Cheating in Chess

Bad Luck, Bad Ethics, and Cheating in Chess In the 1561, Ruy Lopez de Segura (c. 1540- c. 1580), in his treatise on chess, advised his chess students to “place your opponent with the sun in his eyes if you play by day, and with the candle at his right side if you play at night.” In 1851, at the first international chess tournament held in London, Adolf Anderssen (1818-1879) of Germany and Jozsef Szen (1805-1857) of Hungary agreed that if either player took 1st place, he would pay 1/3 of his prize money to the other person. Anderssen easily won his game from Szen in round 2. Szen took 5th place. This may not have been considered unethical. First place was 183 British pounds and a silver cup. In January 1880, at the 5th American Chess Congress in New York, Preston Ware (1821-1890), a wealthy banker of Boston, testified to the tournament committee that his last-round opponent, James Grundy (1855-1919) of England, offered him $20 if he agreed to play for a draw in their game that had been adjourned. A draw would give Grundy, who needed the money, at least 2nd place prize money. Ware agreed, but complained that Grundy then reneged on the deal and went on to win the game in 64 moves, and tied for 1st place (with George Mackenzie). 1st place was $500 and 2nd place was $300. Grundy lost the playoff match with Mackenzie to take 2nd. When Grundy admitted his guilt, he was forbidden from ever again taking part in an American tournament. Grundy played in other tournaments, but under false names. Ware was suspended for one year from playing chess. Preston Ware didn’t need the money, but agreed to the shady deal because he wanted his friend, Captain George Mackenzie, to take first place. In 1913, at a tournament in Havana, Charles Jaffe (1879-1941) drew his game with Frank Marshall (1877-1944) in the first round, and later, lost his next game to Marshall, blundering away his queen for a rook and then promptly resigned. Jose Capablanca (1888-1942), who lost to Marshall and Jaffe, charged that Jaffe intentionally lost his game to Marshall so that Marshall would win the tournament ahead of Capablanca. It was alleged that Capablanca influenced tournament organizers in the USA and Cuba so that Jaffe would be unable to be invited or play in major tournaments after this, especially tournaments in which Capablanca was playing. Jaffe never played again in a tournament where Capablanca also participated. In 1916, Jaffe was involved in a court battle involving non-inclusion for publication of some of his chess analysis. Jaffe brought suit to recover $750 for work alleged to have been done in analyzing the Rice Gambit that was never published for a book called “Twenty Years of the Rice Gambit.” Jaffe lost the case, since the publisher never asked Jaffe to do any analytical work for him. In 1935, Ilya Rabinovich (1891-1942) was ordered to lose against Mikhail Botvinnik (1911-1995), to ensure that Botvinnik took 1st place at a Moscow tournament. Botvinnik refused to go along with the plan, saying, “…then I will myself put a piece en prise and resign.” The plan was aborted, the game was drawn, and Botvinnik shared 1st place with Salo Flohr (1908-1983) of Czechoslovakia. Rabinovich tied for 11th-14th. Earlier, Flohr had proposed to Botvinnik that they both draw their final game and share 1st place. It was Botvinnik’s first success in international chess. In 1937, Botvinnik was playing a match with Grigory Levenfish (1889-1961). In his adjourned 13th game, Botvinnik called the arbiter, Nikolai Grigoriev (1895-1938), saying that Botvinnik was going to resign his adjourned game. Grigoriev, one of the strongest endgame composers in the world, told Botvinnik not to resign and that he, Grigoriev, found some defensive moves that could lead to a draw or even a win. Grigoriev then started telling Botvinnik his analysis of the adjourned position. Botvinnik tried to cut Grigoriev off, saying an arbitrator, of all people, should not be giving analysis to a player during adjournment. Grigoriev replied that is was OK, since Levenfish was getting help from several other masters. In 1942, during the U.S. chess championship in New York, Samuel Reshevsky was playing Arnold Denker when Reshevky’s flag fell. The tournament director (Walter Stephens), who was standing behind the clock, flipped it around and, looking at Reshevsky’s side of the clock (which he mistakenly thought was Denker’s), announce “Denker forfeits!” He refused to correct his error. This erroneous ruling by the director allowed Reshevsky to tie for first with Isaac Kashdan. Reshevsky then won the playoff match against Kashdan 6 months later. After World War II, there may have been an effort by the Russians to execute Paul Keres for playing in German tournaments during the war, but Mikhail Botvinnik may have intervened to prevent this. Keres may have owed Botvinnik his life. In 1948, in the world championship match-tournament, Paul Keres (1916-1975) may have been ordered by the Soviets to throw his games to Mikhail Botvinnik for the world championship. Keres played well against his three other rivals, but lost his first four games to Botvinnik. Years later, Botvinnik gave an interview stating that Stalin had given orders for Keres and Smyslov to lose to Botvinnik so that Botvinnik would become world champion. In 1950, Samuel Reshevsky (1911-1992) was playing Fotis Mastichiadis, a minor master from Greece, at the chess Olympiad in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia. Reshevsky made his 24th move too fast, then noticed that the move was a blunder and that it would lose immediately. Without hesitation, as his opponent was busy writing down the move on his score sheet, Reshevsky offered a draw. His opponent, happy to draw with Grandmaster Reshevsky, accepted the draw immediately without examining the position before accepting the draw. Of course, there is nothing unethical or illegal in offering a draw from a clearly lost position. In the 1950s, Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957) played a chess game against a friend at a restaurant and lost. He then went home, phoned his friend and bet some money on a new game played over the phone. Bogart won the game, but then admitted he cheated. At the time, U.S. Champion Herman Steiner (1905-1955) was visiting Bogart at his house, who helped Bogart with the moves. Bogart himself said that he liked chess better than poker because you couldn’t cheat at chess. In 1959, the Candidates’ tournament was held in Bled. Mikhail Tal (1936-1992) tried to unnerve his opponents by staring at them while they were thinking. Some players thought he was trying to hypnotize his opponents. When he had to play Pal Benko, Benko brought a pair of dark sunglasses to wear during their game. Later, Benko explained that he wore the glasses not to ward of Tal’s “evil eye,” but as a stunt. A couple of Yugoslav reporters asked Benko to wear them to provide an eye-catching photo and a lively story for their newspapers. In 1962, Bobby Fischer (1943-2008) complained that the Russian prearranged draws against each other in order to conserve energy for play against him. Fischer’s article “The Russian Have Fixed World Chess,” appeared in Sports Illustrated. This led to the tournament system being scrapped in favor of a series of elimination matches. Years later, Viktor Korchnoi, after he defected, accused Soviet players of cheating, of ganging up on Westerners in tournaments and throwing key games when necessary. In the early 1960s, the first recorded computer chess cheating occurred at MIT. Some MIT students went to Professor John McCarthy and another professor (both chess players), stating that they had a breakthrough in chess algorithms and that they should come to the lab immediately to see their discovery. McCarthy was led into one lab room and the other professor was led into another lab room. One of the professors was placed in from in a TX-0 computer, and the other in front of a PDP-1 computer. They were then asked to enter chess moves. Unknown to them, their computers were connected to each other by a single wire and the two professors were playing each other. In 1967, Grandmaster Milan Matulovic of Yugoslavia was playing against Istvan Bilek in the 9th round at the Interzonal in Sousse, Tunisia. Matulovic moved his bishop (38.Bf3??), pressed his chess clock, and soon realized he had made a mistake. So he took back his bishop move, moved his king (38.Kg1), and only then said “J’Adoube” (“I adjust” – which is said before adjusting pieces on a square). Matulovic then wrote his move on his score sheet as if nothing happened. Bilek went to the tournament director to protest, but Matulovic replied, “But I said j’adoube!” There was an argument, but the tournament director, having only Bilek’s word against Matulovic, refused to require Matulovic to make his original move with his bishop, as the rules of chess state. Bilek protested three times to the tournament director, but was ignored. The game ended in a draw. After this incident, even the Yugoslav players shunned Matulovic. Ever since this incident, Matulovic has been referred as “J’adoubovic.” A few days after the game with Bilek, Matulovic choked on a bone and had to be taken to a doctor. From then on, the joke in the tournament was that the doctor couldn’t find a bone, but the world “j’adoube” was found stuck in Matulovic’s throat. In 1968, at a tournament in Athens, two Greek players were trying to qualify for International Master at the event. During the opening ceremony, invited players to the tournament were asked to draw or lose their games to the Greek players. In return, they would be paid a sum of money or points would be thrown in their direction by other accommodating players. Some players cooperated, others refused. The two Greek players did get their International Master title. In 1970, at the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal, Mark Taimanov was paired with Milan (J’adoubovic) Matulovic in the final round. It was alleged that Taimanov or his Soviet Federation paid Matulovic $300 to lose the game so that Taimanov would qualify for the 1971 Candidates matches. Taimanov needed a win to qualify. Matulovic showed up 20 minutes late, lingered at the board, looked at the previous day’s tournament bulletin, then finally made a move. Matulovic, normally a slow player, played at a fast pace and lost after about an hour of play. Taimanov qualified for the Candidates match and then lost to Bobby Fischer in Vancouver, with a 0-6 score. In 1971, Matulovic was sentenced to 9 months for killing a