Fide Rankings : Anand leads April 2008 FIDE ratings, Carlsen fifth , Aronian Sixth

The World Champion gained four points to cross the 2800 mark and top the rankings alone. Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov shed points to move to second and fourth; Alexander Morozevich gained points to move to third place. But the sensation is of course Magnus Carlsen, who at 17 years and four months is in place five, just 38 points below the leader. Is this a record?

World Champion Viswanathan Anand has gained four points to cross the magic 2800 line and top the April 2008 alone (in the previous list he was equal first with Kramnik). Vladimir Kramnik shed eleven points to move to second place at 2788. Third is Alexander Morozevich who gained nine to reach 2774; fourth Veselin Topalov who lost 13 to sink to 2767.

The sensation of the list, of course, is the Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen (above), who at the age of 17 years and four months has climbed to place five in the world rankings, having gained a resounding 32 points to bring his Elo rating to 2765. Statisticians and historians need to get to work: is it the first time ever for a 17-year-old? Has anyone at that age ever approached the top rating by 38 points? Is there anything to stop this lad from becoming world champion? We for our part can only say: congrats Magnus, keep it up! You are one of the most intriguing personalities in current-day chess.

Going down the list a bit we find that Levon Aronian has gained 24 points to install himself firmly in place six. It is interesting to note that the Armenian is just two points behind Carlsen and four shy of Topalov. Other notables in the April 2008 list:

• 21-year-old Teimour Radjabov has gained 16 points to move from place 12 to place eight.
• Peter Svidler lost 17 points to drop from place five to nine (but hey, he's still in the top ten).
• Peter Leko, who is having a bad spell, dropped 12 points and two ranks to end at tenth and 2741.
• Vassily Ivanchuk, who in October 2007 was second in the world, is now number 11 at 2740.
• Alexei Shirov lost fifteen points to drop from seventh to 12th at 2740.
• Big winners are Chinese GMs Bu Xiangzhi and Ni Hua, who gained 17 and 23 points respectively to come in at 21st and 23rd in the world. GM Wang Hao gained 19 points to move from 48th to 34th.
• There are no women in the top 100 list – Judit Polgar has dropped out, perhaps due to inactivity (but see women's list below)?!

FIDE April 2008 Rating List

Top 53 Women April 2008

Here is where we find Judit Polgar, at the top of the Women's list. She has gained two points from 13 games played in the rating period, so we really do not understand why she is not in the main list. Probably just a glitch in the generation of the list.

In second place is the second female player in history to cross the 2600 mark, Koneru Humpy. In third, snapping at her heels, is the Chinese chess phenomenon Hou Yifan, who turned 14 just a month ago. Like Carlsen all we can say is: who is to stop this lass from becoming world champion?

Top 20 Girls April 2008

We can only repeat ourselves: guess who is the strongest girl in the world. Yifan, the chess marvel, who is 63 points ahead of Anna Muzychuk in second. Our friend Katya Lahno is closing in in third, with another favourite, Harika, in fourth place.

FIDE

City teen makes his move in world chess

He might only be a schoolboy but Cape Town's Anant Dole, 15, made a world-class impression at an international chess competition in 2008.

Anant exploded on to the local chess scene a few years ago just a year or two after his sister taught him the game.

But his proudest triumph yet was at 2008 Fide-hosted Parsvnath International Open Chess Tournament in New Delhi, India, where he clinched a joint fifth place and scooped a prize of 10 000 rupees (about R2 000).

In a rare occurrence for such a junior player, he also defeated Turkmenistan grandmaster Sapar Batyrov.

The tournament, held from January 13 to 20, was open to anyone so Anant had to compete against 400 talented players of all ages and backgrounds.

These opponents included grandmasters, Fide masters and international masters with years of experience and reputable international ratings.

The Grade 9 Sacs pupil who is also one of Mark Shuttleworth's Hip2b² ambassadors this year is ranked among the top 10 junior chess players in the country and has been invited to the national championships every year since he was eight.

"I won (nationals) at least five times in my age group," he said.

After his success at the competition, Anant was left with a local rating of about 2 150 (points) and an international Fide rating of 1 985.

His ambition is to eventually become a grandmaster - the most prestigious title a chess player can hold.

Players require an international rating of 2 500 to make grandmaster status.

"I would love to become a grandmaster one day but it will take a lot of effort. At the moment, I practise about an hour a day, but grandmasters put in about five hours a day," Anant said.

