United States Chess Clubs

South Carolina Chess Master Aleksander Wojtkiewicz Dead

2006-07-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

Aleksander Wojtkiewicz, 43, an internationally ranked chess player and a native of Latvia, died of an intestinal hemorrhage July 14 in Baltimore.

Aleksander Wojtkiewicz (January 15, 1963, Riga - July 14, 2006, Baltimore) was an International Grandmaster of chess. He was Polish by nationality but was born in Latvia, USSR; his last name was originally spelled Vojtkevic. He was jailed by the Soviets for two years because he refused to serve in the Soviet Army. When Poland regained independence he moved from Riga to Warsaw where he won two Polish Chess Championships.

THE AUTOMATON CHESS-PLAYER (PART III)

2006-01-15T00:39:00.000-08:00

Dr. Osloff was a passionate lover of chess, and had played numerous games with his patient during his tardy convalescence; but Worousky was so strong at the game that the doctor was always defeated. Then Kempelen joined the doctor in trying to defeat the skillful player, but it was of no use; Worousky was always the conqueror. His superiority gave M. de Kempelen the idea of his famous Automaton Chess-player. In an instant his plan was formed, and he set to work immediately; and the most remarkable circumstance is, that this wonderful chef-d'oeuvre, which astonished the whole world, was finished within three months.

M. de Kempelen was anxious that his host should make the first trial of his Automaton; so he invited him to play a game on the 10th of October, 1769. The Automaton represented a Turk of the natural size, wearing the national costume, and seated behind a box of the shape of a chest of drawers. In the middle of the top of the box was a chess-board, with the pieces, for play.

Read part II
Read part I

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THE AUTOMATON CHESS-PLAYER (PART II)

2006-01-15T00:33:00.000-08:00

In an earlier pamphlet, published in Paris in 1785, the writer supposed the machine was put in motion by a dwarf, a famous chess-player, his legs and thighs being concealed in two hollow cylinders, while the rest of his body was out of the box, and hidden by the robes of the figure.
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Read part II
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United States Chess Clubs: US-Chess Clubs: California's Central Coast a Hotbed for Chess

2006-01-14T17:54:00.000-08:00

United States Chess Clubs: US-Chess Clubs: California's Central Coast a Hotbed for Chess

US-Chess Clubs: Is Google playing chess with Microsoft?

2006-01-09T21:30:00.000-08:00

"This is Google's first test as a chess player in a major corporate battle," said John Battelle, the author of "The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture."
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US-Chess Clubs: California's Central Coast a Hotbed for Chess

2006-01-09T03:46:00.000-08:00

California's Central Coast is a hotbed for chess. This small community has come alive in recent months with many new chess clubs and players. One key factor is the free online chess playing site ChessManiac.com. This site was started by Dennis Steele as a way to connect chess players from the California's Central Coast to other chess players in the local community. However, it did much more than this. The website has connected Central Coast chess players to the world chess community through its free internet chess server.

Here is a listing of the current chess clubs in this area:

Morro Bay Chess Club
Paso Robles Chess Club
San Luis Obispo Chess Club
2 Dogs Chess Club
Cambria Chess Club
Cal Poly Chess Club

US-Chess Clubs: New Chess History Site!

2006-01-09T02:46:00.000-08:00

There is a new chess history site. ChessHistory.net

This site is going to chronicle the most interesting world chess history events. So far it looks pretty good.

US-Chess Clubs: CHESS-PLAYING TO-DAY. (PART IV)

2006-01-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

Provincial chess, prior to 1887, was in a very unorganized condition. Isolated clubs flourished all over the country, but they were not much in touch one with another. Now all that is changed. Between 1888 and 1890, county associations were formed in rapid succession, and the process has gone on until there is no considerable county which does not possess its own association. Another step was taken in 1893--which seems to have been a very active year in chess matters--when the whole of the south of England became federated under the name of the Southern Counties Chess Union. The chess clubs of the north of England are also closely linked together, though they are not yet united in actual federation.

