Saturday, November 10, 2012

Team Championship at Itech Chess Academy

Itech Chess Academy had organized a Team Championship on 14th October 2012. Some pictures are below:








Thursday, September 20, 2012

Online Chess Coaching by Itech Chess Academy



Why Online coaching?
1. Coaching will be interactive and real time with professional certified chess trainers.
2. Classes will be at comfort of your own home at convenient timings.
3. More affordable since it saves time.

How does it work?
1. Coaching will be done online over the Internet.
2. Both student and coach share the same desktop screen on which the training chess board is displayed.
3. Both student and coach converse with each other just as in any normal phone call.
4. Assignments and Homework is given to ensure consistent practise.
5. Regular tests are conducted to appraise the performance and progress of students.

What is the duration of each session?
1. Each session is of 1 hour duration.
2. Timings of the sessions will be at fixed time slots which are as per mutual convenience.
3. In case a session is cancelled, an alternative session is organized.
4. Normally, about 4 to 8 coaching sessions per month is recommended.

What does the Student need to have?
1. A Computer, preferably a Desktop (Laptop is also ok).
2. If Webcam is also there it is good.
3. The computer needs to have a good Internet connection (Broadband/Cable).

How much does this cost?
1. Cost of training is per session.
2. In case the student signs up for bulk number of classes, attractive discounts are given.
3. Please write an email to the Chess Master at nageshjs@gmail.com to get more details on the Fees.

How is the Payment made?
1. Payment is made online through credit card, paypal or funds transfer.
2. Account Details for making Payment will be sent by email.
3. Coaching Fees has to be paid in advance.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Practice game at Itech Chess Academy

Students playing a practice game at Itech Chess Academy: Pranav, Abhiram, Saidarshan, Nayanthara, Akash, Aditya, Sudhamadhuri, Samhitha, Tussharr, Sudhanva, Pragathi, Sameer, Srinivas, Janhavi, AdityaS, Arihant, Sumedha, Sridevi, Vatsal






Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Top 10 Chess Books

Among the thousands of Chess Books that have been written, below is my personal list of favorites. These are a must-have in your collection of the 10 Greatest Chess Books of all time.

Openings
The Ideas behind the Chess Openings - Reuben Fine

Middle Game
Modern Chess Strategy - Ludek Pachman
Pawn structure chess - Andrew Soltis
My System - Aron Nimzowitsch
Art of the Middlegame - Kotov and Keres

End Game
Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual - Mark Dvoretsky

Game Collections
Mammoth book of World's Greatest Chess Games - Graham Burgess, John Nunn, John Emms
My 60 Memorable Games - Bobby Fischer
Zurich 1953 - David Bronstein
My Best Games of Chess - Alexander Alekhine

Thursday, August 16, 2012

RIP Svetozar Gligoric (Born 2 Feb 1923; Died 14 Aug 2012)

Svetozar Gligoric, one of the legends of Chess passed away on 14th August 2012.

He was not only one of the top 10 players in the world, but also one of the most popular due to his pleasing and engaging personality. He was born in Belgrade and started chess during his late teenage years. He quickly found success by winning the club championship. After the War, his tournament results progressed and he was awarded the title of Grandmaster in 1951. Thereafter he became a full time chess professional and was an active player well into his sixties.

Apart from his over the board prowess, he was also a writer of great repute. He has authored several popular chess books and regular columns in famous magazines.

I have been lucky to meet him personally at Belgrade about 8 years back. I had gone there for a software project and took the opportunity to meet him at his residence in the suburbs of Belgrade. He lived alone, along with his wife's memories in a nice little cottage. He had stopped chess since it caused too much of tension, but he used to take piano lessons from a tutor who came to his home. I spend several memorable hours with him chatting about his past experiences and he was even kind enough to pose for pictures.

He gifted me a signed copy of the book "Shall we play Fischerandom" which he had authored and by the time i left his home by 6 PM, he had created a deep impression on my mind, which is fresh even to this day, as not only a great chess master, but also as one of the most wonderful people the chess world has seen.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Recognize the Master


Can you recognize this chess master. He was World Champion and one of the greatest players in chess history.

His birthday is tomorrow, i.e. August 12th, Year 1900.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Download Great Grandmaster Games of Chess


You can download or print great GM Games of Chess at the below link. Clicking on the Download button opens the file in PDF format (save this using "Save File As" option).

Knight Tour


The Knight Tour is one of the famous mathematical problems of the Chessboard. How can the Knight visit all the squares on the chessboard without moving to the same square twice?


This problem can be solved through a computer program using several algorithms.

Details on Wiki & ChessBase
Solutions in C-Language and Java
Below is a Video of the solution

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Most Instructive Chess Games for Beginners


One of the enjoyable ways of learning chess is to play through annotated (analyzed) chess games. By understanding how the master thinks, we can improve our own game. Below are a few excellent lists of most instructive chess games for beginners.

Discovered Attack and Discovered Check

This is one of the strongest tactical moves in Chess because the piece which moves away discovering check can inflict maximum damage to the enemy.
See the example below:
White to play wins the Black Queen through Discovered Check:

The below position is from a famous game, often referred to as the Windmill game. Alekhine wins through a beautiful series of Discovered Checks.

