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Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Our Chess Blog Wins Chess Journalists' of America Award 2012
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012 Hi everyone,
We are excited to announce that our Chess Blog www.chessblog.com has just won the CJA Award for 'Best Chess Blog' of 2012! Here is the Chess Journalists' of America awards' announcement link.
The CJA is an American organization of chess journalists created to promote high quality chess journalism, to provide assistance to the working journalist through articles and contacts and to recognize chess journalism at its best through an annual awards program.
The Chess Scene in Movies: All the Different Meanings!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Here's a truly neat chess feature from denofgeek on how chess has been used as a motif to mean so many different things in the movies. In fact, the 'symbolism' of chess has evolved in art, literature and cinema. Chess is both sexy and geeky nowadays - it depends. Read on:
A symbol of cunning, intelligence and death, the movie meanings of chess are as varied as the actors who've played it, Aliya writes...
You may not know much about shorthand typing, but if you’re a movie fan then you’re a trained professional in reading the dots and squiggles of the screen. Writers and directors use our preconceptions from watching thousands of hours of movies in order to make a more satisfying viewing experience. It’s a kind of shorthand, and it gives us a lot of information. Unfortunately, it can also take the place of decent acting, scene-setting and characterisation. But hey, that’s what we get for being so darned clever at this reading film stuff.
The game of chess has a long history, dating back to the sixth century AD, so it was already well-established in our collective psyche by the time movies came along and started to make use of it. Since the silent era, films have used chess as code for a number of character traits. Here’s a list of the classic ones:
I’m smart and I might be an evil robot
Building on its established reputation of being a game for the elite, chess made one of its first movie appearances in an adaptation of a true story involving the global hoodwinking of the aristocracy.
Raymond Bernard’s 1927 silent film, The Chess Player, tells the story of an inventor who creates an automaton that conceals a Polish nobleman. It’s not far from reality – at the end of the eighteenth century a famous automaton called The Turk travelled the world and won a number of chess matches against the rich and famous, including Napoleon and Benjamin Franklin. In fact, The Turk was not an automaton at all, but a machine that could be operated by numerous chess masters. This part of the story didn’t make it into the movie version.
Still, to come up with the idea of making a false chess automaton and then getting nobility all over the world to buy it just goes to prove how clever that inventor was, making him the perfect subject for the first ‘I’m smarter than you’ chess movie. It was good enough to spawn a remake in 1938 with Conrad Veidt as the inventor.
From there, chess was established as easy shorthand for being deeply brainy. If you’re a clever character, you have a chess set in your house somewhere, whether you get to play it or not. For instance, in Cape Fear (1962) Gregory Peck has a chess set in his office. In Dante’s Peak (1997) Pierce Brosnan has a chess set on his coffee table. Basically, if you were a professional doctor, lawyer or volcanologist, you had a chess set.
Perhaps the most interesting offshoot of the brainy chess player trope is its connection with artificial intelligence, and the threat that it is perceived as representing. In Blade Runner (1982) JF Sebastian and Tyrell play a game of chess via videophone. When Sebastian comes up with some killer moves, Tyrell invites him over to his penthouse – unfortunately the moves were provided by the android creation of the Tyrell corporation, Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) who wants answers. Here the creation has out-thought the creator. The moves were based on a real chess game, played between Anderssen and Kieseritzky in an 1851 tournament in London and known as ‘the Immortal game’: Blade Runner is a film with an amazing number of layered meanings throughout.
Yes, computers love to play chess. In WarGames (1983) chess is one of the options available to Matthew Broderick’s character when trying to stop super-computer Joshua from instigating global thermonuclear war. Thank goodness they decided to play noughts and crosses instead. But perhaps the smartest of them all is Hal 9000, who wins against astronaut Dr Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) in Kubrick’s monumental 2001: A Space Odyssey. Hal even points out where Poole is going wrong, being a helpful sort of computer. In fact, Hal cheats during the match. But since Kubrick was a great chess player, we have to assume that Hal’s cheating is not a movie mistake but proof that Hal is so much smarter than Poole that he can smugly declare a win without having to go to the trouble of actually winning, and Poole will accept his judgement. Now that’s clever.
I’m sexy
In 1968, Thomas Crown made chess sexy. It was quite an accomplishment, as traditionally chess was seen as a purely male pursuit. It was objective, and rational, and about the mind, not the body. But suddenly smart and sexy came together for movie women, and Faye Dunaway was able to portray what would have traditionally been a male character – the investigator hot on the trail of the criminal.
Anti-Cheating Chess Measures: Fide Trainer Committee Accepts GM Konstantin Landa's Complete Idea
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The Fide Trainer Committee has accepted GM Konstantin Landa's detailed proposal on anti-cheating measures for chess tournaments and forwarded to FIDE, recommending the Tournament Organizers Committee to support it. Finally, we would be able to save the image of chess from being damaged by cheaters.
GM Konstantin Landa, Elo 2640, is a senior FIDE trainer, and long-time coach of Alexandra Kosteniuk and Arkadi Naiditsch. He has been the captain and the coach of several teams including those playing in the Chess Olympiad. He continues to play top-level chess tournaments, train students and write on chess.
GM Konstantin, while speaking before the Fide panel said: I would like to make some anti-cheating suggestions which could help our chess family to protect the sport. Personally I was forced to take up the anti-cheat suggestions after the events that took place in recent months. The possibility of fraud has long been known but I started facing this problem in the last tournaments where I played.
