Hikaru Nakamura has quite a story to tell. Born in Osaka, Japan and arriving in the U.S. at the age of two, Nakamura has been gracing the pages of chess magazines since he began breaking many of Bobby Fischer’s records. One of the first indicators of chess talent is the age record for National Master.

There have been many talented players to come through the scholastic ranks, but many either quit playing after high school, or shortly after reaching National Master. When Nakamura entered Dickinson College, there were fears that America would lose yet another promising talent along the likes of Grandmasters Michael Wilder and Patrick Wolff.

Under the early tutelage of his stepfather FM Sunil Weeramantry and the mentorship of older brother Asuka Nakamura, young Hikaru shattered the record for National Master reaching the mark in 10 years, 79 days. In 2008, his record was later lowered to 9 years, 11 months by Nicholas Nip, a player who is no longer active. Five years later, he broke Bobby Fischer’s long-standing record by earning Grandmaster status in 15 years, 79 days.

Media comparisons to Fischer immediately heightened when he won the U.S. Championship at age 16. However, Nakamura reminded everyone, “I’m not Bobby Fischer.” He was intimating the point that Fischer was an unbalanced individual who only thought of chess. Of course, this was only half the story with mercurial legend, but certainly he was one who could not operate comfortably outside of the chess realm.

When you talk to Nakamura, he is comfortable talking about a wide range of topics including his beloved Vancouver Canucks hockey team. He also has a variety of interests including music, finance, sports and politics. Many of the existing stereotypes of Nakamura are based on history from his teen years and commentary from online chess servers.

Chief Organizer Erik Anderson (left) stands next to GM Hikaru Nakamura and WGM Rusudan Goletiani after both were crowned the 2004 U.S. Champions.

While Nakamura had a reputation of being obnoxious as a young teen, his talent was hardly questioned. On the U.S. scene, he put together an impressive résumé of wins. At the closing ceremonies of the 2003 U.S. Championship, winner Alexander Shabalov singled out a young Nakamura and stated that he had a bright future in chess.

In American tournaments, Nakamura’s exciting style has become a breath of fresh air in a sport that had become stagnant with the same players competing every year in the U.S. Championships and the open tournaments. His championship victory the next year was definitely good for chess.

Once Nakamura joined the elite class in the U.S., he carried a reputation as being an isolationist and distrustful of his colleagues. He rankled many when he made comments about collusion among the U.S. elite. “That’s actually why I still work alone. It’s very hard to trust anybody.” However, as Nakamura begin to ascend to a world-class level, he enlisted some help. After the 2009 U.S. Championship, he mentioned that he had been working with National Master Kris Littlejohn. This choice of a second puzzled many, but has paid dividends.

Viktor Mikalevski ponders Gata Kamsky’s next move while Nakamura-Najer reaches the climatic stage of the 2009 World Open. Photo by Daaim Shabazz.

In U.S. chess, there had been too many “friendships” between top players which resulted in many quick draws and dispirited play. Nakamura was dismissive of these tactics and forced the issue with his ‘play-to-win’ attitude. His determination affords him psychological capital when an opponent understands that they have to fight when they are already content on drawing. This fighting spirit came into great effect when he won his first U.S. Championship at age 16. However, in an important interview in Salon magazine, there were still had doubters.

“The finish is very good but few purists will rank his play in the same league as Fischer’s — it lacks elegance,” wrote chess scribe Alan Goldsmith. Another chess writer, Bobby Ang, wondered, “When Nakamura reaches the higher echelons of the chess elite, will his style work?” Citing a benchmark of great contemporary players, Ang asked of Nakamura, “Can his brilliance overcome the tactical mastery of Alexei Shirov? Will his will-to-win be sufficient to breach the solid fortifications of Vladimir Kramnik, or Peter Leko? Is his much-touted resourcefulness of a high enough standard to battle with Rustam Kasimdzhanov? I doubt it very much.” (see link)

Nakamura’s sales pitch to Europe was more difficult, but he was beginning to pick up momentum. Tournament organizers were attracted to his brash, no-nonsense style. He has since broken through in a number of strong tournaments and is now comfortably ensconced in the top 20. Many detractors rail at the notion that Nakamura has not gotten the opportunities to face the elite level. They cite his skipping Corus “B” in 2008 for the Gibraltar Masters as a snub. Nakamura cited inadequate conditions, but made good on his trip by winning Gibraltar.

He added a few more accolades including the 2009 U.S. Championship, 960 World Championship and the Cap d’Agde Rapid Tournament (over Anatoly Karpov and Vassily Ivanchuk). There were still doubters who stated that he couldn’t win in a strong classical tournament.

After playing poorly in the London Classic (while fighting an illness), Nakamura finally got his coveted invite to Corus “A” and made a strong showing with 7.5/13 (4th place). Magnus Carlsen, the winner of the tournament, identified Nakamura as a new rival. This could be good for both players and of course for more sponsorship.

On various chess blogs, the conversation of Nakamura ascendancy is a popular topic. Naysayers continue to claim Nakamura is not worthy of “elite” status for very specific reasons. After he refutes these reasons, another set will be created and standards increased. At this point, pundits state that Nakamura has to make top 10 to be considered seriously as a World Championship. Last year, it was top 20.

Of course, the candidacy of players such as Magnus Carlsen, Sergey Karjakin or Teimour Radjabov was recognized almost immediately. What is the difference? The theory was that the European stars were “battle-tested” and Nakamura had not faced tough competition. Even his head-to-head blitz victory over Carlsen in Norway was trivialized.

So the question…”Is Nakamura the ‘Real Deal’?” Does he have World Championship potential? When Vladimir Kramnik was asked this question, he seems to believe that Nakamura is a legitimate talent. Most of the fans and journalists believe that Carlsen is the heir apparent to Viswanathan Anand or Veselin Topalov, but it is not certain if Carlsen will maintain his level. Anish Giri’s strong performance at Corus turned some heads and the Chinese and Indians deserve attention. If one looks at Nakamura, he has many things going for him.

