Nepal dams won't stop Indian floods

Joydeep Gupta in China Dialogue: “Every monsoon when there is a flood in Bihar, including this year right now, local politicians blame Nepal and the lack of dams there” For decades, Indian planners working to harness the waters of the Ganges and its tributaries have believed building dams in Nepal will save Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh from the floods that occur almost every year. A recent comprehensive study led by the World Bank says this belief is no more than a myth.



The belief was that there were substantial upstream reservoir storage possibilities in the Ganges basin that straddles India, Nepal and Bangladesh. But the Ganges Strategic Basin Assessment (SBA) coordinated by the World Bank and carried out by experts in the region has found that the largest 23 dams that have been conceived would only hold an additional 13 percent of the annual flow of water. The preliminary findings of the SBA have been presented to government officials in all three countries and were unveiled in public at the World Water Week in Stockholm.



The experts working with the South Asia Water Initiative (SAWI) coordinated by the World Bank found that in terms of flood control, there would be little basin-wide effect of upstream storage, and that effects were unlikely at the sub-basin level either. The models – developed by the Institute of Water Management in Bangladesh, the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and RMSI, a consultancy firm in India, and vetted by SAWI experts – showed that at the sub-basin level, the dams would reduce peak flows, but would not necessarily reduce floods. Most rivers in the basin are largely embanked, and local rainfall and embankment failures cause the most flooding, the study found....



Bihar flooding in 2008, shot by Sharada Prasad, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Anand to inaugurate national chess championship

Anand to inaugurate national chess championship on August 2
Rohan Swamy
Posted: Fri Jul 29 2011, 01:37 hrs

World champion Vishwanathan Anand will inaugurate the third edition of the PN Gadgil All India Open Chess Championship on August 2. Anand will also give a speech to the participating contestants and play an exhibition match with 50 young players.

Jayant Gokhale, secretary, Global Mind Sports Foundation (GMSF) said, “The tournament is being organised by the PN Gadgil Company in association with the GSMF. We will also auction a gold chess set autographed by Anand on August 2. The proceeds will be used for the benefit of visually-impaired chess players in the city.”

This will be Anand's second visit to the city in the past four years. “We informed him (Anand) about the tournament, which is the only national level competition in India that is organised in Maharashtra. This year, we will have 150 entries from across the country and will also have nine international masters and one WGM (Woman Grandmaster), Swati Ghate, will be participating in the tournament.”

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com

Keep on learning new things

'Learning, an endless process'
HYDERABAD, July 26, 2011

Dronavalli Harika, who has emulated Koneru Humpy as the only Indian woman ever to win a Grandmaster title in the men's category, is now eagerly waiting for something special to happen.

“I am excited at the huge opportunity of Humpy becoming the world champion this year-end,” says the smiling chess player, who returned to the city from China on Monday.

“I am very keen on an Indian woman becoming a world champion. That has never happened. I will be thrilled if Humpy gets there,” she said, referring to the World championship title-clash between Hou Yifan of China and Humpy later this year.

“Professionally, I do have the feeling that I should achieve the big things first. But otherwise, I have no hassles. She is a great player, and, I have a very strong feeling that Humpy is just one step away from a world championship victory.”

The other dream — personal — which this young champion is chasing now is to be a member of the Indian team on the Chess Olympiad medal podium.

“Because of the strong and intense competition, it should be a major achievement in anybody's career,” she said.

Interestingly, Harika revealed that she never speaks about chess with the more seasoned campaigner from her own State, Humpy. “Yes, her achievements do inspire us a lot. But, that is it.”

Reflecting on her own career, Harika says she keeps learning new things day in and day out. “It is an endless process, especially in this world of technological advances.”

Source: http://www.thehindu.com

Congratulations to Harika!

Harika becomes second woman GM from India
Mumbai, July 23, 2011

Dronavalli Harika followed the footsteps of her compatriot and fellow—Andhraite Koneru Humpy to earn a chess Grandmaster title following her fine display at the 1st Hangzhou Women’s Grandmasters Tournament in China, where she finished third with 5.5 points.

Harika won two of her matches and secured seven draws in the round robin format tournament in which the top ten women players in the world took part, a media release said today.

The 20—year—old Harika, a former world junior girls champion, had held double norms for Grandmaster and had already bagged the titles of woman Grandmaster and International Master previously.

An ecstatic Guntur—born Harika, supported by Pune—based sponsors Lakshya and Flame, said her feat of becoming only the second woman GM from India was a dream come true.

