The Game for the Title

The Bulgarian Individual championship in Panagyurishte welcomed a new female champion. Iva Videnova have always been one of the contenders for the medals in the past championship and have already won medals; none of them was a gold one though.
This tournament started more than well for her and she scored seven wins in her first seven games! Still, the defeat in the last-but-one led her to a situation when she could not afford loss of other point in the final game. A draw would be sufficient for a tie and an additional match for the title.
This is how the last game went with the notes by the winner:

Nikolova,Adriana (2293) - Videnova,Iva (2301) [B22]
BUL-ch (w) 61st Panagyurishte (9), 28.04.2012
[Videnova,Iva]

1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 g6 [A rare variation of Sicilian Alapin, played from time to time by Radjabov, Dreev, Almasi, Babula.]

5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Na3 Nf6 7.Bc4 Qe4+ 8.Be3 0–0 9.0–0 [If White goes for material 9.dxc5 Ng4 Black has compensation for the sacrificed pawn. In example: 10.Qc2 (10.Qd2 Nxe3 11.Qxe3 Qxe3+ 12.fxe3 Nd7 White cannot keep the pawn up and easily gets a worse position, because of his demolished pawn structure and the lack in development.) 10...Qxc2 11.Nxc2 Nxe3 12.Nxe3 Nd7 13.Nd5 e6 14.Ne7+ Kh8 15.c6 Nb6 16.Be2 bxc6 17.Nxc6 Bb7 with initiative- 18.Na5 Rab8 19.Nxb7 Rxb7 20.a4 Nd5 and despite the pawn up, White is the one who has problems.]

9...cxd4 10.cxd4?!

May be the first key-moment in the game. White could recapture in 4 ways and Adriana chose the worst, in my opinion. Many books are written about the positive and negative sides of the isolated pawn and for sure in this particular position creating IQP doesn't seem to favour White. The knight on a3 is misplaced, after recapturing 10.c:d4 the obvious place for him is the c3–square.]

[10.Bxd4; 10.Nxd4; 10.Qxd4]

10...a6?! [takes away the b5–square for the knight, but makes a weak point on b6.]

[Better was 10...Nc6 developing naturally.]

11.Ne5?! [A rock solid rule: if you have an isolated pawn do not exchange pieces! The knight on e5 just longs to be exchanged.]

[White could use the drawbacks of the last Black move this way: 11.Bd3 Qd5 12.Nc4 and the misplaced piece enters the game 12...Nbd7 13.h3 b5 14.Na5ч with mutual chances.]

11...Ng4? [Is 10...a6 wasn't fatal, the second lost of a tempo already is!]

[Developing a piece 11...Nc6 is always the better option: 12.Nxc6 (12.Bd3 Qd5 13.Nac4 (worse is-13.f4?! Nxe5 14.dxe5 (14.fxe5 Ng4і 15.Qe2 Be6 16.Bc4 Qe4 17.Bxe6 Nxe3 18.Rxf7 Rxf7 19.Nc4 Qxd4 20.Nxe3 Raf8 with Black's advantage) 14...Ng4 15.Qe2 Rd8 16.Rad1 Nxe3 17.Qxe3 Be6 18.Nc4 Qd4і) 13...Nxd4 14.Bxg6 Nf5 15.Bxf5 Bxf5 16.Bd4 Ng4 taking the initiative: 17.Nxg4 Bxg4 18.Qxg4 Qxd4 19.Qxd4 Bxd4 20.Rad1 Rfd8 with chances only for Black.) 12...Qxc6 13.Rc1 Qd6 hanging around the IQ pawn.]

12.Bd3?! [The second very important key move wasn't imressive neither. Black is by no means worse after it.]

[White could find a deep tactical motif: 12.Nxf7! Rxf7 13.Bxf7+ Kxf7 14.Nc4!

Calm move, threatening f3 and Nb6. 14...Qd5 (14...Be6 15.f3 Qxe3+ 16.Nxe3 Nxe3 17.Qd3 Nxf1 18.d5 Bf5 19.Qb3 b5 20.Rxf1+– Although Black has enough material for the Queen, the lack of coordination between his pieces bothers the defensive task.) 15.Rc1! This move is hard to find when calculating 12.N:f7, but practically wins the game. 15...Bf6 the only move as (‹15...Nc6?? 16.Nb6 Qd6 17.g3+–) 16.Nb6 Qd6 17.g3 Qxb6 18.Rxc8 Nxe3 19.fxe3 Qe6 20.Qb3 Qxb3 21.axb3+– and Black is lost.]

