Chess Equipment

Chess Equipment such as Boards, Pieces (chessmen), Clocks, Books and Scoresheet pads are available for sale at Itech Chess Academy.

Those interested in purchasing the equipment can contact the Academey, which is the best place in Bangalore for Chess Coaching.

Details on ICA & Map to reach ICA

Aeroflot Open 2011

Defending champion Le Quang Liem of Vietnam retained his title in the 2011 edition of the biggest open of the year in Moscow, the Aeroflot open. After 9 rounds he scored 6.5 points (5 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss to Cheparinov) with rating performance of 2809.

Sandipan Chanda of India did well to finish 11th scoring 5.5 points.

Official Tournament page
All reports on Chessbase & TWIC
Download games - GrpA & GrpB
Read this interesting article on Le Quang Liem

Gibralter Masters 2011

Vassily Ivanchuk won the 2011 Tradewise Gibralter Masters with an incredible rating performance of 2968. After 10 rounds of play he scored 9 points (8 wins and 2 draws).

Nigel Short did well to come second with 8.5 points while the best performers from India were Narayanan Gopal and Pentala Harikrishna with 7 points.
79 year old legend Korchnoi finished with 2634 performance

Official Tournament Site
All reports on Chessbase & TWIC
Download all games in PGN

Itech Chess Academy Map

Below is the map for Itech Chess Academy, the best place for Chess Coaching in Bangalore. Students are trained in all aspects of the Royal game.

Click on the image to open a larger version of the image.

Chess Quotes on Bobby Fischer

Compiled by my student Ashrit RM

• "Chess is war over the board. The object is to crush the opponent's mind." - Bobby Fischer
• I am the best player in the world and I am here to prove it." - Bobby Fischer
• One day you give your opponent a lesson, the next day he gives you one.-Bobby Fischer
• Even as a boy, Bobby was his own man. He knew what he wanted, he felt that he knew what was right, and he made his own decisions. Once convinced of something, his integrity, pride and absolute independence ruled out any compromise. Once he made up his mind there was no changing it. Many often had a go at it; Ethel and I never did. And even when the general consensus was that he was dead wrong, it turned out more often than not that he was right. As the heart has its own reasons, so has genius. -- Jack Collins
• What is chess, do you think? Those who play for fun or not at all dismiss it as a game. The ones who devote their lives to it for the most part insist that it's a science. It's neither. Bobby Fischer got underneath it like no one before and found at its center, art. -- Ben Kingsley (from Searching For Bobby Fischer)
• The beauty of his games, the clarity of his play, and the brilliance of his ideas have made him an artist of the same stature as Brahms, Rembrandt, and Shakespeare. -- David Levy (on Fischer)
• By this measure, I consider him the greatest world champion. -- Garry Kasparov

• There's no doubt that the title meant something to him. It meant more than anything. Proof of that is the fact that after winning it he stopped competing. But with or without the title, Bobby Fischer was unquestionably the greatest player of his time. -- Burt Hochberg

Paul Keres

Authored by my student Aushim

Born: January 7, 1916 at Narva, Estonia (former USSR)
Died: June 5, 1975

Important tournaments
Keres narrowly missed a chance at a world chess championship match on five occasions. He won the 1938 AVRO tournament, which led to negotiations for a World Championship match against champion Alexander Alekhine, but the match never took place due to World War II. Then after the war he was runner-up in the Candidates Tournament on four consecutive occasions.
Due to these and other strong results, many chess historians consider Keres the strongest player never to become World Chess Champion.
In the AVRO tournament 1938, Paul Keres tied with Fine for the first time, being ahead of star chess players like Mikhail botvinnic, Max Euwe, Reshevsky, Alekhine, Capablanca and Flohr.
AVRO was one of Keres finest tournaments. He then went on to beat Fine 1½–½ and proceeded to challenge Alexander Alekhine in the finals, but the match was stopped due to the world war II.

Great achievements
Keres won the exceptionally strong USSR chess championship three times. In 1947, he won at Leningrad. The field included every top Soviet player except Botvinnik. In 1950, he won at Moscow, against a field which was only slightly weaker than in 1947. Then in 1951, he won again at Moscow, against a super-class field which included Efim Geller, Petrosian, Smyslov, Botvinnik, Yuri Averbakh, David Bronstein, Mark Taimanov, Lev Aronin, Salo Flohr, Igor Bondarevsky, and Alexander Kotov. This was the peak of his career and was nicknamed ‘the crown of chess’.

