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Well, I must say that retiring from serious play before Viktor Korchnoi made me a little uneasy. When I first faced "Viktor the Terrible" in a serious game it was back in 1982 in Lucerne; I was 19 and he was 51. Now I'm a retiree and Korchnoi is still out there playing teenagers! Of course overall it will bring back pleasant memories from the great old days. World championship matches, bright lights, great chess and great competition. In our own ways, all four of us have made huge contributions to our sport. But despite the festive occasion and the surplus of gentlemanly gray hair on the stage, I don't expect young Judit will be the only one with fighting spirit at the board. Garry Kasparov talking about the event he is scheduled to play in later this year with Anatoly Karpov, Viktor Kortchnoi and Judit Polgar. |
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News 2) Vinay Bhat makes second GM norm 3) Psychology of the game discussed in Scientific American 4) Frank Anderson 5) Jon Edwards on Chess.FM 6) Kasparov in Wall Street Journal 7) Upcoming Events |
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Room NewsWe are sorry to hear that long-time Mechanics' member Mike Goodall was in a serious car accident on his way to the US Open. We wish him a complete and speedy recovery. 2006 US Chess League Schedule
1. Aug 30th - White vs Dallas Destiny (8:30 ET) The 2006 season of the US Chess League will feature new teams from Tennessee and Seattle. Our nothern neighbors look to have a formidable squad with GM Gregory Serper and IMs Georgy Orlov and Eric Tangborn manning the top boards. The MI team lineup has yet to be finalized. Team Captain John Donaldson needs to do some juggling to be able to field team that average 2400.5 per board and no higher. Curiously there are enough plenty players over 2425 in the Bay Area and below 2325 but almost no active players in between. 2) Vinay Bhat makes second GM normRecent Cal grad Vinay Bhat has been working his way back into form after several years of serious academic responsibilities. Vinay started off his summer tour in San Marino and Andorra then made 7 from 9 in the Pula Open before exploding in the Balaguer Open in Spain held July 17-26. There he scored 7 from 10 making his second GM norm. His only loss in the last round where he was battling for first. Well done Vinay! GM Delchev of Bulgaria was the tournament winner with 8 from 10.
Bhat,V (2409) - Sanuy Moncasi,A [A00] 1.d3 e5 2.a3 Nf6 3.c4 a6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.g3 c6 6.Nf3 d6 7.Bg2 Bg4 8.h3 Bf5 9.d4 exd4 10.Nxd4 Be6 11.Nxe6 fxe6 12.b4 Ba7 13.0-0 0-0 14.e3 Qe7 15.Bb2 Nbd7 16.Qb3 Kh8 17.Rad1 Rf7 18.Ne2 Raf8 19.g4 d5 20.c5 Bb8 21.f4 e5 22.Ng3 exf4 23.Nf5 Qd8 24.exf4 Kg8 25.Qc3 h6 26.Rde1 Re8 27.Rxe8+ Qxe8 28.Re1 Qf8 29.Qd4 Kh7 30.Nh4 Re7 31.Rf1 g6 32.g5 Ne4 33.f5 Be5 34.fxg6+ Kg7 35.gxh6+ Kxh6 36.Qe3+ Ng5 37.Rxf8 1-0
Bhat,V (2409) - Granda Zuniga,J (2634) [E11] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 0-0 5.a3 Be7 6.e4 d5 7.e5 Ne4 8.Bd3 Nxd2 9.Bxd2 dxc4 10.Bxc4 b6 11.Qe2 Bb7 12.0-0 a5 13.Rac1 Ra7 14.Rfd1 Na6 15.Be3 Qa8 16.Ne1 Rd8 17.Qg4 Nb8 18.Bxe6 fxe6 19.Qxe6+ Kf8 20.Rxc7 1-0