As a natural result of this county organization, the number of inter-county chess matches has greatly increased; and though they have not yet acquired the popularity of county cricket matches, they are followed with a great amount of interest. Apart from the regular twenty-a-side county matches, Surrey and Kent often settle the question of supremacy with a hundred men on each side. On these occasions the smoke--for nearly all chess-players smoke--is apt to become inconveniently thick.

Chess having advanced to a point when inter-county matches became imperative, there seemed to be no good reason why its progress should be arrested. Accordingly, in that fateful year 1893, we find the north of England in a monster match of one hundred and six a side at Birmingham. How the south, with sixty-seven of her players hailing from London and the home counties, won the match by one game is now a matter of history. The following year a return match was held in London, the south, with the advantage of playing at home, winning by a much more substantial majority--64 1/2 to 43 1/2; and now the match is looked upon as an annual fixture.

If it be wondered how anyone can win half a game at chess, it must be understood that a drawn game counts half a point to each player. Probably more drawn games are recorded in chess than in any other pastime, excepting draughts, where--given two expert players--the difficulty seems to be to produce any other result.

Notwithstanding the great chess awakening throughout the country, it has to be confessed that British chess is at present without a national association. It may be argued that so is cricket, but the cases are hardly parallel. Cricket is a peculiarly English institution, and we need no national association to help us assert our supremacy. But in chess a very different state of things exists. Americans, Germans, Frenchmen, Austrians, Hungarians and Russians can all play, and play supremely well. Hence a national organization is distinctly called for, to keep in touch with the chess life of other countries and to promote international contests.

Nowadays it is not necessary to bring the players face to face, and matches can be played between teams who may be hundreds of miles apart. Indeed, a cable match between the United Kingdom and the United States is now one of our annual fixtures. Sir George Newnes having given a valuable silver cup to be competed for year by year. The last of these matches was played on February 12 and 13, 1897, the English representatives being Messrs. Blackburne, Locock, Atkins, Lawrence, Mills, Bellingham, Blake, Jackson, Cole and Jacobs. The United States team included the young champion Pillsbury, Showalter, Delmar and seven others whose reputation is better known on the other side of the Atlantic.

The play lasted for two days; everything proceeded without a hitch, and in the end the British team won by 5 1/2 to 4 1/2. This result was eminently satisfactory, for the team was almost entirely composed of amateurs, and the selection had been subjected to much sharp criticism.

The process of conducting such a match is a very simple one. A wire connected with the cable is brought direct into the room where the players are seated. Each player declares his move as he makes it on his board, and this move is forthwith "flashed across the sea" and is made known to the opposing player, on whose board a corresponding move is made. This process goes on until all the games are finished and the match completed. Of course the moves are not sent at length, but a most ingenious code is used, by which in fact several moves can be communicated simultaneously. So rapid is the transmission of the moves that, on one occasion during the late match, not more than fifty-five seconds were necessary for cabling a move and its reply.

A similar match was played on May 31 and June 1, 1897, between five members of the British House of Commons playing in London, and a similar number of members of the U.S.A. House of Assembly playing in Washington, the result being a draw of 2 1/2 each. In this match a record of time in cable matches was established, twenty moves being cabled in twenty-one and a half minutes, one move going to and from Washington in forty seconds.

Matches are also occasionally played by telephone, and as lately as December 18 the City of London Club measured its strength in this way with that of the Yorkshire Association. One end of the telephone line was carried into their club in Nicholas Lane, the other end being at the Yorkshire headquarters in Leeds. Tossing for the move caused much amusement. "You call," said London. "Heads," came the reply from Leeds. But it was tails. "Are you quite sure?" said Leeds. "Yes; your umpire was looking," was the reply.

As the evening came on a band began playing in the vicinity of the Yorkshire club, whereupon a prompt request went over the wire from London to have the music stopped. The "City" won the match, securing three games and drawing the other five.

