Online Chess Gamer

Blog Update

2009-09-08T13:52:00.000+10:00

Added link to Rare Chess Breed T42 regular season re-playable games.

Kasparov will be the favourite

2009-09-05T12:05:00.003+10:00

Leonard Barden
The Guardian, Saturday 5 September 2009

Like two ageing heavyweights, Garry Kasparov, 46, and Anatoly Karpov, 58, will face up to each other again this month. The 25th anniversary of the first of their five world title matches will be marked in Valencia, Spain, on 21-24 September by a 12-game series (four rapid, eight blitz), and there are suggestions that if this is successful they may repeat the exercise in their other championship venues, which include London. Frankly, if Kasparov came here I would rather see him in a rematch with the rejuvenated Nigel Short.

Though Kasparov is officially retired and Karpov is not, the older grandmaster's disastrous last place recently in San Sebastián and his relative weakness in speed play make him the underdog. Both took part last month in events to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Zurich chess club. Eight world champions (some of them Fide knock-out winners) each took on 25 amateurs. Kasparov scored an unbeaten 23-2, Karpov 20.5-4.5, so this week's game is interesting as a rare indication of how far Kasparov's genius has survived years of relative chess rust while he sought unsuccessfully as a politician to unseat Vladimir Putin.

Here is the full article.

New look Blog

2009-09-03T23:57:00.012+10:00

Ive been spending alot of time recently, too much of my time really , playing around with my blog. This equates to less time playing chess. This is a sad fact of life, once I start on something, its hard for me to stop.

Not being an experienced blogger (only just caught onto the fad, we are a bit behind downunder), Im trying to catch up fast. After numerous trial and error blog layouts, Ive found one that im happy with. Now comes the fine tuning, the hard part. One technical problem after another, but hey Rome wasn't built in a day.

My latest horror story is not being able to get comments displayed on the main page (see picture - suppose to have two comments showing below post) . Comments will only display, when either clicking on recent posts or recent comments. (Doesn't work, going through labels either).

So apologies all if i seem neglectful, any thoughts on this subject would be appreciated.

5 reasons to take up knitting

2009-09-02T06:18:00.018+10:00

van Wely v Stellwagen Round 9 NH Tournament, Amsterdam 2009

Forced mate in five, Black to play and win

(28...Bc3+ -+ 29. Bd2 {forced, other than Qb2} Qg3 30. Bxc3 {forced otherwise Qg1#} e4 31. Qd3 {forced otherwise Qg1#} Rf1+ 32. Kxf1 {forced} Qxf1#).

Stellwagen purportedly saw this combination after playing 28...Qg2, as did van Wely. Blacks wins after 19 further moves.

Kramnik, Ivanchuk #1 again

2009-09-02T04:51:00.008+10:00

Kramnik, Ivanchuk #1 again

Russia's top 10

1 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2772 10 1975
2 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2750 18 1977
3 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2742 24 1983
4 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2741 9 1976
5 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2733 0 1983
6 Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2725 23 1985
7 Malakhov, Vladimir g RUS 2715 10 1980
8 Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2710 0 1979
9 Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2703 0 1974
10 Tomashevsky, Evgeny g RUS 2688 7 1987

Ukraine's top 10
1 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2756 42 1969
2 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2741 9 1983
3 Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2722 13 1990
4 Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2717 13 1983
5 Moiseenko, Alexander g UKR 2694 20 1980
6 Miroshnichenko, Evgenij g UKR 2690 28 1978
7 Volokitin, Andrei g UKR 2681 2 1986
8 Areshchenko, Alexander g UKR 2667 9 1986
9 Efimenko, Zahar g UKR 2654 0 1985
10 Baklan, Vladimir g UKR 2646 18 1978

Source: FIDE September 2009

The Amsterdam Shocker

2009-09-01T04:01:00.001+10:00

The Amsterdam Shocker: "
After closing the gap to 3 points in round 9, the Rising Stars need to score 4-1 today to even up the match. The young guns have White on all 5 boards. Not only they did not score 4-1, they did not even win the match. They were crushed by the score of 3.5 - 1.5! This was a complete shocker!

Here are the final match results:

Monday August 31 Round X
12:00	Nakamura – Svidler	0 - 1
	Hou Yifan – Nielsen	0 - 1
	Stellwagen – Beliavsky	½ - ½
	Smeets – van Wely	½ - ½
	Caruana - Ljubojevic	½ - ½

Final standings

Team

Experience   27½
Rising stars 22½

Experience individual score

Nielsen    6½
Svidler    6
Ljubojevic 5½
Beliavsky  5
Van Wely   4½

Rising Stars individual score

Smeets     6
Caruana    5
Stellwagen 4½
Hou Yifan  3½
Nakamura   3½

Official website: http://nhchess.com/index.html

September 2009 FIDE Rating List

2009-09-01T00:49:00.001+10:00

September 2009 FIDE Rating List: "
We are publishing September 2009 FIDE Rating List. Please go to Ratings Section to check your rating and visit Top Players lists."

