Top chess news snippets for Tuesday

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,


Here is chess news in brief for a quick scan:

• Chess project awarded: IBM India today felicitated the winners of “The Great Mind Challenge 2010” - a pioneering nation-wide software development and research contest that saw record participation from 1,50,000 students and faculty members from 2,000 Indian colleges, submitting a total of 3000 projects. The runners up were Scriptocoders from Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai for their project Chess Master based on Human Computer Interaction (HCI) which incorporates motion sensing technique in playing the game of chess.

• Kasparov on Africa visit: World chess champion Gary Kasparov is travelling all over South Africa teaching school children and adults about the age-old game of chess. The European chess genius landed in South Africa on Saturday to form a joint venture with Pretoria-based chess educational project Moves for Life (MFL). Kasparov has announced that he wishes to link his Kasparov Chess Foundation to MFL. The 48 year old said he was inspired by the words of President Jacob Zuma last October, when he spoke so “movingly on the many benefits of chess for children”.

Justus Williams, Joshua Colas and James Black Jr.

• Black teenagers excel at chess (via New York Times): “’Masters don’t happen every day, and African-American masters who are 12 never happen,’ said Maurice Ashley, 45, the only African-American to earn the top title of grandmaster. ‘To have three young players do what they have done is something of an amazing curiosity. You normally wouldn’t get something like that in any city of any race.’ The chess federation, the game’s governing body, does not keep records on the ethnicity of its members. But a website called the Chess Drum— which chronicles the achievements of black chess players and is run by Daaim Shabazz, an associate professor of business at Florida A&M University — lists 85 African-American masters. Shabazz said many of them no longer compete regularly.  

• Chess theatre auditions: The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities will hold auditions for the musical, Chess at the Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., December 1 and 2; and in New York City, December 5 - 7, 2011. Chess will be directed by Arvada Center Artistic Producer, Rod A. Lansberry, with musical direction by David Nehls and choreography by Kitty Skillman Hilsabeck. Colorado auditions are December 1 and 2, from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., by appointment only. Call the Arvada Center at 720-898-7200 to schedule a time. Actors must be 18 years & older to audition. Wojcik/Seay Casting will coordinate the New York City auditions, December 5 - 7, 2011.

• Docs remove shaving kit handle, tongue cleaner, chess pieces from patient: Doctors at a private hospital in India have performed a rare surgery on a 45-year-old resident of the city of Panchkula. The man had swallowed a shaving kit handle, steel tongue cleaner and chess pieces. The items were removed from his stomach and intestine with an open surgery.

• Doordarshan Indian TV Network will telecast four exclusive episodes of 30 min duration each of the Bilbao Chess Masters Final on its DD Sports Channel as follows: Produced and directed by Vijay Kumar, the programme has expert comments by renowned chess expert Leontxo Garcia.

1st Episode on 14th November at 22:30 hrs
2nd Episode on 15th November at 22:30 hrs
3rd Episode on 16th November at 22:30 hrs
4th Episode on 17th November at 22:30 hrs
The telecast will be free on air on INSAT 3a Satellite available in parts of Europe, Middle East and South East Asia.

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What chess means to Russia and other things Big Think videos of Anatoly Karpov

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011


Hi everyone,


Here is chess great Anatoly Karpov talking about what chess means to Russia. He was speaking to Big Think. Plus two more videos on some interesting questions.

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From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

Am a champion at being lazy too, says Grandmaster Levon Aronian!

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011


Hello everyone,


Insightful, witty, humorous and clever is this interview with Grandmaster Levon Aronian. We are talking about the super site www.chessintranslation.com showcasing the talented grandmaster's Q&A at Crestbook.


Guess what Aronian's take is on why people play chess? He says, “For pleasure, peace of mind and the moral torture of their neighbour”!


Aronian was responding to reader questions posed in English at Chess in Translation and in Russian at the KasparovChess forum.


KC-Conference with Levon Aronian


The questions, and most of the answers, were written before the Candidates Matches in Kazan, which of course makes it hard not to regret that Levon didn’t emerge as the challenger to Vishy Anand. Nevertheless, he mentions Boris Gelfand as one of his best grandmaster friends, and in the post-Candidates section at the end adds:


I think Boris deserved this win. He’s a man who treats chess with great reverence, and who works a lot… and is very, you might say, patient with it. You know, it’s easy to work when you can see an immediate return, but he’s had difficult periods, and still to believe in yourself and try to keep working despite that… I’m very, very glad for him, that his dedication and love for the game has borne fruit. This success shows that there’s chess longevity in his blood!

Aronian and Gelfand before the Candidates Matches | photo: FIDE

The grandmaster also confesses, "As a talented player I always had a great talent for being lazy as well. If it wasn’t for my family (and particularly my mother) and my friends, who did the majority of the work for me, then it’s unlikely I’d have been able to achieve success."

Go on read the full article at this link. Pretty cool.

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From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

Chess news from a farmer's market!

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011


Hi everybody,


This is surely one of it's kind event in the world. Chess at a farmer's market!

Chessboards are among the many attractions at Santa Rosa's Downtown Market, that features music, food, wine and traditional farmer's market offerings. (CRISTA JEREMIASON/THE PRESS DEMOCRAT)

The Santa Rosa Wednesday Night Market has a long row of chess players at the tables. There are children, vendors, street performers and what not. Unseasonable rain had led organizers to cancel the event for two straight Wednesdays, a highly unusual decision for a market that has shut down only four times in its 23-year history.

On Wednedsday, the market returned along with the sun. People walked among food vendors in flip flops and shorts, squealing children bounced down an inflatable slide and a long row of chess players were back at their tables, trying to capture the king.

“This is fantastic, it’s energetic, lots of smiling,” said Jolie Cook, 35, of Santa Rosa who runs the chess booth.

You can read the full story at this link. We love to hear how everyone is having fun with chess in all the innovative ways there can be. Share your story too with other www.chessblog.com readers.

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From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com