31 August 2010
Hi Everybody,
Why so serious about chess? Okay, okay sometimes you just gotta go out there and have fun and forget about winning or losing. Remember, there’s always one more game to go.
Hope you like this Batman versus Joker chess video. Remember it the next time you stop having fun at the chessboard. In the end, the Joker says in Russian: ‘Why so serious?’
And, of course, hope you don’t have to do what Batman does to the Joker after a game.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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31 August 2010
Gata Kamsky: This endgame, no big deal.
Find great portraits of top chessplayers at www.chesspics.com.
Hello Everyone,
Grandmaster Gata Kamsky survived fluctuating fortunes to win the 2010 Baku Open Chess Tournament with a last round victory over Grandmaster Savchenko. Kamsky managed a sole first place with 7.5/9.0 just half point ahead of Grandmasters Emil Sutovsky, GM Alexej Alexandrov, FM Asghar Golizadeh and IM Nijat Abasov.
The tournament included a strong field of 157 players with 16 grandmasters and over 50 titled players.
Here is the nice Savchenko-Kamsky game. You can enjoy the precision of the endgame and run the moves through the pgnplayer. Or, watch the game in the flashplayer below.
PGN: 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. e3 g6 4. b4 a5 5. b5 cxb5 6. cxb5 Bg7 7. d4 O-O 8. Bd3 d5 9. O-O Bg4 10. Nc3 Nbd7 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 Nb6 13. Ba3 Re8 14. Rac1 e6 15. Rc2 Rc8 16. Rfc1 Nfd7 17. Bf1 Bf8 18. Bxf8 Kxf8 19. Qd1 Qe7 20. Na4 Rxc2 21. Qxc2 Nxa4 22. Qxa4 Qd8 23. b6 Nxb6 24. Qxa5 Nc8 25. Qc3 Nd6 26. a4 Qe7 27. Qb2 Ra8 28. Qb4 Rc8 29. Rc5 Rxc5 30. Qxc5 Ne4 31. Qc8+ Kg7 32. Bd3 Nd6 33. Qc5 Qd8 34. Kf1 b6 35. Qc6 Kf8 36. f3 Ke7 37. e4 dxe4 38. fxe4 f6 39. Ke2 e5 40. dxe5 fxe5 41. h4 Qd7 42. Qxb6 Qxa4 43. Qc5 Qa2+ 44. Ke3 Qe6 45. g4 h6 46. g5 hxg5 47. hxg5 Qh3+ 48. Kd2 Qg2+ 49. Kc3 Qxg5 50. Qc7+ Ke6 51. Bc4+ Nxc4 52. Qxc4+ Kf6 53. Qa6+ Kg7 54. Qa7+ Kh6 55. Kc4 Qd2 56. Qa1 Qd6 57. Qe1 Kh5 58. Qf2 Kg4 59. Kc3 0-1
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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31 August 2010
Hello Everyone,
Chess has many mysteries and sometimes we can unlock them in a middle game… sometimes not. Here is a nice romantic position that you would love to get in a middle game. But can you find the equally romantic solution?
You can run the answer in the flashplayer below but do think for some minutes before checking out the solution.
Perlasco-Grassi, Como, 1907
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30 August 2010
Magnus Carlsen: Nice win against Vishy Anand
Hello Everyone,
The young grandmaster and World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen defeated World Champion Viswanathan Anand to win the Arctic Securities Rapid Chess Tournament being held in Kristiansund, Norway.
The final saw Carlsen win the first game and draw the second to take the top prize. In the semifinal, Jon Ludvig Hammer also beat Judith Polgar (1.5-0.5) to win the third place.
The Arctic Securities Rapid was a four player event with Carlsen, Anand, Polgar and Hammer playing blitz games in a round robin format from August 28-30.
Here is the nice first game that Carlsen won against Anand. You can run it in our pgnplayer or watch in flash below. You can check the official website here.
PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 c6 6. O-O d5 7. Nbd2 Bf5 8. b3 Ne4 9. Bb2 Na6 10. Nh4 Nxd2 11. Qxd2 Be6 12. Rac1 Qd7 13. Nf3 Rfd8 14. Rfd1 Nc7 15. Qa5 Ne8 16. e3 Bg4 17. Rd2 Bxf3 18. Bxf3 e6 19. Rdc2 Nd6 20. a4 f5 21. Qe1 a5 22. Bc3 dxc4 23. Bxa5 cxb3 24. Rb2 Rdc8 25. Rxb3 Bf8 26. Rcb1 Ra7 27. Kg2 Nc4 28. Bb4 Bxb4 29. Rxb4 Nd6 30. Qc3 Rca8 31. Qc2 Ra6 32. h4 h5 33. e4 R8a7 34. exf5 Nxf5 35. Re1 Ra5 36. Qb3 Kf7 37. Re4 Ne7 38. Qc2 Nd5 39. Rc4 Ra8 40. Re5 Ne7 41. Bxh5 Rxe5 42. dxe5 Qd5+ 43. Bf3 Qxe5 44. Re4 Qd6 45. h5 Rf8 46. Qb2 b5 47. axb5 cxb5 48. Qxb5 Nf5 49. Qb7+ Kf6 50. Qh7 gxh5 51. Bxh5 Qd5 52. Bf3 Qd2 53. g4 Ng7 54. g5+ 1-0
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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30 August 2010
After the final round: Gelfand, Veroci and Leko. You can
find great portraits of top chess players at www.chesspics.com
Hello Everyone,
The Miskolc Rapid Chess event took place between Peter Leko and Boris Gelfand in Hungary from August 25–29, 2010. Top rated Hungarian grandmaster Peter Leko played eight games against top Israeli grandmaster Boris Gelfand.
The games were played at a rate of 25 minutes for all moves plus an increment of ten seconds per moves. The arbiter of the match was WGM Zsuzsa Veroci, head of Communication of the Hungarian Chess Federation.
Gelfand won the first game and Leko drew level by winning the fourth game. Gelfand again won the fifth game to regain lead which he held on to as the last three games were drawn. You can find some nice reports and photographs at the official website.
Here is the fifth game in which Gelfand beat Leko for a decisive lead. You can run the moves through our pgnplayer or watch in flash below.
PGN: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. Be2 Bb7 10. h4 g4 11. Ne5 Rg8 12. Bxg4 Nbd7 13. Nxd7 Qxd7 14. Bf3 c5 15. e5 Nd5 16. Ne4 O-O-O 17. O-O Rxg3 18. Nxg3 Nf4 19. dxc5 Qc7 20. Bxb7+ Qxb7 21. Qf3 Qxf3 22. gxf3 Bxc5 23. Ne4 Bd4 24. Nd6+ Rxd6 25. exd6 Kd7 26. a4 b4 27. Rac1 c3 28. Rfd1 e5 29. bxc3 bxc3 30. Kf1 f6 31. Rc2 Nd5 32. Rb1 a5 33. Ke2 Nb4 34. Kd1 Kxd6 35. Rb3 Nxc2 36. Kxc2 h5 37. Rb5 Bxf2 38. Rxa5 Bxh4 39. Rb5 Bf2 40. Rb7 Kc6 41. Rf7 Kb6 42. Rxf6+ Ka5 43. Rf5 Kxa4 44. Rxe5 h4 45. Kxc3 1-0
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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30 August 2010
Magnus with fans in Kristiansund, Norway
Hello Everyone,
The Arctic Securities Rapid Chess Tournament in Kristiansund, Norway, between four top grandmasters has been quite exciting so far.
In Sunday’s games Jon Ludvig Hammer beat Magnus Carlsen! After Saturday’s ‘missed’ victory Hammer would surely be happy with himself. In the other games, Carlsen and Anand drew easily. Polgar nearly beat Carlsen but the youngster survived with a draw with some fantastic defense. Anand beat Hammer and Polgar. Polgar and Hammer drew their game.
The final takes place on Monday between Anand and Carlsen while Hammer and Polgar will fight it out for the bronze place. You can check the official website here.
Standings after Second Section
1. Anand V. 5.0/6.0
2. Carlsen M. 3.5/6.0
3. Hammer J. 2.0/6.0
4. Polgar J. 1.5/6.0
Here is the nice Hammer-Carlsen game. You can run the moves in our pgnplayer or watch in flash below.
PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nf3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 b6 5. Nc3 Bb7 6. f3 e6 7. e4 d6 8. Be2 a6 9. O-O Be7 10. Be3 O-O 11. Qc2 Qc7 12. Rfc1 Rc8 13. Bf2 Nbd7 14. a4 Rab8 15. Qd1 Qd8 16. Kh1 Bf8 17. Bf1 g6 18. Rab1 Ne5 19. b3 Bg7 20. Bg3 h5 21. Qd2 h4 22. Bf4 Rc5 23. Re1 Nh5 24. Be3 Ng3+ 25. Kg1 Nxf1 26. Rxf1 h3 27. Nde2 hxg2 28. Kxg2 Rc6 29. Rbd1 Ba8 30. Bg5 Qf8 31. h4 Re8 32. Ng3 f6 33. Be3 Qf7 34. Bh6 Bh8 35. Be3 f5 36. Bg5 Qh7 37. Rf2 Nf7 38. Rh1 Rcc8 39. Nce2 Be5 40. Bf4 fxe4 41. Nxe4 Bxe4 42. fxe4 g5 43. hxg5 Qxe4+ 44. Kg1 Rf8 45. Ng3 Qd4 46. Qc2 Nxg5 47. Qg6+ Bg7 48. Qxg5 Rf7 49. Qg6 Rcc7 50. Kg2 Rxf4 51. Qh7+ Kf7 52. Rxf4+ Qxf4 53. Rf1 Qxf1+ 54. Kxf1 Rc5 55. Ne4 1-0
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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29 August 2010
Here is one of the cutest-sweetest adverts of the British Telecom from the late 90s. Ever played chess with a friend via short messaging service? Or, late into the night on the phone? Or, maybe via fax and email?
Correspondence chess meant days and weeks waiting for moves if you wanted to play someone in another city or another country.
Ten years ago it was one big deal to be able to communicate across the globe like that. No more. Today, you’re online 24×7 and can stay connected with anyone, anywhere, anytime. Great for chess players.
Here’s some chess with ‘extra help’ provided to our young friend. But dad won’t mind if he finds out, we suppose!
Check it out!
All we’ll say after that video is stay in touch, send us all your chess ideas and keep playing chess.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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29 August 2010
An interesting painting by a
body builder who’s also a chess master!
Hello Everyone,
It’s not everyday you find someone who is equally focused on developing both the body and the mind. Add to that a heightened sense of creativity and artistic sensibilities and you could well be talking about Roger J. Morin.
We found his very interesting art gallery on the Internet.
Morin writes: “My art involves communication, creativity, and diversity.
Communication is critical to me, since my ideas come from a deeper place than words.
Creativity helps me resolve ambiguity by combining unlike elements and ideas. My basic design heightens this tension by emphasizing unequal proportions.
My painting reflects my own diversity. In addition to being an artist, I am a chess master and a bodybuilder. In my work, I use ideas from all these areas. Further, I chose styles and techniques that fit the idea of each painting rather than fitting the idea to traditional techniques. As a result, my pieces are very different from each other in look and subject, and my style is hard to define in traditional terms.”
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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29 August 2010
Jon Ludvig Hammer: Cruel Caissa
Hello Everyone,
The Arctic Securities Rapid Chess began on Saturday in the Norwegian city of Kristiansund. It features World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, World Champion Viswanathan Anand, World’s No. 1 rated woman player Judith Polgar and Norway’s No. 2 player Jon Ludvig Hammer.
Here is the schedule with times in CET.
Saturday
Opening (13.30)
Round 1 (14.30): Polgar-Carlsen, Anand-Hammer
Round 2 (16.00): Polgar-Anand, Carlsen-Hammer
Round 3 (17.30): Anand-Carlsen, Hammer-Polgar
Sunday
Round 4 (14.30): Carlsen-Polgar, Hammer-Anand
Round 5 (16.00): Anand-Polgar, Hammer-Carlsen
Round 6 (17.30): Carlsen-Anand, Polgar-Hammer
Monday
Finals & bronze finals (14.00)
Standings after first section of the tournament.
1. Carlsen M. 2.5/3.0
2. Anand V. 2.5/3.0
3.Polgar J. 0.5/3.0
4. Hammer J. 0.5
Anand beat Polgar and Hammer but drew with Carlsen. Carlsen also beat Polgar and Hammer but drew with Anand. Polgar and Hammer drew their games.
