Javier

] I.M. David Levy. Scottish GM and mathematician David Levy has won the "Loebner Prize", which is an annual competition in artificial intelligence that awards prizes to the chatterbot considered by the judges to be the most human-like, following the guide lines of Alan Turing. You might have heard about "Alice bot". Well, that one won the prize also on a previous year. Levy presented a new program called "Do much more". Back in 1997, his programa "converse" won the award also. Levy predicted in 1968 that no chess program would be able to beat the best players in the world in 10 years time. He was right: to prove it, he played a match against the then best program in the world, Chess 4.5, and won 3.5-1.5. However, after winning that match he also said that he was sure computers would beat a World Champion in the not too distant future, and once again, he was right... Here's a game from that match which LEvy won. In the fifth game, the machine produced some pretty interesting chess: pay attention to its 12th move (12...Nxe3!) and 25th (25...Bxh3!!).

The 2009 Third Annual ACCA World Computer Rapid Chess Championships was played in August and won by Rybka. The event was organized by ACCA (The Americas Computer Chess League) in cooperation with ICC (Internet Chess Club) Final standings: Name R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 Score 1 Rybka +w9 +b12 =w2 +b7 +w4 +b3 +w5 =b8 +w6 =b10 +w11 +b14 10.5 2 Sjeng +b22 +w6 =b1 +w5 =w3 =b4 +w12 +b9 +w8 +b7 +w10 =b11 10.0 3 StockfishACCA Wb23 +w19 +b10 =w4 =b2 -w1 +b6 =w7 =b5 +w12 +b9 +w15 9.0 4 Hiarcs8x +w20 +b16 +w8 =b3 -b1 =w2 =b7 =w5 +b11 =w6 +b12 +w10 8.5 5 spark02 +w21 -b8 +w11 -b2 +w16 +w12 -b1 =b4 =w3 +b14 =w7 =b6 7.0 6 ChessThinkerX +w11 -b2 +w16 -b12 =w10 +b8 -w3 +b14 -b1 =b4 +w17 =w5 6.5 7 IkarusX =b14 =w15 +b19 -w1 =b11 +w17 =w4 =b3 =w12 -w2 =b5 +b18 6.5 8 TwistedLogicCCT+b17 +w5 -b4 +w10 -b12 -w6 +b16 =w1 -b2 -w11 +b22 +w20 6.5 9 Deuterium2009 -b1 =w17 =b15 =w14 +b21 =w11 +b19 -w2 =b13 +w16 -w3 +b22 6.5 10 Pandix +b15 +w14 -w3 -b8 =b6 +w19 =b11 =b12 +w16 =w1 -b2 -b4 6.0 11 dshawul -b6 +w18 -b5 +w20 =w7 =b9 =w10 +b17 -w4 +b8 -b1 =w2 6.0 12 crafty +b18 -w1 +b20 +w6 +w8 -b5 -b2 =w10 =b7 -b3 -w4 +w21 6.0 13 Dirty Lw16 +b22 +w20 =b17 +b21 =w9 =b15 =w18 +b19 6.0 14 LearningLemming=w7 -b10 =w17 =b9 -b19 +w15 +b18 -w6 +b20 -w5 +b21 -w1 5.5 15 DIEP -w10 =b7 =w9 =b17 =w18 -b14 +w21 -b16 +b22 =w13 +w19 -b3 5.5 16 thebaron Wb13 -w4 -b6 +w21 -b5 +w18 -w8 +w15 -b10 -b9 -w20 +b17 5.0 17 Telepath -w8 =b9 =b14 =w15 +b20 -b7 =w13 -w11 +b18 +w21 -b6 -w16 5.0 18 zct -w12 -b11 +b21 =w19 =b15 -b16 -w14 +w22 -w17 +b20 =b13 -w7 4.5 19 HfC bye -b3 -w7 =b18 +w14 -b10 -w9 -w20 +b21 =w22 -b15 -w13 4.0 20 JokerX -b4 +w21 -w12 -b11 -w17 -b13 =w22 +b19 -w14 -w18 +b16 -b8 3.5 21 microMaX -b5 -b20 -w18 -b16 -w9 +w22 -b15 -w13 -w19 -b17 -w14 -b12 1.0 22 NoonianChess -w2 -w13 -b21 =b20 -b18 -w15 =b19 -w8 -w9 1.0 23 Tornado-C Lw3 ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- 0.0 Here are two victories by Rybka. They're really quite impressive, they even look "human".

Remember "Pawn Shark", the site where you could play chess for money? Well, it has closed down, which is not surprising, considering that they didn't have many visitors. Personally, I just don't think a project like that was viable. Cheating would be impossible to control. This is what their "about us" page used to say: "PawnShark was designed and built on three continents with one goal in mind, "to create a currency enabled chess community where friends can play friends." The idea came to the founders after hours and hours of play on standard chess websites, where during a game the inevitable question was asked, "Want to play for money?" (Javier: Er... no, that's not an inevitable question!) And with that, the idea was born. There have been naysayers along the way. The most common comment being, "What about cheating?" Well, for the founders the idea of cheating was foreign because they wanted to play for money amongst each other and knew that many of their friends wanted to play other friends and so on. With that in mind it was decided to build a "Community chess" where a user could find a user, view a comprehensive history, communicate, see their picture, and make a friend. PawnShark's "chess community" concept is in direct contradiction with that of common chess sites today where random people play random people. Randomness allows shady players to have no accountability to anyone. Hence friends should play friends. Quite ridiculous, really. I'm not against playing chess for money, after all, that's what the big tournaments are done for, the GMs play for the money. It's just that you'd need a pretty huge investment to guarantee that no cheating was done. And on top of that, reading things like: "Friends should play play friends... for money???" is really absurd. They say the'll be back: "Thank you for visiting PawnShark. We are happy to announce that we are under massive re-development and intend to offer the most advanced free chess application online. Please feel free to sign up for our newsletter and get insider information on real money tournaments and new features." I doubt they'll open up again. Wanna bet?

What's ChessTwitts and what does it do? As we all know, Twitter is the biggest thing since facebook, probably even bigger! so what is this "Twitter chess" thing? From their site: "ChessTweets is the newest generation of correspondence chess. ChessTweets uses the Twitter API to send chess moves remotely to your oppenent by using any of Twitter's versatile status update methods. With a Twitter account, play a quick game against a friend or start a correspondence game for free and without any registration required!" Personally, I think "correspondence chess" is a confusing term. For example, you can use chess tweets when travelling by bus or train, so you get on-line and play a game against someone thru twitter. It's a pretty cool idea, I still remember some long 10 hour train journies... my life would have been so much fun with this then! Games are saved and other people can view them online later and so on. You can use it to meet other chess players on the internet... You can't get blood from a stone, but hey, that isn't bad at all! Link: www.chesstweets.com

It looks like chess coders don't want to miss the "iphone" train (which is basically a train full of money, as iphone customers are the real people behind the economic recovery of the planet ), and many are releasing versions for both the iphone and the Ipod. Chessgenius is one of them. I have tested the pocket pc version and it's awesome, so the iphone version can't be much worse. Apple store with link to this program.