Castellanos,R (2479) - Bhat,V (2409) [C18] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.Qg4 0-0 8.Bd3 Nbc6 9.Bg5 Qa5 10.Ne2 Ng6 11.0-0 Qa4 12.f4 c4 13.Bxg6 fxg6 14.Ra2 Bd7 15.h4 Rf5 16.Ng3 Qa5 17.Rf3 Qb6 18.Rf1 Nxe5 19.Qe2 Nf7 20.Raa1 h6 21.Nxf5 exf5 22.Be7 Re8 23.Rfe1 Nd6 24.Qe5 Ne4 25.Rab1 Qc6 26.Rxe4 fxe4 27.Qd6 Kf7 28.Qxc6 Bxc6 29.Bd6 Ke6 30.Be5 Re7 31.Kf2 Ba4 32.Rc1 Kf5 33.Kg3 h5 34.Kf2 Re6 35.Rb1 ½-½
Bhat,V (2409) - Kovchan,A (2498) [D83] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 0-0 6.Rc1 c5 7.dxc5 Be6 8.Nf3 Nc6 9.Ng5 Bg4 10.f3 e5 11.cxd5 exf4 12.dxc6 Qe7 13.fxg4 Qxe3+ 14.Be2 Rad8 15.Qc2 Nxg4 16.Nh3 f3 17.gxf3 Ne5 18.Kf1 Nxf3 19.Bxf3 Qxf3+ 20.Nf2 bxc6 21.h4 Qf4 22.Rd1 Bd4 23.Rh3 Bxc5 24.Nce4 Bd4 25.Rdd3 h5 26.Rdf3 Qe5 27.Rhg3 Qb5+ 28.Kg2 Qxb2 29.Qc4 Kg7 30.a3 Bxf2 31.Rxf2 Qd4 32.Qxc6 Rc8 33.Qf6+ Qxf6 34.Nxf6 Rc4 35.Nxh5+ Kh6 36.Nf4 Rd8 37.Rgf3 Rdd4 38.Kg3 Ra4 39.Rc2 Ra6 40.Rc7 f6 41.Ng2 Rda4 42.Ne3 g5 43.Nf5+ Kg6 44.Rg7+ Kh5 45.Rh7+ Kg6 46.Rg7+ Kh5 47.Rh7+ Kg6 48.Rh6+ Kf7 49.h5 Rxa3 50.Rh7+ Kf8 51.h6 Rxf3+ 52.Kxf3 Ra4 53.Ne7 f5 54.Ng6+ Ke8 55.Re7+ Kd8 56.h7 Ra3+ 1-0
Krivoshey,S (2500) - Bhat,V (2409) [D10] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 Bf5 7.Qb3 Na5 8.Qa4+ Bd7 9.Qc2 Rc8 10.Bd3 e6 11.Nf3 Bb4 12.0-0 h6 13.a3 Be7 14.Ne5 0-0 15.Qe2 Nc6 16.Rac1 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Nh7 18.Bb1 Re8 19.Qd3 Nf8 20.e4 d4 21.Qxd4 Ng6 22.Bg3 Bc5 23.Qd3 Bc6 24.Qe2 Bd4 25.Kh1 Bxe5 26.f4 Bd4 27.e5 Nh4 28.Bxh4 Ra8 ½-½
Bhat,V (2409) - Burmakin,V (2558) [B17] 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Ng5 Ndf6 6.Bc4 Nh6 7.c3 Nd5 8.N1f3 g6 9.h3 Bg7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Re1 Nf5 12.Qe2 a5 13.a4 Qc7 14.Ne4 b6 15.g4 Nd6 16.Nxd6 Qxd6 17.Bxd5 Qxd5 18.c4 Qe6 19.Bg5 Qxe2 20.Rxe2 f6 21.Bf4 Ra7 22.Kg2 h5 23.Kg3 Rd8 24.Rae1 Bf8 25.Bd2 Kf7 26.Bc3 Bd7 27.b3 Rc8 28.Nd2 b5 29.Ne4 bxc4 30.bxc4 Rb8 31.Nc5 Bc8 32.gxh5 gxh5 33.Kh4 Bf5 34.f4 Bh6 35.Rf1 Rg8 36.Ne4 Rb7 37.Nc5 Ra7 38.Rb2 Bf8 39.Rf3 Rg1 40.Rb7 Rxb7 41.Nxb7 Rg2 42.Bxa5 Ra2 43.Nc5 e6 44.Bb6 Bxc5 45.Bxc5 Rxa4 46.Kxh5 Rxc4 47.Rb3 e5 48.Rb7+ Ke8 49.fxe5 fxe5 50.Re7+ Kd8 51.Rxe5 ½-½
Van Riemsdijk,H (2376) - Bhat,V (2409) [C18] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.h4 Nbc6 8.h5 Qa5 9.Bd2 Bd7 10.h6 gxh6 11.Nf3 0-0-0 12.Bd3 c4 13.Be2 Ng8 14.Kf1 f6 15.Qe1 fxe5 16.Nxe5 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Ne7 18.Bxh6 Rhg8 19.a4 Be8 20.Bf3 Bg6 21.Ra2 Be4 22.Rh3 Bxf3 23.Rxf3 Nf5 24.Bf4 Rg4 25.g3 h5 26.Qb1 h4 27.Qb5 Qc7 28.a5 Rdg8 29.Ke2 a6 30.Qb4 Kb8 31.gxh4 Nxh4 32.Rg3 Nf5 33.Rxg4 Rxg4 34.Qf8+ Ka7 35.Kf3 Rg1 36.Rb2 Qxa5 37.Qf7 Qxc3+ 38.Be3+ Qxe3+ 0-1
Bhat,V (2409) - Baklan,V (2621) [E10] 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 c5 4.d5 b5 5.Bg5 exd5 6.cxd5 d6 7.e4 a6 8.Bd3 Be7 9.Bf4 Bg4 10.Nbd2 Nbd7 11.h3 Bh5 12.0-0 0-0 13.Bc2 Nb6 14.g4 Bg6 15.Bg3 Re8 16.Re1 Nfd7 17.Rb1 a5 18.b3 b4 19.Nf1 a4 20.N3d2 axb3 21.axb3 Bh4 22.f4 Bxg3 23.Nxg3 Nxd5 24.f5 Qh4 25.Qf3 Ne5 26.Qf2 Nc3 27.Kg2 Ra2 28.Rbc1 h5 29.fxg6 fxg6 30.Nf3 Qe7 31.Nxe5 Qxe5 32.gxh5 Rf8 33.Qd2 Qd4 34.Qxd4 cxd4 35.Kg1 Rf3 36.Nf1 d3 37.Bd1 Rxh3 38.Re3 Rxe3 39.Nxe3 Re2 40.Nd5 Re1+ 41.Kf2 Rxd1 42.Rxd1 Nxd1+ 43.Ke1 Nc3 44.hxg6 Nxe4 45.Nxb4 Nc5 46.Kd2 Nxb3+ 47.Kxd3 Kf8 48.Kc4 Nc5 49.Kd5 Ke7 50.Nc6+ Kd7 51.Nd4 Na6 52.Nf5 Nc7+ 53.Ke4 Ne6 54.Kd5 Nf4+ 55.Ke4 Nxg6 56.Nxg7 Ne7 57.Nh5 d5+ 58.Ke5 Kc6 59.Nf4 Kc5 ½-½
