Archive for October, 2008:
Southern Railway on top
Chennai: Wins in the middle boards by D.P. Singh and Mari Arul helped top seed Southern Railway wrest the sole lead from Indian Bank at the end of the fifth round and penultimate round in the Ramco Tamil Nadu State team chess championship at Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.
Railways won 3-1 to reach 14.5 points and take a half point lead over SRM University, which overcame Bloom Chess Academy 2.5-1.5.
On the top board, IM G.B. Prakash of Indian Bank obtained an advantage with white but he went for a wrong queen exchange and did not get the structural advantage he hoped for. Tamil Nadu champion Muralikrishnan held him to a draw.
Bahrain crush Kuwait in chess
BAHRAIN posted their maiden victory in the fourth GCC Teams Chess Championship, being held in Dubai, defeating Kuwait 4-0.
Ali Al Sulaiti gave Bahrain the lead after beating Kuwait’s Waleed Al Awadhi, Fide Master Maher Ayyad defeated Mohammed Qabazerd, Khalaf Bukhalaf outplayed Faisal Al Hamlan and Ali Al Ghasra edged Bader Al Hajri.
Defending champions Qatar stayed on course to retain the title following a crucial 3-1 victory over main rivals and hosts the UAE.
The Qataris are still leading this four-team double round robin championship with 11 points from three rounds, followed by the UAE (8 points) in second place, Bahrain (5) third and Kuwait (0) fourth.
Teams for GCC squash
TEAMS are set to arrive in Bahrain on Saturday prior to the 14th GCC Junior Squash Championships which gets underway on Sunday at the Marina Club Courts.
CHESS
The world championship match between titleholder Vishy Anand of India and challenger Vladimir Kramnik of Russia begins tomorrow in Bonn, Germany. Kramnik’s three previous title contests against Garry Kasparov, Peter Leko and Veselin Topalov were covered splendidly by Evgeny Bareev and Ilya Levitov in the book “From London to Elista,” issued by New in Chess. The Socratic narrative won the 2008 Book of the Year Award of the English Chess Federation and surely was not overlooked by Anand.
Championship success for chess star
TALENTED chess player Dmitri Whitmore was runner-up on Saturday at the North Wales and Cheshire under-11 chess championship.
Dmitri, aged 10, lives in Congleton and is a pupil at King’s School in Macclesfield.
More than 20 children took part in the championships, which were held at Birchwood High School in Warrington.
Each played six games, with Dmitri winning five out of six.
He was taught to play chess by his father Michael, and plays in the school chess club.
Dmitri received an award and certificate from George Davidson, who organised the championships.\
Rwanda: Revived Chess Federation Eye Dresden Olympiad
RWANDA Chess Federation (FERWADE) is back into existence after years of internal wrangles.
Last month, the federation elected a new executive committee and work started immediately with preparations for both national and international events first on the agenda.
The new committee includes Godfrey Kabera (president), Maxeme Murara (vice president), Alex Ruzigwa (secretary general) and Alain Patience Niyibizi (treasurer).
Rwanda is among the 150 international chess member associations that will take part in the 38th Dresden Chess Olympiad set for November 12-25 in Germany.
World Chess Championship set to begin in Bonn
Bonn (AP): Experts are predicting a close match when Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand defends his world chess championship title in a 12 game match starting this week against grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik of Russia.
The two players are evenly matched and for many years have jostled each other for second and third place on the ratings list behind chess great Garry Kasparov, who retired in 2005. They were tied atop the list at the beginning of the year before recent subpar performances have dropped Anand, 38, to fifth and Kramnik, 33, to sixth on the list released October 1.
American grandmaster Yasser Seirawan said he expects “a very exciting and tense match.”
“I don’t see either player walking away with it,” he said.
The matches begin on Tuesday and are scheduled through October 31. If tied after 12 games, November 2 is set aside for a series of rapid and, if necessary, blitz games to decide the winner.
The two first faced each other in 1989, and in games against one another Kramnik has six wins, Anand five and 42 draws in games played at normal time-controls. With rapid and blitz games included, Anand has a slight edge with 65.5 points in 127 games played.
Cebu rules National intercities chess
BACOLOD CITY — THERE’S STILL ONE round to play, but Cebu City can afford to celebrate. No matter the outcome of its final match against Taguig City late last night, Cebu City will still emerge champion of the National Intercities and Municipalities chess team championship at the New Government Center here.
Powered by International Master Richard Bitoon, Cebu City routed Quezon City, 3-1, in the seventh round and drew with Binalonan (Pangasinan), 2-2, in the eighth round to boost its total to 14 points and move beyond reach of closest pursuer Tagaytay City, which has 11 points.
Bitoon, the 33-year-old native of Medellin, Cebu, bested Rolando Andador to set the tone for Cebu City’s romp over Quezon City in the tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines headed by Prospero “Butch” Pichay.