Chess style
In his early days, Paul Keres was known for a brilliant attacking style. His playing matured after playing correspondence chess extensively. English Opening, King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation and Keres variation were his favourite openings.

I like Paul Keres as he was a very aggressive player, pretty much modern at his times and was one of the few players to win a chess championship three times in a row.

Details on Wiki & ChessGames

Biography on SupremeChess & CMCoach

Download 1120 games of Keres (zip file)

Endgame Simulation

Endgame simulation on ChessVideos

This is an excellent page where you can simulate various Endgame positions. You can make your move and check if it is correct or not.

Simple Checkmates - King & Rook vs King

Mate can be delivered within 18 moves by King and Rook versus King.

This mate is similar to the King & Queen vs King, but you may have to play waiting moves if necessary.

Check this video on YouTube
Practise this method on ChessVideos
Explanation of the technique here

Other Simple Checkmates on CWBlog: K+Q vs K, K+R+R vs K

Chess Benefits Poster

Chess Coaching at Bangalore

Itech Chess Academy conducts Chess Coaching classes at Bangalore.

Classes are conducted at Rajajinagar, Mathikere, Sanjaynagar, Malleshwaram and Rajarajeshwarinagar.

There are 2 batches - one for Beginners and one for Advanced players. Classes are conducted on Saturday and Sunday at convenient timings. Classes will be a mix of Theory and Practise sessions. Tournaments are also conducted regularly.

Training is given on Chess topics like Basics, Rules, Opening Traps, Opening Theory, Middle game, Analysis, Tactics, Planning and Endgame.

Coaching is done by Nagesh, a FIDE Rated Player and National Arbiter.
Contact Nagesh on 9845151403. Email Id is nageshjs@gmail.com
Click here for a Map to Itech Chess Academy & Chess Equipment available at ICA

List of brilliant Chess Games

Below are some lists of the most Brilliant Games of Chess played.

On Wiki

Goldsby's List - here & here

Soltis List on Chess.com - Part1

ChessManiac List

Another good list on Listology

Few lists on ChessGames - here & here

Marshall's Brilliancy

This is the famous game by Marshall, where it is said, after the spectactular move Qg3 played by him, the spectators showered Gold coins on the chessboard!

1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Nc3 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.exd5 exd5 6.Be2 Nf6 7.O-O Be7 8.Bg5 O-O 9.dxc5 Be6 10.Nd4 Bxc5 11.Nxe6 fxe6 12.Bg4 Qd6 13.Bh3 Rae8 14.Qd2 Bb4 15.Bxf6 Rxf6 16.Rad1 Qc5 17.Qe2 Bxc3 18.bxc3 Qxc3 19.Rxd5 Nd4 20.Qh5 Ref8 21.Re5 Rh6 22.Qg5 Rxh3 23.Rc5 Qg3!! 0-1

Download PGN of this game
Play through this game online on ChessGames
The game explained on ChessHistory site

Birthday Celebration at ICA

Below are some photographs of Viha's Birthday celebration at Itech Chess Academy

Chess Videos from World Blitz Championship qualifier

Check out these very interesting Chess Videos from World Blitz Championship qualifier

Viswanathan Anand

Compiled by my student Sai Darshan

Achievements
Became first grandmaster in India in 1988
Became the first Indian to win the FIDE world championship in 2000
Won the chess Oscar many times
World chess champion in 2007 and 2008

Summary Bio
Full name: - Vishwanathan anand
Country:-India
Born: - 11 December (1969)-Tamilnadu. India
Peak rating:-2810
Present:-no 2

Notable win
2006: Mikhail Tal Memorial Blitz Tournament, Moscow
2007: Morelia-Linares Super Grandmaster Tournament, Linares
2007: 20th Magistral Ciudad de Leon Chess, Leon beat Topalov
2007: Chess Classic (Rapid), Mainz
2008: Morelia-Linares Super Grandmaster Tournament, Linares
2008: Chess Classic (Rapid), Mainz