1. Well-known case with Sebastian Feller in the Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk saw the long chain of people involved in cheating and showed poor efficiency, because "when two know the secret - it is no longer a secret". In the most recent cases the cheater appears to be alone. 2. Case in Baku. You can read in Russian at GM Konstantin Landa's website. 3. Case in German bundesliga with Falko Bindrich. All materials you can find in www.schachbundesliga.de
4. Case with Natsidis in German individual championship 2011
GM Landa rightfully says, "It's the tip of the iceberg only! I have heard also about many other cases from my chess friends around the world. It does damage the image of our game every day. The cheater who was successful even one time will never stop and will share information with his friends. The cheaters use electronic devices during the game in such places that nobody can check them out. It's a virus. We have to stop this epidemic! GM Landa has spoken to a large number of chess professionals at all levels and makes the following recommendations:
Turkish Chess Fed vs GM Suat Atalik: ACP Open Letter To Fide and Chess Community
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Open letter to FIDE and the chess community
The ACP Board recently received a letter from GM Suat Atalik, from Turkey, requesting a reaction concerning his recent case with the Turkish Chess Federation (“TCF”) and the Greek Chess Federation (“GCF”) The Facts Mr. Atalik informed us that his national chess federation, the TCF, has inflicted him a 15-month ban from national and international events following his infringement of applicable Turkish regulations. Reportedly, the reason behind the ban was Mr. Atalik’s denial to ask for permission to play abroad and his refusal to sign an undertaking. The TCF’s decision was supported by the Turkish Judiciary.
Mr. Atalik also reported that, upon request of the TCF based solely on its internal ruling, the GCF contacted tournament organizers in Greece asking them to deny the participation of Mr. Atalik in their events.
ACP’s Understanding of the Case It is the understanding of the ACP Board that this is a very sensitive case that demands the utmost attention by the whole chess community, especially FIDE, as it may become a dangerous precedent. We are already witnessing a vicious attempt at introducing a new rule, that aims at enabling an automatic ban of a player from all FIDE events based on the decision of his national chess federation (the proposal is included into the Agenda of the FIDE Congress in Istanbul).
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012 Hi everyone,
The chess world is abuzz with another episode of alleged cheating at a chess tournament in Croatia. There is an article in the Croatian Times and another in Focus, about a chess player being strip searched on allegations of using embedded chips to cheat in a chess tournament. Though nothing could be proved, the doubts linger among the chess players at the tournament. An international chess tournament in the Croatian city of Zadar witnessed the organisers searching a Bulgarian chess player Borislav Ivanov for implanted chips, writes Croatian Jutarnji List daily. There were 36 competitors at the tournament, including 16 gross-masters, 5 international masters, and 10 FIDE masters. According to the rating, the Bulgaria was supposed to be an easy rival but surprisingly he started winning game after a game. In the first rounds he managed to defeat Croatian masters Bojan Kurajica, Robert Zelcic and Zdenko Kozul.
“After the eighth round we received a signal about Ivanov’s game and after his game with Borko Predoevic, who later on won the tournament, we decided to check on both of them. There were suspicions that Ivanov has some electronic tools to help him and in my capacity of a judge I decided to make a move in line with the FIDE rules,” said Stanislav Maroja, chairperson of the chess union in Zadar District.
Ivanov is 26 years old and he is a programmer. Everyone was looking at him but he did not reveal any evidence of using illegal help; he did not even have headphones, but all his moves were astonishing. “It is not true that we made him strip naked. He himself took off his t-shirt, while we emptied his pockets,” Maroja said. Knowledgeable sources though the Bulgarian was cheating. However, they were wondering why he would take part in a tournament, which costs a couple of thousands of euro, while the cheating equipment, which can be integrated into contact lenses, for instance, costs thousands of euros more.
The suspicions about Ivanov’s cheating were based on the fact that when the organisers stopped the broadcasting of the round before the last one, when Ivanov played vs Predoevic, the Bulgarian lost the game.
The chess players, however, commented that Ivanov did not make any unique moves, neither was it unusual for an ordinary player to beat a gross-master. Croatian gross-master Zlatko Klaric, on the other hand, said that Ivanov was cheating, because he was already accused of this at chess competitions in Bulgaria and Serbia. “Ivanov is chess programmer, who since mid-2011 until now had won only one rating point, while at the Zadar tournament – 60. He made moves like a computer, which was obvious in the game vs Jovanovic,” Klaric remarked.
“Technologies are so developed now that theoretically, since the games were aired live, Ivanov’s friends in the neighbouring room, from Sofia, or even from the Antarctic, could have sent him hints for his moves through chips, which could have been placed under the skin, in the ear, or in the teeth,” Klaric added.
The problem of cheating has become a serious issue in chess. Here are all the previous posts at Chess Blog on episodes of cheating in chess in the recent past.
In November, this year, the Fide Trainer Committee accepted GM Konstantin Landa's complete proposal for anti-cheating measures. GM Konstantin Landa, Elo 2640, is a senior FIDE trainer, and long-time coach of Alexandra Kosteniuk and Arkadi Naiditsch. You can read details of GM Landa's proposal at this Chess Blog link.
Cheating in Chess: Another Player Brings Bad Reputation to Chess
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN writes about (in The New York Times) German Jens Kotainy, a German international master, who was disqualified at the Sparkassen Chess Meeting’s open section before the last round this month after tournament officials questioned how he was using his cellphone. We also witnessed high security at the ongoing World Chess Cup 2013 being played in Tromso, Norway. Unfortunately, it appears, cheating in chess is here to stay and we just need to get more alert to people trying to spoil the sport.
