Archive for November, 2008:
Inmates Take on Undergrads in Chess Game
A group of undergraduate chess players from Princeton University took on the best chess players at a maximum security prison in Trenton, New Jersey. The ‘ivies versus the inmates’ competition has been going on since 2002
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Inmates Take on Undergrads in Chess Game
Tags: after-the-three, attack-development, chess, education, inmates, ivies, prisoners, sicilian, the-inmates, trenton, variation
Inmates Take on Undergrads in Chess Game
A group of undergraduate chess players from Princeton University took on the best chess players at a maximum security prison in Trenton, New Jersey. The ‘ivies versus the inmates’ competition has been going on since 2002. (Nov.
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Inmates Take on Undergrads in Chess Game
Davao’s Batucan ready for World Youth Chess
TWELVE-year-old John Ray Batucan is ready to do battle for yet another shot at glory for the Philippines when the 2008 World Youth Chess Championships unfolds on October 20 to 31 in Vietnam.
Batucan, a sixth-grader at Don Juan dela Cruz Elementary School in Toril, Davao City, said he had been training the past four monnths for the tournament.
Get updates and join Dabawenyos Kadayawan 2008 celebration
“Nagsige man ko ug praktis sa computer pero dili lang ko mag-promise nga magdaug usab. Maningkamot lang gyud ko (I’v been practicing with the computer but I can’t predict to become champion again. I’ll just really do my best),” he said during the Davao Sportswriters Association (DSA) Forum at the Tower Inn yesterday.
Batucan, a son of taxi driver Neptali Batucan, Jr., captured two gold medals in boys 12-under individual and team standard events of the 9th Asean Age-Group Chess Championships in Danang, Vietnam last June.
The Dabawenyo ace, who will be coached by Filipino International Master (IM) Ildefonso Datu in Vietnam, said he and 10 other Filipinos will be up against the best and finest woodpushers in the world, including those from powerhouse Russia.
He later told Sun.Star Davao in an interview, “The Asean tournament is far different from the World Youth. It will be a very challenging experience for me. But I’ll give my best all the same.”
Father Neptali, on his part, said his youngest son had been exposed in different tournaments since he came home from the Asean meet.
“Nakatabang sab nga dunay mga chess tournaments diri kay dako gyud ug tabang sa iyahang preparasyon. Naa pa man gani siya’y dula unyang gabii sa Toril. Dili man gud lang siya nakigdula sa mga kaedad niya, maski sa mga dagko ug mga beterano sad (Playing in various tournaments here helped him in his preparations. He even has a game left Thursday night in Toril. He hasn’t only competed with players of his age-group but also with older and veterans),” the proud dad shared.
He and fellow Davao player Rowelyn Joy Acedo of Jose Maria College will play the 11-round Swiss System format chessfest.
Batucan is set to leave for Manila tonight and then depart with the Team Philippines on Sunday.
His World Youth Chess stint is backed up by National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president Prospero “Butch” Pichay, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte and Engr. Enrico Vanta of Chadric Builders.
A handful of Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) members, led by Vice-Mayor Inday Sara Duterte, also gave financial assistance to boost Batucan’s campaign. (MLSA)
Team Cebu City to add chess team
AFTER years of excelling in national competitions by playing for other cities, the Cebuano chess players no longer have to after Councilor Jack Jakosalem decided to put up an official Chess Team Cebu City.
“It was a rather impressive feat because the first time in 20 years. I have also seen how chess have gained popularity in the local scene in just a year that I believe it is time to have a Team Cebu City,” said Jakosalem, who heads the city’s sports commission.
The Cebu chess team, powered by International Master Richard Bitoon, recently won the National Inter-cities and Municipalities chess team championship in Bacolod City.
In many instances before noted players like Richard Natividad, IM Enrico Sevillano and Kim Yap were recruited by other cities and provinces to represent them in various competitions. And since sponsors are scarce, they accept the invitations.
Upon learning of this, Jakosalem said that he was saddened and said he will make sure that these players will now be representing their own city.
“The thing is there are so many sports that need our help. That is why we ask them to inform us, at least two months in advance, so that the city could generate the needed financial backing for their competitions,” Jakosalem added.
Jakosalem also pointed out that some sports, like dancesport and football, have gained the needed help because of their individual backers.
Directors
“They have very active and supportive directors. That is why we have point persons—the sports directors—so that whenever they have needs, they are the ones whom they turn to. These persons will then be the ones to inform me so that I can act on it in the city council,” said Jakosalem.
