Philippine Government Includes Chess in Schools Curriculum
Saturday, 02 May 2009 08:23

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo approved inclusion of chess in schools curriculum in primary and secondary schools across the country. National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) President Prospero Pichay and Department of Education Secretary Jesli A. Lapus signed the Memorandum of Agreement the other day launching the National Chess Academy. Witnessing the signing were NCFP secretary-general Mayor Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino, NCFP Director Brother Roly Dizon, NCFP Executive Director Willie Abalos and Department of Education officials.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (center) graced the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) President Prospero Pichay (seated right), witnessed by NCFP Secretary General Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino and NCFP Executive Director Willy Abalos, and Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Jeslie Lapus (seated left) with DepEd officials.

Posing after the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement. At far left is Brother Roly Dizon, former president of the De La Salle University in Manila and member of the NCFP Board.

The NCFP Chess in Schools Committee, clockwise from left: FIDE Delegate Casto Abundo, Brother Roly Dizon, Committee Chairman Saturnino Belen, IA Bobby Bautista, GM Bong Villamayor and Coordinator Jessie Sanchez.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued the Executive Order to encourage children to play chess in accordance with the Grassroots Program of the Philippine Sports Commission.

Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Jesli A. Lapus issued a memorandum entitled "Strengthening the Development of Higher Order Thinking Skills and Values Among Children Through Chess."

Secretary Lapus said that children exposed to chess learn faster and get better grades. He has ordered the integration of chess into the curriculum of grade school and high school students.

"Chess is a game that improves individual organizational and analytical skills. Children when exposed to this game at an early age achieve academically better, or even faster than those who have not been engaged in the game. Likewise, chess is among the activities that help build memory skills, concentration, self-confidence, self-esteem and in making disciplined decisions. Playing chess provides opportunities to practice such values as perseverance, honesty, and sportsmanship," Secretary Lapus stated in the Memorandum.

The Department of Education (DepEd) shall adopt chess as another strategy to promote the development of higher order thinking skills and values among Grades 3 to 6 in the Physical Education department. Chess will continue at the secondary level.

Brother Rolando Dizon , former president of the De La Salle University and member of the NCFP Board of Directors, said that the DepEd and NCFP shall conduct "Chess Training Seminar/Workshops for DepEd Coordinators" at the First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities (FAITH) in Tanauan City in Batangas. FAITH president Saturnino G. Belen, Jr. who is also a member of the NCFP Board was tapped by Prospero Pichay to head the NCFP Chess in Schools Committee. Belen is also a member of the FIDE Commission on Chess In Schools.

Coordinator Jessie Sanchez announced that the seminars will be on May 7-9 and 10-12 in Tanauan; May 14-16 in Bacolod City and May 19-21 in Davao City.

Grandmaster Bong Villamayor shall lead the team of accredited lectures and supervise the examination for instructors.

In the Philippine public school system, there are around 35,000 Grade Schools and some 6,000 High Schools. There are over 2,000 private High Schools. Brother Dizon said they aim to train 35,000 chess teachers by November 2009.

Tournaments and Matches will be conducted among school children. NCFP Executive Director Willy Abalos said that the National Inter-Collegiate Championship shall be held 18-22 August at the Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in Munoz, Nueva Ecija.

Brother Dizon said that the Philippine University Games shall be held October 23 to 26, 2009 in Bacolod City.

The Committee met with Asian Chess Federation Deputy President Casto Abundo to map out the strategy. Key to the program are training and licensing of instructors, review and endorsement of chess equipment and publications, nationwide series of tournaments and matches between schools and establishment of chess clubs throughout the archipelago.
randprix.fide.com

Expat Chess Camp 2009 Invitation

Chess - a game to grow up with

Monday, 09 March 2009 00:23
World Conference on chess in schools, 25th – 27th February 2009, in Turin, Italy

The Role of Chess in the Development of Personality and Cognitive CapacitiesTeaching Chess in schools: a comparison among different methods and Experiences
Torino, Italy, February 25-27, 2009
The conference was organized by Prof. Roberto Rivello, President of the Piedmont Committee of Italian Chess Federation, with the assistence of Alessandro Dominici (Savigliano Chess Club).
The participants of the International conference discussed the problem of proposing to the local Governments to include "Chess", as a subject, in School Essential Program. It is supposed that chess can be a powerful tool for children, and many studies by scientific groups and researchers demonstrated it.


Tian Hongwei, the translator, Marley J. Kaplan, Uvencio Blanco
Experience has shown that bringing chess lessons in schools allows children to increase the level of logical reasoning, forces children make decision by themselves, develops ability to study and to make actions "in mind". Finally these upsides increase children' school educational progress in basic essential school program.
Chess as new educational subject is capable to make the quality of education grow up. The conference had the goal to make an up-to-date picture of teaching chess in school in the world. In Turkey and USA, for example, chess are taught to many children and there is the help of the governments.

