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Hi everyone,

The 88th French Chess Championships are being held from 11th to 23rd August at the Palais des sports Jean Weille in Nancy. A total of 669 players, aged 6 to 88, are competing over eight category tournaments.

The main events are 12-player men’s and women’s national Championships. Among the 24 players, only Mathilde Congiu won all of her games 3/3, and is followed by Collas, Maisuradze, Leconte (2.5/3 each).

Romain Edouard crushed Hicham Hamdouchi in the only decisive game of the 3rd round in Open section. Christian Bauer is in second place after drawing to Jean-Pierre Le Roux by three-fold repetition.

Marie Sebag, top French female player this time competing in the Open, held the higher-rated Vlad Tkachiev to a draw. Results and standings on the official website.

The tournament was opened Monday by Diego Salazar, President of French Chess federation, in the presence of Eric Pensalfini, Vice President the Urban Community of Greater Nancy delegate sports, Marie-Catherine Tallot, Deputy Mayor of Nancy, and Pierre Campardou, the regional director of BNP Paribas.

Palais des sports Jean Weille in Nancy

Participants – Open:

1 GM APICELLA Manuel 2512 CAZ Grasse Echecs
2 GM BAUER Christian 2633 LOR Vandoeuvre-Echecs
3 GM CORNETTE Matthieu 2592 IDF C.E. de Bois-Colombes
4 GM DEGRAEVE Jean-Marc 2563 ALS Mulhouse Philidor
5 GM EDOUARD Romain 2662 CHA L’Echiquier Chalonnais
6 GM HAMDOUCHI Hicham 2613 IDF Clichy-Echecs-92
7 GM LE ROUX Jean-Pierre 2588 ALS Bischwiller
8 GM SEBAG Marie 2527 IDF Evry Grand Roque
9 GM SOKOLOV Andrei 2558 ALS Mulhouse Philidor
10 GM TKACHIEV Vladislav 2637 IDF Evry Grand Roque
11 GM VAISSER Anatoly 2544 ALS C.E. Strasbourg
12 GM WIRIG Anthony 2496 LOR Club d’Echecs Metz Fischer

Participants – Women:

1 WFM CHOISY Mathilde 2150 ALS Mulhouse Philidor
2 IM COLLAS Silvia 2286 LAN Echecs Club Montpellier
3 WIM CONGIU Mathilde 2190 IDF C.E. de Rueil Malmaison
4 WIM DELORME Laurie 2183 PRO Marseille Echecs
5 WGM HAMDOUCHI Adina-Maria 2211 LAN Echecs Club Montpellier
6 WGM LECONTE Maria 2246 LOR Club d’Echecs Metz Fischer
7 WGM MAISURADZE Nino 2288 ALS Bischwiller
8 WIM MARTSYNOVSKAYA Marina 2156 CVL Pion du Roi – Lèves
9 IM MILLIET Sophie 2401 IDF Evry Grand Roque
10 WFM NAVROTESCU Andreea-Cristiana 2110 BNO Agneaux Saint-Lô
11 RICHARD Emma 2108 ALS Mulhouse Philidor
12 WGM SAFRANSKA Anda 2312 IDF Cercle d’Echecs de Villepinte
(Info by Jean-Michel Blatrier via www.chessdom.com)

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Hi everyone,

The 6th Arad Chess Open took place from 31st July to 9th August in the Great Concert Hall of the City Cultural Palace in Arad, Romania. Ukrainian International Master Konstantin Tarlev edged Hungarian Grandmaster Attila Czebe on tie-break to claim the winner’s trophy in the main Open Tournament. Both players finished the event on 7,5 points from nine games. In the final round Tarlev defeated GM Balog Imre, winner of the previous two tournaments in Arad.

The Festival consisted of the Open Tournament, 9-round event which was held on 3-9th August, the U16 Tournament, 7-round FIDE rated event on 31st July – 3rd August, and U8-U10 Tournaments, 9-round events valid for Romanian ratings on 31st July – 3rd August.

The additional events included FIDE rated Blitz Tournament, Fischer Random Tournament, and bughouse exhibitions.

The Festival was organized by the Sah Club Vados and tournament director was IO Alin Campeanu. The total prize fund was 8000 EUR.

Official website

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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone,

Just over three months remain for the World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen to get underway.

The countdown will start when the challenger arrives in the city next week. Carlsen, a 23-year-old Norwegian prodigy with the highest Elo rating in the history of the game, will be here on August 19 to see the arrangements in keeping with FIDE protocol.

The city’s chess community is looking forward to the upcoming challenge.

As V. Hariharan, the AICF Secretary, put it, “the match itself is an education. Both being such accomplished players, there is so much to gain by closely following the moves.

Tricky opponent

“If experience and expertise are Anand’s plus points then Carlsen can be tricky for he draws you to unexplored areas,” said Hariharan.