Kotainy had been the top seed at Sparkassen, held in Dortmund, Germany, and had easily won his first seven games, including one against the Grandmaster Eckhard Schmittdiel, before he was disqualified. The tournament’s director, Christian Goldschmidt, said in a note posted online that when he asked to see the cellphone, Kotainy pulled it out of his pocket and said it was turned off, as required by the rules. But Goldschmidt said that while he was holding it, the phone started giving off vibrations that resembled Morse code, writes McClain.
Kotainy has been quoted on several websites as saying that the vibrations were part of an anti-theft application installed by his brother, a computer programmer. Goldschmidt did not believe him, writing that Kotainy had reached into his pocket after every move, writes McClain.
"Goldschmidt had been suspicious of Kotainy because several experts — including Kenneth W. Regan, a computer science professor in Buffalo who is working on a program to detect cheating — found that Kotainy’s moves had matched the choices of a leading computer program almost exactly. Regan said he had found the same pattern in Kotainy’s games during his previous two tournaments.
"Regan, a member of a new anticheating commission at the World Chess Federation, wrote in an e-mail to other panel members that the odds were a billion to one that Kotainy’s moves would match the computer program’s over the three tournaments.
McCLAIN says, "What happens now is unclear. The anticheating commission will hold its first meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, this year, and the question of what is sufficient proof of cheating is on the agenda, as is what is the appropriate punishment. Kotainy could be disciplined by the German Chess Federation, though it has no clear policy on cheating."
McClain's column further discusses one of the games played at the event. The problem is as security at chess tournaments increases, so will players find more ways to cheat and bypass that security. This is developing into a cat-n-mouse game. It is upon chess players to take a pledge not to cheat - no matter what the incentive - and to encourage their friends as well. A boycott of cheaters is necessary as well to save the sublime support of chess.
Chess Blog has, from time to time, written about anti-cheating measures. In November, last year, the Fide Trainers' Committee accepted GM Konstantin Landa's complete proposal for anti-cheating measures. GM Konstantin Landa, Elo 2640, is a senior FIDE trainer, and long-time coach of Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk and Arkadij Naiditsch. You can read details of GM Landa's proposal at this Chess Blog link. Feel free to send us any ideas you have to check cheating in chess.
The China story as represented by Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan
Chess news and chess trivia blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hello Everyone,
We found this very interesting analysis of how the Hou Yifan - the talented Women's World Chess Champion - is a representative of The China Story. Indeed nice reading for the weekend from The New York Times by Nicholas D Kristof.
China Rises, and Checkmates
If there’s a human face on Rising China, it belongs not to some Politburo chief, not to an Internet tycoon, but to a quiet, mild-mannered teenage girl named Hou Yifan.
Ms. Hou (whose name is pronounced Ho Ee-fahn) is an astonishing phenomenon: at 16, she is the new women’s world chess champion, the youngest person, male or female, ever to win a world championship. And she reflects the way China — by investing heavily in education and human capital, particularly in young women — is increasingly having an outsize impact on every aspect of the world.
Napoleon is famously said to have declared, “When China wakes, it will shake the world.” That is becoming true even in spheres that China historically has had little connection with, like chess, basketball, rare earth minerals, cyber warfare, space exploration and nuclear research.
This is a process that Miss Hou exemplifies. Only about 1 percent of Chinese play chess, and China has never been a chess power. But since 1991, China has produced four women’s world chess champions, and Ms. Hou is the one with by far the most promise.
At this point, I have to put my sensitive male ego aside. You see, Ms. Hou gamely agreed to play me after I interviewed her. She had just flown into Beijing after winning the world championship, and she was exhausted — and she shredded me in 21 moves.
Most dispiriting, when I was teetering at the abyss near the end of the game, her coach nudged her and suggested mischievously that we should switch sides. Ms. Hou would inherit my impossible position — and the gleam in her coach’s eye suggested that she would still win.
I protested that I could survive being beaten on the chess board by a schoolgirl. But to be toyed with, like a mouse by a cat — that would be too much. Ms. Hou nodded compassionately and checkmated me a few moves later.
At 14 she became the youngest female grandmaster ever. She’s still so young that it’s unclear just how remarkable she will become.
Women in general haven’t been nearly as good at chess as men, and the world’s top women are mostly ranked well below the top men — but Ms. Hou could be an exception. She is the only female chess player today considered to have a shot at becoming one of the top few players in the world, male or female.
Cynics sometimes suggest that China’s rise as a world power is largely a matter of government manipulation of currency rates and trade rules, and there’s no doubt that there’s plenty of rigging or cheating going on in every sphere. But China has also done an extraordinarily good job of investing in its people and in spreading opportunity across the country. Moreover, perhaps as a legacy of Confucianism, its citizens have shown a passion for education and self-improvement — along with remarkable capacity for discipline and hard work, what the Chinese call “chi ku,” or “eating bitterness.”
Ms. Hou dined on plenty of bitterness in working her way up to champion. She grew up in the boondocks, in a county town in Jiangsu Province, and her parents did not play chess. But they lavished attention on her and spoiled her, as parents of only children (“little emperors”) routinely do in China.
China used to be one of the most sexist societies in the world — with female infanticide, foot binding, and concubinage — but it turned a corner and now is remarkably good at giving opportunities to girls as well as boys. When Ms. Hou’s parents noticed her interest in a chess board at a store, they promptly bought her a chess set — and then hired a chess tutor for her.
