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hosted by Chess Queen™ & 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk
Thursday, June 12, 2014
MetroChess Interview: Levon Aronian Chess Career began at Age 10!
Hello chess friends, here's a cool chess interview with World No. 2 Levon Aronian via the US Chess Federation website. The interview is by Kostya Kavutskiy.
As a prelude to the upcoming MetroChess and ACA Summer Chess Camp, headlined by lead instructor Levon Aronian, we interviewed Levon about playing chess in his childhood, as well as his road to becoming a professional chess player. His answers were, as usual, honest and genuine, and provide valuable insight into the life of one of the strongest and most creative chess players today.
1) Can you tell us what it was like to learn chess in your youth? What did you like about the game? Did you have any early ambitions to become #1 in Armenia, or the World Champion?
When I was 4 or 5 years old, my maternal grandpa tried to show me the game of chess, but I was more fascinated by the game of draughts (checkers) back then and I used to terrorize every guest that would visit my family by pestering them to play a game of draughts with me. My chess playing started when my sister re-introduced me to the game when I was about 9, and then it took off from there. My favorite thing in chess was that in comparison with draughts there was a big goal - the king! So from an early age I always went for risky, attacking options. I always had the feeling that I was a very good player from my earliest days. It's hard to say what my ambition or goal was back then, but whenever I got to beat everybody in my chess class, I wanted to play better opponents, and so on.
2) Did you attend any chess camps as a child, or group training sessions, or did you mostly train privately?
I was very lucky to have a great trainer staying at my house. Training with a then-strong IM Melik Khachiyan allowed me to blossom immediately, and I won my first Junior Championship of Armenia after just one year of getting to know the rules of the game. I visited one camp in my life and it was in Podolsk, Russia with the Petrosian Chess School when I was about 11 years old. There I met many of my future opponents, and trained under the guidance of famous chess trainers such as Alexander Nikitin and Aleksander Vaisman, and got to see Garry Kasparov himself who gave lectures for 2 days!
3) At what age did you begin to take chess seriously, and when did you first consider yourself a "professional chess player"?
Since I grew up in a very turbulent time, taking myself seriously was the only way. After the fall of USSR most scientists became jobless, and since my parents were in science, my early success in chess became the light for my family. It might sound strange, but my professional career started at the age of 10, when, with my mother's continuous efforts of knocking on every high ranked official's door, brought me my first sponsorship deal.
4) In 1994 you won the World Youth Championship u12, and in 2002 you became the World Junior Champion - how important were these victories to you? How did you deal with the pressure of the final rounds in those events?
Winning tournaments in my early years was vital for me and my family. Good results enabled me to find new sponsors, and without them I think I would never have become the player that I am. Pressure is always there; but playing in Armenia where everyone is a fighter made me skilled in last round situations.
5) Was there a particular moment in your career when you felt your personal chess "style" was developing?
I want to believe that I am still developing and I welcome new challenges. I do feel that most of the things I love in chess come from 3 people - Melikset Khachiyan, Arshak Petrosian, and Gabriel Sargissian.
6) Is there a particular part or subject of the game you enjoy studying? (openings, middlegames, endgames, tactical combinations, etc)
I really enjoy finding new ideas in the early stages of the game. The biggest joy in the modern chess era is the discovery of good moves that are not approved by the computer.
7) Can you name some of your favorite chess books growing up, or current favorites?
I absolutely adore "Attack with Mikhail Tal", by Mikhail Tal & Iakov Damsky, as well as Petrosian's and Larsen's annotated game collections. I love it when the book consists of light analysis but plenty of words describing the subtle psychological details.
8) In your view what is the main benefit of learning chess during childhood?
Chess can teach a person to appreciate beauty in things that are not visibly beautiful at first sight. In chess you need to dig deep to see the true meaning of some moves. Another thing I learned from chess is patience. Before you react, you need to understand the situation.
9) Is there any advice you can give to young developing chess players?
I think it's important to be good at tactics and calculation. Those skills you can develop by yourself, and for strategy you will need an experienced guide. The best thing that Melik did for me was to force me to solve and play blindfold chess - it helped my calculation and imagination.
