Montblanc Supports Dubai Chess and Culture Club

Montblanc supports talented players at Dubai chess & culture club

Luxury goods manufacturer Montblanc, recognized worldwide for its classic timepieces, jewelry, leather goods and writing instruments is the main sponsor of the 8th Edition of the Dubai International Junior Chess Championship 2009 which commenced yesterday and will run till August 5th.


A total of 135 players from 15 countries will be participating in the tournament. The total prize is US $ 10,000 (AED 36,000).

Mr. Joe Nahhas, Brand Director Middle East of Montblanc, said “Is the beginning of our long term association with the Dubai Chess & Culture club. Montblanc usually sponsors cultural events, music and the arts so this is a natural fit for us.”

“Montblanc is therefore proud to support the Dubai Chess and Culture Club in this important event. Moreover, we have recently renewed our commitment and support to Unicef and their worldwide activities to support children’s education and fight illiteracy.”

“He added, “We are particularly pleased and proud to be part of this junior’s event to celebrate the achievement of young people from all over the world who have had access to a good education and have achieved success in the game of chess.”

Mr. Nahhas added that Montblanc commitment to UNICEF’s child education programme centres around the sales of a new line of Montblanc products called Signature for Good, with proceeds from all these sales going towards the cause. Montblanc has pledged a minimum commitment of 1.5 million US Dollars (AED 5.5 million) worldwide.”

“I thank the Patron of the Juniors Chess Championship, His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the Dubai Chess and Culture Club for giving us the opportunity to participate.”

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Jamal Al Abdouly, Assistant General Secretary of the Dubai Chess and Culture Club, said that the tournament started in 2002, and it gathers the best junior players under the age of 8, 10, 12 and 14 years old. “The tournament has good international fame and this year it will run till August 5th.

Al Abdouly said the Junior Chess committee has made arrangements to receive participants from Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, the Philippines, India, Syria, Turkmenistan including the world champion under 8 years, the Kazakhstani Dinara Sadokasofaosaheb, and some Arab champions such as the Arab champion under 14 years, Ward Tarboush, Syria, and Amenat Noaman as well as UAE champions in 8-14 years category Badragani Youlvi, the No. 1 player (2358) in the tournament. Azerbaijan is the Master of the International Chess Federation in the 14 years age group, while Sagi Gover of India is second (2310) and Antonio Fiani of India is third (2107).

The first place winner will receive US$ 2,000 in addition to the Sheikh Maktoum Trophy. Winners from second to 10th place will also receive cash prizes as well as special prizes given to local players to encourage them to achieve good results in this leading chess event.

Mr. Mahdi Abd Al Raheem of the UAE will serve as head of the international referees and he will be assisted by Mohammed Abd Allah from Somalia and Gamal Al Manea from Yemen. Both are international referees. Also assisting will be Saeed Yusuf, Sheikha Ali Rashid and Mariam Mohammed.

The tournament will follow guidelines of the Swiss formula of nine rounds, with a game of 90 minutes for every player with every player given 30 seconds from the first shift (Fischer style). Players will gather in the morning of July 28 to draw lots to determine their first opponents.


© 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

PNG Chess Invitational: India

Express News Service
Tags : sports, chess



The first PNG International Rating Chess Tournament, organised by the Pune District Chess Association and Global Mind Sports Foundation, will commence from August 1 at the Deccan Gymkhana Sports Club here.



This is a major tournament designed only for the players of Pune district, who will vie for the most prize money ever for a district level chess tournament, a press note said.



It will be a platform for the experienced players to increase their ratings while it will provide the youngsters with ample opportunities to test their talent against rated as well as titled players. With many international masters and top-rated players, who have expressed their desire to participate, the response that PNG has got is enthusiatic, the note said.



Inspite of having many national/international tournaments in mind, the Global Mind Sports Foundation wants to start from the base as it has its sights set on strengthening chess, right from the grass root level, it added.

