The Philadelphia Open is in full swing (March 31st-April 4th) and the open section is norm eligible. Quite a few of US's top players are playing, Ray Robson, Jaan Ehlvest, Alexander Shabalov, Joshua Friedel, Varuzhan Akobian, and the biggest one of all, Gata Kamsky. Norms are available in the 123-player open section. Lower sections have only seven rounds.
Philadelphia now has four major tournaments, three of them norm events. The Liberty Bell (January), Philadelphia Open (April), Philadelphia International (June), World Open (July). All of that chess in one location is taking a toll on attendence, only 413 entries and re-entries (the tournament was based on 650), so it looks like CCA will be paying out the minimum 70% they advertised. In past years, the tournament had been at Foxwoods in Conneticutt, but excessive hotel prices ($179/night) forced the tournament elsewhere.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
April Fools!
It seems there is something of an April Fool's Tradition on chess news sites. Chessbase has come up with a false chess-related story for the last six or seven years or now. Eventually, as people were getting wise (and eagerly anticipating what the next ruse would be) they changed the format somewhat and now list three bizarre stories every April 1st, one of which is a complete fabrication. Since only one of the stories is false, it keeps readers guessing until the next report a couple days later. This year's three are:
1) LHC (Large Hadron Collider) goes online, chess grandmasters worried
2) Fischer's remains to be exhumed
3) Magnus Carlsen's cousin in America (Matt Damon)
I'm actually not sure if the joke is story #1 or #3, I have heard of the ongoing court battles between Fischer's Japanese widow and (alleged) Phillipino daughter, so I'm not even surprised by that news story. If I had to guess, I'd pick the proton collider, since it seems very strange that top grandmasters would sit around the banquet discussing minature black holes with physicists.
US Chess has also gotten into the April Fool's Act (I think), by announcing that one of the four wildcard spots in the 2010 US Championship will be going to the famous shock-jock Howard Stern. Stern is reportedly about 1800 or 1900 strength and would be severely overmatched in a high caliber tournament such as the US Championship, so this is almost assuredly a joke.
On Susan Polgar's Website, it is reported that Lady Gaga and her biggest fan, GM Benjamin Finegold, will sing a duet on her new album debuting in 2011. This has to be the most bizarre one of them all!
1) LHC (Large Hadron Collider) goes online, chess grandmasters worried
2) Fischer's remains to be exhumed
3) Magnus Carlsen's cousin in America (Matt Damon)
I'm actually not sure if the joke is story #1 or #3, I have heard of the ongoing court battles between Fischer's Japanese widow and (alleged) Phillipino daughter, so I'm not even surprised by that news story. If I had to guess, I'd pick the proton collider, since it seems very strange that top grandmasters would sit around the banquet discussing minature black holes with physicists.
US Chess has also gotten into the April Fool's Act (I think), by announcing that one of the four wildcard spots in the 2010 US Championship will be going to the famous shock-jock Howard Stern. Stern is reportedly about 1800 or 1900 strength and would be severely overmatched in a high caliber tournament such as the US Championship, so this is almost assuredly a joke.
On Susan Polgar's Website, it is reported that Lady Gaga and her biggest fan, GM Benjamin Finegold, will sing a duet on her new album debuting in 2011. This has to be the most bizarre one of them all!
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