Grandmaster R.B. Ramesh, who runs the Chess Gurukal academy, is a great fan of Anand. “He has inspired me in my chess journey,” said the articulate player-cum-coach.

Ramesh had an interesting way to describe what is in store: “Carlsen plays the old man’s game where he does not look for quick finish.
“Anand is like a T20 player. But chess kids will be too keen to watch Carlsen’s way of play. Playing at home, Anand will only have an additional pressure on him.”

Almost similar were the views of A.L. Kasi of the T. Nagar Chess Academy. “While he is not sure if he would be able to watch each game live because the “arrangements are not clear considering thousands will vie for place” but he is definite “chess’s base in the city will only grow stronger by the end of the contest.”

Velayutham of Blooms Academy said: “the noteworthy happening is that even those uninitiated in the sport have been wanting a quick lesson or two in the nuances so that they can enjoy the competition.”

Several fans think Carlsen will be a tough nut to crack, but India’s first IM Manuel Aaron said: “Anand has the ability to rise to the occasion. Anand too is a genius and if you have analysed some of his past games, I can tell you it is never going to be easy for any opponent.” (S. R. Suryanarayan/The Hindu)

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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone,

Joan DuBois, director of affiliate relations at the USCF, talks about a topic close to her heart: Blind Chess.

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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone,

TCEC, the most renowned computer chess championship, starts its new season in September 2013 with improvements and a new live page. The new season of TCEC joins forces with Chessdom Arena, and together they hope to bring you unprecedented coverage and insights of high level computer chess.

The first TCEC Season concluded in May this year with Houdini winning the Superfinal against Stockfish with a score of 25-23, after multiple engines engaged in battles in the divisions. This time the hardware that will be available to the engines will be a powerful 16-core server that will ensure a strong foundation for the engines. This is a guarantee that the second Season of TCEC will be full of excitement and very high quality chess.

When does it start?
The official start of the TCEC season is August 26th, 2013. The games will be played one after the other, without any pause between the rounds, guaranteeing 24/7 top fun for the chess fans.

What is new?Starting this season, TCEC will be part of the Chessdom pages. The live games are going to be shown exclusively at the http://tcec.chessdom.com address, while several innovations will allow synergy with the Chessdom Arena.

Anton Mihailov, CEO of Chessdom, comments, “We are proud to have TCEC on the Chessdom pages. The best computer chess is coming this month and we will make sure to present the efforts, achievements, and intellectual challenges behind each of the participants in the new Season. In combination with the European Club Cup 2013and the World Chess Championship 2013, an exciting second half of the year is ahead with strong chess 24/7″

The TCEC director Martin Thoresen shares, “I am very proud and excited about the cooperation with Chessdom. I think that together, we will bring a lot of excitement to any chess-loving person out there”.

The TCEC participants
As usual, the tournament director of TCEC, Martin Thoresen, will carefully select the participants of this second Season. He will include the known top engines from previous seasons like Houdini (current TCEC Grand Champion), Stockfish and Komodo, as well as new aspirants in the lower divisions.

The format
The second Season of TCEC will have 4 main Stages, as well as the Superfinal at the end. Stage 1 is a Swiss, Stage 2 is a single round-robin, Stage 3 is a double round-robin, Stage 4 is a hexa round robin and the two qualifying for the Superfinal at the end will play 48 games to crown the new TCEC Grand Champion.

Follow the live games daily here starting 26th August

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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone,

In the first game of the second round there were a few blunders and unexpected results. The biggest upset of the round was Peruvian veteran Julio Granda Zuniga who defeated Peter Leko as White.

Fourteen-year-old Chinese star Wei Yi (2551) upset Alexei Shirov (2696) with a comfortable draw as Black, while Isan Ortiz Suarez from Cuba suddenly lost to French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in a position with a huge advantage.

Alexander Morozevich blundered in a winning position but his opponent Rafael Leitao didn't see the winning shot and instead lost. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov didn’t convert a huge advantage against Maxim Matlakov, while Wang Hao got a three-time repetition in a lost position.

Local hero Jon Ludvig Hammer, who defeated Sergey Movsesian in the previous round, drew with David Navara in a game where he had a better position, although it wasn't winning as he'd thought after the game.

Some players preferred not to take any risks in the first game and didn’t mind a short draw. Peace agreements were signed relatively quickly in the games Dubov-Ponomariov, Bacrot-Moiseenko, Jakovenko-Eljanov, and Lysyj-Aronian. The others fought for many hours but the positions remained balanced in the Kobalia-Kramnik and Svidler-Bologan games.

In the 12 decisive games the victories for White outnumbered Black by 10 to 2. Only Vassily Ivanchuk and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won with the black pieces.

