Ukrainian gold medalists recognized

Ukrainian officials award winners of the World Chess Olympiad

On October 14, the winners of the World Chess Olympiad received diplomas from the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Welcoming the chess players, Speaker of the Parliament Volodymyr Lytvyn said that their victory, which had been won in competition against 160 teams from all over the world, “is evidence that Ukraine is indeed a chess state, and at the same time it is a reminder for institutions and branches of government about the need to substantively engage in the development of chess in Ukraine, because too often it exists only due to the heroism of the people involved.” The victory adds to the prestige and authority of Ukraine. After all, chess is not just a gym exercise for the mind, it is also a sign of a high level of culture and tolerance, a real proof of intellectual capacities and abilities.

Source: http://www.day.kiev.ua

Tech produces its second grandmaster in the last four months

Tech produces its second grandmaster in the last four months
Posted: October 17, 2010 - 12:24am

International Master Gergely Antal, who just graduated from Tech in August with a degree in economics, has just earned his grandmaster title. He was the first titled chess player to come to Texas Tech in 2008, and he was also the first to capture a national chess title for the Knight Raiders.

In 2009, Antal won the prestigious National Tournament of College Champions and the Southwest Open. In December of the same year, he played an important role in helping the Knight Raiders make the Final Four for the first time in school history.

In March 2010, he narrowly missed his final grandmaster norm by just half a point. But a few weeks later he defended his Lubbock Open title with a perfect 8-0 score in back-to-back years.

At the Budapest First Saturday Chess Championship which has just concluded, Antal scored an incredible 6.5 points in his final seven games, including the final round victory against grandmaster Bui Vinh, to tie for first place and the grandmaster title.

Antal’s teammate and roommate Davorin Kuljasevic, a graduate student in finance, became the first Knight Raider to earn the Grandmaster title just a few short months ago. There are countless countries in the world that could not produce a single grandmaster because it is extremely hard. For SPICE to produce two grandmasters in the past few months speaks volume to the credibility of Texas Tech in the global chess community.

Congratulations to grandmaster Antal. He now joins the rank of only about 1,000 grandmasters in the world. Antal’s next tournament will be the prestigious SPICE Cup B group, which will start on Oct. 28. He hopes to come back to Texas Tech in the near future as a graduate student.

In addition to the SPICE Cup, the most prestigious annual international invitational chess tournament in the United States, there will be many other big events coming up for the local players.

The first one, the sixth “Get Smart! Play Chess!” tournament, will take place on Oct. 23 at the Science Spectrum.

The SPICE Cup Open Chess Championship and SPICE Cup 2010 Scholastic Chess Championship, will take place on Oct. 30 at the Texas Tech Student Union Building.

The SPICE Cup FIDE Rated Open will also take place at the Texas Tech Student Union Building on Nov. 5-7. More information is available on www.SPICE.ttu.edu.

Battle of the gender at the Chess Olympiad

Below is a battle of the gender game which took place just a few weeks ago at the Chess Olympiad.

Zhu Chen (2480) - Sveshnikov, Evgeny (2494) [D43]

39th Olympiad Men Khanty-
Mansiysk RUS (11.32), March 10, 2010

Zhu Chen used to be one of the stars of women’s chess in China a decade ago. She was the second Chinese player to ever win the Women’s World Championship (in 2001) after Xie Jun. I first saw Zhu play in Timisoara (Romania) in 1988 where she won the World Girls’ Under 12. I was there to help my sister Judit at the World Under 12 (among boys), which she ended up winning.

After Zhu married grandmaster Al-Modiahki, the couple settled in Qatar. At the 39th Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, as already for a number of years, she represented her husband’s homeland. She played all 11 games on board two and scored a respectable 7 points. Zhu along with Judit and Chmilyte were some of the few women who chose to represent their nation in the Open Olympiad competition. Let’s see her overwhelming victory over the legendary Latvian grandmaster Evgeny Sveshnikov, who most known for a popular opening being named after.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 A rather popular and ambitious choice instead of the more solid 5.e3, which would be the start of the Meran defense.

5...h6 Lately this is more popular than the wild Botvinnik variation, which starts with 5...dxc4.

6.Bxf6 Zhu chose the solid approach to avoid the theoretical debate in the popular and extremely complicated 6.Bh4 dxc4 line.

6...Qxf6 7.e3 It is true that White gave up the pair of Bishops by the exchange on f6, seemingly for no reason. However, Black’s Bishop on c8 is no pride in any case.

7...Nd7 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Bd6 The other more popular, and probably more advisable way to develop the Bishop to g7 starts with 9...g6 10.0–0 Bg7. In the same round, the Miton - Shulman game (in the Poland versus USA match) continued as such: 11.e4 e5 12.d5 Nb6 13. Bb3 0–0 14.Rc1 Rd8 15.Qe2 Bg4 16.dxc6 bxc6 17.Nd1 a5 18.Ne3 Bxf3 19.Qxf3 Qxf3 20.gxf3 a4 21.Bd1 Rd2 22.b3 Rxa2 23.Rxc6 Rb8 24.bxa4 Nxa4 25.Bc2 Bf8 26.Ra6 and draw was agreed.

