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ATLANTA – July 7, 2009 – Atlanta resident and Be Someone founder, Orrin Hudson won top honors in the Under 1700 Game in Time 10 Minutes Blitz Tournament at the 37th Annual World Open, an international chess tournament, which took place in Philadelphia over Independence Day weekend. This important win provides a spotlight for Hudson to promote his non-profit organization, Be Someone, a crime prevention program, that uses chess to teach at-risk youth self-esteem, as well as responsibility and analytical thinking.

“Winning the Under 1700 Game in 10 minutes blitz tournament where the best in the world compete is a great feeling. It was exciting to be back in the game and to be able to use this opportunity to teach the youth of America that making the right choices can make you a champion at life and at chess,” said Hudson. “I’ve devoted more than a decade of my life to teaching children to push pawns, not drugs.”

The World Open brought together more than 1,300 players from across the world. Players competed in nine sections based on their current rating. Hudson, whose rating is 1690, competed against opponents in the Under 1800 and 1700 sections. It was in the Under 1700 section game in 10 minutes side event that he won 4 out of 5 games on the evening of Saturday, July 4.

“Orrin is a real champion because he is giving our children the greatest gift they could receive, the ability to think, act, and solve problems. It was a great honor to award someone who is truly making a difference,” said Brenda Goichberg of Continental Chess, the organization that organized the tournament. (more…)

GM Susan Polgar announced today that she will be working with ICC’s World Chess Live to provide video chess instruction for players under 2200.  There will be beginner, intermediate and advanced lessons once a week.

She will also provide important information for chess coaches, parents and teachers on how to introduce chess to students and new programs.

GM Polgar confirms the rumor of a global chess tv channel in the works.  We are following that idea closely.

Source: Chessvine.com Polgar Blog

Photo by Susan Polgar

Just when it looked like the U.S. Team was picking up some speed, they suffered a horrific defeat to Azerbaijan. The U.S. could only muster two draws against the European match-up. With so much at stake its no wonder why GM Gata Kamsky played cautiously and defensively out of the opening. However, with these results can the Americans continue down this path? Below is the Round 4 match up with Azerbaijan GM Teimour Radjabov.
Round 5 will see the U.S. Team paired against Hong Kong. (more…)

A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as intiated by white or defenses, as created on reply to black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants.

In chess, opposition (or direct opposition) is the situation occurring when two kings face each other on a rank or file, with only one square in between them. In such a situation, the player not having to move is said to “have the opposition” (Flear 2004:12). It is a special type of zugzwang and most often occurs in endgames with only kings and pawns (Flear 2000:36). The side with the move may have to move the king away, potentially allowing the opposing king access to important squares.

There are extensions of direct opposition, such as diagonal opposition and distant opposition, which can be conducive to reaching direct opposition. All three types may be referred to simply as opposition if the type is unambiguous in context.

The term zugzwang is frequently used in chess. A player whose turn it is to move who has no move that does not worsen their position is said to be in zugzwang (Soltis 2003:78). Thus every move would make their position worse, and they would be better off if they could pass and not move. Sometimes different chess authors use the term zugzwang in different ways (Flear 2004:11-12). In some literature a reciprocal zugzwang (see below) is called zugzwang and a one-sided zugzwang is called a squeeze (Hooper & Whyld 1992).

In a chess endgame, being in zugzwang usually means going from a drawn position to a loss or a won position to a draw, but it can be from a win to a loss, or a substantial loss of material which probably affects the outcome of the game. A chess position of reciprocal zugzwang or mutual zugzwang is equivalent to the more precise definition of zugzwang in game theory. Opposition is a special kind of zugzwang (Flear 2000:36).

The touch-move rule requires that a player who touches a piece must move it. The rule is used for all serious competitions and applies only to the player who is on move. The player who is not on move may touch pieces, although this is considered bad form; a Tournament Director may penalize a player who is touching pieces to annoy or distract the opponent.

A similar rule requires that a player who releases a piece after making a legal move is considered to have made that move. A player who moves a piece to a square without releasing the piece is entitled to move that piece to a different square.

There is no penalty for a player who touches a piece which has no legal moves. At one time, the rules required the player to move the King, but this rule is obsolete.

A player who touches an opponent’s piece is required to capture it, if possible. Castling is considered a King move, and a player should touch the King before the Rook.

Miniature: “A short game (usually no more than 20 to 25 moves). Usually only decisive games (not draws) are considered miniatures, and a miniature should not be spoiled by an obvious blunder by the losing side. A miniature may also qualify as a brilliancy. The Opera game is a famous example.”