While browsing through some old collections of mine, i came across this article published in some chess newsletter in the mid 1990's. I hope that I can reproduce it here without any problems. I do not recall the Newsletter, I have just saved the text and the author.

Chess is a great sport, but let’s admit it doesn’t offer much in the way of cardiovascular fitness.

So, hoping to expand my repertoire of hobbies a bit -- as well as to get some exercise and prevent a stroke before I turn forty -- I recently started checking into martial arts classes. What I learned about Karate also taught me something about chess.

This is a synopsis of  an Interview on Twitter conducted by Forbes India, a few days after he had retained the World Championship title against Veselin Topalov in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Must have for an Anand Fan!

Vishwanathan Anand 


On turning 40 and being called the Lightning Kid: Its not a big deal, I feel the same, just entering your age in places surprises you!

Improving at chess is simply a matter of dedication. Everyone reading this article has the talent to go further in this game than they can imagine - the only question is who actually wants to put in the work to get there.

There's nothing wrong in not wanting to get any better at chess - you're freeing up a lot of valuable time to watch major league football or find solutions for world poverty. But if you do want to spend some of your time playing this game, and would like to play it well, I have some suggestions.

The most common question among chess players while starting out is, ‘How to Win At Chess?’

The answer is

Education – Read as many chess books as possible. I know most of the chess players are reluctant to agree that chess knowledge winds more games than talent alone, but this is a fact. A case in point being the recent emergence of the current world number one - GM Magnus Carlsen.

Everyone in the chess playing world agreed that Carlsen was a prodigy at chess. That he had it in him to be World champion. However after many years in the chess circuit he wasn’t able to defeat the top ranked chess players on a consistent basis. Only after he started to work on his repertoire with the Great Gary Kasparov have we seen him emerge as a consistent player at the highest level of chess.

Practice- Playing a lot of games gives you experience of being in the situation before. From here you can think of the variations played before and then experiment your way forwards towards the best possible outcome.

In the recently concluded world chess championship GM Boris Gelfand won the title against all odds. At the beginning of the tournament hardly a few chess aficionados would have given him a chance to win the title, let alone call him a favourite. After all this was a gruelling schedule for the 40 year old, a game every day for almost 45 days , with some days having as many as 4-5 blitz and rapid games in between. With the average age of the competing players being in the mid-20’s , to have won the championship shows the amount of practice and experience that makes a champion.

Attitude - Your goal in chess must be to always keep learning, playing interesting chess games and to understand chess rather than to humiliate your opponent. Express your personality through the game rather than through words. Two very good examples of this are the Current world champion GM Vishwanathan Anand and GM Vassily Ivanchuk. GM Anand always has a good word about his opponent, never indulging in controversial statements and plays only on the chess board. GM Ivanchuk on the other hand keeps an element of impish delight in his games, plays chess as though he were still in his teens and often is the sole entertainer in the tournaments.

Always keep at heart the foundations of theses great teachers.

How to Win Chess Games Quickly
Be a good sport - If you care only about winning, then you will just play mechanically and will not create interesting options. Also you will not be able to expand your repertoire. At the same time you should be uninhibited in your games, have a tactical drive. But most of all be a good sport. Winning and losing are part of the game. Do not unnecessarily spoil the atmosphere by charging your opponent or giving rash statements. This will make you an outcast and you might not be invited to many tournaments.

How to Win Chess Games Quickly

The first chess game of 2001 was actually played in 1968. . . Thanks to Stanley Kubrick's movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey. The famous game between astronaut Frank Poole and the HAL 9000 computer has found its way into a number of databases of real games ( like the Chess Master series of chess programs).

Kubrick was actually a near master strength chess player, who in his youth would take on all comers as he played chess for quarters in Washington Square Park. A stickler for details in his films, Kubrick's chess background influenced him to pick a beautiful mating attack from a past game that would seem so deep that only a computer with near-infinite calculating ability could find it. The game was by the German master Willi Schlage played in 1910. White: Roesch, Black: Schlage, Hamburg 1910.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Qe2 b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. c3 0-0 8. 0-0 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nf4 11.Qe4 Nxe5 12. Qxa8? (looks good, but 12. d4 followed by 13. Qxf4 is better) 12... Qd3 (threatening 13....Ne2+ 14. Kh1 Ng3+ 15. hxg3 Qxf1+ 16. Kh2 Ng4+ 17. Kh3 Qh1 mate) 13. Bd1 (Re1! but White is still bad off) ... Bh3 14. Qxa6 (if Qb7 Bxg2 still wins easy) ... Bxg2 15. Re1 (see diagram)

What move forces mate?