10.0–0 Qe7 11.Ne4 The best plan. 11.e4 e5 12.d5 Nb6 is considered ok for Black, as played in 2000 in the Beliavsky – Sveshnikov game.

11...Bc7 12.Rc1 0–0 13.Bb3 A quiet preventive move. If now 13...e5?, then White continues with 14.d5 cxd5 15.Qxd5 Nb6? 16.Qc5 with a significant advantage. In another game several years ago Sveshnikov faced 13.Qc2 against Bocharov: 13…Rd8 14.Rfd1 Nf8 15.a3 Bd7 16.Nc5 Rab8 17.Qc3 Be8 18.b4 f6 19.e4 Kh8 20.h3 where White also had a small plus.

13...Rd8 14.Qc2 In the Bareev - Anand (Linares 1992) game 14.Qe2 a5?! 15.a3 Nf6 16.Nxf6+ Qxf6 17.Rfd1 was tried and White had a solid advantage. As an improvement for Black 14...Nf8 15 Rfd1 Bd7 was recommended by Dautov.

14...Nf8 The Carlsen - Shirov (Foros 2008) game continued with 14...a5 15.a3 Rb8 16.Rfd1 Nf8 17.Ne5 Bd7 instead, when Magnus made the debatable choice of trading on d7, although he later won the game due to eventual mistakes of Alexei.

15.Ne5 Bd7 16.f4 This is where the game has varied from the Bareev - Dreev game (from 1998), where White continued with 16.Nc5 instead. I personally like White’s position.

16...Kh8 A logical move to get out of the line of fire of White’s Bishop on b3, as the following variation demonstrates the dangers: 16...f6 17.Nxd7 Nxd7 18.f5 (using the pin) 18…Nf8 19.Nc5. However, it results in different problem, as now the f7 Pawn is only protected by one piece.

17.Qc5! Re8 After the Queen exchange with 17...Qxc5 18.Nxc5, Black would have to chose between losing either the b7 or the f7 Pawn.

18.Rf3 A smart move, combining the strategical pressure with a straight forward King side attack. The fancy 18.Nd6 Bxd6 19.Qxd6 looks pretty, but questionable if it improves White’s position.

18...f6 19.Nxd7 Nxd7 20.Qh5 f5 21.Ng5 Nf6?! Also after the better 21...Nf8, White’s attack is strong: 22.Nf7+ Kg8 (22...Kh7 23.Rg3) 23.Nxh6+! gxh6 24.Qxh6 Kf7 25.Qh5+ Ng6 26.Qxf5+.

22.Qg6 hxg5 23.fxg5 Ng4 Black’s position was also hopeless after 23...Nd5 24.Bxd5 exd5 (or 24...cxd5 25.Rh3+ Kg8 26.Qh7+ Kf7 27.Qh5+ Kf8 (27...Kg8 28.g6) 28.g6) 25.Qxf5 Qe6 26.Rh3+ Kg8 27.Qh7+ Kf8 28.Rf1+ Ke7 29.Qxg7+ Kd8 30.Rf7.

24.Rh3+ Kg8 25.Qxf5 25.Qh7+ Kf8 26.Qxf5+! would have been a nice touch, although the game move does the job just as well.

25...Nxh2 26.Qh7+ Kf8 27.Qh8+ Kf7 28.g6+ ! The most precise way which lead to a forced checkmate.

28...Kf6 29.Qh4+ Kxg6 30.Qh5+ Kf6 31.Rf1+ Nxf1 32.Rf3+ and Black gets checkmated on the following move. This is a pretty convincing victory for White and a nice game by Zhu. 1–0

http://lubbockonline.com/columnists/2010-10-17/polgar-tech-produces-its-second-grandmaster-last-four-months

Texas Tech freshman Andre Diamant shines at World Chess Olympiad

Texas Tech freshman Andre Diamant shines at World Chess Olympiad
Posted: October 10, 2010 - 12:03am

The World Chess Olympiad just ended Oct. 3 in West Siberia, Russia. Approximately 1,500 players, coaches and captains of 264 men’s and women’s teams from over 150 countries were in Khanty-Mansiysk for two weeks to battle for the individual and team gold, silver and bronze medals.

Here were the final team standings:

Men’s (Open) Olympiad

1. Ukraine: 8 wins, 3 ties, 0 losses, 19 points, gold medal
2. Russia (A): 8 wins, 2 ties, 1 loss, 18 points, silver
3. Israel: 7 wins, 3 ties, 1 loss, 17 points, bronze

Women’s Olympiad

1. Russia (A): 11 wins, 0 ties, 0 losses, 22 points, gold medal
2. China: 9 wins, 0 ties, 2 losses, 18 points, silver
3. Georgia: 7 wins, 2 ties, 2 losses, 16 points, bronze

Texas Tech freshman Andre Diamant (Brazil) recorded fantastic results at the Chess Olympiad. He scored 5 wins and 3 draws (0 losses) for a winning percentage of 81.3, which was the second highest overall of the Olympiad, and a rating performance of 2644, which was sixth overall of the Olympiad on board five for Brazil. This was his best ever Olympiad performance. He qualified for his first Olympiad appearance in 2008 in Dresden, Germany, at the age of 17.

