Schacksnack

Nils Grandelius tilldelades det andra stipendiet ur Rolf Martens stipendiefond. 

16-årige Nils Grandelius, Dalby, fick liksom förra året 25 000 kronor ur Martensfonden. Enligt statuterna är stipendiet avsett att premiera yngre schackspelare för föredömlig och kvalificerad insats där engagemang, glädje, gemenskap, hänsyn och solidaritet är naturliga inslag i den schackliga verksamheten. Juryn hade ett lätt val, någon egentlig motkandidat fanns inte. 

Grandelius är landets främsta schacktalang sedan Ulf Andersson och Pia Cramling kom in i världseliten för mer än ett kvartssekel sedan. Bland spelare födda 1993 ligger han femma på Världsschackförbundets ratinglista den 1 januari. De fyra som ligger före kommer från Filippinerna, Indien, Ryssland och Ukraina. Svensken som alltså är bäst bland jämnåriga i västvärlden har två stormästarnormer av tre erforderliga – närmaste målet är naturligtvis en tredje norm, som ger inbjudningar, startbidrag och möjlighet till prispengar i de större turneringarna. 

I dagarna åker Nils till Island för att spela i Reykjavik Open och i den isländska ligan. Längre fram i år väntar finalspelet på bord 1 för LASK i Elitserien, Sigemanturneringen i Malmö och sommarens SM på Victoriastadion i Lund. 

Rolf Martens [1942-2008] blev svensk mästare i schack 1967. Han bidrog starkt till Lunds Akademiska Schackklubbs dominans i schackallsvenskan under 1960-talet. Martens var en karismatisk och unik schackbegåvning som spåddes en lysande karriär, men upphörde med tävlandet omkring 1970. Under de senaste åren gjorde han sig känd genom spelöppningsteoretisk forskning  på hög  nivå.  

Ytterligare info: Calle Erlandsson (ordförande i fondstyrelsen) 0733 – 264 033 

Fakta om LASK: Klubben bildades den 30 oktober 1906. LASK var länge en student­klubb, temporärt inaktiv, men har de senaste 30 åren haft en bred ungdomsverksamhet. Klubben är en av Sveriges mest framgångsrika schackföreningar genom tiderna och har bland annat vunnit åtta lag-SM-guld. 1975/76 nådde föreningen sin största internationella framgång med avancemang till semifinal i Europacupen. LASK har Elitseriens yngsta lag, som för närvarande ligger på tredje plats.

 Från förbundssekreteraren i Stockholms SF – Jonas Sandbom - har Schacksnack erhållit följande informattion.

På Stockholms Schackförbunds höstkongress 2009-12-16 avgick Stockholms
Schackförbunds mångåriga kassör, Gunnar Berg. Kongressen utsåg på förslag av
Stockholms Schackförbunds ordförande, Sven-Gunnar Samuelsson, Gunnar Berg
till hedersledamot i Stockholms Schackförbund.

Härmed följer ett idéförslag från Scandinavian Chess Tournament (SCT): 
Årligen återkommer i Globen en magnifik idrottsgala med representanter från näringslivet, politiska partier och en stor mängd idrottsföreningar. Arrangemanget får stor bevakning av media. 
Schacksverige är en stor organisation: Sveriges Schackförbund, Schackakademien, Rilton kommittén, Kulturhistoriska Sällskapet, Sveriges handikappade och Synskadades Riksförbund, (SCT) etc… De flesta av dessa delar ut stipendier och utmärkelser till framstående spelare, ledare och till dem som har gjort sig förtjänta av detta efter stora insatser för schacket. 

Vårt förslag är att anordna en Stor Schackgala 2011! 
Under arrangemanget skulle samtliga ovannämnda dela ut utmärkelser, priser och stipendier vid ett och samma tillfälle. Denna gala bör anordnas efter SM som följs av en kongress och på kvällen avslutning med middag, orkester och mediebevakning. 

Som hedersgäster skall inbjudas FIDE representanter, samtliga nordiska och baltiska schackförbund (kanske några vill göra efter!!!) och samtliga klubbar i Sverige så att en stor uppslutning äger rum. Självklart skall de flesta vara betalande gäster. 

Vi tror på idén, som kan väcka uppmärksamhet bland passiva schackspelare och övriga svenska medborgare. 