“It’s been a dream come true for me. I have been working hard to achieve this since the past few years and was confident of getting into this tournament. I am naturally very happy. I am looking forward to the future tournaments and will continue working hard to be the world no.1,” she said.

Harika, gold medal winner at this year’s Asian women’s championship in Iran, silver winner in the Commonwealth Championship in South Africa and bronze medal winner at last year’s Asian Games in Guangzhou, had undergone special training at Pune at the chess camp by Kazakh GM Evgeny Vladimirov.

Hailing her achievement Vladimirov said, “There was never a doubt in my mind about her capability. I am sure she will continue this form and bring more laurels.”

Source: http://www.thehindu.com

10-year-old beats Grand Master

MANGALORE, July 20, 2011

10-year-old beats Grand Master
Anisha Sheth

Rathnavel says R.R. Lakshman committed a mistake

The most mundane of ingredients can mix with each other to create an interest in a game and later enable that person to beat a Grand Master at it.

V.S. Rathanvel, a class 5 student from Coimbatore, has won a game of chess against Grand Master R.R. Laxman at the ongoing open chess tournament in Mangalore. Asked how he managed to do that, Rathanvel said: “He made a mistake. He gave me two points.” Of course, he would not say anything beyond that, leaving his explanation a bit of a mystery.

Asked how Rathanvel came to be playing chess in the first place, his father Shivakumar said: “I am a very short-tempered fellow. So I want my sons to develop patience and decision-making capacity.” The coaching class was close to his house and shop, he added. So far, he has lost two games and won four at the championship. When he is not playing at the tournament, he practices the game online on a laptop in the hotel room. He started playing the game in 2008 and after he first learnt the game, he began to attend classes.

He won his first match in a local tournament in Coimbatore and since then has participated in both national and international championships. Last year, he represented India at the Asian Youth Chess Festival in Beijing. However, they had to skip the same tournament in Philippines this year for financial constraints, Mr. Shivakumar said.

He has been selected for another international championship to be held in Brazil next year, but Mr. Shivakumar says the trip will cost at least Rs. 3 lakh, and that the family found it difficult to find sponsors.

Football and cricket

Rathanvel said his other interests include playing cricket and football. Asked why he likes football, he simply said: “I like to run” and with his enthusiasm, the striker has managed to score one goal. His brother Rohit too likes to play chess, but refuses to play with Rathanvel anymore because “he always loses”.

Another feather in his cap is that he got a chance to play against World Champion Viswanathan Anand earlier this month. During the inauguration of a college in Coimbatore, he was one among the 15 people against whom the Chess maestro played simultaneously.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/

Sasikiran helps India share honours with Hungary

Sasikiran helps India share honours with Hungary
PTI
Jul 17, 2011, 09.18pm IST

NINGBO (China): Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran survived some anxious moments before eventually defeating Zoltan Almasi to help India salvage a 2-2 draw with Hungary in the first round of the World Team Chess Championship that got underway.

Much before Sasikiran's hard-earned victory, P Harikrishna did well to hold highly regarded Peter Leko on the top board while GN Gopal split the point with Csaba Balogh on the fourth, but Surya Shekhar Ganguly went down to world's best woman player Judit Polgar to give Hungary the lead which forced Sasikiran to play for a victory with black pieces.

Meanwhile Armenia emerged as the early leader in world's premier team championship giving Israel a 3.5-0.5 drubbing.

Without their star player Boris Gelfand, Israeli team lacked sting and Levon Aronian led from the front at the expense of Emil Sutovsky in this white wash.

The United States went down to Russia 1-3 losing with black pieces on second and fourth board while lowest rank Egypt sprang a surprise knocking down 1.5 points off Ukraine.

The other match in the ten-teams round-robin event was a 2-2 draw between China and Azerbaijan.

Sasikiran had reasons to be worried in the middle game after Almasi seized the initiative out of a Breyer variation in the Ruy Lopez. It was a typical middle game with white striving for a king side attack but Sasikiran did well to stay in the game after complicating matters a great deal.

Almasi was on top for quite some time but let the game slip out of hand gradually after being an exchange up.

Earlier Harikrishna played his pet Ctalan opening as white and apparently had a slight edge in the ensuing endgame against Peter Leko. Subsequent exchanges led to further simplifications and Harikrishna liquidated to a drawn rook endgame with three pawns on the same flank.

