US Chess has three national events scheduled this spring:

2020 National High School (K-12) Championship, April 3-52020 National Junior High (K-9) Championship April 24-262020 National Elementary (K-6) Championship May 8-10

We are paying close attention to concerns about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and taking this situation seriously. These three events, the most popular ones on our calendar, are being held as scheduled. We will keep this page updated as new information is shared by relevant authorities. We are monitoring this situation daily and will adjust plans accordingly if relevant new information becomes available.

Ive registered my child for one of these events and we no longer want to attend. Can I get a refund?

Entry fees may be refunded in full up until 11 a.m. local time on the day of the event.

What steps should our family take at the tournament site?

What should my player do if he/she gets sick during the tournament?

If your player feels sick while competing, he/she should talk to a Tournament Director. If your player is sick between rounds, you may withdraw him/her at Chess Control.

What special steps are you taking at these events to help me protect my child?

US Chess is in consultation with physicians within our community, including Ellen Whalen MD, pediatrician; as well as paying close attention to information updates from reliable public health sources. Some of the important steps we are taking include:

We also encourage families to talk to your competitor about keeping themselves and others healthy.

Where can I learn more about the Coronavirus?

US Chess consulted several authoritative sources (e.g. U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), among others) in creating this resource page. Follow the links below for more information.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/2019-ncov-factsheet.pdfhttps://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-publichttps://www.aappublications.org/news/2020/02/28/coronavirus022820

How can I stay up-to-date on US Chess plans?

See the event websites (links at the beginning of this article) for the most current event information. This FAQ document will also be updated as needed.

Revised March 4, 2020

See original here:
Spring Nationals and Coronavirus: What You Should Know - uschess.org

As history has taught us, energy has been one of the main root causes of global conflicts. This tenet was again recentlyshowcased in the downfall of Iraq and Libya, and in the relentless Western haranguing ofIran andSyria.

Globally, Syria is a minor producer ofoil (making up roughly only 0.5 percent of the global oil output). However, the country is located strategically nearmajor oil and gas producers such as Iran, Iraq, Russia andJordan with its ownaccess to the Mediterranean andthe European Union markets.

This strategicenergy channel has created many opportunities for Syria in the past but also massive internal problems.

After the FirstWorld War, Syria cameunder the rule ofthe Ottomans due in part to this energy route. In the SecondWorld War, Syrian oil pipelines provided the majority of the fuel for the Allied Forces and became a major target of Hitler's attacks.

Later on, it fueledthe Israeli-Arab War and prompted the CIA to facilitate a coup d'etat as Washington at the time feared a Soviet-Arab blockwould have threatened Western multinational companies' presence in the areaand Saudi Arabia's oil export.

When the "civil war"in Syria startedin 2011, it was also due to none other than astruggle overthe natural gas market.

The current situation in Syriahas had profound implications for a number of countries involved in the prolonged conflict.

At the start, a clear line in the sand was drawn. On one side were Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and on the otherSyria, Russiaand Iran.

What catalyzed the conflict was the signing of agas pipeline deal between Iran and Syria that would deliver Iranian gas from the Pars field into the EU markets.

Had there been no war, gaswould have flownuninterruptedly from a Shi'ite country (Iran) to another Shi'ite-influenced country (Syria) via another Shi'ite dominated countryin Lebanon and into Europe.

But complicating the situation were the above countries'Sunni adversaries, which at the time consisted of Qatar, Saudi Arabiaand Turkey.

If there'sanything that could rival the impact of economics in geopolitics, it's the competition between the different sects of Islam.

But it must be stressed thatthe conflict in Syria was never about the actual religion and its beliefs. It'salways been a fight overterritorial and resource domination.

Israel then threw their hat into the fray whenthey discovered a giant gas field in the Tamar region in 2012, prompting themto try to secure their own gas export into the EU markets.

Predictably, they chose toside with theSunni countries in the Syrian Wardue to their longstanding bitter enmity against Iran, Syriaand Lebanon.

Interestingly, Qatar,a gas-rich country isolatedby the Gulf Cooperation Council a few years ago, has shifted its energy alliance to Iran from Turkey and Saudi Arabia since they need a channelto export gasdespite their isolation,proving the adagethat moneytrumpsover everything, includingreligious affiliations.

Russia, anotherkey player in the conflict and the world's current diplomatic darling thanks toa seemingly endless series of Putin masterstrokes, also has much to play for.

As the Americans covertly attempt to moveSyria into their camp, so are the Russians, as they would be crippled economically by losingthe opportunity to be the EU's largest exporter of gas if Syria does not emerge as the victor in the current conflict.

