Chess News - FIDE World Chess Championship 2007 Starts This Week

Just a reminder - the FIDE World Chess Championship 2007 will be held in Mexico City, starting this Wednesday, September 12, 2007, as an eight-player, double round robin tournament. Visit the official site for more information. Live game replay from the official site is here.

October 9th is National Chess Day

Today is National Chess Day by "Presidential Proclamation". With the World Chess Championship down to the wire (see Kramnik Strikes Back) now is a good time to get yourself - and your family and friends - playing the game.

Poor Rook, however, has not been playing chess much of late. I suffered some minor injuries in a fall off of the backporch stairs. But the worst is behind me and I look forward to getting back in the groove playing chess and in updating this blog with more chess items of interest and progress updates on my chess improvement plan.

Rook Takes First Place in OTB Tournament!

In 1979 I took first place with a 4-0 finish in the 1979 Beginners/Unrated section in the 2nd Annual Pontiac Open Chess Tournament. That was my first and only tournament experience until just a few months ago.

History repeats itself. On Saturday, September 16th, twenty-seven years later, I took first place 4-0 (shared with another 4-0 finisher) in the "All the King's Chessman's" Beginner's Unrated Chess Tournament. Unlike last time where I only got a cash prize, this time I did get a trophy! (See picture).

To be fair, the pairings worked in my favor. Although there were four or more adults entered, in rounds 1-3 I was paired with a novice teenager, a 5-year old, and a 10-year old. In the last round I played board 2 against an adult player. Since my game finished quickly, I had an opportunity to view board 1. I'm pretty certain if I had been paired with either player from board 1 they would have trounced me - it was obvious by the way they played they were very experienced chess players.

Here is my winning game from the last round:

Opening "Scandinavian (Center Counter) Defense"
ECO "B01"
White "James M. (Rook Van Winkle)"
Black: "Rod B."

1. e4 d5
2. e5

I have no idea what opening this is. I decline the pawn offer and push forward to prevent Nf6 and to follow up with d4. The opening information above is what the ICC reports it is.

2. ...Nc6
3. d4 e6
4. Nf3 Bb4+



5. c3

The bishop will retreat and I will continue an advance in an attempt to trap it.

5. ...Ba5
6. b4 Bb6



7. b5

If not the bishop, hassle the knight. I know I am probably violating opening principles by making all these pawn moves and ignoring piece development - but I can't resist the temptation.

7. ...Nce7
8. Ng5

I move here just because I can. It will annoy black and threaten the f7 square, especially if I can follow up with 9. Qf3.

8. ...h6



With 8. Ng5 I didn't even think to consider what black's response would be - I'm still very much playing like a beginner! I was annoyed at moving the knight there only to have to move it a second time to safety. It was at this point I found something interesting that I had not planned for at all.

9. Qh5!?

Threatening the f7 square with the queen. Black can now take the knight with the pawn, but he is loath to give up the rook after 9. ...hxg5 10. Qxh8.

9. ...Nf5??

Just about the worst move black could make since the d7 flight square will be lost with the displacement of the knight from e7.

10. Qxf7#

P.S. In the 1979 tournament I checkmated my last opponent in 12 moves - a bit surprising considering my opponent had won his previous 3 games. In this tournament I checkmated my last opponent, who also won his first three games, in only 10 moves. It was SPOOKY that I won so quickly because it felt exactly like a moment in time had repeated itself. Unfortunately I cannot credit any great skill or technique on my part in either win – it really was more a case of my opponents losing their games :-)

The World Chess Championship 2006 or What Ever Happened to Dr. Zukhar?

Having recently come back to chess, I’m greatly looking forward to following my first major chess championship since 1978. I got a chuckle recently reading an old Time Magazine clipping I saved concerning that match – the one between Korchnoi-Karpov-Zukhar. I of course jest here concerning Dr. Zukhar – but at the time he seemed to be as much a part of the contest as the players themselves.

As a refresher to the 1978 match, let me quote from Wikipedia’s entry on Anatoly Karpov:

In 1978, Karpov's first title defence was against Viktor Korchnoi, the opponent he defeated in the previous Candidates tournament. The situation was vastly different from the previous match, because in the intervening years Korchnoi had defected from the Soviet Union. The match was played in Baguio in the Philippines, and a vast array of psychological tricks were used during the match, from Karpov's Dr. Zukhar who allegedly attempted to hypnotize Korchnoi during the game, to Korchnoi's mirror glasses to ward off the hypnotic stare, Korchnoi's offering to play under the Jolly Roger flag when he was denied the right to play under Switzerland's, to Karpov's yogurt supposedly being used to send him secret messages, to Korchnoi inviting two local cult members (on trial for attempted murder) into the hall as members of his team.

Now I’m not sure this latest match will be as entertaining off the board as that match was, but it does look to be interesting.

Check out the excellent article Who will win the Topalov-Kramnik world championship? at Chessbase.com.

If you read only one article on the match, this should be the one. It presents an excellent background to the match, especially helpful to people like me who have been away from chess or for new players just taking up the game. The article also explains the match format, provides player’s biographies, and even speculates who will win the match. Best of all, it concludes with a complete “Schedule of the World Chess Championship 2006” which you can copy and paste somewhere so you don’t miss a game. Highly recommended.