Melburnian Bags World Title

Ex-Kiwi Bobby Cheng has just become a world champ. Cheng, who now plays under the Aussie flag, scored 9 points and topped outright the field of 142 players in the U12 section of the World Youth Chess Championships. Among his wins were these two nice ones.

WORLD YOUTH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 U12
Cheng, Bobby
Mousavi, Seyed Khalil
A70

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 d6 4. Nc3 g6 5. e4 Bg7 6. h3 O-O 7. Bd3 e6 8. Nf3 exd5 9. cxd5 b5 10. Bxb5 Nxe4 11. Nxe4 Qa5+ 12. Nfd2 Qxb5 13. Nxd6 Qa6 14. N2c4 Rd8 15. Bf4 Bf8 16. Qe2 Bb7 opting to follow Schandorff - Berg, 0-1, Politiken Cup 2007. 17. Nxb7 Qxb7 18. O-O Here, Schandorff castled long and his king quickly came under pressure. 18...Rxd5 19. Rad1 Rxd1 20. Rxd1 Nc6 21. Qf3 Rd8 22. Rxd8 Nxd8 23. Qxb7 Nxb7 24. Kf1 f6 25. Ke2 Kf7 26. Kd3 Ke6 27. b3 g5 28. Bd2 Be7 29. g4 f5 30. Ne3 fxg4 31. hxg4 Nd6 32. Nc4 Ne8 33. Bc3 Bd8 34. Be5 Kd5 35. Bc3 Ke6 36. Be5 Kd5 37. Bb8 a6 38. Ne3+ Kc6 39. Ke4 Be7 40. Be5 Bd8 41. Kf5 Nd6+ 42. Bxd6 Kxd6 43. Nc4+ Kd5 44. Ne5 Be7 45. Nf7 Kd4 46. Nxg5 h6 47. Nf7 Kc3 48. Ke4 Kb2 49. Kd3 Kxa2 50. Kc2 Bf8 51. f4 Ka3 52. Kc3 Bg7+ 53. Kc4 Kb2 54. Ne5 Kc2 55. Nd7 Kd2 56. f5 Ke3 57. f6 Bh8 58. f7 Bg7 59. Nxc5 Bf8 60. Ne6 Be7 61. g5 hxg5 62. Nxg5 Kd2 63. Ne6 Kc2 64. f8=Q Bxf8 65. Nxf8 Kb2 66. Kb4 a5+ 67. Ka4 1-0

The next is from the eleventh round and how fitting that Cheng should front up against the top seed, the 2344-rated, Suri Vaibhav of India.

WORLD YOUTH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 U12
Vaibhav, Suri
Cheng, Bobby
C05

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ndf3 cxd4 8. cxd4 a5 9. Bd3 a4 10. a3 Nb6 11. Ne2 Na5 12. O-O g6 13. Qc2 Nb3 14. Rb1 Bd7 15. g4 Rc8 16. Nc3 Nc4 17. f5 Nxd4? What is this? This is just bluff I reckon. 18. Nxd4 Bc5

Position after 18...Bc5

19. fxg6? Why not 19. Qf2? 19...Bxd4+ 20. Kh1 hxg6 21. Bxg6 Nxe5 22. Bh5 Bc6 23. Qe2 Bxc3 24. bxc3 d4+ 25. Kg1 Qd5 26. cxd4 Rxh5 27. gxh5 Nd3 0-1

Smerdon Draws in World Cup

Unlike the singularly most useless group of Australian sportsmen, the Wallabies, GM David Smerdon is giving some local chess fans plenty of reason to be jolly. The Canberra resident drew his first game in the ongoing World Cup against Leinier Dominguez. With black no less!

The return match will see Smerdon hold the white pieces, so hopes are high that he can cause an upset. Here's the first round encounter.

World Cup 2009
Dominguez Perez, Leinier
Smerdon, David
B76

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O d5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bd4 Nxc3 13. Qxc3 Bh6+ 14. Be3 Bxe3+ 15. Qxe3 Qb6 16. Qxe7 Be6 17. Bd3 Qe3+ 18. Rd2 Rfe8 (18... c5) 19. Qh4 Bxa2 20. Qf2 Qe5 21. Be4 Rab8 22. Qd4 Qa5 23. Rd3 Qg5+ 24. Rd2 Red8 25. Qc3 Rxd2 26. Qxd2 Qf6 27. c3 Rd8 28. Qe3 Qe5 29. g3 Bb3 30. Re1 Qa5 31. Bb1 Qa1 32. Qe7 Qa5 33. Qe3 Qa1 34. Qe7 Qa5 1/2-1/2

As an added bonus to his fans, GM Smerdon actually has a blog. Head over to www.davidsmerdon.com to follow his adventures!