GM Carlsen, caricature. You've probably heard the story about Kasparov and Carlsen teaming up together. To what end? well, it's not like if Kasparov would like to see his young pupil become the best player in the world one day, Carlsen has paid a large sum of money to have him as his trainer. I guess it could be argued that he was going to become the best player in the world sooner or later anyway, although that remains to be seen. So, Ok, I understand that it is a great opportunity for Carlsen to be so close to the best player that has ever lived and learn lots of stuff, but what exactly are the risks, if any? I agree that it does look like a "win-win-and even more win!" deal for Carlsen, but here are a couple of thoughts: - Won't Carlsen feel the pressure of not having any excuses now? "this is it, if you don't make it now, you weren't good enough in the first place!" Ok, worth the risk I guess. Should the worse come to the worst, there's no doubt that Carlsen's play has been enriched and he has learned new training techniques, etc. Fine, not enough grounds for an accusation. Ok, how about this: - If he ever wins a World Championship, he'll feel part of the merit was Gary's. This is a more serious concern. After all, a sense of "realization" is very important in our lives, isn't it? Can you imagine Fischer joining forces with ... I was going to say Karpov, but... with anyone??? Ok, that's an extreme case, I agree, and it is also true that most World Champions have a pretty big team of people helping them, no doubt, but they're usually strong GMs, psychologists, chefs and the ocassional hypnotist , but, honestly, this is different, this is another level... If Carlsen ever wins, some people will give part of the credit to Kasparov, and that seems unavoidable now... Anyway, that's another interesting topic, what exactly is in it for Kasparov?? just the money? (which apparently is a fair bit). Why not help the armenian team instead? Ok, dumb question, they're good enough already. They normally win the olympiad these days.

Are you a member of a minority group? You don't need to hispanic, homosexual or even Muslim. A Linux user perhaps? Good news if you also play chess. Here's a list with 10 chess programs. To play on-line PyChess Chess client. Jin Chess client. decaf Chess client for FICS (Free internet chess server) Databases Scid "Shane's Chess Information Database". A classic. ChessDB Based on SCID with some enhancements, although the GUI looks horrible.... jose-chess Another database to view and edit games. Chess engines. Toga II The author claims it can play at a level of around 2800. Whether you believe it or not is your choice. Then again you could test it out and let us know what you think Glaurung Another strong chess engine. Crafty Now, this one is strong indeed! Pairings SOSS Tournament pairing software. Note: The original source of this post is the following article: HERE. Here's a list of the links with a brief description:

So, a new version of Fritz is coming out on September 28th. Is it worth upgrading? hmm... well... in my opinion, no. I don't want to spoil the fun of a new chess product coming out, but (if you already have Frizt 8 or better) is it really worth upgrading a program which does just about everything you need to do and lots of other things that you never use and will never want to use anyway? Here's the publicity: "Fritz's cool. Fritz is a cult. For years, Fritz fascinated the chess world. Whether as a patient instructor, as a cheeky commentator (the voice of Matthias German man) or as Weltmeisterbesieger Fritz) is the "most popular German chess program" (Der Spiegel. The new FRITZ 12 presents freshly coiffed with a completely new outfit: the newly-programmed surface creates an instant access to all essential functions and controls, and now offers optimum comfort and visibility. Available from 28 September 2009 you could never play better with Fritz! Get 1 years access to the world's biggest chess server schach.de. There you will always find an opponent of your skill level. Or you can kibitz with the world class players: even Garry Kasparov plays schach.de. New: the Premium Membership: audio commentary with top tournaments, live training with top grandmasters, Simultanangebote, TV ChessBase, league tournaments: for Premium members free. Also: improved engine, new opening book, new 3D world, with graphical Schnellbewertung Game Focus-displaying and Matt-o-meter, and more. (...) " I'll take their first sentence: "For years, Fritz fascinated the chess world.". True. NOT ANY MORE THOUGH! But, to be fair, and as I said earlier on, this version is a good buy if you don't own a chess playing program already.

The 2010 Chess Olympiad will be held in ansiysk (Rusia), and the one in 2012 will take place in Istanbul, (Turkey). The beautiful city of Tromso is now the only official candidate for the 2014 chess olympiad, here's the link to their website: Link to their official website.

The Fide Grand Prix event which is currently being held in Jermuk (Armenia). After 4 rounds, both Aronian and Leko are in the lead. I know I'm not saying anything new, but let me just tell you that GM Levon Aronian is one of the most creative, players around: he practices romantic chess, his chess is both brilliant and profound and he is not scared of losing. Here are the standings after round 4 and a sample of Aronian's play. 5th FIDE GP Jermuk ARM 2009 1 2 3 4 1 Aronian,L 2768 -½ +1 -½ +1 3.0/4 3 12 4 14 2 Leko,P 2756 -1 +½ -½ +1 3.0/4 13 5 3 11 3 Ivanchuk,V 2703 +½ -½ +½ +1 2.5/4 1 13 2 12 4 Cheparinov,I 2678 +1 -½ +½ -½ 2.5/4 6 9 1 13 5 Eljanov,P 2716 -½ -½ +½ -½ 2.0/4 7 2 11 10 6 Jakovenko,D 2760 -0 +1 -½ +½ 2.0/4 4 14 8 7 7 Gelfand,B 2755 +½ -½ +½ -½ 2.0/4 5 11 10 6 8 Kasimdzhanov,R 2672 +½ -½ +½ -½ 2.0/4 11 10 6 9 9 Akopian,Vl 2712 -½ +½ -½ +½ 2.0/4 12 4 14 8 10 Bacrot,E 2721 -½ +½ -½ +½ 2.0/4 14 8 7 5 11 Karjakin,Sergey 2717 -½ +½ -½ -0 1.5/4 8 7 5 2 12 Alekseev,Evgeny 2714 +½ -0 +1 -0 1.5/4 9 1 13 3 13 Inarkiev,E 2675 +0 +½ -0 +½ 1.0/4 2 3 12 4 14 Kamsky,G 2717 +½ -0 +½ -0 1.0/4 10 6 9 1 GM Levon Aronian (Armenia) Official web site.

The programmer never expected such a success, although the fact that his software is completely free is a good explanation. Android Chess has had 250.000 downloads so far. It works on mobile phones with Google's Android's Operating System, which is growing exponentially in popularity. It's kind of funny to think how a tool like this, which is distributed for free, can make chess more popular amongst so many people, and a Federation spends 400.000 dollars on lawsuits, when it should be practicing more dyplomacy and working on the promotion of chess... it's strange world, isn't it? Click here to visit the official Android Chess website.

More details about Susan Polgar's own lawsuit against the US Chess Federation are coming to light. She has sued the federation and board members, claiming libel, slander and business disparagement for $25 million. The United States Federation has never achieved so much (negative) publicity as the one generated by this event, but the legal bill could mean that the federation is indebted for years... last year alone legal expenses reached 400.000 $US. In the middle of this terrible financial crisis, law firms are doing particularly well. Chess players can make excellent customers.

The embarrasing saga betwen the USCF on one side of the ring and Susan Polgar and husband, Paul Truong on the other, continues. In the latest event, Susan Polgar and her husband, have been voted off the USCF board. Polgar's lawyer stated: "We are disappointed but by no means surprised in the outcome because (the voting) was run by a majority of the executive board who were determined to disregard the U.S.C.F.'s bylaws and to do everything they could to prevent the delegates from hearing the facts." Gens Una Sumus? Promotion of chess? Those were the days my friend, those were the days....

