Rublevsky is taking over the sole lead at the category 18 9th Karpov Poikovsky tournament. Shirov and Jakovenko are just 1/2 point back.
GMs Hillarp-Persson and Berg won the 2008 Swedish Championship.
The field for the historic 2008 Category 15 SPICE Cup has been completed (USA – GM Onischuk, Alexander 2734 USCF / 2670 FIDE, IND – GM Pentala, Harikrishna 2724 USCF 2668 FIDE, GER – GM Kritz, Leonid 2667 USCF / 2610 FIDE, USA – GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2660 USCF / 2610 FIDE, USA – GM Kaidanov, Gregory 2664 USCF / 2605 FIDE, USA – GM Becerra, Julio 2640 USCF / 2598 FIDE, ISR – GM Mikhalevski, Victor 2679 USCF / 2592 FIDE, POL – GM Miton, Kamil 2703 USCF / 2580 FIDE, ISL – GM Stefansson, Hannes 2597 USCF / 2566 FIDE, USA – Defending Champion GM Perelshteyn, Eugene 2619 USCF / 2555 FIDE).
What would you like to discuss? It’s Saturday Open Forum! The forum is yours!
There are a lot of people who are homeless or live on the fringes of society and devote their whole life to playing or teaching chess. What is your view on this?
People have to be responsible for their own decisions and lives. Just like in chess, you have to recognize a losing / inferior position / plan and modify it. If you do not, you will lose.
This is the same in life. A good chess teacher can make a very good living teaching chess. If someone is either homeless or on the fringes of society then he/she is not doing something right. On the other hand, very few are well off from just playing unless you are at the top of the game.
This is why I also advocate for chess players to be multi-dimensional. I have many different interests and my chess career includes top level success in many different areas such as: playing, writing, teaching, promoting and more. I also do chess commentary for major events as well as organizing major chess tournaments.
No one has ever given me a free path. I work hard in what I do to achieve the success and other can do the same. If I can do it, they can too.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
Sports Illustrated Individual Rivalries
1. Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer (Tennis)
2. Ted Williams vs. Joe DiMaggio (Baseball)
3. Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson (Basketball)
4. Tom Brady vs. Payton Manning (Football)
5. Jack Nicklaus vs. Arnold Palmer (Golf)
6. Arturo Gatti vs. Mickey Ward (Boxing)
7. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier (Boxing)
8. Andre Agassi vs. Pete Sampras (Tennis)
9. Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns (Boxing)
10. Dale Earnhardt vs. Darrell Waltrip (NASCAR)
11. John McEnroe vs. Bjorn Borg (Tennis)
12. Roberto Duran vs. Sugar Ray Leonard (Boxing)
13. Maurice “Rocket” Richard vs. Gordie Howe (Ice Hockey)
14. BOBBY FISCHER VS. BORIS SPASSKY (CHESS)
15. Takeru Kobayashi vs. Joey Chestnut (Hot Dog Eating)
16. Chris Evert vs. Martina Navratilova (Tennis)
17. David Pearson vs. Richard Petty (NASCAR)
18. Wilt Chamberlain vs. Bill Russell (Basketball)
19. Wayne Gretzky vs. Mario Lemieux (Ice Hockey)
20. Alydar vs. Affirmed (Horse Racing)
# 9 Hagler vs. Hearns???
Didn’t they only face each other once, and just 3 rounds that one time??
Susan, I am wondering if you or SPICE have any plans to put together a women’s chess event in the future that would feature high-rated players from around the world? Or a women v. men event, featuring evenly matched (by ratings) players?
Jan Newton
http://www.Goddesschess.com
Ed, this list is heavelly biased towards USA and sports that are popular there, and is thus useless.
The biggest chess rivalry was without a doubt the rivalry between Karpov and Kasparov.
Susan, thank you for your thoughtful response. There are many definitions of success as there are different strokes for different folks. Happiness is where you find it. It is ironic that Caissa was the only Roman god that was never officially consecrated. She was sacked by the Huns before the waiting period expired. Maybe this means that chess players do worship a unique diety. C’est la vie!
Jan,
It is a good question. I was the first to champion all-girls events with 3 annual tournaments:
– The SP National Invitational for Girls
– The SP National Open for Girls
– The SP World Open for Girls
I also have free training for SP All-Stars.
The idea of investing in young girls is to motivate them to stay in the game. It is tough being a female player. It is even tougher trying to change the culture of chess. For what I am trying to do, I am being attacked and insulted nearly on a daily basis. I hope to change how people perceive women in chess for future generations.
