Recently I have discovered the new chess training tool here called "Puzzle Rush". My first impression is that it seems like an invaluable tool to hammer in core chess principles, like: When you see a check, always give a check Sac first, think ...
There is a recent article by Walter Wolf on Chessbase about a possible decline of worldwide ratings. This longish post contains my thoughts on the issue. Introduction In the last decaddes there has almsot been a 'consensus' that we are seeing ...
This summer I had an opportunity to play some real chess. Not the fast time control stuff in a room full of screaming kids that we have in Taiwan, but you know, the real kind. Long time control. Quiet environment. FIDE rated. With coffee availabl...
Cheating has been a surging phenomenon in chess tournaments all over the world since the smartphone. There are many suggestions how to minimize it, how make it harder, how to punish, how to expose it etc. Hey hey hey. You are all so boring. ...
These are my predictions of the upcoming Carlsen-Karyaking match: After 9 rounds, the standing will 5.5 -- 3.5 to Carlsen Carlsen wins after 11 rounds with 7 -- 4 In contrast to my (spot on) predictions of the last two WC matches, this time the p...
This weekend there was a rapid event in Taichung. In contrast with some other tournaments here in Taiwan, the ones in Taichung seem to be a tad better organized: The adults played in a different building from the kids. In relative silence. The us...
Most chess players arriving in Taiwan will quickly realize that there is very little serious chess here. Yes, occasional one-day rapid tournaments are pretty much all there is. In the last weeks there has been some talks about arraning longer tim...
I am waiting to cross a street in a populous area of Taipei when I notice another westerner to my left. He looks just like Sergey Karyakin. For a more than a moment I glance at him, and consider asking ... "Sergey...?" But then I decide ... "Na...
This is mostly relevant to Taipei / Taiwan based chess friends. Since 2012 we have been meeting on Wednesday evenings at Starbucks on ShiDa Road. A few weeks ago, the admin of the facebook group changed the location on FB to Vinyl Decision, a rec...
My prediction is: Carlsen wins in 11 rounds with a 6.5 - 4.5 score. Actually it is not just a prediction, it is the most likely outcome according to math. So how come did I come to that conclusion? Carlsen's rating is 2863, Anand is 27...
This blogpost is about some of the unintended consequences of the new FIDE rating rules, effective from July 2014. The main change is that players are awarded an rating after only five rated opponents. This is too few, since it makes your initial...
Sunday was day 2 (of 4) of the finals. The top 12 players, as selected by a 11 round swiss, play a round-robin for the title. After six rounds (each day is 3 rounds of 90+30 games), I have three points. Which likely puts me a little ahead of the ...
The final first day was today. The format is three 90+30 games in a day, which is almost inhuman. The allocated time per game is 4h, and if your game is still going on when the next round starts -- you are granted a 15 minute break. Not nearly en...
The semifinal tournament concluded today. Got 6th place of ~60 players with 7 points of 11. While it is enough to qualify me to the final group of 12, there are aspects of my play that needs improvement. And damn quickly. The finals are in a wee...
If anyone has the Tainan results, please share! Curious :-) Isn't it strange that there are no official results out from either the Taichung or Tainan qualifiers? Considering all the messy rules in place for who qualifies (depending on nationali...
Last weekend, I dropped by the Taichung qualifier tournament, mostly to observe and to meet some friends. In contrast to some of the other qualifiers in the past, the organizers had used at least some common sense. The zero start rule was not in ...
Interesting how much leeway FIDEs rules would leave for corrupt tournament organizers. Imagine a case where there are special players (say children of influential people) that should (or should not) obtain the top spots. From article 13: "The ...
Yesterday I played in the first qualifier for Taiwan Nationals. And every time, one cannot stop being astonished by ... the lack of common sense and organization skills displayed. The number of players were 101. The zero tolerance rule is stri...
Yesterday the cycle of Taiwan Nationals / National team selection tournaments started. It is a combined event, where the team to represent Chinese Taipei are selected for the Chess Olympiad in Norway 2014. One of the competitions also acts a Nati...
I have been looking for something like this: a listing upcoming chess events in a similar way as it was done back in Europe. While there are some listings, many are done by someone with an agenda -- carefully omitting 'competitors' events etc. I...
The 2013 Taiwan Nationals were concluded yesterday, and the results can be seen http://tapani.homeftp.org/nationals2013_berger2.pdf So what kind of prize ceremony and/or award awaits the new Taiwan Champion? None. Not even a cheap metal plaqu...
The piece of sheet the organizers provide is somewhat undecipherable, emphasizing things like on which table each game should be played on, rather than ease of overviewability. So I tried to gather all the information in a more standard-like Berg...
They have special rules for foreigners, regarding how many can advance to what stage. In the finals they also (for some reason) have special treatments on our games (that we should play each other the last three rounds). It is round-robin so the o...
The first six rounds of the finals were played this weekend. The format is a 12 player round-robin, so roughly half of the games remain. I did okayish, having 2 pts of 3 after day one. My first round was against Ausin, which I won after he blund...
Instead of just pointing out the ... unprincipled ... approach of the chess organization here, there are some good things here that I have not seen elsewhere. Anyone can become the champion. This means that anyone can play, and by being good can ...
