Took 3rd Place in Under 2000 Section of CalState Class Chess Championship 2013, Labor Day Weekend

I and Ahyan played CalState Class Chess Championship 2013 in Under 2000 (1800-1999) and Under 1000 (600-799) sections respectively. Ahyan's game was August 31st, 5 Round swiss. My games were Sept 1st and 2nd with 6 round swiss. Ahyan didn't do good this time ending up with 2 points out of 5 where 1 point is from bye, 1 from win in the last round and 3 losses.

I played well and became 3rd in the U2000 section getting $200 in the process as prize money. With this my post event tournament rating jumped from 1870 to 1924. Here is the final standings of all the sections and you have to scroll down a bit to find section A (1800-1999) result. In the open section IM Ricardo De Guzman won the trophy.

I didn't notice earlier but I see now that I have a FIDE rating of 1739 since last August 2013. So my next target will be to increase the rating and cross the 2000 barrier.

Here are my 6 games that I played in this Labor Day Weekend Tournament.

• Round 1
• Round 2
• Round 3
• Round 4
• Round 5
• Round 6

Isaac Asimov on his failure at Chess

I am reading Isaac Asimov's autobiography I.Asimov: A Memoir with immense interest. In the first quarter of the book, I came into a short chapter called Chess. I can't resist myself but share it with you here -

Failure at physical sports has never bothered me...What bothered me, though, was my failure at chess. When I was quite young and had a checkerboard, but no chess pieces, I read books on the game and learned the various moves. I then cut out cardboard squares on which I drew the symbols for the various pieces, and tried to play games with myself. Eventually I managed to persuade my father to get me real chessmen. Then I taught my sister the moves and played the game with her. Both of us played very clumsily indeed. 

My brother, Stanley, who watched us play, learned the moves and, eventually, asked if he might play. Ever the indulgent older brother, I said, "Sure," and prepared to beat the pants off him. The trouble was that in the first game he ever played he beat me. 

In the years that followed, I discovered that everyone beat me, regardless of race, color, or religion. I was simply the most appallingly bad chess player who ever lived, and, as time went on, I just stopped playing chess. 

My failure at chess was really distressing. It seemed completely at odds with my "smartness," but I now know (or at least have been told) that great chess players achieve thier results by years and years of studying chess games, by the memorization of large numbers of complex "combinations." They don't see chess as a succession of moves but as a pattern. I know what that means, for I see an essay or a story as a pattern. 

But these talents are different. Kasparov sees a chess game as a pattern but an essay as a mere collection of words. I see an essay as a pattern and a chess game as a mere collection of moves. So he can play chess and I can write essays and not vice versa. 

That's not enough, however. I never thought of comparing myself to grand masters of chess. What bothered me was my inability to beat anyone! The conclusion that I finally came to (right or wrong) was that I was unwilling to study the chessboard and weigh the consequences of each possible move I might make. Even people who couldn't see complex patterns might at least penetrate two or three moves ahead, but not I. I moved entirely on impulse, if not at random, and could not make myself do anything else. That meant I would almost certainly lose. 

And again - why? To me, it seems obvious. I was spoiled by my ability to understand instantly, my ability to recall instantly. I expected to see things at once and I refused to accept a situation in which that was not possible.

Ahyan vs Wali Bhai, Practice Game at Home

Another wins another Quad in CalNorth Youth Chess

Ahyan won another Quad in Weibel School arranged by CalNorth Youth Chess. He was in Quad#23 scoring 2 wins and a draw. As a reulst he got his third trophy.

Raisah and Zayaan also won their respective groups - Quad#10 and Quad #11

    



I was giving live commentary on top board of Quad#1.

Here are Ahyan's first and third games. The second game was a draw by repetition.

Ahyan Won His First Chess Championship Trophy

Today Ahyan won his first championship trophy in his life. He won all the 3 games in the Bay Area Chess Quad in his group that was held in Milpitas, CA at 20th April 2013. His opponents were rated 509, 414 and 715 respectively. Here is the first game that he wrote the chess notation while playing, so I could capture after the game.

Sachin Tendulkar Retires from ODI Cricket

Sachin retires from ODI cricket.

I am writing with a heavy heart, not knowing how to express what! Instead I am giving you the CricInfo URL to read it from there. It's true that as he retires from ODI, he will be able to concentrate on Test Cricket only. A facebook conversation may also be worth mentioning as a sample here on what's going on with others right now -

Sriram Iyer

2 hours ago near Fremont via mobile

Future generations will never know the excitement of waking up at ungodly hours to see God open the innings across the greatest stadiums in the world. Memories of Perth & battles with McGrath, or Pollock at Johannesburg, Akram at Sharjah or Walsh at Barbados... Ah, those were the days! The fact that he's the only cricketer we address by first name.. Just Sachin is enough... #Tendulkar

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• You, Santosh Mankala, Sanjeev Kumar Choudhary and 6 others like this.
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  Sanjeev Kumar Choudhary Bowing to the greatest of the greats!!

  about an hour ago · Like
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  Ashik Uzzaman Sachin didn't play T20 (only one)... so I was never interested in T20... Sachin retired from ODI, soi I am not going to follow ODI cricket any more (except Bangladesh games)... the day he retired from Test, I will stop following cricket altogether....

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GM Ziaur Rahman and GM Enamul Hossain of Bangladesh wins 2 strong chess tournaments

After an excellent performance in Chess Olympiad by Bangladesh, now GM Ziaur Rahman and GM Enamul Hossain wins 2 strong tournaments in India. Here are the news details.

GM Ziaur Rahman wins the NIT International Grandmasters Open - http://www.chessdom.com/gm-ziaur-rahman-wins-the-nit-international-grandmasters-open/ 

GM Enamul Hossain takes the trophy in Vizag Open - http://www.chessdom.com/gm-enamul-hossain-takes-the-trophy-in-vizag-open/

Congratulations to Zia Bhai and Razib!