When I organized SPICE Cup 2007, I invited both Irina Krush and Anna Zatonskih. Unfortunately, Anna could not play because of her young daughter.
I hope to be able to invited some of the top young female talents such as Melekhina, Abrahamyan in addition to Krush, Zatonskih, and Gotetiani in future SPICE Cup B or C. It is possible and I am doing it but it is harder to raise money for all-female events at the current time.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
Who is sponsoring the “Poikovsky” tournament, I mean paying for its expenses and the prize fund?
And who convinced the sponsor?
Does the sponsor expect a net financial gain? Or does the sponsor just have an emotional attachment to chess?
GeneM
CastleLong.com ,for FRC-chess960
.
Gene,
With these invitational events, the sponsors never break even. It costs perhaps $50,000 to organize a category 15 event. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to organize super events. Many sponsors look at it as a less expensive way to advertise. In many cases, someone from the sponsored companies play and love chess.
I can tell you from my personal experience. I do not get paid for any event I organize. I donate my time and money because I love chess and I want to do something good for the game I love.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
Susan, thanks for replying to my post. I keenly watched Irina Krush’s progress in last year’s SPICE Cup, and would love to see more of the USA’s top female players involved in such events in the future. As more women players are competing head to head with male players (such as GM Koneru Humpy and GM Marie Sebag) and working their way up the ELO ratings list, not to mention GMs such as yourself, Judit Polgar, Pia Cramling, Antoaneta Stefanova, Xie Jun, etc., I would love to see such talents play here in the US. SPICE’s sponsorship of the 2008 SPICE Cup is a hallmark in American chess, and I look forward to many more such events. Recently a large contingent of male and female players from India played in the Philadelphia Open. The female players did not place in the top rankings, but in their home country they are stars and are regularly covered in Indian newsprint articles. I wish I could say the same for our top female players! What you are doing to promote and encourage our young female chess players is wonderful and I do what I can to publicize these events. Please keep doing what you are doing. You have lots of fans and supporters, don’t let the bad guys get you down.
Jan Newton
http://www.Goddesschess.com
Having worked with the homeless for over twenty years, I can tell you that your statement that the homeless are so because they are not doing something right is ignorantly myopic at best. I have seen people arrive seeking shelter who have done everything right, only to find themselves out of work and unable to find employment or they are working poor, unable to afford even rental housing of the most decrepit sort. I have great respect for your ability over the chess board. As to life, you have much to learn.
Sorry but I disagree with you. I also work with people in homeless shelters and kids from the poorest areas in the country. So does my husband. We both donate money, clothing, and food, etc. to help the unfortunate people. I myself came from a poor family in the communist regime. I am also a board member of Point Hope (www.pointhope.org).
There are always exceptions to what I said in my earlier post. I am talking about things in general. People who work hard and smart usually succeed.
People often ask why the Polgar sisters are so successful in chess. It is because we worked harder than most others. As I stated earlier, I work as equally hard when I decided to branch out to other aspects of chess.
My husband came to America at the age of 14 as a refugee without knowing any English, having any money, or other possession.
He and his father arrived on December 1, 1979 at Newark Airport, each with a pair of pants, a T-shirt and beach sandals in the middle of the winter. After that, they were living in a storage basement during the winter time without heat, bathroom, or running water.
They received used clothing from local churches. In spite of this, he opened his first company when he was 22 years old shortly after college having to learn a brand new language and culture.
And for your information, he was living on about 30 cents a day in the beginning eating instant noodles (10 cents a package x 3 meals a day) while sending just about everything they earned from multiple jobs back to Vietnam to support over 60 relatives including his mother and brother.
He worked 16-18 hours a day, 7 days a week, basically since he arrived in America. Even with his success, he is still working just as hard today. The only difference is he is donating most of his time to help chess.
There is usually no miracle in life. If you want to succeed, you must do the right things. As I said, there are always exceptions. But if we can do it, many others can too.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
You don’t have to agree with my friend Susan Polgar, but if you insult her on this blog with profanity, I will break your face.
Why did you fail to include the two strongest woman chess players in America, Irina Krush and Anna Zatonskih, on your list?
Anon 8:10:00 PM, what list are you talking about? I said I invited both of them but only Irina could make the last SPICE Cup.
Anon 8:09:00 PM, this is what I have to deal with almost every single day. I am being insulted and called by all sort of names by people who do nothing for chess. But they’ll do anything to stop others from helping our game.
