Much is being made of Kasparov's move from chess to politics, a high-profile player entering a high-profile field. But what do other GMs get up to when they stop playing?
June 2005 Archives
Srikanth sends in this Newindpress.com item, an interesting interview with Anand's wife, Aruna, on his training habits. It appears to have been dropped into their registration-only archives already. Some clips:
Rolf Behovits, press officer of the Dortmund supertournament, is always on the ball. No other tournament gets its materials out so early and in such organized fashion. The event starts on July 8 and the press releases started coming in April!
Just in case you're interested in keeping up with Kasparov as politician, here's an interview.
I just posted the latest updates to the 2006 US Championship site. There are qualifiers from the National Open as well as the Senior and Junior championships. One oddity, mentioned in the AF4C's report on the National Open, is that there were two women's spots available but only one woman paid the registration fee.
Rediff.com has a nice chat with Vishy Anand. Nothing Earth-shattering.
Meanwhile, Mickey Adams is being obliterated by Hydra in their London match. (Their website has been rather overwhelmed. Maybe they have a Spanish web designer.) I thought he would lose but fare better than this. Kasparov said that Adams wouldn't have a chance.
US Champion Hikaru Nakamura has won the 2005 Samford Fellowship. That means a salary and expenses so he can concentrate on chess, although he's one winner for whom that won't be anything new.
Been hard to find time to blog for the last few weeks, with travel and events, but it's back to the pixel mines now. There's no shortage of hot topics, but I'll roll them out slowly. Consider this an open...
A quick pick from the Kasimdzhanov match in progress here in Times Square. White just played 32.Ne6. Exciting stuff! You can see the game here. White's low on time and sacrificing a piece against a computer. But if he goes...
In a few hours I'm off to Times Square to help run the broadcast of the PR match between FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan and the Accoona Toolbar, a search device that has incorporated a dandy chess element.
Call it cheaters chess, anything goes, vale tudo, advanced chess, or anything you like. The semifinals of the "Freestyle Chess" tournament were held today on the Playchess.com server. There is no cheating because there are no rules.
FIDE has released its list of expected rating changes for the July 2005 list. As predicted in various quarters, it looks like Anand and Topalov will be in a dead heat at 2788 for the spot of top active player.
Just in from a week in St. Petersburg, where I hope my suitcase isn't. It's definitely not at the Newark airport.
Will the last one out of St. Petersburg please turn out the lights?
The 18th Leon tournament is underway in Spain. Anand, Shirov, Kasimdzhanov, and the wunderkinder du jour, Magnus Carlsen, are the players.
My report on Kasparov's master classes with the top juniors in the USA is now up here at ChessBase.com. The Kasparov Chess Foundation has an intriguing initiative afoot, focusing on the standouts to create world-class players.
I'm off to St. Petersburg tomorrow evening. (Russia, that is. My apologies to Florida.) I'll be back on the 15th. I don't know if I'll have a chance to do anything chessic, but recommendations are welcome. My online time will...
A pity I hadn't read this US Chess Federation press release before bumping into USCF President Beatriz Marinello on Sunday at Kasparov's training session for US juniors.
When most controversy about drug testing in chess is about keeping drugs (and testing) out of the sport, the USCF has gone the other way and is endorsing an event sponsored by the maker of "brain supplements." The event is set for a human chess match on June 11 in Las Vegas. At least it doesn't say the GMs (players to be announced) will be taking the "Natrol BrainSpeed" during the game.
I've updated the US Championship website to include the qualifiers from the Chicago Open. That report and also the update to the Qualifier Grand Prix race were prepared by AF4C press laddie John Henderson.
As explained in more detail here at ChessBase, Garry Kasparov has started a new column in the magazine New In Chess. It's mostly going to be punditry, although I don't think he'll be as hard on anyone as he is on Putin in the Wall Street Journal.
Not to start a tradition of previewing events too far in advance, but there's a talking chicken out there you just can't miss. The "Fire on Board" website for the June 25-26 four-game match between Alexei Shirov and Viktor Korchnoi has a bizarre Flash animation for the ages.
If you aren't too distracted by the Miskolctapolca Cave and Thermal baths or the Junior Men's Handball World Champoionship [sic] you should check out the eight-game rapid match between Peter Leko and Michael Adams in Miskolc, Hungary. June 2-5.