As I mentioned in a prior column, chess is a part of the IOC (International Olympic Committee). The Chess Olympiad enjoys the second position behind the Summer Olympics with around 150 countries battling every two years.

• 2008 Summer Olympics (Beijing, China): 204 nations.
• 2008 Chess Olympiad (Dresden, Germany): 152 nations.
• 2006 Winter Olympics (Turin, Italy): 86 nations.

Next, Andre and his teammates will represent Tech at the SPICE Cup later in October at the Texas Tech Student Union Building, Texas State Championship in November in Corpus Christi, and the PanAm Intercollegiate Chess Championship in December in Milwaukee, Wis.

I am very proud of what Andre achieved on the world stage in Khanty-Mansiysk where millions of chess enthusiasts followed the live action over a two-week period on the Internet. He handled the immense pressure very well. Andre proudly wore his Knight Raider/SPICE shirts, which served as a great promo for our university. This speaks volumes for the kind of international talent we attract to Tech through the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence.

Tech is now one of the most respected universities with a chess program in the world. We are also the only university with a chess institute. The Knight Raiders have won a total of one regional, two state and five national championships in the past two years.

Chess in schools boom

I recently interviewed Ali Nihat Yazici, president of the Turkish Chess Federation, about the incredible chess in the schools program in his country. Here is what he had to say:

In 2002, Ali approached the minister of education of Turkey with the idea of introducing chess in the schools. At that meeting, he was asked, what is his goal with the project? He made a “blunder” by responding: “Can you imagine Turkey having the next Karpov or the next Kasparov?” His dream was rejected at that time. However, he learned his lesson. He realized that the approach had to be modified.

Ali had to wait another three years before he got the next opportunity to present the “new plan” to the next minister of education. He was asking for an appointment for over two years. One night out of nowhere, he received a phone call from a contact to come and meet in 10 minutes. The minister was having kebab with the contact and he was willing to give Ali 10 minutes! He was on his way immediately.

When Ali met the minister, he presented the idea of chess in the schools to help educate the next generation of Turkish children to grow up more intelligent.

After his presentation, the minister said thank you and told him that it sounded very interesting. He said he would be in touch. Ali left the restaurant and thought sure the minister would call … one day.

To his biggest surprise, the next morning shortly after nine, his phone rang. It was an unknown number. It was none other than the minister. The minister invited him to meet and discuss the idea further. As Ali was driving, he almost caused a mass accident in his (pleasant) shock.

Well, that was 2005, the year when chess was introduced for the first time in some Turkish schools. Since that time, the number of schoolchildren involved in the chess program has grown to 2,250,000 in over 10,000 schools, with around 50,000 chess teachers! Mind-boggling numbers!

The chess in the school project in Turkey currently receives 1.5 million euros in governmental support. That is a huge number! However, through the various forms of taxes, the project also generated 1.8 million euros in revenues for the government.

In addition to the support from the public sector, last year the TCF succeeded in attracting major contribution from the private sector. IS Bank supports scholastic chess with 1.6 million euros to enable schools in need to also introduce chess to underprivileged children.

The TCF has developed its own teaching manuals and recommended learning materials for students; 300,000 of the first edition of the student “source-book” was printed by the nonprofit branch of the TCF Satranc. Many doubted Ali’s decision at the time, asking “what will we do with all those copies?” Since then, over two million copies have been sold, and it became a major source of revenue for the TCF.

In Turkey, chess for the past five years has been a part of the curriculum as an elective. There are only four elective subjects: art, painting, religion (general) and chess. The children who choose chess as an elective learn it two hours a week throughout the entire 32-week school year.

This year in the city of Burdur (west of Turkey) the Turkish Chess Federation started a pilot project with kindergarten-age children, starting at age 4. So far it has been very well received, and the TCF has already donated 10,000 chess sets and boards to the project.

While the above project mostly focuses on the social benefits of chess as a side effect, a certain percentage of kids naturally will take a more serious interest in the game and desire to compete. At Turkey’s 2009 scholastic championship, 30,000 schoolchildren took part.

There are around 1,300 chess clubs in Turkey today. Fourteen of them compete in the first division. Each of those clubs receives 12,500-euro support yearly from the TCF. The TCF currently has 200,000 paid members, including 60,000 rated players.

In the first division team league, many of the players have contracts guided by the template designed by TCF. The league is designed after the most successful professional sport in Turkey, which is soccer.

A very impressive story. Certainly today Turkey is a place to learn from and an example to follow for any country that would like to see chess being a part of the curriculum.

Source: Avalanche Journal

Valuable lessons learned

We learnt valuable lessons - chess captain
MOSAH MOKGANEDI
Correspondent

The captain of the men's chess team, Kenneth Boikhutswane, has said despite failure to bring home a medal, they learnt valuable lessons at the just-ended Olympiad in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia.

Boikhutswane said it was evident that the players need a coach because they failed to make appropriate decisions at crucial stages.

