Monday, September 9, 2013
Sinquefield Chess Video: Nakamura
Chess.com €50 Discount for ACO World Chess Championship 2014
The Amateur Chess Organization (ACO) and Chess.com have partnered for a special opportunity for discounted rates for the ACO World Chess Championship 2014!
Did you know that every chess player now has the opportunity to become a world champion? That's right! As we look forward to this November's “professional level” World Championship Match between Carlsen and Anand, the world's largest group of amateur chess enthusiasts (that's right, you guys) should know that there is also the ACO World Amateur Chess Championship to consider!
All players rated below 2400 can compete in the Championship, and this year Chess.com has partnered with ACO to offer members a very special discounted entry fee. The World Amateur Championships are broken into different 7 rating classes, ensuring that each player has a fair chance of becoming world champion in his or her class! About the ACO...
Don't know about the ACO?...The Amateur Chess Organization organizes events for amateur chess players all around the world.
The 1st ACO World Amateur Chess Championship (WACC) took place in Dubai in 2012 and had 72 players.
The 2nd ACO Championship was held on the Greek island Crete in May 2013, where 168 players from 28 countries participated.
The 3rd ACO World Amateur Chess Championship (WACC) will take place on the beautiful Greek island of Rhodes on June 7th-16th, 2014.
...And this year's championship is an “open tournament” (everyone can sign-up!) and has total cash purse of 5000 Euros!
Sections:A: 2200 – 2400
B: 2000 – 2199
C: 1800 – 1999
D: 1600 – 1799
E: 1400 – 1599
F: 1200 – 1399
G: Unrated – 1199
The winner of each rating group will become the 2014 ACO World Amateur Champion of their respective rating class.
Chess.com Members who register by emailing this address will receive the special discount of 50 EURO per player / entry!
acowacc@chess.com
More information can be found at the official tournament website!
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Women’s World Chess from Sept 10
The drawing of colours will be conducted during the opening ceremony which will take place at 3 p.m. The player getting the white colour in game one plays game five with the black pieces). The time control is: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one.
The winner of the ten-game match is the first player to reach 5.5 points or more. If the scores are level after the regular ten games, after a new drawing of colours, four tie-break games will be played, with 25 minutes for each player and an increment of ten seconds after each move.
If the scores are level after the four rapid games, then, after a new drawing of colours, a match of two games will be played with a time control of five minutes plus three seconds' increment after each move. In case of a level score, another two-game match will be played to determine a winner. If there is still no winner after five such matches (i.e. after ten games), one sudden death game will be played. This involves a drawing of lots, the winner being able to choose the colour. The player with the white pieces receives five minutes, the player with the black pieces four minutes, with an increment of three seconds per move from move 61 on. In case of a draw, the player with the black pieces is declared the winner.
The prize fund for this match is 200,000 Euros and will be split between the players as follows:
60% for the winner and 40% to the loser if the match ends within the 10 regular games. In case the winner is decided by tie-break games, she will receive 55% and loser 45%.
Anna Ushenina holds the title after the 2012 Women's World Chess Championship (knockout format) in Khanty-Mansiysk while Hou Yifan had a right to challenge her after she became first in the Grand Prix Series 2011-2012.
Anna Ushenina and Hou Yifan played their first game in 2006 during World Chess Olympiad (Turin, Italy) and the game ended in a draw. In 2007 another draw was signed during Russian team championship. Hou Yifan took the lead in their encounter in 2007-2008 when she won three games in a row. However, in the end of 2008 Anna Ushenina managed to outplay Chinese prodigy during the European Club Cup. Another draw in 2009 and the players stopped meeting over the board for the next 4 years, till 2013! Anna Ushenina defeated Hou Yifan with black pieces in their last encounter during Geneva Grand Prix.
Games between these two have been consistently hard-fought. Hou Yifan is one point ahead according to overall results. For her part, however, Anna Ushenina played 7 out of 8 games with Black and has victory in their last game at Geneva GP in 2013.
According to FIDE rating Hou Yifan (2609) holds the second position among women after Judit Polgar. Anna Ushenina (2500) is on 17th place.
The official hotel and playing venue: http://www.chunlanhotel.com/
The official website: taizhou2013.fide.com
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Adhiban wins Barcelona Sants Chess
Adhiban was the only titled Indian in the 298-player contest and finished a point ahead of Lazaro Bruzon of Cuba. The second to fifth places were shared by Cori Jorge (Peru), Vladimir Potkin (Russia), Jan Gustafsson (Germany) and Firat Burak (Turkey) with eight points each.
World Jr Blind Chess Bronze for Darpan
At the event, organised by the International Braille Chess Association from August 21 and September 1, Darpan won a bronze medal — a first medal win in the category by India in 16 years since the country's blind chess federation was recognised by the international recognising body.
Darpan defeated his nearest rival from Serbia in the world junior individual braille chess championship to emerge third, missing silver medal by just half a point.However, Darpan is more than happy to have won the first medal for his country, and believes he could have done much better had he focused more on practising chess rather than on his Chartered Accountancy studies, which are equally important for him if not more.
"This is the first time India has won any medal in this category, and I am glad to have emerged victorious. It was a do-or-die situation in the last round, as drawing was not an option. Drawing would not have fetched me a medal," he said.
Though, this was the first time Darpan won big, it wasn't the first time he played at the international level. He played in Serbia in 2010 and in Greece in 2011
This was the first time he had travelled abroad without his parents accompanying him. "Organisers insisted on my parents accompanying me but I refused, because I would have to become independent someday. After a lot of discussions and deliberations, they finally agreed," he said.
Of the nine games that were played in the tourney, Inani could not perform well in the first four, which dimmed his chance to win gold. "There were some miscalculations due to time pressure, so I had to repeat moves. Moreover, I made some technical errors in between," he said.
Darpan already has several wins to his credit. He became the youngest person to win the national chess championship for the blind in 2010. -- PTI
Kramnik wins World Cup: Final Video