Of blindfold and simultaneous play we have no space to say more than a word. Mr. Blackburne will play eight fairly strong players without seeing either board or men. The moves are conveyed to him as they are made by word of mouth, and he dictates his replies. How he can carry the eight constantly changing positions in his mind without getting them hopelessly mixed is a mystery which can only be solved by those who have a like power. Simultaneous play is not so difficult to understand, and most of the masters, and many leading amateurs, too, can play from twenty to thirty games at once. But a very great mental strain is involved in the feat, as any young player can find out by attempting to carry on two games at the same time.

There are many other points of interest in connection with this most wonderful game, but even an article on chess must have its limits. Still, every writer is entitled to a last word, and ours shall be this: The difficulty of learning the game is much overrated.

One often hears the remark, "Oh, it takes a lifetime to learn chess." As a matter of fact, a lifetime is much too short to "learn" it perfectly, but perfection is happily not necessary for enjoyment in any walk of life. The moves can easily be grasped in half an hour, and after a week's practice any intelligent learner will be able to play a game good enough to afford him pleasure. He will by that time also see something of the possibilities of the game, and if he ambitious his play will improve by leaps and bounds. Countless hours of the keenest enjoyment are then in store for him, and happy indeed is the man who can find his recreation in the finest and most intellectual of all games.

For most of the data in this article, the writer is indebted to Mr. James G. Cunningham, whose fund of information on all chess matters is inexhaustible.

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About the Author

This article by J. Arnold Green is from the journal, THE LIVING AGE (Sixth Series, Volume XVIII, April, May, June, 1898), which is in the public domain.
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US-Chess Clubs: CHESS-PLAYING TO-DAY (PART II)

2006-01-02T00:43:00.000-08:00

One very satisfactory outcome of all this match-playing has been a very much wider application of the "time limit," which had only been enforced in great masters' tournaments and in isolated games of any special importance. In the ordinary way a player might take ten minutes--and as many more as he pleased--over every move; in many games he can and does still. This is all very well if you have a whole evening and a night before you, but otherwise one of two things will probably happen: either the game will result in a draw for want of time to develop it, or the faster player will throw it away in sheer disgust. After analyzing a position for any length of time, a player ought to be able to proceed for the next few moves with tolerable rapidity, and in order to prevent him from examining every possible variation after every move, the "time limit" is introduced. The standard varies according to the quality of the chess expected. In the great masters' tournaments twenty moves in the first hour and fifteen moves an hour afterwards is the general limit. In the league matches twenty-four moves an hour is the rate, and in some contests even thirty is not considered to be too fast.

A "time limit" of twenty-four moves an hour means that each player has one hour at his disposal wherein to complete his first twenty-four moves, an hour and a quarter for his first thirty moves, an hour and a half for thirty-six moves, and so on. If he has made more than the required number in the hour, the time he has gained is added on to the time allotted for the next series of moves. For instance, supposing a player has made thirty-six moves in the first hour and he has a difficult position to analyze, he can if he likes examine it for half an hour, and yet will not have exceeded his limit of thirty-six moves in an hour and a half. On the other hand, should a player exceed his "time limit"--that is, should he have failed to complete twenty-four moves in the first hour, or six additional moves for every quarter of an hour afterwards--he forfeits the game.

Hour-glasses or "sand-glasses" were formerly used for the purpose of measuring time at chess matches, but now specially constructed clocks are in general use for this purpose. These clocks consist of two clocks mounted on a common base, which moves on a pivot, the two clocks therefore being on the arms of a sort of see-saw. The beam or base is so constructed that when one clock is elevated it stands perfectly perpendicular, whilst the depressed clock lies over at an angle. But as the mechanism of each clock is so constructed that it only moves when the clock is perfectly perpendicular, it follows that when the upright clock is going the depressed clock is at rest.

