CHESSgenie

Sydney placed 10th in 17th Asian Cities Chess

2011-05-03T23:34:00.002+10:00

Sydney placed 10th in 17th Asian Cities Chess

Sydney team catch up the tally board by adding two wins and two draws against Bagdad in the 9th and final round to finish 10th in the conclusion of the 17th Asian Cities Chess Team Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia on 29th April.

The 17th Asian Cities Team Chess Championship begun with 24 teams in Jakarta, Indonesia. The tournament runs from April 21-29 and was hosted by Indonesian Chess Federation (PERCASI). In the strong field are 18 Grandmasters, 2 WGMs, 11 IMs and 1 WIM. The tournament is a 9 round Swiss system. At stake is the Dubai Cup sponsored by the Dubai Sports Council and a total of $24,000 in cash prizes.

Top seed Shi Jiazhuang (China) won the overall title with 18 match points while Astana (Kazakhstan) nabbed 2nd place with 15 match points. Former champion Tehran (Iran) took solo 3rd with 13 match points. While 4 teams namely: Tagaytay(Philippines), Palembang(Indonesia), Jakarta(Indonesia) and Mashhad (Iran) notched a total of 11 match points each. The Tagaytay team eventually took 4th place after winning the tie break points against Palembang , Jakarta and Mashhad .

Sydney team consisting of IM Garry Lane(2366), FM Tim Reilly(2271), FM Lee Jones(2109) and FM Brian Jones(2045). Except for Tim Reilly, the Sydney team are all members of Rooty Hill RSL Chess Club.

View PGN games in Chesstheatre here:
7th Asian Cities Chess Team Championship

10th Dubai Open - Wesley seizes solo lead

2008-04-12T15:31:00.000+10:00

WINNING what could be his greatest game yet, 14-year-old GM Wesley So seized the solo lead with a perfect score of 5.0 points from five games at the 10th Dubai International Open in the United Arab Emirates Thursday.
The Bacoor Wonder Boy got out of well-known book lines on White’s side of the Sicilian Pelikan/Sveshnikov early on and stormed Black’s "Bastille" with all the firepower he could muster, sacrificing pieces in the process to strip the enemy king of its defenses.

When Black - Fide Master A.R. Saleh Salem of the UAE - resigned, checkmate was in the air.

GM So (2540) and FM Salem (2429) were the only ones with a perfect score of 4.0 points each entering the fifth round.

Wesley had earlier disposed of four rivals, including GM Levan Pantsulaia (2617) of Georgia in the third round and in the fourth world junior champion Ahmed Adly (2578) of Egypt, his nemesis in Yerevan, Armenia last year.

- Reported by Manny Benitez

Here are 4th and 5th GM So’s "Dubai Immortal" using Chessgenie game viewer:

Click here to view more games of 10th Dubai Open using Chesstheatre.

Report on the Australian Chess Championship 2008

2008-01-17T21:53:00.000+11:00

The Championship was won by Serbian GM Dejan Antic, now living in Australia and hoping for permanent residence. However, since this has not yet been granted, the title went to runner-up IM Steven Solomon of Queensland. Brazilian IM Herman Van Reimsdijk tied with Solo on 8 points, just half a point behind Antic.

One of the big performances came from young Max Illingworth who has worked quietly to improve his chess over the past few years and who just failed to secure his first IM norm in this. Among his victims were IM Gary Lane, FM Igor Goldenberg, and Tomek Rej. Max is a young man with a big future.

Gary would have been disappointed with his tournament. After sharing the
lead with 3/3 he slipped to 3.5/8 before securing a win and two draws in
his last three games.

The Major was a tie between Yongtae Kim of Korea and Sydneysider James
Watson. Still level after the two rapid games of their tie-break, James broke through in the two lightning games to take the trophy.

Rooty Hill was represented by Levi Descallar who finished 8-12, just 1.5
points behind the winner. He defeated two 2000+ players (Alex Mendes da Costa and Henk Jens) as well as Brian Press and Rooty Hill regular, Joshua Christensen. His only two losses were to Adrian Rose and Phil Viner.(Joshua himself finished with 4.5/11.

I was the only Rooty Hill player in the Minor and had a good start with 5/6 (losing to eventual winner Bob Liang). That left five of us with a share of the lead. After that the wheel fell off. I lost to former QCA president, Howard Duggan and drew my other games to finish two points (and too far) behind the winner.

One of my games was comical when I encountered the chess equivalent of the Sharapova Shriek. Playing with black, I won my opponent's c-pawn and there was a sharp intake of breath which was then exhaled angrily. That became the pattern each time I created problems in white's position. Then, when the game was over, the post mortem (which would have been audible six boards away) went something like, ?You lucky. You very lucky. If I do this you lose. Hundred percent!? And so on. I had to admit I'm a very lucky bloke. I'd been afraid that those angry exhalations were going to burst into flame and set fire to my beard.

Congratulations to Shane Burgess who organised a superb tournament at the last moment when it seemed likely that this year's championship may not have been played.

Charles Zworestine's excellent report is available on line. You can find it on the Live Games page of the official web site. Just click here
http://www.parramattachess.org/auschamps2008/livegames.html and select ?View Daily Reports? at the bottom of the page.

There are also many games from the tournament available on the Rooty Hill web page. Click here http://www.rootyhillchess.org/chesstheatre/AusCh08/CT_AusCh08.html

- by David Evans (17/01/2008)

Rooty Hill Open 2007

2007-08-09T06:58:00.000+10:00

Round 7 Pairing

Rd 2 results
No Name             Loc  Total  Result   Name             Loc  Total
 1 Brian A Jones    2098 [4.5]     :     Tony Bouchaaya   2181 [5.5]
 2 David W Dick     2042 [4.5]     :     Noel Mangrobang  1941 [5]
 3 Angelito Camer   2021 [4]       :     Leonardo Tenorio 1861 [4]
 4 Peter Cassettari 1834 [4]       :     Longjas Norman   1920 [4]
 5 Armen Ayvazyan   2241 [3.5]     :     Levi Descallar   1787 [3.5]
 6 John Yao         1739 [3.5]     :     Robert Ambalong  1839 [3.5]
 7 M Munir Anjum    1608 [3]       :     Ron W Kite       1747 [3]
 8 Muhamed Buza     1622 [3]       :     Rolando Gonzales 1458 [3]
 9 Hans P Muller    1854 [2.5]     :     Eddie Quesada    1388 [2.5]
10 Stevan Jovanovic 1636 [2.5]     :     Frank Barisic    1726 [2.5]
11 David A Evans    1597 [2.5]     :     Ken Macgillivray 1405 [2.5]
12 Michael Jansen   1298 [2]       :     David Van Look   1250 [1.5]
13 Peter Barreca    1545 [1]       :     Henry Rara       1620 [1.5]
14 Peter Watts      1139 [1]       :     Daniel Bell           [0]
15 Edis Franca      904  [1]       :     BYE

For crosstable result click HERE

Combination from WC Candidate Matches

2007-06-07T22:18:00.000+10:00

In Game1 of the second round of the World Championship Candidate Matches, Sergei Rublevsky had just played 31...Rf2, cornering white's King. Can you tell us how Alexander Grischuck turn the situation around by a briliant combination?

Alexander Grischuck - Sergei Rublevsky

You'll find the answer by viewing this game from the collection of World Championship Candidate Matches here rootyhillchess/chesstheatre

Enjoy...

Olympic Chess title a dream:Vishy

2007-06-04T16:16:00.000+10:00

From Chennai on Line, June 04, come Vishy Anand's thoughts on the improbability of chess being accepted as an Olympic sport any time soon:

QUOTE

New Delhi, Jun 2: Viswanathan Anand may have claimed every big honour in chess but he has no hope of winning an Olympic medal in his career.

World Number One and former World Champion Anand said it was a lengthy procedure for a sport to be included in the Olympic Games and at the moment he was content with the fact that the sport had been included in the Asian Games.

"I can say I have just a little over zero per cent hope of playing in the Olympics. It takes at least eight years from proposal to acceptance of a sport in the Olympics and I don't see its inclusion in the Games in near future," he said.

The Madrid-based player made light of the talks about the game being affected by changes made to suit Olympics.

"I think the time-control factor and double rounds in a day are possible. All those who are complaining about it now would agree when they would see the glory associated with it," he said.

"Earlier, rapid chess was also not accepted easily as people said it was bad for the game but today it's very well there," said Anand, known as 'lightning kid' in his early days.

Anand said his motivation and passion for the game had not diminished an iota since his childhood.

"You think about other alternatives if you do not have desire to play, but I still have burning desire. If sometimes it goes away it comes back in a month or two. I am still as passionate about it as I was in my earlier days. "The day I will start dreaming about doing something else it would mean I am not fit to or want to play chess with my full mind," he said.

Anand feels the advent of technology was changing the game of chess as it was important for players to keep up with fast-changing trends.
END QUOTE

That's less than half of the article. You can read the rest here

Two hours to execute a chess player

2007-05-27T22:04:00.000+10:00

Way back in one of the early Star Wars movies when C3PO was beating Chewbacca at chess he was warned of the danger of winning against something that could tear your arms off. It could have been worse: This week in Ohio a man was executed for killing his opponent in a chess game. The following report, dated May 26, comes from Novinite, the Bulgarian on-line news service.