woman by dangerous driving. No evidence that he said “J’adoube” before hitting her. In 1970, Bobby Fischer was playing White against Vlatko Kovacevic at a tournament in Zagreb. On his 18th move, Fischer had a chance to win if Black made the obvious move. Petrosian and Korchnoi, who were watching the game, spotted Fischer’s deadly intention and were analyzing the position in a different room. Petrosian’s wife had followed the analysis of the Petrosian and Korchnoi, then walked across to the board and whispered the lines to Kovacevic. Kovacevic then played another, less obvious, but stronger move, and actually won the game. It was Fischer’s only loss in the 17-round tournament. In 1972, the Soviets claimed that Bobby Fischer was using an electronic “brain disruption” device in his chair that affected Boris Spassky. The device was supposedly activated when Fischer got up to walk around during Spassky’s turn to move. The Soviets ordered that Fischer’s chair be dismantled and examined, but the Soviet technician did not find any device. In 1973, the police raided a chess tournament in Cleveland, Ohio. The arrested the tournament director and confiscated the chess sets on charges of allowing gambling (cash prizes to winners) and possession of gambling devices (the chess sets). In 1974, the candidates match between Henrique Mecking and Tigran Petrosian was played in Augusta, Georgia. During the match, Mecking made a formal protest. He accused the former world champion of kicking the table, shaking the chessboard, stirring the coffee too loudly, and rolling a coin on the table. Mecking went to the arbiter twice to complain that Petrosian was breathing too loudly. Mecking kicked back at the table and made noises of his own. Petrosian responded by turning his hearing aid off. At the 1976 World Open in New York, a stronger player used the identity of a weaker friend in one of the lower sections. The stronger player was winning all his games until his identity was found out. Director Bill Goichberg had a talk with the person who disappeared before the end of the tournament. In 1978, Anatoly Karpov had a parapsychologist in the audience against his world championship match with Korchnoi in Baguio, Philippines. Korchnoi claimed the parapsychologist was distorting his brain waves. Korchnoi then hired his own psychics to counteract the negative vibrations. During the match, Korchnoi also accused Karpov of cheating by receiving different flavors of yogurt during the game. The different flavors were part of coded instructions that Karpov followed. The arbiter treated the accusation seriously and imposed a fixed time of sending yogurt to Karpov. The flavors had to be in writing from Karpov to the arbiter. In 1980, a chess computer was used for the first time to clandestinely help a human player during a game. It occurred in Hamburg, Germany. German grandmaster Helmut Pfleger was giving a simultaneous exhibition at the Hamburg chess festival. One of the players who was playing in the simul hid a radio receiver on himself while he received moves from BELLE. As soon as Pfleger mad a move, the move was immediately relayed by phone to Ken Thompson, who entered it into the computer BELLE. When Pfleger approached the board again, a move was dictated by radio transmission to the player’s earphone. The computer won in 68 moves. It was Pfleger’s only loss. The game was not strictly an example of cheating. It was an experiment in which the deception was immediately revealed. Immediately after the game, Pfleger was asked if he noticed anything unusual in the games. He had not. He was then told that one of the games was played by a machine, surprising Pfleger. He was amazed to hear that it was the game he lost. In 1981, at the Lone Pine tournament in California, Sammy Reshevsky offered a draw to John Fedorowicz. After letting his time tick down, Fedorowicz accepted. Reshevsky then denied he made the offer. There were several witnesses to Reshevsky’s offers, but the tournament director, Isaac Kashdan, eliminated all the witnesses, saying they were all Fedorowicz’s friends, and upheld Reshevsky’s fabrication. However, the game was resumed with Fedorowicz almost out of time and Reshevsky lost! In 1983, Anna Akhsharumova was playing the final round of the Soviet Women’s Chess championship against her main competitor, Nana Ioseliani. Anna won the game on time forfeit and should have won the title. But the next day, Ioseliani filed a protest alleging a malfunction in the chess clock. Ioseliani demanded a new game be played. Anna refused to play, so the result of her game with Ioseliani was reversed by the All-Union Board of Referees in Moscow (the tournament itself was being played in Tallinn), thereby forfeiting her title. Anna went from 1st place to 3rd place over this decision. In 1985, Nick Down, a former British Junior Correspondence champion, entered the British Ladies Correspondence Championship as Miss Leigh Strange and won the event (and 15 British pounds along with the Lady Herbert trophy). He then signed up to represent Britain in the Ladies Postal Olympiad. He was later caught when one of his friends mouthed off about it and Nick confessed. The whole thing had been cooked up by Nick Down and a group of undergraduates at Cambridge, where Nick was a student. Nick returned the Lady Herbert trophy and was banned from the British Correspondence Chess Association for two years. In 1986, at the New York Open, Pal Benko was playing Hungarian Grandmaster Gyula Sax in the final round. If Benko won, he would have earned $12,000. If Benko drew, he would only get $3,000. Sax offered Benko a draw at a critical position. Benko turned it down, blundered in time pressure, and lost. He got nothing. In 1988, undercover police arrested a chess player at a park in New York City after he won a marked $5 bill against a cop posing as a construction worker during a blitz game. The chess player was jailed for 3 days, his medication was confiscated, and he had a heart attack. The arrest was finally tossed out by a judge. Five years later, the city settled the wrongful arrest lawsuit out of court for $100,000. In 1989, the police raided a chess a chess tournament in Los Angeles. The L.A.P.D. vice officers raided a nightly chess tournament held at Dad’s Donuts. They cited three men for gambling after finding $1.50 on the table. The police staged the raid after an undercover detective tried unsuccessfully to join a blitz chess game. The detective then pulled out his badge and said “all of you are under arrest,” as the L.A.P.D. swooped in. In 1992, Grandmaster and former world junior champion Pablo Zarnicki of Argentina was disqualified from a Dos Hermanas Internet Chess Club tournament, accused of cheating by using a computer, which he denied. In 1993, an unrated black player named John von Neumann was playing at the World Open in Philadelphia and scored 4/5 out of 9 in the Open section, including a draw with a grandmaster (Helgi Olafsson) and a win against a 2350-rated player. He wore a large pair of headphones and seemed to have something in his pocket that buzzed at critical points of the game. When quizzed by Bill Goichberg, the tournament director, von Neumann was unable to demonstrate very much knowledge about simple chess concepts, and was disqualified and received no prize money. It appeared he was using a strong chess computer to cheat and play his games. It was alleged that he was entering moves on a communication device whose signal was being sent up to a hotel room where an accomplice was operating a chess computer. Von Neumann has never been seen or heard from since. John von Neumann is the same name as the noted mathematician and pioneer in artificial intelligence. In 1994, at Linares, Spain, Garry Kasparov made a move against Judit Polgar, momentarily letting go of the piece (in violation of the “touch move” rule), then made a move to another square once he realized his original move was a blunder. Kasparov went on to win the game. Judit Polgar waited a day before issuing her complaint instead of during the game. A videotape of the incident proved that Kasparov did let go of the piece. In 1996, Claude Bloodgood, at the age of 71, became the 9th highest ranked chess player in the United States, by playing 1,700 rated games against other inmates. He was an inmate in a Virginia prison and just strong enough to beat other inmates, but was not a strong master. He built up a high numerical rating by organizing chess tournaments and matches in prison, and consistently beat the other weaker players. His rating highlighted flaws in the U.S. Chess Federation (USCF) grading system. From 1993 to 1999, he played 3,174 rated games in prison, almost always winning. In 1997, Kasparov lost to Deep Blue. Kasparov later claimed that the team of chess players assembled by IBM had intervened in move selections that they were not computer selections because the moves were too human. In 2001, Grandmaster Alexandru Crisan was accused of faking his Elo rating of 2635 (number 33 in the world) by fixing chess matches for his own benefit and falsifying chess tournament results. In 2002, at the World Open in Philadelphia, a Russian player was caught going outside and getting advice from another player. His opponent followed the Russian player outside and caught him speaking in Russian to the same man intently watching the game. They had been discussing the last move of the game, which was heard by 30-40 onlookers. The Russian then said he would forfeit the game. In 2003, at the Lampertsheim Open, a player was caught with a handheld PC which displayed a running chess program. The player often left the tournament room for protracted periods of time to go to the bathroom. The tournament director caught him when he entered a neighboring stall, stood on the toilet bowl and looked over the dividing wall, where he observed the player using a stylus to operate the program. In 2003, former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov lost a game when his cell phone rang during the European team championship. He lost his game to Evgeny Agrest (who lost a game in 2004 when his cell phone rang) in his Ukrainian team match versus Sweden. Ponomariov was the first player penalized under this rule at a major event. In 2004, Grandmaster Arkadi Naiditsch admitted cheating by using a computer in an Internet tournament, claiming that everyone else was doing it. In 2004, top seed Christine Castellano was playing in the Philippine Women’s National Chess Championship when her cell phone rang. She was disqualified from the event.