GM Hikaru Nakamura at 2010 Corus in Wijk aan Zee.
Photo by Fred Lucas.

Will these factors mean that he has enough to win a World Championship? Time will tell. One thing that is true is that if Nakamura has his goal set and resources are not an issue, he will have more than an adequate shot at winning the World Championship. He is only 22 years old and he will continue to get better. The downside is does not have a sponsor and gets limited help from his federation which means that he does not have the luxury of focusing purely on chess development.

In a 2005 interview with the New York Times, Nakamura summed up his chances.

”If I am able to get up there and play for the actual title of the world championship, then once again, everyone will be excited,” Mr. Nakamura said, noting how chess gained wide appeal when Mr. Fischer toppled Boris Spassky, the Soviet world champion, in 1972. ”There have been plenty of great players since Fischer but none have been American players.” (see link)

Nakamura has the tenacity, the nerves and still has some areas of improvement in his game. Given Carlsen’s breach of 2800, there will be a new cadre of players to vie for the world crown. With the right combination of training, sponsorship and tournament invitations, Nakamura hopes to be one in that number.

I.S. 318 has been one of the most successful scholastic programs in the U.S. Located in Brooklyn, they have won 26 national championships and boast a cadre of young stars that will help add to the tally. A wife and husband team of Katie and Nelson Dellamaggiore is trying to raise funds to film a movie about the school and have founded a company called, “Rescue Media.” The minimum goal is $4000. The company has various donor levels and offer a variety of awards based upon the award amount. On the right is a link to the promo page.

The video features interviews of a number of players includings several who have been featured here on The Chess Drum. Justus Williams talks about his aspirations and also his challenges. I.S. 318 star Alexis Paredes is also featured. There is also a young player who talks about how chess has helped him to grapple with his ADHD condition. Darrian Robinson and Rochelle Ballantyne are also featured. Elizabeth Vicary has combined her passion for teaching with the raw talent of the players and along with John Galvin have helped to created a powerhouse.

The world has been gripped by the horrific images stemming from the Haitian earthquake. There has been support to various non-govermental and humanitarian organizations. However, there is no way to know whether a given person will get the assistance they need. Families lost their homes, prized possessions and family records, so the burdens are heavy. The impact of these losses are incaluable. The Bonnet family is one of thousands of families experiencing this ordeal at this time.

Sabine Bonnet is a noted member of the Haitian chess community and led a major effort for youth chess with the L’Acadamie d’Echecs. The dream of teaching chess to the youth became a passion, but her dreams have been dashed for the time being. She is now facing a tremendous challenge in regaining a normal life.

Fortunately, she, her husband and children were able to escape serious injury. I spoke to her and she stated that she lost everything and things are “very difficult”. Her main concern seemed to be getting her two children (ages 7 and 5) back into school, but of course there are day-to-day needs as well.

Below is the link to a fundraiser for Sabine, her husband, Jean Rene and their children. While chess is the least of our concerns for Haiti at this moment, we hope that this will be a small example of the chess community supporting Haiti and its citizens. Please give what you feel you can give.

(Note: Thanks to Adia Onyango of New York who brought to my attention the chess initiative of Sabine Bonnet. Thereafter, we tried contacting Sabine and she eventually responded to both of us!)

Jamaica will hold its 2010 John Powell Open on January 30th-31st. The tournament is in the honor of one of the federation’s founding members. Powell passed away in 2007. Below is the press release from Peter Myers.

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR THE JAMAICA CHESS FEDERATION
DATE JANUARY 28, 2010

National Master John Powell (left) contemplates his next move during his last game played three days before his passing in October 2007.

The Jamaica Chess Federation (JCF) will be staging the third John Powell Memorial Chess Open at the Campion College Auditorium this weekend. The tournament will be divided into three sections, an Open section in which anyone can play, an Intermediate section for entrants with a JCF rating under 1600 and an Amateur section for entrants with a JCF rating under 1300.

Prizes will be awarded to the top three players in each section, the best Under 10, 12 and 14 year-old players, best rural player, best female player, best junior and best new player.

The tournament, which was previously called the New Year’s Open, was renamed in honour of National Master John Powell, a founding member of the JCF and former President, who passed away in October of 2007.

Powell was considered to be an extraordinary chess administrator who was one of the catalysts for the growth and development of the sport in Jamaica, particularly at the secondary school level during the 1980s and early 1990s.

Powell was also one of the strongest players in Jamaica at the height of his chess-playing career during the 1970s and 1980s, achieving the title of National Master in 1975. He was widely considered to be the strongest Jamaican player never to have won the National Championships outright. He tied for first three times, 1973, 1980 and 1988, however he lost on tiebreak to NM Harold Chan in 1973, NM Robert Wheeler in 1980 and NM Robert Wheeler again in 1988.

Powell represented Jamaica at many Chess Olympiads, winning a silver medal for Jamaica on board 4 in the Olympiad of 1984, which was held in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Powell was still actively playing up to his untimely passing in 2007.

Full details here!

Prior to the devastating earthquake that leveled the city of Port au Prince, the Fédération Haïtienne des Échecs (Haitian Chess Federation) held their National Championship from December 11th to 20th. After nine rounds of fighting chess, Mondoly Sanon won the event with an undefeated 7½/9.

Mondoly, 29, previously won the championships in 2001 and 2005 and was runner-up in 2006 to Piersont Lebrun. In their head-to-head encounter, Mondoly capitalized off of a blunder and wrapped up the tournament victory. Luxema Jacques Muller was second place with 6/9.

Unfortunately the tournament lost its sponsor, and thus, did not offer a prize fund or an awards ceremony. The Haitian Chess Federation asserted that there were no funds for such expenses. Their previous sponsor invested in a dominoes tournament. The federation did receive support from the Haitian Olympic Committee at the last minute. The event was held at a television station, but after five rounds, they moved to the Hotel St. Louis for the remaining four rounds.