Chess News From Nepal

Nepal's domination continues in chess

REPUBLICA

KATHMANDU, July 29: Nepali players continued with their good run in the Nepal-Assam (Lions Kamarupa Academy) Friendly Chess Tournament in the third day on Wednesday as the hosts accumulated 13.5 points out of 16 points from the fourth and fifth round match held at the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Ward 23 office, Lagan.

Chandra Prakash Gurung, Roshan Paudel and Bijay Dangol won both rounds of the match. Chandra Prakash defeated Siddhanta Khemka and Ruchit Chauhan in the fourth and fifth round respectively. Similarly, Roshan beat Subham Jain and Siddhanta while Bijay ousted Mohit Jain and Prabhav Kumar Agrawal.

The day remained a mixed bag for five-year-old Vividh Pratap Singh as the former beat Jyotimoi Goswami in the fourth round match and shared point with Mohit. Sanjay Awal, Jaines Thapa also won their fourth round match, while Saroj Dhakal, Nagendra Chapagain, Manoj Maharjan and Sushil Chaudhary were the other players to add one point each in the fifth round. Devarshi Goswami and Avinav Patwari of Assam won their fourth round matches.

After the end of fifth round match, Nepal has added 32 out of 64 points, while Assam accumulated eight points.



Chess club formed

KATHMANDU, July 29: In a bid to make chess a more professional game in Nepal, the Himalayan Chess Club has been formed in Kumaripati, Lalitpur, under the leadership of Ram Thapa of Makwanpur.

Hirakaji Maharjan is the vice president of the club while Biren Shrestha and Gyanendra Khaiju are the secretary and the treasures respectively. Prem Krishna Maharjan, Bijay J Shresta, Manoj Ghimire, Chirikaji Awale, Bikash Kuluju, Sarjana Duwal and Yagyaraj Panta are the members of the clubs, while Rajesh Hari Joshi is the patron.

The club has decided to hold a national chess tournament between August-September with permission from Nepal Chess Association

Get News From Chessbase directly to your Computer Desktop

Here is a useful tool. If you would like to subscribe to chessbase or any other chess sites, let me know. I will post them here for you to make it more convenient.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/chessbase/LKjt

Ugandan Team Chess Results

Kings beat Rooks to extend lead in chess
Tuesday, 28th July, 2009
E-mail article E-mail article
Top Division Standings
1. Mulago Kings 27 pts
2. Kireka 15.5
3. Mulago Knights 15
4. Makerere 14
5. Mulago Rooks 10.5
6. Aviation 12.5
7. UCU 17
8. Mengo 8.5

By Phillip Corry

LEADERS Mulago Kings Chess Club further extended their lead at the top of the national league with yet another 5-0 thumping of Mulago Rooks on Sunday.

They have now stretched their lead to 11.5 points to their nearest challengers Kireka Chess Club. Kings� Harold Wanyama, Kenneth Kakooza and Grace Nsubuga beat Rooks� David Muwanguzi, Paul Mubiru and Samuel Mayanja while Patrick Kawuma and Grace Kigenyi got byes.

In other games, newcomers Uganda Christian University beat bottom placed Mengo 3.5-1.5, Aviation beat Kireka 3-2 as defending champions MUK were held 2.5-2.5 by Mulago Knights. The league continues next weekend.

89 UAE Players in Fray at Dubai Junior Open Chess Tourney

89 UAE Players in Fray at Dubai Junior Open Chess Tourney


29 July 2009
DUBAI — UAE tops the record number of entries with 89 juniors in the fray for the Dubai Junior Open Chess Championship which began on Tuesday.

The UAE delegation comprises from several clubs from all the emirates. Mahdi Abdul Rahim the chief arbiter said: “A total of 135 entries of boys and girls from 11 countries are vying for top honours in the week-long championship which is being held at Dubai Chess and Culture club and sponsored by Mont Blanc.”

There are 23 rated players with two Fide masters, two Women Fide masters, three Candidate masters and one Woman Candidate master participating. FM Bajarani Ulvi from Azerbaijan Elo rated 2358 is the top seed followed by FM Al Tarboosh Ward of Syria rated 2173 followed by Antonio Viani D’Cunha of India rated 2107. There will be nine rounds of swiss system and the official web site is arabfide.com.