Hikaru Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura – 2012 U.S. Chess Champion Hikaru Nakamura (Heh-CAR-uh NAH-kuh-muh-rah) won the 2012 U.S. chess championship after defeating Yasser Seirwan in 30 moves. Nakamura was born on December 9, 1987 in Osaka, Japan. His father is Japanese and his mother is American. In 1990, his family moved to California, then later to New York. His mother, Carolyn, is a classically trained musician and former public school teacher. He began playing chess in 1993, at the age of 5. He was taught by his step-father, Sunil Weeramanty, who was a FIDE master. In 1994, Hikaru went to the U.S. Open in Concord, California, but did not play in the tournament. This was the first chess tournament he was around and he played chess in the Skittles room. In the April 1995 USCF rating list, Hikaru was rated 788. In May 1995, at the age of 7 years old, Hikaru began to play chess more regularly because his school (Ridgeway Elementary School) needed a fourth player for his older brother’s chess team. He was coached by his stepfather, Sunil Weeramantry, a FIDE master, who was a master at 15. At the time, Sunil was writing a book called Best Lessons of a Chess Coach, and made a video called Winning Chess for Kids. Sunil won the New York State Chess Championship in 1975. Sunil later became the executive director of the National Scholastic Chess Foundation and taught chess at Hunter Elementary School and other schools in Westchester County. In April 1995, Hikaru played in the 1995 National Elementary Championship in Little Rock, Arkansas, and took 140th place. His brother, Asuka, tied for 2nd in the 3rd Grade Open championship. In December 1995, Asuka Nakamura took 1st place in the National Grade 4 championship, held in Syracuse, New York. Hikaru tied for 2nd in the Grade 2 championship. In May 1996, Asuka Nakamura took 1st place in the U.S. Elementary Championship, held in Tucson. Hikaru took 31st place. In October 1996, Hikaru tied for 1st place for 3rd Grade in the National K-12 Grade School Championship, held in Terra Haute, Indiana. His rating was 1195 at the beginning of the year. In the January, 1997 USCF rating list, Hikaru Nakamura, age 9, was rated 1659. His brother was rated 2048. In the 1996 USCF yearbook, published in the April 1997 issues of Chess Life, Hikaru, age 9, was the 20th highest rated player under 13, with a rating of 1846. The list was led by Vinay Bhat, age 12, rated 2232. Jordy Mont-Reynaud, age 13, was rated 2236 (the highest 13 year old). In April 1997, Hikaru’s older brother, Asuka, age 11, took 1st place for those in 6th grade and younger in the 1997 Super Nationals Scholastic Chess Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee. Hikaru, age 9, took 1st place for 3rd grade, winning the National Primary Championship. There were 4,300 chess players participating. This was the first time that any sibling pair won first place in the championship section of their respective divisions. In 1997, Hikaru won the New York 3rd grade championship. In 1997 Hikaru won the 4th Grade championship in the National K-12 Grade School Championship, held in Parsippany, New Jersey. In October 1997, Hikaru represented the Boys Under 10 USA team in the 1997 FIDE World Youth Chess Championships, held in Cannes, France. Vinay Bhat and Jordy Mont-Reynaud represented the Boys Under 14. In October 1997, he attained an expert rating of 2027 at the age of 9 years and 10 months. On December 31, 1997, at the age of 10 years and 0 months, Hikaru defeated International Master Jay Bonin at the Marshall Chess Club in 36 moves, becoming the youngest USCF player ever to beat an IM up to that time. At the end of 1997 (December 1997 USCF rating list), Hikaru’s rating was 2019. In January 1998, Hikaru tied for 1st place in a New York tournament, ahead of his father, Sunil Weeramantry (2218), ahead of his older brother Asuka (2144), and ahead of Grandmaster Arthur Bisguier (2343). Hikaru drew two masters (Stephen Stoyko, rated 2338, and Ralph Zimmer, rated 2279. He defeated another master, Mark Kernighan, rated 2264. On February 26, 1998, at the age of 10 years and 79 days, Hikaru achieved the title of chess master, becoming the youngest American ever to earn the title. He broke the record previously set by Vinay Bhat, who in 1995 was a chess master at the age of ten years and six months. In 2008, Nicholas Nip earned the chess master title at 9 years and 11 months. Nakamura was playing in a tournament at the Marshall Chess Club when he earned his title and got a rating of 2203. He defeated Ilijas Terzic (rated 2392) in the 2nd round. After becoming America’s youngest master, Hikaru appeared on the CBS news and was featured on “Live With Regis and Kathie Lee.” On April 5, 1998, Hikaru, age 10 years 117 days, beat Grandmaster Arthur Bisguier, rated 2363, in 21 moves. He was the youngest player to beat a GM until Fabiano Caruana. The youngest player ever to defeat a GM in a USCF-sanctioned tournament was Fabiano Caruana, age 10 years 61 days, when he defeated GM Aleksander Wojtkiewicz in a USCF-rated event at the Marshall Chess Club. Hikaru was on the cover of the May 1998 issue of Chess Life, with the words, “Hikaru Nakamura the Youngest Master Ever!” In October-November 1998, Hikaru represented the USA in the under 12 boys division in the 1998 World Youth Championship, held in Spain. In December, 1998, Hikaru tied for 1st in the 5th grade National All-Grades Championship in Oak Brook, Illinois. His brother, Asuka, won the 7th grade National All-Grades championship. At the end of 1998, Hikaru’s rating was 2237. In February 1999, Hikaru beat Grandmaster Alexander Stipunsky in regulation time control, at the record age of 11 years and two months. In the April 1999 USCF rating list, Hikaru was the nation’s highest rated player under 13. He was age 10 and rated 2237. In July, 1999, Hikaru played in the U.S. Cadet Championship (under 16), held in Nashville and took 5th out of 8. Jordy Mont-Reynaud won the event. Hikaru won the best game prize, won in 23 moves. In 1999, he won the K-9 Junior High School Championship. In 1999, Hikaru Nakamura won the 20th annual Laura A. Aspis prize for the highest rated player under 13. He was rated 2359. At the end of 1999, Hikaru’s rating was 2346. In March 2000, Hikaru tied for 1st place with GM Jaan Ehlvest in the National Open Blitz Championship. In May 2000, Hikaru took 1st place in the National Elementary Championship, held in Dallas. There were 2,029 players in the event. In October 2000, Hikaru tied for 3rd in the under-14 section of the World Youth Championships. At the end of 2000, Hikaru’s rating was 2391. His FIDE rating was 2261. Hikaru was awarded the FIDE master title at the age of 12. In February 2001, Hikaru earned his third IM norm from a tournament in Eger, Hungary. In 2001, Hikaru earned the International Master title at the age of 13 years and 2 months, the youngest IM ever. In March 2001, Hikaru played for the USA in a China vs. USA match in Seattle. In April 2001, Hikaru tied for 1st in the Super Nationals in Kansas City. There were 4,606 players in the event. In 2001, Hikaru earned the silver medal for the U.S. at the 2001 World Youth Championships in Oropessa, Spain. In July 2001, Hikaru Nakamura, age 13, won the U.S. Junior Championship, held in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There were 10 players. Hikaru was the youngest person to win the U.S. Junior championship since Bobby Fischer. Hikaru appeared on the October 2001 issue of Chess Life for being America’s youngest International Master. At the end of 2001, Hikaru’s rating was 2476. In January 2002, Hikaru earned his first GM norm in Bermuda with a tie for 1st place. He beat four grandmasters. In June 2002, Hikaru played in the Pan American Junior Championship, held in Bolivia, and tied for 1st place. In August 2002, Hikaru won the 32nd Continental Open in Massachusetts. His performance rating was 2766 after beating three grandmasters. In September 2002, Hikaru played in the Imre Konig Memorial in San Francisco, beating grandmasters Nick de Firmian, John Fedorowicz, and Walter Browne. He missed a GM norm by ½ point. In 2002, Hikaru earned his second GM norm at the Copa Nazir Atallah Open in the Dominican Republic. At the end of 2002, Hikaru’s rating was 2614. His FIDE rating was 2520. In January 2003, he played in the U.S. Championship, held in Seattle, and took 9th-17th place. He missed a grandmaster norm by ½ point. On February 5, 2003, Hikaru Nakamura earned his third and final Grandmaster norm at 15 years and 79 days, breaking the record of Bobby Fischer, who earned the GM title at 15 years and 185 days on September 10, 1958. Nakamura earned his final GM norm at the Bermuda International Chess Festival where he took 2nd place. He also won the Bermuda blitz championship. His USCF rating was 2619. In June 2003, Hikaru tied for 1st place at the National Open in Las Vegas. In 2003, Hikaru won the Western States Open championship, held in Reno. His peak rating for 2003 was 2656. Hikaru qualified for the 2004 world chess championship in Tripoli, Libya. He lost to Michael Adams in the 4th round after defeating Sergey Volkov, Aleksey Aleksandrov, and Alexander Lastin. In 2004, Hikaru won the New York State championship. In 2004, Hikaru won the Western States Open championship in Reno, defeating grandmasters Wojtkiewicz, Kudrin, and Yermolinsky, in succession. In November-December, 2004, Hikaru won the 2005 U.S. Chess Championship at the age of 16 with a score of 7 out of 9, played in San Diego. He tied with Alex Stripunsky, but beat him in the playoff games. He is the second youngest player to become U.S. Chess Champion (behind Robert Fischer, who won it at age 14). Nakamura earned $25,000 for winning the US Championship. His rating at the end of 2004 was 2698. In 2005, Hikaru won the Foxwoods Open championship. In 2005, Hikaru won the North American Open. On June 20, 2005, Hikaru Nakamura was selected as the 19th Frank Samford Chess Fellow, receiving a grant of $32,000 to further his chess education. In November and December 2005, Hikaru entered the FIDE World Chess Cup, but lost to Surya Ganguly in the first round. At the end of 2005, Hikaru’s rating was 2762. In 2006, Hikaru played on the USA team in the 37th Chess Olympiad, held in Turin, Italy. The team won the bronze medal. Nakamura played board three, behind Gata Kamsky and Alexander Onischuk. In 2006, Hikaru won the North American Open chess championship. Hikaru’s peak rating for 2006 was 2774. In 2007, Hikaru won the National Open championship in Las Vegas. In 2007, Hikaru won the North American Open championship. In October 2007, Hikaru won an international tournament in Barcelona. At the end of 2007, Hikaru’s rating was 2740. In 2008, Hikaru won the Chicago Open championship. In 2008, Hikaru played for the USA team in the 38th Chess Olympiad in Dresden. The USA team won the bronze medal. In 2008, Hikaru won the Gibraltar Masters Open. At the end of 2008, Hikaru’s rating was 2760. His FIDE rating was 2704. In May 2009, Hikaru won the U.S. Chess Championship held in St. Louis, Missouri. He scored 7 out of 9. 2nd place went to GM-elect Robert Hess. Nakamura won $40,000 for his efforts. His pre-rating was 2751. His post rating was 2773. Nakamura was the 3rd highest rated player in the event, behind Gata Kamsky (2797) and Alexander Onischuk (2756). His FIDE rating was 2701, ranked #30 in the world. In August 2009, he became the Fischer Random 960 World Chess Champion. In 2010, he won the gold medal for board 1 at the World Team Chess Championship, held in Turkey. The USA team took the silver medal. In January 2011, he was ranked #10 in the world with an Elo rating of 2751. In 2011, he won the Tata Steel Grandmaster A tournament in Wijk aan Zee. He finished ahead of the four top-rated players in the world. In May 2012, his FIDE rating was 2775 and ranked #7 in the world. –Bill Wall Be Sociable, Share! inShare 3 Comments

