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Chess is more than a game or a mental training. It is a distinct attainment. I have always regarded the playing of chess and the accomplishment of a good game as an art, and something to be admired no less than an artist's canvas or the product of a sculptor's chisel. Chess is a mental diversion rather than a game. It is both artistic and scientific. Jose Capablanca 1) World Championship Update 2) Akobian wins US Junior 3) Ho wins Cadet on tiebreak 4) Dortmund starts 5) Kunte wins British Championship 6) Upcoming Tournaments 1) World Championship UpdateGarry Kasparov's manager Owen Wiliams released the following press release. There is no word on when Leko-Kramnik will be played. FIDE has announced the World Chess Championship for September/October 2003. Kasparov vs Ponomariov will take place in Yalta, Ukraine on September 18th (opening ceremony) to October 7th, 2003. The twelve match days are September 19 & 20, September 22 & 23, September 25th & 26th, September 28th and 29th, October 1st & 2nd and October 4th & 5th. The closing ceremony will take place on Monday 6th October, or in the case of a draw, Monday will be a free day and October 7th, 2003 will be the tiebreak and closing ceremony. 2) Akobian wins U.S. JuniorNineteen year old International Master (IM) Varuzhan Akobian of Glendale, CA won the U.S. Junior Chess Championship, held July 26-31, 2003 at the World Chess Hall of Fame and Sidney Samole Chess Museum in Miami, Florida. The top American chess players under age 20 as of January 1, 2003 were invited to participate in the tournament. Games from the tournament were broadcast live on USChessLive, the official chess server of the United States Chess Federation. Akobian had seven wins and two draws to score eight out of a possible nine points. As a result of this victory, Akobian will be seeded into the 2004 United State Chess Championship. IM Dmitry Schneider of New City, NY took second place with 6 points. FIDE Master (FM) Lev Milman of Woodbury, NY finished third with 5 1/2 points. FM Matthew Hoekstra of Charlotte, NC finished fourth with 5 points. Women's FIDE Master Tatev Abrahamyan of Glendale, CA finished fifth with 4 1/2 points. National Master (NM) Joshua Friedel of Goffstown, NH, FM Bruci Lopez of Miami, FL and FM Daniel Fernandez of Florida tied for sixth place with 3 1/2 points each. FM Philip Wang of Reno, NV finished ninth with 3 points. NM John Rouleau of Rockville, MD finished tenth with 2 1/2 points. Akobian is no stranger to success. He was the winner of the prestigious 2002 Samford Fellowship, and he has won many tournaments including the John Rowell Invitational, the Imre Koenig Memorial, and the 2002 Western Class Championship. He tied for first place in the 2002 World Open, and he is only one norm shy of the International Grandmaster title. Varuzhan enjoys football and fishing when he is not playing chess. The World Chess Hall of Fame & Sidney Samole Museum-whose landmark building, sporting a 45-foot rook-tower, is located just off the Florida Turnpike near 152nd St. S.W. in Miami-is the official museum for both the World Chess Federation and the U.S. Chess Federation, the governing bodies of the game of chess for the world and the United States. The Museum's interactive displays, theatre and collection of personal artifacts from the world's greatest players tell the story of chess and its masters from its beginnings to modern times. Akobian says that his best game was his first round victory over Hoekstra:
White: IM Varuzhan Akobian (2624) 1.d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bg5 c5 4. c3 d5 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Nbd2 Be7 7. Bd3 b6 8. O-O O-O 9. Ne5 Ne5 10. de5 Nd7 11. Be7 Qe7 12. f4 f5 13. ef gf 14. Rf3 Rf7 15. Rg3 Rg7 16. Qh5 Rg3 17. hg3 f5 18. Nf3 Nf6 19. Qh4 Qg7 20. Ne5 Nd7 21. g4 Ne5 22. fe5 Qe5 23. Qd8 Kf7 24. Kf2 f4 25. Re1 Qf6 26. Qc7 Kf8 27. ef Qh4 28. g3 Qh2 29. Kf3 Qd2 30. Qd8 Kf7 31. Bb5 Ba6 32. Qd7 Kf8 33. Qd6 Kg7 34. Qe5 Kf8 35. Qf6 1-0 USCF Press Release 3) Ho wins Cadet on tiebreak
Ho and Melikadamian Become Cadet Co-Champions Matthew Ho and Alen Melikadamian, both from California, tied for first place at the 2003 United States Cadet Chess Championship, held July 27-31, 2003 at the World Chess Hall of Fame and Sidney Samole Chess Museum in Miami, FL. The top American chess players under the age of 16 as of January 1, 2003 were invited to participate in the tournament. Ho and Melikadamian both scored 3 1/2 out of a possible 5 points to tie for first place, but Ho received the first prize due to his superior tie-breaks. Ho receives a full tuition four year scholarship to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, subject to meeting and maintaining eligibility criteria. Igor Schneider of New City, NY finished third