Mirzoev,A (2523) - Bhat,V (2409) [D61] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c6 4.Qc2 Nd7 5.Bf4 Ngf6 6.e3 Be7 7.Nc3 h6 8.h3 0-0 9.Rd1 a6 10.a3 dxc4 11.Bxc4 b5 12.Ba2 a5 13.Ne5 Qb6 14.Bb1 Rd8 15.Nxd7 Rxd7 16.Ne4 Bb7 17.0-0 Nxe4 18.Qxe4 Kf8 19.Qh7 Bf6 20.a4 b4 21.Rc1 Ke7 22.Rc5 b3 23.Be5 Rd5 24.Bxf6+ Kxf6 25.Rc3 Rad8 26.Be4 R5d7 27.Bf3 Qb4 28.Ra1 c5 29.Bxb7 Qxb7 30.Rxc5 Rd5 31.Rc3 Rg5 32.e4 Rxd4 33.Rf3+ Ke7 34.Qg8 f6 35.Rc1 Rd8 36.Qh7 f5 37.Re3 Kf7 38.g3 Rg6 39.exf5 exf5 40.Rce1 Rdd6 41.Re8 Qd5 42.Qg8+ Kf6 43.Qf8+ Kg5 44.R8e5 Qf3 45.Qe7+ Rdf6 46.Rxa5 h5 47.Qe3+ Qxe3 48.Rxe3 Ra6 49.h4+ Kh6 50.Rxf5 Rg4 51.Rxb3 Raxa4 52.Rb8 Kg6 53.Rbb5 Rab4 54.Rxh5 Rxb2 55.Rxb2 Kxh5 56.Kg2 Kh6 57.Rb6+ Kh7 58.Kh3 Ra4 59.h5 Ra2 60.f4 Ra4 61.Kg4 Ra3 62.Kh4 Rf3 63.Kg4 Ra3 64.f5 Ra5 65.Kg5 Ra4 66.g4 Ra5 67.h6 gxh6+ 68.Rxh6+ Kg7 69.Rb6 Ra7 70.Rb5 Rc7 71.f6+ Kf7 72.Kf5 Ke8 1-0 3) Psychology of the game discussed in Scientific AmericanDave50 contributed the following piece to Mig's ChessNinja ( http://www.chessninja.com/) website. Players interested in the psychology of the game, or in the nature of expertise itself, may want to read the following article, in the current issue of Scientific American: Philip E. Ross, The Expert Mind (Scientific American, August 2006, 64-71). While the subject of the article is expertise and its origins, nearly all the examples are drawn from chess. For those who have not yet seen this article, the arguments in it are as follows. The central thesis of the article is that experts are made, not born, and that the process of developing expertise involves studying at levels just beyond one's current competence. The article cites several cases of players who became strong by studying the game, rather than by innate ability. It argues that practitioners in any field, including chess players, who work solely at one level of competence, are unlikely to advance beyond that level. By comparison, those who study until they reach a level of competence, and then study at the next level, will be able to surpass their competitors and achieve a higher level of expertise. The article caveats this by acknowledging that the strongest players of the past were often more creative, in the sense that they had to develop technique on their own, and in some cases actually invented modern methods. Even so, the article tends to downplay their originality, arguing that even their creativity emerged from rigorous training. This argument is of course controversial, and one could respond that some players of the past single-handedly achieved skills that put them ahead of their time. An interesting aspect of this thesis, which the article does not investigate, is that the human mind and the computer have radically different approaches to chess. The