Source: http://news.caribseek.com/Haiti/Haiti_Press_Network/article_83409.shtml (French)

Haitians analyzing game during the 2006 Olympiad in Turin, Italy. Mondoly Sanon (center) with teammates Piersont Lebrun (left) and Valery Afriany (right). Photo by Daaim Shabazz.

The annual Corus Chess tournament is currently taking place in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. This years promises to be an exciting event with a variety of players from around the globe. This tournament will be bolstered by a number of young stars who have born in the past few years. Below are the participants of the Group “A”.

Title	Player	Country	Flag	Rating	rank	born
GM	Magnus Carlsen	NOR		2810	1	1990
GM	Viswanathan Anand	IND		2790	3	1969
GM	Vladimir Kramnik	RUS		2788	4	1975
GM	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR		2749	8	1969
GM	Peter Leko	HUN		2739	12	1979
GM	Alexei Shirov	SPA		2723	20	1972
GM	Sergey Karjakin	RUS		2720	21	1990
GM	Leinier Dominguez	CUB		2712	25	1983
GM	Hikaru Nakamura	USA		2708	28	1987
GM	Nigel Short	ENG		2696	38	1965
GM	Fabiano Caruana	ITA		2675	51	1992
GM	Sergey Tiviakov	NED		2662	62	1973
GM	Jan Smeets	NED		2657	73	1985
GM	Loek van Wely	NED		2641	104	1972

Main Site: http://www.coruschess.com/

Fellow Chess Enthusiasts:

You are most certainly aware of the tragedy that has beset the nation of Haiti. A nation of a proud history and a nation sharing the love of our royal game of chess. Less than a week ago, a massive earthquake leveled the capitol city of Port au Prince, devastating the population of nearly 10 million. Some project that 100,000-200,000 will have perished from the disaster.

The initial rescue efforts have been difficult as teams are hampered by lack of supplies and a broken infrastructure. Bodies litter the streets and are being bulldozed into mass graves before being identified. Hospitals are understaffed, tension is rising and the nation could explode into chaos before long.

In 2006, I met the Haitian team at the Olympiad in their first trip to the bienniel chess festival since 1996. They were friendly, in high spirits and were actually part of the photo-op with the host Italian team in round #1. Since that time, disaster has struck the island not once, not twice, but several times. A series of hurricanes prevented the Haitian team from traveling to Dresden for the 2008 Olympiad. Now before the 2010 Olympiad, the nation is hit with another crushing blow.

As contributions are flowing in, there are thousands of groups lending their time and money to help the beleagured nation. There has not been a great deal of attention of this crisis on chess sites and thus far, no official statement or show of moral support has been posted on FIDE’s website. This is unacceptable.

Haiti is like many small federations… a handful of dedicated individuals with the bulk of the players being very young. Since 2006, Haiti has found a degree of success with the founding of the Academie d’Echecs under the leadership of Sabine Bonnet.

Haitians preparing to pawn off in round #1 of 2006 Olympiad in Turin, Italy.
Photo by Daaim Shabazz.

L’Académie d’Echecs HAICA is an organization founded on 14 January 2008 to promote chess in Haiti. It is connected with the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Haitian Chess Federation. Sabine Bonnet, President, is on the far left.

It is my hope that organizers, players and officials from around the world will show some solidarity in supporting relief efforts of a devastated nation. The amount of damage done to Haiti will take generations to repair. This is not a political conflict, religious, ethnic or class war. This was a situation brought on by a natural disaster… and it can happen anywhere.

Please find it within your heart to help a nation in need… a nation with a chess community. Haiti needs your help. TIME IS SHORT!

Please click on the icon below or use any of the charities in your home country. Thanks in advance to those who have given and to others who had it in their hearts.

SEND YOUR WELL-WISHES HERE!

Yours in Chess,

Dr. Daaim Shabazz
http://www.thechessdrum.net
webmaster@thechessdrum.net

16 January 2010

On January 12th, a 7.0 magnitude rocked the city of Port au Prince, toppling buildings, twisting metal and killing what are said to be scores of people in the impoverished country of nearly 10 milllion. Images are coming in and they are horrific as reports indicate. Relief efforts are underway with the first relief efforts coming from China. President René Préval has declared the event a catastrophe as most of the capitol city is destroyed.

Haiti, a nation famous for being the first Black independent republic in 1804, has had a difficult political past. In these challenges, the nation has been able to survive on sheer will and determination. However, this latest disaster will take a special gargantuan effort. Can nation standing on the shoulders of a proud history rise from destitution and despair and reclaim its greatness? It can, but the nation will need an outpouring of assistance as never before. It is without a doubt that hearts around the world are pouring out for Haiti.

On behalf of The Chess Drum community, chess players from around the world and in particular, those from the African Diaspora, we wish you courage and strength. We hope that you continue to hold your nation in high esteem and know that all is not lost. Your history and the example you led during Haitian Revolution will inspire us forever. You can inspire yet again! We are with you!

~Dr. Daaim Shabazz, The Chess Drum

Haiti

Justus Williams and Josh Colas will face off in their second match. This match will be the best-of-five and Game/60 time control.

In October, two of America’s brightest stars faced off in a highly-anticipated blitz match in typical New York tradition. The match with Justus Williams and Josh Colas was followed widely. Josh prevailed 9-3.

Since then, both 11-year old boys have continued to improved and have soared over 2100. Given the parity of the two chess All-Americans, another proposed match has been scheduled for February 19th at I.S. 318.

Sponsored by Chess-in-Schools’ Shaun Smith, the five-game match with a time limit of 60 minutes. The games will be carried on Chess Live and there is a cash prize being offered in a winner-take-all battle. Stay tuned for more details!

For the past decade Sophia Stewart has been embroiled in a dispute with the Machowski Brothers (Larry and Andy) over copyright to the blockbuster trilogies of “The Matrix” and “Terminator”. It is strange that this case did not get wide publicity in the mainstream news, but the online sites were blazing with lively debates.

