players per section. 3.3 To maintain Asian Dragons original spirit, those invited federations have the rights to send some players without FIDE rating, yet the players shall have approximate strength of the required rating range.4. Registration and entry fee4.1 Participants must pay entry fee of 100 EUR.which includes luncheon, dinner, one banquet and hotel – airport transportation. 4.2 Players with FIDE rating more than 2000 (FIDE rating 2001~2200 according to official FIDE July 2013 rating list) will have entry fees waived and receive 10% discount on Taipei Hero House accommodation.4.3 Invited Federations are eligible to have entry fee waived for two (2) players per section and for one (1) official. 4.4 Deadline for Registration is June 30th 2013In order to provide appropriate tournament conditions, the Federations or players must complete carefully the official registration form and send it back to the organizing committee no later than June 30th, 2013. Organizers reserve the right to refuse or decline late registrations. 5. VenueThe tournament will be held at National Taiwan University which is located at the center of Taipei city. 6. ACCOMMODATION6.1 For invited federations, free boarding and lodging for 2 players per section and 1 official per federation are provided to stay in the official hotel (Taipei Hero House) on a triple room or double room basis from August 01 to August 08. Meals are provided from breakfast of July 30 to breakfast of August 06 2013. Single occupancy or spouse occupancy will not be covered by the host federation.6.2 All accompanying person (including invited federation) and extra player has to pay 35 EUR per day per person for shared triple room or 45 EUR for shared double room at the Taipei Hero House hotel. 6.3 Taipei Hero House hotel – an official 3-Star hotel. Find more details at the Fide website.From Alexandra Kosteniuk'swww.chessblog.comAlso see her personal blog atwww.ch

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There is a good case for filing this under "The Other Talent of..." in the Chess In Art Index. Except that we'd have to say "talents" plural. The subject of today's post has them in buckets, starting with her jazz singing; much acclaimed among those in the know. She is Nette Robinson, but I'm not sure if she has recorded a cover of the Simon and Garfunkel hit on any of her albums. It is not, for example, on the retrospective Remembered Time (a homage to jazz pianist Bill Evans) that she made with the doyen of British jazz, Michael Garrick.Mrs. Robinson and Mr. GarrickPic by Sisi Burn, from hereHmmm...A successful jazz vocalist who is also an aspiring chesser - Nette is a member of Richmond and Twickenham Chess Club - that's a vanishingly small demographic, unlikely to be found elsewhere, and certainly not in the suggestive compilation below, which is hardcore instrumental. Another cover version.As if chess-playing and jazz-singing were not enough to keep her busy, Nette has mixed and matched another of her multi-talents to make jazz art.Left: Coltrane by Nette Robinson. Right: Prestige and Blue Note Album covers As you can see above, Nette's celebrations of the jazz greats are reworkings of images, invariably of solo performers, memorable from album covers such as on the classic Blue Note label. Here her emphatic brushwork and simplified tonality animate Coltrane in soaring flight. It has something of the quality of the grainy footage of his performances in the 60s. You can sense the ecstatic ascension as he surfs the crescent of his favourite thing: a twenty minute solo ("I don't know how to finish," he complained; "Just take the horn out of your mouth" Miles Davis famously suggested). Nette's painted portrait isn't earth-bound either. It, too, breaks free from the bare facts of a photographic image, however artful the latter may be. Re-mix and now we get chess art. Before we continue: yes, that was Nette with an article in the April 2013 issue of Chess.Emanuel Lasker front cover design, based on a painting by Nette Robinson, based on a...If you can't find her in the ECF grading list, it may be because she is there under her married name of Woods (so apologies to Miss. Robinson, or Mrs. Woods, for the small liberty with the title at the top), and very much on the lower reaches of the chess learning curve, as she would be the first to admit. But she clearly knows enough already about the game for it to inform her chess art, her other talent, and the one that interests us in this post.Many readers of Chess were at the private view of her chess art exhibition in the Muse Gallery in London's Portobello Road ten days ago (and now closed), though your blogger had, unfortunately for him, to be elsewhere, embroiled, as Streatham and Brixton CC was, in a crucial London League relegation battle. But a visit to the show the next day provided a chance to see her chess art in the flesh - and there is no substitute for seeing the real thing, paint, brush-marks, actual size, and all.First, let's look at her photo-sourced images of chess players - all well-known. Some are straightforwardly in pencil, delicately done; and there is one of Gary Kasparov, painted Coltrane-style, although it didn't seem to me to be as successful for a chess great as a jazz legend. This style works best, IMHO, when it is called on to do energy, and for this image Gazza models dead-pan.Going a step further in the exploitation of flat tone (white, black and a grey or two), now in defined blocks with the painterly gestures suppressed, Nette has developed a simplified style that has surprising expressive power - less is more indeed - especially with a cropped, raking, assymetric composition; and the familiarity of the subjects does not get in the way, far from it.Mikhail TalThe one that appealed to me the most was of Tigran Petrosian, as recognisable for his hairline as Tal was for his stare. Deep in ThoughtBoth Tal and Tigran, caught in their solitary absorption,

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