We intend to expend lots of energy in the schools. India has over 5,000 schools that play chess. The ancient game of 1400 years has become a younger man’s game over the past couple of decades. The average age in tournaments used to be the mid-30s, but now with computers, the age has dropped to the early 20s. It is from the schools that champions will rise.
The World Chess Federation also has its difficulties improving the visibility of chess internationally. Chess is not an Olympic sport, and the President of FIDE Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has expressed disappointment that among the 28 sanctioned sports for 2012, chess is not among them. Gaining recognition as an Olympic sport could greatly benefit chess by raising its profile in countries where funding to develop the game is limited. IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Morean has revealed that the Olympic games are already so big that many cities cannot accommodate them.
At home we are hoping for bigger turn-outs at tournaments as we continue the struggle to popularize the game.
A Happy New Year to all!
Spassky v Korchnoi
Boris Spassky and Viktor Korchnoi, two veterans of grandmaster chess, drew their eight game match in Kalymykia. The first half of the match ended with a 2.5-1.5 lead for Korchnoi, but Spassky came right back in the second half to draw the match. Here is their sixth game.
Spassky, B (2548) – Korchnoi, V (2567)
Match Kalmykia RUS (6), 24.12.2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 Bxc3 7.bxc3 d6 8.Bg5 Bd7 9.Nd2 h6 10.Bh4 g5 11.Bg3 Ne7 12.Bxd7 Qxd7 13.Nc4 Qe6 14.Ne3 Kh7 15.c4 Rg8 16.Rb1 b6 17.c3 Ng6 18.Rb2 c6 19.f3 d5 20.cxd5 cxd5 21.d4 dxe4 22.d5 Qc8 23.fxe4 Nf4 24.Qc2 Qa6 25.c4 Rac8 26.a4 Ne8 27.Rc1 Nd6 28.Be1 Rc7 29.g3 Nh3+ 30.Kh1 g4 31.Bb4? Nxc4 32.Bd6?? Nxd6. Korchnoi could have even gone for mate with 32…Nxe3 and then …Qd3. 33.Qxc7 Rc8 34.Qxc8 Nxc8 35.Nxg4 Nd6 0-1.