Judit Polgar turned out to be a tough opponent for Ganguly in the Sicilian defense wherein the former played black. Ganguly could not prove an advantage and was slowly saddled with a passive position but did well to stay in the game creating some problems on the king side.

It was in the late stages of the middle game when the Indian faltered and allowed Judit a strong king side attack that proved decisive.

GN Gopal was the preferred choice for India ahead of national champion Parimarjan Negi and he did not disappoint, drawing a fine game against Csaba Balogh. Interestingly, all Hungarian opponents were higher ranked than Indians who had won the Bronze medal in the last edition at Turkey.

Results round 1: USA lost to Russia 1-3. Gata Kamsky drew with Sergey Karjakin; Ian Nepomniachtchi beat Alexander Onischuk; Yuri Shulman drew with Peter Svidler Nikita Vitiugov beat Robert Hess;

Armenia beat Israel 3.5-1.5. Levon Aronian beat Emil Sutovsky; Michael Roiz drew with Sergei Movsesian; Vladimir Akopian beat Evgeny Postny; Tamir Nabaty lost to Gabriel Sargissian;

Egypt lost to Ukraine 1.5-2.5. Ahmed Adly lost to Vassily Ivanchuk; Zahar Efimenkov drew with Amin Bassem; El Gindy Essam lost to Alexander Moiseenko; Samy Shoker beat Alexander Areshchenko;

China drew with Azerbaijan 2-2; Wang Hao drew with Teimour Radjabov; Vugar Gashimov lost to Wang Yue; Li Chao drew with Rauf Mamedov; Shakhriyar Mamedyarov beat Yu Yangyi;

India drew with Hungary 2-2. P Harikrishna drew with Peter Leko; Zoltan Almasi lost to Krishnan Sasikiran; Surya Shekhar Ganguly lost to Judit Polgar; Csaba Balogh drew with G N Gopal.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

FIDE President continues his working trip to India

FIDE President continues his working trip to India
Friday, 15 July 2011 07:29

The FIDE President continues his working trip to India which has turned out very rich and productive.

On July 13 it was announced that India nominated Chennai to host the Anand-Gelfand match.

On July 14 Kirsan Ilyumzhinov met with the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Mr. Ajay Maken. "We discussed a great number of important issues related to chess development in India and around the world", the President noted. The planned bid from India to host the Women's Championship between Hou Yifan and Humpy Koneru and "Chess in Schools" programme were also discussed.

The Minister supported the programme and even took the initiative by proposing to organize the meeting with the Minister of Education. According to him there will be an opportunity to involve up to 300 million students not only from state schools but also private schools." Mr. Ajay Maken supported the idea of including chess in the Olympic Games programme, noted good management of the All India Chess Federation and spoke in favor of Indian students studying chess in Russian universities, considering the traditions and achievements of the Russian chess school.

At one point, the conversation turned in a more lighthearted direction, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov reported. Mr. Maken told him that most of his colleagues in Parliament enjoy spending leisure time at the chessboard. The FIDE President offered to organize the FIDE President Cup among the Members of Parliament.

The meeting was also attended by FIDE Vice President D.V. Sundar, FIDE Chief Executive Officer Geoffrey Borg, Director of the Moscow office of FIDE Berik Balgabaev and General Secretary of All India Chess Federation Bharat Singh.

Today Kirsan Ilyumzhinov met with the General Secretary of Indian Olympic Association Mr. Raja Singh who is also a member of the IOC and the General Secretary of the Olympic Council of Asia. Ilyumzhinov told about FIDE activities, his working trip to India, and the possible development of chess in most populous democracy in the world.

Mr. Raja Singh supported the idea of including chess in the programme of Olympic Games and noted that India has good medal prospects. He also shared some suggestions on further promotion of chess in Hindustan and the Asian continent.

At the meeting were present FIDE Vice President D.V. Sundar, FIDE Chief Executive Officer Geoffrey Borg, and Director of the Moscow office of FIDE Berik Balgabaev and General Secretary of All India Chess Federation Bharat Singh.

India nominates Chennai to host the Anand - Gelfand match

India bids for the Anand - Gelfand 2012 match
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu State Mme J. Jayalalithaa backing the proposal

As Chessdom already hinted earlier, India nominates Chennai to host the Anand - Gelfand World Championship match. This was announced yesterday afternoon in Chennai by the FIDE President and the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu State Mme J. Jayalalithaa.

