Settling for a tie for 4th-5th

Wesley So settles for overall 5th in Corus chess
abs-cbnNEWS.com 02/01/2010 9:48 PM

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino Grandmaster (GM) Wesley So settled a truce with Slovenian Woman Grandmaster and International Master Anna Muzychuk after 38 moves of a Nimzo-Indian defense using the white pieces in the 13th and final round in the 72nd Corus International Chess Championship.

So, 16, finished as 4th to 5th placers on Sunday (Manila Time) at the Moriaan Community Centre in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands.
Wesley tallied 7.5 points on 3 wins and 9 draws, the same output of Dutch GM Erwin L’Ami. However, after the tiebreak points were applied, Wesley landed overall fifth place.

“Binigay ni GM Wesley ang lahat ng makakaya niya para sa karangalan sa bayan. Maganda ang performance ni Wesley. Saludo ang sambayanang Pilipinas sa kanya. Besides bata pa naman si Wesley at tiyak malayo pa ang kanyang mararating sa larangan ng ajedrez (chess)” said the chess whiz kid’s first trainer, National Master (NM) Roberto Suelo, Jr.

Handling the black pieces, Dutch champion GM Anish Giri took the title with 9 points after settling a draw with Indian GM Parimarjan Negi in just 21 moves of Petroff defense.

Corus B top seed German GM Arkadij Naiditsch claimed solo 2nd place after tallying 8.5 points by beating L’Ami after 51 moves of French MacCutcheon using the white pieces.

At solo 3rd is Chinese GM Ni Hua who collected 8 points after halving the point with Dutch GM Dimitri Reinderman after 32 moves of English Opening.

National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) President/ Chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay, Jr. and Filway Marketing Inc. CEO/President Hector “Chito” Tagaysay supported So’s Netherlands trip. – by Marlon Bernardino

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com

"CHEKM8"

Publish Date: 2/1/2010

Chess enthusiasts geeked up over annual tourney

By Tom Hacker
Loveland Reporter-Herald

Among the odd couples who sat at tables facing one another at The Ranch on Sunday, one of the oddest was a slight 12-year-old boy and a barrel-chested man, 60-something, with a tangle of white hair.

Neither was able to speak, since they were locked in a chess duel that each expected might last three hours. Nabil Spann, 12, and Ed Cronin, age approximate, were among 46 players who gathered for the weekend-long Loveland Open Chess Tournament, an event sponsored by the Loveland Chess Club that’s in its 37th year.

A geeky game, chess. The players will tell you so. Even the event organizer, Randy Reynolds, wears his geekdom as a badge of honor.

“Yeah, I guess I would say it’s sort of a geek thing,” Reynolds said.

He is an electrical engineer at Intel Corp. in Fort Collins. He is wearing a T-shirt that says, “Chess Rocks.” He drives a Toyota Matrix with a vanity plate that reads “CHEKM8.”

Here is the full article.

One of the top Canadian Juniors confirmed for SPICE Spring Invitational

FM Eric Hansen, one of the top Canadian junior players, has confirmed for the 2010 SPICE Spring Invitational.

The 2010 SPICE Spring Invitational will take place in March (13-19) at the beautiful campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX. Robert Hess got his 2nd GM norm last year in this event and he went on to become a GM shortly after that, along with a break through year. Who will get the GM norm(s) this year?

Confirmed players so far include:

- IM Gabor Papp (HUN) 2578 USCF – 2547 FIDE (GM norm) – Texas Tech Student
- IM Davorin Kuljasevic (CRO) 2585 USCF – 2544 FIDE (2 GM norms) – Texas Tech Student
- GM Ben Finegold (USA) 2616 USCF – 2531 FIDE (earned GM title at 2009 SPICE Cup B group)
- IM Gergely Antal (HUN) 2557 USCF – 2509 FIDE (2 GM norms) – Texas Tech Student
- IM Irina Krush (USA) 2492 USCF – 2455 FIDE (GM norm)
- GM Amon Simutowe (ZAM) 2453 USCF – 2453 FIDE
- IM Dean Ippolito (USA) 2534 USCF – 2447 FIDE
- FM Eric Hansen (CAN) 2426 USCF – 2406 FIDE

The names of one more GM and IM will be confirmed shortly. GM norm is expected to be 6 points (out of 9 games) and IM norm is expected to be 4 points (out of 9 games).

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009/10/major-growth.html

www.SPICE.ttu.edu