Seems that the push to get chess accepted as an Olympic sport isn't quite dead yet. Although the door to the Summer Olympics seems closed, there were hopes that chess might become a Winter Olympic sport. There is one problem however. Winter Olympic sports must be played on ice or snow.
It seems pretty unequivocal, but FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov seems to have found a loophole. He has suggested* that the chess tournament use pieces made of ice, thereby fulfilling the requirements for a Winter Olympic Sport . He apparently did this an interview in China, while attending the recent FIDE Presidential Board meeting. The story has been picked up by a few news outlets, but at this stage is yet to qualify as the "bizarre chess story of the week". Whether it does rival the So/Nigalidze/Short media storms is not clear right now, but like a good Art House film, box office returns might be slow to start with.
*Normally with stories of this type a 'translation error' will inevitably be blamed for the statement, so I am flagging this explanation early.
Thursday, 30 April 2015
Wednesday, 29 April 2015
More weirdness at the chess club
Last week I related the story of a Street Chess tournament coming to a grinding halt because the tournament laptop was stolen (BTW, it has yet to turn up). This week saw the weirdness continue, with the first night of a new tournament at the ANU Chess Club almsot not happening due to unforeseen circumstances.
In this case I turned up to the venue to find I was locked out of the equipment room, as someone decided to change the combination of the door. Apparently they forgot to tell anyone they were doing this, which meant the tournament was going to either be a blindfold event, or possible a multi-player kriegspiel (as one member brought their own set).
After failing to track down the new combination, complete disaster was averted by a quick trip to where the Street Chess equipment is kept, to grab some sets and clock. Unfortunately the clocks are old analog ones (no increment!) and we were still missing scoresheets. In the end a decision was made to play a blitz instead, which turned out to be a fun tournament.
Nonetheless these sort of disturbances are becoming more and more frequent and I am beginning to wonder exactly which god I have offended, and how I managed to do it.
In this case I turned up to the venue to find I was locked out of the equipment room, as someone decided to change the combination of the door. Apparently they forgot to tell anyone they were doing this, which meant the tournament was going to either be a blindfold event, or possible a multi-player kriegspiel (as one member brought their own set).
After failing to track down the new combination, complete disaster was averted by a quick trip to where the Street Chess equipment is kept, to grab some sets and clock. Unfortunately the clocks are old analog ones (no increment!) and we were still missing scoresheets. In the end a decision was made to play a blitz instead, which turned out to be a fun tournament.
Nonetheless these sort of disturbances are becoming more and more frequent and I am beginning to wonder exactly which god I have offended, and how I managed to do it.
China goes back to back
The win by the Chinese Team at the 2014 Chess Olympiad was a little bit of a surprise, although most pundits new that they would be Olympiad Champions at some point. But once they crossed that hurdle, it is far less of a surprise that the are the 2015 World Team Champions.
In the tournament which finished today, they score 15 Match Points to finish 3 points ahead of The Ukraine. In a tightly bunched finish, Armenia ended up third on 11, a pretty good comeback for a team that was only on 4 points with 4 rounds to play.
In terms of individual performances, Lev Aronion finished with the best score (6/9) on Board 1. The highest point scorer (and percentage) was Yi Wei of China, or scored 7/9 on Board 4.
China went through the event undefeated, scoring 6 wins and 3 draws. Most of their wins were of the 2.5-variety, but oddly their biggest victories were over Armenia (3.5-0.5) and India (3-1). The other interesting thing about this event was that some teams doing OK at the half way point (Cuba, Israel, India) all seemed to crash in the second half, and finished towards the tail of the field.
Full details from the even can be found at the tournament website.
In the tournament which finished today, they score 15 Match Points to finish 3 points ahead of The Ukraine. In a tightly bunched finish, Armenia ended up third on 11, a pretty good comeback for a team that was only on 4 points with 4 rounds to play.
In terms of individual performances, Lev Aronion finished with the best score (6/9) on Board 1. The highest point scorer (and percentage) was Yi Wei of China, or scored 7/9 on Board 4.
China went through the event undefeated, scoring 6 wins and 3 draws. Most of their wins were of the 2.5-variety, but oddly their biggest victories were over Armenia (3.5-0.5) and India (3-1). The other interesting thing about this event was that some teams doing OK at the half way point (Cuba, Israel, India) all seemed to crash in the second half, and finished towards the tail of the field.
Full details from the even can be found at the tournament website.
Tuesday, 28 April 2015
I'm convinced Carlsen is a wizard
At the risk of coming over all 'fanboy-ish' I am convinced that Carlsen is a wizard. He wrapped up the Shamkir Memorial with an impressive 7/9 (+5=4), a full point ahead of Anand in outright second. But it wan't the margin of victory, but how he one his last game, against Mamedov that makes me wonder. When I looked at it ti seemed to be a clear draw, with Carlsen holding a slight edge, but Mamedov holding. I then looked back 10 minutes later and Carlsen had won, with Mamedov playing two or three bad moves to give Carlsen the point. This tends to happen a lot with Carlsen, and I suspect it is now becoming a self fulfilling prophecy. It is no doubt helped by Carlsen's willingness to sit at the board for as long as it takes to win, as this forces his opponents to expend extra energy each time they play him.
