Top women over 2500 (just as on the men's list, FIDE included Xie Jun and me while we are both inactive) Rk Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year 1 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2698 0 1976 2 Muzychuk, Anna g SLO 2606 0 1990 3 Hou, Yifan g CHN 2599 0 1994 4 Koneru, Humpy g IND 2593 0 1987 5 Polgar, Zsuzsa g USA 2577 0 1969 6 Xie, Jun g CHN 2574 0 1970 7 Zhao, Xue g CHN 2549 0 1985 8 Dzagnidze, Nana g GEO 2547 0 1987 9 Lahno, Kateryna g UKR 2542 0 1989 10 Ju, Wenjun wg CHN 2528 0 1991 11 Kosintseva, Nadezhda g RUS 2524 9 1985 12 Kosintseva, Tatiana g RUS 2524 9 1986 13 Sebag, Marie g FRA 2521 0 1986 14 Cmilyte, Viktorija g LTU 2520 0 1983 15 Cramling, Pia g SWE 2514 6 1963 16 Zatonskih, Anna m USA 2512 0 1978 17 Gunina, Valentina m RUS 2509 9 1989 18 Khotenashvili, Bela m GEO 2509 0 1988 19 Harika, Dronavalli g IND 2505 18 1991 20 Stefanova, Antoaneta g BUL 2502 0 1979 21 Chiburdanidze, Maia g GEO 2500 0 1961 How to Play Chinese Chess Thursday, March 1, 2012 | BY: THE EDITORS Chinese chess is never going to suddenly make the transition into becoming a cool pastime, but take it from us: Chinese chess is a lot more fun than its moniker at first lets on. Forget all about those boring queens and bishops; in China you get war elephants and flying cannons. The game represents a battle between two armies, one red and one black, facing off on opposite sides of a river. The object is to capture the enemy’s general (king). If you’re in China, check out the rules below before heading down to your local square, underpass or outside seating area and look for the huddles of people surrounding a board to find an interesting game. Observe until you think you’ve got the hang of it, then challenge an old pro and realize the depth of your ignorance. However, you should learn enough tricks so that when you challenge a friend, you can beat them a few times before they catch up! The rules The Chinese name xiangqi (象棋) means “elephant game,” referring to the elephant pieces. These are played on the intersections of the lines that criss-cross the chessboard. Players make one move at a time and generally capture other pieces using the same moves as in the Western chess game. Only the cannon has a special capture move, as described below. The game ends when one player captures the other’s general. Just like in Western Chess, a check should be announced. If the player’s general can make no move to prevent its capture, the situation is called ‘checkmate’, known as jiangsi (将死). How the pieces move The pieces are all flat circular discs with a black side and a red side, and they’re differentiated by the character on their top side. The general, 将 (jiàng) on the black side and 帅 (shuài) on the red side starts the game at the midpoint of the back edge (within the square “palace” with the diagonal lines). The general may move and capture one point horizontally, vertically or diagonally. The advisors, 士 (shì) on the black side and 仕 (shì) on the red begin on either side of the general and can only move and capture one point diagonally within the palace. The elephants, 象 (xiàng) on the black side and 相 (xiàng) on the red, are located next to the advisors. These pieces move and capture exactly two points diagonally and may not jump over intervening pieces. Their range of movement is described as being similarto the character 田 (Tián， field) when played out on the game board. Elephants are classified as defensive pieces and cannot cross the river. The horses, 马 (mǎ) for both colors, are located next to the elephants. A horse moves andcaptures one point either horizontally or vertically and then one point diagonally away from its former position. This move is often described as making the character 日 (rì) on the game board. The horse does not jump over pieces like the knight does in Western chess. Thus, if there is a piece lying one point horizontally or vertically from the horse, then the horse’s path of movement is blocked, and it is unable to movein that direction. The chariots are the same, 车 (chē) for both colors. The chariot moves and captures any distance either horizontally or vertically, but cannot move diagonally. They are very similar to the rook in Western chess and are seen as the strongest pieces in the game. The cannons, 砲 (pào) on the black side and 炮 (pào) on the red, start on the row behind the soldiers, two points in front of the horses (these points are