Category Archives: Chess
Chess: your chance to enter the Winton British Solving Championship – Financial Times
This weeks puzzle is a chance to enter a national contest where FT readers traditionally perform strongly. White in the diagram, playing up the board, is to play and checkmate in two moves, against any black defence.
The puzzle is the first stage of the annual Winton British Solving Championship, organised by the British Chess Problem Society. This competition is open only to British residents, and entry is free. The prize fund is expected to be at least 1,200, plus awards to juniors.
To take part, simply send Whites first move to Nigel Dennis, Boundary House, 230 Greys Road, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon RG9 1QY or by email to winton@theproblemist.org.
Include your name, home address and postcode and mark your entry Financial Times. If under 18 on August 31 2019, give your date of birth.
The closing date is July 31. After that, all solvers will receive the answer and those who get it right will also be sent a postal round of eight problems, with plenty of time for solving.
The best 20-25 entries from the postal round plus the best juniors will be invited to the final in February 2021 (subject to Covid-19). The champion will qualify for the Great Britain team in the 2021 world solving championship, an event where GB is often a medal contender.
2369
The starter problem is tricky with an unusual twist. Obvious checks and captures rarely work. Double check your answer before sending it. Good luck!
NB: There is no Chess solution this week as our column focuses on the national competition above
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Chess: your chance to enter the Winton British Solving Championship - Financial Times
Cant play both at the same time, How Yuzvendra Chahal prioritised cricket over chess – Hindustan Times
India legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal has revealed the difficulties he faced as a youngster in balancing chess and cricket and the circumstance that led to him picking up cricket as a career.
Chahal, before carving a career for India in cricket was a brilliant chess player, participating in Nationals and representing India at the World Youth Chess Championship. But as the ventured into cricket, Chahal struggled to strike a balance between the two sports and made up his mind to concentrate on one.
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I played my first nationals of Chess in 1998 and at that time I was playing cricket as well. You cant play both sports at the same time. For Chess, you need 10 12 hours of training and then 6 8 hours for cricket was getting very difficult. So, when I came back from the World Cup, I told my father I will focus only on cricket. Chahal told S Badrinath on the show Mind Masters by MFORE on Star Sports.
Also Read | Your career will be over: Curtly Ambrose recalls when he threatened to knock out Steve Waugh
Reports have surfaced that not finding sponsors somewhat played a role in Chahal leaving behind a career in chess. However, as Chahal has become an integral part of Indias limited-overs setup, the legspinner reckons there are certain similarities between cricket and chess believing patience plays a key role in both these sports.
In chess you require a lot of patience as every match is about 6 7 hours and youre playing sitting at one place without speaking much. Similarly, in cricket you sometimes bowl so well but dont get wickets. So, you have to be patient and keep it in your mind that you are bowling well and youll probably get wickets in the next spell, he mentioned.
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Cant play both at the same time, How Yuzvendra Chahal prioritised cricket over chess - Hindustan Times
An Introduction to Chess: More notes on castling – Stabroek News
Last week, we addressed the motions of castling on the Kingside and Queenside. Castling is a strange move, but not a complicated one. As mentioned last week, you cannot castle when you confront certain situations. This week, I will illustrate those situations through diagrams to give the chess beginner a better understanding of castling.
Castling Diagram 1
In Diagram 1, White is in check with the black Bishop. In this position, White can either block with his pawn, his Bishop, his Knight, or his Queen. He can also move his King to a White square. If he moves the King, he loses the right to castle. So, the most intelligent thing to do in this position is to block. Remember, it would be foolish to block with the Queen because the Queen is worth 10 pawns and the Bishop is worth 3 pawns.
Castling Diagram 2
In Diagram 2, the King has moved to evade the check. The problem with this move is that the King would not be allowed to castle. It was better to block the check.
Castling Diagram 3
In Diagram 3, White is unable to castle. White cannot castle when an opposing piece moves through or ends up on a square that is being attacked by an enemy piece. In this position the King cannot cross the line of the enemy Bishop.
Castling Diagram 4
Diagram 4 demonstrates how White can castle on the Queenside although Blacks Bishop is attacking the Rook. Remember, only the King is prohibited from crossing the line of fire, not the Rook. The way is cleared for the King to castle on the Queenside. However, the black King cannot castle on the Kingside because it would have to cross the f8-square controlled by the White Knight. But Black can castle Queenside if the player so chooses. The Rook can cross the b8-square which completes the castling move.