Jamal Abdouli, Deputy general secretary of Dubai Chess Club said: “We are extremely happy with the response with 89 UAE talented juniors having the opportunity to showcase their talent and gain valuable match practice.” Joe Nahhas, Brand Director, Mont Blanc said: “Mont Blanc is working on many initiatives with UNICEF to develop culture and literacy all over the world. Our association with Dubai Chess Club will continue and we hope that the talented players of UAE would benefit with such an exposure to international chess”. The UAE delegation led by Ibrahim Sultan rated 1814 and Candidate master Naif Saleh are hoping to perform well for the host country. India has the second largest of 28 players followed by Azerbaijan, Bahrain, England, Iran, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Russia, Syria and Turkey.

Multi Player Chess APP Via IPhones

With the invasion of too-cool-for-school iPhone games with 3D graphics and all sorts of eye candy, it's hard to imagine Chess Wars being a raging success. Even while this multiplayer chess application seems absolutely splendiferous.

The application is simple: Just select an opponent among your Facebook friends and challenge him or her to a game of good old chess. Or bad new one. It can go either way depending on who you are.
The $0.99 Chess Wars supports multiple simultaneous games, and also has an in-game chat client, as well as a method to check moves and stats of every game you play.

Dutch Open Leaderboards

Timman among the leaders after 3 rounds at the Dutch Open

Official website: http://onk.schaakbond.nl

Leaders after 3 rounds:

Rank Name Score M/F Rating

1 GM Giri, Anish 4.0 M 2518

2 GM Timman, Jan H 3.5 M 2569

3 GM Nijboer, Friso 3.5 M 2552

4 FM Miedema, Roi 3.5 M 2432

5 GM Ernst, Sipke 3.0 M 2598

6 GM L'Ami, Erwin 3.0 M 2593

7 GM Vovk, Yuri 3.0 M 2567

8 GM Reinderman, Dimitri 3.0 M 2565

9 GM Ikonnikov, Vyacheslav 3.0 M 2556

10 GM Swinkels, Robin 3.0 M 2516

11 GM Vovk, Andrey 3.0 M 2506

12 IM Adhiban, B. 3.0 M 2481

13 GM Visser, Yge 3.0 M 2464

14 IM Brandenburg, Daan 3.0 M 2463

15 IM Hendriks, Willy 3.0 M 2444

16 IM Bitalzadeh, Ali 3.0 M 2434

17 FM Burg, Twan 3.0 M 2422

18 IM Shyam, Sundar M. 3.0 M 2415

19 IM Wohl, Aleksandar H. 3.0 M 2387

20 FM Tondivar, Babak 3.0 M 2372

21 FM Van Eijk, Sander 3.0 M 2338

22 FM Bezemer, Arno 3.0 M 2332

23 FM Otte, Marijn 3.0 M 2298

24 Ootes, Lars 3.0 M 2261

22nd Annual North American FIDE Invitational Tournament

Day 1 of the 22nd North American FIDE Invitational kicked off with a bang as crucial early games were won.

Round 1 results:

IM Pasalic - Burgess: 1 - 0
FM Morales - FM Szmetan: 1 - 0
FM Felecan - IM Barbosa: 1 - 0
WIM Melekhina - FM Shankar: 0 - 1
IM Vishnuvardhan - Loncarevic: 1/2 - 1/2

Round 2 results:

FM Shankar - IM Barbosa: 1 - 0
WIM Melekhina - IM Pasalic - 1 - 0
FM Szmetan - FM Felecan: 1/2 - 1/2
Burgess - IM Vishnuvardhan: 0 - 1
Loncarevic - FM Morales: 0 - 1