12...Nxe3 13.Bxe4 Nxd1 14.Rfxd1 Ra7!? [Precise move.]

[Although Black is not worse even after 14...Nd7 15.Nxd7 Bxd7 16.Bxb7 Rab8 17.Bxa6 Rxb2 18.Nc4 Rb4 19.a3 Ra4 20.Nb6 Rxa6 21.Nxd7 Rfa8 and White must be careful to keep the balance.]

15.Nac4 b5 16.Na5 Be6 [16...f6 17.Bd5+ (17.Nec6 Nxc6 18.Nxc6 Rc7 19.Bf3 (19.d5? is a mistake in view of 19...f5 with advantage) 19...e6 20.Rac1 Re8) 17...e6 18.Nec6 Nxc6 19.Bxc6 f5=; 16...Rc7 17.Rac1 Rxc1 18.Rxc1 Be6 19.b3 Rd8 20.Nac6 Nxc6 21.Nxc6 Re8 22.d5 Bd7=]

17.Rac1 Re8 18.f4 f6 19.Nec6

19...Nxc6 20.Bxc6 [20.Nxc6 Rc7 21.d5 Bf7 22.Bf3 f5 23.b4 Kf8 and Black must be OK.]

20...Rd8 [20...Rb8 hampering the knight to get in play. 21.d5 Bf7]

21.Nb7 Rb8 22.Nc5 Bf7 23.d5 f5 24.b3 [24.b4?! a5 25.bxa5 Rxa5 and Black gets counterplay on the queenside.]

24...Bb2!? [The idea behind is placing the bishop on d6 - a better square, from which can take an eye on both flangs, hampering an eventual movement of d5–pawn.]

25.Rc2 Ba3 26.Ne6? [26.Re1 a5 27.Re3 a4 28.bxa4 Bxc5 29.Rxc5 bxa4=]

26...Bd6 [26...Bxe6 immediately is not so strong, because of 27.dxe6 Rc7 28.Rd7 the only move Rbc8 29.Rxc7 Rxc7 30.Kf2 Bd6 31.g3 Kg7 32.Ke3 Kf6і and Black takes the e6–pawn, but the chances to win are not so big with the opposite-coloured bishops on board.]

27.g3 [27.Re1 Bxe6 28.Rxe6 Bxf4і and although Black has a clear pawn up, the probable outcome is draw.]

27...Bxe6 28.dxe6 Rc7 29.Rdc1??

After this blunder White gives up the game.]

[Time trouble didn't let my opponent to find the right continuation. There were chances to rescue: 29.a4 Rbc8 (29...bxa4 30.bxa4 Rbc8 31.Rdc1 Ba3 32.Ra1 Rxc6 33.Rxc6 Rxc6 34.Rxa3 Rxe6 with slight advantage for Black.) 30.Rxd6 exd6 31.e7 (worse is-31.axb5? Kf8! 32.Re2 Ke7 when Black is close to winning) 31...Kg7 32.Re2 Rxc6 33.e8Q Rxe8 34.Rxe8 Rc1+ 35.Kg2 Rc2+ 36.Kg1 bxa4 37.bxa4 Ra2 38.Rd8 Rxa4 39.Rxd6 and after precise play by White the game is supposed to end draw.]

29...Rbc8 30.b4 Bxb4 31.Rb1 Bd6 [And title comes :)]

0–1

Viorel Bologan Annotates

The recently finished EICC in Plovdiv was a real feast for those of us who love the opened, aggressive chess. One of the usual suspects of such play was the Moldavian GM Viorel Bologan. He was kind enough to allow me to publish the following fabulous game with his notes:

Bologan Victor Viorel (MDA) - Mchedlishvili Micheil (GEO) [B10]
13th EICC round_8 Plovdiv BUL (8), 29.03.2012
[Bologan Victor Viorel (MDA)]

1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 [Black is taking the chalenge and chooses a side line. I think the main idea of my opponent was to avoid my preparation - I must say he reached his goal!]

4.e5 Ne4 5.h3 [Prophilaxis which is mainly directed against the bishop on c8; the bad news about this move is that black can transpose into a comfortable french with a solved problem of the kingside knight. That, I understood only few days after the game.]

