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Ben Monaghan, a volunteer at the Maine Chess Academy, has mounted a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the Academy which holds regular training sessions in East End Community School and Howard C. Reiche Community School in Portland. Falmouth Forecaster Journalist Ben McCanna recently wrote an article describing Monaghan's efforts to promote scholastic chess in Maine. |
Continue reading "Maine Chess Academy teaches 'royal game' to Portland schoolchildren" »
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Eleven players turned out to compete in the 2013 Presque Isle Player of the Year Tournament on November 16th, 2013 at the University of Maine, Presque Isle. Here's the illustrated tournament report with results and USCF crosstable. |
Continue reading "Presque Isle Player of the Year Tournament" »
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Magnus Carlsen has become the 16th World Chess Champion after Game 10 in his match with Vishwanathan Anand ended in a sixty-five move draw. The game was a dynamic one in which Carlsen spurned a triple-repeat draw on at least two occasions. In his words, "As long as there was no risk I thought I should try to win it." He added, "It was a nice fight and a worthy end to the match." |
Continue reading "WCC R10: Magnus Carlsen 16th World Champion!" »
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It was do-or-die for Anand and he and everyone else knew it. The World Champion played 1. d4 and threw everything he had at the challenger in the form of the Saemisch Variation of the Nimzo Indian Defense. It was a textbook kingside vs queenside battle. Seeing that he was not getting mated on the kingside, Carlsen pushed his b-pawn to b3 on his twenty-second move and Anand's attack recoiled on the head of its general. Although Carlsen still needs half a point to win the crown, the match, for all intents and purposes, is over. |
Continue reading "WCC R9: Carlsen Wins Game 9, World Title is All But Decided" »
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Carlsen played 1. e4 and it was Anand's turn to play the Berlin Defense. The game followed well-trodden lines with Carlsen playing his first nineteen moves in six minutes and twenty-two moves in ten minutes. No weaknesses appeared on the board and after Anand played 33...h5 a wry smile appeared on his lips and the players shook hands. Anand will have the white pieces in Game 9 scheduled for Thursday, November 21st. |
Continue reading "WCCR8: Game 8 Ends in Sterile Draw" »
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The world champion was unable to generate anything substantial in his second consecutive game with the white pieces. Again playing 1.e4 and running into Carlsen's Berlin Defense, Anand failed to make meaningful inroads and chose to repeat the position for a draw after thirty-two moves. The match score is now Carlsen 4.5 - Anand 2.5 with five games to play. |
Continue reading "WCC R7: Anand Poses Few Problems, Game 7 Drawn in 32 Moves" »
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Garry Kasparov has referred to Magnus Carlsen as the Harry Potter of Chess. The Norwegian certainly showed his wizard-like command of the pieces today when he transformed the game from an equal position into one with a winning advantage and finally forced Anand's resignation on move sixty-seven. Carslen now takes a commanding 4-2 lead in the match with six games to play. |
Continue reading "WCC R6: Wizard-like Win for Carlsen in Game 6" »
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From a position that gave Carlsen the ever-so-slightest positional advantage in the middlegame, he managed to squeeze blood from a stone as he is often credited with doing. Playing a pawn up in the endgame and reaching a position having passed pawns on a7 and h4, he forced Anand's resignation on black's fifty-eighth move. Game 5 was an incredibly complicated contest worthy of the two greatest players in the world. |
Continue reading "WCC R5: Carlsen Wins Game 5 with White" »
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Anand essayed a Ruy Lopez in Game 4 and the challenger played the rock solid Berlin Defense brought into modern chess popularity by Vladimir Kramnik during his world championship match with Garry Kasparov in 2000. Chess engines and commentators were very satisfied with black's position during the late middle game after Carlsen won a pawn with the Fischer-like 18...Bxa2. A very complicated game ensued, then, after black's 37...Rf8, Anand, visually relieved, went on to quell further threats and steer the game into the quiet harbors of a 64-move draw. |
