Would you like a chess holiday in Europe?

Well, that is my dream, to flitter across Europe for a year chasing down chess tournaments and visiting all the art galleries, museums and great restaurants, la vita bellisimo.

What brought on this state of wishful thinking was an article on Chessvibes (see here) on the recent exploits of a group of young Ukrainian junior chessplayers and their coach travelling to the Cappelle-La-Grande chess tournament in France.

The tournament was organized by the “L’Echiquier Cappellois” chess club and took place at the Palais des Arts in Cappelle-la-Grande, just south of Dunkerque, France.

For the second year in a row, a young Ukrainian won the tournament. Last year it was GM Yuri Vovk. This year it is 16-year-old GM Yaroslav Zherebukh who scored 7.5/9 whose only loss was to Yuri.

But what is really intersting is that both Yuri and Yaroslav are pupils of IM Vladimir Grabinsky. Vladimir is the honorary chess coach of the Ukrainian junior chess team and one the most successful coaches. His most famous pupil thus far, besides those named above, is GM Andrei Volokitin. Both Vladimir and Andrei collaborated in a chess book published by Gambit a few years ago called perfect Your Chess. It is tactical puzzle training book highly recommended for over 2100 players (IM Jeremy Silman's recommendation, see below).

Vladimir has a blog (see here) and you can find some selective reviews of the book on the blog (see here). I like the story told be IM John Donaldson in his review of the book, excerpted on Vladimir's blog) (see full review here).) Also check out IM Jeremy Silman's review (here).

Speaking of Andrei, I was reminded of Ronald Yu recounting one of the World Youth Championships he played in where he met Andrei Volokitin. At one point (pre-Magnus Carlsen days), Andrei was touted as the next World Champion.

But the blog is also insightful for the insider's anecdotes on the Ukrainian trip to the Cappelle-La-Grande (see here and here). On the second report, there is also discussion of two games including the clash between Yuri and Yaroslav which resulted in Yaroslav's only loss in the tournament. Of course, the blog again emphasised my perennial point about hard work is critical to success.

So, parents and juniors, anyone keen to organise a chess holiday over to Europe to play in the big Opens? Cappelle-La-Grande? GibTelecom? the Nancy Chess Festival (see here or here or here for a 2009 report)?

Johns-Putra (AusJCL) JETS 2010_Update

The selectors are presently conducting the first selection and short list. The second and hopefully final selection will be conducted after the release of ACF/Fide March ratings.

Garry Kasparov 1988 clock simul ......

Heare are some clips from a documentary made about a 1988 clock simul by then World Champion Garry Kasparaov against the 6 of the best US juniors of the time, Stuart Rachels (1988 US Junior Champion, later IM (with two GM norms) and US Champion (see here, here), Patrick Wolff*** (1987 US Junior Champion and touted then as a future World Champion, later GM, and twice US Champion (see here)), Alex Fishbein (later GM (see here and here for a recent video)), Vivek Rao (later an IM, see here), Daniel Edelman and Ilya Gurevich (1985 U14 World Champion and later 1990 World Junior Champion and GM (see here)).

Quirky things to look out for:
1) the old 286/386 computer Kasparov is using in his pre-game preparation;
2) the spectacles the juniors (and other) wore (they are huge!);
3) the scene in the first clip where the juniors are informed they can have all the chocolates they wish to eat ??!! (note: chocalates are not recommended as snack/power food pre-game especially if you are playing a longer time control game because the sugar runs out and you end up with a very hungry feeling);
4) how well-dressed the juniors are for the occasion;
5) how they relay moves for commentary.







Question:
1) Garry initiated the draw by repetition in the game with Daniel but got upset when Daniel took the draw. Do you think it was a psychological ploy to pressure the remaining players, especially Alex who decided to play the win?
2) What do you think of Kasparov's strategy of playing the man in his game with Stuart?
3) What do you think of Patrick's assessment and opinion in the 3rd clip at around 7:29? followed by Stuart's assessment of the US chess scene? I suppose the same applies to Australia? Do you agree?

The games can be replayed here [courtesy of Dennis Monokroussos]. For more notes/kibitzing on the games go to Chessgames, eg, Kasparov-Rachesl here.

