Thursday, November 25, 2010

Chess Femme News!

Today I updated Chess Femme News.  I've been reporting so much news here at the blog, I've neglected Chess Femme New's website - it's tough to do this blog and Chess Femme News consistently.  But some November news is now available and I will be providing coverage of the upcoming Women's World Chess Championship starting next month. 

By the way, check out Goddesschess' Random Round-up this week - I think you'll like it :)  As we always try to do, chess is interwoven in this week's RR in particularly unique ways...

From the India Journal:
Indian Women Chess Players Continue Fine Show
Date Submitted: Thu Nov 25, 2010

GUANGZHOU - Indian women drubbed Mongolia to climb to the joint top position while their male counterparts slipped to the fourth spot with a shocking defeat at the hands of lower-rated Philippines after the fifth round of the chess competitions in the Asian Games here Nov 22.

The women’s quartet of Harika Dronavalli, Tania Sachdev, Meenakshi Subbaraman and Nisha Mohota, undefeated so far in the competition, did not have to sweat much as they beat Mongolia by a 3.5-0.5 margin.

Harika gave India 1-0 lead after defeating Lkhamsuren Uuganba but Tania could not collect full points as she drew with lower-rated Tuvshintugs Batchi.

Meenakshi made up for Tania’s draw by beating Enkhtuul Altanulzi and Nisha then got a walk over to complete India’s facile win.

With four more rounds to go in the competition, India are atop the table along with hosts China on nine points with an identical four wins and a draw. Uzbekistan occupy the third spot with eight points.

And more coverage of the Indian Women's Chess Team at the Asian Games:

From The Times of India:
Indian women assured of a medal in chess in Asian Games
PTI, Nov 24, 2010, 09.18pm IST

GUANGZHOU: Indian women virtually assured the country of a medal as they spanked lowly Syria 4-0 to maintain their joint top position along with China with two more rounds to go in the chess team event in the Asian Games on Wednesday.

In the women's section, Tania Sachdev gave India a 1-0 lead with a facile win over much lower-rated Al-Jeldah Fatemah before Eesha Karavade beat Alshikh Kheele Wasila.

Meenakshi Subbaraman did not have to sweat much to defeat Mir Mahmoud Afamia to take India 3-0 up. The Syrian team did not field any contestant against Nisha Mohota for the fourth match.

After seven rounds, India and China are on joint top with 13 points from six wins and a draw each, four clear of third-placed Uzbekistan (nine).

From bellvision.com
Mangalore: Vanessa D’Souza wins CAI chess championship
(from The Hindu.com)

Vanessa D'Souza
 Mangalore, 25 November 2010: Vanessa D’Souza of Mangalore has done the city proud by winning the First CAI (Chess Association India) National Women’s Chess Championship held in Palakkad, Kerala, from November 18 to 21. It was organised by the Palakkad District Chess Association on behalf of the Kerala Chess Association under the aegis of CAI.

[Note: I believe the CAI is competing in India to become the primary chess association against the All India Chess Federation. Some top players have had, shall we say, disagreements with the All India Chess Federation.]

More on the Asian Games, this time, a look at the Chinese board game Weiqi or "Go" as it is popularly called:

From The Times of India:
Chinese chess takes stage at Asian Games
AP, Nov 24, 2010, 11.25am IST

"Weiqi is a mind sport that originated from China. It has been popularized from 2,500 years ago," the games' official blurb notes. "It fully embodies the Oriental way of thinking and ideological system, and is one of the major contributions China has made to the world civilization."

Weiqi is deceptively simple. Black and white "stones" are played one by one on a Weiqi board with 361 crosses made of 19 vertical lines and 19 horizontal lines. The object of the game is to "occupy" as much of the board as possible by surrounding your opponent's stones and thereby rendering them "dead."

Whichever player wins more area on the board wins the game. The game is widely popular throughout east Asia, where millions of people play it and programs analyzing the moves of grandmasters are a staple of late-night television. ...

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