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Scandinavian Defence
The Scandinavian Defense (or Center Counter Defense, or Center Counter Game) is a chess opening characterized by the moves: :1. e4 d5 This opening is classified under code B01 in the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings''. The Scandinavian Defense, described in the poem ''Scachs d'amor'', is the oldest opening by Black recorded in modern chess. Considered to be the most directly challenging move available to Black after 1.e4, the general goal of the defense is to prevent White from controlling the center of the board with pawns, effectively forcing an , while allowing Black to build a strong pawn structure. History Origin The Scandinavian Defense is one of the oldest recorded openings, first recorded as a fictional game between Francesc de Castellví and Narcís Vinyoles in Valencia around 1475 in what may be the first recorded game of modern chess. It was also listed in the 1497 Lucena's book "Repetition of Love and the Art of Playing Chess with 150 Games". 19th and early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scachs D'amor
''Scachs d'amor'' (, meaning "Chess of Love"), whose complete title is ''Hobra intitulada scachs d'amor feta per don Francí de Castellví e Narcis Vinyoles e mossén Fenollar'', is the name of a poem written by Francesc de Castellví, Bernat Fenollar, and Narcís Vinyoles, published in Valencia, Kingdom of Valencia, towards the end of the 15th century. The manuscript, written in Valencian language probably in 1475, was discovered in 1905 by at '. Though the original was lost, a photograph of the codex has been kept at the Library of Catalonia in Barcelona. The poem is conceived as a chess game in which the players are Castellví, playing White and Black in chess, White (in modern chess) (Mars (mythology), Mars ''Març'', Love ''Amor'', and red pieces in the game), and Vinyoles, playing Black (Venus (mythology), Venus, the Glory (religion), Glory ''Gloria'', and green pieces). [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Draw (chess)
In chess, there are a number of ways that a game can end in a draw, in which neither player wins. Draws are codified by various rules of chess including stalemate (when the player to move is not in check (chess), check but has no legal move), threefold repetition (when the same position occurs three times with the same player to move), and the fifty-move rule (when the last fifty successive moves made by both players contain no or pawn (chess), pawn move). Under the standard FIDE rules, a draw also occurs in a ''dead position'' (when no sequence of legal moves can lead to checkmate), most commonly when neither player has sufficient to checkmate the opponent. Unless specific tournament rules forbid it, players may draw by agreement, agree to a draw at any time. Ethical considerations may make a draw uncustomary in situations where at least one player has a reasonable chance of winning. For example, a draw could be called after a move or two, but this would likely be thought unsp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (, ; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, and politician. He was the 12th World Chess Champion from 1975 to 1985, a three-time FIDE World Champion (1993, 1996, 1998), twice World Chess champion as a member of the USSR team (1985, 1989), and a six-time winner of Chess Olympiad, Chess Olympiads as a member of the USSR team (1972, 1974, 1980, 1982, 1986, 1988). The International Association of Chess Press awarded him nine Chess Oscars (1973–77, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984). Karpov's chess tournament successes include over 160 first-place finishes. He had a peak Elo rating system, Elo rating of 2780, and his 102 total months world number one is the third-longest of all time, behind Magnus Carlsen and Garry Kasparov. Karpov is also an elected Member of the State Duma in Russia. Since 2006, he has chaired the Commission for Ecological Safety and Envir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bent Larsen
Jørgen Bent Larsen (4 March 1935 – 9 September 2010) was a Danish chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and author. Known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play, he was the second-strongest non-Soviet Union, Soviet player, behind only Bobby Fischer, for much of the 1960s and 1970s. He is considered to be the strongest player born in Denmark and the strongest from Scandinavia until the emergence of Magnus Carlsen. Larsen was a six-time Danish Chess Championship, Danish Champion and a Candidates Tournament, Candidate for the World Chess Championship on four occasions, reaching the semifinal three times. He had multiple wins over all seven World Champions who held the title from 1948 to 1985: Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer, and Anatoly Karpov, but lifetime negative scores against them. From the early 1970s onward, he divided his years between Las Palmas and Buenos Aires with his Argentine people, Argenti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grandmaster (chess)
Grandmaster (GM) is a Chess title, title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Chess Championship, World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally the title can be revoked for Cheating in chess, cheating. The title of Grandmaster, along with the lesser FIDE titles of FIDE titles#International Master (IM), International Master (IM), FIDE titles#FIDE Master (FM), FIDE Master (FM), and FIDE titles#Candidate Master (CM), Candidate Master (CM), is open to all players regardless of gender. The great majority of grandmasters are men, but 42 women have been awarded the GM title as of 2024, out of a total of about 2000 grandmasters. There is also a FIDE titles#Woman Grandmaster (WGM), Woman Grandmaster title with lower requirements awarded only to women. There are also Grandmaster titles for composers and solvers of chess problems, awarded by the World Federa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nona Gaprindashvili
Nona Gaprindashvili ( ka, ნონა გაფრინდაშვილი; born 3 May 1941) is a Georgian chess Grandmaster. Noted for her aggressive style of play, she was the women's world chess champion from 1962 to 1978, and in 1978 was the first woman ever to be awarded the FIDE title of Grandmaster. She was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Presidential Order of Excellence in 2015. Gaprindashvili began playing chess when she was five years old; in 1954, she moved to Tbilisi to train under Grandmasters. In 1962, she became women's world chess champion by a sweeping victory in a match against the incumbent, Elisaveta Bykova. This won her widespread acclaim throughout Georgia. She successfully defended her title on four occasions: three times against Alla Kushnir and once against Nana Alexandria. She narrowly lost her title to Maia Chiburdanidze in 1978. Gaprindashvili participated in men's tournaments during her career, including a perfo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Bronstein