The 2014 MetroChess and ACA Summer Chess Camp will take place from July 9-13th, in Glendale, California. Levon will be joined by several other top instructors, including GM Melik Khachiyan, GM Dejan Bojkov, IM Armen Ambartsoumian, IM Andranik Matikozyan, WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, and Jay Stallings. For full details, please visit http://metrochessla.com/camp2014/ . For any inquiries, please email info@metrochessla.com.
Magnus Carlsen: No Childhood Dream of World Chess Champion, Just got Motivated for Top Title Last Year
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
New World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway gives an exclusive interview to ChessTV after winning the championship match against Viswanathan Anand in Chennai, India. Interviewer: Anastasiya Karlovich, FIDE Press Officer Production: ChessTV
World No. 2 Levon Aronian: You need to Sacrifice a Lot to Achieve Success
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
YEREVAN. – “I believe I have to be more combative during competitions and deprive myself of many things. If you want to achieve success, you need to sacrifice a lot.”
Grandmaster Levon Aronian, who plays first board for the three-time World Chess Olympiad champion Armenian national team and who is ranked second in the FIDE ratings, told NEWS.am Sport.
“Now, I understand a lot of things better. I am doing a lot of changes in my chess life. I wanted to do many things. Now, it is time for me to think about big things,” Aronian said, in particular.
To note, Levon Aronian and the rest of the Armenian national team will compete in the World Chess Team Championship, which will be held from November 24 to December 6 in Antalya, Turkey.
The ten teams that will compete in the championship are: Armenia, Russia, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Germany, USA, China, Egypt, Turkey, and Azerbaijan.
Armenia will defend their title, which they had won in 2011 in China.Grandmaster Levon Aronian, who plays first board for the three-time World Chess Olympiad champion Armenian national team and who is ranked second in the FIDE ratings, told the aforesaid to NEWS.am Sport.
“Now, I understand a lot of things better. I am doing a lot of changes in my chess life. I wanted to do many things. Now, it is time for me to think about big things,” Aronian said, in particular.
To note, Levon Aronian and the rest of the Armenian national team will compete in the World Chess Team Championship, which will be held from November 24 to December 6 in Antalya, Turkey.
The ten teams that will compete in the championship are: Armenia, Russia, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Germany, USA, China, Egypt, Turkey, and Azerbaijan.
Armenia will defend their title, which they had won in 2011 in China. (Vera Martirosyan)
Loving Chess, Good Memory Important for High-Level Chess: Anna Muzychuk
12th Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Latest Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
You are representing Slovenian Chess Federation since 2004. Wasn’t it difficult to take such kind of responsibility at the age of 14? As you said I was a girl of 14 and my parents made the decision for me.
How would you describe your game style in your early chess career?It’s a bit difficult for me to distinguish something, but at that time I liked to play more actively and used to attack more often.
In 2008 you won two important Open tournaments. Was that year the best in your chess career?Those were the two first strong tournaments where I won but later I had more impressive performances.
Has anything changed in your world outlook after becoming World Champion under-20? What memories do you keep from that event?Well, I can say nothing has changed after that victory. I am just happy that I managed to become a World Champion.
What would you identify as the most important traits of character besides talent to become a high level chess player? What characteristic features would you like to change in yourself, if any?I think first of all the person must love the game, as during the long years many lose their interest in chess because of hard training process. Also I think that having a good memory is a must. (Dilijan Chess Grand Prix 2013 official website)
US Chess Championship 2013: Cool Interview with Kayden Troff
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
FIDE Master Mike Klein brings this exclusive interview to Chess.com live just before the start of Round 2 of the 2013 U.S. Chess Championship in St Louis! The interview is with rising star IM Kayden Troff about his chess secrets and more. Also watch this TLC Trio cool music video featuring the World Under-14 Chess Champion.