The Botswana men and women teams travelled to the Olympiad without a coach. Boikhutswane explained that in most cases, players use computer chess programmes to guide them during training. He said that locally, there is no coach qualified to handle national teams. But unlike other sport, playing without a coach in chess is normal.

Meanwhile, the women's team suffered a major setback at the Olympiad when Ontiretse Sabure was sidelined in the last five games due to illness. Boikhutswane believes the women team could have done even better with the services of Sabure. He said it was extremely cold in Russia and players found it difficult to cope.

Boikhutswane said from their experience in Russia, it is imperative to take the team through a rigorous training programme before major competitions.

Here is the full article.

Nigeria returns from Chess Olympiad with bronze

Nigeria returns from Chess Olympiad with bronze
By Ifeanyi Ibeh
October 8, 2010 02:14AM

Nigeria’s men’s and women’s teams to the just concluded 39th World Chess Olympiad both finished a respectable third place in their respective categories at the end of the championship which took place in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

In the men’s category, the Nigerian team, consisting of Bunmi Olape, Charles Campbell, Olamide Ajibowo, Inimo Kigigha and Ajibola Olanrewaju, churned out a series of consistent performances in the championship’s category E to place behind Zambia and Pakistan. In the women’s category, where Rachael Dappa, Rosemary Amadasun, Tobi Olatunji, Funmi Akinola and Vivian Dzaayem flew Nigeria’s flag with honour, they finished in third place behind Jamaica and Qatar, which was a much better performance than was the case at the last edition in Dresden, Germany where they placed a distant seventh position.

More experience needed

The men’s team final position in Russia was however a spot behind the second place finish they achieved in Germany. The leader of ‘Team Nigeria’ to the Chess Olympiad, Sani Mohammed, said that the players may have performed better if they have been exposed to more international competition prior to the tournament. “The team that participated in the tournament was largely made up of players appearing in only their first international tournament,” he said. “But they were selected to represent the nation based on their respective performance during the trial process. But if we can continue like this, we have the potentials to make better grading at other international competitions including the next All Africa Games in Zambia next year.”

The coach of the team, Lekan Adeyemi, expressed confidence that all the players to the Chess Olympiad will be pre-tournament favourites when next a tournament takes place in Nigeria owing to the experience they have garnered over the course of the world championship. “Before we travelled many people expressed doubts on the ability of the team but I have a strong belief that they will excel because they made their mark during the trial organised in Lagos and if they can be exposed to more tournaments outside the country it will be a blessing to the country in the long run,” he said.

Aside the bronze medals won by the country’s teams, Ajibowo also bagged a FIDE Master title just as Charles Campbell bagged a Candidate Master title for the four points he made playing on board three. Forty countries took part in this year’s Chess Olympiad, which is the biggest event in the sports’ calendar.

Source: http://234next.com

Experienced earned

Sri Lanka brings back many positives from Chess Olympiad
Friday, 08 October 2010 00:00

The Sri Lankan teams return home from the Chess Olympiad held over the past two weeks in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia after a very encouraging performance in both the Open and Women’s categories.

National Champion Dinushki Premanath scored 6 points out of a possible 9 to secure a Women FIDE Master (WFM) title. She becomes the 4th Sri Lankan to hold the WFM title after Pamodya Senanayake, Nirmala Chandrasiri and Supeshala Thilakawardena.

Former National Champion Sachini Ranasinghe won a Women’s Candidates Master (WCM) title as did Sajith Peiris and W.S.V.K. Koggala (both of the Men’s Team). Young Trinitian Chamika Perera playing on the top board and facing by far the stiffest opposition did well to collect 4 out of 9 points. He defeated on International Master and drew with another.

Ukraine won the Olympiad, pushing the fancied Russians to second place in the Open section. Israel came third. In the Women’s section, Russia prevailed over China and Georgia.

Sri Lanka, seeded 115th out of 147 teams, ended 104th, winning 4 matches, drawing one and losing 6 in the Open Category. The Women’s team, ranked 83rd out of 115 teams, was placed 75th, winning 5 matches and losing 6.

Source: http://www.dailymirror.lk

North Yorker knocks off world's No. 2

North Yorker knocks off world's No. 2
TIM FORAN |Oct 07, 2010 - 7:30 AM

Canada's youngest ever grandmaster has knocked off a granddaddy of the chess world.

North York's Mark Bluvshtein, 22, checkmated the world's second highest rated player, Bulgaria's Veselin Topalov, in the seventh round of the recently completed Chess Olympiad in Russia. Topalov, 35, is the former world champion and only lost his number one ranking to Norway's 19-year-old chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen at the beginning of this year.

"I always felt like I could compete with all the top guys in the world," said Bluvshtein this week, days after returning from the western Siberia city of Khanty-Mansiysk.

The victory by Bluvshtein, leading Canada on "first board" for the second straight Olympiad, helped the national team achieve a surprising 2-2 draw with the eighth-ranked Bulgaria.

As "first board", it was Bluvshtein's job to take on the top player from each nation, including six higher-ranked grandmasters. Individually, he grabbed six of 11 possible points, with four wins, three losses and four draws. Overall, Canada finished the Olympiad with 13 points (four wins, five draws and two losses) in the 11-round tournament, good enough for 37th and higher than its pre-tournament ranking of 53rd.

