The FIDE elections seem to be galloping towards a spectacular finish as we observe the two candidates for President, the incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Anatoly Karpov campaigning through the Caribbean and the world, to make an impact upon voter countries. Each country has one vote and FIDE comprises 165 member nations.
Guyana, I believe, is the latest country to join the FIDE family of nations, as we only became a member in January of this year.
But we are still entitled to vote in the FIDE elections, in keeping with the one country, one vote policy, of the World Chess Federation. For several years there have been complaints and laments about small federations having the same say and the same one vote at the FIDE Congress.
Some of the more developed countries and the ones with large populations are of the view that there is some injustice in this. But the universal criterion of one country, one vote, still applies. Small federations embrace this current system, because they would continue to stand on the same platform as the other powerful nations of the world.
The chess federations of Guyana, Jamaica, the Netherland Antilles and Suriname have signed an agreement calling for the creation of a Caribbean Chess Union (CCU) to represent the region in negotiations in the international arena among the powerful chess-playing nations. A larger meeting of Caribbean federations to discuss policy for a CCU is being organised. This initiative by Guyana resulted from the fact that for the FIDE elections, each chess-playing nation within the region is compelled to negotiate for benefits on its own behalf. With a CCU, we can speak with a unified voice for our bloc of votes, and negotiate from a position of strength. As it stands now, we are fragmented, and certainly, would not have a great impact during our negotiations as individuals.
In a regional body also, we can attract strong international sponsorship for tournaments within the Caribbean. For example, the CCU would ensure greater transparency with sponsorship funds, and its accounts department would have full responsibility for funds coming in and going out.
One of Guyana’s premier chessplayers, Taffin Khan, is currently representing the nation in chess in Trinidad and Tobago. Taffin’s results have been fair so far at the midway stage of the tournament, and his full results will be made public when he returns.
Tournament Director Irshad Mohamed is also in Trinidad doing service as the Deputy Arbiter at the Umada Cup. Irshad is seeking his second arbiter norm in Trinidad. He obtained his first at the FIDE-rated tournament which was held in Guyana in July. Irshad hopes to achieve his third and final norm at our National Chess Championships which would be FIDE-rated, and which are scheduled for October-November of this year.
Nakamura v Ljubojevic
The 2010 edition of the high level chess tournament, Experience v Rising Stars, is currently underway in Amsterdam. Team Experience consists of Gelfand, Svidler, Nielsen, van Wely and Ljubojevic. Team Rising Stars have Nakamura, Caruana, So, Giri and Howell. Each player is rated over 2600, except Ljubojevic from Serbia, who stands at 2572. The participants of Team Rising Stars are all teenagers with the exception of Nakamura who is the 2009 US champion. Here is Nakamura’s win over Ljubojevic in the tournament.
Nakamura, Hi (2729) – Ljubojevic, L (2572) 4th NH Chess Tournament Amsterdam NED (1), 12.8.2010
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Nb3 Bg7 7.Be2 0-0 8.0-0 b6 9.f4 Bb7 10.Bf3 Qc8 11.Be3 Rd8 12.Rf2 d5 13.exd5 e6 14.d6 Nb4 15.Rd2 Bxf3 16.Qxf3 Nbd5 17.Nxd5 exd5 18.c3 Rxd6 19.a4 Qc4 20.Nd4 Re8 21.Kh1 Rd7 22.Rdd1 Rde7 23.Bg1 a6 24.Qd3 Qc8 25.Nf3 25.Nf3.
25…Re4?! 26.Bxb6 Rxf4 27.Bg1 Rfe4 28.a5 Bh6 29.Rf1 Qb7 30.b4 Ng4.
31.b5! Qxb5? 32.Qxb5 axb5 33.Rfb1 Be3 34.Bxe3 Nxe3 35.a6 Kg7 36.Nd4 b4 37.a7 bxc3 38.Rb8 R8e7 39.a8Q Ng4 40.Nf3 c2 41.h3 1-0
