Today was the start of the sophomore edition of the NH Tournament in Amsterdam, organized by the Max Euwe Association. Fittingly, it's a Scheveningeningeningeningen format tournament, a team event in which every member of the "Rising Stars" team of top young players faces each member of the "Falling Stars" "Experience" team of veterans. Last year Carlsen led the Rising Stars to a +6 victory and won the main prize of qualifying to play in this year's Melody Amber rapid/blindfold event. He's absent this year but the prize remains the same.
Experience: Beliavsky, Jussupow, Khalifman, Ljubojevic, Nikolic.
Rising Stars: Karjakin, Cheparinov, Negi, Stellwagen, Smeets.
Team changes from last year: Nikolic and Khalifman replace Nunn and Andersson. Negi and Cheparinov replace Carlsen and Wang Hao. It's more balanced, but the kids are the favorites again. I'm sure there are many lessons these budding chess stars can learn from such an august assemblage of veterans. Things like, "save for retirement," and "one bottle of vodka per day should be enough for anyone."
The Stars got off to a +1 start on a slow first day with four draws and a win by Smeets over Nikolic. New In Chess editor-in-chief and friend of the Dirt Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam is again providing extensive reports after each round. He'll be happy to take some questions if you post them below.
Better Know Moldova™: Moldova's territory is 33,843 square kilometers (13,067 square miles). (Including Transnistria, a part of Moldova that is trying to break away.) That makes it a little smaller than Switzerland, Taiwan, or Maine and a little bigger than Belgium, Armenia, or South Carolina.
I think i am putting my money on Negi. I know he's not the strongest... it's just a hunch.
so still bitching about prostitutes Mig?
> Things like, "save for retirement," and "one >bottle of vodka per day should be enough for >anyone."
and
>Better Know Moldova™:...
I love this blog.
"Save for retirement" is a good one. I'm waiting for someone to jump on the whinning wagon and go pc about the "bottle of vodka" implication.
I just looked at the pictures of the "opening, 1st round." Talk about an inauspicious beginning: 1st picture-Danailov. Also, I'm still trying to figure out what that stuff is above Karjakin's upper lip?
Maybe one could add "Save for retirement can be a wee bit difficult when you grow up in a socialist care-for-your-grandmasters type of country that ceases to exist by the time you need it" or "Head for the exits"...
Save for retirement on 8 dollars an hour and other brilliant ideas from the 80K crowd.
Oh Bartleby! Oh, the tragedy!
"Save for retirement" , "bottle of vodka" ..."Better know Moldova"...You are a wicked person, Greengard, and I'm lovin' it.
"Maybe one could add "Save for retirement can be a wee bit difficult when you grow up in a socialist care-for-your-grandmasters type of country that ceases to exist by the time you need it"...."
Or maybe one could add "Save for retirement can be a wee bit difficult when you grow up in a mixed-economy type of country in which Social Security and employer-sponsored retiree health care ceases to exist by the time you need it"
@ Jon J: I'd laugh except I'm scared you'll be right!
Jon Jacobs, maybe you are right, but I doubt that anyone on the Experience team can teach the kids a valuable lesson about what "employer-sponsored" means.
I am sure the Vodka lesson will not go unnoticed by the youngsters.
But the one thing to learn is of course "Keep on winning" - and do whatever Viktor Korchnoi is doing so you never will have to play in semi-charitable team events like this.
Jon,
You sound so cynical. We all know that growing old in the good old USA is all chocolate and roses. You've got Uncle Sam to take care of you and soon Billiary will introduce her new health care system (after the next election)that will take care of the 43,000,000+ who don't have any coverage and will make growing old here so enjoyable that we will no longer have to concern ourselves with border security etc. Plus, the last I heard, social security is only about 4.5 trillion (with a "t") in debt; pocket chage for all us wealthy citizens. Yepperdoddle, isn't life grand? So, to all you youngsters out there, play chess, tomorrow will take care of itself. So Jon, no more cynicism...OK.
korchnoi should be in the charity event... of course, beliavsky is still going pretty strong (and pretty crazy in the openings...). Can't understand why khalifman is being put into these events, hes barely 40...
anyway, whos the drunk guy out there?
I think retsina and ouzo is better aprés chess.
They should have invited Mecking and Anderson. The number of short draws would skyrocket though. I agree that Korchnoi should be invited to this event every year as a matter of fact. He is 75 years old and still playing at +2600 level. Amazing.
Another, rather different tournament which pits youth against experience is the Euwe Stimulans tournament in Arnhem (Netherlands).
Veterans Oscar Panno, Fridrik Olafsson and Nona Gaprindashvili compete with seven younger players (none of whom, to be honest, I'd ever heard of before) in a round-robin.
IM Amon Simutowe of Zambia needs only a final-round draw to win the tournament. If I understand the Dutch site correctly, he has already secured his final GM norm and will be awarded the title once he achieves a rating of 2500.
This would make him the first sub-Saharan GM (though not the first African - there are already GMs in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco).