Chess weekend in Kaunas, 9-11 May, in hotel Europa Royale**** (Miško g. 11, Kaunas) Tournament A – classical control: 3 days (5 rounds: Friday at 18:00, Saturday at 10:00 and 16:00, Sunday at 9:00 and 14:00), time control - 90 min. + 30 s, arrival until 17:30, registered in FIDE. Fee - 75 Lt. Tournament B – rapid chess: 2 days (9 rounds: Saturday from 11:00, Sunday from 10:00 ), time control 25 min. + 10 s, arrival until 10:30 on Saturday. Registered in FIDE. Fee- 40 Lt. A separate tournament for children up to 10 years may be organized, if necessary (not registered in FIDE).
All through the long history of chess people try to understand what it is: game, art or science. An interesting research on chess and its role in society has been conducted in year 2014 by Estere Fedoseeva, 11th grade pupil of Plaviņas Gymnasium, under the guidance of teacher of mathematics and physics Anita Seikovska.
The objective of the study was exploration of development of chess in Latvia and particularly in Plaviņas district. Issues on history of competitions, dynamics of chess popularity and reasons for absence of interest towards chess have been explored. Different research methods were applied: gathering and analysis of the public information, interviews with chess players of the district, videorecordings of competitions, survey of 421 pupils and 21 teachers of Plaviņas Gymnasium.
In primary school (1-4 grades) 44% of scholars know how to play chess, another 18% of children would like to learn to play, other 38% are not interested in chess. Why they are not interested? They prefer computer games (52%), 45% do not have free time for chess. In 5-9 grades interest for chess gets lower. 30% of scholars know how to play chess, 49% of pupils are not interested in chess. The reasons are “no free time” and “do not like chess”. In upper grades (10-12) proportion of pupils who consider that they know how to play chess reduces to 26%. Reasons for absence of interest towards chess are the same and in the same ratio – no time and do not like chess.
Teachers have a more positive attitude towards this intellectual activity: 52% know how to play, 10% would like to learn to play, 38% have no interest (63% are involved in other activities, 25% do not need chess, no physical activity – 12%).
Overall result for Plaviņas Gymnasium: one third of the pupils know how to play chess, almost a third would like to learn to and one third does not wish to attend. At earlier age chess is more interesting. This result was also confirmed by survey of local chess players. Consequently, chess training should start from early age, when interest is higher!
Estere has gathered and summarized statistics of local chess tournaments that are regularly held thanks to enthusiasm of U.Melderis.
Extensive school research included also video clips of blitz chessplayer games in lack of time. This part of the work was one of the reasons for undeservingly low assessment of the work on school research contest. The jury considered that a human can not think and make moves so fast, that “this video is a trick – high speed recording”. Obviously, they do not know how quickly founder of Microsoft Bill Gates has lost Magnus Carlsen. The richest man on Earth had two minutes and the world champion – thirty seconds in his disposal. However, eleven seconds were for Carlsen sufficient to checkmate the opponent: http://youtu.be/84NwnSltHFo.
International Chess Festival “Pskov 2014”: June 20 - July 1, 2014, Pskov, Russian Federation – Blitz Marathon, Classical and Rapid Chess Tournaments, FIDE rated.
The IV International Chess Festival „RIGA TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OPEN 2014” - August 15-24, 2014, Riga, Latvia. Five main ELO tournaments and an additional blitz tournament; the total prize pool of the festival - 25000 EUR.
X Baltic School Chess Festival will be held in 5 star Radisson Blu Daugava Hotel, 24 Kugu street, Riga, Latvia from August 25 (day of arrival) until August 30 (day of departure) 2014. Tournament system and rate of game: The team tournament will be played according to the Swiss System in 7 rounds. Time control: 90 minutes per game per player + 30 seconds per move starting from the move 1. Only FIDE ratings will be used for the pairings.
