Category Archives: Chess
World Chess Championship to be postponed to 2021: FIDE chief – The New Indian Express
By IANS
MOSCOW: The World Chess Championship will "almost certainly be postponed to the next year," International Chess Federation (FIDE) President Arkady Dvorkovich has confirmed. The championship was scheduled to take place in Dubai in December and Dvorkovich said that the federation is looking at spring and autumn of 2021 as options.
"The match for the World Championship will almost certainly be postponed to the next year due to the current situation. We have already discussed this informally, and I think a formal decision will be made shortly. We are discussing various options both spring and autumn 2021, but we will announce everything later," Dvorkovich told Russian state-run agency TASS.
Dvorkovich also confirmed that the FIDE will hold its first online Chess Olympiad.
"This year's Olympiad was supposed to be held in Khanty-Mansiysk and Moscow, but we moved it to next year. And this year we will stage an online Olympiad, and in two or three days the registration of national teams for the tournament will begin. We want as many teams as possible to take part in the tournament we have 195 FIDE members. I don't know if all 195 teams can be involved."
"About 70 per cent of the countries will participate. The Olympiad will last almost a month. And then, indeed, we are determined to hold the second part of the Candidates Tournament in the autumn. As for location, the main option did not change Yekaterinburg. But if the current restrictions and the epidemiological situation do not allow us to hold the second part of the Candidates in this city, we will consider other venues."
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World Chess Championship to be postponed to 2021: FIDE chief - The New Indian Express
You Won’t Believe This Chess-Themed Puzzle – Chess.com
Most chess players can find beauty in chess puzzles, especially ones with clever tricks in the solution.
Check out this thrilling puzzle from our 2019 holiday quiz.
White to play and win:
That puzzle was tough, especially if you didn't catch the critical theme right away. But this next chess puzzle is not a chess puzzle at all.
Recently a video has been making the rounds in the gaming and math circles of the internet, and many who've watched it are shocked the puzzle is solvable with its stark and minimalist starting point.
It's a sudoku puzzle with some constraints based on chess rules.
If you're not familiar with sudoku, here are the rules:
To these standard conditions, the puzzle-maker Mitchell Lee has added two more restrictions that will make chess players feel right at home:
The expert solver is Simon Anthony, who quit his job at an investment bank to solve sudoku puzzles on YouTube.
He is initially flummoxed at the seeming inscrutability of the puzzle and believes he is being trolled by his YouTube partner. He even mentions stopping the video and calling his friend to berate him for the "impossible" challenge.
It's about this time we realize the old adage is true: There is nothing more exciting than watching a man solve a sudoku puzzle in real time.
The turning point could not have been scripted any better. The solver realizes the power of the chess-based rules and blurts out, "having said that," before getting started on the solution.
The rest of the video, which is absolutely worth watching for its full 25-minute runtime, becomes less about the mechanics of the puzzle and more about the solver's appreciation for the puzzle-maker's genius. The chess-based rules actually empower the solution to the minimalist starting puzzle.
The solver's YouTube channel, called "Cracking the Cryptic," has more of these sudoku puzzles with chess restrictions if you want to go down that rabbit hole. Here's another enjoyable real-time solving video of a chess-based sudoku.
If you'd rather stick to more traditional puzzles, many are available on Chess.com, including the quite addictive Puzzle Rush.
Give them a try, and let us know your favorite chess puzzles in the comments.
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You Won't Believe This Chess-Themed Puzzle - Chess.com
Chess great Kasparov slams NBA over ignoring China human rights violation – The Jerusalem Post
The prominent human rights activist and peerless chess grand master, Garry Kasparov, blasted the US National Basketball Association (NBA) on Tuesday for accommodating human rights violations carried out by the Chinese Communist Party against the Muslim minority Uyghur population.The NBAs concern for human rights stops right at the bank, Kasparov tweeted. China has Uyghur concentration camps and is preparing to crush Hong Kong and he talks of mutual respect? What a joke. In a follow up tweet, Kasparov wrote: "And are the NBA's supposed concerns limited to the US only, despite its claims about its global brand? Can players put 'Justice for Uyghers' or 'Save Hong Kong' or 'Democracy for Turkey; on their custom jerseys?"The chess great was responding to a statement from Adam Silver, the NBAs commissioner, who said he believes NBA-China relations have improved, saying ...they have a different view how things have been done, how things should be done. And hopefully, we can find mutual respect for each other.Sopan Deb, a journalist with The New York Times who reports on the NBA, tweeted Silvers remarks, prompting Kasparovs biting attack.In October 2019, a number of Chinese businesses pulled the plug on ties with the Houston Rockets after the teams general manager, Daryl Morey, expressed support for pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. Morey posted an image on Twitter that read, Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.Chinas Communist Party has waged a crackdown on democracy supporters in Hong Kong. The former British colony has sought to remain insulated from the Chinese communist system and its repressive policies against free speech and civil liberties.Chinese sponsors and advertisers suspended business with the Rockets. The NBA said at that time that Moreys views have deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China, which is regrettable.China passed a security law permitting it to exercise new powers over Hong Kong. The law went into effect on Tuesday and can impose life sentences on the following offenses: secession, subversion of the central government, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces.
