|
REPORT 2
CHESS GRANDMASTER
NIGEL SHORT ARRIVES
English
Grandmaster Nigel Short became the highest ranked chess player to officially
visit Jamaica, when he arrived in the island from London last Friday.
Short was met at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) by a contingent
from the Jamaica Chess Federation (JCF) led by JCF President Ian Wilkinson.
After a brief stop in the airport VIP Lounge, he was whisked away to the
Pegasus Hotel, one of the sponsors of the visit. The other sponsor, Avis
Car Rentals provided transportation for the duration of the visit.
On Saturday morning, Short held a three hour session at the Norman Manley
Law School, during which he spoke on a wide range of topics, including
his development as a chess player, the performance of the world governing
body for chess, achieving success in chess, parallels between cricket
and chess, the value of computers in chess, his greatest achievements,
the value of international exposure, motivating junior players and chess
in the Olympics.
In the afternoon, Short conducted a simultaneous exhibition. This activity
involved him playing 33 players, including 7 of Jamaicas National Masters,
on 33 separate boards, all at the same time. After about 5 gruelling hours,
Short had registered 28 victories and 5 draws. The five players who managed
to secure draws included current National Champion Warren Elliott, National
Masters Malaku Lorne and John Powell, JCF President Ian Wilkinson and
JCF Vice President Peter Myers.
On Sunday, Short held a three-hour closed session with the National Mens
and Womens squads, who are now preparing for the Chess Olympiad scheduled
for May 2006.
The final stop on Shorts itinerary is a courtesy call on the Governor-General
on Monday morning. He is scheduled to leave for Cuba Monday afternoon.
END
CHESS
GRANDMASTER NIGEL SHORT TO VISIT JAMAICA
Photo of Grand Master
Nigel Short in the above picture
The
Jamaica Chess Federation in association with the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel
and Avis-Rent-A-Car Limited, will be hosting International Chess Grandmaster
Nigel Short from January 06 to 09.
While in Jamaica, Grandmaster Short will be involved in various chess
activities, including a simultaneous chess exhibition against a number
of local players and a chess workshop.
The 40-year-old Short, who hails from England, is currently ranked number
27 in the world. He was for many years the number two chess player in
the world, behind the legendary Russian Grandmaster Garry Kasparov, the
13th world champion, against whom Short unsuccessfully battled for the
world title in 1993.
A child prodigy, Short qualified for the British Chess Championships three
days before his 12th birthday and went on to win British Championships
in 1984 (the same year he became a grandmaster), 1987 and 1998. He was
also the English champion in 1991. En route to battling Kasparov for the
world title, he defeated another legendary Russian Grandmaster Anatoly
Karpov, the 12th world champion, and regards this victory as his greatest
chess achievement.
Short has been widely acclaimed as the greatest British chess player of
the 20th century and one of the greatest chess players of all time. Apart
from his successes in the United Kingdom, he has won numerous chess tournaments
around the world in places such as Azerbaijan, China, Chile, Denmark,
Estonia, France, Hungary, Iceland, India, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and
Venezuela just to name a few!
Amazingly, after more than twenty years, the well-travelled Short has
remained one of the worlds top grandmasters, blossoming into a fantastic
chess journalist. He has written chess columns for The Sunday Telegraph
and The Guardian in the UK and the ultra-popular Chessbase website. He
has also reported on many chess events around the world, including the
recent FIDE world chess championships held in San Luis, Argentina.
END
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Photos
Ring in the New Year with Photo Calendars. Add photos, events, holidays,
whatever.
|