Latvian Railway Open, 28-30 March 2014 The tournament was held at the Latvian railway museum in Riga, Latvia. The festival featured leading Latvian grandmasters as well as a few very strong foreign grandmasters and chess lovers from all around the world. The tournament was held in three groups A, B and C. Tournament A is 14 round Swiss with the time control 15 minutes for each player plus 6 seconds increment for each move. First round on 28th of March 2014 at 17.30 hours, last round on 30th of March at 15.00 hours. The total prize fund is 11150 Euros.
THE PRELIMINARY TOURNAMENT - Swiss system 7-round rapid chess (15+15 minutes + a 5-second increment) tournament in one group. Tie-breaking: Buchholz method (the sum of the final scores of the opponents). For further tie-breaking, the score of the weakest opponent is eliminated from the overall Buchholz score, after that the scores of the two weakiest opponents and so on. Tournament is part of the yearly series of rapid chess events organized by the The Estonian Chess Support Organization.
THE MAIN TOURNAMENT - 9-round rapid chess (15+15 minutes + a 10-second increment) roundrobin tournament. 5 participants gain the entrance from the preliminary tournament, 3 - personally invited from abroad and 2 - from Estonia. Tie-breaking: Berger system.
In order to develop and popularize chess vortal nightmarechess.com, from 1st until 7th of December every night at 20:00 Latvia local time (GMT + 2:00) online chess tournaments will take place with free attendance to all players. Time control 3 minutes plus 2 seconds for each move made. The number of rounds depends on the number of participants. Eligible to receive prizes are only players who do not use unfair practices, including playing chess with help from computer analysis.
Prizes:
A player who has played highest number of games in a tournaments series (additional indicators - total score and highest place earned) – 20 LVL or $40
Additionally we will provide incentive prize for administration favorite - most active player for casual games (outside tournaments) - 20 LVL or 40$.
First three places on main tournament on 7th of December, 1st: 25 LVL or $50, 2nd: 10 LVL or $20, 3rd: 5 LVL or $10
Nightmarechess.com administration may participate in tournaments without competition for prizes. The same player can win multiple prizes.
Chess is becoming the new favourite lesson for Estonian schoolchildren
Аuthor: Riho Liiva, riholiiva (at) hotmail.com
The pilot project on teaching chess at school that started last autumn in Estonia became so popular that this year chess will be taught already in at least 35 schools involving more than 1,500 children. It was chess legend Garri Kasparov himself who helped to implement the project “Chess into Schools” in Estonia. Kasparov who through his foundation promotes chess studies in different parts of the whole world, says: “Chess not only changed my life, but also shaped my character.” Adding that in terms of education, it is no longer necessary for children to remember as much information as possible. “There is so much information available nowadays so the key is to teach children how to swim and successfully navigate in this sea of information. Chess is ideal in teaching such skills”.
The impact of chess at school was studied in a survey that included 100 schools in New York. Of 3,000 students who participated in the study, those who attended chess lessons also did best in math and native language. Teaching chess also improves attendance, as shown by analyses conducted in schools in Johannesburg (South Africa) and São Paulo (Brazil).
In November 2011, the international programme on introducing chess into schools that was launched by Garri Kasparov received strong endorsement also from the European Commission. Several European countries are now planning to start teaching chess at schools.
In the autumn 2012, about a dozen schools in Estonia launched a pilot project for teaching chess at schools which involved 650 students, mainly second-graders. The pilot project was co-financed by Garri Kasparov’s charitable donations collected through simul chess exhibitions and by other chess players. The pilot project was so successful that it is now also supported by the Ministry of Interior, which finds that chess is good for children’s development, and helps to prevent youth problems related to lack of hobbies. As a result, the project already involves 35 schools and more than 1,500 students.
“Estonians have always loved chess and have been very successful in chess, which is why it‘s no miracle that chess study has started so successfully,” explained Kasparov. “The success of the programme is also shown by the fact that children who started to study chess last autumn have become active young chess players and now attend chess classes,” added the chess legend.
