Before arguing whether chess is a sport and athletics, let’s first do away with the formalism:
According to (Norwegian) Wikipedia, “athletics” (“idrett”, from old Norse, “id”, work or activity and “drott”, power, strength or perseverance), in addition to bodily or physical accomplishments, which govern contemporary understanding, originally referred to all forms or expressions of highly regarded skills like music, poetry and knowledge of runes. While athletics emphasises the athletes’ efforts and control of the body (skiing, skating, boxing, tennis, handball and football), sports, meaning "anything humans find amusing or entertaining”, at the same time appreciate the use of facilities, equipment, tools, devices, means of transport or animal as a basic condition (sailing, equestrianism and motor racing). Today the concepts are more often used interchangeably.
To begin with, we might say that all sports or athletic sports belonging under the Wikipedian definition amount to being “only” “play” or “a game” since these are ruled based activities. Claiming chess “is just a game”, because it is rule based, and therefore unworthy of undue attention, is a tautology and explains nothing. Mind you, the activity we call life may also be perceived to be a game with rules and recipes. When asking if chess is a sport or athletics, what we’re really asking is if chess players perform, and more so, in the physical sense of the word.
When Børre Rognlien, president or chairman of the Norwegian Athletic Association (NIF) and Widar Fossum, former vice president of the Norwegian Chess Federation (NSF) state that chess is not athletics because the NSF is not a member of the NIF, this is self-contradictory. The NSF not being a member of the NIF merely goes to show that the NSF is not a member of the NIF, not that chess in and of itself is not athletics.
"Sports president: - Carlsen is not an athlete" says Børre Rognlien in this VG article, explaining why the country's and world's best chess player was not nominated for the male athlete of the year award
"Chess is not a sport" says this article in the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, which has at the time of writing 65 readers commenting
Despite agreeing in newspapers’ commentary fields that games and activities like chess, bridge, archery, dart, shooting etc., involve performance of some kind, still, the physical aspect seems to saturate contemporary understanding of what a sporting or athletic performance is. In a country obsessed with countables and quantifiables – what cannot be measured does not exist – we may ask if not the accent on the physical excludes the possibility for a finer perception of what “performance” or “achievement” might be. Few doubt mental gladiators perform, but what, where and how? Is “blood, sweat and tears” (Johan Kaggestad, Norwegian athletics coach and TV commentator) or “motion” (1500-meter runner, Henrik Ingebrigtsen) the only criterion in a sporting or athletic performance or achievement?
The prevalent preference for the physical may be argued to be grounded in the still deeply rooted Cartesian (after René Descartes, 1596-1650, above in a Frans Hals painting) dualism matter (body) vs mind (soul), representing two ontologically separate categories impossible to combine into a higher unity.
Not until Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961), in his Phenomenology of Perception (1945), suggested that we know, experience and are-in-the-world rather through our body, consciousness (cogito) was perceived as the primary source of knowledge and experience, and the body a mere appendage. While philosophy and religion emphasise the mind rather than the body, Ponty reminds us that the brain (still) is part of the body (sic!) and thus relaunches or reintroduces man as a homogenous unity consisting both of mind and matter, body and soul, mutually interdependent.
Just as religion and philosophy ignore the corporeal significance for knowledge and experience, Rognlien and Ingebrigtsen, in their emphasis of physical motion, go to the opposite extreme and accentuate the body at the expense of the brain, as if arms and legs move all by themselves.
Image: Wiki, courtesy of National Institutes of Health
However, today we know that any corporeal motion starts off with electric impulses subconsciously triggered in the oubliettes of the brain. The brain, which processes a 100 million million (0.1 quadrillion) instructions per second (in daily activities), and the speed of thought clocked at somewhere between 0.5-100 m/s (between 550 and 750 milliseconds for the information or perception of something to reach the brain and to be comprehended and interpreted), testify to motion. Since external corporeal motion, arms and legs, depends on internal cerebral motion, it is not yet clear why external corporeal motion should weigh heavier concerning the definition of sports or athletics.
In other words, there is no principal difference between Magnus lifting his arm and sacking a knigth or Petter (Northug, Norwegian cross-country skier) using his poles to stroke himself forward; both actions spring from subconsciously triggered impulses in the brain. Strokes and chess moves have the same source. And voila! We have compared apples with oranges!
We may therefore conclude that the definitions of sports and athletics are not based on what is really going on but on what we observe, and stem from a time before organised tournament chess and insights into the brain. We see arms and legs but not neurons and synapses.
As long as different activities yield different reactions, even if lowest common multiples may be found, “corporeal or physical performance” as a criterion on whether you do athletics or not, appears irrelevant because at times we do have “one of those days” and definitions do not depend on our day-to-day condition. Are those with the most “blood, sweat and tears” the greatest athletes? What if you die on the playing field or during physical exertion? If not, we have to grade and define corporeal performance and where to draw the line? Do physical or bodily performances or skills lend themselves to precise defining or grading? Since measuring or quantifying chess skills and chess knowledge is impossible, the rating system is our best shot. What, then, makes for a decent rating? Magnus’ latest peak? And how to decide which activities and disciplines merit to be recognised as athlethics (idrett)? In the days of yore, music, poetry and runes, but today?
