The World Under 16 Chess Olympiad is up and running in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Among the 35 teams is an Australian team, headed by Michael Kethro. They are seeded 15th, al;though I suspect some on the unrated teams might be quite strong. At the top end there are a number of strong players (1 GM and 7 IM's) but there are a number of not so strong teams as well.
The Australian team is off to a good start with 5/8, including a 3-1 win over Russia 2. Next up they play Kyrguzstan, who are just seeded below them.
If you wish to follow the event, the tournament home page might be the best bet, although results can also be found at chess-results.com
Friday, 21 August 2015
Thursday, 20 August 2015
Sinquefield Sunday
The Sinquefield Cup starts this Sunday, with 7 of the top 8 players in the world taking part. The 10 player RR also includes World number 9, 11 and 24, making it one of the strongest events since AVRO 1938!
The second event in the new Grand Tour, it will be interesting to see how some players (eg Magnus Carlsen) back up after the Norway event. Certainly Topalov is hoping his good luck and good form continue, while Fabiano Caruana is returning to the scene of his great triumph of 2014. The other interesting/surprising fact is that 3 of the 10 players are playing under the US flag, which has been a rarity in recent years.
The first round is this Sunday, starting at 1pm local time, which translates to 4am Canberra time. So while it is likely I will miss the first part of the games, waking up to some high quality chess is a distinct possibility.
The second event in the new Grand Tour, it will be interesting to see how some players (eg Magnus Carlsen) back up after the Norway event. Certainly Topalov is hoping his good luck and good form continue, while Fabiano Caruana is returning to the scene of his great triumph of 2014. The other interesting/surprising fact is that 3 of the 10 players are playing under the US flag, which has been a rarity in recent years.
The first round is this Sunday, starting at 1pm local time, which translates to 4am Canberra time. So while it is likely I will miss the first part of the games, waking up to some high quality chess is a distinct possibility.
Wednesday, 19 August 2015
Turbo Pascal Gameworks
A bit of a longshot, but I am looking for the source code that came with the Turbo Pascal Gameworks (Borland). I purchased it a very long time ago (late 1980's I'm sure), and while I have the book it came with, and the compiled programs, the source code disappeared soon after 5.25 inch floppy drives went out of fashion.
As part of the package there was Turbo Chess, Turbo Bridge and Turbo Gomoku. I am mainly interested in the Bridge program, but any leads will are appreciated.
Searching the internet seems to throw up lots of mentions of the book, but the source code seems to be lost. Help!
*** Happy update: Bill Gletsos (ACF Ratings officer) pointed me to vetusware.com, which had a zipped file of the source code. There is also a lot of other abandonware stuff there as well, although you do need to create a (free) account to download
As part of the package there was Turbo Chess, Turbo Bridge and Turbo Gomoku. I am mainly interested in the Bridge program, but any leads will are appreciated.
Searching the internet seems to throw up lots of mentions of the book, but the source code seems to be lost. Help!
*** Happy update: Bill Gletsos (ACF Ratings officer) pointed me to vetusware.com, which had a zipped file of the source code. There is also a lot of other abandonware stuff there as well, although you do need to create a (free) account to download
Tuesday, 18 August 2015
What just happened here?
While scooping up dgt games to test my game replay system, I cam across the following weirdness from the Olomouc 2015 GM B tournament. Not quite sure where Black decided to fall on his sword, but it was all starting to unravel as early as 7. ... c5. To be fair to Black, the idea of taking the h1 rook and and going h4-c4-c8 with it may have come as a shock, but each move by this rook just increased White's advantage.
Kourousis,Epaminondas - Cernousek,Lukas [D80]
Olomouc 2015 (4), 18.08.2015
Kourousis,Epaminondas - Cernousek,Lukas [D80]
Olomouc 2015 (4), 18.08.2015
Monday, 17 August 2015
St George Weekender
If you feel like some chess over this weekend, and are in within travelling distance of Sydney, then the St George Weekender is the event for you. Not one of Australia's biggest weekend tournament, it nonetheless is still an important tournament, providing an opportunity for improving players to test their mettle. In once sense it is more like a country event (a couple of 2300+ players, a few in the 1900-2100 group, and some dangerous 1500's) , but with the obvious benefit of drawing players from a larger pool.
Details of the tournament are
Details of the tournament are
- Date: 22nd - 23rd August
- Venue: St George Leagues Club, Princess Hwy, Kograh, Sydney
- Registration: 10am-10:30am Saturday 22nd August
- Format: 7 round swiss (single section)
- Time limit: G60m+10s
- Prize pool: $1720 (based on 40 entries)
- Further info: www.nswca.org.au
The cutoff for early entries is 20th August 2015
Sunday, 16 August 2015
Ah, Vienna
I'm always aware of when the Vienna Open is being held, as Victor Braguine (who is a well known Canberra player) has been a regular participant over the last few years. So I make the effort to check in with the results and see who else is playing.
Well this years event is pretty big, with 464 players in the top section alone. 121 players have titles (headed by 17 GM's) and 43 countries are represented. Australia even has 3 players taking part, with IM Justin Tan, and Peter Frost playing along with Braguine. There is even an extra connection to Australia with Pete Morriss (IRL), sometimes Street Chess player, also taking part.
The first round was last night and the Australian contingent got off to a good start, with a win to Tan and draws against higher rated opponents to Frost and Braguine. Results for the event (plus some of the games) can be found at http://www.chess-results.com/tnr148537.aspx?lan=1
Tan,Justin (2421) - Hund,Gerhard (2063) [B54]
Vienna Chess Open 2015 Group A Grosser Festsaal im Wiener Rat (1.30), 15.08.2015
Well this years event is pretty big, with 464 players in the top section alone. 121 players have titles (headed by 17 GM's) and 43 countries are represented. Australia even has 3 players taking part, with IM Justin Tan, and Peter Frost playing along with Braguine. There is even an extra connection to Australia with Pete Morriss (IRL), sometimes Street Chess player, also taking part.
The first round was last night and the Australian contingent got off to a good start, with a win to Tan and draws against higher rated opponents to Frost and Braguine. Results for the event (plus some of the games) can be found at http://www.chess-results.com/tnr148537.aspx?lan=1
Tan,Justin (2421) - Hund,Gerhard (2063) [B54]
Vienna Chess Open 2015 Group A Grosser Festsaal im Wiener Rat (1.30), 15.08.2015
Broadcast service
Having mentioned last week that I was writing a HTML 5 version of the DGT replay software, I have moved on the extending it to a database driven game replay system. The idea is to be able to allow the broadcast of tournaments without requiring organisers to have their own hosting service (Note: not necessarily an original idea, but one that is not that widespread).
I do not quite have a alpha version up for testing as yet, although what I do have seems to work locally. A few more late night programming/debugging sessions and I might have something ready to show!
I do not quite have a alpha version up for testing as yet, although what I do have seems to work locally. A few more late night programming/debugging sessions and I might have something ready to show!
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