Sunday, May 31, 2009

2nd SUBIC Open - Final Round

Grandmaster Ghaem Maghami Ehsan of Iranian fame come as the sole leader of the 2nd Subic Open 2009. GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan, who also won the Mate of the King against Anatoly Karpov this year, confirmed his sole lead after his closest rivals match ended in a draw. As followed online the match between the title pursuider GM Sandipan Chanda against untitled Chinese youngster Xiu Deshun was the real match of the round.

On this game Xiu Deshun slowly built a strong passed black e pawn and the game gone into R+K vs R+B endgame. Sandipan make a weak move on 35.Kf3 enable Xiu to win a pawn. But perhaps due to limited time the game keep going into a rook ending and although a pawn up Xiu could not converted it into victory. This enable a number of seven players tied for second with 6,5 points. Beside Ghaem Maghami Ehsan only Bangladesi GM Rahman Ziaur join the crowded of Chinese, Indians and Vietnamese players on top 10 list.

Indonesian GM Megaranto Susanto finished with 5,5 points while other comrades IM Irwanto Sadikin , IM Tirto and FM Sebastian Simanjuntak struggling in lower list with 4 and 3 points.

Top 20 Final standing :

1. GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan IRI 2593 7,0
2.
Xiu Deshun CHN 2422 6,5
3. IM
Yang Kaiqi CHN 2413 6,5
4. GM
Rahman Ziaur BAN 2523 6,5
5. GM
Sandipan Chanda IND 2558 6,5
6. GM
Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son VIE 2588 6,5
7. GM
Ganguly Surya Shekhar IND 2625 6,5
8. GM
Gupta Abhijeet IND 2570 6,5
9.
Yu Yangyi CHN 2433 6,0
10. IM Ashwin Jayaram IND 2413 6,0
11. GM
Negi Parimarjan IND 2592 6,0
12. GM
Dao Thien Hai VIE 2546 5,5
13. GM
Deepan Chakkravarthy J IND 2482 5,5
14. IM
Bitoon Richard PHI 2479 5,5
15. IM
Sadorra Julio Catalino PHI 2451 5,5
16. FM
Arvind C J IND 2275 5,5
17. GM
Megaranto Susanto INA 2553 5,5
18. IM
Tania Sachdev IND 2423 5,5
19. GM
Paragua Mark PHI 2529 5,5
20. GM
Gonzales Jayson PHI 2465 5,5

Round 9 game :
GM Sandipan Chanda - Xiu Deshun

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

2nd SUBIC Open - Chinese Rule, Megaranto 3 points

2nd Subic International Open is an event following just after the 8th Asian Continental Chess Championship. Top host player like Wesley So does not playing and most of the Chinese player are going home for their championship, but the tournament still strong with many GM in contest. From federation point of view the event dominated by Indians and Chinese player. Top seed players are GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2625) and Persian GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan (2593). But after 4th round it is looks like the Chinese, including two untitled players, are in strong contention to finished top.

Indonesian delegations are GM Megaranto Susanto seeded no.7 (2553), IM Tirto (2417), FM Sebastian Simanjuntak (2260) and IM Irwanto Sadikin (2447). After round four Megaranto Susanto collected 3 points, only losing to Xiu Deshun who come in perfect point until this round.

Speaking of Xiu Deshun (修德顺), this guy is the one who won this year Bangkok Open ahead of seven grandmaster including Nigel Short. The tournament provided live game and every afternoon I watched in enthusiast Xiu's game. Yesterday on round four he played GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, the Vietnamese blunder in very intrique position of perhaps equally draw. After :

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Bxd2+ 5. Qxd2 O-O 6. Nc3 d5 7. e3 Qe78. cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3 c6 10. Qc2 Nbd7 11. h3 Re8 12. O-O Ne4 13. Rfe1 f5 14.Nh2 Qg5 15. f4 Qg3 16. Nf3 Re6 17. Bxe4 fxe4 18. Ne2 Qg6 19. Ne5 Qh6 20.Rf1 Nxe5 21. dxe5 Rg6 22. f5? Qxe3+! 23. Kh1 ...

I did not manage to watched the game entirely but it is clear white is in trouble and a pawn down.

The tournament did not provided any PGN files yet. Still under the influenced of Liu Wenzhe books , I keep good faith that the Chinese will again clinched this event.

GM Megaranto Susanto yang melanjutkan bertanding di turnamen Internasional Terbuka Subic ke-2 mengumpulkan 3 point dari 4 ronde. Dia hanya kalah dari pemain non gelar tapi sakti Xiu Deshun. Xiu Deshun sendiri hingga ronde 4 tampil sempurna dengan 4 poin. Sementara itu mengikuti juga IM Irwanto Sadikin lagi tersandung oleh pecatur non gelar lainnya Yu Lie di ronde empat. Sementara itu pak FM Sebastian Simanjuntak musti berjuang keras melawan satu Grandmaster dan dua Internasional Master dan berhasil menahan seri IM Barlo Nadera dari Filipina. Terakhir IM Tirto mengumpulkan 2,5 point dan berhasil seri melawan Grandmaster Dao Thien Hai dari Vietname. IM Tirto juga tersandung ama pecatur lagi-lagi non gelar Gao Rui dari Cina.