Hälsningar Peter Hlawatsch, SCT

FIDE har hållit kongress i Grekland. Det fanns mer än 90 punkter på dagordningen. Organisationen har släppt ett pressmeddelande och av detta framgår det bland annat att FIDE har stängt sitt kontor i Lausanne i Schweiz. Det var kontoret som öppnades med motiveringen att FIDE ville vara nära IOC för att lättare kunna bearbeta dem för att komma med i den riktiga olympiska familjen. Det nya kontoret kommer att lokaliseras till Moskva. Nästa schackolympiad kommer att hållas den 19 september – 4 oktober 2010 i Khanty-Mansiysk .

Celebrating the 85^th anniversary of FIDE, the Executive Board held its meeting in Kallithea at the invitation of the Greek Chess Federation on October 15-17^th, 2009.

On the agenda, there were more than 90 items, including the Chess Olympiad 2010, World Championships, the new Commission and Committee structure, reports of the Commissions’ chairs as well as the Grand Prix and the World Cup tournaments.

In his report, President Ilyumzhinov emphasized the continuing goals of popularizing chess all over the world and further steps toward IOC. He also praised the organization of events, particularly in China and in Nalchik.

The Executive Board discussed and approved the framework contract with Chess Lane which will initiate new projects of development for FIDE, starting with the formation of Chess News Corporation. FIDE will open a new office in Moscow and has closed its office in Lausanne.

For the Anand-Topalov World Championship Match, three bidders -Turkey, Singapore and Bulgaria- submitted offers. The most qualified and highest prize value bid arrived from Bulgaria. When Turkey and Singapore withdrew their proposals, the EB awarded the World Championship Match to Bulgaria to be held in April, 2010. Half the Candidate Matches have been awarded to Azerbaijan.

The 2009 World Cup will be held in Khanty – Mansiysk, Russia, from November 20th to December 15^th. The EB were advised that the prize fund has been received by FIDE.

The EB approved the 2010 FIDE Calendar and fixed the dates of the Chess Olympiad as September 19- October 4, 2010. The EB was briefed about the latest developments of the facilities and the preparation for the Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk by the organizer. The 2011 Congress will be held in Krakow, Poland while Turkey will organize the 2012 Olympiad and Congress. Venues and dates of other FIDE awarded events can be found under the Calendar section of the FIDE website.

Peter Rajcsanyi
PR and Marketing Director

The FIDE Presidential Board (PB) meeting with an agenda of more than 70 items was held on June 16-17^th in Krakow, Poland.

FIDE President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov praised recent events such as the first Women Grand Prix held in Istanbul and the Men’s Grand Prix organized in Nalchik as successful events. He discussed his visit and negotiations in Mongolia: there is a chess in school program and a Women Grand Prix tournament in Ulan Bator. He also positively acknowledged the strengthening relationship between FIDE and SportAccord

Following the President’s negotiations with the Russian government authorities, the PB decided to open a FIDE branch office in Moscow. The PB put in motion a plan to ensure that a Calendar for chess events should be put in place with measure to ensure adherence.

The PB acknowledged and discussed the proposal of David Kaplan, FIDE Development CEO, about the establishment of a new Internet portal centered around chess activities and the creation of a Chess News Agency. In relation to these developments, FIDE will enter into negotiation with Chess Lane company.

The PB made a decision to promote the activities of the FIDE Chess Academy system by franchising academies throughout the world, based on the model of the Singapore Chess Academy.

The PB accepted the new regulations for the World Championship Candidate matches. In connection with the World Championship cycle, the PB emphasized that the continuation of the Grand Prix series can be approved only if all the contracts with the organizers of the 2010-11 GP events will be in place for approval before the Executive Board meeting to be held in October 2009. Otherwise, the GP series shall be eliminated from the cycle.

The PB decided that beyond the regular activities, FIDE Public Relations should be conducted more by the implementation of target-oriented projects in the future.

Following the recommendation of a meeting of experts, the PB decided to refer the K factor change back to the Committee with further studies to clarify all aspects and consequences of a possible change as the recommendation was not to change the K factor now.

The PB discussed several future events and decided upon the bid dates which will be published on the FIDE website.

Ms. Boytsun, General Secretary of ACP, made a presentation of the work of ACP and the channels of co-operation between FIDE and ACP.

The FIDE President thanked the Malopolska Chess Federation and especially to Mr. Jan Kushina for the excellent organization of the event.