Cool Chess Interview: Magnus Carlsen on Charlie Rose Show
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Emmy award winning journalist Charlie Rose has been praised as “one of America's premier interviewers.” He is the host of Charlie Rose, the nightly PBS program that engages the world's best thinkers, writers, politicians, athletes, entertainers, business leaders, scientists and other newsmakers. He's just interviewed World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen. Click on photo to watch the video at the Charlie Rose show website.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012 Hi everyone,
We found this interesting chess interview with Trinidad & Tobago National Women's Chess Champion Aditi Soondarsingh. The interview was conducted by Naseer Khan. Aditi has some interesting things to say like "No mountain high enough. Live, Love, Learn!" Aditi also said, of all your accolades, prizes and awards the ones she rates extremely special are the five nominations of the First Citizens Sports Foundation sports personality of the year. "I have been nominated on five occasions for chess." An aspiring entrepreneur, Aditi is focusing on her chess career as well. Here is the full interview.
She is the seven-time and current women’s national chess champion, having won her first title at the age of 14. The charming and outgoing 24-year-old Aditi Soondarsingh from Barataria is a force to be reckoned with in the world of chess. She recently outmaneuvered Iraq’s Women International Master (WIM) Iman Al-Rufaye at the World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey, becoming the first T&T female chess player to defeat a WIM in an international tournament.
Nakamura's Chess Chat with Jen Shahade About US Chess Title, Girls, and Kasparov
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
US Chess Champion 2012 Hikaru Nakamura
Minutes after recent win at the US Chess Championship, Hikaru Nakamura spoke to CLO editor Jennifer Shahade at the Saint Louis Chess Club about his victory, the travel lifestyle and the influence of Garry Kasparov.
Nakamura played defending champion Gata Kamsky in the penultimate round. Check out the very nice chess game at Chess King.
Nice Chess Interview for the Weekend - GM Hikaru Nakamura
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
We just found this nice chess article on Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura in OnlyaGame online magazine. Enjoy.
Chess Master Nakamura: Chasing Bobby Fischer
Ask most Americans to name one great chess player, and they will answer “Bobby Fischer.” That’s in part because Fischer was, for a time, No. 1 in the world and in part because he was spectacularly eccentric.
Hikaru Nakamura became a chess master earlier than Bobby Fischer achieved that distinction. Nakamura became a grandmaster at 15, which also beat Fischer’s mark. And now Nakamura is just 10 points shy of the record total of 2785 points Fischer earned by winning matches.
During the U.S. Chess Championship, beginning on Monday in St. Louis, Nakamura could pass Fischer’s record, but he told Bill Littlefield the mark isn’t the top accomplishment in the game.
“It’s certainly a significant mark in the sense that becoming the highest-ranked American chess player in history, once you achieve that, no one can take it away from you. But it’s a different era now, so even though I’m breaking the record, it’s not quite as big of a deal as say, becoming world champion.”
It’s no surprise that Nakamura draws comparisons to Bobby Fischer, and Nakamura doesn’t mind the expectations that come with them.
“I don’t feel pressure. I think for me the main goal that I have, or at least what I really aspire to, is to raise the level of chess. What was great about Fischer is that when he became world champion is that chess was being convered everywhere. It was in all the major newspapers, it was on TV,” Nakamura said. “That’s really what I hope for is that chess can become very popular going forward.”
Chess is Nakamura’s game, but the Vancouver Canucks are his team and their recent, early exit from the NHL playoffs are a source of frustration for the grand master.
“[The Canucks] simply don’t perform at the highest level when [they're] in the playoffs, which is the most important point of the season,” Nakamura said. “For me, it’s much different. To compare it to chess, when I’m in that moment, that situation, during a very big game, I’m just performing my at my absolute best. And it would really be nice if the Canucks could do the same in hockey one of these years.”
World Chess No. 1 Magnus Carlsen on The Colbert Report
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Guess where was chess superstar Magnus Carlsen on April 24? He was on The Colbert Report. The program is a satirical show with a focus on a fictional anchorman character named Stephen Colbert who is a "well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot."
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
There are all these interesting chess interviews that make you feel so happy about chess. Here's one such interview. Our question is - ever played a chess game that took two years to finish? Howzzat? Read on to find out! .
Noble pursuit
A grand master always stays ahead of the game in his strategy, writes LEE MATTHEWS.
