Brazil make history to take PanAm trophy
Posted by Webmaster on 19 Aug 2009
Few would have thought of it, but yes - saving hard-fought draw v Cuba in the last round's top match of 8th Panamerican Team Championship the host team of Brazil took their first ever Panamerican trophy, while Cuba failed to win for the first time since 1985.The 8th edition took part in Mendes, Brazil, after six year long break. Just six teams arrived, still some progress compared with mere four sides competing in 2003. The event was dominated by Cuba and Brazil with other sides being tangibly weaker. Cuba, led by GM Dominguez (2716) dropped couple of points in some early rounds while Brazil went flawlessly on to the finish. Cuba had to beat the host side, had they dreamt of defending the title, but they actually never looked even close; they must be happy to save the draw. Venezuela took surprise third having superior Berger than Argentina. It must be noted that Dominicana scored decent 5/20 on their premier appearance.
The historic win paved Brazil's way to next year's World Team Championship which is to be held in Turkey. Fortunately the year 2009 will be the very special one - all four continental championships will hopefully take place this year, something that never happened before! The good news is that Mozambique, following successful experience of last year's FIDE Zone 4.3 Team Championship will revive African Team Championship after long 12 years. European and Asian Team Championships are scheduled for late monts of 2009 as well.
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Faroe Islands win European Mini States Tournament
Posted by Webmaster on 28 Jun 2009
The Faroe Islands team scored an impressive victory in the 4th European Mini States Tournament that concluded last Saturday in Andora la Vella. The winners, namely IM H.Ziska, FM H.Olsen, IM Rødgaard, R.Nielsen and H.Jogvansson scored 29 points of 36 games with 22 wins and 14 draws (no game loss!). Andorra, the hosts, led by GM De la Riva won silver medals finishing a single point behing, while Luxembourg led by the Berends couple came in third. The European Mini States Tournament was re-opened after 12-year long break. The previous three editions took place in mid 1990s in Monte Carlo and were won by San Marino, Andorra and Liechtenstein, respectively. Unlike 2009 some non-European nations participated as well. The event has no connection with Games of the Small States of Europe, organised by respective NOCs, where chess is absent.
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Four unknown international matches China-USSR (1958-1965)
Posted by Webmaster on 03 May 2009
info and games provided by James Tan
Alexander Alekhine was the first great chess player to visit China in 1933. In an exhibition played in Shanghai, he was held to two draws, one to Xie Xiashun, nick-named "Centurian chess king" because at 100 years old, he was a strong player in all the three forms of chess. Xie helped to promote the game and was the top player in China after the 2nd World War. In 1936, in Guangzhou, the British sponsored a tournament with top players from Austria, Britain, China, Germany and the United States. Xie won the tournament convincingly by drawing one and winning the other 18 games. In 1987, Xie (who lived in Wenzhou) died at the age of 101.Chess was not listed as a competitive sport in China until 1956. The Chess Association of China was formed in 1962 as a minor affiliate of the Chinese Xiangqi Association due to the lack of popularity for the game at the time and only became a fully-fledged independent organization in 1986. For decadec chess was only seen as the poorer cousin of the more popular Xiangqi. Chess was banned during the first eight years of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), but by 1974 there was an easing of the ban that saw China begin to participate in international competitions, the first being in 1976.
Few know, and today we reveal most complete details and information, that shortly before the ban on chess was imposed in 1966, the Chinese national team played four international matches with the Soviet Union, represented by decent players, and even GM! Here's the whole story.
1958
After the end of the Chinese National Chess Championship Final in December 1958, the three Soviet chess masters visited China, they were Boris Baranov, Mamadzhan Mukhitdinov and Alexander Grushevsky. They met top three finishers of Chinese National Chess Championship in Cultural Garden, Guangzhou. The Chinese lost all three games. In the game Grushevsky-Xian Quan (later know as Sin Kuen after leaving to Hong Kong) the Chinese had good winning chances in the middlegame but blundered badly and lost. The USSR team then went to Shanghai and Hohhot, where they met local chess players and they beat all Chinese players too.