Link:
An Introduction to Chess: More notes on castling - Stabroek News
The TD Show Episode 4 – Tim Just’s Top 10 TD Tips – uschess.org
The TD Show
This weeks The TD Show topic will be Tim Justs Top 10 TD Tips and will air at 9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific on Thursday, May 21 on the US Chess Twitch channel at twitch.tv/uschess.
The show will be hosted by NTD Chris Bird and this weeks guest of course will be US Chess Rulebook Editor and NTD Tim Just. Tim will be providing a list of his top 10 general tips for Tournament Directors to hopefully make you a better TD and make the experience of participating in one of your events much better for everyone.
For folks tuning in live, Twitch will provide some interaction between the show and the audience, allowing you to ask questions in real-time and well also finish each episode with some light-hearted fun in the form of trivia based on the topic discussed. However, if you cannot tune in live, each episode will be archived in the TD Videos playlist at the US Chess YouTube Channel.
Replay last weeks episode here:
Link:
The TD Show Episode 4 - Tim Just's Top 10 TD Tips - uschess.org
How do I join the Stevenage COVID Chess Challenge? – The Comet
PUBLISHED: 11:26 20 May 2020 | UPDATED: 11:26 20 May 2020
Jacob Savill
The COVID Chess Challenge is open to all ages and abilities. Picture: Stevenage Rotary Grange
Archant
Rotary Stevenage Grange has created an online chess challenge to help keep Stevenage residents socially active during the COVID-19 lockdown.
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The COVID Chess Challenge will be launching later this month, and anyone is free to join, of all ages and abilities.
Club President Ian Begg said: Chess offers a great contribution to mental wellbeing. It enables people, young and old, to maintain and forge new friendships during the lockdown. Undertaken safely online, chess has no boundaries of age, race, or ability.
The challenge takes place on a website called Lichess. It is free, and requires only a quick sign up before joining the Stevenage Grange Chess Club.
The clubs first tournament will be called The Bob Fowler challenge, in memory of the former mayor and renowned chess player who sadly passed away with COVID-19 last month.
If you would like to join, go to the clubs private Facebook group Grange Chess Club, or contact Rotarian James Corrigan at james@sgrc.org.uk.
If you value what this story gives you, please consider supporting the Comet. Click the link in the yellow box below for details.
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How do I join the Stevenage COVID Chess Challenge? - The Comet
Chess Gurukul beats Superkids to title – The Hindu
Two-time National champion Murali Karthikeyan did the star turn for Chess Gurukul before teammate R. Praggnanandhaa put the finishing touches to a 4-3 triumph against Superkids in the Superfinal of the inaugural Sukooon Resorts Indian Chess.com League on Sunday.
With only a few seconds remaining of his allotted time, Praggnanadhaa defended brilliantly to hold Nihal Sarin and take Chess Gurukul to the title. The draw meant Gurukuls top player Aravindh Chithambaram was not required to play.
Karthikeyan, modest as ever, said, Im happy, I could contribute to my teams success. We are all aware of blunders in such shorter time controls and Im glad I could play some very strong moves.
Gurukul skipper R.B. Ramesh hailed his players for holding their nerve. We, at Chess Gurukul, enjoy and try to be creative and not go after results. Thats the reason our board order went by ratings, without trying to be clever about it, he said. Karthikeyan played very well after coming in when we were down by two points, he added.
The final, involving elimination rounds, beginning from the Board 5 players from both teams, saw Karthikeyan turn the tide Gurukuls way by eliminating four Superkids players, while contributing 3.5 points.
After Divya Deshmukh (2), also Rameshs student, put Superkids ahead by accounting for R. Vaishali and stunning Aditya Mittal, Karthikeyan beat Divya, N. Srinath and Raunak Sadhwani. Thereafter, Karthikeyan was held by in-form Arjun Ergaisi (0.5). As per rules, the draw packed off both GMs.
This left Gurukuls No. 2 Praggnanandhaa needing only a draw against Nihal Sarin to decide the title.
The results:
Superfinal: Chess Gurukul bt Superkids 4-3 (R. Vaishali lost to Divya Deshmukh; Adtiya Mittal lost to Divya; M. Karthikeyan bt Divya; Karthikeyan bt N. Srinath; Karthikeyan bt Raunak Sadhwani; Karthikeyan drew with Arjun Ergaisi; R. Praggnanadhaa drew with Nihal Sarin).