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Chess great Kasparov slams NBA over ignoring China human rights violation - The Jerusalem Post
Charity Event Raises Over $7,500 For West Bengal, India – Chess.com
An Indian charity tournament held June 4-7 on Chess.com raised just over$7500 for the state of West Bengal, India, which was paralyzed by the Cyclone Amphan a couple of weeks ago. This event was a joint effort by Chess.com and Samay Raina, one of India's leading stand-up comedians.
The tournament was held in four categories on the Chess.com live server and was broadcast live on Raina's YouTube channel and on ChessTV. More than 2,000 users played across four days making this event a great success.
Guest appearances during the live show included GM Vidit Gujrathi, GM Adhiban Baskaran, Tanmay Bhat, Biswa Kalyan Rath, Raftaar, Abhishek Upmanyu, WFM Alexandra Botez, Vaibhav Sethia, and many more. The commentators included Samay Raina (host), IM Sagar Shah, and IM Rakesh Kulkarni (yours truly).
Here's the full show from day two for replay:
To participate in the event, users had to donate a minimum of $1.50 (INR 110 approx). A player could play on all four event days if their rating allowed. The rating groups were divided into four categories: 0-800, 0-1400, 0-1800 and one open to everyone on the final day.
There was an overwhelming response by Chess.com users throughout the globe with more than 2,000 players taking part across four days. On each event day, the players played a three-hour arena. Then, the top-four headed for a knockout to determine the top-four standings. The top four of every event won diamond memberships in prizes.
More importantly, $7,500 was collected by Chess.com donations and some more via other platforms and raised for the people affected by the Cyclone Amphan in West Bengal.
"I'm delighted with the response from the users and appreciate their generous contribution. I also hope they enjoyed playing it," said Raina, the instigator behind the event."Raising money was our main intention but it was great to see everyone come together and play for a noble cause. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did."
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Charity Event Raises Over $7,500 For West Bengal, India - Chess.com
Check, mate. Is this the worlds tiniest chess set? – The New Daily
Do you ever feel like playing chess, but then realise the pieces are too big and the board is huge?
Are you disappointed that you dont need a microscope to play?
Turkish micro-sculptor Necati Korkmaz has solved this problem.
Working six hours a day for more than six months, he has sculpted a chessboard he says is two times smaller thanthe current world record holder.
Mr Korkmaz has not yet applied to register his petite chess set with Guinness World Records, but hes sure he has unofficially broken the record.
The chessboard Mr Korkmaz made is 9mm by 9mm and the pieces are between 1.5mm and 3mm.
The current record for the worlds smallest hand-made chess set is held by Ara Ghazaryan, with a chessboard measuring 15.3mm by 15.3mm.
It is almost two times bigger than ours, Mr Korkmaz told Anadolu Agency.
We want to beat this record and bring it to Turkey.
He says the chess set, which is about the size of a thumbnail, is perfectly usable but you need a microscope and special sticks to play.
Micro-sculpture eyes Guinness Book with 9-milimeter chess set
Micro-sculpture eyes Guinness Book with 9-milimeter chess setA Turkish micro-sculptor has made the world's smallest handmade chess set breaking the previous record of his colleague in the U.S.A. Artist Necati Korkmaz has worked for six hours a day for six months and produced his latest sculpture, which he thinks will be a new entry in the Guinness Book.https://www.yenisafak.com/en/video-gallery/life/micro-sculpture-eyes-guinness-book-with-9-milimeter-chess-set-2204185
Posted by Yeni afak on Monday, June 8, 2020
The Turkish micro-sculptor has completed more than 40 other works that can only be seen via a magnifying glass or a microscope.
Among his artworks is a 2mm-doctor sculpture on a syringe needle to raise awareness for front-line medical workers fighting COVID-19.
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Check, mate. Is this the worlds tiniest chess set? - The New Daily
SwissSys Feature for Helping with Chess.com US Chess Rated Events – uschess.org
For Tournament Directors running events on Chess.com, SwissSys has been kind enough to add a new feature, from version 10.1 on, that will hopefully make the process of submitting US Chess rated events much simpler. Even better, its currently free to use for this purpose!