Uvencio Blanco, Giovanna Pentenero, Roberto Rivello (chairman), Alì Nihat Yazici and Flavio Brugnoli
As far as Italy, where chess are considered a "sport" and included inside the National Sport Olympic Committee (in Italian: CONI), chess are also taught in the school but they are not in the essential programs of the morning. In any case about 200.000 children yearly follow the chess lessons. The request of learning chess in Italy is very high and sometimes the real problem is to find ... the teachers!
The organizers received a very important message by the Italian Minister of Education, where you can read that Italian Government regards chess as higly instructive and character building and will encourage the spread of chess in school.


The world conference in Turin had a great success. People from all over the world come; we can mention chessplayers and teachers from many countries of Europe (Croatia, England, France, Germany, Russia, Slovenia), from USA, China, Egypt, Turkey, Venezuela: Ali Nihat Yazici (President of Turkish Chess Federation, FIDE Vice-President), prof. Uvencio Blanco H. (Chairman of the FIDE Committee on Chess in Schools), Mrs Marley J. Kaplan, President and chief executive officer "Chess in schools" New York, prof. Fernand Gobet (Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Director of the Centre for the Study of Expertise at Brunel University, West London), prof. Philippe Chassy (Researcher on Psychology – University of Toulouse), Tian Hongwei (Chinese Chess Federation), Gihan El Sahhar (Egypt Chess Federation).
Among the Italian speakers we have to mention the important scientific journalist Piero Angela (Italian Television RAI) one of the most famous in Italy - he is also a chess fan.
Article and photos by Adolivio Capece

CHESS CAMP at Palma Beach Resort in Umm Al Quwain

The Expat Chess Club (ECC) under the auspices of UAE Chess Federation will conduct a FREE Chess Clinic, an Introduction to Chess for beginners and FREE Orientation regarding some changes in FIDE Chess Tournament Rules for the benefits of all chess enthusiast. The event is set to kick-off on February 27, 2009, Friday, from 2:00 - 6:00 P.M. at Palma Beach Resort in Umm Al Quwain.

One of the highlight in this chess camp is the exhibition match of Filipina chess players Anita Valerio (13), her sister Carissa Joy Valerio (11) from Sharjah against Jordanian chess players Saed Alaghbar (13) and his sister Sabina Alaghbar (9) of Umm Al Quwain. They will showcase their talent in chess in an exciting two on two scheveningen system on the Giant Chess Board.

Another exciting features in this event is the simultaneous chess exhibition game of Axel Valerio (14 years old) against 20 chess players. Axel, a Filipino chess prodigy from Sharjah started playing chess at the age of 6 years old. He gained his FIDE Rating at the age of 11 and presently holding a "Champion" title of two prestigious event in United Arab Emirates; The UAE U-14 Open Individual Chess Tournament held in Sharjah and the annual Abu Dhabi Chess Festival Open Individual Chess Tournament (U-16 Category) held last year in Abu Dhabi.

The objective of this event is to promote the game of chess to all expatriate, likewise enhance the skill of expat chess players residing in Umm Al Quwain.

For further details, please contact the organizer @ 050-8618734 or e-mail at info.expatchess@gmail.com

Filipino GMs celebrates New Years Day at Reef Mall in Dubai

Filipino chess delegation celebrates their New Years Day with the Filipino Chess Players League at Reef Mall in Dubai. GM Wesley So (standing center in blue and orange stripes), GM Mark Paragua (to Wesley’s right), GM Darwin Laylo (kneeling center in red sweater) and GM John Paul Gomez (standing third from left) with NCFP Director Willy Abalos (fourth from left) and Inquirer sports writer Roy Luarco.

