Lift Off In Houston---A New 10 Year Old International Master

http://en.chessbase.com/post/praggnanandhaa-youngest-chess-im-in-history

Chess By Rail Anyone?

All aboard!

Details About the Championship Match in NYC Come November---Where's the Beef........er, the Beluga?

Ilya Merenzon, Agon's CEO, speaks on the 2016 World Championship Match and 2016-2017 Grand Prix Cycle.

Anastasiya Karlovich: It was announced earlier that the World Chess Championship Match will take place in New York. What can you say about the Match preparation? 

Ilya Merenzon: There are two parts: the one is the preparation for the Match and the second one is the Match itself. We are really working hard, finalizing the venue and broadcast issues. We are busy preparing, we have six months and we realize that we don’t have a lot of time and we are working with both players and with their managers, New York city and FIDE to make sure it's going to be the best experience. 

Have you finalized the contract with FIDE? When do you think the players are going to sign it? 

The contract between FIDE and Agon is finalized and is being signed. The contract between the players and FIDE will be finalized in the next 2-3 weeks. Don't forget that we’ve only recently learnt who is going to be a challenger. 

What is going to be special about this World Chess Championship Match? 

We have to realize that there are many new attractive issues about this Match: it's the youngest championship ever as both players are 25 and another thing is that right now everyone in the world has a smart phone. Even two years ago the situation was not the case. Penetration of the smart phones was 50% and now it's over 70%. It's a majority of people, so we will definitely have something which allows people to use smart phones and not only to follow the Match but almost be there, so we will try to build a native smart phone experience. 

We are also developing a new way of broadcasting and I don't really want to say too much as we really want to represent it in a good way. As soon as we know what exactly it is we will be able to announce it but we are working on exciting ways to show chess. It's going to be the first match transmitted almost entirely in the Internet. 

Is there going to be a space for spectators, who would like to follow the Match in the playing hall? 

It will be some sort of a mix. There will definitely be spectators in the room with the players but right now with the new anti-cheating measures and with new technologies we should find the ways to do it. We are actually designing and working on organizing it in a good way together with designers and chess people. We are also not doing it only for one championship but we are trying to decide it in a principle. We also have to keep in mind that 99.9% of audience is going to be online, so we need to make sure that their experience is almost as good as experience live. 

How attractive is this Match for international and US media? 

I think it's unprecedented for these times. The World Chess Championship is one of the few events in the World which makes it not only to the sports but also cultural and social news. So it's a global event and will be covered by all media in the world. It helps so much that it will be in New York, the global media hub and basically every major media has either a head office or a correspondence desk there. In Russia, when we held the Candidates, there were over 900 publications only in Russian media but what happens in New York has also global coverage, so it's clearly going to be one of the most covered championships in the history. We learn so much from our experience. So we are not expecting every TV channel in the world to show live broadcast because it's six hours per day but what we are doing for them we are going to issue free and unlimited B-rolls, so basically all news stations in the world will have access to highlights. Also we are producing 3-5 minute highlights of the day for TV stations and their comments are going to be on TV as well. I don’t speak about the actual game, even though it's going to be live in some countries like Russia, Norway and some nearby countries. You definitely will see a lot of Magnus and Sergey on TV.
http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/9646-interview-with-agons-ceo-ilya-merenzon.html

Happy 65th Birthday to Anatoly Karpov

Here is a photo from the 1974 Candidates of Karpov vs. Korchnoi

Chess City Makes the Top Ten Bizarre Town List

And Kirsan's long term plan is revealed.......
".......Exactly where the money to construct the city (an estimated $30–50 million) came from is unknown—Kalmykia is desperately poor. However, the citizens of Kalmykia might not have much to worry about. According to Ilyumzhinov, the aliens will one day return and “pack us all into their spaceships and take us away from this place.” Perhaps the aliens will be taking them all to NYC this November??" 
http://www.top10wonderlist.com/travel/10-of-the-worlds-most-bizarre-towns/

Full details about Chess City and much more can be found in the book The Chess Artist. Great Summer reading.
https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Artist-Genius-Obsession-Worlds-ebook/dp/B00ERQCB6Y?ie=UTF8&keywords=the%20chess%20artist&qid=1463840566&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1

Opinion----FIDE, Russia, Kirsan and Filatov

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/opinion/peter-long/article/yet-another-look-at-fide-and-russia

To paraphrase a line from Becket, "Will no one rid us of this wretched fool named Kirsan?" Non-violently, of course.