Awards
1985: Arjuna award for Outstanding Indian Sportsman in Chess
1987: Padma Shri, National Citizens Award and Soviet Land Nehru Award
1991-1992: Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award
1998: British Chess Federation 'Book of the Year' Award for his book 'My Best Games of Chess'
2000: Padma Bhushan
2001: Jameo de Oro the highest honor given by the Government of Lanzarote in Spain
1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008: Chess Oscar
1998: Sport star Millennium Award
2007: Padma Vibhusha

Young career
Viswanathan Anand's rise in the Indian chess world is dramatic. He gained national recognition at an early age, when won the National Sub-Junior Chess Championship in 1983, at the age of fourteen.
Entry To World Chess Championship:- In 1988, Viswanathan Anand became the first Grandmaster of India, by winning the International Chess tournament held in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. This achievement won him one of India's most prestigious civilian awards - the Padma Shri. The following decade proved to be the golden period for Anand.

Details on Wiki, ChessGames & Maskaret

Play through over 2000 Anand games

Anand @ CWBlog: Interview, WCC against Topalov, win over Kasparov

Jose Raul Capablanca

Authored by my student Ashrit RM

Jose Raul Capablanca. Who has not heard of him! He is one of the greatest players of all time.

He is my personal favourite also. His magical endgame play has captivated thousands.
So this is how it all started...

On the 19th November in 1888 Capablanca was born. He was born to a Spanish army officer in Havana, Cuba. He learnt chess at the tender age of four, while watching his father play. There is a small story I would like to share with you. As I mentioned to you before, he learnt the game by watching his father play. And after some days, he pointed out an illegal move made by his father. His father was surprised, but suspected that Capablanca had a talent for chess. This suspicion was confirmed after he was defeated by Capablanca, a month later. There are many other such fascinating stories which I will relate to you later.

Capablanca was excellent at rapid chess games. Playing 602 games in 27 cities, he gained a distinction of 96.4% win (highest of that time).

In 1911, Capablanca challenged Emanuel Lasker for the World Championships. Lasker agreed to it. However, he proposed 17 conditions for the match. Capablanca objected to some of them and the match did not take place. In a tournament in 1913, he won all the thirteen games.

Capablanca became the world champion after defeating Lasker in 1921, in Havana, Cuba.
After this he played a match against Marshall, in which for the first time Marshall used his main weapon 'Marshall Attack". It is an attack, so complex that even great players such as Garry Kasparov avoid it. Even in this variation, he managed to pull out and gain a victory.

After this point, he was never defeated in the next eight years, until Richard Reti (another really good player; famous for the Reti opening) finally defeated him.
He passed away on 8 March 1942 at the age of 53. The world had lost someone very special.

Details on Wiki, ChessGames & ChessCorner

Play through over 500 games of Capablanca

Alexander Alekhine

Authored by my student Rohit RM

Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine, one of the greatest chess players was born on October 31 1892 in Moscow, Russia. He was born into a rich family and was taught chess by his mother.

His first known tournament was a correspondence which he played at the young age of 10. In 1909 he won the all-Russian amateur tournament held in Saint Petersburg. From then he played in tougher tournaments, of which some were held outside Russia and by the age sixteen he established himself as the one of the best players in Russia. Alekhine won his first major Russian tournament, when he tied for first place with Aron Nimzowitsch in the All-Russian Masters Tournament at St. Petersburg. Afterwards, they drew in a mini-match for first prize (they both won a game). In 1914 he came 3rd in the St. Petersburg tournament behind Emanuel Lasker and Jose Raul Capablanca.

He was and is known for his for his fierce and imaginative attacking style, and positional endgames. He brought in innovations in many of the openings.

Alekhine won the world chess champion against one of the best players of his times, Capablanca. This was held in Buenos Aires in the year 1927. He was the world champion until 1935, when he challenged Max Euwe to whom he lost the title. He won back the title within a gap of two years in 1937, against Max Euwe.

On march 24th 1946 he passed away due to unknown circumstances at the age of 53 in Estoril, Portugal.