A World Conference on Chess in Schools
Friday, 06 February 2009 11:10

TURIN – ITALY, 25th – 27th FEBRUARY 2009 CHESS: A GAME TO GROW UP WITHA WORLD CONFERENCE ON CHESS IN SCHOOLS
The Role of Chess in the Development of Personality and Cognitive CapacitiesTeaching Chess in schools: a comparison among different methods and ExperiencesWorking Language: English
DRAFT PROGRAMME(Please download Draft Programme in PDF format)25th February 2009 9.30/10.00 Welcome Address
- by Avv. Mariastella Gelmini, Italian Minister of Education, t.b.c. (or by a representative of Italian Ministry of Education)- by Prof. Mercedes Bresso, President of Piedmont Region, t.b.c. (or by a representative of Piedmont Region)- by Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, President of World Chess Federation (FIDE), President and Head of Republic of Kalmykia- by Mr. Gianpietro Pagnoncelli, President of Italian Chess Federation (FSI)- by Mr. Flavio Brugnoli, Coordinator of the institutional activities of the Compagnia di San Paolo- by Prof. Roberto Rivello, President of the Piedmont Committee of Italian Chess Federation10.00/10.20 Introductive Remarks
- by Mr. Francesco De Sanctis, Direttore generale dell’Ufficio scolastico regionale del Piemonte (Piedmont Scholastic Office)- by Ms. Giovanna Pentenero, Assessore all’Istruzione e alla Formazione professionale, Piedmont Region- by Mr. Luigi Saragnese, Assessore alle risorse educative, City of Turin- by Gianfranco Porqueddu, President of the Piedmont Committee of the CONI, tbc- by Mr. Gianfrancesco Lupatelli, President of the MSP – ItaliaPlenary Session 1 – The role of chess in the development of personalityTime: 10.20 – 11.00, 11.20 – 13.00 (11.00/11.20: Coffee Break)Chair: prof. Roberto Rivello (University of Turin, President of the FSI Piedmont Committee, Chairman of the FIDE Ethics Commission)Keynote Speakers
- Dr. Sulaiman Abul Kareem Mohammad Al-Fahim (President of the United Arab Emirates Chess Federation, CEO of Hydra Properties, component of The Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment that bought Manchester City Football Club on 2008, IIMSAM Goodwill Ambassador), The Development of Chess in Schools in Arabian Countries. The Role of Learning Chess for the Education of Arabian Girls- IGM Maurice Ashley (1st African-American International Grandmaster, he was the coach of the “Raging Rooks” and of the “Dark Knights” of Harlem, winners of many U.S.A. National Junior High School Championships), Chess for Success - Using an Old Game to Build New Strengths in Children and TeensPlenary Session 2 – Teaching Chess in Schools: a Comparison among different Methods and Experiences – ITime: 14.30 – 16.00, 16.30 – 19.00 (16.00 - 16.20: Coffee Break)Chair: Damir Levacic (International Master, Member of the ECU Board, President of the Mediterranean Chess Association)Keynote Speakers:
- Umberto Magnoni (I.T.E.R. Director – City of Turin), Chess in Schools, the Turin Experience- Marcello Perrone (Italian Chess Federation), Chess in Schools, the Italian Experience- Ali Nihat Yazici (President of Turkish Chess Federation, FIDE Vice-President), Chess in Schools, the Turkish Experience- Léo Battesti (President of the “Ligue Corse”, Corsican Chess Federation), Chess in Schools, the Corsican Experience - Damir Levacic (French Chess Federation) and Jérôme Mauffras (Académie de Créteil - France), Chess in Schools, the French Experience- Alessandro Dominici (Italian Chess Federation), Chess in Schools, the Piedmont Experience- Paola Russo (FSI Instructor), Chess for very young Students: a Psicomotricity Experience26th February 2009Plenary Session 3 – The role of chess in the development of cognitive capacitiesTime: 9.30 – 11.00, 11.20 – 13.00 (11.00/11.20: Coffee Break)Chair: prof. Uvencio BLANCO H. (Chairman of the FIDE Committee on Chess in Schools)Keynote Speakers
- prof. Fernand Gobet (Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Director of the Centre for the Study of Expertise at Brunel University, West London)- prof. Roberto Trinchero (Professor of Experimental Pedagogy at the Faculty of Forming Sciences of the University of Turin)- prof. Domenico Parisi (Chairman of the Italian Association of Cognitive Sciences, works at the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies of the CNR - Rome)- prof. Philippe Chassy (Researcher on Psychology – University of Toulouse)- dott. comm. Piero Angela (Scientific Journalist – RAI) (video contribution from Rome)Plenary Session 4 – Teaching Chess in Schools: a Comparison among different Methods and Experiences – ITime: 14.30 – 16.30Chair: Damir LevacicKeynote Speakers
- Boris Shedulin (Russian Chess Federation), Chess in Schools, the Siberian Experience of distance learning - Rikard Medancic (Croatian Chess Federation), Chess in Schools, the Croatian Experience- Daniel Yarur (President of the Chilean Chess Federation), Chess in Schools, the Chilean Experience - Walter Radler (President of the German Chess in Schools Foundation) and Patrick Wiebe (German Chess Federation), Chess in Schools, the German Experience16.30 – 16.45 Coffee BreakParallel Sessions A - B – Teaching Chess in Schools: a Comparison among different Methods and Experiences – IIITime: 16.45 – 19.00
A. Italian Experiences (Chair: Maurizio Perrone)B. International Experiences (Chair: Uvencio Blanco)Keynote Speakers
- Sebastiano Paulesu (FSI Instructor), The Ideographic Method- Carlo Alberto Cavazzoni (FSI Instructor), The Castle of Chess- Alexander Wild (FSI Instructor), Basic Chess Teaching27th February 2009Conclusive Plenary SessionTime: 9.30 – 11.00, 11.20 – 13.00 (11.00/11.20: Coffee Break)Keynote Speakers
- Valery Bovaev (Vice President of the Russian Chess Federation, President of the Kalmyk Chess Federation, Vice Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Kalmykia), Chess in Schools in Kalmykia- Tian Hongwei (Chinese Chess Federation), Chess in Schools, the Chinese Experience- Prof. Filippo Spagnolo (University of Palermo) – Giuliano d’Eredità (University of Palermo), Chess and Mathematics Education - Michel Noir (former Minister of the French Government, organiser of the 1990 World Chess Championship in Lyon, expert and author of publications on Brain Training), Chess and Brain Training
Conclusive Remarks: Uvencio Blanco, Marcello Perrone,Roberto Rivello
For more detailed information please visit the Official Site.

