Fpawn Featured By Agadmator

The legendary internet commentator Agadmator, whose YouTube channel attracts more than 875,000 subscribers, nominated your humble pawn for the Brilliancy Prize at the Online Olympiad for People with Disabilities. Watch the video above for the game against Adriano Albiani Barata of Brazil, complete with cogent analysis.

Other internet chess celebrities have likewise been tasked to determine the best game from the Olympiad. FIDE will announce the winner, who receives a special trophy sponsored by Gazprom, the largest natural gas company in Russia. 

Nominees: (click on the winner to view the games)

• Michael Aigner (USA) versus Adriano Albiani Barata 1-0
• Nikolay Mukha versus Lukasz Nowak (Poland) 0-1
• Leonel Amato versus Sargis Sargissyan (Armenia) 0-1
• Lukasz Nowak versus Alexey Smirnov (Russia) 0-1 
• Guannan "Terry" Song (Canada) versus Yuri Meshkov 1-0 
• Vladimir Trkaljanov (North Macedonia) versus Irina Ostry 1-0

Opening Ceremony

The first FIDE Online Olympiad for People with Disabilities kicked off this morning with a brief Opening Ceremony streamed live on YouTube. Highlights included the obligatory rendition of the FIDE anthem and speeches by Chief Arbiter Jirina Prokopova of the Czech Republic and FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich of Russia. Replay the video above.

The organizers scheduled a test round after the ceremony to work out any kinks in accessing the Tornelo website or screen sharing on Zoom. Technical difficulties meant a delay of more than an hour. Finally, each participant faced a random opponent from another country. While officially meaningless, Team USA gained momentum with a perfect 5-0 result, including several upsets! 

Alas, the first round pairings offer a stark reminder of challenge that lies ahead. The Russians are coming! Ranked in the bottom half, the Americans drew Russia-2, powered by a veteran pair of International Masters. Wish us luck!

IM Yuri Meshkov plays board 1.
He's a former IBCA (Braille Chess)
World Champion and a regular at
the Chess Olympiad. Credit: IBCA

Round 1: #9 Russia-2 vs #39 USA

1. IM Yuri Meshkov (2351) vs Michael
2. Griffin vs IM Alexey Pakhomov (2315)
3. Polina Taranenko (1445) vs Pranav
4. Jessica vs Maksim Ermakov (1611)

Game time is Saturday at 6:00 AM PST. Follow the action live on Chess24 and YouTube.

Time odds: Mamedyarov versus Yoo

Time odds: white has 25 seconds and black has 3 minutes
White is GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (#6 in World)
Black is 10 y/o NM Christopher Yoo (youngest master in US history)
White wins
Credit: San Jose Hackers chess camp @ Bay Area Chess

Blitz: Naroditsky versus Mamedyarov

3-minute blitz
White is GM Daniel Naroditsky (#111 in World)
Black is GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (#6 in World)
Black wins
Credit: San Jose Hackers chess camp @ Bay Area Chess

Tal Meets Qh6 and Carlsen Wins

Watch Israeli GM Tal Baron broadcast the final moves of the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin.  Within a minute, his live reaction runs the gamut from disbelief to pure ecstasy as Carlsen first played Rc8+ and followed up with the spectacular queen sacrifice Qh6+.  Karjakin immediately resigned, unable to prevent checkmate in one.

Park Hustler Hustled by Grandmaster

As a young chess prodigy, Maurice Ashley sharpened his skills against hustlers in Central Park.  The typical hustler plays a mean game, sometimes relying on psychological tricks to intimidate his opponents.  After many years, Ashley sat down across from one unsuspecting hustler.  Who would be intimidated, the park hustler or the veteran Grandmaster?  Watch the video to find out!

Follow the US Junior Invitational

The players are ready to start! (Credit: CCSCSL)

The annual US Junior Invitational pits many of the country's top players under age 20 against each other in a 10-RR tournament.  The 2015 edition features four International Masters and four FIDE Masters.  Excluding the Junior Open qualifier, this elite field boasts an average rating of 2519 USCF!  The highest seed and clear favorite is GM-elect Jeffery Xiong, who recently earned his third and final GM norm at the Chicago Open!  Second seed IM Akshat Chandra has one GM norm to his credit.

