2010-11 Rilton Cup

The Rilton Cup has, over the years, hosted an exciting mix of top-level and up-and-coming players of both sexes.  Not so many chess femmes this year, though, and I don't know why, but it is troubling to see. Has the prize structure that was so attractive to female players in prior years been reduced, due to economic strain? 

In any event, GM Pia Cramling of Sweden is participating in the Rilton Cup, and I am happy to see her in competition.  She is very selective these days in what invitations she accepts and the tournaments in which she plays. 

I have been a fan of Cramling ever since I first read about her career in 1999, when I was taking my first baby-steps on the World Wide Web, as it was called back then :)  I really did not know a thing about the 'world of chess' before then (other than the bare basics of how to move the pieces), but while I was searching for information on female chessplayers, after having quickly surmised the near absence of any female names on lists of players in event after event that was making "chess news" at the time, certain names began to crop up - rarely - in my research, but they were there - female chessplayers of note.  I made a trip to my local library branch and found a book about female chessplayers.  Already, at that time, it was "old," from 1987!  But it was the only book I could find about female chessplayers.  Need I say more?

It was that book - by John Graham, Women in Chess, Players of the Modern Age, that led me to explore further.  John Graham, to whom I will always be indebted, introduced me into an entirely new realm of experience (with some familiar echoes to my own experiences as a femme embarked on a career in an entirely different endeavor).  It was clear from what Graham wrote and how he wrote it that he had great admiration for the players he profiled.

Pia Cramling and Susan Polgar earned their respective GM titles within a month or two of each other, and they did it the "traditional" way, by meeting norm requirements, playing a certain number of games, and achieving a certain ELO rating. [Even today, with the advent of computer-assisted game analysis and many more opportunities to play in competitive events that would allow for earning GM norms, earning a GM title is not an easy thing to do, despite headlines given to 14 and 15 year olds who have earned the title].  Both players (at and after the time the book was written, circa 1987) went on to have fine careers, with Polgar ultimately winning a Women's World Chess Champion title, which she held from 1996-1999.  Polgar retired from competitive chess play in - I think 2006 (I have a recollection that her last competition was a NYC Mayor's Cup in 2006 but I could be wrong about that), and went on to other things (SPICE at Texas Tech, Susan Polgar Foundation, chess promotion, spokeswoman, etc.)  I do not know nearly as much about Pia Cramling's career, except that after a break of some years, she resumed competitive play, and has participated in the Women's World Chess Championship "cycle" (such as it was/is), as well as mixed-sex tournaments and women-only tournaments, with some success.  Both women married and have pre-teen children.  Neither woman's "competitive fire" has gone out, that's for sure!

Selected excerpts from John Graham's Women in Chess, Players of the Modern Age (at Goddesschess, of course!)

If you would like to explore the question of women's "ability" to play chess further -- check out our selection of informative articles from past and present at Goddesschess' Gender and Chess: The Ever-Changing, Never-Ending Question... 

Now - to the 2010-11 Rilton Cup! 

December 27, 2010 - January 5, 2011

Rank after Round 5

Rk.			Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2
1		GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	GER	2685		4,5	14,5	0,0
		GM	Grandelius Nils	SWE	2525	Lunds ASK	4,5	14,5	0,0
3		GM	Volkov Sergey	RUS	2594		4,5	14,0	0,0
		GM	Shimanov Aleksandr	RUS	2516	Sollentuna SK	4,5	14,0	0,0
5		GM	Berczes David	HUN	2526	SK Team Viking	4,0	12,0	0,0
6		GM	Macieja Bartlomiej	POL	2636		4,0	12,0	0,0
7		IM	Furhoff Johan	SWE	2365	Södra SASS	4,0	11,0	0,0
8		IM	Smith Axel	SWE	2448	Lunds ASK	3,5	12,5	0,0
9		GM	Gleizerov Evgeny	RUS	2572		3,5	11,5	0,0
10		GM	Ulibin Mikhail	RUS	2552		3,5	9,5	0,0
			Lindberg Bo	SWE	2404	Sollentuna SK	3,5	9,5	0,0
12		GM	Karlsson Lars	SWE	2466	SK Rockaden	3,5	9,0	0,0
13		GM	Cramling Pia	SWE	2526	Sollentuna SK	3,5	8,5	0,0
14		GM	Tikkanen Hans	SWE	2550	Lunds ASK	3,0	12,0	0,0
15		GM	Sokolov Ivan	NED	2642		3,0	11,0	0,0
		GM	Hillarp Persson Tiger	SWE	2528	Lunds ASK	3,0	11,0	0,0
17		IM	Semcesen Daniel	SWE	2449	SK Team Viking	3,0	10,5	0,0
18		FM	Urkedal Frode	NOR	2438		3,0	10,5	0,0
			Jacobsen Bo	DEN	2317		3,0	10,5	0,0
20		GM	Berg Emanuel	SWE	2627	Burgsviks SK	3,0	10,0	0,0
21		GM	Ivanov Sergey	RUS	2536	Sollentuna SK	3,0	9,0	0,0
		GM	Bellon Juan	ESP	2394	Sollentuna SK	3,0	9,0	0,0
23		GM	Brynell Stellan	SWE	2492	Limhamns SK	3,0	8,5	0,0
24		GM	Åkesson Ralf	SWE	2434	Västerås SK	3,0	8,5	0,0
25			Arman Deniz	TUR	2297		3,0	8,5	0,0
26			Astrup Kim	NOR	2274		3,0	7,5	0,0
27		FM	Lögdahl Harald	SWE	2257	Eskilstuna SK	3,0	7,0	0,0
28			Winge Stefan	SWE	2290	Södra SASS	3,0	6,0	0,0
29		FM	Straeter Timo	GER	2325		2,5	9,5	0,0
30		IM	Leer-Salvesen Bjarte	NOR	2360		2,5	9,0	0,0
		FM	Getz Nicolai	NOR	2317		2,5	9,0	0,0
32		FM	Luukkonen Tommi	FIN	2309		2,5	9,0	0,0
33		IM	Blomqvist Erik	SWE	2449	SK Rockaden	2,5	8,5	0,0
34		IM	Holmsten Aleksei	FIN	2381		2,5	8,5	0,0
35		IM	Souleidis Georgios	GRE	2411		2,5	8,5	0,0
36		IM	Groetz Harald	AUT	2314		2,5	8,5	0,0
37			Kopasov Alexander	RUS	2198		2,5	7,5	0,0
38			Sipila Vilka	FIN	2262		2,5	7,0	0,0
39			Ask Josef	SWE	2205	Västerviks ASK	2,5	6,5	0,0
40		FM	Thompson Ian D	ENG	2264		2,5	6,0	0,0
		WIM	Czarnota Dorota	POL	2229		2,5	6,0	0,0
42			Cederstam Barsk Carl	SWE	2020	Kristallens SK	2,5	5,0	0,0
43			Azizi Haroon	SWE	2140	Solna SS	2,0	7,0	0,0
44		WFM	Frisk Ellinor	SWE	2126	Lunds ASK	2,0	6,5	0,0
45			Wenzel Birger	GER	2060	Wasa SK	2,0	6,0	0,0
46			Holving Rasmus	SWE	2211	Kungstornet	2,0	6,0	0,0
47			Eriksson Jörgen	SWE	2202	SK Rockaden Umeå	2,0	6,0	0,0
			Lindgren Philip	SWE	2091	Limhamns SK	2,0	6,0	0,0
49			Hobber Anders	NOR	2196		2,0	6,0	0,0
50			Johansson Linus	SWE	1966	Limhamns SK	2,0	5,5	0,0
51			Kudzma Laimonas	LTU	2232		2,0	5,0	0,0
52			Egilstoft Nielsen Rógvi	FAI	2116		2,0	5,0	0,0
53		FM	Sagit Rauan	SWE	2406	Sollentuna SK	2,0	4,5	0,0
54			Forsberg Viktor	SWE	2255	SK Rockaden Umeå	2,0	4,5	0,0
55			Bazeev German	RUS	2334		2,0	4,0	0,0
56			Östling Håkan	SWE	2206	Rödeby SK	1,5	6,5	0,0
57			Hedström Johan	SWE	2043	Bollmora SK	1,5	5,5	0,0
58			Markevich Ilya	RUS	2175		1,5	5,5	0,0
59			Jansson Anders Owen	SWE	2171	Sollentuna SK	1,5	4,5	0,0
60			Olander Aleksi	FIN	1990		1,5	4,0	0,0
61			Pettersson Anders	SWE	2127	SS Gambit	1,5	3,5	0,0
62			Bouaraba Max	GER	2219		1,5	3,0	0,0
63			Wiander Michael	SWE	2158	Stockholms SS	1,5	2,5	0,0
64			Lokander Martin	SWE	1982	SK Rockaden	1,0	5,0	0,0
65		FM	Byklum Björnar	NOR	2263		1,0	4,0	0,0
66			Wihlborn Bengt	SWE	1895	Växjö SK	1,0	3,5	0,0
67			Ölund Joar	SWE	2035	SK Rockaden	1,0	2,0	0,0
			Thiborg Jesper	SWE	2020		1,0	2,0	0,0
69			Bryntze Stefan	SWE	2135	SK Rockaden	1,0	1,0	0,0
70			Palmblad Jan Peter	SWE	2142	Kungstornet	0,0	0,0	0,0