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Chess Gurukul beats Superkids to title - The Hindu
One Move at a Time May Edition: Abel Talamantez and Dr. Judit Sztaray – uschess.org
Image credit: Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group. Used with permission.
Dr. Judit Sztaray
Welcome to the May 2020 edition of One Move at a Time, the US Chess podcast in which Dan Lucas, the Senior Director of Strategic Communication, talks to people who are advancing the US Chess mission statement to Empower people, enrich lives, and enhance communities through chess. This months guests represent the Mechanics Institute Chess Club in San Francisco, California, which is the oldest continuously operating chess club in the United States. Abel Talamantez is the Chess Room Director, a position he has held since 2018, and Judit Sztaray is the General Manager of Youth Outreach and Events, a position she started in last year.
Abel has been a US Chess Delegate from Northern California since 2017 and is a current member of the Clubs Committee and a former member of the Outreach committee. Judit is the current chair of the US Chess Clubs Committee and a member of the Scholastic Council and a former Vice Chair of the Accessibility and Special Circumstances Committee. US Chess named her the 2017 Organizer of the Year and then in 2018 she won the Chess Club of the Year.
We discuss operating a club in a time of COVID-19, as well as the aspects of the clubs programs during normal times that speak directly to the US Chess mission statement.
Make sure to subscribe to our family of podcasts on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify!
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One Move at a Time May Edition: Abel Talamantez and Dr. Judit Sztaray - uschess.org
First J&K online chess event witnesses overwhelming response – The Tribune
Vikas Sharma
Tribune News Service
Jammu, May 10
The slow 2G internet in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir failed to dampen the spirits of the players as the first ever online J&K UT Chess Championship witnessed an overwhelming response from all corners of J&K.
Atul Kumar Gupta, president of the All J&K Chess Association (AJKCA) was surprised to see 171 players participation in this online sporting event. Keeping in view the slow 2G internet speed in the UT, I was hoping participation of around 50-60 players, Gupta told The Tribune.
The championship was held on May 8 and the winners were announced the next day. We all are surprised by such a high participation in the ever event with registration of 171 players, he said.
The top 6 players will play in the national online event slated to be held on May 15. They are Soham Kamotra, Ritwan Sauntra, Arushi Kotwal, Pranav Abrol, Ashutosh Jamwal and Ajit Singh.
Due to internet problems many players could not participate, otherwise the number would have been much higher. Still some could not sign up due to the lack of knowledge. The organisers guided all the players well in advance. For that, three practice events before the actual tournament were also conducted for the purpose of guidance to players. No entry fee was charged from any player for this event, he added.
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First J&K online chess event witnesses overwhelming response - The Tribune
Over 25 Grandmasters to take part in Indian chess league from May 15 – Times of India
CHENNAI: India's top chess players, including talented youngsters such as R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh, Nihal Sarin and national champion Aravindh Chithambaram will take part in the Indian Chess.com League to be played online from May 15-17.
A total of 10 teams will take part in the tournament which will see the participation of over 25 Indian Grandmasters.
GM Priyadarshan Kanappan, the league commissioner said, "The Sports League was something that I had been very familiar with as I lived in the US where you had leagues for all sports; so I always used to wonder if we could replicate that format in India, and that's how this league idea happened."
"The lockdown helped us in a big way, as chess players have no avenue to play in over the board events, so we were able to convince the top players to play in an online league format," he added.
Praggnanandhaa and Chithambaram will turn out for Team Chess Gurukul to be captained by noted coach and Grandmaster R B Ramesh, while Gukesh, the world's second youngest Grandmaster, will play for Five Fighters, which would also include the experienced GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly, promising young Leon Luke Mendonca, Vishnu Prasanna (Captain) and Soumya Swaminathan.
Karthikeyan Murali, Aditya Mittal and R Vaishali will be the other members of Team Chess Gurukul.
Sarin will be part of Superkids team to be captained by Narayanan Srinath and also includes GMs Arjun Erigaisi, Raunak Sadhwani, Srinath and Divya Deshmukh.
Indian No. 6 S P Sethuraman will also be seen in action for Chess Pathshala which includes Swapnil Deshpande (captain), Sankalp Gupta, Krishnater Kushager and Mrudul Dehankar.