Peter Rajcsanyi

Public Relations and Marketing Director

Gm Alexei Shirov

Det är några månader kvar till dess finalen i Grand Slam skall spelas i Bilbao i Spanien. Men redan har arrangören skickat ut ett pressmeddelande om vad som komma skall. Deltagarna är Veselin Topalov, Sergei Karjakin, Alexander Grischuk och Alexei Shirov. Precis som förra året och under Mtel Masters i år kommer deltagarna att spela i en glaskub som placeras på en central plats i stan. Det är också en annan poängberäkning än vanligt. 3 poäng för vinst, 1 för remi och 0 för förlust är vad som kommer att praktiseras.  

Press Release from the Grand Slam Chess Association

The Spanish chess player Alexei Shirov has received the invitation from the Grand Slam Chess Association to take part in the Masters Final that will be held in Bilbao during the first fortnight of September 2009.

He has been invited as winner of the recently finished M-Tel Masters Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria. He received his invitation at the closing ceremony from Juan Carlos Fernández, Director of the Bilbao Masters Final.

Shirov will come up against Veselin Topalov – winner in Pearl Spring Tournament, Nanking, China, Sergei Kariakin – winner of Corus 2009, Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands and Alexander Grischuk, winner of Ciudad de Linares, Spain, who have already received their invitations to the Final in Bilbao.

The above mentioned four chess players will compete in Bilbao, once again in the huge glass cube that will be built in Plaza Nueva (central square), in the heart of the city. The Masters Final supports interesting and novel rules in order to guarantee a battle and spectacle in each game. The so called named ‘Sofia rule’ which states that draw offers will only be allowed by the arbiter, will be applied.

The scoring system will be once again similar to football scoring system:

Players will get 3 points for winning a match, 1 point for drawing and 0 points for losing. This scoring system was first applied in an elite chess tournament during the last Bilbao Final Masters 2008, and is known as ‘Bilbao rule’.

The Grand Slam is made up of the following tournaments: the Pearl Spring Tournament (Nanjing, China), the Corus (Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands), the Ciudad de Linares (Spain), the Mtel Masters (Sofia, Bulgaria) and the Masters Final that will be held in Bilbao, Spain.

Alexei Shirov is a Spanish national, born in Riga, Latvia in 1972. After his win in Sofia he is ranked 5th in the world. Shirov is noted for his attacking style and he has pointed out that aggressiveness is an essential feature of his playing style. He has been called ”the last romantic chess player”, or the ”Leonardo da Vinci” of chess, thanks to his creative style along with the risks he takes while playing. In 2000, Teheran, he reached the final of the FIDE World Chess Championship, losing to Viswanathan Anand. In 2007 he played in the Chess World Cup 2007, but he lost the final to Gata Kamsky.

Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk was born in 1983 in Russia. Along with being a very talented young player, Grischuk is also known as one of the best blitz chess players, taking him on to win the 2006 World Blitz Championship in Israel.

Sergey Karjakin, born in Ukraine in 1990, holds the record for the youngest grandmaster in history, achieving the title at the age of twelve years and seven months. In 2004 he was in Bilbao as player in the Man vs. Machine World Team Championship.

Karjakin, who was then 14, was the only human to win against a computer. In 2007 he played the Blindfold World Chess Cup again in Bilbao. He is a very talented player who guarantees a splendour future for himself, not only for his great command of tactics but also for his gift for strategy, a rare thing in children. It is for this reason that the pools for future World Champion always include Karjakin.

Veselin Topalov (born in Bulgaria in 1975) is a modest and very nice person, a fighter and disciplined into training every day and strives to maintain his correct demeanour. Topalov became the FIDE World Chess Champion in 2005. As the current highest ranked player in the World, he is adamant about achieving the title in the final that he will face against Anand.

Next September in Bilbao, he will try to repeat his win of the Final Masters 2008. Veselin is a familiar face in Bilbao, his presence as player is habitual in the great chess events of the city in the last years.

Bilbao, June 4th, 2009

FIDE har med anledning av utvecklingen av Svininfluensan (H1N1) valt att gå ut med information från – International SOS - om råd inför till exempel resor. Länken till sidan är bifogad och den kommer att uppdateras kontinuerligt av SOS.