[5.Ne2 would be the most principled move which would pose a question on the knight status on e4: 5...Qb6 6.d4 c5 (6...e6 7.Nfg1 f6 8.f3 Ng5 9.Ng3 Nf7 10.exf6 gxf6 11.Nh5 Nd7 12.Ne2І) 7.dxc5 Qxc5 8.Ned4 Nc6 9.Bb5 Bd7 10.0–0 e6 11.Be3 Qb4 12.c4 Qxb2 13.cxd5 Nc3 14.dxe6 ! 14...Nxd1 (14...Bxe6 15.Bxc6+ bxc6 16.Qd3±) 15.exd7+ Kd8 16.Raxd1 Nxd4 17.Nxd4

despite the queen down White has a very serious atack which he later managed to convert into a full point, Svetushkin D 2554 - Landa K 2635 , 14.3.2010 11th EICC Men; 5.d4 it's another attempt which ignores the development of the bishop on g4 or f5: 5...Bf5

a) 5...Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg4 7.h3 Bh5 (7...Bxf3 8.Qxf3 e6 9.Be2) 8.e6 fxe6 9.Rb1 Qc7 10.Be2 Bxf3 11.Bxf3 Nd7 12.0–0 with compensation;

b) 5...Bg4 6.h3 Bh5 7.e6 fxe6 8.Be2 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Bxf3 10.Bxf3 Nd7 11.0–0 e5 12.Bg4 and White has compensation for the pawn; 6.Bd3 (6.Nxe4 Bxe4 7.Ng5 Bg6 8.h4 h6 9.Nh3 e6 10.Nf4 Bf5 11.c3 c5 = Shumyatsky V 2352 - El Debs F 2502 , 29.11.2010 77th ch-BRA) 6...e6 7.0–0 Be7 8.Qe1 Nxc3 9.Bxf5 Nxa2 10.Bxe6 fxe6 11.Rxa2 with slight advantage for White.]

5...e6 6.d4 [Here for some time I was considering]

[6.d3 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 and only now 8.d4 Nc6 9.Bd3 c4 10.Be2 However, comparing with the game I am a clear tempo down.]

6...c5 [6...Bb4 was also good enough 7.Bd2 Nxd2 8.Qxd2 0–0 9.Be2 c5 10.a3 Qa5 11.0–0 Bxc3 12.bxc3 b6 After the exchanges Black is getting rid of his pieces thus minimizing the space advantage of White. In the meanwhile he can start exploiting the white weaknesses on the queeneside.]

7.Bd3 Nxc3 8.bxc3 c4 [Now an interesting French with alive bishop on f8 arises, which is definitely in Black's favour.]

9.Be2 Be7 10.h4 Nc6 11.h5 h6 12.g3 [Here I felt unconfortable to find a good move and the main question was where to put the knight?]

[12.a4 Qa5 13.Bb2 Bd7 14.Nh4 0–0–0 15.f4 Rdg8 would be similar to the game]

12...Qa5 13.Qd2 Bd7 14.Nh4 0–0–0 15.a4 [My point is at some stage to exchange the black coloured bishops but even after that the weaknesses on the queens side together with black counterplay on the kingside would give me a motive for a headake.]

15...Rdg8 16.Bg4 Bg5! [The idea is to weaken the pawn on g3.]

17.f4 Be7 18.Kf2?! g5! [A typical breakthrough for this type of pawn structures.]

19.hxg6 fxg6 20.Nf3 [My point now is at least to keep the g file closed after exchanging on g5.]

20...Qd8 [Black had a pleasant choice here either to go for immediate:]

[20...g5 21.fxg5 hxg5 22.Rxh8 Rxh8 23.Kg2 Qd8 24.Ba3 Bxa3 25.Rxa3 Qe7 26.Ra1 Qh7; Or to play even stronger: 20...Nd8! To be honest I missed this idea completely - with the help of the knight Black's attack becomes realy dangerous.]

21.Qe2 Qf8 22.Kg2 Nd8 [Already here I had to realize that I am in trouble, but I reacted with the fast:]

23.a5 [, instead of more solid]

[23.Be3 Nf7 24.Raf1 Qg7 25.a5 holding the position]

23...Nf7 24.Rf1!

A critical moment of the game finaly I understood that I am completely strategicaly outplayed by my opponent and I am in deep trouble. After long thought I saw that the only way to stop black' attack is the idea of f5. The other point in my plan it was to combine that with idea of the sacrifice on c4.]

24...Qg7 25.Nd2 h5 [25...g5 26.f5 exf5 27.e6+–]

26.Bf3 [Perhaps:]

[26.Bh3 was stronger, but I was already focused on the attack 26...g5 27.Bxe6 Bxe6 28.f5 h4 29.g4 Nd8 30.a6 b5 31.fxe6 Nxe6 32.Kh2 Nf4 33.Qf3 Rf8 with unclear play.]