Standings after 2 rounds

1st - 2nd: FM Shankar, FM Morales - 2/2
3rd - 4th: FM Felecan, IM Vishnvuardhan - 1.5 / 2
5th - 6th: WIM Melekhina, IM Pasalic: 1/2
7th - 8th: Loncarevic, FM Szmetan - .5/2
9th - 10th: Jon Burgess, IM Barbosa - 0 / 2

You can follow live updates on Twitter. Create an account (it’s free) and follow NACHESS on Twitter. Go to http://www.twitter.com

Good Chess to All,

Sevan A. Muradian
FIDE Arbiter and International Organizer
North American Chess Association

USCF Moves to Ban GM Susan Polgar

The Executive Board held a snap meeting in early July and passed a motion in "open session" to begin the process of suspending the USCF memberships of Susan Polgar and Paul Truong. SP and PT have 30 days to respond; then the EB will take final action. SP and PT may appeal this termination of their USCF memberships to the Delegates at the annual meeting next month.

This means that Susan will not be allowed to play in any USCF tournaments. Her FIDE status may be affected; it is unclear whether she may be banned from world chess altogether. Of immediate importance, as non-members, Susan and Paul will be removed from the EB without the Goichberg faction having to go to the trouble of recall votes at the Delegates Meeting and then to the membership.

The timing here allows the EB to oust them just after the annual Delegates meeting, forcing them to wait a full year before their appeal can be heard.

This action is unprecidented in USCF history. Past players have been expelled for cheating, either as players or as tournament officials, but never over political differences.

On the lawsuit front, a mediation session is scheduled next week. This action may be designed to put additional pressure on SP and PT in that.

Chairman of RJF Committee reacts to My 61 Memorable Games

From: Einar S Einarsson
Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 5:09 PM

Subject: RE: Edward A Trice



Sorry to hear about all of this

which pisses me and all Icelanders off totally.

What an absurd extreme and nonsense.

I contacted both F.Friedel at Chessbase.com

and D.J.t Guesendam at NIT and they do not want

dignify and publish anything about this rubbish hoax

and blog which has sunken below all common sense.

Still what Ed Trice says or asserts about me and

others of Bobby´s fair friends does not bother us a bit.

End of story.

Sincerely

Einar S. Einarsson

Chairman RJF Committee

Chess: The Musical

Why Chess in Concert?


The story of Chess (the Musical) is a turbulent one. It is a lesson in how not to produce a hit show. One day I may write a book about it, or even a musical. There is more than enough material: suspense and drama, lashings of tears and heartbreak, a galaxy of sparkling personalities (to put it tactfully) and a bunch of terrific tunes.

http://www.chessinconcert.com

For now suffice it to say that all went swimmingly with the original recording and concerts which took place in 1984. The album and two singles were substantial hits around the world and theatrical producers were soon fighting like ferrets in a sack to get hold of the stage rights. This eventually led to a West End production in May 1986, which ran for the best part of three years but was never quite the artistic nor commercial success the enthusiasm for the recordings had indicated it would be. Part of the reason for this was sheer bad luck (our original director had to abandon the show through illness shortly before the first rehearsal) and part was sheer – collective - incompetence. Recouping the then massive £4 million cost of the show in London was nevertheless a reasonable achievement.

It had never been our intention to stage the work exactly as it was on the original album. We made certain additions and alterations for the production at the Prince Edward Theatre, most of which worked. However the enforced uneasy combination of two distinguished directors’ viewpoints made for a slightly muddled version that was still being fixed way beyond opening night. Eventually it was clear that there was little point in endless tinkering with the show, which was just about holding its own – better to start again with a totally new concept for Broadway.

So drastic alterations were made, some for reasons that, at this distance, seem quite bewildering. An American book-writer joined the team (although “team” was soon to prove a less than accurate term), the operatic nature of the work thus eliminated, the storyline was changed substantially and the set was completely redesigned. Characters changed nationalities and even names; there was a different World Chess Champion at the end of the show; Merano, both song and venue, bit the dust; and a slew of new songs were added, many of which had been subtracted by opening night, with the notable exception of a new song for Florence, Someone Else’s Story, which more than held its own with the rest of the score.