It would be a travesty to not see the Syrian Warfor what it really is: leaders scheming to secure financial and geopolitical brownie points for their countriesat the expense of civilian bloodshed.

As they say, "it's nothing personal, just strictly business!"

Last Stand: Idlib

After eight years of constant warfare,Syria has reached a critical point. President Bashar al-Assad's army has held steadfast while driving out most of the foreign forces.

The last stronghold of Assad's adversaries is Idlib and a battle here could become a true bloodbath in every sense of the word.

Turkey and Russia had signed a demilitarized zone agreement (The Sochi Accord) for Idlib in 2018. Asimilar pact was reached for four regions in Syria in 2017. Assad has since taken three of those regions back,forcinga retreat of 70,000 insurgents into one concentrated zone inIdlib.

Idlib's demilitarized zone accord has always been seen as a temporary one and now Assad and his armyare attempting afinal push toliberate it.

Due to the high number of insurgents in Idlib, aninsurgent migration into Turkey, if Assad succeeds, is all but certain.

Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdoan's next decision could be pivotal. Ankara has given Assad's army until the end of February to retreat and abide by the accord, however, the likelihood of that happening is, let's say,less than microscopic.

As the conflict rages on, the petrodollar remainsthe sole kingmaker to decide ultimatelywho willsit on the global energy market throne.

There are two types of gases in the oil and gas industry, sweet and sour. The only certainty inthis war, which could be nearing its end, is that there will be a side that will taste the rancid sourness of defeat, andanother side who will savor the sweetness of triumph.

Rizvi Shihab is an oil and gas professionaland a member of Majelis Hikmah Alawiyah (Mahya), a Jakarta-based Islamic organization with a focuson spreadingmessages of peace and harmony.

Read this article:
Energy and War: a Global Game of Chess - Jakarta Globe

VANCOUVEROne wrong move by a chess instructor a typo, as it turned out spawned a mess of mistaken identity, forensic phone analysis and allegations of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

The typo was hidden in the address book belonging to Toni Deline, former president of the British Columbia Chess Federation. Hed entered the phone number of a fellow chess player incorrectly a slip up that set the stage for a series of events that would result in Deline suing a Jewish school for defamation.

And despite having his lawsuit dismissed by the B.C. Supreme Court, Deline insists his match with his former employer isnt over yet.

It all began in the summer of 2016, when Deline told the Vancouver Talmud Torah, the Jewish school where he worked as a chess instructor, that he could not commit to another year of teaching. Then, on Sept. 21, 2016, he received a text message that shocked him.

Im terribly sorry Toni, but I can no longer vouch for the Jewish schooling as I recently converted to the faith of Islam, it read.

According to Delines phone, the text was from James Chan, the chess instructor the school had hired to replace him.

At this point, Deline already had a negative impression of Chan. He told the Star they had previously gotten into a disagreement about a teaching job at another school.

Deline mulled over his next move for a few months before deciding he had no choice but to warn the school.

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This fateful decision led to a series of events that would culminate with him suing the school, citing claims of defamation and negligence that have now been rejected by the B.C. Supreme Court.

In his written decision, released online on Feb. 25, 2020, Justice Geoffrey Gomery details what happened.

In January 2017, Deline went to the Vancouver Talmud Torah Association, which had hired Chan to replace Deline as a chess instructor at its school. He showed a staff member the text message.

The staff member called Chan to talk about the text message, and during the call, they noticed the discrepancy in the phone numbers. The text had not been sent by Chan after all and the school considered the matter handled.

But Deline continued to email the school for months with an offer to find another chess instructor to replace Chan. The school ignored him.

By spring, Deline was sending emails using terms such as anti-Jewish text and snake in the grass to refer to Chan, according to court documents.

Thats when the head of the school finally replied. We have investigated the concerns raised in your emails, and have determined that to the extent they relate to VTT, they are unfounded. In particular, we are satisfied that James did not send the text message described in your email.

From there, things escalated dramatically.

According to the judges decision, the school contacted Vancouver police about Deline in April, alleging Deline was mentally ill, paranoid and Islamophobic.

Deline believed that the school must have thought he had fabricated the text message why else wouldnt they believe him? and hired a forensic expert to analyze his phone.

Amazingly, the expert also failed to notice the one-digit difference in the phone number, according to Deline.

So at this point, Deline still didnt know that it was a case of mistaken identity.

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In September 2017, he mailed a letter to an acquaintance who taught at Vancouver Talmud Torah and said he was planning to sue the school.

The next month, the school went to police again, accusing Deline of harassing the teacher.