To play chess, professionally or not may be compared to studying for and taking an exam. Chess players are graduating all the time, before, under and after tournaments. Professionals work on their chess between 7-8 hours a day and perform theoretically, practically, mentally and physically. They practice different types of positions; openings, middlegames and endgames. They work on their tactics (reflexes and intuition) and scrutinise positions to improve their positional feeling and ability to calculate variations, i.e. visualising sequences of moves. During the game they worry about their preparations (do I remember them and are they good enough?), the result of the game, their opponent for the next round and the outcome of the tournament. They have to be red alert (“Beware! The man on the other side, has bad intentions”, Bent Larsen) and keep their calm in attack as well as in defence. They worry if they can win good positions against stronger opposition and must take care not to underestimate lower rated opponents. They get headaches and sleep poorly while the mind grinds out today’s game.
All this mental tension and exertion manifests itself physically – well known is Karpov’s ten kilos weight loss during his World Championship match against Kasparov in 1984/85 – and that the young replace the old. Just like our experience of headaches hinges on material prerequisites, chess players’ experience of physical fatigue depends on neural collaboration during strain and therefore makes it difficult with regard to the definition of sports or athletics to argue why more traditional physical exertion should weigh heavier than chess players’ fatigue resulting from strong concentration over time (in studies as well as in tournament play).
Kaggestad mentions the competitive aspect as essential to whether something qualifies as a sport and, we may add, the competitive aspect transforms (any) activity into sport, if not necessarily into athlethics. According to Wikipedia, chess may therefore be a sport and athletics due to physical exertion (more so during tournaments than casual games), possible use of some device, tool or equipment and scoring points; 1 for a win, ½ for a draw and 0 for a loss. Thus, the definition also covers blindfold chess, where players exchange only the coordinates while playing. The expression “to become a sport” precisely ties the competitive aspect to the concept of sports, since we do not say “to become athletics”, suggesting you may exercise athletics without competing or scoring points. Since use of equipment, tools or devices is possible but not imperative, the competitive aspect appears more relevant to whether chess qualifies as a sport. By scoring points, one exerts oneself more, because more “is at stake” – Gadamer.
The debate over whether chess is a sport and/or athletics (idrett) or “just a game”, may be more significant than what first meets the eye, and as in so many other contexts, it’s all about money. Doing sports or athletics is considered desirable, with athletes serving as examples and role models. Sports and athletics are thought to develop a host of qualities, attributes and characteristics, e.g. team spirit, perseverance, ability to plan/analyse and carry out, not to mention the noble art of defeat, i.e. it’s not the winning that counts but the taking part etc. If chess, as we have seen, lends itself to be defined as sports and athletics, chess may attract substantially increased commercial attention (read: sponsorships).
From May 22 to June 03, 2013, the fourth stage of the FIDE Grand Prix Series 2012-2013 is taking place in Thessaloniki, Greece. Twelve players are competing in a round robin tournament with time controls of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes and an increment of 30 seconds per move for each player. The Grand Prix Series consists of six tournaments to be held over two years, with 18 top players, each participating in four of the six tournaments. The winner and second placed player overall of the Grand Prix Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament to be held in March 2014.
Bacrot's openings haven't lived up to standard - his expressions show that he knows it.
Bacrot, Etienne - Kasimdzhanov, Rustam ½-½ A relatively boring Gruenfeld forced Bacrot to exchange more pieces than he wanted and Black obtained an easy draw. Bacrot's openings in rounds one and two have left much to be desired, and he will have to improve drastically if he wants to score full points. Maybe this is due to his last minute replacement of Radjabov?
Dominguez is in the typical meditative pose of "oh god how did my preparation go?!".
Dominguez Perez, Leinier - Ponomariov, Ruslan ½-½ In one of the most questionable three move repetitions seen in recent times, Ponomariov "forced" Dominguez to accept a draw in what was already a very equal position nonetheless.
Topalov, Veselin - Kamsky, Gata ½-½ Kamsky is known to be an expert in the solid systems that involve c6/d5 and a kingside fianchetto against pretty much any version of 1. d4. This game was no exception and again White couldn't prove anything special against the setup. Kamsky equalized and never let Topalov take any sort of advantage throughout the game.was
Kamsky and Topalov had an interesting post-mortem, but they never found a real advantage for either side.
Morozevich, Alexander - Svidler, Peter 1-0 Just as Svidler demolished Bacrot in a miniature, today he is on the receiving end! In what can only be described as a bizarre game, probably because it was played by Morozevich, both sides had completed a fair amount of anti-development by move 14. Precisely on this move Svidler decided to launch an all-in attack against Morozevich's king, which was never in any real danger. Moro's b5 pawn took on c6, b7 and a8 and promoted to a queen after which Svidler simply resigned.
Ivanchuk joins the group as the third person not happy with his opening.
Caruana, Fabiano - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1-0 Caruana sacrificed an exchange for a pawn and an impressive knight on d5, which gave him chances for an advantage. White's light square control was accentuated move by move and Black had to give back another pawn to clear the strong knight. The endgame was far from hopeless for Ivanchuk, but it was still quite difficult. Caruana slowly advanced his pawns and Black simply didn't figure out how to stop them.
Grischuk, Alexander - Nakamura, Hikaru 1-0 Black shed two pawns early in this opening to obtain good positional pressure against White's crippled pawn structure and weak king. Grischuk had the pair of bishops and seemingly dominated his opponent's position, but the pawns were simply too weak. He gave one back and started torturing Nakamura, who had little to do but sit down and defend. After Grischuk won another pawn the task became harder for Black, but maybe not impossible. His last chance might have been 70...Ra5 trying to keep the White king out of play, since once it entered the game effectively Grischuk cruised to victory.