He believed the game not only taught him discipline, but also played a big role in his academic performance.

"I don't have to put as much effort into certain tasks as I used to, especially subjects like maths, because maths and chess are closely related. It has helped me face problems in all spheres of life," he said.

Anant's former coach, Kenny Solomons, said Anant had "great potential" as a chess player.

"If he continues to work hard and stay disciplined, he could be one of the best chess players around," he said.

Courtesy : http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=139&art_id=vn20080204112814395C455487

Kasparov Talks on Fischer

he latest issue of Time Magazine has a moving tribute to the eleventh World Champion Bobby Fischer, written by Garry Kasparov, the thirteenth World Champion. Meanwhile controversy is brewing over Fischer's estate, estimated at £1 million. And Variety reports on plans for a Hollywood movie "Bobby Fischer Goes to War" directed by Oscar winner Kevin Macdonald. Links and excerpts.

Kasparov on Fischer

Time: The Chessman, by Garry Kasparov
It is hard to say exactly when I first heard the name Bobby Fischer, but it was quite early in my life. When he was battling Boris Spassky for the world title in 1972, I was a 9-year-old club player in my native Baku in the Soviet Union. I followed the games avidly. The newspapers had extensive daily coverage of the match, although that waned as it became clear the Soviet champion was headed for defeat. Fischer's My 60 Memorable Games was one of my first chess books. (It had been translated into Russian and sold in the U.S.S.R. with no respect for copyright or royalties, infuriating its author.)

Controversy over Fischer's legacy

Times Online: Bobby Fischer, chess genius, heartless son
Unpublished letters seen by The Timesnow throw new light on the origins of Fischer’s precarious mental state and his obsession with beating Boris Spassky at the so-called match of the century in Reykjavik in 1972. He did not know who his real father was, and he deeply resented his mother for being an active communist under constant surveillance by the FBI.

Guardian: Fischer's 'widow' and nephews in legal tussle for £1m estate
As a chess mastermind Bobby Fischer was capable of executing manoeuvres as complicated as they were brutal. Now, following his death, the tussle over his million-pound estate may turn out to be just as convoluted. Last week the Reykjavik newspaper Visir reported that Fischer's estate, worth an estimated 140m Icelandic kronur (£1.07m), would go to Miyoko Watai, whom it described as Fischer's widow. But Fischer's brother-in-law Russell Targ has been in Iceland to instruct a lawyer to investigate whether Targ's two sons should be the beneficiaries. There are also confusing accounts of a daughter, now seven, whom Fischer is said to have fathered during a relationship which blossomed at country club in the Philippines. Yesterday Watai's lawyer, Arni Vilhjalmsson, said he had received an official document from Japan confirming the marriage. "It's a copy and I am waiting for the original," he said. If the document is proved authentic, Vilhjalmsson will take it to a magistrate in Iceland and ask for a private liquidation of the assets. Yesterday the Chesbase website carried a letter from John Bosnitch claiming that Fischer had married Watai in a ceremony at which he had been present: "I was the male witness to that marriage and the marriage certificate bears my name."

IceNews Daily: The complicated legacy of Bobby Fischer
Chess legend Bobby Fischer, who died on January 17th, was recently buried at a country church in Iceland during a Catholic funeral service. Though the service itself may have been peaceful, the legal wrangling over Fischer’s million dollar fortune may be about to turn nasty. Russel Targ, Fischer’s brother-in-law, has flown to Iceland in order to pursue legal investigations into the matter of inheritance which he feels should belong to his two sons. Another possible beneficiary is a seven year old girl, said to be Fischer’s daughter from a country club romance in the Philippines.

Fischer on the Big Screen

Variety: Macdonald to direct 'Bobby Fischer'
Universal and Working Title partners Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner have tapped Kevin Macdonald to direct "Bobby Fischer Goes to War." The drama about the upstart chess whiz's triumph over Boris Spassky in the World Chess Championship in 1972 is scripted by Shawn Slovo, based on the book by David Edmonds and John Eidinow. Bevan and Fellner will produce. Macdonald won an Oscar for the documentary "One Day in September" before making his scripted directing debut on "The Last King of Scotland."