human mind develops long-term memory about positions, and the expert is apt to select only a among a range of higher-quality moves. By comparison, most computer programs still rely more on brute force computation than on qualitative selection. Another point in the article that is worth noting is that expertise in one area does not necessarily translate into another. The article cites several instances of where expertise in fields that involve mathematics or logical reasoning is not correlated with ability in other areas that would make use of the same types of skills. In this sense, expertise in the human mind appears to be highly compartmentalized. This actually dovetails with the evidence that chess players who leave the game often go on to successful careers elsewhere. Their later success is not due to their ability at chess, but rather, their ability to engage in a similar learning process, so as to develop the expertise in their chosen professions. Even though one may disagree with the article in places, or have some reservations about the strength of its statements, this piece makes for an interesting read. 4) Frank AndersonA quick list of IMs to have lived in San Diego would bring up Jeremy Silman ( who grew up there), Cyrus Lakdawala (for twenty odd years the strongest player in town) and Larry D. Evans (more or less retired as a player but still very active as a teacher), but it would not be complete. Add to the list John Watson who lived there for many years before moving back to his native Nebraska and the late Frank Anderson. Anderson, who might be the strongest San Diegan of them all, represented Canada in three Ollympiads, winning individual gold medals on board at Amsterdam 1954 and Munich 1958. A former Canadian champion he moved to San Diego sometime around the late 1960s. He didn't play too much in his his new home but he did influence the young Jeremy Silman who went to Anderson's home on many occasions to look at chess before the latter's passing in 1980. We would be interested in hearing from anyone who had contact with Anderson during his San Diego years. Here is a sharp piece on Anderson that appeared in The Ottawa Journal (Wednesday, August17th, 1955): HERE FOR CHESS TOURNEY Relaxes After Game By Playing Another by Eileen Turcotte of The Journal How do chess champions relax after a tense, brain-buffeting tournament match? Probably by playing another game of chess. That's how 25 year-old Frank Anderson of Toronto, Canada's co-champion with Abe Yanofsky, likes to "cool off" after a hot contest. Many champions do, he told The Journal shortly after arriving in Ottawa to take part in the Canadian Championship Tournament at the Chateau Laurier. It's the same principle that makes a runner keep moving for a while after a hard race. Tournament games are usually limited to five hours at a stretch, with each player allowed 40 moves in two and a half hours. "It's too strenuous to keep at it any longer", the youthful ace-chessman said. But a good fast game with lightning moves will refresh the expert's ultra-active mental reflexes. Mr. Anderson started playing when he was 16, after bouts of rheumatic fever and arthritis kept him confined to his bed for several years. And here's good news for beginners- he's a completely self-taught chess wizard, who learned his masterly game from books. 