Sweden is now a regulated market, which means that as a player you can only play at casinos with a license. See all regulated casinos in Sweden by Mr casinova.
#1
Q: What will happen if Kirsan Ilyumzhinov doesn't win the next FIDE elections?
A: Nothing special, he will become the President of the Alien Chess Federation.
#2
Q: What does one chess player say to the other before going to bed?
A: Have a good knight! (C)
#3
In 1993 the Patriarch of Soviet chess Mikhail Botvinnik spent a week in Germany where he had to analyze weaknesses and strengths of 20-year old IM Michael Bezold (now a GM). The list of weaknesses was quite extensive, while only one strength was specified - love for chess. (true story told by M. Bezold during an interview for the Schach magazine in 2006)
It's time for the weekly Q&As! Feel free to send me new ones:
Q1: Why did Anand and Topalov not play e4 in the match?
A1: e4 requires memorizing more theory. Besides, chess is evolving in cycles and has its own fashion. Nowadays many grandmasters believe that it is hard to pose problems with White after e4 due to existense of such openings as the Petroff, Ruy Lopez, etc. In a few years the situation may easily change, and e4 might become more fashionable again.
Q2: What is better: 2d computer chess or 3d (like an actual board and pieces)? A2: Many pros don't use the real chess boards at all (even Carlsen once said he doesn't). The times when you had to take a chess set with you during travels are long gone. However, at training sessions it's very convenient and useful to employ a real board. It helps you feel the position much better and memorize the main ideas by playing them out with your hands. Moving pieces on the computer screen is convenient and fast, but less efficient in terms of memorization. Therefore, I usually use both a computer and a chess board.
Q3: At what age did you start to play chess, who taught you how to play it?
A3: My grandfather taught me how to play chess at the age of 5. Later, when I somehow won ths school's checkers tournament, a local chess coach, Leonid Gankin, decided that I might have talent for chess and offered me his support.
Q4: If you play the whole game blindfolded, does your playing strength diminish a little or greatly? Would you be able to mercilessly crush an opponent rated between 1700 and 1800? A4: When playing just one blindfolded game, the playing strength doesn't diminish a lot (for me). Maybe by 100 points at most. And you probably know yourself the typical outcome of a 1700-1800 vs 2400+ game.
Q5: What type of clothes do you prefer to wear at tournaments: sports or classic? A5: It's easy to answer this question by looking at my photos from different events. The general requirement is that one should feel comfortable at the board. No overdressing, no underdressing. Also, I prefer jeans to skirts when playing otb.
Q6: Do you have a tournament schedule and how do you prepare for chess tournaments? A6: Of course, I have a special calendar with all the chess events marked there a year ahead. Preparation depends on the current weaknesses of the player. Sometimes one has to practice more sports, sometimes to work on one's psychology, sometimes simply hold a chess training session for a week or two. I am not an exception in this respect.
Q7: How do you analyse your games? A7: After the game has been played I quickly review it in order to spot the nature of my mistakes and try to fix them. For instance, "opening surprise", "forgot my analysis", "was too tired to calculate a variation", "poor time-management", "playing too agressively in an equal position", etc. Such a diagnosis may help change your behavior during later games and save a lot of points. After the event is over, it is the time for a detailed analysis. Now the opening tree gets updated, all the critical moments of the game are studied and reflected upon, new middlegame plans are found, endgames studied and so on. Thus, each game contributes to a person's understanding and knowledge of chess.
One of the most popular Russian web-designers, Artemii Lebedev, has announced a contest of logos with the slogan "Sceptics will be ashamed". One of the works that made it to his short-list (but, unfortunately, didn't win) is pictured above The slogan, of course, is present.
Karpov and Ilyumzhinov: the War for Presidency - update
Written by Administrator
Thursday, 20 May 2010
They used to play together...
Anatoly Karpov and Evgeny Bareev vs Arkady Dvorkovich and Alexander Zhukov
Photo (C) Chess-Events.org
The chess world is closely following the conflict inside the Russian Chess Federation, as it will largely affect chess in general and have a significant influence on the upcoming FIDE President elections. In one of our last reports we have described the situation, including Kasparov's speech. Meanwhile, an official confirmation from a law company has been publicized, which states that the Supervisory Council has no power to endorse anyone since this organization doesn't even have registered regulations. This makes Karpov's pompous claims made at NY and other locations (that Russia has officially supported him) look faded.
Things are also getting heated at the Federation itself. The official website features Arkady Dvorkovich's statement, as well as Women World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk's Open Letter in support of his position. According to unconfirmed by Pogonina.com rumors, new guards have been hired by the Russian Chess Federation, and Alexander Bakh's (CEO of RCF, an avid supporter of Karpov) office has been sealed. It is not surprising given that Arkady Dvorkovich mentioned in his interview for ChessPro that he expects Alexander Bakh to resign, and has no intentions of cooperating with Karpov in the future.
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