Extra notes: As this stroke of tactical genius indicates, German master Willi Schlage was a chess player of some renown in his era. After the movie came out, the Republic of Mali issues a postage stamp in the honor of Schlage.

This article was written by Daren Dillinger published in The Florida Times – Union on 05/20/01.

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• Video interview: Stanley Kubrick (gointothestory.com)

By M.S. Unnikrishnan

Chess is a serious mind game, but it’s great fun if you play it the Viswanathan Anand way! Anand says chess champions are no morons who sit glued to the 64-square board, for hours together, till they outwit their opponents.

The great man is modest to the core. The swollen-headed cricketers and sportspersons with bloated egos should take a leaf out of Anand’s book of modesty. Anand is not affected by fame or wealth.

He has a great sense of humour, is friendly, amiable and accessible. Anand, who lives in Collano Medano, Spain, was once named among the 40 most important people in Spain!

Yet, he projects the image of a simple man on whose handsome shoulders sit fame and success lightly.

He says he gets that “great feeling” whenever he returns to his roots in India, and chess, of course, has been a great binding factor, which gives him that “universality”, not many sportspersons in India can boast of.

“Chess”, Anand notes, “is great fun” and the players do not just huddle together and play the game, but also move around, interact with other players, and discuss everything under the sun. “Chess players gossip, discuss football, women...the works. We don’t sit there for seven hours (and play chess),” he says.

It was diligent and painstaking hard work which took Anand to his present exalted status. His mother Sushila Viswanathan, from whom Anand learned the basic lessons of chess at the young age of six, used to keep a dairy of his matches, which helped him analyse his games, weed out the mistakes, and chart out new strategy.


Anand, who turned 34 on December 11, 2003, has played competitive chess for the past 20 years, and has been way ahead of his times and peers.

Anand is famous for his lightening speed, and the ability to see and read the game far ahead of his opponents, besides on-board intuition. No wonder, he had earned the sobriquet “Boy Wonder” at the age of 14, and became the youngest Indian national champion at the age of 16.

Anand enjoys playing different varieties of chess, especially the advanced variety, wherein computers are at hand for calculations and database searches.

However, Anand cautions against getting addicted to compute chess, which, he feels, can stifle the human brain’s capacity to innovate.

Anand, like any other top sports star, advocates the need to keep oneself physically and mentally fit, with regular exercises and a balanced and healthy diet. “It’s an aspect I give my full attention to,” he notes. “It’s important to be physically fit. It makes a difference in winning,” he asserts.

Anand says kids take to chess “pretty quickly. It’s very addictive. There is this element of competitiveness.

The bid to outfox your opponent...” His parting shot is to keep the game “interesting, with good opening, interesting moves...”

Original Article here

It was a game which became an obsession so consuming that it wrecked the personal and political lives of two noblemen in Munshi Premchand’s short story set in the Indian kingdom of Awadh which Satyajit Ray brilliantly brought to life on celluloid in his film ‘Shatranj Ke Khiladi’. Chess, or chaturanga as it was known in the ancient times is more than just a mind game. On a metaphorical level chess can capture the power of the human mind and imagination like no other.

Ancient origins of chess remain obscure though there is fair consensus on the claim that it emerged from Persia. Around the 9th century it began its spread towards Europe and by the time the 15th century closed, chess as we know it today had pretty much emerged. In the five subsequent centuries, chess as a game became more and more organised culminating in the establishment of FIDE (Federation Internationale des Echecs) in 1924 which helped it emerge as a professional sport. Initially the Soviet Union, for whom chess and politics would always be intricately strung, refused to join but after the incumbent world champion Alexander Alekhine died in 1946 and with FIDE organising the World Championship to find the replacement, it relented. The new champion was Mikhail Botvinnik who heralded an assembly line of Soviet champions in the sport including the most recognisable ones - Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov.

The Indian challenge in the world of chess has perennially been personified by one man-the unassuming and affable Vishwanathan Anand. Anand, the current World Champion and on top of the FIDE’s Elo ratings (a rating system for chess players), emerged meteorically winning the World Junior Chess championship in 1987 and becoming grandmaster at age 18. Today, inspired by his achievements many chess prodigies have emerged from India including Koneru Hampi who is currently number two in the Women’s Elo Ratings. K Visweswaran, a chess trainer who was India’s coach in the recently concluded World Youth Chess Championship believes ‘Anand’s exploits have inspired children to take up chess in India, even at very young ages and with good trainers around and rigorous tournaments, it has meant a boom in the emergence of chess talent on the world stage from India.’