All pictures by Anastasiya Karlovich
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The games start at 14:00h Eastern European Summer time, 15:00h Moscow, 7 a.m. New York. You can find your regional starting time here.
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Organizing and conducting TRG training seminars is part of my job as a Senior FIDE Trainer. A couple of months ago when someone from the trainers council wrote me about a seminar in Botswana, I did not hesitate at all and applied for the job. This was a great opportunity to visit and see the cradle of humanity – Africa!
Moreover, I already knew a lot about it from my friend Rupert Jones (above), a colorful chap from Leeds, who used to live and develop chess in Botswana. He now represents Papua New Guinea and helps the developing countries play better chess.
The course coincided with the African Zonal tournament for men and women. Botswana has strong players in its disposal, but the tournaments there were dominated by the representatives of Zambia and South Africa.
FM Bwalya Gillian left no chances at all for his opponents. He started with seven straight wins and was 1.5 point ahead of his closest rival before the final round. The overall win of the event granted him a spot for the World Cup and the IM title.
The remaining players fought hard for the titles as well, as the top three players had chances in obtaining it in case that they scored at least six points out of the nine rounds played.
Tie Break1: The greater number of victories Tie Break2: Direct Encounter (results of the players in the same point group) Tie Break3: Buchholz Tie-Breaks (variabel with parameter) Selection of games
The ladies section saw another foreign triumph. Charlize Van Zyl started with a draw but won the next five games and the tournament. The South Africans did a great job with their junior squad and showed clearly what should be the aim of any country which wants to develop chess. Final ranking after seven rounds:
In Africa I met Peter Leko. Not the Super GM, but probably a future one. One of the strongest female players in Botswana, Tshepiso Lopang, fell in love with the games of the Hungarian GM and decided to name her son after him. Leko would proudly announce his name at the events and stand next to his mom while she played her games.
The logo of the Botswana Chess Federation says “30 Years of making smart moves.” They made one more of them with their decision to host a FIDE training seminar in the capital city of Gaborone from 3-8 May. Many of the participants in the Zonal tournaments took part in the seminar as well, thus improving their knowledge in both the competitive and teaching areas.
All the participants of the TRG seminar successfully passed the exam and are now ready to be more effective and skilled as chess coaches. They received their certificates at an impressive closing ceremony. Here some pictures from the festivities – quite unlike the ones held in Switzerland or Sibiria:
It was a great experience to see the exuberant natural beauty and diversity that Botswana offers everyone. The variety of animal species, the colorful shops and markets, beautiful gift shops everything was so unusual.
A knick·knack store in the shopping mall
An artisan adorning ostrich eggs
Dejan in Africa – enjoying the exuberant natural beauty and diversity of Botswana
Making friends among the non-chess playing denizens of the country
These guys definitely look like they could learn the moves
A termite hill of epic proportions – did you know that there are tens of trillions of ants that together weigh more than the entire human population?
When early explorers described these guys in Europe they were simply laughed out – nobody believed their stories
So rude: beautifully painted horses, who turn their backs on you
"No one ever wants to court a warthog" [listen to this moving Flanders & Swann remix]
How can anyone enjoy venison?
A creature less cute and pettable than the previous
Great Botswanan leaders: Khama III, Sebele I, Bathoen I, Bojkov I
Report and pictures by GM Dejan Bojkov, Bulgaria
Tourney structure: seven-round round robin Time control: 100 minutes/50 moves + 15 minutes + 30 seconds/move starting with the first move Duration: May 22 to May 28 Game start: daily 14:00 (server time), last round 12:00
The elegant playing hall with large screens overhead
It has been a flood of excellent tournaments, all with attractive lineups, and the 21st edition of the Sigeman and Co. grandmaster tournament held in Sweden is no exception. It brings together several local talents such as Jonny Hector, Emmanuel Berg, Hans Tikkanen and Nils Grandelius, and pitting them against Nigel Short, Loek van Wely, Ivan Sokolov, and Hungarian talent Richard Rapport.
GM Stellan Brynell and Ulf Andersson provide live commentary for the audience
Hungarian junior Richard Rapport
The organizers continue the tradition with superb coverage in all ways, including live commentary by legend GM Ulf Andersson and GM Stellan Brynell (in Swedish), and with an excellent website providing a choice of two webcams of the action and a third for the commentary.
Ivan Sokolov started with a win in round one
Hans Tikkanen analyzes his game with...
... Nils Grandelius. They drew.
In the first round Ivan Sokolov was the only player to draw blood, beating Emmanuel Berg, but Nigel Short looked like he might join him after working a significant advantage in the endgame against Jonny Hector, but failed to break the Swede’s resistance.