Details on Wiki & ChessGames
Play through over 2200 games of Alekhine
Below is an Endgame brilliancy by Alekhine playing white

Giuoco Piano, Bd2 Main Line

Below are the first 12 moves of Giuoco Piano, Bd2 Main Line 

1. e2-e4 e7-e5 

2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 

3. Bf1-c4 Bf8-c5 

4. c2-c3 Ng8-f6 

5. d2-d4 e5xd4 

6. c3xd4 Bc5-b4+ 

7. Bc1-d2 Bb4xd2+ 

8. Nb1xd2 d7-d5 

9. e4xd5 Nf6xd5 

10. Qd1-b3 Nc6-e7 

11. 0-0 c7-c6 

12. Rf1-e1 0-0 

(=)

Click here to view the moves on my Lichess study page

Check more details on Wiki

Play through 3232 games on ChessGames 

Check this nice tutorial on Chesscorner

Garry Kasparov

Compiled by my student Mahanthesh

Birth Date: April 13, 1963
Birth Place: Baku, Azerbaijan
Residence: Moscow, Russia
Mother: Klara Shagenovna Kasparova
Father: Kim Moiseyevich Weinstein
Interests: History, Politics, Literature, Computers

Championship Defenses
Year--Place--Opponent--Result
1984--Moscow--Karpov--abandoned
1985--Moscow--Karpov--Kasparov wins title
1986--London/Leningrad--Karpov--Kasparov retains title
1987--Sevilla--Karpov--Kasparov retains title
1990--New York/Lyon--Karpov--Kasparov retains title
1993--London--Short--Kasparov retains title
1995--New York--Anand--Kasparov retains title
2000--London--Kramnik--Kasparov loses title

Highlight--Year--Age
Started Playing--1968--5
Soviet Junior Champion--1976-77--12-13
World Junior Champion--1980--17
International Grandmaster--1980--17
Joint 1st USSR Champion--1981--18
World Champion Finalist--1984--21
World Champion--1985 to 2000--22-35 (15 yrs)
World's #1 Rated Player--1984 to 2006--21-42 (22 yrs)
1st Player ever to top 2800 rating--1990--26
Only player ever to reach 2851 rating--1999--37
Won Linares & announced retirement From competitive chess--2005--41

Kasparov's official website
More on Kasparov on Wiki & ChessGames
Play through 1800 of Kasparov's games
Check Kasparov's Immortal Game here
One of Kasparov's brilliancies against Karpov

Boris Spassky

Authored by my student Ashrit RM

Boris Spassky is one of the all-time greats in chess. He was born on January 30 1937(he is now aged 74). He was born in Soviet-French chess player. He was born in Leningrad, Soviet Union.

Spassky won the Soviet Chess Championship twice outright (1961, 1973), and twice more lost in playoffs (1956, 1963), after tying for first during the event proper. He was a World Chess Championship candidate on seven occasions (1956, 1965, 1968, 1974, 1977, 1980, and 1985). He was a part of the Fischer-Spassky chess match in 1972, one of the most famous chess matches in history.

His early coach was Vladimir Zak, a respected master and trainer. Spassky learned to play chess at the age of five on a train evacuating from Leningrad during World War II, and first drew wide attention in 1947 at age ten, when he defeated Soviet champion Mikhail Botvinnik in a simultaneous exhibition.

During his youth, from the age of ten, Spassky often worked on chess for up to five hours a day with master-level coaches. He set records as the youngest Soviet player to achieve first category rank (age ten), candidate master rank (age eleven), and Soviet Master rank (age fifteen). In 1952, at fifteen, Spassky scored 50 percent in the Soviet Championship semi-final at Riga, and placed second in the Leningrad Championship that same year, being very praised by Botvinnik.

Spassky made his international debut in 1953, aged sixteen, at a tournament in Bucharest, Romania, finishing tied 4th-5th with 12/19, an event won by his trainer, Alexander Tolush, and where he defeated the strong grandmaster Vasily Smyslov. He was awarded the title of International Master by FIDE.

By sharing 7th-9th place, with 11/20, at the 1955 Goteborg Interzonal, he qualified for the 1956 Candidates' Tournament, held in Amsterdam, automatically gaining the grandmaster title, and was then the youngest to hold the title. During Spassky's three-year reign as World Champion, he won several more tournaments. He placed first at San Juan 1969 with 11½/15. Spassky's reign as world champion lasted three years, as he lost to Fischer of the United States in 1972 in the "Match of the Century". This game is one of the greatest games of all-time.