Chennai is planning to invest 200 million rupees (approximately $ 4.5 million) in the match. It should be noted that by now FIDE has already received a bid from the Russian Chess Federation.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov also visited the Russian Cultural Center, where he gave the press conference which aroused great interest among the Indian mass media. It is remarkable that the eight-year-old Viswanathan Anand took his first chess lessons in this Center.

The World Chess Championship 2012 bidding procedure continues until July 31st.

The World Chess Championship 2010 between Anand and Topalov had an increase of interest by at least a full order of magnitude reaching to a large online audience (5 million unique visitors to official site, daily hundreds of articles plus main page appearance on Google news, main page appearance on Wikipedia, etc.), while official media partners covering the match scored fantastic results (ex: Chessdom.com received over 1,5 million unique visitors and 15M page views for the duration of the match). More details on the WCC 2010 media success here.

Chennai (known as Madras till 1996) is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the fourth most populous metropolitan area in India and it is also the world's 41st largest metropolitan area. Chennai is on the southeast coast of India in the northeast of Tamil Nadu on a flat coastal plain. Its average elevation is around 6.7 m and its highest point is 60 m.

The Marina Beach runs for 12 km along the shoreline of the city. Chennai has a tropical climate, specifically a tropical wet and dry climate. The weather is hot and humid for most of the year.

Excited to play at home

Anand excited about playing in front of home crowd
Posted on 13th July 2011

Chennai, July 13 (IANS) Viswanathan Anand is obviously excited at the prospects of playing a World Championship title match in his home town here next year when he faces challenger Boris Gelfand, Grandmaster from Israel who is currently 12 in World rankings.

‘I have been looking to play the match in Chennai. It is nice that Chennai is hosting a World Championship match,’ said Grandmaster Anand Wednesday after Tamil Nadu government offered support for the 12-match series in April-May next year.

‘Obviously, it is an individual’s responsibility and once I start planning and training, I need to be focused to play Boris Gelfand,’ said Anand, who last played a World Championship match here in 1991 when he defeated Alexey Dreev 5-4 in a Candidates tournament quarter-final.

Anand, who beat Vaselin Topalov of Bulgaria in 2010 to claim the World title, said he would soon begin his preparations for the next year’s match.

‘Once the FIDE (World Chess Federation) announces the schedule and timing of matches, I will start planning. As I said, I am really thrilled to be playing in Chennai. I will have to work extremely hard. It is going to be tough,’ he said.

Earlier in the day, FIDE president Kirsan Illyumzhinov along with some Indian chess officials met Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa who assured the delegation of Tamil Nadu government support in hosting the event that is estimated to cost Rs 20 Crores.

‘I express my grateful feelings to Madam Chief Minister for her decision to have the match in Chennai. I look forward eagerly to play here. It will be a fantastic experience. It is a very tough match,’ said Anand.

A FIDE press release said: ‘Her Excellency Jayalalithaa responded affirmatively and considered the offer (of hosting the title match) of the World Chess Federation as an excellent opportunity to put Chennai at the centre of world attention. She subsequently instructed her Chief Secretary to finalise the offer to FIDE and the AICF (All-India Chess Federation).

Source: http://www.inewsone.com

Which country will step up to the plate?

Who will host the chess match?
July 8, 2011
RIA Novosti

India could become Russia’s main competitor in the fight to host the 2012 World Chess Championship, says Berik Balgabaev, Director of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) in Russia.

The Indian chess player Vishwanathan Anand, the current world champion, and Boris Gelfand from Israel, winner of the qualifying tournament, are going to lock horns in a battle for the chess crown. Russia put in an official application to the FIDE to organise a match between Anand and Gelfand on 28 June.

The Board Chairman of the Russian Chess Federation, Ilya Levitov, announced that a sponsor, who wishes to remain anonymous, is willing to donate prize money in the region of $2 million for the Moscow match.

“As far as I know, the Indians are taking the application to host the match very seriously”, says Balgabaev. “It’s possible that some other country will also decide to make a bid to host the competition”.

He added that the applications from countries wishing to host the match “have to be made by the end of July”.

One of the most important criteria for the right to host the contest is the amount of prize money on offer.

Source: http://indrus.in

Anand: I am happy with my form

I am happy with my form: Vishwanathan Anand
ANI | Jul 8, 2011, 01.56pm IST

NAGPUR: World chess champion Vishwanathan Anand has said he is happy with his current form.

