July 4 2022, 2:09 pm | BY Ricki Green | No Comments A blog by Damon Stapleton, chief creative officer, The Monkeys New Zealand.

The French Riviera. A sunny place for shady people. Somerset Maughan

When it comes to Cannes and advertising, people often start with whats wrong with it. I dont want to do that after a million zoom calls over the last couple of years. I would rather write about the joy of Cannes. And the joy comes from those mad people you see fleetingly every five years or so. People.

So, if you dont mind, I would like to start in another place full of people. To be specific, Brick Lane in London.

In the middle of a mile-long market I found a beret-wearing cigar-smoking man who could have been from a variety of European countries, playing chess against all comers. He was doing it for free. He was doing it because it made him happy. He reminded me how important it is to do things simply because they are fun.

There was a small crowd that began to grow as he played a young woman who had evidently been there the weekend before. She had been practicing all week and in a beautiful twist she beat our possibly French hero. There was applause and laughter. There was clapping of hands. Grumpy Londoners were delighted to be there. There was joy.

Joy. For a few years we were trapped in our own worlds. And then we were all in the same one.

There is a beautiful line in the Lawrence Kasdan 1991 movie Grand Canyon which is, Never go to the Grand Canyon alone. Perhaps, this is what Cannes was about this year. The festival was great but being with all those crazy people you hadnt seen for years was really special. The tribe found itself. And then we carry on for another year.

Cannes is not perfect by any means. I have been going for more than a decade. It has made me very angry and very happy and probably everything else. There is work that wins that I believe shouldnt. There is work I have done that I think should have done better. And I am sure every creative in the world feels that way. With at least 30,000 entries that will never change.

Cannes has also become massive. It is now a festival that encompasses a multitude of industries and channels. I hear gaming will be introduced next year. So if you think its big now, hold onto your hats. This is of course the problem. If advertising is everything and everywhere, how do you have a finite festival for it? Where is the centre of creativity? Maybe a topic for another blog.

More than a few people have said to me its lost its centre or soul. People complain about the size of the boats, how much ros is consumed and the kind of work that wins. This kind of criticism has happened ever since I first landed on that scary runway in Nice 15 years ago. All of this may or may not be true depending on your point of view. The truth is, each time I go I either have a brilliant time or a terrible time. There is no in between. Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that it has far more to do with me and where I am at in my career than the place itself. Cannes is a strange mirror. It is always just what is happening right now. Good and bad.

So what did the mirror show me this time? It showed me that there is no substitute for being there. It showed me there is no substitute for seeing all those crazy people that make advertising fantastic. Something we should be way prouder of than we are. The people are the place.

Like that cheering crowd in Brick Lane watching chess. It didnt make sense but it made sense to us. Isnt that what living is? People were excited again. Just because we were there. It made us happy because it was fun.

I saw junior teams in Cannes who were there for the first time with wide eyes and wider smiles. They were inspired. They realised how big their universe truly was. You could see nothing was going to stop them. I dont think there is a value or price you can put on that feeling. Our industry should not take it for granted. Especially if you are trying to do difficult things.

Perhaps I, like many of us, have become a little jaded by the passing parade over the years. But this Cannes I remembered what it felt like the first time I went to the South of France. I loved the ideas. I loved the adventure of it all. I loved the people. I saw the potential.

I was a creative not a critic.

This year, after a two year winter the sun came out. I think we all needed this. It felt like normality again. It felt like life and living. The world felt open again. And that felt joyous.

My shady people had found their sunny place once again.

damonsbrain.com

Read more:
Damon Stapleton: The chess player in Brick Lane and the joy of Cannes. - Campaign Brief

The Chess Olympiad is the most respected team event in chess, first held in 1928. This year, the 44th Olympiad takes place in Chennai, India from July 28 through August 9, and Chess.com will be here with all the coverage. More than 100 countries will be competing to win gold, silver, and bronze medals and the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy for best combined performance of the open and women's teams.

Chess.com will be covering this prestigious international event on all our usual channels: our Events page, ChessTV, Twitch, and YouTube. Don't miss a minute of the action!

It's been four years since the last Olympiad after the 2020 edition was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Back in 2018, GMs Ding Liren and Ju Wenjun led China to a sweep in both the Open and the Women's events.

Among the favorites in 2022 are China, host nation India, and the 2016 open champions, the United States, who will be represented in the open section by GMs Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Wesley So, Leinier Dominguez, and Sam Shankland.

Be sure to tune in to our coverage starting July 29! Let us know in the comments which countries and players you'll be rooting for!

Here is the original post:
Announcing Chess.com Coverage Of The 2022 Chess Olympiad - Chess.com

Issued on: 22/06/2022 - 15:13

Anastasiya Rakhmangulova emerged as the best woman player at the recently held rapid and blitz chess tournaments at Port Marly near Paris. The Woman International Master from Ukraine scored 9.5 points (in 13 rounds) and 6.5 points (in 9 rounds) in the blitz and rapid events respectively.

Even though Rakhmangulova is now playing tournaments across Europe, focusing on chess has been a tough task for her since 24 February, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. On that day, the 27-year-old woke up, with horror and confusion, in her Kyiv apartment to the sounds of air-raid sirens.

I couldnt understand what was going on. When I realised it, there was a really short time to pack my essentials. I took just my laptop, a few clothes and some food cans, she said.