GM Jonny Hector has long been one of the most original grandmasters
Pictures are copyright © by Calle Erlandsson
[Event "21st Sigeman & Co"] [Site "Malmo SWE"] [Date "2013.05.22"] [Round "1"] [White "Hector, J."] [Black "Short, N."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C17"] [WhiteElo "2512"] [BlackElo "2681"] [PlyCount "146"] [EventDate "2013.05.22"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. Bd2 {GM Hector is well-known as a very original thinker and his opening play reflects this.} Nh6 6. Nb5 Bxd2+ 7. Qxd2 O-O 8. f4 Bd7 {Short decides this intruder gives him the perfect means to solve the quandry of the French bishop.} 9. c3 Bxb5 10. Bxb5 Qb6 11. Bd3 cxd4 12. cxd4 Nc6 ({Obviously not} 12... Qxd4 13. Bxh7+) 13. Nf3 g6 14. Be2 Rac8 15. a3 Nf5 16. Rd1 h5 17. b4 Rc7 18. O-O Rfc8 19. Kh1 Nce7 20. Ne1 Rc3 21. Rf3 Qc7 22. Kg1 a5 ({Perhaps stronger was} 22... Rxf3 23. Nxf3 Qc2 24. Qxc2 Rxc2 25. Kf2 Ra2 26. Rd3 Nc6 27. Ke1 b5 {White's rook is stretched to the limit. It cannot leave d3 as it protects both d4 and a3. This move guarantees White cannot evict the knight from his residence with a b5 of his own.} 28. g3 a5 29. bxa5 Nxa5 30. Rc3 Nc4 {and a3 will fall.}) 23. b5 Rxf3 24. Nxf3 Qc3 25. Qxc3 Rxc3 26. Rd3 Rc2 27. Kf2 Nc8 28. Ke1 Nb6 29. Kd1 Rc4 30. g3 Kf8 31. Rb3 Ra4 32. Rc3 Nxd4 33. Nxd4 Rxd4+ {Black finally wins a pawn, but it is far from over.} 34. Kc2 Ra4 35. Rc7 Rxa3 36. Rxb7 Ra2+ 37. Kd1 Na4 38. Ke1 Nc3 39. Bd3 Rb2 40. Rb8+ Kg7 41. h4 a4 42. Ra8 Rb4 ({Black missed the chance to win here and should have played} 42... d4 43. Ra5 Kf8 $1 44. Ra7 Ke8 45. Ra6 Ke7 (45... Kd8 46. Rd6+ Ke8 (46... Kc8 {allows White to defend with} 47. Rxd4 a3 48. Rc4+ Kb7 49. Rxc3 a2 50. Rc1) 47. Rxd4 a3) 46. Ra7+ Kd8 {and White is running out of moves.} 47. Ra5 Kc7) 43. Ra5 Kf8 44. Kd2 d4 45. Kc2 Ke8 46. Ra7 Kd8 47. Ra5 Kc7 48. Ra7+ Kb8 49. Ra6 Kc8 50. Ra7 Kd8 51. Ra8+ Ke7 52. Ra5 Kf8 53. Kd2 Kg8 54. Ra8+ Kg7 55. Ra5 Nd5 56. Kc1 Rb3 57. Kd2 a3 58. Bc4 Rxg3 59. Bxd5 exd5 60. b6 Rb3 61. Kc2 Rxb6 62. Rxa3 Rc6+ 63. Kd3 Rc1 64. Kxd4 Rh1 65. Kxd5 Rxh4 66. Rf3 Rg4 67. e6 Rg1 68. f5 Rd1+ 69. Kc6 fxe6 70. fxe6 g5 71. Rf5 Re1 72. Kd6 Rd1+ 73. Kc7 Re1 1/2-1/2
Topalov, Veselin - Grischuk, Alexander ½-½ Grischuk received ample compensation for his sacrificed pawn, and was even able to obtain an extra one in the endgame after applying pressure throughout the game. However Topalov held on resiliently and the game ended in a draw.
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Caruana, Fabiano ½-½ The d3 Spanish claims even more territory in modern theory as now Ponomariov incorporates it into his repertoire. However the attempt is unsuccessful and Black obtained relatively easy equality.
Ivanchuk, Vassily (above) - Morozevich, Alexander ½-½ The Kings Indian Defense is usually a fun and exciting opening, in which White blasts through the queenside and Black sacrifices all his pieces to obtain a strong attack against the enemy king. However, at times, the position becomes completely locked up and a draw is unavoidable.
Kamsky, Gata - Dominguez Perez, Leinier 1-0 A strangely positional Sicilian Dragon left Kamsky with pressure throughout the entire game. Slowly but surely the American pushed forward and improved his advantage, until Black's position collapsed. The blunder at the end was tragic but done in an already very difficult position. The Cuban could have tried to hold on with 44... Kd7 it probably would have been to no avail.
Svidler, Peter - Bacrot, Etienne 1-0 Bacrot's extremely passive play seemed to give him a solid position, but Svidler's very energetic rook moves allowed him to obtain a decisive advantage very early on. Black's bishops never played any role in the game and the Russians swept his opponent off the board in only 27 moves.
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam - Nakamura, Hikaru 1-0 Kasimdzhanov comes in as the lowest rated player in the tournament - the only one not quite 2700 (although only one point shy from it). However he is far from a weak player and he has plenty of experience playing in such strong tournaments. Nakamura might have underestimated his opponent slightly as he played a dubious version of the Benoni and landed in trouble quite quickly. White was positionally better throughout the game and went into an endgame up a pawn, where Black could do nothing but wait. Kasimdzhanov's technique was good and he took home the full point.
The opening ceremony took place in the Amphitryon hall of Makedonia Palace Hotel in Thessaloniki on Tuesday. The players and guests were greeted by the Tournament Director Theodoros Tsorbatsoglou, President of the Greek Chess Federation Georgios Makropoulos, General Secretary of Sports Kiriaki Gianakidou, Minister of Macedonia & Thrace Theodoros G. Karaoglou, Governor of the Region of Central Macedonia Apostolos Tzitzikostas, and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
For the drawing of lots the players picked up rooks in the shape of ...