In response to the latest developments surrounding the swine flu outbreak, International SOS has launched a special website

Latest information and travel advice for international travel. The website will be continuously updated.
You’ll find the:
• Latest information on the outbreaks
• Latest travel advice
• FAQs: Such as ”Should I travel to Mexico or the US?” ”An employee has just returned from Mexico. Should they return to work?” ”Should an employee take antiviral medication (Tamiflu) with them when travelling to Mexico?”
Links to Resources: Download documents and posters on personal hygiene and influenza vaccination.

Nog får FIDE:s ordförande Kirsan Ilyumzhinov saker och ting gjorda. Ett nära samarbete mellan FIDE och Ryssland har stadfästs genom en signatur i går i Moskva. Bifogad text går att läsa på FIDE:s hemsida. 

Today, on 27 April 2009, in Moscow the Head of the Republic of Kalmykia, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and the Chairman of the Federal State Institution ”State Registration Chamber under the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation” Robert Adelhanyan signed the agreement which provides for cooperation between FIDE and the FSI. In accordance with the agreement the representation office will be opened. It will be responsible for visa provision, analytical reference, information and research as well as for the development of laws and other governmental acts.
The same day in Moscow Kirsan Ilyumzhinov had another meeting with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria Sergey Stanishev at the Embassy of Bulgaria in the Russian Federation. During the meeting the development issues of trade and economic relations between Bulgaria and the Republic of Kalmykia in the Russian-Bulgarian relations have been discussed.

Rilton Cup 2010 ligger i farozonen. FIDE har meddelat att ”World Team Chess Championship” har flyttats. VM kommer att spelas i Turkiet mellan den 3 januari och 14 januari 2010. Detta innebär att de svenska elitspelarna som blir uttagna till landslaget med största sannolikhet kommer att välja att deltaga i den största turneringen som finns och inte kommer till Stockholm. De som skall spela Corus kommer att få det kärvt med tiden eftersom turneringen startar den 15 januari.  

New dates for the World Team Chess Championship
Tuesday, 17 March 2009 10:06

Dear Chess Friends,

After considerable deliberations with several major organisers and taking into account the importance of the qualified teams benefitting from participation of their top players, FIDE decides to defer the 2009 edition of the World Team Championships scheduled in Turkey. The event shall now be held from 3rd Jan (arrival) to 14th Jan (departure) 2010.

In view of this and other ”hiccups” which have had occurred in the scheduling of major FIDE events, the FIDE President ordered a review and to recommend stringent bidding, administration and regulatory measures with respect to the FIDE Chess Calendar. The Istanbul Presidential Board gave an in-principle approval to the recommendations of the General Secretary.

Meanwhile, Continents and FIDE International Affiliate Organisations are advised to plan their respective events only after the official FIDE events are scheduled (4-yearly plan) or at the FIDE Executive Board in Singapore in September 2009. The PB had also assigned the Treasurer and Executive Director to assist the General Secretary in the finalisation of the proposed recommendations for the next PB scheduled for May-Jun 2009.

Ignatius Leong
General Secretary

Det har ryktats att Corus Chess Tournament i finaskrisens spår inte kom att spelas nästa år. Vid FIDE:s styrelsemöte i Linares den 7 mars har det enligt ett pressmeddelande daterat den 16 mars uppgivits att det blir en turnering i Holland. Om det blir några inskränkningar framgår inte.

Sofia Bulgarien:  M-Tel Masters: 12-23 maj 2009
Bilbao Spanien: Grand Slam Masters Final: 2-15 september 2009
Nanjing (Kina): 27 september – 9 oktober 2009
Corus Chess Tournament Holland: 15-31 januari 2010

Utdrag ur pressmeddelandet.

Amsterdam, March 16th, 2009

During the Presidential board meeting of the GSCA (Grand Slam Chess Association) in Linares (Saturday, March 7th 2009), the next decisions have been made:

A. The GSCA Presidential board will now consist of these members:

Juan Fernandez (Linares) President
Silvio Danailov (Sofia) Executive Director
Jeroen van den Berg (Wijk aan Zee) Spokesman
Andoni Madallaga (Bilbao) General Secretary

A fifth member from Nanjing (China) will be announced later.

B. The potential new member of the GSCA, San Luis, has not yet made an official request to enter the GSCA. In case San Luis wants to enter this year, the deadline is April 1st 2009.