The suit claimed that the Wachowski Brothers received Stewart’s manuscript in response to an ad requesting sci-fi stories. When the ground-breaking “Matrix” was released Stewart noted striking similarities in the storyline and sought legal advice. This notion was also noted by investigative sources.

She filed her first papers in 1999 and after winning a motion to continue the case in 2004, Judge Margaret Morro of the Central District Court of California dismissed the suit in 2005 citing a failure to show any similarities between her work “The Third Eye” and the two film trilogies. Stewart claims that she was giving poor counsel and plans to reignite the issue.

The cases were covered by The Chess Drum in February 2005. Taking a gander at the online news sites, none of the large news houses have bothered to cover the story and there is a fierce debate as to whether she has won the case or whether it was thrown out. While many sites have claimed a win for Stewart, it is unclear why this claim has resurfaced as late as November 2009.

It was reported on Snopes (an urban legends site) that the reports are false. By all accounts, it appears that the information is outdated and that there is little truth to the story. On Sophia Stewart’s Facebook page, there is little mention of the lawsuit and there appears to be no truth in the notion that she won a settlement.

The President of the Spanish CF Javier Ochoa visited the city of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire) from 2 to 8 December invited by the Spanish Embassy in the frame of the Embassy’s cultural activities.

Spain’s Chess Federation President Javier Ochoa with Congolese chess officials.

The Embassy initiated its program of cooperation with the Chess Federation of Congo in 2008 by providing financial support via Mel Carbajo and Felix Costales Artieda, Ambassador of Spain in Congo, for the 1st Tournament “Ville de Kinshasa”.

This year the project made a step forward and in addition to the 2nd tournament in which participated more than 60 players and was won by Gaspard Mashala (who is also president of the Katanga Liga) a chess workshop was organized where, following the request of the CF of Congo, Javier Ochoa explained some details and ideas of the Shveshnikov variation of the Sicilian Defense and gave simultaneous exhibitions, some of which with time control, in order to estimate the level of the local players and to comment of various technical issues.

In the simultaneous exhibitions only Eustache Kazadi of Kinshasa managed to beat the master, while Gaspard was the only one to make a draw in the games with time control. A. Kabangu was another challenger in the games with time control.

Javier Ochoa plays a round of blitz in full view of Congolese kibitzers.

A few hours after his arrival at Kinshasa the President of the Spanish CF organized a meeting with his colleague Guy Esungi Botetsi and the executives of his Federation in order to review some issues of mutual interest and help them organize a future working plan.

The Spanish Embassy also scheduled during those days two important meetings with the Ministers of Sport and Education which were also attended by the President of the Spanish CF and the Spanish Ambassador, Guy Esungi Botetsi, President of the CF of Congo.

Ochoa meets with with Guy Esungi Botetsi, President of Congo Chess Federation.

The outcome of the meetings was the support and the official commitment that Congo will participate for the first time in the 2010 Olympiad and a promise that the Ministry of Education will support the Project of Chess in Schools as presented by the President, Guy Esungi. During the meeting the Small Fritz, one of the working tools that Spanish CF uses for the Spanish project, was presented to the Minister and various units of the device were donated to the CF of Congo. The Spanish CF also donated a chess board fresco.

The local CF was in charge of the organization of the tournament, while Felicien Betu, Karl Yale, Pierrot Kayemba and Odon Zanga acted as Arbiters assisted by Angela María Rivera Yepes of the Spanish Embassy who had been preparing everything for months.

Javier Ochoa de Echagüen expressed his gratitude to the Ambassador Felix Costales for this excellent initiative.

Source: http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/15-chess-news/4234-chess-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo

Friday, 18 December 2009 07:07

Many of the world’s top chess federations will assemble in the Bursa province of Turkey for the World Team Championships. Some of the notable teams represent perennial powers Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Israel and USA. Also included in the field is India, the world’s #6 team Despite the fact that World Champion Viswanathan Anand is busy preparing for his match, India will trot out two young talents as reserves.

Perhaps the favorite will be the reigning European Champion, Azerbaijan who will field their strongest possible team. Other teams vying for the crown have one or more players missing from the top. Russia is missing Vladimir Kramnik, but still has a formidable 2700 team. This tournament will be key for Russia to prove that they are capable of winning a team event after struggles in the past decade. In coming years, the team may get stronger if they add Sergey Karjakin.

Other teams competing from the various regions are Brazil, Egypt, Greece and host Turkey. Ali Nihat Yacizi has fueled the engine of chess growth in Turkey and this is the latest of his efforts to make Turkey a competitive chess country. Although his projections are ambitious, he claims to have two million youth playing chess. Certainly many out of this number will be inspired by seeing the elite players and may one day represent their country at this same tournament.

Main Site: http://wtcc2009.tsf.org.tr/

Jehron Bryant is the latest of the competitive New York scholastic crew to break the vaulted barrier of 2000, the necessary route to chess mastery. This represents the 4% of skill level in the nation (of all ages). Bryant and twin brother Nigel Bryant are two scholastic stars destined for great things in chess.

As the father of the 13-year old twins, Derrick Bryant has led their development and has been a chess promoter in Harlem. Back in 2008, he organized the Harlem Chess Championship, but it was already known that his twins were quite talented.

Jehron is the latest of the cadre of New York area players who have recently reached the “Expert” level. He follows Medina Parrilla, Darrian Robinson, Josh Colas, Justus Williams, Miles Hinson and James Black. His brother Nigel is not far behind. Kassa Korley, also of New York, broke the age record for National Master of African descent. This record will no doubt be shattered in coming months.

Nigel and Jehron Bryant at 2009 World Open.
Photo by Daaim Shabazz.

Perhaps Jehron’s biggest fan is his mother Belinda Pura. It is no surprise that each of the scholastic players above have tremendous support from parents.