Masih dalam pengaruh buku Liu Wenzhe , kehadiran pecatur-pecatur Cina ini adalah fenomena. Ada sedikit terpikir bahwa apakah mungkin pecatur-pecatur Cina ini sengaja tidak memfokuskan dirinya kepada gelar sehingga membuat lengah lawannya? Xiu Deshun sendiri adalah pemenang Bangkok Terbuka awal tahun ini di atas banyak grandmaster, apa dia musti melalui tahap gelar FM,IM baru mencapai GM?

See Chessdom report on this tournament including games by GM Megaranto Susanto and Xiu Deshun.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Manual of Chinese School of Chess

I am thinking to start my own personal chess book review. So far I had enjoying countless book review, mainly from Chesscafe. After my stay in Singapore I had borrowed many chess books but the given borrowing time of course not adequate to finished reading most of it. So this review also served as reminder that I have read the book!

This week I come across a book “Chinese School of Chess”. The book was published in 2002 under Batsford Chess Book and written by Liu Wenzhe (刘文哲). A quick read revealed that Mr. Liu was the first Chinese titled player, Head Coach of Chinese National Team and more important he was the Founder of Chinese School of Chess. He also expert in Xiangqi (Chinese Chess) and Weiqi (Go).

This book quickly turns up very interesting. The main theme endorsed by the author is to proclaim a new approach or “school” in learning chess and interesting point is he said that indeed his School is the correct way to studied it compare to the other “schools”. Now, after being “brain washed” by many chess lessons around the world and internet from these “other schools”, reading this statement must be wakeup call. Or isn’t, yet?

The book started with a biography of Mr.Liu, again by a few paragraph quickly give an inspiration on how a 25 year age man can still become a chess master, in ’60 China. Few pages more the author tells more into the history of chess in China, you will found out that indeed chess and computer binary come from the same source that is the book of Changes or I-Ching.

And then come the main theme. Although Mr.Liu said in the book that he cannot reveal all the secret of his School, he is indeed given valuable information and “keywords” of his teaching. We will introduced to his new “stem” like the “three S” principles , Strategy, Structure and Space , superseding the “other schools” stem like “theory of centre”, “theory of piece development” and “theory of tempo”. The author then break down each stem into more intrigue sentence like in Principle of Strategy we will have a following ten standards apply (1) clarity of goal (2) aggressive activity (3) deployment of adequate material and so on, read it yourself. When reading this I imagine in original Chinese it must be presented in Chinese character or couplet similar to Jin Yong’s (Louis Cha) manual of the Nine Yin (Jiu Yin Zhen Jing) style, where the student need to remember the couplet and suddenly his brain has new a revelation and his skill increased.

By the way the “other schools” Liu Wenzhe mentioned are the :

1.The Italian School of Chess – Chess is Art, Favorite opening King Gambit
2.The Classical School of Chess – Chess is Science, usage of Queen Gambit Declined
3.The Hypermodern School of Chess – Chess is competition, switched to King Indian and Gruenfeld.
4.The Soviet School of Chess – Chess is art of competition, practiced the Sicilian Defence.

and…
5.The Chinese School of Chess – Chess is art of Thinking, weapon is Benoni Defence.

By outlining these schools the author also give excellent comments on its contribution and importantly its weakness. I really enjoy reading his analysis of each opening associated with their respected schools and I bet you won’t find these in majority chess opening books.

Other strong stem coming from Mr.Liu is the Chinese School emphasis on middlegame. This is come from the influence of Chinese Chess or Xiangqi, where the pawns do little rule and piece play is the major theme of the game. He even wrote that it is a weak approach to learn the opening and endgame first prior to learning middle game, as in other school teaching. The argument supported strongly by many annotated game by himself and by the Women Chess Champion Xie Jun, showing understanding in middle game is the winning point.

Speaking of annotated game, this is also the part where I really enjoyed. The book contained many best games played by China master against the world. Mr.Liu deeply annotated each game to very details, hey it is very instructive for amateur reader,like me and can compared to Nunn’s Understanding Chess Move by Move. You’ll soon to know that Mr.Liu annotation is more than annotation by those grandmaster who only spend one hour with only pen and paper , for fifteen dollars per game (see page 75 to believe it).

Lastly the book revealed the way the school trained their champion and the way they prepared for competing in a chess match. I read in great enthusiast on the list of what Xie Jun had done to beat Maya Chiburdanidze. In 2008 Women World Chess Championship was done in a Knock out style. This maybe the reason why Hou Yifan lost to Alexandra Kosteniuk in final, should they put it in a match style we might see another great example of this Chinese School style.

