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In a statement published on its website, the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) makes a proposal for changing the world championship cycle. The main change the ACP proposes is to include open tournaments.

The association, a non-profit founded in 2003 to protectchess professionals rights,makes a comparison with tennis: "In tennis, we have the Grand Slams at the top, but also the local Futures tournaments at the bottom. The structure is clear, easy to understand and the players see the way to the top ahead of them."

Chess is described as a pyramid with the world championship match at the top, and below that the Candidates tournament,the Grand Prix tournaments, the World Cup, and the continental championshipsthe latter being the only entry point for a large majority of the players.

The ACP calls this system "elitist." The association claims that the continental championships are "not easily accessible to the lower-rated professionals, among other things because they are very expensive tournaments to play in."

The ACP likes to add another, bottom layer to the pyramid: open tournaments, describing them as "the bread and butter of the chess world." Although concrete research is not mentioned, the ACP states that many chess players "feel trapped in this 'swamp' of opens without a clear idea how to go 'upwards,' how to feel integrated in the big picture and feel part of the whole chess family. In its current state the chess world is a segregated place with the elite and the rest living in different worlds."

What the ACP proposes is to make open tournaments part of the world championship cycle, with the current ACP Tour system or a similar one serving as a point-based tournament circuit.

"At the end of the year, the top 20 of the World Open Circuit qualify for the first round of the World Cup, thus providing direct access to the world championship cycle," says the ACP. "This would ensure that chess is as meritocratic as it can be and as it should be."

The International Chess Federation, responsible for the world chess championship cycle, is reacting positively. FIDE Director GeneralEmil Sutovsky likes the idea but also notes that there are more opportunities to qualify for the World Cup than the ACP suggests:

"I like a lot the idea of Swiss events being implemented as a part of the cycle.However, I don't see how the ACP proposal addresses the problem of disproportional opportunities. Actually, FIDE made an effort last year and expanded the World Cup from 128 to 206 participants. One can qualify for it by rating, through continental championships, through numerous zonal events, and now through national championships in most of the countries as well. If we talk about the best opens, their winners would qualify for the World Cup through one of the above-mentioned paths.

"While rewarding one player who was just behind the qualifiers looks logical, it seems odd to allocate 20 spots for these purposes. In addition, it has to be said that a proposal to organize some circuit of 20 strong open events sounds untimely, as most of these events are now canceled or postponed."

"Having said that, I reiterate my opinion: big Swiss events shall be implemented one way or another to the cycle. Of course, it can happen only when normal life gets restored, and we will have a sufficient number of high-level events to call it a circuit.

"Meanwhile, FIDE is planning the Grand Swiss and Women Grand Swiss, which will be announced soon. These events help a lot to all the excellent players who are ranked between 2650 to 2750 (and 2400-2500 ladies)."

The Norwegian grandmaster Jon Ludvig Hammer, a popular chess commentator on national television, has a different opinion. He starts by saying that the ACP is "misleading" about the effects of such a tour system:

"The World Cup will rarely offer opportunities to what they call 'lower-rated professionals' because its a tournament for the very best, and as long as the World Cup remains an attractive tournament financially, the best will adapt to whatever qualification system used, including a tour."

Hammer agrees with the claim that the current state of the chess world is "a segregated place with the elite and the rest living in different worlds" but sees the bottleneck elsewhere:

"I think that separation happens at world rank 25, not the World Cup. In fact, the World Cup is the great equalizer, allowing second- and third-tier players a big payday if they perform their very best. If you are not rated in the top 100 in the world, making a living from exclusively playing will always be a challenging task, and many in that bracket wanting to be chess professionals try establishing themselves as coaches instead."

Australia's former top grandmaster, coach, and journalist Ian Rogers says the ACP proposal is likely going to be "unfair and expensive." According to Rogers, the proposal is too much focused on Europe:

"The proposal seems to have been devised by Europeans for the benefit of Europeans. Unless the ACP circuit includes an equitable number of open tournaments in Asia, the Americas, and Africa, as well as Europe, it is simply a method of tilting the odds against a non-European becoming world champion."

Rogers adds: "The problem which the ACP fails to address, or even acknowledge, is that it was Europe's choice to abolish their zonal tournaments and require everyone but the stars to play in an enormous continental championship in order to qualify for the World Cup. Then they forced the players to pay a lot of money to play in it. So Europe should solve their own problemsnot create a new pathway which is going to benefit them above others."

Since it was founded 17 years ago, the ACP has struggled to play a significant role in the chess world. That role seemed even further diminished when in 2018 the new FIDE leadership under President Arkady Dvorkovich accepted a lot of suggestions from the ACP and installed the now-former ACP President Sutovsky as its Director General.

"The ACP is a very niche organization," says Hammer. "In order to grow to a sustainable size, theyve had to accept more people from outside the top 100 than in it. As a result, we get press releases like this, where the ACP is representing its members, but members who dont have the level needed to live as full-time chess professionals. I think they should focus on bridging the gap between number 40 and number 20 on the world rankings, rather than bridging the gap between 600 and 100.

"I think ACPs true goal is to elevate their own product, the ACP tour, which hasnt been a big success at any point since its inception in 2005, but I fail to see how that qualification method is better than the established one we already have in place."