The Chinese team, from left to right: Xian Quan, Xu Hongshun, Xu Jialiang.
----------------------------------------------- China, Dec 1958 1 2 3 4 5 6 pts ----------------------------------------------- 1 Baranov, Boris URS * · · 1 · · 1.0 2 Mukhitdinov, Mamadzhan URS · * · · 1 · 1.0 3 Grushevsky, Alexander URS · · * · · 1 1.0 4 Xu Jialiang CHN 0 · · * · · 0.0 5 Xu Hongshun CHN · 0 · · * · 0.0 6 Xian Quan CHN · · 0 · · * 0.0 ----------------------------------------------- -------------+--------------+------ TOTAL pts | gm + = - | % -------------+--------------+------ USSR 3.0 | 3 3 0 0 |100.0 China 0.0 | 3 0 0 3 | 0.0 -------------+--------------+------
1963
In 1963, China invited the Soviet chess team to play the revenge match. While preparing to the match, June 14th - July 15th, the Chinese National Sports Committee selected over 20 players from various places to form a National Chess Training Team: Deng Wenxiang, Feng Bingrong, Feng Zuquan, Hong Kemin, Hou Chengji, Huang Xinzhai, Jian Mingji, Li Chengyi, Li Zhongjian, Li Zhu, Liu Chengwan, Liu Zhenguo, Lu Zhuoran, Qian Zongxiang, Wang Bijun, Wu Weiwen, Xu Hongshun, Xu Jialiang, Xu Tianli, Zhang Donglu, Zhang Fujiang and Zhu Fushan. Jian Mingji, the young player from Guangdong, who changed his name to Kan Wai Shui when he left to Hong Kong, took the first place in the round robin qualifying tournament.
In early September the following team was selected according to the results of the qualifiers: Xu Tianli, Jian Mingji, Deng Wenxiang, Xu Hongshun, Zhang Donglu, Huang Xinzhai, Feng Bingrong and Li Zhongjian. They traveled to Beijing from Shanghai to meet USSR team. In September it was confirmed that the Soviets would be lead by GM Lilienthal, and other two players were IM Yudovich and Zagorovsky. The Chinese team started to search for opponents’ games and every piece of information in order to analyze their style of play trying to predict what kind of strategy or tactics would be used.
* Beijing (September 8-12, 1963)
The USSR chess team arrived to the Yuexin Palace, Beihai (North Sea) Garden, Beijing, to play the first three rounds of the match. Huang Zhong, Chinese Deputy Chairman of the National Sports Committee also attended to watch the match. For every Chinese player it was the first occasion ever to meet strong foreign players. They felt tension, they were excited and played cautiously, fighting very hard. Total of 9 games were played in Beijing. Even though the Chinese did their best, the Soviets were just too strong for them, winning six games and drawing three.
The USSR chess team arrived to the Yuexin Palace, Beihai (North Sea) Garden, Beijing, to play the first three rounds of the match. Huang Zhong, Chinese Deputy Chairman of the National Sports Committee also attended to watch the match. For every Chinese player it was the first occasion ever to meet strong foreign players. They felt tension, they were excited and played cautiously, fighting very hard. Total of 9 games were played in Beijing. Even though the Chinese did their best, the Soviets were just too strong for them, winning six games and drawing three.
* Shanghai (September 16-20, 1963)
The teams then moves to Shanghai, where the venue was Shanghai Sports Club to host another set of three rounds. Huang Xinzhai, the young player from Shanghai, scored historic win against Zagorovsky in 6th round, which was the only Chinese success in the whole match. Huang Xinzhai loved Xiangqi (Chinese Chess) since his childhood. In 1957, he won the Shanghai Secondary School Xiangqi championship. He learned chess from Xie Xiaxun (Centenarian Xiangqi King), in 1959 he won Shanghai 2nd National Chess Games Championship. Later he won Chinese chess championship in 1965.
