Friday, April 30, 2010

Paul Morphy’s NY Ledger Column from Saturday, February 11, 1860.

Here's another one for all chess history buff out there. From ChessCafe, Paul Morphy annotates a game for his column Chess Department on the New York Ledger and it dates 1860. Read his column here. The game Labourdonnais-McDonnell 1834, London England.

Many chess players are unaware that Paul Morphy wrote a chess column. From August 6, 1859 until August 4, 1860, Morphy “conducted the Chess Department” in the New York Ledger. There were fifty-two columns, and we have decided that it is time to share the writings of the nineteenth-century American genius with our readers. Please note that the original column used an antiquated form of English descriptive notation. We have taken the liberty of converting all the moves to algebraic notation and adding a diagram or two where appropriate. In addition, Morphy’s annotations were given at the very end of the game, referenced by letter. We have merged them into the game. We hope you enjoy Morphy’s NY Ledger Column...

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Ni Hua wins 9th Asian Individual Chess Championship, Wesley So takes second spot, 14 year old Garcia gets 2 IM norm.

Fresh from Subic Bay, Pampanga. Chinese GM Ni Hua just won the 9th Asian Individual Chess Championship. Hua settled to a draw against GM Abhijeet Gupta of India in the 9th and final round. Hua finished the tournament with 7.0 points and was undefeated with five wins and five draws capping up with performance rating of 2729. Erstwhile leader and darling of the tournament Wesley So, finished second over all with 6.5 points with four others but superior tie break points elevates him to the second spot. So has a performance rating of 2689, gaining 4.1 points to improve his unofficial rating to around 2669. His highest ever. So finished the tournament with 6.5 points.

Another impressive performance by a promising Filipino saw 14 year old FM Jan Emmanuel Garcia (2315). Garcia placed 17th over all with 5.5 points and has defeated two grandmasters, one International Master, likewise drawing four games with four more grandmasters he faced. He produced a 2573 rating performance, gaining a whopping 46.2 points. According to his father, if Jan Emmanuel scored 6.0 points, he'll automatically get a GM norm. More about Garcia's performance in this report by NM Marlon Bernardino.

14-YEAR-OLD BOY GAINS OUTRIGHT 2 IM TITLE NORM IN SUBIC CHESS

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO

A day after getting his outright two (2) International Master norm, RP whiz kid Fide Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia (2315) defeated GM Saleh Salem (2483) in the ninth and final round at the conclusion of 9th Asian Individual Chess Championships at the Subic Exhibiton and Convention Center in Subic, Olongapo City yesterday.

Garcia prevailed with the advantageous white pieces after 40 moves of English Opening.

“Masayang-masaya po ako kasi nagbunga na din y’ung full support ng pamilya ko at ni cong. (Butch) Pichay sa chess career ko.” said the young Garcia, son of lawyer Florand and Elizabeth Garcia.

The 14-year-old incoming third year high school student of Ateneo de Manila University Garcia, dubbed as the next Wesley So in the Philippine chess tallied a total 5.5 points on account of 3 wins, 5 draws and a loss in nine outings of the week-long event, organized by National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president/ chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr.

“Maraming tayong magagaling na mga batang chess player, kailangan lamang nilang mabigyan ng break kaya nga marami tayong International chess tournament na i ioorganize,” said NCFP president/ chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr.

Actually, Jan Emmanuel fell short for his GM title norm aspiration but needed one IM norm to complete his IM title requirement.

“Kung naka 6 points si Jem (Jan Emmanuel) GM norm pa sana.” Said Jan Emmanuel’s father lawyer Florand Garcia.

“Counted sa 2 IM norm nakuha ni Jem kasi Asian Continental event ito,” he added.

Fondly called Jem in a local chess circuit, he opened his bid a draw against Asia’s First GM Eugene Torre in the 1st round then upset Singaporean GM Zhang Zhong in the second round. A back-to-back draw against Vietnamese GM Tu Hoang Thong and Mongolian Bayarsaikhan in the 3rd and 4th round before yielding to Vietnamese IM Nguyen Huyn Minh Huy in the 5th round.

But he came back after salvaging a draw over 1996 Asian junior champion Vietnamese GM Nguyen Anh Dung in the 6th round then toppled compatriot IM Oliver Barbosa in the 7th round.

A draw with countryman GM John Paul Gomez in the 8th and penultimate round to clinch his outright two (2) IM norm before suprising GM Saleh Salem in the 9th and final round yesterday.