Chess lasted a mere eight weeks on Broadway. Normally, that would be that for the long-term future of a humiliated show, but for some reason this one has refused to roll over and die, even in America. The reason was of course the songs, which even our misconceived Broadway escapade had not managed to destroy. Actors and singers still wanted to have a bash at the wonderful melodies, especially in auditions, and directors felt that they could put up with the confusion of the plot (a) because every few minutes another great tune turns up and (b) they could re-write chunks of the story themselves as no-one allegedly in control of the show seemed to know what the official version was anymore.

I certainly didn’t. During the past 20 years I have seen Chess on dozens of occasions in many different countries, and no two versions have been the same. Sometimes Freddie wins, sometimes Anatoly wins. Sometimes the whole show is set in the Tirol, sometimes entirely in Bangkok. One (rather good) version was set in 1960s New York, and another backstage at a Chess concert in which the actors played actors putting on a Chess concert. By far the best and most successful foreign production (not surprisingly) was the Stockholm show in 2002 - 03.

In recent years I have become more and more determined to oversee an English language version of Chess that I would be happy to recommend to all future producers and directors. I doubt whether it will be possible to prevent yet more hybrid treatments surfacing around the globe but if anybody wants to know which version has my official seal of approval then my intention is that the show unveiled at the Royal Albert Hall is it.

I accept that the plot is complex – I prefer intelligent, or sophisticated, but I would say that, wouldn’t I? I know for sure that contrary to the views of some critics way back then, the story is certainly more than plausible. Many in the real world of chess have told me it is not complex enough, as any study of chess and politics over the past 50 years will illustrate – as will a quick look at the life and antics of the late Bobby Fischer.

With the great help and support of Hugh Wooldridge, I have returned to the original album as the basis of what I hope will be the definitive version, both in story and style. There are no more than a few lines of spoken dialogue. Some songs and scenes that were added for the London and even for the Broadway stagings have been retained, and I have tweaked the odd line here and there to make the plot clearer.

The most satisfying performances of Chess any of the authors have seen were the concerts we staged across Europe at the time of the album’s release. While we hope that the work will be staged theatrically, or filmed, on as many occasions as possible, Hugh and I decided that to do full justice to the score for this important new presentation, the demands of the music had to be paramount – but of course with Wooldridge at the helm, visual and dramatic elements will be more than evident.

But in essence, Chess is as it was back in 1984. With the passing of time it is now, to its advantage, more clearly a period piece. To think that the magnificent music of Bjorn and Benny had only been known to the world for ten years when we embarked upon Chess is extraordinary; the world now knows that their music is timeless and lasting. I hope that the work I was fortunate enough to create with them will one day be recognized as a full part of their brilliant legacy.

TIM RICE
May 2008

Michael Jackson Bought an 80,000 Dollar Chess Set

By Stephen Dann


It’s easy to question the value of buying an $80,000 chess set these days, as the late Michael Jackson did a few years ago while shopping in Hollywood.

Jackson taught his son Prince to play chess at age 3 on the gold and marble chess set, according to a comprehensive story that appeared July 10 at www.chessbase.com, which offers many in-depth news stories on the game.

Today, the purchase of a chess set in a dollar store may be questioned. Difficult decisions are being made every day as Americans cope with perhaps the most trying economic downturn since the 1930s. And such was the backdrop of the formation of the U.S. Chess Federation in 1939. As one historian put it, “a number of chess groups merged, as none had the money to do much on their own.”

The St. Louis Chess Club purchased Bobby Fischer’s entire library recently, also for $80,000. In advance, the New York auction firm estimated the value of the lot at $50,000. This was an investment in both historical preservation and education, according to the club patron who donated the funds to purchase the collection, put together from the 1950s through Fischer’s departure from the United States in 1992.

But this writer sees the economic conditions forcing every family, town, school, library and business to weigh the value of chess as a sport, recreational pursuit or teaching tool. Does one have time to “indulge” in a game when there is so much other work to be done?