After round 12 at the Grand Prix in Naldchik, both Aronian and Leko were coming equal first with 7.5 points each, with just 1 final round to go, and of course, they had to play each other in round 13! The game lived up to the expectations!

It happened on the 12th round of FIDE's Grand Prix, at Nalchik. Playing a rather harmless line, Leko was able to defeat one of the most rock solid defences in the history of chess. What can I say? I'm cellebrating!

The US Chess Championship will be held in Saint Louis (May 6th - 17th). The total prize money is 130.000 US dollars, which is not bad at all for a country with little goverment support for chess. The event will be organized by the prestigeous Saint Luis Chess Club. Here's a list of the players who will be taking part: Varuzhan Akobiana Rating Julio Becerra Rating Joel Benjamin Rating Michael Brooks Wildcard Larry Christiansen Rating Jaan Ehlvest Rating Josh Friedel Wildcard Boris Gulko Rating Robert Hess Wildcard Tyler Hughes Qualified - 2008 U.S. Junior Closed Champion Ildar Ibragimov Rating Gregory Kaidanov Rating Gata Kamsky Rating Melik Khachiyan Rating Irina Krush Female, Rating Charles Lawton Wildcard Hikaru Nakamura Rating Alexander Onischuk Rating Ray Robson Wildcard Enrico Sevillano qualified - 2008 U.S. Open Champion Alexander Shabalov Wildcard Sam Shankland State Champion of Champions Yury Shulman Qualified - defending U.S. Champion Anna Zatonskih Female, rating Web oficial

Boris Spassky was invited to Nalchik to comment the games of the FIDE Grand Prix tournament. Before the start of the round, the 10th world champion answered the questions of the journalists. - What was the most memorable in the first days of the tournament? - There were several interesting games in the first round that were rather dramatic. One of the most interesting games was between Vasily Ivanchuk and Peter Svidler. Ivanchuk was running out of time and though he played very well, he hadn't enough time to solve all the problems and as a result he lost. Levon Aronian is a convincing leader. He has two wins. It is quiet a good start. But it is difficult to judge after the first two rounds. I watch with great interest how the grandmasters of the new generation compete to each other. It is very interesting to follow the style of struggle and to find out who is the dark horse. We know the white horses - they are our favorites. - Are you going to continue your career as a player - The point is that I am 72 and what is the most difficult is to bear the tenseness of the struggle. I can't do it anymore. I can play one-two games when I am invited to some contest but it is impossible for me to whole distance. - The most necessary condition to be able to play in the tournaments is to feel like you are ready to "kill" everyone, but I am very shy and now I don't want to win. If I win I don't feel any joy but I don't like to lose. And it is very boring to make draws. I have already made a lot of them. I can tell you that now the old age comes to chess very early. Flourishing comes very early at 26-28. We became champions at 32. I became the champion at 32, Bobby Fisher was a bit younger, Karpov was 24, but he didn't play the World Championship match. Lasker was 24, and it was the 19th century time. - Are you going to attend the club "Ladja" and play simultan or may be something else connected with chess? - Now I don't have any special program of getting acquainted with the chess life in the republic and namely Nalchik. But there are two things I would like to do- I want to visit the chess club and the local museum of regional studies. This is the minimum program, and I think that it is also the maximum that I can do. As far as I know we have two days off and there are definite touristiс programs on these days. And, of course, I would like to join our chess herd, pardon me for the expression. - What do you think of the today's system of determining the World Chess Champion? - I have never thought of the ideal system. It always seemed to that the title of the champion has lost it significance. I think now it would be reasonable to hold one tournament of claimants of the year and there should be the World Champion of the definite year. But, on the other hand, after Anand, who is the World chess champion now, had won the last game with Kramnik, the significance of the title became more important. And I am happy about this. Speaking about the idea of taking such kind of series in which the selection will be made on the pyramid scheme, which consists of six tournaments, I must say that it is not a new idea. I have an experience of participating in tournaments, made on the GMA. There were also four tournaments and the three best results were taken into consideration. I can't judge whether it's reasonable or not. May be it is a little bit complicated. And especially for now, when it is quite difficult to find money for organization of competitions. - Don't you think that chess needs a new Bobby Fisher? - I think now it is Magnus Karlsen from Norway. He can play this role, because he attracts in the chess world by his young age and the quality of his play. He has quite an interesting and rich play, moreover hу is a very brave boy; he goes forward whether he wins or looses. He also plays endgames well like Bobby Fisher in his time. But if you mean that there must be an extravagant figure, some kind of showman, I can say that we don't see such a person for now. And possibly we won't see him. - After the chess crown had returned to Russia, women's chess became more popular. What's your attitude towards it? - Speaking about the women's chess, I'd like to say that I glad to know that the professional work is paid well in chess too. - Our chess school was the strongest one in the time of the USSR. How is it now? - Unfortunately, now there is a split. We may talk a lot about the so called reconstruction, or think what has happened with the country and so on. Many players, who grew up and got chess education of the high level here, left the country. That's the thing with me. I went to France in 1976. I have been living there for 34 years. I think now the title of the champion became underestimated, but it is not because the interest to chess has decreased. The thing is that now the competitors have a little disparity and for this reason I don't take the one who wins as the World Champion. He just gets the title. But in my time everyone used to be the official champion for three years. But I'd like to add that there were persons like Misha Tal. He had been the champion only fort a year. However, he was a very bright figure in chess. I think the chess world would be very boring if there wasn't Misha Tal. His work was very useful. I can remember once when I was a participant of the tournament in Belgrade I met amateurs who were discussing the tournament. One of them said: " No Tal- no tournament." So there is the other reason why the titles are being underestimated. I was always fond of the history of chess, and it was very interesting to learn more about the chess world which had different steps of development. The first World Champion, the conditions which were that time. And what we have now: if your phone rings you get no point. I wish I lived in the 19th century. - What do you think of the coach career? - The talent of coach is a special one. You can be an excellent chess player, but at the same time an absolutely untalented coach. I have an example. I was asked to work with Flora Dmitrieva, who was the champion of Leningrad. I agreed but didn't understand what it would be like. She had already been the champion of Leningrad. So, I gave her a piece of advice:" Flora, don't think about the debut, just play as you like and as you see." So she did at the next championship and she was the last. After that I realized that I should be very careful with my coach talent. But watching Bondarenko, who had a real talent, I understood that it is easier to be a head of the school then to work. Now I am reading the lectures on general chess items because I have a great experience. It calls "How I became the champion", "The most offending lost", "The way one shouldn't play chess". I have a great number of such stories. So, before I agree to become the head of the school I had thought it other very carefully. Now we hold two sessions in my school in Satka Chelyabinsk region, a winter session and a summer one. There are about 30 pupils there. Now their number will be decreased. I think that my lectures can be very useful, because I am a kind of a magnet that attracts and unit children. And I can also make serious professional remarks at the coach lessons. That's why I value my chances as 50/50. I like to watch the youngsters and to point out their strong and weak sides, comparing them with my generation. What do you think regarding computer influence to chess, do you see a positive moments of it? It's very important to take into consideration that computers have changed chess. The drawback of them is that many games begin only with the 35-th move or even later. So you are immediately involved in endgame and there is no live game. But there is also a great advantage about them. For example, Grandmaster Bondarevsky and his wife spent a month to type the debut repertoire of Bobby Fisher. Now, you find the program and you can have everything in half a minute. It's really a great advantage. The computer is important on the high level when the value of the move is high. It's very important to learn to work with the computer. It must be our servant; we should not let it become our master, other wise we will fail. - How did you earn your first "chess money"? - I got my first chess money in 1948 when I was giving simultan chess play in the Officers' House in Minsk. I was 11 then. In game I checkmated one officer. He asked to return his move. So after two moves I was checkmated. I began to cry bitterly and the game was stopped for 15 minutes. When I calmed down I finished the game. Since that time I never return the moves. I got a very sad experience. Speaking about money, I got the sum on which I could buy a winter coat. So that was money, tears and a coat. - Which of your games you can call "evergreen"? - I think that the evergreen game is the game with Bronstein in 1960. There was a very good balance between the strategy and tactics. This idea was used in one of the movie of James Bond. Javier: Here's the game: [Event "URS-ch27"] [site "Leningrad"] [Date "1960.??.??"] [White "Spassky, Boris V"] [black "Bronstein, David I"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C36"] Source.