Ye Jiangchuan, the chief coach of the national men’s and women’s teams, told me that he played Ms. Hou when she was 9 years old — and was stunned. “I saw that this kid was special,” he told me, and he invited her to move to Beijing to play with the national teams. Three years later she was the youngest girl ever to compete in the world chess championships.
It will be many, many decades before China can challenge the United States as the overall “No. 1” in the world, for we have a huge lead and China still must show that it can transition to a more open and democratic society. But already in discrete areas — its automobile market, carbon emissions and now women’s chess — China is emerging as No. 1 here and there, and that process will continue.
There’s a lesson for us as well. China’s national commitment to education, opportunity and eating bitterness — those are qualities that we in the West might emulate as well. As you know after you’ve been checkmated by Hou Yifan.
FIDE Launches Online Chess Playing Arena with AceGuard Super-Strong Anti-Cheating System
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013 Hi everyone,
Here is some fantastic chess news: FIDE president Kirsan Ilyuzhinov today announced the launch of the beta version of the FIDE online chess playing arena. FIDE's official Internet playing platform has been developed in co-operation with CNC. In October 2013, after the Executive Board meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, the fully operational version of FIDE online arena will be in service and available all over the world.
FIDE president said, "FIDE firmly believes that online chess offers enormous opportunities for millions of chess lovers who are unable to regularly participate in over-the-board events for a variety of reasons: professional and family commitments, problems reaching tournaments and other difficulties, etc. Now FIDE makes the virtual real with an online arena that allows players to compete in top class tournaments with official FIDE ratings. The attractiveness and ease of online chess will also draw millions of new players - in particular the young. FIDE online arena will be an important step in achieving my goal of '1 billion chess players' throughout the world."
Some features of the online arena include: - A highly sophisticated chess anti-cheating system AceGuard. Until now, it has been impossible to award official ratings for online chess because of the difficulty in preventing cheating. Now AceGuard will be an invaluable tool in the fight against cheaters. PremiumChess company has developed this revolutionary technology. - When the full version of FIDE online arena starts in October, every move of every game played by full arena members will be monitored and extensively analyzed by the anti-cheating system and a special team of experts, creating a fair playing venue for all. - While it is not possible to prevent some players from cheating, this constant highly detailed monitoring guarantees that they can be successfully identified and appropriate action taken. Every member's playing history is evaluated with a Fairness Index rating, allowing you to see quickly if an opponent is reliable or not. - In addition, FIDE online arena offers a complete chess experience online: challenge games and tournaments, master challenge matches and simuls, free master lessons and lectures, full statistical analysis, broadcasts of major FIDE events, chat, game files, multi-lingual interface and much more - all from the comfort of your home or anywhere elsewhere you happen to be. - So now you can enjoy all the features that FIDE online arena has to offer and very soon play in official FIDE events night or day, seven days a week.
Click on the screenshot or check out the FIDE online chess playing arena at this link.
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
With its FIDE online ratings and highly advanced anti-cheating protection, FIDE Online Arena has generated great interest from chess players around the world. In the short period the limited test version of the arena has been operational, 2889 members have registered in 10 days, and over 30.000 games have already been played, 8.132 of those in the very popular Sit & Go tournaments.
We would like to invite chess players to visit FIDE online arena and see what's on offer; taking out FIDE online arena guest membership is simple and completely free. Just click here. http://arena.myfide.net
Upgrading to full membership The current version of FIDE online arena is for testing purposes only and has only guest members. Full membership will be available only from October, which is when FIDE online arena becomes fully operational. At that time you will be able to upgrade from guest to full membership if you wish. Full members enjoy many benefits including FIDE online ratings, advanced anti-cheating protection, participation in master simuls and challenges, statistical analysis, free interactive master lessons and training facilites, a games archive, scheduled and Sit & Go tournaments.
Here are the answers to the questions most frequently asked by FIDE Online Arena members.
FAQ's
Will there be official FIDE scheduled tournaments and other events on the arena? Yes, once FIDE online arena bcomes fully operational in October, full members will be able to participate in a a wide variety of official FIDE events.
Are my games saved? From October, all full members' games will be automatically archived in PGN format onto a folder in their computers. The current test version of FIDE online arena has only guest members, for whom the most recent 5 games are available (lobby; details; played events). These games can be replayed immediately or saved as PGN files. Individual games can be saved one by one in PGN format at their conclusion by both guest and full members.
Why do some players have stars and crowns next to their names? The users who have crown symbols and Fairness Index star ratings next to their names are members of national arenas who have access to the FIDE online arena for testing purposes only. They are not members of FIDE online arena. The current test version has only guest members, whose games are not monitored by the anti-cheating system. From October, all full members of FIDE online arena will receive a Fairness index star rating, which shows how many games they have played without breaching FIDE online arena's anti-cheating rules and code of conduct. Guest members of FIDE online will be able to upgrade to full membership from October.
FIDE Online Chess Arena Launched Officially! Get a FIDE rating at Home
Hello chess friends,
Here is an exciting update via FIDE. They have officially launched the Online Chess Arena! Now you can get a chess rating from the comfort of your home.
Here is FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov's message:
It is with great pride that I announce the formal launch of FIDE online arena on April the 4th – a truly historic day for the world of chess.
Thanks to the latest technology, chess players from every federation in the world will now have the opportunity to come together and play in official FIDE events for official FIDE ratings, unimpeded by distance, physical disability, shortage of available time, or any of the other obstacles that make attending official tournaments or match play difficult or impossible for many players.