Given its nature, chess requires consummate skill to master and is often seen as the sport of the ‘geeks’. Parimarajan Negi, the World’s Youngest Grandmaster at age 14 told TSI about the secret behind his success ‘I have coaches from Russia with whom I have intensive training sessions.’ In India, and in many other places in the world it remains a special interest sport, the proverbial poorer cousin of other glamourous and lucrative sports. Reefat Bin Sattar, the International Grandmaster from Bangladesh laments to TSI that in his country ‘With cricket catching the fancy it’s very difficult to get people interested in chess, since there is no patronage.’ But for those who have tasted the addiction of this heady mindsport, there cannot be anything better. Just ask Mirza Sajjad Ali and Mir Roshan Ali in ‘Shatranj Ke Khiladi’!

From and Article in The Sunday Indian

VISWANATHAN ANAND'S way to the world crown began in l975. Much of the way he followed from the time he became the Asian Junior Champion in 1984 and the World Junior Champion in l987, is remembered. But few recall how Madras laid the foundations for Anand's march to the top but also for the city becoming the chess capital of India.

Solar K. S. Subramanya Iyer of the Ramani Press in Mylapore and the Chennapuri Andhra Maha Sabha, by the Town Hall (the Victoria Public Hall) in Park Town, may have been the chief centres of the game in the l930s and 40s, but while both tried to increase the numbers playing in their premises, there was little effort to develop it as a major competitive sport. That effectively began with the emergence of one Madras player who was to dominate the Indian chess scene in the Fifties and Sixties. Today, 65-year old Manuel Aaron, nine times National Champion and India's first International Master in l96l, is less known in the wider world than his son Arvind Aaron, who has covered extensively in print Anand's exploits during the last few years. It was the Burma- born, Indian Bank-employed Aaron Senior's achievements that particularly caught the attention of chess fans and his Inter- Zonal match against Purdy of Australia that inspired a generation of chess players in Madras.

The founding of the Madras District Chess Association in 1970 and the sponsorship by the Soviet Cultural Centre the same year of the Tal Club that gave this generation a chance to play more competitive chess, were the impetus the game needed. But it was to be eight more years before Madras produced the country's next two International Masters, V.Ravikumar and V.Ravisekhar. Chess played at a higher level, however, was now on its way.

Ever since the Tal Club was founded, every chess player from in and around the city has benefited as much from friendly matches and the lightning chess competitions played there as they have from its chess library, which, besides a wealth of chess books and magazines, offers publications from the numerous Tal Clubs round the world.

The Tal Clubs, named after the l960 world champion Mikhail Tal, have done more to spread the Russocentric game around the world than any other institution. It was at the Tal Club in Madras that, encouraged by players and administrators like Manuel Aaron, Anand as a child honed his game by participating almost daily in speed chess. While lauding Anand's achievements, the Indian chess world and its fans might spare a thought or two for Manuel Aaron who put Indian chess on the modern world chess map and the Tal Club, Madras, that helps keep producing champions.

Anurag Mhamal is the latest chess sensation of Goa, having won the state championship in 2007. A young lad of barely 12 years, he had achieved much in chess at this young age

Having had an attacking approach to the game right from an early age, he has gained many admirers especially at the National level.

It all started when he was barely six-years-old. After watching a chess championship the young Anurag Mahamal found himself drawn towards the game. His father, a chess player himself, gave him all the encouragement and support needed to enhance his game. Anurag then went on to play in an under-7 tournament and won a medal at the first attempt. He has taken part in tournaments in almost all the age groups in Goa till date, invariably coming first or second. But it is at the nationals that he has made his mark. In the under-8 tournament held at Sangli he won the second place in 2003 and the first place in 2005. His best at the National level however remains the tenth position, which he achieved at Chennai last year.

His rise has been phenomenal this year as he has gained a number of ELO points – his points have touched 2035. He finished in a commendable 19th position at the Rochess Rating Championship at Mumbai having drawn with International Master (IM) A B Vaidya, ex-National ‘B’ Champion, and with WIM Anupama Gokhale, ex-National women’s champion. In the same tournament comprising of over 200 players he went on to beat the under-25 champion, Arjun Tiwari. The other rating tournaments in which he featured this year included the Suraj International Rating at Sangli where he defeated IM Ravi Hegde , the ex-National ‘B’ champion, and the Babukaka Rating tournament at Sangli where he came 17th in a highly competitive field.

When quizzed as to how much time he devotes to chess he replied that he spends no less than five to six hours a day practicing on the computer

Anurag’s initial coaching was done by V Sivaswamy but later he trained under the watchful eye of IM Ravi Shekhar from Bangalore. But it was only this year when he trained under Akash Thakur that he learnt in full earnest how to use and analyse the computer.

