June 06, 2011 • General
Greetings to everyone from Madrid, Spain on this slightly overcast Monday morning. Since I last blogged prior to my departure from Saint Louis, several things of importance have happened and as I currently have several days off before heading to Romania, it seems like an opportune time to update everyone.
I arrived here in Madrid on the afternoon of June 3rd and was greeted at the Madrid Barajas Airport (make sure to not have tight connecting flights as there are simply too many terminals) by GM Pablo San Segundo whom I first had the pleasure of meeting back in 2009 when I won my first major international tournament in San Sebastian, Spain. At the closing ceremony of the tournament, I was also fortunate enough to meet his father, Martin as well. Since then, we have communicated several times via email about the possibility of a simul in Spain. Due to my very busy schedule, (I will update the events section of my site shortly to reflect my upcoming events) we were unable to pull it off in 2010, but Martin emailed me in March, and this great event came together.
Before I talk about the simul, I feel compelled to talk a bit about the fabulous Club de Villa Campo de Madrid. I googled the club in English (There’s a lot more on google.es) and there is very little info which does not do it justice. The day before my simul, Martin was gracious enough to show me around the country club which has two world renowned golf courses in the black and yellow course which was designed by the late Spanish golfing great, Seve Ballasteros. Besides the fabulous golfing, there are also a multitude of tennis courts as well as equestrian activities. There are also several pools on the grounds which are extremely extensive and allow one to get a great view of the financial district of Madrid. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera so I do not have any pictures.
The simul featured me playing against 30 players who belonged to the club as well as several players from the Madrid Chess Federation. The setup was very professional and two of the games were shown on DGT board to the spectators and (I assume) an internet audience. I also did a short Q&A session and spoke a little bit in Spanish (one of the more terrifying and exhilarating experiences!) to thank everyone for coming out. Unlike most simuls I have given before, (all in the United States) only a couple of players blundered early, and it took me close to 2 ½ hours to complete all of the games with a score of 28 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. All the players were extremely friendly and the atmosphere was perfect for everyone involved.
After sleeping for most of yesterday, I took part in the finals of the inaugural Internet Chess Club Open. For the last ten years, ICC had held the renowned Dos Hermanas tournament in which many of the strongest chess players from around the world competed in. Unfortunately, this event stopped after I won it in 2010 (what is with events stopping once I win — ie Mainz?) and this new event appears to be the replacement. Although the top prizes are significantly less, amateurs have a chance to compete for much more. One of the major issues in recent years is the rise of technology which makes it a lot easier for computer cheating to occur. This has largely rendered online tournaments obsolete as there tend to be many cheating accusations regardless of the outcome.
The field for the finals started off with 16 players playing 4 games matches against each other and the field being reduced in half each round. I started by squaring off against Armenian IM Levon Altounian (Albert) who has not been active much lately, but is a highly talented chess coach in Tucson, Arizona. In this match, my play was incredibly shaky, and I almost certainly should have lost the first two games. However, I managed to get lucky in large part due to the clock and was able to recover and win the first match 2 ½-½. In the second match, I cruised very easily, defeating Armenian GM Robert Hovhannisyan(Armcomposer) 3-0. This set me up with a final match showdown against yet another Armenian in GM Simonian Hrair (Erebuni). After jumping out to an early 2-0, I let it slip away by losing the 3rd and 5th games while drawing in 4 and 6 respectively. After this debacle, it setup a tiebreaker featuring two more games of 3 minute blitz in which I was able to clinch the match with a win and a draw and a final match score of 4 ½-3 ½ . Thus I won the inaugural event as well as $600. Ordinarily, I probably would not have chosen to participate, but it seemed like a good chance to stay sharp ahead of Bazna, and a payday is always helpful no matter how much.
For now, I will probably spend the next few days first and foremost adjusting to the time zone. At the same time, I will be annotating two of my games from my match with Ponomariov for Europe Echecs and the Spanish chess publication, Jaque. Most importantly, I will be rooting my heart out from afar as I continue to root for the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup Finals! The city of Vancouver and Canada deserve to have the cup back home after 18 long years in the United States.
Cheers,
6.6.2011
May 27, 2011 • General
Greetings to everyone once again! It has been a long time, but I have been extremely busy with preparations for my recent match as well as the upcoming double round robin I will be competing in Bazna, Romania shortly.
This past week and a half I played a 10 game match at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis against Ukrainian GM Ruslan Ponomariov. With all the commotion over the ridiculous amount of short draws in the Canadidates Matches to determine which challenge would face World Champion, GM Viswanathan Anand, I thought both Ruslan and I played very enterprising and fighting chess. Overall I came out ahead 3.5-2.5 in classical and 3-1 in the rapid games. With a total score of 6.5-3.5, I was pretty happy with the end result. That being said, it was a very tough match and had Ruslan not made a critical error in the 3rd game, I very easily could have lost the match. Similar to my one prior match against GM Sergei Karjakin, I was substantially outprepared but fought very hard and equalized in the middlegames. Hopefully both of these matches will serve as constant reminders of how much harder I need to work on my opening preparation in order to have a chance in the World Championship Candidate Matches 2-4 years down the road.
Following this long match, I attended a Free Film Screening of the new HBO Documentary, Bobby Fischer Against The World at the Tivoli Theater here in Saint Louis. Overall, I thought the movie was good as it showed the great struggle and the fine line between genius and insanity. I was very impressed by the interviews with IM, Dr. Anthony Saidy as well as the late GM, Larry Evans. I was a tad disappointed by the lack of interviews with the following generation of Americans (Benjamin, Defirmian, Fedorowicz, Christiansen, Seirawan) who would become very strong in their own right. But as with any documentary, it is no easy task putting together massive amounts of footage and combining it with interviews. Therefore, I must congratulate the director Liz Garbus on putting together many of the pieces in a cohesive film which will hopefully generate some more interest from the general public in chess.