From Kirsan's web site: 

FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said that he deliberately proposed a match of the World Chess Championship in Empire State Building in New York at the opening ceremony of a chess school named after Vladimir Kramnik in Sochi:

“It's like a return to the confrontation of the two great systems! Besides, Sergey Karjakin is from the Crimea and this is an additional nuance. Moreover, what a nuance it is! Former Ukrainian ... In general, all came together here. Excitement grows at a scary pace!”

- Wait a minute, you are under US sanctions. They banned you to enter the USA.“Yes”, acknowledged Ilyumzhinov. “They banned me to enter US in for my relationship with Bashar al-Assad because I was in Syria and presented the Syrians with a thousand chessboards for the development of chess. Surprisingly I was accused of financing the regime.
I filed a lawsuit to protect my honour and dignity estimating damage at 50 billion dollars. They claimed 50 billion dollars for Yukos so in return I arranged the same payback to them. Moreover, I did not seek to hide from investigation. I have answered 200 questions already ...”
- What kind of questions?“They dig far down. They look through all my travels from country to country, tickets and financial transactions. Two FBI agents arrived in Russia to work with a bank because of myself. I explained each case and did not hide anything. Yes, I travelled all over the world and will do as FIDE President.
I wrote them that I was ready to undergo the polygraph test and confirm that I did not fund any regime including Assad’s. According to their regulations, if they would not be able to prove anything within three months that is until 29th of May, then they will have to present evidence upon which I was banned to enter the United States. Thus, we shall see ...”
- In other words, you still intend to come to New York in November?“Probably, I will go to the court soon”, did not rule Ilyumzhinov.

http://kirsan.today/en/interview/item/717-ilyumzhinov-i-intend-to-come-to-new-york-despite-the-sanctions.html

Will they Really Go to NYC In November?

Kirsan can't as he'll be arrested for violating Syria sanctions.

But, what of the others. Are they really going to promote a World Chess Championship In NYC this November? Here are some of the cast members. They all have links to one special Russian-----Vlad Putin.
Kirsan
Kaplan
Filatov
Agon
Chess Lane
Kramnic
Karjakin
https://hunonchess.com/vladimir-putin-a-big-supporter-of-chess-in-russia/

Watching Them Scurrying in the Daylight--Methinks Putin's Friends Protest Too Much

The Russian Chess Federation has issued the following press release threatening possible legal action against anyone who dares to publish facts about the dealings of those involved with FIDE, Kirsan, Kaplan and assorted friends:

"Press Release

RUSSIAN CHESS FEDERATION OFFICIAL STATEMENT

Moscow, 10 May 2016. The Russian Chess Federation expresses its concern about publication in The Telegraph and a number of other media of misleading information about the activities of the President of the Russian Chess Federation.

The aforementioned misleading information has been published in mass media with reference to the Mossack Fonseca archive, which in reality does not contain any information on the activities of the President of the Russian Chess Federation, or the companies he controls. While publishing the misleading information, representatives of the media in question have not taken any action to verify the published misleading information.

The Russian Chess Federation has contacted an international law firm whose experts are currently reviewing the situation and considering legal action to hold disseminators of the misleading information liable.