The execution of a prisoner for killing a fellow cell mate over a chess game took two hours as his executioners struggled to find a vein in his arm for the lethal injections, reports said Friday.

Christopher Newton, 37, was said to have joked with prison workers and even had a toilet break, the Indianapolis Star reported.

The delay in carrying out the execution was the longest since Ohio reintroduced capital punishment in 1999, the report said.

"Yes, boy I could sure go for some beef stew and a chicken bone. That's it," Newton said in his final brief statement before he died at 11:53 am (1553 GMT) Thursday.

It is believed Newton's weight, at just over 102 kilograms, was a contributing factor in the difficulties in administering the death penalty. Executions normally take 20 minutes, the newspaper said.

Shabalov wins US Championships

2007-05-24T22:53:00.000+10:00

GM Alexander Shabalov defeated Sergey Kudrin in the final round to win a clear first in the Frank K Berry 2007 US Championships.

"In the last round game Sergey surprised me with 2...Nc6!, which totally killed all my preparation versus Dragon or 2...g6. But I couldn't remember a single game of his after 3.Bb5. Does it matter that I'm not playing it? No! So the resulting position was very much in the spirit of pet variation 1.e4 c5 2. Na3 and I did the grinding!"

Alexander Shabalov (born September 12, 1967) . He is of Latvian origin, and like his fellow Latvians Alexei Shirov and Mikhail Tal he is known for courting complications even at the cost of objective soundness. Currently, Alexander Shabalov regularly lectures chess players of all ages at the store that he runs in a Pittsburgh Pennsylvania mall.
He is the multiple winner of the US Championships.
winner in the following years 2007,2004,2003,2000(with Joel Benjamin/Yasser Seirawan) and 1993 (with Alex Yermolinsky)

You can view Games of US Champonship 07 here

Recluse Bobby still fighting his battles

2007-05-17T10:49:00.000+10:00

Bobby Fischer is in the news again and surprise! he still thinks somebody is out to take advantage of his good nature.

Andy Soltis, writing in the New York Post on May 13 has this to say:

QUOTE
May 13, 2007 -- CHESS IT'S been two years since Bobby Fischer last made headlines, when he won a battle of wills with Japan and was freed from prison to start a new life in Iceland.

But the reclusive Fischer, who turned 64 last month, hasn't gone underground again.

Last week "The RJF Campaign," an Icelandic organization representing him, complained that a policeman who protected Fischer during the 1972 world championship match and befriended him is helping to make an unauthorized documentary.
UNQUOTE

Here's a link to the rest of the article: http://www.nypost.com/seven/05132007/entertainment/recluse_bobby_still_fighting_his_battles_entertainment_andy_soltis.htm

(The links aren't working properly today. You could try clicking on the links tag at the foot of this post or simply by copying the URL to your browser.)

Wesley So youngest RP junior champion

2007-05-17T09:14:00.000+10:00

GM-CANDIDATE Wesley So made chess history by becoming the youngest-ever champion in the 2007 (Philippines) National Junior Chess Championship which came to a fitting end at the Marketplace Shopping Center in Mandaluyong City.

Wesley scored 8.5 points to finish a full point ahead of his nearest rival.

Read about this young player's latest accomplishments at the Journal Online by clicking this link: http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?issue=2007-05-11&sec=7&aid=17839

(If the link doesn't work copy and paste it into your browser to read the story.)

Club Rapid Championship

2007-05-17T06:20:00.000+10:00

The Rooty Hill rapid championship was abbreviated this year when Round 2 was interrupted by a fire alarm and the club had to be evacuated. As a result Round 2 was incomplete and Round 3 was never played.

Since six Round 2 games had been finished the others were all treated as draws and, after the second night's play, only five rounds were played instead of the usual six.

The winner and 2007 Rapid Champion was Tony Bouchaaya with 5/5 ahead of Rick Carballo on 4 with Hans Muller, Ron Kite and Peter Cassettari equal third on 3.5.

Chess with a punch...

2007-05-13T11:29:00.000+10:00

I haven't tried it myself, and I don't think I'm likely to in the near future, but Chess Boxing is growing in popularity. It started in Europe a few years ago and is trying to find a toehold in the USA. Here's a story by David Whitley from the Orlando Sentinal:

CHESS BOXING MAKES FOR STRANGE RINGFELLOWS -- Published May 12, 2007

Just when you think you've seen it all, the World Chess Boxing Association appears.

There it was last week on an ESPN report. Two guys were slugging it out like Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. The bell rang, they took off their gloves and a chess table was rushed into the ring. Suddenly they were Fischer and Spassky.

Whitley explains how the sport works then applies it to combinations of other sports and games.

It's a fun article and worth reading. You can find it here: www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/local/orl-whitley120

SIO on ChessBase

2007-05-04T05:53:00.000+10:00

There's an interesting report on the Sydney International Open on ChessBase with lots of touristy pix of Sydney and lots of player photographs. You can find it here: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3831

Fischer-Spassky BBC Documentary

2007-05-01T06:07:00.000+10:00

Following is an excerpt from Mark Weeks's About Chess newsletter for April 30:

The BBC documentary on the 1972 match between World Champion Boris Spassky and challenger Bobby Fischer has been available on the Web for some time. It features interviews with both Fischer and Spassky, plus other chess luminaries having inside knowledge of the match: Robert Byrne, Larry Evans, Nikolai Krogius, and many others.

If you haven't seen it, the full video is available on Google Video:Fischer vs Spassky Documentary (36:36).

Or you can see it split into four parts on YouTube:
Documentary Fischer vs Spassky: Part 1 (5:11), Part 2 (10:19), Part 3 (10:13), Part 4 (10:50).

Mark's article is available in full at http://chess.about.com/?r=94 where you may also subscribe to his newsletter. (It's a freebie.) And, just in case you're not familiar with the About site they have information, newsletters and forums on almost anything you can imagine.

Mate on the move? Cop this!

2007-04-30T09:07:00.000+10:00

Bill Cornwall's chess column in the South Florida Sun Sentinel yesterday is about the upcoming World Championship elimination matches at Elista. He writes:

Kamsky's Way:
Four weeks from now, 16 fearsome grandmaster challengers will face off in Elista, Russia, in a series of elimination matches leading toward the World Championship. American Gata Kamsky is one of them. Now 32, Siberian-born Kamsky is a former U.S. champion who first held the title as a teenager two years after moving to the United States. Four years later, he became the official, though unsuccessful, challenger of the great champion Anatoly Karpov. Then, he retired from chess for almost 10 years. In the last few years, he has returned with amazing success, becoming the highest-rated U.S. player and a candidate for the world title.

(You can read the column here: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/lifestyle/sfl-29achessapr29,0,4030245.story?coll=sfla-features-headlines).

The column ends with a game from Kamsky's clash with Kramnik in their World Championship Candidates Match played at New York in 1994. It was a game full of action and tactics and on move 31. Kramnik's queen was on h6 threatening mate on the move, supported by his pawn at f6. Neither the pawn, the queen, or the mating square could be threatened. It was all over.

Or was it?

Kamsky unleashed one of the most amazing cominations I've ever seen on a chess board and 11 moves later Kramnik resigned.

Regrettably the on-line story doesn't show the starting position but, with the magical intervention of Chess Genie you can play through the whole game here. Although Kramnik had his mate-in-one at move 31 the shenanigans started a few moves before that as Kamsky fought to stay in the game.

Play better chess -- by order!

2007-04-29T07:30:00.000+10:00

Do you remember the song Camelot?

A law was made a distant moon ago here:
July and August cannot be too hot.
And there's a legal limit to the snow here
In Camelot.
The winter is forbidden till December
And exits March the second on the dot.
By order, summer lingers through September
In Camelot.

Perhaps a law that gives us the weather we need, when we need it, must remain a fairytale but is it possible to pass a law to make us better chess players? Well, they think it might work in Azerbaijan!

The following article dated April 27 is from the Azerbaijan on-line journal, Today.az (http://www.today.az/news/society/40134.html) :

President Aliyev issues executive order to improve chess
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev issued an executive order on improving chess in the country.
According to the executive order, chess is one of the ancient games widely spread in Azerbaijan.
Taking into account potential in the sphere of chess and successes of our sportsmen in international competitions, the President commissioned related ministries to prepare draft state program on improving chess in Azerbaijan in 2008-2013.
Youth and Sport Ministry and Education Ministry along with local administrative bodies are to present the draft to the president within three months, taking into account proposals of Azerbaijan National Olympic Committee and Azerbaijan Chess Federation.

With John Howard struggling to regain his lost popularity before the November election this might be just the gimmick he needs to reverse his fortunes and snatch victory from the jaws of Labor: a law to compel Australians to play better chess.