The Night Before Christmas

Twas the Night Before Christmas Twas the night before Christmas, when all through ChessManic.com, Not a gambit was playing, not even a From. The pieces were hung by the patzers who created In hopes that some master would get mated. The players were nestled all around their chess game, While visions of checkmate would give them fame. And my opponent in his PJs, and I in my socks, Had just settled our brains for a long game with chess clocks. When out on the Internet there was such a chatter, I turned chat on to see what was the matter. Away to my Windows I downloaded my Flash, To open the file and hoped Windows wouldn’t crash. The text was a chess game written in PGN, it included a diagram showing all the chessmen. When, what to my wondering eyes should I see, But a miniature chess problem, with mate in three. With such a chess ending, so lively and quick, It had to be solved with some sort of trick. Perhaps White promotes to a knight or a rook, Whatever the solution, it’s not in the book. Now Sherzer! now Serper! now Polgar and Aronian! Oh Kramnik! Oh Gelfand! Oh Svidler and Carlsen! To the top of the FIDE list, to the top of the rating. Grandmasters all! You should all be mating. I returned to the Internet to play some more blitz, I got beaten, perhaps it was by Fritz. How is it that they play faster than Wall? Even in bullet chess, I usually beat them all! Perhaps I am playing some famous Grandmaster, Who knows how to play much, much faster. His moves are strong and I haven’t a clue, I feel like I am playing IBM’s Deep Blue. And then in a twinkling, I get checkmated, I lost another chess game that was rated. I offered a draw, but it was turned down, No perpetual check was ever found. I challenged him again, then fell into a trap, I have had enough of this chess crap. But as I was resigning and was leaving the site, My opponent emailed me “Happy Christmas to Wall, and to Wall a good-knight.” – Bill Wall

Fisher's Wife

Widow of Chess Champion Bobby Fischer to inherit his estimated $2 million estate. Fischer spent the last years of his life as a fugitive from U.S. authorities because he defied international sanctions against the former Yugoslavia, spending time in the Philippines and Japan before moving to Iceland, where he was offered citizenship in the mid-2000s. Miyoko Watai of Japan had claimed before the court she was Fischer’s wife and heir while two of the chess master’s nephews had questioned the legitimacy of the marriage. In 2009 Iceland’s Supreme Court overturned a municipal court decision that Watai was the rightful heir, saying definite proof of the marriage had not been made available. On Wednesday Reykjavik’s municipal court judge Ingridur Eiriksdottir ruled the marriage was legal and declared that Fischer’s nephews must pay Watai 6.65 million Iceland crowns ($57,520) in costs. Fresh documentation was provided for the latest judgment. Fischer, a child prodigy became the United States’ only world chess champion by defeating Soviet masters, but refused to defend his title and relinquished it to the Soviet champion Anatoly Karpov in 1975. He died in Reykjavik at the age of 64. The nephews’ lawyer told Icelandic state radio they would appeal the court ruling. Be Sociable, Share!