“There are so many events that we help out in, barangay basketball, volleyball, even if we know that there is very little chance for them to excel internationally, but this sport holds a huge potential,” Jakosalem added.
However, just when Jakosalem got excited in helping out the woodpushers, he was disappointed to learn that there aren’t too many events that they could take part in.
“I asked them for their upcoming tournaments, so that he could start preparing for the budget needed to send them to it, but there aren’t a lot of it,” he said.
As of now, Jakosalem said that he is proposing to the council an incentive plan for the team.
chess at McKenzie School
Christina Pegg seemed mighty pleased with her chess move, but she wasn’t gloating — an attitude that doesn’t fit well with the values of courtesy and respect taught in McKenzie School’s kindergarten chess program.
“I castled the king,” exclaimed Christina, who re-enacted the steps she’d taken to move her rook into the protective position for instructor Shiva Maharaj, who gave her a congratulatory high-five.
Anand, Kramnik tied 1-1 after two games in world chess
After a dry and dull opening game, the second, despite being a draw showed enough spark to whet the appetite for the fans in the 12-game championships.
NIIT-Brand ambassador Anand, pitted against Kramnik, whose preparation for this match includes a clash with computer, Deep Fritz, were engaged in contrasting first two games.
In the first, Kramnik with white was held to a tame draw by Anand but in the second the Indian surprised everyone by opening with the Queen’s Pawn when the King’s Pawn, his routine choice, had been expected by all.
Kramnik responded with the Nimzo-Indian and Anand took his opponent into some sharp lines but his plan was kept at bay as the Russian took the game into quieter positions.
Kramnik was quite successful in warding off all dangers and then attempted to take the initiative on move 16. But Anand forced the Russian to sacrifice a pawn in order to prevent the white bishops becoming active.
Kramnik fixed his pawn structure and then his knight was the best piece on the board.
Anand did not make progress but avoided a repetition of moves and shortly after, with his time running out for the Indian – he had less than Kramnik – the Indian star accepted Kramnik’s draw offer.
Kramnik plays white in Friday’s third game.
The match is being staged by Universal Event Promotion at the Art and Exhibition Hall of Germany in Bonn and match sponsors Evonik Industries have put up a 1.5 million Euro prize fund, which will be split irrespective of the result.
2 masters
The statistics may not excite but that’s the reality of top-level chess.
ARE you well settled down in your chair? Good. If not for anything else, be settled down to enjoy one of the highlights of this year: the world chess championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik.
The match started three days ago in Bonn, Germany, but unfortunately at press time on Tuesday, only the first game has been played and it was a draw with only 32 moves played. Today is already the third game.
That’s why if it’s important that you must know the latest results, you’ve got to do as I do: sit back in your chair, log into the Internet and visit one of the many sites that carry the match live or at least an end-of-game report. The games begin at 3pm in Germany but we’re lucky because here in Malaysia we can start watching them live from 9pm.
Call me a die-hard fan of the Internet Chess Club or ICC if you like but this is my favourite website whenever I want to watch any game that’s broadcast live. However, you will need to download either Blitzin if you are a Windows user, or Chessic if you are using an Apple computer. Once logged in as a registered user or a guest, type “ob 1” and you are well on your way to watch the games live on your computer.
Alternatively, try playchess.com which is run by the people from ChessBase. To watch the games, you’ll need to be on the Windows platform and install the free ChessBase Light software which will then give you immediate access to the PlayChess server.
The official world chess championship site itself is at http://www.uep-worldchess.com/ but I’ve found it not very helpful. Painfully slow; perhaps there are too many people trying to access it for the live transmissions.
All right, now that you are in the mood for the world chess championship, let’s take a brief look at the game statistics between Anand and Kramnik. First things first, though: before Tuesday’s first round, they had already faced one another 127 times. So they are not strangers to each other.
In their preparations for this match, they would have turned their games upside down in an effort to search for subtle weaknesses in one another’s play and they would have also studied games databases as well. In short, it would be a complete analysis of the opponent from the way they play the opening stage of the game to the endgame.
Out of the 127 games, Anand has won 19 times and Kramnik 15 times. The remaining 93 games were drawn. This type of statistic doesn’t excite but that’s the reality of top-level chess.
The best explanation I can give on this lack of decisiveness in their games is that while in Anand we have a player who has a natural flair for the attacking game, Kramnik is not. Though his chess prowess is no worse than Anand’s, he is less of an attacking player. He knows how to snuff out an opponent’s aggression so that’s why his games show a greater proportion of draws.