Spassky continued to play some excellent chess after losing his crown, winning several championships. In 1973, he tied for first at Dortmund on 9½/15 with Hans-Joachim Hecht and Ulf Andersson. A very important victory for him was the 1973 Soviet Chess Championship at Moscow (URS-ch41). He scored 11½/17 in a field which included all the top Soviet grandmasters of the time.

Boris Spassky on Wiki & ChessGames
Play through over 2400 games of Spassky here
Below is a brilliancy played by Spassky with black pieces

Academic Benefits of Chess

Compiled by my student Hazuin Hussain

Chess directly contributes to academic performance. Chess makes kids smarter. It does so by teaching the following skills:

• Focusing - Children are taught the benefits of observing carefully and concentrating. If they don't watch what is happening, they can't respond to it, no matter how smart they are.

• Visualizing - Children are prompted to imagine a sequence of actions before
it happens. We actually strengthen the ability to visualize by training
them to shift the pieces in their mind, first one, then several moves ahead.

• Thinking Ahead - Children are taught to think first, then act. We teach them to ask themselves "If I do this, what might happen then, and how can I respond?" Over time, chess helps develop patience and thoughtfulness.

• Weighing Options - Children are taught that they don't have to do the first thing that pops into their mind. They learn to identify alternatives and consider the pros and cons of various actions.

• Analyzing Concretely - Children learn to evaluate the results of specific actions and sequences. Does this sequence help me or hurt me? Decisions are better when guided by logic, rather than impulse.

• Thinking Abstractly - Children are taught to step back periodically from details and consider the bigger picture. They also learn to take patterns used in one context and apply them to different, but related situations.

• Planning - Children are taught to develop longer range goals and take steps toward bringing them about. They are also taught of the need to reevaluate their plans as new developments change the situation.

• Juggling Multiple Considerations Simultaneously -Children are encouraged not to become overly absorbed in any one consideration, but to try to weigh various factors all at once.

None of these skills are specific to chess, but they are all part of the game. The beauty of chess as a teaching tool is that it stimulates children's minds and helps them to build these skills while enjoying themselves. As a result, children become more critical thinkers, better problem solvers, and more independent decision makers.

10 Benefits of Chess regarding Health

Compiled by my student Hazuin Hussain

1) Chess helps patients who suffered from stroke and disabilities to recover. Chess develops the fine motor skills of these individuals as chess requires the motion of chess pieces in different.

2) Chess optimizes the memory performance.

3) Chess improves visualization. For example, before implementing a move a player imagines/ visualizes the effect on chess board or game. A player considers different moves or possibilities before playing a move in other words a player visualizes different moves in his mind and selects the best one that adds accuracy and benefit to his game and increases his chances of winning.

4) Pattern recognition is a fundamental quality momentous in chess. You need to recall previous moves and compare it with the current scenario (position) before placing a move since; it is very difficult to recall each and every move as there are thousands of moves and its is almost impossible to recall them at one time therefore your mind search for pattern and similarity in each scenario (position), thus improving pattern recognition.

5) According to recent studies, Chess assist the persons suffering from physical and emotional disability to recover completely.

6) Experiments revealed that, chess leads to improvement in cognitive functioning (as chess improves attention, memory, organization skills and perception). It improves the ability of cognitive-impaired individual to work on issues related to orientation, sensory stimulation and environmental awareness.

7) According to American Therapeutic Recreation Association (2005), the involvement of individual (suffering from spinal cord injury) in recreational activity specifically chess, improves his ability to enjoy life (life satisfaction), make social contacts or interaction and quality to overcome or suppress depression. This leads to decreased loneliness, increased social interaction, improved morale and ability to manage stress efficiently.

8) Chess (as recreational therapy) prevents or reduces non-adaptive or inappropriate behavior (American Therapeutic Recreation 2005).

9) Chess prevents anxiety and depression by encouraging self improvement, improving self esteem and self confidence.

10) Chess improves visual memory and visual perception in addition to this; it improves caution/ attention and awareness.