The Russian Chess Federation President Mr. Filatov intends to use all legal actions available to him to defend his rights, interests and business reputation. The Russian Chess Federation warns that any attempt at further dissemination of the above misleading information will have legal consequences."

http://en.chessbase.com/post/chess-and-the-panama-papers

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/10/chess-drawn-into-panama-papers-scandal-as-ex-world-champion-anat/

FIDE, Kirsan and FIDE CEO of Finance Kaplan Drawn In To Panama Papers Matter

And drawn in in a very big way. Chess Lane, the off shore corporation in which Kaplan is invlolved. IIRC, Chess Lane was listed as the actual promoter of the Candidates' tournament last month AND the upcoming WC match purported to be scheduled for November in NYC. The latest is found in an article published in The Telegraph in the UK. The article notes that if Kirsan sets foot in the US, he is subject to arrest. Don't book your hotel from in NYC just yet for the November WC match. I'm betting it takes place in Moscow.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/10/chess-drawn-into-panama-papers-scandal-as-ex-world-champion-anat/

Heaven On Earth Found----Near Le Havre, France!!

At the French Youth Championships. A room with 50 dgt boards for the competitors!  For an adult tournament do they provide the competitors with red Bordeaux at the boards (for Russian players there is likely a Grey Goose vodka option)?

Do You Believe In Magic?? The World Championship In NYC This This November---Depends on the Meaning of "Due Course"

Agon, organizer of the WCC this November between in NYC issued the following statement on May 2, 2016.  The hour is getting late for effective "due course."

"While it is not the company’s policy to comment on tittle-tattle and gossip, we note the idle speculation that the city for the World Championship Match in November has yet to be finalised. 

We are delighted to re-confirm that the World Championship Match will take place in New York in November. Any suggestion to the contrary is nonsense. 

The venue and the sponsor line-up will be announced in due course." 

More Problems for Kirsan----ICANN This Time

And so his world continues to grow smaller........

http://domainnamewire.com/2016/05/02/sportaccord-council-member-sanctions/

Chess Under Harsh Totalitarianism--Soviet and Nazi

Some of you know that I have long had an interest in chess play and chess politics in the Soviet Union. How does one survive a brutal regime and what role might chess play in that?

My primary focus has been the Soviet Union. Sources such as Andy Soltis' major work, Soviet Chess 191 7-1991 are seminal along with various other memoirs by the likes of Genna Sosonko, David Bronstein and Yuri Averbach.

But, what of chess in Nazi Germany? Most serious chess players know of then World Champion Alekhine's dalliance with the Nazis. I recently came across a fascinating article on Edward Winter's chess history site about Hans Frank, "The Butcher of Poland," who organized chess tournaments in the 1930's in Germany and during World War II in Germany and occupied Poland. These tournaments drew chess players and visitors such as Alekhine, Nimzowhich, Mieses, Bogoljubow,Samisch and Euwe.

Hans Frank was tried at Nuremberg, found guilty of crimes against humanity and hanged.
Here's the link to the Winter's excellent article:
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/frank.html

Within the past year, a novel about chess and survival in the Nazi death camps was published. It's an interesting read, but not without some controversy, particularly in the Jewish press. It's titled The Death's Head Chess Club and can be found at the link below.
http://www.amazon.com/Deaths-Head-Chess-Club-Novel/dp/0374135703/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462457932&sr=8-1&keywords=death%27s+head+chess+club

A Manhattan Memory

This photo of Boris Spassky taken at the 1987 US Open brings back memories. I was living in Manhattan then but was still thoroughly immersed in bicycle racing and entering into my second of three (sigh) marriages---not chess. The event took place in the ballroom of the Penta Hotel which is where I sat a mere seven years earlier for the NY Bar Exam.

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/18/nyregion/chess-at-new-york-open-it-s-like-a-war.html

Napoleon's Retreat Form Moscow--A Very Nice Puzzle

Russian champion Alexander Petrov composed this study in 1824. Galloping Cossacks chase Napoleon from Moscow (b1) across the Berezina (the long white diagonal) to Paris (h8), “where the Czar achieves his victory, by a ‘check by discovery’.”
NOTE: There is a mate in 6 moves, BUT that is NOT the goal. The goal is to chase Napoleon back to Paris (h8) and mate him there. 
HINT: This is accomplished in 14 moves with Napoleon forced to move with each move. White to move......