... the White Tower, the famous landmark of Thessaloniki.
Ruslan Ponomariov got the start number three
Also attending the opening ceremony were MP of the Greek Parliament and former Minister of Health Andreas Loverdos, FIDE Vice-President Ali Nihat Yazici, Head of the Appeals Committee Zurab Azmaiparashvili, AGON Chief Andrew Paulson, FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg, consuls of USA and Bulgaria, and other distinguished guests.
Zurab Azmaiparashvili chatting with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
My, how tall you are! Advisor to President Ilyumzhinov Berik Balgabaev, FIDE Vice-President Ali Nihat Yazici and US Champion 2013 Gata Kamsky
Alexander Morozevich chatting with Peter Svidler, Kamsky and Andrew Paulson in the background
Rustam and Firuza Kasimdzhanov
At the technical meeting the players were briefed on the most important regulations – time control with increment only after move 60, no draw offers, zero tolerance rule, dress code.
The participants include three former World Champions Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) and Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan). GM Teimur Radjabov has withdrawn from the Thessaloniki Grand Prix for personal reasons and has been replaced by GM Etienne Bacrot from France.
The fourth edition of 'Hainan Danzhou Super Grand Master Chess Tournament' started on May 21 in Danzhou City, Hainan province, China.
Like the previous three editions, this tournament is still a ten-player single round-robin tournament with a total prize fund of 300,000 yuan. The ten GMs playing in this traditional tournament are Ding Liren (2707), Yu Yangyi (2675), Bu Xiangzhi (2662), Ni Hua (2646), Wen Yang (2618), Zhou Jianchao (2607), Zhou Weiqi (2590), Lu Shanglei (2551), Xiu Deshun (2534) and Wei Yi (2530), with an average rating of 2612.
China’s top player Wang Hao is now resting after having just finished the super tournament in Norway. The former Women World Champion Hou Yifan, who played in the past three years, is also not participating, turning the tournament into a pure men’s tournament for the first time. GM Wang Yue is also missing for personal reasons.
The time control for this tournament is 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. Draw offers are not allowed before move 30.
The opening ceremony, held in the banquet hall of HNA New World Hotel Danzhou, was attended by Mr. Yang Junan, Chairman of the Chinese Chess Federation, Mr. Ye Jiangchuan, the General Secretary of the Chinese Chess Federation, Mr. Lin Dong, Mayor of Danzhou city, as well as dozens of guests and journalists and hundreds of students from the local primary schools and middle schools.
Players and VIPs posed together in the opening ceremony
The officials of the Danzhou government (right, Mayor of Danzhou city, Mr. Lin Dong) kicked off the tournament with a beautiful crystal chess set.
In the drawing of lots ceremony conducted by the Chief Arbiter Ms.Liang Zhihua (left), each player was asked to choose a box in a glass jar on the stage. GM Bu Xiangzhi, the winner in 2010 and 2012, chose number seven.
Top seed GM Ding Liren chose number eight
Former women world champion GM Xu Yuhua and IM Lou Yiping give a presentation to local primary students
The first two rounds saw seven decisive games, which promises a fierce competition for this tournament. Top seed Ding Liren has had a good start with two wins, one over Lu Shanglei and another over Wei Yi.
The veteran GM Ni Hua (above) is also in a good form, beating Xiu Deshun and Lu Shanglei.
The defending champion GM Bu Xiangzhi started with a draw against Wei Yi with his pet Petroff Defense with black and won a tough game over Zhou Jianchao in an unbalanced endgame after Zhou missed a good drawing chance in the end.
After a draw against Bu Xiangzhi, the promising star Wei Yi found himself in a very passive queen and rook endgame in round two against Ding Liren. Although he defended hard, Wei Yi failed to balance the position and finally got mated in a rook ending.
Ding Liren won an incredibly complicated game against Lu Shanglei
In the game with Lu Shanglei in the first round, Ding Liren as black chose his recent favorite Caro-Kann and got a big advantage by successfully dominating the center. After several inaccurate moves by Lu Shanglei, Ding comfortably won pieces and the game.