GM WESLEY SO IS 2009 CORUS CHAMPION
posted on : Wed Feb 04 2009, 06:32AM
by: Patrick Lee

Final standings:9.5 points – W. So (RP)8.5 – T. Persson (Sweden), A. Giri (Russia) 7.5 – D., Howell (England), A. Gupta (India) 6.5 – F. Holzke (Germany)6 -- D. Harika (India) 5.5 -- F. Nijboer (Netherlands), E. Iturrizaga (Venezulea), A. Bitalzadeh (Netherlands), M. Bosboom (Netherlands), R. Pruijssers (Netherlands)5 – M. Hoyos (Mexico)4.5 – O. Romanishin (Ukraine) WIJK AAN ZEE, Netherlands -- Mission accomplished for GM Wesley So of the Philippines.So capped another storybook campaign by winning the overall title in Group C in the 71st Corus Chess Tournament at the De Moriaan Community Centre here Sunday.The 15-year-old Filipino champion, who made history by becoming the world's youngest GM during the Pichay Cup chess championship in Paranaque City in 2006, quickly drew with second seed GM David Howell of England to clinch the title with a 13-round total of 9.5 points out of a possible 13.Overall, So finished with seven wins, five draws and only one loss in his debut in one of the world's most prestiigious tournaments staged annually in this small seaside town in the province of North Holland.A high school student of St, Francis (Bacoor), So finished a full point ahead of GM Tiger Hillarp Persson of Sweden, who trounced IM Manuel Bosboom of the Netherlands, and GM-elect Anish Giri of Russia, who halved the point with WGM Dronavaili Harika of India.Howell, the seocnd highest-rated player here behind So, and GM Abhijit Gupta of India, shared fourth to fifth places with 7.5 points.GM Frank Holzke of Germany, who dealt So's only setback during the eighth round, clinched solo sixth place with 6.5 points.“Masayang-masaya po ako sa panalo kong ito ngayong bagong taon,” said So, who added the prestigious Corus trophy to the Dubai Open championship he won in United Arab Emirates last year.“Nagpapasalamat po ako sa lahat ng patuloy na sumusuporta sa akin, lalo na sa aking mga magulang na sina William at Leny So at kay (NCFP president) Butch Pichay,” added So.So, who is now ranked as the ninth highest junior player in the world with an ELO of 2627, won over GM Friso Nijober of the Netherlands in the first round, No. 8 seed GM Eduardo Iturrizaga of Venezuela in the fifth round, No. 6 seed GM Manuel Leon Hoyos of Mexico in the sixth round, No. 14 IM Ali Bitalzadeh of the Netherlands in the ninth round, No. 12 seed IM Roeland Pruijssers of the Netherlands, Bosboom and Persson.He drew his matches against seventh seed GM Oleg Romanishin of Ukraine in the second round, No. 11 seed FM Anish Giri of Russia in the third round, fourth seed GM Abhijeet Gupta of India in the fourth round, WGFM Dronavaili Harika of India in the seventh round and Howell.Pichay and NCFP secretary-general Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino immediately congratulated So for his newest achievement in the international stage and vowed full support in his campaign to attain super GM status iwith ELO 2700 plus rating n the coming months.“Wesley's triumph is also the triumph for the Filipino people. The whole nation congratulates him for this newest accomplishment, which is a good source of pride and joy in this times,” said Pichay, who has already produced four GMs in less than three years in office.In the centerpiece Group A, GM Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine emerged as a the solo winner following a hard-earned tirumph over GM Leinier Dominguez of Cuba.Karjakin, the same player who battled So to a draw during the Asian Club Cup in Al Ain, UAE late last year, finished with eight points.GMs Levon Aronian of Armenia, Teymour Radjabov of Uzbeistan and Sergey Movsesian of Slovakia shared second to fourth places with 7.5 points.Aronian drew with Jan Smeets of Netherlands, Radjabov halved the point with Daneil Stellwagen of Netherlands and Movsesian split the point with GM Gata Kamsky of the United States.World No. 4 GM Magnus Carlssen of Norway one of six players who shared the lead after the penultimate round, dropped out of contention