Moreover, FIDE online arena creates new opportunities that in the past were only a dream, and the arena is certain to bring chess to millions of new players in the years ahead, as well as serving as an invaluable tool for education, broadcasting , chess in schools and many other crucial chess activities. The only limit for what is possible is our imagination.
Since the test version of FIDE online arena started, the project has generated enormous enthusiasm and interest, and we have been extremely grateful for the many messages of support for this initiative that FIDE has received from around the world.
As with other major sports, effective anti-cheating measures are crucial for guaranteeing the integrity of the game with players, the public , the media and sponsors alike. FIDE online arena truly excels in this regard as it is equipped with a highly sophisticated anti-cheating system that monitors all official games. This detailed monitoring is supplemented by a team of anti-cheating specialists and stringent FIDE anti-cheating procedures so that the maximum protection possible is provided.
Each arena member will have official FIDE Online Ratings for rapid, blitz and bullet chess.
Upon registration, a new member with an existing FIDE ID will be assigned initial ratings for rapid, blitz and bullet in accordance with his/her published over-the-board ratings. After every game played, these ratings will be updated, employing the same system used for official FIDE over-the-board ratings. After the establishment of an initial rating, unrated players' ratings shall be processed as per this system.
Upon the decision of the FIDE General Assembly at a date to be announced soon, FIDE over-the-board and online ratings for rapid and blitz will be merged into a single rating for each time control and published on the official FIDE website,
Gens una sumus is FIDE’s guiding principal and for this reason I am particularly excited by the introduction of FIDE online arena. Its unique ability to bring together chess players within and from every nation in the world can only strengthen the strong bonds that we share and that continue to unite us.
I am very pleased to announce that in celebration of FIDE online arena’s official launch all chess players with a FIDE rating and ID number are eligible for one month’s free membership.
ACP President Emil Sutovsky Proposes Special Fund for Veteran Chess Players
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
The ACP president Emil Sutovsky published an open letter in which he addresses FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov with a proposal to establish a special three-year program. Here is the letter:
"Dear Mr. President,
Let me address you on behalf of the ACP Board at a time when the cooperation between FIDE and the ACP is bearing important fruits in the World Championship cycle stability, Anti-Cheating effort and other important fields.
I'd like to address you on a topic which is at the very heart of the long life of a chess player.
Many living chess players, in the course of their career, have had a substantial impact on the chess and cultural life of their countries, and continue to be a powerful source of inspiration for the younger generations worldwide long time after they passed their prime.
True chess legends, who maintained the chess glory and tradition throughout the years, often without a significant financial reward. We all grew up on their games, read the books written by these noble veterans, and - more in general - the chess world owes a lot to these masters who preserved and enriched our unique chess culture.
The rewarding status of chess legend, however, often clashes with the resulting economic position, especially once age takes its toll and the time for retirement comes. Unfortunately, in most cases, the later years are very difficult years for these noble veterans, who often become forgotten by the contemporary world and usually have little or no access to pension funds or other sustenance. In these circumstances even a small help can sometimes make a big change.
Hello chess blog friends, chess is awesome and, when you lose... you really want to quit... for ever and a day! However, you should not be disheartened at all. There is no need to quit chess if you love the game. Here are the only three reasons we feel that deserve a goodbye to chess!!! Read on...
1 - You like to cheat at chess -- This is sacrilege. If you cheat at chess, no matter how many times you escape, one day you will be caught. That will be a worse goodbye from the chess world than if you lost all your games ever played. There is no place for cheaters in the chess fraternity. Your reputation will be tarnished and the chess fraternity will reject you. Cheating in chess is only a very short-time high and won't last. Quit chess now if you cheat... the future won't be good. 2 - You are indisciplined -- One thing chess demands even at the basic amateur level is following rules and being disciplined. Chess is played by a special set of rules that give you an insight into life itself. Greed, anger, rash behavior and any indiscipline is not tolerated in chess as in most other sports. Chess will either teach you to become disciplined, or will reject you. So... decide if you want to continue with chess so that you don't suffer hearbreak later. 3 - Ego has no place in chess -- This is a huge one. You will lose and you will lose badly no matter how strong you become and how high you go in chess. Chess is a great leveler and every game is a new test of your personality and your character. Can you handle that? Even at the amateur level, you will win some and lose some. If your ego cannot handle that, you might as well quit now. There... if that sounds a wee bit negative, just look at the flip side. Chess is full of people who play fair, know how to handle bruised egos bravely, carry on to new conquests, be disciplined and work hard. True? We bet all chess blog readers agree. So, go ahead have fun with chess and keep sending us all your fan mails! From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
Chess and cheating has been a sad episode in the headlines with the French Grandmasters' cheating case. Here is a video on chess and cheating sent to us by a fan - but there's more than cheating in chess in the video.
The stakes of a chess game between two friends become higher after one of them realises that his suspicions of his girlfriend cheating with his chess opponent are true.
French team chess event begins without the cheating accused
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hello everyone,
We found a nice report on the French Teach chess event at www.chessvibes.com. According to them, the French Team Chess Championship begins without Feller, Hauchard and Marzolo - The three French players who were accused of cheating by the French Chess Federation saw their appeal rejected and their penalties increased.
The French Team Championship has started in Mulhouse and there are some strong GMs participating, e.g. David Navara, Pavel Eljanov, Le Quang Liem, Etienne Bacrot, Arkadij Naiditsch, Anish Giri and Loek van Wely.
