Pak Chess Kid Heads to Istanbul Chess Olympiad at Age 11

It's always a pleasure to have chess news come in from Pakistan that is only beginning to witness chess at the national level. We thank our readers who have pointed out the following videos of 11-year-old Mehak Gul Zahid. It is her father who has inspired her to take chess and she is now going to be one of the youngest participants at the Istanbul Chess Olympiad 2012. Gul has been playing chess since she was six and recently qualified for the national team. A student of the Lahore Garrison School in Township, Gul won school chess championship back in 2010 after which she participated in the Punjab Chess Championship in June this year. She came third in the competition. Enjoy the videos.

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Smartphone Chess Updates App for Android/iPhone - Istanbul Chess Olympiad 2012

There is lot of excitement in the chess world as soon it is going to be showtime at the Istanbul Chess Olympiad 2012 (Aug 27-Sept 10). You can access the official website of the event at this link. Keep track of all the updates, wins, pairings, photos and more with these fantastic smartphone apps. Here are the iPhone and Android apps. The Android application: “World Chess Olympiad 2012” developed for 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, is available in Google Play Store. Use search or the following link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kocakcan.chessOlympiad

For the iPhone application, go to the Appstore and search or use the following link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chess-2012/id553296652?ls=1&mt=8

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Livigno Chess Open a Big Draw for Indians!

The 3rd International Livigno Chess Open is going to take place in the beautiful Italian Alps from September 10-17. The host city is the beautiful village of Livigno. In total no less than 17 nations are represented in probably one of the highest located chess competitions in the world.  Livigno is also known as the Little Tibet of Italy and is an enchanting ski resort.  Sergey Volkov (Russia – 2011 winner) has confirmed his participation, as well as 2009 Senior World Champion Miso Cebalo (Croatia) and quite a few players from India. Overall there are 26 players with Elo above 2400; 16 above 2500 and one above 2600, the Luxembourgian-Italian Alberto David.

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Indian Chess Teams Set for FIDE Chess Olympiad 2012 in Istanbul Aug 27-Sept 10

The 40th FIDE World Chess Olympiad will take place in Istanbul, Turkey, 27 August - 10 September. A record-breaking 162 nations have registered for the competition with more than 1700 players and captains. The arrival of delegations is underway and the opening ceremony will take place August 27th at 21:30 local time (20:30 CET) in the WOW Convention Center. The ceremony will be broadcasted live in 4 languages simultaneously. The first round begins August 28th at 15:00.

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Best Chess Radio Show on the Planet- F.E.B. No. 24

Alibanban, the ACP's adjournment experience, Gordon oh-so close in Brit Champs, true Brit humour, chess and more... Have you tuned in to the best chess radio show on the planet yet? Listen to the NEXT SHOW for details of summer raffle extravapalooza! All donations will be counted!

Yuri Garrett, Gata Kamsky. Credit: Macauley Peterson

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Kasparov Released, But...

FB Update: Garry Kasparov has been released, but the police are seriously pursuing this ridiculous charge that he bit a police officer. So he has more protocol to go through tonight with his attorney and must return to the police next week.

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