Here is the full article.

Nguyen receives sought international chess title

Nguyen receives sought international chess title
October, 07 2010 09:24:17

Pham Le Thao Nguyen has been recognised as a Women's International Grand Master (IGM) thanks to her great result at the Khanty-Mansiysk's Chess Olympiad that finished on Monday.

Nguyen scored 8.5 points after 10 matches, ranking third in the women's table 2, behind Nadezhda Kosintseva of Russia 1 and Ju Wenjun of China.

Apart from a US$2,800 bonus, the FIDE decided to award her the title without needing the third standard that Nguyen has not attained yet.

Viet Nam is currently home to three other women IGMs, Nguyen Thi Thanh An, Hoang Thi Bao Tram and Le Thanh Tu.

Nguyen, Tram and the two other masters will represent Viet Nam's women's team at the 16th Asian Games this November in Guangzhou, China.

Source: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn

Earning the title after 3 decades

FIDE Master Shrestha's Red Letter Day
PRAKASH TIMALSINA

Published on 2010-10-07 03:00:27

Veteran chess player Bilam Lal Shrestha has returned home achieving much more than what he had aimed at. "I had never imagined I would become a FIDE Master.

My aim was to boost my rating. Becoming a FIDE Master was a bonus for me," said Shrestha, who returned home on Tuesday as a FIDE Master from the 39th Chess Olympiad.

He succeeded in improving his rating too. After his splendid performance in the Olympiad, Shrestha was able to add 42 points in his rating. Now he has become the top-rated chess player of Nepal with 2138 rating points. He was able to gain 6.5 points from nine games in the Olympiad that concluded on Sunday in the northern Russian town of Khanty.

Shrestha is Nepal´s second FIDE Master. Manish Hamal had achieved the feat of becoming Nepal´s first FIDE Master after his success in the 38th Chess Olympiad in 2008.

"There was a lot of mess before my trip. I wasn´t sure whether to go or not until the last minute," he recalled the situation ahead of attending the Olympiad. "I had a keen desire to do something. It was good that I returned to the game that I had left long ago. I had gone to improve my rating, but returned as a FIDE Master. What can be more pleasant than that?" he added.

Remembering the last round match, Shrestha said, "I was guaranteed the title of FIDE Master even for a draw. I knew that I could lose the match if I got excited. So I played with a cool mind."

Shrestha was able to get the coveted title after about three decades of his involvement in the game. He was the Lalitpur chess champion in 1981. He got engaged in the game intensely after winning the title. But he left playing chess in the middle because he couldn't manage time while working in a private firm.

Here is the full article.

Bareev shares his impression about the Russian team

Evgeny Bareev about the Chess Olympiad
Impressions after the last round match versus Spain
Published by Chessdom

In the last round of the Chess Olympiad, Russia 1 men team was trailing one match point behind Ukraine and was paired to play against Spain. Always a dangerous and motivated opponent, Spain held Russians to a tie 2-2 and prevented them from putting greater pressure on Ukrainians, who also made 2-2, against bronze medalists from Israel.

Russia captain Evgeny Bareev shared his impressions about this match for the Russia Chess Federation website:

- The last match left us with a feeling of dissatisfaction. After we lost to Hungary in round five, we were able to get together to play again normally, and we had great chances to fight for the first place. The logical outcome would be a victory in the last round, which would force Ukraine to tighten up and to show whether they can win too. If Ukraine wins, then we could only shrug and say: we did everything we could.

- Unfortunately, we slipped, and achieved only 2-2. For the third consecutive time, we can not beat Spain in the final round, it's not a coincidence. This saddens me, it means that we cannot play properly in the last round.

- Karjakin did not want to play 1...e5, fearing the Spanish Exchange variation, he tried to play something more dynamic. The opponent met him with quite a rare line which Sergei didn't review. He was afraid to go for the forced main variants and agreed to a slightly worse position. Basically, we told him before the game: if suddenly you are not happy with the course of the game, you can always offer a draw to Magem Badals, he will agree. And the situation was unpleasant, he didn't have a chance to play for a win.

- Karjakin was not that tired, physically, but he was emotionally devastated. The man brought this team back to life when we faced problems in the middle of the tournament, he was our motor. He could not recover his energy.

- The problem was that after the match with Ukraine there was no guarantee that Malakhov can play at a high level. In fact, I didn't have much choice for the last round: to play the tired Karjakin or bring unpredictable Malakhov. I chose Karjakin, hoping that maybe he will catch the opponent on the wrong foot.

- Peter Svidler lost to Ivan Salgado, whom we already know very well. At the European Team Championships 2009 he prevented us from taking the gold medal, also in the last round. But we are to blame ourselves. He is probably a very skillful player, but the rating of 2600 suggests that he still has some shortcomings and weaknesses.

Freshman Shines at World Chess Olympiad

Freshman Shines at World Chess Olympiad
Andre Diamant received second best individual score in the olympiad.
Written by Cory Chandler

Texas Tech freshman Andre Diamant recorded five wins and three draws representing his home country of Brazil in the 2010 Khanty-Mansiysk World Chess Olympiad in West Siberia, Russia.