A chess grand master can literally see the future. It's not crystal-ball gazing; no fortune-telling hokum. What a chess grand master sees, spread out in the mind's eye, is simultaneous visualisations of what's going to happen on the chess board if this piece moves here, that piece moves there, then another piece shifts somewhere else. It's a different logic chain for every move, every piece on the board.
New Zealand's correspondence chess grand master and across-the-board fide master Mark Noble, who recently moved to Feilding, says the skill for any chess player to learn is to foresee what's going to happen, regardless of what move is made. "It's complicated. At the beginning of every game, the opening move, white has 20 possible moves. Black then has 20 possible replies. So that's 20 times 20 possible combinations just in those first two moves.
"Second move and reply, it's up to 30 possibilities for each colour. Keep that up, and you're suddenly looking at a lot of zeroes, very quickly."
Many possible moves are quickly eliminated, but Noble works 10 or 12 moves in advance in his mind, knowing what will happen if any piece anywhere moves in any order. It's about recognising patterns, having a plan, and being able to rapidly change that plan if something goes against you.
He tries to set up what he calls his "pet lines" – game strategies where his moves drive the other player into a mistake, or into the trap he's setting.
"If you can make the game move along one of those lines, you know the strategy, you know all the tactics for it. You're playing to a logical conclusion. And if your opponent doesn't know what you're doing, they have to make the perfect move every time to evade the trap."
But chess is too complicated, with too many variables, to ensure these pet lines happen every move, every time. There's always potential for surprise, for being out-visualised and out-thought.
Noble's the first correspondence chess grand master in New Zealand history. He won the rank in 2010, after playing chess for 36 years. Murray Chandler was the first Kiwi over-the-board or face-to-face grand master, who won the rank in 1982, playing for England. Both got their start at the Pencarrow Chess Club in Wainuiomata, coached by Brian Foster, who ran Sunday afternoon junior classes.
"I'm 49, Murray's several years older than me. He was already New Zealand champion when I started playing ... he went to England and played over-the-board for England for 30 years, got his grand mastership there. New Zealand's really too small to have enough competition at the top level."
Noble started chess at intermediate school, and the game was useful therapy for what happened next. Aged 13, he was hit by a car and his left leg was severely damaged. He was in hospital for months, underwent a series of operations, and he actually won the Pencarrow club's C-grade competition from his hospital bed. It gave him a taste for correspondence chess – a good sport for a lad who loved lots of sports, but who walked with a limp. Chess also further honed his photographic memory; he can recall pretty much every game of chess he's ever played, move by move.
"It helps if I write the moves down in a chess book; the writing helps me remember it better. But I'm hopeless with names, I could meet you down the street next week and I'll look at you blankly, sorry."
He says computer technology and the internet have revolutionised correspondence chess.
"In the old days, it took years, I think 20 years was the limit for a game. If I was playing somebody in Russia, I'd post my move to him, and it would take six to eight weeks to get there. He'd think about it, post his reply back ... four months to make a move, three moves a year. The longest posted game I ever had was probably nine years ... very drawnout, and expensive in stamps."
Technology has speeded up the exchange of moves, taking out letter travel time. An internet correspondence game now allows 50 days to make 10 moves, which sounds a lot of time, but isn't.
"It takes about 10 hours of thinking, real thinking without distraction, to fully visualise a move. I can get a five-hour bracket between 8pm and 1am, so that's two nights to think through a move."
Even so, it can take two years to finish a game. He's currently playing 130 correspondence games at once. Fourteen of these games are in the current Chess World Cup.
"There's World Cup, and World Championships. I'm playing in the 15th World Cup now, and I've qualified for the 20th World Championships, they're playing the 19th ones now. Both correspondence."
Correspondence chess suits him better than over-the-board. He's a fide (or third-level) master in over-the-board, and he's working to improve that. The problem is the time required for over-the-board competitions. Two weeks to qualify, another two weeks of games at a national competition, then more time overseas battling up the seeding order.
"If you have to work, have a life with children and obligations, it's hard to find that sort of time."