I am used to it. I see it even more clearly now that I am on the executive board. I finally understand why the USCF is losing money 10 of the last 12 years as well as losing members. Too many people care more about their politics, agenda, and self interest than the welfare of chess and the federation.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
There’s no excuse for failure. Many people sit on their asses instead of working harder to save for the future. Susan is right. Why so many immigrants make it in America while American born don’t?
Anon said: “I have seen people arrive seeking shelter who have done everything right, only to find themselves out of work and unable to find employment or they are working poor, unable to afford even rental housing of the most decrepit sort.”
What an idiotic statement from a stupid liberal. If they’ve done everything right, they wouldn’t be at a homeless shelter. I bet he’s just another jackass from Massachusetts.
It sounds like another post by that as^&%*!e Laugherty.
Bobby Fischer is a good example of doing everything right. Hitler did some things right and some things wrong, unlike Joseph Stalin who did everything right. Motzart did somethings right, but more wrong and was so poor he was dumped in a pauper’s grave, so I rate Mozart as mediocre at best. Lance Armstrong did evrything right and Floyd Landis did everything wrong. Armstrong is on top of the world and Floyd Landis is almost broke, yet they both won the Tour de France. If all of these people can do it, so can you.
It is all pretty clear if you ask me. Do the right things, work hard and you will end up on top.
“Anonymous said…
…Joseph Stalin who did everything right… Lance Armstrong did evrything right and Floyd Landis did everything wrong. Armstrong is on top of the world and Floyd Landis is almost broke, yet they both won the Tour de France. If all of these people can do it, so can you. It is all pretty clear if you ask me. Do the right things, work hard and you will end up on top…
Anon 11:29,
Your views of “do the right thing” is skewed at best. To understand what Susan is saying you must first try to be the best. Many people hate the successful because out of fear or ignorance they themselve refuse to allow themselves the opportunity to be successful. Success is the result of deciding to work hard toward a high reward goal.
However, if a person’s goal is to work just enough to get by with a small income and a small house, then they are succesful. In the end, when we are all dead, there will be no prize for the people with the most money left in the bank or the fastest car.
I find it hard to believe that anyone’s hard work will lead them to a homeless shelter, unless of course they are running the shelter! Now that is a different matter! People who help the homeless are heroes in my book!
Success is a mindset just as much as failure is one too.
Be more positive Anon and you too will come to realize that your success is just around the corner.
Thank you for deleting obnoxious posts from that liberal jackass. I feel sorry for his wife and daughter.
Which moron said this: ” I have seen people arrive seeking shelter who have done everything right, only to find themselves out of work and unable to find employment or they are working poor, unable to afford even rental housing of the most decrepit sort.”
If people are homeless, it’s obvious they didn’t do everything right. Geesh.
From rec.games
Laugherty, get a life.
The root cause of homelessness? I’m sure you have your own enlightened viewpoint on this. People from Adam Smith to Karl Marx have attempted to push their philosophy on the root cause of poverty. I’m sure you have you pet view but I surely doubt that you truly know the ‘root cause of homelessness’.
At least she is doing something. try enlightening us on YOUR good
work with the homeless instead of your pathetic sniping.
J.Lohner
Some people seem to take the opportunity to make politically oriented posts on a chess forum. I think the work S Polgar does in the United States for chess and for young people is excellent. To say “if they had done everything right they wouldn’t be homeless” is just ridiculous. Are you living in a picture book? Nobody buys that. I think the point Susan was making is that you can always make intelligent choices to try and improve a situation. Why all the politics?
I’m sorry the USCF is as it is. I’m English, and the way it has been working over recent years is fairly clear from here. Now you have an asset like S Polgar getting involved. The chess community support her. I’m sure you’ll improve things Susan, as you already have, because your hobby/sport is bigger than all these vested interests.
Perhaps one way to get people interested is to sell them the notion it is a *hard* game of *mental application*, and appeal to people’s competitive instincts when it comes to these things. (Especially males, on that side of it – we become incredibly competitive over chess!) I hope there is a way of making it almost as sellable as poker!
Just some of my thoughts. Logical acumen should be aspirational, along with profound concentration and mental awareness – surely inspirational to a portion of the community.
Dan wrote:
“Some people seem to take the opportunity to make politically oriented posts on a chess forum. I think the work S Polgar does in the United States for chess and for young people is excellent.”
However, Dan is in England. If he were closer to the US he would see that things are not like that at all. Meanwhile, from what I hear, the English Chess Federation is doing even worse than the USCF. At least the USCF is still functioning a little bit.