World record holder GM Timur Gareyev is the latest GM entrant to this years O2C Doeberl Cup. He holds the record for the largest documented blindfold simul, with 48 games in 2016.
As part of his trip to Canberra, he will be conducting a 10 board blindfold simul at the Southern Cross Club on Wednesday 28 March (the night before the Doeberl Cup begins). This event is being organised by the ACT Chess Association, and members are invited to take part. You can either contact ACTCA President Cam Cunningham if you are interested (contact details here) or respond to the email invitation if you are on the ACTCA mailing list.
Gareyev will also be giving a lecture on Friday morning (30 March) to junior players. As space is limited, this will be for ACT junior players with a FIDE rating (or ACF rating above 1000). Invitations will be sent out shortly, or you can reply directly to me at the above link if you wish to attend.
Both these events are free to ACTCA/ACTJCL members
Showing posts with label Simul. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Simul. Show all posts
Tuesday, 20 March 2018
Tuesday, 30 June 2015
This is how you break a record
Brigitta Sinka, an 87 year old Hungarian chessplayer, has broken the record for the most number of simultaneous games played in a career, having just clocked up her 13,600th game. More correctly, she has broken Jose Capablanca's record of 13,545 games, which is believed to be the previous record.
Of course such claims are sometimes difficult to prove, but in her case she has kept a record of the 13,600 games she has played, starting back in 1957. A lot of the games were played at holiday camps for children, but I suspect even then the quality of opponents would be reasonably high, being Hungary and all.
Nonetheless I would not be surprised if there are players who have played more games than this, just without the requisite documentation. One name that springs to mind is Joseph Henry Blackburne, who made his living from simultaneous displays. He had a very long career stretching from 1862 to 1921, and it is estimated he played 100,000 games over this time. Assuming he played simuls for 50 years, and 20 board simuls were typical, he would only need to play 20 simuls a year to clock up 20,000 games. But based on his own collection of best games it seemed he played many more than that annually, so even 20,000 seems to be an underestimate.
Of course such claims are sometimes difficult to prove, but in her case she has kept a record of the 13,600 games she has played, starting back in 1957. A lot of the games were played at holiday camps for children, but I suspect even then the quality of opponents would be reasonably high, being Hungary and all.
Nonetheless I would not be surprised if there are players who have played more games than this, just without the requisite documentation. One name that springs to mind is Joseph Henry Blackburne, who made his living from simultaneous displays. He had a very long career stretching from 1862 to 1921, and it is estimated he played 100,000 games over this time. Assuming he played simuls for 50 years, and 20 board simuls were typical, he would only need to play 20 simuls a year to clock up 20,000 games. But based on his own collection of best games it seemed he played many more than that annually, so even 20,000 seems to be an underestimate.
Saturday, 2 May 2015
Off to the fair
Tomorrow I am taking a short journey south of Canberra, to the annual Michelago Mayfair. Apart from the usual delights of a village fair, I will be giving a chess display. The display will probably be just me taking on all comers, but to make it interesting, I will probably give myself a time handicap (eg all moves in 1 or 2 minutes).
I did this a few years ago as a replacement for Lee Forace (who has done it on and off for around 5 years), so this is my second attempt. If you are interested in enjoying a trip to the country (and read this early enough to get there), Michelago is 45 minutes south of Canberra, along the Monaro Highway. The fair runs from 10am to 3 pm, and apart from chess there will be plenty of other activities to do.
I did this a few years ago as a replacement for Lee Forace (who has done it on and off for around 5 years), so this is my second attempt. If you are interested in enjoying a trip to the country (and read this early enough to get there), Michelago is 45 minutes south of Canberra, along the Monaro Highway. The fair runs from 10am to 3 pm, and apart from chess there will be plenty of other activities to do.
Friday, 3 May 2013
Michelago Mayfair
I'm off to the Fair this Sunday, specifically the Michelago Mayfair. As part of the activities I will be giving a simul, taking on all comers. The event starts at 10am and I will probably playing until around 3pm. This is the first time I've done this (Lee Forace normally plays the simul) but I suspect it won't be one big simul, rather a succession of smaller ones.
So if you wish to make the trip to Michelago (about 50km south of Canberra, but only 20 minutes from Tuggeranong) this Sunday, you can be guaranteed an enjoyable day out, as well as a little chess on the side.
So if you wish to make the trip to Michelago (about 50km south of Canberra, but only 20 minutes from Tuggeranong) this Sunday, you can be guaranteed an enjoyable day out, as well as a little chess on the side.
Saturday, 1 September 2012
A fantastic coaching opportunity
For chessplayers in and around Canberra, the ACT Chess Association is organising a coaching session with well known trainer IM Andras Toth. It is aimed at adult players (and higher rated juniors) and will be held on Sunday 9th September. The details are:
The workshop will be run by IM Andras Toth and will cover a number of topics followed by a lunch break and a simul.
This is a great opportunity to listen to one of the top Canberra players explain various aspects of chess and participate in a simul.
Andras will focus on aspects of chess beauty and will include the following topics in the workshop:
- Analysing some really nice lesser known games;
- Some of the nicest moves ever made in chess history;
- Chess curiosities, stalemates and records;
- Chess mathematics and studies exploiting the geometry of the chess board;
- Deeper analysis of some specific studies and problems;
The lecture will start at 9:30 am sharp at Campbell High School and lunch will be taken at around 12:00 pm.
