ChessUpdated.com   Chess World in Synthesis

They worked together in Nigel’s home in Greece, and almost got themselves killed in a traffic accident. But Sergey Karjakin, 25 years younger than Nigel Short, completely outmatched him in the rapid chess match in the Academic Puppet Theatre in Kiev, Ukraine. On the final day the youngster won both games to finish with a five-point lead. Illustrated report.

Final position

GM Short (2655) - GM Karjakin (2727) [C78]
07.07.2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.d4 Bb6 9.Be3 Bg4 10.d5 Bxe3 11.fxe3 Ne7 12.Nbd2 0–0 13.Qe1 c6 14.dxc6 Nxc6 15.Nh4 Na5 16.Qg3 Nxb3 17.axb3 Bh5 18.b4 Bg6 19.Nxg6 hxg6 20.Qh4 d5 21.exd5 Nxd5 22.Qf2 a5 23.bxa5 Rxa5 24.Rad1 Qa8 25.Ne4 Ra6 26.Qf3 Nf6 27.Nxf6+ gxf6 28.e4 Qc6 29.h4 Qb6+ 30.Rf2 Rd8 31.Rdf1 Kg7 32.g4 Rd2 33.Kg2 Rxf2+ 34.Rxf2 Qe6 35.g5 fxg5 36.hxg5 b4 37.Qh3 Qc4 38.Qf3 bxc3 39.bxc3 Rc6 40.Kh2 Qb3 41.Kg2 Kg8 42.Rd2 Rxc3 43.Qf2 Qe6 44.Qh4 Rc8 45.Qg3 Kg7 46.Rd5 Rc2+ 47.Kh1 Qb6 48.Rd1 Qb2 49.Qh3 Rc1 50.Qf1 Rxd1 51.Qxd1 Qf2 52.Qg4 Qf4 53.Qg2 Kf8 54.Kg1 Ke7 55.Kh1 Kd6 56.Kg1 Kc5 57.Kh1 Kd4 58.Qb2+ Kxe4 59.Qc2+ Kd5 60.Qb3+ Kd6 61.Qb6+ Ke7 62.Qc5+ Ke6 63.Qc8+ Kd6 64.Qd8+ Kc5 65.Qa5+ Kc4 66.Qa4+ Kd5 67.Qa8+ Kd4 68.Qa4+ Ke3 69.Qb3+ Kf2 70.Qc2+ Kg3 71.Qf2+ Kg4 72.Qg2+ Kf5 73.Qh3+ Kxg5 74.Qg3+ Kf6 Black wins 0–1

Karjakin won the final two games to win the match by the score of 7.5 - 2.5 (7 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses).

Uncyclopedia is a satirically themed encyclopedia, formatted as a parody of Wikipedia. Its logo is a hollowed potato that serves as a spoof of Wikipedia’s globe logo. Uncyclopedia has a longish article on chess, with many links to satirical subarticles. Funny or not, you must decide. You can also compare it to the ‘best short humorous chess sketch ever written’

In the final installment of the ChessBase Workshop series on tweaking the various general settings in Fritz, we explore the ins and outs of the “Design” tab settings. Find out more in the latest Workshop.

The İş Bank Chess League is a round robin event with 16 teams,
each consisting of ten boards. One is reserved for women, one for a junior, one
each for boys and girls under 16, and under 14. So it was
not enough to import Georgian and Azerbaijani GMs, you had to have young local
talent as well. The team of Truva Satranç Spor Kulübü won every match and the
league. Big pictorial report.

Check out CLO’s World Open story for a photo gallery and news on norms and the Armageddon match that gave Evgeny Najer the official title over Negi, Moiseenko and Ftacnik.

White to move. Can White win this?

Van Flit, 1888, presented by Andreas

K7/1P6/k1q5/8/8/1Q6/8/8 w - - 0 1

GM Karjakin (2727) - GM Short (2655) [D37]
07.07.2008 / Chess Match - Game 9

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0–0 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.a3 Be7 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Be2 Be6 12.0–0 Rc8 13.Rfd1 a6 14.Ne5 Qb6 15.Nxc6 Rxc6 16.Be5 Ne4 17.Qb1 Nxc3 18.Bxc3 Rd8 19.Bf3 h6 20.h3 Qc7 21.Qd3 Bd6 22.Rd2 f6 23.Rad1 Bh2+ 24.Kh1 Be5 25.Bd4 Rc4 26.Qb3 b5 27.Be2 Rc6 28.a4 bxa4 29.Qxa4 Rb8 30.f4 Bxd4 31.Qxd4 a5 32.Bf3 Rb4 33.Qd3 Rc5 34.Qb1 Qb7 35.Rc1 Qb6 36.Rcd1 Qb7 37.Kh2 Qb5 38.Qg6 Bf7 39.Qf5 Rxb2 40.Rxb2 Qxb2 41.Rb1 d4 42.Rxb2 Rxf5 43.Rb8+ Kh7 44.Be4 Bg6 45.Bxf5 Bxf5 46.exd4 a4 47.Ra8 Bd7 48.d5 Kg6 49.Ra7 White wins 1–0

The current score is Karjakin 6.5 - Short 2.5

Click here to replay the game.

I left Sardinia after a few days of magnificent festivities at an incredibly special, private and exclusive event, organized by a major chess personality.

The activities on Saturday included a Las Vegas style acrobatic show, 30 minute fireworks, various groups and singers, and the ever funny Chris Tucker… This is after a spectacular event on Friday, starring Seal.

I am now in Buenos Aires. I will soon head to San Luis for a big Chess and Education conference. More to come later…

How do you describe chess? Here is one version of chess description. Special thanks to Ingvar Lind from Göteborg, Sweden for sending it in.

Chess is a game played with small figurines in dark cellars by people who were rejected by their school’s other clubs.

Chess history:

Chess is an ancient game of strategy, horses, castles, bishops and pawns. Not to be confused with Checkers, a game known for being much less fun than Chess. The game was a popular pastime for centuries among prisoners, each of whom sought to topple their king the fastest. However, the game was barely known among the middle and upper classes before Bobby Fischer’s singlehanded efforts to popularize the game in the mid-20th century, climaxing in 1972 when he convinced Boris Spassky to make chess the official game of Russia despite fierce opposition from covert and well-funded Jewish lobbyists.

Click here to read more of the funny stuff.