Mystery of Chess Boxing

Forget about modern day chess boxing, these old Chinese guys are the real deal. This one's a real classic from 1979, Mystery of Chess Boxing.

You should be able to find the other parts on Youtube.

Give Anand a Fair Go

I'm getting totally confused with what's happening to the Topalov v Anand match. Is it a go or not?

The opening ceremony is supposed to be today and game 1 on Friday.

Chessbase is reporting that FIDE is considering a postponement (with a "decision to follow"), while some external press report is flatly saying that there will be no delay.

In any case, it strikes me as massively unfair to insist that the match should start on schedule. A 40-hour drive, and all of it could not have been through picturesque surroundings, can be energy-sapping. Anand and his team should have time to relax and settle in.

The right thing to do for these Bulgarians is to quit behaving like spoilt brats and give the Indian bloke a fair go!

The chess world demands a fair contest.

UPDATE: Here's an exclusive photo of the press con that was arrange for TCG and our readers by the good guys over at ChessDom. These guys are well-connected in Bulgaria so I hope that they're coverage will outclass all others. There's more from ChessDom on their album site.

Anand Requests Postponement

Various news websites in India and the ICC are reporting that Vishy Anand's team have requested a postponement to the start of his match with Topalov because the Indian has been stuck in Frankfurt. The ICC's newsletter today has the following entry (not available online):

The power and wrath of Mother Nature came into dramatic clarity recently as Eyjafjallajökull, the glacier-topped Icelandic volcano threw world air travel into turmoil - and it could well have an impact on the upcoming Topalov-Anand World Championship match in Sofia, Bulgaria!

World champion Vishy Anand has been stranded at Frankfurt Airport and has asked FIDE, via the All India Chess Federation, for a 3-day postponement in the match due to start on Friday, April 23rd, citing force majeure conditions stipulated in the playing contract for the match.

However, his request may not be met as things seem to be beginning to clear up, and even UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, has instructed that all of next week's all-important European semifinal matches will have to go ahead as planned, regardless of the travel situation.

FEU Crowned Champions

One of the most important fixtures in the Philippine chess calendar is the UAAP (University Athletic Association of the Philippines) chess competition. It is during these intercollegiate contests that many future stars of RP chess begin to make their name. One name to look out for in the future is the 2009-10 season's MVP, Sheider Nebato.

Nebato played for the champion team, Far Eastern University, amassing 11 points from fourteen games, and bagging the gold medal for board 3. In this game, he is seen on the white side of one of my old favourites - the Saemisch against the KID.

UAAP 2009-10
Nebato, Sheider
Reyes, Ferdinand
E80

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 Nbd7 6. Be3 e5 7. d5 h5 8. Qd2 a59. Bd3 b6 10. Nge2 Nc5 11. Bc2 Bd7 12. b3 Nh7 13. a3 Qe7 14. O-O-O O-O 15. Kb2 f5 16. Nc1 f4 17. Bf2 g5 18. h3 Rf6 19. b4 axb4 20. axb4 Na4+ 21. Bxa4 Bxa4 22. Nb3 Bxb3 23. Kxb3 Qd7 24. Ra1 Rff8 25. Qe2 Nf6 26. Ra2 g4 27. hxg4 hxg4 28. Rha1 Rxa2 29. Rxa2 gxf3 30. gxf3 Qh3 31. Ra7 Rf7 32. Nb5 Ne8 33. Ra8 Kf8 34. c5 bxc5 35. bxc5 Ke7 36. Na7 Rf8 37. Nc6+ Kf6 38. Ra1 Rh8 39. Rg1 Bf8 40. Rg4 dxc5

Position after 40...dxc5

41. Nxe5 Kxe5 42. Rg6 Nf6 43. Qb2+ 1-0

The final placings are as follows:

Champions: Far Easter University
2nd place: University of the East
3rd place: University of Santo Tomas
4th place: De la Salle University
5th place: University of the Philippines
6th place: Adamson University
7th place: National University
8th place: Ateneo de Manila University

My thanks to former RP men's Olympiad team captain Bobby Ang for the information. Bobby, of course, writes a weekly column for BusinessWorld and you can read his extended coverage of the UAAP results online.

Anand - Topalov Playing Hall

Just a little under a week out from the much-hyped contest between Topalov and Anand, ChessDom has published a sneak peek into the battle ground. Here's one of them. Hopefully, TCG can get at least one exclusive photo now and then from these guys throughout the event!

2010 Olympiad Fund Appeal

Look to the right and you'll see a new addition to the blog. It's a banner that links to this year's ACF Olympiad Fund Appeal.

For site owners or bloggers, I have created a handful of banners that you can freely download from my flickr stream and integrate into your web pages. These are all made using the standard Internet Advertising Bureau banner sizes, so there ought to be little problems with design integration. I'm planning to create a skyscraper, too, for sites that prefer that format, but that will take me some time.

For everyone else (of course, I mean my Aussie readers), do make sure that you contribute to this year's Olympiad Fund. I know first hand that it's deeply appreciated by the players. When I was in Dresden in 2008, I spoke to the players and they couldn't believe how much money they got! The money helps aplenty with air fares and other costs.