Annotation:
Tie Break1: Fide Tie-Break
Tie Break2: Fide Tie-Break (fine)

2010 ASEAN Women's Chess Championship

Singapore
December 26 - 30, 2010

An array of under-rated chess talent who, mostly, do not have much opportunity to play in an international field.  That is why events like this are so crucial to the development of our female chessplayers.  Final standings (from chess-results.com):

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	WGM	Nguyen Thi Thanh An	VIE	2300	7,5	36,5	26,0	15,5
2	WGM	Hoang Thi Bao Tram	VIE	2271	7,0	37,0	26,0	15,5
3	WGM	Le Thanh Tu	VIE	2316	6,5	36,5	25,5	15,5
4	WGM	Sukandar Irine Kharisma	INA	2382	6,0	37,5	26,5	15,5
5	WIM	Pham Le Thao Nguyen	VIE	2337	5,5	38,0	27,0	16,0
	WIM	Nguyen Thi Mai Hung	VIE	2253	5,5	38,0	27,0	16,0
7	WIM	Dang Bich Ngoc	VIE	2203	4,5	36,5	25,5	15,5
8		Lestari Baiq Vina	INA	2140	4,5	30,5	22,5	13,0
9	WCM	Lindiawati Evi	INA	2114	4,5	30,0	21,5	13,0
10		Docena Jedara	PHI	2032	4,5	25,5	19,0	12,0
	WFM	Bakri Alia Anin Azwa	MAS	1953	4,5	25,5	19,0	12,0
12	WIM	Mendoza Beverly	PHI	2042	4,0	31,0	23,0	13,5
13	WIM	Hoang Thi Nhu Y	VIE	2223	4,0	31,0	21,5	13,0
14	WFM	Jose Rulp Ylem	PHI	2038	4,0	31,0	21,0	12,5
15	WFM	Liu Yang	SIN	2089	4,0	27,0	20,0	12,0
16	WFM	Dewi Aa Citra	INA	1989	4,0	26,5	20,0	12,0
17	WFM	Tay Li Jin Jeslin	SIN	2124	3,5	30,0	21,5	12,0
18	WFM	Lo Yin Ling Melissa	SIN	1882	2,5	28,0	21,5	13,0
19		Palomo Jenny Rose	PHI	1873	2,0	27,5	20,5	12,5
20		Cheng Jie Ling Zerlene	SIN	1815	1,5	26,5	19,5	12,0

Is Vietnam the "future" China when it comes to chess?  Stay tuned...  For my part, my eyes remain on WGM Irine Kharisma Sukandar, who should be playing in more mixed events and against male players in order to build her relative strength.  Do culture and religion play a role in preventing this from taking place, or is it just a matter of no financing to allow it to take place???

Just a note - as far as I could tell, not being familiar with the names of 99.9% of the players, all of the players in the "Open" were male.

2010 North American Open

Bally's at Las Vegas has hosted this event for several years now.  This year it ran from December 26 - 29, 2010.  Perhaps one year Mr. Don and I will toddle down to LV for Christmas again and stay to watch some of the chess action -- the entry fee is way too rich for my blood - I was shocked at how much it is.