The Top 12 of the French Team Championship takes place May 26th – June 5th, 2011 in Mulhouse, a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. In a round-robin, the strongest 12 teams fight for the French club title, with Chalons en Champagne defending their title.
After four rounds, four teams have won all their matches: Clichy, Evry Grand Roque, Marseille and host club Mulhouse Philidor. Also four players still have a 100% score: Alexander Riazantsev (one of Alexander Grischuk’s seconds in Kazan), Andrey Sokolov, Almira Skripchenko and Adrien Demuth. Among the players with 3.5/4 are Giri, Navara and Le Quang Liem.
A number of strong grandmasters are participating in Mulhouse. To name a few: Laurent Fressinet, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, Alexei Dreev, David Navara, Pavel Eljanov, Le Quang Liem, Arkadij Naiditsch, Etienne Bacrot, Anish Giri, Loek van Wely and Mikhail Krasenkow. Three French players are notably absent: Sebastien Feller, Arnaud Hauchard and Cyril Marzolo.
These three names dominated the news in the French and international chess scene in February and March of this year, in an ongoing story about cheating during the Olympiad last year.
Marzolo was sentenced to a 5-year suspension from play. Feller received a 3-year ban followed by 2 years of community service with the federation or another association. If he refused, the 2 years would be added to the suspension period. Hauchard was condemned to a lifetime ban from the duties of captain. Immediately after the verdict Feller’s lawyer, Charles Morel, announced that he would address the Appeals Committee; the lawyers of the other two players joined him.
You can refresh your memory about the French chess cheating scandal via our www.chessblog.com reports from this link.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
The French Chess Federation has put up the following letter on its website regarding the cheating scandal involving top French players at the Olympiad last year. Previous www.chessblog.com posts on the cheating scandal are as follows:
Décision du Juge des Référés La FFE a engagé, le 22 décembre 2010, une action disciplinaire à l'encontre de MM Sébastien FELLER, Arnaud HAUCHARD et Cyril MARZOLO, pour des faits de « triche organisée » pendant les Olympiades d'Echecs, qui se sont déroulées du 21 septembre au 3 octobre dernier à Khanty‐Mansyik (Russie). Cette plainte a été déclarée recevable par la Commission d'Appel et d'Ethique fédérale (CADE), qui a désigné un instructeur ; le dossier est désormais entre les mains de la Commission de Discipline de la FFE. Parallèlement, lors de l'audience du 24 février 2011, le Juge des Référés de Nanterre a examiné la demande de la FFE visant à obtenir « la désignation d'un huissier » pour « transcrire les messages entrants et sortants » depuis la ligne téléphonique de M. Cyril Marzolo vers les lignes téléphoniques de MM Sébastien Feller et Arnaud Hauchard, pendant la période des Olympiades de Khanty‐ Mansyik. Cette demande de la FFE était motivée par le fait que « Mme Joanna Pomian, vice‐présidente de la fédération, [s'était] rendue compte que cette ligne téléphonique, dont elle avait laissé l'usage à M Marzolo, était utilisée par ce dernier pour communiquer par mini‐messages avec M Hauchard qui (…) apportait ainsi une assistance illicite à M Feller, lequel participait à la compétition ». Il s'agissait pour la fédération, dans le plus strict respect de la législation et de la jurisprudence régissant le secret des correspondances, d'obtenir des pièces complémentaires à verser au dossier qui sera présenté à la Commission de Discipline de la FFE. Le Juge des Référés a considéré: - d'une part, que « bien qu'il ne soit pas lui‐même le souscripteur de la ligne téléphonique [en question], M Marzolo bénéficie du droit au secret des correspondances échangées par l'intermédiaire de cette ligne, dès lors que son usage permanent lui a été conféré par le titulaire de cette ligne, Mme Pomian », - d'autre part qu'« aucune disposition légale ne [lui] conférait le pouvoir de lever ce secret », dans la mesure où il ne peut y être porté atteinte « qu'en matière pénale ou de sécurité ». - enfin, le magistrat a jugé qu'« il serait inéquitable que MM Marzolo, Hauchard et Feller (…) supportent l'intégralité de leurs frais de procédure », et a condamné la FFE à leur en rembourser une partie. Ainsi qu'elle l'avait annoncé par un communiqué le 27 janvier dernier, la FFE se réserve donc le droit de saisir le juge pénal, qui pourra lever le secret des correspondances. Quoiqu'il en soit et compte tenu de la décision du Juge des Référés, la FFE, qui prend acte du refus catégorique des défendeurs de voir ces pièces remises à un huissier de justice, renonce à solliciter leur communication, qui n'auraient, en toute hypothèse, qu'ajouté aux différents éléments à charge du dossier disciplinaire. En tout état de cause, l'ordonnance du Juge des Référés s'est uniquement prononcée sur la possibilité d'obtenir communication du contenu des sms échangés, sans s'intéresser au fond du litige. C'est en effet à la seule Commission de Discipline qu'il appartiendra de se prononcer sur la réalité des faits de triche allégués, lors de son audience du samedi 19 mars 2011 à 10h30, à Paris. La FFE tient également à souligner qu'elle avait l'obligation absolue de diligenter cette procédure, afin : - d'une part, de dégager toute éventuelle responsabilité de Mme Pomian en tant que titulaire de la ligne téléphonique incriminée, - d'autre part, de respecter, conformément aux engagements pris devant les autorités de tutelle, les valeurs du sport et de l'éthique, qui sont au fondement même de son existence. Le Bureau Fédéral de la FFE Source: French Chess Federation
Translation
« ORGANIZED CHEATING » CASE