26...g5

On:]

[26...h4 I would react with 27.g4 g5 (27...h3+ 28.Kh2) 28.f5 holding the files closed on the kingside.; But I was mostly afraid of: 26...Bb5 ! which I saw in my opponents face. After considerable thought Micheil declined it 27.a6 bxa6 28.Rh1 g5 29.f5 g4 30.Bxd5 exd5 31.f6 Bxf6 32.exf6 Qxf6 33.Rf1 Qg6 34.Qe7 Ng5 35.Rf6 Qg7 36.Qc5+ and the position is anything but clear.]

27.Nxc4?! [Objectively speaking:]

[27.f5 was a better move, but could not let the chance of sacrifice to run away from me- 27...g4 28.Bxd5 exd5 29.f6 Bxf6 30.a6 b6 31.Rxf6 h4 32.Nxc4 hxg3 33.Rxf7 Qxf7 34.Nd6+ Kc7 35.Nxf7 Rh2+ 36.Kf1 Rh1+ 37.Kg2 Rh2+=]

27...g4? [Allows a nice combination which was easy to avoid:]

[27...gxf4! The only real chance for Black to take the advantage and of course this corresponds with idea of opening the files: 28.Bxf4 Bg5 29.Kf2 h4 30.Ke1 hxg3 31.Bxg5 Qxg5 32.Bg2 dxc4 33.Rxf7 Rf8 34.Rf6 Rxf6 35.exf6 Qxf6µ; 27...h4 28.g4 gxf4 29.Bxf4І]

28.Bxd5! [One by one, White is destroying the strong pawn chain freeing the way for his pawns.]

28...exd5

29.Nb6+!! [A tempo! Black prepared very strong attack, so the only thing white has is time, time even on a price of two pieces!]

29...axb6 [29...Kd8 30.Nxd7 Kxd7 31.Qb5+ Kc7 32.a6 b6 33.Qxd5 Rb8 34.f5+–]

30.axb6 Kd8 [The other moves would not save neither:]

[30...Kb8 31.e6 Nd6 32.exd7 Qh7 33.Ba3 Qe4+ 34.Qxe4 dxe4 35.Ra2+–; 30...Bf5 31.Qb5 Kd8 32.Ra8++–; 30...Bd6 31.Ra8+ Bb8 32.f5+– followed by Bf4]

31.Ra8+ Bc8 32.Qb5! [This move escaped from the attention of my opponent as he confessed after the game.]

32...Nd6 33.Qxd5 Qf7 34.Qc5 Bf8 35.f5 Qd7 36.e6 Qc6+ 37.Qxc6 bxc6 38.f6

The triumph of the white pawns over the black pieces. Because of the pin on the eight rank Black can not do anything in order to stop the pawns being promoted.]

38...Rh7 39.f7 Rg6 40.Ba3 Rxe6 41.Bxd6

1–0

Lots Of Good Things Happening

As a trainer I am always proud (probably more than when I do it myself) when my students achieve good results. The last week in Chicago was a great one for my student Ashritha Eswaran who won the All Girls National under twelve with the excellent score 5.5/6. Ashritha is now USA champion and will represent her country at the World Youth Championship in Slovenia this October. Kudos to her main coach, the fabulous Ted Castro from the Norcal House of Chess who not only produces a huge mass of champions but have also organized the Berkeley International at the beginning of the year!

In Europe a former student of mine from my stay in Greece- Haralambos Tsakiris won the FIDE World Amateur Championship and is now a FM. I am sure that his current trainer Dejan Antic is also very proud of him, as well as with the player who took bronze- George Kafetzis. On the top of this WGM Iva Videnova whom I started helping recently was more than impressive at the Bulgarian National Championship which she has just won with 8/9.

Thank you Plamena for the picture! Ivan Cheparinov was also incredibly convincing with the amazing 10/11 score! Ivan is on his way of returning the 2700+ membership ticket. I will soon write more about the Bulgarian championships which were really great. Enjoy your weekend!