Isan Ortiz Suarez had a winning position but didn’t make the proper defensive moves and let the pawns of his opponent Maxime Vachier-Lagrave advance too far. The Cuban may have missed 43...g4!

Indian GM B. Adhiban (2567), who won the first match against Russian GM Evgeny Alekseev (2710), drew Alexander Fier (2595) from Brazil, who had defeated another 2700+ player, Radoslaw Wojtaszek. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov had a winning position but lost his advantage in one move. "Seems I’m getting old if I cannot win such positions," Mamedyarov wrote on his Facebook page. Argentinian Ruben Felgaer (2586), who beat Alexander Riazantsev (2700) in the first match, drew with Black against Ukrainian Alexander Areshchenko.

Julio Granda Zuniga

Julio Granda Zuniga of Peru has shown great play and results so far. He knocked out Hrant Melkumyan in the first match, and defeated Peter Leko. Alexander Morozevich won his game but could simply have lost by force on move 35. His opponent, Rafael Leitao from Brazil, who outplayed Ernesto Inarkiev the previous day, missed a winning variation starting with 35…Ng3. He played Ng3 five moves later but it turned out to be an unfortunate decision as his position became lost. (Anastasia Karlovich/official website)

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Hi everyone,

We're sure there's no problem in going back to learning chess from the start if we have a sweet chess teacher as this! A special video: An introduction to chess for a Kindergarten class in the United States given by Chess Queen™ and 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. You can contact Alexandra Kosteniuk directly at chessqueen@me.com for questions! Read the original post on the video by the World Champion at www.chessqueen.com.

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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone,

The Vienna Chess Open is set to take place for the 18th time at the Vienna City Hall from August 17th to August 25th. Johann Pöcksteiner, from the Vienna Chess Association said: "Players will not only find optimal conditions in Vienna, they will also be able to get to know our city better."

In total over 700 players from more than 50 countries have registered to take part in the chess tournament.

Favourite to win the championship is Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov. Alongside Ivan Sokolov there are a further 20 Grandmasters taking part. Eva Moser is representing Austria. The matches can be followed live on the internet.

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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone,

The classical games of the second round of the World Chess Cup 2013 have been completed with 17 players securing qualification to the next round. Fifteen matches will continue with the rapid tie-breaks on Friday. Some of the top rated competitors, like Levon Aronian, Vladimir Kramnik, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Sergey Karjakin, could not break the opponents’ resistance and have each played a couple of draws.

On the other hand, Gata Kamsky was expected to go through after the success in the first game, but Russian Aleksandr Shimanov struck back on the second day to continue the fight in rapid.

Among the surprising results, the experienced Peruvian GM Julio Granda Zuniga eliminated Peter Leko, while the 14-years old Chinese Wei Yi stunned Alexei Shirov.

Another U2600 player going into the next round is Adhiban B. of India (2567) who beat Alexandr Fier from Brazil.

Round 2: G1 G2 Score Qualifier

Round 2 Match 1
Lysyj Igor RUS 2648 ½ ½
Aronian Levon ARM 2813 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 2
Caruana Fabiano ITA 2796 1 ½ 1½ Caruana
Yu Yangyi CHN 2662 0 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 3
Kobalia Mikhail RUS 2651 ½ ½
Kramnik Vladimir RUS 2784 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 4
Grischuk Alexander RUS 2785 1 ½ 1½ Grischuk
Swiercz Dariusz POL 2654 0 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 5
Sasikiran Krishnan IND 2660 ½ ½
Karjakin Sergey RUS 2772 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 6
Nakamura Hikaru USA 2772 1 ½ 1½ Nakamura
Safarli Eltaj AZE 2660 0 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 7
Filippov Anton UZB 2630 ½ 0 ½
Gelfand Boris ISR 2764 ½ 1 1½ Gelfand

Round 2 Match 8
Kamsky Gata USA 2741 1 0
Shimanov Aleksandr RUS 2655 0 1

Round 2 Match 9
Matlakov Maxim RUS 2676 ½ ½
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar AZE 2775 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 10
Dominguez Perez Leinier CUB 2757 1 ½ 1½ Dominguez
Onischuk Alexander USA 2667 0 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 11
Dubov Daniil RUS 2624 ½ ½
Ponomariov Ruslan UKR 2756 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 12
Wang Hao CHN 2747 ½ ½
Dreev Aleksey RUS 2668 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 13
Bologan Viktor MDA 2672 ½ ½
Svidler Peter RUS 2746 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 14
Adams Michael ENG 2740 ½ ½
Kryvoruchko Yuriy UKR 2678 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 15
Granda Zuniga Julio E PER 2664 1 ½ 1½ Granda
Leko Peter HUN 2744 0 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 16
Morozevich Alexander RUS 2739 1 ½ 1½ Morozevich
Leitao Rafael BRA 2632 0 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 17
Ragger Markus AUT 2680 ½ 0 ½
Vitiugov Nikita RUS 2719 ½ 1 1½ Vitiugov