FIDE has just published te new title and rating regulations (to be used as of July 1st 2009). You can download the PDF files from here: Titles Ratings

Australia's most prestigous chess weekender has just concluded. Not that I play much these days, but spending 4 and a half days playing 12 hours of chess (double rounds) is not something that I'd want to do. Here's one of the games played in the event, which ended in a draw, but it was a very close fight with chances for both sides. Final standings: 1 8 IM Sengupta, Deep 2466 B36+ W29+ B27+ W12+ W13+ B 2= W 4= B 5+ W 3- 7 2 2 GM Jones, Gawain 2550 B59+ W14- W21+ B24+ W60+ W 1= B11+ B 4+ W 8= 7 3 6 GM Deepan, Chakkravarthy 2482 B49= W42+ B35+ W11= B25+ W 4- B47+ W12+ B 1+ 7 4 16 IM Xie, George 2402 B62+ W58+ B14= W 8+ W 5+ B 3+ B 1= W 2- W10= 6.5 5 10 GM Johansen, Darryl K 2452 B23= W67+ B49+ W14+ B 4- W 9+ B13+ W 1- W17+ 6.5 6 4 GM Kunte, Abhijit 2513 B47+ W25= B20= W29+ B12= W13= B14+ W 7= B11+ 6.5 7 5 IM Smerdon, David C 2489 W38+ bye= B25= B26+ W18= B15= W28+ B 6= W13+ 6.5 8 9 IM Jha, Sriram 2453 W65+ B24+ W60= B 4- W37+ B22+ W16+ B17= B 2= 6.5 9 11 IM Satyapragyan, Swayangsu 2428 W33+ B37+ W18+ B13- W22= B 5- W46+ B16= W24+ 6 10 1 GM Reinderman, Dimitri 2560 W52+ bye= B11- W42+ B14= W12= B37+ W20+ B 4= 6 11 12 IM Rathnakaran, K 2427 B48+ W35= W10+ B 3= W38+ B16= W 2- B18+ W 6- 5.5 12 13 IM Mas, Hafizulhelmi 2425 W50+ B43+ W16+ B 1- W 6= B10= W24+ B 3- W22= 5.5 13 15 IM Akshayraj, Kore 2404 W46+ B54+ W22+ W 9+ B 1- B 6= W 5- W23+ B 7- 5.5 14 25 Rej, Tomek 2308 W63+ B 2+ W 4= B 5- W10= B38+ W 6- B46+ W15= 5.5 15 20 WIM Nadig, Kruttika 2361 B30= W23+ B19- W36+ B40+ W 7= B17- W21+ B14= 5.5 16 21 WGM Karavade, Eesha 2359 W41+ B76+ B12- W32+ B19+ W11= B 8- W 9= B27= 5.5 17 3 GM Neelotpal, Das 2514 W39= B32= W65+ B37= W54+ B18= W15+ W 8= B 5- 5.5 18 19 IM Lane, Gary W 2371 W56+ B62+ B 9- W47+ B 7= W17= B20= W11- B43+ 5.5 19 7 IM Roy, Chowdhury 2469 W40+ B21= W15+ B60= W16- B24- W44+ B26= W38+ 5.5 20 23 IM Sandler, Leonid 2332 W71= B39+ W 6= B40= W46= B26+ W18= B10- W45+ 5.5 21 26 WGM Mohota, Nisha 2304 B51+ W19= B 2- W48= B23= W50+ W34+ B15- W44+ 5.5 22 24 WGM Swathi, Ghate 2330 B68+ W70+ B13- W73+ B 9= W 8- B39= W47+ B12= 5.5 23 46 Bird, Andrew 2146 W 5= B15- W64+ B28= W21= B31+ W29+ B13- W35= 5 24 28 Ikeda, Junta 2261 B66+ W 8- B50+ W 2- B48+ W19+ B12- W39+ B 9- 5 25 27 FM Saw, Geoffrey 2279 W74+ B 6= W 7= B31+ W 3- B46- W51+ B38= W30= 5 26 34 FM Tindall, Brett 2207 B61+ W27- B41+ W 7- B45+ W20- B33+ W19= B32= 5 27 17 IM Toth, Andras 2399 W55+ B26+ W 1- B38- W34+ B29= W35= B45= W16= 5 28 22 IM West, Guy 2343 B70- W56+ B48= W23= B33+ W32+ B 7- W43= B29= 5 29 29 Lukman, Ronny 2254 W64+ B 1- W63+ B 6- W65+ W27= B23- B53+ W28= 5 30 59 Yuan, Yi 2010 W15= W31- W39+ B54- B42- W70+ B40+ W37+ B25= 5 31 14 GM Ghane, Shojaat 2415 B73- B30+ B33+ W25- B32- W23- W58+ B48+ W46+ 5 32 41 WIM Caoili, Arianne B 2172 bye= W17= B69+ B16- W31+ B28- W60+ B35= W26= 5 33 47 FM Morris, James 2114 B 9- W57+ W31- B63+ W28- B41+ W26- B51+ W52+ 5 34 74 Tan, Justin 1885 B54- B46= W67+ W49+ B27- W42+ B21- W36= B47+ 5 35 31 Wallis, Christopher 2250 W75+ B11= W 3- B46- B73+ W61+ B27= W32= B23= 5 36 44 Amrutha, Mokal 2155 W 1- B64= W71+ B15- W70+ B37- W61+ B34= W53+ 5 37 30 Dragicevic, Domagoj 2251 B57+ W 9- B45+ W17= B 8- W36+ W10- B30- B50+ 4.5 38 39 WFM Pon, Nkrithika 2180 B 7- W68+ B70+ W27+ B11- W14- B50+ W25= B19- 4.5 39 37 Oliver, Gareth 2187 B17= W20- B30- W71+ B69+ W54+ W22= B24- W41= 4.5 40 42 FM Fernandez, Daniel Howard 2171 B19- W51+ B53+ W20= W15- B44- W30- B71+ W55+ 4.5 41 60 Stevens, Tristan 2006 B16- B52+ W26- W53+ B47- W33- B73+ W49+ B39= 4.5 42 43 Mandla, Blair 2156 bye= B 3- W55+ B10- W30+ B34- W71+ B44- B57+ 4.5 43 32 Stojic, Dusan 2229 B72+ W12- B73- W44+ B50- W62+ B65+ B28= W18- 4.5 44 56 Chan, Jason 2056 bye= bye= W54= B43- B59+ W40+ B19- W42+ B21- 4.5 45 50 Zvedeniouk, Ilia 2100 bye= bye= W37- B72+ W26- B64+ B54+ W27= B20- 4.5 46 52 FM Nakauchi, Gene 2076 B13- W34= B61+ W35+ B20= W25+ B 9- W14- B31- 4 47 38 Schon, Eugene 2186 W 6- B74+ W76+ B18- W41+ B60+ W 3- B22- W34- 4 48 48 Nguyen, Giang 2105 W11- B75+ W28= B21= W24- B51- W56+ W31- B61+ 4 49 40 Hacche, David J 2176 W 3= B71+ W 5- B34- W56= B58+ W53- B41- W68+ 4 50 49 Cheng, Bobby 2103 B12- W72+ W24- B66+ W43+ B21- W38- B60+ W37- 4 51 65 Zulfic, Fedja 1971 W21- B40- W52+ B65- W55+ W48+ B25- W33- B62+ 4 52 35 Quick, Simon 2197 B10- W41- B51- W74+ B61- W66+ B63+ W62+ B33- 4 53 70 Tsagarakis, Angelo 1919 bye= bye= W40- B41- B67+ W73+ B49+ W29- B36- 4 54 33 Wright, Neil S 2208 W34+ W13- B44= W30+ B17- B39- W45- B55- W70+ 3.5 55 55 Safarian, Alek 2061 B27- W61= B42- W64= B51- W69+ B57= W54+ B40- 3.5 56 58 Fitzpatrick, Andrew 2022 B18- B28- W75+ W69= B49= W65- B48- W66+ B59= 3.5 57 71 Lee, T H Bryan 1918 W37- B33- B58- W62- bye+ B68+ W55= B67+ W42- 3.5 58 57 Bennett, Hilton 2028 W60- B 4- W57+ B76- W66+ W49- B31- B63= W71+ 3.5 59 36 Hu, Jason 2196 W 2- B63- W74+ B70= W44- B71- W69+ B61= W56= 3.5 60 18 Ambrus, Endre 2375 B58+ W73+ B 8= W19= B 2- W47- B32- W50- 3 61 75 Guo, Emma 1845 W26- B55= W46- B67+ W52+ B35- B36- W59= W48- 3 62 54 Zibaei, Abdoulla 2067 W 4- W18- B66- B57+ W72+ B43- W64+ B52- W51- 3 63 64 Flitney, Adrian 1980 B14- W59+ B29- W33- B64- B72+ W52- W58= B67= 3 64 69 Grigg, Sam 1927 B29- W36= B23- B55= W63+ W45- B62- W70- B74+ 3 65 45 Bourmistrov, Denis 2149 B 8- W66+ B17- W51+ B29- B56+ W43- 3 66 67 Dalton, Samuel 1932 W24- B65- W62+ W50- B58- B52- W72+ B56- B75+ 3 67 53 Gibbons, Robert 2067 bye= B 5- B34- W61- W53- B74+ B75+ W57- W63= 3 68 63 Davis, Tony J 1983 W22- B38- W72- B75= B74= W57- B70+ W73+ B49- 3 69 68 Van Der Wal, Fritz W 1932 bye= bye= W32- B56= W39- B55- B59- W74= B73+ 3 70 61 Rout, Ian C 1992 W28+ B22- W38- W59= B36- B30- W68- B64+ B54- 2.5 71 62 Stojic, Svetozar 1989 B20= W49- B36- B39- W75+ W59+ B42- W40- B58- 2.5 72 73 Goundar, Sanmogam 1903 W43- B50- B68+ W45- B62- W63- B66- W75= bye+ 2.5 73 51 Brown, Andrew 2085 W31+ B60- W43+ B22- W35- B53- W41- B68- W69- 2 74 66 Holland, Dennis 1963 B25- W47- B59- B52- W68= W67- bye+ B69= W64- 2 75 72 Kordahi, Nicholas 1913 B35- W48- B56- W68= B71- bye+ W67- B72= W66- 2 76 76 Fletcher, David 0 bye+ W16- B47- W58+ 2