Meanwhile, Hammer is going to hate himself for quite some time for this blunder against Carlsen. Here is the nice game. You can run it in our pgnplayer or watch in flash below. Don’t miss the 39th move by Hammer where he went Rhd2!
PGN: 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nf3 c5 6. e3 Nc6 7. Bd3 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Be4 Nf6 10. Bxc6 cxd4 11. Nxd4 bxc6 12. Nxc6 Qc7 13. Nxe7+ Qxe7 14. e4 Ba6 15. e5 Nd5 16. Nxd5 exd5 17. Re1 Rfd8 18. Qd4 Rab8 19. Bd2 Qb7 20. Bc3 Qb6 21. e6 Qxd4 22. Bxd4 Rb7 23. Rac1 fxe6 24. Rxe6 Bd3 25. f3 a5 26. Re3 Bg6 27. Ra3 Rb4 28. Bc3 Rc4 29. Rxa5 d4 30. Rd1 Rd7 31. Rb5 h6 32. Ba5 Rc2 33. h4 d3 34. a4 Re7 35. h5 Be8 36. Rb8 Ree2 37. Rxd3 Rxg2+ 38. Kf1 Rh2 39. Rd2 Rhxd2 40. Bxd2 Kf7 41. Bc3 Bxa4 42. Rb7+ Ke6 43. Rxg7 Bb5+ 44. Kg1 Be8 45. Rh7 Kf5 46. Rxh6 Kg5 47. Re6 Bxh5 48. Re5+ Kh6 49. f4 Kg6 50. f5+ Kf7 51. f6 Bg6 52. Re7+ Kf8 53. Rc7 Ke8 54. b4 Kd8 55. Rc5 Kd7 56. b5 Kd6 57. Bb4 Rb2 58. Ba3 Ra2 59. Rc3+ Ke6 60. b6 Ra1+ 61. Kf2 Be4 62. Be7 Bh1 63. Re3+ Kf7 64. Rb3 Bb7 65. Ke3 Ra5 66. Rc3 Rb5 67. Rc7 Bh1 68. Bd8+ Ke8 69. f7+ Kf8 70. Bf6 Bd5 71. Bd4 Bxf7 72. b7 Be8 73. Ba7 1-0
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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29 August 2010
This is an email I got from Jean Hoffmann, who wants to invite lady chess lovers to the 9 Queens events, which take place in Tucson, Arizona:
|
9 Queens and the Pima County Public Library are excited to announce the 
Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women’s World Chess Champion
28 August 2010
A scene from the movie ‘Queen to Play’.
Hello Everyone,
Tired of her boring life she develops first an interest and then an obsession with chess. Her husband cannot connect to her chess so she seeks help from an American expat and retired doctor (Kevin Kline) whose house she cleans during the week. Soon her natural talent and hard work (done secretly) lead her to tournament and a new life. And, in this journey she also discovers herself as chess leads her to inner and personal growth.
Nice stills from the movie.
The movie is adapted from Bertina Henrichs’ novel ‘The Chess Player’. You can read an exerpted translation from her novel here. An interesting message of the film is: It doesn’t matter how we start, what’s important is how we finish.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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28 August 2010
Daffney McMahan Griffith with her daughter Charmaine.
Hello Everyone,
Here is a very nice true story about a lady – Daffney McMahan Griffith – from a small town in Southern Oregon. She talks about chess and how she survived cancer and her child’s death with it. It’s a very touching story of family bonding with chess.
She writes: “Irony. For nine long years, we tried to become a family of more than just two. We wanted a large family to raise and with whom we could share and learn new things. We got that. Three wonderful children all entered our lives on the same day. Eight years later, it is very odd to think that through all of the tough times, it has been a two-player game that has been the silvery thread that is interwoven in our lives. Chess.
“When things would be hard to deal with, it seems that we have chosen chess to occupy our thoughts. I am a terrible player. I am learning all over again now. My teacher is my youngest child and her aide in my training is my eldest. I would like to share the details of our ironic journey and how it has led us to my chess training.”
“In December of 2007, I was rushed to the emergency room and told that I was having a miscarriage. That would have been awful. The real issue was that I knew that I was not pregnant. Many tests and appointments later, it was discovered that I had cancer.”