The chess study programme developed by the Kasparov Chess Foundation is targeted at schoolchildren aged from 8 to 16. In the Estonian pilot project, chess lessons were started in the youngest age group. Under the programme, chess teachers are not required to have in-depth chess knowledge or special education and will be trained by the foundation. “This may seem hard to believe, but many teachers had no significant skills of chess before they joined the programme,” explained Riho Liiva, the initiator of MTÜ Kasparov Chess Foundation who himself has been actively playing chess since childhood. “From the teachers’ viewpoint, teaching methods and materials are excellent and we had no major problems during the pilot project.” Chess is being taught both in Estonian and Russian and is available all over Estonia because there is at least once school in every Estonian county that has weekly chess lessons. Chess is also taught in after-school child-minding activities and the programme’s initiators hope that one day chess will become a select subject in Estonian schools.
“Children love chess so much that they even play it during recess,” said Margit Brokko, coordinator of the “Chess into Schools” programme. Speaking of the benefits of chess lessons, Brokko says that they include developing one’s cognitive skills such as critical thinking, improving focusing and sense of discipline, helping imagination, developing problem-solving skills and creating a positive competitive spirit. Chess-players also learn how to take responsibility for their decisions. The biggest dream of chess legend Kasparov is to make chess a high-tech game so that it would also attract the next generation. His vision is to create a so-called Chess Facebook where children would not only play chess, but also communicate with each other, developing the other and equally important feature of chess - an excellent mean of communication.
Riho Liiva November 2013 riholiiva (at) hotmail.com
Paul Keres Memorial Festival - 2014
A-Tournament - for everyone - „International Paul Keres Memorial Tournament“ B-Tournament – for youth players - „Youth Tournament Tallinn 2014“ A – Tournament was held from January 10 to January 16 in Paul Keres Chess House (Tallinn, Vene Str 29). The competition was organized in 9-round Swiss System in accordance with the FIDE Laws of Chess. The rate of play - 90 minutes for the entire game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. Registration to the A-Tournament - E-mail:
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Chess weekend in Kaunas, 6-8 December, in hotel Daniela**** (A. Mickevičiaus g. 28, Kaunas). Tournament A – classical control: 3 days (5 rounds: Friday at 18:00, Saturday at 10:00 and 16:00, Sunday at 9:00 and 14:00), time control - 90 min. + 30 s, arrival until 17:30, registered in FIDE. Fee - 75 Lt. Tournament B – rapid chess: 2 days (9 rounds: Saturday from 11:00, Sunday from 10:00 ), time control 25 min. + 10 s, arrival until 10:30 on Saturday. Registered in FIDE. Fee- 40 Lt.
Coaching of chess players has rich and long traditions in Latvia. World champion Mikhail Tal, eminent chess players Aron Nimzowitsch, Hermanis Matisons, Vladimir Petrov and Alexei Shirov grew up and were trained by Latvian coaches. The famous Latvian coaches were Alexander Koblencs and Aivar Gipslis. Now the Latvian chess trainers are successfully working in Germany, the Czech Republic, United Arab Emirates and other countries.
Masters class will consists of: 1. Lectures devoted to the choise of optimal plan at transition from beginning of the game to midgame. Lessons in Russian will be done by Alexei Shirov and in Latvian by Arturs Neiksans. Teaching in English is possible also. 2. Playing of specially chosen positions with a time control. The partners will be specially selected according to the nearest ELO rating principle. 3. Analysis of played games.
Time: November 10, 2013 from 10.30 for up to 6 hours, not including lunch time.
Classes will be held at Jēkabpils Sports Center (289 Brivibas str., Jekabpils, ph. (+371) 6523 1535) .
There are no age or chess qualification limitations. Number of participants is restricted.