Reporting on the Open only (131 players) - Top finishers and the chess femmes that I could easily identify:

# Name Rtng St Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Tot Prize

1 GM Jiri Stocek 2647 CZE W112 W36 W27 W22 D2 W11 D5 6.0 $7597.00
2 GM Giorgi Kacheishvili 2617 NY W108 W25 W33 W12 D1 D3 W11 6.0 $7800.00
12 GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2550 FL W46 W119 W86 L2 D32 W53 D16 5.0 $135.00
22 IM Irina Krush 2552 NY W82 W114 W77 L1 L31 W58 D29 4.5
31 WIM Alisa Melekhina 2361 PA L3 W110 W72 W98 W22 L20 D24 4.5
39 WFM Tatev Abrahamyan 2410 CA W48 L62 W70 D36 L59 W63 D44 4.0
41 WIM Viktorija Ni 2349 NY L98 L71 W97 W48 W86 W75 L13 4.0
67 Vanessa A West 2167 CA L24 L108 D126 D116 D105 W122 W104 3.5
76 WFM Hana Itkis 2108 NJ H— L52 W83 D60 L58 W112 D68 3.5
100 Amanda Rae Mateer 2120 AZ L38 W82 D44 L54 W83 L56 L63 2.5
101 Marian N Nita 2114 CA L19 D111 L58 L83 W124 L65 W122 2.5
106 WIM Lorena Marisela Zepeda 2294 ESA L4 L113 W130 L72 L88 L105 W123 2.0
120 WIM Iryna Zenyuk 2320 PA W74 L77 L98 D84 L66 U— U— 1.5

2010 Atlantic City International

December 17 - 19, 2010
Final Standings (Open - 33 players) - Kamsky and Van Wely tied for first and top finishing females:
(1) GM Gata Kamsky (NY 2797) 5.0/6 -- $1,800
(2) GM Loek Van Wely (NED 2729) 5.0/6 -- $1,800
(7) IM Irina Krush (NY 2552) 4.0 -- $240 for a share of 5-7 places
(12) WIM Iryna Zenyuk (PA 2320) 3.5 -- $480 - U2400 1st
(17) WFM Hana Itkis (NJ 2108) 3.0 -- $90 - U2300 1st
(23) WFM Fan Yun (IN 2124) 2.5

Some of these players moved on to the North American Open in Las Vegas - will post about that tomorrow night.

Out of Africa Proponents Getting Desperate

Are you kidding me? What does the presence of lakes in the Sahara 11,000 years ago have to do with the spread of homo sapiens sapiens around the globe? If the hypothesis that is currently championed as "The Truth about Evolution" is to be believed, so-called "modern" man would have long before hiked out of Africa and slowly spread around the world.   Is this article meant to be a joke?  I thought so-called "modern" man was responsible for wiping out so-called Neanderthal Man (last evidence of so-called NM was 30,000 BCE or thereabouts), and the mega-fauna in North American (last evidence within 1,000 years or so of the end of the last Ice Age), peopling Melanesia and Australia X-thousand years ago, etc. etc. But now we're supposed to believe that none of this happened prior to some 11,000 years ago???  

Fish Swam the Sahara, Bolstering Out of Africa Theory
By Charles Q. Choi, LiveScience Contributor
posted: 28 December 2010 05:14 pm ET [Excerpted]

Fish may have once swum across the Sahara, a finding that could shed light on how humanity made its way out of Africa, researchers said.

The cradle of humanity lies south of the Sahara, which begs the question as to how our species made its way past it. The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world, and would seem a major barrier for any humans striving to migrate off the continent.

Scientists have often focused on the Nile Valley as the corridor by which humans left Africa. However, considerable research efforts have failed to uncover evidence for its consistent use by people leaving the continent [maybe because there is no such evidence?], and precisely how watery it has been over time is controversial.

Now it turns out the Sahara might not have been quite as impassable as once thought — not only for humanity, but for fish as well.

"Fish appeared to have swam across the Sahara during its last wet phase sometime between 10,000 and 6,000 years ago," researcher Nick Drake, a geographer at King's College London, told LiveScience. "The Sahara is not a barrier to the migrations of animals and people. Thus it is possible — likely? —that early modern humans did so, and this could explain how we got out of Africa."

Yeah, right. This is really funny, LOL!

2010 Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championships

And the final four are - drumroll please...  ACH!  Not reported yet!  I just checked the official website and scores only through R5 are posted.

Okay - some news just flashed up (10 minutes later) - UMB-A and UTB-A agreed to draws on all boards.  Oh, really?   How can something like that be allowed? Why is this kind of obvious manipulating of game scores not considered cheating?   Ridiculous! 

And UTD-A defeated Texas Tech-A 2.5/1.5.  So, Texas Tech remains with 4.0/6 and may be bounced out of 4th place, depending on what the teams immediately beneath them have done/do.  I'll check the final standings later.

I must say it's surprising that games that started at 10:00 a.m. this morning still aren't reported.  I KNOW they haven't been playing this long!

Updated 8:35 p.m. local time:

Here are the final four and the final standings of all other teams:

Place Name/Team Rate Score USATx2 Pts MMed Solk
1 U of Texas, Dallas A (3) 2552 6.0 137.0 18.5 20.0 23.0
2 U of Maryland, Baltimore A (2) 2585 4.5 152.0 19.5 22.5 25.0
3 U Texas Brownsville-A (1) 2612 4.5 148.0 18.0 22.5 26.0
4 Texas Tech U-A (4) 2487 4.0 127.5 19.0 20.5 22.5

5 U of Maryland, Baltimore B (5) 2294 4.0 113.0 17.0 19.5 22.5
6 U of Texas, Dallas B (6) 2284 4.0 96.5 15.0 18.0 20.5
7 U of Toronto-A (9) 2155 4.0 78.0 15.0 17.0 19.0
8 U Texas Brownsville-B (7) 2247 4.0 76.0 15.0 18.5 19.5
9 Stanford U (8) 2211 4.0 75.0 14.5 16.5 18.5
10 Texas Tech U-B (13) 1995 3.5 60.0 13.5 15.0 16.0
11 Miami Dade College (15) 1940 3.5 52.0 11.5 17.0 18.0
12 Washington U (10) 2068 3.0 62.0 12.0 14.0 21.5
13 U of Chicago (14) 1983 3.0 61.0 11.5 13.5 19.5
14 U of Central Florida A (17) 1902 3.0 50.5 10.5 12.0 20.0
15 U of Texas, Dallas C (12) 2029 3.0 44.0 10.0 14.0 19.0
16 U of Minnesota (19) 1860 3.0 41.0 12.5 9.5 14.5
17 Yale U (22) 1672 2.5 58.0 13.5 12.0 16.0
18 Arizona State U (20) 1854 2.5 51.0 11.0 13.5 17.5
19 U of the West Indies (11) 2034 2.5 51.0 11.0 11.5 15.0
20 U of Maryland, College Park (16) 1924 2.5 49.5 10.0 14.5 19.0
21 Texas Tech U-C (21) 1774 2.5 36.0 11.5 10.0 14.022 U of Toronto-B (18) 1884 2.0 27.0 7.5 13.0 17.0
23 Reed College (23) 1475 2.0 26.0 8.5 10.0 14.0
24 Montgomery College (27) 1083 2.0 18.0 8.0 8.5 11.5
25 U of Central Florida B (24) 1327 1.5 20.5 7.0 10.5 13.5
26 Madison AreaTechnical Colle (28) 1022 1.5 4.0 6.0 9.5 13.5
27 Florida Atlantic U (26) 1300 1.0 22.0 6.0 8.5 12.0
28 U of Maryland, College Park (25) 1310 1.0 10.0 4.0 9.5 12.5
Congratulations to UTD-A, the #3 seed, for their perfect 6.0 score and to the top four finishers! 