Top computer programs clash in Elista

2007-04-25T11:23:00.000+10:00

From the Sofia News Agency (http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=79774)

Chess landmark Elista will see one of its most unusual matches in June when the world's two strongest chess playing programs will face each other.
Deep Junior and Deep Fritz will clash between June 6 and June 12, in a tournament sponsored by FIDE head, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. The unusual tournament still doesn't have a name, but the prize has already been set - USD 60,000 for the winner and USD 40,000 for the software that triumphs.
The whole clash will be played in six games of maximum length of 75 minutes. The computers will have 5 seconds per move and in case the score in the end is even, there will be a tie-break.
Deep Fritz managed to outsmart Vladimir Kramnik in 2006, the year in which he took Bulgarian Vesselin Topalov's world crown in Elista.

Smerdon wins, Rogers 3rd at Phuket

2007-04-24T05:50:00.000+10:00

The 7th Bangkok Chess Club Open, which was held from March 27th to April 1st, was squarely taken by up-and-coming Australian talent IM David Smerdon. Australian number one, GM Ian Rogers, was outdone by countryman, who won clear at 7.5 points from 9. The tournament was held in the sunny getaway that is Phuket Island in Thailand, and for some this made all the difference.

The pic from ChessBase shows GM Ian Rogers taking on a Thai junior.

Read the Chessbase story here: http://www.chessbase.com/

The SIO in Cyrillic

2007-04-24T05:39:00.000+10:00

There's an interesting, personal article about Timoshenko's win on "Marichka's" blog here: http://marichka2.multiply.com/journal/item/18

It's in Cyrillic but don't let that stop you reading it. For the benefit of we uneducated types the story is repeated lower down the page in English. There are also some photographs.

Doeberl Cup - SIO Double

2007-04-24T05:18:00.000+10:00

The chess equivalent of horse racing's Caulfield - Melbourne Cup double is the Doeberl Cup -SIO. Running them contiguously was a brilliant idea that has benefited both tournaments and ideas are already afoot for making next year's events even better.

For instance, although both tournaments are FIDE rated, only at the SIO is it possible to get a title norm. It's possible that the Doeberl next year will be extended to nine rounds so that our top players will get two chances for a norm instead of just one.

Sean Press who has an ear to the ground in ACT chess made some interesting comments in his blog about how it might be done. Click this link to see what he has to say: http://chessexpress.blogspot.com/2007/04/doeberl-cup-sio-future-observations.html

Dancing, Chess and Laughter

2007-04-21T14:55:00.000+10:00

A few days ago I had the opportunity to see the Imperial Russian Dance Company's Flying Tsars at Panthers. This is a troupe that has everything -- fabulous costumes, brilliant colours, traditional music, dancers so agile and daring that you wonder what the attrition rate must be in each performance, and, oh yeah, comedy. In between the periods when the audience was totally spellbound by the dancers there was lots of laughter.

In a way it reminded me of my final game in the SIO. My opponent, we'll call him Mr Anonymous, was forty minutes late which left him fifty minutes plus thirty seconds a move to complete his game. He's a strong, resourceful player and that shouldn't have been insurmountable for him but he apparently decided to throw me off stride by adopting an outrageous opening. That's where the comedy came in. After his fourth move I burst out laughing. I thought, "This guy's having a lend of me."

Who knows? Had we been playing lightning it might have worked but I wasn't the one who was short of time.

As chess games go it isn't much to look at, but it's shown here just for the first four moves:

WSCP U1900 report

2007-04-20T15:07:00.000+10:00

The following report was received from Leo Tenorio:

Result of U1900 games last night vs. Parramatta at Parramatta.
Rooty Hill won 2.5 -1.5
Parramatta U/1900 vs. Rooty Hill /1900
1. Arthur Hyunh 1879 0 - 1 Noel Mangrobang 1941
2. Andrew Furst 1773 .5 - .5 Leonardo Tenorio 1861
3. Kaushek Saksena 1743 0 - 1 Levi Descallar 1787
4. Chris Brown 1671 1 - 0 Frank Barisic 1726

The game was delayed due to the non availability of the chess sets and
clocks which were used in the recently concluded SIO. But after more than
15 minutes chessboards and clocks arrived. The host club was penalised for
15 minutes. But after this incident, the game went on smoothly.

On board 1, Noel was his usual self. His defensive and attacking style
were very much solid. His intention to win was very much evident. He
battled toe to toe with Arthur. After a fierce exchange of pieces, Noel
held the advantage. He then again forced his opponent to exhange the major
pieces. In the end game Noel had a rook and a pawn while Arthur had a rook
only. Noel's pawn was unstoppable for promotion. Arthur raised the white
flag later.

On board 2, I have a two pawn advantage unopposed on the queenside. On
20th moves, Andrew was in extreme time pressure. He needs to make another
20 moves over 6 minutes while I still got 27 minutes. No doubt, I was
already winning. However, my rapid playing nearly cost me the game. I
blundered in 2 consecutive moves which Andrew took advantage of it. He
then blitz his moves and was able to make the first time control. He
escape with a draw.

On board 3, After I was ahead of pawns, I stood up and went to the table
of Levi and Frank. Levi was quality up (2 rooks against Saushek's 1 rook &
knight). He was also pawn ahead. There was no way the Levi would give him
any chance of equalising. A little later his opponent gave up. After this
game Levi is our current best player with 4 wins 1 loss.

On board 4, Frank was also a quality up against Chris, but Frank couldn't
convert his advantage. After a couple of moves Chris equalises and seized
the advantage. In the endgame there was still time for Frank to forge a
losing game to a draw but luck wasn't on his side. His last move was a big
blunder. He was gone! To this point Frank is running a series of bad luck!
But I'm positive that he will comeback. He save us once, he might do it
again.

After our big win with Parramatta, we now have a very good chance of
wrapping up the Premiership when we play the Mounties in the last round at
home on the 30th April 2007. No matter what happens there we can have our
heads held up high for being the only team in our division with only 4
players committed to playing all the way.

Chess at Casa Descallar

2007-04-16T09:21:00.000+10:00

The following report was received from Pinoy chess master, Marlon Bernadino. It's an account of the "invitational" chess tournament held at Levi's home following the SIO. (Marlon is the man who defeated GM Sergei Shipov on Saturday morning.)

The Levi Invitational:
Filipino and United States Chess Master Almario Marlon Bernardino Jr. emerged over-all champion in the 10-man invitational blitz chess tournament here at the Descallar house in Plumpton last Sunday.

Bernardino who holds an Elo Fide rating of 2146 edged out fellow national master Homer Cunanan, 1.5-0.5, in the finals of the double round robin format, enroute to the title which was hosted by the Descallar family.

Bernardino, a chess and billiard reporter back home in Manila finished with 14.5 points, 1.5 points ahead with runner-up FM Jesse Noel Sales, the 2005 Australian Masters Open champion, with 13.0 points.

In third place was Ed Agulto with 12.5 points followed by NM Cunanan with 11.5 points.

Other players who participated were Levi Descallar, brother Jonathan and Jesson Montenegro, Francis Picart , Benny Galvez and Ronald Manila, a former Philippine kiddie champion. Ronald works here with a Filipino language radio program.

The SIO
Bernardino was also adjudged over-all top Filipino finisher (on tie break) with 5.5 points in the inaugural Sydney International Open Chess Championship, the feature event of the Parramata Chess Festival. The tournament was won by third seed, Ukrainian GM Georgy Timoshenko (2566) late on Saturday.

On the other hand, Bernardino, who caught the attention of the audience in the penultimate round by beating top seed, GM Sergei Shipov (Russia, 2592), to finish in 33rd place. He failed to earn his first possible IM norm after losing his final round match against FM Igor Bjelobrk (NSW, 2386) after a marathon 50 move Reti Opening.

Easter Cup
The Descallar win was Bernardino's second in his Sydney international chess campaign. Immediately preceding the SIO the Cabravale Digger’s Chess Club hosted it's annual Sydney Easter Chess Cup dubbed as lightning chess or much popular blitz chess game in Cabramatta and Canley Valle RSL here. He finished with an impressive 10/11 points to take the title.

The last time Bernardino saw action in oversees chess tournament was when he finished runner-up to eventual champion Hilton Bennett of New Zealand in the 2006 Palau International in Koror, Palau.

Bernardino was awarded the Filipino NM title when he finished in the top 10 of 1998 RP elimination round in SSS, Quezon City. He earned his elusive US CM title in the 1998 National Chess Congress in Philadelphia.

Sydney International Open

2007-04-15T22:19:00.000+10:00

Those players who attended the Sydney International Open last week expecting atmosphere and excitement were not disappointed. The high-powered field comprised 143 players of whom 72 were rated above 2000.

It was a long week, with play over five days extending from Tuesday to Saturday, and many players were feeling the strain by the final round. (I saw one man doze off during the game as he waited for his opponent to move.) The weariness must have been even more acute for the many players who were doubling up after spending the previous four days at the Doeberl Cup in Canberra.

There were many upsets during the tournament and top seed GM Sergei Shipov would have been disappointed with his performance. He drew with Sam Chow (Victoria, 2220) in round 2, lost to Manthan Chokri (India, 2168) in 4, drew with Hilton Bennett (NZ, 2134) in 5, drew with Ilia Zvedeniouk (NSW, 2121) in 6, and lost to Pinoy Almario Bernardino (Philippines, 2146) in 8.

