Hello and welcome to the Kuwait Chess Website. I hope you will find some great information in regards to your chess needs and hopefully be interested to play chess with us in the near future.
My name is Khaled Hashem and I am the website creator/administrator. I created this site over 2 years ago to bring (chess-fans) people together in the virtual world and hopefully be able to organize tournaments and gatherings better and more efficiently.
And so far, the idea succeeded. We have had over 44 Thousand visits to the site and still increasing daily. Our Facebook fanpage started out with less then 20 members about a year ago, and now we have 150 members from across the world.
It’s great to see such success when it comes to chess. Most people just believe that chess is a hobby rather then a sport and that is why it doesn’t receive as much coverage. But as time and experience has taught us, this old belief is ancient. People love chess and it certainly brings people together, making relationships stronger. Of course you have your occasional disappointments, but hey, what sport doesn’t.
I want to wish everyone a great year and hope that 2011 will be a better year for the sport of chess. I’m a strong believer in a better future and hope that you are too.
If you are new to chess in Kuwait, I want to welcome you with open arms to this beautiful sport. You will meet and make great and intelligent friends and hopefully become a stronger player yourself.
As for tournaments, we might have one soon but I’m not sure exactly of the timing. I heard rumors that there might be one at the end of February. But don’t hold my word for it.
If you are interested in playing against someone, there is a active chess club in Kuwait. The Filipino Chess Association of Kuwait (FCA-K) currently operate a club in Kuwait city, next to Sheraton Hotel. They are located in the basement of Salhiya Tower, opposite to KFC. For more information about the FCA-K, you can contact the President of the club, Mr. Manny Cornelio. His number is 66737298. He is a great and friendly gentlemen. I know him personally and he is a good friend of mine. He will help in any way he could. Give him a call.If Manny is unavailable, you can call Oliver John, a member of the club for assistance. His number is 66906419. He too is a good friend of mine and is just as friendly. All the fellows at the FCA-K are great and would strongly recommend you to join their group.
As for the official Kuwait Chess Club, it currently is frozen due to unavailability of funding. There has been a dark cloud on the Kuwait Chess Federation that lasted for almost a decade. But after almost 10 years, Kuwait Chess has been recognized as an official sport. Government funding is expected to start on the second quarter of this year. We’re expecting great things to come from this. So fingers crossed.
If you want to play someone online, I would recommend chesscube.com for its ease of use and no start-up fees. Add me as a friend, my nickname is kuwaitchess.
If you have any questions, you can leave a message here, or join our facebook Fanpage to get to know a few other players (Type the following in the search engine of Facebook- “Kuwait Chess Club KCC”), or you can even send me an email to kuwaitchess@gmail.com
Here is a set of pictures from tournaments, gatherings, and other events. Hope you’ll enjoy. Cheers mi amigos!
Www.KuwaitChess.Net 
Great work dude …
January ratings
FIDE Rating List
January 2011
Top 10
1. GM Magnus Carlsen NOR 2814
2. GM Viswanathan Anand IND 2810
3. GM Levon Aronian ARM 2805
4. GM Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2784
5. GM Sergey Karjakin RUS 2776
6. GM Veselin Topalov BUL 2775
7. GM Alexander Grischuk RUS 2773
8. GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov AZE 2772
9. GM Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2764
10. GM Hikaru Nakamura USA 2751
Some comments:
Magnus Carlsen is back as no. 1 after his rating gains from the Pearl Spring Tournament in China and the London Chess Classic are factored in.
Sergey Karjakin gained 16 points after tying for first in two of the most powerful tournaments in 2010: the Tal Memorial followed by the 63rd Russian Championship. This was good enough to jump from nine to five.
An American is back in the top 10. GM Hikaru Nakamura gained 10 points from the Tal Memorial and the London Chess Classic and squeezed in at no. 10 from 15 previously.
On the negative side, China’s Wang Yue lost a massive 22 points and dropped out of the top 10 list.
Wesley So is at no. 64 with 2673 rating points. He is now ahead of his Vietnamese rival Le Quang Liem for the distinction of being the next Asian to reach 2700. For a while it seemed like Le Quang was a cinch for that honor, but a disastrous stint in the Asian Games where he scored 0.5/5 dropped him down to no. 79 at 2664 (from 2689).
The top 5 juniors (under 20 years old) are:
1. GM Fabiano Caruana ITA 2721
2. GM Anish Giri NED 2686
3. GM Wesley So PHI 2673
4. GM Le Quang Liem VIE 2664
5. GM Sebastien Feller FRA 2657
It is refreshing to note that all of the five above are attacking players.
The former top juniors were Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin, but they no longer qualify for the list because both of them have already hit 20 years of age.