The man in the picture is one of the most hated chess organisers in Hungary. Several players (some of them I.M.s) had to pay 600 Euros in advance to take part in a strong closed tournament where they could get a chance to get GM norms. Unfortunately, when they got there, they didn't even have a hotel room to stay in! Chessbase has published an article with letters from some of the players involved: Link to Chessbase's article.

Armenia, with only 66 titled players (compare to Russia's staggering 1885!) has won the last 2 olympiads. England is slowly -but surely- sinking in the rankings. The Golden age of English Chess is definitely over. 1 Russia 2724 190 454 1885 2 Ukraine 2692 70 182 402 3 China 2652 24 14 90 4 Israel 2640 34 42 137 5 Azerbaijan 2640 17 12 57 6 United States of America 2633 65 109 509 7 Armenia 2631 26 22 66 8 Hungary 2627 41 106 377 9 France 2627 36 86 294 10 India 2623 18 60 164 11 Germany 2622 73 202 1077 12 Bulgaria 2621 29 51 116 13 Netherlands 2614 22 68 258 14 Georgia 2606 24 32 97 15 Poland 2603 27 89 285 16 Spain 2589 33 88 384 17 England 2584 36 56 219 18 Romania 2584 19 76 257 19 Serbia 2582 49 97 497 20 Cuba 2578 17 34 212 21 Czech Republic 2570 24 64 216 22 Belarus 2570 14 25 81 23 Croatia 2568 29 57 218 24 Sweden 2559 16 36 115 25 Greece 2546 11 22 88 26 Uzbekistan 2545 10 9 35 27 Brazil 2543 7 27 115 28 Slovenia 2540 10 23 95 29 Argentina 2537 17 61 201 30 Slovakia 2533 10 21 77 31 Kazakhstan 2529 13 28 95 32 Norway 2526 10 21 83 33 Philippines 2521 9 24 52 34 Bosnia & Herzegovina 2514 7 19 77 35 Vietnam 2513 6 5 68 36 Denmark 2505 8 34 87 37 Switzerland 2505 7 32 113 38 Lithuania 2497 7 15 44 39 Italy 2495 6 33 159 40 Moldova 2488 6 21 64 41 Austria 2482 6 38 168 42 Peru 2474 3 8 47 43 Iceland 2473 11 11 47 44 Myanmar 2473 1 4 32 45 Turkey 2471 2 13 52 46 Belgium 2470 4 15 65 47 Canada 2469 6 27 117 48 Latvia 2467 8 9 46 49 Estonia 2464 4 13 37 50 Montenegro 2462 6 10 54 51 Iran 2461 5 8 51 52 Former YUG Rep of Macedonia 2459 8 11 45 53 Mexico 2457 5 26 118 54 Egypt 2450 3 22 39 55 Indonesia 2449 6 12 48 56 Finland 2445 5 19 84 57 Chile 2444 3 9 40 58 Colombia 2435 2 24 76 59 Scotland 2433 6 8 33 60 Australia 2431 3 17 76 61 Portugal 2423 3 11 34 62 Bangladesh 2415 5 1 25 63 Turkmenistan 2409 3 6 37 64 Singapore 2400 3 10 47 65 Ecuador 2392 1 8 34 66 Ireland 2390 1 6 21 67 Mongolia 2378 2 4 27 68 Venezuela 2377 1 10 30 69 Morocco 2362 0 3 19 70 Albania 2348 1 5 15 71 New Zealand 2343 1 6 28 72 Paraguay 2342 2 2 17 73 Kyrgyzstan 2340 1 4 11 74 Tajikistan 2332 1 3 5 75 Uruguay 2322 1 3 14 76 Dominican Republic 2319 1 6 17 77 Iraq 2318 0 4 29 78 Costa Rica 2314 1 7 15 79 Faroe Islands 2305 0 3 6 80 Luxembourg 2302 1 2 13 81 Malaysia 2302 0 3 17 82 Wales 2300 0 3 16 83 United Arab Emirates 2296 1 5 30 84 Algeria 2290 1 10 26 85 Syria 2285 0 3 17 86 Bolivia 2282 1 1 16 87 South Africa 2278 0 6 29 88 Tunisia 2266 2 3 14 89 Jordan 2265 0 1 12 90 Yemen 2256 0 3 8 91 Nicaragua 2240 0 2 13 92 Lebanon 2238 0 1 11 93 Pakistan 2236 0 2 3 94 El Salvador 2234 0 3 18 95 Japan 2223 0 1 6 96 Thailand 2207 0 0 6 97 Palestine 2205 1 1 4 98 Puerto Rico 2194 0 2 8 99 Qatar 2193 2 3 10 100 Zambia 2192 0 3 6 101 Zimbabwe 2189 0 3 6 102 Guatemala 2179 0 1 12 103 Monaco 2178 1 0 7 104 Nigeria 2169 0 4 10 105 Sri Lanka 2165 0 0 9 106 Andorra 2163 1 1 5 107 Uganda 2160 0 0 2 108 Jamaica 2158 0 0 4 109 Panama 2157 0 1 6 110 Angola 2150 0 6 8 111 Sudan 2138 0 0 3 112 Barbados 2131 0 1 6 113 Ethiopia 2130 0 0 2 114 Hong Kong 2127 0 0 9 115 Trinidad & Tobago 2122 0 0 6 116 Malta 2119 0 0 6 117 Mozambique 2097 0 0 1 118 Jersey 2096 0 0 3 119 Libya 2094 0 0 6 120 Namibia 2089 0 0 3 121 Nepal 2088 0 0 1 122 San Marino 2082 0 0 5 123 Malawi 2078 0 0 0 124 Cyprus 2073 0 0 5 125 Brunei Darussalam 2072 0 0 1 126 Surinam 2067 0 0 4 127 Liechtenstein 2067 0 0 2 128 Papua New Guinea 2057 0 0 2 129 Kuwait 2049 0 0 0 130 Afghanistan 2046 0 0 4 131 Botswana 2045 0 0 8 132 Mauritius 2041 0 0 0 133 Gabon 2033 0 0 1 134 FIDE 2031 0 0 2 135 Honduras 2026 0 1 11 136 Netherlands Antilles 2017 0 0 1 137 Bahrain 2009 0 0 5 138 South Korea 2006 1 0 3 139 Guernsey 1971 0 0 4 140 Aruba 1960 0 0 1 141 Bermuda 1951 0 0 2 142 Kenya 1946 0 0 3 143 Macau 1940 0 0 4 144 British Virgin Islands 1931 0 0 1 145 Madagascar 1917 0 0 0 146 Chinese Taipei 1911 0 0 0 147 Seychelles 1902 0 0 1 148 Fiji 1879 0 0 4 149 Maldives 1842 0 0 0 150 Rwanda 1832 0 0 1 151 Ghana 1818 0 0 0 152 Sao Tome and Principe 1774 0 0 0 153 Bahamas 1721 0 0 0

