India's first chess features print magazine published quarterly from Lucknow since 2004 by Aspire Welfare Society.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

2013 and Indian Chess Memories

The Year 2013 for Indian Chess: New Delhi - It started with a great deal of chess excitement and anticipation but year 2013 turned out to be a disappointing one for Indian chess as the legendary Viswanathan Anand got outplayed in his own backyard to surrender the World Chess Championship crown.

It was a chess story of missed opportunities, expected draws and some unexpected losses for Anand as the veteran lost to Norwegian prodigy Magnus Carlsen in the World Chess Championship match held in his home town of Chennai.

There was a sense of enthusiasm in the beginning of the year as India begun its preparation to host the World Chess Championship in Chennai, where the Indian great was scheduled to defend his title, which he had won five times in 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012.

Anand started the year with a joint third finish after suffering a shocking last-round defeat against Wang Hao of China at the 75th Tata Steel Chess tournament.

The Indian came back strongly, notching up his first title of the year when he scored an emphatic victory over German Arkadij Naiditsch to lift the Grenke Chess Classic trophy.

Anand then competed in a tough field at the Zurich Chess Challenge and finished second after beating Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the final round.
However, the year went from good to bad for Anand from here on as he finished third in the Alekhine memorial chess tournament after playing out a draw with Boris Gelfand of Israel in the ninth and final round at St. Petersburg, Russia in May.

In Norway Super tournament, Anand faced off with his world championship challenger Magnus Carlsen and the Indian held him to an easy draw.

He crushed Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria but suffered a shocking defeat to Hikaru Nakamura of US next. Despite a couple of draws, he stayed in contention for the title but a heart-breaking loss to Wang Hao of China meant he finished fourth.

Next month, Anand participated in Tal memorial and finished second in blitz tournament but in the main event, he lost to Fabiano Caruana of Italy, drew with Dmitry Andreikin of Russia, won against Russian Alexander Morozevich, and was held to a draw by Gelfand.

However, it was the shock defeat to Carlsen in the fifth round pushed him down the points table to seventh spot. He also lost to American Nakamura before drawing the next three games to finish ninth.

With four months to go for the much-awaited World Chess Championship, Anand started his preparation for the tournament with his seconds at an undisclosed location even as the hype surrounding the match touched a crescendo.

However, the 12-game tournament turned out to be a disappointing affair for Anand as the 22-year-old Carlsen broke the Indian brick by brick and dethroned him of his World Chess title with a draw in the 10th game.

The 44-year-old Indian, who was the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2007 to 2013, lost the title to the world number one with a scoreline of 6.5-3.5 after 10 of the 12 scheduled games.

Anand drew the first four games but then suffered two successive losses. The Indian drew the next two games but in the ninth round, Anand succumbed to another loss to push to the corner. Carlsen then drew the 10th game to complete his coronation as the new king of chess.

Anand took the heart-breaking defeat to Carlsen in his stride and participated in the London Chess Classic. He was in joint lead on seven points at the half-way stage of the preliminaries.

A victory over Luke McShane of England and an easy draw against tailender Andrei Istratescu of France helped him reached the quarters but a loss to Vladimir Kramnik of Russia saw him bows out of London Chess Classic.

While Anand tumbled, the young brigade, including Parimarjan Negi, notched up a few wins in the year to bring some smiles for the Indian fans. -- Amit Kumar Das/PTI

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Holiday chess Shopping: Ultimate Chess Trainer Chess King

Chess King 4 is in stock! With the newest and coolest engine Houdini 4 and Houdini 4 Pro. They have just updated the page http://chess-king.com/products/ . Huge power and very easy to use, just what's needed for 2014. Happy holidays to everyone!



Millionaire Chess Open launched by GM Maurice Ashley: Las Vegas Oct 2014

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK--(Marketwired - Dec. 19, 2013) - In 1972, Bobby Fischer defeated Boris Spassky in 'The Match of the Century,' a battle recounted on television sets and newspaper covers around the world. Next October, the Millionaire Chess Open hopes to garner similar attention by offering competitors the wealthiest prize in Open chess history.
 
The Millionaire Chess Open will be held over Columbus Day weekend October 9-13, 2014 at exciting Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, Nevada, and boasts a total of a million dollars in prizes - a record payout for an open chess tournament. The tournament is the brainchild of International Grandmaster Maurice Ashley, a world-famous chess commentator often called on to be the voice of some of the biggest chess matches in the world. Mr. Ashley also served as the organizer for HB Global Chess Challenge in 2005, a $500,000 Open that - until now - claimed the record title.