Yet for any guidance his father Arvind Mhamal is always there to lend a helping hand.

‘Anurag has all the potential for becoming a big player in India, but for that he has to be very consistent. At times he beats much fancied players only to loose against lower ranked players later on,’ says Anurag. But it is the drive and enthusiasm for the game that keeps him going and he has led his school, Peoples High School to a runner-up position in the inter-school championships.

Of late Anurag has been concentrating at all National and International Open tournaments, and hence is not much heard of at the State level tournaments.

Yet like any other young boy of his age, he loves playing table tennis and is a voracious reader.

From The Navhind Times

It was double joy for newly-crowned World champion Viswanathan Anand this week, as the Indian ace - on the back of his superb performance in Mexico City - broke the 2800 barrier again to retain his No.1 spot with the publication last Monday of the October 1st world ranking list.

The latest list, produced by FIDE, the governing body of chess, not only includes Anand's results at Dortmund, but also his recent success in Mexico City. Anand, whose rating over the previous 3-months increased by 9 points to 2801, is one of a small select band of players - the others being Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov - who have broken the magical "2800 barrier".

But there's now also a new No.2 on the list behind Anand, with a dramatic increase in the rating of Vassily Ivanchuk who, at 38, is playing the best chess of his career. The in-form Ukrainian ace has had some phenomenal results of late, and this is now reflected in the latest list as his rating jumped a massive 25-points to 2787 as he nudged ahead of Kramnik - who also raised 16-points - and now within reach of being only the fifth player to break 2800. All the activity at the top has now pushed Veselin Topalov into fourth place behind the new top three.

The first chess book in English was also the first printed book of any type in English. William Caxton's Game and Playe of the Chesse was published in 1474, but it really wasn't about the game of chess; rather, it used chess as a metophor for how to live a good life.

The pawn is the lowest member of the army, but, if it can climb all the way to the far edge of the board, it may be promoted to any higher rank except the king. Anyone can work hard and get the highest rank, which is what we can learn from a pawn. French composer and chess player Philidor, in his book, 'Analyse du Jeu des Echecs (Analysis of Chess)', says: "Pawns are the soul of chess" and has an opening named after him called Philidor's Defence. In his humorous chess dictionary, American master Eliiot Hearst defined the term pawn-grabber: defensive genius.

Chess wasn't a standardised competition sport until the arrival of Howard Staunton. Howard, born in 1810, learned how to play chess at the late age of 26. He was a person of average intelligence and if he could learn the game that well, there is no reason why you can't. In Castiglione's 'Book of the Courtier', published in 1527, the game was described as addictively time-consuming. One of its passages says: "...anyone who wishes to become an outstanding player must give to it as much time and study as he would to learning some noble science or performing well something of importance.


Etymology or the study of word origins often helps to clarify certain misconceptions. For example,it is thought that chess or shatranj as a game originated in Persia. But on tracing the roots of the word shatranj it emerged that the game was born in India during Lord Budhha's time. At that time, it was played as chaturang, that is the four divisions of the army — infantry, cavalry, chariots and elephants. When chess reached Iran, it came to be called chatrang and, later on, shatrang. On reaching Arabia, the word became shatranj.

Chess is a game for people of all ages. You can learn to play chess at any age and unlike in other sports you need never retire. The age is not a factor which prevents you from playing with any opponent. You can play players of any level - against those who are better or equal or weaker. Chess is for those people who have an interest in learning and tactics.

Chess Improves your Memory

The theory of the chess is complicated and many players memorize long variants of the openings of various games. Also you get to train your mind to visually recall the various positions in each game, developing your mind.

Chess increases your concentration

During the game you have to have a concrete objective in gaining valuable pieces of your rival, to give checkmate and to overcome your opponent and use all your mental potential in obtaining it.

Chess develops your logical thought

Chess requires some understanding that expresses ideas chained together to form a strategy. For example, you will have to know what is important to exchange which pieces first at the beginning of the game, that you must have the king out of danger throughout the game or knowledge to avoid weaknesses in your position or to anticipate to commit serious errors and with it, like in the real life, to consider that you must learn from your errors to get the best opportunity.

Chess develops your imagination and creativity
Chess creates novel and inventive positions which help to always improve your game to the next level: Thousands of combinations exist that have not yet been played.

Chess teaches to you to be independent

You are forced to make important decisions using your own judgment. You and you yourself is the only person that decides each move and that teaches to you to create your own criterion.

Chess develops the capacity in you to predict and to project the future consequences of your present actions

It teaches to you to explore all the possibilities to discover hidden it, which can have the best effect after plays and then you learn to project a plan with a future idea.

