Copenhagen Chess Festival 2009

Time to check out the game of kings mate
Friday, 17 July 2009 09:55
Brendan Cooney
In & Out guide

Copenhagen Chess Festival 2009 including Politiken Cup 2009 and Nordisk Championship Lo-Skolen Elsinore, Gl. Hellebækvej 70, 3000 Helsingør; starts Saturday 13:00, ends July 26, schedule highlights include simuls by Peter Heine Nielsen at Cph Central Station on Friday, 15:00; Yuri Kuzobov on Mon, 20:00-23:00, Parimarjan Negi on Tue, 20:00-23:00, Alexander Arechenko (invite only) on Wed, 20:00-23:00, Stellan Bryenell (invite only) on Thu, 20:00-23:00, a lecture by Boris Avrukon on Thu, 20:00-21:30, the climax of the Politiken Cup on July 26, 10:00-16:00; www.ksu.dk

There once was a queen who would do anything to fight for her king. Her powers on the battlefield were almost unlimited. She could move in any direction and get where she wanted to go in an instant. She had a small army also willing to die for their king. Eight farmers who could move only forward and not retreat, but who were good at staking out territory. Two knights on horses who jumped at a slight angle. Two elephants who moved with alarming quickness in diagonal lines across the battlefield (she started calling them ‘bishops’ after her conversion to Christianity). And two chariots (which she called ‘rooks’ from her knowledge of Persian).

Her only problem was that the enemy had a queen with exactly the same powers and the same kind of ferocious army. She knew she’d have to rely on strategy rather than brute force, and that she’d have to hold back and let her henchmen spill some blood before she came along to clean up. First she sent out some farmers to establish control of the center of the battlefield. Then she sent out the knights to protect the farmers. She quickly built a human shield of three farmers and a chariot for her king to hide behind.

Here is the full article.