Archive for July 20th, 2009

The organiser of the Chess Classic, which begins on July 27 in Mainz, Germany, is a self-professed “dinosaur”. Hans-Walter Schmitt has been staging the massive event since 1994. In that year he met a young chess star from India, Vishy Anand, from which grew a deep and warm friendship. The following interview with “HWS” contains some rare insights and startling revelations. Must read.

In an earlier report we told of the 2-0 victory of US GM Hikaru Nakamura in the tiebreak blitz after he and Ruslan Ponomariov had tied for first in the Dondstia San Sebastian Category 18 tournament. Unfortunately owing to a malfunction in the sensor board all the moves of the second game were not recorded. Not to worry: David Llada filmed it all and provides us with a video document of both games.

The Editor of Chess
Notes looks back at the remarkable legacy of a writer of erudition, wit and urbanity who
combined rigorous research with sparkling quips. In some quarters today, however, that writer’s
name may barely be recognized, so we have pleasure in introducing, or re-introducing,
readers to one of the great neglected figures of chess lore.