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Posted on December 31st, 2007 by admin
The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) Tuesday reclaimed its Number 1 ranking in college chess by winning the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship, the top tournament of its kind held each year in the Western Hemisphere.
Accepting the first-place trophy are (from left) coach Rade Milovanovic and “A” team players Alejandro Ramirez, Igor Shneider, Davorin Kuljasevic, Magesh Chandran Panchanathan and Salvijus Bercys.
UTD previously had tied for first place in the prestigious tournament twice (in 2000 and 2001), but it never had won the Pan Am outright until Tuesday.
The UTD “A” team did not lose a single match and amassed 5 ½ points in winning the four-day tournament, which was held at the Embassy Suites Hotel near Miami International Airport Saturday through Tuesday (Dec. 27-30). In the process, it defeated two teams from arch-rival and tournament favorite the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) — by scores of 2 ½-1 ½ and 4-0, respectively – as well as teams from academic powerhouse Stanford University and Brooklyn College, which has two grandmasters on its team.
“This is the pinnacle for the UTD chess team,” said Dr. Tim Redman, director of the university’s seven-year-old chess program and professor of literary studies in UTD’s School of Arts and Humanities. “Winning the Pan Am — the oldest tournament of its kind in the world — outright after coming here as underdogs is a tremendous accomplishment for Coach Rade Milovanovic and all of the players. They just outplayed everybody else by working hard and exhibiting great skill and spirit. I am extremely proud of them.”
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Filed under: Championships
Posted on December 3rd, 2007 by admin
Former world chess champion and opposition leader Garry Kasparov accused Russian authorities of “raping the whole electoral system” with numerous instances of irregularities in Sunday’s parliamentary election.
Speaking to a crowd of mostly foreign reporters after casting a protest vote, Kasparov said the opposition had evidence of ballot-stuffing and of threats to hospital patients and state workers unless they voted for pro-Kremlin parties.
President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party is widely expected to win a huge majority in Sunday’s elections for a new State Duma (lower house of parliament).
Pro-Western parties, marginalised after an eight-year oil boom which has created a host of billionaires and a growing middle class, are not expected to win any seats.
“They are not just rigging the vote, they are raping the whole electoral system,” Kasparov said. “These elections are a reminder of Soviet elections when there was no choice.”
Later at a book signing, he predicted Kremlin authoritarianism would cause a “deepening crisis” in Russia, ending in an “economic collapse no less serious than what we saw in 1991 (when the Soviet Union collapsed)”.
“Putin is going to have a hard time trying to rule like Stalin and live like Abramovich,” Kasparov said, referring to London-based oil magnate Roman Abramovich, estimated by Forbes to be Russia’s richest man with $18 billion.
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Filed under: In the World
Posted on November 22nd, 2007 by admin
It was drama of the highest degree: on the second day of the event World Champion Vishy Anand fought his way to the top to join the leader of the Blitz Championship, Vassily Ivanchuk, in round 29. After 37 of 38 grueling rounds the two were still neck-on-neck and clear of the field. In the last round they played each other – and Anand was two pawns up. Then fate struck.
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Filed under: Blitz, Championships
Posted on November 21st, 2007 by admin
Viswanathan Anand (profile) was two points behind leader Vassily Ivanchuk (profile) after the first day of the two-day World Blitz Chess Championship on Wednesday, in Moscow. Anand, who was among the six players seeded straight into the finals, won eight of the 19 games he played on the first day. He also lost four and drew the remaining seven for a total of 11.5 points on the first day.
While Ivanchuk is leading with 13.5 points, Alexander Grischuk, the winner of the title in 2006, was second half a point behind.
Among the wins Anand had were over Alexander Morozevich, Magnus Carlsen, Michael Adams, Boris Gelfand and Anatoly Karpov.
Anand’s four losses came against Grischuk, Kamsky, Peter Leko and Vladimir Kramnik.
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Filed under: Blitz, Championships