Discovered Check on Wiki

Answers - Knight Fork

Answers to the Positions given in the topic "Knight Fork"

Position A
1. Nc4-b6 forks the Black King and Rook

Position B
1. Nc3-e4+ forks the Black King and Queen

Position C
1 ......... Ne4-f2+
2. Kh1-g1 Nf2-d3 forks the Black Queen and Rook, winning the exchange

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Knight Fork

The Knight fork is one of the most common chess tactics. Chess players should be careful to watch for N-forks on the board.
See a simple example below (POSITION A) where White to Play can win through a Knight Fork:
POSITION A
In another example below (POSITION B), White to Play again wins through a Knight Fork:
POSITION B
Check the below example (POSITION C) from a real Grandmaster game. Black to Play wins through a Knight Fork in 2 moves.
POSITION C


Check the Video below on the Knight Fork

India Chess Tournament Calendar (AICF)


Sunday, January 29, 2012

Blindfold Chess

While Chess itself is considered to be a game played by intelligent people, blindfold chess is much more glamorous, almost miraculous. Playing without looking at the board needs tremendous concentration, focus and strong visualization abilities.

Blindfold chess was first played quite early on in the history of chess, with perhaps the first game being played by Sa'id bin Jubair in the Middle East. In Europe, playing chess blindfolded became popular as a means of handicapping a chess master when facing a weaker opponent, or of simply displaying one's superior abilities. The first famous blindfold event in Europe took place when the great French player André Danican Philidor demonstrated his ability to play up to three blindfold games simultaneously in 1783 with great success, with newspapers highlighting his achievement. Paul Morphy held in 1858 a blindfold exhibition against the eight strongest players in Paris with the stunning result of six wins and two draws.

As time went by the records for blindfold exhibitions increased. In 1900 Harry Nelson Pillsbury played 20 games simultaneously in Philadelphia. In 1924 at the Alamac Hotel of New York, Alekhine played 26 simultaneous blindfold games against very strong opponents, with the score of 16 wins 5 losses and 5 draws. The next year, Réti bettered this record by playing 29 players simultaneously in São Paulo. On July 16, 1934 in Chicago, Alekhine set the new world record by playing 32 blindfold games, with 19 wins, 5 losses, and 5 draws (Edward Lasker was the referee for this event).

George Koltanowski set the world's blindfold record on 20 September 1937, in Edinburgh, by playing 34 chess games simultaneously while blindfolded, winning 24 games and losing 10, over a period of 13 hours. The record was included in the Guinness Book of Records and was generally accepted as the world record until November 2011.

Later Miguel Najdorf claimed to have broken that record, when he played 45 opponents in São Paulo in 1947, with the result of 39 wins, four draws and two losses. However The Guinness Book does not acknowledge Najdorf's record due to inconsistent conditions.

The last increase in the record was claimed by the Hungarian Janos Flesch in Budapest in 1960, playing 52 opponents with 31 wins, 3 draws, and 18 losses. However, this record attempt has been somewhat sullied by the fact that Flesch was permitted to verbally recount the scores of the games in progress. It also took place over a remarkably short period of time, around 5 hours, and included many short games. One other notable blindfold record was set in 1960 by Koltanowski in San Francisco, when he played 56 consecutive blindfold games at a rate of 10 seconds a move. The exhibition lasted 9 hours with the result of 50 wins and 6 losses. His specialty was conducting a blindfold Knight's Tour on boards of up to 192 squares.

Recently a new world's record was set by the German Marc Lang in November 2011 in Sontheim/Germany by playing 46 opponents simultaneously and blindfolded, with 25 wins, 19 draws and just 2 losses.

This form of chess has led to considerable research in psychology, starting with the research of Alfred Binet in 1893, continuing with the work of chess grandmaster and psycho-analyst Reuben Fine in 1965, and culminating in the last two decades with several scientific articles describing experiments on the psychology of blindfold chess. In general, this research shows that what is crucial for blindfold chess are both the knowledge that chess players have acquired and their ability to carry out extraordinary visuo-spatial operations in the mind’s eye with a photographic memory.

Today there are Blindfold Chess Tournaments held throughout the year, with the highest profile event being the Melody Amber Tournament, held in Monte Carlo. This event is partly funded by the billionaire Correspondence Chess Champion Joop van Oosterom and attracts many of the world's chess elite to compete in unique circumstances. Of the modern day players, Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, Alexei Shirov and Alexander Morozevich have proven themselves to be particularly strong at blindfold chess, being alternating winners of the Amber Tournaments between 1996 and 2006.

Below is one of Kolanowski's game from the Blindfold simul.
White: Georges Koltanowski
Black: H Gemmell
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 g6 6.e4 d6 7.Be2 Bg7 8.Be3 Nd7 9.O-O O-O 10.Qd2 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Ne5 12.Rad1 b6 13.f4 Nc6 14.Be3 Qc7 15.Rc1 e6 16.Nb5 Qd7 17.Rfd1 Rd8 18.Nxd6 Qe7 19.c5 e5 20.f5 gxf5 21.exf5 bxc5 22.Bxc5 Qd7 23.Bc4 Rf8 24.Qg5 Qd8 25.Nxf7 1-0