Chess inspires personal motivation

It impels you to look for the best possibility , the best plan, the most beautiful continuation between innumerable possibilities. It stokes the permanent objective of success to ignite the flame of the victory.

Chess shows you that success is a just reward for intense hard work

The more you practice and you study, the more improvements you yield. You would have to be prepared to lose and to learn of your errors.

One of the greatest teachers,and student of chess, GM Jose Capablanca, of Cuba, said: “It is necessary to lose hundreds of games, before becoming a great player. you learn more from the lost games than what you gain from the winning ones.”

Chess and Science

Chess develops scientific thought. In the game you generate numerous variants in your mind. You explore and you investigate new ideas, you try to anticipate what will happen and you gain surprising revelations. You decide on hypothesis and make your play, and then you prove its validity.

Chess and Mathematics

You do not need to be a genius to include/understand this. Chess has an infinite number of calculations in an attack or a defense in a simple interchange of plays. You calculate with your own head and without a machine . It makes your mind agile and helps you improve your math.

Goa’s chess sensation Ivana Maria Furtado added yet another feather to her cap as she clinched the team championship gold as well as under-8 (special prize) gold medal at world school chess championship in Greece.

Ivana, a world champion in her age-group, now has a tally of five gold, a silver and a bronze in her kitty at international level.

Ivana’s superb feats have now earned her a place in the much-acclaimed Limca Book of Records 2007 wherein she has been described as India’s youngest world gold medallist in any sport.

Prsently, Ivana is in Nagpur playing in a FIDE-rated event. The Vidharba Chess Association accorded a grand reception to Ivana as she arrived at Jalni station today, in recognition of her extraordinay talent and superb dedication for chess. By being the best in the world at 7 years and 226 days, Ivana broke the record held by Sahaj Grover of Delhi.

It may be recalled that at the Asian School Chess in Singapore, Ivana had clinched the gold in U-7 and also won the team gold.

For recording the games the FIDE rules recognise two systems of notation, namely, the Algebraic notation and the Descriptive notation.

THE ALGEBRAIC NOTATION

Here, the pieces, with the exception of the pawns are represented by their initial letters (the knight generally with 'N'). The pawns are not mentioned.

The eight files from the left to right of White are represented by the letters: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h. The eight ranks from White's side of the board are numbered: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. The combination of letters and figures can now designate every squ are on the board. For example, White's queen rook's square will be "a1" and Black's king rook's square "h8".

While writing the move, the initial letter of the piece (except the pawn) with the square of departure and the arrival will form the unit of notation. For example, e2-e4 will indicate the the pawn on e2 had moved to the square e4. Similarly, notation Nb8- c6 will mean that the knight from b8 had moved to c6. The en passant capture is indicated on the square of capture; thus is White plays his pawn from h2 to h4 and Black captures en passant by his pawn on h4, then the notations will read: h2-h4, g4xh3. In the shortened from of notation the square of departure is omitted.

When two similar pieces can go to the same square, the shortened notation is completed in the following way: if for example, two knights are on g1 and d2, the move Ng1-f3 will be written in the shortened form Ng-f3. If the knights are on g1 and g5, the mo ve Ng1-f3 will be shortened as N1-f3.

THE DESCRIPTIVE NOTATION

In this, the pieces are represented by their initial letters, including the pawn which is indicated by the letter P. Here "N" is generally preferred for the knight. Distinction between the king side pieces and the queen side pieces is made, where necessar y, by adding the letter K or Q before the piece mentioned.

The eight files are given the names of the pieces which originally stand on them. That is, reading from left to right the files are (from the White's side) QR, QN, QB, Q, K, KB, KN, KR. For Black, the same will be from right to left.

The eight ranks are numbered from 1 to 8 from White's side on the board for White and from Black's side on the board for Black. (Note that there is no such distinction in the Algebraic notation.)

The initial letter of the piece moved and the square to which it is moved are indicated. Thus B-QB4 means the bishop is played to the queen bishop's file on the fourth square. Where two similar pieces can move to the same square, then the square of depart ure is also mentioned, usually within brackets: the, R(Q2)-K2 means that the rook on Q2 moves to K2. Or if any piece can move to similar files on either side of the board, distinction is made in the square of arrival by adding the appropriate letter, thus : R-QB2 means that the rook, which could have moved to either KB2 or QB2 did so to the latter. In other cases simple QB2 might suffice. Similarly if two pieces from different squares can move to the same square, then the square of the origin of the piece moved must be indicated as also the square of arrival. For example, rooks are on KR2 and QR2 and it is desired to show that the rook at KR2 went to QB2, then the move is written: R(KR2)-QB2.

