Many volunteers pulled out of a human chess game because of safety concerns. Iranian clergyman declares war on chess. Florencio Campomanes meets Juan Antonio Samaranch. Chicago library turned into a chess mecca.
- Stephen Leary
Unsafe Human Chess Match in Florida?
More than 30 volunteers pulled out of a human chess game being held at the Ringling Museum Medieval Fair in Sarasota, Florida, citing serious safety concerns. "Chess figures complained that the hand-to-hand brawls with blunt steel swords, axes and other weapons haven't been properly rehearsed." As a result, organisers hired out-of-town performers who haven't practiced much with the heavy weaponry. "Even though they're not sharpened, they can still hurt," said former chess piece Janne Skipper, who said she withdrew from the chess match this year for family reasons.
Chicago's Wild Onion Chess Club
A feature story on the Wild Onion Chess Club of Chicago, run by IM Angelo Young, a recent immigrant from the Philippines. "It's late on a Saturday afternoon and soon every seat in the small, streetside space will be occupied by chess players wearing game faces: deadpan, cold, steely. Some come to play speed chess, boardside clocks set to allow a small interval between moves. Others come to study the game. Not surprisingly, weekend nights are the liveliest here, with players at every seat."
Chicago Library Turned into Chess Mecca
The Rudy Lozano Branch Library in Chicago's near Southwest Side has been turned into a chess mecca by a librarian who founded the Knight Moves Chess Club there 11 years ago. "While spirited and creative, community life still suffers the effects of drugs, gangs and crime. It is definitely not the first place you would go looking for a children's chess club."
KasparovChess.com
Exclusive audio/video post-mortem analysis of the Linares tournament. Xie Jun battles Deep Junior beginning March 8. The World School Chess Championship is underway.
El Pais
Leontxo Garcia continues his coverage of the Linares tournament with annotated games and comments from the participants. A note on the upcoming Dos Hermanas tournament.
[In Spanish.]
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Iran's Chess War
Chess is the latest symbol in the struggle between the country's democratic reformers and Islamic clerics. "An aging clergyman has declared the ancient game forbidden again, and players are wondering nervously what the authorities next move will be."
Florencio Campomanes
In his Manila Times column, Campomanes relates the story of his recent meeting with International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch and their discussions about chess and the Olympics.
Lubomir Kavalek
In his weekly Washington Post column, Kavalek laments that Anand is currently in last place at Linares. "Kasparov has recently stated that no sponsor is interested anymore in his match against Anand...And their Linares Sicilian Najdorf duel on Friday did not help in promoting their new match. Anand seems to be playing without intensity."
Robert Byrne
In his weekly New York Times column, Byrne writes that when a grandmaster is surprised in an opening variation, he usually steers into an old line that hasn't been used for a while. The problem is that some old variations are inferior and unsafe. As a case in point, he analyses
Blatny-Kaidanov from the Goodricke International.
Shelby Lyman
In his weekly column, Shelby writes about the KasparovChess Grand Prix.
"There are pluses and minuses playing in Internet chess competitions," said Jeroen Piket. "When playing face to face," he explained, "you can see the displeasure in the opponent's face when he gets into a bad position, and this gives you a good feeling. But then again, when you are losing, he can see you."
Karate & Chess
In India, chess & karate are the chosen sports of the brother-sister duo Prathamesh and Amruta Mokal, who have made their mark in both. Prathamesh was crowned black belt first degree in karate, a feather to add to the numerous chess crowns he has earned over the past eight years.
"To keep myself fit, I decided to take up karate as martial arts is one of the few sports which keeps you fit and agile. Chess is a game which can cause one mental stress. To unwind, I took up karate joining the Indian Karate Club almost at the same time that I started chess," he said.
Amruta says she spends about two hours every day on karate and about six hours are devoted to chess.
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