The teams then moves to Shanghai, where the venue was Shanghai Sports Club to host another set of three rounds. Huang Xinzhai, the young player from Shanghai, scored historic win against Zagorovsky in 6th round, which was the only Chinese success in the whole match. Huang Xinzhai loved Xiangqi (Chinese Chess) since his childhood. In 1957, he won the Shanghai Secondary School Xiangqi championship. He learned chess from Xie Xiaxun (Centenarian Xiangqi King), in 1959 he won Shanghai 2nd National Chess Games Championship. Later he won Chinese chess championship in 1965.
* Hangzhou (September 22-24, 1963)
The remaining two rounds (total of 6 games) were played in Hangzhou. The match was won by USSR +15=8-1 overall. Even though the Chinese team lost by a huge margin again, compared to the previous meeting in 1958, the result was obviously better, and the abilities of Chinese leading players' were tangibly improved. It was noted that the players often analyzed the just-finished game together showing good friendship and respect. The Communist Party and Chinese authorities took concern about the match too. When USSR team arrived to Beijing Chinese president Zhou Enlai himself greeted and received Soviet players with honours.
The remaining two rounds (total of 6 games) were played in Hangzhou. The match was won by USSR +15=8-1 overall. Even though the Chinese team lost by a huge margin again, compared to the previous meeting in 1958, the result was obviously better, and the abilities of Chinese leading players' were tangibly improved. It was noted that the players often analyzed the just-finished game together showing good friendship and respect. The Communist Party and Chinese authorities took concern about the match too. When USSR team arrived to Beijing Chinese president Zhou Enlai himself greeted and received Soviet players with honours.
--------------------------------------------- Beijing, Sep 8-12 1963 1 2 3 4 5 6 pts --------------------------------------------- 1 Zagorovsky, Vladimir URS * · · 1 ½ 1 2.5 2 Yudovich, Mikhail URS · * · ½ 1 1 2.5 3 Lilienthal, Andor URS · · * ½ 1 1 2.5 4 Xu Tianli CHN 0 ½ ½ * · · 1.0 5 Jian Mingji CHN ½ 0 0 · * · 0.5 6 Zhang Donglu CHN 0 0 0 · · * 0.0 --------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- Shanghai, Sep 16-20 1963 1 2 3 4 5 6 pts --------------------------------------------- 1 Yudovich, Mikhail URS * · · 1 1 ½ 2.5 2 Lilienthal, Andor URS · * · ½ 1 1 2.5 3 Zagorovsky, Vladimir URS · · * ½ 0 1 1.5 4 Xu Hongshun CHN 0 ½ ½ * · · 1.0 5 Huang Xinzhai CHN 0 0 1 · * · 1.0 6 Li Zhongjian CHN ½ 0 0 · · * 0.5 --------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Hangzhou, Sep 22-24 1963 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 pts ------------------------------------------------- 1 Lilienthal, Andor URS * · · · · · 1 1 2.0 2 Yudovich, Mikhail URS · * · ½ 1 · · · 1.5 3 Zagorovsky, Vladimir URS · · * · ½ 1 · · 1.5 4 Xu Tianli CHN · ½ · * · · · · 0.5 5 Deng Wenxiang CHN · 0 ½ · * · · · 0.5 6 Feng Bingrong CHN · · 0 · · * · · 0.0 7 Xu Hongshun CHN 0 · · · · · * · 0.0 8 Xu Jialiang CHN 0 · · · · · · * 0.0 ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- player cod pts gm + = - % ------------------------------------------------- 1 Lilienthal, Andor URS 7.0 8 6 2 0 87.5 2 Yudovich, Mikhail URS 6.5 8 5 3 0 81.3 3 Zagorovsky, Vladimir URS 5.5 8 4 3 1 68.8 4 Xu Tianli CHN 1.5 4 0 3 1 37.5 5 Huang Xinzhai CHN 1.0 3 1 0 2 33.3 6 Xu Hongshun CHN 1.0 4 0 2 2 25.0 7 Deng Wenxiang CHN 0.5 2 0 1 1 25.0 8 Jian Mingji CHN 0.5 3 0 1 2 16.7 9 Li Zhongjian CHN 0.5 3 0 1 2 16.7 10 Xu Jialiang CHN 0.0 1 0 0 1 0.0 11 Feng Bingrong CHN 0.0 1 0 0 1 0.0 12 Zhang Donglu CHN 0.0 3 0 0 3 0.0 ------------------------------------------------- -------------+-------------+--------------+------ TOTAL pts | m1 m2 m3 | gm + = - | % -------------+-------------+--------------+------ USSR 19.0 | 7.5 6.5 5.0 | 24 15 8 1 | 79.2 China 5.0 | 1.5 2.5 1.0 | 24 1 8 15 | 20.8 -------------+-------------+--------------+------
1964
The third match was played in Moscow in 1964. The Chinese team led by Chief of National Sports Wushu (martial arts) Mao Bohao, while five team members were Jian Mingji, Xu Tianli, Zhang Donglu, Xu Hongshun, Huang Xinzhai, put their feet on Soviet soil on June 4th. This was the first time of Chinese national team to play abroad. China team played three friendly matches in Moscow.
