Watchout the Goans!!

Four more Goans - Agasti Tari, Brahmanand Kamat,
M. Harikrishnan and Rakshith Rai - made it to the FIDE rating list
which was released on October 1, 2007. This reflects the
growing popularity of chess with the youngsters in Goa
as they are now performing well in the Open tournaments
and earning a name for themselves and the State.

Goan chess also celebrated the success of Anurag Mhamal
and Umang Kaisary whose ratings improved by 33 points and
67 points respectively. Whereas Umang dazzled in Mangalore
with a 2093 performance, Anurag essayed a brilliant 2203 performance
in the National 'B' conducted at Dindigul, Tamil Nadu.

Among the active players the gap between Woman FIDE Master
Bhakti Kulkarni and Anurag Mhamal has narrowed to just
20 points though it must be mentioned that Bhakti will be gaining
61 ELO points for her performance in the National Junior Championship
which will be reflected in the January 2008 rating list.

Some of the important ratings are as follows -


J. Venkata Ramana 2168
Mandar Tahmankar 2141
Bhakti Kulkarni 2112
Swapnil Hobble 2105
Anurag Mhamal 2092
Suhas Asnodkar 2031
Shubham Pinge 2012
Sumit Asnodkar 1999
P.M. Kantak 1990
Niraj Saripalli 1967
Standrik Colaso 1957
Sanjay Kavlekar 1947
Celianne Carvalho 1926
A. Malwankar 1914
Umang Kaisary 1889
Prasanna Swamy 1884
Nandhini Saripalli 1876
Keegan Furtado 1870
Shradha Mohanan 1857
Cyrus Perreira 1845
V. Siva Swamy 1820
Pranav Zantye 1795
Anuradha Chavan 1766
Chinmay Patil 1725

New entrants
Agasti Tari 1875
Brahmanand Kamat 1747
M. Harikrishnan 1730
Rakshith Rai 1656

Recent top rating performances by Goan players

1. Commonwealth, November 2006 - 2328 Bhakti Kulkarni (9 games)
2. National Junior Girls 2007 - 2220 Bhakti Kulkarni (10 games)
3. National B 2006 - 2203 Anurag Mhamal (12 games)
4. Sangli, May 2007 - 2176 Anurag Mhamal (8 games)
5. Rochess, December 2006 - 2162 Anurag Mhamal (7 games)
6. Sangli, December 2006 - 2157 Anurag Mhamal (8 games)
6. Mangalore 2007 - 2093 Umang Kaisary (7 games)

Advanced Electronic Chess Game

Want to take a break from the monotony of work and exercise those brain muscles (without using any of those Brain Training games)? The Advanced Robotic Chess Game could be a pretty interesting candidate.

This is the advanced electronic chess game that allows you to play against a robotic opponent that automatically recognizes and counters the movement of your chess pieces using the touch-sensitive chessboard. You can play against the computer or it can play itself, yet it provides beginners and experienced players appropriate challenges by offering 120 levels of play (16 levels of analysis), and gives instruction and counsel using voice prompts, while its LCD screen shows piece-movement text messages for additional help without audio commentary. The computer has an estimated U.S. Chess Federation Class A skill rating of 1900, and it will never accept an illegal move, and rates your skill after every match; a coaching and teaching mode provide hints and allows you to reconsider moves.

At $249.95 each, it certainly requires some thought before purchasing one. Casual chess players will probably avoid this, but the more serious aficionados would definitely love such a challenge!

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INNOVATIVE CM INAGURATES CHESS PARK

Honorable Chief Minister Sri Kumaraswami and Honorable Deputy Chief Minister Sri Yadiyurappa played symbolic chess moves on the board to inaugurate 'Mini Chess Park' in City's Tagore Park.

After the inauguration Chief Minister in his address praised the efforts to start Chess Park to popularize the intellectual game among public and wished all the success. District In charge Minister Sri Nagaraja Shetty; D.K District Deputy Commissioner Sri Maheshwara Rao; Sri Srinivas Nayak Indaje, Vice President, CADK; Sri Prasanna Rao, Secretary, CADK; Sri Deric Pinto, Administrator, Derik's Chess School were also present on the occasion.

After the inauguration young upcoming talents of the district- Adith jagadish, Nihal Manjunath, Anantharam R U, Sharan rao, Andrea D'souza and other players played chess games to enthrall the public.