with 3 points. Ruixin Yang of Virginia and Alexander Chua of Texas tied for fourth place with 2 points. Fabiano Caruana of New York, NY finished sixth with 1 point. The World Chess Hall of Fame & Sidney Samole Museum-whose landmark building, sporting a 45-foot rook-tower, is located just off the Florida Turnpike near 152nd St. S.W. in Miami-is the official museum for both the World Chess Federation and the U.S. Chess Federation, the governing bodies of the game of chess for the world and the United States. The Museum's interactive displays, theatre and collection of personal artifacts from the world's greatest players tell the story of chess and its masters from its beginnings to modern times. Melikadamian took an early lead with a draw and two wins in the first three rounds, but this fourth round game moved Ho into a tie for first place:
White: Matthew Ho (2122) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cd 4. Nd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Ndb5 Bc5 7. Nd6 Ke7 8. Bf4 e5 9. Nf5 Kf8 10. Bg5 Bb4 11. Qf3 d6 12. O-O-O Bf5 13. Qf5 Bc3 14. bc3 Ke7 15. Bc4 Qc8 16. Bf6 gf6 17. Qh5 Nd8 18. Bb3 a5 19. Rd3 Qc5 20. Rf3 d5 21. Bd5 Ra6 22. Rd1 Ne6 23. Rfd3 Qa3 24. Kd2 Rd6 25. Ke1 Qa4 26. Bc6 Qc6 27. Rd6 Qc3 28. Kf1 Nd4 29.Rd5 Qc2 30. f4 Rg8 31. g3 Qe4 32. R5d4 Qh1 33. Kf2 1-0 USCF Press Release 4) Dortmund startsThe chess world has three classical tournaments of long-standing that to some are the equal to the Grand Slam's normally associated with top sporting events such as tennis and golf. The first two legs at Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands and at Linares in Spain are complete - and the third, the "Sparkassen Chess Meeting," is now underway at the Dortmund Theatre in Germany. Last year's event was a one-off Candidates-styled affair to find a challenger for world champion Vladimir Kramnik, and was won by Peter Leko. This year, the top event features an "interesting mix" of three established stars and three raising stars playing in a double-round all-play-all. Kramnik, Vishy Anand and Leko - respectively world numbers two, three and four - head the field in Dortmund as the established trio. Making up the field, and in doing so looking to make a name for themselves, are wannabes Viktor Bologon of Moldova, who takes his spot as winner of this year's Aeroflot Open in Moscow; Germany's youngest grandmaster Arkadi Naiditsch, 17, from Dortmund; and the teenage prodigy Teimour Radjabov, 16, from Azerbaijan. With Anand winning at Wijk aan Zee and Leko at Linares, all eyes will be on the performance of Kramnik, who badly needs a big win under his belt to re-establish his credentials as world champion. In the opening round, Kramnik got off to the best possible start with a spectacular win over Radjabov.
V Kramnik - T Radjabov JOHN B HENDERSON writing in the Scotsman 5) Kunte wins British ChampionshipFOR the second successive year an Indian has taken the Smith & Williamson British Championship, after Abhijit Kunte successfully held off a last round challenge from 2001 champion Joe Gallagher to take the title. With a final score of 8.5/11, Kunte, 26, took the top prize of £10,000 to become only the third - and last - Indian to win the crown. The top junior prize of British under-21 title went to Kunte's compatriot Pentala Harikrishna, who was half a point behind on 8. Due to the Commonwealth entry rule, recent championships have included many subsidized Indians, leading to widespread criticism and an all but virtual boycott of this year's event by England's top players. Finally succumbing to the pressures, the British Chess Federation announced during the event that from 2004, entrants must have a British citizenship or a residential qualification. Scotland's top two of Jonathan Rowson and Paul Motwani - who finished on 7.5 and 8 respectively - can only reflect on what could have been on home turf, after squandering golden opportunities that could well have ended the 57-year hoodoo of a Scot winning the title. Unlike last year's championship that was dubbed £the Indian takeaway,£ this year the Indians were denied a clean sweep of top titles. Edinburgh-based Georgian internationalist Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant took the women's title on 7.5 points, following a close race with India's Subbaraman Vijayalaskshmi. Although just missing out on her second full GM norm, the result concludes a fantastic double for Arakhamia-Grant, who recently tied with Motwani for this year's Scottish title.
K Arakhamia - S Reefat JOHN B HENDERSON writing in the Scotsman 6) Upcoming EventsUpcoming Tournaments at the MI Full details at www.chessclub.org Vladimir Pafnutieff: August 23 Bay Area Events Cal Chess Labor Day Championships (San Francisco) August 30-September 1 Regional and National Western States Open (Reno) October 17-19 |