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Playing the white pieces, Carlsen again essayed 1. Nf3 as he did in Game 1. Carlsen steered the game into a non-theoretical position, just the type that he excels at. However, he drifted in the transition to the middle game and was somewhat worse with his queen entombed on the h1 square for nine moves. Down a pawn, he extricated himself masterfully from a difficult game. Anand offered a draw after 40...Qf6 which Carlsen declined choosing instead to play on for eleven more moves until a king and bishop vs king and bishop endgame resulted. |
Continue reading "WCC R3: After Tense Struggle, Game 3 Drawn in 51 Moves" »
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While we're waiting for Game 3 in the World Chess Championship Match, you may like to browse these WCC-related articles from news outlets across the globe courtesy of www.ChessCafe.com. By the time you finish perusing this content, we should be just about ready for Tuesday's game. |
Continue reading "WCC First Rest Day" »
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For the past seventeen years, Deer Isle-Stonington chess coach Dick Powell has hosted the Deer Isle-Stonington Chess-a-thon as a fundraiser to finance his teams' trips to the elementary nationals. In recent years, the Chess-a-thon has been named for Lacy Greenlaw, a Deer Isle-Stonington chess player who tragically passed away at a young age. |
Continue reading "2013 Deer Isle-Stonington Lacy Greenlaw Chess-a-thon" »
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Stephen J. Kaluzynski, 72, a resident of Route 202 in North Monmouth, died Thursday, Nov. 7, at the Togus VA Medical Center. Steve was a longtime Maine tournament chess player and a welcomed and colorful member of the Augusta Chess Club. He will be sorely missed. Our deepest condolences to his friends and family. |
Continue reading "In Memoriam: Stephen J. Kaluzynski" »
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A rapid-fire Caro Kann opening followed well-explored lines with both players moving quickly. A slight surprise from Anand on move 18 signaled his intention to steer the game into simpatico lines rather than take a sharper, more contentious path. After a queen exchange, the players made a few more moves and on white's 25th the players shook hands as a triple repeat of position was about to occur for the second time in two games. |
Continue reading "WCC R2: A Triple Repeat Draw in 25 Moves" »
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Magnus Carlsen had the white pieces in the first game of the World Championship Match, got nothing out of the opening and, in fact, was slightly worse after a dozen or so moves. The position was repeated and on move 16 the game was drawn. Match rules prohibit draw offers before move 30 but the players sidestepped this requirement with the triple repeat draw. Game 2 will take place Sunday, November 9th at 4:30 a.m. eastern time. |
Continue reading "WCC R1: Game 1 Drawn in 16 Moves" »
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Chess player, chess journalist, chess photographer, foodie and native New Yorker are a few terms that could be used to describe ChessLife contributing writer Chris Kerrigan, a.k.a. C.K. Damrosch. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, however, as we found out during this recent interview. Chris shares his thoughts about chess and life and two of his most memorable games. |
Continue reading "ChessMaine Interviews: Chris Kerrigan" »
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The World Chess Championship between current world champion Vishwanathan Anand and challenger Magnus Carlsen kicked off today in Chenai, India with an official opening ceremony and press conference. Both players appeared healthy, rested and ready for the twelve-game match. Game one will be played on Saturday, November 9th. Set your alarm clocks and put the coffee on because the first pawn will be pushed at 4:30 a.m. eastern time. |
Continue reading "World Chess Championship Opening Ceremony" »
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Former Bowdoin College student and former Maine State Champion Jason Spector has achieved the amateur chess player's holy grail. At a chess tournament played in Nashville, Tennessee on September 30, 2013, Jason's USCF rating reached 2200. In this ChessMaine.net interview, Jason traces his chess development from its humble beginnings to master level and passes on advice that may help you get there as well. |
Continue reading "Jason Spector USCF 2200!" »
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The Maine Association of Chess Coaches--the entity responsible for planning and hosting the scholastic state championships in March--held its fall planning meeting on October 26, 2013 at the University of Maine, Orono. Here are the meeting minutes detailing the issues discussed. |
Continue reading "MACC Fall Meeting 2013" »
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