I M P O R T A N T . . GSCL is postponed till 10 Jan 2012. The WOCC plays Hamilton, at home. Work being done to the building continues to be uncertain.
Thus: Round Six of the WOCC Late Fall Swiss must NOW again be postponed till 17 Jan 2012.
As these changes move downstream in the colander pipeline, the Annual Meeting and Elections have also to be further moved up, to Tuesday 24 Jan 2012.
President John Hagerty is examining whether a plan B is to be considered, since the uncertainty on the construction management side shows no sign of ending.
In view of that, it is decided by the TD that if any scheduled matches wish to meet offsite, and/or play their game before the 17th, that this is permitted. This of course is only if both persons agree amicably. The requirement is for the 17th.
Please let us apologize. Believe us when we tell you, its all on a day by day basis to our club leaders.
[Email, as we were publishing, club President John sent and email to the editor, similar to above, to make sure the status of the club was properly communicated. This was recently discussed, and he asked us to notify members. Copy of his note, directly here:
'David,
I just want to make sure that all WOCC members know that the schedule of events has been pushed up a week and that we reopen on Jan. 10th for the GSCL, the official 6th and final rd. of the Late Fall Swiss will be on the 17th, and that the Annual Meeting and Election will then be held on the 24th. Also, let them know that players in the tournament can make individual arrangements to wrap up their last round games.
Thanks and Happy New Year
John
ps. Jose Fernandez and I would like to get confirmations either by phone or e-mail about their commitment to be in the USATE event to be held in Feb. We need to know asap especially for those who may wish to reserve a hotel room at the Hilton to grt the special Chess rate. Again, thanks'.]
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Remarkable Interviews: 'World Champion Anand on fatherhood, Kazan, and more'; 'On World Championship matches, and the new generation'
As previously mentioned, here is the fabulous interview of World Chess Champion Vishi Anand called:
'Interview with the World Champion - Anand on becoming a father, Kazan and more (part 1 of 2)'. This is a long but most interesting interview. Because of its length, there is a second part, Part Two linked here (click red). None of this is run of the mill. Highly recommended.
As we were ready to publish, recently two days before Christmas, a second interview which was just as good came out, so we consolidate the three interviews, thus. Linked here:
'Vegetarian Predator: On World Championship matches, the new generation of top players and himself'.
One closing note: Twe duopoly of The Week in Chess and ChessBase.com were pretty much the two reigning sites on chess in the English speaking world, the last two years. It remains so. But then chessVibes.com came along, also quite good. Its editor Peter Dodgers gave himself the herculian task of running this third site in both Dutch and English. About three years ago, was it, he decided to make it English only, due to the scope of work involved. No less than the two prior site, Chess Center and ChessBase. This is the third site.
In the last half year, a forth site started to take off, called WhyChess.com. This is very good, and is thus linked in the third interview. Enjoy.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
USCF TLA Came Out Today
Click here For link to TLA below.
[... quickly, the day before Christmas. Copied exactly as it is, link to list here, click red at left. Usual edits to follow, but, for now... ]
6 Grand Prix Points
Mar 13 - May 8, 2012
West Orange CC 2012 Championship
West Orange, NJ
7 rds., G/100 (5 sec. delay),
Reg. 7-7:30 P.M., rds. start at 8:00.
EF: $30.00, members $25.00.
Prizes: 1st $150, 2nd $100, 3rd $75, Best under 1900 $60, 1700 $50, 1500 $40.
All prizes guaranteed.
Details: westorangechessclub.blogspot.com and buickchess@gmail.com or 973-736-3433.
Byes: Three 1/2 byes available in any rd; must know by the end of rd.4.
Address: Toby Katz Community Center, 650 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ 07052.
Advance entrees welcome.
Chess Magnet School JGP.
The information shown above is based on information in USCF records prior to publication of the TLA in Chess Life (or Chess Life for Kids.)
As such, the information shown above is subject to change.
Please check the TLA in Chess Life (or Chess Life for Kids) for any corrections, updates or other changes.
In special cases, changes that are made after the publication of Chess Life may be found on the Tournament Listings by State page.
Sponsoring Affiliate: A6002020, WEST ORANGE CHESS CLUB.
Tell the TD you heard about this event via TLA Mail or saw it on the USCF website. TLA ID: 8594
[... quickly, the day before Christmas. Copied exactly as it is, link to list here, click red at left. Usual edits to follow, but, for now... ]
6 Grand Prix Points
Mar 13 - May 8, 2012
West Orange CC 2012 Championship
West Orange, NJ
7 rds., G/100 (5 sec. delay),
Reg. 7-7:30 P.M., rds. start at 8:00.
EF: $30.00, members $25.00.
Prizes: 1st $150, 2nd $100, 3rd $75, Best under 1900 $60, 1700 $50, 1500 $40.
All prizes guaranteed.
Details: westorangechessclub.blogspot.com and buickchess@gmail.com or 973-736-3433.
Byes: Three 1/2 byes available in any rd; must know by the end of rd.4.
Address: Toby Katz Community Center, 650 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ 07052.
Advance entrees welcome.
Chess Magnet School JGP.
The information shown above is based on information in USCF records prior to publication of the TLA in Chess Life (or Chess Life for Kids.)
As such, the information shown above is subject to change.
Please check the TLA in Chess Life (or Chess Life for Kids) for any corrections, updates or other changes.
In special cases, changes that are made after the publication of Chess Life may be found on the Tournament Listings by State page.
Sponsoring Affiliate: A6002020, WEST ORANGE CHESS CLUB.
Tell the TD you heard about this event via TLA Mail or saw it on the USCF website. TLA ID: 8594
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
I M P O R T A N T . . Round Six of WOCC Late Fall Swiss is postponed till 10 Jan 2012, Issue with Building
The Simplest person knows chess is relaxed, low stress, and best played in a tweed smoking jacket. Double click image to enlarge. A shocker. It was stressful for even some bystanders, little alone Mark and Nathan.
Dear Members, many of you, but not all have received an email, and/or phone call to please notify you that the last and final round of the Late Fall Swiss has had to be postponed till Tuesday 10 January 2012.
We must solemnly apologize, but this was not foreseen. It has been brought to our attention that our Toby Katz Community Center will not be available to us the next two weeks, due to the installation of a new floor [1]. This means we will not be meeting not just tomorrow night, but cannot meet the following week.
Moreover, round four of the GSCL is scheduled for the first Tuesday of every month, so this eliminated the availability of Tuesday 03 Jan, and according to John, as awkward as it is, had to be decided to resume the tournaments last and final round on this second Tuesday in January.
Secondly, the important Annual Club Meeting and Election, has had to be moved out to Tue 17 Jan. Time flies.
Since John had begun discussing the possibility of a quick Winter Round Robin (no specific plans, again, just discussed), that probably comes into doubt--at least as far as usual format goes, due to less available evenings.
The editor before the news about our postponement was already thinking that perhaps it might be a welcome change of pace to put on a six round swiss, with two games per night, at G30 for three consecutive Tuesdays. Editor is not sure if the revised schedule would then make a double round robin over three Tuesday more appealing, but maybe there are new factors preventing the prior (swiss) and hastening the latter (robin).
Comments welcome, will pass on to Club President John Hagerty, and TD's Roger Pedersen, and Doran Race.
That said, we hope no one needlessly drives from Philadelphia with the expectation of seeing us and finding a locked and empty clubhouse.
[1] Virtually all members appreciate the use of the space very, very greatly. Thank you to the Township of West Orange from all of us. We remind one another that it is not a matter of what is absent (missing a night or two, whether it be for upgrades, or a late start of competition for a meeting of wrestling coaches...) but what is present: secure space, easy access, a beautiful well-appointed setting (lake, club house, a bit of gardens), relative quiet near major interstates, good parking, clean areas to take care of personal, a small kitchen, good lighting, heat in winter, coolant in the summer--all that. Thank you for all of us to West Orange. We do not forget.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
WOCC Quote of the Week:
"I absolutely hate lossing".
Magnus Carlsen.
PROFILES
New Yorker Magazine, March 21, 2011 Issue.
The Prince’s Gambit: A chess star emerges for the post-computer age.
by D. T. Max
ABSTRACT OF ARTICLE BELOW. Click here in red for full article, but you might need a magnifying glass. Editor can read it. Worth a try:
PROFILE of Norwegian chess star Magnus Carlsen. Writer describes a match between Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik at the London Chess Classic in December. In the match, Carlsen had recovered from a situation that the Russian champion Garry Kasparov called “impossible” to force a draw.
Carlsen, who had just turned twenty two weeks earlier, is largely self-taught, and can play various styles of chess. He has been a full-time chess player since he was fifteen, and spends more than a hundred and sixty days a year on the road. When he is not travelling, he lives in a house with his family in an affluent suburb of Oslo. Carlsen left school two years ago without formally graduating.
Tells about Magnus Carlsen Against the World, an event staged by Carlsen’s sponsor G-Star at New York Fashion Week. Carlsen played against a team of three grandmasters. Many people in the chess world considered the contest vulgar. At the trophy presentation, Liv Tyler, another G-Star endorser, gave Carlsen a silver plaque.
Most grandmasters start chess extremely young, but Carlsen did not, though he had shown unusual mathematical aptitude as a little boy, which is often found in chess talents. He was more engaged by soccer and skiing. When Magnus was eight, his father made another attempt to engage him in chess and this time, he recalled, he found it “just a richer and more complicated game than any other.”
Tells about Carlsen’s development as a chess player. He has a prodigious memory for board positions and moves. He studied with Simen Agdestein, a top Norwegian grandmaster at the time, and later with Kasparov. Briefly discusses the history of chess, which was brought to the West by way of Persia sometime between the eighth and tenth centuries.
Describes the approach to the game developed by the Soviets and also tells about the development of computer chess programs. Mentions Kasparov’s loss to the I.B.M. mainframe Big Blue, in 1997. Carlsen said that for him, great chess playing is less the “scientific search for the best approaches” than “psychological warfare with some little tricks.”
Describes Carlsen’s performance in the 2011 Wijk aan Zee tournament in Holland, where he lost his confidence. He told the writer, “Suddenly, I started to get these doubts. All of a sudden, my fighting spirit was almost gone.” Carlsen was already thinking ahead to the Amber chess tournament, which is being played this month, in Monaco. The games there do not affect anyone’s official ranking, since the participants play either rapid or blindfold chess; all the same, he said, “I really, really want to win and restore the power balance.”
See upset at 2:30 mark when someone suggested to him that the Grob is not a viable opening?
Magnus Carlsen.
PROFILES
New Yorker Magazine, March 21, 2011 Issue.
The Prince’s Gambit: A chess star emerges for the post-computer age.
by D. T. Max
ABSTRACT OF ARTICLE BELOW. Click here in red for full article, but you might need a magnifying glass. Editor can read it. Worth a try:
PROFILE of Norwegian chess star Magnus Carlsen. Writer describes a match between Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik at the London Chess Classic in December. In the match, Carlsen had recovered from a situation that the Russian champion Garry Kasparov called “impossible” to force a draw.
Carlsen, who had just turned twenty two weeks earlier, is largely self-taught, and can play various styles of chess. He has been a full-time chess player since he was fifteen, and spends more than a hundred and sixty days a year on the road. When he is not travelling, he lives in a house with his family in an affluent suburb of Oslo. Carlsen left school two years ago without formally graduating.
Tells about Magnus Carlsen Against the World, an event staged by Carlsen’s sponsor G-Star at New York Fashion Week. Carlsen played against a team of three grandmasters. Many people in the chess world considered the contest vulgar. At the trophy presentation, Liv Tyler, another G-Star endorser, gave Carlsen a silver plaque.
Most grandmasters start chess extremely young, but Carlsen did not, though he had shown unusual mathematical aptitude as a little boy, which is often found in chess talents. He was more engaged by soccer and skiing. When Magnus was eight, his father made another attempt to engage him in chess and this time, he recalled, he found it “just a richer and more complicated game than any other.”
Tells about Carlsen’s development as a chess player. He has a prodigious memory for board positions and moves. He studied with Simen Agdestein, a top Norwegian grandmaster at the time, and later with Kasparov. Briefly discusses the history of chess, which was brought to the West by way of Persia sometime between the eighth and tenth centuries.
Describes the approach to the game developed by the Soviets and also tells about the development of computer chess programs. Mentions Kasparov’s loss to the I.B.M. mainframe Big Blue, in 1997. Carlsen said that for him, great chess playing is less the “scientific search for the best approaches” than “psychological warfare with some little tricks.”
Describes Carlsen’s performance in the 2011 Wijk aan Zee tournament in Holland, where he lost his confidence. He told the writer, “Suddenly, I started to get these doubts. All of a sudden, my fighting spirit was almost gone.” Carlsen was already thinking ahead to the Amber chess tournament, which is being played this month, in Monaco. The games there do not affect anyone’s official ranking, since the participants play either rapid or blindfold chess; all the same, he said, “I really, really want to win and restore the power balance.”
See upset at 2:30 mark when someone suggested to him that the Grob is not a viable opening?
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Club Update: Late Fall Swiss, Round Five Results and Round Six Final Pairings
[Editor, trying to get results, and crosstable, if possible, as we speak. dk]
West Orange Chess Club Late Fall Swiss 2011
Rd Bd Scr White Scr Black
06 1. ___ Kernighan, Mark D (5.0) ___ Zilbermintz, Lev (3.5)
06 2. ___ Hart, Charles M (3.5) ___ Pedersen, Roger E (3.5)
06 3. ___ Cohen, Bryan Paul (3.0) ___ Resika, Nathan (3.0)
06 4. ___ Martinez, Alberto (3.0) ___ Mangion, Ian (3.0)
06 5. ___ Boxer, Matthew (3.0) ___ Pepe, Michael A (3.0)
06 6. ___ Norris, Anthony (3.0) ___ Arias , Fermin (2.5)
06 7. ___ Senyatkin, Aleksey (2.0) ___ Garrett, Damon T (2.5)
06 8. ___ Katz, Harry S (1.0) ___ Nayak, Mohan Rao (2.0)
06 9. ___ Korn, David Allan (1.5) ___ Fortunato, Joseph (1.5)
More from London: What happens when two of the best chess players on earth extemporaneously discuss chess games together?? Delightful.
Prize Money Contenders with 1 round to go:
1ST $150 Kerighan
2ND $100 4 points wins: Zilbermintz 3.5+, Pedersen 3.5+, Hart 3.5+
3RD $075 Resika 3+, Mangion 3+, Boxer 3+, Cohen 3+, Martinez 3+, Pepe 3+
Under 1900 $60:
Martinez 3+, Pepe 3+, Norris 2.5+, Garrett 2.5+, Arias 2.5+
Under 1700 $50:
Nayak 2+, Korn 1.5+, Fortunato 1.5+
Under 1500 $35:
Senyatkin
West Orange Chess Club Late Fall Swiss 2011
Rd Bd Scr White Scr Black
06 1. ___ Kernighan, Mark D (5.0) ___ Zilbermintz, Lev (3.5)
06 2. ___ Hart, Charles M (3.5) ___ Pedersen, Roger E (3.5)
06 3. ___ Cohen, Bryan Paul (3.0) ___ Resika, Nathan (3.0)
06 4. ___ Martinez, Alberto (3.0) ___ Mangion, Ian (3.0)
06 5. ___ Boxer, Matthew (3.0) ___ Pepe, Michael A (3.0)
06 6. ___ Norris, Anthony (3.0) ___ Arias , Fermin (2.5)
06 7. ___ Senyatkin, Aleksey (2.0) ___ Garrett, Damon T (2.5)
06 8. ___ Katz, Harry S (1.0) ___ Nayak, Mohan Rao (2.0)
06 9. ___ Korn, David Allan (1.5) ___ Fortunato, Joseph (1.5)
More from London: What happens when two of the best chess players on earth extemporaneously discuss chess games together?? Delightful.