As they always say, behind every sucessful man is a woman, and I can say that I am not only behind nor beside one successful man but two, I am Belinda Pura (Mrs. Derrick Bryant), the proud mother of the Bryant twins.

It will be interesting to see how the young talent develops in the New York area. The Chess-in-Schools program appears to have been the lightening rod for activities of area schools and has helped provide the environment for chess excellence. I.S. 318 is developing a strong tradition and perhaps will soon be credited with producing some of the youngest masters in the country!

Jehron Bryant peering at Garry Kasparov who gave a simutaneous exhibition in Harlem, 2008. Photo by Harlem Children’s Zone.

The year of 2009 has come to a close. We end on the note of knowing that the world crown is unified and there will be a consistent cycle for the foreseeable future. There were a number of bright young stars to emerge from diverse countries. We also have a new #1 player. Lots of exciting chess this year. In this segment, we will recount some of the memories covered at The Chess Drum this year.

International Events

• 2009 London Chess Classic (London, England) (7 December 2009)
• 2009 African Jr. Championships (Cairo, Egypt) (21 November 2009)
• 2009 FIDE World Cup (Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia) (6 November 2009)
• 2009 Nigerian Open (Lagos, Nigeria) (6 October 2009)
• 2009 SPICE Cup (Lubbock, Texas) (6 October 2009)
• 2009 Arctic Chess Challenge (Norway) (3 August 2009)
• 2009 Caribbean Carnival (Port of Spain, Trinidad) (24 July 2009)
• 2009 World Open (Philadelphia, USA) (24 July 2009)
• 2009 African Individual Championships (Tripoli, Libya) (28 May 2009)
• Relections of 2009 U.S. Championship (20 May 2009)
• 2009 U.S. Chess Championship (St. Louis, USA) (7 May 2009)
• 2009 SuperNationals (Nashville, USA) (5 April 2009)
• 2009 UWI Master Invitational (Kingston, Jamaica) (15 March 2009)
• 2009 Linares SuperGM (Linares, Spain) (19 February 2009)
• Kamsky vs. Topalov (Sofia, Bulgaria) (16 February 2009)
• 2009 Corus (Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands) (18 January 2009)

Individual Feats

• Williams wins Empire State Open! (30 December 2009)
• James Black is U.S. K6 Champ! (13 December 2009)
• Kassa Korley at Philly Congress (4 December 2009)
• Nakamura tops Carlsen in blitz final! (29 November 2009)
• Colas shares Nat’l Youth crown! (24 November 2009)
• Canty officially joins Master ranks! (11 November 2009)
• England’s Chevannes still shines (6 November 2009)
• Aurélie Dacalor stars on Chess Site (27 October 2009)
• Zambian President honors Simutowe (27 October 2009)
• Nakamura is “Fischer-esque”… wins 960 (1 August 2009)
• Bassem Amin is 2009 African Champ! (31 July 2009)
• Darrian Robinson… the latest “Expert” ( (26 July 2009)
• Brown repeats as Jamaican Champ! ( (22 July 2009)
• Deborah Richards wins Wheeler Open! ( (22 May 2009)
• Mission Accomplished for Simutowe (24 April 2009)
• Medina Parrilla earns ‘Expert’ Rating (25 March 2009)
• Diamond goes 7-0 at Polgar Open! (17 February 2009)
• Hou Yifan aiming high! (6 February 2009)

Chess in Diverse Places!

• S. Africa’s President at Chess Tourney (22 December 2009)
• Bahamas to host Sub-Zonals! (12 October 2009)
• The Drum beats in Germany! (23 April 2009)
• Senterej: Chess with Ethiopian Flavor (31 March 2009)
• Angola hosts BGI International (27 March 2009)
• Belize Chess carries on! (25 March 2009)
• Hudson embarks on 50-state Tour! (3 March 2009)
• The Drum goes to Qatar! (26 February 2009)
• Interesting story from Bahrain (9 February 2009)

Stories of Note

• IM Michael Schleifer: 1967-2009 (7 December 2009)
• Video Documentary on Fischer (21 November 2009)
• Salome Thomas-EL on Dr. Oz! (29 October 2009)
• Chess hustling in Zimbabwe! (27 October 2009)
• Johnson launches chess-coach.net! (18 October 2009)
• Miro Reverby’s “Men Who Would Be Kings” (16 October 2009)
• South Africa welcomes Vishy Anand (29 August 2009)
• Anand Arrives in Botswana! (29 August 2009)
• The Genius of Michael Jackson (11 August 2009)
• Polgar, Truong booted from US Chess Fed (11 August 2009)
• Hikaru chats with The Chess Drum (8 July 2009)
• Charles Lawton, St. Louis Legend (2 June 2009)
• The Wire-Chess and Drug Dealing (8 May 2009)
• NBA Chess Jocks?? (23 April 2009)
• Kasparov says Anand’s reign over soon (17 March 2009)
• Morris Giles: The Heart of a Lion (25 February 2009)
• The Obama Challenge (14 January 2009)
• RZA talks on ‘Afro Samurai’ and Chess (13 January 2009)

There is a new king in the world ranking of chess. The nineteen-year old Magnus Carlsen (2810, +9) has officially vaulted over 2800 mark to become only the 5th person in history to eclipse the magical figure. It appears as if 2800 is the old 2700.

Approximately 10 years ago, there were only a handful of players having reached the 2700 level. There are currently 34 players over 2700 with a number of players having reached the mark previously and fallen below. Carlsen has had a meteoric rise to the world’s number one position and some project that he may break Garry Kasparov’s 2851 mark.

Being knocked from his comfortable perch, Veselin Topalov (2805, -5) is more focused on his upcoming match with World Champion Viswanathan Anand (2790, +2). The match will take place in Bulgaria in April 2010. Some believe Carlsen will be vying for the title in the next cycle. However, there are a lot of viable candidates in the loop.