Texas Tech is going to the President's Cup for the second year in the row - a wonderful accomplishment since Texas Tech has only fielded teams to the Intercollegiate for the past two years!  Well done, Knight Raiders players and coaches Susan Polgar and Paul Truong. 

Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championships

Top standings after R5:

Pan-American Team Champs 2010 — Team                         Wall Chart, Page 1

Name/ID                            Rate   Rnd 1     Rnd 2     Rnd 3     Rnd 4     Rnd 5     Rnd 6

———————————————————————————————————-

1. U Texas Brownsville-A             |2612 |W15,4.0  | B8,4.0  | W4,2.5  | B3,1.5  | W7,4.0  | W2,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |   3.0   |   3.0   |   4.0   |         |

———————————————————————————————————-

2. U of Maryland, Baltimore A        |2585 |B16,4.0  | W9,4.0  | B6,4.0  | W7,4.0  | W3,1.5  | B1,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |   3.0   |   4.0   |   4.0   |         |

———————————————————————————————————-

3. U of Texas, Dallas A              |2552 |W17,4.0  |B10,4.0  | W5,3.0  | W1,2.5  | B2,2.5  | B4,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |   3.0   |   4.0   |   5.0   |         |

———————————————————————————————————-

4. Texas Tech U-A                    |2487 |B18,4.0  |W12,4.0  | B1,1.5  |W14,4.0  | B9,4.0  | W3,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |   2.0   |   3.0   |   4.0   |         |

———————————————————————————————————-

5. U of Maryland, Baltimore B        |2294 |W19,4.0  |B13,4.0  | B3,1.0  |W12,4.0  |W10,3.5  | B6,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |   2.0   |   3.0   |   4.0   |         |

———————————————————————————————————-

 

Texas Tech-B in 13th place with 2.5; Texas Tech-C in 21st place with 1.5.

 

Last round today at 10:00 a.m. Texas Tech-A faces UTD-A.  The final four will play for the President's Cup in the spring.  Go, Knight Raiders, go!

Timothy A. Sawyer - New Book Out

[Edited AGAIN January 4, 2011 - sorry to Mr. Sarwer and Mr. Sawyer, I neglected to change the name in the Title!  Duh.  Mea culpa.  It is Mr. Timothy A. Sawyer who has written a new chess book on the trials and travails of a chessplayer and chess playing - A Patzer's Story.  The rest of my comments follow, when I was under the mistaken belief that it was Mr. Jeff Sarwer who had written the book, and the cross-outs are my initial edit when I was notified of the error in identifying/confusing the authors by someone who actually reads this blog, perhaps one of my 26 whole fans, LOL!  My apologies to Mr. Sarwer and Mr. Sawyer.  As for the folks who actually read here, they are probably quite used to being confused by what I write :)]

Sarwer has had his share of ups and downs in life, including a struggle with depression - a much misunderstood and insidious disease that is still pooh-poohed as "moodiness" and "just get over it" as if it is just a lack of willpower, by ignorant society.  I wrote a blog post about Sarwer in October, 2009.  Still a young man, Sarwer has now written a book intertwining the lessons he has learned from life and chess - A Patzer's Story.  Press Release.  [Edited at 7:12 p.m. my time, after I saw the comment left that this was not written by Jeff Sarwer - it's actually written by a Mr. Sawyer.  Me bad - and I really must get my eyes checked and switch over to something stronger than Walgreens readers!  Sorry.  But the rest of the post is still valid info.  J.N.]

He had dropped off the radar for many years after making a big splash in the world of scholastic chess by winning the U-10 World Chess Championship in 1986, but I did find some information on him a few years ago when I went looking, wondering whatever happened to the boy on whom the "evil chess player" persona in the hit film "Searching for Bobby Fischer" was based.  Poor kid - cast as a stereotype!

I didn't find much of any information about him back then (early to mid 2000's) but what I did find had nothing in it about poker.  He had his own business, as I recall and was living in Europe - Germany, I thought (he resides in Poland, and may have been at the time too, and I just mis-remembered).  I remember checking the USCF website and at the time he was still listed as a playing member from Michigan!  Well, it was either Jeff Sarwer, or someone with the same name...  A few years later, more information about JS began appearing on the internet. 



Jeff Sarwer today. 

 Many chessplayers have found success as poker players, and make much more money playing poker than they ever did playing chess.  A sad commentary on our topsy-turvy world where a card game generates more income for a player than chess.  I recently saw a feature article on Sarwer from a poker website - he signed with an agency that represents poker players and has done well for himself playing poker.   

Here is Sarwer's website - which is not the website (or does not have the information in it) that I found years ago.   The videoclip at the beginning is fascinating and gives the back-story to Sarwer's younger life.  His introduction to the video is touchingly ironic.  Just remember, Jeff, not everyone is under 20 and 20 years ago does not seem like long ago and far away...  Oy! 

I think he could have been world champion.  But, like Josh Waiztkin, he moved on to other things.  Now you can find lots of information on Jeff S. on the internet, including interviews and photographs.  He's no longer in hiding, from himself, or from the world.  He played in a chess tournament in 2007(Malbork) and did quite well, tying for second place.  (See Chess Life Online interview with Jen Shahade - good stuff and reveals, starkly, some facts from those traumatic childhood years, including a stint in a foster home, although it sounds more like an institution than a home -- not clear on that.)  So, he proved to himself that he still has the chess magic.  I don't know if JS ever played on ICC (Internet Chess Club), and if he did, whether he still does. If he does play these days, it's for pure love of the game, and nothing more.  Really, what does he have to prove to anyone, chess-wise, or in any other-wise?  Not a thing. 