Once you have completed an event on Chess.com, you can download the crosstable and then open that file in SwissSys, which will open it up as a crosstable with all the players and results filled in. Then, using this new feature, SwissSys can import the US Chess ID numbers for any players that have registered with Chess.com as a US Chess member and linked their ID number to their Chess.com account. Once you have the US Chess IDs for all the players in your event you can then use SwissSys to create the US Chess rating files needed to upload into the TD/Affiliate area.
Here is a video showing you how to get the crosstable from Chess.com and the new feature in SwissSys.
Here are some important links for reference:
SwissSysChess.com US Chess Member Registration FormTD/Affiliate Support Area
We hope you enjoy this new feature and it makes rating Chess.com events with US Chess much simpler. Our thanks go out to both SwissSys and Chess.com for their efforts in assisting US Chess Tournament Directors!
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SwissSys Feature for Helping with Chess.com US Chess Rated Events - uschess.org
Chess | Viswanathan Anand returns home – The Hindu
Five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand returned to the city on Saturday evening after spending a week in quarantine at a hotel in Bengaluru.
Anand, who was in Germany for more than 100 days, can relax now that he is back home, but cant venture out of his room the health authorities guidelines prescribe another seven days of home quarantine.
Yes. Anand is fine. We are happy and relieved that he is here, Aruna Anand, the chess genius wife, told The Hindu.
Now this is the last part of the quarantine at home, we need to follow all the instructions by the health authorities. We are doing it in the strictest possible manner for everybodys safety.
Aruna said Anand had locked himself in his room.
In fact, when the car came, we stood at the gate of the building and he waved at us. We watched him go inside his room and shut himself.
We have aged people (Anands father and my mother at home) and my nine-year-old son Akhil. It is important that he stays separate so that nobodys health is compromised, she said.
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Chess | Viswanathan Anand returns home - The Hindu
Viince wins the ESL Mobile Open Auto Chess playoffs for season five – Dot Esports
Image via ESL
The playoffs for Auto Chess at the ESL Mobile Open season five wrapped up yesterday with Vincent Viince Truong coming out on top. Twenty-four players played 12 matches across three days to decide the top eight who will be moving on to the finals.
Related: Wildcard Gaming win ESL Mobile Open PUBG Mobile playoffs
Here are the leaderboards of the playoffs:
There was a three-way tie between Zath Zath Zen, Betyow, and Dawgbun for the eighth and last available position to the finals. Ultimately, Zath came out on top due to better average placements in the playoffs.
Theres a lot of really good players that made it, second-placed Chokegod said on being asked about the top eight players in a post-match interview. I am really glad that Joseph and Betyow didnt make it. They are obviously really good people who I would have loved to meet in the finals. They are also extremely good players but I dont think the lobby is a lot weaker without them.
The 24 qualified players for the playoffs were divided into three groups of eight players each. All players played 12 matches in their own group to earn points. In the end, the points from all groups were tallied to decide the top eight players.
Here are the group-wise results of the playoffs:
The ESL Mobile Open season five features PUBG Mobile, Asphalt 9: Legends, Auto Chess, and Clash of Clans. Top teams and players will make their way through the qualifiers and the playoffs to compete in the finals. The season five finals will likely be an offline event if the coronavirus pandemic allows that to happen. Details about the finals still havent been revealed.
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Viince wins the ESL Mobile Open Auto Chess playoffs for season five - Dot Esports
Maharashtra Chess Association hosts grand five-day Blitz Grand Prix – The Bridge
While the country is battling with coronavirus and almost every other sport has taken a hit, online chess thrives despite the hurdles as LetsUp brings a unique five-day Blitz Grand Prix tournament that commenced on June 3 and hosted by the Maharashtra Chess Association.
The Blitz tournaments will take place every Wednesday with a total prize fund of INR 155000each having the total prize fund of INR 25000 and top five GP finishers will get a total of INR 30000. Each of the tournament which will be hosted every Wednesday from June 3 to July 1 will be sponsored by Nasik District and Novel, Ahmednagar District and Narendra Firodia Unicorp, Pune District and Amanora, Jalgaon District and Jain Irrigation and h2e, and lastly, the Sangali District and Chitale Bandhu.
Entry is free for GMs, IMs, WGMs and WIMs. Entry fee for others is 250 for each tournament and 1,000 for registering all five events of the GP. The event is open to players all over the world. Registration for each event will close on the previous day of event i.e. Tuesday at 8 p.m. IST.
A player would get GP Points for finishing in the top 10 of every event. At the end of five events, all the points will be added. However, only the score of the best four events will be considered for the Grand Prix Prize money. For eg. If a player finishes first, second, third, fourth, and fifth in the five events, then his/her score of only the first four events will be counted.
