Chess by Stephen Dann
November 29. 2013 8:32PM
Even those who don’t play the game may know that there is a new world champion of chess. Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, who just turned 23, won the title after drawing game eight with Vishy Anand Nov. 22 in Chennai, India. But only the public in Norway and India may know the details, such as Carlsen being the top-rated player in the world since January 2010. Last Saturday, most newspapers ran a detailed account, including more about Carlsen’s celebrity status being long and richly deserved.
Most accounts now say that Carlsen’s unique ability to evaluate positions even ones he has never seen made the difference. Certainly this caused Anand to miscalculate a number of times. Chess experts are calling this a new era in chess and in sports, where strategy does overshadow tactics.
Take the current World Team Championship in Turkey (Nov. 26 to Dec. 5) for one example. Ten of the world’s top chess powers are engaged in a nine-team round robin. The U.S. squad (of four boards) lost two of the first three matches, but defeated the number one seed, Russia, in round two. One round, black won the only games in any of the five matches, every one ending 2.5-1.5, the closest possible winning margin. See http://2700chess.com
or www.fide.com. Today is a rest day, and round six will be tomorrow.
Recent results include John Curdo of Auburn winning the Pumpkin Pusher in Amherst (16 players), 3-0. Igor Foygel, Denys Shmelov and Farzad Abdi tied for first in the top section of the 80-player Thanksgiving Open (www.metrowestchess.org). Other section winners were Neil Cousin, Richard Kahn and Danila Poliannikov. Chris Chase and Farzad Abdi tied for first in the 32-player sixth Greg Hager Memorial in Somerville.
Denys Shmelov of Pepperell and Andrew Liu of Westboro tied at 10-2 in the Waltham JFK G/5, (16 players) honoring the tragic event that day 50 years ago. Anil Marthi tied with Mark Kaprielian to lead the November Vortex Open in Framingham. Other events, including several scholastic ones, are rated with full crosstables at www.uschess.org, under “clubs and tournaments” by state. Local rated events in Worcester are posted at www.chesspals.com.
On www.chesscafe.com, Bruce Pandolfini’s November “Pando” column highlights a 1985 lecture he made in Baltimore highlighting an 1885 game that is still considered a classic. We also found an interesting story at ScienceNordic.com, “An Elusive Formula Would Destroy Chess,” about how computers will eventually figure out chess not that they don’t already play the game better than most humans. Compared to tic-tac-toe, chess is still a great human challenge and should be for decades more.
Tops this next week at www.masschess.org is the third state singles/Spiegel Cup scholastic qualifier next Sunday at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel, Route 20, Marlboro. Choose from five rated sections for advanced kids and novices age 14 and younger. Older youth and adults without family members entered may receive volunteer training in running scholastic and open events.Even those who don’t play the game may know that there is a new world champion of chess. Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, who just turned 23, won the title after drawing game eight with Vishy Anand Nov. 22 in Chennai, India. But only the public in Norway and India may know the details, such as Carlsen being the top-rated player in the world since January 2010. Last Saturday, most newspapers ran a detailed account, including more about Carlsen’s celebrity status being long and richly deserved.
Most accounts now say that Carlsen’s unique ability to evaluate positions even ones he has never seen made the difference. Certainly this caused Anand to miscalculate a number of times. Chess experts are calling this a new era in chess and in sports, where strategy does overshadow tactics.
Take the current World Team Championship in Turkey (Nov. 26 to Dec. 5) for one example. Ten of the world’s top chess powers are engaged in a nine-team round robin. The U.S. squad (of four boards) lost two of the first three matches, but defeated the number one seed, Russia, in round two. One round, black won the only games in any of the five matches, every one ending 2.5-1.5, the closest possible winning margin. See http://2700chess.com or www.fide.com. Today is a rest day, and round six will be tomorrow.
Recent results include John Curdo of Auburn winning the Pumpkin Pusher in Amherst (16 players), 3-0. Igor Foygel, Denys Shmelov and Farzad Abdi tied for first in the top section of the 80-player Thanksgiving Open (www.metrowestchess.org). Other section winners were Neil Cousin, Richard Kahn and Danila Poliannikov. Chris Chase and Farzad Abdi tied for first in the 32-player sixth Greg Hager Memorial in Somerville.
Denys Shmelov of Pepperell and Andrew Liu of Westboro tied at 10-2 in the Waltham JFK G/5, (16 players) honoring the tragic event that day 50 years ago. Anil Marthi tied with Mark Kaprielian to lead the November Vortex Open in Framingham. Other events, including several scholastic ones, are rated with full crosstables at www.uschess.org, under “clubs and tournaments” by state. Local rated events in Worcester are posted at www.chesspals.com.
On www.chesscafe.com, Bruce Pandolfini’s November “Pando” column highlights a 1985 lecture he made in Baltimore highlighting an 1885 game that is still considered a classic. We also found an interesting story at ScienceNordic.com, “An Elusive Formula Would Destroy Chess,” about how computers will eventually figure out chess not that they don’t already play the game better than most humans. Compared to tic-tac-toe, chess is still a great human challenge and should be for decades more.
Tops this next week at www.masschess.org is the third state singles/Spiegel Cup scholastic qualifier next Sunday at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel, Route 20, Marlboro. Choose from five rated sections for advanced kids and novices age 14 and younger. Older youth and adults without family members entered may receive volunteer training in running scholastic and open events.
Source: www.telegram.com/article/20131201/NEWS/312019947
Nice column.