“Now, once again, back to chess. I was just two days past surgery, when Margee marched into my room with a dollar store chess set. She plunked it down on the hospital tray without a word. She set it up and pulled up a chair and asked if I preferred black or white. I asked her why were playing this and her response was, “I am tired of feeling helpless. This is the best way to keep your mind off of being in here. You can’t think of anything else if you want to win.” So, we began.”
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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28 August 2010
IM Sam Shankland
Hello Everyone,
Did you keep track of the US Junior Chess Championship that we followed on the blog a few weeks back? Remember how Sam Shankland had said in his blog that he was quitting chess and then ‘returned’ to win the championship?
Well, Shankland’s off to college now. What interested us was the stuff he said in a recent interview.
As he finishes his first week of college, Shankland said he values the broadening experiences chess has taught him.
“Chess has also sort of made me learn to fight adversity a little bit better.” As a child and even during the beginning of high school, Shankland said he was “ruthlessly made fun of.”
“It definitely taught me to keep on fighting even if other people are making fun of you or whatever. Just believe in myself.”
And, as many chess players say, Shankland too agrees: It is hard not to tell people about his career if chess comes up in a conversation.
He hopes that people will realize chess players are “just completely normal people who happen to be really good at this game.”
You can read the full interview here. You can read our blog report on Shankland’s US Junior Championship win here.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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28 August 2010
Capablanca: World Record for highest win
percentage in a simul. That’s an 88-year-old record.
Hello Everyone,
Playing one game of chess requires strength and energy apart from tremendous focus. You can imagine then how a simul takes one to the limits of one’s physical and mental abilities.
How far can one go? A 100 games at a time? Maybe, more. Well! the world record for the most games during a simul is held by Iranian Grandmaster Morteza Majoob who is 29 years old. He set the record on August 13, 2009 in Tehran in an event titled ‘Rokh-dar-rokh 500 (rook vs. rook 500)’. It included 200 professional chess players, 280 chess enthusiasts and 20 cinema actors and sportsmen. Majoob finished with 397 wins, 90 draws and 13 draws for a score of 442/500. That’s an 88.4 win percentage.
Iranian grandmaster Morteza Majoob during
his simul world record in 2009.
IM Dean Ippolito is going to attempt to break that record on November 27, 2010. If Ippolito has to break that record then he will have to walk at least 26.2 miles. That’s a marathon. He will also have to play for least 18 straight hours and notch up at least a 75 win percentage.
IM Ippolito also wants to break the 88-year-old winning percentage record in a simultaneous, which was set by former World Champion Jose Raul Capablanca, who played 102 games and won 101 and drew 1 for a 99.5 percent win percentage.
IM Ippolito has not lost a game in a simultaneous since the early 90s, which includes simultaneous wins against Masters, National Champions, and other top chess players. IM Ippolito routinely plays 50-player exhibitions and has played several exhibitions with over a 100 players, one of the first such when he was just 10 years old.
IM Ippolito grew up in Boonton, NJ and currently resides in Whitehouse Station, NJ with his wife and two kids.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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27 August 2010
See you this Saturday: World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen
Hello Everyone,
Everyone’s looking forward to the Arctic Securities Chess Stars tournament beginning on Saturday. The tournament includes six games played on a double round-robin format of rapid chess. Each player will have 20 minutes each and get an increment of 10 seconds per move. The tournament will run from August 28-30.
You can track the proceedings of this top chess clash at the official website here. Who do you think is likely to win and why.
Analysis and commentary will be by International Master Torstein Bae.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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27 August 2010
Hello Everyone,
Here’s something to read over the weekend apart from all those variations: The 64-Square Looking Glass: Great Games of Chess in World Literature.
The writer, Burt Hochberg (1933–May 13, 2006) authored and edited several books on chess, and served as editor of both Chess Life (from December 1966 until October 1979 inclusive), and GAMES magazine. Hochberg has been the longest-serving editor in the history of Chess Life magazine.
Hochberg was the main publishing and advisory force behind the RHM Publishing chess project in the 1970s, which produced many high-quality titles from several of the world’s top players.
This anthology includes 44 pieces grouped together in several sections covering poetry, prose, fantasy, allegory to journalism and more.