The first one was played in Moscow University resulting in five draws, quite a good achievement! Unfortunately the second round played in the club of automotive factory in Moscow, was a one sided battle. Only Xu Tianli scarped a draw, while others lost. The third match was played in Moscow Chess Association's hall. The Chinese lost all the games.
-------------+-------------+--------------+------ TOTAL pts | m1 m2 m3 | gm + = - | % -------------+-------------+--------------+------ USSR 12.0 | 2.5 4.5 5.0 | 15 9 6 0 | 80.0 China 3.0 | 2.5 0.5 0.0 | 15 0 6 9 | 20.0 -------------+-------------+--------------+------
1965
In December 1965, the Soviet chess team lead by GM Nikolai Krogius with his teammates Felix Ignatiev, Boris Shatskes, Yuriy Vasilchuk, Mamadzhan Mukhitdinov and Boris Shipov visited China. They played three friendly matches in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou. In these three matches the Chinese team scored 10 wins 17 draws and 27 loses. China's Liu Wenzhe and Zhang Donglu both beat GM Krogius in their games and they were the best among Chinese players - 5 points out of 8 games with 62.5%! Liu Wenzhe became the first Chinese to beat a Grandmaster. In 1978 he represented China at the Chess Olympiad in Argentina and beat GM Donner in the "Chinese Immortal". Earning title of IM he became one of most prominent and successfull Chinese players all-time.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Beijing, China, Dec 1965 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 pts ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Krogius, Nikolai URS X · · · · · · · 1 · · · 1 1 3.0 2 Mukhitdinov, Mamadzhan URS · X · ½ · · · · · · · · 1 1 2.5 3 Shipov, Boris URS · · X · ½ · · · · · 1 1 · · 2.5 4 Liu Wenzhe CHN · ½ · X · ½ 1 · · · · · · · 2.0 5 Zhang Donglu CHN · · ½ · X ½ · 1 · · · · · · 2.0 6 Ignatiev, Felix URS · · · ½ ½ X · · 1 · · · · · 2.0 7 Shatskes, Boris URS · · · 0 · · X · · 1 · · · 1 2.0 8 Vasilchuk, Yury URS · · · · 0 · · X ½ · · 1 · · 1.5 9 Xu Tianli CHN 0 · · · · 0 · ½ X · · · · · 0.5 10 Xu Hongshun CHN · · · · · · 0 · · X · · · · 0.0 11 Wang Bijun CHN · · 0 · · · · · · · X · · · 0.0 12 Deng Wenxiang CHN · · 0 · · · · 0 · · · X · · 0.0 13 Li Zhongjian CHN 0 0 · · · · · · · · · · X · 0.0 14 Huang Xinzhai CHN 0 0 · · · · 0 · · · · · · X 0.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Shanghai, Dec 1965 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 pts -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Krogius, Nikolai URS X · · · · · · · 1 1 ½ · · · · · 2.5 2 Shatskes, Boris URS · X · · · · 1 · · ½ · 1 · · · · 2.5 3 Ignatiev, Felix URS · · X · · · · 1 · · · ½ · · · 1 2.5 4 Vasilchuk, Yury URS · · · X · 0 · · · · · · ½ 1 · · 1.5 5 Mukhitdinov, Mamadzhan URS · · · · X · 0 · · · · · 1 ½ · · 1.5 6 Xu Jialiang CHN · · · 1 · X · · · · · · · · · · 1.0 7 Zhang Donglu CHN · 0 · · 1 · X · · · · · · · · · 1.0 8 Qi Jingxuan CHN · · 0 · · · · X · · · · · · 1 · 1.0 9 Liu Wenzhe CHN 0 · · · · · · · X · · · · · 1 · 1.0 10 Xu Tianli CHN 0 ½ · · · · · · · X · · · · ½ · 1.0 11 Hong Kemin CHN ½ · · · · · · · · · X · · · · · 