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN NOTATION

O-O Castles with the rook h1 or a8 (king side). O-O-O Castles with the rook a1 or h8 (queen side). = Promotion. x or : takes (capture). + or ch. Check. ++ Mate. ! Well played. ? Bad move.

THE FORSYTHE NOTATION

This is used for copying our a position without having to use a diagram to indicate the placing of the various pieces and pawns. In writing our the notation the player always reads it from White's side of the board, beginning with the top left hand corner (a8) and reading left to right, coming down the board rank by rank and ending with h1.

The notation, rank by rank, indicates the pieces and the blank square by using the initial letter of the pieces, and figures for the blank squares. The White pieces are indicated by capital letters and the Black pieces by small letters.

For example, the following position occurred after the 23rd move in the 10th match game between Petrosian and Spassky in 1966:
r2q1rk1/7p/p2p4/nppP4/2P2nB1/1P2N3/PQ1N3P/5RK1

This would mean that on White's eighth rank there is a Black rook on the first square, the next two squares are blank, then Black queen, one blank square, Black rook, Black king and one blank square. In the same way the position on every rank is shown. Ca pital letters indicate White pieces.

It must be borne in mind that the Forsythe notation is always written while reading the board from White's side only. Player's will find this sytem useful for noting the adjournment positions on the sealing envelopes, quickly noting a position from a book , etc.

The 1st ACP (Association of Professional Chess Players), Rapid chess tournament took place at Odessa, one of the most important cities of Ukraine, from the 4th to 8th of this month. Although some of the sheen of this tournament was lost due to the absence of the 3 top most players, Topalov(former World Champion) , Anand (a specialist in rapid games) and Kramnik (the present World Champion) ; the quality of play from the rest of the participants was excellent.

Of the 16 participants, Grand Masters Ivanchuk, Morozevich, Gelfand, Leko stood out as the favourites to win, so also was the fiery Grand Master Shirov. The young brigade was led by Radjabov , Nakamura , and India’s own Pentala Harikrishna.

The tournament lived up to the expectations of the audiences world-wide and as anticipated, Leko and Ivanchuk , after the very arduous elimination rounds, entered into the finals.



With his habitual “not so furious” and solid style, the Hungarian Grand Master Peter Leko proceeded to neutralize the first game with black pieces and , later to took maximum advantage with white pieces to win the championship.

Let us see how he did it….

Leko, Peter (2749) - Ivanchuk, Vasily (2750)

Title Match : 1st ACP Rapid chess tournament , Odessa, 2007

1.e4 Nf6 [Although Ivanchuk is a player who prides himself of having a great diversity in his openings and defenses, the Alekhine’s defense is one which he uses very rarely. His favourites being 1… c5; and 1… e5]

2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6 cxd6 [This is not a well known move in theory. The move which enjoys a better reputation being 5… exd6]

6.Nc3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Rc1 0-0 9.b3 a5 [One of the main lines here is 9 … e5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Qxd8 Rxd8 12.c5 N6d7 13.Bc4 with a negligible advantage for black.]

10.Be2 Na6 11.Nf3 Bd7 12,0-0 Rc8 [This is a new move by Ivanchuk. The book move played on several occasions being 12 … e6 and after 13.Qd2 with idea of Bh6, white obtains an advantage.]

13.Qd2 a4 14.Rfe1 axb3 15.axb3 Re8 16.Bh6 Bh8 17.h4! [ With this move white tries to attack in the King side, where the Black’s defense is weak. In order to avoid this Ivanchuk will have to open up the center, which is indeed what Leko is hoping for.]

17… e5 18.dxe5 dxe5 19.Bg5 f6 [ This is a Forced move and further weakens the defense on the King side for black. If Black were to play 19… Qc7 20.Nb5 Bxb5 (If 20… Qb8 21.Nd6 loses a rook for a knight) 21.cxb5 Nc5 22.b4 and white gains a piece. ; Or if 19… Bf6 20.Bxf6 Qxf6 21.Ne4 Qe7 22.Nd6 again gaining a rook for the knight.]

20.Be3 [White is already in an overwhelmingly strong position.]

20… Nc5 21.Bxc5 Rxc5 22.b4! Rxc4 [With this sacrifice black tries to free himself of some of the pressure which he is being put under. Worse would have been 22… Rc8 23.c5 Na8 24.Ne4]

23.Bxc4+ Nxc4 24.Qd5+ Be6 25.Qxb7 [The game is already decided by now.]