The London Chess Classic last December had a big effect on the top standings. Magnus Carlsen started off with two losses out of three, then made up for lost ground with 3.5/4 to tie for first place and winner on tie-break (most-number-of-wins rule).
Luke McShane tied for first place in London while Nigel Short crashed to last, this resulted in McShane taking over the no. 2 spot (behind Michael Adams) as the top English player ahead of Nigel.
London Chess Classic 2010
December 2010
Final Standings
1-3. Magnus Carlsen NOR 2815, Viswanathan Anand IND 2804, Luke McShane ENG 2645, 4.5/7
4-5. Hikaru Nakamura USA 2741, Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2791, 4.0/7
6. Michael Adams ENG 3.5/7
7. David Howell ENG 2611, 2.0/7
8. Nigel Short ENG 2680, 1.0/7
Carlsen’s style has really matured. During his climb up the ratings ladder he had transformed from a “promising” player to the “man to beat”. His games fell under scrutiny, his weaknesses, pet peeves, favorite set-ups, all of these have been put under the microscope for his rivals to study.
It is no longer as easy to win. Apart from the fact that nowadays his opponents are all super-grandmasters, many of them are quite content to take a draw against the top seed and go for simplification.
In response to this Magnus has adjusted his openings and has adopted the English Opening, which has the virtue of retaining as many pieces as possible on the board. He can then probe his opponent’s defenses, create a weakness here, neutralize a threat there. If his opponent survives the middlegame then hopefully the weaknesses remain and the battle is rejoined in the ending. It is not a coincidence that most of Carlsen’s wins are now in the endgame.
The following game is typical.
Carlsen, Magnus (2802) — Nakamura, Hikaru (2741) [A21]
London Chess Classic 2nd London (4), 11.12.2010
1.c4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d6 4.Nc3 g6 5.e3 Bg7 6.Nge2 0 — 0 7.0 — 0 e5 8.b3 Nbd7 9.d3 c6 10.Ba3 Qc7 11.Qd2 Re8 12.Rae1 Nc5 13.h3 e4 14.dxe4 Nfxe4 15.Qc2 Nxc3 16.Nxc3 Be6 17.Rd1 Rad8 18.Bb2 Bf7 19.Rd2 a5 20.Rfd1 Be5 21.Ne2 a4 22.b4
[22.bxa4? Bxb2 23.Qxb2 Bxc4 24.Qd4 Qf7 25.Nc3 Rd7 Black has absolutely no problems]
22…Nd7 23.Bd4
[23.Qxa4? Nb6! 24.Qc2 (24.Qb3 Nxc4 attacking the rook and threatening a discovery on the white queen is even worse) 24…Bxb2 25.Qxb2 Nxc4 Black wins the exchange]
23…Nb6 24.Bxb6!
White suddenly gives up his well-placed bishop for the knight on b6. This is part of Magnus’ plan to split the black pawns.
24…Qxb6 25.Rb1 Qc7
[25…a3 26.Nd4 followed by c4-c5]
26.Nd4 Rc8 27.Rc1 Qe7 28.Rd3
[There is a trap here. If 28.Qxa4? then 28…Bxg3! 29.fxg3 Qxe3+ wins]
28…c5 29.bxc5 Rxc5 30.Qxa4 Rec8 31.Rb1 Rxc4 32.Qd1!
Magnus consistently strives to put pressure on his enemy’s weak pawns n b7 and d6.
32…b6 33.Nb5 R4c
[33…Rd8 does not save the pawn, as white has 34.f4 Bf6 35.Nxd6]
34.Nxd6 Bxd6 35.Rxd6 Bxa2 36.Ra1 Rc1 37.Rxc1 Rxc1 38.Rxg6+ hxg6 39.Qxc1
White is now a pawn up but the game is not yet won, as the technical problems are considerable. Carlsen plays the final phase extremely accurately.
39…Qd6 40.h4 Bf7 41.h5 Kh7
[41…gxh5 42.Qc8+ Kg7 43.Qxf5 is good for White]
42.hxg6+ Kxg6 43.Qc2 b5 44.g4 Qe5
Not 44…Be6? 45.gxf5+ Bxf5 46.e4!
45.gxf5+ Kg7
[45…Kf6 46.Qc6+! Kxf5? (46…Kg7 47.f6+ Kh6 48.Qb6 intending f2-f4 and then his pawns march up the board; 46…Ke7 47.f6+! Qxf6 48.Qc5+ Kd8 49.Qxb5) 47.Bh3+ Kg5 48.f4+ is a royal fork]
46.Qe4 Qd6 47.Qh4 Bc4 48.Bf3 Qf6 49.Qxf6+ Kxf6 50.Be4 Ba2 51.f4 b4 52.Kf2 b3 53.Bd5 Kxf5 54.Kf3 Kf6 55.e4 Kg6 56.Ke3
Careful! The “obvious” 56.Kg4? Bb1! 57.Bxb3 Bxe4 is a draw.