Another and more modern variety has the two clocks fixed on the same level, but with a small brass arm reaching from the top of one to the top of the other. This arm acts as a pivot, and can be brought down into actual contact with one clock at a time by a touch of the finger. When it is thus in contact, by an ingenious device the clock is stopped, and the desired result is attained. The working of the clocks during a match is simplicity itself. At the commencement of the match the hands of each clock point to twelve, then at the call of "time to commence play," the clock of the first player is started. Then as soon as he makes his first move he stops his own clock, either by depressing it or by touching the arm referred to, the same motion starting his opponent's clock; so it goes on during the entire course of the game, each move being marked by the stopping of one clock and the starting of the other.

To fight for one's club in matches is one of the most pleasing of a chess-player's duties. True, there are a few strong players who invariably decline to take part in these contests, and who reserve their skill for the club tournaments. In the one case you play for the honor of your club, in the other for your own reputation. The club secretary always thinks more kindly of the man who will do both. It is no uncommon thing for a London chess-player to be a member of one or two local clubs, and also of one of the more important central organizations. In the league and Surrey trophy matches a man must decide at the beginning of the season for which of his clubs he will fight, and he must stick to his choice. Not a little friction is sometimes caused by a valued member of a local club turning up to do battle against it. But the grievance is only imaginary, for a man is clearly at liberty to join as many clubs as he likes, and to please himself as to which he will play for.

Of great central clubs there are three: the St. George's, in St. James Street, S.W.; the City of London, 19 Nicholas Lane, E.C.; and the British, of Whitehall Court, S.W. The St. George's is the oldest existing chess club of the metropolis, having been founded as far back as 1845. It is the club of the "leisured and lettered" class, and from time to time has attracted to it many of the stronger university players. At one time it took the lead in London chess matters, but of late it has not been so much in evidence, and its members now mainly content themselves with quiet afternoon chess, though they occasionally still try conclusions with other metropolitan clubs.

The City of London Chess Club comes next in point of age. It was formed in 1852, and at this moment stands at the very head of English chess as a great fighting organization. It is aptly named, for it is and has always been a city club for city men, busy men all--stock-brokers, merchants, lawyers, accountants, managers and others, all representatives of the busy hive wherein they toil. In every way the "City" is a great chess institution, great alike in its membership, its aggregate playing strength and its enthusiasm for the game. Its membership totals up to something like four hundred and fifty, and it is ready to play a match, one hundred a side, with any chess club or organization in the world. The quality of the play in its championship tournament, and in the first-class sections of its great winter tournament, is of the highest; and what the "old City" can do when put upon its mettle was fully shown some little time ago when a team of master players (including Lasker) could do no more than effect a draw against a team of "City" players.

We next come to the British Chess Club, which was founded in 1885. The British is much less a fighting club than a great gathering-place for the wealthy middle-class chess-player, who loves his dinner as well as his game.

Of other foremost clubs we may mention the Athenaeum, the Ludgate Circus, the Metropolitan and the North London, all strong and vigorous organizations, and each boasting the possession of players of great skill.

To be continued...
Read Part 1

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About the Author

This article by J. Arnold Green is from the journal, THE LIVING AGE (Sixth Series, Volume XVIII, April, May, June, 1898), which is in the public domain.
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US-Chess Clubs: CHESS-PLAYING TO-DAY (PART I)

2005-12-31T02:18:00.000-08:00

Chess is generally regarded by the uninitiated as being the dullest and most selfish of games, an opinion which is by no means carefully withheld from the players themselves. Truly, as an amusement or a mirth-provoking pastime it does leave something to be desired, and even such a remark as "Just look at them, they have been sitting there for hours without speaking!" is often perfectly justified. It is hard to say why a quiet and unobtrusive demeanor should evoke sarcastic comment, but most chess-players become well accustomed to it, and after all the game survives. And not only does it survive, it gains in popularity year by year, and the extent to which it is played to-day as compared with ten years ago is most remarkable. Wherein does its fascination lie?