when he bowed to GM Wang Yue of China.In group B, Italian-American GM Fabiano Caruana overtook GM Nigel Short of England after the latter blundered in a winning position. Caruana's win left him on top of the Group B with 8.5 points.Three players -- Short, GM Alexander Motylev and GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov – sahred second to fourth with eight points.A total of 42 players divided into three groups saw action in this prestigious tournamenrt more popularly known as the Hoogovens tournament.Among the prominent winners were Max Euwe, Bent Larsen, Tigran Petrosian, Paul Keres, Efim Geller, Lajos Portisch, Boris Spassky, Mikhail Botvinnik, Mikhail Tal, Viktor Korchnoi, Jan Timman, Anatoly Karpov, Vladimir Kramnik, Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov. Anand is the only player to have won five titles of the Hoogovens/Corus chess tournament in its long history, although three of these were shared wins.The Indian champion also holds the record of most consecutive games played at this tournament without a loss (70) -- from 1998–2004. Euwe, Portisch and Korchnoi won Corus four times each.
RESULTS BY ROUNDRound 1 - Saturday the 17thT. Hillarp Persson - R. Pruijssers ½-½D. Howell - M. Bosboom 0-1F. Nijboer - W. So 0-1O. Romanishin - A. Bitalzadeh 1-0A. Giri - F. Holzke ½-½A. Gupta - D. Harika 0-1E. Iturrizaga - M. Leon Hoyos 1-0Round 2 - Sunday the 18thR. Pruijssers - M. Leon Hoyos 1-0D. Harika - E. Iturrizaga ½-½F. Holzke - A. Gupta 0-1A. Bitalzadeh - A. Giri ½-½W. So - O. Romanishin ½-½M. Bosboom - F. Nijboer 1-0T. Hillarp Persson - D. Howell 1-0Round 3 - Monday the 19thD. Howell - R. Pruijssers 1-0F. Nijboer - T. Hillarp Persson ½-½O. Romanishin - M. Bosboom ½-½A. Giri - W. So ½-½A. Gupta - A. Bitalzadeh 0-1E. Iturrizaga - F. Holzke 1-0M. Leon Hoyos - D. Harika 1-0Round 4 - Tuesday the 20thR. Pruijssers - D. Harika ½-½F. Holzke - M. Leon Hoyos 1-0A. Bitalzadeh - E. Iturrizaga 1-0W. So - A. Gupta ½-½M. Bosboom - A. Giri ½-½T. Hillarp Persson - O. Romanishin 1-0D. Howell - F. Nijboer 1-0Round 5 - Thursday the 22ndF. Nijboer - R. Pruijssers 1-0O. Romanishin - D. Howell 0-1A. Giri - T. Hillarp Persson 0-1A. Gupta - M. Bosboom 1-0E. Iturrizaga - W. So 0-1M. Leon Hoyos - A. Bitalzadeh 1-0D. Harika - F. Holzke ½-½Round 6 - Friday the 23rdR. Pruijssers - F. Holzke 0-1A. Bitalzadeh - D. Harika ½-½W. So - M. Leon Hoyos 1-0M. Bosboom - E. Iturrizaga 1-0T. Hillarp Persson - A. Gupta 0-1D. Howell - A. Giri ½-½F. Nijboer - O. Romanishin ½-½Round 7 - Saturday the 24thO. Romanishin - R. Pruijssers ½-½A. Giri - F. Nijboer ½-½A. Gupta - D. Howell 1-0E. Iturrizaga - T. Hillarp Persson 0-1M. Leon Hoyos - M. Bosboom 1-0D. Harika - W. So ½-½F. Holzke - A. Bitalzadeh ½-½Round 8 - Sunday the 25thR. Pruijssers - A. Bitalzadeh 1-0W. So - F. Holzke 0-1M. Bosboom - D. Harika ½-½T. Hillarp Persson - M. Leon Hoyos 1-0D. Howell - E. Iturrizaga 1-0F. Nijboer - A. Gupta 1-0O. Romanishin - A. Giri 0-1Round 9 - Tuesday the 27thA. Giri - R. Pruijssers 1-0A. Gupta - O. Romanishin 1-0E. Iturrizaga - F. Nijboer 1-0M. Leon Hoyos - D. Howell 0-1D. Harika - T. Hillarp Persson ½-½F. Holzke - M. Bosboom 1-0A. Bitalzadeh - W. So 0-1Round 10 - Wednesday the 28thR. Pruijssers - W. So 0-1M. Bosboom - A. Bitalzadeh 1-0T. Hillarp Persson - F. Holzke 1-0D. Howell - D. Harika 0-1F. Nijboer - M. Leon Hoyos 0-1O. Romanishin - E. Iturrizaga 0-1A. Giri - A. Gupta 1-0Round 11 - Friday the 30thA. Gupta - R. Pruijssers 0-1E. Iturrizaga - A. Giri 0-1M. Leon Hoyos - O. Romanishin 1-0D. Harika - F. Nijboer 0-1F. Holzke - D. Howell ½-½A. Bitalzadeh - T. Hillarp Persson 1-0W. So - M. Bosboom 1-0Round 12 - Saturday the 31stR. Pruijssers - M. Bosboom 1-0T. Hillarp Persson - W. So 0-1D. Howell - A. Bitalzadeh 1-0F. Nijboer - F. Holzke 1-0O. Romanishin - D. Harika 1-0A. Giri - M. Leon Hoyos 1-0A. Gupta - E. Iturrizaga 1-0Round 13 - Sunday the 1stE. Iturrizaga - R. Pruijssers 1-0M. Leon Hoyos - A. Gupta 0-1D. Harika - A. Giri ½-½F. Holzke - O. Romanishin ½-½A. Bitalzadeh - F. Nijboer 1-0W. So - D. Howell ½-½M. Bosboom - T. Hillarp Persson 0-1

