Chess - General Thread

Basically a froum to cover chess now that we seem to have sufficient interest in the game.

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Chess - General Thread

Post by PKBasu »

Since we still have the world's 3rd-ranked player (Vishwanathan Anand) and another player (Sasikaran) who has a high ELO rating of 2600, plus other good Grandmasters such as Dibyendu Barua and PM Thipsay, I thought it would be a good idea to have a chess thread.
With Humpy etc. causing waves in the junior ranks, the future of Chess in India (where the game originated) looks very sound.
Anand plays Kramnik in the final of the World Rapid Chess championship.
http://in.rediff.com/sports/2003/oct/30chess.htm
In the rapid format, Anand has few peers -- now or historically.
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Post by jayakris »

OK, it's just that I can never accept that chess is a sport. It needs virtually NO physical skills. Every sports requires some physical skills, at least some finger dexterity or eye-hand coordination or something. None of it matters in chess. The only argument is that chess players are known to do physical exercizes to keep the mind fresh for chess. That's it.

Heck, playing drums for music is a better sport. Or pure dance can be considered a sport (I guess ballroom dancing already is considered so). But not chess.

Nothing against chess and chess players. I have the greatest respect for them and do take pride in Indians doing well in it, but I can never understand why chess news appears in the newspaper sports pages.

It should not be in any games. Asian, or AAG or Olympics. No way. Just my opinion.

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Chess - General Thread

Post by PKBasu »

Jay, I was expecting that!

Physical activity is not the definition of sports and games. Modern sports usually require physical activity, but most of the earliest games involved mental strategy. Chess is probably the king of board-games, of which there are many -- and all usually reserved for the Sports/Games sections of such almanacs as the Guinness Book of Records.

US newspapers tend to go along with Jay's view I notice. Chess and Bridge are kept strictly away from the Sports pages. But most of the rest of the world acknowledges them to be Games, if not Sports, and accords them the honour of being on the Sports pages!

Since Indians invented the game and do well in it, I think we should accept it as a Sport and get on with it!!
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Post by kathiresan_v »

For me no problem in accepting chess...whether it is a sport (or) game (or) any physical activity is required or not. It's enthusiastic in supporting our players excellency in this mental game. In fact chess is a game alive and active over 5000 years. I appreciate PK Basu for opening this thread..in fact i was thinking of this thread when Vishy (Anand) entered in the semi of this rapid tournament.

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Post by jayakris »

PKB -- may be you are right. If we just call it games, yes, then it would fit. Sports, in my mind, requires physical activity, but perhaps not "games".

Over time, despite the oddness of a lot of thing the Americans do and how uncomfortable I felt about some of it at first, I have learned to appreciate the fact that the Americans are ultimately (logically) right more often than they are wrong in their peculiar ways. And the world normally agrees only after a long time ... The US newspapers only call it "sports" pages, so chess is not listed there. If they had "Sports and Games", yes, chess would fit.

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Post by PKBasu »

If there was any doubt about it, Vishy put it to rest -- winning the World Rapid Chess championship.
http://in.rediff.com/sports/2003/oct/31chess.htm
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Post by Dhruv »

Well I guess we could also start a carrom thread. India are the world champions in that too, both in mens and womens :devil:
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Post by BSharma »

Dhruv, now PKB can add carrom to his list of 2003 sports (or Games) highlights. :D

I believe it is good for the Indian mentality to publicise great performances by any Indian whether it is tennis, cricket, hockey, billiards chess, carrom, or "gulli-danda" or "kite-flying".

For many years we have lived under the wrong notion that Europeans or Americans are better than us in every field. Gradually we are becoming comfortable with the fact that we are and can be better than the rest in many walks of life. Let us talk about chess, carrom, "gulli-danda" or "kite-flying" if we are the best in the world.

By the way, the All-India Wills 99 Kite Flying Championship used to be held across the street from my hostel in Lucknow in the early 1970s. Watching the participants made me realize how little I knew about the art of flying a kite!

Addendum:
Dhruv, there is a carrom thread in this forum.
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Post by jayakris »

Yeah, the collective "can do" mentailty of sportsmen and sports authorities is getting better, and from that standpoint, use chess or kabaddi or whatever to build up the collective attitude.