Benefits of Chess

Compiled by my student Hazuin Hussain

-Chess is fun
»no chess game ever repeats itself, which means you create more and more new ideas each game. It never gets boring

-Chess is cheap
»you don't need big fancy equipment to play chess

-Full brain workout for better brain health
»focus
»speed
»attention
»memory
»flexibility

1) Chess accommodates all modality strengths.
2) Chess provides a far greater quantity of problems for practice.
3) Chess offers immediate punishments and rewards for problem solving.
4) Chess creates a pattern or thinking system that, when used faithfully, breeds success. The chess playing students had become accustomed to looking for more and different alternatives, which resulted in higher scores in fluency and originality.
5) Competition. Competition fosters interest, promotes mental alertness, challenges all students, and elicits the highest levels of achievement (Stephan, 1988).
6) A learning environment organized around games has a positive affect on students' attitudes toward learning. This affective dimension acts as a facilitator of cognitive achievement
7) Chess supplies a variety and quality of problems. As Langen (1992) states: ``The problems that arise in the 70-90 positions of the average chess game are, moreover, new. Contexts are familiar, themes repeat, but game positions never do. This makes chess good grist for the problem-solving mill.'

-Improve our thinking skills
»because chess requires identifying patterns, calculating moves
»chess develops memory and logical thinking
»promotes imagination and creativity
»learn about fairness and not cheating

-Increases concentration
»you are focused on only one main goal-to checkmate and become the victor
»as a child or adult first starts learning the game of chess, they may just be planning one move at a time. They do not have the skills to think ahead. But as they improve, they get better at thinking more moves in the future and planning strategies and counter strategies to defend their pieces as well as capture their opponent's pieces

-Chess inspires self-motivation
»search of the best move, the best plan

-Chess teaches independence
»you are forced to make important decisions influenced only by your own judgment
»learn confidence and self-esteem

-Chess improves schoolwork and grades
»numerous studies have proven that kids obtain a higher reading level, math level and a greater learning ability overall as a result of playing chess

-Teaches discipline from a very early age
»you have to be responsible for your actions, you make a move, you had better think ahead about what's going to happen

-Chess is a game for people of all ages
» You can learn to play at any age and in chess, unlike in many other sports, you don't ever have to retire. Age is also not a factor when you're looking for an opponent --young can play old and old can play young.

Check this interesting video on Youtube

Funny stories in Chess

There is a lot of humour in real-life chess. Check the example below:

Lasker received a box of cigars from a man, just before his match with Steinitz. The man said: "Smoke those cigars during the games. They will bring you luck."
Lasker smoked one cigar before the match, but was disgusted because the quality of the cigars was very bad. So he threw the whole rubbish away.
After he won the match he met this man again.
"My cigars brought you luck, didn't they?"
"Of course, they did!" said Lasker.
"So, you did smoke them all?"
"Not me! I gave them my opponent, he smoked them. And this brought me luck and victory."

More humour here, here and here

Find some Chess-Jokes here

Simple Checkmates - King & Queen vs King

In any position, mate can be delived within a maximum of 12 moves with King and Queen against a lone King.

The basic idea is to push the lone King into a corner or edge of the board where mate is possible. But be careful you do not allow Stalemate.

Here is a detailed explanation diagram by diagram
Explanation with moves on Wiki
Practise this mate on ChessVideos


Other Simple Checkmates on CWBlog: K+R vs K, K+R+R vs K

Below is a video explaining the technique

Reti's endgame study

This endgame study published in 1921 is one of the most famous compositions in chess. The beautiful solution has the theme that the shortest distance between 2 points is not necessarily a straight line.

Though the position seems hopeless for White, White to play, can actually get a draw in this position.

Check this position on Wiki and Chess

Also a Video explaining the solution is below

Hou Yifan story

Hou Yifan, the 16-year-old chess prodigy, tells Peter Foster about training, travelling - and Oliver Twist in this very interesting Telegraph interview.











Below is an instructive analysis from the Womens World Championship

Nakamura wins Tata Steel tournament 2011

Hikaru Nakamura won his first super-tournament scoring 9/13, half a point clear of World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand. Magnus Carlsen and Levan Aronian tied with 8 points for 3rd and 4th places.

The tournament had almost all the top players of the world and ran for 13 rounds at Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands.


Official site
Download all games in PGN: GrpA, GrpB, GrpC
Reports on ChessBase & TWIC