[Event "4th Hainan Danzhou Super Grand Master Ch"] [Site "Danzhou,China"] [Date "2013.05.20"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Lu, Shanglei"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B11"] [WhiteElo "2551"] [BlackElo "2707"] [Annotator "IM Lou Yiping"] [PlyCount "60"] 1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e5 Ne4 5. h3 e6 6. Qe2 (6. Nxe4 dxe4 7. Nh2 Nd7 8. Qg4 Nxe5 9. Qxe4 Qd5 10. d3 Ng6 11. Nf3 e5 12. h4 f6 13. Be3 Ne7 14. Qa4 Nf5 15. O-O-O b5 16. Qb3 Qxb3 17. axb3 c5 18. g3 Bb7 19. Bg2 h5 {1/2-1/2 (50) Bartel,M (2635)-Berkes,F (2679) Germany 2012}) (6. d4 c5 7. Bd3 Nxc3 8. bxc3 c4 9. Be2 Be7 10. h4 Nc6 11. h5 h6 12. g3 Qa5 13. Qd2 Bd7 14. Nh4 O-O-O 15. a4 Rdg8 16. Bg4 Bg5 17. f4 Be7 18. Kf2 g5 19. hxg6 fxg6 20. Nf3 Qd8 {1-0 (41) Bologan,V (2687)-Mchedlishvili,M (2626) Plovdiv 2012}) 6... Nxc3 7. dxc3 c5 8. Bg5 Qc7 {Pressuring e5.} ({If} 8... Qb6 9. O-O-O Nc6 10. Qe3) 9. g4 {White wants to open the h1-a8 diagonal after Black plays Nc6, but...} ({An alternate plan was} 9. c4 d4 10. g4 Bd7 11. Bg2 Bc6 12. O-O Nd7) (9. O-O-O Nc6 10. Qe3 c4 {and Black may get good chances on the queenside.}) 9... Nc6 10. c4 $6 (10. Bg2 b5 {was suggested by Ding.} (10... b6 11. c4 Ba6 {is also interesting.}) 11. O-O a5) 10... dxc4 11. Bg2 (11. Qxc4 Nxe5) 11... b5 12. a4 Bb7 13. axb5 (13. O-O a6 14. axb5 axb5 15. Rxa8+ Bxa8 16. Ra1 Bb7 17. b3 h6 18. Bd2 Be7 19. bxc4 b4 $1) 13... Nd4 14. Qd1 (14. Nxd4 $2 {is bad due to} Bxg2 15. Rg1 cxd4 16. Rxg2 Qb7) 14... h6 15. Bd2 Be4 16. O-O Qb7 $1 ({The attractive} 16... Bxc2 $2 { is no good because of} 17. Nxd4 $1 Bxd1 18. Bxa8 {and Black has no good moves. For example} cxd4 {loses the queen to} 19. Bc6+ Ke7 (19... Kd8 20. Ba5) 20. Bb4+ Kd8 21. Ba5) (16... Nxc2 {is not a problem either.} 17. Rc1) 17. Ra3 Bd5 ( 17... Nxb5 18. Re3 Bd5 (18... Bc6 19. b3 cxb3 20. c4 Nd4 21. Nxd4 Bxg2 22. Rxb3 ) 19. b3 cxb3 20. c4 Bxc4 21. Nd4 $1 {In the post-mortem Ding said he could not calculate all the variations as they were too complicated.}) 18. Ne1 (18. Nxd4 Bxg2 19. Nc6 Bxf1 20. Qxf1 Qxb5 21. Qg2 Qb7 22. Na5 Qxg2+ 23. Kxg2 c3 24. Bxc3 h5 25. Nc4 {and though Black is better, his bishop looks quite useless.}) 18... Bxg2 19. Nxg2 Rd8 20. f4 Nxb5 21. Rg3 (21. Raf3 Qd5 22. R3f2 c3 23. bxc3 c4) 21... Nd4 22. f5 Qe4 23. Rf2 Be7 24. Qf1 exf5 25. gxf5 Qxe5 26. Bf4 (26. Re3 {doesn't work.} Qf6 27. Nf4 Nxf5) 26... Qd5 27. Ne3 Qe4 28. Qxc4 $4 {This loses.} ({If} 28. Rxg7 Bh4 29. Rfg2 (29. Bg3 Bf6) 29... Nf3+ 30. Kh1 Bg5) ({ White had to try} 28. Qg2 Qxg2+ 29. Rgxg2 Kf8 30. c3 Nc6 31. Nxc4 {and though down a pawn, White has good drawing chances.}) 28... Bh4 29. Rxg7 Bxf2+ 30. Kf1 Rd7 0-1
In his brilliant book from 1977, How to Cheat at Chess, Bill Hartston wrote something like: “If God did not want us to analyse on our pocket set in the toilet, he would not have given us paper on which to make notes.” 40 years ago cheating was a joke. In the electronic age it is anything but.
Something has to be done about it before we have an epidemic, some serious fisticuffs, more bad publicity or just a general darkening of the mood, to the extent that every time there is an upset, people start muttering that the victor must be cheating. Indeed at the recent European Individual Championships there was such an incident and the whisperings were entirely unjustifiable.
With some mobile phones now having software that is playing to about 2400, the temptation to sneak off and check some lines is proving too much for some and what particularly saddens me is that junior players have been caught. Recently at the Cork Open, Gabriel Mirza, whose daughter plays for the Irish junior team, became suspicious of his teenage opponent who had gone to the toilet “at least 20 times”. Now I wouldn’t recommend his course of action but this is what he was quoted as saying in the papers:
“After each move this guy was leaving the room. I went a few times around to where his pals were playing, but he was not there. I went to the toilet where there was just one locked. I entered in the next cubical, climbed on the toilet to watch over to the one which was occupied, and, surprise, he [was there] with an Android checking the moves with a chess engine.”
At this point he dragged his opponent out and there was a physical altercation. Obviously I can’t tell you exactly what happened, but Mr Mirza denies assault and the matter might end up in court. If I were the parents of the boy I would be trying to avoid any more publicity. The tournament organiser Gerry Graham expelled both players: Mirza for his reaction and the boy for cheating. He admitted it, although he didn’t need to as he was caught red-handed. I must say I have some sympathy for Mr Mirza. I honestly don’t know how I would react in his position, but if he did assault a minor then there is obviously no excuse for that.
In England recently a junior player cheated and was expelled from a tournament. There have been other incidents with adults. FIDE have been unable or unwilling to take a lead. Pathetic, but hardly surprising. Therefore I think it must fall to the ECF to come up with a set of disciplinary measures that can be implemented in England and, if the other chess unions want, in the rest of the UK.
