Happy New Year!
Best wishes to everyone for a peaceful and prosperous 2014, and of course for pleasure and success at the chessboard.
Best wishes to everyone for a peaceful and prosperous 2014, and of course for pleasure and success at the chessboard.
And so Notre Dame finishes a somewhat disappointing year on a good note, winning their bowl game and winding up 9-4 for the season. Next year they have good prospects to be a top-10 team; we'll see. Meanwhile, for the last time this year and for this football season, a musical coda:
It isn't the bowl game Notre Dame hoped for, but you take what you get. The Pinstripe Bowl in Yankee Stadium is underway, and Notre Dame is expected to crush Rutgers, and not just by tongue-in-cheek super-fans like this blogger. The massacre is underway, and can be viewed on ESPN.
I've already mentioned the match between Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman (game 2 was also drawn) in Groningen; it's concurrent with three open events that started before Christmas. Here in the States, in "fabulous" Las Vegas, another traditional annual event is underway, the North American Open. They're not super-tournaments, but if you want a chess fix and half a little free time over the holidays, spectate away.
What in the world is Viswanathan Anand going to do, when it comes to the Candidates? No one knows (at least no one outside his immediate circle), but speculation is rampant as Anand one day seems to lean one way, only to lean in the opposite direction the day after. If you want a look at the latest round-up, have a look here. (HT: Ross Hytnen)
A drama based on the early lives of the Polgar sisters, here. (HT: Marc)
According to the Zurich Christmas Open website, Viktor Korchnoi had to cancel his participation in the tournament due to health reasons. Here's the Google Translate version:
Unfortunately, Viktor Korchnoi can not fulfill his wish of participating in the traditional tournament. Health reasons force him to stay at home. We wish him a speedy recovery and all the best in the coming year.
For those of you looking to get your fix of old-timey chess players, Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman are playing a four-game rapid (40' + 30") match. Game 1 was played earlier today and was drawn in a fairly dull game, thanks to Karpov's unfortunate but understandable continued advocacy of the Scandinavian with 3...Qd8.
I haven't presented too many games lately, but I hope to rectify that somewhat over the holiday season. Let's start with a quick one, a speedy win by Ian Nepomniachtchi over Vassily Ivanchuk from the recently completed World Mind Games event in Beijing, China. This was from the rapid tournament, and illustrates what can happen even to a super-GM who inappropriately violates the rules of thumb we all learned early on about not moving our queen out too quickly and about not keeping our king in the center. These are not laws, of course, but only rules of thumb. Still, they are rules of thumb for a reason!
John Grefe, an American IM and United States co-champion in 1973, died earlier today (Sunday) at the age of 66. Grefe will be unknown to most players outside the U.S., and even to those inside the U.S. as well unless their chess careers or their knowledge of American chess goes back to the 70s and early 80s, but he was considered quite a talented player back in his day. He seems to have given up on serious play in 1981, and while that was probably the right thing decision financially it was a pity for chess, as he had a very lively style. (Have a look at the games given and linked to in his Wikipedia article for ample evidence.)
My condolences to his friends and family.