marked on the board). Cannons move like the chariots—any distance horizontally or vertically without jumping—but can only capture by jumping a single piece (friendly or enemy) along their path. The cannon cannot jump over intervening pieces if it is not taking another piece, and it cannot take a piece without jumping. Cannons are powerful pieces at the beginning of the game when pieces are plentiful. The soldiers, 卒 (zú) on the black side and 兵 (bīng) on the red, are placed on the five alternating points one row back from the edge of the river (these points are individually marked on the board). They move and take pieces by advancing forward one point. Once they have crossed the river, they may also move (and capture) one point horizontally. Soldiers cannot move backwards. Good luck and have fun! Content courtesy of that’s China (Zhejiang). Leontxo García 14 SEP 2012 - 06:45 CET Archivado en: • Ajedrez • Deportes Recomendar en Facebook 19 Twittear 58 Enviar a LinkedIn 1 Enviar a Tuenti Enviar a Menéame Enviar a Eskup Enviar Imprimir Blancas: K. Azímova (Rusia, 2.050). Negras: A. Aranaz (España, 2.237).Defensa Caro-Kann (B13). Europeo sub 18 femenino. Praga, 21-8-2012. La sevillana Amalia Aranaz es, junto a la valenciana Irene Nicolás, la mayor esperanza del ajedrez español, mientras esperamos la evolución de niñas muy prometedoras, como la aragonesa María Eizaguerri, de 8 años. Aranaz mantiene una trayectoria muy sólida desde los 8: en el reciente Europeo sub 18 era la segunda cabeza de serie y logró la medalla de plata, tras la rusa Goryáchkina. Debutó con la selección absoluta en la Olimpiada de Ajedrez de 2010, y todo indica que volverá pronto: 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 exd5 cxd5 4 c4 Cf6 5 Cc3 Cc6 6 Ag5 dxc4 7 d5 Ce5 8 Dd4 h6 9 Dxe5 hxg5 10 Axc4 Ad7 11 Cf3 (contra 11 Dxg5 lo más sencillo es 11 ..Dc7 12 Ab3 Txh2 13 Txh2 Dxh2 14 Rf1 g6, y las negras estarían bien) 11 ..g4 12 Cd4 Th5 13 De2 Dc7 14 d6!? (Azímova apunta a la yugular, y tiene motivos para ello porque la defensa del rey negro requiere sangre fría y precisión; es verdad que el peón de h2 acabará cayendo, pero esa apuesta es a largo plazo) 14 ..Dxd6 15 0–0–0 a6 16 The1 Dc7 17 Rb1 Tc8 18 Ab3 b5 (una posición curiosa: las blancas tienen todas sus piezas en buenas casillas y bien coordinadas; sin embargo, no se ve ningún golpe directo porque la coraza negra funciona) 19 h3?! gxh3 20 gxh3 Db6 21 Cf3 Af5+ 22 Ra1 e6 23 Ce5 Txh3! 24 Cd5 (a primera vista, el ataque blanco asusta, pero Aranaz demostrará que tiene la posición bajo control) 24 ..Cxd5 25 Txd5 Txb3! 26 Cd7 (si 26 axb3 Da5 mate) 26 ..Da5 27 Txf5 (diagrama) (sólo falta una bonita guinda) 27 ..Txb2!! 28 Rxb2 Aa3+, y Azímova se rindió para evitar el mate. Correspondencia: [email protected] ¿QUÉ FUE DE ROBERT JAMES? (1) ¿Qué fue de Robert James? Muchos años atrás, la rue Saint-Jacques, en pleno Barrio Latino de París, estaba plagada de librerías esotéricas y de culto, como, por ejemplo, Shakespeare and Co., cuya propietaria, Sylvia Beach había editado, entre otras, una de las obras capitales de la literatura en el siglo XX: Ulises, de James Joyce. Muy cerca del Sena, tenía en esa calle su guarida Julien Guisle, un conocido problemista que firmaba con seudónimo (Julian Quike). La librería, que también era su vivienda, era un auténtico cuchitril, pero albergaba incontables tesoros ajedrecísticos. Todo lo que allí se vendía era de segunda mano. Había libros de todo tipo y condición, lo mismo que colecciones de revistas en todos los idiomas (rusas, inglesas, alemanas, yugoslavas, argentinas...) envueltas, por años, en un papel rústico y atadas con cordel. Imaginé que un Bobby Fischer cuarentón visitaba aquel antro mágico (tal ve lo había hecho) y rebuscaba con avidez por entre aquellas revistas y boletines de la estantería superior. Guisle, un hombre flaco, solitario y melancólico, sólo salía de la trastienda cuando era requerido. Dejaba entonces su eterna taza de té, apartaba la vieja cortina que separaba las dos dependencias y atendía al cliente. Ni siquiera envolvía la compra. No tenía con qué hacerlo. Cobraba y la transacción quedaba rematada. Fischer se iba con su botín y en el momento de abrir la puerta para salir, escuchaba la voz de Guisle que, cargada de reproche, le decía: "¿Por qué nos ha dejado usted?" Otra de mis visiones (para un improbable guión de cine) se fijaría también en el tiempo enigmático y pantanoso de los años ochenta.