Wikipedia info on Sarwer. 
Games of Jeff Sarwer. 
Poker Icons signs Jeff Sarwer.

Best wishes to you, Jeff Sarwer, and to your sister, Julia.  By the way, at those 1986 World Chess Championships, Julia, a chess talent in her own right, won the Girls' U-10 title.

Try a search under "Julia Sarwer chess" and you come up with - not much.  Most of the articles are about Jeff and Julia is mentioned in passing.  I did find this very disturbing series of posts from 1994, purporting to set forth contents from an article co-authored by Julia Sarwer and Gillian Sadinsky in The Kingston Whig Standard on May 9, 1992.  We know enough now of past abuses in such systems all around the world, including in my own hometown, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, so I won't deny that these posts may be truth.

As I gather from reading what Jeff has said in various interviews, grown-up Julia, like grown-up Jeff, is very happy.  She has a family of her own now and has a passion for writing. Good luck with that, Julia.  I've had a love affair with writing for years.  I joke that I came out of the womb with a book in one hand - and not told before - a pen and notebook in the other. With the advent of the internet, I can vent my passion for writing for anyone who is interested to read it, in this blog, and in articles written at Goddesschess, and during a year's stint as a columnist at Chessville.com on women's chess - but none of my half-finished novels started during my passionate 20's will ever see the light of day, and thank Goddess for that :)  Let's just say I'm no Jane Austen... 

Some commentary on Julia appeared in this article by Dr. Lynn T. Goldsmith on female child prodigies - date of publication not given but it may be 1987.  It is a fascinating paper, and contains a brief section on girl prodigies in chess.  Julia Sarwer was featured, along with the three Polgar sisters.  Hmmm, where have I heard that name before...

2010 Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championships

Round 3 Standings - Brownsville A narrowly defeated Texas Tech A:

Pan-American Team Champs 2010 — Team                         Wall Chart, Page 1

Name/ID                            Rate   Rnd 1     Rnd 2     Rnd 3     Rnd 4

————————————————————————————–

1. U Texas Brownsville-A             |2612 |W14,4.0  |B16,4.0  | W5,2.5  | B3,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |   3.0   |         |

————————————————————————————–

2. U of Maryland, Baltimore A        |2585 |B18,4.0  | W8,4.0  | B7,4.0  | W4,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |   3.0   |         |

————————————————————————————–

3. U of Texas, Dallas A              |2552 |W12,4.0  | B9,4.0  | W6,3.0  | W1,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |   3.0   |         |

————————————————————————————–

4. U Texas Brownsville-B             |2247 |W21,4.0  |B24,4.0  |W16,3.0  | B2,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |   3.0   |         |

————————————————————————————–

5. Texas Tech U-A                    |2487 |B19,4.0  |W10,4.0  | B1,1.5  |W11,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |   2.0   |         |

————————————————————————————–

6. U of Maryland, Baltimore B        |2294 |W20,4.0  |B13,4.0  | B3,1.0  |W10,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |   2.0   |         |

————————————————————————————–

7. U of Texas, Dallas B              |2284 |B15,4.0  |W11,3.0  | W2,0.0  | B9,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |   2.0   |         |

————————————————————————————–

8. U of Toronto-A                    |2155 |W23,4.0  | B2,0.0  |W18,4.0  |B12,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   1.0   |   2.0   |         |

————————————————————————————–

9. Washington U                      |2068 |B25,4.0  | W3,0.0  |B19,3.5  | W7,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   1.0   |   2.0   |         |

————————————————————————————–

10. U of Texas, Dallas C              |2029 |W27,4.0  | B5,0.0  |W20,3.5  | B6,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   1.0   |   2.0   |         |

————————————————————————————–

11. U of Chicago                      |1983 |W26,4.0  | B7,1.0  |W21,3.0  | B5,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   1.0   |   2.0   |         |

————————————————————————————–

12. U of Central Florida A            |1902 | B3,0.0  |W22,2.5  |B17,3.0  | W8,0.0  |

|     |   0.0   |   1.0   |   2.0   |         |

Texas Tech-B is in 13th place with 1.5; Texas Tech-C is in 21st place with 1.0.

Rounds 4 and 5 take place today; the final, Round 6, takes place tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.  Come on Knight Raiders - you can do this! 

2,600 Year Old Celtic Noblewoman's Tomb Uncovered in Germany

From thelocal.de
Celtic tomb hailed as great archaeological find
Published: 28 Dec 10 15:26 CET

In a discovery described as a “milestone of archaeology,” scientists have found a 2,600-year-old aristocratic burial site at the Celtic hill fort at Heuneburg in Baden-Württemberg.

The noblewoman's tomb, dating from early Celtic times, measures four metres by five metres, and is exceptionally well-preserved. It contained gold and amber jewellery that makes possible for the first time the precise dating of an early Celtic grave.

Using heavy cranes, the excavation team lifted the entire burial chamber out of the ground as a single block of earth and placed it on a special truck so that it could be carried off for further analysis.



Cranes used to lift burial chamber intact!  How cool is that?

 The dig leader and state archaeological chief Dirk Krausse labelled the find a “milestone of archaeology.”

Judging by the ornamentation in the chamber, the archaeologists believe the tomb was built for a woman from the nobility of the Heuneburg fort, though this couldn’t be said with certainty until further investigations could be made under laboratory conditions.

This will be done by the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Stuttgart. Initial results are expected to be announced in June 2011.

The Heuneburg hill fort site is considered one of the most significant archaeological sites in central Europe and possibly the oldest settlement north of the Alps.

It has been the focus of intense interest because it reflects socio-political developments in early Celtic Europe when, after about 700 BC, wealth, population and political power began to be concentrated in small areas.

It was the area of a large settlement from about 700 BC and became one of the key centres of power and trade in southern Germany.

DAPD/The Local/djw

Ancient Maps: 2000-1500 BCE near Hampi, Karnataka, India

From the Bangalormirror.com
Prehistoric man drew maps
Archaeologists from Bangalore discover maps near Hampi; unlike modern maps that rely on technology, ancient man banked on his eyesight and memory
Niranjan Kaggere and Suchith Kidiyoor
Posted On Tuesday, December 28, 2010 at 12:14:31 AM

Satellite technologies have made the task of locating places easily, thanks to GPS or global positioning systems.  However, a team of researchers from Bangalore have unearthed maps in Karnataka that date back to 1500-2000 BC.