I search internet for this book review, although Chesscafe give a positive review to this book, other criticized more. So I think this book is underestimated. Of course the provocative aspect of the book like “Chinese School of Chess” is the only power to challenge Soviet School of Chess must be taken as a proud wording from a former national head coach. By the fact in 2002 there are already many China grandmaster hanging around Topalov or Anand in mostly major tournament, so this is indeed a proud success from a country with only 30 years more into chess. And most recent tournament in Subic this month also confirms that Chinese keep sending new face down their sacred mountain. Of the ten top finisher in 8th Asian Continental Open five are Chinese and in Women all top three are all Chinese. Be reminded that some of the player is not title yet. Yu Yangyi, Xiu Deshun, Wan Yunguo all passed their 2400 rating without master title!

Last word, although published this in 2002, Elder Liu rarely mentioned the aspect of computer chess. Perhaps this will spare us a room to established new challenge to his School, that is the Computer Chess of School.

You can order this amazing book via Amazon, and please click my link :) :


See the “Chinese Immortal” chess game, the first international game won by chinaman IM Liu Wenzhe against grandmaster GM J Donner Olympiad 1978, after the Indonesian section below.

Belakangan saya membaca buku seru berjudul “Chinese School of Chess” alias PERGURUAN CATUR CHINA. Buku ini dikarang oleh sang tetua pendiri perguruan ini, tetua Liu Wenche. Beliau adalah seorang pemain catur cina (Xiangqi) and Go, lahir tahun 1940 and di era ’60 memutuskan untuk beralih cabang menjadi pecatur standar international sebelumnya adalah pecatur cina. Hayo siapa yang udah 25 tahun ke atas dan masih bercita-cita menjadi grandmaster ini sumber inspirasinya. Diceritakan kalau di era kegelapan di Cina tahun 1960 catur dilarang ama pemerintah, jadi tetua Liu hanya belajar catur melalui koleksi buku di perpustakaan nasional Beijing. Tiap hari dia mencatat dan menerjemahkan artikel catur Rusia dan ujung-ujungnya menjadi International Master pertama Cina dan akhirnya menjadi ketua pelatih tim nasional negeri ini.

Buku ini menjelaskan banyak hal seru yang mengubah pandangan pembelajaran catur yang diterima dari “perguruan lain”. Tetua Liu menjelaskan ada empat perguruan sebelum perguruannya, yaitu :

1.Perguruan Catur Italia, mottonya Catur adalah Seni, pembukaan favorit adalah Gambit Raja
2.Perguruan Catur Klasik, Catur adalah Eksak/Sain, hobinya Gambit Ratu Ditolak
3.Perguruan Catur Hypermodern, Catur adalah Kompetisi, senangnya Pembukaan Raja India dan Gruenfeld.
4.Perguruan Catur Rusia, Catur adalah Seni Berkompetisi, pendukung Pembukaan Sisilia...dan tentu saja….
5.Perguruan Catur Cina, Catur adalah Seni Berpikir, senjatanya Pembukaan Benoni.


Wuiiih, mantaaaap deh. Di buku ini selanjutnya dipaparkan kelemahan masing-masing perguruan beserta pembukaannya, wah, ini nih yang jarang bakal bisa ditemukan di buku-buku pembukaan komersial lainnya.
Yang paling menarik adalah, tetua Liu akhirnya memaparkan rahasia-rahasia perguruannya. Walaupun masih malu-malu dan mengaku nggak akan mengupas habis rahasianya, tetap beberapa “kalimat kunci” dapat ditemukan dibuku ini. Tetua Liu bercerita kalau ilmu nya adalah “Tiga S”, Strategi, Struktur dan Space (Ruang). Tiga S ini adalah ilmu lanjutan kalau kita udah belajar ilmu “dasar” perguruan lain seperti “teori pusat (center)” , “teori pengembangan perwira (piece development)” dan “teori tempo”. Selepas memberikan Tiga S, masih banyak kalimat kunci lainnya seperti dari Strategi ada sepuluh prinsip lainnya yang menerangkan Strategi itu yaitu (1) Tujuan yang jelas (2) aggressive activity (3) deployment of adequate material (4) economy of means (5) fleksibiliti (6) coherence dll… wah, menerjemahkan dari Bahasa Inggris ke Indonesia aja udah susah, bayangkan kalau semua ini dipaparkan dalam huruf mandarin. Bisa kebayang para murid perguruan ini setiap hari menghapal kalimat-kalimat ini mirip menghapal Kitab Sembilan Bulan nya Jinyong.

Tetua Liu kemudian menjelaskan kalau sebaiknya catur itu penting dipelajari di babak tengahnya. Justru perguruan lain yang menekankan babak pembukaan dan akhir adalah salah. Ini dipengaruhi oleh gaya catur pecatur Xiangqi, dimana di Xiangqi bidak lebih sedikit dan berperanan kecil, duelnya justru di perwira-perwira. Dengan pemikiran ini perguruan Cina mencoba memainkan pembukaan yang cepat membuat permainan beralih ke babak tengah, seperti pembukaan Benoni. Kuatnya pengetahuan di babak tengah adalah kunci kemenangan juara wanita Xie Jun katanya.

