2014 Chess Olympiad - Tromso
08-05-2014
, 01:54 PM
08-05-2014
, 05:03 PM
08-05-2014
, 05:38 PM
Quote:
Incredible postmortem with Peter Leko: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SibW-A1jnXQ. Normally I don't find these too interesting, but this one is great -- the tactics are so pretty, and Leko's commentary is instructive rather than merely descriptive.
08-06-2014
, 01:05 PM
Quote:
Incredible postmortem with Peter Leko: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SibW-A1jnXQ. Normally I don't find these too interesting, but this one is great -- the tactics are so pretty, and Leko's commentary is instructive rather than merely descriptive.
thanks for sharing
08-06-2014
, 05:00 PM
08-06-2014
, 11:14 PM
08-08-2014
, 06:26 PM
08-08-2014
, 06:29 PM
08-08-2014
, 08:03 PM
So good to see Abdoulaye Sy finally get some recognition! Ok, they messed up, he is not the highest rated guy ever, but Sy has been a legend in his own right and every true chess lover should know him.
When I was still a kid, my coach at that time told me a story about the chess player he admired the most. My coach has met multiple world champions during his life so I was very surprised when he said: "It's a story about Abdoulaye Sy".
In his native Senegal, Sy has been known in chess circles as the biggest chess prodigy the country has ever seen. His uncle taught him the moves when he was 4 years old and after that he just took on learning it by himself. Those who had seen him play at a tender age of six said that he had an almost Capablanca like aura about him - he just knew where to put the pieces, even at that age. Of course people were probably exaggerating a bit, but his results spoke for themselves - after winning the U-14 section of Senegal Championship at the age of six, he also places 3rd in the U-20 Senegal Championship at the age of 8. And all that without any chess coaching!
The problem for Sy was that he came from a very, very poor family. Even though his parents were happy for his early success, they simply could not afford to let him NOT work in the fields now that he was 8 years old. And so Sy did, day in and day out for four years. Instead of honing his prodigious chess skills, he had to rot in the scorching African Sun for 10 hours a day.
And then, as if this was not enough, the cruel gods decided to test Sy and his hard working family even more - during his day off Sy was just roaming around with his friends when suddenly, completely out of nowhere, he went blind. Fully blind. To this day no one exactly knows why, but the most common theory is malnutrition.
This is where the story really gets going. See, Sy had a dream - he wanted to play chess outside of Senegal. Anywhere, it did not really matter where, he just wanted to test himself with foreign players. Most kids of his age, THAT JUST WENT BLIND, would probably forget this dream, but Sy didn't. He knew that his family could not afford to let him travel outside of Senegal so he realized that he has to somehow earn the money himself. He made a very tough decision - he had to run away from home and go to Dakar, the capital of Senegal.
Sy took all of his belongings with him (that was some clothes and his trusted wooden chess board) and convinced one of his best friends to help him. Together, after stealing some money from the local farmer, they took a bus to Dakar. In Dakar, they wondered mindlessly for hours until finally they came upon a large park. Sy knew that his friend can't stay with him much longer, so they said their goodbyes and Sy was suddenly completely alone, blind, in unknown city, sitting on a bench in the park. He did what everyone of us would do in his situation - he took out his chessboard and started playing for both sides. He was so immersed in his activity that he did not hear all the chatter that suddenly surrounded him - a crowd of people gathered and were watching in awe as he played.
Among those people was a young, successful lawyer. He played chess himself, so after watching the kid he immediately realized that he is very talented. Curious, he approached Sy and asked what is he doing there. Sy, who was scared that he might be caught and brought back home which would shatter his dream, was very shy about answering questions, but question after question the lawyer got the entire story. He said (not in English of course): "I admire your bravery, but it was a very stupid decision. You have to return to your family immediately, but I promise to sponsor one trip to a foreign chess tournament for you. How much money do you think you would need?"
"Bout Tree Fiddy".
When I was still a kid, my coach at that time told me a story about the chess player he admired the most. My coach has met multiple world champions during his life so I was very surprised when he said: "It's a story about Abdoulaye Sy".
In his native Senegal, Sy has been known in chess circles as the biggest chess prodigy the country has ever seen. His uncle taught him the moves when he was 4 years old and after that he just took on learning it by himself. Those who had seen him play at a tender age of six said that he had an almost Capablanca like aura about him - he just knew where to put the pieces, even at that age. Of course people were probably exaggerating a bit, but his results spoke for themselves - after winning the U-14 section of Senegal Championship at the age of six, he also places 3rd in the U-20 Senegal Championship at the age of 8. And all that without any chess coaching!
The problem for Sy was that he came from a very, very poor family. Even though his parents were happy for his early success, they simply could not afford to let him NOT work in the fields now that he was 8 years old. And so Sy did, day in and day out for four years. Instead of honing his prodigious chess skills, he had to rot in the scorching African Sun for 10 hours a day.
And then, as if this was not enough, the cruel gods decided to test Sy and his hard working family even more - during his day off Sy was just roaming around with his friends when suddenly, completely out of nowhere, he went blind. Fully blind. To this day no one exactly knows why, but the most common theory is malnutrition.
This is where the story really gets going. See, Sy had a dream - he wanted to play chess outside of Senegal. Anywhere, it did not really matter where, he just wanted to test himself with foreign players. Most kids of his age, THAT JUST WENT BLIND, would probably forget this dream, but Sy didn't. He knew that his family could not afford to let him travel outside of Senegal so he realized that he has to somehow earn the money himself. He made a very tough decision - he had to run away from home and go to Dakar, the capital of Senegal.
Sy took all of his belongings with him (that was some clothes and his trusted wooden chess board) and convinced one of his best friends to help him. Together, after stealing some money from the local farmer, they took a bus to Dakar. In Dakar, they wondered mindlessly for hours until finally they came upon a large park. Sy knew that his friend can't stay with him much longer, so they said their goodbyes and Sy was suddenly completely alone, blind, in unknown city, sitting on a bench in the park. He did what everyone of us would do in his situation - he took out his chessboard and started playing for both sides. He was so immersed in his activity that he did not hear all the chatter that suddenly surrounded him - a crowd of people gathered and were watching in awe as he played.
Among those people was a young, successful lawyer. He played chess himself, so after watching the kid he immediately realized that he is very talented. Curious, he approached Sy and asked what is he doing there. Sy, who was scared that he might be caught and brought back home which would shatter his dream, was very shy about answering questions, but question after question the lawyer got the entire story. He said (not in English of course): "I admire your bravery, but it was a very stupid decision. You have to return to your family immediately, but I promise to sponsor one trip to a foreign chess tournament for you. How much money do you think you would need?"
"Bout Tree Fiddy".
Spoiler:
08-09-2014
, 06:19 AM
08-09-2014
, 06:56 AM