sports news update

Wijesuriya awarded FIDE Master title after long overdue :   Former national champion, Suneetha Wijesuriya has been awarded the Women FIDE Master title for her performance at the Chess Olympiad in Manila 1992, after a lapse of 20 years.  Luxman Wijesuriya, the Secretary of Chess Federation of Sri Lanka, revealed this to reporters on Sunday. “In the Chess Olympiad, in 1992, Suneetha Wijesuriya won the Gold medal, claiming 6.5 points out of 8 points possible. Wijesuriya received a golden prize for her untiring work towards the success of Chess in Sri Lanka. She celebrated the 20 years of winning the Gold medal at the Chess Olympiad couple of days ago, at Colombo Hilton, felicitating 20 highest Chess performers in Sri Lanka,” a statement said. Wijesuriya has been instrumental in promoting chess by conducting workshops and coaching clinics with the help of Russian Centre in Colombo.  She found the Sri Lanka Chess Foundation and served as its president for many years before b...

Chess trivia :   Can you name this famous player? Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar

Chess playground : The 57th International Belgrade Book Fair is being held between October 21 and October 28, 2012, under the official slogan “From A to Z”, and hosts 478 publishers from the country and abroad.  This year’s Guest of Honor Country is Hungary, known for its strong and diverse literary and publishing tradition. This is an ideal opportunity for the neighboring country to present their writers, translators, publishers, distributors, and other representatives of Hungarian literary and culture. With support from OTP Banka Srbija a.d. , member of the OTP Bank Group based in Hungary, the famous Hungarian chess-player and strongest female player of all time – Judit Polgar – will be one of the featured authors on the Hungarian stand.  Judit Polgar will present her books for children “Chessplayground 1 and 2″, which will soon be published in Serbian language. She will also host a simultaneous chess exhibition on 25 boards in Hotel Metropol Palace. Last month sh...

Book Review: The French Connection : Arsenal The French Connection by Fred Atkins Published by GCR Books A book that is long overdue and one that needed to be written by a Francophile. Fred Atkins is that man. For GCR books, it is a brave tome upon which to launch themselves as publishers in their own right alongside the outstanding collection of reprints. The club, as the author points out, owes a great deal to their French manager. The second Golden Age  came at the hands – or mind – of Arsene Wenger and the feet of a veritable army of players from across the channel. They all get their moment in Atkins interesting angle on the modern history of Arsenal. Of course we might like to forget the contribution of some of them. Did I really want to learn more about Squillaci or Silvestre? Actually theirs are two chapters which shed more light on their careers, diverting attention away from the pitch and telling us more about the men. There is the other end of the spec...

Randy Wolf To Miss 2013 Season : Veteran left-hander Randy Wolf will undergo Tommy John surgery next week that will cause him to miss all of the 2013 season, writes Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun .  However, the 36-year-old told Connolly that he plans to return in 2014. Wolf also underwent Tommy John surgery in July of 2005 as a member of the Phillies, sidelining him for the remainder of the season and the first half of the 2006 season.  The lefty was picked up by the Orioles after he was released in the final season of his three-year deal with the Brewers.  Wolf posted a 5.65 ERA with 5.9 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 157.2 innings of work for the two clubs.

MLB to spotlight Stand Up To Cancer in Game 1 : Major League Baseball's annual rollout of community initiatives for Games 1-4 of the World Series will begin Wednesday with a focus on Stand Up To Cancer.

Dodgers' Jansen undergoes heart procedure : Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Kenley Jansen underwent a procedure to address his irregular heartbeat Tuesday and the team said he can begin physical activity "without restriction" in about a week.

Cubs Notes: Camp, Pitching, Bush : The Cubs flirted with the idea of trading Alfonso Soriano during the season and many have speculated that they could once again try to find a fit for him this winter.  Last week, however, Soriano said that he would be reluctant to join an AL club as a designated hitter.  Here's more out of Wrigley.. Right-hander Shawn Camp is the Cubs' only free agent this winter and team President Theo Epstein says that he is interested in having him back, tweets Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald .  Camp, who hooked on with the Cubs on a minor league deal in March, posted a 3.59 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 80 appearances last season. Epstein added that the Cubs will likely pursue two starting pitchers, either through trades or free agency, this winter, Miles writes.  The deadline deals of Ryan Dempster and Paul Maholm combined with the elbow injury to Matt Garza left the rotation short-handed last year. The Cubs gave Assistant GM...

Bobby V: Ortiz 'decided not to play anymore' : Former Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine on Tuesday said slugger David Ortiz sidelined himself after a brief return from an Achilles injury not because of soreness but because the team made a blockbuster deal that sealed their playoff fate.

Red Sox Notes: Ortiz, Ross, Farrell, Cherington : Earlier today, the Red Sox (re-)introduced John Farrell to the Boston media, two days after sending Mike Aviles north of the border to free him from the manager from his contract with the Blue Jays.  Here's more on the Red Sox.. In an interview with NBC's Bob Costas, former Red Sox skipper Bobby Valentine opined that David Ortiz quit on the team after their blockbuster deal with the Dodgers, writes Matthew Pouliot of HardballTalk .  " He realized that this trade meant that we’re not going to run this race and we’re not even going to finish the race properly and he decided not to play anymore. I think at that time it was all downhill from there, " said Valentine.  The slugger is currently working to iron out a new deal with Boston. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe ( via Twitter ) found it interesting that Farrell mentioned Cody Ross right away when asked about players that he has reached out to.  Ross is...

Giants confirm Zito as Game 1 starter : After playing a critical role in the Giants' run to the World Series, Barry Zito will start Game 1 of the Fall Classic against the Tigers on Wednesday evening at 5 p.m. PT on FOX.