He works part-time for Idea Services (formerly IHC), and he's slowly developing work coaching chess in schools. Feilding Intermediate, led by principal Stu Trembath, last year decided to introduce chess as a brain-training tool. Mr Trembath says his staff report that chess players' thinking and problem solving is noticeably in advance of children who don't play.
"To be a good chess player, you have to be patient, you have to visualise what's going to happen, you need tactics and strategy, you need to prepare for what you're doing. Those are good skills," Noble says.
He'd like to see all 5-year-olds introduced to chess as soon as they start school.
"Teach them how the pieces move, and when they get confident, start playing seriously with them. Take their pieces as they make mistakes. You'll see their thinking develop with every game."
That developed thinking gets applied to everything the chess-trained child does.
"I just think if you get kids going with this, they're going to succeed in other things as well. I'm not looking to turn out 300 champion chess players from a school, I just want to see the thinking happen in all their areas."
He teaches children to control the middle of the board, and the crucial moves in a game are probably moves 12 to 20.
"Think of the middle of the board as a hill, with a war being fought up and and around it. Get to the top of that hill, and you'll win, that's elementary battle tactics."
His study is set up with a computer, with chess books and a board and pieces handy. There's a shelf loaded with championship trophies, and a packet of pineapple lumps to satisfy the snack attack during late-night thinking sessions.
Noble also plays lawn bowls, has joined Palmerston North's Northern Bowling Club, and recently, with Manawatu international Sharon Sims, won the centre title mixed pairs. He says there's many similarities between bowls and chess, similar thinking and tactical play, trying to force the opponent to certain sequences of action.
"The thing about chess is that there's always something to think about. The game's as old as humans, it's gone on forever, and it's never been mastered. The best player in the world still gets beaten when somebody else out-thinks them ... and you only learn from your losses."
Computers as chess opponents are hard to beat, but in certain circumstances the human brain still out-think it.
"Computers don't handle an unbalanced game very well; you get four pawns on one side of the board, for instance. The logic they use can't compute it correctly, somehow. We can. And using computers, well, it defeats the point of using your own brain."
Le Quang Liem explains the tough life of a chess player!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hello everyone,
We have here a nice interview with a talented young chess player - Le Quang Liem. His tough schedule is something all chess players are used to. But if you truly love chess then, every sacrifice is worth it!
A tight schedule that took him from one chess competition to the next, leaving him little time for rest and recovery in between, is the main reason for his two consecutive failures at recent international tournaments, local chess talent Le Quang Liem shared at a press briefing yesterday.
Earlier this month, Liem finished seventh at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival in the UK. Only a week later, he was in Russia to attend the 2012 Aeroflot Open, where he was expected to defend his championships won for two years in a row, 2010 and 2011. However, the Vietnamese chess grandmaster failed to retain the title and make a hat-trick.
“There was little time between the UK and Russia tournaments for me to relax and allow my mind and physical strength to recover,” he said. However, Liem confirmed he is ready for the coming International Chess Tournament HDBank Cup 2012, which will run from March 2–7, attracting nearly 100 players from Vietnam, China, Russia, India, Ukraine, and Gruzia.
After the failures in the last tournaments, Liem’s Elo rating dropped to 2,698 from 2,714, he said. “I will try my best at the HDBank cup to return to the group of chess players with Elo 2,700 and above.” Liem was the top seed in last year’s cup, but only concluded at the fourth place.
Prior to the opening of the HDBank Cup, Liem played multiple games with 20 amateur players who are his fans in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday, none of whom could claim the satisfaction of beating their idol at his own game.
Romance and tragedy of street chess - video chess interview
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hello everyone,
They say there are thousands of chess masters who roamm the planet incognito. Some of them become street chess masters - particularly in America. Here is an interesting chess video interview sent to us by @swakilki via twitter to @chessqueen and @kosteniuk. Yes - the romance and tragedy of being a street chess master. Have a great chess Sunday!
An interview with Murray Turnbull - a chess master who is a local fixture in Harvard Square Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Cool chess interview - Judit on chess, life, and other things
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Ever wondered what goes in the mind of the top-ranked woman chess player? Yes, we talk of Judit Polgar. She just gave an indepth interview to Radio Xadrez which was translated in English by ChessBase. Here are some of Polgar's answers. You can read the full interview at the above links. Enjoy.