A team from the Archaeological Survey of India has found the proto-historic man, who had inhabited the region around Tungabhadra river near Hampi, had drawn maps similar to those found on the internet.  The map was depicted on the roof of their cave dwellings. What was once thought to be a megalithic burial site with just paintings of animals and humans, is proof of the proto-historic man’s cartographic skills.

The discovery by deputy superintending archaeologist T M Keshava and his colleagues a few months ago in the caves of Chikramapura village on the Tungabhadra river’s left bank (Koppal district) has drawn the attention of many researchers across the country.  Keshava’s finding is believed to be the first-ever aerial map of a region drawn by a pre-historic man.

While the present-day maps rely heavily on satellite images and other optical instruments for precision, the proto-historic man had only his eyes and memory to bank on.

While paintings of animals such as cows, hunting scenes and human figurines are common across pre-historic settlements, only the Chikramapura village caves, also called Kadebagilu rock shelters, feature maps.

“We were stunned by the discovery,” said Keshava. “A previous study in 1984 at these caves by scholars like Dr R Sundara had concluded they were just megalithic burials, but we can now say that they are maps,” he said.

According to Keshava, the pre-historic man obtained a bird’s eye view of an area by climbing a hillock and standing at a vantage point. He would then observe his settlement — houses, pathways, waterbodies, etc. With these images in mind, he would paint them in his cave. “We compared them with the present maps and we were dumbstruck with the findings,” he said

DECIPHERING MAP

Deciphering the exact meaning of the paintings was not easy for the experts. Reaching the site itself was an arduous task as it was surrounded by a hillock overlooking a valley and accessible only through a narrow passage.

Researchers found many similarities with the modern-day maps. The triangular marks used to represent hillocks on these maps are similar to the symbols used by surveyors.

Further, the narrow passage has been compared to the figure of a human being, while the ladder-like symbol indicates a pathway. It took Keshava and his team almost a year to confirm the findings.

The paintings have been depicted on granite and done with red laterite clay. The circular-shaped settlement is 35 metres in radius. “However, due to the exposure to elements, some parts of the paintings have got spoilt,” said an archaeologist.

LOCAL TIP-OFF

The experts say credit for the discovery goes to some shepherds of Anegundi village. “We were camping at Hampi late in 2008 when some youngsters led by Veeresh and his friends told us about these paintings,” said Keshava.

“Later, along with colleagues G S Narasimhan, M V Visveswara, C S Sheshadri and others, we visited the spot and undertook a detailed study around the site for more than three months. Though many rock paintings were reported from Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh. There were no sketches that could be identified as maps of proto-historic settlements.
This is the first such painting,” he said.

The paintings, however, are in danger of being lost forever, unless measures are taken quickly to safeguard them. Areas surrounding rock shelters have become quarrying centres and this could destroy the paintings.

Archaeologists believe the area could be turned into a tourist site as it is close to Hampi, a world heritage centre. It will also ensure the paintings are well preserved.

Southwest Chess Club Action!

Hola!  No chess club this Thursday, December 30.  But - 2011 starts out with a great event!  Play your way through it during the entire month of January --

Ice on Lake Michigan Swiss: January 6, 13, 20 & 27

4-Round Swiss in Two Sections (Open and U1600).

Game/100 minutes. USCF Rated. EF: $5. (One ½-Point Bye Available for any round (except round four) if requested at least 2-days prior to round). TD is Grochowski; ATD is Fogec

Tom Fogec/President/Southwest Chess Club/414-425-6742As always, you can find more information on current and future tournaments at Southwest Chess Club at its website. 

Hales Corners Chess Challenge XIII!!!!!

Shortly after Challenge XII in October - an announcement about Hales Corners Chess Challenge XIII was heralded, setting the date:  April 16, 2011!

HCCC XII was the very first tournament I ever played in and I swore it would be my last.  Dare I call it a traumatic experience? I had so much fun!  Maybe semi-traumatic is more apt - I didn't even score a draw, which was my goal. There's nothing like a woman of a certain age losing to such youngsters to deflate one's chessplaying ego, let me tell you, darlings.  They were all the merest infants (ahem)...

Challenge XIII (thirteen just happens to be a very important number of the Goddess) will be played at a familiar venue -- Wyndham Milwaukee Airport Hotel, 4747 S. Howell Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

Since that number - 13 - is sooooo important, Goddesschess is planning some special stuff. Well, we think it's special stuff.  Stay tuned as more details will be revealed the closer we get to XIII!

2010 Pan American Collegiate Chess Championships

The "final four" of this event will compete in Spring, 2011 for the President's Cup.  I'm blatantly biased and cheering for SPICE/Texas Tech's Knight Raiders.

Here are the standings after R2 - R3 is currently in progress:

Pan-American Team Champs 2010 — Team                         Wall Chart, Page 1

Name/ID                            Rate   Rnd 1     Rnd 2     Rnd 3

—————————————————————————-

1. U Texas Brownsville-A             |2612 |W15,4.0  | B8,4.0  | W4,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |         |

—————————————————————————-

2. U of Maryland, Baltimore A        |2585 |B16,4.0  | W9,4.0  | B6,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |         |

—————————————————————————-

3. U of Texas, Dallas A              |2552 |W17,4.0  |B10,4.0  | W5,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |         |

—————————————————————————-

4. Texas Tech U-A                    |2487 |B18,4.0  |W12,4.0  | B1,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |         |

—————————————————————————-

5. U of Maryland, Baltimore B        |2294 |W19,4.0  |B13,4.0  | B3,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |         |

—————————————————————————-

6. U of Texas, Dallas B              |2284 |B20,4.0  |W14,3.0  | W2,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |         |

—————————————————————————-

7. U Texas Brownsville-B             |2247 |W21,4.0  |B28,4.0  | W8,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   2.0   |         |

—————————————————————————-

Individual results (for Texas Tech-A only):

Texas Tech U-A

———————————————————————-

15. Kuljasevic, Davori                |2572 | P 76  | P 49  | —   |

13218291               Board 1 |     |  1.0  |  2.0  |  2.0  |

———————————————————————-

16. Diamant, Andre                    |2486 | P 77  | P 50  | —   |

14255502               Board 2 |     |  1.0  |  2.0  |  2.0  |

———————————————————————-

17. Bykhovsky, Anatoly                |2497 | P 78  | P 51  | —   |

14508330               Board 3 |     |  1.0  |  2.0  |  2.0  |

———————————————————————-

18. Sipos, Istvan                     |2395 | P 79  | P 52  | —   |

14486674               Board 4 |     |  1.0  |  2.0  |  2.0  |

———————————————————————-

 

Texas Tech B is currently in 13th place:

 

13. Texas Tech U-B                    |1995 |B26,3.5  | W5,0.0  |B20,0.0  |

|     |   1.0   |   1.0   |         |

 

Texas Tech C is currently in 21st place:

 

21. Texas Tech U-C                    |1774 | B7,0.0  |W26,3.5  |B14,0.0  |

|     |   0.0   |   1.0   |         |

 

There are 28 teams competing. 