But there were others who might have hoped for better things. IM David Smerdon finished only a point off the lead but it wasn’t enough to secure his third GM norm; and Magic Moulthun—that’s Moulthun Ly of Queensland—was half a point further away and probably missed his third IM norm.

It seems likely that Gareth Oliver (ACT, 2110) was the only player to get a norm (IM) while Tomek Rej (NSW, 2260) missed out by only half a point.

The last round was full of drama. Georgy Timoshenko led after round 8 but drew his last game with Victor Mikhalevski while Dejan Antic defeated Murray Chandler to snatch a share of the lead. The Australian GMs, Darryl Johansen and Ian Rogers, both had six points starting the round but Johansen won and got a share of 3-6. He was joined by Victor Mikhalevski, Zong-Yuan Zhao, and Rooty Hill club member, IM Gary Lane. Gary lost only two games—to GM Ian Rogers and Marc Repplinger (Germany, 2239)—and won his other seven to finish half a point from the winner.

Other Rooty Hill players were Leo (“the Terminator”) Tenorio (4.5), Levi Descallar (4), David Evans (3.5) and Carrie Evans (3).

Joshua Christensen who holds dual membership of the Parramatta and Rooty Hill clubs deserves a special mention. He finished with the rather ordinary score of 3.5 but that score is no indication of his play. In Round 1 he tangoed Arianne Caoili (2153) to a draw, followed that by defeating India's Kumar Saha Uttam (2016) then whupped Domagoj Dragicevic (2196). That put him up on the stage for Round 4 where he lost to NZ FM Robert Smith (2294), lost again to Vladimir Smirnov (2319) in Round 5, and again to Richard Voon (1886) in Round 6. In Round 7 he drew with Oleg Korenevski (1879) lost to Parramatta club-mate Arthur Huynh (1879) in Round 8, and finished the comp by drawing with David Lovejoy (2003). So only 3.5 points but against a remarkably strong field. It's worth can be seen in his tournament performance rating of 2011. Not bad for somebody with an Oz rating of 1605. Not bad at all!

Outside the Parramatta Town hall activities included simuls by IM Leonid Sandler, individual tables for casual play, and a giant chess set. Leonid also gave a series of lectures during the event.

Leading scores after nine rounds were:
Equal 1st: Georgy Timoshenko and Dejan Antic – 7.5/9.
3-6: Victor Mikhalevski, Zong-Yuan Zhao, Darryl Johansen, Gary Lane.
7-14: Ian Rogers, Tejas Bakre, George Xie, Carlos Matamoros Franco, David Smerdon,
Stephen Solomon, Igor Bjelobrk, Igor Goldenberg.
The top placed woman in the event was Spain’s Paloma Gutierrez Castillo with 6 points.

We understand that plans are already under way for the event to be held again next year. Put it in your calendar and try to be there. This tournament shouldn’t be missed.

The photograph on this page is courtesy of Amiel Rosario (The Closet Grandmaster). He took many photographos at the tournament including one of Leo Tenorio playing Kiwi IM Paul Garbett. You can view them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/closetgrandmaster/sets/72157600061085122/

You'll find SIO7 archive games at:

http://www.rootyhillchess.org/sio7.html

Oz players take Doeberl

2007-04-09T16:38:00.000+10:00

Benefiting from the SIO commencing at Parramatta tomorrow, the Doeberl Cup was able to attract 8 GMs for the first time in the tournament's history. The results spoke well for the strength of Oz chess: GM Ian Rogers, with 6/7, finished ahead of a triumvirate of Australian IMs Stephen Solomon, David Smerdon and Gary Lane, all on 5.5.
Behind them on 5 points were GMs Mikhalevski, Matamoros Franco, Antic, and Shipov who shared 5-12 place with Sales, Toth, Stojic, and the improving ACT junior, Junta Ikeda who counted three GMs among his opponents and managed a win, a loss and a draw against them.

The Major was won by Adrian de Noskowski of the ACT with 6.5/7 ahead of Sherab Guo-Yuthok and Richard Voon. Rooty Hill's Joshua Christensen scored a creditable 4/7. He won the Minor here last year.

The Minor went to Jonathan Shen also with 6.5/7 just half a point clear of Campbelltown Chess Nut Trent Parker.

There were some interesting performance ratings in the Doeberl. Jonathan Paxman, posting on Chess Chat Forum, gives these figures:
"Solo performance rating: 2690. Smerdon: 2595, worth another 10 rating points or so - probably only 15 points or so away from the magic 2500 now. Ikeda: 2519! And not least, of course Rogers 2716." (See the whole thread here: http://chesschat.org/showthread.php?t=5688&page=6)

For full Doeberl Cup details, results and cross tables, visit Ian Rout's web page here: http://www.netspeed.com.au

Gary Lane, Sass and the SIO

2007-04-05T19:02:00.000+10:00

The following article appeared in Sass magazine this week:

Gary Lane International Master (chess player) and author
My brother taught me to play chess when I was about eight and I haven’t stopped since.
These days it doesn’t take young kids very long to become great at it because they can play all sorts of people 24 hours on the net.

Chess is like tennis, you play circuits around the world – competing against the top players from each country. I’ve played exhibition matches with world champion Gary Kasparov but my proudest moment was winning the Australian Championship in 2004.
Playing a chess game is a bit like sitting for a school exam. You do a bit of background reading to prepare and try to remain composed. The game is quite psychological because you need to look at people’s expressions. You’ll find that many poker professionals are ex-chess players.
Some people try to cheat because there’s a lot of money involved if you win. There was one Indian guy banned for 10 years for taking a portable computer into the competition with him. He was a moderate player and people started wondering why he was beating chess legends all of a sudden!
I’ll be coming to Parramatta to play in the Sydney International Open Chess Tournament at Parramatta Town Hall from April 10–14. It’s a premier event, the biggest in Australia, and it will attract a lot of international chess players.

You can see this article, together with a photograph of Gary holding a giant chess piece, at http://www.sassmagazine.com.au/people.php

Anand is world No.1

2007-04-04T08:20:00.000+10:00

New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) India's Viswanathan Anand was formally crowned world No. 1 Monday when the world chess governing body corrected its mistake and gave the pride of place to the grandmaster.
Anand, with 2,786 rating points, becomes numero uno following his triumph at the Morelia-Linares tournament in Spain last month - the last tournament taken into calculation for determining the rankings.
The 37-year-old Indian thus displaces Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria from the top. Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik are now joint second with 2,772 points, though the Bulgarian has been given the second spot.
The Indian's elevation marks the first time in a decade that Anand, who has been among the world's top three players for 15 years, had officially been named No. 1. He won the World Championships in 2000 but then Russian Garry Kasparov was the world No. 1.

This report comes from andhracafe.com. You can read the full article here: http://www.andhracafe.com/index.php?m=show&id=21098

Sydney International Open

2007-04-03T10:46:00.000+10:00

With just seven days to go before the SIO lifts Australian chess another notch up the world ladder, the excitement is already building.

The 152 entries include 9 GMs, 10 IMs, 6 FMs and a swag of Rooty Hill members.

GM Rogelio Antonio Jr of the Philippines had entered but his flight is unconfirmed and it is assumed that he will not be attending. Of the nine remaining GMs all except Murray Chandler will play in the Doeberl Cup at Canberra over Easter.

While I was away there was a flood of entries at the lower end of the rating spectrum but the standard remains very high indeed with the average rating being 2142. There are a number of overseas players who have neither FIDE nor ACF rating but who are likely to be quite highly rated according to the systems in place in their own countries. They'll be given a provisional rating before the tournament starts based on their performances at home, and that's likely to lift the mean rating even higher.

Among the later entries is media favourite, and Dancing with the Stars finalist, Arianne Caoili. She hopes to keep a low profile during the event but is bound to attract media attention.

It's too late to enter the SIO if you haven't already done so but if you have any time to spare during the event (it runs from April 10-14) why not pop in to see what's happening and share in the excitement.

Even if you can't join in the tournament at this late stage you'll be able to play at one of the tables set up in the Parramatta Mall outside the town hall, or on the giant chess set by the fountain.

Click here to view the list of entrants: http://www.chessaustralia.com.au/open/index.cfm?p=section&a=Entries

During the event the results can be viewed here: http://www.chessaustralia.com.au/open/index.cfm?p=section&a=Results

Mea culpa

2007-04-03T10:30:00.000+10:00

The blog has gone to pot over the past couple of weeks and it's all my fault. I've been on holidays in a world of sun and sand.

Tiona is located 20 kms south of Forster on a strip of sand about 500 metres wide between Wallis Lake and the Pacific Ocean. There are no shops, no houses, no internet cafe and no mobile phone service. It's perfect!

My apologies for not advising that the blog would be unattended, but now I'm home it will slowly pick up again.

But don't expect much until mid-April. I'll be spending next week at the Sydney International Open.

More fun than chess?

2007-03-15T14:41:00.000+11:00

This story comes from the Melbourne Herald Sun, who attributed it to The Australian, who picked it up from The Times.

Obviously, like Gormallygate, it's going to circumnavigate the world a few more times before it drops out of orbit.