Since childhood I loved animals a lot and I was lucky to have the opportunity, during my vacations, to meet all kinds of wild animals as well! One of the nicest memories and experiences I had with nature was when I visited Botswana, in Africa, and went to the Okavango Delta. There I really saw the life of wild animals! Also when I was swimming with the dolphin it was an incredible experience which I can recommend to all! It is really fantastic!
Somehow my days are very busy and I do not find time for serious literature, I read usually when I travel, but mainly magazines and, naturally, chess books and articles.
My main sport was always chess, but from 1986 on I and my sisters also competed in table tennis. I was the 32nd of the national ranking in the under-12 category, in 1988. I really liked it, but I stopped in order to dedicate myself to chess. Nowadays, I even enjoy some other sports.
I follow specific diets from time to time. During tournaments I eat twice a day, many salads and seafood.
From chess point of view I am happier with my game against Anand in Dos Hermanas, 1999. I beat Kasparov "only" in a rapid game. But really, from professional point of view I am happier with my games against Kasparov: the two draws I played against him in Linares, 2001.
Well, my kids know how chess pieces move as they have learned it in the kindergarten, but so far I do not see that they are so interested that they would want to watch high level tournaments, or something of that sort.
I think generally chess is a great game, and an excellent tool to have in schools as well. I am supporting scholastic chess programs and I am a member of the European Chess Federation's committee which is going to make a presentation about chess in schools to the EU Parliament in a few days.
Ask your chess questions to GM Anish Giri on Chess News radio
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The nice Russian chess news website www.chess-news.ru is running another radio show with none other than Grandmaster Anish Giri this time. He has just won the strong Reggio Emilia Chess Tournament that concluded in Italy. You can post your questions here.
Chess interview with Henrik Danielsen- More than chess results, personal development is important for me!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
This interview with Grandmaster Henrik Danielsen caught our eye from the Chennai International Chess Open press material. He has made a very important point: What is important to me is not just chess results. I focus more on personal development!
We would say that's the chess quote for the week! Here are some other answers from the interview.
Q: Please tell briefly about yourselfA: I lived in Denmark, had a normal job and played chess as a hobby. I traveled a lot, played in Germany, Sweden, Faroe Island and Iceland. Because of my good relationship in Iceland I was invited to teach chess in Iceland for an year. I loved Icelandic countryside and decided to stay back there.
Q: And then what happened A: We were doing a great job in Iceland and traveling all over, teaching children. Then a Namibian diplomat caught up with us, and I went to Namibia to teach chess. It was a pilot project, that lasted three years. It was a great experience. I remember meeting a shy weak looking girl, but after working with her I found that she was extremely skillful. She went on to win Namibian championship. It was revelation and I was the trainer, needed to find Namibian players for the Olympiad.
Q: On your visit to India, how it come to place A: I like to visit new places. India I find is full of life, with good and bad. Here, I find a perfect co-ordination amidst chaos.
Q: About your best results A: I have won International Opens, the Politiken Cup in the 1990s, and recently I won the strong Icelandic blitz championship. I won an Open in Copenhagen quite recently, held in celebration for the New Year 2012. In Vizag GM tournament in 2011 I shared the first place with four other players. My results in Chennai Open 2011 and Parsvnath GM tourney at New Delhi last year were quite good.
Q: On your targets A: For me chess and personal development are same thing. I like to follow the rhythm of the position and as a professional I need to keep myself strong mentally. I need to fight on and off the board, all the time – to keep up my life and lifestyle going on.
Q: About Chennai Open A: In India, I found there are a lot young Indian chess players with a low rating, but playing much stronger than their ELOs. Now, I learnt to be on guard with Indian players.
Q: On the world championship match scheduled for May 2012 between Vishy Anand and Boris Gelfand.
A: I have great respect for Boris, he is extremely well chess-educated. His results have improved in the last two years. But I know Vishy Anand is a very gifted player, and I must say when it comes to a match, Vishy appears favorite. I would rather love to see Vishy Anand play Magnus Carlsen which should be a great challenge.