C. Via Malcolm Pein the GSCA has received a request from a new tournament in London to enter the GSCA. The GSCA will decide about London’s participation in the Grand Slam after the players field has been announced. Since it is important to have a 3 years guarantee for each new tournament in the Grand Slam, the GSCA considers to include London as an invitational tournament for the year 2009.

D. The next GSCA Meeting will be held on 22/23 May 2009 in Sofia, during the M-tel Masters Tournament.

E. In the agenda for the next meeting these items will be discussed: unified criteria for all tournaments, such as time control, dress code, tie breaks, etc etc.

F. Next GSCA Tournaments:

Sofia, M-Tel Masters: 12-23 May 2009
Bilbao, Grand Slam Masters Final: 2-15 September 2009
Nanjing: 27 September – 9 October 2009
Corus Chess Tournament: 15-31 January 2010

The Grand Slam Association consists of the following tournaments: Nanjing Pearl Springs (China), Corus-Wijk aan Zee (Holland), Ciudad de Linares (Spain), Mtel Masters-Sofia (Bulgaria) and the Masters Final, which will take place in Bilbao.

I december kommer det att arrangeras en storturnering i London enligt ett pressmeddelande från London Chess Centre. Vilka spelarna blir avslöjas först i april men eftersom det blir en kategori 19 turneringen kommer det att bli, som det antydes i meddelandet, krämen av världsstjärnorna med ett trefaldigt engelskt inslag. Det gäller att spela vackert för det kommer att utdelas ett skönhetspris på inte mindre än € 10 000!

Cream of world chess to play in new London tournament. [Press release 9th March 2009]

London Chess Centre is proud to announce a world-class chess tournament to be held in London in December, 2009. The event will be an elite eight-player all-play-all in the most prestigious tournament in the capital since former world champion Anatoly Karpov won the Phillips and Drew Masters in 1984.

Since then, despite London hosting three world title contests, there has not been a tournament in which England’s leading players could lock horns with the world’s best on home soil. The December 09 tournament will be the first in a series of events designed to reinvigorate UK chess and promote the game and its undoubted educational benefits in schools and communities.

The tournament will be FIDE Category 19 with an average FIDE rating of 2700 and a minimum prize fund of €100,000. The eight players will comprise of three English and five world-class Grandmasters from abroad. Included in the prize fund will be a €10,000 Brilliant Game award along with separate prizes for each victory with the White and Black pieces. Matches will be covered live online where fans will be able to vote for Game of the Day.

The tournament has applied for membership of the prestigious annual Grand Slam of Chess which culminates in Bilbao and boasts a €400,000 prize fund.

The games will be under Classical Chess time control; 40 moves in two hours, 20 in the subsequent hour then an additional 15 minutes plus an increment of 30 seconds a move until the end of the game. The tournament will further benefit from the use of Sofia Rules which disallow early draws. Players will receive three points for a win and one for a draw.

The opening ceremony will take place on Thursday, December 10 and will include a blindfold chess display and charity simultaneous. Play will take place daily from Friday, December 11 to Thursday, December 17 inclusive.

The list of players and venue will be announced in April.

Malcolm Pein (IM) Director London Chess Centre

Tidigare världsmästaren Vladimir Kramnik och hans manager Carsten Hensel avslutar samarbetet den 31 december. Carsten fortsätter tillsammans med Peter Leko. (Bilden Kramnik-Leko).

We would like to inform you that we will not extend our contract which is ending on 31 December 2008.

We would like to stress that our decision had already been made some months prior to the 2008 World Chess Championship match in Bonn, Germany. This agreement was not caused by any kind of personal problem between us. Our amicable relationship and mutual respect remains and is in no way affected by this step.

The main reason for the decision was simply that both of us are looking ahead for new challenges and priorities in our professional as well as in our private life.

We would like to confirm that Vladimir Kramnik is still definitely eager to continue his professional chess career. Carsten Hensel will concentrate more intensively on the organization of high level events. He remains the manager of International Grandmaster Peter Leko.

Paris/Dortmund, 22 December 2008

ACP har skickat ut ett pressmeddelande angående hur de ser på förändringen FIDE önskar göra i den pågående Grand Prix och VM-cykeln. Det de starkast vänder sig mot är att förändringen genomförs under pågående spel.