Jakovenko’s Turbo Speed

Dmitry Jakovenko is the new European Champion! After winning his last encounter on board one, he managed to complete a remarkable finish striking in his last three games. He managed to add some extra power in his final games and deserved the title with the six wins and five draws that he made overall. Just like four years ago, the EICC championship was claimed by the only player who won his last encounter in the leading group. The title did not come easy at all.
The Russian Top GM managed to defeat A. Timofeev with the black pieces in round nine, risked and sacrificed a piece against his compatriot Kobalia, and finally showed excellent technique in his game against Laurent Fressinet (the French GM was leading solely before the final round).
There was a big tie for the second place. L. Fressinet took home the silver medal. He was solely leading before the final round, but could not get out of the opening in the last round. This is his first big success at the European championships. V. Malakhov edged D. Andreikin by a mere point on the performance tie-break and took the bronze medal. He did not risk in the last three rounds and ended them peacefully, but in accordance to the rules.
Malakhov’s encounter in round nine against Vl. Akopian of Armenia was a sixteen-move-draw after a threefold repetition. Contrary to the game Baron-Safarli from the same round which caused a lot of pressure worldwide Akopian and Malakhov were not forfeited as they knew how to apply the tournament rules. Malakhov first wrote the move on his score sheet, stopped the clock and called the arbiter to claim the repetition.
Still it became obvious at this EICC that the new rules are not yet clear to most of the players and even for the arbiters themselves. First of all one need to give a definition of the meaning of a pre-arranged result. Is it a game that lasts one hour, two hours? And how long should that game be? There are many more questions but the general impression is that the players do not want to be restricted of more rules especially if they are paying on their pocket the expenses of an event. At the same time most of my colleagues understand that our sport has to become more attractive for the general audience.
The same ninth round was the longest one. Two Turkish players (Sanal Vahap versus Emre Can) fought for 7 hours and 52 minutes, and drew the game after 228 moves! It seems as this is the longest game on the history of the European championships in general. The game was played on board 129, and was not related to the qualification of any of the two players.
Further on in the cross table we discover the total domination of the Russian players. D. Andreikin is fourth, E. Inarkiev spoiled excellent winning chances in the final two rounds and is fifth, sixth place is for the pleasant surprise M. Matlakov. I am sure that we shall hear about this young player in the near future.
Another youngster Kirill Alekseenko made a remarkable performance and scored a GM norm. Altogether there were twenty norms- ten for GMs and ten for IMs. Irina Bulmaga of Moldova made the tournament of her life, as well as her final IM male norm.
From the 23 players who qualified for the World Cup the only big surprise is Vasif Durarbeyli of Azerbaidjan. The main trouble-maker was Gawain Jones, who kept on sacrificing material till the very last round, and the greatest come-back was Jan Smeets, who scored 7/8 after the poor start (1/3).
Despite the problems with the new rules, the championship in Plovdiv was organized very well. The playing conditions were excellent, refreshments were offered to all the players, the players had a choice where to stay and what to eat.
The organizers tried to help everyone in need and the last two French players were brought to Sofia from the stuff members and taken on the plane back home yesterday. The slight delay was caused by a passport blunder in a discotheque in Plovdiv.

Liege,Manchester,Dublin and Cork

The good thing about being chess professional is the chance to travel a lot and visit some nice places. As I had to play in Belgium for my team Amay and play afterwards the Cork Chess Congress in Ireland the only good plan would be not to come back home but to use the chance and visit some new places. The route was Liege-Manchester-Dublin-Cork. However this report is about one of Ireland’s friendliest places-Cork. The tournament took place between 23-25 March.



Some months ago Michael Bradley sent me an invitation for the Congress, but in the last two weeks we could not reach each other even on the web. I started to think that I will not see him this year when he made it for the last round.
When Michael came on Sunday for the price giving he was so excited and spoke that quickly that I could barely catch a word of his own. “Calm down, Michael, you are not playing this year”, as said, but I knew that he wanted to play very much. He kept explaining me about the new openings that he had tried, and the new books that he read.
Michel Bradley is the organizer of the event and has always been deeply involved in the life of the club, as well as for the conduct of a very good tournament. This year though, he had to skip this part. The reason is a nice one though- five weeks ago he became a proud father of a baby girl, called Claire!
Thus, the organization was passed to the hands of Steven Short, the brother of the FM Philip Short and they both took part in the open section.
Despite the recession the event managed to attract players from eight countries. Gresham Metropol was once again a welcoming host of the event, and we had the chance to enjoy the full Irish breakfast together with the Irish hospitality.
The time control was unusual- one and a half hour till the end of the game, and additional fifteen seconds per move. Once that the players reach their final five minutes they are no longer obliged to write the moves. Ireland’s tournaments are often not calculated for FIDE ratings and this makes it difficult for the foreigners to orientate for their strength. Some of the kids that played two years ago are now more mature, and show good chess potential. Young Kieran O’Riordan is still the only one to defeat me in Ireland (albeit in a simul :-)) two years ago.
I was a bit worried for my result as this time there was no time to kiss the Blarney stone for good luck. Instead I paid a visit to Dublin before Cork. You might not be aware of the fact that Ireland’s most visited place now is the Guinness factory. I guess that one of the reasons is that you can enjoy your pint on the top of the city and to have a superb view of the surrounding buildings.
Anyways, this preparation also proved excellent, as I managed to win the event outright with 5/6.
Cross table is here.
There was a big tie for the second place, with Irish champion IM Alex Lopez declared second, and Irish’s best rated player GM Alex Baburin- third. These two gentlemen recently took part in the simul of the Irish national team against Veselin Topalov, and scored 1.5 against the Bulgarian. The podium was filled with FM Philip Short and IM John Donaldson.
Major tournament was won by Ljubisa Cirkovic, and the minor tournament by Fionn O’Neill with a remarkable 6/6 result.