Two years ago, I think the ACF hit about nineteen grand with a much lower target. This year the goal is higher at $32K. Hopefully, we can take a significant chunk off of that!

Hou Yifan Wins in KL

Sixteen year old grandmaster Hou Yifan prevailed in the KL open with a score of 7.5 points from nine games. She was undefeated throughout the event. Vietnamese grandmaster A.N. Dung and GM Mikheil Mchedlishvili settled for equal second place with 7 points apiece.

IM Aleks Wohl never really recovered from his earlier mishaps and only, in fact, managed to post two further losses later in the tournament. He finished with 50 percent score. Still, IM Wohl did a bit better than the two Kiwis in the event, Vivian and Robert Smith, who scored 3.5 and four points respectively

Super Friends vs Checkmate

The name "Smallville" is quite familiar to chess fans the world over. Not only is it a popular TV series, but it is also the chessclub.com moniker of one grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura. If I'm not mistaken Naka actually took that name from the TV show.

Now it seems that Smallville's producers are making their own homage of sorts to the game. Episode no. 916 has a chess theme.

Chris Carabott wrote a review here:

The opening sequence delivered some great action beats and played on the chess motif that continued to be carried throughout the entirety of "Checkmate." I really enjoyed how every other scene throughout the episode really did feel like a chess piece being played by either side. It gave the story a great pace throughout and the action and story never letup. Smallville could stand to have more of this type of pacing in their episodes.

Singaporean Shines in SIO

FM Daniel Fernandez of Singapore would have to be the standout in the on-going Sydney International Open. Going into today's final round, the 15-year old is on 6 points, the same as four others who are all grandmasters! Just as well really since Daniel has drawn with 2 of them and beaten one GM-aspirant.

Sadly, that victim is Aussie IM George Xie.

2010 Sydney International Open
Xie, George
Fernandez, Daniel
C66

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 d6 5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 Bd7 7. Bxc6 bxc6 8. O-O Be7 9. Re1 O-O 10. h3 Re8 11. Qf3 c5 12. Nf5 Bxf5 13. Qxf5 g6 14. Qf3 Nd7 15. b3 Bf6 16. Bb2 Ne5 17. Qg3 Rb8 18. Nd5 Nf3+ 19. Qxf3 Bxb2 20. Rad1 Bg7 21. Qf4 c4 22. Qc1 c6 23. Nf4 Qa5 24. a4 Qc5 25. Qe3 Qxe3 26. Rxe3 Rb4 27. g3 cxb3 28. Rxb3 Rd4 29. Rxd4 Bxd4 30. Rb4 Rxe4 31. Kf1 Re1+ 32. Kg2 Rd1 33. Kf3 Rd2 34. Ne2 Bb6 35. Rc4 Bc5 36. c3 Kg7 37. Nd4 Kf6 38. g4 Ke5 39. Nxc6+ Kd5 40. Na5 Bb6 41. Rb4 Rxf2+ 42. Kg3 Rc2 43. c4+ Ke6 44. Nb3 Rc3+ 45. Kg2 f5 46. a5 Be3 47. gxf5+ gxf5 48. a6 f4 49. Rb7 h5 50. c5 dxc5 51. Na5 c4 52. Nc6 Ra3 53. Rh7 Kd5 54. Ne7+ Ke4 55. h4 Ra2+ 56. Kh3 Bg1 57. Rxh5 Kf3 0-1

Australia's IM George Xie, who secured his third GM norm last week, will have to wait a litte more to finally bag that GM title, especially when he loses like this.

2010 Sydney International Open
Xie, George
Steadman, Michael
C04

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nc6 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nd7 6. c3 f6 7. exf6 Qxf6 8. Bb5 a6 9. Qa4?? axb5 Oops! Just like that. 10. Qxb5 Not 10. Qxa8 because of 10...Nb6 and the Q is trapped. Kiwi Steadman is no mug and Xie could have just resigned on the spot. But perhaps wanting to avoid an embarassing miniature, he keeps going on a bit anyway. 10... Bd6 11. a4 O-O 12. a5 Ne7 13. h4 e5 14. Qb3 Kh8 15. dxe5 Nxe5 16. O-O Bg4 17. Ng5 h6 18. f4 hxg5 19. hxg5 Qg6 20. Ra4 Bc5+ 21. Rd4 N5c6 22. Nf3 Bxf3 23. gxf3 Qd3 24. Qxb7 Nxd4 25. cxd4 Bxd4+ 0-1

Film: "Chess Fever"

Few nations can equal the Russians in terms of contribution to chess. They gave us the biggest names, important opening systems and innovations as well as other ideas on the playing of chess. They also left us with "Chess Fever".

Chess Fever is a film by director, Vsevolod Pudovkin and released in 1925. It's a comedy about a man who risks losing his bride-to-be because of his devotion to chess. Of course, it's a silent movie, but anyone who reads Russian should particularly enjoy this one.

Jeremy Silman has an old review here from 2004.