Ashley is excited to finally announce the Millionaire Chess Open after months of preparation, and invites chess players of all levels to join him in Las Vegas for an event that will make chess history. "I am thrilled to be a part of this exhilarating tournament," states Ashley. "To offer players a chance of winning part of our million dollar prize pool in one the most exciting cities in the world has always been a dream of mine to organize."
Mr. Ashley will be assisted by Millionaire Chess Open co-partner Amy Lee, an entrepreneur helping to back the event, and the technological creativity of the MIT Media Lab, where Mr. Ashley serves as a Director's Fellow. The Media Lab will be represented at the tournament by MIT Assistant Professor Kevin Slavin and members of his Playful Systems research group.

"We are inviting up to 3,000 participants to a tournament that will electrify both fans and media around the world," stated Mr. Ashley. "The technological innovativeness that the MIT Media Lab brings will also allow us to present chess in ways never seen before. Hundreds of thousands of fans will be able to witness the top chess players from around the world in action live and online. We fully intend to make this an event like no other."

"The Millionaire Chess Open aims to place competitive chess beneath a global spotlight," stated Ms. Lee. "We want to bring a sense of luxury into the game, and we believe that nothing adds as much excitement as setting record stakes!"

Chess players from all over the world are welcome to register for the tournament on the tournament website MillionaireChess.com.

About Millionaire Chess Open
MCO will take place in Las Vegas Nevada at Planet Hollywood October 9-13, 2014 and boast the record for the highest stakes in chess. Entry is only $1000 with a chance to win up to $100,000 for a total of $1,000,000. Registration: www.millionairechess.com.

ACO World Amateur Chess Championship Rhodes Junes 6-15, 2014

Get, set, go to the ACO World Amateur Chess Championship 2014 on Rhodes (Greece) from June 6-15, 2014. More than 225 participants from over 30 countries: http://www.amateurchess.com/pages/participants-rhodes/
Many side program possibilites (Sight-seeing, aqua park, beach, wellness, sports, spa, blitz tournaments and much more).

New: GM Zigurds Lanka will be doing free training and master classes for all players. You can approach him whenever you want, he is available for free coaching during the whole tournament.
Information at the official website.

Also play online chess for free now on http://www.amateurchess.com

- Play online in your browser, no download

- Chat and interact (Forums, Blogs and much more) with players all over the world!

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Norway Embassy Carlsen, Chess-Inspired Essay Contest for Indian Teens

New Delhi: Do you aspire to be the World Champion of Chess in your life? Have Carlsen’s moves and game talent at the recent World Chess Championship hooked you to this game like never before? Would you like to be in Carlsen’s shoes one day?

Send your thoughts in not more than 500 words on “How Magnus Carlsen has inspired you by winning the World Chess Champion title at the young age of 23” and “What lessons you have learnt from seeing his hard work and dedication to a game that originated in India thousands of years ago”.

Instructions/Rules:
- Entries should be only in English and typed (not handwritten)
- Entries should not be more than 500 words.
- Entries only from students between 13-15 years will be accepted. - An age certificate from your school is compulsory.
- Only one entry per student is allowed.
- Bulk entries from schools will not be accepted. Only individual entries should be sent.
- Competition is valid for Indian students only.
- Please provide your full name, name of your school, address, a passport size photograph and contact details along with your entry.

Deadline for submission: 30 January 2014
No phone calls/email enquiries please.
Results will be announced only to the winners directly, and via the Embassy’s website.

Entries to be sent via postal mail/courier (email entries will not be accepted) to:

Subject: ‘I want to be in Carlsen’s shoes one day’ Essay Competition

Attn: M. Arya, Royal Norwegian Embassy, 50-C, Shantipath, Chanakya Puri, New Delhi.

Nakamura wins London Chess Classic 2013 Super-16 Rapid

Twenty-six-year-old American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura has won the 5th London Chess Classic 2013, staged this year as a rapid chess tournament and billed 'the Super-Sixteen Rapid'. Nakamura defeated former World Chess Championship Challenger Boris Gelfand of Israel 1½-½ in the final.

As the world number four on the FIDE Rating List for classical chess, and number three at rapid chess, Nakamura's result was far from being a surprise but it was a significant achievement in the career of a remarkable player who must be a leading contender to threaten Magnus Carlsen’s world crown in the next few years.