Cinema Blend: Bobby Fischer Heading Back To The Big Screen
Variety is reporting that Kevin Macdonald will direct Bobby Fischer Goes to War, a drama about the American chess champion. Fischer was a teenage sensation when he became a chess grandmaster at the age of 15. His huge accomplishment though, came in 1972 when he defeated Russian chess champion Boris Spassky. Of course, later in life Fischer became known as an eccentric and an anti-Semite. Macdonald's movie will apparently focus only on the match against Spassky. Fischer is a fascinating American figure, a hero for many years who later completely shunned his country. Given that the main character in Macdonald's Last King of Scotland was a murderous dictator, he's proven he can take on controversial but fascinating figures. I'm excited to see what he can do with this highly unusual story.

General articles

Daily Star: Talking about Lebanon with Bobby Fischer
Julie Flint remembers the Match of the Century: "Reykjavik in 1972 was my first big reporting assignment, for The Associated Press. I went for three days and stayed for three months". In 1992 she went to Belgrade to meet Fischer (with the help of Svetozar Gligoric), at 2 a.m., and was grilled about her reporting from Lebanon. "In the 1980s and early 1990s, I had been reporting from Beirut for ABC radio – and Bobby had been listening. He quoted myself to me. Why had I said this? What did I mean by that? Why was I out of breath when I said such-and-such (because I was recording, live, as I ran down a street in Mar Mikhael under Lebanese Army tank-fire in February 1984). Why were the Israelis so 'bloodthirsty'? 'Israelis' was not the word he used."

Bobby Fischer was my childhood hero.

In my office, I have a framed black-and-white photograph of a young Bobby Fischer, dressed impeccably in a suit, engrossed in a chess game.

Bobby Fischer was my childhood hero. He was U.S. chess champion at 14 and a year later became the youngest grandmaster in history. He took on the Soviets at their favorite game and beat them all, breaking the decades-long string of Soviet champions. When he defeated Boris Spassky for the world championship in 1972, I was 7 years old.

It was the height of the Cold War. Public television covered each move of the 21-game match. One evening, a New York City reporter visited 21 Manhattan bars and discovered that 18 had the Fischer match on television instead of the Mets game. That epic event was my first exposure to chess.

There was something intriguing about Fischer's intensity and those mysterious wooden pieces, so I asked Santa Claus for a chess set. Santa delivered.

As I began to study chess, I reveled in sharing Fischer's initials. I signed everything "Bobby F." When my dad came home with a copy of Fischer's classic book, "My 60 Memorable Games," I devoured every word. By the third reading, the binding was destroyed, and I kept the book together with a thick rubber band. When I read that Fischer subscribed to Russian chess magazines to learn the secrets of the Soviet masters, I got my hands on similar publications and taught myself the rudiments of the Russian alphabet so I could follow the moves.

Fischer possessed a relentless will to win. His great rival Spassky said, "When you play Bobby, it is not a question of whether you win or lose. It is a question of whether you survive." Unlike other grandmasters, Fischer didn't believe in occasionally taking short draws to conserve his energy in long, draining tournaments.

In the world championship qualifying matches, Fischer won 19 games in a row without conceding a single draw (the majority of grandmaster games are draws). It would be as if the New England Patriots didn't just win every football game they played this year, but didn't even allow their opponents to score. One Fischer opponent observed, "It began to feel as though you were playing against chess itself."

But after winning the world championship at age 29, the man who once said, "All I want to do, ever, is play chess," stopped playing. He didn't bother to defend his world championship in 1975 and went into seclusion.

I couldn't believe it. My own chess skills were improving, and I grew impatient for Bobby to provide new brilliancies. But as I entered high school and gradually mastered the game, Bobby Fischer was letting me down.

He quit chess and wrote a pamphlet titled "I Was Tortured in the Pasadena Jailhouse!" I didn't read it. The son of a Jewish mother, Fischer began to spew anti-Semitic invective. An American hero, Fischer cheered the Sept. 11 attacks. It appeared that chess had kept him sane. Once he lost touch with the game, he lost touch with his sanity.

The romanticized view of Fischer that I held as a boy needed to adjust to a more complex reality. Aristotle said, "There was never a genius without a tincture of madness." That may be true, but Fischer's madness provoked tirades that were hard to forgive.

How was I to reconcile the boy who played the "game of the century" at 13 with the man who held such ugly views? I nodded my head when, in the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer," Ben Kingsley's character said, "I want back what Bobby Fischer took with him when he disappeared."