Prize Money Contenders with 1 round to go:
1ST $150 Kerighan
2ND $100 4 points wins: Zilbermintz 3.5+, Pedersen 3.5+, Hart 3.5+
3RD $075 Resika 3+, Mangion 3+, Boxer 3+, Cohen 3+, Martinez 3+, Pepe 3+
Under 1900 $60:
Martinez 3+, Pepe 3+, Norris 2.5+, Garrett 2.5+, Arias 2.5+
Under 1700 $50:
Nayak 2+, Korn 1.5+, Fortunato 1.5+
Under 1500 $35:
Senyatkin
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Game: IM Dmitry S. London,2373 - Roger E. Pedersen,1950 [B19]
A recent game submitted to the WOCC by our Roger E. Pedersen. To load into Fritz or ChessBase, copy below or cntl C, then paste or cntl v. Editor. A nice win and congratulations to Roger!
IM Dmitry S. London,2373 - Roger E. Pedersen,1950 [B19]
Dr David Ostfeld Memorial Early Winter, 11.12.2011
[Fritz 13 (120s)]
B19: Classical Caro-Kann: 4...Bf5 main line 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 e6 7.h4 h6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nf6 11.Bf4 Qa5+ 12.Bd2 Bb4 13.c3 Bd6 14.c4 Bb4 last book move. White has a very active position 15.0–0 Bxd2 16.Nxd2 0–0 17.c5 White has a new backward pawn: d4 17...Rd8 18.Qc2 White has an active position 18...Qc7 [18...Rxd4?? the pawn of course cannot be captured 19.Nb3 Qb4 20.Nxd4+–] 19.Qc3 Qd7 [19...Rd5 20.Nc4µ] 20.Rad1 Na6 Manoeuvre Nb8–a6–c7–d5 21.Nc4 Nc7 22.a4 Ncd5 Black threatens to win material: Nd5xc3. A valuable piece 23.Qf3 Qc7 24.Nd6 The white knight is well posted. 24...Ne8 25.Nge4 Ndf6 26.b4 [26.Nxf6+!? Nxf6 27.Rd3=] 26...Nxe4³ 27.Nxe4 a6 Black's piece can't move: e8 28.Rfe1 [28.Rd3 Rd5³] 28...Rd5µ 29.Nc3 Rf5 30.Qh3 Qf4 31.Ne4 Nf6 32.f3 Nxe4 33.fxe4 [33.Rxe4!? Qc7 34.Rb1µ] 33...Rg5 34.Rd3 Qg4 [¹34...Rd8–+ and Black could have gained the advantage] 35.Qxg4³ Rxg4 A double rook endgame occured 36.Kf2 Rd8 37.Kf3 White threatens to win material: Kf3xg4 37...Rh4 38.g4 Rh3+ 39.Ke2 Rxd3 [¹39...Rh2+!? 40.Kf3 Rb2µ] 40.Kxd3= e5 41.d5 cxd5 42.b5 This push gains space 42...dxe4+ White is in double check 43.Kxe4 f6 44.c6 bxc6 45.bxc6?? [¹45.b6³ would save the game] 45...Rd4+–+ 46.Ke3 Rc4 [46...Rc4 47.Rb1 Rxc6 48.Rb8+ Kh7–+] 0–1
Remarkable analysis by Kramnik. Notice how far and how fast he takes the line. He is the best of the best, as far as depth goes. Very, very funny remark at 3:00 mark by Trent: 'Is that all you could see??' Outrageous!
'...absolutely stunning video of Kramnik explaining his game with McShane as Wht, where he elaborates about a twenty move line off the top of his head, and all the variations. He does it quickly. Even Kasparov once said Kramnik probably had the deepest sense of chess, and from all reports, this is true. He won London yesterday:
[Comment off of chessVibes article, on Vlad's recent win at London yesterday: click red at L]]
"According to Peter Svidler himself, Vladimir Kramnik is the most talented and intuitive player that he has even known. Is it any surprise that this legend is performing so consistently and so well, including winning this tournament?"'.
IM Dmitry S. London,2373 - Roger E. Pedersen,1950 [B19]
Dr David Ostfeld Memorial Early Winter, 11.12.2011
[Fritz 13 (120s)]
B19: Classical Caro-Kann: 4...Bf5 main line 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 e6 7.h4 h6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nf6 11.Bf4 Qa5+ 12.Bd2 Bb4 13.c3 Bd6 14.c4 Bb4 last book move. White has a very active position 15.0–0 Bxd2 16.Nxd2 0–0 17.c5 White has a new backward pawn: d4 17...Rd8 18.Qc2 White has an active position 18...Qc7 [18...Rxd4?? the pawn of course cannot be captured 19.Nb3 Qb4 20.Nxd4+–] 19.Qc3 Qd7 [19...Rd5 20.Nc4µ] 20.Rad1 Na6 Manoeuvre Nb8–a6–c7–d5 21.Nc4 Nc7 22.a4 Ncd5 Black threatens to win material: Nd5xc3. A valuable piece 23.Qf3 Qc7 24.Nd6 The white knight is well posted. 24...Ne8 25.Nge4 Ndf6 26.b4 [26.Nxf6+!? Nxf6 27.Rd3=] 26...Nxe4³ 27.Nxe4 a6 Black's piece can't move: e8 28.Rfe1 [28.Rd3 Rd5³] 28...Rd5µ 29.Nc3 Rf5 30.Qh3 Qf4 31.Ne4 Nf6 32.f3 Nxe4 33.fxe4 [33.Rxe4!? Qc7 34.Rb1µ] 33...Rg5 34.Rd3 Qg4 [¹34...Rd8–+ and Black could have gained the advantage] 35.Qxg4³ Rxg4 A double rook endgame occured 36.Kf2 Rd8 37.Kf3 White threatens to win material: Kf3xg4 37...Rh4 38.g4 Rh3+ 39.Ke2 Rxd3 [¹39...Rh2+!? 40.Kf3 Rb2µ] 40.Kxd3= e5 41.d5 cxd5 42.b5 This push gains space 42...dxe4+ White is in double check 43.Kxe4 f6 44.c6 bxc6 45.bxc6?? [¹45.b6³ would save the game] 45...Rd4+–+ 46.Ke3 Rc4 [46...Rc4 47.Rb1 Rxc6 48.Rb8+ Kh7–+] 0–1
Remarkable analysis by Kramnik. Notice how far and how fast he takes the line. He is the best of the best, as far as depth goes. Very, very funny remark at 3:00 mark by Trent: 'Is that all you could see??' Outrageous!
'...absolutely stunning video of Kramnik explaining his game with McShane as Wht, where he elaborates about a twenty move line off the top of his head, and all the variations. He does it quickly. Even Kasparov once said Kramnik probably had the deepest sense of chess, and from all reports, this is true. He won London yesterday:
[Comment off of chessVibes article, on Vlad's recent win at London yesterday: click red at L]]
"According to Peter Svidler himself, Vladimir Kramnik is the most talented and intuitive player that he has even known. Is it any surprise that this legend is performing so consistently and so well, including winning this tournament?"'.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Problems And Answers: How to Cook a Chess Club
On Sat, Dec 10, 2011 at 4:23 PM, Brian Cohen wrote:
Hey John. I know you told me that Tony Norris is taking a half point bye in round five. Just so everyone affected by this pairing change (which would be myself, Senyatkin, Martinez, Katz, and I suppose Norris as well) is all on the same page, can you have Roger Pedersen send the updated, revised pairings to David Korn to be placed on the website? If all of the affected players are not aware of a pairing change there could be problems.
[Editor, paragraph break] First of all Senyatkin is now supposed to be playing me, and Martinez is now supposed to be playing Katz. Senyatkin and Martinez could be upset, thinking that they are supposed to be playing each other, which they were originally. Katz, who had a full point bye originally, may not be aware of a change and might not be expecting to play, or he might not even show up, although in his case he comes just about every week.
[Editor, break] I would hate for there to be a scenario where anybody is upset at pairing changes that they will not find out about until game time or for Martinez to not have a game, get an unearned free point, and not have a game to play because Katz doesn't show up. I just think it would be best to make it clear to avoid any confusion. Please send me a reply, and as always thank you again John, and I will see you on Tuesday night.
Bryan Cohen
---------------------------
From: John Hagerty To: david korn [1]
ject: Fwd: tony norris bye
[Dear] Bryan,
It should be clear from the posted information as to the possibilities as to what happens if Norris takes a bye. The people in question should check with Roger or me as what Tony`s situation is and therefore know as to whom they are playing. If they cannot figure this out, then maybe they should not be playing Chess at all. What I can do is this: I will e-mail David and ask him to double check with Roger and then repost the pairings reflecting the Norris 1/2 point bye effect on rd. 5.
John
---------------------------
From: David Korn
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2011 4:54 PM
To: [Roger] CT
Cc: John Hagerty
Subject: RE: tony norris bye
[Dear] Roger, back from HARD 1:15 run in the woods [...] ten minutes ago [...].
A surprising email from John, and asks me if you can pls let me know if there is an update. The patience of everyone is being tried, certainly not from you or John or me. You know, I have been competing at the club since the WOCCC in March, and this NEVER happened. Either we are attracting a portion of new breed of the wrong people [2], or we are just getting too free or lenient, but somehow there must be a way to control this.
In systems theory, when an entirely new sea change comes in, there must be an exogenous reason for it, no? We are not much different than we were a year ago, or are we? In any event, if you have new pairings, then I will post them.
On the fly, it just hits me if there are NO byes, while we might see a reduction in participation, maybe THAT set of participants will have more commitment?
Leave it to you and John.
Best, dk
---------------------------
From: David Korn
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2011 4:56 PM
To: [Brian]
Subject: FW: tony norris bye
Brian, not sure what it is all about. You sound reasonable to me. Your friend, dk
---------------------------
From: doran race
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2011 7:28 PM
To: david korn; roger pedersen
Cc: John Hagerty
Subject: RE: tony norris bye
I thought I saw somewhere that Norris is taking a half point bye for rounds 5 and 6
[Doran]
---------------------------
From: CT [Roger]Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2011 10:07 PM
To: [dk]Subject: Re: tony norris bye
Tony and Doran have requested round 5 byes SO the pairing "if" for Tony is what will occur and Pepe gets a forfeit win against Doran
Hackensack tournament tomorrow
Roger
---------------------------
From: John Hagerty Date: Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 11:57 AM
Subject: Re: tony norris bye
To: doran race
David, the idea of 1/2 point byes is not an original concept on my part; it is very simply a device that obviously allows for a greater number of participants in an event. I would rather suffer a number of 1/2 point byes and have a nice turnout rather than have a limited group to play. In fact, some players will not play if they are forced to take a 1/2 point bye even though you, Roger, myself and many others who have even a modicum of math and especially statistical probability theory knowledge and understanding realize that theyare being either foolish or ignorant of the "odds" inherent in the Elo rating system.
[Editor, break] In any event, for us to pursue Grand Prix status, we have to guarantee $300.00 to the first three places. Furthermore, we do not want to revert back to the days of postponed games and/or adjournments; that wreaked some havoc on our scheduling for the club calendar. We also have some club members who travel on their jobs (sometimes with very little notice) and if we did not offer the 1/2 point bye option, they might never play in any of our Swiss events.
[Editor, break] try to be pragmatic about these things and above all else I do not want to impose Spartan or Draconian measures which could very well "throw the baby out with the bath water", if you get my drift. We will, of course, have to draft a kind of "riot act" type of document that should be handed out to every tournament participant and/or official club member--yes, this will be yet another work in progress for the betterment of the club.
John
From: Nathan Resika
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 11:53 AM
To: John
Cc: David
Subject: RE: New Post: 'Problems And Answers: How to Cook a Chess Club'
at the marshall and in most tournaments. in 6 round events, byes MUST be committed to taken BEFORE round 4 not AFTER( which yur rules allow). I think perhaps this should be your future change in policy..: imagine this.. some one with 4 out of 4 could take 2 byes AFTER acheiving this score and win the event!. whereas is he commited to the last round byes BEFORE round 4 he couldnt be sure of his result:-) all best Nathan
Nathan Resika
www.resika.com [click red at L, to go to Nathan's impressive blog]
Video of FIDE Master Nathan Resika singing! Begs the question, 'what can this man NOT do?'
From: David Korn
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 12:28 PM
To: 'Nathan Resika'; John
Subject: RE: New Post: 'Problems And Answers: How to Cook a Chess Club'
Dear Nathan, It is wonderful that you continue to take an interest in our club. We hope to see more of you.
Thank you for your comment. I took the liberty of posting your note to the blog sec ago. Please let us know if this is not OK. Ideally, everyone’s voice gets heard.
Posting emails to the blog is unusual and not the norm, but this is part of surfacing out the growing pains of a club reaching beyond local-regional to regional.
Somehow the process sorts out, and we grow. I know John will reinforce or clarify if not to himself then the entire club the current position or, if alternately it is to change, put his wisdom there, but, believe me, I can speak for the WOCC and John, whatever it is, we will come out better after.
This all extends out of the decision to experiment, innovate, correct, improve that John put into motion last March, both B. from the resuscitated blog, and A. and the great results at the World Team Amateur in February the month before also.
To me the whole issue is not about byes or forfeits or pairings, but about stability. We can be more stable by refusing to change, or we can allow change, but this causes disturbance. It seems to me right now, to put it into organizational development or social psychology terms, we are in the winds of evolution, and as we do, surprises will keep happening. We cannot do both—stay the same or not allow instability.
Best, dk
PS, Gosh, thank you for the wonderful singing at the start of round four the week before last. If you ever wish to do it again, somehow we will all resist complaining. Smiles :-)
[
From: Nathan Resika Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 1:09 AM
To: David Korn, John Hagerty
Subject: RE: New Post: 'Problems And Answers: How to Cook a Chess Club'
Hi David, Might I add that without the byes I wouldnt have been able to play... with byes( which are a great way for busy people to take part).. players will have to get used to not knowing who they will play in the first fewrounds.. beacuse someone could enter( like I did) with 2 byes. But its ok! People will have to think at the board without preparation for some rounds. This can be a good thing, occasionally:-) best Nathan
http://www.resika.com/ click red at L for link
From: David Korn Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 9:34 AM
To: 'Nathan Resika'
Cc: John Hagerty
Subject: RE: New Post: 'Problems And Answers: How to Cook a Chess Club'
Dear Nathan, You make a very, very good point. Maybe this is what everyone has been saying all along, but you seem to make it more clear. It’s like the Euro: ‘we will all tie ourselves to a currency we can all use, resulting in convenience, but this will lower the value of our more wealthy nations, and raise the less prosperous--the cost of seeking more openness by becoming more interdependent’ (my words). But then latter some nations fall (Greece, Spain, UK), and the piper must be paid (chess byes for Euro’s and default for changing one’s mind on previous commitments to play AND it being allowed).
On that note, maybe I can clarify as well what I see. But before I do, it is most important on the subject that I make it very clear that I am not at all against byes or byes here. What I am in favor of is surfacing the conflict. A conflict does not have to be serious. A conflict can be the need to not drink a second Coke after a two hour workout.
There is a saying in process psychology that ‘the source of resolving a disturbance resides in the conflict itself’:
Perhaps it is not that byes are to be to be continued to be used, but that a tighter rein on HOW those byes are allowed and taken. Again, much as I like Anthony—and I really do, I watched him continually say that he was pretty sure he could not continue in the tournament, then that he would. And let me hasten to repeat that it was me, from before the start of the tournament who kept encouraging him to enter the tournament, even if he needed to take byes in rounds five and six. So there ought not to have been a surprise. But from a group as distinct from an individual perspective, it begs the question as to how far it can go that one participant can unhinge a process or be allowed to do so. This becomes a group problem.
So it’s really about ‘if you are to take a bye’, ‘here are the conditions’, and ‘here are the limits’. It’s not taking a bye or not, but clarifying and objectifying formally. We had several persons saying they would participate, then did not. Someone officially leave the tournament, then come back, someone saying they would take a bye, then did not.
Please forgive me if I misunderstand, sincerely, but my stance is to taking a stance, not to the kind of stance!
Best, dk
[1] Some have gotten round to calling the editor (really a Communications Coordinator, as far as it goes) John's Assistant, certainly which cannot be called an insult. He told John the other day: 'John, I am not your assistant, but assist you--since I have no official capacity.
Be that as it may, as Victor or others resolve what a Secretary does for our club in the digital era, where emails, the internet, videos might count for more than board meeting minutes (those of course matters a lot, too), his role is that of 'activist' as Harry puts that.