The 81.3 percent winning percentage was enough to give Diamant, a Knight Raiders chess team member, the second best individual score in the olympiad. His rating performance of 2644 was the sixth best overall of the event that drew approximately 1,500 players, coaches and captains from 150 countries.

Diamant, a grandmaster, played on the fifth board for Brazil. He qualified for his first Olympiad appearance in 2008 in Dresden, Germany at the age of 17.

Chess is a part of the IOC (International Olympic Committee). There have been various discussions in recent years to include chess as part of the Summer or Winter Olympics. For now the Chess Olympiad enjoys the second position behind the Summer Olympics with approximately 150 countries battling every two years.

2008 Summer Olympics (Beijing, China): 204 nations.
2008 Chess Olympiad (Dresden, Germany): 152 nations.
2006 Winter Olympics (Turin, Italy): 86 nations.

Next Andre and his teammates will represent Texas Tech at the SPICE Cup later in October at the Texas Tech Student Union Building, Texas State Championship in November in Corpus Christi, and the PanAm Intercollegiate Chess Championship in December in Milwaukee, Wisc.

“We are so proud of what Andre achieved on the world stage in Khanty-Mansiysk where tens of millions of chess enthusiasts followed the live action over a two-week period on the internet”, said Susan Polgar, director of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) and head coach of the Knight Raiders. “This speaks volumes for the kind of international talent we attract to Texas Tech through SPICE.”

Ffor more information about Diamant’s performance and rakings visit Ugra-Chess.
Story produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing

Chess Olympiad Trivia

How many GMs can you name in this picture?

A failing experiment

RP’s chess experiment fails
Tuesday, October 5, 2010

AN experiment by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines to select players to the Olympiad team on the basis of ELO rating ended dismally as the country posted its worst performance under the Swiss System format.

Dragged down by a 2.5-1.5 loss to Estonia in the 11th and last round of this biennial event, the Philippines slid to 50th place (out of 113 countries) with 12 match points with five wins, two draws and four losses.

“The players didn’t have to fight for their usual places in the Olympiad team unlike before, and obviously they did not prepare as well as they should especially those manning the higher boards,” a federation source told the Manila Standard in a phone interview. “They should reconsider this policy.”

However, another source explained that the Swiss System, while good for determining the champion, is not a true reflection of a team’s strength in the lower places. “The pairings are sometimes like lottery. You may get a weak team or a strong team in your next round.”

For the second straight Olympiad, the Philippines did not field one of its strongest players in its team.

In 2008, Eugene Torre skipped the national championship, which was to select members of the Dresden Olympiad, but won the GMA Cup.

In the 2010 Olympiad, Joey Antonio was disciplined for not returning home to compete in the Campomanes Memorial Cup, and the Philippines lost its second strongest player.

The women’s team finished 44th place (out of 113 countries) with a draw against Brazil, marking the second time they finished higher than its male counterpart in an Olympiad...

Two draws by Wesley So to former world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and former world championship challenger Alexei Shirov of Spain underscored the 16-year-old grandmaster’s growing potential and consoled the Philippines’ woeful showing.

Source: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com

Closing in on the IM title

Irene closes on men’s chess title, RI team rank plunges
Agnes Winarti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Tue, 10/05/2010 1:18 PM Sports

Indonesian Woman Grandmaster Irene Kharisma Sukandar edged closer on Sunday to her goal to win a men’s International Master title, as the 18-year-old university student collected significant points to add to her current 2372 rating at the 39th World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

Irene collected the points after 11 rounds at the event, which ended Sunday. Her latest rating was not immediately available.

A chess player must collect a 2400 rating to earn an International Master title.

The Indonesian team stumbled behind Irene’s strong showing. The men’s team plunged to 67th from 52nd place at the last Olympiad two years ago in Dresden, Germany, and the women’s team declined to 43rd from a previous 42nd.

In general standings, China topped Asian teams with a fifth-place showing, followed by India in 18th, Kazakhstan in 27th, Iran in 29th, the Philippines in 50th, Vietnam in 52nd, Singapore in 58th and Pakistan in 62nd.

In the women’s standings, China also dominated in second place, followed by India in 17th, Vietnam in 18th, Iran in 19th, Kazakhstan in 29th and Uzbekistan in 30th.

The Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) praised the stable performances of the country’s two ace Woman Grandmasters, Irene Kharisma Sukandar and Susanto Megaranto and their strengths in advance of the Asian Games.

Here is the full article.

From Hero to Goat

From Hero to Goat
by Ed Andaya
Monday, 04 October 2010 19:44

KHANTY-Mansiysk, Russia -- The Philippines’ campaign in the 39th World Chess Olympiad ended not with a bang but a whimper, losing a heart-breaking 1.5-2.5 decision to lower-rated Estonia and falling all the way to 50th place in the final standings here late Sunday.

IM Richard Bitoon turned from hero to goat when he lost to IM Aleksandr Volodin in the board-four match that decided the fate of the two nations in this two-week long, 11-round competition dubbed as the ‘Olympics’ of chess.