Buku ini juga mengupas banyak partai-partai terbaik yang dimenangkan pecatur Cina. Sangat seru dan instruktif mengingat komentar-komentar tetua Liu sangat mendalam dan dilandaskan pada pemikiran versi perguruannya.
Memang sekarang pecatur Cina adalah kekuatan besar di dunia percaturan dunia. Di Subic barusan aja lima dari sepuluh besar adalah murid perguruan Cina. Dan lebih penting lagi kebanyakan dari pecatur ini masih muda dan tak bergelar, seperti Yu Yangyi, Xiu Deshun dan Wang Yunguo. Indonesia adalah negeri dengan populasi terbesar ketiga di Asia setelah Cina dan India. Di SUBIC 2009 barusan di bagian putra Cina mengirim 17 pemain, India 12, Filipina 19 (tuan rumah), Vietnam 10. Indonesia mengirimkan 4 pemain sebanding dengan Bangladesh, Iran dan Uzbekistan. Wah seharusnya dibandingkan populasinya kita minimal mengirimkan sekitar 10 pemain dong. Di bagian puteri China mengirim 12 pemain, India 6 dan tuan rumah 10. Indonesia hanya mengirim Irene. Baiklah selain meningkatkan kualitas juga ditingkatkan kuantitasnya.

Akhir cerita mari kita saksikan partai pertama yang dimenangkan Tetua Liu melawan Grandmaster International. Partai ini dijuluki “the Immortal Chinese” dimana tetua Liu mengorbankan ratu untuk men-skak mat musuhnya dalam 20 langkah.



Sunday, May 24, 2009

Shirov wins Mtel, Gelfand wins ACP 2009

As GM Hikaru Nakamura, age 21, won this year US Championship, the chess world seems likely to fell under the hand of youngster. But in the last two of the great tournament of May the "experience" players bounced back. GM Alexey Shirov, age 36, came to win 2009 MTEL at Bulgaria, half point in front of another youngster Magnus Carlsen,age 18.

In celebration to this, two more "experience" master, Peter Svidler, age 32, and Boris Gelfand of Israel, age 40, vanished their (former) youngster Alexander Grischuk and Dmitry Jakovenko, both age 25. The two finalist played last night in the 3rd ACP World Rapid Cup under the rapid game time control. Boris Gelfand clinched the title last night. I saw the very last game (round 4) where Boris played black. After 50 up moves seems like Svidler will won this round with closed eye with extra pawns extra pieces but then ......




position after 55...Rxa3
56.Bxd5 ?? Ra1+ white resign. Ronen Har-Zvi from Chess Magazine will like this for his favorite "Blunder" article.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Subic 2009 - Asian Championship Final Result

2009 8th Asian Chess Championship which dubbed as the strongest ever for Asia by FIDE Secretary Ignatius Leong just finished today. Top ten achievers will be granded a ticket to enter World Cup in Khanty Mansyisk, Rusia this coming November. Unfortunately some popular names will not be among the participant, notable is GM Wesley So who finished with 6.5 exactly above his countrymen the veteran Eugenio Torre. The final line up consist heavily on China players. Interestingly youngest woman GM Hou Yifan will be among this line up since she is playing in Open section rather than Women. The rest are three Indians, one Pinoy and one Vietname.

At Women section only three finishers will be going to world cup in 2010. All three ladies are Chinese who sending 12 players to this section. Not mentioning ex-Champ GM Zhu Chen who finished number 12, among her lost is against Indonesian ladies WGM Irene Sukandar, who finished number 11. WIM Zhang Xiaowen come out first place undefeated, surely this name should be watched in the next couple of years.

Open section final ranking :
1. GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar IND 2625 8
2. GM Zhou Weiqi CHN 2563 8
3. Yu Yangyi CHN 2433q 7.5
4. GMYu Shaoteng CHN 2504 7.5
5. GM Le Quang Liem VIE 2591 7.5
6. GM Antonio Rogelio Jr PHI 2518 7.5
7. GM Hou Yifan CHN 2590 7.5
8. GM Zhou Jianchao CHN 2635 7.5
9. GM Sandipan Chanda IND 2558 7
10. GM Sasikiran Krishnan IND 2682 7

Women Section Final Ranking :
1.WIM Zhang Xiaowen CHN 2340 9,0
2. WGM Huang Qian CHN 2410 8,0
3. WFM Ding Yixin CHN 2281 7,5

Turnamen klasifikasi Piala dunia catur di Subic Filipina akhirnya usai di babak sebelas. Keempat pecatur Indonesia, GM Megaranto Susanto, IM Irwanto Sadikin, FM Novita Anjas, FM Wahono Awam plus satu putri WGM Irene Kharisma Sukandar dipastikan tidak lolos ke Rusia tempat Piala Dunia tersebut akan berlangsung. Membaca laporan langsung dari blog pak Kris Liem memberi kesan bahwa memang turnamen ini sangat ketat. Nama-nama besar belum tentu menjamin untuk lolos. Hal ini terbukti dari nama popular seperti Wesley So, pecatur muda yang lagi beken, tersangkut di babak pertama dan akhirnya keseluruhan permainannnya tidak mampu meloloskan dia. Sementara itu grandmaster wanita termuda dari Cina Hou Yifan justru adalah salah satu peserta yang lolos karena dia ada di peringkat 7 dengan 7.5 poin. Hou bermain imbang melawan Wesley dan juga melawan pecatur muda India lainnya Parimarjan Negi. Pecatur India Surya Ganguly adalah peringkat pertama tetapi Cina kembali mendominasi dengan meloloskan lima pecatur plus tiga pecatur di seksi wanita. WIM Zhang Xiaowen tampil tak terkalahkan dengan 9/11, perlu disimak sepak terjang nya kelak!

