"The Guardian" on Chess and Literature

Even without the backdrop of political schisms and the spectre of mutually assured destruction, chess is a transfixing game in its own right – especially for writers. It has been the inspiration for countless novels, plays and pieces of short fiction, many of which are collected in a wonderful anthology called The 64-Square Looking Glass. What is it that makes chess such a consistently fascinating subject?

Chess, by its very nature, is a battle between two different thought processes; it gives the novelist the opportunity to go into the players' minds, while retaining an element of plot at the same time.

Why chess is a perfect game for fiction

New Apartment for Levon Aronian

RA President, President of RA Chess Federation Serzh Sargsyan awarded Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronian with a certificate for apartment in Yerevan new building.

Levon Aronian, 27, won FIDE Grand Prix session preterm. However, a day before Aronian failed to win FIDE Grand Prix tournament in Jermuk, Armenia. At that, he was leading the overall standings compared to his rival Azeri Teimur Radjabov. Aronian received 140 points in Jermuk tournament totaling 500 (360 points were from previous Grand Prix).

From News.am

Levon Aronian is residing in Germany, but now perhaps he will move back to Yerevan. The winner of the FIDE Grand Prix in Jermuk is Vassily Ivanchuk.

Board games have made their way into the history books

People have found a means to occupy their minds as well as their time by commencing in playing board games, such as chess, checkers or even bingo game, for literally hundreds of years. There are actually written documents that were recorded that mention games that we all still avidly play today.

Games such as chess, go, and mahjong are three of the board games that have gone down in the history books as being both challenging as well as entertaining. Still to this day there are clubs that sponsor specific board games as well as competitions that are regularly held for people to commence in the activities together.

There are literally hundreds of different board games that have been developed throughout the years. All of the games come with their own strategy as well as their own state of rules that you are required to follow in order to be declared a winner. Some of the most popular board games that have managed to stand the test of time are Checkers, Chess, as well as Backgammon to name a few.

Checkers is considered to be one of the easiest board games that you can play. The game is regularly given to children and utilized in a means to help them develop better hand eye coordination. The game is also enjoyed by adults as well. Checkers offers a bit of a challenge, but not enough to get you out of a constant state of relaxation.

Chess is an old time favorite, played by many people around the world; you have the opportunity to be whatever you wish when you play chess. The decadent pongs that you can precariously take across the board are one of the great things that impress people about the game. Chess is a game that allows you to earn a higher level of power every time that you make your way across the entire board. Chess is a game of immense skill, patience, and dedication. Chess is not a game that you can teach anyone; it has to be played continuously in order to master the strategy of the game.

Backgammon is one of the eldest games of strategy that was ever invented. The rules are quite simple you precariously move your pieces across the board from one side to the next, moving other pieces aside as you make your way across. There is a small amount of skill involved in the game of backgammon just as in other simple games like lotto, keno or bingo online games; however most of the game relies on pure luck in comparison to anything else.

Guest post

USCF raising rates

It looks like USCF is short of money to cover for the litigation.

The regular adult USCF membership rate will increase from $29 to $34 effective December 1, 2009. See all your current membership options and renew or join at the USCF webstore.

Simul in Zürich

The Schachgesellschaft Zürich celebrated its 200th anniversary with a series of attractive chess events. An Open tournament, Champions Simultaneous Play and the Champions Rapid took place between 9th and 23rd August.

Viswanathan Anand, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Viktor Korchnoi, Vladimir Kramnik, Boris Spassky and Veselin Topalov played against 200 chess lovers in a simul that took place at the Zürich main station. A short video bellow.

Russia-China Match

Friendly match Russia-China is currently ongoing in Sochi. Live games and results on http://russiachess.org

Russia team: IM Tatiana Kosintseva 2539, IM Nadezhda Kosintseva 2482, IM Elena Tairova 2450, IM Marina Romanko 2447, WFM Valentina Gunina 2437, GM Vladimir Malakhov 2707, GM Evgeny Tomashevsky 2689, GM Artyom Timofeev 2681, GM Nikita Vitiugov 2681 and GM Ian Nepomniachtchi 2632.

China team: GM Zhao Xue 2544, GM Xu Yuhua 2485, WGM Shen Yang 2453, Ju Wenjun 2443, WGM Huang Qian 2424, GM Wang Yue 2736, GM Bu Xiangzhi 2702, GM Ni Hua 2701, GM Zhou Jianchao 2623 and Ding Liren 2530.

Topalov drops out from Bilbao Masters

The II Grand Slam Final Chess Masters 2009 will be held in Bilbao from September 6th to September 12th on the same stage that hosted the 2008 Bilbao Masters Final. Therefore, the Bilbao Plaza Nueva (central square), in the heart of the city, will again host the great glass cube that made it possible last year for a tournament of such prestige to be played outdoors for the first time in the public domain.

The four chess players who will compete in the Bilbao Final are Sergey Karjakin, the winner of Wijk ann Zee, Alexander Grischuk, winner of Ciudad de Linares, Alexei Shirov, winner in Sofia, and Levon Aronian, second-place winner of Nanking – since as Veselin Topalov, winner of Nanking, has refused the invitation to play the Final.

Full press release

Susan Polgar and Paul Truong ousted from USCF

Chessvine and Jack Le Moine's Blog reported that "Susan Polgar and her husband Paul Truong have just been expelled from the US Chess Federation".

At the moment, there is no confirmation on the USCF website or Susan Polgar's blog.

Jermuk Grand Prix

The 5th FIDE Grand Prix is taking place on 9th-24th August 2009 in Jermuk, Armenia. The limping cycle is somehow moving to its final phase, but the host of the 6th tournament is still unknown. Levon Aronian has best chances to win the whole thing.

The first round is starting in few hours but the pairings are not posted.

Players: Levon Aronian ARM 2768, Dmitry Jakovenko RUS 2760, Peter Leko HUN 2756, Boris Gelfand ISR 2755, Etienne Bacrot FRA 2721, Sergey Karjakin UKR 2717, Gata Kamsky USA 2717, Pavel Eljanov UKR 2716, Evgeny Alekseev RUS 2714, Vladimir Akopian ARM 2712, Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2703, Ivan Cheparinov BUL 2678, Ernesto Inarkiev RUS 2675 and Rustam Kasimdzhanov UZB 2672.

AICF to work on matching Bulgarian bid

It's nearly nine months to go for the World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and the Bulgarian Veselin Topalov, and it seems Bulgaria has already stolen a march in mindgames.

The issue in question is that of hosting the April 2010 title bout. India is mulling a much-belated, last-ditch attempt even as Bulgaria is believed to have found enough sponsors to present a good bid.

Furthermore, with Bulgaria throwing in political might in good measure with their Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, a self-confessed chess lover, backing the bid, the chances of Anand playing a World championship final at home for the first time appear remote.

With the world champ himself expressing his keenness to take on Topalov at home, and the All India Chess Federation (AICF) only now awakening to the possibility, the mood in Sofia is upbeat with reports suggesting that the projected bid from the Bulgarian capital as host has found no opposition either from India or elsewhere.

From The Times of India