GM Vadim Malakhatko wins Arcapita open chess championship
the Chessdom.com commentator GM Valentin Iotov takes second place

The Belgian GM Vadim Malakhatko won clear first place at the Arcapita open chess championship in Bahrain. He collected 7,5/9, with 6 victories and 3 draws, without losing a single game.
Second place was for GM Valentin Iotov, who commented live on Chessdom.com the first part of Corus Chess 2009. GM Iotov, with 5 victories and 4 draws, took the silver ahead of GM Moradiabadi, who finished with the same score, but worse tiebreak.
The rating favorite GM Tregubov finished 13th with 6,0/9. Full standings and round by round results here.
Final Standings
1 GM Malakhatko Vadim 2610 BEL 7.5 2 GM Iotov Valentin 2556 BUL 7 3 GM Moradiabadi Elshan 2505 IRI 7 4 GM Amin Basem 2562 EGY 6.5 5 IM Roy Chowdhury Saptarshi 2444 IND 6.5 6 GM Filippov Anton 2556 UZB 6.5 7 GM Ibrahimov Rasul 2568 AZE 6.5 8 IM Jojua Davit 2484 GEO 6.5 9 GM El Gindy Essam 2527 EGY 6.5 10 GM Adly Ahmed 2568 EGY 6.5 11 GM Kveinys Aloyzas 2522 LTU 6 12 GM Kasparov Sergey 2488 BLR 6 13 GM Tregubov Pavel V 2647 RUS 6 14 GM Pelletier Yannick 2560 SUI 6 15 FM Adnani Moklis 2326 MAR 6 16 IM Ezat Mohamed 2421 EGY 6 17 GM Bagheri Amir 2486 IRI 6 18 IM Sriram Jha 2441 IND 6 19 IM Sharma Dinesh K 2394 IND 6 20 IM Zozulia Anna 2376 BEL 6 21 IM Hassan Abdullah 2320 UAE 6 22 GM Golubev Mikhail 2487 UKR 5.5 23 IM Shoker Samy 2399 FRA 5.5 24 IM Sulashvili Malkhaz 2444 GEO 5.5 25 IM Frhat Ali 2408 EGY 5.5 26 IM Kiss Pal 2389 HUN 5.5 27 FM Othman A Moussa 2324 UAE 5.5 28 IM Sarwat Walaa 2388 EGY 5.5 29 Roshan Dsouza 0 IND 5.5 30 IM Shetty Rahul 2310 IND 5.5 31 FM Alhuwar Jasem 2270 UAE 5.5 32 Tabuzo Jimmy 0 PHI 5 33 WIM Kasparova Tatiana 2190 BLR 5 34 FM Akshat Khamparia 2306 IND 5 35 Dineshan 0 IND 5 36 Abdulateef Ahmed 0 EGY 5 37 Al Sulaiti Ali 2136 BRN 5 38 CM Al-Ghasra Ali 2133 BRN 5 39 Mansour Abbas 1957 UAE 5 40 Bukhalaf Khalaf 1870 BRN 5 41 Abdullah Waheed 0 BRN 5 42 Ortiz Woonir 0 PHI 4.5 43 FM Khouri Ibrahim Mohamed 2132 UAE 4.5
Total of 94 players (full standings and round by round results here)

Clear winners in all 3 Corus Groups
Sunday, February 01, 2009

Final standings:

Corus A

1. S. Karjakin 8 2. L. Aronian, T. Radjabov, S. Movsesian 7½ 5. M. Carlsen, L. Dominguez 7 7. G. Kamsky 6½ 8. L. van Wely, J. Smeets, Y. Wang 6 11. D. Stellwagen, V. Ivanchuk, M. Adams, A. Morozevich