Decision of Judge in Chambers On December 22, 2010, the FFE initiated disciplinary action against Mr. Sébastien FELLER, Arnaud HAUCHARD, and Cyril MARZOLO, for acts of “organized cheating” during the Chess Olympiads, which took place from September 21st to October 3rd, 2010, at Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia). The complaint was declared admissible by the Federal Commission of Appeal and Ethics (CADE), which has appointed an instructor. The case is now in the hands of the Disciplinary Committee of the FFE. In the meantime, during the hearing on February 24, 2011, the Judge in Chambers in Nanterre considered the request of the FFE to obtain "the appointment of a bailiff" to "transcribe incoming and outgoing messages" from the telephone line Mr Cyril Marzolo to the telephone lines of Mr. Sébastien Feller and Arnaud Hauchard, during the Olympics of Khanty-Mansiysk. This request by the FFE came about after “Mrs. Joanna Pomian, vice-president of the federation, noticed that the phone which she had lent to Mr. Marzolo, had been used by him to send mini-messages to Mr. Hauchard who (…) thus procured illicit assistance to Mr. Feller, who partook in the competition.” The federation’s aim, in strict compliance with the legislation and case law governing the confidentiality of correspondence, was to obtain further documentation for the files to be submitted to the Disciplinary Committee of the FFE. The judge hearing determined: - Firstly, that "although he is not the personal subscriber of the telephone line [in question], M Marzolo has the right to secrecy of correspondence exchanged through this line, since its permanent was granted by the line’s owner, Mrs. Pomian. " - Furthermore that "no legal provision gave him the power to waive the confidentiality”, since it could be done “only in a criminal case or one of security." - Finally, the magistrate ruled that "it would be unfair for Mr Marzolo, Hauchard and Feller (...) to bear the full cost of the procedure", and ordered the FFE reimburse them part of the fees. As it had announced in a press release on January 27, the FFE therefore reserves the right to take the case to a criminal court, where the secrecy of correspondence could be lifted. Nevertheless , and given the decision of the Judge, the FFE, which notes the absolute refusal by the defendants to have these documents handed to a bailiff, will not seek their communication, which in any case would merely have added to the different elements regarding the disciplinary case. In any event, the Judge’s ruling only concerned the availability of the contents of the SMS exchanged, without addressing the case’s merits. It is entirely up to the Disciplinary Committee to rule on the reality of the alleged acts of cheating, at its hearing on Saturday, March 19, 2011, at 10:30 AM, at Paris. The FFE also wishes to emphasize that it had an absolute obligation to expedite this procedure in order to: * Clear Mrs. Pomian of any eventual responsibility as owner of the incriminated phone line,
* Secondly , to respect, in accordance with commitments made ??to regulators, the sporting values ??and ethics that are the foundation of its existence. Federal Bureau of FFE
But here are the latest updates from www.chessvibes.com in English. You can also keep track of updates at the Europe-Echecs website in French. The video first then the contents.
Laurent Fressinet and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave were interviewed on video by Europe-Echecs.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave says he learned about the affair shortly before Tata Wijk aan Zee when the federation informed him there would be an open letter about the investigation so that he would be prepared and not have to face some kind of news “bombshell”. Laurent Fressinet says he was surprised and even shocked that their team could be under suspicion.
Both say they didn’t suspect anything during the Olympiad or noticed anything out of the ordinary.
Arnaud Hauchard was going to be mentioned in the open letter about the investigation and he is also the trainer and second of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. He didn’t accompany Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to Wijk aan Zee.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave: I talked to Arnaud Hauchard and my sponsor and we decided that under the current circumstances and at least until the investigation has finished it would be impossible that Arnaud Hauchard could accompany me to a tournament.
Have other players (in Wijk aan Zee) talked to you about the affair? Laurent Fressinet: (in short) Yes, they wanted to know what really happened. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave: (in short) Yes, amongst others Anand & Carlsen. We try to cope as best as possible. Laurent Fressinet: (paraphrasing) Considering the gravity of the situation and the accusations we understand all the concerns and that it takes time and have published our open letter to explain our position.
A statement from GM Arnaud Hauchard appeared on the Europe-Echecs website
The declaration of the Human rights says that each person is innocent till proven guilty.
The European Human rights convention, says itself, in its 6th article, 2nd paragraph that “each individual accused of an offense is presumed innocent till his culpability is legally pronounced”.
Finally the article 9-1 of the Civil Code from the law number 2511 of June the 15th 2000, stipulates that everyone has a right to the respect of the presumption of innocence.
It is then forbidden to hold somebody publicly, before any conviction, as guilty of acts, under investigation or procedure.
To attribute to somebody an offense hurt social values which the presumption of innocence intends to protect.
One of these values is the right for each individual to dignity and respect, the other one is the authority and the serenity of justice. It seems obvious that the Federation didn’t take into account these articles publishing my name on its official site before the end of the investigation.
I’m waiting for the disciplinary hearing in order to say more about this case and I deny the facts attributed to me on the site. Arnaud Hauchard, International Grand Master You can read more here.
