How Crazy was Fischer?

Frank Brady, founding editor of the US Chess Life magazine, has written a new book on Bobby Fischer entitled, "Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness". Here's Laura Miller's review of that book in Salon:

Just how crazy was Bobby Fischer? Those best qualified to judge, such as the psychiatrist friend who kept him company in his final days, insisted he was not schizophrenic or psychotic; he didn't hallucinate or lose touch with reality. However, he clearly wasn't mentally healthy. The intensity of his attention to chess was certainly compulsive, and it unbalanced his life in addition to making him one of the game's greatest players.

But Fischer's celebrity seems to have done him more damage than anything else. It fueled the grandiosity that lies at the heart of all paranoia and it turned him into an imperious diva who inflicted ridiculous demands -- that a hotel raise the level of his toilet seat by exactly 1 inch, for example, or that he be paid outlandish fees just to discuss the possibility of a high-profile match -- apparently for the sake of exercising arbitrary power.

Korchnoi Crushes Caruana

Age has clearly not wearied Viktor Korchnoi. Now 79 years of age, the old legend remains in active combat among today's many young sharks. And occasionally, he teaches them a lesson.

That's exactly what Viktor did to Italy's young super GM Fabiano Caruana in round 2 of the ongoing Gibraltar Chess Festival.

2011 Gibraltar Masters
Caruana, Fabiano
Korchnoi, Viktor
C84

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Re1 Nd7 9. Be3 Nb6 10. Bb3 Kh8 11. Nbd2 f5 12. Bxb6 cxb6 13. Bd5 g5 14. h3 g4 15. hxg4 fxg4 16. Nh2 Bg5 17. Nc4 b5 18. Ne3 Bxe3 19. Rxe3 Qf6 20. Qe1 Ne7 21. f3 Nxd5 22. exd5 Rg8 23. Qg3 gxf3 24. Qxf3 Bf5 25. Rf1 Rg5 26. Kh1 Qh6 27. Rf2 Rag8 28. Re1 Qg6 29. Re3 Bxd3 30. Kg1 e4 31. Qh3 Rxd5 32. Qd7 Rg5 33. g4 Qh6 34. Rf7 R5g7 35. Rxg7 Rxg7 36. Qd8+ Rg8 37. Qb6 Qf6 38. Qxb7 Rf8 39. Qa7 b4 40. Rh3 Qg7 41. Qe3 bxc3 42. bxc3 Qxc3 43. Rh5 d5 44. g5 Qa1+ 45. Kg2 Bf1+ 46. Kg3 Qe5+ 0-1

Going into round 6, Nigel Short leads with 5/5, closely followed Ivanchuk and Daniel Fridman on 4.5 points. Alex Wohl is on three.

Zhao Eyes Zonal Win

Games between Zhao and Smerdon are always full of excitement but today's round 7 dogfight between them in the ongoing Oceania Zonal is probably the sort of game that Smerdon would rather forget very soon. He's probably now regretting 18...b5.

2011 Oceania Zonal
Zhao, Zong Yuan
Smerdon, David C
B29

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nc3 e6 5. Nxd5 exd5 6. d4 Nc6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qxd5 Qb6 9. Bc4 Bxf2+ 10. Ke2 O-O 11. Rf1 Bc5 12. Ng5 Nd4+ 13. Kd1 Ne6 14. Ne4 Be7 15. Bd2 Qxb2 16. Bc3 Qa3 17. Rf3 Nc7 18. Qd4

Position after 18. Qd4

18...b5? Such a terrible move. With a white's bishop and queen lined up like that, it's pretty clear what Zhao is cooking. 19. e6 f6 20. exd7+ bxc4 21. Qxc4+ Kh8 22. Bxf6 Qb4 23. Qxb4 Bxb4 24. d8=Q Rxd8+ 25. Bxd8 Nd5 26. Ba5 Bg4 27. Bxb4 Nxb4 28. c3 Nc6 29. Ke2 Kg8 30. Rb1 Ne5 31. Rb5 Re8 32. Ke3 Bxf3 33. gxf3 h6 34. a4 Kh7 35. Rc5 Re7 36. h4 Kg6 37. a5 a6 38. Rd5 Kf7 39. h5 Re6 40. f4 Ng4+ 41. Kd4 Nf6 42. Nxf6 Kxf6 43. c4 Rc6 44. c5 Ke6 45. Re5+ Kd7 46. f5 Rc8 47. Kd5 Rf8 48. c6+ Kd8 49. Kc5 Kc7 50. Re7+ Kd8 51. Rxg7 Rxf5+ 52. Kb6 Rb5+ 53. Kxa6 Rb1 54. Rb7 Rc1 55. Kb6 Rb1+ 56. Kc5 Ra1 57. Rh7 Rc1+ 58. Kd6 Rd1+ 59. Ke6 Rc1 60. Kd6 Rd1+ 61. Kc5 Rc1+ 62. Kb6 Rb1+ 63. Ka7 Rc1 64. a6 Kc8 65. Rxh6 Kc7 66. Rg6 1-0