Round 9 - NH Tournament Amsterdam

2009-08-31T17:57:00.004+10:00

I watched a pretty incredible game last night between GM van Wely and GM Stellwagen at the NH Tournament in Amsterdam. It was a Kings Indian and black incredibly got into a position where is was a force mate in 5, but missed it. Here it is...

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Excerpt from a team letter

2009-08-30T09:14:00.005+10:00

".....and secondly congratulations to the team for making the playoffs, in our inaugural season. To highlight the success we have had in our first season, we are now top of the statistics in the league, with regards to game points , more than any other team."

It has been an extraordinary season and has far out reached my expectations, with a 15 win 3 loss record to date.

NH chess Experience team - Rising Stars : 22 - 18

2009-08-30T07:12:00.001+10:00

NH chess Experience team - Rising Stars : 22 - 18: "Experience team - Rising Stars : 22 - 18
Round 8
Smeets – Svidler : 0,5 - 0,5
Caruana – Nielsen : 0,5 - 0,5
Nakamura – Beliavsky : 0 - 1
Hou Yifan – van Wely : 0,5 - 0,5
Stellwagen – Ljubojevic : 1 - 0
Standings

One blunder deserves another

2009-08-30T00:19:00.003+10:00

Experience taking on Rising Stars

2009-08-29T07:16:00.003+10:00

Experience taking on Rising Stars: "

Friday August 28 Round VII
13:30	Svidler – Stellwagen	½ - ½
	Nielsen – Smeets	1 - 0
	Beliavsky – Caruana	1 - 0
	van Wely – Nakamura	½ - ½
	Ljubojevic – Hou Yifan	-½ - ½

Official website: http://nhchess.com/index.html

Kasparov vs. Karpov in Lyon 1990

2009-08-28T13:19:00.003+10:00

In September, the two former world champions will be playing a 12 game "ceremonial tournament" in Valencia, Spain. This match is generating much interest as was there last World Championship match in New York and Lyon in 1990. The beginning of this video is of poor quality but does clear up after approximately 5 minutes. The entire video is not of the highest quality, but it is watchable.

< embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" id="VideoPlayback" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-123587302886162278&hl=en&fs=true" style="height: 326px; width: 400px;"type="application/x-shockwave-flash" />

NH chess Experience team - Rising Stars : 16 - 14

2009-08-27T10:52:00.003+10:00

NH chess Experience team - Rising Stars : 16 - 14: "Experience team - Rising Stars : 16 - 14
Round 6
Svidler – Nakamura : 1 - 0
Nielsen – Hou Yifan : 0,5 - 0,5
Beliavsky – Stellwagen 1 - 0
van Wely – Smeets : 0,5 - 0,5
Ljubojevic – Caruana : 0,5 - 0,5

K - K report by Chessdom

2009-08-27T10:44:00.001+10:00

K - K report by Chessdom: "
Kasparov vs Karpov, Valencia 2009
official video presentation

The organizers of the 'Valencia, cuna del ajedrez moderno' chess match between Kasparov and Karpov have presented the official videos of the event. It goes through the history of Valencia, the creation of the Queen as a chess piece, and the importance of the Kasparov - Karpov match 25 years after their last encounter.

From the video we learn one of the most important aspects of the competition, the schedule of the match. On day one there will be a press conference early in the morning followed by a 'Welcome Fiesta' where the audience will have open access to the players for questions and autographs. The day will finish with a simul by Kasparov and Karpov.

The next two days will be played rapid games (25 min time control) and on day 4 the players will compete in blitz games (5 min time control), making the total number of games 12.

On the last day there will be a closing ceremony.

Chessdom.com was the first site in English to bring the Kasparov - Karpov match information after the special press conference. As one of the editors of our site is based in Valencia, expect wide daily coverage and much information from the playing hall.

Enjoy the video and read on to find out more details about the match.

The match online coverage in danger?

In the end of July the Municipity of Valencia organized a press conference to present some of the details of the match. One of the striking details revealed is that the organizers expect more than 10 000 000 internet users daily to log on and follow the match. 'If the estimations are correct, than the match coverage is in danger,' commented Chessdom.com technical director Mr. Anev. 'If we take one of the most popular online sports newspapers in the world, Marca.com, they get 10 times less users daily and the visitors are distributed in a larger time frame. The hardware for supporting such levels is incredibly complicated and expensive, surely not to the reach of chess events at the moment.'