GM Vaibhav Suri
The five-day event will see popular names from India and abroad taking part, which includes Grandmasters R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh, P Iniyan, Andres Carlos Obregon, Bilel Bellahcene, among others.
Grand Prix points will be earned after participation in every tournament. The individual with the maximum points will be awarded the prize money. In case of a tie, the prize money will be shared. The entry fee can be paid at mcgrandprix.chessbase.in.
On June 3, GM Vugar Rasulov of Azerbaijan won LetsUp MCA GP Blitz 1. Vugar scored an unbeaten 8.5/10 to win the tournament. Four players Vaibhav Suri, Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara of Peru, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa finished a half-point behind the champion at 8.0/10 and were placed second, third, fourth and fifth respectively.
On June 3, GM Vugar Rasulov of Azerbaijan won LetsUp MCA GP Blitz 1
The Azerbaijani GM currently leads the GP standings and he will receive 6500 for winning Blitz 1. Vaibhav will get 4000 and Martinez won 2500 cash respectively.
Total 132 players including 28 GMs, 26 IMs and 10 WIMs from India, Algeria, Argentina, Chile, Egypt, Indonesia, Peru, Russia, Serbia, USA, Uzbekistan took part in this 10 Round event.
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Maharashtra Chess Association hosts grand five-day Blitz Grand Prix - The Bridge
Chess Official In Iran Fired Over His Daughter’s Hijab – Iran News By Radio Farda
A chess official in Iran says the Islamic Ministry of Sports has pressured him to resign from all his sports activities because his daughter "had not respected the so-called Islamic dress code".
Former owner of the Sepid Roud-i Rasht soccer club, Keyumars Bayat has been the head of Gilan Province Board of Chess for the past twelve years.
His daughter, Shohreh Bayat, who is a prominent instructor of referees at the International Chess Federation (FIDE), has been accused of not observing the Islamic hijab at FIDE Womens World Championship (4-25 January 2020) in Shanghai and Vladivostok. She did not return to Iran after the event.
"If the Ministry of Sports concludes that by eliminating me it will win Iran's Chess Federation's election and installs its nominee at the helm, it will be a golden page in my records of honor that the ministry sees my absence at the election as its political success", Bayat has asserted in a public letter.
Bayat's daughter, Shohreh, is a senior member of the FIDE Referees Committee who, for the first time, was a chief arbiter at the Chess World Cup, in Russia. For a long time, 32-year-old Shohreh Bayat was the secretary of the Iranian Chess Federation.
Following her decision to remain abroad and seek asylum in the U.K., Ms. Bayat told the BBC Radio 4 on January 5, 2020, that she feared to return to Iran because she worried about retaliation for protesting Irans strict hijab law, which forces women in the country to cover their hair and dress modestly.
While insisting that she had her scarf on at the championship, Bayat immediately asserted, "People should have the right to choose the way they want to dress, it should not be forced".
If I had returned to Iran, Bayat bitterly said, they would have punished me with imprisonment, 75 lashes, and probably invalidating my passport.
"The human rights situation in Iran is catastrophic," Ms. Bayat said, adding, "Iranian women are still fighting to enter the stadiums. Iranian women do not have the right to ride bicycles and even choose their clothing. Iranian women need global support. Life is very hard under daily harassment. I hope Iranian women will be free in the future."
Almost six months after the row over Shohreh's Bayat's loose hijab, her father says that the Islamic Republic authorities are after him.
The only reason behind exerting "political pressure" on me, Bayat insisted in his public letter, is his daughter's decision to stay outside Iran.
Bayat believes that people should not be punished for their relatives' wrong-doings. "Why did God not dismiss Noah as a prophet for his son's thoughts? Perhaps the Ministry of Sports' thinking is beyond divine wisdom," Bayat sarcastically said, while thanking the local sports department for resisting 'injustice' (his dismissal) for twenty days.
Earlier, Iranian women's chess star, Mitra Hejazipour had also refused to wear a headscarf during the World Championships and went against her opponents without observing the Islamic hijab.
Mitra Hejazipour, 27, was fired from the Iranian national team in 2020 for "removing her headscarf (hijab) during the World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship in Moscow". Hejazipour asserted at the time that the hijab is a "limitation, not protection, as official regime propaganda claims. She currently lives in France.
The world's chess prodigy, Alireza Firouzja has also decided to compete under the FIDE flag after the Islamic Republic Ministry of Sports decided to keep the Chess national team away from the world championship to uphold its "unwritten law" banning Iranian athletes from playing against their Israeli counterparts.
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Chess Official In Iran Fired Over His Daughter's Hijab - Iran News By Radio Farda