Q: Can name any Indian players who impressed you. A: Parimarjan Negi is a player I had been watching for sometime. He has improved a lot and his calculations are impressive.
Q: We thank you for your time, wish you good luck in Chennai and New Delhi. A: I am very glad to be here. It is a good experience.
GM Maurice Ashley on inspiring African-American generation of young chess players
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hello everyone,
Here is a nice feature and interview on Grandmaster Maurice Ashley. Maurice Ashley, 45, is one of just 1,000 ches grandmasters in the world. He's also the only African-American and he's hoping to use that status to inspire a new, younger generation of African-Americans to take up the sport.
There are some 1,000 chess grandmasters around the world, but just one of them is an African-American.
Maurice Ashley, 45, wasn't even good enough to play on his high school chess team, but he worked hard at it and 11 years ago reached the rank of grandmaster.
There are three African-American chess players looking to join Ashley atop the list of grandmasters. All from New York, they've reached the rank of master, the level before grandmaster, before they even had their 13th birthdays. It took Ashley 14 years to move from master, which he reached at age 20, to grandmaster.
"I remember back in the day, growing up in Brownsville, Brooklyn, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone to play chess against — much less have kids, barely teenagers, being master's of the game," Ashley said. "So it's pretty cool to see these kids who are fierce competitors, and pretty average kids at that. They're not just chess geeks as one might imagine."
Now Ashley, who learned the game when he was growing up in Jamaica, makes chess his life. He travels the world tutoring and inspiring students in the game of chess. Sometimes he'll play an entire room full of students.
He didn't really become serious about chess, he says, until he got to Brooklyn Tech High School, after his family moved to New York City.
"I saw a friend playing the game. I knew the rules — I was a pretty smart kid and game play — so I played him," Ashley said. "He crushed me. I didn't quite understand why that was."
Ashley said he had a destiny moment when he saw a book about chess in the library. He figured if he read it, learned the strategies and then went back to his friend, he'd be able to win.
"He crushed me again," Ashley said. "It turned out he'd read that book and nine other books, and that's when I realized how much knowledge was indeed power."
Ashley said chess players now have to be much more creative and prolific to maintain the status of grandmaster nowadays, because technology has made it easier for chess players to trade information about the latest moves and strategies they've seen.
Ashley said being the only African-American grandmaster is important to him — in that he wants to be a role model to younger generations.
"I had an intense passion, bordering on an obsession, for this game. It completely consumed my life," he said. "I wanted to be great at it."
I don't know if I have a specific chess talent: Magnus Carlsen
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hello everyone,
Here is a nice interview with World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen. It has already found its way all over the Internet and rightfully so considering these are interesting views from one of the most talented grandmasters of the generation. Carlsen spoke to Chess Pro after the Tal Memorial in Moscow.
On his chess development Do you think you have a specific chess talent?
I don’ know. Everyone has a lot of different talents. Probably I’ve got something like that, but I can’t be 100% sure. Do you know yourself what it is? I can only judge in terms of what others say about me. When I was about 12-13 many people said I had a great chess talent, that I’d turn into a great player. At that point I basically wasn’t bothered if I’d become a strong player or not – I simply played and enjoyed it…
In actual fact it’s very difficult to determine who’s more talented and who’s less so. Or who’ll become a genuinely great chess player, and who’ll remain no-one.
I still recall the scene with Alexander Nikitin, Kasparov’s coach, who at one of the first “Aeroflots” stood next to your table and witnessed you crush Dolmatov in 20 moves. He then went around the hall with the scoresheet of that game and breathlessly informed everyone: “This is the game of a genius”…
Yes, I remember that, I was 13 then (laughs). I want to thank Nikitin for the good promotion he did for me then. He’s an authority figure, and I even heard about it when I returned home. Yes, he also predicted a great future for me.
And were you really not embarrassed or disturbed by all the talk of genius?
I’ll say it again: I never considered myself a chess genius, and I never focussed on other people’s evaluations. I also react to them calmly now… Many people say I’m too sober. But back then I’d already wondered what the point was in all this excessive delight – you simply need to do what works well.
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12th Women's World Chess Champion
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