That said, to be clear, he doesn't take a position on things like byes or standards or formats, but simply helps tie people, their communications, and events together as the club leadership wants them. To the extent that his name keeps showing up, its is only because someone needs to recieve and distribute those communications with an eye to the whole, to transparency, and hopefully fairness. dk
[2] To be clear, not that an individual opinion matters her, but the editor very sincerely likes Anthony and Nick, and certainly respects Man-Chit's chess to name a few, wishing only to highlite the aparent trend of the club there, not to focus upon any one of any number of pereginations by person or situation.
Click image to enlarge
FIDE ranking used to come out four times per year, and now a bit more often. But Hans Arlild Runde conceived a way to rank the super grandmasters, 2700 FIDE ELO and above in real time. For example, Carlsen won the recent Tal Memorial in Moscow and so topped 2830, Kramnik London yesterday and so topped 2800, which appears on the chart often to the hour. A real clever improvement. That we can tell, he recently sold it to be operated by others but nevertheless, still completely his brainchild. Link to 2700chess.com here. Click red at L.
Hey John. I know you told me that Tony Norris is taking a half point bye in round five. Just so everyone affected by this pairing change (which would be myself, Senyatkin, Martinez, Katz, and I suppose Norris as well) is all on the same page, can you have Roger Pedersen send the updated, revised pairings to David Korn to be placed on the website? If all of the affected players are not aware of a pairing change there could be problems.
[Editor, paragraph break] First of all Senyatkin is now supposed to be playing me, and Martinez is now supposed to be playing Katz. Senyatkin and Martinez could be upset, thinking that they are supposed to be playing each other, which they were originally. Katz, who had a full point bye originally, may not be aware of a change and might not be expecting to play, or he might not even show up, although in his case he comes just about every week.
[Editor, break] I would hate for there to be a scenario where anybody is upset at pairing changes that they will not find out about until game time or for Martinez to not have a game, get an unearned free point, and not have a game to play because Katz doesn't show up. I just think it would be best to make it clear to avoid any confusion. Please send me a reply, and as always thank you again John, and I will see you on Tuesday night.
Bryan Cohen
---------------------------
From: John Hagerty To: david korn [1]
ject: Fwd: tony norris bye
[Dear] Bryan,
It should be clear from the posted information as to the possibilities as to what happens if Norris takes a bye. The people in question should check with Roger or me as what Tony`s situation is and therefore know as to whom they are playing. If they cannot figure this out, then maybe they should not be playing Chess at all. What I can do is this: I will e-mail David and ask him to double check with Roger and then repost the pairings reflecting the Norris 1/2 point bye effect on rd. 5.
John
---------------------------
From: David Korn
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2011 4:54 PM
To: [Roger] CT
Cc: John Hagerty
Subject: RE: tony norris bye
[Dear] Roger, back from HARD 1:15 run in the woods [...] ten minutes ago [...].
A surprising email from John, and asks me if you can pls let me know if there is an update. The patience of everyone is being tried, certainly not from you or John or me. You know, I have been competing at the club since the WOCCC in March, and this NEVER happened. Either we are attracting a portion of new breed of the wrong people [2], or we are just getting too free or lenient, but somehow there must be a way to control this.
In systems theory, when an entirely new sea change comes in, there must be an exogenous reason for it, no? We are not much different than we were a year ago, or are we? In any event, if you have new pairings, then I will post them.
On the fly, it just hits me if there are NO byes, while we might see a reduction in participation, maybe THAT set of participants will have more commitment?
Leave it to you and John.
Best, dk
---------------------------
From: David Korn
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2011 4:56 PM
To: [Brian]
Subject: FW: tony norris bye
Brian, not sure what it is all about. You sound reasonable to me. Your friend, dk
---------------------------
From: doran race
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2011 7:28 PM
To: david korn; roger pedersen
Cc: John Hagerty
Subject: RE: tony norris bye
I thought I saw somewhere that Norris is taking a half point bye for rounds 5 and 6
[Doran]
---------------------------
From: CT [Roger]Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2011 10:07 PM
To: [dk]Subject: Re: tony norris bye
Tony and Doran have requested round 5 byes SO the pairing "if" for Tony is what will occur and Pepe gets a forfeit win against Doran
Hackensack tournament tomorrow
Roger
---------------------------
From: John Hagerty Date: Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 11:57 AM
Subject: Re: tony norris bye
To: doran race
David, the idea of 1/2 point byes is not an original concept on my part; it is very simply a device that obviously allows for a greater number of participants in an event. I would rather suffer a number of 1/2 point byes and have a nice turnout rather than have a limited group to play. In fact, some players will not play if they are forced to take a 1/2 point bye even though you, Roger, myself and many others who have even a modicum of math and especially statistical probability theory knowledge and understanding realize that theyare being either foolish or ignorant of the "odds" inherent in the Elo rating system.
[Editor, break] In any event, for us to pursue Grand Prix status, we have to guarantee $300.00 to the first three places. Furthermore, we do not want to revert back to the days of postponed games and/or adjournments; that wreaked some havoc on our scheduling for the club calendar. We also have some club members who travel on their jobs (sometimes with very little notice) and if we did not offer the 1/2 point bye option, they might never play in any of our Swiss events.
[Editor, break] try to be pragmatic about these things and above all else I do not want to impose Spartan or Draconian measures which could very well "throw the baby out with the bath water", if you get my drift. We will, of course, have to draft a kind of "riot act" type of document that should be handed out to every tournament participant and/or official club member--yes, this will be yet another work in progress for the betterment of the club.
John
From: Nathan Resika
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 11:53 AM
To: John
Cc: David
Subject: RE: New Post: 'Problems And Answers: How to Cook a Chess Club'
at the marshall and in most tournaments. in 6 round events, byes MUST be committed to taken BEFORE round 4 not AFTER( which yur rules allow). I think perhaps this should be your future change in policy..: imagine this.. some one with 4 out of 4 could take 2 byes AFTER acheiving this score and win the event!. whereas is he commited to the last round byes BEFORE round 4 he couldnt be sure of his result:-) all best Nathan
Nathan Resika
www.resika.com [click red at L, to go to Nathan's impressive blog]
Video of FIDE Master Nathan Resika singing! Begs the question, 'what can this man NOT do?'
From: David Korn
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 12:28 PM
To: 'Nathan Resika'; John
Subject: RE: New Post: 'Problems And Answers: How to Cook a Chess Club'
Dear Nathan, It is wonderful that you continue to take an interest in our club. We hope to see more of you.
Thank you for your comment. I took the liberty of posting your note to the blog sec ago. Please let us know if this is not OK. Ideally, everyone’s voice gets heard.
Posting emails to the blog is unusual and not the norm, but this is part of surfacing out the growing pains of a club reaching beyond local-regional to regional.
Somehow the process sorts out, and we grow. I know John will reinforce or clarify if not to himself then the entire club the current position or, if alternately it is to change, put his wisdom there, but, believe me, I can speak for the WOCC and John, whatever it is, we will come out better after.
This all extends out of the decision to experiment, innovate, correct, improve that John put into motion last March, both B. from the resuscitated blog, and A. and the great results at the World Team Amateur in February the month before also.
To me the whole issue is not about byes or forfeits or pairings, but about stability. We can be more stable by refusing to change, or we can allow change, but this causes disturbance. It seems to me right now, to put it into organizational development or social psychology terms, we are in the winds of evolution, and as we do, surprises will keep happening. We cannot do both—stay the same or not allow instability.
Best, dk
PS, Gosh, thank you for the wonderful singing at the start of round four the week before last. If you ever wish to do it again, somehow we will all resist complaining. Smiles :-)
[
From: Nathan Resika Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 1:09 AM
To: David Korn, John Hagerty
Subject: RE: New Post: 'Problems And Answers: How to Cook a Chess Club'
Hi David, Might I add that without the byes I wouldnt have been able to play... with byes( which are a great way for busy people to take part).. players will have to get used to not knowing who they will play in the first fewrounds.. beacuse someone could enter( like I did) with 2 byes. But its ok! People will have to think at the board without preparation for some rounds. This can be a good thing, occasionally:-) best Nathan
http://www.resika.com/ click red at L for link
From: David Korn Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 9:34 AM
To: 'Nathan Resika'
Cc: John Hagerty
Subject: RE: New Post: 'Problems And Answers: How to Cook a Chess Club'
Dear Nathan, You make a very, very good point. Maybe this is what everyone has been saying all along, but you seem to make it more clear. It’s like the Euro: ‘we will all tie ourselves to a currency we can all use, resulting in convenience, but this will lower the value of our more wealthy nations, and raise the less prosperous--the cost of seeking more openness by becoming more interdependent’ (my words). But then latter some nations fall (Greece, Spain, UK), and the piper must be paid (chess byes for Euro’s and default for changing one’s mind on previous commitments to play AND it being allowed).
On that note, maybe I can clarify as well what I see. But before I do, it is most important on the subject that I make it very clear that I am not at all against byes or byes here. What I am in favor of is surfacing the conflict. A conflict does not have to be serious. A conflict can be the need to not drink a second Coke after a two hour workout.
There is a saying in process psychology that ‘the source of resolving a disturbance resides in the conflict itself’:
Perhaps it is not that byes are to be to be continued to be used, but that a tighter rein on HOW those byes are allowed and taken. Again, much as I like Anthony—and I really do, I watched him continually say that he was pretty sure he could not continue in the tournament, then that he would. And let me hasten to repeat that it was me, from before the start of the tournament who kept encouraging him to enter the tournament, even if he needed to take byes in rounds five and six. So there ought not to have been a surprise. But from a group as distinct from an individual perspective, it begs the question as to how far it can go that one participant can unhinge a process or be allowed to do so. This becomes a group problem.
So it’s really about ‘if you are to take a bye’, ‘here are the conditions’, and ‘here are the limits’. It’s not taking a bye or not, but clarifying and objectifying formally. We had several persons saying they would participate, then did not. Someone officially leave the tournament, then come back, someone saying they would take a bye, then did not.
Please forgive me if I misunderstand, sincerely, but my stance is to taking a stance, not to the kind of stance!
Best, dk
[1] Some have gotten round to calling the editor (really a Communications Coordinator, as far as it goes) John's Assistant, certainly which cannot be called an insult. He told John the other day: 'John, I am not your assistant, but assist you--since I have no official capacity.
Be that as it may, as Victor or others resolve what a Secretary does for our club in the digital era, where emails, the internet, videos might count for more than board meeting minutes (those of course matters a lot, too), his role is that of 'activist' as Harry puts that.
That said, to be clear, he doesn't take a position on things like byes or standards or formats, but simply helps tie people, their communications, and events together as the club leadership wants them. To the extent that his name keeps showing up, its is only because someone needs to recieve and distribute those communications with an eye to the whole, to transparency, and hopefully fairness. dk
[2] To be clear, not that an individual opinion matters her, but the editor very sincerely likes Anthony and Nick, and certainly respects Man-Chit's chess to name a few, wishing only to highlite the aparent trend of the club there, not to focus upon any one of any number of pereginations by person or situation.
Click image to enlarge
FIDE ranking used to come out four times per year, and now a bit more often. But Hans Arlild Runde conceived a way to rank the super grandmasters, 2700 FIDE ELO and above in real time. For example, Carlsen won the recent Tal Memorial in Moscow and so topped 2830, Kramnik London yesterday and so topped 2800, which appears on the chart often to the hour. A real clever improvement. That we can tell, he recently sold it to be operated by others but nevertheless, still completely his brainchild. Link to 2700chess.com here. Click red at L.
Saturday, December 03, 2011
Announcement: West Orange Chess Club, 2012 Annual Club Championship
The WOCC and its Executive Board are pleased to announce the scheduling of our Annual West Orange Chess Club 2012 championship [1].
Like in previous years, this competition is planned as a seven round swiss. And like our Fall Swiss currently underway, also qualifies for Grand Prix status. So as to provide continuity, it takes place for six of seven Tuesdays, interupted only by the Garden State Chess League for the following Tuesday at the end of round three.
We invite all chess players to attend--local or far, new or experienced, in or out of state residents. We hope you all can attend or participate. The formal TLA currently being prepared for the February issue of the U.S. Chess Federation's Chess Life Magazine is as follows (click red for links):
Mar. 13, Mar. 20, Mar. 27, Apr. 10, Apr. 17, Apr. 24, May 8
West Orange CC 2012 Championship
7 rds., G/100 (5 sec. delay), Reg. 7-7:30 P.M., rds. start at 8:00. EF: $30.00, members $25.00.
Prizes: 1st $150, 2nd $100, 3rd $75, Best under 1900 $60, 1700 $50, 1500 $40. All prizes guaranteed.
Details: westorangechessclub.blogspot.com and buickchess@gmail.com or phone: 9seven3-7three6-3four33. Byes: Three 1/2 byes available in any rd; must know by the end of rd.4. Address: Toby Katz Community Center, 650 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, N.J. 07052. Advance entrees welcome.
Thank you, John M. Hagerty President and USCF TD
The usual parenthetic video, tonight: Watch Victor Korchnoi, bursting and bristling with energy. Rocking, shaking, almost jumping out of his chair, he embodies youthful excitment. He is only 84 years old, when well into his seventies, sustained a 2600 rating, still in the world top 100 at that time. Notice how gets going, starting at around the 7:00 mark, he is like a boy at Chrismas, lining up his presents. But it is not toys which he wants, but to beat Smyslov, getting the line which he had wanted. Also note 5:40, 9:15, and 10:30 marks:
[1.] Editor: Please all thank John for his many, many years of service, which we all very much hope will continue, both helping us and encouraging everyone by both being open and allowing change to occur. We won't always get it right, but by continually moving in new directions or expanding beyond what had been fixed and maybe unchanged, we keep realizing new possibilities as a club, and so discover and welcome more of the new. These might be repetitions from things already said, 'just words', but look at where we have gone in eight short months. Extrapolating out another eight months, and one can wonder what is else can occur, what new faces we will see--more solid, more fresh, more inclusive.
Like in previous years, this competition is planned as a seven round swiss. And like our Fall Swiss currently underway, also qualifies for Grand Prix status. So as to provide continuity, it takes place for six of seven Tuesdays, interupted only by the Garden State Chess League for the following Tuesday at the end of round three.
We invite all chess players to attend--local or far, new or experienced, in or out of state residents. We hope you all can attend or participate. The formal TLA currently being prepared for the February issue of the U.S. Chess Federation's Chess Life Magazine is as follows (click red for links):
Mar. 13, Mar. 20, Mar. 27, Apr. 10, Apr. 17, Apr. 24, May 8
West Orange CC 2012 Championship
7 rds., G/100 (5 sec. delay), Reg. 7-7:30 P.M., rds. start at 8:00. EF: $30.00, members $25.00.
Prizes: 1st $150, 2nd $100, 3rd $75, Best under 1900 $60, 1700 $50, 1500 $40. All prizes guaranteed.
Details: westorangechessclub.blogspot.com and buickchess@gmail.com or phone: 9seven3-7three6-3four33. Byes: Three 1/2 byes available in any rd; must know by the end of rd.4. Address: Toby Katz Community Center, 650 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, N.J. 07052. Advance entrees welcome.
Thank you, John M. Hagerty President and USCF TD
The usual parenthetic video, tonight: Watch Victor Korchnoi, bursting and bristling with energy. Rocking, shaking, almost jumping out of his chair, he embodies youthful excitment. He is only 84 years old, when well into his seventies, sustained a 2600 rating, still in the world top 100 at that time. Notice how gets going, starting at around the 7:00 mark, he is like a boy at Chrismas, lining up his presents. But it is not toys which he wants, but to beat Smyslov, getting the line which he had wanted. Also note 5:40, 9:15, and 10:30 marks:
[1.] Editor: Please all thank John for his many, many years of service, which we all very much hope will continue, both helping us and encouraging everyone by both being open and allowing change to occur. We won't always get it right, but by continually moving in new directions or expanding beyond what had been fixed and maybe unchanged, we keep realizing new possibilities as a club, and so discover and welcome more of the new. These might be repetitions from things already said, 'just words', but look at where we have gone in eight short months. Extrapolating out another eight months, and one can wonder what is else can occur, what new faces we will see--more solid, more fresh, more inclusive.