The elo rating is based on 118048 official tournament games, all of them slow chess. I was quite surprised to see the classical MChess Pro 8.0. ranked bellow 100! Rating + - Games Won Oppo ------ --- --- ----- --- ---- 1 Deep Rybka 3 x64 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3227 36 -31 673 86% 2924 2 Deep Fritz 11 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3085 31 -30 577 69% 2941 3 Deep Rybka 3 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 3066 51 -50 190 54% 3034 4 Zappa Mexico II x64 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3064 33 -32 486 65% 2954 5 Naum 3.1 x64 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3046 38 -37 358 57% 2995 6 Deep Shredder 11 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3043 31 -29 564 64% 2941 7 Deep Hiarcs 12 x64 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3033 27 -26 716 66% 2920 8 Hiarcs 11.2 MP 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3008 30 -30 546 56% 2964 9 Deep Junior 10.1 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 2981 31 -31 510 52% 2970 10 Rybka 2.3.1 Arena 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2925 24 -24 842 56% 2884 11 Fritz 11 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2919 33 -33 453 58% 2865 12 Deep Shredder 11 256MB Athlon 1200 2913 34 -34 410 49% 2920 13 Deep Fritz 8 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 2909 28 -28 629 41% 2977 14 Rybka 1.2 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2902 25 -24 893 71% 2747 15 Shredder 8 MP 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 2899 33 -34 441 43% 2948 16 Hiarcs 11.1 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2875 24 -24 836 53% 2854 17 Junior 10.1 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2857 22 -22 1006 54% 2831 18 Fritz 10 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2848 37 -35 416 69% 2704 19 Junior 10 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2841 23 -22 1002 65% 2728 20 Zap!Chess Zanzibar 256MB Athlon 1200 MH 2840 23 -22 956 53% 2817 21 Deep Junior 8 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 2835 37 -39 343 41% 2898 22 Hiarcs 10 HypMod 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2831 20 -19 1416 69% 2695 23 Fruit 2.2.1 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2828 19 -19 1385 62% 2745 24 Shredder 10 UCI 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2824 20 -20 1246 58% 2767 25 Spike 1.2 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2812 26 -26 714 57% 2761 25 Fritz 9.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2812 18 -18 1515 56% 2768 27 Shredder 9.0 UCI 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2809 20 -20 1280 66% 2696 28 Shredder 8.0 CB 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2802 22 -21 1121 71% 2648 29 Shredder 7.04 UCI 256MB Athlon 1200 MH 2794 20 -20 1269 66% 2680 30 Deep Fritz 8.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2782 22 -21 1104 64% 2683 31 Junior 9.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2781 25 -24 868 63% 2684 32 Rybka 1.0 beta 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2774 64 -69 115 38% 2858 33 Chess Tiger 2007 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2766 27 -27 662 49% 2774 34 Junior 8.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2763 23 -23 931 62% 2677 35 Shredder 7.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2762 26 -25 841 69% 2626 36 Deep Fritz 7.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2761 24 -23 938 65% 2651 37 Spike 1.1 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2758 31 -30 537 57% 2705 38 Deep Junior 8.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2751 27 -27 687 61% 2673 39 Fritz 8.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2748 20 -20 1286 61% 2666 40 Fritz 7.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2734 28 -27 674 61% 2655 41 Hiarcs 9.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2732 19 -19 1304 54% 2701 42 Zap!Chess 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2731 30 -29 562 53% 2707 43 Gandalf 6.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2728 24 -24 835 56% 2686 44 Chess Tiger 2004 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2721 21 -21 1088 52% 2704 45 Shredder 6.0 Pad UCI 256MB Athlon 1200 2717 22 -21 1073 60% 2642 46 Chess Tiger 15.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MH 2716 19 -19 1299 54% 2690 47 Chessmaster 9000 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2714 36 -35 385 56% 2674 48 Chess Tiger 14.0 CB 256MB Athlon 1200 2710 28 -28 637 58% 2656 48 Shredder 6.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2710 29 -29 587 60% 2640 50 Gambit Tiger 2.0 256MB Athlon 1200 2709 28 -28 623 56% 2666 51 Pro Deo 1.1 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2708 24 -23 876 57% 2654 52 Deep Fritz 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2704 28 -27 653 56% 2658 53 Junior 7.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2691 22 -22 1008 51% 2682 54 Shredder 7.0 UCI 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2684 24 -24 834 43% 2736 55 Rebel 12.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2678 32 -31 486 57% 2628 56 Hiarcs 8.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2676 21 -21 1116 51% 2668 57 Ruffian 1.0.1 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2672 23 -23 896 48% 2689 58 Rebel Century 4.0 256MB Athlon 1200 2670 29 -29 590 60% 2600 59 Deep Sjeng 1.5a 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2668 31 -31 493 52% 2657 60 Chess Tiger 15.0 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2667 24 -25 834 40% 2742 61 Deep Fritz 7.0 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2660 22 -22 992 42% 2713 62 Shredder 5.32 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2656 25 -25 779 50% 2657 62 Gandalf 4.32h 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2656 28 -28 604 52% 2645 64 Gandalf 5.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2647 36 -37 364 45% 2684 65 Deep Fritz 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2643 21 -20 1151 56% 2602 66 Gambit Tiger 2.0 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2640 24 -24 835 58% 2583 67 Chess Tiger 14.0 CB 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2637 22 -22 973 54% 2611 68 Revelation Rybka 2.2 XScale 500 MHz 2636 60 -56 154 64% 2532 69 Gandalf 5.1 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2632 25 -25 758 55% 2599 70 Fritz 7.0 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2631 37 -36 368 54% 2601 71 Junior 7.0 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2628 20 -20 1200 56% 2585 72 Ruffian 2.0.