And with that Zhao raises his tally to seven points, well clear of the nearest chaser, Bobby Cheng who's on 5.5 points.

By the way, hat tip to the Kiwi organisers of this event. It's a bit confusing that the 'official site' doesn't have results or any links to the results, but the website with actual results is very current and games are up rapidly.

So Back to Winning

First, I must apologise to those of you who submitted comments and who are only seeing those comments now. For some strange reason every reader comment I've received over the last couple of weeks are hitting my spam folder! All sorted now I hope.

Anyway, how about GM Wesley So? After 4 straight draws in the opening rounds of Wijk I was beginning to think that his close proximity to that 2700 mark has made him more cautious, drawish. When you're very near to some milestone like that there's always a tendency to just inch forward bit by careful bit. Evidently, that isn't the case with GM So.

The 4 draws were immediately followed by four straight wins! Of those, this one was my fave.

73rd Tata Steel GMB
Spoelman, W.
So, W.
E44

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Nge2 c5 6. a3 Ba5 7. Rb1 Na6 8. g3 Bb7 9. d5 b5 10. Bg2 bxc4 11. O-O O-O 12. e4 d6 13. Qa4 exd5 14. exd5 Bxc3 15. bxc3 Qc8 16. Nf4 Nc7 17. Bh3 Qb8 18. Qd1 Re8 19. Re1 Rxe1+ 20. Qxe1 Ncxd5 21. Nxd5 Nxd5 22. Rxb7 Qxb7 23. Bg2 Rb8 24. Qd2 Qb1 25. Bxd5 Qd3 26. Qxd3 cxd3 27. Kg2 Rb1 28. Bd2 Rb2 29. Bf4 d2 30. Bf3 d5 31. Be3 d4 32. cxd4 c4 33. d5 c3 34. d6 Rb1 0-1

My old Pinoy mate in Sydney, Leo Arocha, has an unusual way of describing these kinds of tactic-heavy and visually appealing finishes. He'd say, "That's like a movie man." Yeah, like a Lito Lapid flick.

Action on the Rock

If the standards of the Oceania Zonal are not to your taste or maybe you just can't get enough chess, there is also this year's Gibraltar. It's not nearly as packed full of powerhouses as the ongoing Wijk aan Zee, but the long-running open does feature the likes of top seed Ivanchuk, Michael Adams, Nigel Short and Australia's IM Alex Wohl.

2011 Oceania Zonal

I can't believe that it's another zonal. Seems like 2009 was only last week. Except this time, of course, I'm some 8,810kms away. For the 2011 version the zonal is in Rotorua which, according to this account, is a salubrious sort of place albeit perhaps a stinking one.

I have to say, the Oceania zonal might not be a particularly impressive contest by world standards, but the venues are always unbeatable.

As I obviously won't be at this event, you should probably visit Shaun's blog as well as check out the NZCF's official site for some coverage.

Cheatin' Bastards Month

January is apparently cheating allegations month.

The NY Times reports that the French Fed has accused three of their own players - GMs Sébastien Feller, Arnaud Hauchard and IM Cyril Marzolo - of "organised" cheating in last year's Olympiad. I don't know what the penalties are for this sort of thing at this level, but if the accusations are proven true, then these guys ought to be stripped of their titles.

But what punishment to my fellow Pinoys?

Writing in his blog, international master Jimmy Liew of Malaysia lobs one over the fence at the neighbours and practically calls his then Pinoy opposition a bunch of cheating bastards. A bit like Fischer did to the Russians.

In the tournament were a number of Filipino players. From observations I determined that they were playing as a group. Basically they were fixing the games in favour of the one with the best chance of winning the highest prize. One of them was racing with me for the first prize.