Garden State Chess Leauge: Information, Results and Links
This next Tuesday is Round Three of The Garden State Chess League.
Click here for board results. Cross tables for match results shown here. Schedule is shown here. Rosters are shown here. Standings are shown here.
Our WOCC Team plays The Kenilworth Karpov's, at our club in West Orange this comming Tuesday.
Click here for board results. Cross tables for match results shown here. Schedule is shown here. Rosters are shown here. Standings are shown here.
Our WOCC Team plays The Kenilworth Karpov's, at our club in West Orange this comming Tuesday.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Club Update: Late Fall Swiss, Round Four Results and Round Five Pairings
Rd Bd Scr White Scr Black
05 1. ___ Resika, Nathan (3.0) ___ Kernighan, Mark D (4.0)
05 2. ___ Mangion, Ian (2.5) ___ Zilbermintz, Lev (3.0)--Ian's 2.5 consists of bye.nsists of bye.
05 3. ___ Pedersen, Roger E (3.0) ___ Boxer, Matthew (2.5)
05 4. ___ Arias , Fermin (2.5) ___ Hart, Charles M (2.5)--Charlie's 2.5 consists of byes.
05 5. ___ Race, Doran (2.0) ___ Pepe, Michael A (2.0)
05 6. ___ Cohen, Bryan Paul (2.0) ___ Norris, Anthony (2.0)
05 7. ___ Senyatkin, Aleksey (2.0) ___ Martinez, Alberto (2.0)
05 8. ___ Nayak, Mohan Rao (2.0) ___ Korn, David Allan (1.5)
05 9. ___ Fortunato, Joseph (1.5) ___ Garrett, Damon T (1.5)
Katz 1 point bye
If Norris takes a 1/2 point bye:
05 6. ___ Cohen, Bryan Paul (2.0) ___ Senyatkin, Aleksey (2.0)
05 7. ___ Katz, Harry (1.0) ___ Martinez, Alberto (2.0)
Race has a 1/2 bye in round 6
Our good friend Anthony Norris has very kindly submitted the following video. His is not linking to content alone, but providing his own video. Thank you Anthony.
West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss -- West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss 2011 Wall Chart
Name/State ID Group/Team Rate Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3 Rnd 4 Rnd 5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Kernighan, Mark D 2260 W 11 --- B 5 W 4 B 2
NJ 12147190 1.0 X2.0 3.0 4.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Resika, Nathan 2201 HALF HALF B 21 B 15 W 1
NY 12444347 0.5 1.0 2.0 3.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Zilbermintz, Lev 2083 HALF W 19 B 6 W 5 B 4
NJ 12476202 0.5 1.5 2.0 3.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Mangion, Ian 2016 B 12 W 23 HALF B 1 W 3
NJ 13497907 1.0 2.0 2.5 2.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Race, Doran 1959 W 14 B 20 W 1 B 3 W 12
NY 12183660 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Pedersen, Roger E 1940 B 15 --- W 3 B 12 W 7
NJ 10092990 0.5 X1.5 2.0 3.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Boxer, Matthew 1921 W 16 B 28 W 15 W 23 B 6
NJ 12510577 0.5 1.5 1.5 2.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Hart, Charles M 1919 B 17 --- HALF W 28 B 15
NJ 10004071 1.0 F1.0 1.5 2.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Cohen, Bryan Paul 1900 W 20 B 14 W 16 B 11 W 10
NJ 20020149 0.0 0.5 1.5 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Norris, Anthony 1897 B 23 W 12 --- B 14 B 9
NJ 12758884 0.0 0.0 X1.0 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Martinez, Alberto 1890 B 1 W 17 B 23 W 9 B 28
NJ 12490535 0.0 1.0 1.5 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. Pepe, Michael A 1837 W 4 B 10 --- W 6 B 5
NJ 12565700 0.0 1.0 X2.0 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. Garrett, Damon T 1824 B 5 W 9 B 17 W 10 B 23
NJ 12545276 0.0 0.5 1.5 1.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Arias , Fermin 1739 W 6 B 16 B 7 W 2 W 8
NJ 12670179 0.5 1.5 2.5 2.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. Katz, Harry S 1718 B 7 W 15 B 9 B 20 ---
NJ 12052860 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.0 1.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. Nayak, Mohan Rao 1696 W 8 B 11 W 14 BYE W 20
NJ 12237580 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. Kwok, Man-Chit 1607 HALF B 3 --- ZERO ---
NJ 14201547 0.5 0.5 F0.5 0.5 0.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. Korn, David Allan 1604 B 9 W 5 B 28 W 16 B 17
NJ 14564164 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21. Hagerty, John Mich 1574 HALF HALF W 2 ZERO ZERO
NJ 10043816 0.5 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23. Fortunato, Joseph 1553 W 10 B 4 W 11 B 7 W 14
NJ 12932570 1.0 1.0 1.5 1.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
28. Senyatkin, Aleksey unrated BYE W 7 W 20 B 8 W 11
NJ 14717317 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another video of Anothony's. Love this guy's spirit. Double click screenk to enlarge:
How Sweet?
Effort! Passion!
Who Can Not Like This Guy?
05 1. ___ Resika, Nathan (3.0) ___ Kernighan, Mark D (4.0)
05 2. ___ Mangion, Ian (2.5) ___ Zilbermintz, Lev (3.0)--Ian's 2.5 consists of bye.nsists of bye.
05 3. ___ Pedersen, Roger E (3.0) ___ Boxer, Matthew (2.5)
05 4. ___ Arias , Fermin (2.5) ___ Hart, Charles M (2.5)--Charlie's 2.5 consists of byes.
05 5. ___ Race, Doran (2.0) ___ Pepe, Michael A (2.0)
05 6. ___ Cohen, Bryan Paul (2.0) ___ Norris, Anthony (2.0)
05 7. ___ Senyatkin, Aleksey (2.0) ___ Martinez, Alberto (2.0)
05 8. ___ Nayak, Mohan Rao (2.0) ___ Korn, David Allan (1.5)
05 9. ___ Fortunato, Joseph (1.5) ___ Garrett, Damon T (1.5)
Katz 1 point bye
If Norris takes a 1/2 point bye:
05 6. ___ Cohen, Bryan Paul (2.0) ___ Senyatkin, Aleksey (2.0)
05 7. ___ Katz, Harry (1.0) ___ Martinez, Alberto (2.0)
Race has a 1/2 bye in round 6
Our good friend Anthony Norris has very kindly submitted the following video. His is not linking to content alone, but providing his own video. Thank you Anthony.
West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss -- West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss 2011 Wall Chart
Name/State ID Group/Team Rate Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3 Rnd 4 Rnd 5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Kernighan, Mark D 2260 W 11 --- B 5 W 4 B 2
NJ 12147190 1.0 X2.0 3.0 4.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Resika, Nathan 2201 HALF HALF B 21 B 15 W 1
NY 12444347 0.5 1.0 2.0 3.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Zilbermintz, Lev 2083 HALF W 19 B 6 W 5 B 4
NJ 12476202 0.5 1.5 2.0 3.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Mangion, Ian 2016 B 12 W 23 HALF B 1 W 3
NJ 13497907 1.0 2.0 2.5 2.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Race, Doran 1959 W 14 B 20 W 1 B 3 W 12
NY 12183660 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Pedersen, Roger E 1940 B 15 --- W 3 B 12 W 7
NJ 10092990 0.5 X1.5 2.0 3.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Boxer, Matthew 1921 W 16 B 28 W 15 W 23 B 6
NJ 12510577 0.5 1.5 1.5 2.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Hart, Charles M 1919 B 17 --- HALF W 28 B 15
NJ 10004071 1.0 F1.0 1.5 2.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Cohen, Bryan Paul 1900 W 20 B 14 W 16 B 11 W 10
NJ 20020149 0.0 0.5 1.5 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Norris, Anthony 1897 B 23 W 12 --- B 14 B 9
NJ 12758884 0.0 0.0 X1.0 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Martinez, Alberto 1890 B 1 W 17 B 23 W 9 B 28
NJ 12490535 0.0 1.0 1.5 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. Pepe, Michael A 1837 W 4 B 10 --- W 6 B 5
NJ 12565700 0.0 1.0 X2.0 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. Garrett, Damon T 1824 B 5 W 9 B 17 W 10 B 23
NJ 12545276 0.0 0.5 1.5 1.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Arias , Fermin 1739 W 6 B 16 B 7 W 2 W 8
NJ 12670179 0.5 1.5 2.5 2.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. Katz, Harry S 1718 B 7 W 15 B 9 B 20 ---
NJ 12052860 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.0 1.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. Nayak, Mohan Rao 1696 W 8 B 11 W 14 BYE W 20
NJ 12237580 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. Kwok, Man-Chit 1607 HALF B 3 --- ZERO ---
NJ 14201547 0.5 0.5 F0.5 0.5 0.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. Korn, David Allan 1604 B 9 W 5 B 28 W 16 B 17
NJ 14564164 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21. Hagerty, John Mich 1574 HALF HALF W 2 ZERO ZERO
NJ 10043816 0.5 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23. Fortunato, Joseph 1553 W 10 B 4 W 11 B 7 W 14
NJ 12932570 1.0 1.0 1.5 1.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
28. Senyatkin, Aleksey unrated BYE W 7 W 20 B 8 W 11
NJ 14717317 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another video of Anothony's. Love this guy's spirit. Double click screenk to enlarge:
How Sweet?
Effort! Passion!
Who Can Not Like This Guy?
Thursday, November 24, 2011
REVISON: Club Update: Late Fall Swiss, Round Three Results and Round Four Pairings
Editor recieved the revised tables and results belew at 11:33 am, published 11:38 am. Revised 6:53 pm.
The WOCC is especially pleased to see new faces Mark Kernighan and Ian Mangion both from the esteemed Kenilworth Chess Club, Aleksey Senyatkin of East Orange, and now last night, Nathan Resika of NY.
We are blessed to have such strong players participating in a tournament with an already high average rating, further elevating the event. This does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Thank you.
As many of you already know but bears repeating, Mark is a Life Master, 25th out of 1,914 active players in the State of New Jersey. He is exactly in the top 1.01% in the Nation. Thank you Mark.
Ian also has significant chess accomplishments, 103rd in the state, and 4.2% nationally. Thank you Ian.
Aleksey came in as an unrated but needless to say is making a mark, recent 1648 from his five provisional games at the recent 4th SY Fish Memorial also from the Kenilworth Chess Club. Thank you Aleksey.
Last but not least, guess who drove from New York, NY last night? Can you imagine? Nathan is also a Life Master, 82nd out of 4,593 in the State of NY, hardly a laughing matter! If Moscow existed in the United States, it would be NY. Thank you Nathan. He ranks in the top 1.2% nationally.
Thank you to TD Roger Pedersen for his suggestion as to bumping the WOCC Late Fall Swiss into Grand Prix status, and thank you to long time club president John Hagerty for his leadership in guiding us overall to continued improvement collectively, and evolving as a club overall. Thank you John and Roger. Good luck to all in round four, all hard fought.
04 1. xxx Kernighan, Mark D (3.0) xxx Mangion, Ian (2.5)
04 2. xxx Arias, Fermin (2.5) xxx Resika, Nathan (2.0)
04 3. xxx Zilbermintz, Lev (2.0) xxx Race, Doran (2.0)
04 4. xxx Pepe, Michael A (2.0) xxx Pedersen, Roger E (2.0)
04 5. xxx Hart, Charles M (1.5) xxx Senyatkin, Aleksey (2.0)
04 6. xxx Boxer, Matthew (1.5) xxx Fortunato, Joseph (1.5)
04 7. xxx Martinez, Alberto (1.5) xxx Cohen, Bryan Paul (1.5)
04 8. xxx Garrett, Damon T (1.5) xxx Norris, Anthony (1.0)
04 9. xxx Korn, David Allan (1.0) xxx Katz, Harry S (0.5)
04 1.0 Nayak, Mohan Rao (1.0) BYE [revised back to 1.0, from 0.5, Wed 30 Nov, 2011, per instruction Roger P.]
West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss -- West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss 2011Cross Table, Page 1
No. Gr Name(Team) St Rate 1 2 3 Score
1. Kernighan, Mark D (1)......... NJ 2260 W11 FW8 W5 3.0
2. Resika, Nathan (2)............ NY 2201 -H- -H- W21 2.0
3. Zilbermintz, Lev (3).......... NJ 2083 -H- W19 D6 2.0
4. Mangion, Ian (4).............. NJ 2016 W12 W23 -H- 2.5
5. Race, Doran (5)............... NY 1959 W14 W20 L1 2.0
6. Pedersen, Roger E (6)......... NJ 1940 D15 FW27 D3 2.0
7. Boxer, Matthew (7)............ NJ 1921 D16 W28 L15 1.5
8. Hart, Charles M (8)........... NJ 1919 W17 FL1 -H- 1.5
9. Cohen, Bryan Paul (9)......... NJ 1900 L20 D14 W16 1.5
10. Norris, Anthony (10).......... NJ 1897 L23 L12 FW19 1.0
11. Martinez, Alberto (11)........ NJ 1890 L1 W17 D23 1.5
12. Pepe, Michael A (12).......... NJ 1837 L4 W10 FW25 2.0
14. Garrett, Damon T (14)......... NJ 1824 L5 D9 W17 1.5
15. Arias , Fermin (15)........... NJ 1739 D6 W16 W7 2.5
16. Katz, Harry S (16)............ NJ 1718 D7 L15 L9 0.5
17. Nayak, Mohan Rao (17)......... NJ 1696 L8 L11 L14 0.5
19. Kwok, Man-Chit (19)........... NJ 1607 -H- L3 FL10 0.5
20. Korn, David Allan (20)........ NJ 1604 W9 L5 L28 1.0
21. Hagerty, John Mich (21)....... NJ 1574 -H- -H- L2 1.0
23. Fortunato, Joseph (23)........ NJ 1553 W10 L4 D11 1.5
25. Nikitopoulos, Nich (25)....... NJ 1325 -H- -H- FL12 1.0
27. Rue, John D. (27)............. NJ 1200 -H- FL6 -N- 0.5
28. Senyatkin, Aleksey (28)....... NJ nnnn -B- L7 W20 2.0
The WOCC is especially pleased to see new faces Mark Kernighan and Ian Mangion both from the esteemed Kenilworth Chess Club, Aleksey Senyatkin of East Orange, and now last night, Nathan Resika of NY.
We are blessed to have such strong players participating in a tournament with an already high average rating, further elevating the event. This does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Thank you.
As many of you already know but bears repeating, Mark is a Life Master, 25th out of 1,914 active players in the State of New Jersey. He is exactly in the top 1.01% in the Nation. Thank you Mark.
Ian also has significant chess accomplishments, 103rd in the state, and 4.2% nationally. Thank you Ian.
Aleksey came in as an unrated but needless to say is making a mark, recent 1648 from his five provisional games at the recent 4th SY Fish Memorial also from the Kenilworth Chess Club. Thank you Aleksey.
Last but not least, guess who drove from New York, NY last night? Can you imagine? Nathan is also a Life Master, 82nd out of 4,593 in the State of NY, hardly a laughing matter! If Moscow existed in the United States, it would be NY. Thank you Nathan. He ranks in the top 1.2% nationally.
Thank you to TD Roger Pedersen for his suggestion as to bumping the WOCC Late Fall Swiss into Grand Prix status, and thank you to long time club president John Hagerty for his leadership in guiding us overall to continued improvement collectively, and evolving as a club overall. Thank you John and Roger. Good luck to all in round four, all hard fought.