 

I had to laugh upon reading an article earlier today from a Texas newspaper that talked about how cold and snowy it was here and how that particular team was packing heavy coats, etc!  Right now we're actually enjoying what we Wisconsinites consider rather balmy temperatures and hardly any snow on the ground at all - just a few inches in Milwaukee (although, to be fair, up north did get a lot of snow a few weeks ago and once it snows there, it stays until spring).  Better yet, instead of the usual overcast gloom we often have to suffer through during the long winter months, the clouds have cleared away by mid-morning the past few days and it has been SUNNY outside.  For people who don't live here, you don't know what a blessing this is!  Yesterday it's true it only got up to 28 degrees F and there was a wind out of the southwest so it felt colder and raw outside.  Today it nearly got up to 32 degrees F and the wind was not as strong, though still out of the southwest.  That's important because that wind is bringing warmer temperatures and moisture from the Pacific.  We may have 40's and rain by Friday.  Perhaps so many teams playing here from Texas brought the better weather from the southwest with them :)

 



Texas Tech Knight Raiders Group



Good luck to the Knight Raiders!  I hope all the teams, their coaches and supporting personnel have a wonderful time in my hometown.  The Crowne Point is a fine hotel, I think the players will be very comfortable there, and I hope they are able to take an extra day or two to explore Milwaukee a little. We've got first class cultural entertainment, fine ethnic restaurants, and the bar scene on Water Street downtown is jumping at night :)

Talking Heads

I'd seen this story last week and a few days ago, 'Sis sent me a heads-up (har!) on it too, so I thought, make a post... I can't find the exact story any longer, but here is a link to a story from Reuters of the same date (although shorter).

Embalmed head of France's King Henri IV found
Fri, Dec 17 12:30 PM EST
By Stefano Ambrogi

LONDON (Reuters) - A team of scientists say they have positively identified an embalmed head, presumed lost in the chaos of the French Revolution, as that of King Henri IV of France who was assassinated in 1610.

The head was apparently lost after revolutionaries desecrated the graves of French kings in the royal basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris in 1793.

Few remains of those bodies have ever been found and positively identified since.  But a team of experts using advanced scientific techniques say they have conclusively identified the head, passed down over the centuries by private collectors, as that of the monarch.

The multi-disciplinary team, led by forensic pathologist Philippe Charlier, announced the discovery in the British Medical Journal.  Charlier said features consistent with those of the king's face were found including "a dark mushroom-like lesion" near the right nostril, a healed facial stab wound and a pierced right earlobe.

The king is known to have sported an earring, along with others from the Valois court.  Head hairs and remnants of a mustache and beard, colored red and white, on the mummified head fit with the known characteristics of the king's hair at the time of his death. Many features matched those in portraits of the king, the team said.

Charlier said three "cutting wounds" were also visible, corresponding to the separation of the head from the body by a revolutionary in 1793.  Radiocarbon dating also gave a date of between 1450 and 1650, "nicely bracketing the year of his death," the report said.

In addition, a digital facial reconstruction of the skull was fully consistent with all known representations of the king and the plaster mold of his face made just after his death.

Henri IV was one of the most popular French kings, known as "the good King Henry" and as "the green gallant," because of his attractiveness to women.  In 1598, nine years after ascending the throne, he enacted the Edict of Nantes which guaranteed religious liberties to Protestants and brought to a close over 30 years of fighting between French Protestants and Catholics.  He was assassinated in Paris at the age of 57 by Catholic fanatic Francois Ravaillac.

Jacques Perot, director of the Societe Henri IV in France, said the head will be buried next year in the Basilica of Saint-Denis.

"It will be a beautiful ceremony," he told Reuters. [Yeah, I'll bet.]

(Additional reporting by Maria-Victoria Buffery)
(Editing by Steve Addison)


Okay, so to the talking heads thing.  You cannot imagine my shock many years ago when I first became acquainted with the concept that ancient (and not so ancient) cultures actually revered the skulls of dead people and kept them in their houses and/or places of worship, sometimes to "consult" as an oracle.  For whatever reason, belief was predominant that the skulls could be consulted and actually provided answers - some were reputed to speak, so I am given to believe.  Hmmm....  Alas, poor Yorrick, indeed!

Of course, we have currently "alive" talking heads -- at least, I presume they are alive, but you know - they may be zombies. I actually call them dildo-heads, because they are just hired pricks when it comes down to it - oops - no one under 17 years of age should read that comment. They are the "pundits" and "politicians" who appear without fail every Sunday on round after round of "informational" shows on network television, such as "Meet the Press."  I watched such shows for many years and finally gave them up when I connected my migraine headaches and "stomach" problems to said shows. When I stopped watching the shows, the medical problems disappeared. 

What I find absolutely intriguing is the possibility that the embalmed head of King Henri may have been kept all the years since his tomb was first desecrated as an "oracular" head.  Why the hell else would anyone in this so-called "Age of Enlightenment" keep such a thing - like, totally yechy!!!  Might the head of King Henri IV have been passed down from generation to generation, and then from collector to collector, out of some never-articulated and shudderingly half-suppressed belief in the supernatural oracular power of his mummified head?  Did the late actor Vicent Price, later-day King of Cheap Horror Motion Pictures, ever play King Henri IV of France?  Methinks they bear a resemblance to each other...



President Gerald Ford.
After having fallen on his head
one too many times, he began
to exhibit supernatural powers and
in time, became an original
American Talking Head.

