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Aeroflat Open 2010

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:21:14 -0500

Source: Chessdom

The International Chess Festival Aeroflot Open 2010 will be held in Moscow from 8 February to 19 February 2010. This will be the 9th edition of the Aeroflot Open and for the fifth year in a roll the competition will take place in the major tourist complex "Izmailovo" - hotel "Gamma – Delta".

The Festival consists of four Open Tournaments (A1, A2, B and C), which will be filled according to the participants' ratings. Additional to these events, the qualification for the World Blitz Chess Championship 2010 (the reigning champion is Magnus Carlsen) will be held within the festival.

Naturally, the most interest is aroused by A1 tournament, requiring from a player a rating above 2550. The winner of this group earns invitation for the 2010 Dortmund round-robin tournament. The last-year champion Etienne Bacrot is still not on the provisional list of players (Update: Bacrot is now confirmed participant), but the field will be incredibly strong with the World Junior Chess Champion Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Bu Xiangzhi, Alexander Motylev, Vladimir Volokitin, Ivan Cheparinov, Gabriel Sargassian and Evgeny Najer among the top-seeded.

Former Aeroflot winners, from 2002 onwards, are Gregory Kaidanov (USA), Viktor Bologan (Moldova), Sergei Rublevsky (Russia), Emil Sutovsky (Israel), Baadur Jobava (Georgia), Evgeny Alekseev (Russia), Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) and in 2009 Etienne Bacrot (France).

The total prize fund of the four tournaments is EUR 140 000

Tournament A1: for chessplayers with a FIDE rating higher than 2549, 1st Prize - 21 000 EUR
Tournament A2: for chessplayers with a FIDE rating less than 2550, but higher than 2399, 1st Prize - 9 000 EUR
Tournament B: for chessplayers with a FIDE rating less than 2400, but higher than 2199, 1st Prize - 3 500 EUR
Tournament C: for chessplayers with a FIDE rating lower than 2200 or without rating, 1st Prize - 2 000 eur

The qualifier for the World Blitz Championship 2010 (Final) will take place on 18th February 2010, in the same venue (complex "Izmailovo"), as a double nine-round Swiss Blitz Tournament will be held. The final tournament will take place in Moscow in November 2010. It will consist of 20 players (10 participants of Mikhail Tal Memorial 2010, 6 winners of the Qualification Tournament of Feb.18, 2010 and four to six wild cards named by the Organizers). The prize fund of the Qualification Tournament is EUR 40 000.

Confirmed Player So Far For The SPICE Spring Invitational

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 07:14:00 -0500

Confirmed players so far include:

- IM Gabor Papp (HUN) 2578 USCF - 2547 FIDE (GM norm) - Texas Tech Student
- IM Davorin Kuljasevic (CRO) 2585 USCF - 2544 FIDE (2 GM norms) - Texas Tech Student
- GM Ben Finegold (USA) 2616 USCF - 2531 FIDE (earned GM title at 2009 SPICE Cup B group)
- IM Gergely Antal (HUN) 2557 USCF - 2509 FIDE (2 GM norms) - Texas Tech Student
- GM Jesse Kraai (USA) 2550 USCF - 2509 FIDE
- IM Irina Krush (USA) 2492 USCF - 2455 FIDE (GM norm)
- IM Dean Ippolito (USA) 2534 USCF - 2447 FIDE
- FM Eric Hansen (CAN) 2426 USCF - 2406 FIDE

Body Language And Chess (From Chessvibes)

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 08:05:00 -0500

As I was wandering through the chess blog landscape I found this article by Chessvibes regarding some new research into body language that may be important to chessplayers. Check it out!

My favorite quote from the article: "Wouldn’t that be a huge consolation to us patzers? It’s not our fault – our bodies give us away!"

ROFL!!

Judit Polgar & Gregory Kaidanov To Play A Match

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:47:45 -0500

All I know so far is the following thanks to Jeff Smith:

First Saturday in Budapest: Brainchild of Nagy Laszlo

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:59:26 -0500

I love this tournament and I've had the privilege of speaking with Laszlo on the phone. He is very nice and I'm glad to see Chessbase giving him some big time recognition for his hard work.

A family portrait: Laszlo and Ilona Nagy with their sons Tamas (left) and Laszlo Jr.

Free FIDE Trainer Certification Seminar For Women

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:31:06 -0500

For more info see Alexandra's post on her blog.

Dinosaurs Played Chess ... More Proof!

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:27:21 -0500

Carlsen Wins Wijk aan Zee

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:31:50 -0500

GO MAGNUS!!

Random Weekend Video - Shaolin Do Green Dragon Broadsword

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 07:26:00 -0500

Shaolin-Do Sannjie Break Demonstration

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 07:03:00 -0500

Random Martial Arts Video

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:01:33 -0500

Wijk aan Zee Round 10

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 08:42:13 -0500

Source: Chessbase

On his blog for Arctic Securities Magnus writes:

Sergey Karjakin (20) is from Ukraine but has recently moved to Moscow and is in the process of switching federations. His is currently trained by Dokhoyan, a former associate of Kasparov. Karjakin became a Grandmaster at 12, the youngest ever, and is famous for being a second for FIDE Knockout World Championship winner Ponomariov at the age of 11! We are both born in 1990 though nearly a year apart, and he was already a master player when I played my first children tournament. For many years he was the top rated player born in 1990 and earlier until I briefly past him in October 2004 and permanently (up to now) from October 2006 onwards.

Against his 1.e4 I chose the French Defence, an opening I haven’t played at a serious level before. He did not get any advantage out of the opening and seemed quite uncomfortable in the middle game when my counterplay got going. After several inaccuracies from him the tactics in the position all favoured black, and he found nothing better than to sacrifice an exchange for my active knight. I found a precise way to force the exchange of queens and one pair of rooks, and the endgame was easily won. Finally! All our previous classical chess encounters have ended in draw.

I felt focused and determined today and was of course very satisfied to win after yesterday’s dismal result. Shirov lost to Anand while Kramnik drew against Ivanchuk. Kramnik is sole leader with 7/10 while Shirov and I are sharing 2nd at 6.5 with three rounds to go. I’m white against Lenier Dominquez, Cuba after the free day.

Pic From My Christmas Chess Simul

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:09:32 -0500

A New Blog Emerges: Chess + Art

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:43:05 -0500

I was reading through Chess Life Online articles when I came across an advertisement for a new blog. If I had to guess who started it I'd have to say Jennifer Shahade because I haven't seen some of these hulla chess photos released previously ... but if someone knows definitvely who is running the blog let me know!

I love the Art of Chess Blog ... check it out!

Chess Metaphors: Artificial Intelligence and the Human Mind

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:40:33 -0500

This article/book excerpt from the Huffington Post by Diego Rasskin-Gutman can be summed up in a single sentence:

"The heavy use of computer analysis has pushed the game itself in new directions."

Check it out!