The first section includes ‘Chess Itself’ – an essay by Charles Krauthammer. The ‘
Only a Pawn’ in section 3 includes Lewis Carroll’s Red Queen match! Then, there is A. L. Taylor’s essay ‘The White Knight’. You can also enjoy the flavour of Borges’ poetic analogy of dreamers and Ian Fleming’s ‘From Russia With Love’ chess motif.
There is also the Poul Anderson’s story of the ‘The Immortal Game’ of 1851 played by robot simulators!
Part Four introduces ‘Players Real & Imagined’. Elias Canetti – as Hochberg writes – “astounding coincidence” of a fictional player named Fischer – in his 1935 novel ‘Auto-da-Fé’.
There’s also a whodunit, murder mystery and romance packed into the book as well.
We found a very nice detailed review of the book here.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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27 August 2010
This one’s for the kids: Gelfand and Leko.
Hi Everybody,
The Blitz Chess Tournament in Miskolc, Hungary is all even at the end of four rounds. Peter Leko beat Boris Gelfand in the fourth round to equal the scores at 2.0-2.0. Gelfand had won the first game while the second and third games were drawn.
This Rapid Chess event is being organized at the National Theater from August 25–29, 2010. The games are being played at a rate of 25 minutes for all moves plus an increment of ten seconds per moves. Colours change at half-time. In case of a 4-4 draw blitz games decide the winner. The arbiter of the match is WGM Zsuzsa Veroci, head of Communication of the Hungarian Chess Federation.
Here is the nice fourth game in which Leko drew level with the Israeli grandmaster. You can run the moves in our pgnplayer or watch in flash below.
PGN: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Nc3 Nxc3 8. bxc3 Bg4 9. Rb1 Rb8 10. h3 Bh5 11. Bb5 Be7 12. g4 Bg6 13. Ne5 O-O 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. Nxc6 Rxb1 16. Nxd8 Ba3 17. Bxa3 Rxd1+ 18. Kxd1 Rxd8 19. Kd2 Rb8 20. Re1 h5 21. gxh5 Bxh5 22. Re7 Rc8 23. c4 dxc4 24. Kc3 Bg6 25. d5 f6 26. Kxc4 Bxc2 27. Kc5 Bb1 28. Re2 Bf5 29. Kc6 Bxh3 30. Bb4 Rd8 31. f3 Bf1 32. Rd2 Bh3 33. Ba5 Rd6+ 34. Kxc7 Rd7+ 35. Kc6 Rf7 36. d6 Bd7+ 37. Kb7 g5 38. Bd8 Bg4+ 39. Be7 Bxf3+ 40. Kxa7 Bg4 41. Kb6 Rg7 42. a4 Kf7 43. a5 Rg8 44. a6 Bf3 45. a7 Ra8 46. Rh2 g4 47. Rh6 Ke6 48. Rxf6+ Kd7 49. Rg6 Rc8 50. Rg7 Ke6 51. Rg6+ Kd7 52. Rf6 Bd5 53. Rf5 Bf3 54. Rf4 Rc6+ 55. Kb5 Rc8 56. Rf7 Ke6 57. Rg7 Bc6+ 58. Ka5 Bf3 59. Kb6 Rc6+ 60. Kb5 Rc8 61. Rg6+ Kd7 62. Ka5 Rc5+ 63. Kb4 Rc8 64. Rg7 Ke6 65. Kb5 Bc6+ 66. Kb6 Bf3 67. Rg6+ Kd7 68. Rf6 Rc6+ 69. Ka5 Rc5+ 70. Kb6 Rc6+ 71. Ka5 Rc5+ 72. Kb4 Rc8 73. Bf8 Bd5 74. Bh6 g3 75. Be3 g2 76. Rg6 Re8 1-0
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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26 August 2010
Grandmaster Peter Leko takes on Grandmaster Boris Gelfand in blitz chess.
Hi Everyone,
Blitz chess has its own flavour. Grandmaster Peter Leko plays a well-known grandmaster every year in the city of Miskolc in a blitz-chess duel. This year, sixth year in running, Leko takes on Boris Gelfand of Israel. The tournament runs from August 24-29, 2010.
A total of eight games are to take place.