Press-release: The ACP objects to FIDE’s abrupt changes in the World Championship cycle

The ACP objects to the modifications imposed by FIDE in the World Chess Championship cycle. The system of the World Championship cannot be changed once the cycle has started. This statement relies on an opinion study made by the ACP among chess players rated above 2700.

Changing the Regulations of the World Championship in progress negatively affected top players who were already involved in the cycle, and eventually led to several withdrawals. The ACP therefore suggests that FIDE regularly consults with top players on all essential questions such as the World Championship.

At the end of November in Dresden, FIDE put forward a new format for the World Championship cycle started earlier this year. The General Assembly approved this proposal. The ACP Board subsequently contacted all players rated above 2700. Many of them eventually sent their answers, while some others expressed their views directly in the press. The whole procedure took a couple of weeks but enabled the Board to determine how the ACP had to react in order to represent top players’ opinions in the most objective way.

The ACP draws the following conclusions:

1) The essence of the World Championship is to let all greatest chess players fight to obtain the precious title of World Champion. Changing the regulations once the cycle has started, means changing the qualification process which participants have agreed to go through. Thus, players’ rights have been neglected.

2) Considering its pure content, the new system proposed by FIDE has the right to exist. It actually bears a certain resemblance to what has been tried in the past few years. However, the problematic point, which has been contested by numerous players, concerns the selection to the candidates tournament (or matches). The ACP believes that the qualification system has not been worked out in the most adequate way. It is crucial to select players according to the most objective criteria, so that the World Championship can be held at the highest possible level.

Taking into account the aforementioned points, the ACP recommends FIDE to build a sustainable dialog with chess players, where the ACP could play a role of mediator. Consultation and discussion are the key words to lay the foundations for a fair World Chess Championship cycle.

ACP Board, December 16th 2008

 
GM Fabiano Caruana

Schacksnack har ett par gånger rapporterat om Italienska mästerskapet, senast i går, som avslutades för ett par dagar sedan. Segrade gjorde GM Fabiano Caruana och han är världens högst rankadse spelare under 16 år och det är mycket därför att det är intressant att läsa om honom. I han närmaste planer ingår bland annat deltagande i CORUS GM-B som startar den 16 januari och där är han rankad åtta bland 14 deltagare.

Fabiano Caruana, the strongest Under 16 chess player in the world, won the 68th Italian Chess Championship, held in Martina Franca (Taranto, Southern Italy) from 3rd to 14th December. This is his second title in a row.

This year Fabiano had to fight harder than he did in 2007 to gain the title: after getting off to a flying start with four wins and one draw, Caruana lost in round 6 against FM Alessio Valsecchi, a promising 16 years old chess player from Bergamo. The next day, in round 7, Fabiano run into an unexpected loss again with IM Daniele Genocchio.

At this stage, Fabiano reacted and played as a big champion, going back to the highest ranking, but his effort wasn’t still over, because in round 11 he had to face 41 years old GM Michele Godena, who was just 0.5 points behind him.

Now Caruana is a world-famous chess player. That is the reason why Fabiano, who is a member of the Torre & Cavallo Chess School of Brescia, has been invited to take part to some of the most important upcoming chess tournaments: he will be in Pamplona, Spain, from 22nd to 29th December. Then from 16th January to 1st February, Fabiano will play the Corus B torunament in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherland, where early this year he won the Corus C tournament.

Fabiano Caruana is a card-carrying member of the Torre & Cavallo Chess School of Brescia, where publishing house Messagerie Scacchistiche has been established in 1990. Messaggerie Scacchistiche publishes the monthly magazine ”Torre & Cavallo Scacco!” – ”Rook & Knight Mate!” in English – and is run by former Italian Chess Champion IM Roberto Messa.

Henrik och Magnus Carlsen

Schacksnack skrev i går under rubriken ”Vilken röra” att Magnus Carlsen funderade på att hoppa av FIDE Grand Prix som skall börja spelas i Elista i Sibirien den 13 december. Nu har det blivit verklighet han hoppar av, inte bara turneringen i Elista utan hela den fortsatta GP serien framgår det av ett brev till FIDE undertecknat av hans far och manager Henrik. Svaret från FIDE finns också med i bifogad sida.