0.5 12 Xu Hongshun CHN · 0 ½ · · · · · · · · X · · · · 0.5 13 Wang Bijun CHN · · · ½ 0 · · · · · · · X · · · 0.5 14 Huang Xinzhai CHN · · · 0 ½ · · · · · · · · X · · 0.5 15 Shipov, Boris URS · · · · · · · 0 0 ½ · · · · X · 0.5 16 Jian Mingji CHN · · 0 · · · · · · · · · · · · X 0.0 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hangzhou, Dec 1965 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 pts ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Shatskes, Boris URS XX ·· ·· ·· ·· 1· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· 1· ·· 1· 3.0 2 Ignatiev, Felix URS ·· XX 1· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ½· ·· ·· ·· 1· ·· 2.5 3 Liu Wenzhe CHN ·· 0· XX ·· ·· ·· 1· ·· 1· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· 2.0 4 Zhang Donglu CHN ·· ·· ·· XX ·· ·· ½· ½· 1· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· 2.0 5 Mukhitdinov, Mamadzhan URS ·· ·· ·· ·· XX ½· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ½1 ·· ·· ·· ·· 2.0 6 Xu Tianli CHN 0· ·· ·· ·· ½· XX ·· 1· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· 1.5 7 Vasilchuk, Yury URS ·· ·· 0· ½· ·· ·· XX ·· ·· ·· 1· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· 1.5 8 Shipov, Boris URS ·· ·· ·· ½· ·· 0· ·· XX ·· ½· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· 1.0 9 Krogius, Nikolai URS ·· ·· 0· 0· ·· ·· ·· ·· XX ·· ·· ·· 1· ·· ·· ·· 1.0 10 Qi Jingxuan CHN ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ½· ·· XX ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· 0.5 11 Wang Bijun CHN ·· ½· ·· ·· ·· ·· 0· ·· ·· ·· XX ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· 0.5 12 Hong Kemin CHN ·· ·· ·· ·· ½0 ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· XX ·· ·· ·· ·· 0.5 13 Xu Hongshun CHN ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· 0· ·· ·· ·· XX ·· ·· ·· 0.0 14 Huang Xinzhai CHN 0· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· XX ·· ·· 0.0 15 Xu Jialiang CHN ·· 0· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· XX ·· 0.0 16 Li Zhongjian CHN 0· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· ·· XX 0.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------- player cod pts gm + = - % --------------------------------------------------- 1 Shatskes, Boris URS 7.5 9 7 1 1 83.3 2 Ignatiev, Felix URS 7.0 9 5 4 0 77.8 3 Krogius, Nikolai URS 6.5 9 6 1 2 72.2 4 Mukhitdinov, Mamadzhan URS 6.0 9 4 4 1 66.7 5 Liu Wenzhe CHN 5.0 8 4 2 2 62.5 6 Zhang Donglu CHN 5.0 8 3 4 1 62.5 7 Vasilchuk, Yury URS 4.5 9 3 3 3 50.0 8 Shipov, Boris URS 4.0 9 2 4 3 44.4 9 Xu Tianli CHN 3.0 9 1 4 4 33.3 10 Qi Jingxuan CHN 1.5 3 1 1 1 50.0 12 Xu Jialiang CHN 1.0 2 1 0 1 50.0 12 Hong Kemin CHN 1.0 3 0 2 1 33.3 13 Wang Bijun CHN 1.0 5 0 2 3 20.0 14 Xu Hongshun CHN 0.5 4 0 1 3 12.5 15 Huang Xinzhai CHN 0.5 6 0 1 5 8.3 16 Jian Mingji CHN 0.0 1 0 0 1 0.0 17 Deng Wenxiang CHN 0.0 2 0 0 2 0.0 18 Li Zhongjian CHN 0.0 3 0 0 3 0.0 --------------------------------------------------- -------------+----------------+--------------+------ TOTAL pts | m1 m2 m3 | gm + = - | % -------------+----------------+--------------+------ USSR 35.5 | 13.5 11.0 11.0 | 54 27 17 10 | 65.7 China 18.5 | 4.5 7.0 7.0 | 54 10 17 27 | 34.3 -------------+----------------+--------------+------