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2626 49 -49 205 46% 2656 73 Shredder 6.0 UCI 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2614 43 -43 264 52% 2603 74 Crafty 18.12/CB 256MB Athlon 1200 MH 2609 21 -21 1141 39% 2686 74 Fritz 6.0 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2609 17 -17 1751 48% 2623 76 Gromit 3.11.9 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2604 44 -46 246 43% 2656 77 Yace Paderborn 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2602 35 -35 389 48% 2616 77 Shredder 5.32 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2602 20 -20 1242 42% 2663 79 Chess Tiger 12.0 DOS 128MB K6-2 450 2595 18 -18 1448 48% 2608 80 Junior 6.0 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2591 14 -14 2657 43% 2641 81 Shredder 5.0 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2578 16 -16 1818 44% 2620 81 Hiarcs 8.0 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2578 32 -33 480 39% 2659 83 Shredder 4.0 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2568 23 -22 986 58% 2508 84 Rebel Century 4.0 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2565 52 -53 178 46% 2591 85 Nimzo 7.32 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2554 18 -18 1542 45% 2593 86 Fritz 5.32 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2552 20 -20 1194 48% 2570 87 Nimzo 8.0 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2550 19 -19 1362 43% 2600 88 Gandalf 5.0 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2537 66 -63 122 59% 2473 88 Junior 5.0 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2537 21 -21 1088 50% 2535 90 Gandalf 4.32f 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2531 28 -28 627 51% 2524 90 Hiarcs 7.32 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2531 17 -17 1716 38% 2621 92 Crafty 19.17 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2525 41 -44 304 30% 2676 93 Gandalf 4.32h 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2522 34 -34 418 52% 2507 94 Hiarcs 7.01 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2518 30 -31 525 43% 2570 95 SOS 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2517 14 -14 2556 33% 2639 95 Rebel Century 3.0 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2517 30 -30 546 49% 2522 97 Chessmaster 8000 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2515 44 -45 251 45% 2548 98 Pocket Fritz 2 XScale 400 MHz 2508 52 -50 191 60% 2437 99 Goliath Light 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2503 16 -17 1961 27% 2673 100 Resurrection Rybka 2.2 StrongARM 203 MH 2499 50 -50 196 53% 2479 101 Crafty 17.07/CB 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2495 19 -19 1459 33% 2619 102 Fritz 5.32 64MB P200 MMX 2494 13 -13 3023 38% 2583 103 Crafty 18.12/CB 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2488 24 -26 929 25% 2679 104 Nimzo 99 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2481 22 -22 1016 44% 2523 105 MChess Pro 8.0 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2476 25 -26 753 40% 2547 106 Genius 6.5 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2475 28 -28 605 48% 2489 106 Chessmaster 6000 64MB P200 MMX 2475 61 -53 184 76% 2279 108 Hiarcs 7.32 64MB P200 MMX 2470 21 -21 1134 52% 2457 109 Fritz 5.0 PB29% 67MB P200 MMX 2461 23 -22 1005 66% 2344 110 Hiarcs 7.0 64MB P200 MMX 2460 21 -21 1112 55% 2421 111 Nimzo 99 64MB P200 MMX 2448 23 -23 885 51% 2441 112 Junior 5.0 64MB P200 MMX 2433 18 -18 1458 45% 2472 113 Nimzo 98 58MB P200 MMX 2430 19 -19 1352 51% 2426 114 Rebel 9.0 47MB P200 MMX 2421 24 -23 920 61% 2339 115 Hiarcs 6.0 49MB P200 MMX 2419 24 -24 829 56% 2375 116 Shredder 3.0 64MB P200 MMX 2417 20 -20 1262 48% 2429 117 Rebel 8.0 51MB P200 MMX 2408 22 -22 1011 47% 2432 118 MChess Pro 6.0 41MB P200 MMX 2407 24 -24 831 52% 2394 118 Zarkov 5.0 64MB P200 MMX 2407 25 -25 789 40% 2478 120 Shredder 2.0 58MB P200 MMX 2402 19 -19 1314 44% 2441 121 Resurrection Fruit '05 StrongARM 203 MH 2396 67 -63 120 60% 2321 122 Hiarcs 9.5a/9.6 Palm TungstenE OMAP 126 2395 35 -35 404 45% 2431 122 MChess Pro 7.1 46MB P200 MMX 2395 22 -22 1042 53% 2372 124 MChess Pro 8.0 64MB P200 MMX 2394 26 -26 701 54% 2363 125 Genius 5.0 DOS 46MB P200 MMX 2391 20 -20 1197 49% 2396 126 Chess Tiger 11.8 Pentium 90 MHz 2383 43 -43 261 50% 2384 127 CEBoard Crafty 2004 HP RX4240 400 MHz 2372 64 -64 122 51% 2366 128 Gandalf 3.0 64MB P200 MMX 2365 41 -40 307 59% 2298 129 WChess2000 64MB P200 MMX 2357 30 -31 542 37% 2449 130 Kallisto II 64MB P200 MMX 2344 35 -35 403 52% 2329 131 Rebel 8.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2338 18 -18 1435 55% 2303 132 Rebel 9.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2336 23 -23 910 47% 2358 133 Hiarcs 6.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2333 18 -18 1437 51% 2330 134 Genius 5.0 DOS Pentium 90 MHz 2330 18 -18 1558 47% 2349 135 Hiarcs 5.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2327 38 -36 363 59% 2262 136 Genius 3.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2312 25 -24 845 60% 2237 137 MChess Pro 6.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2311 17 -17 1726 45% 2344 138 MChess Pro 5.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2306 26 -25 769 63% 2214 138 Rebel 6.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2306 31 -30 540 60% 2234 140 Genius 4.0 DOS Pentium 90 MHz 2303 23 -23 944 60% 2234 141 Rebel 7.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2297 25 -25 799 59% 2230 142 Nimzo 3.5 Pentium 90 MHz 2294 22 -22 998 46% 2324 143 Hiarcs 4.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2290 25 -25 786 54% 2261 143 Shredder 1.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2290 55 -55 165 50% 2292 145 Junior 4.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2288 22 -22 1035 42% 2342 145 Chessmaster 5000 Pentium 90 MHz 2288 49 -45 240 67% 2163 147 Nimzo 3.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2279 26 -25 767 58% 2221 148 Hiarcs 3.0 Pentium 90 MHz 2273 30 -30 545 56% 2228 148 R30 v. 2.5 2273 41 -38 343 69% 2134 150 Genius 4.0 DOS 486/50-66 MHz 2265 23 -23 900 49% 2270

