Thursday, March 17

Young Reporters Interview Magnus Carlsen

Carlsen poses with two young reporters.  Photo by Dein Spiegel.

A pair of 13-year old reporters from Hamburg, Germany interviewed the World Champion prior to a celebrity simultaneous exhibition.  The two youngsters asked several unusual questions, including from whether he plays on Gameboy (no), dreams about chess (mostly important losses), or would skip a chess match to play a soccer game with Real Madrid (yes).

Many chess kids and their parents will smile at the following exchange.
Q: Magnus, when you were a child, did you cry after losing a chess game? And if yes: when did you stop doing so?

A: Who says that I am not crying today? ... Okay. I think, I was 16 when I last cried after losing a game. But you should not be ashamed of that. The tears only show that you are ambitious and that you want to achieve something.
Read more about this interview at the ChessBase news website

Wednesday, March 2

Women's World Championship

Muzychuk (white) vs Hou Yifan (black) - Credit: FIDE

Women's World Championship Match
March 2-18 @ Lviv, Ukraine
10 games (rapid tiebreaks if necessary)
Champion: Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) rated 2563
Challenger: Hou Yifan (CHN) rated 2667 (former Champion)

Score: Hou Yifan Wins 6.0-3.0

Game 1: Muzychuk 1/2 Hou Yifan :: Giuoco Pianissimo, 31 moves
Game 2: Hou Yifan 1-0 Muzychuk :: Open Ruy Lopez, 32 moves
Game 3: Muzychuk 1/2 Hou Yifan :: Closed Catalan, 36 moves
Game 4: Hou Yifan 1/2 Muzychuk :: Open Ruy Lopez, 21 moves
Game 5: Hou Yifan 1/2 Muzychuk :: Reti Opening, 33 moves
Game 6: Muzychuk 0-1 Hou Yifan :: Giuoco Pianissimo, 38 moves
Game 7: Hou Yifan 1/2 Muzychuk :: Open Ruy Lopez, 81 moves
Game 8: Muzychuk 1/2 Hou Yifan :: Queen Pawn Game, 44 moves
Game 9: Hou Yifan 1-0 Muzychuk :: Sicilian Boleslavsky, 46 moves