Corus B

1. F. Caruana 8½ 2. N. Short, A. Motylev, R. Kasimdzhanov 8 5. A. Volokitin, F. Vallejo Pons 7½ 7. Z. Efimenko 7 8. D. Navara 6½ 9. Y. Hou, D. Reinderman 6 11. E. l'Ami 5½ 12. H. Mecking 4½ 13. K. Sasikiran, J. Werle 4


Corus C

1. W. So 9½ 2. T. Hillarp Persson, A. Giri 8½ 4. D. HowellA. Gupta 7½ 6. F. Holzke 6½ 7. D. Harika 6 8. F. Nijboer, E. Iturrizaga, A. Bitalzadeh, M. Bosboom, R. Pruijssers 5½ 13. M. Leon Hoyos 5 14. O. Romanishin 4½

Chess will soon be an Olympic sport
Monday, 05 January 2009 01:15
FIDE President Kirsan Ilymzhinov for Gulf News

World Chess Federation (FIDE) President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is confident that chess will soon be included in Olympics.
Speaking to Gulf News, after the felicitation function for the Al Ain Chess Club that won the first Asian Chess Champions League at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, Ilyumzhinov said: "My aim is to ensure that chess becomes a part of the Olympic movement and is one of the events in the Olympic Games soon. Today, FIDE is made up of 165 countries and we would jointly appeal to get recognition from the International Olympic Committee."
Ilyumzhinov is one of the most powerful and influential sports administrators in the world today. He is the President and Head of Republic of Kalmykia and has been the president of FIDE since November 1995. He has been travelling extensively promoting the game around the world.
Asked in which continent is chess spreading at a fast pace, Ilyumzhinov said: "Chess is now being played in all continents. However, Asia, Europe and America are organising more chess tournaments every day. It is nice to see chess even being played regularly in Mexico and Argentina. "In Asia there has been a boom of tournaments especially in Vietnam and I am delighted that the UAE is also contributing immensely to popularise the game. Shaikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan as president of Asian Chess Federation is a very active organiser of tournaments. I am also very impressed with the amount of young talent in this region," Ilyumzhinov has obtained degrees and titles from National Academy of Applied Sciences of Russian Federation and New York Academy of Sciences.
Ilyumzhinov also made a special reference to the progress of chess in India. "India is progressing tremendously. Vishwanathan Anand is one of the greatest Grand Masters of the present period. He has shown the way for many youngsters," he said.
Ilyumzhinov is keen to spread the game at the grass-roots level. "We are having special programmes in FIDE for chess in schools. We now support chess as an academic subject," said Ilyumzhinov, who was the deputy of the Supreme Soviet of Russian Federative Republic and the President of Russian Chamber of Entrepreneurs.

14 year old Mona Khaled wins Arab Women's Championship
Thursday, 25 December 2008 19:11

Khaleej Times Online >> News >> SPORTSMona Clinches Arab Women Championship TitleBy a Correspondent25 December 2008SHARJAH - Mona Khaled, a 14 year old school girl from Egypt, clinched the Arab Women Championship chess title with a round to spare.Mona defeated WIM Fuad Natalie of Jordan and she is already assured of the championship title. Mona scored 7.5 points with seven wins and a draw from eight games. Mona’s nearest rival WFM Latreche Sabrina of Algeria scored six points. Sabrina won against Hamza Amira of Algeria.The victory gave her awesome rating performance and an international master norm in the open category.Her mother added: “she has three open International Master norms and once she reaches the ELO rating she can claim the title. She needs sponsors to take her to the next level and obtain a grandmaster coach”.Mona said: 'I am training under Hassan Khaled who discovered me in a local club chess event and has been my mentor. I am also working with Amir Fateh for the past four months.”IM Salem A.R. Saleh of UAE joined the top table and shared the lead with GM Al-Modiahki Mohamad of Qatar with six points after the eighth and penultimate round of Arab Chess Championship held at Al Bustan Hotel, Sharjah.Salem inched closer to his grandmaster title with a crucial win against IM Al Qudaimi Basheer of Yemen in a Sicilian defense.Click here for the full article.

For the love of chess
Tuesday, 06 January 2009 07:02

Irene Kharisma Sukandar: For the love of the chessNiken Prathivi, The Jakarta Post, JakartaJanuary 06, 2009Chess prodigy Irene Kharisma Sukandar says it is a dream come true to have become Indonesia's first Woman Grand Master (WGM).
She achieved the feat at the tender age of 16 with an impressive performance at the chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany, late last month.
"What I've achieved now is definitely dedicated to Indonesian chess," well-mannered Irene told The Jakarta Post at her parents' home in Bekasi, West Java, recently. She resonated calm and maturity, dressed in a classic striped elbow-length shirt and brown trousers.Irene was awarded the WGM crown after fulfilling the requirement of winning three GM norms with her latest victory in Dresden.However, she remained oblivious to her achievement despite her victory until she was informed by ASEAN Chess Federation president Ignatius Leong during a regional tournament in Singapore in December.The 11-round Dresden Olympiad was contested by 146 open teams and 111 women's teams from 152 countries.Here is the full article.