The end for the white-playing Bitoon, who was inserted to the team following the suspension of GM Rogelio Antonio Jr., came in 53 moves of the Sicilian Taimanov variation with the younger and lower-rated Volodin (ELO 2433) threatening mate in one.

The 34-year-old pride of Medellin, Cebu, who is hoping to become the country’s newest GM, labored under severe time pressure and made a weak rook move on the 36th move that allowed the 20-year-old Volodin to launch a lethal queen-rook attack.

When he resigned, Bitoon’s king on e5 was under threat of mate in one by Volodin’s rook.

Before the final-round setback, Bitoon is the second-best Filipino performer with six points on four wins, four draws and one loss while playing on board five.

GM Wesley So settled for a draw with GM Kaido Kulaots in only 27 moves of the Gruenfeld Exchange variation.

So , who will turn 17 years old on Oct. 9, battled Kulaots to early exchange of the queens and reached an ending with little promise for counterplay.

GM John Paul Gomez also split the point with GM Meelis Kanep in 27 moves of the Sicilian while GM Darwin Laylo halved the point with IM Olav Sepp in the other two boards.

Overall, the Filipinos finished with 12 points on five wins, two draws and four losses based on the matchpoint-style scoring system that gives two points for a win, one point for a draw and zero for a loss.

The Filipinos finished in a tie for 49th to 63rd places in the 149-team competition and 50th place overall after the Sonneborn-Berger tiebreak.

That’s four places lower than their 46th–place finish during the 2008 Dresden Olympiad and six places lower than their 44 th-place finish in the 206 Turin Olympiad.

The Filipinos’ best finish ever in the Olympiad was eighth-place during the 1988 Olympiad in Thessaloniki, Greece.

“I think we did well enough. The team could have easily finished in the Top 20 with a win by Bitoon in the final round or Top 30 with a draw. But that’s chess,” said National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president Prospero “Butch” Pichay, who was also named by FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov to the FIDE panel of advisers. (See related story)

So emerged as the Filipinos’ leading scorer with 6.5 points on three wins and seven draws, followed by Bitoon with six points on four wins, four draws and two losses.

Gomez, who achieved his GM title during the 2008 Dresden Olympiad, wound up with five points on three wins, four draws and two losses.

GM Eugene Torre, who made history with a record 20th Olympiad appearance in 40 years from 1970 to 2010, had 4.5 points on three wins , three draws and only one loss despite playing the last number of game among the Filipinos.

Laylo had 3-2-3 win-draw-loss record.

Here is the full article.

Azerbaijan captain resigned

Rauf Mamedov about the Chess Olympiad
Azerbaijan captain Zurab Azmaiparashvili resigned
Report by Chessdom

The 2009 European team champion, Azerbaijan, had high hopes for the just concluded 39th Chess Olympiad, but the 7th seed landed on 12th place in the final rankings, with 6 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses. The team atmosphere, besides excellent players one of the most important virtues of Azerbaijan, was ruined before the competition when Vugar Gashimov has been removed from the squad.

Rauf Mamedov, who held the third board in this Olympiad, admitted that the 9th round defeat against Ukraine definitely halted all hopes for the medal - "I think that our performance was normal. Like a four on the scale. I understand that our public expected much more, but the reality is that this was the most that we could count on."

When asked to clarify why, Rauf put it straight - "Because Vugar Gashimov was not in the team". He added that another problem was that their captain, GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili, could not be with the team throughout the tournament - "He was candidate for the post of FIDE Vice-President".

Zurab Azmaiparashvili resigned as Azerbaijan captain immediately after the final round. Azerisport reports that he met with the players and said the following - "You will win your new successes without me."

But Extratime.az informs that the Azerbaijan Chess Federation still hasn't decided on whether to accept the captain's resignation. Federation Vice-President Mair Mammadov believes that Azmaiparashvilli's resignation was "emotional act" and added that they fully understand it.

Nothing more can be said without the official decision of the Federation President Elman Rustamov.

Best ever performance by Cuban team

Cuban Women Team Gets Historic Result in Chess Olympiad
by PL — last modified Oct 04, 2010 04:42 PM
Contributors: PL

Cuban women team got its better result ever in the Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansysk by finishing in he fourth place.

Cubans, headed by GM Yaniet Marrero, gold medalist, got 30 points in general. They won 8 matches and lost just three.

Cubans were surpass just by Russia1, World Champion, China, second and Georgia, third.

Marrero got the first place. She got 87.5 percent of effectiveness, with seven of eight possible points.

Georgian Salome Melia finished second and Latvian Ilze Berzina finished third.

The Cuban team was also integrated by Oleiny Linares, Sulennis Pina, Lisandra Ordaz and Maritza Arribas.

On the other hand men team finished 23rd. They got 6 victories, two ties and seven defeats.

Brazil was best placed for Latin America in the 17th position.

Ukraine was the champion of the Olympiad, followed by Russia1, Israel, Hungary and China.

Source: http://www.escambray.cu

Missing FIDE master title by 1 point

Kawuma misses out on FIDE master
Monday, 4th October, 2010
By Phillip Corry

PATRICK Kawuma missed becoming a Fide Master by one point on his debut at the 39th World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

The youngest member of the men’s team amassed 6.5 points out of 11 rounds at the Olympiad missing just a point to be made a Fide Master like his older brother Stephen Kawuma.