Thanks to Professor Ken Regan and others, we can tell when a computer has been used or appears to have been used. This, combined with the rating of the player, enables an arbiter to judge with near certainty if there has been cheating. So I would like to propose the ECF Directors come up with some enforceable sanctions that can be implemented in these cases. I hope we can begin a debate, but my instinct would be something like:
CHESS Magazine was established in 1935 by B.H. Wood who ran it for over fifty years. It is published each month by the London Chess Centre and is edited by Richard Palliser. The Executive Editor is Malcolm Pein, who organised the London Chess Classic.
CHESS is mailed to subscribers in over 50 countries. You can subscribe from Europe and Asia at a specially discounted rate for first timers here or from North America here.
Lothar Maximilian Lorenz Schmid was born on May 10th 1928, heir to the Karl Mai adventure series. He became one of Germany's strongest grandmasters, winner of countless medals at Olympiads and team championships. Internationally he was known as the arbiter in great matches, and a one of the world's leading collectors of chess books. Lothar Schmid died on Saturday at the age of 85. Read our report here.
Click to read the NYT obiturary
Schmid earned his living helping his brothers to run the family’s publishing house, and as a player never reached the pinnacle; but his collection of books ran to many thousands of volumes, and included some great rarities. He owned, for example, one of only ten surviving copies of the first printed book about chess, Luis Lucena’s Repetition of Love and the Art of Playing Chess (Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez), published in Salamanca in 1497. He also possessed all eight editions of Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi, published in Rome in 1512 by the Portuguese apothecary Pedro Damiano (1470-1544). The first bestselling chess manual of the modern game (it ran to eight editions in 50 years), it offered advice on how to play and introduced readers to the “smothered mate” (in which checkmate is delivered by a knight when the opposing king is unable to move because he is completely hemmed in by his own pieces). Damiano suggested that chess was invented by Xerxes the Great, King of Persia from 519 to 465 BC.
Read the full article in The Telegraph
Could Mind Sports help older adults improve cognitive performance and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s
You’ve read the headline of this article. Interesting you think. You nod and move on. What if you notice that you forgot what you just had read a moment ago?
It’s those little things that begin to make you concerned – misplaced keys, forgetting to shut the refrigerator door, driving home forgetting which way you turn to get there. What happens when you cannot remember the person sitting across from you who happens to also be your spouse?
Many know this reality all too well – especially if you are a caregiver or have seen the devastation of Alzheimer’s in your immediate family. The never ending data is alarming and staggering.
Comparison of a normal aged brain and one of a person with Alzheimer's [Wiki]
Every 68 seconds, someone in the U.S. develops Alzheimer’s disease. One in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that in 2013, 450,000 Americans will die with Alzheimer’s disease. Estimates are that 7 million Americans will have Alzheimer’s by 2025 – a 40 percent increase.
By 2050, cost of care for Alzheimer’s is projected to balloon from $203 billion in 2013 to $1.2 trillion, 70 percent of which will be covered by Medicare and Medicaid. Nearly 14.5 million caregivers provided more than 17.5 billion hours of unpaid care. Those numbers will rise over the next decade as well.
Age is the greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s or dementia, so as our population continues to age the prevalence of the disease will continue to grow. Closer to home, almost 53,000 Alabama citizens are living with Alzheimer’s. In Alabama, by 2025 there will be a 31 percent increase in the disease.
The latest data underscore the need for an urgent global response, including a strong investment in research, to stop the emerging Alzheimer’s crisis. Fortunately, policy makers are recognizing this urgency about investment, research and education. The White House recently unveiled a $100 million dollar BRAIN Initiative and that will take a very important step toward the most dramatic breakthroughs in human health. Brain research is vital for Autism, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, Parkinson’s, traumatic brain injury, mental health, and a host of other concerns.
What can be done to stop the disease or slow it down in the meantime? There exists an intriguing activity that could, indeed, slow or stop the disease. A recent National Institute of Health – National Institute on Aging publication, Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease: What Do We Know? is fascinating. The front cover of the document featured two seniors playing chess! The document affirms that, “Staying cognitively active … through mentally stimulating activities … such as playing games are linked to keeping the mind sharp.”
Further, it suggests that the reasons why an active brain prevents Alzheimer’s may be, “Such activities may protect the brain by establishing ‘cognitive reserve,’ the brain’s ability to operate effectively even when it is damaged or some brain function is disrupted.” Harvard Medical School last month noted, “...exposing the brain to novel activities in particular provided greater protection against Alzheimer’s disease than just aerobic exercise.”
"Chess-Players" by Honoré Daumier, 1867 [source: Wikipaintings]
Does playing chess or any mind sport prevent Alzheimer’s? Could this nearly 1800 year-old game hold a key to keeping your thinking healthy and engaged? Could chess or other mind sports be one of the “preventions” to ward off the 6th largest killer disease in the US?
Chess is in fact a particularly good brain builder! It is a fairly easy game to learn. It takes a little practice but you can play it very quickly and the possibilities of play are endless. Playing games like chess can stimulate our minds, increase our social interactions with others and possibly reduce stress, but when it comes to reducing risk of Alzheimer’s, the type, variety and frequency of the games we play is key.
I am going to suggest, based on my long experience and observations, that any game that is challenging and stimulating will be beneficial to an older adult. Mind sports lends itself to a variety of complexities from various patterns to calculations that stimulate players' brains. Research says that people who don't exercise their gray matter stand a chance of losing brain power when they age.