For one thing, chess has the reputation of being an intellectual game, and who does not like to be the follower of that which is intellectual? It is, moreover, one of the few games in which the players find themselves on a perfectly equal footing at the start. The element of chance does not enter in; the one who plays best wins. Further, though much has been said to the contrary, the game played in moderation is a real recreation. Mr. Potter, writing in the "Encyclopaedia Britannica," puts this very well. He says it "recreates not so much by way of amusement, properly so termed, as by taking possession of the mental faculties and diverting them from their accustomed grooves." Anyone who knows what it is to have a mind worried by business or harassed by care of any description can understand the value of a pastime which can do that.

But all these are the move subtle attractions to the game. The one supreme attraction is the inexhaustible beauty of the game itself. The writer has often been asked: "Don't you find that you continually repeat games you have played before?" Well, it has been computed that there are 318,979,564,000 possible ways of playing the first four moves on each side, and, play as often as you will, it is not likely that there will be much sameness about your games. A calculation as to the number of ways of playing the first ten moves on each side--less than one-third of an ordinary game--yields a modest total of thirty figures, which would convey nothing but bewilderment to the average mind. But put in another way we can dimly perceive their significance. "Considering the population of the world to be 1,483,000,000" (twenty years ago), "more than 217,000,000,000 of years would be needed to go through them all, even if every man, woman and child on the face of the globe played without cessation at a rate of one set of ten moves per minute." (Mr. Edwyn Anthony in the "Chess-Players' Chronicle," 1878). Further comment on the inexhaustibility of the game is perhaps superfluous.

On the beauty of chess it is difficult to speak with sufficient reverence. It has had at least a thousand years in which to develop, and no player regards it otherwise than as perfect. The keen delight with which a hot attack is repelled is only exceeded by that which follows the discovery of a weak point in your opponent's defence, and by the joy of concentrating an attack upon that weak point and of pushing it to a triumphant issue. Only those who know can understand!

No wonder that a game with such a character should be ardently practised all the year round in one way or another by players of every degree. For those who are fortunate enough to find an opponent in the home circle, what better pastime can there be? For those who can seldom find an adversary, there is the delight of problem solving, or the even more useful study of some published game. Others again can fight a distant opponent b correspondence; while for those who wish to do battle more promiscuously, there are chess clubs and resorts innumerable.

To such an extent has chess developed in popularity during the last ten years that the number of recognized chess clubs in London is about three times what it was in 1887, and cannot now be far short of 120. This is without reckoning the numerous chess clubs which form adjuncts to various institutions, such as political clubs, working men's clubs, church institutes and the like. And London does not stand alone in this respect. In the provinces a similar increase has taken place, the number of clubs having risen from 180 in 1887 to at least 420 in 1897. An equally significant fact is that the average membership has also rapidly grown, showing that the new clubs have been called into existence by the popular demand.

In the early eighties there was very little inter-club organization either in London or the provinces. In the metropolis a few club matches were played, but the only one of much importance was the annual encounter between the St. George's and the City of London Clubs. Then the offer of a cup, called the Baldwin-Hoffer trophy, after its donors, induced six or seven of the stronger suburban clubs to enter into rivalry one with another. This was followed by the institution of the Surrey trophy, to be competed for by the Surrey clubs only. These competitions infused new life into the clubs, and developed a desire for regular inter-club competition within the metropolitan area. This was duly arranged in 1888, the clubs being divided into two classes, senior and junior. Five years later a still further step was taken by the formation of the London Chess League, and the organization of a yearly contest to be played in three divisions, A, B, C. The clubs in the A division have to furnish teams of twenty players, in the B division twelve, and in the C division eight. This competition has proved to be a great success, and in the present season, 1897-8, no fewer than thirty-three clubs are taking part. Naturally the interest centres round the struggle for supremacy in the A division, where the chess played is of a very high order, many of the games on the top boards being worthy of the foremost masters.

To be continued...