25… Qb8 26.Qc6 Bf7 27.Nd5 Nd6 28.Nc7 Rd8 29.Red1! Qxb4 [If 29… Nf5 30.Rxd8+ Qxd8 31.b5 and it will be difficult to stop the ‘b’ pawn]

30.Na6 Qa3 31.Qc7 Rc8 32.Qxd6 Rxc1 [ And Ivanchuk resigned at the same time in view of 33. Qxa3 ] 1-0.

The first Grand Slam tournament in tennis, The Austalian Open begins on the 15th of this month. All Indians must be eagerly awaiting the moment when Sania Mirza blasts her way through the early rounds and hopefully go farther than any Indian women in tennis history. But most of us would not know that there is another sport in which an Indian would be participating this month with a very good chance of capturing the crown.

I am talking bout the Grand Slam tournament of Chess, the Corus Chess Championship 2007 which will begin in the quaint old town of Wijk aan Zee ( A poem on this town) in Holland, beginning on the 12th. The tournament is held every year in the second week of January and it is the custom that the best chess players of the world take part in this season opener.

This year the participants include last year's Champion and our very own Grand Master Vishwanathan Anand of India, runner up on tie-break and current world number 1, GM Veselin Topalov of bulgaria, and the current World Champion GM Vladimir Kramnik of Russia. They will be given company by the likes of GM Levon Aronian, GM Teymour Radjabov,GM Peter Svidler,GM Ruslan Ponomariov,GM David Navara,GM Alexey Shirov,GM Magnus Carlsen,GM Loek van Wely,GM Sergey Tiviakov,GM Sergey Karjakin and GM Alexander Motylev. This year it is a category 19 tournament with an Average Elo rating of 2719.

In last years edition Vishwanathan Anand secured an amazing win in the last round to claim the trophy on tie-breaks from the then world champion Veselin Topalov. The Indian grandmaster has an amazing record at this tournament having won it as many as 5 times beginning in 1989,1998,2003,2004 and last year. Anand is currently ranked number 2 in the world and has been quietly gearing up for this tournament. With much of the Media focus likely to be on Topalov and Kramnik, Anand may find it easier to concentrate on his chess and claim yet another victory at this tournament.

PS: Just a reminder that the Corus group, for which the Indian Steel Giant TATA and Brazilian giant CSN groups are bidding, are the title sponsors for this tournament.

Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand banked on his vast reservoir of experience in rapid chess to win the Mikhail Tal Memorial Blitz tournament in Moscow with a comprehensive two-point margin over his nearest rival Levon Aronian of Armenia. Anand scored a whopping 23 points out of a possible 34 and won 11 out of 17 mini-matches to win the strongest Blitz tournament in the history of the game.

The Indian ace, known to have mastered the art of rapid chess, had recently suffered a setback in the finals of the Corsica Masters chess tournament where he lost the final against Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan. However, this was an excellent turnaround by Anand.

World Cup winner Aronian, who scored 21 points including a 1-1 draw with Anand, finished second. The third place was shared by Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan and Peter Svidler of Russia, who scored 20.5 points each.

The event was played on a double round robin basis between 18 players over two days. The event had 11 players above 2700 ELO rating and none below the 2650 mark.

Anand showed clinical approach in crushing his opponents, barring one against Jobava Baadur of Georgia, who came with a 1.50.5 margin. Baddur was the only one who lost both his games against Anand.

Playing solidly in the first half of the event, Anand waited till the 15th round to wrest the lead from Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and thereafter the Indian did not look back.

For the records, Anand lost two, won 14 and drew 18 games to win the event. Final standings:
1. Viswanathan Anand (Ind, 23);
2. Levon Aronian (Arm, 21);
3-4. Teimour Radjabov (Aze), Peter Svidler (Rus) 20.5 each;
5. Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukr, 19.5);
6-8. Alexander Morozevich (Rus),
Alexander Grischuk (Rus), Boris Gelfand (Isr) 18 each;
9-10. Magnus Carlsen (Nor), Anatoly Karpov (Rus) 17.5 each;
11-13. Sergey Karjakin, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze), Judit Polgar (Hun) 17 each;
14. Peter Leko (Hun, 16.5);
15.Dmitry Jakovenko (Rus, 15.5);
16. Viktor Bologan (Mda, 10.5);
17. Artyom Timofeev (Rus, 10);
18. Jobava Baadur (Geo, 9).

by Nandkumar Kamat

THE victory of Ivana Furtado in World under eight chess championship should interest child psychologists, neuroscientists and mathematical philosophers. She might also be having outstanding mathematical, programming and computing capabilities. Thanks to her involved and caring parents and the timely and expert coaching by the trainers she got moulded into the world’s first under eight junior chess champion. But she has not so far got the press coverage, which a lawn tennis star Sania Mirza once got. There is always discrimination between games involving muscles and mind.