56…Kh5 57.Kd4 Kg4 58.f5 Kg5 59.Ke5 1 — 0
Thanks Filipino GM. That was an interesting read.
keep the good work khaled 🙂
New Russian chess champion
Under Imperialist Russia, the first Champion was Emanuel Schiffers who in 1874 defeated Andrey Chardin in a match held in St. Petersburg (+5 -4). He held this title until Mikhail Chigorin defeated him in a match also held in St. Petersburg in 1879 (+7 -4 =2).
After the formation of the USSR the USSR Chess Championship was established as the national championship. However the Russian championship continued to exist as the championship of the Russian Soviet Federation Socialist Republic (RSFSR). The first two USSR championships in 1920 and 1923 were also recognized as RSFSR championships — the champions were Alexander Alekhine (1920) and Peter Romanovsky (1923). The powerhouse cities Moscow and Leningrad were considered chess centers in their own right and held their own championships — these players were ineligible to play in the RSFSR championship.
After the Soviet Union broke up in December 1991 the Russian Championship has become the premier national competition in the world (players from Moscow and St. Petersburg were, of course, now allowed to participate
Here are the Champions starting 1992:
1992 Aleksei Gavrilov
1993 Alexei Bezgodov
1994 Peter Svidler
1995 Peter Svidler
1996 Alexander Khalifman
1997 Peter Svidler
1998 Alexander Morozevich
1999 Konstantin Sakaev
2000 Sergey Volkov
2001 Alexander Motylev, on tiebreak over Alexander Lastin
2002 Alexander Lastin
2003 Peter Svidler, on tiebreak over Alexander Morozevich
2004 Garry Kasparov
2005 Sergei Rublevsky
2006 Evgeny Alekseev, after a playoff match with Dmitry Jakovenko
2007 Alexander Morozevich
2008 Peter Svidler, after a play-off with Evgeny Alekseev and Dmitry Jakovenko
2009 Alexander Grischuk
The 2010 edition saw a comeback win by Nepomniachtchi — he was trailing Karjakin by half a point going into the last round but the Ukrainian-turned-Russian Karjakin surprisingly lost to Malakhov and they went into tie-breaks.
The first two tie-break games were played at 25 minutes + 10 seconds per move and they were both drawn, although Karjakin had the better of both games. Now they entered the colorfully titled Armageddon play-off: Karjakin had white and 6 minutes, while Nepomniachtchi black and 5 minutes with draw odds, meaning if the game was drawn then he is considered the winner. Karjakin got a winning game but could not convert and it was ultimately drawn, so Nepo was declared the champion.
Nepomniachtchi was born in 1990, same as Magnus Carlsen (currently the highest rated player in the world with 2814) and Sergey Karjakin (the youngest-ever GM in history — he got the title at the age of 12 years and 7 months. He is also no. 5 in the rating list as of January 2011 with 2776). Around three years ago these three players were hailed as the future of world chess.
Whereas Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin have quickly risen to the top, Nepomniachtchi won the European Youth Chess Championship three times, in 2000 in the U10 class and in 2001 and 2002 in the U12 class. In 2002 he also won the World Youth Chess Championship in the U12 class. However, after that promising start he faded a bit and it is only recently that he has resumed his climb up the rating ladder. He won the powerful Aeroflot Open and is the reigning European Champion. This new victory further bolsters his reputation, and at 2733 is now ranked 15th in the world.
Peter Svidler, a record five-time champion, was leading up to round 8, but this crucial encounter in the 9th round knocked him back and allowed Nepo to grab a share of the lead with Karjakin.
Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2720) — Svidler, Peter (2722) [C45]
63rd ch-RUS Moscow RUS (9), 20.12.2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4
Against 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 Ian usually plays the Spanish (3.Bb5) and once in a while the Italian (3.Bc4). For this tournament his secret weapon was the Scotch Game, which he had not previously ever played before. It was quite a success — after Karjakin routed him in round 3, he righted the applecart with a Scotch win over Tomashevsky. Ian used it again in the rapid play-offs vs Karjakin and they drew.
3…exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6
In Nigel Davies’ book on “Play 1.e4 e5!” he advises amateurs to avoid the complications of this line and instead suggests:
“Black’s simplest and most economical answer to the Scotch is 4…Bc5. I’m not the only one to think so, as 1…e5 specialists like Short, Beliavsky and Romanishin also play this way.