* * *

Young chess prodigy runs away, lives with stripper
by Tom Hennigan in Sao Paulo

A CHESS prodigy who ran away and hooked an exotic dancer almost twice his age has returned home to a hero's welcome after a teenage adventure that took him to Brazil's hotspots.

It all began when Emilio Cordova, a 15-year-old international master from Peru, was crowned South American chess champion in January after winning a tournament in the Argentine city of Cordoba.

Instead of returning to Lima, he told relatives he was heading to Brazil to compete in tournaments there in a push to reach the rank of international grandmaster.

But far from focusing on his grandmaster dreams, Emilio quickly became caught up in Sao Paulo's pulsating and sleazy nightlife. He formed a relationship with a single Brazilian mother, Adriane Oliveira, 29, dubbed the "Bella Brasileira" by the Peruvian media, with whom he soon fell in love.

Ms Oliveira works in Love Story, a hot city club where young Emilio took to spending his nights dancing.

To fund his Brazilian sojourn, he told his family he had fallen ill and needed them to wire out money to pay for medical expenses.

He even sold his laptop computer, which contained all his chess notes and training programs.

* * *

You can read the rest of this young man's epic journey from childhood to adulthood (since the lady was unmarried it can scarcely be called adultery!) here: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21385658-663,00.html

Wesley So wins Asian teams gold medal

2007-03-14T14:18:00.000+11:00

The Pavlodar (KAZ) team won the Asian Cities Team Championship for the Dubai Cup, bringing yet another honour for Wesley So. The young Pinoy master has won the gold medal for Board 3, finishing ahead of GM Petr Kostenko to take the award.

Wesley's team mate, GM Rogelio Antonio Jr, who will be in Australia next month for the Sydney International Open, took the silver on Board 2.

Asian Chess Federation president Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan approved the request of all team captains to institute a new award of medals for best performance rating on individual boards. The system takes into account the strength of the opposition unlike the traditional system of percentage score.

Please note: the ratings shown for each player are RP ratings, not FIDE.

Board 1

Gold GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan Saipa 2643

Silver GM Zhou Jianchao Shanghai 2536

Bronze GM Kotsur Pavel Pavlodar 2475

Board 2

Gold GM Vladimirov Evgeny Pavlodar 2809

Silver GM Antonio Rogelio Jr Tagaytay 2553

Bronze FM Darban Morteza Tidewater 2469

Board 3

Gold IM So Wesley Tagaytay 2623

Silver GM Kostenko Petr Pavlodar 2578

Bronze IM Ghane Shojaat Rahahan 2446

Board 4

Gold IM Rinat Jumabeav Pavlodar 2570

Silver IM Dimakiling Oliver Tagaytay 2529

Bronze IM Mallahi Amir Saipa 2413

Board 5

Gold IM Ismagambetov An Pavlodar 2584

Black and white chess

2007-03-12T16:31:00.000+11:00

"This game was supposed to be over a half-hour go," Peterbark exclaims, sighing loudly. "Can I get you to consider making this move sometime today? How about just sometime this side of eternity?"

It sounds like a quote from the park scene in Searching for Bobby Fischer but it's normal kibitzing at the Forestville Chess Club's weekly binge.

Under the title, Kings of a Different Game, Washington Post published the following story on March 11.

QUOTE
It's 9 o'clock on a Friday night at a Starbucks in Forestville, and Robb Peterbark is glaring across the chessboard at his opponent.

"You better take Barbaro while you got the chance. If not, he's gonna get you," Peterbark snarls, referring to a knight he has named after the Kentucky Derby winner.

Across the board, Dwight Dawson frowns as he contemplates his next move.

"This game was supposed to be over a half-hour go," Peterbark exclaims, sighing loudly. "Can I get you to consider making this move sometime today? How about just sometime this side of eternity?"

Dawson snatches up the knight. Peterbark grabs his chest.

"You took Barbaro!" he said. "That's all right! Secretariat is still gonna get you!"

It's three hours into the Forestville Chess Club's weekly chess binge that starts every Friday afternoon at Starbucks, then moves down the block to the International House of Pancakes, where players compete until sunup. It picks up the next afternoon at Borders bookstore in Largo, often followed by hours playing at one another's homes.
END QUOTE

It's an entertaining article. Read it at the Washington Post, here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/10/AR2007031001383.html

It could happen to anybody

2007-03-10T16:39:00.000+11:00

First there was his remarkable victory at San Luis, 2005, during which cheating allegations were made after he scored 6.5 from his first seven games; then came the infamous squabble with Kramnik that will be forever remembered as Dunnygate; now he's been frisked by the Spanish police. We can only hope that the cheating allegations can be laid to rest as easily as Topalov's brush with the law.

The following article appeared in the Sofia Weekly, March 09. View the original story here: http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=77684

Spanish Police Search Car of Bulgaria's Chess
King
Police in Spain's Linares have searched the car of world
chess king Vesselin Topalov, who is in the town for the annual chess
tournament.
Topalov's 14-year-old Volkswagen Polo was searched for bombs and drugs
shortly after he completed a round of demonstrative games in the town's central
street.
Nothing turned up during the check and Topalov was free to go back to
his hotel.

We understand that Topalov now lives in Spain.

Chess originated in India's Uttar Pradesh

2007-03-09T09:40:00.000+11:00

The following article appeared in the Times of India on March 9.
The author was Akhilesh Kumar Singh

LUCKNOW: It's like a Taj-like glory for Uttar Pradesh. A group of German Indologists has claimed to have resolved the controversy over the origin of chess in favour of Kannauj, a township about 75 km from Kanpur in the state.

Different countries, at some point in time, have been associated with the game's invention including India, China, Persia (Iran), Egypt, Assyria, Arabia, Greece, Ireland and Uzbekistan. Many countries claim to have invented chess in some incipient form.

But the Indologists' group has almost come to the conclusion that chess originated in Kannauj when it was the capital of Maukhari kingdom in the 6th century. The Maukhari ruler Sharva Varman had gifted the game of 'chaturanga' to his contemporary Persian ruler Khushrau-II in lieu of saltpetre (a variety of gunpowder).

"According to the research done by us so far, we have reached the conclusion that 'chaturanga' was the initial form of chess," German researcher Manfred A J Eder told TOI.

Read the rest of this interesting article at the Times of India web site here: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chess_originated_from_UP/

Of course, there is bound to be dissent and regular visitors to the Rooty Hill web page will realise that chess really originated in Scandinavia when the world was young. You can read about it here: http://www.rootyhillchess.org/xmas06.html

City of Sydney Championship

2007-03-05T14:48:00.000+11:00

The City of Sydney Championship was held at Norths over the past two weekends.

The Open was shared by Ronald Yu and Dariusz Swiercz on 4.5/7. (Ronald gets the title as Dariusz is not residentially qualified,)

The U1700 was shared by Herman Rachmadi and David Evans, also on 4.5/7.

The Lightning was won clearly by Jason Hu on 10 points ahead of Ronald Yu on 8, then Max Illingworth and Dariusz Swiercz on 7.5.

Report and cross tables on the Rooty Hill web page: http://www.rootyhillchess.org/cos07.html

Chess videos, Mark Weeks, and "About Chess"

2007-03-05T08:34:00.000+11:00

Every Monday morning I get a copy of Mark Weeks's "About Chess" newsletter. It's part of the excellent "About" network that produces newsletters, forums and information on just about any subject you can name. It's worth a visit, and it's all free. If you subscribe you'll receive Mark's interesting and informative email in your box every Monday morning. That's Monday Oz-time, of course. It's still yesterday in the rest of the world!) You can find this week's (no pun intended chess column here: http://chess.about.com/b/a/257390.htm?nl=1.

This week Mark provides a link to chess videos on the Internet. If you click on this You-Tube link you'll be able to access them: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=chess&search=Search.

Go west, young man!

2007-03-04T07:20:00.000+11:00

Not sure how he'd react to the "young man" tag but NSWCA and ACF treasurer Norm Greenwood has gone west.

Now I don't mean that in WW2 slang to mean he has departed this mortal coil; rather, he departed his home at Hornsby and is now living at Bullaburra on the beautiful Blue Mountains.

We think that's a wonderfully up-market move, Norm, and we hope you'll be very happy there. We'd like to think you'll change your chess allegience with the change of territory and join us at Rooty Hill but alas! that's not to be. Norm said yesterday that he's still going to play at his two old clubs, North Sydney and Manly.

Not only that, he's going to travel there by public transport.

Good luck with that one, Norm. There are a few things about the Blue Mountains train service you have yet to discover!

FIDE President's World Championship Decision

2007-03-03T06:48:00.000+11:00

The world championship is to a return to a more traditional match between a champion and a challenger, replacing the present system of awarding the title to the winner of a "world championship" tournament. But the method of selecting a challenger will not be determined, as in the past, by a series of candidates' elimination matches.

FIDE president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, has released the following statement:

Moscow, 1 March 2007Dear Chess Friends,Following the decision of the Presidential Board at its meeting in Antalya, I was tasked to take a decision on the World Chess Championship cycle and the World Chess Cup.

After a thorough examination of the responses from the top Grandmasters and ACP and based on my consultations with national federations and various representatives of the chess public, I have resolved as follows:1. In respect of the World Championship Cycle, to approve Proposal A (shown below).

