Chien Ming Chess Blog

Viktor Korchnoi is a phenomenon of longevity at the chessboard. He has been playing top-level chess for half a century, and even in his 70s he remains one of the best players in the world.

When a chess player ages, he often quits the game, and those who don’t quit typically play a far lazier and weaker brand of chess than they did in their prime. It’s only natural, right? We have less energy, we grow jaded and the passions subside.

That’s true for most of us, but not for the inimitable Viktor Korchnoi. He’s not as strong as he once was, of course, but even now, in his mid-70s, he is still in the world’s top 100, he still wins tournaments, and he continues to play a fighting brand of chess that ought to shame those quick-draw artists less than half his age.

One of Korchnoi’s many virtues as a chess player is his willingness to enter non-stereotyped, unbalanced positions, not fearing the possibility that he’ll tire coping with the new situation or worrying that his younger opponents will out-calculate him. Korchnoi's playing style initially was an aggressive counter-attack. He excelled in difficult defensive positions.

Born on March 22, 1931. Korchnoi was USSR champion four times over, in 1960, 1962-63, 1964-65 and 1970. He won five European Championship titles, two interzonal tournaments for world championship, and two Candidates Tournaments, in 1977 and 1980. The latter led to world championship challenges. Korchnoi played three matches for the title, all against Anatoly Karpov. The first was the 1974 Candidates' Final, which turned out to be the title match when Bobby Fischer did not play the winner (Karpov). The other two were title matches against Karpov in Meran and Bagio.

In 1976 he defected to the West and until now become Switzerland citizen. he managed to qualify for two world championship matches vs Anatoly Karpov. The first was held in 1978 in Baguio City, Philippines and the second one in 1981 in Merano, Italy. Korchnoi played in the next Candidates cycle in 1984, and in its course had to face a young Russian talent named Garry Kasparov. After a good start he was defeated by Kasparov

We hope he is still going strong and healthy to contribute nice games to chess worlds.

Magnus Carlsen was the very youngest grandmaster in history at the time he became grandmaster at 13 years old in 2004. His First GM norm was won in Corus in 2004 and was one of his more memorable performances. He actually won the C group of Corus...making it one of the most memorabe performances of the tournaments history.At the time of this article Magnus is 6.5 out of 8 against all GM opponents

Already a star in the chess community in Norway, Magnus is a very well liked kid. He has a smile and natural charm that people love..In order to keep developing his chess he has to work very hard. Until recently it was 2-3 hours a day, now-a-days it is more like 4-5 hours. He spends many hours reading chess books (which he loves), playing on the Internet and training with his tutor. In addition, he also loves to play football, go skiing and even ski jumping!

To give him the opportunity to develop his talents his parents have sold their second car, rented out their house, and for a year they will be traveling around the world so Magnus can participate in chess tournaments. Magnus’ school work is not neglected at all, but it has to be done in the back seat of a car, in hotel rooms, etc. Both his father and sisters participate in some of the tournaments as well. Traveling around to chess tournaments in different countries is not at all cheap, and it would not have been possible without financial aid. Luckily he has now found a sponsor (Microsoft).

Magnus' memory is said to be photographic. His coach did a little stunt for some journalists: on TV he showed the boy a diagram from a position in a chess book Magnus immediately replied which game it was, from which book, and roughly how it went. His father also has stories of five year old Magnus reciting the name, size and population of all the 430 counties in Norway. This ability is undoubtedly very useful when keeping up-to-date on modern opening theory. One might assume this has been vital when building up his amazing opening repertoire.

Magnus's chess exploits include a draw against Kasparov. His current fide rating as per is January 2007 rating list is 2690, making him ranked 24th GM in the world.

His goal is to reach 2700 which will put him up in the world's elite..possibly the top 10.. With his kind of talent and hard work you can only wonder how he will take over as one of the worlds best??

One of the best chess-book I've ever read.

Excelling at Chess by Jacob Aagaard.

I recommend it for a serious chess player. Anyone who follows the advice in this book cannot fail to improve their feel for the game.

This book will open new paradigm of what a real chess player is, chess understanding. Here is the link to see more detail about the book.