Why couldn't Fischer be like Garry Kasparov? Kasparov dominated chess for the past 20 years and recently entered Russian politics to challenge Vladimir Putin, at tremendous personal risk, and lead the pro-democracy movement. From my perspective as a local politician and chess master, this was a man I could admire.

When I learned of Fischer's death, I reflected on the hundreds of hours I spent studying his games while my schoolwork went unattended. Bobby Fischer was a big part of my youth, and I wondered how best to remember him.

A few years ago, I taught chess to a class of second- graders and regaled them with stories of a kid from Brooklyn who dreamed of becoming world champion, studied hard and then reached his dream.

I showed the students my framed photograph of the young Bobby Fischer, told them that it possessed secret powers and that I always won whenever I played with it next to me. I promised that the best-behaved student could borrow the picture when the second- graders paired up to play chess. That got their attention.

Later, as I walked amongst their games, quietly offering advice, I passed the boy who had earned the Fischer photograph, which he held tightly in his little hands. He leaned over to the girl sitting next to him and whispered "the Bobby Fischer picture really works!"

That's the Bobby Fischer I will remember.

http://chesscool.blogspot.com/2007/11/bobby-fischer.html

Courtesy @http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2004141350_bobbyfischer24.html

King County Councilmember Bob Ferguson is an internationally rated chess master and two-time Washington State Chess Champion. He can be contacted at bob.ferguson@kingcounty.gov.

Radjabov wins ACP World Rapid Cup in Odessa

Without doubt the knockout rapid chess format in this ACP tournament brought some heart-stopping action. In the end it was GM Teimour Radjabov, 20 years old and from Baku, Azerbaijan, who took the cup, beating Alexander Grischuk in the final. Meanwhile the Chairman of the sponsoring Pivdenny Bank was elected new President of the ACP. Big illustrated report by Misha Savinov.

Quarterfinals

Before the quarterfinal day we had a brief discussion at the press center on who could be considered the favorite. This is obviously a matter of opinion, as all the remaining players had the skill and had experienced the luck required to succeed. Most local observers were inclined towards Ivanchuk, whi

le I voted for the winner of Grischuk-Svidler match. This is how narrow our thinking is – I guess people from Baku would elect Radjabov, and Israelis prefer Gelfand.

Anyway, after the quarterfinals the hopes of Ukrainians were pinned on the youngest participant of this World Cup, Sergey Karjakin. The promising 17-year-old eliminated Gelfand, the oldest player of those survived the first couple of days. In blitz, naturally – for longer games the Petroff is really tough to beat.

Ivanchuk, the best-loved player of the Odessa public (okay, maybe the second – after Karpov) was knocked out by Radjabov. Teimour is as anxious as ever; he looks very motivated, and it must be really uncomfortable to sit in front of his drilling eyes. He is definitely a tough cookie, and Ivanchuk, dressed in Real Madrid uniform, could sense it today. The public saw everything: long-range fights in the first two games; blunder exchange in the blitz tie-break; wild server-style piece-dropping in the Armageddon, which ended in Ivanchuk losing on time after regaining 57 seconds of the initial minute handicap...

Semifinals and final

Please excurse briefness of my notes: it is about one a.m. in Odessa, and it feels weird to be working when players and colleagues around me are celebrating.

The first semifinal, Radjabov-Jakovenko, ended with a perfect score. It is kind of strange, because before the match such respectable people as Ivanchuk predicted even chances (presuming the encounter would go on until the Armageddon). However, Jakovenko was not in a playing mood and did not put up enough resistance. Highly motivated Radjabov advanced to the final, and at the press-conference bombarded general media journalists with lengthy chess lines. He is definitely more at home discussing chess than anything else.

Someone spilled gasoline on board before the second semifinal. Don’t give matches to these kids! Karjakin and Grischuk could have caused many heart attacks tonight – hopefully their true supporters were not watching the games live. Grischuk came back twice from behind and won the Armageddon in nice attacking style.

DGT presents: new clocks, technology – and Vladimir Kramnik

World première at opening of new office DGT

On Wednesday 9 January we celebrate the opening of the new multifunctional facility of DGT on the Hengelosestraat 66 in Enschede. DGT stands for Digital Game Technology; the company is producer of digital chess clocks and electronic chess boards which are sold all over the world. At the opening the municipal authorities of Enschede are represented by Mr Roelof Bleker, alderman of urban development and culture.