 

Luke (left) battles Yian. (Credit: CCSCSL)

California chess fans can cheer for two local representatives.  Third seed IM Luke Harmon-Vellotti attends UCLA (at age 16!!) and IM Yian Liou will be a freshman at UC Berkeley next month.  Luke and Yian battled for many hours in Round 2, finally acquiescing to a draw after 120 moves.

Live coverage begins daily at 11:00am Pacific time.  Check out the running commentary by GM Ben Finegold and FM Aviv Friedman.  Excellent stuff!

• Daily Reports posted after games end
• Photo Gallery

US Junior Standings (Final)

• 7.0 IM Akshat Chandra (2588, NJ, 15) - CHAMPION
• 6.5 IM Jeffery Xiong (2616, TX, 14) - 2nd place
• 6.0 FM Arthur Shen (2475, NJ, 18) - 3rd place
• 5.0 FM Ruifeng Li (2503, TX, 14)
• 4.5 FM Michael Bodek (2535, NY, 18)
• 4.5 IM Yian Liou (2501, CA-N, 18)
• 3.5 IM Luke Harmon-Vellotti (2542, ID, 16)
• 3.5 FM Awonder Liang (2459, WI, 12))
• 3.0 NM Mika Brattain (2452, MA, 16) 
• 1.5 NM Curran Han (2211, TX, 17)

Once again, thanks to the world-class Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis for hosting this prestigious event and guaranteeing the top-notch conditions that the talent deserves.  The prize fund alone is worth $20,000, including $6,000 for first place. 

Chinese Prodigy Achieves Immortality

Last week, the 16-year old superstar Wei Yi played one of the most beautiful attacking games in modern times at a tournament in Danzhou.  Facing the strong Cuban Grandmaster Lazaro Bruzon, the reigning Chinese national champion sacrificed his rook and later a bishop to snare the enemy in a mating web.  The helpless black monarch finishes its journey on h3, having been chased all the way across the board.  This brilliancy has been called the Game of the Decade by some and an Immortal Game by others.  Even ex-champion Garry Kasparov described it as "impressive."

Either watch the exciting 18 minute video by British GM Simon Williams or simply play through the moves at your own pace.

Commencement Address By Garry Kasparov

The 13th World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov accepted an honorary doctorate and delivered the commencement address at Saint Louis University.  He spoke of memories from growing up in the communist USSR and contrasted those to the values upon which America thrives, in particular freedom and innovation.  He poignantly shared his life experience and doled out plenty of advice.  For example: "Hard work is a talent. The ability to keep trying when others quit is a talent. And hard work is never wasted."

During his speech, Kasparov wondered aloud if this graduation ceremony would be the happiest day in life of his young audience?  The answer: It does not have to be.

When I won the world championship in 1985 I was 22 years old and it was the greatest

Call him Dr. GM Kasparov!

day of my life. I imagine today is a similar feeling for many of you. You are young, you are strong, and you have a long-time goal in your hands.

On that day in 1985, a strange thing happened. I was standing there on the stage, still with my flowers and my medal, the happiest person in the world, when I was approached by Rona Petrosian, the widow of a former world chess champion from the 60s, Tigran Petrosian. I was expecting another warm congratulations, but she had something else in mind. “Young man,” she said, “I feel sorry for you.” What? Sorry for me? Sorry for me? The youngest world champion in history, on top of the world? “I feel sorry for you,” she continued, “because the happiest day of your life is over.”  .....

There are still new frontiers today, and a limitless number of new inventions waiting to be discovered by people with the curiosity and courage to look for them, and the freedom to do so. It will require belief, hard work, and the values of innovation and liberty. It will require your belief, your hard work, and your ideas. You might say you aren’t ready for a new challenge right away, that you want time to relax, to celebrate, to rest on your new laurels. I’m sorry, but the world will not wait for you. The world needs you now.

Today you have fulfilled one dream, and tomorrow you set course on a new one. If you always have a dream, the happiest day of your life is never over.

 Watch the video above (17 minutes) or read the full text at Kasparov's website.

Popular Chess Video Passes Milestone

This hilarious chess video comes from the US Chess School in December 2010.  The precocious lad was, at that time, the youngest chess master in the country at 10 years old.  He destroys overconfident teacher IM Greg Shahade in both the blitz game and the kibitzing, all the while sipping 7-Up.  The video resurfaced in the summer of 2013 on the Top 50 rankings at Reddit.com.  Today, four years after upload, it surpassed one million views on YouTube!