Round 2 Match 18
Giri Anish NED 2737 1 1 2 Giri
Li Chao b CHN 2693 0 0 0

Round 2 Match 19
Robson Ray USA 2623 0 0 0
Ivanchuk Vassily UKR 2731 1 1 2 Ivanchuk

Round 2 Match 20
Radjabov Teimour AZE 2733 ½ ½
Bruzon Batista Lazaro CUB 2698 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 21
Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son VIE 2625 ½ 0 ½
Andreikin Dmitry RUS 2716 ½ 1 1½ Andreikin

Round 2 Match 22
Korobov Anton UKR 2720 1 0
Jobava Baadur GEO 2696 0 1

Round 2 Match 23
Ortiz Suarez Isan Reynaldo CUB 2609 0 0 0
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2719 1 1 2 Vachier-Lagrave

Round 2 Match 24
Shirov Alexei LAT 2696 ½ 0 ½
Wei Yi CHN 2551 ½ 1 1½ Wei

Round 2 Match 25
Hammer Jon Ludvig NOR 2605 ½ ½
Navara David CZE 2715 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 26
Bacrot Etienne FRA 2714 ½ ½
Moiseenko Alexander UKR 2699 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 27
Adhiban B. IND 2567 ½ 1 1½ Adhiban
Fier Alexandr BRA 2595 ½ 0 ½

Round 2 Match 28
Jakovenko Dmitry RUS 2724 ½ 0 ½
Eljanov Pavel UKR 2702 ½ 1 1½ Eljanov

Round 2 Match 29
Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2706 ½ ½
Le Quang Liem VIE 2702 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 30
Areshchenko Alexander UKR 2709 ½ 1 1½ Areshchenko
Felgaer Ruben ARG 2586 ½ 0 ½

Round 2 Match 31
Fressinet Laurent FRA 2708 ½ ½
Malakhov Vladimir RUS 2707 ½ ½

Round 2 Match 32
Tomashevsky Evgeny RUS 2706 1 ½ 1½ Tomashevsky
So Wesley PHI 2710 0 ½ ½

Report by Goran Urosevic/www.chessdom.com

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Hi everyone,

A series of immaculately preserved stone tokens have been discovered at a 5,000 year-old burial site in Turkey. They could be the oldest gaming tokens ever found, say archaeologists.

A total of 49 stones were found, all painted different colours and depicting pigs, dogs, pyramids and other shapes. "It's a unique finding, a rather complete set of a chess-like game. We are puzzling over its strategy," Haluk Sağlamtimur of Ege University in İzmir told Discovery News, who initially reported it.

Similar stones have been found before in Syria and Iraq, said Sağlamtimur, while presenting his findings at a symposium in Turkey, but only as individual items and never as a collection. The stones were accompanied by dice, circular tokens and poorly preserved wooden sticks, which the archaeologists are hoping will shed some light on the rules of the game.

It's thought that board games originated in the Middle East. The Egyptian game Senet, which means "game of passing", is widely recognised as the earliest fully understood board game, dating back to around 3100 BC. Board games are known to have been a popular pastime in ancient Mesopotamia, which included areas of modern-day Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. In the 1920s, Sir Leonard Woolley discovered two game boards dating from around 2600 BC, from a game known as the Royal Game of Ur, or Game of Twenty Squares. One of the boards is currently exhibited in the British Museum in London.

Most of the earliest games discovered are race games based around tiled boards, although historians often disagree about the rules. A set rules for the Royal Game of Ur were written on a tablet of Babylonian origin -- also displayed in the British Museum -- but two separate sets of rules have been proposed for Senet, both of which have been adopted by companies that sell the game today. Historians are already puzzling over the rules for the new tokens, but suspect gameplay is based around the number four.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone,

We found this interesting report in the Deccan Chronicle ahead of Carlsen's visit to India.

Chennai: After a delay of two months and the inclusion of an illness clause in the terms and conditions, World No.1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway and five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand of India signed the contract on Tuesday for the world chess championship match that is slated to take place in Chennai from November 7 to 28 this year.

“For the first time in a world chess championship match, we have introduced an illness clause that states that a player can take two days off if he falls sick,” said a source, who added that the players were expected to sign the contract long ago.

“Mails went back and forth between the players, organisers and Fide before it was finally settled on Tuesday.” It may be noted that after Fide signed an MoU with the All India Chess Federation and the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association for staging the world chess championship match in Chennai, it was feared that Magnus Carlsen might still refuse to sign the contract as he had expressed unhappiness with Fide’s choice of venue.