David Ionovich Bronstein (; February 19, 1924 – December 5, 2006) was a Soviet chess player. Awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, he narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in World Chess Championship 1951, 1951. Bronstein was one of the world's strongest players from the mid-1940s into the mid-1970s, and was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics. He was also a renowned chess writer; his book ''Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953'' is widely considered one of the greatest chess books ever written. Early life David Bronstein was born in Bila Tserkva, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, to Jewish parents. Growing up in a poor family, he learned chess at the age of six from his grandfather. As a youth in Kiev, he was trained by the renowned International Master Alexander Konstantinopolsky. He finished second in the Kiev Championship when he was only 15, and achieved the Soviet Master title at the age of 16 for hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nikola Karaklajic
Nikola () is a given name which, like Nicholas, is a version of the Greek ''Nikolaos'' (Νικόλαος) and it means "the winner of the people". It is common as a masculine given name in the South Slavic countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia), while in West Slavic countries (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia) it is primarily found as a feminine given name. There is a wide variety of male diminutives of the name, examples including: Niko, Nikolica, Nidžo, Nikolče, Nikša, Nikica, Nikulitsa, Nino, Kole, Kolyo, Kolyu. The spelling with a K, ''Nikola'', usually indicates Slavic origin, while '' Nicola'' usually indicates Italian origin. Statistics *Serbia: male name. 5th most popular in 2011, 1st in 2001, 1st in 1991, 5th in 1981, 9th pre-1940. *Croatia: male name. 32,304 (2011), 26,986 (2021) *Bosnia and Herzegovina: male name. *Bulgaria: male name. * North Macedonia: male name. *Czech Republic: 22,567 females and 7 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FIDE Titles
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and norms (performance benchmarks in competitions including other titled players). Once awarded, titles are held for life except in cases of fraud or cheating. Open titles may be earned by all players, while women's titles are restricted to female players. Many strong female players hold both open and women's titles. FIDE also awards titles for arbiters, organizers and trainers. Titles for correspondence chess, chess problem composition and chess problem solving are no longer administered by FIDE. A chess title, usually in an abbreviated form, may be used as an honorific. For example, Magnus Carlsen may be styled as "Grandmaster (chess), GM Magnus Carlsen". History The term "master" for a strong chess player was initially used informally ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeremy Silman
Jeremy Silman (August 28, 1954 – September 21, 2023) was an American chess player and writer. He obtained the title of International Master (IM). Early life Silman was born in Del Rio, Texas, on August 28, 1954. His father was in the military and the family moved frequently before settling in San Diego by the early 1960s. Silman began playing chess at the age of 12. In high school, he wanted to move to the Soviet Union and study chess, due to the game's popularity and the number of skilled players he knew there. This was infeasible, so he instead served briefly in the U.S. Army before moving in San Francisco to continue playing chess. His family was not understanding of his passion for chess, and he grew apart from them over the years. In San Francisco, Silman was involved in the Haight-Ashbury scene in the 1970s. The preface to his Endgame Course mentions this, and fellow chess players Daniel King and Ronan Bennett allude to this in a newspaper column from 2007. His years i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Grefe
John Alan Grefe (September 6, 1947 – December 22, 2013) was an American International Master of chess. Biography Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, his best result was a tie for first with Lubomir Kavalek in the 1973 U.S. Championship. FIDE awarded him the title of International Master in 1975. Grefe and Stuart Rachels are the only players since 1948 to have won or shared the U.S. Championship without already having, or having later achieved, the title of International Grandmaster. Grefe, at the time he shared the championship, lived in Berkeley, California, and was a follower of the Guru Maharaj Ji. For that reason and also because of his hippyish appearance, Grefe was affectionately known as "Gandalf" amongst chess friends. Before his success in the U.S. Championship, Grefe had been fairly successful in Swiss system tournaments in the United States. He tied for eighth in the 1969 and 1971 U.S. Open, tied for first in the 1971 National Open, finished sixth at Lone Pine 1971, tie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Plaskett
Harold James Plaskett (born 18 March 1960) is a British chess grandmaster and writer. Biography Early life and personal life Plaskett was born in Dhekelia, Cyprus, on 18 March 1960 and was educated at Bedford Modern School, England. In the 1990s he was a chess columnist for the ''New Statesman'' while working various jobs in London. He is married to the poet Fiona Pitt-Kethley. They relocated to Cartagena, Spain in 2002. Chess career At the European Junior Chess Championship 1978/79, which was won by John van der Wiel, Plaskett came third with 8 points out of 13 games. At the Junior EC 1979/80 Plaskett reached a shared fourth place with 8.5 points out of 13 games. Plaskett achieved the title of International Master in 1981, and became an International Grandmaster in 1985. At the Hastings tournament in 1986/87 he achieved 7 points out of 13 games, one point less than the winner Murray Chandler. He became British Chess Champion in 1990, with 9 points out of 11 games. In 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