Pak Awam Wahono berhasil mengantongi satu norma IM hasil dari mengalahkan satu GM dan satu IM, selain itu hanya dua lawannya yang non gelar. GM Megaranto Susanto agak out of form, kalah di babak pertama karna blunder hal ini sepertinya membuat dia agak nervous di beberapa babak selanjutnya. Tapi nilai 6/11 sebenarnya masih sedikit positif. Untuk Irene finish sedikit di atas mantan juara dunia yang ia kalahkan Zhu Chen cukuplah untuk menghibur, Irene selesai dengan poin 6,5/11 melalui lawan yang berat-berat, cuma satu tak bergelar.

Mari simak salah satu partai menang GM Megaranto Susanto melawan IM Ronald Bancod dari Filipina dengan buah hitam.


Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Subic 2009 Round 8 up, Irene Drew Megaranto Win

After a victory over Zhu Chen in round 5, WGM Irene Kharisma Sukandar played two draw against WGM Mohota Nisha (IND) and WGM Gu Xiaobing (CHN), making her points 4,5. China non title player lady Ju Wenjun (born 1991) still on top undefeated after playing all titled ladies on tournament.

In round 7 open Wesley So manage to escape after a risky c2 pawn sacrifice against the dubbed "Fillipino Killer" GM Al-Modiahki Moh for Qatar. Indonesian GM Megaranto Susanto win a game with GM Mahjoob Morteza making his first GM to defeated in this tournament. IM Irwanto Sadikin lost to GM Bui Vinh. FM Wahono Awam and FM Novita Anjas both in black drew against Zhang Ziyang and IM Akshayraj Kore.

Setelah kemenangan bersejarah di ronde 5, Irene main imbang melawan WGM Mohota Nisha (India) dan WGM Gu Xiaobing (China), musuh berikutnya adalah WGM Huang Qian elo rate 2410, si Huang Qian ini tampil perfect di kejuaraan beregu wanita 2007 dimana regu China juara saat itu, jadi bisa dipastikan musuh yang tangguh.

Sementara itu di Open section, pecatur tuan rumah yang naik daun Wesley So bermain super tajam dengan korban bidak dan benteng dimana-mana, tapi lawannya pecatur Qatar IM Moh Al-Modiahki dapat bertahan dengan mudah karena unggul bidak bebas di sayap menteri. Wesley terpaksa melancarkan skak abadi untuk menyelamatkan nilai 0,5. Lima papan teratas di open section sekarang bisa diliat live mulai jam 3 sore, (jam 2 WIB).

Open section Pairing for Round 8 see here
Women section pairing for Round 8 see here

GM Wesley So - IM Moh Al-Modiahki
Round 7 - Subic 2009

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 a6 8. a4 b6 9. Bg5 Bb7 10. Qd2 c6 11. Bb3 Re8 12. Rad1 Qc7 13. Bxf6 Nxf6 14. d5 cxd5 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Bxd5 Bxd5 17. Qxd5?! (D1) korban bidak di c2 demi melancarkan taktik dengan menteri dan kuda Qxc2 18. Rc1 Qxa4 19. Rc7 Rac8 20. Ng5 Rxc7 21. Qxf7+ Kh8 22. Ne6 Bd8 23. Nxc7 Bxc7 24. Qxc7 Qb4 25. Re3 Qxb2 26. h3 Rg8 27. Qxd6 a5 28. Rg3 a4 (D2) 29. Rxg7 dengan langkah ini praktis raja hitam dalam kondisi terekpos dan skak abadi dari putih sulit dihindari Qc1+ 30. Kh2 Qf4+ 31. Rg3 h5 32. Qe6 Rxg3 33. fxg3 Qxe4 34. Qe8+ Kg7 35. Qe7+ Kg6 36. Qe6+ Kg7

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Subic Round 5 up, Irene Kharisma defeats Zhu Chen

Subic Chess 2009 Round 5

Indonesian first woman grandmaster, Irene K. Sukandar defeats ex-woman champion Zhu Chen in round 5. This made the Jakarta lady ranked 6th in current table with 3.5 points. In Open section, FM Wahono Awam also success with his game against GM Wang Rui, while a clash between team mates in Megaranto versus Anjas won by Megaranto. IM Irwanto Sadikin drew the game with strong GM Murtas Kashgaleyev from Kazakhstan.