Now, is there anyone keen on a similar simulataneous exhibition between the Australian Champion and No 1 player, GM Zhao ZongYuan and 6 of the top juniors in Australia (including the top girl player, the top U16 and U14 juniors)?

[My thanks to Dennis Monokroussos of the The Chess Mind for the video clips. Denis also provides an update of the juniors, ie, "where are they now?":

The bearded fellow working with Kasparov is ChessBase's Frederic Friedel. About the players: Patrick Wolff, Ilya Gurevich and Alex Fishbein all became grandmasters. Gurevich even won the world junior championship, but both he and Wolff quit playing. Both work in the financial industry. Stuart Rachels didn't become a GM, but became an IM and won the US championship one year in a huge upset. Like his late father, he's a professional philosopher. Vivek Rao became an IM but quit the game to jump into the financial sector. Danny Edelman also made it to IM..and quit. I'm not sure what he does

***Patrick Wolff also wrote a book for beginners to chess called the Idiot's Gudie to Chess which has been well-received.

Alexei Shirov on Fire in Ottawa

Last year we read of super-GM Alexei Shirov's flying visit to the Gold Coast, Queensland for the Gold Coast Chess Festival. Amongst the chess-related things he did was a simultaneous exhibition against 26 opponents (see here). We read of local boy, Daniel Lapitan, the only player to score a draw as Shirov won all his other games (see here).

Now, Chessbase has reported of a similar simultaneous exhibition in Ottawa, Canada, where Shirov faced 36 opponents (originally the arrangement was 25 strong opponents) (see here). Shirov ended up with +25 =9 -2. The first game to finish was a game in 90 minutes and only 16 moves. Shirov resigned to a 12 year old junior, Pranav Sharma (see below). The second game Shirov lost was to a 16 year old junior, albeit a junior who is the Canadian U16 champion, Karoly Szalay.

Sharma,Pranav - Shirov,Alexei [B26]
Ottawa Simul, 02.2010
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.Be3 Rb8 7.f4 b5 8.Qc1 b4 9.Nce2 e5 10.Nf3 Nge7 11.f5 gxf5 12.Bh6 Bxh6 13.Qxh6 fxe4 14.Ng5 exd3 15.Qg7 Rg8?? [After 15...Kd7 Black is clearly better.] 16.Bxc6+ [and since White is threatening mate on f7] 1-0.

The World No 1 vs USA No 1

The first (or rather another game) in the ongoing rivalry between two ex-teen titans. Some commentators have already predicted that this may be a long-time rivalry in the making providing chess kibitzers with good value entertainment for years to come. Remember Carlsen won the World Blitz in November 2009 but then lost to Nakamura 1-3 in the final of the BNbank Blitz tournament, held Saturday, November 28th in Oslo, Norway. BTW, they drew again in Corus at Wijk aan See.

Johns-Putra (AusJCL) JETS 2010_Update

I have prepared the spreadsheet and just received the ratings report for 2009 from Bill Gletsos (thanks, Bill!). I will need some time to compile and it is then off to selectors for first round of selection.

2010 Australian and International Junior Calendar

(revised and please note that there is a further change to the dates for the Asian U20 Junior Championships).

March 31
Deadline for applications for Australian international junior representation in 2010.

April 1-5
Doeberl Cup
Canberra
http://www.doeberlcup.com.au/

April 7-11
Sydney International Open
Sydney
http://www.chessaustralia.com.au/index.cfm?site=open

April 12-16
WA Junior Championships
Perth
http://www.cawa.org.au/

April 15-16
City of Adelaide Junior
Adelaide, SA
http://www.sachess.org/

May 9-19
Commonwealth Championships (including age groups)
New Delhi, India
http://www.delhichess.com/

June 4–13
Asean+ Age Group Championships
Subic Bay, Phillipines

June 14-24
Asian Junior U/20 Championships
Chennai,India
http://www.indianchessfed.org/tournamentcalendar.asp

June 26-July 1
Vic. Junior Ch.
Melbourne
http://chessvictoria.netfirms.com/10_vic_junior_championships.htm