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About the Author

This article by J. Arnold Green is from the journal, THE LIVING AGE (Sixth Series, Volume XVIII, April, May, June, 1898), which is in the public domain.

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US-Chess Clubs: Play Free Online Chess

2005-12-23T02:39:00.000-08:00

Play free online chess at www.chessmaniac.com

US-Chess Clubs: The Fischer King

2005-02-03T05:09:00.000-08:00

In the surreal setting of war-torn Yugoslavia, reclusive chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer emerged to meet Boris Spassky.

At about 3:30 PM on Sept. 2, Bobby Fischer shook hands with Boris Spassky over a chess board in a hotel conference room on the Adriatic coast of Yugoslavia, then quietly pushed the white's king's pawn two squares forward. Fischer has always preferred the king's pawn opening-he has long touted it as white's best first move-and let history note that it may have been the only predictable act to Occur so far in this match, and through all the days leading up to it. Indeed, it came as part of a scene so surreal as to suggest no less than a dream. Exactly 20 years and one day had passed since the final game of that riotous summer of 1972, when Spassky, then the world champion from the Soviet Union, and Fischer, the eccentric, temperamental chess genius from Brooklyn, faced each other for nearly two months across a chess board in Reykjavik, Iceland, fighting for the world title in an internationally celebrated match that left them as symbols of their time: steely cold warriors doing battle with wooden cannons in the ultimate mind game, at the height of East-West tensions.

US-Chess Clubs: Bobby Fischer is a Ferocious Winner

2005-01-28T01:41:00.000-08:00

Angry voices rattled the door to Bobby Fischer's hotel room as I raised my hand to knock. "Goddammit, I'm sick of it!" I heard Bobby shouting. "I'm sick of seeing people! I got to work, I got to rest! Why didn't you ask me before you set up all those appointments? To hell with them!" Then I heard the mild and dignified executive director of the U.S. Chess Federation addressing the man who may well be the greatest chess player in world history in a tone just slightly lower than a yell: "Bobby, ever since we came to Buenos Aires I've done nothing but take care of you, day and night. You ungrateful ---!"

It was 3 p.m., a bit early for Fischer to be up. Ten minutes later, finding the hall silent, I risked a knock and Fischer cracked the door. "Oh yeah, the guy from LIFE. Come on in." His smile was broad and boyish but his eyes were wary. Tall, wide and flat, with a head too small for his big body, he put me in mind of a pale transhuman sculpture by Henry Moore. I had seen him twice before but never so tired.

US-Chess Clubs: The Chess of Bobby Fischer

2005-01-22T01:54:00.000-08:00

Fischer's games are so full of ideas, from opening adventures to the themes of composed endings, that they are in themselves the best introduction to the pleasures of the game. In the arduous path to chess mastery, enjoyment is the surest driving force. In the words of Bobby Fischer, "You can get good only if you love the game."

So much has been written about Fischer as a personality that the general public, including the chess fraternity, has been blinded to his chess. His games have been analyzed over and over in the chess journals. He has published three books himself, with varying degrees of help from other authors. Yet his winning methods, his unique contributions to the larger body of chess knowledge, and his rightful place in the history of the game have been overshadowed by all the publicity.

US-Chess Clubs: The Mind of Bobby Fischer

2005-01-15T22:44:00.000-08:00

There is probably no other topic that intrigues chessplayers as much as the inner machinations of the mind of Bobby Fischer. Among world chess champions of the past, there has always been a strong equation between their demonstrable talents in other intellectual areas and their supreme proficiency in chess - despite attempts by the general press to depict them as bizarre, egotistical, single-minded renegades from society. Emanuel Lasker was a noted mathematician, philosopher, and friend of Albert Einstein. Alexander Alekhine paused in the middle of his pursuit of the championship to take a law degree at the Sorbonne and was a prolific writer in several languages. Mikhail Botvinnik has been highly decorated by the Soviet Union for his work as an engineer and has done pioneer work in the field of computer chess. Capablanca was a diplomat - honorary, it is true, but effective nevertheless. Euwe has been a professor of mathematics and is currently the president of FIDE, the world chess organization. And I could go on down the list of other great players.