Wesley So also escape a time trouble and drew against Indian GM Abhijit Kunte. Four player tied on top with 4 points in Open Section.

Result for round 6 (UPDATED):
GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (2½) ½-½ MI Irwanto Sadikin (2½)
MI Ronald Bancod (2½) 0-1 GM Susanto Megaranto (2½)
MF Awam Wahono (2½) 0-1 GM Eugene Torre (2)
MF Anjas Novita (2) 0-1 Gundavaa Bayarsaikhan (2)

Women:
GMW Irene Kharisma Sukandar (3½) ½-½ GMW Nisha Mohota (3½)
-------------------------------
Partai Catur Round 5 - Zhu Chen (2491) - Irene K. Sukandar (2300)

Friday, May 15, 2009

Subic 2009 Round 4 up Megaranto vs Wahono

Ex-woman world champion Zhu Chen will play Irene on round 5 at Subic 2009, while again a clash between country men in open section where Megaranto facing Anjas. Meanwhile International Master Irwanto Sadikin and Fide Master Wahono Awam will face grandmaster title opponents, good for their grandmaster norm.

Pairing for Round 5 (updated) :
IM Irwanto Sadikin (2) ½-½ GM Murtas Kashgaleyev (2)
GM Megaranto Susanto (1½) 1-0 FM Novita Anjas (2)
GM Wang Rui (1½) 0-1 MF Awam Wahono (1½)

Women:
GM Zhu Chen (2½) 0 - 1 GMW Irene Kharisma Sukandar (2½)

---- ROUND 4 ----
Asian Continental Chess Championship which is a world cup qualifier still continuing in Subic Phillipine. Round 4 up now showing a first clash between Indonesian player :

Result for Round 4:
GM Yu Shaoteng (2) 1 - 0 MI Irwanto Sadikin (2)
MF Anjas Novita (1½) ½ - ½ GM Mark Paragua (1½)
MF Awam Wahono (1) ½ - ½ GM Susanto Megaranto (1)

Women :
GMW Irene Kharisma Sukandar (1½) 1 - 0 Guo Oi (1½)

follow on the site report by Kristianus Liem on potretcatur.blogspot.com

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Asian Continental CC Subic 2009

Result for Round 3 Open:
IM Irwanto Sadikin (1½) ½ - ½ GM Torre Eugenio (1½)
GM Tu Hoang Thong (1½) 1 - 0 FM Novita Anjas (1½)
GM Megaranto Susanto (1) 0 - 1 IM Dimakiling Oliver (1)

Women :
WIM Ghader Pour Shayesteh (1) ½ - ½ WGM Sukandar Irine Kharisma (1)

Wesley So recover from his lost and win over Xiu Deshun, who is a still non-title player notable for winning this year Thailand Open. Meanwhile this round only see Indonesian team grab 1 point of 4 matches with IM Irwanto drew again ex-Asia number one GM Eugenio Torre, while Indonesian first WGM Irene K. Sukandar drew again opponent from strong country Iran in Ruy Lopez. Report from Indonesian on site reveal that GM Megaranto again had difficulty and lost to his lower rate opponent in Colle system game.

----------- ROUND 2 -------------
Update on Round 2 from chessdom.

Wesley So lost to his hundred elo rating below opponent while Indonesian Irwanto harvested full point from top GM.

Berita di babak dua adalah pecatur naik daun Wesley So kalah dari pecatur Cina Yu Shaoteng yang seratusan elo rating di bawah nya. Hasil pecatur Indonesia sebagai berikut :

Round 2 Open :
GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (½) 0 - 1 IM Irwanto Sadikin (½)
FM Novita Anjas (1) ½ - ½ GM Rahman Ziaur (1)
FM Wahono Awam (½) 0 - 1 GM Paragua Mark (½)
Yang Kaiqi (0) 0 - 1 GM Megaranto Susanto (0)

Round 2 Women:
WGM Sukandar Irine Kharisma (1) 0 - 1 WGM Munguntuul Batkhuyag (1)

Highlight babak tiga nanti adalah partai Irwanto melawan pecatur tertangguh dan pertama Asia GM Eugene Torre di era Bobby Fischer (pasti belum pada lahir semua....).

-----------------ROUND 1 -----------------------
There is little information on this event so I will just copy it from chessdom:

The Asia Continental Chess Championship is going to take place in Subic Freeport, Philippines. The championship starts on May 12 and it is the qualification for the World Cup scheduled 20 Nov. to 15 Dec. 2009 in Khanty Mansiysk (Russia), and to the Women's World Championship next year. At stake in the tournament is a total of $50,000 in cash prizes for the top 40 places in the Men’s Division and $15,000 in cash prizes for the top 20 in the Women’s Division. .... for more just click on link above and for round 1 result here.

Turnamen kualifikasi piala dunia catur asia yang digelar di Subic ini sedikit sekali informasinya bagi netter. Tapi hari ini sudah ada dimuat hasil dari ronde 1 dan pairing ronde 2.