June 28
JETS Mini-squad meeting
Gold Coast

June 28-July 3
QLD Junior Ch.
Gold Coast
http://www.gardinerchess.com/

July 5-10
JETS Camp
Sydney

July 8-18
Asian Youth Chess Championships
Beijing, China

July 11-16
NSW Junior Ch.
Sydney
http://www.nswjcl.org.au/

July 15-16
SA Junior Championships
Adelaide, SA
http://www.sachess.org/

July 24-Aug 1
World Youth U/16 Chess Olympiad
Turkey,Antalya

July 25 –Aug 2
World Schools Individual Championship
Turkey

Aug 2-17
World Junior (U/20) Open Ch.and Girls Ch.
Chotowa Czarna, Poland
http://www.wjcc2010.pl/en

September 1-8
Malaysian Open
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Oct 19-31
World Youth Championships
Haikidiki, Greece

December 4-5
Australian Schools Championship
Perth, WA
http://www.cawa.org.au/

Dec 16-23
Asian Schools Chess Festival
Colombo, Sri Lanka

Computers and Junior Chessplayers

For those who have been visiting, I apologise for the infrequent updates. I have been busy with AusJCL JETS as well as NSWJCL ATS matters. But here is something on an issue which I have been mulling over and fortuitously ......

The recent well-publicised article by Debra Littlejohn Shinder, the mother of Kris Littlejohn (who is the second to 2009 US Champion GM Hikaru Nakamura and there is also the interesting question of whether a 2700 GM should have a second who is only rated 2200 but lets not get distracted) (and if you have not read the article see here (see if you can spot the error in the story)) started me thinking about the extra set of crucial skills a junior chessplayer requires in today's competitive chess arena. Most juniors in Australia who use computers would have started chess using Fritz and Chesster or Chessmaster. Then they graduate to Chessbase products. I am just wondering how pervasive is computer assistance and analysis amongst juniors in Australia? Secondly, I wonder how much juniors know on using computer aids in their chess? I plan to write a series of blogs on this issue. But let me begin by looking at some stories first.

Let me go overseas and note some examples. Firstly there is Magnus Carlsen and Garry Kasparov and the photograph of them working with chess engines and databases. (see here for my previous blog post).

From Searching for Magnus Carlsen/Hou YiFan

Then there is the hottest junior GM, Anish Giri. From this Chessbase story (here):

Back to openings: Anish studies them using ChessBase, a database containing four million games, as he was more than happy to demonstrate seated behind his laptop in his attic. He prefers discussing his game with a chessboard handy. Anish usually studies games between players boasting ratings in the 2,600s.

Pieces flew over the virtual board as Anish clicked his way through a game. Chessbase allows him either to stick with a past game as it was played, or diverge from it by introducing new moves. The computer then helps out by suggesting possible follow-up moves. But it is not always right, Anish said. Its suggestions can be bland or too risky. Only recently did Anish start practicing with a coach.

Similarly, the hottest young junior GM in the Asia-Oceania zones is GM Wesley So (who has a large online pinoy following each time he plays). Wesley is on record as saying he does not have a coach but yet he spends 5 hours a day preparing for his next round opponents. How does he do that. I can only surmise he doe sit with the help of his silicon friends. (See World Cup interview here.)

Do you have a personal coach? Unfortunately I don't. But I think that the moment is coming: I will need it soon.

Besides, I spend a lot of time for preparations to every single opponent. I train chess for 5-6 hours per day watching the previous games of my opponents.

Why is this issue important. Actually it is related to another issue in which I am interested, namely, the difference, if any exist, between GMs of 1970s-mid-1990s learning chess and the junior GMs of the present generation, such as the Carlsens, Karjakins, Giris, Sos. If there is any difference, the most probable cause is the rise of computer power in chess. There is some speculation that present-day juniors play like computers and eschew classical rules and play. Juniors will play a move because of its concreteness notwithstanding it is ugly and against all classical sensibilities. This is also related to chess in general since the 1990s where commentators have remarked that chess has become much more concrete and calculation is much more critical than ever before.This trend has arisen without the computers but since the mid-1990s the two advances have fed off each other with mutual benefit. Do you agree?

For future blogs, I propose to look at different computer software and types of software. Also, for Fritz users, I will provide links to online resources. I will also recommend a book which I have found very useful. Then I will actually look specifically at the things we can learn to do with the various computer software. Look, I am not an expert and I have not use all the software available. But certain principles are applicable no matter what software you use. Readers are welcomed to contribute their experience or tips.

