Chess Club Black & White (CCBW)

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

World Chess Match Venue Undecided

CHENNAI: There is some uncertainty over Chennai as the venue for the eagerly-awaited World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen after the World No 1 player from Norway expressed unhappiness with the FIDE's choice of venue.

The FIDE has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with All India Chess Federation and Tamil Nadu state association for holding the World Championship match in Chennai, the home city of Anand.

However, it has been learnt Carlsen's team is apprehensive about playing in Chennai given unfamiliar food and weather condition as the Norwegian has no experience of competing in hot climate.

The fallout could be Carlsen's refusal to sign the contract as both players are needed to sign the agreement despite FIDE's MoU with the TN state association.

According to Carlsen's agent, Espen Agdestein, what irked the 22-year-old challenger was the way the MoU was signed without following a bidding process as described in the FIDE regulations for the World Championship match.

Agdestein said there should be an open bidding process and a neutral venue for the match and that the world body should have a dialogue with both players before arriving at a final decision.

The MoU, uploaded on the FIDE website, says that the match could be held in Chennai from November 6 to 26.

Chennai had lost out on the last World Championship match between Anand and Boris Gelfand after Moscow offered a higher prize fund of USD 2.55 million to the organisers.

At that time, the FIDE president, Kirsan Ilymzhinov had promised the Tamil Nadu government that the state will get the first preference for the next match.

It has also been learnt that the earlier preferred locations for hosting the match were New York, Miami, St Tropez, Paris and Tromso. The Norwegian town is already hosting the 2013 World Cup and the 2014 World Team Olympiad.

If Carlsen insists on a neutral venue, FIDE may have little option but to move the game out of Chennai. (PTI)

Alekhine Chess Memorial Live 5.30 pm

International chess super tournament Alekhine Memorial started today, on April, 20 in Paris. The opening ceremony took place in a chess pavilion, which was specially built for the tournament on the territory of the Tuileries Garden (the Louvre Museum). The super tournament dedicated to a great Russian chess player and a citizen of Russia and France Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine is held at the initiative and with the support of Russian businessmen Gennady Timchenko and Andrey Filatov. The organizers of the tournament are the Russian chess Federation and Trade and Industry Chamber of Russia and France. The event is supported by the Louvre Museum and the State Russian Museum. Ten grandmasters from seven countries are playing in the Memorial that will start in Paris with five rounds and will end with four rounds in Saint Michael’s Castle in Saint-Petersburg. The winner will be announced on the 1-st of May.

The participants after the drawing of lots.

Alekhine Memorial carries a tradition of holding big international chess tournaments in museum halls. In May last year Engineering building of the Tretyakov Gallery became a home of the FIDE World championship match, organized by the Russian chess Federation with the support of Gennady Timchenko and Andrey Filatov. The match allowed to draw attention of millions of chess spectators to the art collection of one of the leading Russian museums.

Alekhine Memorial is expected to become one of the brightest events in international chess calendar. World’s best players are fighting for the main trophy: World chess champion Viswanathan Anand, 14-th World chess champion and World rating number 3 Vladimir Kramnik; World rating number 2 Levon Aronian; six-time Russian champion and World Cup winner Peter Svidler, World champion title contender (2012) Boris Gelfand, multiple champion of France and two-time European blitz champion Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, strongest British player Michael Adams, French team board number 2 Laurent Fressinet, World team champion Nikita Vitiugov and current champion of People’s Republic of China Ding Liren.

The pairings of the first round were identified in a ballot by the chief arbiter of the tournament Boris Postovsky. They are the following: Vachier-Lagrave – Fressinet, Ding Liren – Aronian, Kramnik – Vitiugov, Anand – Adams and Svidler – Gelfand.
Watch Live India Time: 5.30 pm at official website

The tournament was preceded by the press-conference attended by the director of the Russian Museum Vladimir Gusev, three World champions (Anatoly Karpov, Valdimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand) as well as philanthropists and tournament organizers. The press conference was opened by the Russian chess Federation CEO Ilya Levitov. He was followed by the Russian Museum director who told about the role of Nicholas II in foundation of the Russian Museum and in the life of the first Russian champion. The participants of the conference expressed their hope that Alekhine Memorial will promote the renaissance of chess traditions in Russia and France.

“Chess is a unique game that will help to do a lot in our country. It helps to bring up smart people who do not make fundamental mistakes!” mentioned Andrey Filatov, event sponsor. The head of the Economic Council of the Trade and Industry Chamber of Russia and France Gennady Timchenko promised that such tournaments will continue in the future.

“We hope that our initiative will find a positive reply in the regions. We try to bring to life what used to be in Russia!” said Mr. Timchenko.

The conference was followed by a concert performed by two outstanding Russian musicians – Nikolay Lugansky (piano) and Vadim Repin (violin) who offered the audience a few pieces composed by the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Kasimdzhanov Not to Be Anand Second

By Zainab Raza Undulusi

It was this January that the Norwegian newspaper VG reported that Danish GM Peter Heine Nielsen (39) who has worked with World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand for almost 10 years would be working with World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen. Nielsen joined Carlsen in February to help Carlsen with the Candidates Tournament in March in London. Carlsen duly won the Candidates.