Whether you have seen it before or not, this video is definitely worth another look.    

Starting tomorrow, Sam Sevian, now a full-fledged Grandmaster, participates in the prestigious Tata Steel Tournament at Wijk aan Zee (Netherlands).  Many can remember him from Bay Area events as an 8 or 9 year old, already a dangerous opponent.  He certainly has come a long way, and his future appears very bright!

Can Cats Play Chess?

I like cats and I love chess.  In dreams, my imagination seeks ways to combine these two passions.  Many of my young chess students have heard of my fictional Cat(FM), who actually existed, but did not possess any special talents beyond knocking over all the pieces.

Thanks to my friend NM Dana Mackenzie for introducing his curious kittens to the royal game and videotaping the experience.  The chess segment begins around the 1:25 mark.  Hilarious!  And click for another YouTube video featuring a compilation of chess cats.  (Not to be confused with the Cheshire cat of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland fame.)

Cat lovers may check out (pun intended) Dana's entire YouTube channel dedicated to a kitten named Max and other cute felines.

Bhat versus Carlsen

While Magnus Carlsen won the Zurich Chess Challenge against elite competition, pushing his record rating to 2881, one Bay Area chess aficionado came to grips with his close encounter with the World Champion three weeks ago.  Indeed, GM Vinay Bhat not only locked horns with the Wonderboy himself, but actually had a chance to pull off the stunning upset.  Must see TV!

Fortunately, Bhat shares the story with the readers of his chess blog.  He annotates the blitz game and points out the missed opportunities in the endgame.  He also comments on the setting and the demeanor of his esteemed opponent.  Thank you Vinay!

When we shook hands, he shocked me immediately when he said that he reads this blog on occasion, although he admitted he used to read it more when I was playing regularly! He also told me about how he first heard about me, after a game of mine against GM Wang Yue from China in 2002 showed up in New In Chess. It was a Bb5+ Sicilian where he remembered some nice tactical sequences I used, but also that I didn’t manage to win from a

GM Vinay Bhat

much better position.

Read more at Moral and Not So Moral Victories.

One other thing I realized from the bughouse and blitz games (and this was confirmed in between the two by his team), is that Magnus is ultra-competitive and hates losing even a casual game.

Additional comments at The Tale of the Tape.

Carlsen Meets Technology Leaders

In his first business trip as the 16th World Chess Champion, the Norwegian born Magnus Carlsen rubbed elbows with some of the movers and shakers of the tech boom.  The journey began at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where he calmly swept all 20 challengers in a simul organized by Nordic Semiconductor.

Coach Joe Lonsdale (Sr) + Carlsen
Below: Exec Joe Lonsdale (Jr)

The following week, Carlsen flew into the Bay Area for his second visit.  At a social event hosted by Joe Lonsdale, the youthful co-founder of Palantir and Addepar, the champion posed for photos with guests and narrowly defeated local Grandmaster Vinay Bhat in a bullet game.  Check out ChessDryad for photos taken by Richard Shorman.  The next day, Carlsen challenged Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg after dining with top executives, a game which has been politely described as a lesson.

Lesson with Facebook founder.

However, the most popular event was a Question & Answer session hosted by the tech forum Churchill Club.  Chess master Peter Thiel, perhaps better known for founding PayPal, moderated an exciting discussion that touched on diverse topics, from his recent title match against Vishy Anand to the role of computers in the royal game.  For those unable to attend (like me), the hour long dialog was recorded and uploaded to YouTube (click on video at top).  Highly recomended!

Wide-Ranging Carlsen Interview

The 16th World Champion spoke candidly for half an hour on Norwegian television about chess and other topics, some a bit awkward for him.  The program aired on December 25.  Fortunately, the video has English subtitles.  Check it out!

• Importance of self-confidence
• Any superstitions?
• Donald Duck fan
• Strategy for blindfold chess 
• Nightmares about chess
• Girls and relationships
• Kasparov and Fischer
• Autism and IQ
• Does he cry sometimes?
• Modelling for G-Star
• His view on money  

Too weak, too slow!

During my vacation, I leave this video to entertain readers of all ages.  World #1 Magnus Carlsen (wearing green shirt) plays an over-the-board bullet match (1 minute game) against the speedy Laurent Fressinet, the #3 ranked Frenchman at 2708.  Is Magnus really too weak and too slow?  Watch for the unexpected checkmate at the end!