US-Chess Clubs: Checkmate for chess whiz Bobby Fischer

2004-07-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

AMERICAN justice may have finally caught up with Bobby Fischer.

Wanted for defying an American ban on doing business with Yugoslavia in 1992, the one-time world chess champion was arrested by Japanese immigration officials this week as he tried to fly out of Tokyo's Narita airport. Fischer, who was headed to the Philippines, stands accused by the Japanese of travelling on a revoked American passport.

He now sits in an airport jail facing deportation and arrest by US marshals as early as today.

Returning to the United States in handcuffs would mark a bitter homecoming for the Brooklyn-raised exile. In the 1960s and 1970s, Fischer transformed chess from nerdy to sexy and became a Cold War-era hero by vanquishing Boris Spassky, the Soviet Union's best, in the legendary 1972 world championship.

He has been a recluse almost since then. Now 61, Fischer has emerged in public only fitfully in recent years, usually to berate the US government for what he regards as its evil foreign policies.

US-Chess Clubs: Clash of The Titans Chess Battle

2004-06-06T01:42:00.000-07:00

(NEW YORK, NY; LINDSBORG, KANSAS) The United States Chess Federation (USCF) is pleased to announce a six-game Brain versus Beauty - Clash of The Titans Chess Battle between 7-time World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov and 4-time Women’s World Champion Susan Polgar.

The legendary World Chess Champions will compete in the most exciting triple challenge of Rapid Chess, Blitz Chess and Advanced Chess. This historic colossal battle and unique match will mark the first ever official chess match between a Men’s World Chess Champion and a Women’s World Chess Champion. Anatoly Karpov and Susan Polgar have long been true ambassadors to chess. This time, their mammoth battle is designed to help promote chess in the United States.

World Champion Susan Polgar, a three-time Olympic Champion and six-time Olympic medalist will also lead the US Women’s Olympiad team in the upcoming 2004 Chess Olympiad in Mallorca, Spain in October 2004. The US Women’s Olympiad team will attempt to bring home the first ever Women’s Olympiad medal for the United States. World Champion Anatoly Karpov will be participating in the 57th Super Russian Championship in Moscow in November 2004. The Russian Championship is the strongest and most prestigious national championship in the world.

On Saturday, September 18, 2004, the Brain versus Beauty - Clash of the Titans Opening Ceremony will start with a Chess Parade. It will be held in downtown Lindsborg, Kansas from 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM. The King and Queen Parade headed by World Champions Anatoly Karpov and Susan Polgar will lead a group of top chess grandmasters and scholastic chess teams. These teams will participate in the Champion’s Cup Scholastic Tournament followed by exciting strategic chess exploration. The official media press conference will be held immediately after the Parade.

The Battle of two World Champions will be held at the Bethany College Theater on September 18-19 in 6 exciting matches with 2 Rapid games at the time control of 20 minutes with 5 seconds delay, 2 Blitz games at the time control of 5 minutes with 3 seconds delay and 2 Advanced Chess at the time control of 25 minutes with 5 seconds increments.

The United States Chess Federation (USCF) has officially sanctioned the match. The Karpov - Polgar match is supported by the State of Kansas and the city of Lindsborg. Play Free Chess!