04 1. xxx Kernighan, Mark D (3.0) xxx Mangion, Ian (2.5)
04 2. xxx Arias, Fermin (2.5) xxx Resika, Nathan (2.0)
04 3. xxx Zilbermintz, Lev (2.0) xxx Race, Doran (2.0)
04 4. xxx Pepe, Michael A (2.0) xxx Pedersen, Roger E (2.0)
04 5. xxx Hart, Charles M (1.5) xxx Senyatkin, Aleksey (2.0)
04 6. xxx Boxer, Matthew (1.5) xxx Fortunato, Joseph (1.5)
04 7. xxx Martinez, Alberto (1.5) xxx Cohen, Bryan Paul (1.5)
04 8. xxx Garrett, Damon T (1.5) xxx Norris, Anthony (1.0)
04 9. xxx Korn, David Allan (1.0) xxx Katz, Harry S (0.5)
04 1.0 Nayak, Mohan Rao (1.0) BYE [revised back to 1.0, from 0.5, Wed 30 Nov, 2011, per instruction Roger P.]
West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss -- West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss 2011Cross Table, Page 1
No. Gr Name(Team) St Rate 1 2 3 Score
1. Kernighan, Mark D (1)......... NJ 2260 W11 FW8 W5 3.0
2. Resika, Nathan (2)............ NY 2201 -H- -H- W21 2.0
3. Zilbermintz, Lev (3).......... NJ 2083 -H- W19 D6 2.0
4. Mangion, Ian (4).............. NJ 2016 W12 W23 -H- 2.5
5. Race, Doran (5)............... NY 1959 W14 W20 L1 2.0
6. Pedersen, Roger E (6)......... NJ 1940 D15 FW27 D3 2.0
7. Boxer, Matthew (7)............ NJ 1921 D16 W28 L15 1.5
8. Hart, Charles M (8)........... NJ 1919 W17 FL1 -H- 1.5
9. Cohen, Bryan Paul (9)......... NJ 1900 L20 D14 W16 1.5
10. Norris, Anthony (10).......... NJ 1897 L23 L12 FW19 1.0
11. Martinez, Alberto (11)........ NJ 1890 L1 W17 D23 1.5
12. Pepe, Michael A (12).......... NJ 1837 L4 W10 FW25 2.0
14. Garrett, Damon T (14)......... NJ 1824 L5 D9 W17 1.5
15. Arias , Fermin (15)........... NJ 1739 D6 W16 W7 2.5
16. Katz, Harry S (16)............ NJ 1718 D7 L15 L9 0.5
17. Nayak, Mohan Rao (17)......... NJ 1696 L8 L11 L14 0.5
19. Kwok, Man-Chit (19)........... NJ 1607 -H- L3 FL10 0.5
20. Korn, David Allan (20)........ NJ 1604 W9 L5 L28 1.0
21. Hagerty, John Mich (21)....... NJ 1574 -H- -H- L2 1.0
23. Fortunato, Joseph (23)........ NJ 1553 W10 L4 D11 1.5
25. Nikitopoulos, Nich (25)....... NJ 1325 -H- -H- FL12 1.0
27. Rue, John D. (27)............. NJ 1200 -H- FL6 -N- 0.5
28. Senyatkin, Aleksey (28)....... NJ nnnn -B- L7 W20 2.0
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Club Update: Late Fall Swiss, Round Three Results and Round Four Pairings
The WOCC is especially pleased to see new faces Mark Kernighan and Ian Mangion both from the esteemed Kenilworth Chess Club, Aleksey Senyatkin of East Orange, and now last night, Nathan Resika of NY.
We are blessed to have such strong players participating in a tournament with an already high average rating, further elevating the event. This does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Thank you.
As many of you already know but bears repeating, Mark is a Life Master, 25th out of 1,914 active players in the State of New Jersey. He is exactly in the top 1.01% in the Nation. Thank you Mark.
Ian also has significant chess accomplishments, 103rd in the state, and 4.2% nationally. Thank you Ian.
Aleksey came in as an unrated but needless to say is making a mark, recent 1648 from his five provisional games at the recent 4th SY Fish Memorial also from the Kenilworth Chess Club. Thank you Aleksey.
Last but not least, guess who drove from New York, NY last night? Can you imagine? Nathan is also a Life Master, 82nd out of 4,593 in the State of NY, hardly a laughing matter! If Moscow existed in the United States, it would be NY. Thank you Nathan. He ranks in the top 1.2% nationally.
Thank you to TD Roger Pedersen for his suggestion as to bumping the WOCC Late Fall Swiss into Grand Prix status, and thank you to long time club president John Hagerty for his leadership in guiding us overall to continued improvement collectively, and evolving as a club overall. Thank you John and Roger. Good luck to all in round four, all hard fought.
Rd Bd Scr White Scr Black
04 1. xxx Kernighan, Mark D (3.0) xxx Mangion, Ian (2.5)
04 2. xxx Arias , Fermin (2.5) xxx Resika, Nathan (2.0)
04 3. xxx Zilbermintz, Lev (2.0) xxx Race, Doran (2.0)
04 4. xxx Pepe, Michael A (2.0) xxx Pedersen, Roger E (2.0)
04 5. xxx Boxer, Matthew (1.5) xxx Senyatkin, Aleksey (2.0)
04 6. xxx Hart, Charles M (1.5) xxx Fortunato, Joseph (1.5)
04 7. xxx Martinez, Alberto (1.5) xxx Cohen, Bryan Paul (1.5)
04 8. xxx Garrett, Damon T (1.5) xxx Norris, Anthony (1.0)
04 9. xxx Korn, David Allan (1.0) xxx Katz, Harry S (0.5)
04 1.0 Nayak, Mohan Rao (1.0) BYE
West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss -- West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss 2011
Cross Table, Page 1
No. Gr Name(Team) St Rate 1 2 3 Score
1. Kernighan, Mark D (1)......... NJ 2260 W11 FW8 W5 3.0
2. Resika, Nathan (2)............ NY 2201 -H- -H- W21 2.0
3. Zilbermintz, Lev (3).......... NJ 2083 -H- W19 D6 2.0
4. Mangion, Ian (4).............. NJ 2016 W12 W23 -H- 2.5
5. Race, Doran (5)............... NY 1959 W14 W20 L1 2.0
6. Pedersen, Roger E (6)......... NJ 1940 D15 FW27 D3 2.0
7. Boxer, Matthew (7)............ NJ 1921 D16 W28 L15 1.5
8. Hart, Charles M (8)........... NJ 1919 W17 FL1 -H- 1.5
9. Cohen, Bryan Paul (9)......... NJ 1900 L20 D14 W16 1.5
10. Norris, Anthony (10).......... NJ 1897 L23 L12 FW19 1.0
11. Martinez, Alberto (11)........ NJ 1890 L1 W17 D23 1.5
12. Pepe, Michael A (12).......... NJ 1837 L4 W10 FW25 2.0
14. Garrett, Damon T (14)......... NJ 1824 L5 D9 W17 1.5
15. Arias , Fermin (15)........... NJ 1739 D6 W16 W7 2.5
16. Katz, Harry S (16)............ NJ 1718 D7 L15 L9 0.5
17. Nayak, Mohan Rao (17)......... NJ 1696 L8 L11 L14 1.0
19. Kwok, Man-Chit (19)........... NJ 1607 -H- L3 FL10 0.5
20. Korn, David Allan (20)........ NJ 1604 W9 L5 L28 1.0
21. Hagerty, John Mich (21)....... NJ 1574 -H- -H- L2 1.0
23. Fortunato, Joseph (23)........ NJ 1553 W10 L4 D11 1.5
25. Nikitopoulos, Nich (25)....... NJ 1325 -H- -H- FL12 1.0
27. Rue, John D. (27)............. NJ 1200 -H- FL6 -N- 0.5
28. Senyatkin, Aleksey (28)....... NJ nnnn -B- L7 W20 2.0
We are blessed to have such strong players participating in a tournament with an already high average rating, further elevating the event. This does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Thank you.
As many of you already know but bears repeating, Mark is a Life Master, 25th out of 1,914 active players in the State of New Jersey. He is exactly in the top 1.01% in the Nation. Thank you Mark.
Ian also has significant chess accomplishments, 103rd in the state, and 4.2% nationally. Thank you Ian.
Aleksey came in as an unrated but needless to say is making a mark, recent 1648 from his five provisional games at the recent 4th SY Fish Memorial also from the Kenilworth Chess Club. Thank you Aleksey.
Last but not least, guess who drove from New York, NY last night? Can you imagine? Nathan is also a Life Master, 82nd out of 4,593 in the State of NY, hardly a laughing matter! If Moscow existed in the United States, it would be NY. Thank you Nathan. He ranks in the top 1.2% nationally.
Thank you to TD Roger Pedersen for his suggestion as to bumping the WOCC Late Fall Swiss into Grand Prix status, and thank you to long time club president John Hagerty for his leadership in guiding us overall to continued improvement collectively, and evolving as a club overall. Thank you John and Roger. Good luck to all in round four, all hard fought.
Rd Bd Scr White Scr Black
04 1. xxx Kernighan, Mark D (3.0) xxx Mangion, Ian (2.5)
04 2. xxx Arias , Fermin (2.5) xxx Resika, Nathan (2.0)
04 3. xxx Zilbermintz, Lev (2.0) xxx Race, Doran (2.0)
04 4. xxx Pepe, Michael A (2.0) xxx Pedersen, Roger E (2.0)
04 5. xxx Boxer, Matthew (1.5) xxx Senyatkin, Aleksey (2.0)
04 6. xxx Hart, Charles M (1.5) xxx Fortunato, Joseph (1.5)
04 7. xxx Martinez, Alberto (1.5) xxx Cohen, Bryan Paul (1.5)
04 8. xxx Garrett, Damon T (1.5) xxx Norris, Anthony (1.0)
04 9. xxx Korn, David Allan (1.0) xxx Katz, Harry S (0.5)
04 1.0 Nayak, Mohan Rao (1.0) BYE
West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss -- West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss 2011
Cross Table, Page 1
No. Gr Name(Team) St Rate 1 2 3 Score
1. Kernighan, Mark D (1)......... NJ 2260 W11 FW8 W5 3.0
2. Resika, Nathan (2)............ NY 2201 -H- -H- W21 2.0
3. Zilbermintz, Lev (3).......... NJ 2083 -H- W19 D6 2.0
4. Mangion, Ian (4).............. NJ 2016 W12 W23 -H- 2.5
5. Race, Doran (5)............... NY 1959 W14 W20 L1 2.0
6. Pedersen, Roger E (6)......... NJ 1940 D15 FW27 D3 2.0
7. Boxer, Matthew (7)............ NJ 1921 D16 W28 L15 1.5
8. Hart, Charles M (8)........... NJ 1919 W17 FL1 -H- 1.5
9. Cohen, Bryan Paul (9)......... NJ 1900 L20 D14 W16 1.5
10. Norris, Anthony (10).......... NJ 1897 L23 L12 FW19 1.0
11. Martinez, Alberto (11)........ NJ 1890 L1 W17 D23 1.5
12. Pepe, Michael A (12).......... NJ 1837 L4 W10 FW25 2.0
14. Garrett, Damon T (14)......... NJ 1824 L5 D9 W17 1.5
15. Arias , Fermin (15)........... NJ 1739 D6 W16 W7 2.5
16. Katz, Harry S (16)............ NJ 1718 D7 L15 L9 0.5
17. Nayak, Mohan Rao (17)......... NJ 1696 L8 L11 L14 1.0
19. Kwok, Man-Chit (19)........... NJ 1607 -H- L3 FL10 0.5
20. Korn, David Allan (20)........ NJ 1604 W9 L5 L28 1.0
21. Hagerty, John Mich (21)....... NJ 1574 -H- -H- L2 1.0
23. Fortunato, Joseph (23)........ NJ 1553 W10 L4 D11 1.5
25. Nikitopoulos, Nich (25)....... NJ 1325 -H- -H- FL12 1.0
27. Rue, John D. (27)............. NJ 1200 -H- FL6 -N- 0.5
28. Senyatkin, Aleksey (28)....... NJ nnnn -B- L7 W20 2.0
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
New round 3 pairings placing Nick as 1 point (2 1/2 point byes)
... Video is from a few years back, but still not without interest.
[Editor, I just recieved this from Roger five minutes ago, published thus, dk:]
Rd Bd Scr White Scr Black
03 1. ___ Race, Doran (2.0) ___ Kernighan, Mark D (2.0)
03 2. ___ Pedersen, Roger E (1.5) ___ Zilbermintz, Lev (1.5)
03 3. ___ Boxer, Matthew (1.5) ___ Arias , Fermin (1.5)
03 4. ___ Fortunato, Joseph (1.0) ___ Martinez, Alberto (1.0)
03 5. ___ Pepe, Michael A (1.0) ___ Nikitopoulos, Nich (1.0)
03 6. ___ Senyatkin, Aleksey (1.0) ___ Korn, David Allan (1.0)
03 7. ___ Cohen, Bryan Paul (0.5) ___ Katz, Harry S (0.5)
03 8. ___ Nayak, Mohan Rao (0.0) ___ Garrett, Damon T (0.5)
03 9. ___ Kwok, Man-Chit (0.0) ___ Norris, Anthony (0.0)
Community: Documentary Brooklyn Castle, ex-Chess Movie
Dear WOCC, The editor recieved this note to his personal chess blog, once very active and well followed, but now inactive. He asked the Director below if she wanted this posted to his blog or the Club, and she gave him the choice. As follows. thank you. WOCC jh, dk
Hi [substitute for blog editor:] West Orange Chess Club
My name is Kali Holloway and I’m the Outreach Director for the documentary Brooklyn Castle (ex-Chess Movie). It’s a great film about an underserved junior high school in Brooklyn, New York (65% of students are from homes living under the poverty level), that has the highest rated chess team in the whole country (the trailer is here -- I hope you'll watch: www.brooklyncastle.com --click red at L for link). To cut to the chase, we’re very near finishing the film (in fact, we’ve just started to submit to film festivals) and rolling out our outreach campaign (which will focus on getting more chess programs in schools throughout the country). To pay for these things, we’re using Kickstarter. And I’m reaching out in the very humble hope that your – via [edit:] West Orange Chess Club Blog. [This] will help us let people know about our project, and spread the word.
Our project page is here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rescuedmedia/finishing-brooklyn-castle-formerly-chess-movie (click red at L). I’m sure you’re immensely busy and there’s a lot of other chess news to cover, but if you might even give us and our project a mention, and we can get more eyes on it, I really think we can meet our goal. And, of course, we’d be immensely thankful.
Thanks so much for your time, David, and best to you.
Kali Holloway
Outreach Director
contact: kaliholloway at gee mail dot com
Editor, additional link: IS 318 CHESS TEAM
Hi [substitute for blog editor:] West Orange Chess Club
My name is Kali Holloway and I’m the Outreach Director for the documentary Brooklyn Castle (ex-Chess Movie). It’s a great film about an underserved junior high school in Brooklyn, New York (65% of students are from homes living under the poverty level), that has the highest rated chess team in the whole country (the trailer is here -- I hope you'll watch: www.brooklyncastle.com --click red at L for link). To cut to the chase, we’re very near finishing the film (in fact, we’ve just started to submit to film festivals) and rolling out our outreach campaign (which will focus on getting more chess programs in schools throughout the country). To pay for these things, we’re using Kickstarter. And I’m reaching out in the very humble hope that your – via [edit:] West Orange Chess Club Blog. [This] will help us let people know about our project, and spread the word.
Our project page is here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rescuedmedia/finishing-brooklyn-castle-formerly-chess-movie (click red at L). I’m sure you’re immensely busy and there’s a lot of other chess news to cover, but if you might even give us and our project a mention, and we can get more eyes on it, I really think we can meet our goal. And, of course, we’d be immensely thankful.
Thanks so much for your time, David, and best to you.
Kali Holloway
Outreach Director
contact: kaliholloway at gee mail dot com
Editor, additional link: IS 318 CHESS TEAM
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Club Update: Late Fall Swiss, Round Two Results and Round Three Pairings
Rd Bd Scr White Scr Black
2.0
03 1. ___ Race, Doran (2.0) ___ Kernighan, Mark D (2.0)
03 2. ___ Pedersen, Roger E (1.5) ___ Zilbermintz, Lev (1.5)
03 3. ___ Boxer, Matthew (1.5) ___ Arias , Fermin (1.5)
1.0
03 4. ___ Fortunato, Joseph (1.0) ___ Martinez, Alberto (1.0)
03 5. ___ Pepe, Michael A (1.0) ___ Korn, David Allan (1.0)
03 6. ___ Cohen, Bryan Paul (0.5) ___ Senyatkin, Aleksey (1.0)
0.5
03 7. ___ Katz, Harry S (0.5) ___ Garrett, Damon T (0.5)
0.0
03 8. ___ Kwok, Man-Chit (0.0) ___ Norris, Anthony (0.0)
03 9. ___ Nayak, Mohan Rao (0.0) ___ Nikitopoulos, Nich (0.0)
03 0.5 Mangion, Ian (2.0) BYE REQUESTED
Very nice interview of WCC Anand after brief, usual requisite advertisement for popular videos.