After three rounds, Gelfand is leading with 1.5-0.5. The second and third games were drawn while Gelfand had won the first game. You can check out the official website of the tournament here.
Here is the first game that you can run in our pgnplayer or watch in flash below.
PGN:
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. Be2 Bb7 10. h4 g4 11. Ne5 Rg8 12. Bxg4 Nbd7 13. Nxd7 Qxd7 14. Bf3 c5 15. dxc5 Qxd1 16. Rxd1 a6 17. e5 Bxf3 18. gxf3 Nh5 19. Ne4 Rc8 20. Bf4 f5 21. Nd6 Bxd6 22. cxd6 Rc5 23. Bxh6 Rxe5 24. Kd2 Kd7 25. Bg5 b4 26. a3 Rb8 27. axb4 Rxb4 28. Kc2 Rb3 29. Be3 f4 30. Bd4 Re2 31. Kc1 e5 32. Bc3 Rxf2 33. Rhe1 Ng3 34. Rd2 Rxd2 35. Kxd2 e4 36. fxe4 Kxd6 37. h5 Nxh5 38. Ke2 Rb5 39. Ra1 Rg5 40. Rxa6 Kd7 41. e5 Ng7 42. Rd6 Ke7 43. Rc6 Ne6 44. Rxc4 Kf7 45. Rc6 Rg2 46. Kf3 Rg1 47. Ke4 Rf1 48. b4 f3 49. Ke3 f2 50. Ke2 Rh1 51. Kxf2 Rh3 52. b5 Rh1 53. b6 Rb1 54. Ke3 Ke7 55. Ke4 Rb5 56. Kd3 Nd8 57. Kc4 Rb1 58. Rh6 Kd7 59. Rd6 Ke8 60. Bb4 Rb2 61. Kb5 Re2 62. Bc3 Ke7 63. Rh6 Kd7 64. Rh7 Kc8 65. Rh8 Kd7 66. Rh7 Kc8 67. Rc7 Kb8 68. Re7 Kc8 69. Bb4 Rb2 70. Rc7 Kb8 71. Kc4 Rc2 72. Kd5 Rb2 73. Be7 Rd2 74. Ke4 Ne6 75. Rc6 Re2 76. Kd5 Nf4 77. Kd4 Kb7 78. Rh6 Rb2 79. Bc5 Ne2 80. Kd3 Nf4 81. Ke4 Ne2 82. e6 Nc3 83. Kd4 Nb5 84. Kc4 Ka6 85. e7 Re2 86. b7 1-0
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
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26 August 2010
Back to the study table. Here is a nice middlegame position. Study it for a few minutes and think which of the following answers would be the best. The position appears to be balanced for both sides but can White figure out some weaknesses in his opponent’s battlefield?
This position is from Smyslov-Sanguinetti, Mar del Plata, 1962.
Which one of the following answers do you think is the best?
- There are no weaknesses in Black’s armour so White better concentrate on improving his pieces – particularly that Knight sitting on the rim on a4. How about Nb2 hoping to jump to e5 via c4 or d3?
- Let’s get the fireworks going and Nc3 is screaming to be played. White cannot give the Black Queen time to escape from the pin on the d-file. White doesn’t mind giving two Rooks for the Black Queen.
- f4 is the right approach as it would help find a nice control over the e6 square and also help take advantage of the weakened g6 and h6 pawns.
- Let’s get simple here. Why not simply move the Qh4 to attack the h6 pawn and at the same time clear the d-file so that the Rook pin on the Black Knight gets more powerful.
The solution is in the puzzle flashplayer. But don’t run it till you think a little while.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
Also see her personal blog at
26 August 2010
Hello Everyone,
Chess teaches kids success in all walks of life. Here is a nice video on chess in education.
We must supplement this video by the nice link sent to us by one of our chess-loving readers – Graham Wadden. It is such a valid question today: Why isn’t chess on school curriculum?
The nice article states:
“Think about why parents send kids to school … to develop reasoning; analytical thinking; resilience; problem solving; perseverence …
All schools should be efficiently serving child development, equally, in two areas:
- Developing the physical body through exercise and sport;
- Developing the mind through subjects like maths, language/communication and the sciences.
Both areas mentioned require some form of thinking that Chess helps to nurture.”
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
Also see her personal blog at