Svetozar Gligoric

Chess Player, GM Svetozar Gligoric, at 88 turns to Music GM Svetozar Gligoric According to the Huffington Post “he was one of the world’s leading chess players in the 1950s and 1960s and the Yugoslav player of the 20th century. After nearly seven decades playing chess, the legendary grandmaster Svetozar Gligoric turned to music. Last month, shortly after his 88th birthday, Gligoric presented his first music album in Belgrade. How I survived the 20th century is a collection of 12 compositions, mostly jazz, blues and rap. Gliga or Gligo, as his friends call him, wrote the music and texts and invited some known Serbian musicians to perform with him. The central theme of his work is expressed in the song Life is all we have. Gligoric pointed out the similarity between music and chess: “Each note is like a chess move and from these elements you create your own architecture within known rules.”” Svetozar Gligorić (Serbian Cyrillic: Светозар Глигорић) (born February 2, 1923) is a Serbian chess grandmaster. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is considered the best player ever from Serbia. in 1958 he was declared for the best athlete of Yugoslavia. During the 1950s and 1960s, he was one of the top ten players in the world, also among the world’s most popular, owing to his globe-trotting tournament schedule and a particularly engaging personality that is reflected in the title of his autobiography, I Play Against Pieces (i.e., with no hostility to the opponent, or playing differently for “psychological” reasons against different players; playing the board not the man). Life Svetozar Gligorić was born in Belgrade to a poor family. According to his recollections, his first exposure to chess was as a small child watching patrons play in a neighborhood bar. He began to play at the age of eleven, when taught by a boarder taken in by his mother (his father had died by this time). Lacking a chess set, he made one for himself by carving pieces from corks from wine bottles — a story paralleling the formative years of his great contemporary, the Estonian grandmaster Paul Keres.Gligorić was a good student during his youth, with both academic and athletic successes that famously led to him being invited to represent his school at a birthday celebration for Prince Peter, later to become King Peter II of Yugoslavia. He later recounted (to International Master David Levy, who chronicled his chess career in The Chess of Gligoric), his distress at attending this gala event wearing poor clothing resulting from his family’s impoverished condition. His first tournament success came in 1938 when he won the championship of the Belgrade Chess Club; however, World War II interrupted his chess progress for a time. During the war, Gligorić was a member of a partisan unit. A chance encounter with a chess-playing partisan officer led to his removal from combat.Following the World War II, Gligorić worked several years as a journalist and organizer of chess tournaments. He continued to progress as a chessplayer and was awarded the chess International Master (IM) title in 1950 and the Grandmaster (GM) title in 1951, eventually making the transition to full-time chess professional, continuing active tournament play well into his sixties. Gligorić was one of the most successful tournament players of the middle of the century, with a number of tournament titles to his credit, but was less successful in competing for the World Chess Championship. He was Yugoslav champion in 1947 (joint), 1948 (joint), 1949, 1950, 1956, 1957, 1958 (joint), 1959, 1960, 1962, 1965 and 1971.He represented his country (Yugoslavia) with great success in fifteen Chess Olympiads from 1950 to 1982 (thirteen times on first board), playing 223 games (+88 =109 -26). In the first post-war Olympiad, on home soil at Dubrovnik 1950, Gligoric played on first board and led Yugoslavia to a historic result, the team gold medal. The Yugoslav team was usually second or third in the world during the 1950s.His list of first-place finishes in international chess competitions is one of the longest and includes such events as Mar del Plata 1950, Stockholm 1954, Belgrade 1964, Manila 1968, Lone Pine 1972 and 1979, etc. He was a regular competitor in the series of great tournaments held at Hastings, with wins (or ties for first) in 1951–2, 1956–7, 1959–60, 1960–61, and 1962–3.His record in world-championship qualifying events was mixed. He was a regular competitor in Zonal and Interzonal competitions with several successes, e.g. zonal wins in 1951, 1960 (joint), 1963, 1966, and 1969 (joint) and finishes at the Interzonals of 1952, 1958, and 1967 high enough to qualify him for the final “Candidates” events the following year. However, he was not as successful in any of the Candidates events, with mediocre results in the 1953 and 1959 Candidates Tournaments and a match loss to Mikhail Tal in the 1968 Candidates match series.

Youngest US Chess Master

Samuel Sevian Becomes Youngest US Chess ‘Master’ A 9-year-old California boy has become the youngest-ever chess “master” in the United States. Samuel Sevian, of Santa Clara, earned the title after a match in San Francisco. Born on December 26, 2000 he is an American chess player and was the youngest chess player to attain the United States Chess Federation classification of an expert, accomplishing the feat in February 2009, at the age of 8 years and 64 days. On December 11, 2010, he became the youngest National Master in USCF history with a rating of 2201 at the age of 9 years, 11 months and 15 days. Sevian started his chess career in on August 12, 2006. His first major success occurred when he became the youngest expert in US history, an achievement that was featured in an article of the ‘Los Angeles Times” by International Master Jack Peters. He wrote that Sevian learned to play chess at age five and earned a modest Elo rating system|rating of 315 from his first chess tournament, when he was living in Florida. By the time his family moved to California in 2007 (when he was seven years old) his rating had risen to 1614, higher than most adults. In February 2009 he was named the Bay Area Chess Player of the Month. Sevian earned a spot on both the 2009 and 2010 All-America Chess Team. In 2009, at the age of eight, Sevian defeated his first National Master in tournament play. In January 2010 with a of 2119, FIDE Rating Progress Chart for Sevian, Samuel(USA) he became the highest rated chess player in the world for his age. He also qualified for the 2010 World Youth Chess Championship, and has reached the norms for the USCF Candidate Master title. On December 11, 2010, his rating rose from 2187 to 2201, making him at 9 years, 11 months and 15 days, the youngest-ever American master and breaking the record previously held by Nicholas Nip. Be Sociable, Share!

The Act of Preparation in the game of Chess

The Act of Preparation in the game of chess The inexperienced (and not only) players often ask themselves what is the most appropriate way to prepare for a game. Should it be a general opening preparation, or a psychologically orientated work against a concrete player? I believe that both should be recommended and applied. The first thing that we do is to build an opening repertoire, a stable home-made weapon that will keep us away from great surprises. We need to have reliable lines against each of the opponents’ principled possibilities. These lines have not only to be memorized well, but to be well understood. If a line ends up with the verdict +/=, minimal advantage for white, and we are that side, we will definitely be satisfied with the opening part. However, we should not forget that after this stage, there comes the middlegame, and this advantage should be increased, and finally converted. That means that we need to know what to do after achieving the advantage, to have a general plan. Do we play on the king’s flank, in the center, or on the queen’s wing? These questions should be answered at home. Every quality opening preparation should end up with a good plan. The assessment is not that important, even an equal position can be in our favour, if we like the character of the arising positions, have the general idea what to do, and like what we are about to do. Here comes also the concrete approach. Let’s say that tomorrow we shall play against an opponent who enjoys positional maneuvering, plays well and loves endgames, but calculates poorly lines and does not feel comfortable in complications. Let’s imagine that we have the black pieces, and he plays 1.e4- open games. Let’s also imagine that we play both 1…e5, and 1…c5. Which move shall we choose against him? The answer comes in accordance with his style; the natural decision is to go for the sharp Sicilian, where the chances for mistakes from him are more significant. Our style will also guide us in building the repertoire. If we are aggressive players, with strong memories, we should opt for active lines straight from the opening. Quiet lines as the Exchanged Ruy Lopez are not our cup of tea! After we know ourselves, we go to the next stage- collecting the chess material. We choose a line to play, and then try to find as many annotated games by experts (masters and grandmasters) to understand the arising positions. Those men have worked on these lines, there is nothing wrong to use their know-how. Have a look at the recently published analyses by IM K. Karakehajov here: online-chess.eu, you might find something interesting to build up your foundation. After this process, we are already quite sufficiently armed. We can make a couple of things in addition: analyze alone, or with a friend of ours some more games in the line, and play some friendly games in the chosen opening. This will help us memorize the lines, and avoid some typical mistakes. We are now sufficiently armed, and have no fear of anyone. P.S. This will not end the process of the preparation, as the lines are nowadays developing with enormous speed. Whenever we have time, we can have a look at the fresh games and analyses of our openings and upgrade them. Good luck! GM Dejan Bojkov - www.dejanbojkov.blogspot.com Be Sociable, Share! O

Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen number one rated chess player in the world! Magnus Carlsen (born Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen on 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy currently ranked number one in the world on the official FIDE rating list. He has achieved a rating exceeded only by Garry Kasparov. On 26 April 2004 Carlsen became a Grandmaster at the age of 13 making him the third-youngest Grandmaster in history. On 1 January 2010 the new FIDE rating list was published, and at the age of 19 he became the youngest chess player in history to be ranked world number one, breaking the record previously held by Vladimir Kramnik. Carlsen is also the 2009 World blitz chess champion. His performance at the September–October 2009 Nanjing Pearl Spring tournament has been described as one of the greatest in history and lifted him to an Elo rating of 2801, making him the fifth player to achieve a rating over 2800 – and aged 17 years 10 months at the time, by far the youngest to do so. Ahead of 2010, Carlsen said that he would be playing in fewer tournaments the coming year. The cooperation with Kasparov continued until March that year. Carlsen won the Corus chess tournament played January 16–31 with 8½ points (five wins, seven draws, one loss). His ninth-round loss to Kramnik ended a streak of 36 rated games undefeated. Carlsen appeared to struggle in the last round against Fabiano Caruana, but saved a draw leaving him half a point ahead of Kramnik and Shirov. The March 2010 FIDE rating list showed Carlsen with a new peak rating of 2813, a figure that only Kasparov has bettered. In the same month it was announced that Carlsen had split from Kasparov and would no longer be using him as a trainer, although this was put into different context by Carlsen himself in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel stating that they would remain in contact and that he would continue to attend training sessions with Kasparov. Carlsen shared first place alongside Ivanchuk in the Amber 2010 blindfold and rapid tournament. Carlsen scored 6½ points in the blindfold and 8 points in the rapid, giving 14½ points from a possible 22 points. In May 2010 it was revealed that Carlsen had helped Viswanathan Anand prepare for the World Chess Championship 2010 against challenger Veselin Topalov, which Anand won 6½-5½ to retain the title. Carlsen had also helped Anand prepare for the World Chess Championship 2007 and World Chess Championship 2008. In his first tournament since his announced departure from Kasparov, Carlsen played in the Bazna Kings Tournament in Romania from June 14th through June 25th. The tournament was a double round robin event involving Wang Yue, Boris Gelfand, former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov, Teimour Radjabov, and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu. After drawing his first three games, Carlsen won his next four and set a personal livechess rating peak of 2825,1. He finished with 7½/10 and a 2918 performance rating, winning the tournament by two points over Radjabov and Gelfand. The victory ensured that Carlsen remained at the top of the Elo rating list. His official rating hit 2826, a figure exceeded only by Kasparov and just 25 points shy of tying Kasparov’s all-time record. Carlsen then played in a rapid tournament from August 28th to August 30th at the Arctic Securities Chess Stars tournament in Kristiansund, Norway. The field featured world champion Viswanathan Anand, female world #1 Judit Polgar, and Jon Ludvig Hammer. In the preliminary round robin, Carlsen scored 3½/6 to qualify for the final, second behind Anand. In the final, Carlsen defeated Anand 1½-0½ to win the championship. Following this event, Carlsen will take part in the 39th Chess Olympiad from September 19th to October 4th. As winner of three of the previous year’s four Grand Slam chess events (2009 Nanjing Pearl Spring, 2010 Corus, 2010 Bazna Kings), Carlsen has automatically qualified for the final of the Grand Slam Chess Masters supertournament to be held in Bilbao from October 9th to October 15th, 2010. Along with Carlsen, the finals will consist of World Champion Viswanathan Anand and the highest two scorers from the preliminary stage held in Shanghai in September, which featured Vladimir Kramnik, Levon Aronian, Alexei Shirov, and Wang Hao; Shirov and Kramnik qualified. The official September 2010 ratings of Carlsen, Anand, Kramnik and Shirov will make the Grand Slam final the strongest tournament in chess history, with an average ELO of 2789. Following the Grand Slam Chess Masters final, Carlsen will attempt to defend his 2009 title at the 2010 Pearl Spring chess tournament, which will run from October 17th to 29th in Nanjing, China and feature Anand, world #2 Veselin Topalov, Vugar Gashimov, Wang Yue, and Etienne Bacrot. This will be the only tournament in 2010 to feature Anand, Carlsen and Topalov, currently the top three players in the world. It is presumed, but unknown whether Carlsen will participate in the 2010 World Blitz Championship, currently scheduled to be held in Moscow from November 15th to 16th following the 2010 Tal Memorial. Carlsen will attempt to defend his title in the London Chess Classic in December 2010; the field will include world champion Viswanathan Anand, former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, American number one Hikaru Nakamura, and British players Michael Adams, Nigel Short, David Howell, and Luke McShane.

Bent Larsen

Grandmaster Bent Larsen Dead Bent Larsen Bent Larsen, a Danish-born chess grandmaster who was a perennial challenger for the world championship during the 1960s and ’70s, died on Sept. 9 in Buenos Aires, where he had lived for many years. He was 75. Larsen, who was born in Tilsted, near Thisted in Denmark, represented Denmark twice in the World Junior Championship, in 1951 at Birmingham (placing fifth), and 1953 at Copenhagen (placing eighth). He never graduated in Civil Engineering, but decided to become a chess professional. He became an International Master at the age of 19 in 1954, from his bronze-medal performance on board one at the Amsterdam Olympiad. He won his first of six Danish Championships in 1954, and repeated in 1955, 1956, 1959, 1963, and 1964. Larsen defeated Friðrik Ólafsson in an exhibition match at Oslo 1955 by 4½–3½. He won at Copenhagen 1956 with 8/9. Larsen became an International Grandmaster in 1956 with his gold-medal performance on board one at the Moscow Olympiad. He tied for 1st–2nd places at Hastings 1956–57 on 6½/9 with Svetozar Gligorić. At Dallas 1957, he scored 7½/14 for a shared 3rd–4th place; the winners were Gligorić and Samuel Reshevsky. At the 1957 Wageningen Zonal, he tied for 3rd–4th places, along with Jan Hein Donner, with 12½/17; there were only three qualifying berths, so the two players had to dispute a playoff match. Larsen won by 3–1 over Donner at The Hague 1958 to qualify for his first Interzonal, at Portorož 1958. Larsen could score only 8½/20 for 16th place, and was not close to qualifying. But he scored his first major individual international success by winning Mar del Plata 1958 with 12/15, ahead of William Lombardy, Erich Eliskases, Oscar Panno, and Herman Pilnik. Larsen went into a slump beginning with the 1958 Interzonal. He tied 5th–6th in a powerful field at Zurich 1959 with 9½/15, behind winner Mikhail Tal, Gligorić, Paul Keres, and Bobby Fischer. But Larsen placed only 4th in a middle-range field at the 1960 Berg en Dal Zonal 1960 with 5½/9, and did not advance to the Interzonal. He recovered by sharing 1st–2nd places at Beverwijk 1961 on 7½/9 with Borislav Ivkov. At Zurich 1961, he tied for 6th–7th places with 6/11, as Keres won ahead of Tigran Petrosian. At Moscow 1962, he shared 7th–11th places with 7½/15 (Yuri Averbakh won). Around this time Larsen diversified his style, switching over to risky and unusual openings in some of his games, to try to throw his opponents off balance; this led to the recovery of his form and further development of his chess. He finished 2nd at the 1963 Halle Zonal with 13/19, behind winner Lajos Portisch, to advance to the Interzonal the next year. At Belgrade 1964, he shared 5th–6th places with 10/17 (Boris Spassky won). He tied for 5th–7th places at Beverwijk 1964 on 9½/15; Keres and Nei won. Larsen’s unusual openings were on full display at the 1964 Amsterdam Interzonal, where he shared the 1st–4th places on 17/23 with Boris Spassky, Mikhail Tal, and Vasily Smyslov, advancing as a Candidate. In the 1965 Candidates’ matches, he first defeated Borislav Ivkov at Bled by 5½–2½, but lost in the semi-final, also at Bled by 4½–5½ to former world champion Mikhail Tal. He won a playoff match for alternates, an eventual third-place Candidates’ position, against Efim Geller by 5–4 at Copenhagen 1966. In 1967 he won the Sousse Interzonal after Fischer withdrew, then won his first-round match against Lajos Portisch by 5½–4½ at Porec 1968. In Malmö, however, he lost the semi-final by 2½–5½ to Boris Spassky, who went on to win the title. In 1970 he shared 2nd in the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal, on 15/23, behind Bobby Fischer. He reached his top rank in the Elo rating system at the start of 1971, equal third in the world (with Korchnoi, behind Fischer and Spassky) with a rating of 2660. He then defeated Wolfgang Uhlmann by 5½–3½ at Las Palmas 1971. But then he lost the semi-final 0–6 at Denver to Fischer, who also went on to win the title. Larsen later claimed in a Kasparov.com interview (1998) that his one-sided loss to Fischer was due in part to his condition during the match: “The organizers chose the wrong time for this match. I was languid with the heat and Fischer was better prepared for such exceptional circumstances… I saw chess pieces through a mist and, thus, my level of playing was not good.” In 1973 he failed to advance from the Leningrad Interzonal; he tied for 5th–6th places with 10/17, with Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi winning. In 1976 he won the Biel Interzonal, but lost his 1977 Candidates’ match, a rematch of their 1968 encounter, to Lajos Portisch by 3½–6½ at Rotterdam. In the Riga Interzonal of 1979, Larsen scored 10/17 for 7th place, and did not advance. Larsen was known as a deep thinking and highly imaginative player, more willing to try unorthodox ideas and to take risks than most of his peers. This aspect of his play could even manifest itself in his choice of openings. “He is a firm believer in the value of surprise. Consequently, he often resorts to dubious variations in various openings. He also likes to complicate positions even though it may involve considerable risk. He has a great deal of confidence in his game and fears no one. His unique style has proven extremely effective against relatively weak opponents but has not been too successful against top-notchers.” He was one of the very few modern Grandmasters to have employed Bird’s Opening (1.f4) with any regularity, and had a long-term association with the move 1.b3, a system commonly known as Larsen’s Opening or the Nimzo-Larsen Attack in his (and Aron Nimzowitsch’s) honor. He played the Dutch Defence with success at a time when the opening was rarely seen at the top level. He revived the almost dormant Bishop’s Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4) with success in 1964 and explored new ways for Black to seek activity in the Philidor Defence (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6). He was also the first top player to successfully use the Grand Prix Attack against the Sicilian Defence (1.e4 c5 2.f4), spurring a sudden and sustained gain in its popularity. In the mid-1960s, he showed surprising faith in Alekhine’s Defence (1.e4 Nf6) and even employed it on important occasions. He played the rare Scandinavian Defence 1.e4 d5 to defeat World Champion Anatoly Karpov in 1979, sparking renewed interest in that variation. A favorite line in the Caro-Kann Defence (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gxf6) is co-named for him and David Bronstein; the idea is to accept a weakness to the Black pawn structure in exchange for an unbalancing of the position and retaining the bishop pair. The Grünfeld Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5) was another opening that became a frequent choice of Larsen with the Black pieces and similarly, he placed considerable reliance on Grunfeld-Indian systems as White. This led him to co-author a groundbreaking 1979 book (with Steffen Zeuthen) on this opening and similar structures (ZOOM 001—Zero Hour for Operative Opening Models). His book of 50 Selected Games (1968) is renowned for its pithy annotations which delve into chess psychology and the effective use of rare openings. Larsen is respected as an excellent writer who reaches out to his readers; he was one of seven top Grandmasters who wrote fine chapters for the 1974 book How to Open a Chess Game. He edited the tournament book for San Antonio 1972.