2.0
03 1. ___ Race, Doran (2.0) ___ Kernighan, Mark D (2.0)
03 2. ___ Pedersen, Roger E (1.5) ___ Zilbermintz, Lev (1.5)
03 3. ___ Boxer, Matthew (1.5) ___ Arias , Fermin (1.5)
1.0
03 4. ___ Fortunato, Joseph (1.0) ___ Martinez, Alberto (1.0)
03 5. ___ Pepe, Michael A (1.0) ___ Korn, David Allan (1.0)
03 6. ___ Cohen, Bryan Paul (0.5) ___ Senyatkin, Aleksey (1.0)
0.5
03 7. ___ Katz, Harry S (0.5) ___ Garrett, Damon T (0.5)
0.0
03 8. ___ Kwok, Man-Chit (0.0) ___ Norris, Anthony (0.0)
03 9. ___ Nayak, Mohan Rao (0.0) ___ Nikitopoulos, Nich (0.0)
03 0.5 Mangion, Ian (2.0) BYE REQUESTED
Very nice interview of WCC Anand after brief, usual requisite advertisement for popular videos.
West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss -- West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss 2011 Wall Chart, Page 1
Name/State ID Group/Team Rate Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Kernighan, Mark D 2260 W 10 --- B 4
NJ 12147190 1.0 X2.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Zilbermintz, Lev 2083 HALF W 18 B 5
NJ 12476202 0.5 1.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Mangion, Ian 2016 B 11 W 20 HALF
NJ 13497907 1.0 2.0 2.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Race, Doran 1959 W 13 B 19 W 1
NY 12183660 1.0 2.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Pedersen, Roger E 1940 B 14 W 24 W 2
NJ 10092990 0.5 1.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Boxer, Matthew 1921 W 15 B 25 W 14 (six out of six in top seeds, currently ahead. Editor)
NJ 12510577 0.5 1.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Hart, Charles M 1919 B 16 --- ZERO
NJ 10004071 1.0 F1.0 1.0 (Withdrew. Editor)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Cohen, Bryan Paul 1900 W 19 B 13 W 25
NJ 20020149 0.0 0.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Norris, Anthony 1897 B 20 W 11 B 18
NJ 12758884 0.0 0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Martinez, Alberto 1890 B 1 W 16 B 20 (Ten 1890 and over. Editor)
NJ 12490535 0.0 1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Pepe, Michael A 1837 W 3 B 9 W 19
NJ 12565700 0.0 1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
13. Garrett, Damon T 1824 B 4 W 8 B 15
NJ 12545276 0.0 0.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
14. Arias , Fermin 1739 W 5 B 15 B 6
NJ 12670179 0.5 1.5 (Top result, 1940 =< Congratulations Fermin. Editor)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Katz, Harry S 1718 B 6 W 14 W 13
NJ 12052860 0.5 0.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
16. Nayak, Mohan Rao 1696 W 7 B 10 W 22
NJ 12237580 0.0 0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
18. Kwok, Man-Chit 1607 --- B 2 W 9
NJ 14201547 0.0 0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
19. Korn, David Allan 1604 B 8 W 4 B 11
NJ 14564164 1.0 1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
20. Fortunato, Joseph 1553 W 9 B 3 W 10
NJ 12932570 1.0 1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
22. Nikitopoulos, Nich 1325 --- --- B 16
NJ 14140077 0.0 0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
24. Rue, John D. 1200 HALF B 5 ZERO
NJ 14761813 0.5 0.5 0.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
25. Senyatkin, Aleksey 1200 BYE W 6 B 8
NJ 14717317 1.0 1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Name/State ID Group/Team Rate Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Kernighan, Mark D 2260 W 10 --- B 4
NJ 12147190 1.0 X2.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Zilbermintz, Lev 2083 HALF W 18 B 5
NJ 12476202 0.5 1.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Mangion, Ian 2016 B 11 W 20 HALF
NJ 13497907 1.0 2.0 2.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Race, Doran 1959 W 13 B 19 W 1
NY 12183660 1.0 2.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Pedersen, Roger E 1940 B 14 W 24 W 2
NJ 10092990 0.5 1.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Boxer, Matthew 1921 W 15 B 25 W 14 (six out of six in top seeds, currently ahead. Editor)
NJ 12510577 0.5 1.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Hart, Charles M 1919 B 16 --- ZERO
NJ 10004071 1.0 F1.0 1.0 (Withdrew. Editor)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Cohen, Bryan Paul 1900 W 19 B 13 W 25
NJ 20020149 0.0 0.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Norris, Anthony 1897 B 20 W 11 B 18
NJ 12758884 0.0 0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Martinez, Alberto 1890 B 1 W 16 B 20 (Ten 1890 and over. Editor)
NJ 12490535 0.0 1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Pepe, Michael A 1837 W 3 B 9 W 19
NJ 12565700 0.0 1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
13. Garrett, Damon T 1824 B 4 W 8 B 15
NJ 12545276 0.0 0.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
14. Arias , Fermin 1739 W 5 B 15 B 6
NJ 12670179 0.5 1.5 (Top result, 1940 =< Congratulations Fermin. Editor)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Katz, Harry S 1718 B 6 W 14 W 13
NJ 12052860 0.5 0.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
16. Nayak, Mohan Rao 1696 W 7 B 10 W 22
NJ 12237580 0.0 0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
18. Kwok, Man-Chit 1607 --- B 2 W 9
NJ 14201547 0.0 0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
19. Korn, David Allan 1604 B 8 W 4 B 11
NJ 14564164 1.0 1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
20. Fortunato, Joseph 1553 W 9 B 3 W 10
NJ 12932570 1.0 1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
22. Nikitopoulos, Nich 1325 --- --- B 16
NJ 14140077 0.0 0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
24. Rue, John D. 1200 HALF B 5 ZERO
NJ 14761813 0.5 0.5 0.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
25. Senyatkin, Aleksey 1200 BYE W 6 B 8
NJ 14717317 1.0 1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
Club Update: Late Fall Swiss, Round One Results and Round Two Pairings
Before comments or exegesis, a note from TD [1] Roger E. Pedersen:
"It's not too late to join the West Orange Chess Club Grand Prix aka Late Fall Swiss
Get a half point bye and play next week".
Prizes: 1st $150, 2nd $100, 3rd $75 guaranteed; Best under 1900, $60, 1700, $50, 1500, $35
Players Under 1900 are 11 players for $60
Players Under 1700 are 5 players for $50
Players Under 1500 are 2 players for $35
Round 1 Results
Rd Bd Scr White Scr Black
01 1. 1.0 Kernighan, Mark D (1.0) 0.0 Martinez, Alberto (0.0)
01 2. 0.0 Pepe, Michael A (0.0) 1.0 Mangion, Ian (1.0)
01 3. 1.0 Race, Doran (1.0) 0.0 Garrett, Damon T (0.0)
01 4. 0.5 Arias , Fermin (0.5) 0.5 Pedersen, Roger E (0.5)
01 5. 0.5 Boxer, Matthew (0.5) 0.5 Katz, Harry S (0.5)
01 6. 0.0 Nayak, Mohan Rao (0.0) 1.0 Hart, Charles M (1.0)
01 7. 0.0 Cohen, Bryan Paul (0.0) 1.0 Korn, David Allan (1.0)
01 8. 1.0 Fortunato, Joseph (1.0) 0.0 Norris, Anthony (0.0)
01 1.0 Senyatkin, Aleksey (1.0) BYE
01 0.5 Rue, John D. (0.5) BYE REQUESTED * John, Unrated
Round 2 Pairings
Rd Bd White Black * new faces:
02 1. Hart, Charles M (1.0) Kernighan, Mark D (1.0) * Mark: 2250 ELO, Westfield
02 2. Mangion, Ian (1.0) Fortunato, Joseph (1.0) * Ian: 1997 ELO, Westfield
02 3. Korn, David Allan (1.0) Race, Doran (1.0)
02 4. Pedersen, Roger E (0.5) Rue, John D. (0.5) * John, unrated
02 5. Senyatkin, Aleksey (1.0) Boxer, Matthew (0.5) * Aleksey, unrated
02 6. Katz, Harry S (0.5) Arias , Fermin (0.5)
02 7. Garrett, Damon T (0.0) Cohen, Bryan Paul (0.0)
02 8. Norris, Anthony (0.0) Pepe, Michael A (0.0)
02 9. Martinez, Alberto (0.0) Nayak, Mohan Rao (0.0)
Adele, Rolling In the Deep [2]
While several members were either unavailable, or dealing with personal or medical issues, it must be noted that this is still strong tournament. So much so that, with twenty participants, over a total of six rounds each person will have opportunity to play 32% of all of his ENTIRE competitors (twenty less one--you cannot play yourself--is nineteen, divided by six).
Unless you are near the top of the bottom of the seeding, you can pretty much rest assured that you will be playing six games with opposition averaging about 1780 ELO [3]
[1] WOCC President John Hagerty is the Tournament Director (TD) for this tournament, but Roger is, as always, a resource for the club with this same qualification. John officiates and stands by the quality of fair play, and Roger helps submit the results to the USCF electronically. Thank you Roger. Thank you John.
[2] The editor wishes to uphold his self-appointed adoption of Race's Third Theorem of Video Relevance. It states that across N occasions across a span of a1: b2 social-psychological variability, that if a blog editor were to post one video out of four (at least so it seems) apparently totally irrelevant to Tournament Chess at Standard time Controls, that the odds decrease linearly that Doran might seek to undertake a total and vehement coups d'état, if and only if such editor makes certain to thereafter post other videos pertinent to chess, to proactively protect against such an outcome. This video is one of those one in four, and as indicated members can now expect more chess videos, with the proviso that such editor, as a perk of his effort, can be expected to share one in four videos to entertain others, and in so doing, entertain himself.
[3] The editor wishes to vett these numbers, estimated for illustration purposes only. He will do that once he sees the seeding chart.
"It's not too late to join the West Orange Chess Club Grand Prix aka Late Fall Swiss
Get a half point bye and play next week".
Prizes: 1st $150, 2nd $100, 3rd $75 guaranteed; Best under 1900, $60, 1700, $50, 1500, $35
Players Under 1900 are 11 players for $60
Players Under 1700 are 5 players for $50
Players Under 1500 are 2 players for $35
Round 1 Results
Rd Bd Scr White Scr Black
01 1. 1.0 Kernighan, Mark D (1.0) 0.0 Martinez, Alberto (0.0)
01 2. 0.0 Pepe, Michael A (0.0) 1.0 Mangion, Ian (1.0)
01 3. 1.0 Race, Doran (1.0) 0.0 Garrett, Damon T (0.0)
01 4. 0.5 Arias , Fermin (0.5) 0.5 Pedersen, Roger E (0.5)
01 5. 0.5 Boxer, Matthew (0.5) 0.5 Katz, Harry S (0.5)
01 6. 0.0 Nayak, Mohan Rao (0.0) 1.0 Hart, Charles M (1.0)
01 7. 0.0 Cohen, Bryan Paul (0.0) 1.0 Korn, David Allan (1.0)
01 8. 1.0 Fortunato, Joseph (1.0) 0.0 Norris, Anthony (0.0)
01 1.0 Senyatkin, Aleksey (1.0) BYE
01 0.5 Rue, John D. (0.5) BYE REQUESTED * John, Unrated
Round 2 Pairings
Rd Bd White Black * new faces:
02 1. Hart, Charles M (1.0) Kernighan, Mark D (1.0) * Mark: 2250 ELO, Westfield
02 2. Mangion, Ian (1.0) Fortunato, Joseph (1.0) * Ian: 1997 ELO, Westfield
02 3. Korn, David Allan (1.0) Race, Doran (1.0)
02 4. Pedersen, Roger E (0.5) Rue, John D. (0.5) * John, unrated
02 5. Senyatkin, Aleksey (1.0) Boxer, Matthew (0.5) * Aleksey, unrated
02 6. Katz, Harry S (0.5) Arias , Fermin (0.5)
02 7. Garrett, Damon T (0.0) Cohen, Bryan Paul (0.0)
02 8. Norris, Anthony (0.0) Pepe, Michael A (0.0)
02 9. Martinez, Alberto (0.0) Nayak, Mohan Rao (0.0)
Adele, Rolling In the Deep [2]
While several members were either unavailable, or dealing with personal or medical issues, it must be noted that this is still strong tournament. So much so that, with twenty participants, over a total of six rounds each person will have opportunity to play 32% of all of his ENTIRE competitors (twenty less one--you cannot play yourself--is nineteen, divided by six).
Unless you are near the top of the bottom of the seeding, you can pretty much rest assured that you will be playing six games with opposition averaging about 1780 ELO [3]
[1] WOCC President John Hagerty is the Tournament Director (TD) for this tournament, but Roger is, as always, a resource for the club with this same qualification. John officiates and stands by the quality of fair play, and Roger helps submit the results to the USCF electronically. Thank you Roger. Thank you John.
[2] The editor wishes to uphold his self-appointed adoption of Race's Third Theorem of Video Relevance. It states that across N occasions across a span of a1: b2 social-psychological variability, that if a blog editor were to post one video out of four (at least so it seems) apparently totally irrelevant to Tournament Chess at Standard time Controls, that the odds decrease linearly that Doran might seek to undertake a total and vehement coups d'état, if and only if such editor makes certain to thereafter post other videos pertinent to chess, to proactively protect against such an outcome. This video is one of those one in four, and as indicated members can now expect more chess videos, with the proviso that such editor, as a perk of his effort, can be expected to share one in four videos to entertain others, and in so doing, entertain himself.
[3] The editor wishes to vett these numbers, estimated for illustration purposes only. He will do that once he sees the seeding chart.
Saturday, November 05, 2011
Remarkable Interview III: Kramnik on chess, Anand, Topalov and his future
Here is a remarkable interview with former World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik. Despite the apparent length of what is reproduced below, the editor actually took quite a big of time to edit it down. It goes much longer, and is linked here (click red).
There are even discussions as to his preferences in food, opionions about politics, social life, and of course assessments as to--if you can believe it--hard to find weaknesses in Anand's chess playing style.
This is intended as an obvious continuation of the interviews we had published before, for example with Lev Aronian here, and here (click red at L). In the future, we have an equally wonderful long interview with Anand to share in turn, but that must wait another day. Enjoy.
The above video is from another interview, and is intended just to give a sense about his personality.
Kramnik on chess, Anand, Topalov and his future
(full version)
Vlad Tkachiev: This is an interview I’ve long dreamt about. As far back as the end of the 90s it seemed to me that Vladimir and I held positions that seldom coincided, and now finally I had the chance to clarify all the contradictions. Right from the outset the plan “sprung a leak” – firstly, because in the run-up to our conversation Kramnik had given a series of exhaustive interviews, and secondly… It’s not so easy to wear someone down with tricky, controversial questions when they’re so pleasant to talk to. Even during the process of agreeing a time and place for our conversation Vladimir turned out to be impeccably polite and at times even aristocratic in his manners. My fighting spirit slipped away, and I simply had the urge to talk about topics that interested me with a great chess player. Here’s what became of that …
V.T.: Have you ever tried to determine you biorhythms when establishing your tournament schedule? For example, I always play badly in January.
V.K.: For me winter is a difficult period. For example, I always play in Wijk-aan-Zee and it always goes badly, while correspondingly I play well in Dortmund. In winter I simply don’t get enough daylight. I go to sleep and get up very late, and at Wijk-aan-Zee I have the impression I don’t see daylight at all. So there are perfectly rational reasons to explain it.
V.T.: For an outside observer there’s been the impression in recent years that you’ve tried to sharpen your style. Is that true?