10 Big Brain Benefits of Playing Chess

I have recently received an email from Larry Dignanwith a request to publish an interesting article about the benefits from chess. The article is interesting, and I publish it without any shortenings:

Not for nothing is chess known as "the game of kings." No doubt the rulers of empires and kingdoms saw in the game fitting practice for the strategizing and forecasting they themselves were required to do when dealing with other monarchs and challengers. As we learn more about the brain, some are beginning to push for chess to be reintroduced as a tool in the public's education. With benefits like these, they have a strong case.



It can raise your IQ
Chess has always had an image problem, being seen as a game for brainiacs and people with already high IQs. So there has been a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation: do smart people gravitate towards chess, or does playing chess make them smart? At least one study has shown that moving those knights and rooks around can in fact raise a person's intelligence quotient. A study of 4,000 Venezuelan students produced significant rises in the IQ scores of both boys and girls after 4 months of chess instruction.

It helps prevent Alzheimer's
Because the brain works like a muscle, it needs exercise like any bicep or quad to be healthy and ward off injury. A recent study featured in The New England Journal of Medicine found that people over 75 who engage in brain-stretching activities like chess are less likely to develop dementia than their non-board-game-playing peers. Just like an un-exercised muscle loses strength, Dr. Robert Freidland, the study's author, found that unused brain tissue leads to a loss of brain power. So that's all the more reason to play chess before you turn 75.

It exercises both sides of the brain
In a German study, researchers showed chess experts and novices simple geometric shapes and chess positions and measured the subjects' reactions in identifying them. They expected to find the experts' left brains being much more active, but they did not expect the right hemisphere of the brain to do so as well. Their reaction times to the simple shapes were the same, but the experts were using both sides of their brains to more quickly respond to the chess position questions.

It increases your creativity
Since the right hemisphere of the brain is responsible for creativity, it should come as no surprise that activating the right side of your brain helps develop your creative side. Specifically, chess greatly increases originality. One four-year study had students from grades 7 to 9 play chess, use computers, or do other activities once a week for 32 weeks to see which activity fostered the most growth in creative thinking. The chess group scored higher in all measures of creativity, with originality being their biggest area of gain.

It improves your memory
Chess players know — as an anecdote — that playing chess improves your memory. Being a good player means remembering how your opponent has operated in the past and recalling moves that have helped you win before. But there's hard evidence also. In a two-year study in 1985, young students who were given regular opportunities to play chess improved their grades in all subjects, and their teachers noticed better memory and better organizational skills in the kids. A similar study of Pennsylvania sixth-graders found similar results. Students who had never before played chess improved their memories and verbal skills after playing.

It increases problem-solving skills
A chess match is like one big puzzle that needs solving, and solving on the fly, because your opponent is constantly changing the parameters. Nearly 450 fifth-grade students were split into three groups in a 1992 study in New Brunswick. Group A was the control group and went through the traditional math curriculum. Group B supplemented the math with chess instruction after first grade, and Group C began the chess in first grade. On a standardized test, Group C's grades went up to 81.2% from 62% and outpaced Group A by 21.46%.

It improves reading skills
In an oft-cited 1991 study, Dr. Stuart Margulies studied the reading performance of 53 elementary school students who participated in a chess program and evaluated them compared to non-chess-playing students in the district and around the country. He found definitive results that playing chess caused increased performance in reading. In a district where the average students tested below the national average, kids from the district who played the game tested above it.