Overall history of four China - Russia matches (1958-1965)
------+-----+--------------+------+-----------+ TOTAL | pts | gms + = - | % |mtch + = - | ------+-----+--------------+------+-----------+ USSR | 69½ | 96 54 31 11 | 72.4 | 10 9 1 0 | China | 26½ | 96 11 31 54 | 27.6 | 10 0 1 9 | ------+-----+--------------+------+-----------+ ------+------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+ TOTAL | 1958 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | ------+------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+ USSR | 3 | 19 7½ 6½ 5 | 12 2½ 4½ 5 | 35½ 13½ 11 11 | China | 0 | 5 1½ 2½ 1 | 3 2½ ½ 0 | 18½ 4½ 7 7 | ------+------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
Source & Bibliography:
- Chess in China (3/1995) pg 48
- Guoji Xiangqi Buju Yuanli (Xu Jialiang) pg 2-3
- Guoji Xiangqi Chubu (Xu Hongshun) pg 86, 108, 127-128, 138-139, 188-190
- Guoji Xiangqi Cidian (Lin Feng & Chen Guikang) pg 633-635
- Guoji Xiangqi Jiben Zhanshu (Wang Pinzhang & Liu Zhenguo) pg 183
- Guoji Xiangqi Zhanfa (Luo Yiping) pg 144-148
- Guoji Xiangqi Zhongguo Xuepai (Liu Wenzhe) pg 35-66
- Xiyangqi Chubu (Xu Hongshun) pg 96-97, 120, 139-140, 150-152, 201-203
- Zhongsu Guoji Xiangqi Youyisai Duiju Jilu (Part 1 & 2) (Bulletin)
OlimpBase celebrates its 5th birthday!
Posted by Webmaster on 21 Mar 2009
Dear OlimpBase readers!It will be exactly 5 years tonight as OlimpBase was made available online for the very first time on March 21, 2004. The project commenced in September 2003 and by March 2004 only men's Olympiads prior to 1974 were handled. See one of archival thumbnails.
The five years, equivalent to 261 weeks and 1826 days saw the following on www.olimpbase.org:
- database of more than 11,000 players and 320 teams,
- detailed coverage of almost 500 team events on five continents, starting from 1900,
- almost 150,000 games available online 24/7, of which a few thousands never saw the sunlight before,
- almost a dozen of interesting articles written exclusively for www.olimpbase.org site by our readers,
- many daily reports from most important chess tournament in progress
- and still growing...
OlimpBase is 100% volunteer project available free of charge for everyone in accordance with the Bible motto "freely have you received, freely give". Hundreds of chess lovers, many of them smiling in reminiscence of their own archival records sent us unique, undiscovered games or pieces of information. OlimpBase is the first and the only source to provide with most detailed, content-verified and complete history of men's and women's olympiad, continental team championships and many, many more including youth and handicapped chess. No matter how much time have you spent burrowing OlimpBase directories, no doubt there are still tons of valuable, undiscovered materials waiting yet to be read.
Please stay with us and keep helping us to build the World's biggest online database of the history of team chess!
Gens una sumus!