Speaking figuratively, the number 10 million daily online is impossible. However, the organizers are right if they drop the word 'online'. Surely many big newspapers and sports channel will be reporting on score and events from the Kasparov - Karpov match in Valencia, bringing the total number of people aware of the match much above the mentioned level.

Chessdom.com has taken the advice of the technical director and will have just in case a person in the playing hall to transfer the moves in case of official site overload.

A multinational tour by Kasparov and Karpov?

Rita Barbesa, the mayor of Valencia, has revealed important information at the July press conference. Kasparov and Karpov will probably start a world tour of matches, the first one being in Valencia. Barbesa does not reveal more details, but expects this to help chess grow internationally, stabilize positions, and attract more sponsors.

Chess news from Susan Polgar

FIDE Grand Prix 2008/2009 standings – Aronian wins

2009-08-26T22:44:00.002+10:00

FIDE Grand Prix 2008/2009 standings – Aronian wins: "With one tournament still left Levon Aronian is already the winner of the 2008/2009 FIDE Grand Prix. The Armenian GM has collected a total of 500 points from two GP victories and his second place in Jermuk. Since nobody else can catch him – the best three of four tournaments are used – the final Grand Prix, still to be announced, will not change the status of the winner. Rules, points and tables."

Video #1

2009-08-26T02:13:00.004+10:00

My first attempt at making a chess video. Featuring is an ICC Team 45 45 League game played between SeniorCitizen and AtomicDog. Hope you enjoy it.

Jermuk R13: Ivanchuk wins fifth FIDE Grand Prix

2009-08-25T18:14:00.002+10:00

Jermuk R13: Ivanchuk wins fifth FIDE Grand Prix: "Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk won his final game in Jermuk with the black pieces against Vladimir Akopian to take overall victory with 8.5/13 points and a performance of 2830. Lev Aronian and Boris Gelfand won their games to take equal 2nd-3rd. Gelfand beat Peter Leko, who had been leading for most of the tournament, and was relegated to 4-6th place. Express report."

Vladimir Kramnik wins Champions Rapid in Zurich

2009-08-25T18:11:00.002+10:00

Vladimir Kramnik wins Champions Rapid in Zurich: "It was a weekend of the world champions. After playing simuls against 200 opponents, marking the 200th jubilee of the world's oldest chess club, eight champions took part in an all-play-all rapid chess tournament in Zurich, Switzerland. It was won by the 14th World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, with the current World Champion in second place. Report with pictures and videos."

SeniorCitizen looses in the Scheveningen

2009-08-25T01:22:00.002+10:00

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Daily Puzzle

2009-08-24T05:08:00.001+10:00

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Rare Chess Breed win Round 4 with a game in hand

2009-08-24T04:51:00.004+10:00

I had a good idea what Al was going to play, from looking at his previous games, 1.c4, the English Opening. So I prepared for it. Fortunately for me, this was the case. Knowing that a draw was all that was needed to secure a win for the Round, I choose what commonly is called the Kings English, either 1...e5 or transposing after 1...Nf6 2...e5, which I played. I wanted to have some control of the centre, so after 3...d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5, my e pawn was able to provide me with this, be it for a short time. Eventually I was able to equalise and then get slight advantage, with the bishop pair. Al eventually blundering with 22.Qe4, turning my slight advantage decisive. White resigns. Now that we have secured the Round 3-0 its comes to the last remaining game, Ian's game.

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Rubacchus v radiohead 0-1

2009-08-23T02:55:00.006+10:00

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Nicely done Cheerycherry

2009-08-22T11:37:00.008+10:00

Round 4 started with a French Exchange, the game ebbing and flowing, with no sustainable advantage being obtained by either white or black. That is until the queens came off the board. At this point Cheerycherry was able to turn the screws on black, with the knight obtaining a good position for attack. After grabbing a pawn, Cheerycherry was able to keep her advantage to the end, and after it was obvious the b pawn was going to queen, black resigned. An entertaining game and a nice win for Cheerycherry, 1 nil up to the breed.

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2nd 3rd Round Loss

2009-08-18T11:40:00.023+10:00

The game opened as a Semi-Slav with black gaining a slight advantage with an extra pawn but white was compensated with a solid position. Mike's b pawn advance gave away any advantage gained initially. Mike was able to manoeuvred his knight to win whites dark bishop at the expense of a pawn but this was just a piece sac by white, building momentum with the queen and attacking the black king. Black was then induced into a rook blunder and white took full initiative. A few dubious moves later and black had had enough. Commiserations Mike, long live the breed.

Feel free to discuss your game with me, win or loose. I try to view games live, but because of time differences, I may only view a replay. Still feel free to talk.