The proposal is very simple and seems to me to be easier to explain to sponsors, the mass media and chess lovers throughout the world. This proposal gives more prestige to the World Cup and its winner. Choosing this proposal, we are going to continue the long tradition of chess championship matches,, established in 1886.

I am sure that everyone will like the clash of different styles, characters and approach to chess during these matches. 2. In respect of the World Chess Cup: 126 participants. First stage – 14 groups, 9 players each. Second stage: 14 group winners + 4 best of those who came second in the groups. At the second stage 18 players are divided into 2 groups, 9 players each. The group winners play a match of 4 games. The duration of the tournament is 26 days.

Taking into consideration the experience of other sport Federations and the opinions in favour of the tournament of 8 players, I am proposing hereby to organize “FIDE Masters` Cup” in November and /or December of each even year for the first 6 players according to the rating list (Double Round Robin system), with the minimum prize fund of 500,000 (five hundred thousand) USD.

Gens Una Sumus,
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
President

Proposal A
The proposal is to terminate the World Championship Tournament and keep the World Cup as a Candidates tournament to find a challenger for a World Championship match.

So in every odd year there will be only the World Cup (2007, 2009, 2011, etc.) and the respective winner will play every next year (2008, 2010, 2012, etc.) a match against the World Champion.

The chronological breakdown:
a1. 2008: The winner from WCCT 2007 in Mexico plays a World Championship match against the previous World Champion. If Kramnik does not win the WCCT 2007, then Kramnik can challenge the winner of Mexico in the first part of 2008. If Kramnik wins in Mexico, then the right to challenge goes to the previous World Champion, ie Topalov.
a2. 2009: The winner of the "a1" match plays a World Championship match against the winner of the 2007 World Cup which will be held in Khanty-Mansiysk.
a3. 2010: The World Champion (winner of "a2") plays a World Championship match against the winner of the 2009 World Cup,
a4. 2012: The World Champion (winner of "a3") plays a World Championship match against the winner of the 2011 World Cup,a5. 2014: The World Champion (winner of "a4") plays a World Championship match against the winner of the 2013 World Cup,
and so on.

The full proposal is available from FIDE at http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1277

Davao chess gets a push

2007-02-28T11:07:00.000+11:00

From: Sun Star Davao Feb 28

CHADRIC Builders & Construction Supply is making the right move. With its owner, Engineer Enrico M. Vanta, at the helm and manning the top board, the company is giving Davao City chess a big boost through its active support in organizing events and bankrolling chess teams. And if this is a chess game, Chadric is just making the opening moves. It's still not yet in the middle game and definitely far from the endgame.

If you're interested in Chess in RP this is quite a lengthy article about Enrico Vanta and his chess sponsorship program. You can read it here: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/

City of Sydney Championships

2007-02-26T10:35:00.000+11:00

This year's City of Sydney format, four games played over two consecutive weekends, has failed to solve the problem of falling attendances. Played at North Sydney, a popular venue, only 21 players (including three overseas visitors) turned out for the main event, and 20 for the Under 1700 section.

Leading the Championship after four rounds is Polish junior Darek Swiercz who visited Rooty Hill last week for the WSCP Lightning tournament. On 3.5/4 he is just half a point ahead of Tomek Rej, NSW Champ Greg Canfell, Ronald Yu and Jason Hu. He is yet to play Tomek and Greg, the only two players rated ahead of him.

Also in the event are Rooty Hill players Joshua Christensen and Carrie Evans. Both are eligible for the U1700. Joshua managed a draw against Anthony Lo and Carrie has yet to score, although her first-round loss to German visitor, Sebastian Hermann, was a 74-move marathon. She resigned two pawns down in a bishop ending.

The U1700 has three joint leaders after the first weekend. They are Herman Rachmadi, Trent Parker and David Evans, all on 3.5/4. They are just ahead of Horst Bleicher, Mary Wilkie and Kinto Wan on 3.

Kinto is somebody worth watching—he's likely to make his mark. Rated on 847 he is undefeated so far. He beat the very experienced Horst Bleicher and Michael Tracey and drew with Phil Willis and myself. He's probably the smallest, youngest boy in the competition and it won't be surprising to see his rating take an enormous leap in the next list.

Standings for both events are available on the Rooty Hill web page here: http://www.rootyhillchess.org/cos07.html

Chess magic inspired by Harry Potter

2007-02-24T21:09:00.000+11:00

The following item appeared in the Sheffield Star http://www.sheffieldtoday.net/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=2071129&SectionID=58

A CHESS competition with a magical twist will be taking place soon.

Chess Wizards of the North wants junior players to compete in the historical setting of the University of York St John while dressed as wizards.

The idea for the contest was conjured up by Chesterfield man David Bentley, who was inspired by the huge popularity of the new Harry Potter chess magazine. Over 47 issues readers can collect a complete Harry Potter chess set while learning how to play the classic game.

Mr Bentley’s interest in chess was sparked by his daughter Emma who, at 10 years old, is the All England Girls Eastern Region Chess Champion. He said: “It is a very different event with the unique theme set in a beautiful university. And it is the first of its kind in the UK that we know of.”

The event takes place on Sunday March 11 in the Temple Room of the University of York St John.Entry fees are £5 for juniors and £10 for seniors.For information visit www.chesswizard.co.uk, or contact Mr Bentley on 01246 221016.

US Marine chess team for Australia?

2007-02-23T13:53:00.000+11:00

From the U.S. Marine Corps Times, February 22: Corps seeks chess players for teams

The Corps announced today it’s looking for chess players to represent it in competitions worldwide. Corps-wide messages detailed the criteria for leathernecks to join the 2007 All-Marine Chess teams. Chess players vying for one of six spots on the All-Marine team have until April 16 to apply. Applicants must be registered with the United States Chess Federation, the message says.

We're not sure if the USMC Chess Team will be visiting Australia, but the cycling team, which was also recruiting in the same article will be coming:

Cyclists licensed by USA Cycling have until March 13 to apply for a spot on the Armed Forces Cycling Team; its international competition schedule begins in April in Australia. According to MarAdmin 119/07, cyclists will be selected based on their performance and teamwork

Maybe we could get the Marines to visit for the Sydney International Open in April.
But whether or not they visit these shores, it may result in a whole new verse for the Marine's Hymn:

They may play a Marshall Gambit
Or defend with the K.I.D;
They'll fight their country's chess gamesAt home or across the sea.
And they'll use no guns or bayonetsBut to keep their honour clean,
They'll need to win a lot of games
The United States Marines.

Polska, Poland -- what's in a name?

2007-02-20T10:13:00.000+11:00

I had a phone call during the week to ask if a 13 year old Polish visitor could play in the WSCP lightning tournament.

"Sure," I said. "Can he play five minute chess?"

"He can play two minute chess!" So he came.

That's him on the right wearing a hat labelled Poland and looking innocent.

I didn't realise who he was when I arrived, in spite of the phone call. He was just a little kid setting up the tables and pieces.

His name is Dariusz (call him Darek) Swiercz and I was fascinated to watch the ease of the demolition job he did on some of the top players -- including a number of 2000+ rated visitors. His only loss was to Jason Hu.

It's not surprising if you know his background. He's the top player in Poland for his age group, finished level with Raymond Song in the U12 World Youth Championship last year (just two points behind the winner), has a FIDE rating of 2235, and has already earned his FM title.

He's friendly, modest, polite -- and a killer chess player.

Nice to have enjoyed your visit, Darek. Hope you do well in the City of Sydney next week.

Missing, presumed lost

2007-02-20T07:52:00.000+11:00

We’ve been missing a lot of regular faces at Rooty Hill lately. I’m sure the same thing is happening at other chess clubs.

Two years ago we mustered eight teams for the Grade Matches. This year we’ve managed only four teams for the WSCP and those teams have a rather cobbled-together feel about them. (In my U1600 team we have three players and four reserves. Of the three players Ernesto Alberici will be away on holidays for four weeks and I’ll be off for another two.) That leaves team captain, Allan Butler, to battle the opposition on his own with whatever help he can scrounge.

(It’s a bit like the old Rugby League joke when Australia sent only two players to battle the Poms. Leading 30-nil at half time one of them went to the pub leaving his mate to handle the entire English team on his own. When he learned that the final score had been 30-18 he asked how it had happened. His mate explained that he had been sent off ten minutes into the second half. Good luck Allan!)

But it’s not just the Rooty Hill U1600s who are struggling. The whole WSCP is in trouble.

Division A has only three teams from two clubs: Koala and Parramatta.
Division B is almost as bad: three teams from three clubs—Rooty Hill, Mounties and Parramatta.
Division C in another year would be in bad shape but this year is the strongest of the divisions. There are five U1600 teams from Liverpool, Mounties, Parramatta, Ryde Eastwood and Rooty Hill.
Division D also have five teams, but from only three clubs. They are Parramatta U1300 and U1400, Rooty Hill U1400 and U1500, and Wests U1400.

So what’s the common denominator? Apart from the normal ebb-and-flow of players in and out of the game we’re facing a strong new competitor. Poker.