If I drew it was a certainty that one of the Filipino would take clear first prize. I considered a safe draw to secure the IM title. But I felt victimized by the Filipino game throwing tactics. It was incredibly frustrating. I had to struggle every round (I played six Filipinos) while they could plan to draw or lose their games.

But least Jimmy could be trusted not to mince his words. Another Malaysian blogger, Raymond Siew, sparked a minor controversy when he suggested that a Malaysian also threw a game in last year's Olympiad provoking a response from IM Liew as well as this post.

Chinese Parenting Make GMs

Listen up chess parents! Dreaming of turning your kids into super grandmasters or maybe just the next Yo-Yo Ma? Law professor and mother of two Amy Chua reckons that she's got the right formula. Bring up your kids the "Chinese Way"!

Be blunt. Be cruel. Be absolutely brutal to your offspring.

Your kid lost a Sicilian Defence despite memorising some 30 moves of theory? Just call them stupid. That'll learn 'em. Not even 50% in the Aussie Juniors? Toss out all their toys and ban all the partying until the next Aussie Juniors. Then sit back and watch the trophies roll in.

Amy Chua in the Wall Street Journal:

The fact is that Chinese parents can do things that would seem unimaginable—even legally actionable—to Westerners. Chinese mothers can say to their daughters, "Hey fatty—lose some weight." By contrast, Western parents have to tiptoe around the issue, talking in terms of "health" and never ever mentioning the f-word, and their kids still end up in therapy for eating disorders and negative self-image. (I also once heard a Western father toast his adult daughter by calling her "beautiful and incredibly competent." She later told me that made her feel like garbage.)

Chinese parents can order their kids to get straight As. Western parents can only ask their kids to try their best. Chinese parents can say, "You're lazy. All your classmates are getting ahead of you." By contrast, Western parents have to struggle with their own conflicted feelings about achievement, and try to persuade themselves that they're not disappointed about how their kids turned out.

You're probably thinking that this woman's a total nutjob. But hey, she's a law professor, at Yale no less. She knows what she's talking about.

Secrets of Chess Masters

Why are chess masters so much better? According to some Japanese brain researchers, it's basically right down to wiring!

Using spot games of shogi, the researchers have now pinpointed for the first time two brain regions involved in specific aspects of such intuition. Activity in the precuneus of the parietal lobe, a brain region responsible for integrating sensory information, was observed when professional players perceived and recognized realistic board patterns. Rapid generation of next-moves, in contrast, was identified with activity in the caudate nucleus of the basal ganglia. Among professional players, the results moreover highlight a strong correlation between these regions during next-move generation, suggesting that the precuneus-caudate circuit in their brains has been honed to this specific task.

Courtesy of a PR release from Japan's Riken Brain Science Institute.

Drawmeister So

The Philippines' GM Wesley So seems to be doing a Kramnik. All his four games so far have ended peacefully. Not that those were not interesting or hard-fought games. In fact, all but one went past the thirtieth move. And even So's second round 26-mover against Sargissian was a likable contest. I was once fond of the Scotch system myself and it's always nice to see it appear at this level from time to time.

73rd Tata Steel, Wijk aan Zee
So, Wesley
Sargissian, Gabriel
C45

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. e5 Qe7 7. Qe2 Nd5 8. c4 Ba6 9. b3 g6 10. f4 d6 11. Qf2 Nf6 12. Be2 dxe5 13. O-O Qc5 14. Be3 Ne4 15. Qf3 Qxe3+ 16. Qxe3 Bc5 17. Qxc5 Nxc5 18. fxe5 O-O 19. Nd2 Rfe8 20. Nf3 Ne6 21. Bd3 Bb7 22. Be4 Nc5 23. Bc2 Ne6 24. Be4 Nc5 25. Bc2 Ne6 26. Be4 1/2-1/2

It's quite interesting to note that So began his Wijk career back in 2009 with another junior, GM Anish Giri. Both played in the C group with So winning on 9.5 points, while Giri was second a point behind. Last year, they both went up to the B group and this time Giri grabbed victory with nine points, while So managed just 7.5.

Thus, we now see Giri in the exalted A group, whereas So remains in the second rank. But, of course, I look forward to the day when this Filipino will take his place among the A-listers.

Speaking of Giri, by the way, it's even more interesting to know, to me at least, that he was at one point a fully a paid up member of the JCA!