 Sooooo, who was the first talking head in history?  No, not Chet Huntley/David Brinley, who for many years as a young child I thought were one-and-the-same person...  It may have been a Celtic god that we now know by the name of Bran, as in Bran Flakes.  Yeah, the dude was a "corn god," which is simply a generic term for a god of vegetation, generally the kind of vegetation that humans eat, like wheat, corn, rice, and other grains lesser and greater...  He was also a "Brain" - ahem - probably the brain was eaten upon Bran's death in a ritual in which the consumers hoped that the consumee would convey to them some worthwhile essence of wisdom, or something, other than nausea or spongiform encephalopathy.  In any event, Bran's skull was reputedly preserved for millennia after he died, perhaps forced to commit honorable suicide after his ratings dropped.  It was this brainless skull that was a higly-regarded Oracle.  I suspect that the actual practice dates back several thousand years before the Celts worked their way to "Brandom" after they settled in the British Isles.  A version of the Talking Head is yet alive today in the British Prime Minister's office - yes - author J.K. Rowling "outed" the practice in her popular series Harry Potter and... . It is said that there is a portrait of some ancient worthy-or-other with a pipeline to the wizards at Hogwart's School of Wizardry.  Yes, of course the Prime Minister's Office and all British Officialdom other than the Queen herself have denied - hmmm, what if it's not a joke...

And I don't want you to get sidetracked, but lecturer Mary Beard, who is always fascinating, wrote what I thought was a wonderfully cheeky review of Jerry Toner's POPULAR CULTURE IN ANCIENT ROME .  People who poo-pooh the reading of book reviews miss tons of valuable information.  For instance, it was through reading this review that I learned of the Oracles of Astrampsychus. Not a talking head, but a sort of "talking" book, like an adolescent's version of the I Ching.  Hey - I'm not laughing.  I still read my "fortune" everyday in the newspaper, as do millions of other people all around the world.  If they didn't, such "fortunes" would not exist...

GM Maurice Ashley

I enjoyed listening to his commentary and analysis along with IM Jen Shahade during some games of the 2010 U.S. Women's Chess Championship sponsored by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis, who put on first class events for the U.S. and U.S. Women's Chess Championships.  Maybe we'll hear Ashley again in 2011.  He definitely brought a vibrancy and unique tenor to the commentary that took me a bit getting used to but in short order I listened most intently to what he and Jen were saying.

Here is a nice profile of Ashley posted on Christmas Day:

Maurice Ashley
The Weekly Challenger
Originally posted 12/25/2010

Maurice Ashley is a chess grandmaster. He is the first and as of 2009 only African-American grandmaster. In the October 2006 rating lists, he had a FIDE rating of 2465, and a USCF rating of 2520 at standard chess, and 2536 at quick chess. Ashley is associated with Chesswise. In 2005 he wrote the book Chess for Success, relating about his experiences and the positive aspects of chess. He was the main organiser for the HB global chess event, with the biggest cash prize in history. FIDE awarded him the grandmaster title in 1999. Ashley and Englishman James Plaskett are the only two Grandmasters to have made it to the studio stage of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, each in his respective country.

In 1993, Ashley was married to Michele Johnson, a then teacher at the Bilingual Center of P.S. 189. June 5, 1994 the couple gave birth to Nia-Ashanti Ashley, who is currently a professional actor, writer and currently attends Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School. Maurice and Michele have remained happily married since then. In 2002 they gave birth to Jayden Ashley. The family is one of high achievers, which is displayed in Nia's budding career and Michele's principal position as of 2005. Maurice relates much of his success to his supportive wife and wonderful family.

Ashley graduated from the College of the City of New York (CCNY), and represented the school in intercollegiate team competition. Always promoting chess among youth, Ashley coached the Raging Rooks of Harlem, and the Dark Knights (also from Harlem), both of which have won national championships under his guidance. In September 1999, he opened the Harlem Chess Center which has attracted such celebrities as Larry Johnson and Wynton Marsalis. Ashley was named 2003 Grandmaster of the Year by the U.S. Chess Federation. He makes appearances all over the country speaking to young people and adults about chess and its benefits.

In 2003 Maurice Ashley wrote an essay, The End of the Draw Offer?, which raised discussion about ways to avoid quick agreed draws in chess tournaments.

In 2007 Ashley returned to his birth country of Jamaica and became the first GM to ever participate in a tournament in that country. The tourney, a six round Swiss named the Frederick Cameron Open, was held at the Jamaica Conference center on the 15 and 16 of December 2007. After sweeping a field consisting of several of Jamaica's top players and Barbadian FIDE master Philip Corbin, he fell victim to a potential double attack in the final round to Jamaican National Master Jomo Pitterson. He placed second on five points behind Pitterson (5.5).

In 2008, Ashley was featured in an interview for the CNN documentary “Black in America.”

At Goddesschess:  The First Black Grandmaster, from Ebony Magazine, July, 1999

46th American Open

November 25 - 28, 2010
LAX Radisson Hotel

Good to see GM Josh Friedel, one of several recently-minted American GMs within the past four-five years, win this event.  Of particular interest to me was the presence of two chess femmes, Tatev Abrahamyan, who was the top-finishing female in 18th place overall (of 41 players) with 4.0/6, and former U.S. Women's Chess Champion WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia, who finished overall in 29th place with 3.0/6. 

I know Abrahamyan plays in many events on the west coast, although the publicity she receives is normally limited to her play at the U.S. Women's Chess Championship over the past several years (she has won two separate Goddesschess Fighting Chess Awards for her uncompromising play at the Championships), but Belakovskaia had long since retired from chess -- so I was shocked to see her name on the player list, and pleased as hell to see her competing in this event!  Way to go!  Are you coming back?  Will you be playing in more events?  Please say yes! 

Belakovskaia is one of several strong foreign chessplayers who came to the United States in the early 90's with the collapse of the Iron Curtain.  She won the U.S. Women's Chess Champion title three times - in 1995, 1996 and 1999, and played on several U.S. Women's Chess Olympiad Teams.  You can catch a very brief glimpse of her in the film "Searching for Bobby Fischer" as one of a crowd in one of the "chess hustler" scenes in Washington Square.  Biography at Wikipedia.

I've been an admirer of Belakovskaia since I first read about her in 2001.  During the short-lived tenure of our chess-spoof online newspaper "The International Chessoid" Belakovskaia served as a model for an intrepid female chessplaying character in a serial story that, unfortunately, was never finished when The Chessoid went offline (and no, will not be resurrected -- it was great fun but far too much work).

Today, Belakovskaia, a mother of three, runs a successful real estate brokerage out west.  Will we see her in more chess events?  I sure hope so! 

Anjelina Belakovskaia
Chessbase, November 18, 2004:  Anjelina Has a Home for You 
Anjelina at Facebook
Anjelina's Chess for Parents