08/13/09
Photos: Iranian Chess Master Hopes to Break Guinness World Record
TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian grandmaster Morteza Mahjoub started his simultaneous exhibition in Tehran Thursday 9 am to take on 500 opponents.
The Rokh-dar-rokh 500 (rook versus rook 500) exhibition will put his name on Guinness world record. Currently, the record belongs to Kiril Georgiev from Bulgaria with 360 games over 14 hours.
To win the exhibition Mahjoub needs to beat at least 80 percent of the players from among 200 professional chess players, 280 chess enthusiasts, and 20 cinema actors and sportsmen, the Iranian students news agency reported.
The 29-year old grandmaster started physical training last month to get ready for an exhibition that is to take 16 hours and requires him to walk almost 40 kilometers.
He has been a member of the Iranian National Chess Team for twelve years and became Iran Youth Champion in 1994 when he was 13.
In 1995 he was Iran Students Champion and in 2000, he managed to beat grandmaster Anatoly Karpov in a simultaneous chess game between Karpov and the Iranian National Chess Team.
Many more pictures is available here.
Seriously, I could not care less. In my view this is a ridiculous record as it is not – and never can be – objective, particluarly regarding the opponents’ playing strength. Maybe I should try it myself – with an ELO of 2200 I could probably manage to get more than 80% out of a group of 501 novices to the game too…
I wonder what the term “professional” players refers to.
Probably anybody in a chess club?!
as long as its publicity for chess, it must be good.
Personally, I would like to be able to recognize what each position needs with the nearly instant clarity that such a feat requires. I think this speaks to the skill of the one playing against hundreds as much as does the strength of the opponents, and any results above, say, 80% are, to me, simply amazing. Whenever I see a position, I need a moment or two just to get oriented to it. That’s just one of many differences between a hobbyist (me) and a serious player.
I think this record is a good one to break!
Another good record to break is Barry Manilow’s greatest hits. Make sure to crush the vynil pieces very well to guarantee breaking of the record.