Along with her mother, Rakhmangulova spent one week in a bomb shelter in Kyiv before deciding to evacuate Ukraine.

It was impossible for me to stay there longer. It was really hard for me mentally, more than physically, she said. Rakhmangulova and her mother eventually managed to move to the Czech Republic.

Despite leaving Ukraine, Rakhmangulova said she had war-related nightmares for a month afterwards.

It was only after a month that I managed to resume my chess training, she said. She also started a fundraising campaign to help her fellow citizens impacted by the war.

So far, I have raised 5000 euros that has goneto volunteers, army and people who suffered from the war.

According to Rakhmangulova, chess has been of great help to her in recenttimes.

When training or playing in tournaments, I find myself insulated from the outside world. Moreover, tournaments are also a means to make people aware about the situation in my country, she said.

She is still unclear as to what she will do in the immediate future but shesaid she is considering a return to Kyiv soon.

It is really hard for me to make the right decision. I have been afraid of war since my earliest childhood. I am afraid of going through it again. But, on the other hand, I really miss my country, she said.

In chess, her immediate aim is to become a Woman Grandmaster (WGM).

Read this article:
Chess in a time of war: The struggles of a Ukrainian woman master - RFI English

Optical Illusion Picture today is a painting by Canadian artist Robert Gonsalves. You just need to check if you saw the boy playing chess or the boy pointing at the castles below. Know your key habits based on what you see.

Optical Illusion: Chess Board or Castles

Optical Illusion painting- Chess Board or Castles: Optical illusion paintings created by the famous Canadian painter, Robert Gonsalves have taken the internet by storm. His Optical Illusion artwork has no bounds and you would have realised this in our previous articles. Check the link below to read it.

The Canadian artist, Robert Gonsalves, creates mind-bending illusions that twist the brains of the users in such a way that they fail to see what is real and remain in illusion and imagination.

Optical Illusions affect your brain both positively and negatively. The pictures are even used by various psychologists to find out what is going on inside the emotional part of the brain. These brain teasers, no wonder, reveal a lot about you without you realising it.

Check the painting created by Robert Gonsalves here. In this painting below you can see a child with his grandfather who is maybe teaching him how to play chess or is waiting for him to play his next move. But what do you see first? A boy who is playing chess on a bigger board or some castles on land with a patch of grass?

Did you not still realise that the boy on the terrace is watching the castles on the grass. We can show you better through this picture. It all depends on the perspective.

Check the castles pointed out and bow look at the painting above. You may no longer see the big chess board with a small boy playing it now. Check below, what your key habits are based on what you saw first.

In case you saw the small boy playing big chess board with his grandfather by the side waiting for his turn, you have a habit of going by the cover of the book. You are an outgoing person and make many friends. Your habits include pointing out the mistakes of others as well. You generally like going with the flow.

In case you saw a boy looking at castles, you are one of the people who see beyond what people want. You need clarity in whatever you do. You are decisive as a person and you plan a lot. Sometimes that habit of yours gives you setbacks as you are not always able to achieve what you plan. This is when you tend to lose control of your emotions.

The readers must note that this interpretation is based on popular studies and notions and does not intend to hurt anyone. The habits mentioned do not hold true for every person and are not a universal truth. However, optical illusions analysis is always fun to read as they can depict details about people who do not really know themselves inside out.

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Read more:
Optical Illusion: Chess Board Or Castles? What You See First In This Painting Reveals Your Key Habits - Jagran Josh

Twitch streamer xQc, real name Felix Lengyel, was not flattered when a fellow content creator and fan urged him to stop broadcasting sponsored gambling sessions and switch back to chess instead. xQc has been down this road many times before and since he decided to switch to an all-open endorsement of gambling on his channel.

As one of the most-watched content creators on the Amazon-owned platform, this decision was bound to ruffle some feathers, including those of his father who lambasted the streamer publicly. The fan was clearly taking an issue with the fact that xQcs position changed rapidly from one of apologizing about having ever streamed gambling content to one that openly endorsed the practice.

Naturally, xQcs Twitch chat and Reddit forums have been filled with opinions for and against the streamers choice to stream gambling. Other content creators, to name Asmongold, Mizkif, and Amouranth have all weighed in on this moral choice.

On Sunday, a fan decided to take another shot at dissuading xQc from pursuing his hobby, but instead of going to xQcs channel, the streamer decided to record a separate video. xQc came upon this video while browsing Reddit where a topic called Juicer begs xQc to stop gamba and play chess again caught his attention.

So, xQc decided to watch. He didnt dwell much on this appeal, but simply said Chess? Thanks, man. He then continued with his stream seemingly unperturbed by the latest poke at his life choices. xQc has become somewhat inured by people constantly appealing and urging him to do one thing instead of another.

An issue to some has been the fact that he should be a role model, but Asmongold, a wide-mouth streamer who got recently banned from Twitch over Diablo Immortal shenanigans, said that nobody should expect streamers to be role models, and that they were just people and get to do whatever they want.

However, xQc has admitted to being an actual gambling addict while playing through huge piles of money. The streamer told his fans not to worry, though, because he was one of those lucky individuals who could afford to be a gambling addict. You may not want to be a role model, but this is definitely the wrong message to send, no matter what you do.

Here is the original post:
Twitch Streamer xQc Wont Take Chess over Gambling - GamblingNews.com