It’s growing in popularity and, let’s face it, poker is a fascinating game. The current version offers good prize money for a limited outlay and seems to be sponsored by more and more licensed clubs. You can have a night’s cheap entertainment and, with luck, win a cash prize.

If money is the criterion by which we evaluate a game’s worth then chess can’t hope to compete with poker—the money isn’t there and never can be. Even so, I’d like to think there’s more to playing chess than winning cash.

Maybe we need a gimmick of our own. We might even pinch one from poker itself. Like Strip Chess. I’ve never played it myself but I understand it’s fun when you get mated. But perhaps not. After all, most chess players are blokes . . .

If you have any ideas about the loss of numbers click on the "Comments" tag below to share your ideas.

The plight of a chess champ

2007-02-18T09:19:00.000+11:00

From Sri Lanka's The Nation on Sunday by By Ravi Nagahawatte

Sri Lanka’s Women FIDE Master Pramodya Senanayake is a little girl whose achievements in chess have hugely influenced boys and girls in her country to take to the 64-square-board game. Senanayake at present is a celebrity at chess having just added the national title to her list of victories.

The humble 16-year-old school girl from Musaeus College told The Nation that she felt happy to see many boys and girls take to chess following her successes but said that there should be more support for the sport from the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka (CFSL) and sponsors.

“As much as the game gains through the entrance of talented players each year it also loses a good number of senior players. This is because chess doesn’t promise players a secure future. As a result good players opt for more established careers. I plan to do the same,” she said.

When players like Senanayake travel abroad for tournaments they come in contact with foreign players who are devoted to chess. Does it make Sri Lankans feel that they don’t try hard enough?

“Sri Lanka doesn’t have a culture for chess. If a player takes to chess and doesn’t make it he or she will not have anything to show. As a result Sri Lankans drop out of chess to make room for studies. The majority of individuals who continue playing devote little time for chess because most of them still attend school,” explained Senanayake.

This schoolgirl winning the FIDE Master title at the Chess Olympiad last year gave Sri Lanka chess a shot in the arm. The feat has exposed the need that women players should be trained for tournaments just like male players. However, strangely the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka has shown no interest to acknowledge Senanayake’s feat of becoming the first Sri Lankan women to win a FIDE Master Title.

There's quite a lot more interesting content in this interview with Senanayake. You can find it at http://www.nation.lk/2007/02/18/sports2.htm (right beneath the Rugby article).

John Abraham plays chess in between filming

2007-02-17T10:33:00.000+11:00

Hollywood / Bollywood! First it was Bogie, now it's John Abraham.

The following article is from The Hindu dated February 16:

Mumbai, Feb. 16 (AP): Bollywood heartthrob John Abraham, often voted one of the Indian movie industry's sexiest stars, kills time between takes by playing computer chess, a report said Friday.
Abraham, 34, is passionate about the game. He also loves reading books and watching movies about chess players.
``Whenever I have some hours to while away, I get busy with the game. I play against the computer,'' he told the Mumbai Mirror newspaper. ``It's one of those childhood habits that refuse to leave me.''
But the one person Abraham can never beat is his brother. ``My younger brother Allen is perhaps the most intelligent guy I have ever met,'' he said. ``Over the years I have been unable to beat him at the game.''
Abraham even buys chess sets when he travels abroad _ he now has 25.
Abraham, one of India's top models, made his film debut three years ago. He has starred in several blockbuster movies since he struck fame in the 2004 action adventure ``Dhoom.''

Read the rest of this article here: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/009200702161615.htm

Reykjavík to become Chess Capital

2007-02-17T10:27:00.000+11:00

Reykjavik, scene of the Fischer-Spassky match and now Fischer's home, is keen to keep up its profile as a chess-friendly city. The following article is from the Iceland Review on Line dated Feb 16.

The City Council approved Reykjavík Mayor’s Vilhjálmur Th. Vilhjálmsson’s suggestion yesterday, regarding Iceland’s capital becoming the Chess Capital of the world by 2010.
According to Fréttabladid, the City plans to support the project with ISK three million (EUR 34,000, USD 44,000). The project will be undertaken by the recently founded Chess Academy of Reykjavík.
The Chess Academy is a private institution designed to further interest of chess in Reykjavík, which cooperates with the Chess Federation of Iceland, several chess clubs, elementary schools and companies in Reykjavík.
The Academy will also organize the annual Reykjavík Chess Tournament which attracts international chess players, as Morgunbladid reports.
According to Fréttabaldid, the Reykjavík Chess Academy is currently looking for contributions to reach an initial capitalization of ISK 20 million (EUR 225,000, USD 296,000).

Immoral Ties?

2007-02-11T15:24:00.000+11:00

Under the heading World's best chess player suspected of immoral ties Russia's on-line newspaper Kommersant today published a report, dated Feb 09, that the Association of Chess Professionals, possibly in conjunction with FIDE, is to conduct an inquiry into Topalov's extraordinary results.

Read the story here: http://www.kommersant.com/p741182/r_530/FIDE_investigate_claims_Topalov/

Sydney International Open

2007-02-07T17:24:00.000+11:00

With the entry of the Philippines' Rogelio Antonio Jr the number of grandmasters registered for this trail-blazing tournament has reached ten. There are also eight IMs, five FMs and one each WGM, WIM and WFM.

The top players are, in rating order:
Sergei Shipov (Russia, GM, 2591)
Victor Mikhalevski (Israel, GM, 2590)
Mihaljo Stovanovic (Serbia, IM, 2576)
Georgy Timoshenko (Ukraine, GM, 2563)
Rogelio Antonio Jr (Philippines, GM, 2551)
Murray Chandler (England, GM, 2548)
Carlos Matamoros Franco (Ecuador, GM, 2540)
Ian Rogers (Australia, GM, 2529)
David Smerdon (Australia, IM, 2460)
Zong-Yuan Zhao (Australia, IM, 2455)
Darryl Johansen (Australia, GM, 2454)
Dejan Antic (Serbia, GM, 2452)
Tejas Bakre (India, GM, 2441)
Gary Lane (Australia, IM, 2421)

Behind those are a host of very talented players -- some with titles and some who are getting very close to one. So far there are five Australian players looking for another title norm in this. They are Smerdon and Zhao who need a GM norm, and Xie, Bjelobrk and Ly knocking on the door for their IM.

The entries are still coming in for this, the most exciting chess tournament ever conducted in Australia. The atmosphere should be extraordinary.

Congratulations Brian Jones (and Vasil Tulevski who has been an enthusiastic supporter) on your vision and acumen.

The entry list is updated daily and can be viewed on the official site by clicking here: http://www.chessaustralia.com.au/open/index.cfm?p=section&a=Entries

Kramnik marries French journalist in Paris Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky

2007-02-06T13:58:00.000+11:00

From InterfaxReligion.com February 05: The World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik married the Le Figaro journalist Marie-Laure Germon at the church wedding ceremony in Paris Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky, the primatial see of the Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe under the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

However Kramnik’s spouse did not follow her husband into the Orthodox faith and remained Protestant, the Izvestia periodical said on Monday.

‘In Moscow they would have demanded her conversion into the Orthodoxy before the wedding ceremony. But we take things like that easier,’ the cathedral’s rector Archpriest Anatoly Rakovich told Izvestia.

Ms. Germon and Mr. Kramnik were not the first Russian-French couple to marry in the Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky in Rue Daru. Pablo Picasso married the Russian ballerina Olga Khokhlova there in 1918. Mstislav Rostropovich’s daughters had their weddings in the same cathedral too.

We wish Vladimir and Marie-Laure a long and happy life together.

This article can be found at http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=2557

Strong Oz Contingent at Gibraltar Chess Congress

2007-02-03T10:47:00.001+11:00

The Gibraltar Chess Congress was won this week by GM Vladimir Akopian of Armenia on 7.5/9 ahead of a three-way dead-heat for second between Alexander Areshchenko (Ukraine), Hikaru Nakamura (USA) and Emil Sutovsky (Israel).

There was a strong Australian contingent in this tournament. GM Ian Rogers, IM David Smerdon, Queensland junior – soon to be IM – Moulthun Ly, and Sydneysider, Malcolm Tredennick. David and Moulthun were both seeking their final GM/IM norms in this but just missed out. Moulthun only needed to win his final game to get the norm.

The Smurf led the Australians home with 5.5/9, followed by Ian and Moulthun on 4.5, with Malcolm just behind with 4 points.

Malcolm Tredennick found himself faced with one of Simon Webb’s Heffalumps in Round 3. After winning his Round 2 game he was paired with former US Champion Hikaru Nakamura. (If you’ve never met a Heffalump – or if you’ve met one but didn’t know what it was – read Chess for Tigers.)