Entry fee is Ls 7.00 (or € 10 )
Applications should be done at Jēkabpils Sports School: chess coach Gunnar Pušmucans, mobile phone: +371 2959 4103;
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Accommodation recomended is: Hotel " Varpa " (located at the Sports Centre , ph. +371 6523 6924 ) , prices from Ls 5.00 or in hotel " Daugavkrasti " (ph. +371 2948 0662 ) .
Participants have possibibility to play free of charge in table tennis tournament on the previous evening from 19:00 of 9 November (after J. Mileika 3.Memorial tournament ).
Janis Mileika Memorial 2013
Place and Time Competition was held on 9th November, 2013 - Viestura iela 35, Jekabpils, Latvia. Preliminary application until 1st November. Management Tournament organizer Jury Agafonov, e-mail:
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, mob. ph. +371 2922 4800. The Chief Arbiter Alberts Cimins, e-mail:
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, phone +371 28804664. System, time control 9 rounds Swiss system, FIDE rules, FIDE rapid chess rating calculation. Time control 12 min +3 sec/move. Chief arbiter has the right to make changes.
Vladimir Petrov Memorial - Jurmala, Latvia, February 21-23, 2014 The tournament was held in three groups A, B and C: Tournament A is 15 round Swiss with the time control 15 minutes for each player plus 6 seconds increment for each move. First round on 21st of February 2014 at 17.30 hours, last round on 23rd of February at 19.00 hours. Tournament B is reserved mainly for players rated 1875-2324. Time control is 12 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; Swiss system; 12 rounds. Tournament C is reserved for players rated less than 1875. Time control is 12 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; Swiss system; 12 rounds. The Blitz Tournament - Feb. 20 at 16:30 in the Amber Beach resort (Jaunkemeri). The time control is 4 minutes plus 3 seconds for each move starting with the first move; 9rounds.
Malpils Municipality Council Rapid Chess Tournament
Place and time The Tournament was held on 23th and 24th November, 2013 at Malpils muiza, Pils iela 6, Malpils, Latvia. Preliminary application until Wednesday, 20th November, 2013. Management The competition is organized and run by Malpils Sports Club in cooperation with Malpils Municipality Council, Riga chess fedaration and Grandmaster Alexei Shirov. Tournament director - Girts Lielmezs, e-mail:
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, mob.29248752. The Chief Arbiter - Alberts Cimins, e-mail:
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, mob.28804664. System, time control 12 rounds Swiss system, FIDE rules, FIDE rapid chess rating calculation. Time control 12 min. + 5 sec/move. Chief Arbiter has the right to make changes.
"F I R S T S A T U R D AY" B u d a p e s t , H U N G A R Y monthly chess tournament series for IGM-, IM- titles, and ELO-rating Organizer: IO Nagy László Office phone (36-1)-263-2859 E-mail:
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mobile:(36)-30-230-1914 www.firstsaturday.hu
26 th International chess tournament Panevezys Open 2013 Date: 2013 08 12 – 18 Venue: Panevezys Kolegija, Laisvės square 23. Organizer: IO Arvydas Baltrunas and Panevezys chess club Address: Laisves sq. 25 B , LT – 35200 Panevėžys Tournament Director: IO,FA Arvydas Baltrūnas Mob.tel. +370 (676) 32388; +370 (688) 34262 Email:
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Web site: www.chesslyga.lt or www.panevezysopen.eu System and rate of play: 9 rounds, played in the Swiss system in accordance with the FIDE Laws of Chess. The playing time will be 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 min. to end game with 30 seconds cumulative increment for each move starting from first move. FIDE rated. Chief Arbiter IA Raimondas Paliulionis.
Chess weekend in Kaunas, 9-11 May, in hotel Europa Royale**** (Miško g. 11, Kaunas)
X Baltic School Chess Festival will be held in 5 star Radisson Blu Daugava Hotel, 24 Kugu street, Riga, Latvia from August 25 (day of arrival) until August 30 (day of departure) 2014. Tournament system and rate of game:
Vladimir Petrov Memorial - Jurmala, Latvia, February 21-23, 2014