US-Chess Clubs: Check This Out, Mate

2004-05-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

Thursday, May 20, 2004 By Valerie Strauss The Washington Post
WASHINGTON--Fifth-graders Leeander Ragland and Steven Brooks sat facing each other during a class lesson at their District of Columbia school, fixated on their schoolwork. The assignment? Playing chess.
Whittier Elementary is one of hundreds, maybe thousands, of schools in the United States where chess is being taught to kids.
Teachers and students say chess teaches patience, concentration and how to follow rules. Players also learn that they must think ahead or risk losing badly. Kids say they like the game because there is no luck involved. No spinning dice. No picking cards. It's all about how well they plan moves.
``If you make a bad move, you suffer because your piece gets taken away. But if you make the right move you are happy,'' said Veronica Morris, 11. ``And that's the same thing in life. Because if you make the wrong move in life or open the wrong door then you suffer. But if you make the right move or open the right door and think before you do it, then you will be really happy.''
At Whittier, chess is taught once a week to the entire fifth grade. Teachers Harry Hughs, Sanjay Singh and Ruth Turay said they have seen math scores improve since the kids have started learning to play chess. And they said that some kids are behaving better in class since they took up chess. That's what Leeander said happened to him.
``I used to be bad in school,'' he said. ``When I started playing chess I started being obedient and quiet. Chess helped teach me how to do that.''
The chess instructor is Douglas Goralski, called Mr. G., who works with the nonprofit U.S. Chess Center in Washington. "

US-Chess Clubs: Paso Robles Spring Chess Open

2004-05-17T16:56:00.000-07:00

See results and photo album! The Paso Robles Sping Chess Open was held May 15, 2004 at the Paso Robles Senior Center. Thirty participants faced off in the four round state chess championship qualifier. The tournament started at 10:00 a.m. sharp and did not finish until 7:30 p.m.

US-Chess Clubs: Murray High School Wins 2004 Kentucky State Championships

2004-03-23T20:24:00.000-08:00

"The Murray High School chess team recently won the 2004 Kentucky State Championships, held in Heritage Hall at Rupp Arena in Lexington.
The title marked the first chess championship the school has won."
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US-Chess Clubs: Paso Probles Winter Chess Open

2004-02-22T04:36:00.000-08:00

"The Paso Robles Winter Chess Open was held February 21, 2004 at the Paso Robles Senior Center. Twenty-Three participants entered the four round tournament to face off on this rainy Saturday. The tournament started at 10:00 a.m. sharp and did not finish until 7:30 p.m.
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Chess Open at Paso Robles Senior Center

US-Chess Clubs: Kids master game of chess

2004-02-12T04:48:00.000-08:00

"When Valentina Lokhova asked how many of her 22 chess students saw the movie 'Searching for Bobby Fischer,' several hands shot up in the air Saturday.
She then showed the group of attentive children how the young boy in the movie beat a chess champion -- by trapping the king and queen in one move -- and revealed a strategy of her own for teaching them how to play chess.
'We use a lot of references to 'Harry Potter,' 'Star Wars' and other movies to get the kids excited about the game of chess,' she said. "
News - Lake Forester:

US-Chess Clubs: Big Isle youth chess champions crowned

2004-02-11T02:08:00.000-08:00

By TIFFANY EDWARDS/ West Hawaii Today

HILO - Lance Desmither, a 16 - year - old home - schooler, won the high school division of the Big Island Championships on Saturday, with what his father described as a brilliant move - 'sacrificing his queen.'
Larry Desmither said in order to gain a bishop, his son used the queen, the most powerful piece on the board because it can move more directions than any other piece.
'It was brilliant. I thought he was going to lose, and he ended up winning,' Desmither said."
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US-Chess Clubs: US Chess Championship moving to San Diego!

2004-01-16T18:31:00.000-08:00

US Chess Championship moving to San Diego!
"SEATTLE - After three years in Seattle, the nation's premier chess event is moving down the coast. This year's U.S. Chess Championship is being delayed from January to December to accommodate the move into San Diego's new cultural and arts venue, the Promenade Centre. "
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US-Chess Clubs: Russian chess duo on top after fifth round

2004-01-14T17:15:00.000-08:00

"Russian chess duo on top after fifth round
Mumbai, Jan. 14 (PTI): Russian Grandmasters Pavel Smirnov and Alexnader Fominyh, won their respective boards against top Indian players to emerge joint leaders after the fifth round of the Commonwealth Chess Championship here today. " Hindu News
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