Archive for November 11th, 2009

“Doubts cast on Chessmen origins” is the title of a BBC World News story that reports on the continuing dispute between Britain and Scotland concerning the origins and ownership of the famous Lewis Chessmen, which were found on the Isle of Lewis but are now mostly kept in the British Museum (with only a few at the National Museum of Scotland.) According to an article to appear in the journal Medieval Archaeology by Dr. David Caldwell (of the National Museum of Scotland), it is most likely that the chessmen were passed down as a family heirloom by a rich cattle owner on the Isle of Lewis itself, which would justify the Isle’s and Scotland’s claim to them. We previously linked to the fanciful story “Stale Mate” by Allan Burnett (Herald Scotland, Feb 2 2008) which offered an involving reconstruction of what might be called “the merchant theory of origin,” in which it is suggested that the pieces were stolen from a rich Scandinavian merchant while in harbor off Lewis, which would mean that Scotland has no original claim. Hat tip: the BCC Weblog.

And Vladimir Kramnik has once again taken the sole lead, with plus three and a 2955 performance. In a remarkable game against former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov, Kramnik pressed for 81 moves until the Ukrainian’s succumbed to zugzwang. Gelfand laid Aronian’s Meran System to waste, Morozevich-Ivanchuk ended in a black victory by the masked chessplayer!

Yesterday we published a report on an Islandic court awarding Fischer’s estate to his lawfully wedded wife Miyoko Watai. Today we received a message from Marilyn Young, Fischer’s “Filipina live-in partner”, who is seeking justice for her and Fischer’s eight-year-old daughter Jinky. The two are on their way to Iceland to file their claim. Marilyn has sent us some fairly compelling photographic evidence.

“A knight on the rim is dim” – there is no aphorism which is known more widely to amateur players than this one. And although there are more than enough
exceptions to this rule, the phrase naturally is also fully justified. All the more so
when the case involves not just a knight on the edge of the board, but that
rarely spotted example of the species: a knight in the corner. Recently, one
such example caused Ivan Cheparinov all sorts of problems, when the sad-looking steed was corralled in the corner with the help of a bishop. GM Karsten Müller analyses the ending
Cheparinov-Caruana for
ChessBase Magazine Online.

Sammy Reshevsky (1911-1992) was at one time one of the strongest players in the world.
He did have some weird weaknesses, though.
Apart from time trouble and carelessness in opening preparation he had an apparent
blind spot to stalemate. This is the subject of the Playchess
lecture at 9 p.m. ET by FM Dennis Monokroussos. Before that IM Merijn van
Delft discusses current games. Schedule.

Almost exactly a year ago the two were playing for the title of World Champion. Now Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand are battling each other for the lead in the Tal Memorial in Moscow. Kramnik worked very hard in an 81-mover against Boris Gelfand, but had to concede a draw. Anand beat Peter Leko in a Semi-Slav and joined Kramnik in the lead. Round five report.