The game was a draw. We tried to get the score sheet but it was kind of risky. Source.

I was reading a post by someone at some other forum which went something like: "Chess clubs are the backbone of the chess community, where players can get together for casual or serious play and meet other local players." How true! But why don't you participate in this poll and give us your opinion, What makes a good chess club? Please choose a maximum of 7 options.

1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2812 17 1975 2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2783 14 1969 3 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2770 27 1990 4 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2759 0 1975 5 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2756 27 1987 6 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2754 37 1982 7 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2753 5 1983 8 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2751 13 1977 9 Leko, Peter g HUN 2751 0 1979 10 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2748 14 1983 11 Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2747 23 1978 12 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2746 37 1969 13 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2745 0 1972 14 Wang, Yue g CHN 2738 38 1987 15 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 0 1968 16 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2730 10 1986 17 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2728 9 1983 18 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2726 25 1976 19 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2726 0 1983 20 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2725 6 1985 21 Ni, Hua g CHN 2724 16 1983 22 Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2721 27 1983 23 Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2721 19 1990 24 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2720 20 1974 25 Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2716 5 1985 26 Malakhov, Vladimir g RUS 2709 26 1980 27 Bu, Xiangzhi g CHN 2704 18 1985 28 Adams, Michael g ENG 2703 13 1971 29 Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2702 0 1974 30 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2701 10 1987 31 Naiditsch, Arkadij g GER 2700 21 1985 32 Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2697 38 1973 33 Wang, Hao g CHN 2696 29 1989 34 Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2696 11 1971 35 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam g UZB 2695 14 1979 36 Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2693 0 1983 37 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2693 0 1976 38 Moiseenko, Alexander g UKR 2690 15 1980 39 Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2690 11 1971 40 Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2688 31 1982 41 Vitiugov, Nikita g RUS 2688 20 1987 42 Jobava, Baadur g GEO 2687 16 1983 43 Harikrishna, P. g IND 2686 30 1986 44 Almasi, Zoltan g HUN 2685 9 1976 45 Onischuk, Alexander g USA 2684 28 1975 46 Tomashevsky, Evgeny g RUS 2684 24 1987 47 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2684 10 1990 48 Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2682 20 1981 49 Efimenko, Zahar g UKR 2682 19 1985 50 Miroshnichenko, Evgenij g UKR 2680 17 1978 51 Cheparinov, Ivan g BUL 2678 11 1986 52 Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2677 29 1979 53 Timofeev, Artyom g RUS 2677 20 1985 54 Inarkiev, Ernesto g RUS 2676 27 1985 55 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter g ROU 2675 11 1976 56 Short, Nigel D g ENG 2674 13 1965 57 Volokitin, Andrei g UKR 2671 23 1986 58 Sokolov, Ivan g NED 2669 23 1968 59 Najer, Evgeniy g RUS 2669 0 1977 60 Dreev, Alexey g RUS 2668 38 1969 61 Nielsen, Peter Heine g DEN 2668 3 1973 62 Fressinet, Laurent g FRA 2664 11 1981 63 Sargissian, Gabriel g ARM 2660 23 1983 64 Sutovsky, Emil g ISR 2660 0 1977 65 Guseinov, Gadir g AZE 2659 20 1986 66 Milov, Vadim g SUI 2659 18 1972 67 Kurnosov, Igor g RUS 2658 38 1985 68 Areshchenko, Alexander g UKR 2657 39 1986 69 Tkachiev, Vladislav g FRA 2657 0 1973 70 Fedorchuk, Sergey A. g UKR 2656 25 1981 71 Pashikian, Arman g ARM 2655 43 1987 72 Savchenko, Boris g RUS 2655 29 1986 73 Nyback, Tomi g FIN 2655 13 1985 74 Navara, David g CZE 2654 24 1985 75 Grachev, Boris g RUS 2652 29 1986 76 Predojevic, Borki g BIH 2652 20 1987 77 Lastin, Alexander g RUS 2650 9 1976 78 Caruana, Fabiano g ITA 2649 31 1992 79 Amonatov, Farrukh g TJK 2648 18 1978 80 Postny, Evgeny g ISR 2648 11 1981 81 Delchev, Aleksander g BUL 2648 7 1971 82 Avrukh, Boris g ISR 2647 10 1978 83 Fridman, Daniel g GER 2646 9 1976 84 Kobalia, Mikhail g RUS 2645 26 1978 85 Mamedov, Rauf g AZE 2645 20 1988 86 Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2644 0 1951 87 Li, Chao b g CHN 2643 46 1989 88 Meier, Georg g GER 2641 37 1987 89 So, Wesley g PHI 2641 29 1993 90 Smirin, Ilia g ISR 2641 9 1968 91 Beliavsky, Alexander G g SLO 2640 21 1953 92 Berkes, Ferenc g HUN 2638 21 1985 93 Zhang, Pengxiang g CHN 2638 6 1980 94 Georgiev, Kiril g BUL 2637 11 1965 95 Socko, Bartosz g POL 2637 10 1978 96 Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2636 9 1966 97 Zhou, Jianchao g CHN 2635 35 1988 98 Riazantsev, Alexander g RUS 2635 28 1985 99 Zvjaginsev, Vadim g RUS 2635 22 1976 100 Roiz, Michael g ISR 2635 17 1983