Vladimir Kramnik (2788, +16) scored a nice victory in the recent Tal Memorial placing 1/2-point ahead of Carlsen. Kramnik had dropped precipitously prior to winning the ‘Toiletgate’ match against Topalov, but has overcome ailments to regain his form. In fact, many state that he is playing more aggressively. Armenia’s Levon Aronian (2781, -5) switched places with Kramnik and dropped to the #5 spot.

Rounding out the top ten, you have FIDE World Cup winner Boris Gelfand (2761, +3) who gained only a few points are the tournament performance is added to his tally. Vugar Gashimov (2759, +1) is Azerbaijan’s #1 and in an recent interview he stated the possibility of becoming the top-rated player one day. He lead his nation to a win in the prestigious European Team Championship and they will be a favorite to win a medal at the 2010 Olympiad.

Vassily Ivanchuk (2749, +10) continues his fluctuation in and out of the top ten. He regained some points are a strong showing at Tal Memorial, but had an early exit from the World Cup losing to rising star Wesley So (2656, +14) of the Philippines (pictured left). A Chinese player has reached the top ten for the first time in history and his name is Wang Yue (2749, +15).

With his solid style and consistency, Wang continues to climb the rating ladder and can clearly be considered in the elite class. With invitations rolling in, he has had opportunities to show the talent that had been developing since his youth days. There seems to be more talent in the Chinese pipeline.

Peter Svidler (2744, -10) rounds out the top ten, but has hit skids lately. He bombed in the Tal Memorial with 3.5/9, was eliminated in the FIDE World Cup quarterfinals and just a week ago he lost in 23 moves to talented junior, Sanan Sjugirov (2610, -2).

In women’s chess, nothing has changed in terms of the order. Judit Polgar has been on top for decades and is now regaining form. Hou Yifan (2590, +2) is hot on the heels of world #2 Koneru Humpy (2614, +11).

Humpy scored a good result in the match featuring the Queens vs. Veterans, but entered in a public dispute with her federation about her contractual committments. While she continues to play primarily against women, her improvement has not been very dramatic since reaching 2600 two years ago.

Former World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova (2545, +4) has remained steady over the past year, but the new sensation in the women’s section is Nadezhda Kostineva (2533, +15) of Russia. She has vaulted over 2500 and is now the top-rated Russian woman.

Kostineva overtakes World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk (2523, -6) who had held the top position since she first won the title at age 17. She will most probably keep the top board at the Olympiad regardless of the rating difference. Kosteniuk was blanked by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2741, +22) in the FIDE World Cup but helped Russia win the European Team Championship.

As the world’s number one Carlsen leads the Juniors and French #1 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2730, +12) is now second and Sergey Karjakin (2720, -3) is third. All were born in 1990 and will dominate the list for a few more years. Karjakin has recently changed his federation from Ukraine to Russia.

GM Fabiano Caruana is knocking at the door of the 2700 club. Here he plays Sweden’s GM Pontus Carlsson enroute to winning Corus ‘C’ earlier last year.

Italian #1 Fabiano Caruana (2675, +33) has pilled up points at a rapid pace and is approaching 2700. He made the fourth round of the FIDE World Cup finally losing to Gashimov. Ian Nepomniachtchi (2658, +32) of Russia gained a whopping 31 ELO points in the Russia Final with 8.5/10!

Perhaps one of the junior receiving the most praise (besides Carlsen) is Wesley So of the Philippines (2656, +14). He got to the 4th round of the FIDE World Cup beating Gadir Guseinov (2614), Vassily Ivanchuk (2749) and Gata Kamsky (2693).

One of the best thing about the juniors list (and other lists) is the wide diversity of nations represented, a fact not solely because of emigration from strong nations. Out of the top 20 juniors, 12 countries are represented. For the top 20 girls, two nations dominate the list… Russia (6) and China (4). Hou Yifan (2590, +2) is the #20 junior, but the top girl.

Jorge Cori and sister Daysi of Peru.

Daysi Cori of Peru is the sole representative on the girl’s list from the Western Hemisphere. Her brother Jorge recently made headlines by fulfilling the requirements a Grandmaster at age 14 and earlier winning the under-14 title. Daysi won the under-16 girl’s title.

FIDE: http://ratings.fide.com/toplist.phtml

Justus Williams (far right) with Josh Colas and the Bryant twin brothers, Nigel and Jehron Bryant. Watch out for this crew! Photos by Elizabeth Vicary.

Rising star Justus Williams of I.S. 318 has won perhaps his first major tournament. Entering with a pre-tournament rating of 2092, the 11-year old placed sole first at the 5th Annual Empire State Open during the Christmas holidays. Justus held top-seed Igor Nikolayev to a draw in the penultimate round and the second-seed to a draw in the last round. His undefeated score of 4.5/6 gained him 48 points and his rating now stands at 2140.

Justus is one of the cadre of very talented players coming out of I.S. 318. He also participates in the Chess-in-Schools program and seems to be improving rapidly. An All-American scholastic player, Justus has played training matches in an effort to improve his game and the results are paying off. Coach Elizabeth Vicary arranged a recent match with FM Andrei Zaremba. Williams continues on having beaten GM Michael Rohde, FM Asa Hoffman and many strong players.

Link: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200912283231.1-13534356

James “Jimmy” Canty III has officially cemented his position as National Master by giving a large simultaneous exhibition. The Senior at Mumford High School took on 30 budding chess players at the Detroit Institute of Fine Arts. Canty became a sensation in Detroit area chess by showing talent as a scholastic player and then competing on the national stage in open tournaments.

Earlier this year he broke the 2200 rating barrier and at age 17 is clearly one of the brightest talents in the Black community and in the country. He has competed in the Denker Tournament of Champions and will have one more year before he chooses a school to attend college.

National Master Jimmy Canty
Photos by Kwabena Shabu.