International Junior Events Calendar_Changes

I have been informed by NY Wong, Fide Trainer, that the dates for the 2010 Asian Youth Chess Championship (U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, U18) to be held in Beijing, China, have been changed to the 8th-18th July 2010. The dates for the Asian Junior (U20) Championship have also been changed and it will now be held from the 14th-23rd June 2010.

I have changed the main Calendar (posted a while ago) here.

Johns-Putra JETS (AusJCL) 2010_Applicants

Here is the final list of applicants (58 in total) for the Johns-Putra JETS 2010 (in no particular order):

Hannah Derwent
Janaki Narenthran
Savithri Narenthran
Ethan Derwent
Noah Gong
Joshua Behar
Martin Jack
Grace Shan
Caroline Shan
Adam Hayman
Nicholas Deen-Cowell
Alastair Dyer
Thumula Gamage
Pasan Perera
Oscar Wang
Anton Smirnov
Andrew Pan
Grace Alvares
Penelope Drastik
Enoch Fan
Leteisha Simmonds
Joshua Devarajh
Matthew Pyper
Jack Ruan
Harry Ruan
Ari Dale
Lachlan Cameron
Jasper Hong
Alex MacAdam
Vincent Chen
Stuart Nicholls
Zachary Loh
Harry Briant
Aston Taminsyah
Jenny Yum
Charlotte Dilnutt
Stephen Daenke
Emma Guo
Jaime-Lee Guo
Kashish Christian
Oscar Brown
Joanne Mason
Stuart Mason
Sean Gu
Varun Mukhedkar
Clarise Koh
Cedric Koh
Punala Jayath Kiripitige
Matthew Bennett
Rowan Willathgamuwa
Kevin Willathgamuwa
Abbie Kanagarajah
Harry Hughes
Callum Gray
Jana Pretorius
Shirley Gu
Theresa Gu
Dylan Siow-Lee
Sam Dalton

I will be compiling all the information for the selectors and the final selection will be published in due course. Please be patient. I will post updates every week to keep all applicants informed of the progress.

Please note that I AM NOT a selector.

Test Yourself !!! (I) ...... Answer

There is an interesting story behind the position reached by GM Anish Giri against GM Pentala Harakhrishna in Rd of the 2010 Corus B. GM Hans Ree has written in his column at Chesscafe (here) that Mikhail Botvinnik, World Champion, had analysed this position during his training and preparation for his World Championship Match with Vassily Smyslov (also World Champion) in 1958. Botvinnik wrote in his notebook*, 11 e3 to be followed by 12 e4. However, Anish found 11 e4 over-the-board!!! This is Ree:

One of the positions studied by Botvinnik when he prepared for the match of 1958, is the one that occurred after Black's tenth move in the game Harikrishna-Giri. As we can see in his notebook, Botvinnik's intention had been to play 11.e3 followed by 12.e4. These are good moves, but what Giri did against Harikrishna, the immediate 11.e4, was much stronger.

When I saw that game I thought that Giri's opening preparation had been better than Botvinnik's, of course not because he was the better player, but because he could use the engines.

But I was wrong. Later Giri said that he had never prepared for this sideline of the Slav and that he had seen at the board that 11.e4 was winning. So it had not been Fritz or Rybka that had been superior to Botvinnik's preparation, but just some minutes of thinking at the board by Giri.

Anish said in his press conference that he had been "out of book" since 8...Nd5. This game won Anish 250 Euro for the best game prize for the round in Corus B. He went on to win another three best game prizes.

Here is the game to play over:

[Annotations by Steve Giddens and Hans Ree.]




* The notebooks as well as the games of the three World Championship Matches have been published in English translation by New In Chess last year.

Test Yourself !!! (I) ......

Yes, it is a challenge to Test Yourself !!! ...... against the "hottest" junior GM now in the world of chess, Anish Giri, formerly of the Russian federation, now of the Netherlands and the Dutch 2009 Champion at the ripe old age of 15. (see previous blog here.)

Anish reached the following position with White in one of his games at the just concluded Corus B tournament which he won. (Next year he will be amongst the big guys in the A Group.) What would you play as White's eleventh move? 11.?



I will post the answer tomorrow. Now, no cheating by going to the Corus games ......