It improves concentration
Chess masters might come off like scattered nutty professors, but the truth is their antics during games are usually the result of intense concentration that the game demands and improves in its players. Looking away or thinking about something else for even a moment can result in the loss of a match, as an opponent is not required to tell you how he moved if you didn't pay attention. Numerous studies of students in the U.S., Russia, China, and elsewhere have proven time and again that young people's ability to focus is sharpened with chess.

It grows dendrites
Dendrites are the tree-like branches that conduct signals from other neural cells into the neurons they are attached to. Think of them like antennas picking up signals from other brain cells. The more antennas you have and the bigger they are, the more signals you'll pick up. Learning a new skill like chess-playing causes dendrites to grow. But that growth doesn't stop once you've learned the game; interaction with people in challenging activities also fuels dendrite growth, and chess is a perfect example.

It teaches planning and foresight
Having teenagers play chess might just save their lives. It goes like this: one of the last parts of the brain to develop is the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for planning, judgment, and self-control. So adolescents are scientifically immature until this part develops. Strategy games like chess can promote prefrontal cortex development and help them make better decisions in all areas of life, perhaps keeping them from making a stupid, risky choice of the kind associated with being a teenager.
You can follow the original blog here.

Playing with the Living Legends

Just a couple of weeks ago my boss from the Belgium team called to ask me and play in an important match. We have chances to make it to the top three this year, a somewhat surprising result taking into account the fact that we barely saved our skins in the previous season. Still, our team is young, and has the will to compete well, and I certainly wanted to help.
My possible opponents were P. Negi, R. Vaganian, Berelowitsch and V. Chuchelov. As Negi was playing Capelle at the same period, and Vaganian is not that active recently I concentrated my preparation to the latter two.
What was my surprise to discover that we are playing in the same train with GM Vaganian, one of the most colourful players of the 1980-ies!
Born at the same year as A. Karpov, he became a GM at a very young (for that time!) age of 19, was an USSR champion, contender for the world championship. Many people, including Garry Kasparov admitted his enormous practical talent, and strength.
This was the living legend that I had to face in the match:

Vaganian,Rafael (2577) - Bojkov,Dejan (2544)
Rochade - Amay Eupen (9.1), 04.03.2012
[Bojkov,Dejan]

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0–0 5.Bg5 [Vaganian chose to play chess instead to compete in the long forced (and modern!) lines.]

5...c5 6.e3 cxd4 7.exd4


7...d5 8.Bxf6 Bxf6 9.cxd5 [9.Nxd5 is the other main move. I have achieved an excellent position against Paragua about an year ago after: 9...Bg7 10.Nc3 Bg4 11.Be2 Nc6 12.d5 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Bxc3+ 14.bxc3 Na5 15.Qd4 Qc7 16.Be2 Rfc8 17.0–0?! Nxc4і Paragua,M (2536)-Bojkov,D (2544) Los Angeles 2011 ]

9...Nd7 [Probably the best move for Black is: 9...e6!? and this was the move that Vaganian was afraid of: 10.dxe6?!

a) 10.Bc4 exd5 11.Bxd5 (11.Nxd5 Re8+ 12.Ne3 Nc6 13.Qb3 Kg7 (13...Re7 14.0–0 Na5 15.Qc3 Nxc4 16.Qxc4 Be6) 14.Bxf7 Re7 15.Bd5 Nxd4 16.Nxd4 Qa5+) 11...Re8+ 12.Kf1 Nc6;

b) 10.Qb3 exd5 11.Nxd5 Bg7 (11...Qa5+ 12.Nc3 Nc6 13.0–0–0 Bg4) 12.Ne3 Nc6 13.0–0–0 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 Bxd4 15.Bc4 (15.Kb1 Qb6) 15...Bxe3+ 16.fxe3 (16.Qxe3 Qc7 17.Qc3 Bf5) 16...Qc7; 10...Bxe6 11.Be2 Nc6 12.0–0 (12.d5 Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 Qxd5) 12...Nxd4 13.Nxd4 Qxd4 14.Bf3 Rad8 15.Qxd4 Rxd4 16.Ne4 Be7 (16...Bg7 17.Nc5 Bc4) 17.Rfc1 Rc8 18.Rxc8+ Bxc8 19.Rc1 Bf5 20.Ng3 Be6 21.a3 Rd2 22.b4 b6 23.Rc7 Rd7 24.Rxd7 Bxd7 25.Bd1 f5 0–1 Orlinkov,M (2384)-Maslak,K (2510)/Moscow 2008/CBM 122 Extra (39)]

10.Bc4 Nb6 11.Bb3 Bg4 12.0–0 Rc8 [I can regain the pawn at once with: 12...Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Bxd4 14.Rad1 Vaganian considered the position after: 14...Bxc3 15.bxc3 Nc8 as slightly better for White, as he has the possibility to attack on the king's flank with h2–h4–h5 and various rook lifts. This is precisely waht happened in my game against Paragua, therefore, I decided to make an useful move.]