50 games by mail Shortly afterwards he was playing by air mail with opponents all over the world. "Once I had 50 games going at once", he said. "Every day I'd get two or three moves in the mail, and it would keep me busy for a few hours figuring out my play. Each game lasted from four months to a year that way." Although he kept files for record of every game[sic], he could remember his exact position in each one from memory. "Any tournament player could", he insisted. Play Blindfolded. This fantastic feat of memory was matched recently when he played eight blindfold games simultaneously. It only took him four hours to win all eight unseen games. "But I had a slight headache afterwards", he recalls. When he can see the boards, he has played up to 40 games simultaneously, and is able to do a play-by-play post-mortem by memory on each one afterwards. The slightly-built, bespectacled chess-master is a student in the honors course of mathematics and physics at the University of Toronto in his spare time away from chess. He had planned to be a nuclear physicist, but lately became more interested in the actuarial profession. This Summer he's working for a Toronto insurance company in their actuarial department. He's kept too busy with chess to have many other hobbies, but he enjoys a game of bridge or reading. His lightest literature choice is science fiction. 5) Jon Edwards on Chess.FM
CHESS & BOOKS This Week's Guest: IM (ICCF) JON EDWARDS "Fred Wilson's guest on Tuesday, Aug. 1st, 2006, will be ICCF International Master JON EDWARDS. Jon, who was both the 10th U.S. and 7th North American Invitational Correspondence Chess Champion, has written the superb autobiographical games collection, "The Chess Analyst" (Thinker's Press, 1998. $19.95), and has just completed what promises to be a fascinating and superbly illustrated beginners' book for all entitled "Chess for Visual Learners" (Wiley, Oct., 2006). Jon has also created the terrific entertaining & instructive website http://www.queensac.com , which is loaded with FREE tutorials and much other useful information! Please email good questions for JON EDWARDS about postal chess, chess book collecting (he has a great library!), opening research, chess teaching, etc. to fred@fredwilsonchess.com". Best in chess, Fred Wilson 6) Kasparov in Wall Street JournalGarry Kasparov's piece Oil-and-Gas Empire appeared in the Opinion section of the Monday ( July 31st) Wall Street Journal. Those who queried Kasparov's decision to give up tournament play for the job of reforming Russia might wonder about his chances of success, but can't doubt his committment. In this opinion piece he laments what he sees as Russia's return to its old role as a primary provider of natural resources with top politicos enriching themselves at the expense of the common man. 7) Upcoming Events
Vladimir Pafnutieff - August 5
September 2-4 |