Carlsen’s agent, Espen Agdestein, then said that there should have been an open bidding and a neutral venue for the match. Carlsen even requested Fide to conduct half the match in India and the remaining in Norway. However, Fide after failing to persuade India to share the match plumped for Chennai, citing the option of first right of refusal given to the south Indian city after it had lost the bidding to Moscow for the 2012 World Championship.

Carlsen is visiting Chennai next week to inspect Hyatt Regency, the venue for his match against Anand. During his maiden trip to India, he is scheduled to play simultaneous chess with young players at MOP Vaishnav College on Monday. The Norwegian may meet the Tamil Nadu chief minister on Tuesday before he flies back home on the same day.

It may be noted that Viswanathan Anand's wife and manager Aruna has already inspected the tournament venue.

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Hi everyone,

We don't usually associate Iraq with chess. However, the country has chess players aplenty. The 2013 Iraqi Final Chess Championships for men and women are being held from 13th to 20th August in Baghdad. the Championships are organized by Dhafer Abdul and Ameer Madhloom. Arbiters are Saad Mohsin Hussein and Deniz Fayek Hassan.

The men's championship is 12-players round robin, while the women's championship is being played over nine rounds of Swiss system.

Participants (Men):
IM Noah A .H. Al-Ali 2398
IM Al-Saffar Araz Basim Mohammed 2372
FM Salih Akar Ali Salih 2304
FM Ahmed Ali Layth Ahmed 2299
CM Abaeji Sinan Younus Abdulrazz 2282
CM Mohammed Zozek Salah Mohammed 2272
CM Nameer Noor. Al-Deen 2268
CM Mohammed Arpak Worya 2263
FM Adil Ali Jalal 2226
FM Abdulwahhab Ahmed Abdulsattar 2219
CM Didar Mohammed Zhaher Hassan 2191
CM Ismael Namir Mohammed Ismael 2164

Participants (Women):
1 WIM Ibraheem Delbak Ismael Ibrahe 1912
2 WCM Al-Rajab Maha Layth Ismael 1831
3 WFM Jalaluldeen Kareen Kamal J. 1750
4 Muntaha Hussein Ali 1676
5 Nabaa Sami Abbas 1675
6 Al-Fayyadh Zainab Asif Abdula 1656
7 WFM Abdulzahra Sali Abbas 1579
8 Marwa Mohammed Khalaf 1541
9 Yamama Asif 1528
10 Amal Majid Khudhair 1446
11 WCM Feen Kamal 0
12 Enas Noori 0
13 Maryam Assif 0
14 Mina Wajdi Hussein 0
15 Riham Saad Mohsin 0
16 Ruwaida Saad Mohsin Al Naseri 0

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Hi everyone,

There is something special in a chess player's fingers. Years of moving pieces brings an electric fire into those hands. Haven't you felt it? The chess trivia question this weekend: Whose hands are these? (We will tell you the answer soon).

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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone,

A 15-year-old chess player has become the British Under-16 Chess Champion. Ollie Wilson, who attends Rye College and plays for Hastings and St. Leonards Chess Club, remained unbeaten in a field of 22 of the finest young chess players in the UK at a gruelling tournament in Torquay.

His victory came over seven games, each lasting up to four hours. He finished with a final score of 5½ points, making him outright winner.

Ollie, of Stock Dale, Fairlight, described himself as “surprised, delighted and amazed” following his victory.

This Thursday he flew out to Gibralter to take on opponents from around the world in the Junior International tournament.

Ollie has been playing chess since the age of eight and has amassed a number of awards.

For Ollie the recent title is the crowning pinnacle for what has already been a very good year.

He said: “At Christmas, I had a successful tournament in the world famous annual Hastings Masters event at Horntye Park. In January, I came third in the ‘South of England Championships’ and followed it up with a win in the Under 16 ‘National Chess Junior Squad Championships’ at Easter.

"We made a late decision to enter the U16 at the British Championship, because we had already booked a family holiday for the end of August. I went into the tournament as a bit of an underdog being ranked about 10th, but played consistently well throughout, to enter the final round in joint first place, with 3 wins and 3 draws.

"Six players were all in contention to become champion, and my final opponent needed a win. It was a tough game where I had to counter her early attack, but I took my time and struck back winning her queen, and the game was over.

And the results in the other games meant that I was champion outright with 5.5/7, so I am very pleased.

“I hope I will continue my good form in Gibralter and get into the prize money.

As for next year, I’ll be in year 11 so GCSEs will take a bit more of a priority. But I will continue to play in the Kent and Mid-Sussex Leagues for Hastings Chess Club, if selected, and for the U16 and U18 teams for Sussex and for the England team. Of course there will be the Chess Congress at Christmas again.

“I am so grateful to the ‘Isabel Blackman Foundation’, ‘Lions’, ‘Rotary Club’ and ‘Rye College Foundation’ for their continued support enabling me to attend tournaments all over the country and overseas.