Chess won out during the 1930s in a number of large U.S. cities as a form of recreation on playgrounds, in schools and probably in libraries. Boston-born George Sturgis (1891-1944), founder of both the Mass. Chess Association and U.S. Chess Federation, promoted all kinds of programs in his 1939 Masta Chess News, two copies of which this writer has been exhibiting at major chess events for decades. It’s a shame the size and condition of these publications does not permit scanning to create a PDF file for mass viewing.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the USCF ( www.uschess.org) and the 40th anniversary of MACA’s own Chess Horizons magazine, conceived by a high school student from Worcester.

World Chess News

USCF Membership Levels

As reported from Chessnews.org:


Should we be alarmed about losing 3209 members in only three months? March 1 to June 1 is historically a seasonally weak period for USCF membership numbers, as the following records show:

USCF membership losses, March 1-June 1
2003 Lost 4751 members
2004 Lost 3906 members
2005 Lost 4130 members
2006 Lost 3268 members
2007 Lost 2349 members
2008 Lost 2422 members
2009 Lost 3209 members

So the loss this year was greater than 2007 or 2008, but not enormously so, and smaller than each of the previous four years. And there is good reason to believe the main cause is cutbacks in school chess programs, as adult membership during this period has declined only by 97 members.

The year 2006-2007 was a fairly good one for USCF. However, it is false that USCF showed losses in every other year since 1995. In each of 2003-2004 and 2004-2005, USCF had a surplus of over $200,000, and that's without including the building sale and land gift recorded in 2004-2005, which if included would have dramatically increased that surplus.

2009 USCF Election Results

The results of the 2009 Executive Board Election are in. 11.1% of the eligible voters cast ballots. The four candidates who were elected to four year terms on the Executive Board are Jim Berry, Bill Goichberg, Ruth Haring and Mike Atkins. Jim and Bill were incumbents, Ruth and Mike will take office at the conclusion of the 2009 Delegates Meeting, replacing Randy Hough, who chose not to run for another term, and Joel Channing, who had resigned.

Totals in Order of Rank
Jim Berry: 3030
Bill Goichberg:3014
Ruth Haring:2952
Michael Atkins: 2672
Michael Korenman: 822
Mike Nietman:732
Eric Hecht: 717
Blas Lugo: 657
Sam Sloan:588
Brian Lafferty:576
Brian Mottershead:435

There were also 123 Write-in ballots. A total of 4379 ballots were received.

Regional Breakdown

Reg. Hecht Atkins Lugo Niet Goich Berry Mott Laff Sloan Koren Haring
I 46 203 40 29 230 232 31 34 36 41 227
II 82 325 62 71 389 373 39 54 88 82 361
III 81 499 61 83 455 422 61 80 81 80 423
IV 90 281 112 60 310 309 44 75 62 90 302
V 71 216 59 68 249 245 35 48 51 79 252
VI 23 79 21 95 88 97 19 18 15 30 87
VII 65 192 65 79 246 240 41 56 44 94 239
VIII 27 112 27 32 122 138 25 28 21 35 118
IX 21 70 20 22 86 93 15 17 25 31 80
X 73 158 62 64 218 262 41 43 48 84 206
XI 88 418 75 89 473 468 56 80 80 112 497
XII 37 100 32 31 114 125 25 29 24 40 120
Other 13 19 21 9 34 26 3 14 13 24 40

Man selling Fake Fischer Book at World Open ordered to Stop!

Reports are that someone was trying to sell five copies of "My 61Memorable Games" from a borrowed corner of a skittles table outside of the booksellers area at the World Open in Philly. Bill Goichberg, USCF President and event organizer, told the person they were not authorized to sell the book at the event. The person in question demanded to see a contract saying he couldn't. At that point Mr. Goichberg informed the person that not only did he not have to show him a contract, he could have him ejected and barred from returning.
The individual then put the books away and didn't return on Sunday to the event.

"My 61 Memorable Games" is a suspected book fraud claiming it's author to be the late chess champion, Bobby Fischer.