Kramnik wins Tal Memorial, Carlsen tops live rating list

The 2009 Tal Memorial concluded today with Vladimir Kramnik winning the first place and claiming his second major tournament this year. Earlier he also won Dortmund (his 9th trophy there), after taking a timeout in the first half of the season.

But another, and for some probably even more important news, is that Magnus Carlsen beat Peter Leko in the final round and surpassed Veselin Topalov on the live rating list. Topalov won't be playing until Linares 2010 and Carlsen has a chance to increase the margin at the London Chess Classic in December.

Rex Sinquefield sponsoring U.S. team for the World Team Chess Championship

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis agreed to sponsor the U.S. team in the 2010 World Team Chess Championship being held Jan. 4-13 in Bursa, Turkey.

"One of the primary purposes of the Chess Club is to promote top-level chess," said Tony Rich, Executive Director of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. " What better way to do that than by sponsoring the U.S. team in this international event."

Rex Sinquefield, founder and president of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center, pledged an undisclosed sum of money to secure the sponsorship and allow the team to travel to Turkey.

"His donation means everything," said John Donaldson, U.S. team captain and chess director at the Mechanics' Chess Institute in San Francisco. "The players are very grateful for his support."

The team will consist of Grandmasters: Hikaru Nakamura, winner of the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship, Alexender Onischuk, Yury Schulman, Varuzhan Akobian and Robert Hess. Their average age is only 27, making this the youngest team sent by the U.S. in more than 30 years.

The U.S. is one of only 10 countries invited to the 2010 World Team Championship and will be playing round-robin against teams from Armenia, Israel, Brazil, Turkey, Egypt, China and three other countries still to be determined.

"It’s important for the U.S. to be represented," Donaldson said. "American players need to be part of the world chess community. They need an opportunity to test themselves against the best. It would have been a sad day for American chess if we had not accepted the invitation for financial reasons after the team’s brilliant play at the Dresden Olympiad [which qualified the U.S. for this Championship]."

Sinquefield has been an avid supporter of U.S. chess. The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis hosted the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship in May and the 2009 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship earlier this month. CCSCSL will also be hosting the 2010 U.S. Championship, from April 23 - May 6, 2010, which will feature an even larger prize fund than last year. Sinquefield is president and chairman of the board of CCSCSL.

FIDE Bringing Order in Players' Transfers

1.3 A player qualifies to be registered under a Federation:

(a) if he or she is qualified by citizenship or naturalization in the country of that Federation; or
(b) if he or she has resided for a continuous period of two years in a country of which he or she is not a citizen and, after thorough examination and clearance by the FIDE General Secretary, is approved for registration under the new Federation of his or her country of residence. This two- year period of residence shall be reduced to one year if the player has not participated in any FIDE competition (including continental individual and team events) for at least 5 consecutive years prior to the date of registration.
(c) if FIDE has approved his or her transfer.

Excerpt from the document attached on the FIDE website

Fat fees shall be charged if the federation or player rushes to transfer before fulfilling the condition of continuous two-years residence in the country.

Humpy Koneru disappointed with AICF

Grandmaster Koneru Humpy seems to have declared war on All India Chess Federation secretary DV Sundar. The World No. 2 also released documents to support her allegations. Earlier, Humpy had withdrawn from the Asian indoor championship after Sundar allegedly refused permission for her to be accompanied by her father/coach.

Sundar had termed Humpy's allegations "baseless" and a "combination of half-truths and lies". Humpy released letters that were exchanged between the two with regard to the incidents mentioned in her allegations.

Humpy revealed she was never comfortable with any other coach than her father. "Once I tried without his guidance in the Chess Olympiad, 2006, at Turin, Italy, and I utterly collapsed," says Humpy in her open letter to Sundar. In the four tournaments during the 2009-10 period for which Humpy confirmed participation, her father agreed to pay the airfare and for stay and food but all that he required was his inclusion in the delegation and visa/accreditation clearance, reveals the letter. The request was not granted by Sundar.

Full article on The Times of India

Russians to defend titles in Novi Sad

The European Team Chess Championship is scheduled to take place from 21st until 31st October in Novi Sad. Russian teams are having problems at the Global Chess Olympiads, but in 2007 they convincingly won both Men and Women European Championship.

In Novi Sad they will be defending titles as top seeded teams. Men roster: GM Morozevich Alexander 2750, GM Jakovenko Dmitry 2742, GM Svidler Peter 2741, GM Grischuk Alexander 2733, GM Alekseev Evgeny 2725, GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2688 and GM Vitiugov Nikita 2681

Women roster: GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2516, IM Kosintseva Tatiana 2536, IM Kosintseva Nadezhda 2493, WFM Gunina Valentina 2437, IM Romanko Marina 2453, WGM Bodnaruk Anastasia 2384 and IM Ovod Evgenija 2447

Championship website (stuck in time machine)

Zatonskih Beats Krush

The long anticipated battle between the top US female players finally took place last night in the third round of the 2009 U.S. Women's Championship. The defending champion Anna Zatonskih beat IM Irina Krush with black pieces.

Why is this so important - read here and follow their links.

Almira Skrpchenko ruling the poker tables

On the surface, it appears there are very few similarities between chess and poker.

However, international chess champion turned poker pro Almira Skripchenko says appearances can be deceiving.

And after she made a final table appearance in the 2009 World Series of Poker's $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event this past summer, it's hard to disagree with her.

"I just think that chess players are naturally skilled to become poker players because chess involves a lot of strategic thinking," she said.

"Yes, of course, there is a lot of math in poker, but this is more important than math. Math can be mastered by everyone and all the strategic and analytical skills, you have to develop."

Full article on PokerListings

Why are the Russians so good at chess?

Why are the Russians and their neighbors so good at chess?
Because the Soviets subsidized the game. After the Bolsheviks took power in 1917, it became a national pastime. Soon after the revolution, Vladimir Lenin's supreme commander of the Soviet army, Nikolay Krylenko, laid the foundations for state-sponsored chess: He opened chess schools, hosted tournaments, and promoted the game as a vehicle for international dominance.

The Soviets also saw chess as embodying their revolutionary ideals. It was a game of skill, and the USSR prided itself on its intellectual talents. It was cheap, and anyone could play it. And to Soviet leaders, its back-and-forth dynamic reflected the dialectical concept of history espoused by Marxism.

Christopher Beam's article in the Slate. Contains few factual errors, but in general it hits the point.

The Guardian Chess Book of the Year award

RB: Over the next six weeks Dan and I will be announcing our shortlist for the fourth Guardian Chess Book of the Year award. I start today with Chess Strategy For Club Players by Herman Grooten (New in Chess, €25.95).

The focus is on strategy rather than tactics. It's about what happens when the opening is over. At certain points, depending on the type of position, concrete calculation will be needed. But in a substantial part of the game there is nothing concrete to calculate. What do we do then?

Ronan Bennett and Daniel King in The Guardian

Chess lost its soul

As a cultural phenomenon, chessmania in the West was doubtless a one-off. Between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the ascendancy of the computer, chess lost its mystery. There is nothing romantic about algorithms. That is why the Kasparov-Karpov tour may attract crowds, but they will be watching these one-time kings out of nostalgia, not excitement.

Pierre Garon: How the game of chess lost its soul

Karpov and Kasparov playing again