Highlight di ronde satu adalah GM China wanita Hou Yifan kalah dari Wan Yunguo dimana keliatannya adalah pecatur yang masih non gelar. GM Megaranto Susanto kalah dari pemain India (blunder kuda secara cuma-cuma??) akan tetapi Anjas menang dari IM Al Sayed dari Qatar. FM Awam dan IM Irwanto menahan seri dua GM kuat, yaitu GM dari tuan rumah Antonio Rogelio dan GM dari Iran yang lagi naik daun setelah mengalahkan Karpov, Ghaem Maghami Ehsan. WGM Irene menang atas WIM Mendoza Beverly dari Phillipine. Berikut hasil dari pemain Indonesia :

UPDATE: baca potretcatur.blogspot.com di mana Pak Kris langsung melaporkan dari lokasi pertandingan.

Round 1 - Open :
GM Megaranto Susanto 0 - 1 IM Ashwin Jayaram
GM Antonio Rogelio Jr ½ - ½ FM Wahono Awam
IM Al Sayed Moh Mad N 0 - 1 FM Novita Anjas
IM Irwanto Sadikin ½ - ½ GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan

Round 1 - Women :
WIM Mendoza Beverly 0 - 1 WGM Sukandar Irine Kharisma

semua lawan serius kecuali mungkin buat Megaranto Susanto.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Ivan Sokolov and how to defeat the Nimzo-Indian

Bahasa Indonesia di bawah.

A joy of staying in Singapore is there are many community libraries around. For chess enthusiast a chess books can be found in every branch. Some library also has chess periodic like CHESS and Chess Life. After become a library member this year I already borrowed many chess books and yesterday I come across a book called “Sokolov’s Best Games” by Ivan Sokolov. It is a collection of 50 win by GM Ivan Sokolov, born in Bosnia but stay in Holland now.

What really make me happy about the book is there are all 1.d4 win by Ivan whenever he play white. The opening I really into it, in fact I almost never play 1.e4. There are 24 games on how to defeat the Nimzo-Indian as well, almost 50% of 50 games previewed. What was inside Ivan opponent’s brain by keep playing Nimzo-Indian against him. is there are no database in 90’s , can they see that Ivan always win this defence? Or don’t they know that he even write a book on this defence? Curious about this I search his recent games and still found many won with Nimzo Indian. Back to the book, what not make this a perfect book to me is, there are no Sicilian games being played.

Here is some search on www.chessgames.com , beside win against Nimzo-Indian, Ivan still has many many win with 1.d4.

Ivan is now playing in six player round robin format Bosna Tournament. See http://tournaments.chessdom.com/bosna-chess-2009/round-4 .

Enaknya tinggal di Singapore adalah adanya banyak perpustakaan di mana-mana. Perpustakaan ini dikelola oleh pemerintah dan tiap orang bisa jadi anggota. Tentunya bagi Singaporean biaya menjadi anggota sangat murah, malah hampir gratis. Di perpustakaan ini juga banyak buku catur. Kemaren saya meminjam satu buku, Ivan Sokolov's Best Games, dan menemukan banyak hal seru di sini. Antara lain semua partai di mana Sokolov pegang buah putih selalu dimainkan dengan 1.d4, jadi buku ini hampir mirip manual tentang gimana mengalahkan lawan pakai 1.d4. Lebih detail lagi hampir setengahnya adalah partai melawan pembelaan Nimzo-India. Setelah melihat-lihat buku ini, saya coba cari partai lain di internet dan menemukan menang si Ivan ini jago dalam hal mengatasi Nimzo-Indian. Berikut link-linknya dan terakhir saksikan partai miniaturnya melawan si Ibrahimov tahun lalu.

vs S Sulskis,2004 36th Olympiad E39 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Pirc Variation
vs Kurajica, 2004 Bosnia E39 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Pirc Variation
vs Bologan, 2004 Bosnia E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical
vs Miroshnichenko, 2007 European Club Cup E49 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Botvinnik
vs Hou Yifan , 2007 Ruy Lopez Festival E49 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Botvinnik
vs K Lie, 2007 European Team Chess Champ. E37 Nimzo-Indian, Classical
vs S Sulskis, 2007 5th Gibraltar E39 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Pirc Variation
vs R Ibrahimov , 2008 President's Cup E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical
vs N Abasov , 2008 President's Cup E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3
vs S Maze, 2009 10th European Indiv. Champ. E28 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch Var.


The game against Ibrahimov can be nominated for today's shredding chess move because of its excellent attacking game, and finished only in 21 moves.