The simul will commence at approx 1:00 pm.
The total cost is $15 per person which can be paid on the day in cash.
The workshop is open to all senior players and junior players with a rating over 1200.
Numbers are LIMITED to 20.
If you are interested in taking part, contact Glenn Ingham at glenn.ingham@mac.com
Monday, 13 August 2012
The 1989 Spassky Tour
Back in 1989 former World Champion Boris Spassky did an exhibition tour of Australia. It was quite a big thing back then, and it generated quite a degree of publicity for the game. When he was in Canberra, he did plenty of radio and TV interviews, and gave a 20 board simul at Belconnen Mall.
Something at the chess club last week reminded me of one his games from the simul, and Paul Dunn was very quick to dig the game up for me. It was a game played against former ACT Champion Michael Mescher, and was one of only two losses for Spassky on his entire tour. After the game Spassky was quite impressed by Mescher's play, and insisted in inviting Mescher to dinner so they could continue to analyse the game together.
The game was a King's Gambit, and Mescher's choice of 3. ... Be7 was pre-simul prep. Looking through recent theory on this line 6. ... Nc6 still seems to be unplayed (apart from this game) and 9. ... Qh6 is very strong.
Spassky,Boris - Mescher,Michael [C35]
Simul Belconnen, 26.05.1989
Something at the chess club last week reminded me of one his games from the simul, and Paul Dunn was very quick to dig the game up for me. It was a game played against former ACT Champion Michael Mescher, and was one of only two losses for Spassky on his entire tour. After the game Spassky was quite impressed by Mescher's play, and insisted in inviting Mescher to dinner so they could continue to analyse the game together.
The game was a King's Gambit, and Mescher's choice of 3. ... Be7 was pre-simul prep. Looking through recent theory on this line 6. ... Nc6 still seems to be unplayed (apart from this game) and 9. ... Qh6 is very strong.
Spassky,Boris - Mescher,Michael [C35]
Simul Belconnen, 26.05.1989
Friday, 27 July 2012
2012 ANU Chess Festival - Day 1
The 2012 ANU Chess Festival began with the traditional simul in the centre of Canberra. As for the past few years King O'Malley's played host, with IM Andras Toth doing the honours. Numbers were a little down on previous years, with only 11 players taking on Toth. However it was a tough simul with most players rated between 1500 and 1850.
When the final move had been played Toth had scored 10 wins and 1 draw. Miles Patterson was the player who avoided defeat, winning a book voucher from event sponsors University Co-op Bookshops. However Toth had to work hard in a number of games, especially against Glenn Ingham. At one point Ingham was up a whole rook, but threats against the king, combined with an advanced passed pawn allowed Toth liquidate enough material and make the pawn count.
Tomorrow is the first day of the 2012 ANU Open, at the Canberra School of Art. Top seed is GM Zong-Yuan Zhao, but there are a number of young challengers (Brown, Ly, Ikeda, Illingworth) to make the tournament an exciting one. Play begins at 10am and the first fay will see a very testing 4 rounds.
When the final move had been played Toth had scored 10 wins and 1 draw. Miles Patterson was the player who avoided defeat, winning a book voucher from event sponsors University Co-op Bookshops. However Toth had to work hard in a number of games, especially against Glenn Ingham. At one point Ingham was up a whole rook, but threats against the king, combined with an advanced passed pawn allowed Toth liquidate enough material and make the pawn count.
Tomorrow is the first day of the 2012 ANU Open, at the Canberra School of Art. Top seed is GM Zong-Yuan Zhao, but there are a number of young challengers (Brown, Ly, Ikeda, Illingworth) to make the tournament an exciting one. Play begins at 10am and the first fay will see a very testing 4 rounds.
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
ANU Chess Festival Simul
Since it started 20 years ago the ANU Chess Festival as had a Weekender, a Schools Championship, and a Simul (It also had a computer chess championship for a few years, and an IM tournament one year, but those events are no more).
The Simul has always been sponsored by the ANU University Co-op Bookshop, in the form of book vouchers for players who can win or draw. Normally they don't have to pay out too much, as it seems a point of pride for the simul player to score as heavily as possible (No Spassky like draws here).
This years simul features IM Andras Toth, who recently celebrated the birth of his first child. This means there is a possibility that lake of sleep may be a factor in his play. The simul will be held on Friday 27th July at King O'Malley's, City Walk Canberra City. The event is open to all comers (including juniors, as we won't be playing in the licensed area). It begins at 4:30pm, which gives people the opportunity to knock off work early and come along.There is no charge, but it will be restricted to 16 players, so first in best dressed.
The Simul has always been sponsored by the ANU University Co-op Bookshop, in the form of book vouchers for players who can win or draw. Normally they don't have to pay out too much, as it seems a point of pride for the simul player to score as heavily as possible (No Spassky like draws here).
This years simul features IM Andras Toth, who recently celebrated the birth of his first child. This means there is a possibility that lake of sleep may be a factor in his play. The simul will be held on Friday 27th July at King O'Malley's, City Walk Canberra City. The event is open to all comers (including juniors, as we won't be playing in the licensed area). It begins at 4:30pm, which gives people the opportunity to knock off work early and come along.There is no charge, but it will be restricted to 16 players, so first in best dressed.
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