Hikaru’s progression through the competition was impressive. He scored +2, =4, -0 in the preliminary phase, and then improved that to +3, =3, -0 against sterner opposition in the knock-out phase. To go through without a loss was a clear sign of strength. His toughest moment was when he came close to elimination in his second semi-final game with Vladimir Kramnik but he showed an amazing resilience in first holding the former world champion at bay and then taking advantage of Kramnik’s evident state of confusion to finish the match off with a win.

In the final match against Boris Gelfand, Hikaru showed the courage of his convictions by going straight for an ultra-sharp tactic in the opening against a player who had hitherto proved himself the best defender in the event, and also at this time control in world championship qualifiers. They say ‘fortune favours the brave’ and Hikaru’s conquest of this elite rapid chess event backs that up.

THE FINAL
Nakamura 1½-½ Gelfand


Game 1 - win for NakamuraHikaru received the white pieces in the draw for colours conducted by chief arbiter Albert Vasse, and they launched into a Grünfeld Defence, one of the most fashionable of all current super-GM openings.

Hikaru's 10.Ng5 is quite a double-edged move but Boris avoided the standard continuation 10...Nb6 by playing instead 10...Nc6. Hikaru's response was brave and speculative – 11.Nxf7!? – a move we all like to play against a castled king, whatever level we play at.


On the face of it, the line looks very dodgy for Black as he has to give up the exchange, but it is almost inconceivable that Boris wouldn’t have something prepared for this. By way of compensation he demolished the white centre and got his minor pieces to strong outposts. Was it enough? The unofficial grandmaster jury in the VIP Room was undecided: the Hiarcs engine thought White was better around move 15 but Matthew Sadler and others preferred Black.

Hikaru may not have been entirely confident of his chances as he thought for nine minutes about his 16th move: quite a big chunk of his allotted 25 minutes. However, within a few moves, the initiative seemed to have shifted back to the American after Boris played the dubious 17...Ne4. "He's blown it," exclaimed GM Julian Hodgson, perhaps a little melodramatically. Then, calming down slightly, "I think Hikaru's over the worst now – he'll survive."

Julian might have been right the first time. The next few moves saw Hikaru consolidate his material advantage, in machine-like fashion, and Boris never really looked like getting back into the game. At move 25 he used around half of his remaining six minutes, suggesting he was running out of ideas.

More solid moves followed from Hikaru and Boris had to resign.

Game 2 - draw

Boris, with White, played the Averbakh variation of the King's Indian Defence. It followed theory for about 15 moves and Boris acquired a space advantage. However, Black’s position remained playable and White couldn’t bring any real pressure to bear on it. Hikaru used his tactical prowess to exchange queens and then give up the exchange for two pawns. It might sound risky but Black’s pieces remained well-coordinated and Boris’s pair of rooks had no useful inroads. Boris pressed too hard and made a slip. Eventually only Hikaru could win the position but, since he didn’t need to, he was happy to acquiesce to a draw.

What a gripping competition! Thanks to Malcolm Pein and his team for their hard work, the players for their wonderful chess, and to everyone at home and at the venue for being a great audience. See you all again this time next year! -- Report by John Saunders/www.londonchessclassic.com


The first game of the final that Nakamura won over Gelfand:

Nakamura, H (2786) - Gelfand, B (2777)

Result: 1-0
Site: London ENG
Date: 2013.12.15

[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 g6 3.♘c3 d5 4.♘f3 ♗g7 5.♕b3 dxc4 6.♕xc4 O-O 7.e4 a6 8.e5 b5 9.♕b3 ♘fd7 10.♘g5 ♘c6 11.♘xf7 ♖xf7 12.e6 ♘xd4 13.exf7+ ♔f8 14.♕d1 ♘c5 15.♗e3 ♗f5 16.♖c1 ♕d6 17.b4 ♘e4 18.♘xe4 ♗xe4 19.f3 ♗f5 20.♕d2 ♖d8 21.♔f2 ♔xf7 22.♗e2 ♕f6 23.♖xc7 ♘e6 24.♖d7 ♖c8 25.♗d3 ♖c3 26.♗xf5 gxf5 27.f4 ♖c4 28.♖c1 ♖e4 29.g3 h5 30.h4 ♕g6 31.♗c5 ♗f6 32.♖e1 ♕g4 33.♖xe4 fxe4 34.♕d1 ♕f5 35.♖d5 ♕h3 36.♕f1



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