“I am also grateful to the organisers and volunteers at Sussex Junior Chess, mostly parents, who provide so much of their time to enable chess to be played.

“And, finally, a big thank you to all the members at Hastings Chess Club, especially Francis Rayner, who have provided so much help and advice.”

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Hi everyone,

The 2013 U.S. Masters Championship will be held from 29th August to 2nd September at the Embassy Suites Airport, 204 Centreport Dr., Greensboro, North Carolina.

The tournament will be a 9-round Swiss open only to players who have ratings over 2200, those who have ever been so rated, all foreign FIDE-rated players, and juniors (U21) rated over 2000. GM and IM norms may be possible.

The total prize fund is $17000 unconditionally guaranteed.
Prizes: $5000-3000-1750-1500-1250-1000-800-500-100-100
U2450 – 1000
U2350 – 500
U2300 – 500

Already 77 players are registered to participate. Top rated are:

Rauf Mamedov GM 2641 Azerbaijan (AZE)
Yuniesky Quesada Perez GM 2636 Cuba (CUB)
Ray Robson GM 2623 FL (USA)
Georg Meier GM 2610 Germany (GER)
Bartlomiej Macieja GM 2595 Poland (POL)
Alejandro Ramirez GM 2588 TX (USA)
Fidel Corrales-Jimenez GM 2568 Cuba (CUB)
Alojzije Jankovic GM 2562 Croatia (CRO)
Alexander Shabalov GM 2546 PA (USA)
Aleksandr Lenderman GM 2527 NY (USA)
Alex Fishbein GM 2522 NJ (USA)
Iona-Cristian Chirila GM 2520 Romania (ROU)
Denes Boros GM 2502 Hungary (HUN)
Josh Friedel GM 2500 NH (USA)
Alonso Zapata GM 2496 Colombia (COL)
Irina Krush IM-WGM 2489 NY (USA)
Aryam Abreu GM 2483 Cuba (CUB)
Mikheil Kekelidze GM 2470 Georgia (GEO)
Andre Diamant GM 2469 Brazil (BRA)
Kidambi Sundararajan GM 2458 India (IND)

2013 North Carolina Open
The 2013 North Carolina Open is being held in conjunction with the US Masters. The tournament will be played over 5 rounds of Swiss system in four sections on Aug 30 – Sept 1.

The prize fund is $13000 unconditionally guaranteed
OPEN $1000-500-300-250-150-125-125-100-100-100; U2200 250-150-100
U2000 $1000-500-300-250-150-125-125-100-100-100; U1850 250-150-100
U1700 $1000-500-300-250-150-125-125-100-100-100; U1550 250-150-100
U1400 $1000-500-300-250-150-125-125-100-100-100; U1200 250-150-100

Special Saturday-only U1000 Scholastic Tournament
Saturday, August 31 4SS G/30 D/5 Rounds 10:30-12-2-3:30. In two sections, determined on-site based on entries. Trophies to top 10 in each section. USCF rated. EF $20 in advance $25 onsite.

Tournament website

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone,

DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN writes about (in The New York Times) German Jens Kotainy, a German international master, who was disqualified at the Sparkassen Chess Meeting’s open section before the last round this month after tournament officials questioned how he was using his cellphone. We also witnessed high security at the ongoing World Chess Cup 2013 being played in Tromso, Norway. Unfortunately, it appears, cheating in chess is here to stay and we just need to get more alert to people trying to spoil the sport.

Kotainy had been the top seed at Sparkassen, held in Dortmund, Germany, and had easily won his first seven games, including one against the Grandmaster Eckhard Schmittdiel, before he was disqualified. The tournament’s director, Christian Goldschmidt, said in a note posted online that when he asked to see the cellphone, Kotainy pulled it out of his pocket and said it was turned off, as required by the rules. But Goldschmidt said that while he was holding it, the phone started giving off vibrations that resembled Morse code, writes McClain.

Kotainy has been quoted on several websites as saying that the vibrations were part of an anti-theft application installed by his brother, a computer programmer. Goldschmidt did not believe him, writing that Kotainy had reached into his pocket after every move, writes McClain.

"Goldschmidt had been suspicious of Kotainy because several experts — including Kenneth W. Regan, a computer science professor in Buffalo who is working on a program to detect cheating — found that Kotainy’s moves had matched the choices of a leading computer program almost exactly. Regan said he had found the same pattern in Kotainy’s games during his previous two tournaments.

"Regan, a member of a new anticheating commission at the World Chess Federation, wrote in an e-mail to other panel members that the odds were a billion to one that Kotainy’s moves would match the computer program’s over the three tournaments.

McCLAIN says, "What happens now is unclear. The anticheating commission will hold its first meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, this year, and the question of what is sufficient proof of cheating is on the agenda, as is what is the appropriate punishment. Kotainy could be disciplined by the German Chess Federation, though it has no clear policy on cheating."