V.K.: No, I haven’t tried. My play always depends on how I’m feeling, and that simply changed when I lost the title. Perhaps I became more indifferent or liberated. Before a tournament I never decide what style I’m going to adopt, and although some changes do take place, they’re out of my control.
V.T.: Do you agree with the widespread view that while preparing for the match against Kasparov you changed your style so much that it later began to hold you back? Perhaps the seeds of your loss in the match against Anand were sown in your victory over Kasparov?
V.K.: Perhaps, but you always need to choose, as after all I don’t consider myself capable of playing brilliantly in any style. Yes, in order to beat Kasparov I had to make real changes, though that had already started to happen to my style before then. And afterwards I again tried to somehow transform myself by starting to play 1.e4, but for various reasons that didn’t work out. Above all, I was lacking a certain inner harmony. There was a lot of squabbling and political problems that I’d never enjoyed dealing with, but I considered myself obliged to do something as the situation was so difficult. Perhaps I was wrong and should have… Either way, those attempts to play sharply no longer corresponded to my inner state. My style is in any case more positional, and sharp play isn’t my thing. Of course, you’re partly right, but I don’t regret it. After all, I achieved a lot, becoming World Champion 3 times. I lost to Anand, but I could also have lost to him in my very best form.
V.T.: It seems to me that you’d already won the match against Kasparov before it started, as he wasn’t expecting to see such a Kramnik. And then Anand managed to do the same thing against you, undertaking a colossal amount of work to drag you into a concrete struggle from the first moves.
V.K.: In the match against Anand everything went wrong from the very beginning, just as it did for Kasparov in his match against me. I’m actually a fatalist to a degree, and feel that if that’s how something goes then that’s how it was fated to happen. Of course, Kasparov’s preparation couldn’t be compared to Anand’s – there’s no question Anand managed to do things much better, more intelligently and cunningly. Yes, he completely outthought me.
V.T.: Everything he did came as a surprise for you?
V.K.: Yes, my preparation period didn’t go well and I had practically nothing for White, although I’d worked a great deal, more than before the match against Kasparov. The things I’d put my emphasis on in preparation simply didn’t pay off. I had absolutely nothing against the Meran, although I’d spent months working on it, and I realized that I simply needed to make draws up until around the 10th game, but I couldn’t reconcile myself to such cynicism – after all, it was a World Championship match. So I was in two minds to a degree, although I realized that was my only chance.
V.T.: I’m not talking about that just now, but about the way you placed great restrictions on yourself: the Petroff, the Berlin, which, by the way, have started to unravel. After all, we can still remember the old Kramnik – the Sicilian Defense against anyone, trading blow for blow. Perhaps you made a mistake?
V.K.: Yes, but as the years pass, unfortunately, you don’t have any particular choice. Firstly, everyone limits themselves. Even Kasparov would always play the same thing. Moreover, your memory is no longer what it was at 20 years old, and you can’t do the same amount of work as before: family, a child. Of course, if you’re a fanatic and work 24 hours a day you can play all the openings, but that’s very hard to do if you want to spend time with your family and not forget about the pleasures of life.
V.T.: Especially if you live in Paris?
V.K. Perhaps. Over the years a new circle of acquaintances has emerged, certain social obligations, and so on. I’m no longer ready to sacrifice everything in order to get half a point more in each tournament. Therefore I make a choice and work with what I’ve got, and it turns out the way it turns out. Of course I understand such an approach has its drawbacks, but what can you do? Name me another option and I’ll think about it. I don’t see one.
V.T.: I consider you to be one of the most productive chess players in terms of openings in the whole of history. Moreover, I think your positional understanding is also among the purest I’ve come across. Do you agree with that?
V.K.: I always worked a great deal and really did dig up a lot, more than others. I’m not sure it was more than Kasparov, but it was at a comparable level. But in any event, a very large part of that nevertheless goes to waste. Little gets used; in percentage terms perhaps it’s 5-10%. That’s a problem for chess players in general, which is why you also get people who are lazy. In football things are much simpler: you go to training and know that if you run around and work on shooting it’ll benefit you later. But in chess it might very well work out the opposite: it often happened that I did a great deal of work on some line or other, and then someone refuted it a move earlier, meaning it all gets thrown in the rubbish bin. That’s the real reason, in my view, why chess players work relatively little in comparison to other sportsmen.
As for the positional style, I don’t know how pure it is. That’s something for others to assess, although I do agree it’s my specialty. Positional play is a very complex matter. I’ve often noticed that it’s strung together from short-range calculation. When Karpov began to weaken it wasn’t that he’d stopped understanding, but simply that he’d begun to miscalculate short variations. When he’d make one move in one direction and then go off course on the next you might get the wrong impression. When I’m in bad form I also understand chess badly, while in good form everything seems to be fine. But overall, positional play is my strong point, as are playable endgames.
V.T.: I had the impression that you’ve deteriorated a little in that regard in recent years. I can recall a few won positions that you couldn’t…
V.K.: No, I’ve always played won endgames poorly and couldn’t even tell you why myself. Perhaps I relax too soon. It’s when the evaluation isn’t yet clear, += or =+, that I play well and turn those endings into won ones, which I then sometimes make a mess of, just as I did in my younger years. To be honest, I’ve never particularly stopped to think about the features of my own style, while I could give you a full breakdown on Anand.
V.T.: Let’s try that.
V.K.: I always considered him to be a colossal talent, one of the greatest in the whole history of chess. Each champion has had some sort of specialty, and his is creating counter-play in any position out of absolutely nowhere. He’s got an amazing ability to constantly stretch himself so that even in some kind of Exchange Slav he nevertheless manages to attack something and create something. He also plays absolutely brilliantly with knights, even better than Morozevich – if his knights start to jump around, particularly towards the king, then that’s that, it’s impossible to play against and they’ll just sweep away everything in their path. I noticed it’s better to get rid of them when you’re playing against him.
In general, he’s improved a great deal in recent years, at some point after 2002. He’s a chess player of genius, but previously he didn’t work enough, by and large.
V.T.: But how has he managed to improve? Did marriage help?
V.K.: Perhaps. He’s matured, while previously he lacked the character to become World Champion. I remember in 1995 against Kasparov it was enough just to poke him a little and he simply fell apart. In the match against me things were completely different. Plus, he’s started to work a great deal and now his opening preparation is among the best, if not the best. At the given moment I don’t see who can compete with him when he’s on form. Perhaps only Carlsen in his very best condition, though probably not. I think he’ll only leave the stage when he weakens himself and ceases to maintain that extremely high level.
V.T.: His weaknesses?
V.K.: The trouble is there almost aren’t any…
V.T.: So nowadays it’s impossible to play the psychological card against him?
V.K.: Yes, though in any case I never wanted to do something on the level of slamming doors (it seems this is hinting at the well-known case of game 10 of the Anand-Kasparov match in 1995, when Kasparov, or so many people claimed, slammed the door noisily on purpose in order to affect his opponent – V.T.) and so on. That’s something that in any case probably wouldn’t work now. His main weakness is that he’s no longer so young, and now he’s also got a child. I can’t imagine he’s still going to work his socks off as before. But at the given moment I think he’s the best in the world in terms of play, namely in terms of play.
V.T.: And the defense of passive positions?
V.K.: He’s doesn’t get passive positions, as they immediately become active.
V.T.: It seems to me he’s got a very big weakness, only it’s difficult to get at it – his play in blockaded positions. I could list half a dozen examples.
V.K.: He does have weaknesses. For example, he doesn’t sense some nuances or move orders very well. But the thing is that in modern chess you can arrange the whole play to suit your style – that’s the problem. So with a computer you can create your own little chess world and live in it. Ok, blockaded positions, but then he probably knows about that too. If you can tell me how to block everything in the Meran and still get an edge I’d be very grateful.
I think that namely in terms of play Anand is in no way weaker than Kasparov, but he’s simply a little lazy, relaxed and only focuses on matches. In the last 5-6 years he’s made a qualitative leap that’s made it possible to consider him one of the great chess players. Perhaps it doesn’t look like that to observers, but when you play against him you sense what a great range he has.
V.T.: Are you for or against introducing rapid and blitz ratings from 1 January?
V.K.: I’m not against it. Definitely for rapid, while I’m not sure about blitz, though that’s also an option. Another possibility would be to include rapid ratings in the calculations for the classical rating, but with a lower ratio, although separate ratings would still be better. Let’s have different forms, like beach, mini and normal football, and a separate championship can be run for each of them. The important thing is simply to standardize the 3 different time controls, after which the market can decide. I don’t agree with Sasha (Grischuk), as it seems to me that’s wishful thinking. Let the market decide, which is actually what’s happening at the moment as no-one’s forcing anyone to organize Wijk-aan-Zee or Linares using the classical time control.
V.T.: What are your political convictions?
V.K.: Ah, now that’s a very complex question.
V.T.: Well, for example, Grischuk’s got a wild aversion to what’s going on in Russia. What about you?
V.K.: No, I don’t have any aversion. I’ve noticed that it’s very hard to explain any of my political leanings, because I look at all of this from a completely different angle. I don’t really understand the point of view of other people, and perhaps they don’t understand mine. I look at all of this from a rational point of view, in terms of common sense and real possibilities, of what actually exists or could exist. People mostly dream. When it comes to Russia they say that everything’s bad, but you need to understand that at the given moment we don’t have the potential to become a Germany or Switzerland. If I started playing tennis now I wouldn’t expect to take part in next year’s Wimbledon. It strikes me that we’ve still got some inflated expectations left over from Soviet times.
V.T.: And in terms of corruption Russia has the right to be 135th in the world? … then you’ve got a clear aversion to the communist project in Russia?
V.K.: Yes, of course, an absolute aversion. Of course, there were some positives, but it’s all a question of the cost. Stalin was a multifaceted man, even a talented one, but how clever do you need to be to imprison millions of people and then get them to do hard labor for nothing to rebuild a country. That absolute villain laid waste to a whole generation of people. … I was really inspired by the example of China. They were all busy somewhere and had gone completely quiet on the international stage. That lasted for around 20 years and then, all of a sudden, they’re a world superpower. Now they’re beginning to seize control of the financial markets and increase their influence, and rightly so. What we need to do now is pull ourselves together and improve human welfare.
V.T.: It seems despite the fact you live in Paris and you’re married to a French woman you still consider yourself Russian?
V.K.: Yes, of course, and my passport’s also Russian. I love Europe. I like the way people relate to each other, which is something we don’t do quite so well. But I grew up here and even if I ever receive a French passport I’ll still remain Russian.
V.K.: It’s just that my circle of acquaintances changed a little. There’s a time for everything. When you’re 17 years old that’s all fascinating, cool: parties, company, girls, alcohol, but then you grow tired of it, and want something else.
V.T.: And how do things look nowadays?
V.K.: Well, everything’s more moderate, as after all I’ve got a family, a child. But my house is still open for many people who often turn up without calling first or stay the night.
V.T.: Have you got more friends who are French or Russian?
V.K.: It’s probably something like 50: 50. I’m still quite free and open with people, but my circle of acquaintances has changed, which is natural. I’ve got some nostalgia for those times and I’m very glad that was part of my life, but the chapter’s closed and I’ve got no desire to repeat it. After all, my career’s gone well and I was also able to party a bit, while not doing any harm to my health. Many people who start their professional career at an early age never had that period, and then they try to catch up when they get to around 50. A big change in my relations with people was brought about by my World Champion status. For some I became unapproachable, it seemed. It wasn’t even a matter of envy or jealousy but, perhaps, some unachieved ambitions got in the way. In any case, the relations changed and perhaps became more cautious. I didn’t change greatly myself and I’m still quite down-to-earth with people. That’s a chapter I’ve closed.
V.T.: What are you preferences in terms of drinks and food?
V.K.: I’ve now become a bourgeois Frenchman. I drink a little wine but, in general, I don’t remember the last time I got drunk. When I was younger the goal was – to sit down and drink in order to get drunk, because why else would you? Now it’s no longer like that. I also like good cognac, and it’s always standing there at home. In the evening I like to have a glass or two.
V.T.: French affairs.
V.K.: Yes. I’m quite omnivorous when it comes to food. I love lots of things but I have to restrict myself because of my tendency to put on weight. For example, I like Indian cuisine, but that’s immediately a kilogram of extra weight the next day. I do in fact consider French cuisine to be the world’s unrivalled no.1.
There are even discussions as to his preferences in food, opionions about politics, social life, and of course assessments as to--if you can believe it--hard to find weaknesses in Anand's chess playing style.
This is intended as an obvious continuation of the interviews we had published before, for example with Lev Aronian here, and here (click red at L). In the future, we have an equally wonderful long interview with Anand to share in turn, but that must wait another day. Enjoy.
The above video is from another interview, and is intended just to give a sense about his personality.
Kramnik on chess, Anand, Topalov and his future
(full version)
Vlad Tkachiev: This is an interview I’ve long dreamt about. As far back as the end of the 90s it seemed to me that Vladimir and I held positions that seldom coincided, and now finally I had the chance to clarify all the contradictions. Right from the outset the plan “sprung a leak” – firstly, because in the run-up to our conversation Kramnik had given a series of exhaustive interviews, and secondly… It’s not so easy to wear someone down with tricky, controversial questions when they’re so pleasant to talk to. Even during the process of agreeing a time and place for our conversation Vladimir turned out to be impeccably polite and at times even aristocratic in his manners. My fighting spirit slipped away, and I simply had the urge to talk about topics that interested me with a great chess player. Here’s what became of that …
V.T.: Have you ever tried to determine you biorhythms when establishing your tournament schedule? For example, I always play badly in January.
V.K.: For me winter is a difficult period. For example, I always play in Wijk-aan-Zee and it always goes badly, while correspondingly I play well in Dortmund. In winter I simply don’t get enough daylight. I go to sleep and get up very late, and at Wijk-aan-Zee I have the impression I don’t see daylight at all. So there are perfectly rational reasons to explain it.
V.T.: For an outside observer there’s been the impression in recent years that you’ve tried to sharpen your style. Is that true?
V.K.: No, I haven’t tried. My play always depends on how I’m feeling, and that simply changed when I lost the title. Perhaps I became more indifferent or liberated. Before a tournament I never decide what style I’m going to adopt, and although some changes do take place, they’re out of my control.
V.T.: Do you agree with the widespread view that while preparing for the match against Kasparov you changed your style so much that it later began to hold you back? Perhaps the seeds of your loss in the match against Anand were sown in your victory over Kasparov?
V.K.: Perhaps, but you always need to choose, as after all I don’t consider myself capable of playing brilliantly in any style. Yes, in order to beat Kasparov I had to make real changes, though that had already started to happen to my style before then. And afterwards I again tried to somehow transform myself by starting to play 1.e4, but for various reasons that didn’t work out. Above all, I was lacking a certain inner harmony. There was a lot of squabbling and political problems that I’d never enjoyed dealing with, but I considered myself obliged to do something as the situation was so difficult. Perhaps I was wrong and should have… Either way, those attempts to play sharply no longer corresponded to my inner state. My style is in any case more positional, and sharp play isn’t my thing. Of course, you’re partly right, but I don’t regret it. After all, I achieved a lot, becoming World Champion 3 times. I lost to Anand, but I could also have lost to him in my very best form.
V.T.: It seems to me that you’d already won the match against Kasparov before it started, as he wasn’t expecting to see such a Kramnik. And then Anand managed to do the same thing against you, undertaking a colossal amount of work to drag you into a concrete struggle from the first moves.
V.K.: In the match against Anand everything went wrong from the very beginning, just as it did for Kasparov in his match against me. I’m actually a fatalist to a degree, and feel that if that’s how something goes then that’s how it was fated to happen. Of course, Kasparov’s preparation couldn’t be compared to Anand’s – there’s no question Anand managed to do things much better, more intelligently and cunningly. Yes, he completely outthought me.
V.T.: Everything he did came as a surprise for you?
