Smoking - bad for your chess

If you haven't already caught this, Chinese players Wang Yue and Li Chao were eliminated from the 2009 FIDE World Cup after turning up late for their playoff games in the third round. The reason for the lateness was that they were outside the playing hall having a smoke. Alerted that their games were about to start, both players rushed inside, but it was too late, and the games were declared loss.
The most astonishing thing about this (apart from the obvious problems with 0 minute forfeit times) was that Li Chao didn't even smoke before the tournament, and only took it up to join Wang Yue's 'smoking group'.
Chessvibes have coverage and comment here, while there is an interview with the 2 players here.

Ikeda wins 2009 Vikings Weekender

Former Australian Junior Champion Junta Ikeda successfully defended his Vikings Weekender title, winning the 2009 event with a perfect 6/6. The two crucial games were is win in round 5 over second seed FM Endre Ambrus, and final round win over 3rd seed Andrew Brown. In both games Ikeda was often below 10 seconds on the clock (the time limit was 60m+10 sec increment), but managed to not only hold poor positions, but convert them into wins.
Second place was shared between Ambrus, and weekend circuit regular Trent Parker. Both finished on 5/6 with Parker defeating the higher rated Milan Grcic in the final round to grab $250 in prize money.
Full tournament results can be found here.

Ikeda,Junta - Brown,Andrew
Vikings Weekender 2009 Vikings (6), 29.11.2009

1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 e5 4.c4 g6 5.d3 Bg7 6.a3 Nge7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Nc3 d5 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxc3 11.Nxc6 Nxd1 12.Nxd8 Nxb2 13.Bxb2 Bxb2 14.Ra2 Rxd8 15.Rxb2 Rb8 16.Rfb1 b6 17.a4 Bd7 18.a5 b5 19.Rc1 Rdc8 20.a6 Rb6 21.Kf1 Kf8 22.Ke1 Ke7 23.Bb7 Rc7 24.Rbc2 b4 25.Kd2 Be6 26.Ra1 b3 27.Rb2 c4 28.Rc1 Kd6 29.Rc3 Kc5 30.e3 Rd7 31.Bc8 Rxd3+ 32.Rxd3 Bxc8 33.Rd8 Bf5 34.Kc3 Rxa6 35.Rd1 Bc2 36.Rd8 Rc6 37.e4 Bxe4 38.Re2 f5 39.f3 Bxf3 40.Re5+ Kb6 41.Rd4 a6 42.Re3 b2 43.Kxb2 Kc5 44.Kc3 Be4 45.Rxc4+ Kb5 46.Rxc6 Kxc6 47.Kd4 a5 48.g4 Kb5 49.Kc3 h6 50.h4 Kc5 51.Re1 a4 52.h5 gxh5 53.gxf5 Bd5 54.f6 Kd6 55.Rd1 h4 56.Rxd5+ Ke6 57.Rh5 Kxf6 58.Rxh4 Kg5 59.Rxa4 h5 60.Kd3 h4 61.Ke3 h3 62.Kf3 1-0

2009 Vikings Weekender - Day 1

The 2009 Vikings Weekender has got off to a good start, with a field of 57 players fronting up. It is a little weaker than last year but the field once again contains the usual mix of under-rated juniors, veteran Canberra players, and a small group of interstate visitors.
As the tournament is one big swiss (rather than broken into sections) the day ended with 6 players on perfect scores. Junta Ikeda, Andre Ambrus, Allan Setiabudi, Arthur Huynh, Ian Rout and Andrey Bliznyuk all scored 3 wins. Given the number of players at the top it may not be until the final round that a clear leader will emerge.
One player who is hoping that the leaders knock themselves out is 3rd seed Andrew Brown, who drew with Nick Beare in the 1st round. Brown had R+N v R+B+P but the confined nature of Beare's king meant there were a few tricks to watch out for. And while Brown tried most of them, when it became clear that the only one left was to hope for a win on time, Brown instead offered a draw, which Beare happily accepted.
Full results for Day 1 of the tournament can be found at Ian Rout's website.

March of the Dignified Pieces

While "March of the Dignified Pieces" sounds like something by Saint-Saens, it is instead the description of the diagram to the right. It comes from the 1823 book "Practical Chess Grammar: or, An Introduction to the Royal Game of Chess: In a series of plates."
I'm still trying to work out what the instructive value of this diagram actually is, but to me it is still visually appealing, although only in the same way that a map of the London Underground is. (Click on the diagram for a clearer view)

Local chessplayer wins prize on television show

Congratulations Jeremy

Why don't you resign?

There is a famous story attributed to Korchnoi concerning an Olympiad game. Playing a weak opponent he is soon up a piece. The game progresses and soon he has won another piece. Suddenly he says to his opponent "Do you speak English?" "Yes" says his opponent. "Then why don't you resign?" growls Korchnoi.
While I'm not sure how true the story is, it is always tempting to demand that of an opponent, especially when you are clearly winning. However on some opponents such a comment would be clearly wasted, as they clearly believe that "no one ever won a game by resigning"
One player who this applies to is English IM Michael Basman. David Levy gives a selection of Basman "swindles" in his book "Play Chess Combinations and Sacrifices", swindles that generally kick off long after 'decent' players would have stopped the clocks. However one swindle he declined to publish was a particularly painful loss he had to Basman, where Basman sacrificed a queen in an inferior position. The sac wasn't that helpful, as Levy's advantage actually increased but eventually the succession of short term threats all got to much for Levy who blundered and lost, 18 moves later!

Levy - Basman,Michael J [B03]
Glasgow Glasgow, 1968

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4 Bf5 6.Be3 e6 7.Nc3 g5 8.fxg5 dxe5 9.dxe5 Nc6 10.Nf3 Nb4 11.Nd4 Be7 12.a3 (D)
12. ... Qxd4 13.Bxd4 Nc2+ 14.Kf2 0-0-0 15.Bxb6 axb6 16.Qc1 h6 17.g4 Bh7 18.h4 hxg5 19.h5 Bc5+ 20.Kf3 f5 21.gxf5 Bxf5 22.Rh2 Nd4+ 23.Kg3 Nb3 24.Qe1 Rd4 25.Be2 Rd2 26.Rd1 Rxb2 27.Bf3 Rxh2 28.Kxh2 g4 29.Bg2 Rxh5+ 30.Kg3 Be7 31.Qh1 Rxh1 32.Rxh1 Bxa3 33.Rh8+ Kd7 34.Bxb7 Bb2 35.Bc8+ Ke7 36.Rh1 Bxc3 37.Kf4 Nc5 38.Rd1 Nd3+ 0-1

Smerdon out in the tie-breaks

It took GM Leinier Dominguez 6 games before he finally broke through against Australian GM David Smerdon. After both games were drawn in the Regulation match, they played 4 games at G/25m+10s per move. The first 3 games were drawn before Dominguez won the final Rapid play game, after David suffered from a 'brain explosion'. Dominguez goes through to the second round where he is up against rising Italian star Fabiano Caruana
For David's perspective on the whole experience, visit his new blog at www.davidsmerdon.com