Final Rankings after 9 rounds
Round 9 results

Rk.
NameFEDRtgPts. TB1 TB2 TB3
1CHNGMNI HuaCHN26677,0253735,544,5
2PHIGMSO WesleyPHI26656,5255038,049,5
3INDGMGUPTA AbhijeetIND25606,5252836,548,0
4CHNGMZHOU JianchaoCHN26506,5251835,545,5
5VIEGMLE Quang LiemVIE26896,5246632,042,0
6CHNGMYU YangyiCHN25746,0257340,551,5
7CHN
ZENG ChongshengCHN23506,0254536,546,5
8CHNGMDING LirenCHN25656,0253937,548,0
9CHNGMLI Chao BCHN26136,0252438,047,5
10CHN
WAN YunguoCHN24246,0249734,544,0
11INDIMSETHURAMAN S PIND24936,0249033,542,5
12CHNGMZHOU WeiqiCHN25846,0244631,039,5
13CHN
YU RuiyuanCHN23095,5257239,050,5
14IRIFMGOLIZADEH AsgharIRI24545,5253636,544,5
15INDGMBAKRE TejasIND24655,5253635,544,0
16INDGMSASIKIRAN KrishnanIND26865,5251535,546,5
17PHIFMGARCIA Jan EmmanuelPHI23155,5249832,542,0
18INAGMMEGARANTO SusantoINA25275,5249238,048,5
19IRIGMGHAEM MAGHAMI EhsanIRI25755,5245734,544,5
20VIEGMNGUYEN Ngoc Truong SonVIE26425,5244333,043,0
21PHIGMANTONIO Rogelio JrPHI25725,5244033,544,0
22INDIMHARIKA DronavalliIND24735,5243630,539,0
23INDGMHARIKRISHNA PIND26605,5242735,044,5
24CHN
XIU DeshunCHN24935,5241931,540,5
25SINGMZHANG ZhongSIN26035,5240033,542,5
26UZBIMKHAMRAKULOV DzhurabekUZB25095,5239331,039,0
27CHNGMWEN YangCHN25205,5238429,537,0
28VIEIMNGUYEN Huynh Minh HuyVIE24695,0255739,049,0
29CHN
WANG LiCHN23835,0251635,545,0
30MGLFMBATTULGA NamkhaiMGL23575,0251634,043,5
31PHIIMBARBOSA OliverPHI24525,0250937,044,0
32INDGMGEETHA Narayanan GopalIND26045,0250338,048,5
33VIEGMNGUYEN Anh DungVIE24645,0249634,545,0
34MGLGMSHARAVDORJ DashzegveMGL24435,0248433,540,5
35PHIGMGOMEZ John PaulPHI25075,0248134,044,0
36PHIIMDIMAKILING OliverPHI24415,0245328,037,0
37PHIGMLAYLO DarwinPHI25275,0244233,543,0
38VIEGMDAO Thien HaiVIE25235,0241633,541,5
39INDIMADHIBAN BIND25105,0240432,041,0
40BANGMRAHMAN ZiaurBAN25585,0240229,538,0
41VIEGMBUI VinhVIE24805,0237829,538,5
42QATGMAL-SAYED MohammedQAT25035,0236426,034,5
43CHNIMYANG KaiqiCHN23964,5256437,546,0
44VIEIMNGUYEN Thanh SonVIE24404,5252934,544,0
45PHIIMNADERA Barlo APHI24054,5252534,543,5
46MGL
GUNDAVAA BayarsaikhanMGL24714,5251436,045,5
47IRI
DARINI PouriaIRI23984,5250931,037,0
48CHN
LU ShangleiCHN23404,5249632,542,0
49SINIMGOH WeimingSIN24264,5248632,541,5
50KAZIMKUDERINOV KirillKAZ24424,5248331,040,5
51PHIIMDABLEO RonaldPHI24644,5243631,040,0
52IRIIMTOUFIGHI HomayoonIRI24914,5243532,041,5
53CHNIMGAO RuiCHN24644,5242231,541,0
54UAEGMSALEM A R SalehUAE24834,5239031,541,5
55PHIIMNOLTE RolandoPHI24204,0251333,042,0
56SINFMCHAN Wei Xuan TimothySIN23414,0250430,539,0
57PHIFMPASCUA HaridasPHI23584,0249532,041,5
58INDGMNEELOTPAL DasIND24454,0248534,043,0
59VIEIMDUONG The AnhVIE24254,0247429,536,5
60CHN
WANG ChenCHN23904,0247234,543,0
61PHIFMHABLA JonyPHI23164,0247232,539,0
62PHIFMSEGARRA RandyPHI22984,0245731,039,5
63VIEGMTU Hoang ThongVIE24834,0241932,041,5
64UAEFMALHUWAR JasemUAE23084,0240725,533,5
65PHI
MARIANO Nelson IiiPHI21184,0239925,032,5
66PHIGMTORRE EugenioPHI25064,0237831,039,5
67INAIMGINTING NasibINA23974,0236627,035,0
68CHN
LOU YipingCHN24293,5254935,044,0
69INDWIMPADMINI RoutIND23193,5243930,038,0
70PHIIMBITOON RichardPHI24763,5242132,041,5
71INDGMSUNDARARAJAN KidambiIND25203,5240527,034,5
72CHN
LI HanbinCHN23303,5237728,035,5
73PHI
DATU Alcon JohnPHI22203,5237624,531,0
74PHI
LUMANCAS LyndonPHI22893,5237024,531,0
75PHI
OLAY Edgar ReggiePHI23043,5234827,535,0
76PHI
CAUSO DenielPHI23023,5213522,028,0
77PHI
MACALA AllanPHI22833,0252436,045,5
78PHI
SENADOR EmmanuelPHI24013,0249534,043,0
79PHI
FLORENDO Paulo JamesPHI22623,0244830,538,0
80BRUFMYEE Soon WeiBRU22093,0244827,535,5
81PHI
TURQUEZA Mari JosephPHI20873,0235826,535,0
82PHIFMDE RAMOS JuliusPHI23143,0235527,034,5
83PHI
GALINDO JosephPHI03,0220624,530,0
84PHI
PAULO BersaminaPHI19272,5219024,030,0
85AUSIMWOHL Aleksandar HAUS24412,5216824,031,5
86PHI
LEGASPI RhobelPHI23142,0243629,538,5
87CHN
LU YijieCHN23492,0234424,030,0
88PHI
GALVAN JesusPHI02,0220124,029,5
89PHI
DE LEON Luke MatthewPHI01,0203418,023,5
90PHI
ABELGAS RoelPHI21700,0031,540,5