Chess

By Stabroek News On In Daily Features |

Fortifying the federation

The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport has again demonstrated that it is a strong proponent of the development of chess in Guyana by donating some demonstration chess boards and chess clocks to the Guyana Chess Federation. The equipment will be used to enhance the instruction of chess in sports’ clubs and schools.

Added to this, Dr Frank Anthony along with Director of Sport Neil Kumar were scheduled to present 50 chess sets to ten schools last Friday. An additional 50 sets will be presented to another ten schools shortly.

During the National Schools’ Championship in December, Dr Moti Ramgopal and his brother Mahendra Ramgopal, presented some chess books to the Guyana Chess Federation. The books deal with opening theory in chess, and will be a part of the federation’s proposed chess library. They will be made available to members for study, so they can improve their standard of play on the board. An instructive reference book titled A Chess Player’s Handbook was also presented to the federation to assist it in managing disputes during tournaments in keeping with the regulations of the World Chess Organization, FIDE.  President of the Guyana Chess Federation Errol Tiwari is pictured with some of the books immediately after the presentation, along with Dr Frank Anthony, Minister of Sport and Dr Moti Ramgopal and Mahendra Ramgopal.
During the National Schools’ Championship in December, Dr Moti Ramgopal and his brother Mahendra Ramgopal, presented some chess books to the Guyana Chess Federation. The books deal with opening theory in chess, and will be a part of the federation’s proposed chess library. They will be made available to members for study, so they can improve their standard of play on the board. An instructive reference book titled A Chess Player’s Handbook was also presented to the federation to assist it in managing disputes during tournaments in keeping with the regulations of the World Chess Organization, FIDE. President of the Guyana Chess Federation Errol Tiwari is pictured with some of the books immediately after the presentation, along with Dr Frank Anthony, Minister of Sport and Dr Moti Ramgopal and Mahendra Ramgopal.

I am convinced that the fortification of the federation with chess equipment from the ministry is not a spontaneous act, nor is it accidental. Obviously, the Minister has a carefully crafted plan for the promotion of the game in each of the ten regions. This is why he has advised the federation that the ministry would assume a role in removing established obstacles towards popularizing the game. For example, the federation had never used demonstration boards to teach the game of chess.

The federation will facilitate the process of carrying chess to the regions as far as it is possible to do, with the intention of having end-of-year tournaments in each region among the schools, and culminating in one national tournament in Georgetown which would be called the 2009 National Schools Championship.  At that forum, the finest players in our school system will be featured.

The Guyanese chess diaspora in the US and Canada have also expressed an interest in contributing to the development of the game.

The two Ramgopal brothers, Moti and Mahendra, former students of Queen’s College, have given some literature, clocks and sets as prizes for the juniors at the 2008 National Championships. They also made a donation of nine chess books to begin a chess library. Raymond Singh, a former national chess champion of Guyana, now living in Canada, presented a demonstration board to the federation to assist it in its work.

Van Wely, left, and Dominguez battle to a draw during their encounter at the Wijk aan Zee chess tournament in the Netherlands.
Van Wely, left, and Dominguez battle to a draw during their encounter at the Wijk aan Zee chess tournament in the Netherlands.

What is crucially important now is for students to take the game seriously. Sometimes it is frustrating to teach the same lesson over and over without making the desired headway.

Let’s hope that we would be able to surmount the existing barriers during the year, and emerge with some new faces for the December schools’ tournament from each of the ten regions.

The annual Wijk aan Zee chess tournament in the Netherlands has attracted 42 players: 37 grandmasters, two international masters, one woman grandmaster and two Fide masters. The top seeds are Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexander Morozevich. Top Cuban grandmaster Lenier Dominguez is also a participant in Group A, and so far has not lost a game. The tournament comes to an end on February 1.
In the following game, the Netherlands’ grandmaster Loek van Wely plays to a draw with Dominiguez.
20090125diagra-m
Van Wely, L (2625) – Dominguez Perez, L (2717) Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (1), 17.1.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Rb1 0–0 9.Be2 cxd4 10.cxd4 Qa5+ 11.Bd2 Qxa2 12.0–0 Bg4 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bh4 g5 15.Bg3 a5 16.Rxb7 a4 17.h3 Bxf3 18.Bxf3 Nc6 19.e5 Qc4 20.Rb220…Nxd4 21.Bxa8 Rxa8 22.Rd2 Ne6 23.Rd7 a3 24.Qf3 Ra6 25.Ra1 a2 26.Kh2 Qc5 27.Qe2 Ra5 28.Rb7 h5 29.Kh1 Qc3 30.Qb2 Qxb2 31.Rxb2 Bxe5 32.Bxe5 Rxe5 33.g3 g4 34.Rbxa2 Kg7 35.Ra5 Re2 36.R5a2 Re5 37.Ra4 f5 38.Ra5 Rxa5 39.Rxa5 Kf6 40.h4 Nd4 41.Ra8 Nf3 42.Kg2 e6 43.Kf1 Nd2+ 44.Ke2 Ne4 45.Ke3 Kg6 46.Rh8 Nd6 47.Kd4 Nf7 48.Ra8 Kf6 49.Kc5 Ne5 50.Kd6 Nf7+ 51.Kc7 Ne5 52.Rd8 Nf7 53.Rd4 Ne5 54.Kd6 Nf7+ 55.Kd7 Ne5+ 56.Ke8 Nf3 57.Rd7 Ne5 58.Rh7 Nd3 59.Rxh5 Nxf2 60.Rh6+ Kg7 61.Rxe6
61…Ne4 62.Ke7 Nxg3 63.Rf6 Ne4 64.Rxf5 Kg6 65.Rf8 g3 66.Ke6 Nc5+ 67.Kd5 Nd7 68.Rg8+ Kh5 69.Rxg3 Nf6+ 70.Ke5 Kxh4 71.Rg6 Nh5 72.Kf5 Ng3+ 73.Kf4 Nh5+ 74.Kf3 Kh3 75.Rg4 Nf6 76.Rf4 Nh5 77.Ra4 Nf6 78.Kf4 Nh5+ 79.Kf3 Nf6 80.Rh4+ Kxh4 draw.