The “Chess MasterMinds” show
On Sunday, July 24th, 2005, the world will see a chess match that has not
been done in 60 years. This is the first distance chess match to be held between
the old Soviet Union, (Russia) and the USA since the end of WWII and the start
of the cold war.
July 10, 2005 will be date of the first of three distant chess matches that
are scheduled between Russian and U.S. players. The games will be 20-minute
matches between four Russian chess grandmasters vs. four U.S. chess grandmasters.
The games will be played over the Internet using Shahcom’s e-boards.
The players for the first match are located in St. Petersburg, Russia and
Nashville, Tennessee. The production of this event, provided by Nashville International
Studios, (NIS), will be taped on July 10th, 2005, in Nashville, Tennessee,
with feeds coming in from Russia. The show will be called Chess MasterMinds
and will be aired Sunday, July 24th, 2005.
Mention the word Chess and the first thing that comes to people’s minds
is a pair of old men in dark stuffy rooms, huddled over a chessboard. The game
has changed. This is a distant chess match series of 10-, 20- or 30-minute
games between chess grandmasters from different parts of the world. In addition,
these matches will be produced for video and made available to the rest of
the world through satellite up-links.
Featured
in this event of the century will be some of the world’s greatest chess
grand masters, such as, Susan Polgar (left), who has ranked
in the top three women in the world for the last twenty years. Polgar is currently
ranked #1 in the United States.
Not only is Polgar a dynamic player, she is rated as one of the best players
in the world in both the men and women’s divisions. Her passion for teaching
chess to children and young girls and women has truly earned Polgar the title
of “Chess Ambassador”.
Also
in the match for the U.S. team is Grand Master, Alex Onischuk
(right) is indeed “The Rock”. Rated #59 in the world, his defense
and counter attacks have made for some of the most dramatic play over the board
of battle. Using a style similar to boxing legend Muhammad Ali’s “rope
a dope”; Alex will wait until an attacker has “punched himself
out” and then deliver a lethal combination. Onischuk was the Olympiad
Silver Medalist in 1996 and Bronze Medalist in 1998. He competed in the 2004
US Olympiad team and playing board number one, placed fourth in the overall
games.
On the Russian Team, we will have Alexander Khalifman, rated
#42 in the World, who has become one of the strongest contemporary chess players.
An International Grandmaster in 1990, he became The Champion of Russia in 1996.
He has been the winner of World Chess Olympiads three times (1992, 2000 and
2002); Khalifman was a two-time Saint-Petersburg Champion, winning in 1996
and 1997.
Former world champion Alexander Khalifman
He was the FIDE World champion in 1999. In addition, Khalifman was the winner
of the World Team Championship in 1997 and the Europe Team Championship 2003.
In addition to being an excellent player, he is a respected chess journalist
and the founder of grandmaster chess school and website.
This
young player for the Russian team, Konstantin Sakaev (left),
rated #30 in the world, was born on April 13, 1974, and is one of the leading
Russian chess players. He became an International Grandmaster in 1992. He was
the winner of the Youth Russian Championship in 1990, as well as the three-time
winner of the World Youth Championship games in 1990, 1991 and 1992.
Sakaev participated in four of last FIDE World Championships (1999, 2000,
2001, and 2004). He was the Champion of Russia in 1999, the Champion of Saint
Petersburg in 1990 as well as a two-time winner of World Chess Olympiads in
1998 and 2000. Sakaev is a four-time winner of Russia Club Championship (1992,
1995, 2000 and 2001).
Our commentators hosting the Chess MasterMinds show will be Paul Truong
and Phil Innes. Paul Truong is the FIDE Master and Captain
and Manager of the 2004 Women’s Olympiad Silver Medalist team and an
11 time Champion. Phil Innes created program for qualitative assessment of
on-line arts education, which appeared before Senate Technology Committee,
Washington D.C. Synchronously with business activities, worked with the inventor
of chess broadcasting technologies in St. Petersburg, Russia, since 1996, to
promote greater world-wide interactions and audiences for chess. The match
will also include two arbiters. The U.S. Arbiter is Harry Sabine and the Russian
Arbiter is Igor Bolotinsky, who is now the #2 Arbiter in Russia.
| Russia |
|
|
USA |
|
| GM Khalifman |
2658 |
|
GM Susan Polgar |
2577 |
| GM Sakaev |
2672 |
|
GM Onischuk |
2628 |
| GM Alekseev |
2625 |
|
GM Gulko |
2589 |
| Nikita Vitiugov |
2519 |
|
GM Stripunsky |
2565 |
There could be no other choice for the music in this show, but to have Bering
Strait, a band from Nashville that consists of five brilliant young
Russians performing as featured guests on Chess MasterMinds. The band earned
a 2002 Grammy award nomination for Best Country Instrumental Performance and
the group’s story is told in a feature-length documentary film, “The
Ballad of Bering Strait” directed by Nina Gilden Seavey. Seavey received
an Emmy nomination for her work on this film that chronicles the striking story
of the band growing up outside of Moscow in Russia’s nuclear city, Obninsk,
where the members of Bering Strait attended music schools, fell in love with
and mastered the American music form of Bluegrass before journeying to the
United States.
In Nashville the group landed five consecutive record deals before finishing
their debut album for Universal South Records. Their fascinating story, virtuoso
musicianship, musical evolution from Bluegrass to Country/Pop and the release
of their debut country album caught the attention of “60 Minutes”
who matched Bering Strait with Morley Safer for a band feature that aired three
times. The band just released its new album, “Pages” on
June 28th, 2005 and will perform their new single, “You Make Lovin’
Fun,” for the first time ever on television on Chess MasterMinds. The
entire show, in fact, will be scored with the music of Bering Strait. This
new album definitely has the flavor of their Russian descent flowing through
the music, giving it a very distinctive sound that is hard to place in any
one genre of music.
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