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Over 25 Grandmasters to take part in Indian chess league from May 15 - Times of India
Wife hopes for ‘stranded’ Anand’s early return from Germany – Times of India
CHENNAI: The last couple of months have been most challenging for Viswanathan Anand and his family here. While the five-time former world champion has been stranded in Germany since the end of February, when he went to feature in the Bundesliga chess tournament, his wife and son have had to deal with his absence.With the government of India planning to facilitate the return of Indians stuck abroad in a phased manner, Aruna is hopeful that Anand will return soon. "Anand is in touch with the Indian embassy in Frankfurt, but at present they don't have any concrete instruction as to when flights from Germany will be arranged. The embassy is aware that Anand is stranded there. I guess the evacuation is happening in a phased manner. It is a very large operation and you just have to wait for your turn. We hope to see him back soon," she told TOI on Wednesday.'; var randomNumber = Math.random(); var isIndia = (window.geoinfo && window.geoinfo.CountryCode === 'IN') && (window.location.href.indexOf('outsideindia') === -1 ); //console.log(isIndia && randomNumber The MHA had said earlier in a statement: "Indian Embassies and High Commissions are preparing a list of distressed Indian citizens. The travel would begin in a phased manner from May 7." Aruna believes Anand's absence has been felt most by their son Akhil. "It has been a tough time for the family. With Anand not there, Akhil has found it difficult to manage. They both spend quality time whenever Anand is home. They stay in touch via video calls but Akhil misses his father's physical presence. The lockdown restrictions mean he can't even go out and it makes it doubly hard for Akhil," revealed Aruna. a { color: #000; display: block; border-bottom:0; padding: 0 0 18px; box-shadow: 0 1px 3px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25); border-radius:4px; height:100%; box-sizing:border-box; } .brief_wrapper .brief > a img { margin:0 0 10px; width: 100%; border-radius: 4px 4px 0 0; } .brief_wrapper .brief h2 { font: bold 16px/21px proximanova, Montserrat, Verdana, arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 16px 7px; display: -webkit-box; -webkit-line-clamp: 3; -webkit-box-orient: vertical; overflow: hidden; } .brief_wrapper .brief p { font: normal 14px/20px proximanova, Montserrat, Verdana, arial, sans-serif; display: -webkit-box; -webkit-line-clamp: 8; -webkit-box-orient: vertical; overflow: hidden; margin:5px 16px; } .brief_wrapper .videoBtn { position: relative; } .brief_wrapper .videoBtn:before, .brief_wrapper .videoBtn:after { content: ''; position: absolute; z-index: 1; cursor: pointer; } .brief_wrapper .videoBtn:before { background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); box-shadow: 0 0 15px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); border: 1px solid rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8); border-radius: 50%; top: -70px; right: 10px; width: 38px; height: 38px; } .brief_wrapper .videoBtn:after { border-top: 8px solid transparent; border-bottom: 8px solid transparent; border-left: 12px solid #fff; right: 22px; top: -59px; } .brief_wrapper .brief.viewmore { height: 410px; top: 0; position: relative; } .brief_wrapper .brief.viewmore .videoBtn:before { top: 10px; } .brief_wrapper .brief.viewmore a img { margin: 0; position: relative; } .brief_wrapper .brief.viewmore .videoBtn:after { top: 21px; } .brief_wrapper .brief.viewmore:after { position: absolute; content: ''; background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); border-radius:4px; width: 100%; height: 100%; left: 0; top: 0; z-index: 1; } .brief_wrapper .brief.viewmore span { font-family: proximanova, Montserrat, Verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 600; color: #fff; text-transform: uppercase; position: absolute; width: 100%; top: 50%; left: 0; text-align: center; z-index: 2; -webkit-transform: translate(0, -50%); transform: translate(0, -50%); } .brief_wrapper .brief.viewmore span svg { display: block; margin: 10px auto; } .brief_wrapper .brief.getAdwidth{ width: 312px !important; height: 445px; margin-top: -59px; padding: 0px; } .brief_wrapper .brief.getAdwidth > div { width: 300px; transform: translate(-50%, -50%); position: absolute; left: 50%; top: 50%; } ]]>The time away from family hasn't stopped Anand from doing his bit for the Covid-19 victims. He raised money for the PM Cares Fund and is currently leading the Indian team in the FIDE Online Nations Cup.
Link:
Wife hopes for 'stranded' Anand's early return from Germany - Times of India