D.K District Administration in association with Combined D.K District Chess Association (CADK) and Derik's Chess School has planned to arrange for the Mini Chess Park in Tagore Park to encourage public to learn and play this intellectual game and also planned to provide opportunities to talented players to display their skills.

As per the vision of Deputy Commissioner concrete chess boards will be constructed for the public to play chess. Also there will be weekend training sessions by Derik's Chess School exclusively for the public. The 'Mini Chess Park' will be first of its kind in India.

Press Release

Computers and Poker

When the chips are down, computers can now beat humans at most cerebral and mechanical activities. They can fly planes, drive cars, arrange timetables, make lists and retrieve information better, more accurately and faster than we mere mortals. At chequers (draughts), computers have a program that cannot lose, and, at best, can be tied. Deep Blue, a supercomputer-based chess-playing software system, can trounce the world champion at chess. But humans still have one ace in the hole. And that is poker.

At an interspecies match at the University of Alberta, two professional high-rollers beat a gambling computer with the unusual nom de cartes of Polaris. They mocked their mechanical opponent’s play as “sick”, when the machine made an extraordinary or unusual action. They were playing Texas Hold ’Em heads-up limit poker. So the computer science professors are going back to their keyboards to try new algorithms and strategies. And even the ranks of nongamblers, who do not know their blue chips from the ace up their sleeves, can scarce forbear to up the ante.

For poker calls for two human qualities that cannot be reproduced mechanically: bluff and imagination. A poker face beats a computer screen every time. You can program your computer for different opponents or styles of play called “bots” in the trade, but you cannot prepare it for the forgotten factor of human orneriness. Statisticians said that if you gave a zillion chimpanzees a zillion keyboards, they would end up by tapping out the works of Shakespeare. Because of the internet we now know that this is not true. The failure of computers to call our bluff is conclusive evidence that we are still on the winning team. More in

Khet Laser Game!

The Khet Laser game is an amazing board game that is like playing chess in a pyramid with lasers against a pharaoh (and we are not trying to send you to lu lu land here), chess is great but in this day an age when video games rule you need a board game with a twist and this is just what Khet is.

The Khet Laser game is said to be the first board game to incorporate laser technology and add to that the strategy and head bending fun then you have the ultimate mix.

If you love board games and gadgets then you will love this game as most of the pieces have a mirrored side to them to aid in the object of the game.
Which is to maneuver your pieces around the board so that when you ‘fire’ the laser from your corner, it bounces around the pieces on the board and ultimately ’strikes’ and lights up your opponents ‘Pharoh’ piece.

Khet Laser Game Features

• Suitable for ages 9 years+
• Suitable for two players
• Contains two Class I lasers (of course do not intently stare into the laser beams).
• The pieces have 2, 1 or no mirrored sides
• Egyptian themed playing pieces; the Sacred Pharaoh, Djed column, Pyramid and Obelisk
• An Egyptian themed game with pyramids and lasers

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Harrypotters chess board!

Which house will you choose?
A Uniquely striking Harry Potter Hogwarts House Quidditch Chess set with the choice of playing the four Hogwarts houses. Choose your favorite Hogwarts house team, play Hufflepuss verses Slytherin, or Gryffindor verses Ravenclaw, or in any given combination.

All playing pieces for each house is included with each piece intricately die-cast and enameled in house colors, and stores neatly inside the game board. The superb quality game board itself is made of hardwood with 24k gold plated accents and measures 12 inches x 12 inches x 3 inches.

FIVE BEST CHESS MOVIES

Critic Robert Basalla recommends five movies that feature chess less foolishly than most:

"Searching for Bobby Fischer." Basalla's favorite of many 1990s chess films hams up its true-life sources, but makes few outright blunders and captures the game's mystique.

"The Seventh Seal." Death plays black in Ingmar Bergman's often-parodied 1956 classic.

"The Luzhin Defence." A 2000 version of a Vladimir Nabokov novel about a eccentric chess player. (Is there any other kind?) "Dangerous Moves." This 1985 Oscar-winner from Switzerland shows the drama and strain of a championship showdown, but mistakes include English subtitles describing different moves than the dialogue.

"Knight Moves." Players fall faster than pawns in this 1993 killer thriller.

Shun this: "No Name on the Bullet." A player castles with his queen. Without a hint of humor, his opponent responds, "You play an interesting game."

To buy: "Chess in the Movies" (listed for $34.95 plus shipping), see www.amazon.com or www.uscf.org, or contact author Robert Basalla, swgcfwip@core.com.