KCC member Don Carrelli reports at the Kenilworth Kibitzer blog that he recently tried to visit The World Chess Hall of Fame only to find that it was closed. Does anyone have any information on the future of this chess institution and the relics it housed?
Anna Zatonskih has won the 2009 U.S. Women’s Championship with the incredible score of 8.5/9, allowing only a draw to her closest competitor, Camilla Baginskaite, who finished two points back at 6.5/9. Last year’s playoff challenger Irina Krush and rising star Alisa Melekhina finished tied for third and fourth at 5.5/9. Zatonskih won the championship last year in a controversial “armageddon” playoff with Krush, but this year demonstrated conclusively that she deserves the championship title. I recommend that you explore the excellent 2009 U.S. Women’s Championship website (part of the excellent website of the Saint Louis Chess Club), where you will find every game annotated by GM-elect Ben Finegold in both java replay (an excellent deployment of Palview) and PDF bulletins. I was especially impresed by Zatonskih-Krush from Round 3 and the hard fought game Goletiani – Krush from Round 2.
In an earlier report we brought you a series of new pictures of the reclusive World Champion Bobby Fischer, during his 1973 visit ot the Philippines at the invitation of President Ferdinand Marcos. Today we have screen shots of the same visit from a second video that appeared on YouTube, together with one of an earlier (1967) visit for a “Beat Bobby Fischer” match. Again: strangely moving.
Women make up about 10% of the World Chess Federation’s estimated one million members. The caliber of the top female players is rising dramatically, yet FIDE persists in the “anachronistic and demeaning practice of awarding separate titles for women at lower levels of accomplishment.” Time to drop gender-segregated titles for women, says Barbara Jepson in the Wall Street Journal.
Remember the very dramatic final playoff game between Anna Zatonskih and Irina Krush? The former won the title with milliseconds on the clock. This year it was calmer sailing for Anna, who won the event one round before it finished. In the end she had a very impressive score of 8.5/9, with Camilla Baginskaite trailing two full points behind. Big illustrated report with pictures by Betsy Dynako.
It is one of the most famous games in chess history, one which used to be a
part of every player’s education back in the book era. It has even found its
way on to a postage stamp. In his Wednesday night Playchess
lecture Dennis Monokroussos takes another look at the heavyweight battle between
two all-time greats. Be there at 9 p.m. ET or 3 a.m. CEST.
A Renaissance châteaux on the banks of the River Loire, with splendid gardens and stately rooms. The owner a great chess enthusiast, as well as a music aficionado. The participants: two young French players and two from China. The event: a friendship match which includes a “mixed double”. And on the side: a concert of Chinese and French classical music. We have pictures and videos.