Previous to Carlsen, Kasparov had a similar effect on his opponents, and it seems that magic hasn't worn off either. I posted yesterday that he led Short 3.5-1.5 in their Rapid/Blitz match. In last nights play he romped home, winning all 5 games to finish the 8.5-1.5 victor. This turns out to be a bigger margin than when they played a few years back, and of cousre makes the chess world wonder if a returning Kasparov could match it with the current Carlsen. But like the Fischer - Karpov Match, it is probably something we will never see,
Previous to Carlsen, Kasparov had a similar effect on his opponents, and it seems that magic hasn't worn off either. I posted yesterday that he led Short 3.5-1.5 in their Rapid/Blitz match. In last nights play he romped home, winning all 5 games to finish the 8.5-1.5 victor. This turns out to be a bigger margin than when they played a few years back, and of cousre makes the chess world wonder if a returning Kasparov could match it with the current Carlsen. But like the Fischer - Karpov Match, it is probably something we will never see,
Sunday, 26 April 2015
Kasparov v Short 2015
The 2 day Kasparov v Short match began overnight at the St Louis Chess Club. The first day saw 1 rapid game and 4 blitz games, which will be repeated on day 2. Both players came into the match with slight handicaps, Kasparov's being a lack of match practice, while Short's was possibly too much of it (plus a media storm to deal with).
At the end of the first day Kasparov lead 3.5-1.5. The players drew the rapid game, with Kasparov dominating the blitz 3-1.Even in the blitz game he lost, he was slightly better but ran out of time.
The other piece of news out of St Louis was the announcement of the "Grand Chess Tour" details. It was known that this event was being put together for a few months, but only now are the details being confirmed. For next year 3 events (St Louis, Stavenger, and London) are part of the series, but the prize pool of $1,000,000 is a big attractor. The field for each of these events will consists of all the worlds top rated players (with the exception of Kramnik who has other commitments), plus a couple of wild cards. Assuming that the series succeeds this year, there may be more events organised for 2016.
Kasparov,Garry (2812) - Short,Nigel D (2664) [E11]
Legends Rapid Match 2015 Saint Louis USA (1), 25.04.2015
At the end of the first day Kasparov lead 3.5-1.5. The players drew the rapid game, with Kasparov dominating the blitz 3-1.Even in the blitz game he lost, he was slightly better but ran out of time.
The other piece of news out of St Louis was the announcement of the "Grand Chess Tour" details. It was known that this event was being put together for a few months, but only now are the details being confirmed. For next year 3 events (St Louis, Stavenger, and London) are part of the series, but the prize pool of $1,000,000 is a big attractor. The field for each of these events will consists of all the worlds top rated players (with the exception of Kramnik who has other commitments), plus a couple of wild cards. Assuming that the series succeeds this year, there may be more events organised for 2016.
Kasparov,Garry (2812) - Short,Nigel D (2664) [E11]
Legends Rapid Match 2015 Saint Louis USA (1), 25.04.2015
A brutal day at the office
The Shamkir (Gashimov Memorial) is providing wonderful evening entertainment for chess fans around the world. For whatever reasons, the organisers seem to have the right mix of players taking part, and the fortuitous time difference between Australia and Azerbaijan means that the games are on in 'prime time' ie from 8pm until midnight or so.
Usually there is at least one game per round that has some fireworks, and tonight it was Adams Giri game. Adams played the g3 line against the Najdorf and for a while everything looked normal. Then Adams offered a pawn on the queenside, Giri snaffled it, Adams gained a tempo, and then it all kicked off. Adams pushed his h pawn, and suddenly Giri was in big trouble. It is not clear what he could have done to deal with the kingside pawn rush, but his attempts at defending, while unsuccessful, at least allowed Adams to show some nice tactical flourishes. A nice win by Adams, his first of the tournament.
Adams,Michael - Giri,Anish [B80]
Shamkir, 25.04.2015
Usually there is at least one game per round that has some fireworks, and tonight it was Adams Giri game. Adams played the g3 line against the Najdorf and for a while everything looked normal. Then Adams offered a pawn on the queenside, Giri snaffled it, Adams gained a tempo, and then it all kicked off. Adams pushed his h pawn, and suddenly Giri was in big trouble. It is not clear what he could have done to deal with the kingside pawn rush, but his attempts at defending, while unsuccessful, at least allowed Adams to show some nice tactical flourishes. A nice win by Adams, his first of the tournament.
Adams,Michael - Giri,Anish [B80]
Shamkir, 25.04.2015
Friday, 24 April 2015
2015 World Teams Championship
The 2015 World Teams Championship is at its halfway point, but has a somewhat upside down look to it. The event is a 10 team round robin, and while it contains a number of chess 'power houses' they don't seem to be doing well at all.
The one familiar face at the top of the table is The Ukraine, who have won 4 of their 5 matches. They are tied with China (2014 Olympiad champions) closely followed by Israel and Cuba. But at the other end of the table, Russia, Hungary, Armenia and USA have all lost more matches than they have won.
Looking at the pairings I am not sure if the bottom teams will be able to climb back, as they have a few games amongst themselves. The key match will probably be the round 7 China - Ukraine pairing, with Israel and Cuba hoping for a drawn match so they can sneak past.
Live coverage of this strong event can be found at http://tsaghkadzor2015.fide.com/ (NB If you visit this page you get a bonus history lesson as well)
The one familiar face at the top of the table is The Ukraine, who have won 4 of their 5 matches. They are tied with China (2014 Olympiad champions) closely followed by Israel and Cuba. But at the other end of the table, Russia, Hungary, Armenia and USA have all lost more matches than they have won.
Looking at the pairings I am not sure if the bottom teams will be able to climb back, as they have a few games amongst themselves. The key match will probably be the round 7 China - Ukraine pairing, with Israel and Cuba hoping for a drawn match so they can sneak past.
Live coverage of this strong event can be found at http://tsaghkadzor2015.fide.com/ (NB If you visit this page you get a bonus history lesson as well)
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