V.K.: Yes, my preparation period didn’t go well and I had practically nothing for White, although I’d worked a great deal, more than before the match against Kasparov. The things I’d put my emphasis on in preparation simply didn’t pay off. I had absolutely nothing against the Meran, although I’d spent months working on it, and I realized that I simply needed to make draws up until around the 10th game, but I couldn’t reconcile myself to such cynicism – after all, it was a World Championship match. So I was in two minds to a degree, although I realized that was my only chance.
V.T.: I’m not talking about that just now, but about the way you placed great restrictions on yourself: the Petroff, the Berlin, which, by the way, have started to unravel. After all, we can still remember the old Kramnik – the Sicilian Defense against anyone, trading blow for blow. Perhaps you made a mistake?
V.K.: Yes, but as the years pass, unfortunately, you don’t have any particular choice. Firstly, everyone limits themselves. Even Kasparov would always play the same thing. Moreover, your memory is no longer what it was at 20 years old, and you can’t do the same amount of work as before: family, a child. Of course, if you’re a fanatic and work 24 hours a day you can play all the openings, but that’s very hard to do if you want to spend time with your family and not forget about the pleasures of life.
V.T.: Especially if you live in Paris?
V.K. Perhaps. Over the years a new circle of acquaintances has emerged, certain social obligations, and so on. I’m no longer ready to sacrifice everything in order to get half a point more in each tournament. Therefore I make a choice and work with what I’ve got, and it turns out the way it turns out. Of course I understand such an approach has its drawbacks, but what can you do? Name me another option and I’ll think about it. I don’t see one.
V.T.: I consider you to be one of the most productive chess players in terms of openings in the whole of history. Moreover, I think your positional understanding is also among the purest I’ve come across. Do you agree with that?
V.K.: I always worked a great deal and really did dig up a lot, more than others. I’m not sure it was more than Kasparov, but it was at a comparable level. But in any event, a very large part of that nevertheless goes to waste. Little gets used; in percentage terms perhaps it’s 5-10%. That’s a problem for chess players in general, which is why you also get people who are lazy. In football things are much simpler: you go to training and know that if you run around and work on shooting it’ll benefit you later. But in chess it might very well work out the opposite: it often happened that I did a great deal of work on some line or other, and then someone refuted it a move earlier, meaning it all gets thrown in the rubbish bin. That’s the real reason, in my view, why chess players work relatively little in comparison to other sportsmen.
As for the positional style, I don’t know how pure it is. That’s something for others to assess, although I do agree it’s my specialty. Positional play is a very complex matter. I’ve often noticed that it’s strung together from short-range calculation. When Karpov began to weaken it wasn’t that he’d stopped understanding, but simply that he’d begun to miscalculate short variations. When he’d make one move in one direction and then go off course on the next you might get the wrong impression. When I’m in bad form I also understand chess badly, while in good form everything seems to be fine. But overall, positional play is my strong point, as are playable endgames.
V.T.: I had the impression that you’ve deteriorated a little in that regard in recent years. I can recall a few won positions that you couldn’t…
V.K.: No, I’ve always played won endgames poorly and couldn’t even tell you why myself. Perhaps I relax too soon. It’s when the evaluation isn’t yet clear, += or =+, that I play well and turn those endings into won ones, which I then sometimes make a mess of, just as I did in my younger years. To be honest, I’ve never particularly stopped to think about the features of my own style, while I could give you a full breakdown on Anand.
V.T.: Let’s try that.
V.K.: I always considered him to be a colossal talent, one of the greatest in the whole history of chess. Each champion has had some sort of specialty, and his is creating counter-play in any position out of absolutely nowhere. He’s got an amazing ability to constantly stretch himself so that even in some kind of Exchange Slav he nevertheless manages to attack something and create something. He also plays absolutely brilliantly with knights, even better than Morozevich – if his knights start to jump around, particularly towards the king, then that’s that, it’s impossible to play against and they’ll just sweep away everything in their path. I noticed it’s better to get rid of them when you’re playing against him.
In general, he’s improved a great deal in recent years, at some point after 2002. He’s a chess player of genius, but previously he didn’t work enough, by and large.
V.T.: But how has he managed to improve? Did marriage help?
V.K.: Perhaps. He’s matured, while previously he lacked the character to become World Champion. I remember in 1995 against Kasparov it was enough just to poke him a little and he simply fell apart. In the match against me things were completely different. Plus, he’s started to work a great deal and now his opening preparation is among the best, if not the best. At the given moment I don’t see who can compete with him when he’s on form. Perhaps only Carlsen in his very best condition, though probably not. I think he’ll only leave the stage when he weakens himself and ceases to maintain that extremely high level.
V.T.: His weaknesses?
V.K.: The trouble is there almost aren’t any…
V.T.: So nowadays it’s impossible to play the psychological card against him?
V.K.: Yes, though in any case I never wanted to do something on the level of slamming doors (it seems this is hinting at the well-known case of game 10 of the Anand-Kasparov match in 1995, when Kasparov, or so many people claimed, slammed the door noisily on purpose in order to affect his opponent – V.T.) and so on. That’s something that in any case probably wouldn’t work now. His main weakness is that he’s no longer so young, and now he’s also got a child. I can’t imagine he’s still going to work his socks off as before. But at the given moment I think he’s the best in the world in terms of play, namely in terms of play.
V.T.: And the defense of passive positions?
V.K.: He’s doesn’t get passive positions, as they immediately become active.
V.T.: It seems to me he’s got a very big weakness, only it’s difficult to get at it – his play in blockaded positions. I could list half a dozen examples.
V.K.: He does have weaknesses. For example, he doesn’t sense some nuances or move orders very well. But the thing is that in modern chess you can arrange the whole play to suit your style – that’s the problem. So with a computer you can create your own little chess world and live in it. Ok, blockaded positions, but then he probably knows about that too. If you can tell me how to block everything in the Meran and still get an edge I’d be very grateful.
I think that namely in terms of play Anand is in no way weaker than Kasparov, but he’s simply a little lazy, relaxed and only focuses on matches. In the last 5-6 years he’s made a qualitative leap that’s made it possible to consider him one of the great chess players. Perhaps it doesn’t look like that to observers, but when you play against him you sense what a great range he has.
V.T.: Are you for or against introducing rapid and blitz ratings from 1 January?
V.K.: I’m not against it. Definitely for rapid, while I’m not sure about blitz, though that’s also an option. Another possibility would be to include rapid ratings in the calculations for the classical rating, but with a lower ratio, although separate ratings would still be better. Let’s have different forms, like beach, mini and normal football, and a separate championship can be run for each of them. The important thing is simply to standardize the 3 different time controls, after which the market can decide. I don’t agree with Sasha (Grischuk), as it seems to me that’s wishful thinking. Let the market decide, which is actually what’s happening at the moment as no-one’s forcing anyone to organize Wijk-aan-Zee or Linares using the classical time control.
V.T.: What are your political convictions?
V.K.: Ah, now that’s a very complex question.
V.T.: Well, for example, Grischuk’s got a wild aversion to what’s going on in Russia. What about you?
V.K.: No, I don’t have any aversion. I’ve noticed that it’s very hard to explain any of my political leanings, because I look at all of this from a completely different angle. I don’t really understand the point of view of other people, and perhaps they don’t understand mine. I look at all of this from a rational point of view, in terms of common sense and real possibilities, of what actually exists or could exist. People mostly dream. When it comes to Russia they say that everything’s bad, but you need to understand that at the given moment we don’t have the potential to become a Germany or Switzerland. If I started playing tennis now I wouldn’t expect to take part in next year’s Wimbledon. It strikes me that we’ve still got some inflated expectations left over from Soviet times.
V.T.: And in terms of corruption Russia has the right to be 135th in the world? … then you’ve got a clear aversion to the communist project in Russia?
V.K.: Yes, of course, an absolute aversion. Of course, there were some positives, but it’s all a question of the cost. Stalin was a multifaceted man, even a talented one, but how clever do you need to be to imprison millions of people and then get them to do hard labor for nothing to rebuild a country. That absolute villain laid waste to a whole generation of people. … I was really inspired by the example of China. They were all busy somewhere and had gone completely quiet on the international stage. That lasted for around 20 years and then, all of a sudden, they’re a world superpower. Now they’re beginning to seize control of the financial markets and increase their influence, and rightly so. What we need to do now is pull ourselves together and improve human welfare.
V.T.: It seems despite the fact you live in Paris and you’re married to a French woman you still consider yourself Russian?
V.K.: Yes, of course, and my passport’s also Russian. I love Europe. I like the way people relate to each other, which is something we don’t do quite so well. But I grew up here and even if I ever receive a French passport I’ll still remain Russian.
V.K.: It’s just that my circle of acquaintances changed a little. There’s a time for everything. When you’re 17 years old that’s all fascinating, cool: parties, company, girls, alcohol, but then you grow tired of it, and want something else.
V.T.: And how do things look nowadays?
V.K.: Well, everything’s more moderate, as after all I’ve got a family, a child. But my house is still open for many people who often turn up without calling first or stay the night.
V.T.: Have you got more friends who are French or Russian?
V.K.: It’s probably something like 50: 50. I’m still quite free and open with people, but my circle of acquaintances has changed, which is natural. I’ve got some nostalgia for those times and I’m very glad that was part of my life, but the chapter’s closed and I’ve got no desire to repeat it. After all, my career’s gone well and I was also able to party a bit, while not doing any harm to my health. Many people who start their professional career at an early age never had that period, and then they try to catch up when they get to around 50. A big change in my relations with people was brought about by my World Champion status. For some I became unapproachable, it seemed. It wasn’t even a matter of envy or jealousy but, perhaps, some unachieved ambitions got in the way. In any case, the relations changed and perhaps became more cautious. I didn’t change greatly myself and I’m still quite down-to-earth with people. That’s a chapter I’ve closed.
V.T.: What are you preferences in terms of drinks and food?
V.K.: I’ve now become a bourgeois Frenchman. I drink a little wine but, in general, I don’t remember the last time I got drunk. When I was younger the goal was – to sit down and drink in order to get drunk, because why else would you? Now it’s no longer like that. I also like good cognac, and it’s always standing there at home. In the evening I like to have a glass or two.
V.T.: French affairs.
V.K.: Yes. I’m quite omnivorous when it comes to food. I love lots of things but I have to restrict myself because of my tendency to put on weight. For example, I like Indian cuisine, but that’s immediately a kilogram of extra weight the next day. I do in fact consider French cuisine to be the world’s unrivalled no.1.
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
WOCC Late Fall Swiss, Link to USCF
One postscript: Link to the USCF posting, tournament report here. Click red.
. . .
. .
.
Two, Item of note: Nakamura versus Rabajbov at ICC. Naka appears to add time to the latter's clock at the end, as if to taunt him. These feature is allowed at ICC as an aspect of mercy. Rabajbov is now rated 2781 in the recent FIDE report. His chess play is not a joke.
The rumor is over. It was confirmed today that Nakamura is working privately with chess great Garry Kasparov, as Magnus Carlsen had also done earlier this year. News came out today, linked here. Click red at L.
. . .
. .
.
Final Resolution of Difficulty in Posting Results
The WOCC could say as little as possible about this, but what is lost in lack of silence might be made up for in learning, or is it the word, 'education' for all of us.
John supported the draft of a report taking all club members, rank sorted by USCF expiration date, which has now been completed and elaborated. This was done yesterday not to address the recent delay, but to prepare for the next event.
As such, we now have a map as it were of all memberships looking forward, so that, for example, in the most unlikely event Fred at the end of December, or David at the end of January wished to compete in the next month AND did not renew, this would have to be firmly committed by the individual as well as tracked by the club before allowing an entry to a new event.
Decisive Hand Moves! No Fear.
This can be said in fewer words, but A. it is late Tuesday, and B. we all have now waited two weeks. Please forgive editor if this is not perfectly written...
Here is a note from Roger to us, received forty minutes ago. He was very persevering in trying to contact the member who failed to solve the problem. No one is angry. Its really just a disappointment. We were all young once. The editor did twenty times worse in 1983, and lived to make sure he didn't do what he did again. Matter done, moving onward. We hope N_. joins us in the future for new events.
Surprisingly, BTW, many, many WOCC members have memberships paid to the USCF not only looking forward to the spring or half year, but well nigh the year and next year after that. Again, we all learned, and as best as we can will insure against this to start and launch our Late Fall Swiss, next week, with of course the imprimateur of Grand Prix Status. Not crisis but opportunity. And now Rogers note and the TD resolve:
"I submitted the WOCC Fall Swiss 2011.
"The games against N_ N_. will be sent the next tournament as his USCF membership had expired and that was holding up the entire tournament. Hence, he could not be removed from the tournament submission so I substituted J_H_ to accept his 5 forfeits (no rated games).
"I spoke to J_. about this and he agreed to have me submit the tournament this way with N_'s 3 loses to be rated at a later date.
Roger E Pedersen"
WOCC thanks Roger and thanks J_H_ for his willingness to make a major contribution to this problem now being solved expeditiously.
John supported the draft of a report taking all club members, rank sorted by USCF expiration date, which has now been completed and elaborated. This was done yesterday not to address the recent delay, but to prepare for the next event.
As such, we now have a map as it were of all memberships looking forward, so that, for example, in the most unlikely event Fred at the end of December, or David at the end of January wished to compete in the next month AND did not renew, this would have to be firmly committed by the individual as well as tracked by the club before allowing an entry to a new event.
Decisive Hand Moves! No Fear.
This can be said in fewer words, but A. it is late Tuesday, and B. we all have now waited two weeks. Please forgive editor if this is not perfectly written...
Here is a note from Roger to us, received forty minutes ago. He was very persevering in trying to contact the member who failed to solve the problem. No one is angry. Its really just a disappointment. We were all young once. The editor did twenty times worse in 1983, and lived to make sure he didn't do what he did again. Matter done, moving onward. We hope N_. joins us in the future for new events.
Surprisingly, BTW, many, many WOCC members have memberships paid to the USCF not only looking forward to the spring or half year, but well nigh the year and next year after that. Again, we all learned, and as best as we can will insure against this to start and launch our Late Fall Swiss, next week, with of course the imprimateur of Grand Prix Status. Not crisis but opportunity. And now Rogers note and the TD resolve:
"I submitted the WOCC Fall Swiss 2011.
"The games against N_ N_. will be sent the next tournament as his USCF membership had expired and that was holding up the entire tournament. Hence, he could not be removed from the tournament submission so I substituted J_H_ to accept his 5 forfeits (no rated games).
"I spoke to J_. about this and he agreed to have me submit the tournament this way with N_'s 3 loses to be rated at a later date.
Roger E Pedersen"
WOCC thanks Roger and thanks J_H_ for his willingness to make a major contribution to this problem now being solved expeditiously.
Corrections and improvement gladly accepted, pls write WOCC.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Club Update, USCF Ratings Report on Fall Swiss
The blog will continue to try to be meat and potatos. But sometimes these must be short announcements, more like carborhydrates. Just a quick update--the USCF ratings report which can be put in by Roger and/or John very, very quickly--thanks to the modernization of the club with SwissMaster, that report is currently held up.
John/Roger will let us know the course of events, but for those of you who might by now be checking daily or now weekly your USCF member information with your new or adjusted rating, might need to hold off for a little while at least as far as our recent club event goes. We appologize.
Secondly, in the next few days, there will be some very, very powerful interviews with Vishy Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, and--yes--some videos of Harry S. Katz. Katz and Anand is not a typo.
Blogs have to be fresh and individual, but time to time we will show the best of the best from outside sources. Anand and Kramnik are not only among the best of our era, but in the historic perspective, and their insights and offerings about their preparation, training, and outlook can be valuable.
Harry has done more than several unique pieces of work, and we will present them soon.
Lastly, reminder, Garden State Chess League Round Three is next Tuesday. And the Late Fall Swiss, a Grand Prix event throught the USCF, starts the following Tuesday. The board recently discussed this, and while we cannot as yet predict the level of participation, John is monitoring it, and we remind everyone, this COULD be a watershed event for the club, a way to test publicity and its impact on results for the Club Championship in March.
We are going to try to have this in the January Chess Life issue, for 15 January, which probably has a deadline of about December 7th, so just know we are looking out to March now, and have to resolve plans in November, to be ahead of the curve, to make this the WOCC Club Championships of ALL Club Championships. This is to be looked forward to. Editor, dk
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)