McClain's column further discusses one of the games played at the event. The problem is as security at chess tournaments increases, so will players find more ways to cheat and bypass that security. This is developing into a cat-n-mouse game. It is upon chess players to take a pledge not to cheat - no matter what the incentive - and to encourage their friends as well. A boycott of cheaters is necessary as well to save the sublime support of chess.

Chess Blog has, from time to time, written about anti-cheating measures. In November, last year, the Fide Trainers' Committee accepted GM Konstantin Landa's complete proposal for anti-cheating measures. GM Konstantin Landa, Elo 2640, is a senior FIDE trainer, and long-time coach of Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk and Arkadij Naiditsch. You can read details of GM Landa's proposal at this Chess Blog link. Feel free to send us any ideas you have to check cheating in chess.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone,

We've just received news that World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen is in India to inspect the venue of the World Chess Championship 2013 in Chennai, India. The final match is going to be held at Hyatt Regency in Chennai. This is the first time Carlsen is visiting India.

He is scheduled to play simultaneous chess with young players at MOP Vaishnav College on Monday. The Norwegian may meet the Tamil Nadu chief minister on Tuesday before he flies back home on the same day. In the first inspection of the venue, Carlsen’s delegation will include his father Henrik Carlsen, his manager Espen Agdestein, and a group of journalists.
Viswanathan Anand’s wife and manager Aruna has already inspected the tournament venue. (Photos via www.chessdom.com)

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone,

The 24th International Goch Open 2013 is scheduled to take place on 5-9th September at the Kultur und Kongreßzentrum Kastell, Kastellstr.11, in Goch, Germany.

The tournament will be played over 7 rounds of Swiss system with the time control 40 moves in 90 minutes, the rest in 15 minutes plus 30 seconds per move increments from move 1. Scoring system is: win 3 points, draw 1 point.

Schedule
Round 1 Thu, 05.09.2013 at 19:00 Uhr
Round 2 Fri, 06.09.2013 at 10:00 Uhr
Round 3 Fri, 06.09.2013 at 16:00 Uhr
Round 4 Sat, 07.09.2013 at 10:00 Uhr
Round 5 Sat, 07.09.2013 at 16:00 Uhr
Round 6 Sun, 08.09.2013 at 9:30 Uhr
Round 7 Sun, 08.09.2013 at 15:30 Uhr
Award about 30 minutes afte the last game

Prizes
1st Prize 1.000,- €
2nd Prize 700,- €
3rd Prize 450,- €
4th Prize 250,- €
5th Prize 150,- €

Team prizes
The four most successful players from a club will form a team. Players, who already got a price (places 1-5) may not take part in a team. For players, who got a Ratingsprice (group 1-9) it is allowed to take part in a team.
1. Winnerteam.......200,- €
2. Winnerteam.......100,- €
minimum eight teams, each team with minimum four players

Most beautiful game
The most beautiful game of the tournament will be rated by Chartie. Both players will get a prize (a book or a DVD).

Entry fee
For all players 45,- € on or before 25th August 2013; a late entry fee of 10,- € will be payable on entries received later than 25th August 2013. If the maximum number of players is not reached, enrolments are possible till 18:00 o'clock at the first day of the play.

The Entry-fee is to pay on the following account:
Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf
Account-Nr. 852 186 26, BLZ 300 501 10
IBAN: DE09 3005 0110 0085 2186 26
SWIFT-BIC:DUSSDEDDXXX
Owner: Wolfgang Evers

We need the following informations from you:
Name, club, date of birth
Every Player has to sign in until 18:30 o'clock at the first of play.
Referee is Wolfgang Evers.
The tournament counts for the ELO-Rating and the national german DWZ-Rating.

Information: Wolfgang Evers
Phone: +49 211 / 37 64 21 (only from 18 - 20 o'clock)
Mobile Phone: +49 172 / 15 87 737
mailto: info@gocher-open.de

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal chess blog

at www.chessqueen.com

Don't miss Chess Queen™

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Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone,

All the players are checked before they enter the playing hall.

Just as on day one there were plenty of fireworks on the second day of the FIDE World Cup in Tromsø. Thirteen players won their matches with a 2-0 score (not counting Alexander Moiseenko, whose opponent could not come to Tromsø).

While some victories with impressive results could be expected from top players such as Aronian, Kramnik, Grischuk, Nakamura and Dominguez, there were also a few 2-0 results produced by players with ratings lower than their opponents.

Russian GM Daniil Dubov managed to outplay experienced and higher rated Ukrainian GM Sergey Fedorchuk. American GM Ray Robson didn’t leave any chances for Ukrainian GM Andrei Volokitin by winning 2-0. One of the most surprising results for those who compare the ratings of opponents happened in the Nepomniachtchi-Wei match. The youngest participant of the event, Chinese GM Yi Wei (a nominee of FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov), defeated Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi 1.5-0.5.