Speaking with the Star on Monday, Deline said he finally learned of his mistake in May 2018, when his lawyer sent the forensic phone report to the schools lawyer, who pointed out the discrepancy the phone number was off by one digit.

Deline said that to this day he doesnt know who sent the text.

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In 2019, Deline sued the school for defamation and negligence defamation because the school had allegedly described him as a paranoid Islamophobe and negligence because the school waited for months before telling him about the phone number discrepancy.

How can you not tell someone, said Deline, referring to the discrepancy with the phone number.

If they had told him, he said, Then none of it would have happened.

The Vancouver Talmud Torah Association did not return the Stars request for comment.

Gomery dismissed both of Delines claims.

VTT did not owe Mr. Deline a duty to respond to or correct unsolicited communications from him, wrote the judge.

Gomery explained that the school had done enough to cover its legal bases. He also quashed Delines argument that the situation is like one of a teacher and their student, where it is not enough to tell the child that theyre wrong, you have to make them understand.

Deline was not in a position of a child, wrote Gomery, but rather that of an independent adult.

Gomery then dismissed Delines allegation of defamation, explaining that Deline had failed to prove he suffered damages as a result of what the school told police.

Deline spent $4,864 hiring the forensic analyst and lawyer, according to court documents. But Gomery said neither expenditure had anything to do with what was said to (Vancouver police).

Deline, who once competed in international chess tournaments and captained Vancouvers chess team, told the Star that the ordeal has cost him his reputation in the chess community.

I havent gone to anything for a couple of years over this, he said, noting that if he did attend tournaments, all Im going to do is be ridiculed.

Reached last week, Chan said he hopes to put the matter behind him.

Im just happy that (the school) has less to worry about because I know it was stressful.

Deline said he is planning to appeal the courts decision.

Read more here:
The chess teachers gambit: How a typo led to a defamation lawsuit - Toronto Star

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 | 11:00 PM

Northern Tier Regional Library

Northern Tier Regional Library is at 4015 Dickey Road, Gibsonia. For more information about the library or to register for a program, call 724-449-2665 or email [emailprotected]

From 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. Feb. 25, Achieva will host a class on infant massage. This event is for caregivers and their babies. Experts will guide participants through massaging techniques for babies. Registration is required.

From 9:30 to 1 p.m. March 14, Northern Tier will be the site of the 47th Annual Library Chess Tournament. The competition has two levels: A Junior Division for grades K-4, and a Senior Division for grades 5-8. The winner in each division will represent the library in the Allegheny County Chess Tournament in late March. Registration is free.

This years annual used book sale will be from April 2 to 6. Volunteers are needed to help make this event a success. Anybody interested in helping in any capacity is encouraged to inquire at the library.

View post:
Northern Tier Library hosting used book sale, chess tournament, more - TribLIVE

Viswanathan Anand, the author, is just loving it. Select city-hopping to promote his book, Mind Master and getting a first-hand feedback on his honest effort.

So you begin by asking the Grandmaster, how does it feel to be an author?

I would say it's very nice. But you have to do this with some enthusiasm, says Anand and elaborates, the point of the book is to share, add to the public idea of what, who or what you are.

I mean, most people have a certain impression of what a chess player is like, what you do and so on. And they now have something which is slightly closer to the truth.

That's why I felt that it was important to address this book as a chance to get your story out and, you know, you have to divulge stuff. So even though thats not something I normally do liberally, over the last few years, I found that I have opened up in many ways.

I talk more frankly. May be, it's just the sense that, now everything's in the past and I can talk about it without the pains and so on. But it's been fun for me. I had this feeling of something, you know, I've done it. Now I can't do anything more.

Did any of the chess players get back to you on this?

Quite a few players said they really liked it. Many players said they couldnt get it yet. I probably expect more feedback later. (Boris) Gefland said he loved it. He was in Chennai and he read it on the flight back home.

Kramnik didn't mention it. Anish (Giri) even tweeted something, you know, as usual. I'm sure if I probed he would tell me something. But I expect the few others will read it as well.

Away from the book, what does your schedule for 2020 look like?

For the moment. Ive got a tournament Grenke Chess Open in April. Hopefully I'll get an event in May. And then it's a fairly light year because I am not playing the Grand Chess Tour. I'll play the Olympiad, maybe. And if some new tournament turns up, I might go for that.

After all these years of complaining that the schedule was heavy, if I spend this year complaining, it doesn't make sense. So I thought I'll just go with the flow, keep working, keep training and also enjoy more time at home.

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Read the original here:
Anand, the author, is just loving it - The Hindu