Chess is a perfect brain game. It converges mind and consciousness on a single platform-the chessboard.

In creating Chess champions like Ivana both nature and nurture, genes and training are involved. Chess was probably discovered by the ancient Vedic mathematicians to understand the concept of infinity. There are mind boggling permutations and combinations. The Arabs popularised it in the middle east as ‘Shataranj’ from where it reached all over the world. The rules of Chess are simple but the winning strategies are complex. Computers like the “deep blue” built on chess programming theories have come very close to defining winning strategies against the world chess champions. This proves that the moves of chess have to be coded in our genes. There are relatively scanty attempts to probe into the minds of the champion chess players - Fischer, Spasky, Karpov, Kasparov and Vishwanathan Anand.

There is no direct connection between a person’s Intelligent Quotient (IQ) and chess playing skills. Scholars of maths or expert computer programmers do not necessarily turn out to be chess champions. What must be going on in the mind of Ivana Furtado at such a tender age when she was pitted against players of Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Peru, Ukraine and from her own country? Her trainers feel that it is her unique concentration skill, the prolonged attention span - which is the hallmark of her success. But how the brain functions when a child concentrates on a challenging task? It is an established fact that children can acquire most of their intelligence up to the age of 12. Then they have to struggle. It is difficult to make a child smarter after 12. Ivana picked up Chess at four and half years - perhaps the right age when neurons – the cellular microcomputers in the brain are in their final burst of building a network of connections.

Chess is not merely a brain game. It is also a game of neurons against neurons. Obviously neurons with superior dendritic connections and complex networks would win. For building a superior neuronal network there are three requirements - a happy childhood, the right brain stimulating stimuli and a genetic endowment of excellent genes. A happy childhood depends on loving, caring and understanding parents. Children feel emotionally secure when their parents are around. The personal presence of Ivana’s parents in Georgia was a clinching factor in raising her confidence level. Brain stimulation in childhood depends on exposure to a variety of sound, speech, colours, symbols, patterns, textures, tastes - or rather exposure to material, cultural and natural diversity. Children pick up all types of stimuli to complete in a short duration the evolutionary programming of millions of years of human cognitive development. Deprivation of these stimuli makes the children mentally stunted. The neurobiochemical potential of neurons is not realised in such children. It is not known whether human mathematical and computing abilities are encoded by the genes, yet to be identified. But with a poor package of genes it is not possible to be a chess champion. Consciousness is an emergent property of the architecture of the brain. This architecture is a function of an intricate synaptic interconnections of billions of neurons.

A chess player uses the focused consciousness as a switch to turn on this neuronal supercomputer to analyse the opponent’s moves, compute the pros and cons of millions of possible moves in real time and prepare a strategy to win the game. Chess champions like Ivana have powerful neuronal resources. As she would continue to focus on her game without losing the momentum, the world would probably see the making of a young Chess genius.

There is a lesson for parents dreaming to make their children follow her footsteps. Normal schooling and education is one part of life. It does not make anyone intelligent. The problem solving, decision making, logistical skills are more important. Unfortunately such skills are rarely taught in our education system from pre-primary to university level. We are turning out a generation of dumb degree holders. To this crowd World Chess champion Ivana offers a beautiful example. Success is possible with focus and concentration, attention and dedication. Chess is not a game for the faint hearted or lethargic persons. There is a complex neurochemistry behind it. All of us are born with billions of neurons. Till death no human being has been able to use even one per cent of its capacity. In fact at young age the more you train the neurons more dendritic junctions are formed.

Within just three years of picking up the game and with relatively little exposure to competition - Ivana performed a feat - which shows how best she could utilise her neuronal resources. A focused person refuses to be narcissistic. If Ivana speaks less and is not overwhelmed by her achievement it shows how best she has trained her mind - to be stoic. This is exactly the type of temperament, which makes the world champions. It is a high time that we understand Chess as a game of mental discipline based on a complex neurochemistry. The players are merely physical vehicles for the neuronal strategies.

The Buddhist philosophers have not yet commented on the Zen of chess playing. The neuroscientists have not delved deeper into the minds and the brain chemistry of the chess players. There may certain secrets waiting for them. Unfolding of these may give science some useful clues about developing artificial intelligence (AI).

Ivana Furtado would be a showpiece for Goan society for some time but let us not forget that she represents a new generation in Information age with superior neuronal resources. India is known to be a country where coals are polished and diamonds lose their shine. May Ivana go on to conquer many more chess championship crowns, without falling into the traps of promotional industry.