Reddit: 10 y/o Beats IM While Drinking 7 Up

Some readers may remember this hilarious video from the US Chess School in December 2010.  Never one to be shy, Sam Sevian, then the youngest chess master in America at just 10 years old, challenged IM Greg Shahade to a friendly blitz game.  Nobody would have predicted that, almost three years later, this video surfaces on the Top 50 rankings at reddit.com.  Do I see a potential sponsorship?

Be yourself. Be refreshing. Be 7 Up.

Kayden Troff is the 007

If you are a fan of James Bond or the royal game, this 8-minute video is a must-watch! 

IM Kayden Troff, the World U14 gold medalist who turned 15 three days ago, stars as Britain's top spy in the production by the intrepid youth music group TLC Trio.  The live chess game reenacts Garry Kasparov's Immortal Game, played against Veselin Topalov at the Wijk aan Zee tournament in 1999.  Most of my private students will find this double rook sacrifice familiar.

Rated PG-13 for mild violence and blood.

Confident Magnus Takes Charge!

Update: Magnus clinched clear 1st by defeating Nakamura in the penultimate round.

World #1 ranked Magnus Carlsen has taken command at the Tata tournament at Wijk aan Zee in Holland.  He leads by an impressive 1.5 points over reigning world champion Vishy Anand with three rounds to play.  Only a trio of participants has avoided defeat in the first ten games: Carlsen, Anand and US champion Hikaru Nakamura

Round 10 Standings

• 8.0 Carlsen
• 6.5 Anand, Aronian, Nakamura
• 5.5 Karjakin, Leko
• 5.0 Harikrishna, vanWely
• 4.5 Caruana
• 4.0 Giri, WangHao
• 3.5 HouYifan
• 3.0 L'Ami
• 2.5 Sokolov

In round 9, Magnus beat the lowest seed, former women's world champion Hou Yifan of China, in a complex queen endgame arising from the offbeat Ponziani opening.  Watch the candid interview above for his analysis of the key moments of the game, pointing out some of his own inaccuracies.  When asked whether his resolution for 2013 was to break 2900 or to claim the world championship, his unequivocal reply was "both."

Fpawn Favorite Games from Tata A 
(rounds 1-7 click here)

• Rd 8: Carlsen 1-0 Karjakin == Reti == lengthy endgame win from drawish position
• Rd 9: HouYifan 0-1 Carlsen == Ponziani == Carlsen wins complex Q ending up a pawn  
• Rd 10: Sokolov 0-1 Leko == 4.e3 Nimzo == black wins a stunning tactical miniature 
• Rd 11: Karjakin 1-0 Sokolov ==  Ruy Archangelsk == white takes g-file, traps black Q
• Rd 12: Carlsen 1-0 Nakamura == Kalashnikov Sicilian == utter domination by #1
• Rd 13: Karjakin 1-0 vanWely == Dragon Sicilian == a tactical miniature in the Dragon

Anand Smacks Aronian in the Meran

If you haven't seen today's game from Wijk aan Zee, then stop everything and take a look.  You don't just see 2800 players getting checkmated in under 25 moves with either color, even less with the White pieces!  Absolutely stunning!

Indeed, after the stunning one-two punch 15... Bc5 and 16... Nde5, Levon Aronian found himself in deep trouble.  Kudos to Vishy Anand for executing an incredible piece of opening preparation (originally intended for Boris Gelfand in last year's title defense).  This was not the first time that Anand refuted a topical opening variation with an explosive double piece sacrifice.  Young Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin learned a painful lesson in the Najdorf in 2006, ironically also at Wijk aan Zee.

Make sure to check out the dozens of poignant short videos at the Tata 2013 website, featuring the participants in the elite section.  Some videos appear humorous, others emotional, still others downright instructional, and all worth watching.  Highly recommended!

World Youth Medal Ceremony

This 12-minute long video shows the start of the final round and then highlights from the medal ceremony.  Great stuff!  Watch the 13th World Champion steal the show.

• 3:32 - Remarks by Garry Kasparov.
• 5:43 - Christopher Shen got bronze in U8.
• 8:09 - Sam Sevian won gold and Cameron Wheeler earned silver in U12.
• 9:33 - Kayden Troff won gold in U12.

Congratulations once again to the champs.  Here they smile together for the candid camera.

From l to r: Cameron, Sam and Kayden. The future of USA chess?