Dear Sirs,
The purpose of this e-mail is to comment upon the recent news about FIDE changing the Regulations for the 2008 -2009 Grand Prix cycle and to request your comments to our questions pertaining to this change.
Below please find some questions which you will hopefully respond to in order to shed some light on the current and future rights of players taking part in FIDE events.
Läs mer »

GM Alexei Shirov

Stormästaren Alexei Shirov har skickat ut ett pressmeddelande där han är mycket kritisk till FIDE:s handhavande av ”dopingaffären” under Schack-OS i Dresden. Spelaren som vägrade att genomgå dopingtestet (läs förra inlägget) var Vassily Ivanchuk efter det att han spelat mot Gata Kamsky. Förre världsmästaren Boris Spassky har tydligen uttalat sig i affären och detta skall ocså  publiceras.

Let’s ban the FIDE
I don’t know how many times I have said to myself that it makes no sense at all to keep getting involved in chess politics and that I should just concentrate on my work etc. But the recent FIDE “developments” possibly made many late great champions turn in their graves. That means the living chess players should speak out.

According to the Russian totally non-free chess journalist Yuri Vasiliev (fortunaltely not the most reliable one whom we know for bringing up the ghost of Alexander Chernenko) Ilyumzhinov has already stated that Vasily Ivanchuk might get severely sanctioned for the doping test refusal after his game against Gata Kamsky.

Can we believe such news? A player who has been in the very top for more than twenty years since winning New York Open in the beginning of 1988, an absolute record from currently active players, gets banned simply because he wanted to calm down after a lost game? Boris Spassky has already given his opinion about the situation but it’s not published anywhere. Suddenly Ilyumzhinov wants to say that the rules are the rules.

But the rules don’t seem legal to me unfortunately. IOC has never guaranteed that chess would become the Olympic sport, so the FIDE policy in licking their posterior is at least questionable. After the success of Intellectual games festival in Beijing it’s time to STOP trying to get into the Olympic movement. I personally feel guilty for participating in the Olympic exhibition in Sydney 2000 but at least then it seemed that the chessplayers were going to be welcome with open heart. As it hasn’t happened we have our way and we cannot lose our best representatives like this.

If FIDE and Ilyumzhinov don’t stop destroying our intellectual sport something should be done. At least step by step. I hope Mr. Hans-Arild Runde would not mind to keep calculating Ivanchuk’s results, so any organizers who still respect our game should deal with him and no longer give the official rating reports to FIDE. In fact the rating reports are generated automatically nowadays but somebody should still control that they are not changed by cancelling results.

The second part of this press-release will include some of my thoughts about the latest changes (nothing unusual, of course) in the World Championship system. Of course, with Ivanchuk ban the whole system loses its sense but there is still a chance that his case will be resolved. In fact I don’t think the idea of the Candidates tournament is as negative as some people think, adding the second place in the Grand Prix and the World Cup is a nice compensation for changing the format as long as the tournament is attractive for players and chess lovers. But giving the direct seed to the loser of Topalov-Kamsky match seems totally senseless as long as the player can prove his strength in the next World Cup or qualify by rating. He should be replaced by the second highest rated player in my opinion.

Unfortunately this opinion cannot even theoretically be supported by the ACP board as one of their leading forces Emil Sutovsky is the manager of Kamsky and the most of the rest are his cronies!

Ok, time to stop writing. Let others express their opinions on this FIDE news.

Alexei Shirov
Riga, 02.12.2008

FIDE höll kongress under Schack-OS i Dresden och efter det har det kommit ett pressmeddelande där huvudnyheten är att de åter igen kommer att förändra VM-cykeln. Segraren i denna kommer att i september 2011 att få möta världsmästaren, som är någon av dessa - Vis. Anand, Gata Kamsky eller Veselin Topalov. Vem det är avgörs enligt planerna under 2009. I februari möts Gata Kamsky och Veselin Topalov och segraren i den matchen får spela mot regerande världsmästaren Vis. Anand i september. Därefter tar det nya vid… 

Sedan var det det där med när spelarna skall vara på plats vid brädet. Enligt en intervju med FIDE ordföranden kommer han att föreslå att i samtliga FIDE arrangemang måste spelaren var på plats när klockan startas annars är partiet förlorat…  

Pressmeddelande.
The General Assembly (GA) of the 79th FIDE Congress has finished its three-day work. After the meetings of the Commissions held between 11/17-11/19th, the delegates of 136 federations listened to the report of President Ilyumzhinov the main points of which you may find in the report on FIDE website. He also emphasized growing interest of the media toward chess events in year 2008 and their good coverage.