Addressing mediapersons on Thursday, Anand said: "I actually thought I am doing quite well this year for instance my rating is in peak. So, I am now at 28-17. I have never been there before and in fact over the last few years I have won three world titles."

On asked about being compared with cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar, Anand said there cannot be any comparison between cricket and chess and their respective popularity.

"It didn't feel like anything. I mean, I play chess, he (Sachin Tendulkar) plays cricket and he did a brilliant job and I tried to do my best. In fact, I am slightly older than him so he is not someone I am compared to a lot," added Anand.

In May 2010, Anand won the World Chess Championship against Bulgarian Grand Master and former world chess champion Veselin Topalov.

He emerged as a champion on the global scenario when he won the world junior title in 1989. Earlier, at the age of 16, he became India's first Grandmaster.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Happy to play the WC in India

Anand will be happy to play World Chess in India
PTI | 11:07 PM,Jul 07,2011

Nagpur, Jul 7 (PTI) World chess champion Vishwanathan Anand will be more than happy to play for the country in the World Chess Championship being planned in Chennai. "I will be very happy to represent India before a home crowd in Chennai which is bidding to host the World Chess event. Though spectators play no role in cheering up the players but certainly their presence is required," Anand told reporters here. "If Chennai hosts the World Chess, it will be a great boost to the sport across the country," he added. Among the top players in India, Anand felt that P Harikrishna was the most talented of the lot. To a question on cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, a soft spoken Anand, who was here to promote Chess, said there cannot be any comparison between cricket and chess and their respective popularity. Cricket is number one sport in the country and Sachin is doing good, he said. He interacted with students of a local educational institute as part of his campaign to promote Chess.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com

Who will win the World Championship match?
	V. Anand
	B. Gelfand

Parenthood idea

Thought-provoking lessons from the chess wizard

Express News Service , The New Indian Express
Posted on Jul 07, 2011 at 01:57pm IST

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: There’s a small experiment Viswanathan Anand says he plans to do one of these days. Place a chess set before his son and watch the consequences. "I have this idea of putting a chessboard and pieces in front of him and see what happens,’’ the world chess champion explained with a mischievous smile. And then as an afterthought; "At the moment, it is too early, though.’’ It should be. His son Akhil, who has entered Anand’s and Aruna’s life after 14 years of marriage, is barely three months old!

"I will definitely teach him chess. But how far he will go, it’s up to him,’’ Anand said during an interaction after rolling out NIIT NGuru, an ICT solution for schools, at the Saraswathi Vidyalaya, Vattiyoorkavu here. The world chess champion, who is scheduled to defend his title against� Israeli grandmaster Boris Gelfand in 2012, spent several hours at the school, where he was happily mobbed, photographed with and grilled by cheeky schoolchildren.

At one point, the unsuspecting Emperor of 64 Squares came down a flight of steps and was instantly corralled by a clutch of giggling schoolgirls in traditional cream saris with jasmine flowers on their hair. He had to pose for photographs, of course.

The current World No: 2 has come a long way from the day he won the national championship at age 16. In 2011, he is still the evergreen hero. The years and the countless mind battles have not whittled away at the youthful charm.

On Wednesday, his day began with with a speech to the schoolchildren. He explained how chess was found a useful tool for improving academic scores and aided students to do better in maths and science. ‘’In chess, how do you upgrade your skills? You constantly go back, and try to adapt your skills to new needs,’’ he said.

Anand said that he did not believe that chess was getting to be an expensive game, even at a competitive level. "I don’t think it is getting expensive. Even for coaching, I think it is relatively inexpensive. Chess requires no infrastructure. I think that’s one of the reasons that we’ve been able to roll it along,’’ he said. "We are trying to get kids play it in schools. It gives them something to look forward to...a couple of games every day.’’

He said that the younger generation of Indian chess players was making remarkable progress. "They are on the right path,’’ Anand said.

Anand finds parallels between chess and astronomy, his two loves: ‘’Both have become easy to practise. Now it’s easy to follow chess matches online. You can even play it online. Likewise in astronomy, earlier you had to spend lots of time with skycharts, set up the telescope, find the right view...there was lot of tedium involved. Now you have remote telescopes. You have the telescope at some place offering a clear view and all you have to do is plug in the co-ordinates and boom! There you have it,’’ he said.