On Saturday, another of Viswanathan Anand's seconds, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, said at a press conference at the Renova Group Grand Prix press conference that he has decided not to continue as Anand's second.

“I think three World championship matches are enough for me. There were all very tough – one tougher than the other. At the end I think I deserve some rest (smiles). I’m a bit worried if the match is going to take place because it was announced to be held in India and Magnus is seriously opposed to the idea to play there. If they push it and Magnus gets nervous we can have the situation when the Norwegian will just refuse to play, as he had done with previous candidates tournament. It’s a great match and it would be a pity if something happens. I will be happy if they find some neutral ground. On the other hand India deserves to host the World Championship match because Anand has been holding the title for many years. So the situation is difficult,” said the former world chess champion.

Earlier, after Nielsen joined Team Carlsen, the World No. 1's manager Espen Agdestein had said, "We cannot use Peter after he has worked so long with Anand. That would not be good, morally, even if there are no problems legally. Peter is therefore not going to work with us in preparation (for the World Chess Championship 2013 match) if Magnus qualifies as World Championship challenger."

Also Read: World Chess 2013: Is it Chennai 100%?

Alekhine Chess Memorial Begins Today

Today (April 20) will begin the biggest chess event in France the Alekhine Chess Memorial. The press conference can be watched live from 8.30 pm India time on the official website followed an hour later by the grand opening ceremony which will feature the pairings announcements and concert by Nikolay Lugansky and Vadim Repin. All activities will be broadcast via the official website - www.alekhine-memorial.com. Daily rounds can be watched India time 6.30 pm.

The event - dedicated to the memory of the great Russian chess player and 4th World Chess Champion Alexander Alekhine will take place in two famous museums of the world – the Louvre (Paris) and the Russian Museum (Saint-Petersburg). The idea is to highlight both the chess event and Russian culture. The Alekhine Memorial Super Tournament continues the tradition of holding chess tournaments in World’s biggest museums – the tradition which was set up during the match Anand-Gelfand, held in May 2012 in the Engineering building of the State Tretyakov Gallery.

The opening ceremony and first five rounds will take place in Paris, in the Tuileries Garden. On April, 26 in the morning the participants, arbiters, journalists will leave Paris for Saint-Petersburg. Last four rounds will be played in Saint Michael’s Castle (The Russian Museum branch).

The part of the tournament which will be held in Paris will take place in a pavilion built in the Tuileries Garden. It is open for public from 1:30 P. M. No entry fee required.

Vadim Repin, one of the world’s most famous and popular musicians, will give a concert at the opening of the Alekhine Memorial Chess Super-Tournament, which will take place on 20 April in Paris. Vadim Repin will join with pianist Nikolai Lugansky to perform a programme of works by Sergei Rachmaninoff for piano and violin. Also, Russian pianist Nikolai Lugansky will perform at the opening ceremony selected works Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. Lugansky believes there are a number of parallels between Rachmaninoff's career and the fate of Russia's first World Chess Champion!

Alexander Alekhine (1892–1946)

Born in Moscow on 19 October 1892, the first Russian World Chess Champion Alexander Alekhine was the son of a State Duma deputy, marshal of the Voronezh nobility, and the owner of huge black-earth estates in Central Russia. Alekhine graduated from the St Petersburg School of Law in 1914. That same year, he became one of the world’s strongest chess players, placing third at the prestigious St Petersburg chess tournament, after the then-reigning World Champion Emanuel Lasker and before the future Champion José Raúl Capablanca.
Alekhine was playing at a tournament in Germany when WWI broke out. He was arrested and thrown into a German prison; upon his return to Russia, he signed up as a volunteer with the Red Cross. Alekhine was twice contused on the Galician Front, carried the wounded from battlefields, was decorated several times and was nominated for the Order of Saint Stanislaus with Swords. He became the first Chess Champion of the USSR in 1920, before leaving Soviet Russia in 1921 for France, where he became a citizen in 1925.
In 1927, Alekhine defeated the “invincible” José Raúl Capablanca in a match for the World Champion title. He dominated the chess world for several years after that, winning major tournaments at a big advantage over his rivals. In 1935, he lost a match to Max Euwe, only to defeat the Dutch Grandmaster two years later in a return match and to remain undefeated until his death.
In 1939, during the chess Olympics in Buenos-Aires he called for the German team to be disqualified because of the German attack on Poland. After the Olympics he performed charity games, with funds going to the Polish Red Cross. In 1940, he joined the French army, which brought many complications to his life in occupied France.
Alekhine died in Portugal in 1946, on the eve of an announcement that his World Championship match against Mikhail Botvinnik would take place after all. Alexander Alekhine was the only World Chess Champion to die undefeated.

Participants: World Champion Viswanathan Anand, his challenger from 2012 match Boris Gelfand, former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, World Cup winner Peter Svidler, Levon Aronian, Nikita Vitiugov, Michael Adams, Ding Liren, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Fressinet Laurent.