In the last round of the tournament Uganda beat Ethiopia 2-1 as they ended their three week adventure at the Olympiad in 106th position in the men’s standings out of 147 nations.

Mesfin Leykun beat Harold Wanyama on board one to give Ethiopia their first win, but the Ugandans bounced back with Patrick Kawuma and Shadrack Kantinti, beating Mulugeta Ashenafi and Debesay Yohanes.

Source: http://www.newvision.co.ug

Worst ever finish in Olympiad

Pinoys bow to Estonia, logs worst ever finish in Olympiad
Cebu Daily News First
Posted 07:11:00 10/05/2010

CEBUANO International Master Richard Bitoon (ELO 2447) lost to fellow IM Aleksandr Volodin (ELO 2433) of Estonia on Sunday as the 37th-seed Philippines dropped to 50th overall at the close of the 39th World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

With Bitoon’s loss, the RP team suffered a 1.5-2.5 defeat to the 48th-seeded Estonians.

Grandmasters (GM’s) Wesley So (2668), John Paul Gomez (2527) and Darwin Laylo (2522) settled for draws against GM Kaido Kulaots (2592), GM Meelis Kanep (2532) and IM Olav Sepp (2485), respectively.

The RP team tallied a total of 12 match points in the 11-round tournament.

Actually, the RP team tied for 49th to 63rd place, but after the Sonneborn-Berger tiebreak was applied, the Pinoys landed 50th over-all, the country’s worst performance in the biennial meet.

The Philippines finished 46th in the 38th edition of the event in Dresden, Germany topped by Armenia and logged their best-ever finish in 1988 in Thessaloniki, Greece where they placed seventh.

However, the chess landscape took on a drastic change following the breakup of the vaunted Soviet Republic and the rise of several nations that adopted former Soviet players.

In Istanbul, Turkey, the Filipinos came within a point of barging into the elite circle, winning their last three assignments to salvage 17th place, their best showing in the post-Soviet era.

Meanwhile, second seed Ukraine was declared over-all champion with 19 points, nipping top seed Russia 1 (18 points), Israel (17 points) and Hungary (17 points) which finished second third and fourth respectively.

Here is the full article.

Individual and board medal winners at the Chess Olympiad

Individual and board medal winners at the Chess Olympiad
Ivanchuk and Tatiana Kosintseva gold on board 1
Compilation by Chessdom

Medal winners open section

Board 1:

Gold medal Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), 8/10, TPR 2890
Silver medal Levon Aronian (Armenia), 7.5/10, TPR 2888
Bronze medal Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia 2), 6.5/9, TPR 2821

Board 2:

Gold medal Emil Sutovsky (Israel), 6.5/8, TPR 2895
Silver medal Zoltan Almasi (Hungary), 7/10, 2801
Bronze medal Wang Hao (China), 7.5/10, TPR 2783

Board 3:

Gold medal Vitaly Teterev (Belarus), 7/8, TPR 2853
Silver medal Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine), 7/10, TPR 2737
Bronze medal Sergei Rublevsky (Russia 3), 8/11, TPR 2727

Board 4:

Gold medal Sergey Karjakin (Russia 1), 8/10, TPR 2859
Silver medal Zahar Efimenko (Ukraine), 8.5/11, TPR 2783
Bronze medal Anish Giri (The Netherlands), 8/11, TPR 2730

Board 5:

Gold medal Sebastien Feller (France), 6/9, TPR 2708
Silver medal Mateusz Bartel (Poland), 7/9, TPR 2706
Bronze medal Vlastimil Babula (Czech Republic), 7/9, TPR 2668

Medal winners women section

Board 1:

Gold medal Tatiana Kosintseva (Russia 1), 7/10, TPR 2628
Silver medal Zeinab Mamedjarova (Azerbaijan), 9/11, TPR 2623
Bronze medal Hou Yifan (China), 8/11, TPR 2573

Board 2:

Gold medal Nadezhda Kosintseva (Russia 1), 8.5/10, TPR 2662
Silver medal Ju Wenjun (China), 9.5/11, TPR 2636
Bronze medal Pham Le Thao Nguyen (Vietnam), 8.5/10, TPR 2481

Board 3:

Gold medal Yaniet Marrero Lopez (Cuba), 7/8, TPR 2511
Silver medal Salome Melia (Georgia), 7/10, TPR 2458
Bronze medal Ilze Berzina (Latvia), 9/11, TPR 2450

Board 4:

Gold medal Inna Gaponenko (Ukraine), 7.5/8, TPR 2691
Silver medal Anastasia Bodnaruk (Russia 2), 7/8, TPR 2569
Bronze medal Olga Vasiliev (Israel), 7/9, TPR 2379

Board 5:

Gold medal Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine), 6.5/9, TPR 2431
Silver medal Alina Kashlinskaya (Russia 2), 5.5/9, TPR 2327
Bronze medal Bela Khotenashvili (Georgia), 5/8, TPR 2289

Everything about the Chess Olympiad 2010