Final standings

1. H. Wanyama 8.5 points
2. P. Kawuma 7.0
3. S. Kantinti 6.5
4. B. Bibasa 6.5
5. S. Kawuma 6.0
6. G. Nsubuga 5.5
7. R. Kamoga 5.5
8. H. Nsubuga 5.0
9. W. Okas 5.0
10. E. Mwaka 4.5
11. M. Kawuma 3.5
12. M. Mawanda 2.5

TWENTY-YEAR old Patrick Kawuma will replace veteran chess star and national master Grace Nsubuga at the 2010 World Chess Olympiad in Moscow in July.

Nsubuga was the biggest causality in last week’s qualifiers at Lugogo. Nsubuga, who has been a consistent traveller to the world chess meet fell short with 5.5 in the battle for five slots on the national team.

The new face, brother of FIDE master Steven Kawuma, bagged seven points, one better than his elder sibling.

East Africa champion Harold Wanyama cemented his reputation by easily qualifying with an outstanding performance that saw him collect 8.5 points and drawing only one of the nine games.

The other senior players that booked berths to the World Chess Olympiad include Shadrack Kantinti and Bob Bibasa.

New Vision (Uganda): http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/30/705381

Chess has a storied history. There are many theories of its origin stemming from either India or China and going to Persia through the Middle East across the Sahara and into Europe. Some say that chess went through Central Asia and into Eurasia. Regardless of where chess started and how it got there, the form the Moors brought into Spain appears to be the precursor to the form that we play now.

Today there is a question circulating… it pertains to the apparent changing of the guard in chess. With the retirement of Garry Kasparov, the changing of the guard had begun. The transition was not a smooth one and a scramble ensued within the disjointed chess world. In April 2010, World Champion Viswanathan Anand of India will meet Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria for the title. This may mark the first time in recently memory that someone from the former Soviet bloc is not competing for the title.

There existed a single line of overall domination for several decades effectively ending with Kasparov. Before Kasparov, several Soviet champions drew inspiration from Mikhail Botvinnik who became a symbol of the “Soviet School of Chess“. Vladimir Kramnik had this to say about the World Champion:

Botvinnik’s example and teaching established the modern approach to preparing for competitive chess: regular but moderate physical exercise; analysing very thoroughly a relatively narrow repertoire of openings; annotating one’s own games, those of past great players and those of competitors; publishing one’s annotations so that others can point out any errors; studying strong opponents to discover their strengths and weaknesses; ruthless objectivity about one’s own strengths and weaknesses.

In the modern era, there were a lot of new talented players and the chess behemoth representing the Soviet Union was led by Anatoly Karpov followed by Garry Kasparov. The era from Botvinnik to Kasparov represented the glory years of the Soviet tradition and it remains an important time in chess history. Players like Kramnik have attempted to carry the torch.

While many of the strongest chess nations were once a part of the Soviet empire, does the “Soviet School of Chess” still reign supreme in the face of rising powers such as China and India? One may believe the proof is still evident when approximately 70% of the world’s top 100 players are from Russia and the former Soviet republics. However, there are some changing trends.

The trend of globalization has brought about a “chess wave” and currently the top three players are from Norway, Bulgaria and India. When Viswanathan Anand (right) became World Champion, it signaled a new era. Certainly a different time from when there was at least one “K” (Karpov, Kasparov, Kramnik) standing in the top ten for three decades.

The former Soviet bloc still represents an influential and formidable tradition, but what has become of the “Soviet School of Chess”? During the recent FIDE World Cup, there were 27 players from Russia competing out of 128. Nearly eighty-percent of the total players were from the former Soviet bloc. The tournament was won by a veteran from Belarus, Boris Gelfand, who now plays for Israel.

Despite the high percentage of players from the outset, Russia did not place a player in the final match. As the largest Soviet remnant, Russia has not scored an Olympiad medal in three straight Olympiads and its players no longer dominate tournaments as before. However, the last eight players were from the “Soviet tradition”. Perhaps one can argue that the tradition is alive, but there are also other developments indicating that the balance of power is shifting. This is the cause of some concern from prominent Russian chess players.

Back in 2006, Vladimir Kramnik complained about the lack of young talent coming up in Russia. He remarked that the veterans were indeed very strong, but needed to make way for young players with great stamina. Other nations in the former Soviet bloc seem to be thriving despite their small size. The Ukraine won the Olympiad in 2004 and Armenia has won in 2006 and 2008. Azerbaijan recently won the European Team Championship. Each of these teams have young stars making up a great part of their success. Of course, we cannot forget that both Israel (#3 in the world) and the U.S. (#8) consist of a number of “Soviet” emigres.

Russia’s Peter Svidler and Vladimir Kramnik at the 2008 Olympiad in Dresden. These two elite players work to bridge the gap of the old and new. Photo by Daaim Shabazz.

Despite the ongoing success, was the “Soviet School” ever a monolithic ideology or was it a deep-seated culture that diverged into different approaches to chess? Certainly there are players like Gelfand and Kramnik who were direct descendants of the Soviet tradition and play a similar brand of chess, but Latvian players like Alexei Shirov was more influenced by Mikhail Tal, a World Champion often accused of playing “incorrect” chess. Alexander Morozevich has his unique style as well and seems to purposely go against the grain.

If one has to answer whether the Soviet School is still relevant, there is no question that it is very much a force. However, times are changing and the method of assimilating mass amounts of knowledge in a short time (to reach a critical analysis) has overtaken the method of deeply analyzing select classic games and positions. Other regions have proved that other techniques can be used with great effect. Many of the promising juniors being produced today are from many parts of the world. Most do not have the benefit of a rich chess culture and ample support, yet they are making a mark and entering the upper echelon with improvised techniques.

If we look at the rise of China, there may be an argument that there is a “massification” of talent, but that argument has not panned out yet. China has a very well-defined system for producing talent… a strong player as national trainer (GM Ye Jiangchuan) and government support. The number of players they produce is selective, yet all of the players appear to be very strong and well-prepared. Liu Wenzhe wrote a book about the “Chinese School of Chess” but it is not clear how close that model is being followed today.