Anand gave away certificates to Siva Shankar Rama Rao, eighth standard student from Gowda Peta, Samalkot, who was adjudged winner of the southzone finals of the NIIT MindChampions Academy.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com

Ganguly appointed vice-chairman

Ganguly appointed vice-chairman of State Sports Council
Express News Service
Posted: Jul 07, 2011 at 0219 hrs IST

Kolkata The West Bengal government on Wednesday nominated Sourav Ganguly as a vice-chairman for the State Sports Council. Former footballers Gouranga Banerjee, Compton Dutta, paddler Poulami Ghatak and chess grandmaster Dibyendu Barua are the other members in the working committee who will work in the same capacity along with the former India captain.

“The Sports Minister called me and I have accepted his offer,” Ganguly told The Indian Express. “I have to sit with him and the other members of the committee to understand my role and the areas of work,” he added.

State Sports Minister Madan Mitra assured that the committee would work independently without any political influence. “I am the only political person in the committee. Naturally, I would be outnumbered,” Mitra said tongue-in-cheek. On a serious note, he said: “The idea is to develop sports in the state with the people who have played it. They will guide us and set the roadmap. A lot needs to be done as far as sports is concerned in our state and we need specialists to do the job.”

Ganguly’s nomination, however, came as a surprise. The Trinamool Congress had raised objection about his appointment as an Election Commission icon ahead of the 2011 Assembly polls. Later Ganguly had withdrawn himself from the role. Ganguly, who was known to be close to former State Urban Development Minister Ashok Bhattacharyabe, had also recently lost the court battle for a plot of land in Salt Lake that was given to him by the Left Front government in 2008 for setting up a school.

Recently, however, the ice seems to be melting. Ganguly was a special guest in a function that was arranged last month by the state government to felicitate the medal winners of the 64th National Games.

Just a few days ago, Ganguly took charge of the Barisha Sporting Club as its general secretary. The new appointment would give him a bigger opportunity to work as a sports administrator. Olympian Chuni Goswami, who is a vice-chairman of the advisory board of the Sports Council, welcomed Ganguly to sports administration.

Source: http://www.expressindia.com

Eager to retain his title against Gelfand

Video here: http://www.indiablooms.com/SportsVideoDetails/sportsVideoDetails060711c.php

Viswanathan eager to win 2012 World Chess Championship

Coimbatore, July 05 (ANI): World chess champion Viswanathan Anand in Coimbatore on Monday said he would be working hard to retain his title by winning the 2012 World Chess Championship. Talking about the tournament, Anand said that he would have to work hard for several months to overcome his strong opponent Boris Gelfand of Israel at the championship. A confident Anand further said that despite the training and regular practice, the final outcome really depends on how one performs in the games

Source: http://www.indiablooms.com

Anand pleased with children taking to chess

GM Viswanathan Anand pleased with children taking to chess

Jul 06, 2011

Thiruvananthapuram, July 6 (IANS) World chess champion and NIIT MindChampion Viswanathan Anand Wednesday expressed happiness that young minds are taking to the game.

"It is heartening to note that young children are taking up chess enthusiastically and mastering the strategies of the game," Anand said while felicitating the south zone finalalists of NIIT MindChampions Academy (MCA) at a function here.

Recent studies suggest there is a strong correlation between chess and academic excellence and MCA Clubs have positively influenced the students by enabling them to experience holistic learning during the school hours, a company official said.

Source: http://mangalorean.com

Anand expects Humpy to do well

Anand expects Humpy to do well
N Jagannath Das
Express News Service
Last Updated : 03 Jul 2011 12:45:59 PM IST

HYDERABAD:“(Koneru) Humpy has got incredible talent. She has got the experience this time to play well in the (women’s) World Championship title match against Hou Yifan,’’ said world champ Viswanathan Anand. Speaking at NIIT’s launch of ‘New age GNIIT’, India’s first cloud campus here on Saturday, Anand had this to say on Humpy’s chances against Hou: “Humpy has got the experience this time, especially the way she became the challenger for world title. It was impressive because it looked hopeless intially. But she grabbed every chance to qualify. If she trains well and comes to the championship in the right frame of mind, her chances are reasonably good.’’

On India’s performances at the international level

It is not all that bad. Harikrishna, Humpy and Harika from Andhra Pradesh,are doing quite well. But sometimes you have to wait and talent will emerge at the top. Except for Russia, there aren’t many countries that dominate in a big way. But if you see out of top 50, India is already starting doing much better. I’m confident that if we get the numbers right, eventually a lot of talent will emerge even at the highest level.