Sokolov,I - Ibrahimov,R - President Cup 2008,Baku, Round 8


1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. Bg5 c5 6. e3 cxd4 7. exd4 h6 8. Bh4 d5 9. cxd5 Qxd5? (D) the knight on f6 now can be taken and the h6 pawn became very weak. dengan langkah ini sang ratu tidak bisa lagi mempertahankan kudanya di f6. setelah terjadi pertukaran di f6, bidak di h6 sangat sulit dipertahankan. 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Nf3 Nc6 12. Qd2 now the h6 pawn is now hard to defend. Rd8 (D) 13. Qxh6 e5 14. Bd3 e4 15. Bc2 Bf5 16. Bb3 Qd7 17. Nh4 Nxd4 18. Rd1 Bg4 19. O-O Bf8 20. Qg6+ Kh8 21. Bxf7 1-0

Friday, May 8, 2009

US Championship 2009 and many more

An epic month for chess now. Azerbaijan is enjoying playing chess against FIDE "World" team here, the Chinese held a big banquet with many grandmasters including Pinoy rising star Wesley So (Mr. Su Weili) playing in team league,report on blog here , Topalov and his gang in MTEL master kick off on 21 May here.

Closer to home, GM Utut Adianto made appearances in chessbase for .... his success on Indonesian Senate Election. Let's hope he still have many times for chess. Also next week will be held in Phillipine 8th Asian Continental / Individual Men’s and Women’s Chess Championship where Indonesian first WGM Irene Kharisma Sukandar will be playing.

For now let's enjoy some show for United State where US Chess Championship 2009 started in Saint Louis Chess Club.

This year the championship kick off with 24 players. The official website provide a very good booklet and nice bios.

Live games should be provide here if everything okay.

Round 1, Friday, May 8, 2:00 pm
in USCF rating

from susanpolgar.blogspot.com

UPDATED:
US Champ Round 4 Result

1. GM Gata Kamsky (2½) 2798 ½-½ GM Joshua Friedel (2½) 2568
2. GM Yury Shulman (2½) 2697 ½-½ GM Hikaru Nakamura (2½) 2757
3. GM Alexander Onischuk (2) 2736 ½-½ IM Robert Hess (2) 2545
4. GM Varuzhan Akobian (2) 2664 1-0 GM Julio Becerra (2) 2672
5. GM Gregory Kaidanov (1½) 2662 ½-½ GM Jaan Ehlvest (2) 2649
6. IM Michael Brooks (1½) 2419 ½-½ GM Joel Benjamin (1½) 2650
7. GM Melikset Khachiyan (1½) 2632 1-0 IM Irina Krush (1½) 2496
8. IM Enrico Sevillano (1½) 2549 0-1 IM Samuel Shankland (1½) 2464
9. GM Larry Christiansen (1) 2681 ½-½ GM Alexander Shabalov (1) 2620
10. IM Ray Robson (1) 2542 1-0 GM Ildar Ibragimov (1) 2628
11. Tyler Hughes (1) 2293 1-0 Charles Lawton (0) 2350
12. GM Boris Gulko (0) 2631 1-0 FM Doug Eckert (0) 2278


Round 5 - Tuesday, May 12, 2:00 pm
Board White Rating Result Black Rating

1. GM Hikaru Nakamura (3) 2757 - GM Gata Kamsky (3) 2798
2. GM Joshua Friedel (3) 2757 - GM Yury Shulman (3) 2697
3. GM Jaan Ehlvest (2½) 2649 - GM Varuzhan Akobian (3) 2664
4. IM Samuel Shankland (2½) 2464 - GM Alexander Onischuk (2½) 2736
5. IM Robert Hess (2½) 2545 - GM Melikset Khachiyan (2½) 2632
6. GM Julio Becerra (2) 2672 - IM Michael Brooks (2) 2419
7. IM Ray Robson (2) 2542 - GM Gregory Kaidanov (2) 2662
8. GM Joel Benjamin (2) 2650 - Tyler Hughes (2) 2293
9. IM Irina Krush (1½) 2496 - GM Larry Christiansen (1½) 2681
10. GM Alexander Shabalov (1½) 2620 - IM Enrico Sevillano (1½) 2549
11. GM Ildar Ibragimov (1) 2628 - GM Boris Gulko (1) 2631
12. FM Doug Eckert (0) 2278 - Charles Lawton (0) 2350

Round 1 GM Yuri Shulman win over IM Enrica Sevillanoafter dispelled a Benoni game here:



Monday, May 4, 2009

Surreal Sicilian in Dubai

We move the attention a bit to Middle East where Dubai host the 11th Chess Championship, happened from 25 April to 05 May 2009. Final standing is belong to three players with tie break :

1. GM Kotanjian, Tigran ARM 2552 7,0
2. GM Bocharov, Dmitry RUS 2606 7,0
3. GM Anastasian, Ashot ARM 2554 7,0

and many more players followed with 6,5 points.

From many games with sicilian opening, here are two selected as they are played by higher rate players. Surreal Sicilian is a collection of recent Sicilian games won by black in less than say 30 moves. Let see how this girls went out:

Nino Gurieli - Valeriy Neverov
B22 2.c3 Alapin variation


Khayala Isgandarova - Alex Fedorov
B30 Nimzovich-Rossolimo variation


Top finisher of the tournament, GM Tigran Kotanjian, photo from http://www.arabfide.com/dubaiopen2009/webalbum1/index.htm , curiously many of the chess set come without a cross affixed on the king piece, as on this photo.

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