So tops Paragua's record
Sunday, 04 January 2009 06:14

GM So continues rise to fame, Saturday, January 3, 2009Manilla BulletinGrandmaster Wesley So continued his meteoric rise in the international chess stage, reaching a personal-high ELO rating of 2627 for the month of January according to the International Chess Federation (FIDE).So’s latest feat was the highest ever achieved by a Filipino player in history, surpassing the ELO 2621 rating of GM Mark Paragua in April 2006.Overall, the 15-year-old high school student of St. Francis-Bacoor gained 17 ELO points in three months to improve his rating by the end of the year."It’s a big honor for me to become the country’s No. 1 player," So said."Pero gagawin ko pa ang lahat ng aking makakaya para mabigyan pa ng mas maraming karangalan an gating bansa," he added.So has been unstoppable for the past years.In January 2005, So erected his rating from 2165 to 2216 the following year. In January 2007, he improved his mark to 2451 before reaching 2526 exactly a year later. Later in October 2008, he was at 2610.GM Eugene Torre was currently the second highest-rated local player with 2560, matching his October 2008 rating. GM John Paul Gomez was at third with 2539.Paragua, the first Filipino to breach the ELO 2600 barrier, plummeted at fourth with 2537 despite gaining 11 points in three months.Completing the top 10 RP chesers are GM Rogelino Antonio (ELO 2519), GM Darwin Laylo (ELO 2504), IM Rolando Nolte (ELO 2504), IM Roland Salvador (ELO 2496), IM Richard Bitoon (ELO 2473) and GM Bong Villamayor (ELO 2471).Source: http://www.mb.com.ph

FIDE Arbiters' Seminar in Dubai, UAE
Monday, 12 January 2009 10:46

FIDE Arbiters' Seminar in Dubai, UAE From 18 to 24 December 2008 a FIDE Arbiters' Seminar was organized in Dubai, UAE, by the UAE Chess Federation and the Arab Chess Union, and under the auspices of FIDE. The Seminar took place in the Medical Center of Dubai, UAE. The Lecturers were IA Andrzej Fillipowicz (POL) and IA Mahdi Abdulrahim (UAE). 38 people from UAE, Philippines, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Yemen, India, Iran, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Ukraine, Russia, Palestine, Libanon and Jordania participated in the Seminar and 28 participated in the examination test.The following 14 succeeded in the test and will be awarded the title of FIDE Arbiter, after the approval of the next FIDE General Assembly:

Anthony P. Pelayo (PHI) 94
Faisal Obaid Al Kaabi (UAE) 90
Obay Izzeldin Ali(SUD) 89
V. Ravi Kumar(IND) 88
Ali Tavari(IRI) 87
Elena Nekrasova(UKR) 85
Mohd Hicham Al Argha(SYR) 83
Amer Hassan Al Ali(UAE) 82
Khalid Khouri(UAE)\ 81
Alexandra Grischina(RUS) 81
Mohamed Ahmed Jarallah(YEM) 80
Ihsan Jawad Joudeh(PLE) 80
Jobannie C. Tababa(PHI) 80
Gihan El Sahhar(EGY) 80


IA Panagiotis Nikolopoulos
Chairman
FIDE Arbiters' Council

Pinoy OFW tops Fide chess arbiter exam in Dubai

DUBAI, UAE – Veteran Filipino chess arbiter Anthony P. Pelayo posted the highest score among all examinees to lead 13 others who passed a recent Fide Arbiter's examination in Dubai. Pelayo, a document controller in a construction firm in Dubai, and compatriot Jobannie C. Tabada, who also passed the same examination, will officially join the ranks of the Philippines' Fide Arbiters after their applications are approved during the next Fide General Assembly.

Pelayo, a National Arbiter in the Philippines and a former vice president of the Chess Arbiters Association of the Philippines (CAAP), had a 94 per cent score in the examination, which served as the culminating activity of the Fide Arbiter's Seminar conducted by International Arbiters Andrzej Fillipowicz of Poland, who is the chairman of the Fide Technical Commission, and Mahdi Abdulrahim of the UAE. The seminar was held at the UAE Leaders Qualification Center.

The six-day Fide Arbiter's Seminar attracted a total of 38 participants from different countries. Aside from the UAE and the Philippines, aspiring chess arbiters from Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Yemen, India, Iran, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Ukraine, Russia, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan also participated in the seminar.

Pelayo and Tabada's participation in the seminar was facilitated by the Filipino Chess Players League (FCPL), an organisation of Filipino chess enthusiasts working in the UAE, and Filipino Fide Arbiter Marz Marcial.