The Chess Times

Harika is winner of World Junior Chess

" Top seeded International Master India's D Harika proved her top billing right by winning the World Junior Girls Chess Championship with one round to spare after beating Narmin Kazimova of Azerbaijan in the 12th and penultimate round.

Harika took her tally to an unassailable 10 points out of a possible 12 and steered a full point clear of Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine who was held to a draw by Anastasia Bodnaruk of Russia.

It implies that, with her better progressive score, Harika is assured of the title with one round still to come in the premier junior event for girls. "

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Chess helps inmates put pieces in order

"Russell Davis, 24, learned to play chess in jail.

Now, the inmate at the Howard County Detention Center, facing an armed robbery charge, is hoping the game will help keep him out of jail in the future.

"It reflects life," Davis said of chess. "If you can learn to get over some of the obstacles on a chess board, you can get over some of the obstacles in life."

Davis has a simple explanation for why he is in jail: "Wrong place, wrong time, wrong people," he said.

Now, stuck in his cell, Davis plays the game every day with other inmates, he said.

"It forces you to think in difficult situations, you can't just react," Davis said.

He is aided in his study of the game by officials at the detention center, who in April began a chess program for prisoners in the maximum security wing.

Jack Kavanagh, director of the Howard County Detention Center, said prisoners in the maximum security wing have limited recreation opportunities because they're confined to their cells most of the time. Providing them with a game like chess focuses their minds and keeps them from causing trouble, he said.

"You've got to provide some activities here," Kavanagh said. "If not, they'll start their own activities and sometimes it's not what you want."

The advantage of chess is that it teaches reasoning and planning skills to the inmates, Kavanagh said.

"Basically it focuses them in on a game that requires strategy (and) thinking -- constructive thinking," Kavanagh said."

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"Life is like a big chessboard" - Edmund Sathara's experiences with chess

In the following article, Datuk Edmund Sathara discusses his love of chess and how he applies chess strategies to real life situations. Sathara's experience with chess began at a very young age, and he continues to build his growing collection while encouraging youth to play chess at the KLCA, an organization he set up in Malaysia.

To Edmund, chess allows one to make critical and precise decisions and promotes problem-solving skills.

“The benefits of the game struck me during my uni (university) days. I had so many subjects to take and assignments to finish when suddenly I realised, that life is just like a large chessboard! ‘Compartmentalising’ the problems and decision making abilities; life is a like a game of chess,” he says with a laugh.

Applying the art of chess to his work is almost like second nature.

“It helps me locate the problem and identify what’s important now and where the battlefield is,” he says.

In chess as in business life, there are sacrifices to be made.

“Resources are always limited and the window of opportunity is very short; we have to be precise and efficient. Like in chess, every move you make is timed. You must know what’s something that you must have and what is it nice to have.

“In order to win the war, you might even have to sacrifice your queen. There are times even when you need to lose a battle in order to win the war. It’s all strategy, and there are always risks involved,” he says.

Click here to read more about Edmund Santhara's views on chess.

 

Teen chess master Daniel Ludwig at the University of Florida

18-year-old Daniel Ludwig, winner of the 2006 Masters Championship, lectured at the University of Florida and later competed in a simul against 20 different players.

During his talk, he explained the solutions to difficult chess puzzles to a group of about 40 people. There were “oohs,” “ahs” and gasps from chess aficionados in the audience.

“This is why I play chess. Besides all the winning and losing, it’s art, and I like to create it,” Ludwig said, referring to a particularly elegant chess solution.

Ludwig won the 2006 U.S. Masters Championship, and he said he’s No. 2 in the nation for his age group.

He’s been in a simul with two other players against 150 opponents at once, and he estimates he can play about five opponents in what they call blind simuls, where the player calls out the moves and can see the board only in his or her mind.

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GM Gasanov wins Czech Open chess tournament

GM Eldar Gasanov won the 2008 edition of the strong Czech Open chess festival. He finished with 7,5/9, half a point ahead of GM Stocek, GM Chuprov, GM Korobov, GM Vorobiov, GM Chernyshov, GM Gajewski, IM Dobrowolski, GM Brkic, and GM Teske. A total of 44 GMs and 199 titled players from 35 nations competed in the event. Top seeded was GM Hracek and GM Babula.

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Which Chess Piece Are You? Quiz

Your result for Which Chess Piece are You Test?...

The Queen's Knight

This quiz is about 36 questions asking you to choose between two options.Take the quiz by clicking here.

   

Playing a Lot (or Very Little) to Keep a Competitive Edge

Top competitors must play an official game at least once a year to maintain their rankings, but players have long held varying opinions about how often they should compete to maintain an edge.

Viswanathan Anand of India, the world champion, has played only two games in the last few months as he has prepared for a world championship semifinal match in October against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia. And Kramnik has entered only two tournaments this year.

Last week, it was announced that Gata Kamsky, who will play in the other semifinal, will be part of the United States team at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany, in November. His decision to play is remarkable because his semifinal match, against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, begins the day after the Olympiad ends.

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Is there such a thing as "too much chess", or does practice make perfect?

Three Moves Ahead — Bob Rice

The ‘‘three moves” refers to chess, and the book is a fascinating application of the insights of a thousand-year-old game to business, which even a non-chess player will enjoy.

Click here to read more about this chess book Three Moves Ahead by Bob Rice.

Humpy top seed at North Urals Cup chess

Koneru Humpy, the No. 2 women's chess player in the world, is the top seed in the Super tournament North Urals Cup, an event she won three years ago. Humpy is the highest rated player in the eight-women tournament, the strongest after the world championships.

The 22-year-old Humpy, who was a semi-finalist at the 2004 World Championships and is one of the leading contenders for the title later this year, will be the favourite for the title in the Category 19 tournament, which has an average rating of 2520.

Click here to read more about Humpy.

Chess in Iran: Asian Youth Championship in Teheran

The 2008 Asian Youth Chess Championship, which was held last week in the Capital   of Iran, Tehran-e-Bozorg, Great Tehran, was full interesting incidents.   From happy small boys, running from to and fro in the yard of Iran Chess Federation,   to young handsome gentlemen, who were chatting up attractive young ladies. And   from very worried mothers, who kept praying during their children’s matches,   to stressed fathers, who smoked double their usual quota of cigarettes, while   their offspring were battling it out on the chess boards.

Click here to read the full article and see more pictures from the tournament.