Results of 2nd Lifecore Enterprises CHess Chamionship

Results of 2nd Lifecore Enterprises Chess Championship http://chess-results.com/tnr81772.aspx?art=1&lan=1

Return to the old self

When I was a new officer, I was very eager to prove something. I think though I missed a lot of oppurtunities. I was not able to get what I deserved which I am partly to be blamed. I believe I should have a coach. Someone from the top who gauge my performance and tell me where I stand. That is what I will be doing in the next generation of officers. Even though I am beyond their reach I will find time to guide them and assist them. I hope that the goals I have set for my self will not be an exercise of futility rather a return to my old good self!

Escape to Palawan

I am looking forward to Palawan particularly in El Nido and underground river on November 1 to 4. Go go go!

2012 PARANG BEACH RESORT

2012 PARANG BEACH RESORT

2011 Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship

With Nezil Merilles

WILLAM TELL

WILLAM TELL If ever you visit Oriental Mindoro and lucky to meet Xander for a chess blitz match you're in for a treat as you will feel his Xander's Gambit which is comparable to the Great Wall of China. But what amuses us no end is he is always mentioning about Willam Tell every game. Whenever we asked "Who is William Tell?", he would just smile at us but he never give answer. Perhaps he is his foreign friend but we run out of time to check. Incidentally, he is a strong chess player! His notable performance at Board 2 in the in the last Inter-club Chess Championship in Quezon City (we represented United Chess Players of Calapan, Inc. the exact date escaped my memory) was amazing! We requested him to play for board 1 for the team's sake, notwithstanding his outstanding performance in Board 2. Unselfish that he is, he granted our request. In the end though, he was not able to get the Gold in Board 2 as he manage only to score in Board 1 a loss and a draw. Mabuhay ka Xander! Only now I was able to discover "Willam Tell" with the help of Google and I hope he is the same person that Xander is referring to. "The legend as told by Tschudi (ca. 1570) goes as follows: William Tell, who originally came from Bürglen, was known as a strong man and an expert shot with the crossbow. In his time, the Habsburg emperors of Austria were seeking to dominate Uri. Albrecht (or Hermann) Gessler, the newly appointed Austrian Vogt of Altdorf, raised a pole in the village's central square, hung his hat on top of it, and demanded that all the townsfolk bow before the hat. On 18 November 1307, Tell visited Altdorf with his young son and passed by the hat, publicly refusing to bow to it, and so was arrested. Gessler — intrigued by Tell's famed marksmanship, yet resentful of his defiance — devised a cruel punishment: Tell and his son would be executed, but he could redeem his life by shooting an apple off the head of his son, Walter, in a single attempt. Tell split the apple with a bolt from his crossbow.[1] But Gessler noticed that Tell had removed two crossbow bolts from his quiver, not one. Before releasing Tell, he asked why. Tell replied that if he had killed his son, he would have used the second bolt on Gessler himself. Gessler was angered, and had Tell bound. He was brought to Gessler's ship to be taken to his castle at Küssnacht to spend his newly won life in a dungeon. But, as a storm broke on Lake Lucerne, the soldiers were afraid that their boat would founder, and unbound Tell to steer with all his famed strength. Tell made use of the opportunity to escape, leaping from the boat at the rocky site now known as the Tellsplatte ("Tell's slab") and memorialized by the Tellskapelle. The Hohle Gasse between Immensee and KüssnachtTell ran cross-country to Küssnacht. As Gessler arrived, Tell assassinated him with the second crossbow bolt along a stretch of the road cut through the rock between Immensee and Küssnacht, now known as the Hohle Gasse.[2] Tell's blow for liberty sparked a rebellion, in which he played a leading part. That fed the impetus for the nascent Swiss Confederation. He fought again against Austria in the 1315 Battle of Morgarten. Tschudi also has an account of Tell's death in 1354, according to which he was killed trying to save a child from drowning in the Schächenbach river in Uri.[3]" If ever WE encounter XANDER over the Board we must beat him. For sure he would say; "Ubos tayo kay Willam Tell."

2012 Lifecore Enterprises Chess Championship

What? 2012 Lifecore Enterprises Chess Championship Where? Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro When? September 9, 2012 Prizes - Champion P5,000.00 ... 1st Runner up 4,000.00 2nd Runner up 3,000.00 3rd 2,000.00 4rth 1,000.00 5 to 9 500.00 each

Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship - Batangas Leg

On July 28 - 29, 2012 Calapan City will be sending the strongest ever contingent in the coming 20th Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship - Southern Luzon Leg at SM Batangas Activity Center. Goodluck to our team!!! Categories: Juniors - Male ... 1. Nezil Arj Merilles - Finalist, 19th SNYACC 2012 Palarong Pambansa representative 2. Zenjih Angelo Merilles - 2012 Palarong Pambansa representative Top 5, 19th SNYACC, Juniors Division South Luzon Leg Juniors - Female 3. Shayxanthe Lois Guico - Silver (Team) Secondary Division 2012 Palarong Pambansa 2nd Place, 19th SNYACC Southern Luzon, Kiddies Kiddies - Female 4. Cyliz Merilles - Silver (Team), Secondary Division 2012 Palarong Pambansa 5. Julie Ann Barrientos - 10th Place, Kiddies Division 19th SNYACC South Luzon Leg Kiddies - Male 6. Jan Myrtle Aclon - 2012 MIMAROPA representative 7. Jay Werner Barrientos - 2012 Calapan representative Promising Talent

NCFP GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Joselito Asi is attended the NCFP General Assembly and Election at Deped main Office which started at 8:00AM last July 7, 2012 representing United Chess Players of Calapan Inc.. Goodluck Bro.

