Candidates Moving On!

The first round at the candidates is over and boy wonder Magnus Carlsen has been ousted by Levon Aronian who isn't exactly an old man himself! Their match was certainly the center of attention in the first go, and rightly so. Exciting chess from exciting players. It went the full distance even in the rapid tie-break games.

Meanwhile, I almost fell over backward when Shirov came back on Mickey Adams. I figured Alexei would roll over and play dead for sure. Seems I was wrong.

As for the only American entry, I am pulling for Gata, since he seems to be fully out of his dad's shadow these days. He looked strong in his quick dispatching of Ettiene Bacrot who looked like he would much rather be playing poker.

Finally, I think the toll of having children and being a Mom is catching up with Judit Polgar. She hasn't looked quite as strong as other top caliber players since the championship tournament in San Luis.

Candidates Finals Pairings
Levon Aronian 2759
Alexei Shirov 2699

Peter Leko 2738
Evgeny Bareev 2635

Sergei Rublevsky 2680
Alexander Grischuk 2717

Boris Gelfand 2733
Gata Kamsky 2705

CTS Problem of the Day from Google

I've had the CTS applet on my iGoogle homepage for a while now. Just sign into Google, click iGoogle, and Create a Tab called "Chess". Let it autopopulate with cool chess tidbits.

Its an easy way to add 3 chess problems to your daily activities. So I thought I would tell everyone else about it, in case they didn't know and show you a sample problem. And iGoogle is also an easy way to keep up with your favorite blogs.

Still Too Early for Lessons You Think?

VA Tech Chess Player is Hero

I don't want to comment to heavily on the VA Tech Shootings. I am disgusted by just about everything to do with it, from the acts of violence themselves, to the political and media reactions.

I do want to recognize the USCF's handling of Derek O'Dell's heroism; it was an admirable move on their part. Way to go!

Washington Times Article

Little Chess Lately

Very little chess for me lately to post about. I did play a 3 game set with a challenger from the "Play the Blogger" thread. He won 2 games to 1. I was going to post the games and some analysis but unfortunately I never got around to it. News on the homefront is I am very busy with work, and I recently found out that my wife and I will have a slightly larger family by the end of the year.

Busy busy.

Patriots sign Pro-bowler, Chess Philanthropist

He's a Renaissance man who puts his money and his off-day activities into making the world better. He started a chess competition for inner-city kids in Baltimore. He's worked for Habitat for Humanity.

SI.com Article by Peter King

Maine Chessplayer of the Year

Congrats to Leroy Doucette. Chessmaine.net details the accomplishment.

I will update the Maine Chess Champions list to include this accomplishment!

Maine Chessplayer of the Year is driven primarily by participation and it shows alot of dedication to win the award. Most of the tournaments you need to attend to qualify are in the winter when driving conditions in this state are terrible. You have to really love the game to come out and play in these events. Kudo's to you Leroy.