Boy, things have become so much better, from the days when we had 2 Asiads where something like 8 of the 9 golds by India were basically the work of just two people (LP and PT Usha). It feels like we were losing and choking in everything under the sun from 85 to 95, the worst time in Indian sports (except for Frejus 93 and some such rare deal)

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Post by PKBasu »

Bhushan, Dhruv: I'm clueless about Carrom, although I believe there's more than one version of the game. Some forms of billiards are called Carrom in the US, I believe.
Fortunately, we don't have to turn to Carrom, Kabaddi and Kho-Kho as our only sources of sporting pride now.
Chess, though, is a mainstream global sport (or game, if you will) -- played by millions of people from virtually every country. Arguably it strains as many parts of the human body (albeit mainly the brain) as golf does (especially if you use a golf-cart!).
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Post by Kumar »

After the comments of members here, the definition of sport from dictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=sports
>>>>>
Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
A particular form of this activity.
An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
An active pastime; recreation. >>>>

But coming back to Chess, Why does the conversation on chess go to every other topic but Chess (Carrom, Golf, Kabaddi, Kho-kho, English Dictionary - mea culpa) :D

I have been hoping that chess would be in olympics (India would have been assured of a medal ), but Vishy is sometimes Selfish and may not compete. He is an exact opposite of LP with regards to playing for the country. Last time he competed in Olympiad was 1990 ? (and olympiad is played once in two years). His excuse, olympiad format is not good and won't play unless the format is changed. (doesn't it sound like the lame excuse americans give, when they lose at Davis Cup). He is scared of losing his hard earned ELO points. Inspite of all this, I cheer everytime he plays in any competition, just becoz he is an indian.
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Post by BSharma »

Kumar, your desire of having chess in the Olympics is slowly becoming a reality. Chess has been added to the 2006 Asian Games. Will Anand go to Doha, Qatar to represent India at the Asian Games in 2006?
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Post by Kumar »

Kumar, your desire of having chess in the Olympics is slowly becoming a reality. Chess has been added to the 2006 Asian Games. Will Anand go to Doha, Qatar to represent India at the Asian Games in 2006?
No I don't think so..As I had pointed out earlier, he has steadfastly refused to play in Olympiad citing the format and I don't see him playing in the Asiad (He may play in the games, if this games do not count towards his ELO rating). I also think Indian media is to blame. They are treating him with Kid Gloves . Don't mistake me, I am a big Fan of Anand, but I just can't stomach his refusing to play for India. Next year they will have a chess olympiad and If Anand plays , India has a chance of even winning it. But we can only dream about it without Anand.


Also further he stays a lot in spain and will not be surprised if he is offered the citizenship in spain.
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Post by nayan »

I am pretty sure Anand is going to at the Asian Games at Doha if chess is a part of it. I have been following chess for a long time now and agree fully with Anand abou his not participating in the Chess Olympiads. There is no doubt that India would perform better with him but he has is a definite point when he says that the format should be changed. It depends too much on the last round pairings. Also Anand would have to have a 100% record if he wants to maintain his ELO rating (which are very important BTW). It is same as Sasikiran not playing the Nationals from this year. He would have had to score 20 points out of 20 to maintain his rating.

Another thing I would like to point out is that FIDE has often given Anand a raw deal. He particiaptes and wins a lot of tournament unlike Kasparov who only participates in selective tournaments. The rating system is has to be changed as Kasparov can remain the highest rated player just by not playing any games- while other players are penalised for playing. It also seems funny that FIDE is more or less accepting Kasparov as the world champion and not its official champion, Ponomaroiv.

Whatever they decide more often then not they give a raw deal to Anand. And since I having been following Anand since he became the Junior World champion, I have no dubts about his integrity- he has almost single handedly put India into the chess map. He is the reason that India is on its way to becoming one of the most important nations in chess. Even though he stays in Spain, he has always stated that he has no intention of taking Spanish citizenship. And he is as much an Indian as Leander (not opposite to Leander). And practically if you see he has achieved much more than any other Indian sportsperson ever -(including- Sachin, Leander, Geet Sethi, etc). He has become a world champion in a sport/game which is played all over the world.

I am not belittling the other greats, but I have always felt he has not been given the due he should have got - that of a genuine World Champion.
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