NCFP ELECTION 07.07.12

Congrats to our Governor Alfonso Umali Jr. for being one of the Board of Directors of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines in the recently concluded election held last 07.07.12 at Deped Main Office

Whatever - a prayer

Whatever your cross, whatever your pain, there will always be sunshine, after the rain .... Perhaps you may stumble, perhaps even fall, But God's always ready, To answer your call ... He knows every heartache, sees every tear, A word from His lips, can calm every fear ... Your sorrows may linger, throughout the night, But suddenly vanish, in dawn's early light ... The Savior is waiting, somewhere above, To give you His grace, and send you His love... Whatever your cross, whatever your pain, "God always sends rainbows .... after the rain ... " To get out of difficulty, one must usually go through it!

BUDGET

Budget ka ba?

Bakeet?

Hindi kasi kita maabot e.

Patience

Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience.”

love

"Love is the irresistible desire to be desired irresistibly."

Happiness

We can travel a long way and do many things, but our deepest happiness is not born from accumulating new experiences. it is born from letting go of what is unnecessary, and knowing ourselves to be always at home. - Sharon Salzberg

About chess

I give 98 percent of my mental energy to Chess. Others give only 2 percent (Bobby Fischer)

Which is better?

Which is better, sex or chess? Depends on the position....It doesn't matter, either way you get mated!

Life

nuffnang_bid = "f94b961dad50f22e5... «Life is relationships; the rest is just details.» — Gary Smalley

U

U may be out of my sight, but not out of my heart. U may be out of my reach, but not out of my mind. I may mean nothing to u, but u’ll always be special to me.

Strategy and Tactics

Strategy requires thought, tactics require observation (Max Euwe)

Something we love

When we love something it is of value to us, and when something is of value to us we spend time with it, time enjoying it and time taking care of it.

Psycology

I don't believe in psychology. I believe in good moves (Bobby Fischer)

Qoute for the day

Chess is life. - Bobby Fischer

Replacement

In some places words have been replaced by symbols which, like amulets from a witch's bag, have the power to consume the living spirit of chess. - Tigran Petrosian

Chess Problems

Chess problems demand from the composer the same virtues that characterize all worthwhile art: originality, invention, consciousness, harmony, complexity, and splendid insincerity. - Vladimir Nabokov

Combinations in Chess

Combinations have always been the most intriguing aspect of Chess. The masters look for them, the public applauds them, the critics praise them. It is because combinations are possible that Chess is more than a lifeless mathematical exercise. They are the poetry of the game; they are to Chess what melody is to music. They represent the triumph of mind over matter (Reuben Fine)

Quote for the day

A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life. Charles Darwin

PETROSIAN RULE

PETROSIAN RULE: Sometimes winning is the only acceptable outcome. In such a situation, should you adopt a wild opening, swinging for the bleachers from the first move? The great Petrosian often counseled the young and talented Russian-Armenian master Karen Gregorian. Once Gregorian returned from an important qualifying tournament and showed Petrosian a last-round game in which the young man played some dubious opening moves as Black and lost. Petrosian cross-examined him: Petrosian: "Why did you play such terrible moves? Even you should understand these are bad." Gregorian: "I had to win to qualify." Petrosian: "Make a note. It's much easier to play for a win from an equal position than from a bad position!"

Chess Qoute

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Pick-up lines

Hangin ka ba? Bakeet? Para kasing dumaan ka lang

Pick-up lines

PRICE ka ba? Bakeet? Mahal na kasi kita.

Pick-up lines

Kanta ka ba? Bakeet? Sarap mo kasing pakingan?

SL

SL

Bakeet?

Hindi ka kasi updated lagi eh.

Cash in vault

Cash In Vault ka ba?

Bakeet?

Ang taas taas mo kasi eh

BUDGET

Budget ka ba?

Bakeet?

Hindi kasi kita maabot e.

Qoute for the day

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
Buddha

Quote for the day

It is the aim of the modern school, not to treat every position
according to one general law, but according to
the principle inherent in the position
(Richard Reti)

Quote for the day

It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth -- and that we have no way of knowing when our own time is up -- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had.

- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Qoute for the day

In some places words have been replaced by symbols which, like amulets from a witch's bag, have the power to consume the living spirit of chess. - Tigran Petrosian

Qoute for the day

The chessboard is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the
Universe, the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature
and the player on the other side is hidden from us
(Thomas Huxley)

Qoute for the day

Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder ...


- Henry David Thoreau

Qoute for the day

Angry bird catches the angry worm.

Qoute of the day

Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem to be more afraid of life than death

qoute for the day

… today many players, especially young ones, think that the older openings are so thoroughly analysed that nothing more can be tried. This is a serious mistake. The methods of positional play become deeper and finer each year. Being well acquainted with them it is possible even in openings which seem to be fully explored to find ways to create a real fight.

“A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.”

Qoute for the day

If a ruler does not understand Chess, how can he rule over a kingdom? - King Khusros II AD 580 - 628

Alculympics - Training with City College Chess Team

Just finished simul training with 7 members of City College Chess Team (5 men and 2 women) where I scored 7/7. This is the first time I did a simul and never been so proud.

Qoute for the day

A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.

Qoute for the day

The process of rating players can be compared to the measurement of the position of a cork bobbing up and down on the surface of agitated water with a yard stick tied to a rope and which is swaying in the wind. - Arpad Elo

Qoute for the day

Life is indeed difficult, partly because of the real difficulties we must overcome in order to survive, and partly because of our own innate desire to always do better, to overcome new challenges, to self-actualize. Happiness is experienced largely in striving towards a goal, not in having attained things, because our nature is always to want to go on to the next endeavor.
Albert Ellis, Michael Abrams, Lidia Dengelegi, The Art & Science of Rational Eating, 1992

Qoute for the day

We should praise, rather, the courage of the player who, relying only on his intuition, plunges into a brilliant combination of which the issue does not appear to him too clear. - Eugene Znosko-Borowski

Qoute for the day

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.

Qoute for the day

In chess the rules are fixed and the outcome is unpredictable, in Putin’s Russia the rules are unpredictable and the outcome is fixed. - Garry Kasparov

Quote for the day

«I love my past. I love my present. I'm not ashamed of what I've had, and I'm not sad because I have it no longer.» — Colette

Chess Quatation for the day

Thank you, darling, for learning to play chess. It is an absolute necessity for any well organized family. - (in a letter to his wife) - Alexander Pushkin

Qoute for the day

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

About Love

"The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration."

Almost but not quite

I thought February 12, 2012 will be the day I will be beaten by xanthe in our chess battle. I employed a rare variation against Pirc Defence (Bf4) which of course she is already familiar with. I took me morethan 30 minutes to decide if I will accept her pawn sacrifice which I did after so much thought on the next moves I will employ. She is improving each day and very resourceful. She told me later on that she showed our game to his coach and requested on what variations will she use against me. I was really surprised but still prevailed in tactical ending.

Quote for the day

I think age is a very high price to pay for maturity.
Tom Stoppard (1937 - )

UCPB - Calapan Branch 34th Anniversary

Today is our branch 34th anniversary. Hope everything planned will run smoothly.

World Wrestling / Modern Orators

Have you seen the matches of World Wrestling lately? My two sons are into it daily waking as early as 5am and watching full time every saturday and sunday. What attracts me while watching is not the banging/slamming/punching etc... but the way they talk to one another. It simply is not an extemporaneous speech (that I learned from high school) from The Rock, John Cena etc... but an Oration.
I think English teachers and professors should encourage their students to watch WWE to see the speeches unleashed by these monsters.
Go WWE.

Happy 20th Anniversary at UCPB

Never imagined that I am with UCPB for 20 years already last February 1, 2012. Hope everthing will be ok with me particularly my health. Can't avoid watching MMA every monday midnight at channel 23 and 47.
Grrr.

Match with the Future Female Chess Master

Just finished a chess match with future chess master Xanthie Guico at their residence. I brought the game in a complicated game to see how she will react. I was pushed to the limit but I think she got dizzy with her success that she made a gross blunder. Of course, I took advantage of it. Looking for the day she will beat me in a game. I can smell it will not be for long but surely she will work for it.

Digeus Registry Cleaner

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