Wojciech Bartelski
Head Webmaster
An old game discovered - wonderful draw
Posted by Webmaster on 25 Jan 2009
Not often are valuable, historic chess games found in old chess volumes. The one below was published in 1957 in Polish monthly Szachy and was played in Lenzerheide, Switzerland in 1956 during Clare Benedict cup, Italy-Germany match. Not error-free, it is to my opinion one of most ingenious and exciting draws ever played by top players. And we are the first ever to provide it online! Judge yourself.Enrico Paoli (right): born 1908. He was Italian IM from Trieste, 3x Italian Champion (1951, 1957, 1968). Organizer of Reggio Emilia tournaments. FIDE honoris cause in 1996. Died in 2005.
Lothar Schmid (left): born 1929. Legendary German GM. IM 1951, GM 1959. Major tournaments won: Travemuende 1951, Zuerich 1954, Nuremberg 1954, Goeteborg 1956, Malaga 1963, Mar del Plata 1970. 11x Olympiad team member (6 medals overall). Renowned chess arbiter (Fischer-Spassky 1972, Karpov-Kortschnoj 1978, Kasparov-Karpov 1986). 2nd in corr WCh in 1959. He is the owner of the world's biggest private chess library.
Download PGN here. Database administrators - please do not forget to append this one.
The Kiddies' play New Year puzzle
Posted by Webmaster on 04 Jan 2009
The website regulars must know these two charming young ladies. Teresa has just turned three and attends kindergarten already while Klara will be one year old on February 26. These two little humans are responsible for the website growing not as fast as it could! Despite of their junior age both girls are avid chess players. On the New Year Day evening they asked me to play a game of chess. I agreed gladly although I was a bit afraid as a few days ago Klara started to crumple the white King curiously and almost choked on it as she took it straight into her tiny mouth. More than expected, the game went on to interesting finish...Now, dear readers, the New Year puzzle. Have you read my a bit contrived New Year tale you must have asked yourself a few questions:
1. What was the winning move for White instead of 47. Qxd3?
2. Given that Teresa and Klara would have alter egos, what their real names would be?
3. Given our home sofa is sort of a time machine, in what year and what place were we at the moment?
Of course you may easily find this game in any decent chess database, but this is chess classics, try to find out yourself! Please post your answers in the comments. There will be the winner - the first one to correctly point all the answers. As usual there are no material prizes - just own satisfaction.
Hope you enjoyed today's puzzle. Stay tuned!
Asian Club Cup Gets Underway
Posted by Webmaster on 28 Dec 2008
by Lakhdar Mazouz
In the big and beautiful facilities of the Al Ain Sport arena, many people have gathered to witness the start of the first Asian Club Championship.
Long before the start of the Competition, a friendly and joyful atmosphere could be noticed: players and officials happy to meet again and to greet each other, pleased to exchange views, remembering past events they experienced, moving tirelessly around the hall. In the gallery, spectators, mostly wearing traditional white gowns, most of them teenagers, filled the seats, thrilled by the event, surely busy talking and speculating excitedly about the competition.
Outside the hall, in Al Ain city, a town ambitioning to establish itself as a leading Sport City, and apparently very much succeeding, inhabitants were active doing their usual routine. The temperature was very pleasant, almost Mediterranean and the sun was shining, with not a single cloud in the blue/white sky. No trace of the fog that surrounded the region was to be seen.
Simply wonderful conditions for a Chess Competition.
This Championship is organized under the patronage of Shaikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of Abu Dhabi Sports Council. Of course, this Event would not have taken place without the constant efforts and energy provided by Shaikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Bin Shakhboot Al Nahyan, President of the Asian Chess federation.
30 Clubs from 24 Asian countries are competing for the Championship. A real success, knowing that the idea of staging this event is a mere 2 months old.
Which Club will be crowned Champion? Al Ain Chess Club, with the best average Elo, seems to be the favorite. But, some Clubs, like Fajr Shams (Iran), Qi Yuan, (China), Tagaytay Chess (Philippines), have also good chances.
Parallel to the Championship, two seminars will be organized. One devoted to Arbitration, the other one to training. Many Asian Federations are eager to participate to these seminars, especially as they will be headed respectively by P.NiKolopoulos and A. MiKhalchichin, both of them well known as expert in their field.
/ taken from www.fide.com /
Results and standings
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