You can see the full cross table here: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/Gib2007/Masters%20Crosstable.html

To view selected games of Gibtelecom Masters using ChessTheatre, click here www.rootyhillchess.org/chesstheatre/Gibral/CT_Gibral.html

Aronian, Topalov, Radjabov share Corus win

2007-02-03T10:09:00.000+11:00

From ArmeniaNow.com, Armenia's on-line news service -- Feb 2
Armenian grandmasters Levon Aronyan won the prestigious Corus Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, with 8.5 points, sharing the first spot with Bulgaria’s Veselin Tapalov and Azerbaijan’s Teimur Rajabov. But according to additional showings, Aronyan was recognized the best at the tournament.
A victory in Round 13 allowed Aronyan to catch up on points with Topalov and Rajabov, who had been in the lead before the last round, in which they played each other and ended their game in a draw.
Last year Aronyan was only 9th at this tournament, but he went on to win the Linares tournament, the Olympiad (as part of Team Armenia) and the prestigious Mikhail Tal memorial.
Armenia’s Gabriel Sargsyan finished second, with 8 points in Group B at Corus.
Currently, Aronyan is preparing to play at Linares and Monaco tournaments.
Grandmaster Karen Asryan won Armenia’s chess championship 2007. After the last 11th round, Karen Asryan and Tigran Kotanjyan had 7.5 points. According to the regulation, they played two additional games to decide the winner, in which Asryan was more successful. Tigran L. Petrosyan took third.
On Thursday, Vladimir Hakobyan won the 5th Gibtelecom Masters Tournament in the UK, gaining 7.5 points in nine rounds.
View this article at http://armenianow.com/?action=viewArticle&AID=1981&CID=2059&IID=&lng=eng

Nigel Short pushes for cheating enquiry

2007-02-02T08:50:00.000+11:00

This story just won't go away. Chessbase, in a major story, outlines the mounting number of accusations (not yet evidence) against Topalov.

quote
01.02.2007 The international press has picked up the story on cheating allegations that have been leveled at Veselin Topalov and Silvio Danailov during the Wijk aan Zee tournament. There have been claims that signalling was also used during the 2005 World Championship in San Luis, Argentinia. Nigel Short, who was in San Luis, observed something sinister in San Luis. Press reports.
unquote

Read this important story at Chessbase: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3644

Boris Spassky turns 70

2007-02-01T10:49:00.000+11:00

He was born on January 30, 1937 in Leningrad, learnt the moves at five and was one of the great child prodigies in chess. Boris Spassky went on to win multiple USSR championships and qualify for Candidates and World Championship matches. In 1969 he beat Petrosian to become the tenth chess world champion. Today Boris Vasilievich turns 70. To read the rest of this interesting biographical article, visit Chessbase: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3641

Topalov again . . .

2007-02-01T10:40:00.000+11:00

While this blog is certainly not intended to denigrate Veselin Topalov, there have been a number of disturbing, recent stories in which he is perhaps the unfortunate protagonist. This one comes from news.bg, an on-line Bulgarian news source who, in turn, quoted The Guardian. Because of the author's association with Kramnik's manager, the accusation would have little weight had not the tournament referee taken it seriously enough to stand between Topalov and Danailov during the Karjakin game.

News.bg: Jan 29 – New Cheating Allegation against Topalov — Author: Dimitar Tabakov, The Guardian

A new cheating allegation against Veselin Topalov was made at the weekend just as the world No1-ranked grandmaster started his grudge game against the world champion, Vladimir Kramnik, in the elite Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands.

An article in a German newspaper claimed that the Bulgarian's manager, Silvio Danailov, made suspicious hand and facial movements while in eye contact with his player during Topalov's second-round game a week earlier against the Dutch champion, Loek van Wely.

Each time Van Wely moved, Danailov would leave the hall, make a mobile phone call and then return. While Topalov considered his next move his manager would scratch himself several times behind his ear or tap his glasses with his finger.

It later emerged that the writer of the article, the international master Martin Breutigam, is an associate of Kramnik's manager, Carsten Hensel, the Guardian writes today.

Last week a Topalov aide published a book titled Toilet War, repeating and extending the allegations that Kramnik had himself used a computer aid during their 2006 world title series in Elista in Russia, which the Muscovite won by a narrow margin.

Both Van Wely, who attributed his 35-move defeat to being outplayed, and the chief arbiter voiced no suspicions. However, in the next day's third round when Topalov had a dubious position against the Ukrainian prodigy Sergey Karjakin and Danailov again tried to establish eye contact, the referee blocked his view.

There was no handshake when Topalov and Kramnik sat down for Saturday's penultimate round. After four hours' play they reached a dead level ending with king and knight for the Bulgarian against king and pawn. The above article was published in news.bg, an on-line Bulgarian news service. It appears to have been first published in The Guardian.

To read the rest of the article go to http://international.ibox.bg/news/id_1039137717.

No return match for Topalov

2007-02-01T10:39:00.000+11:00

Focus News Agency, Jan 28 – FIDE President Rules out Topalov - Kramnik Return Match:Antalya. A World Championship return match between Veselin Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik will not take place. The decision was taken by FIDE’s Presidential Council, which met in Turkey’s resort Antalya, Mayak Radio reported. “The possibility of a World Championship return match between Veselin Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik is ruled out”, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said. “We can’t even in theory take the responsibility for such a match because under the established rules the match should end six months before the start of the new World Championship in September 11 in Mexico. So, Topalov – Kramnik return match has to start not later than February 11, so that it can end in a month. But it is impossible to happen”, Ilyumzhinov added. FOCUS News Agency Reminds:Former FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria lost the world chess title after a dramatic defeat in additional games versus Vladimir Kramnik in Elista in October 2006. Topalov and his manager Silvio Danailov sent an invitation to Kramnik for a return match in Sofia. They provided USD 2 million as a prize fund. Under the regulations of FIDE, any player with a rating of 2700 or higher can issue a challenge for a match of 12 games for the World Championship title against the incumbent World Champion.

Topalov Accused of Cheating

2007-02-01T10:35:00.000+11:00

Sofia News Agency: Jan 26 – Bulgaria's Topalov Accused of Cheating during Games:Bulgaria's top chess player Vesselin Topalov was involved in another scandal after Germanys' Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper accused him he used help during games from his manager.The newspaper claimed Topalov used his manager Silvio Danailov to get hints for his moves on the chessboard and that could be clearly seen on the Veik-an-Zee tournament. Suddetusche also claims there are rumours Topalov won the San Luis 2005 world tournament using illegal means, because his manager showed him which were the best moves according to a computer program. According to the author Danailov and Topalov communicated in a secret, non-verbal manner.

And a REAL Pinoy Superstar

2007-01-29T08:40:00.000+11:00

In the "Pinoy Superstar" post below I was kidding a little bit. Rolando's extraordinary string of wins in last week's Allegro Tournament may well have given him a SwissPerfect performance rating of 2700+ for the night but FIDE will never wear it.

On the other hand everybody's sitting up and taking notice of young Wesley So, the new wunderkind from the Philippines.

There's a story about Wesley on the Rooty Hill web page http://www.rootyhillchess.org/so.html in response to a request from Leo Tenorio. Since it was posted I've had a couple of emails from Wesley's mother, Eleanor, with lots more information.

Her latest was a copy of Olimpiu G. Urcan's interview with Wesley which is now published there with permission of Intchess Magazine (published by ASEAN Chess Academy, one of only two FIDE-accredited chess academies in the world).

If you're interested in chess in the Philippines, or if you just want a glimpse of one of Caissa's rising new stars, go read the story.

Western Suburbs Chess Premiership

2007-01-28T23:21:00.000+11:00

It's almost time for the WSCP and our teams need to be entered within the next week or two.

Only a handful of people have nominated so far. Please let Peter know if you are going to play.

Pinoy Superstar

2007-01-28T23:16:00.000+11:00

Did you know that if your chess rating is over 2700 and you can put up a $US2million guarantee, you have the right to challenge the World Champion to a title match?

That's the case, and I'm pleased to say that we have somebody in the club who's half-way qualified to do that. No, it's not Gary Lane, and it's not Tony Bouchaaya. It's Rolando Gonzales!

Last Monday night in the weekly Allegro Tournament, Rolando won 6/6 beating such worthy opponents as Leo Tenorio, Levi Descallar, Noel Mangrobang, Peter Cassettari (I think), myself, and one other. It gave him a performance rating on the night of around 2750!

Nice one, Rolando.

Now, if you can get FIDE to ratify that score, and if you can find the $2mill, you can go knocking on Mr Kramnik's door.

(Of course, you might have to do a bit of shoving to get Veselin Topalov's manager, Silvio Danailov, out of the way. He's been knocking there for a couple of months now, but Vlad won't let him come in.)

Test of Chessgenie PGN viewer

2006-10-24T22:51:00.000+10:00

This is a test page of ChessGenie - Macromedia Flash application for viewing chess game.
Take note: Chessgenie requires a standard PGN file containing a single chess game.

ChessGenie dynamic diagram geneator

2006-10-14T23:12:00.000+10:00

This is a test page ChessGenie - Dynamic Chess Diagram Generator

How to create Chess Diagram for Chess Blogger...

All you need to do is insert the ff code:

-------------------------

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... and edit the value of FEN.
Take note: The last value of FEN, indicates whose side it is to move - "B" for Black ortherwise it's "W".
Chessgenie0 is interactive too. This means you can move chess piece - best for problem like analysis...

Welcome

2006-10-14T16:51:00.000+10:00

Welcome to Rooty Hill RSL Chess Club's new blog.
It is the love child of Chessgenie and the Rooty Hill web page.
This is your blog. We hope you'll share your ideas with us regularly.
Enjoy!