The annual Super Tournament in Wijk aan Zee has come to an end. This year was very exciting with some novelties, especially by Veselin Topalov in his winning game against Vladimir Kramnik, and outstanding results from 17 year old Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen and Armenian Levon Aronian led the tournament with 8/13 in the "A" group. Also noteworthy was the clear first in the "C" group by Italian/American Fabiano Caruana.
There is plenty of information available on the tournament at the official website. Games scores and annotations can be found at The Week in Chess (TWIC), Mig Greengard's Daily Dirt, the Internet Chess Club and other sites on the web. ChessVibes is also worth checking out for some great interviews and commentary by the players on their own games.
The professional and amateur chess events were only part of the story, however. The official site notes that:
Yochanan Afek: Amongst the special events celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Corus Chess Tournament, stands out the International composing tourney for endgame studies. A turnout of 151 entries submitted by 90 composers from 29 countries, makes it one of the biggest composing events ever. Especially successful was Yuri Bazlov from Vladivostok who shared the top honours and won the third prize too.
Here is the winning endgame composition:
White to play and win. Yuri Bazlov
A 19 page .pdf file listing all the winning entries, with the solutions, can be found at the official siteand at TWIC. There is also a .pgn file of all the winning compositions at TWIC.
Robert James Fischer, 11th World Chess Champion in the modern era, has died. For many players, Fischer was the greatest of them all. Fischer transformed many aspects of chess and inspired millions to take up the game competitively. However, as former World Champion Garry Kasparov remarked, his ugly anti-Semitic tirades and extravagant life after his retirement from serious play did not contribute to the popularity of chess.
In an ironic twist, Fischer was 64 when he died. There are, of course, 64 squares on a chessboard.
Last Friday I watched as part of a church film group the Bergman film, The Seventh Seal, in which a Christian knight plays chess with death. Death won, but the knight managed to save a few lives in the course of his struggle with the Grim Reaper. Millions of people were influenced by Fischer - including me when I took up competitive chess back in 1992 as others did - to play the great game of chess.
There will be Fischer Memorial tournaments around the world. And, paradoxically perhaps, I expect the Russian chess public to honour Fischer as much or more than his own country will. The Cold War battle that the 1972 Championship became did not stop them from having an attitude of admiration towards Fischer. And I expect that no U.S. government will be able to forgive Fischer for his remark that a real cause of 9-11 was the U.S. foreign policy that preceded the horrific events in New York City. Blowback is now an acknowledged fact to many observers but it was not so in 2001. It would probably be useful to recall an Icelandic response to the choleric attack on that country by the U.S. newspaper The Washington Post following Bobby Fischer's arrival in Iceland. In an Editorial dated 29 March 2005 the Morgunbladid in Reykjavik, Iceland noted:
Bobby Fischer has not come to Iceland because of his opinions. They are his, and he is responsible for his words just as any other Icelander is.
When Mr. Fischer became World Champion, Americans were eager to cloak themselves in this eccentric chess genius’ victory over the Soviet chess dynasty, but since 1992 their intransigence toward him has been unalloyed.
Early this winter, Mr. Fischer wrote to the authorities in this country and requested asylum in Iceland. Minister of Foreign Affairs Davíd Oddsson demonstrated both valor and philanthropy when he decided to honor that request. Icelanders have formed a group of Bobby Fischer supporters who have worked tirelessly to get him released, and it is thanks to this group and the Minister for Foreign Affairs that Mr. Fischer is here. The original intent was not to grant Mr. Fischer Icelandic citizenship, but when it became clear that the Japanese would not release him, the decision was made to take this step. Althingi (the Icelandic Parliament) did not bring Iceland to shame with this decision; instead, it saved the United States the shame of having imprisoned Robert James Fischer for the sole crime of not having behaved in harmony with American foreign policy.
Fischer was a warrior on and off the chessboard. It is a pity that his great fighting spirit was not put to better use after his retirement from serious play. What he lacked for that was a knight's humility; however, it is also true that Fischer was once quoted as saying that humility would be hypocritical of him since he viewed himself as the greatest chess player ever.
One minute of silence was observed prior to the start of Round 6 at the Corus Tournament in Wijk aan Zee to remember Bobby Fischer.
I cannot say enough good things about the new chess video site, ChessVibes. Their speedy coverage is simply amazing and a real treat. Have a look at ChessVibes There is the actual recording of the moment of silence in honour of Fischer at Wijk aan Zee. Reactions are available, so far, from GM Ljubomir Ljubojevic, GM Nigel Short, GM Michael Adams, GM Teimur Rajabov, GM Jan Timman, and GM Veselin Topalov. I particulary like what Topalov said: "He really loved chess and his ideas ... still live."
He never fixed a game, never played for a draw, and gave us a legacy of total devotion to an art. He was, simply, for his brief shining moment, the best that ever was.
from Brenan Nierman over at Mig Greengard's, The Daily Dirt
Here is that minute of silence. What else need be said?
Hmm. Apparently, Kasparov found something to say. One great champion gives his best to another.
Fischer's beautiful chess and his immortal games will stand forever as a central pillar in the history of our game.... It is with justice that he spent his final days in Iceland, the site of his greatest triumph. There he has always been loved and seen in the best possible way: as a chessplayer.
Although he was before my time in Manitoba chess, I heard enough about Kent Oliver to know that he was a player and past officer/president of the Manitoba Chess Association. For many years now, a supplement has been added in memory of Kent Oliver to enrich the prize fund of this important annual event. Those with a longer memory are welcome to add more details about Kent Oliver and/or the tournament named in his memory.
This weekend is also the occasion for the Annual General Meeting of the Manitoba Chess Association. The AGM will be held between the 4th and 5th rounds of the event ... and it looks like the 4th round will be starting an hour early (at 9 am rather than 10 am) to create time for the meeting. While the free pizza tradition has, I think, been abandoned, this is still an important meeting for Manitoba chess. Heheh. As it is between rounds of the KOM I expect it not to last too long. Plan to attend if you are able and interested in Manitoba chess in 2008.
It's time for another heterodox chess problem. Our problemist, Zoltan Bodnar, has worked on the previous composition and come up with some improvements. The problem is, once again, a thematic one dedicated to this new blog. The layout of the pieces begins in the form of an exclamation mark or "exclam".
The start position has White pawns on b5, b6, and b7. The pawn on b7 is a royal pawn; it has the same properties as other pawns with the additional property that it can be checked. In this problem, the only Black piece that can "check" this pawn is the Black king. The royal pawn is indicated by an upside-down pawn. In addition, White has a double move rook hopper on b4. It is indicated by an upside-down rook. This piece is called a clam and it can be compared to a checker piece that must make two jumps and two jumps only. Such a piece could, for example, jump over an adjacent piece, or pawn, and jump right back to its original square, provided it wasn't temporarily blocking a check, etc. It is indicated with a "C". White has no king on the board.
Black has a king on b2.
The problem is a help double stalemate. The final position will have both players stalemated. By convention, Black moves first in this problem.
So, we have ....
White: pawns on b5, b6. royal pawn on b7. clam on b4. Black: king on b2.
hdp 5.5 ZKBodnar condition: black must not "check"
Given the lack of response to these heterodox problems so far, the solution will be provided in the comments section. Good luck!