Play Smarter Opponents

So I'm back from Tokyo. The Qantas pilot lied. He said it'd be a nice 24 degrees celsius today in Sydney. It's actually 41 degrees! Here I am, then, stuck indoors - but not before a quick trip to the video rental store to grab a couple of DVDs. If I'm going to be inside all day, I might as well have some movies.

And it's there that I spot something that I hadn't seen before. Guy Ritchie's 2005 movie, Revolver. The film features chess.



Quote: "Rule one of any game or con: you can only get smarter by playing a smarter opponent." And here, director Guy Ritchie explains how the scene was made.

Chess in Chrome

Last day in Tokyo. Finally after a few days here I've been able to unravel this labyrinth that is Shinjuku station. What a crazy place. Hec, even the locals get lost around here. And, of course, I found myself a sort of temporary "local". It's an English pub! God save the poms.

It's just on 5.26AM as I type. And the first chess-related news I spot is about the much-awaited release of the new Chrome operating system. Check out what it has in store for chess fans.


ZDNet News has some screenshots and other details of the upcoming release.

Magnus is Number One

No one but the Japanese can transform the grand old tradition of the English breakfast into a performance art with all the precision and delicacy of a tea ceremony. For that reason alone, it's worth spending at least a night in Tokyo's Hyatt Regency hotel. Sure you'll drop a few thousand yen, but those carrying Aussie dollars will find it pretty affordable, thanks to the Aussie's rising strength.

Anyway, as I sat down this morning to that impressive brekky experience, I flipped my copy of the IHT to page two and what did I find but chess news. Yes, right on page 2 was news of super GM Magnus Carlsen becoming the world's youngest ever number one chess player. The news came courtesy of Dylan McClain in the NYT (The NYT Co. also owns the IHT).

Off to Tokyo, Japan

It's that time of year again when I ship myself off somewhere. This time I'm heading for that hi-tech metropolis, Tokyo! I'll be there for a week. So that means that there could be some disruption to normal programming over the next 7 days or so. And that's not because I expect problems with internet connectivity (which, in Japan, is ahecofalot more advanced and faster than backward Australia), but because I expect to be quite busy with work.

I'll be back Down Under next Sunday.

Fischer: Brilliant & Idiotic

Writing for the Skeptical Inquirer, Martin Gardner counts chess genius Bobby Fischer among those whom he considers both "extremely intelligent" as well as being "simple minded". Take, for example, Isaac Newton and A. C. Doyle. The former, being a Christian, apparently tried to calculate the exact date of the Second Coming; while the latter, wait for this, believed in fairies!

Martin Gardner:

Aside from chess, Fischer came close to being a moron. I once thought his refusal to play chess on Saturday was because he was Jewish. No, it was because he had become a convert to the Worldwide Church of God, a strange sect founded by former Seventh-day Adventist Herbert W. Armstrong. Like the Adventists, Armstrong believed that Saturday is still the God-appointed Sabbath. In 1972 Bobby gave $61,000 to Armstrong, part of the prize money he had won by defeating Spassky.

More in Bobby Fischer: Genius and Idiot.

Smerdon To Face Super GM

As I mentioned last week, there is a large group of young Aussies headed for Turkey to participate in the World Youth Chess Championships. Canberra's Alana Chibnall has posted some photos on Facebook of a few Aussie team members, while ChessDom has an album with just a handful of images so far. Let's hope that they'll keep adding a few more from here on end.

Also en route to OTB action in the upcoming World Cup, in far away Khanty-Mansiysk, is GM David Smerdon. For such a terribly long trip I hope he'll manage to survive his first round opponent who is none other than Cuban numero uno, super GM Leinier Dominguez.

Someone with probably slightly better chances to move beyond the first round is Pinoy GM Wesley So. He has the advantageous white bits against GM Gadir Guseinov. But fellow Pinoy grandmasters Laylo and Antonio will hold the black pieces against no less than Navara and Kamsky, respectively.

Piss Off Tal

The very strong Tal Memorial tournament is on right now and it is in that light that GM Ian Rogers related a story, an encounter he had with the great man, in his column last Sunday for the Sun Herald. Actually, he first shared this story with me back in Dresden. It amused me then and it amuses me now.

While analysing with his opponent post game, Rogers saw "a bony hand from an old codger" reach for a central pawn with the idea of apparently sacking it. The Australian shooed the hand away, but the hand keeps on reaching, Rogers turns and, whoops(!), it's Tal! Naturally the pawn sac was a "powerful" one.

It makes me wonder how many wonderful stories GM Rogers has in his memories. When is his autobiography coming out?

Setting Up a Breakaway Fed

Talk of a breakaway national chess body that will replace the Australian Chess Federation pop up now and then, mostly these days in local online chess forums. But they are mostly that: talk and more talking. This is because a breakaway is, quite frankly, unrealistic.