13.Re1 Nc4?! [But this is dubious. Better was to either take on f3, or play something like:]

[13...a6 with the idea Rc8-c7 and eventually Nb6-c8-d6.]

14.Bxc4! Bxf3 15.Qd3 [15.Qb3 Bg4 is also possible.; My idea was to seek active play after: 15.Qxf3 Rxc4 16.Rad1 Qb6]

15...Bg4 16.Bb3 [Now White stabilized the situation and kept the extra pawn. There are no obvious threats, but he wants to improve his position slowly, and I do not have objects for counter attack. A human does not like situations like that one!]

16...Bf5 [16...Qb6 is awkward for Black- 17.Na4 Qxd4? 18.Qxd4 Bxd4 19.Re4±]

17.Qd2 a6! [Aimed against the plan with Ra1–d1 and Bb3–c2. My pieces will be repelled from the center soon, and it makes sense to find some targets on the flank.]

18.Rad1 b5 19.f3 [19.Bc2? Bxc2 20.Qxc2 b4–+]

19...Bg7 [Profilaxis. The immediate: 19...Qb6?! loses a pawn after: 20.g4 Bd7 21.g5 Bg7]

20.Ne4 a5 21.a3 Qb6


22.g4 [I was well prepared for this advance.]

[I planned to meet the move: 22.Nc5 with 22...Rc7 23.g4 Bc8 when the knight on c5 is not as fearsome as it seems.; However, once that I played the move I saw the knight retreat: 22.Ng3 and got scared for a moment. Luckily, there is a defense: 22...e6! 23.dxe6 (23.Nxf5 exf5 24.Re7 Bf6 25.Rd7 Rfd8 26.Rxd8+ Rxd8 is just equal as the extra pawn does not matter at all here- White's pieces are tied with its defense.) 23...Bxe6 24.Bxe6 fxe6


with a typical Gruenfeld-like compensation. There are weak pawns in White's camp, and the black bishop is clearly superior than the white knight.]

22...Bxe4 23.fxe4 e5! [The key defensive resource. The position is opened, and White's king start feel the air in its bones.]

24.dxe6 fxe6 25.Kh1 [The only inaccuracy from Vaganian this game. He could have put some more problems with:]

[25.Kg2! Still, I believe that Black should survive after: 25...Kh8 26.d5 (26.e5!? might be better.) 26...a4 27.Ba2 exd5 28.Bxd5 b4 29.axb4 Rb8 30.e5 Qxb4 31.Qxb4 Rxb4 32.Re2 Rfb8 33.Rdd2 Rxg4+=]

25...Rf3! 26.Ba2 Kh8! [Unfortunately, the ambitious: 26...b4 is not good due to the sudden tactics: 27.axb4 axb4 28.Bc4!


with the idea to support the bishop with b2–b3, and if: 28...Rxc4 29.Qe2]

27.Rf1 [After twenty minutes of thorogh calculation, Vaganian decided to liquidate into a draw endgame. This is the correct practical decision. In the line of his interest after: 27.d5 exd5 28.exd5 Rcf8 29.d6 Rf2 30.Re2? Rf1+ 31.Rxf1 Rxf1+ 32.Kg2 Qg1+ 33.Kh3 Rf3+ 34.Kh4 Bf6+ 35.g5 he could not see the win for Black, but it exists, of course- 35...Bxg5+! 36.Qxg5 Qd4+ 37.Qg4 Qf6+ 38.Qg5 Rf4+–+]

27...Rxf1+ [Now almost all the pawns are killed:]

28.Rxf1 Qxd4 29.Qxd4 Bxd4 30.Bxe6 Re8 31.Bd5 Bxb2 32.Rb1 Bxa3 33.Rxb5 Bb4 34.Kg2 Kg7 35.h4 Re7 36.Rb6 Ra7


1/2

This was a tough battle, in which we made almost no mistakes. Luckily for my team, we won convincingly with 5.5-2.5, and have good chances to make it to the top three.
And I had the pleasure to face and survive a true living legend!