A “mind sport” doesn’t leave the game outcome to dice or chance or bluff. Although those games are fun and recreational – they do not confer to an individual the same lasting values as a mind sport.
Chess seems like a treatment that works. In fact, people over the age of 75 that partake in leisure activities that stimulate the brain were less likely to develop signs of dementia. Research shows that chess affects specific areas of the brain and the stimulation will shift with the problems that a chess player faces during the game.
We all know that games can be fun and challenging, but if we are interested in actually maintaining brain fitness, then mind sports stimulate all six cognitive areas of the brain at the same time and are the most beneficial.
Those six cognitive areas:
The emergence of mind sports as a tool to reduce our risk of Alzheimer’s is based on using and exercising all six cognitive areas of the brain and continuing the program over a period of time. Chess touches every one of those areas.
It can’t hurt to learn chess, checkers (there are dozens of different ways to play this very beautiful game), Bridge or another mind sport. Those games are easy to learn and are endlessly fascinating. The day may not be far off when doctors recommend a game of chess along with the physical exercise and a healthy diet for older adults! The recreational value will make for a memorable experience and a better life in the future – one you will want to remember.
You can also visit Michael's Facebook page, which has the above historical 3D chess photograph in its header. It can be views by gazing into the background and bringing the two images together; or if you are not able to use that technique you can use cross-eyed viewing using this image (in which we have reversed the plates).
Veterans from Tuscaloosa’s VA Medical Center are playing mind games. Actually, they are playing a game that will hopefully strengthen their minds. Chess. There has been some research to indicate that games like chess, which require a lot of brain power, can improve a person’s memory. It could also help to slow Alzheimer’s symptoms. Experts describe these “mind sports” has being like a Stairmaster for your brain. The idea is that when you stay cognitively active, your mind stays in shape.
Experts will be coming to the VA once a week to coach the veterans on how to play chess. For many, it’s their first trying the game. Instructors say they should be ready to play a full game on their own in four weeks. At that point, there has been some discussion about arranging for tournament play with the Birmingham-area VA Medical Center.
Source: CBS42.com
The American Continental Championship took place in Cochabamba, Bolivia from May 06th to May 15th. The tournament was especially important not only because of the presence of almost every top Latin American grandmaster, but also because the top four places qualified for the upcoming World Cup in Tromso, Norway that will start in August.
The Waca Waca (NOT Shakira's version), one of Bolivia's traditional dances, is a parody of Spanish bullfights. In the picture is another Bolivian dance, the "Tinku"
Performers dressed in typical Bolivian attire...
...and dazzling the players with their moves. Women's long dresses are known as polleras.
The tournament favourite was definitely Lazaro Bruzon, from Cuba, with an imposing 2707 and almost 50 points ahead of his nearest rival. However there was a significant presence of Latin American grandmasters as well as one American grandmaster, Alexandr Lenderman, who had to decline his participation in the concurrent American Championship due to personal reasons.
The Cuban team enjoying a meal with the beautiful rain forest in the background.
Despite a draw on this game against Costa Rican IM Bernal Gonzalez, Bruzon kept performing well throughout the first half.
The tournament saw relatively few surprises through the first half. Bruzon, Granda, Iturrizaga and Ortiz Suarez remained solidly on top and it seemed unlikely that anyone out of the starting top six players would make it to the qualifying spots.
GM Osvaldo Zambrana, Bolivia's best chess player, came half a point shy of the World Cup qualification.
Iturrizaga vs. Ortiz Suarez was a draw on round nine, and it seemed that they would both cruise towards the finish line
However things took a dramatic change in the final round. Bruzon was white against the much lower rated Jorge Cori and only needed a draw to qualify. The Peruvian would not let this happen as he took the game and the qualification spot for himself! Even more surprisingly, Jorge's sister Deisy was playing on board four against Iturrizaga, a GM 200 points ahead of her. The Peruvian spirit was strong that day as she also won her game and not only knocked out Iturrizaga from the top honors, but she herself qualified for the World Cup.
Deisy Cori's (above) claim to fame is her 2011 victory in the Women's Junior World Championship. Now she is one of two girls qualified for the Tromso World Cup, the other being Anna Ushenina who qualified by being the Women's World Champion.
As if that wasn't enough for the Peruvians, on board one Granda, who would have emerged victorious from the tournament with just a draw, won with black against Axel Bachmann and took first place a full point ahead of the field.
Granda showed his usual fighting chess and annihilated the opposition, earning him a cool USD $5000
Note that both Coris qualified despite finishing fourth and fifth because Granda had already qualified from the 2012 edition of this tournament. Third place went to Diego Flores. Both Bruzon and Iturrizaga will have a final opportunity to qualify for Tromso in their Zonal championship, which was supposed to be held last month.
23.5.2013 - IM Robert Ris shows sharp and double edged opening lines. If you fancy sacrifing or playing gambits, this show is a must see. Subject: Attack with Black against the Alapin. Starting at 7 pm. Become Premium Member!
22.5.2013 - Ideas and strategies in Grandmaster games can be quite instructive. IM Merijn van Delft presents games like these every wednesday at 8 pm. This is how you learn to play like a Grandmaster. Become Premium Member!
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What is the best way to use your pieces to their full potential in the endgame? GM Karsten Müller demonstrates “knight geometry”, and teaches you how to employ the “knight check shadow” in your own games!