Super interview with world chess champion Viswanathan Anand
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hello everyone,
We've got this great interview and video of the world chess champion Viswanathan Anand.from www.chessvibes.com. It's the first part. But great treat for the weekend! Interview with the World Champion – Anand on becoming a
father, Kazan and more (part 1 of 2)
After he won his semi-rapid match against Alexei Shirov in León, we managed to get Vishy Anand before the ChessVibes camera once again. The World Champion was cooperative enough to agree to an interview after his dinner with the organizers and sponsors. And so on Sunday night, about an hour after midnight (!), we had a nice talk about becoming a father, about the Candidates matches in Kazan, about cheating in chess, and much more.Video & transcript.
Anand on becoming a father, Kazan and more (part 1 of 2) All right, well… just after you won your match with Alexei Shirov here in León: congratulations…
Thank you.
…but I guess, on behalf of the ChessVibes fans also I guess we should congratulate you with your new-born son!
Thank you very much!
His name is Akhil, I think?
Akhil.
Tell us what is was like… I think it happened not long after you returned home from Monaco.
Yeah, it was basically on the 9th of April and… well, what can I say. To those who had children, they know what I’m talking about and probably for the others it’s very difficult to put into words. It’s just a wonderful feeling. You have this little bundle and… it’s great. And of course for a couple of months he wakes up whenever he wants, he eats whenever he wants, so your patterns are completely disturbed. I must say that Aruna is probably taking the brunt of it, rather than me, but still I was able to spent some quiet time at home. It’s very difficult to put into words; I think it’s just a spectacular experience.
About the name; Leontxo [Garcia] wrote that it has different meanings in Tamil but that you prefer the meaning of ‘ruler’ or ‘king’, is that right?
Yeah, I mean, to be honest we just liked the name, and we went with it. It’s not like we really chose it for its meaning. But if you like, it means ‘flawless’, it can also mean a kind of ruler, sure.
OK, very nice. And how are Aruna and the baby doing now?
They’re doing fine. Well, it’s a little bit shy of two months, and… it’s wonderful. I got several weeks, just before I came here, I was there since his birth. Very special moments. But even now he’s at the stage where every week he’s growing so fast that I’m sure I missed a lot now in these couple of weeks and when I get back already it will be a little bit strange. He will have grown fast. But I think that the first few months I don’t have to play very much; I will only be playing in Sao Paulo and Bilbao. So til that I get to spend a lot of time with him.
So actually after this you’ll be returning quickly.
Yeah, I’ll go to Prague for a couple of days and then I’m going to India right away and then I’ll be there again for a while.
Yes… because although you still have houses in Spain and Germany you moved back to Chennai about a year ago.
Yes, basically. I mean, it was never that cut and dried that I moved completely here or there, because of course most of the time is really on the road. But now it’s a principal base; we’re still coming to Europe quite often. Aruna much less; she hasn’t travelled since we went back after Sofia. So after Sofia we went for a short vacation to Sri Lanka and besides that she’s been there and I’ve been travelling to a couple of tournaments last year. It’s nice, but we’re also getting used to it and there’s so much family there, which is of course a big help. The grandparents are coming over every day… it’s a good time to be there also.
You probably want to spend more time with your family like this; could this mean that you have to size down your calendar, that you have to play less tournaments?
No, not really. I mean, India is not that far away in terms of time difference; it’s only three and a half hours. Because Chennai is a bit south, the flights are a bit longer. But essentially all this means is I can play as much as I want; I just have to arrive one day earlier for jet-lag, or maybe two days maximum, so it’s not a big deal at all. Having said that, already with the World Championship and certain other things you end up playing… well, you have to think about your calendar a lot, because every two years the World Championship comes and the year before that some of it goes in training and so on. But I don’t think travel is such a big handicap; it’s only three and a half hours time difference, so it’s not like you’re switching from night to day or something.
Your opponent here in Léon, Alexei Shirov, said that to have a child is beneficial in life and maybe even also for chess. What do you think about this remark?
I think it can really go every which way. I would say that… it really doesn’t matter. Some things in life you must do. Of course if it brings you joy it will help all other this as well, something like that. And of course I enjoyed playing with Akhil and all the fun in April and May. So when you have positive feelings I will spill over into your chess.
You travelled to Spain a few days before the match and spent some time with Peter Heine [Nielsen, Anand's second - CV] for preparation. This means you took the match pretty seriously?
Of course. Alexei is a dangerous opponent if things go wrong. In Lublin for instance he played quite well; recently he’s been playing… more than well, I would even say: his old creative self. So it’s not just that he won that tournament. I thought it was important to do a good job. Also, I came to Spain a few days earlier first of all for jetlag but also to get some work done without this temptation to go out and have a look at him, and so on. So a few day, but not many, many days, I mean, really Peter and me maybe got two days working.
You mentioned Shirov, he’s of course a very dangerous and creative opponent. It’s interesting that you chose the Caro-Kann as your weapon. How did your reach this decision?
A little bit random. I examined several openings; I thought I should do something that I hadn’t done in a while, to catch him a little bit off guard. Also, I didn’t know the effect of this time control, because… it’s sort of in between rapid and classical. It’s of course much closer to rapid, because a classical game is much longer. A classical game is five hours upwards, whereas this is let’s say a maximum of two hours. But nonetheless I thought I had to familiarize myself with a couple of openings so that I know what to do. And this time control gives you the sensation of being in a rapid game, but suddenly you get a bit of extra time. You get fifteen minutes and thirty seconds extra. So it’s two rapid games in one. I think it’s a reasonable control, I don’t think we played well or badly as a result of the time, I think it’s just a reasonable time control and… yeah, the Caro-Kann worked extremely well, so that helped.
You can read the rest of the interview at this link. Enjoy.
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12th Women's World Chess Champion
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