On Sasikiran & Hari moving to European countries

They are already doing that to a large extent. Many of them have moved to Europe to train and play. It is slightly shifted in India’s favour as there is a strong pool of players from where the players can work easily and chess information is easier to come by. They are taking the right steps and sooner or later success will follow soon

On sponsorship for the game

It can always get better. We will never come to a moment that we can say that it is too much. So a lot of people are getting support to play abroad. Many of them have a job that is connected to the game. It is improving but will improve with more fan base. It is a big sport in India. That’s why I keep focusing chess in school.

More here.

Caruana wins AAI by a full point with 2800 performance

Final round

Caruana, Fabiano	- So, Wesley	½
Hou, Yifan	- Sasikiran, Krishnan	½
Negi, Parimarjan	- Laznicka, Viktor	½

Final standings

1.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	ITA	2714	7	2800
2.	Sasikiran, Krishnan	g	IND	2676	6	2731
3.	Laznicka, Viktor	g	CZE	2681	5½	2694
4.	So, Wesley	g	PHI	2667	5	2661
5.	Negi, Parimarjan	g	IND	2622	3½	2560
6.	Hou, Yifan	g	CHN	2612	3	2523

AAI LIVE with Caruana, So, Hou Yifan, Sasikiran, Negi, Laznicka!

Live chess broadcast powered by ChessBomb and Chessdom

This is the FINAL round of AAI

The smile back on the face of Laznicka

Caruana assured of title despite loss
Rakesh Rao
NEW DELHI, July 1, 2011

Fabiano Caruana's unbeaten run was snapped after he lost his way in his match against second seed Viktor Laznicka but by then, K. Sasikiran's draw with Parimarjan Negi had ensured the Italian the title even in case of a tie in the AAI International Grandmasters chess tournament here on Friday.

After the ninth and penultimate round, Caruana leads the table with 6.5 points, one ahead of Sasikiran.

Theoretically, a victory for Sasikiran in Saturday's final round, coupled with an unexpected defeat for Caruana against So Wesley will see a tie for the title. In such a scenario, Caruana will be declared champion since he had beaten Sasikiran 1.5-0.5 in their two-game mini-match.

As per the tournament rules, prize-money will be shared by those tied for any position.

Well-fought

The battle between Laznicka and Caruana in Kings' Indian was well-fought with the former taking far more time to play his moves. Laznicka did look better placed but with just three minutes left to play 10 moves to reach the 40-move mark before the first time-control, he needed some help from his rival. Laznicka cashed in on a blunder by Caruana on the 31st move and reeled off nine more moves in quick time to come out a deserving winner.

In fact, this result brought the smile back on the face of Laznicka who had let Caruana off the hook in the fifth round and lost the two previous rounds.

“My tournament was spoilt after I lost twice,” said Laznicka, choosing to assigning no real significance to his victory over the top seeded Italian. “I had a good first half but following the rest day (after five rounds), I was kind of tired. I played badly against Wesley. Against Sasikiran, I had a good position but blundered and lost. Today, I played well in the opening phase but then, the position became unclear. I won because Caruana committed blundered. So it was nothing special.”

When asked whether he could take some positive from the fact that he had a 1.5-0.5 score against the eventual champion, Laznicka said: “This fact means very little to me. I came here to do well in the tournament. Overall, I should have played better chess.”

Tame draw

Sasikiran missed a possible chance to put pressure on Negi but eventually settled for a tame draw.

In Anti Meran variation, Sasikiran misplayed his knight on the king's side on the 24th move and never got back another chance to press for victory.

“At this stage, with Negi's queenside pawns badly placed, I could have tried for some clear advantage. Thereafter, there was nothing really in the game,” said Sasikiran.

Wesley So and Hou Yifan battled for 47 moves in Catalan before agreeing for a draw in an ending involving pawns and a rook each.

Though Wesley had an extra pawn, the position did not offer the Filipino any chance of victory.

The results (ninth round): Viktor Laznicka (Cze, 5) bt Fabiano Caruana (Ita, 6.5) in 40 moves; K. Sasikiran (Ind, 5.5) drew with Parimarjan Negi (Ind, 3) in 48 moves; Wesley So (Phi, 4.5) drew with Hou Yifan (Chn, 2.5) 47 moves.

10th round pairings: Caruana v Wesley; Yifan v Sasikiran; Negi v Laznicka.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com