I am now going to relax over Memorial Day Weekend before heading off to Madrid, Spain to give an exhibition for Club de Campo-Villa de Madrid against 30 players. Following this, I will spend the week in Madrid relaxing before heading off to Bazna, Romania and competing against Carlsen, Ivanchuk, Karjakin, Radjabov and Nisipeanu in this incredibly strong event. Hopefully a week of relaxation in the Mediterranean sun will help me come back stronger than before!
Cheers,
Hikaru
Saint Louis, Missouri
5.27.11
February 23, 2011 • General
Greetings to everyone on this blustery and oddly cold day (fabulous 21 car pile up on Interstate 64) here in Saint Louis! I haven’t blogged in the better part of a week, so it seemed like high time to give y’all an update.
After returning home from Memphis yesterday afternoon, I did a short interview for Chesstalk with IM John Watson on the Internet Chess Club. I am not completely sure when it will be on, but I suspect that it should be sometime in the near future. After a relaxing evening full of watching hockey, (I was able to watch the Canucks, Blues and Rangers thanks to NHL GameCenter Live)I woke up this morning and saw an email from GM Dorian Rogozenko inviting me to the Kings Tournament in Bazna, Romania! Without second though, I accepted, and I now have a very acceptable second half of the year with Bazna, Dortmund, Bilbao Grand Slam Final and London all confirmed.
Alas, I am now going to take a nice long siesta in true Spanish tradition! I will attach a few links for those who are interested in the news stories I did this past week in Memphis, Tennessee!
Hikaru
Saint Louis
February 16, 2011 • General
Greetings to the world from Memphis, Tennessee on this fine Wednesday evening! I have not blogged in a bit and as I have some free time right now, I thought I would add a blog entry about what has been happening in this crazy chess life which I lead!
Coming off of my victory in Wijk aan Zee, I spent several days back home in New York with my parents who deserve more recognition than anyone else for all of their tremendous support over the years. Many times, my stepfather, Sunil Weeramantry has made comments such as “I hope you become a GM before I die”, or “I hope I get to see you play in Monaco.” After winning such a strong tournament, I can only hope to fulfill the one last unachievable goal in his lifetime of becoming World Champion! So, once again, I can never do them justice, but I will always say thanks for everything!
After arriving back in Saint Louis, I came back to the unfortunate reality that there was a lot of work to be done as I had to annotate games for New In Chess and Europe Echecs. There were also several interviews I did for 64, Chessbase and The New York Times. Most readers will probably notice there is a glaring lack of American publications listed above. It is simply a fact that American chess still has a long ways to go before it starts garnering widespread media attention. However, I hope that as I continue to go forward and chase the ultimate my goal things will eventually change. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t, but it is something that us American chessplayers can certainly hope for.
I have also been involved in the organizational aspect of my speech&simul at Washington University in Saint Louis which will be happening on February 26th which is being made possible by the Washington University Chess Club in association with the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. This is certainly an exciting event and I look forward to it.
Before I get to all the excitement of this week, I thought that now would be an opportune time to discuss my withdrawal from the 2011 US Chess Championship. I first competed in the US Championship way back in 2003, and I have had some of my most memorable moments and experiences during these very special and prestigious events. Going forwards towards my goal of becoming World Champion, it simply does not make sense to take a step backwards and compete in events which do not help me towards accomplishing this goal. I wish GMs Kamsky, Onischuk and Shulman the best of luck in the upcoming tournament which will once again be held in Saint Louis.
This past Monday evening, I got in my lovely 1998 Honda Accord (120,000 miles and still going strong) and drove down to Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis has always had a very special place in my heart as some of my best friends and contacts live here. It has always been very relaxing to have a few drinks on Beale Street (I would recommend Silky’s, BB King’s) and catch some good jazz music or take in a show at the Orpheum. However, unlike past trips, this week has been something special as I received the key to the city to Memphis yesterday down at city hall. After this, I proceeded down to the Peabody Hotel to have a cocktail while taking in the world famous Peabody Duck March. Amidst all of this hoopla, I went down to the FedEx Forum to catch a basketball game between the Memphis Grizzlies (Why can’t they move back to Vancouver??) and the Philadelphia 76ers. I have nothing else planned over the next two days, so I will probably spend some time enjoying downtime and studying a little chess! On Friday, I am giving a simul at city hall against the council members and perhaps the mayor will even show up! Saturday promises to be quite busy as I will be appearing on the Saturday morning news with Kontji Anthony on WMCTV 5. On Sunday, I am making an appearance at UMemphis for a local chess event. A very busy week, but promoting chess is very important!
To paraphrase a very famous Gandhi quote, Be the change you want to see in the chess world!
That is all for now, but I hope everyone enjoys the blog and the few pictures I am attaching below. There will be a bigger report on www.uschess.org once all the great promotional activities of this week have concluded.
A nice folder!
A nice piece of paper which makes me feel like I am doing something important with chess!
The key to the city. A true honor!
2.16.2011
Memphis, Tennessee
Hikaru
February 08, 2011 • General
Hello once again to everyone out there. I wish I had more time to blog, but I am completely swamped with game annotations (NIC, Europe Echecs) and interviews (Chessbase, 64) right now!
However, I will be giving a simul and a likely speech at Washington University here in Saint Louis on February 26th! Stay tuned for more details!
In completely non chess matters, I would also like to give a big shout out to my mother who celebrated her 51st birthday yesterday! For all the support I have received over the years, I am eternally grateful. Cheers!!
Hikaru
Saint Louis
2.8.11