“Kasparov’s preference of 5.Nxc6 should probably be regarded as the main line these days, when I suggest 5…Qf6 6.Qd2 dxc6 7.Nc3 Ne7 8.Qf4 Be6!?”
5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.c4 Ba6 9.Nd2 g6 10.Nf3!?
Not a new move but a bit of a sideline. Usually the game goes 10.b3 Bg7 11.Bb2 Nb4 12.Nf3 c5 13.g3 with a full-bodied fight ahead of us.
10…Qb4+ 11.Kd1 Nb6
Does this knight belong on b6 or on e7? Leko, Aronian and Caoili (undestandable, since she is Aronian’s girlfriend) all encountered this position in 2010 and opted for 11…Rb8 followed by Ne7.
12.b3 Bg7 13.Qd2 Qe7
Black’s compensation for his bad pawns is the exposed enemy king, so of course he does not want to exchange queens.
14.Bb2 0 — 0 15.Kc2 c5 16.h4 d5?!
It is not clear why Svidler goes for this, as queens now go off the board and he is faced with a dreary endgame.
17.exd6 Qxd6 18.Bxg7 Qxd2+ 19.Nxd2 Kxg7 20.Ne4 Nd7 21.Rd1
Methinks 21.h5 should also be considered. Later on this pawn on h4 becomes a weakness.
21…Bb7 22.Nc3
Better than 22.Rxd7 Bxe4+ where after Rac8 White can make nothing of his rook on the 7th rank.
22…Nf6 23.f3 Rfe8 24.Bd3 a5 25.Rhe1 Bc6 26.Nb5 Rxe1?
It was imperative to play 26…a4 to remove the a-pawns from the board. Now it becomes a weakness for Black and ultimately causes his downfall.
27.Rxe1 Re8 28.Rxe8 Nxe8 29.Kb2
White has the simple idea of Kc2-b2-a3-a4xa5.
29…Kh6
Svidler’s response to White’s overtures against his a5-pawn is to go against the white h4-pawn.
30.Be2!
In order to be able to reply to …Kh5 with g2-g3.
30…Ng7?
Black goes after the h4-pawn with his knight, but it takes too long. 30…g5! was necessary so that he can make progress against the White king-side pawns.
31.Ka3!
Perhaps Svidler was counting on 31.Nxc7 Nf5 after which he gets the h4-pawn and it is not clear if White still has the advantage. Or maybe he had overlooked White’s 35th move in the game.
31…Nf5 32.Ka4 Nxh4 33.Bf1 Nf5 34.Kxa5 Ne3
Position after 34…Ne3
Nepo had to have seen this position when he played Ka3.
35.Nxc7! Nxf1 36.Kb6 Bd7 37.Nd5 Kg7?
After 37…Nd2 38.Kxc5 Kg5 39.b4 Kf5 40.b5 Black is not much better than in the game — the white pawns are hard to stop.
38.a4! Bc8
[Or 38…Nd2 39.a5 Nxb3 40.a6 Nd4 41.a7 Bc6 42.Kxc5 with an easy win]
39.Ne7 1 — 0
So what is Nepomniachtchi doing right? Why the sudden surge of chess strength? Nepo explained this himself in a recent interview:
“Of course even back then it was flattering to hear that I was a gifted guy (laughs). That didn’t do me any good. All the wins came too easily and I was crushing my contemporaries without a struggle. At such an age it’s difficult to control your character. I experienced a long and protracted case of “star illness.” But, having matured, I’ve got over it. And now I’ve begun being tougher on myself and results have followed. During the time I was standing still Carlsen and Karjakin took a solid lead. Particularly Magnus. Now it won’t be easy for me to make up the lost ground, but the desire to play chess, and play it well, has reawoken in me.”
Wise words. To all those Wesley So fans out there, this is the same thing — he zoomed up the chess ratings quickly and crushed everybody in his path, but upon reaching the world elite found that all is not as easy as he had experienced so far. After an adjustment phase which I think is what he is going through right now, he will start overwhelming everybody again.
خوش معلومات قيمه …. وخوش خلفيه حق السايت
وحش بولااد
Hello, how about GCC Team Ch in 2009 and 2010?
Thank you olimpbase for visiting again. As for your query about the GCC team chess tourney ’09, it was cancelled. It was supposed to take place in Kuwait. However, due to a lack of funding, the GCC tournament was placed on “hold.” So far, we don’t know if it might take place again. It’s possible that it won’t take place for another year or two.
Hi Khaled,
I added you in chesscube.com
Ortiz
I am hoping to learn the game!
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Dear Sir/Ma’am
I Rethu Alex Mathew like to join be part chess tournament member. Kindly informe what should I do.
Dear Sir/Ma’am
I am Deepak jyotishi from India like to join be part chess tournament member. Kindly informe what should I do.