The nation has created a powerhouse in less than 30 years and its women have dominated chess for more than two decades. China currently holds the #5 ranking (behind Russia, Ukraine, Israel and Azerbaijan). They have produced four 2700s (Wang Yue, Bu Xiangzhi, Ni Hua, Wang Hao) and have a cadre of young strong players who are unrated and indeed ready to enter the chess stage. Li Chao and Yu Yangyi showed great promise in the FIDE World Cup, not to mention Hou Yifan, a legitimate talent.

Wesley So represents a new era of chess players. Photo by Galina Popova courtesy of FIDE.

India has the benefit of a great icon in World Champion Anand and perhaps more of a massification effect in terms of young talent. We are witnessing the “Anand Effect” or “Anand Boom” similar to what happened in the U.S. with Bobby Fischer. India has excelled in many of the age group world championships and in 2008 won both the boy’s and girl’s junior titles. Overall, India is now ranked as the #6 federation (counting the top 10 players) with a large, active population of chess players. The players have strong support from the corporate sector, but internal rankling could slow process.

Vietnam and the Philippines have begun to show promise with young talent such as Le Quang Liem, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and Wesley So. Cuba has led the way in showing that there are other methods for producing elite players and have Lenier Dominguez. Iran has also made tremendous strides in producing strong talent. In North America, there is Hikaru Nakamura who has soared over 2700 and is has developed a unique approach to chess development. Last but not least, the world’s #1 player is Norway’s Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen was trained primarily by fellow Norwegians without extensive support, but developed into an elite player. This occurred long before his alliance with Kasparov.

What does all this mean? It means that while the Soviet School of Chess still has tremendous influence in terms of chess training, literature and tradition, methods are evolving quickly. The methods still show results, but is perhaps losing ground. Kramnik has made such comments in a 2006 interview when asked about the rising Russian players.

With regard to Russia I am not aware of the most recent developments; actually it is Evgeny Bareev who is working with the main players in his school. But unfortunately I don’t see much talent coming from our country and this is scaring for me as we shall not get any younger. Some of the players in this team already played in 1994, so you need some new blood at some point and at the moment I can’t see who can bring some new resources to the team. OK, we have some good players such as Malakhov, we have Jakovenko, but they are not much stronger than the rest of the guys. Bareev is already 40 you know, but I hope that he will be able to prepare in his school some young players for the Olympiad in two years time in Dresden. (Link)

In Dresden, it was not to be. Armenia would take gold again on the strength of Levon Aronian and Gabriel Sargissian. Israel took silver and the U.S. took the bronze. For the time being, Russia, the Ukraine, Israel, Azerbaijan and Armenia will keep the tradition strong, but how long will the influence of the “Soviet School” last?

Garry Kasparov was perhaps the first player from the Soviet School to make effective use of the traditional methods along with the use of databases. Players like Ruslan Ponomariov, Teimour Radjabov and Sergey Karjakin are steeped more in the information age than previous generations, but one can still see the influence of the Soviet tradition.

The idea of studying classic games is invaluable as are the deep studying of middlegame positions. These methods had been practiced in other parts of the world for a long time. There was no other way to develop a deep understanding of chess prior to today’s wide distribution of audio/visual education material.

Today, the methods used have changed. Younger players are finding other ways to practicalize their preparation. Online chess allows an incredible amount of trial and error and experience-building. When this is combined with detailed analysis and annotation of games, it makes a powerful method.

Viktor Korchnoi has been very critical of the new generation by saying that too much reliance is placed on computers and databases. One thing for sure… computers and databases are here to stay. Other nations are certainly benefiting from the mass amount of data, powerful engines and access to strong players on the Internet. In interviews, Anand has described the role of computers in “leapfrogging” and leveling the field.

I think that happened with chess. I think that is exactly right. Not only in India but there has been a sort of levelling in the world. The rest of the world has been able to catch up with Russia much faster than it would have had these things not come into play. And now I would say even the expertise is being levelled because you have computers that are so strong. I mean most programs on a PC would beat almost any grandmaster. Even when I play, or any top GM, we have to really concentrate to have a chance. If you are casual, the machine is too strong. So you have such a strong computer with which you can work, all your doubts can be cleared much easier. That is why the sport has become much younger. The time needed to accumulate a certain amount of experience and understanding has dropped. So yes, first the lag in information, then the lag in expertise or knowledge and geographical boundaries through the Internet. Each of these things we have bypassed. We are still as far away as we used to be, but we have bypassed them. (Link)

Despite the narrowing gap, Anand admits that Russia is still “one of the strongest.” The methods as taught by many former Soviet trainers will still have some relevance, but will require some adaption if they are going to continue to be effective against players who require speed and volume of many games over the depth and critical analysis of fewer games. The Soviet School as we know it will never be the same. Eventually, it will be influenced by a more dynamic pedagogy. With globalization of information and the rise of new chess powers, it’s going to be exciting to see where the world of chess is headed.

They say, “Life is short.” This is certainly true in the online world of commerce. Online chess servers have sprouted up over the past 15 years, but only a few have shown to be sustainable. The Internet Chess Club may be one of the most stable of the bunch and appears to be consolidating its position. After buying a number of competitors, ICC got strong competition from the ChessBase PlayChess interface and the two, along with Chess.com, share the bulk of the paid online traffic.

Chess.com claims to be “the largest site”. While it is not clear what that means, one may assume that it is based on subscribers. Along with upstarts such as Chesspark, Chesscube and Chessbomb make up a captive market. However how may argue that the market is a bit crowded. When that happens consolidation is inevitable.

Recently chesspark was fighting a losing battle to keep its doors open and had admitted that it would eventually shut its doors. They were able to reach a deal with rival chess.com to sell its trademark. The other assets will be liquidated maintained by chesspark on a new search engine project called “collecta”.

Source: http://www.chess.com/news/chesscom-welcomes-chesspark-members-2379