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Source: Dr. Daaim Shabazz

Fellow Chess Enthusiasts:

Haitian Tragedy

You are most certainly aware of the tragedy that has beset the nation of Haiti. A nation of a proud history and a nation sharing the love of our royal game of chess. Less than a week ago, a massive earthquake leveled the capitol city of Port au Prince, devastating the population of nearly 10 million. Some project that 100,000-200,000 will have perished from the disaster.

The initial rescue efforts have been difficult as teams are hampered by lack of supplies and a broken infrastructure. Bodies litter the streets and are being bulldozed into mass graves before being identified. Hospitals are understaffed, tension is rising and the nation could explode into chaos before long.

In 2006, I met the Haitian team at the Olympiad in their first trip to the bienniel chess festival since 1996. They were friendly, in high spirits and were actually part of the photo-op with the host Italian team in round #1. Since that time, disaster has struck the island not once, not twice, but several times. A series of hurricanes prevented the Haitian team from traveling to Dresden for the 2008 Olympiad. Now before the 2010 Olympiad, the nation is hit with another crushing blow.

As contributions are flowing in, there are thousands of groups lending their time and money to help the beleagured nation. There has not been a great deal of attention of this crisis on chess sites and thus far, no official statement or show of moral support has been posted on FIDE’s website. This is unacceptable.

Haiti is like many small federations… a handful of dedicated individuals with the bulk of the players being very young. Since 2006, Haiti has found a degree of success with the founding of the Academie d’Echecs under the leadership of Sabine Bonnet.

Hikaru Nakamura is leading the US Delegation in the World Team Championships.  He has been building up his internation activity and this time has beaten the World’s number 6 player Grandmaster Boris Gelfand.

US Champion Hikaru Nakamura’s incredible round five win in the World Team Championship over World Cup Champion Boris Gelfand was featured on venues such as chessbase.com, Ben Finegold’s Blog , chessninja , The Week in Chess and IM Ginsburg’s blog. Now CLO readers are treated to GM Hikaru Nakamura’s own analysis. At the time of writing, the US team is tied for the lead with Russia after six rounds.

To replay the game and others from this event click here.

Did you expect such an epic tie break and that you would have a hockey score at the end?

•  How could one expect this? Of course, the tie breaks were very tough for me, as well as for my opponent. In classical round I won one game, and easily. The second game was also not bad. Well, I got worse end game, but I was sure I could manage a draw. But I blundered at one point and the tie break history began. I had to balance and catch up all four games, two times with black. But what is strange: I always knew that all will be alright. I think by the end of the day I was luckier because of my physical shape. I do a lot of physical trainings lately. Even here, in Khanty, I don’t miss my trainings, I work out, I swim, I go to sauna and only then I come to play. Obviously I was in a bit better sporty shape.

•  As famous proverb says Mens Sana in Corpora Sano?

•  Exactly. In principle, an answer to a question if chess is sport is very clear for me. Of course yes! Professional chess players are always under stress. Without good sporty shape you will not survive.

In complete secrecy chess star Magnus Carlsen, 18, has engaged the history’s greatest chess player, Garry Kasparov, as a personal trainer. The goal is to make the Norwegian, who currently ranks as the fourth-best chess player in the world, the world’s best during the course of the coming year. In addition, Magnus Carlsen of Lommedalen will be built up to become the strongest brand in international chess.

“You will not find a bigger name than Kasparov,” says former Carlsen mentor GM Simen Agdestein, “nor a more competent coach.” When Kasparov retired in 2005 he had been an undisputed world number one from 1985 to 2000.

The collaboration, which until now has been kept secret, has been under way for six months, confirms Magnus Carlsen himself. He will not reveal what the training program costs, but confirms that it is expensive.

Now the former director of the Hjemmet Mortensen, Espen Agdestein, is working full time to find sponsors for Carlsen. “This is the king training his crown prince,” said Espen Agdestein. “While Kasparov is a living legend, Carlsen is the biggest attraction that exists in the chess world today. This is the Dream Team.”

Cooperation with Kasparov is initially intended to last throughout the coming year, with a possibility of extension. On September 15 Kasparov will be coming to Norway for another training session with Carlsen, who has been twice to Moscow visiting Kasparov. This summer Carlsen spent 14 days at Kasparov summer residence in Croatia. (more…)

The 2009 US Chess Championship was held, this year for the first time, in St. Louis, Missouri, at the brand new St. Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center, which is located at 4657 Maryland Avenue, just east of the intersection of Euclid and Maryland. The Championship dates back to 1845 and this year offered a purse of more than $130,000 in prize money. It was a nine-round Swiss, with one round per day and a rest day between rounds seven and eight. Time controls were the classical 40 moves in two hours, with one hour allowed for all remaining moves and a five second increment for all move.

Round eight – Hikaru Nakamura 2009 US Champion

Hikaru Nakamura, 21, won the the 2009 US Chess Championship, after winning in the ninth and final round of the event. Second-seeded Nakamura, who also won the title in 2004, when he was just 16, took the venerable 164-year-old title and the first prize of $40,000 ($35,000, plus a $5,000 outright winner’s bonus) after beating Josh Friedel of New Hampshire. Nakamura finished with seven points over nine games, and never lost a game. (more…)

A chess set thrown out as rubbish by one of north Wales’s biggest landowners could fetch £5,000 for relatives of the butler who saved it from the bonfire.

The French carved ivory figures which once belonged to Lord Mostyn are due to be auctioned by Christie’s in London.

They are being sold by the great grandchildren of James Baxter, who served the third Baron Mostyn at Mostyn Hall, Flintshire, in the late 1800s.

The auction house said chess sets from the era are “rarely” found complete.

Through Mostyn Estates Ltd, the Mostyn family own large areas of Llandudno, Conwy, and their connection with the resort and its development dates back 500 years.

The chess set, made in Dieppe in the late 18th to early 19th Century, is estimated to fetch between £3,000 to £5,000 when it is auctioned on Tuesday.

According to Christie’s, James Baxter was the butler at Mostyn Hall around the 1880s-1890s. Read More