World première
The biggest surprise during the opening will be the world première of Foidos; a new system to follow chess games, developed by Chess Dimension, a joint venture of DGT and Share Dimension. With Foidos chess lovers can watch live chess game coverage on the internet from multiple angles. One can simultaneously follow the game on the board, walk through the moves, and access video streams of the players from several angles at the same time. Concurrently he can hear the comment of a Grand master on the game.

World champion Kramnik
Special guest of honour at the opening is Mr Vladimir Kramnik. He is the 14th world champion in chess and is available for the press. Kramnik became world champion in a match against Kasparov in the year 2000. He defended his title several times but had to give it up during the World Championship tournament in Mexico in 2007. Kramnik is number 1 on the latest rating list of the Fide (World chess federation) with 2799 rating points, as many as Anand against whom he will play a match for the title in October 2008.

New developments
At the upcoming International Toy Fair in Nürnberg DGT will present a new chess box under the motto : “The new way to play” this box holds a brilliant foldable chess clock.

Multipurpose building
In the new building the Chess Lab is situated on the ground floor. Several test set-ups have been placed here. You can also find a vast international chess library and a permanent exhibition of chess clocks that have been categorised. In a few months a chess training and education centre will be started. The warehouse and forwarding are also located on the ground floor. The offices are positioned on the first floor as is the multifunctional room where in the near future top chess players can play their games closely followed by the public without being bothered.

Simul
Some of the guests can play a chess game during the opening party. Grand master Tea Lanchava, one of the strongest lady chess players of our country, will play a simul against them in the Chess Lab. In this demonstration room the games are played on electronic chess boards so that they can be followed “live” via the internet site www.dgtprojects.com/opening/tfd.htm from 17.30 hours on.

Art
At the opening there is an exhibition of paintings from Bianca Leusink. She is a former employee of DGT and now a professional artist. She has developed her own style, as a result of which her colourful modern artwork and paintings are very recognizable.

History
DGT was founded by Ben Bulsink, Albert Vasse and Paul Arentz in 1992. They started with the production of digital chess clocks, which got official approval of the World Chess Federation FIDE. It proved to be a revolutionary step in the world of chess. Initially they worked from home. After several smaller locations the company moved to a 400m2 office at Hengelosestraat 298 in Enschede. The assortment rapidly extended with digital chess-boards, accessories and software. In 2007 the office became too small and DGT had to look for a new suitable location that was found at Hengelosestraat 66, at walking distance of the central bus and railway station.

Worldwide
DGT, based in Enschede The Netherlands has more than 300 agents worldwide. At nearly all chess tournaments in the world, from Mexico to Australia DGT clocks keep track of game time. Since 1994 the assortment has been considerably extended, and now consists of 4 digital clock models, complete chess boxes, digital chess boards, tournament software, chess sets and accessories.

DGT– Digital Game Technology
Hengelosestraat 66
7514 AJ Enschede, Holland
Phone: +31(0)53-4305195
E-mail: info@dgtprojects.com

Cheboygan hosts invitational chess tourney Saturday

CHEBOYGAN - Chess players will have the chance to put their skills to the test on Saturday in the Cheboygan Area High School cafeteria during the ninth annual Cheboygan Invitational Chess Tournament.

The invitational will run from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. with each participant guaranteed to play in at least four games. There will be 16 prizes spread over four competition categories.

“This tournament is the primary fund-raiser for the Cheboygan High School chess team,” said Jess Miller, tournament organizer and CHS chess coach. “This raises the money that allows us to participate in the state tournament each year.”

The invitational tournament offers an opportunity to chess players of all ages by using age-based divisions including, adult, high school, middle school and upper elementary.

Miller said he expects another good turnout this year - as long and the weather cooperates.

“We usually have a good number of participants and I think that will be that case again this year,” he noted. “Our number of participants usually falls between 50 and 80, and I think that's pretty good considering the weather this time of year.”

To get the word out about the invitational, Miller said he put flyers up in several Northern Michigan towns and issued invites to many known chess players.

For the past 10 years the CHS chess team has been traveling downstate to participate in the state tourney and for six of those years they have returned with a trophy, said Miller.

Miller also emphasized the value of chess even when players are away from the chess board.

“This game really helps kids with their decision making and forces them to evaluate the consequences of their decisions,” he explained.

Registration is $12 until today, and will be $15 at the door, which includes their lunch.

For more information contact Jess Miller at 231-238-4492.