For a rival body (to the ACF) to succeed, it would require popular support. Plus, the conditions that make a breakway popular simply do not exist, other than perhaps in the minds of a handful of disgruntled chessers. They know who they are.

Well, if anyone out there wants to set up a new Australian national chess fed, you could take a few tips from the so-called Chess Association of India. The CAI isn't recognised at any level, but they know exactly how to attract attention: lure people with money.

There's more from the Hindustan Times.

Not a Real Chess Champ?

If you missed it, there is still some action happening in my earlier post "Not a Real Geek". Thanks to Dr Kevin Bonham, perhaps we should be asking if Jeremy Reading is actually a real "chess champion".

This from the official website:

"Some people consider chess a sport. You need to be strong mentally – I’ve played for up to 4.5 hours – and to be able to concentrate for that long I would consider it a sport. My chess playing is probably my geekiest attribute. I’m the ACT champion – it’s really annoying not being able to say state champion."

But according to research done by Dr Bonham, there's absolutely no record of this bloke having won the ACT Championships!

To be fair to Mr Reading, who now looks like he's been deep fried in a vat of tanning solution, that claim of him being state champion is probably the work of some PR hack in Channel 7. Reading was ACT Junior champ in 2004 and he also won the ACT Rapid championship 2 years later.

The Filipino Defence

There's a new system doing the rounds of blitz games in Sydney. It's called the "Filipino Defence", so named because its main exponent is, of course, a Pinoy ("Johny from Manila"). The big idea is apparently to win games on time, especially when the position is hopelessly lost.

Anyway, one group of Pinoys who might have made use of this new system is the RP team in the Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam. Spearheaded by GM Antonio, the boys and girls have so far failed to win a single medal in the chess events. Very disappointing, indeed.

Chess as a Stress Reliever

I like this story from the St Louis Today. It's a surprising benefit (to me, anyway) of playing chess:

"When you play chess have to focus your mind on the game and strategies," said Suzanne Corbett, 56. "It gave him a relief and a quiet space."

It also helped her as his caretaker, she said. "Sometimes we feel so helpless on what we can do to make it better, and a simple game like chess is something you can do with an individual without smothering them."

From Chess helps cancer patients de-stress.

Frenchman Wins World Juniors

Congrats to Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Swaminathan Soumya, of India, for winning this year's World Juniors in the boys and girls sections, respectively. It was not a particularly positive showing by the trio of Australians, but I suppose they can finish their South American stint with plenty of good experience.

Final Aussie scores are as follows:

6.0 Guo, Emma (Girls)
4.5 Guo-Yuthok, Sherab (Boys)
3.5 Anton, Sarah (Girls)

Despite her terrible run, Sarah did pull off this win. It's a good, domineering one.

2009 WJun Girls
De Leon, P.
Anton, S.
A88

1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. c4 d6 6. Nc3 O-O 7. O-O Qe8 8. Qc2 c6 9. b3 Na6 10. a3 e5 11. e3 e4 12. Nd2 Nc7 13. Bb2 d5 14. Rfc1 g5 15. Re1 Qg6 16. f4 gxf4 17. gxf4 Ng4 18. h3 Nxe3 19. Rxe3 Bxd4 20. Nd1 Bxe3+ 21. Nxe3 Be6 22. Be5 Rac8 23. b4 a6 24. c5 Kf7 25. Kf2 Rg8 26. Ndf1 Qh5 27. Qc3 Nb5 28. Qd2 d4 29. Bxd4 Nxd4 30. Qxd4 Rcd8 31. Qc3 Rd3 32. Qc2 Rgd8 33. Re1 Qh4+ 34. Ke2 Rg8 35. Rd1 Rxd1 36. Qxd1 Qxf4 37. Qe1 Rxg2+ 38. Nxg2 Qf3+ 39. Kd2 Qxg2+ 40. Qe2 Qxh3 41. Ne3 f4 42. Nc4 e3+ 43. Kc3 Kf6 44. Nd6 Bd5 45. Nxb7 Qf3 46. Qe1 e2+ 47. Kb2 Qb3+ 0-1

Aussies in 2009 World Youths

While the Aussie contingent in the currently ongoing World Juniors in Argentina is somewhat anaemic, the group headed for the upcoming World Youths in Turkey will be a far bigger one. No less than 28 people - that includes parents, players and coaches - will turn up under the Australian flag. Lucky for the Aussie boys and girls is that they'll enjoy the services of 2 grandmasters as well as IM Lane and FM Smirnov, so we can expect a good showing particularlly from the likes of Bobby Cheng and Yi Yuan.

The even will run from 11 November until 23 November. Chessdom has a preview (and I thank the guys for bringing this to my attention).