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Följetongen – Veselin Topalov vs. Gata Kamsky - har tydligen nått fram till de sista raderna och som det verkar fått ett lyckligt slut. 

FIDE Press Release on Topalov-Kamsky Challenger Match
Wednesday, 19 November 2008 13:27

FIDE is pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached for organisation of the Challenger Match between Topalov and Kamsky. There has been full agreement between FIDE and the players regarding all aspects of the Match.

The Match will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 16th to 28th February, 2009 with a prize fund of USD 250,000 which will be shared equally by the players.

Sedan lång tid tillbaka har det utsatts datum för när utmanarematchen mellan Veselin Topalov och Gata Kamsky skall börja. Orsaken till att inte kontraktet undertecknats beror på att den finansiella biten inte lösts trots flera löften från kamskylägret. Nu verkar det vara nära…

Announcement of the FIDE President concerning the match Topalov – Kamsky

Dear chess friends,
Yesterday 3 November 2008, FIDE received the following message from Alexander Chernienko, the manager of GM Gata Kamsky: 

”Due to technical reasons (copy of the banking letter re delay of the transfer was sent by me on the 1st of November 2008), the payment of 935,000 USD according to the BID for the organisation of the Kamsky-Topalov match to the FIDE account, will be effected on the 5th November 2008.”

As we have been receiving such letters by Mr Chernienko for a long time now, with yet no transfer made to the FIDE bank account (and we are only one month before the start of the event), this will be the last extension accepted by FIDE as all possible time limits, in order to assist Mr Chernienko with his bid, have been exhausted.

If the amount of 935,000 USD is not transferred to the bank account of FIDE by Wednesday 5 November 2008, FIDE will re-open negotiations with the Bulgarian Chess Federation, the original organiser awarded to hold this match.

FIDE is obliged to take all necessary steps in order to ensure that the Challengers Match shall indeed take place and a worthy challenger for World Champion Vishy Anand will be established. We are all looking forward to this exciting match!

Gens Una Sumus,
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
FIDE President

XIII Olympiaden för synskadade spelas i Grekland och i går spelades fjärde ronden och det blev förlust för svenskarna med knappast möjliga marginal mot Spanien. Leder turneringen gör Ryssland och England utan att ha tappat någon matchpoäng och de möts i dag. Sverige ligger på 15 plats bland de 34 deltagande lagen och deras motståndare i rond fem blir Montenegro.

Partier under pressmeddelandet.

R1: Sverige- Sydafrika 3½-½.
FM Jörgen Magnusson (2299) – Samuel Isaacs William (1400), 1-0
Marcus Berggren (1875), – Andre Lucas Melvyn (1400), ½-½ 
Patrik Berggren (1925), – Johannes Grove Izak (1400), 1-0 
Patrik Gränsmark (1400), – Johannes Vosloo Cicel (1400), 1-0

R2: Tyskland- Sverige 3½-½ R3: Sverige-Indien 3-1 R4: Sverige -Spanien 1½-2½ R5: Montenegro-Sverige

Pressmeddelande från Scandinavian Chess Tornament.

Scandinavian Chess Tournament ( SCT ) kommer i samarbete med Sveriges Synskadades Schackförbund (SSSf) arrangera JVM för synskadade i Täby nästa år. Speldatum blir den 19 – 25 juni och spelplats Scandic Täby Hotell  Stockholm

Så spelar synskadade schack. När synskadade spelar schack har varje spelare var sitt bräde. Man har rätt att känna på pjäserna. För att dessa inte ska flytta på sig när man känner på dem har de en pigg i botten som sätts i hål som finns i rutorna på schackbrädet. De svarta pjäserna brukar vara markerade så att de kan skiljas ifrån de vita. Man säger alltid dragen till varandra och flyttar både sina egna och motståndarens pjäser på sitt bräde.

Genom att använda en schackklocka som det går att känna på, eller en talande klocka, så kan synskadade hålla reda på tidsförbrukningen. Protokoll över partiet kan den synskadad föra på punktskrift eller genom inspelning på band. Har man synrester så förekommer det också att man för protokoll med penna, men man använder då oftast protokoll med större text. så kallad storstil. Samma regler som gäller för spel mellan två synskadade gäller också när en synskadad spelare möter en seende.

För mera information så gå in på Sveriges Synskadades Schackförbunds hemsida.