The participants of the upcoming Women’s World Championship match Hou Yifan and Anna Ushenina are doing well so far. Anna Ushenina defeated Peter Svidler in his favorite Gruenfeld and Hou Yifan drew the second game against Alexei Shirov. The reigning and former Women’s World Champions will proceed to the playoff stage on Tuesday.

Judit Polgar, the strongest female player in the history of chess, lost out on a number of winning chances, drew against Cuban GM Isan Reynaldo Ortiz and lost the match. A total of 28 matches were undecided after two games at the classical time control and 56 players will continue to fight at 3 p.m. local time on August 13.
Russian GM Alexander Morozevich lost his first game, but managed to equalize.

Rising star from Russia GM Daniil Dubov defeated GM Sergey Fedorchuk 2-0 as well. GM Michael Adams made a second draw against Wan Yunguo of China. The strongest Chinese GM Wang Hao outplayed his compatriot Liu Qingnan. An unexpectedly quick elimination for Ukrainian GM Andrei Volokitin. Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk outplayed Polish IM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who upset him with a draw the day before.

The FIDE World Cup is a knockout which starts with 128 players and runs from August 10 to September 3rd. The top two players will qualify for the next FIDE Candidates Tournament which will take place in March 2014 and determine the challenger for the World Championship match in 2014.

The time control for each two-game match is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. If the score is equal there are two rapid chess tiebreak games, played at a rate of 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds per move. If the score is still equal then two accelerated games will be played, with a time control of 10 min + 10 sec. If the score is still equal two more games will be played at 5 min + 3 sec. If the winner is still not determined then a final Armageddon game with 5 minutes for White and 4 minutes for Black, with a 3 sec increment after move 60, will be played. In this game Black has draw odds (i.e. he wins if the game is drawn).

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
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Hi everyone,

Sinquefield Cup offers unparalleled spectator experienceWill feature 3 GM commentary teams and free autograph session with players

SAINT LOUIS (August 13, 2013) -- The 2013 Sinquefield Cup will offer live spectators a bevy of options come September.

The tournament, which features GMs Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian (top two in the World) and GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Gata Kamsky (top two in the U.S.) takes place September 9-15 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL).

There also will be a special meet-and-greet autograph session on Sunday, September 8, from Noon to 1:30 p.m., where spectators will have the opportunity to get autographs from and take pictures with the players. This event is free, and fans will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Round one of the tournament begins at 1 p.m. CT on September 9.

Three different grandmaster commentary teams will be on site to offer live play-by-play and analysis of each round of this historic tournament.

Following their groundbreaking live commentary of the 2013 U.S. Championships, GMs Yasser Seirawan and Maurice Ashley will once again join WGM Jennifer Shahade on a closed set that will broadcast to thousands of viewers online via www.uschesschamps.com.Two other teams (comprised of GMs Varuzhan Akobian, Ben Finegold, Ronen Har-Zvi and one additional commentator TBD) also will be conducting commentary for live audiences at Lester’s Restaurant (connected to the CCSCSL) and the World Chess Hall of Fame (across the street from the CCSCSL).

Tony Rich, the executive director of the CCSCSL, said additional commentary teams will create a dynamic and engaging spectator experience.

“We wanted to offer a variety of options to ensure a positive experience for club members and visitors alike.” he said.

Event spectators will have the option to observe the players in the tournament playing hall, listen to the live streaming online commentary in a special viewing area at the Chess Club, or sit in on either of the live audience broadcasts. Tickets for individual rounds cost just $15 and also include food and beverage. Click here to purchase tickets or to view ticket package information.

In addition, the World Chess Hall of Fame will present a preview of their upcoming exhibit Jacqueline Piatigorsky: Patron, Player, Pioneer on the first floor gallery alongside the live GM commentary. The exhibition will be on view from September 4-15 and will include artifacts related to the 1963 and 1966 Piatigorsky Cup tournaments, two of the strongest chess competitions to be held in the U.S. These events attracted top grandmasters from around the world, including Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer, Tigran Petrosian and Paul Keres.

The Sinquefield Cup marks Carlsen’s firsts-ever high-profile tournament in the United States. The event, a four-player, double round robin, features a $170,000 prize fund and an average FIDE rating just under 2800, making it the strongest tournament in the history of the U.S.

The event is named after the founders of the CCSCSL, Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield. The Sinquefields were each honored by the U.S. Chess Federation with a Gold Koltanowski award in 2012, with Rex also earning the distinction in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The award is given to the person or persons who have done the most to promote chess in the U.S. each year.

For more information including area hotels with special chess rates, visit http://www.uschesschamps.com/sinquefield-cup.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal chess blog

at www.chessqueen.com

Don't miss Chess Queen™

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