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Should Open Tournaments Be Included In World Chess Championship Cycle? - Chess.com

Bruce Pandolfini is one of the most experienced chess coaches in America, having trained the likes of Fabiano Caruana, Josh Waitzkin, and many other big names. He has given thousands of training sessions and has authored more than thirty books.

Moreover, he has also been one of the main subjects of the book and film "Searching for Bobby Fischer". More recently, he worked on the webseries "The Queen's Gambit" and came up with the name for the show. His vast career in the world of the 64 squares gives us a chance to buzz him with a ton of questions. So, here's to moving on to the Q/A.

1.How did you get into chess? What were the early days like?

My mother showed me the moves at age 9, but I didnt get excited about chess until I was almost 14. I came upon the chess section in a public library. There were 32 books. I was permitted to take out no more than 6 books at a time. I took out 6, and then went back 5 more times to clean out the entire section. I stayed home for the next month and read chess books.

2.You were a solid player with a high rating, but you switched into training players. How and why did this happen?

It happened by chance. I was a television analyst for the Fischer-Spassky Match. Afterward, I had many requests for chess lessons. My schedule became quite full, and I suddenly found myself giving lessons all day long. After that, I never had any time to play. De facto, I had become a chess teacher and coach. Whats more, Im glad it all worked out that way.

3.Tell us about some of your strategies for coaching chess players.

From the beginning of my teaching, I concentrated on the endgame. I also relied on asking lots of questions to help students think more logically. My emphasis was on analysis and guiding students to make relevant decisions. When analyzing, I never let students move the pieces. Everything had to be done in the mind. If the student touched a piece, it was considered automatically wrong, even if the move was correct. To become a perfect master, one must master self-control. I believed, and still do, this method helps to instill true mastery.

4.You have worked with some prodigies like Josh Waitzkin, Caruana, and others. What was your experience working with them?

Ive been very fortunate, blessed with remarkable students. With all such wonderful talents, one quality always comes through. They all love chess. It is easy to teach when your students have a passion for learning.

5.You were one of the main subjects of the film "Searching for Bobby Fischer" and were played by the Oscar winning actor Ben Kingsley. Can you recount your experience about this film?

It was a fascinating experience - one I shall never forget. Mr. Kingsley was very friendly, and a true professional. He worked diligently to get things right. When I initially sat down with the director/screenwriter in his Hollywood office, I noticed a note from his secretary on his desk. It simply said: Spielberg called. I knew I was in another world.

6.How has your teaching chess evolved over the years? What have been some of the biggest moments and learnings from your career?

I didnt know what I was doing at first. I never thought I was entering into a lifelong profession. It just happened over time. From the start, I stressed endgame fundamentals and principles. I was greatly influenced by famous teachers like Capablanca, Tarrasch and Lasker. As far as big moments go, there have been many. Ive enjoyed every students success, and there have been many.

But there have also been abysmal lows. Each major defeat left me depressed. But then one day I had a realization. If I accepted blame for their defeats, should I accept credit for their victories? The answer is, of course not. I always try my best, but I dont play the moves, good ones or bad ones. Its as Ben Kingsley more or less says in Searching for Bobby Fischer: In the end, they are who they are.

7.Apart from being a trainer, you are also a prolific writer. Can you talk about your writing journey, sharing with us some tips?

I am not a natural writer. Ive always had to work hard at my writing. Now, I had a great deal of help. My mother was an editor for Simon & Schuster, Random House, and such. She would show me how to edit pieces practically every day. One thing I learned from her is to just get it down.

That is, write what youre trying to say, without getting fancy. You can refine it afterward. Writers are apt to obsess over each sentence, right from the start. Going about it that way, spending a good deal of time over every nuance, often gets nowhere. The other thing I picked up from her is to use simple language and short sentences.

Long sentences can be troublesome to read. One-syllable words tend to be more effective than multi-syllable words. But good writing also has creative variation. Sometimes, the unexpected is just what a piece might need. Finally, for my own writing, I always like to close (if I can) with a pithy line at the end that kind of summarizes the entire piece.

8.Recently, you were the chess consultant for the drama series "The Queen's Gambit" along with the former World Champion and number one player Garry Kasparov. Can you tell us about your role and experience working on this series?

My involvement with the project goes back 38 years. That is, I was the Random House consultant on the original novel. I first saw the manuscript in 1982. The final title, The Queens Gambit, comes from me. I was hired by Netflix in 2018 to be a script consultant for the series and to create all the chess positions. I was also responsible for training the actors.

Originally, I came up with 92 positions to correspond to critical script situations. Garry Kasparov provided cardinal advice on 6-8 of those key positions, devising ingeniously brilliant variations and novelties.

Moreover, he provided the director with an insiders view of chess in Russia. But there were also two very gifted chess experts from Germany who helped immeasurably. Iepe Rubingh (who sadly passed away this past year) and John Paul Atkinson. They were both incredible.

The final game was developed by Kasparov. But because of cinematic necessity, I had to change the ending with minutes to go before filming, and those changes are what the viewer sees on screen. Of course, we had to get the chess as correct as possible. But the series is fiction. Its drama. So, the most important thing was to make sure the chess enhanced the storyline and did not impair the narratives flow. More than anything, we wanted the actors to look like real chess players, and I think they do. Anya-Taylor Joy is brilliant. Director/screenwriter Scott Frank is masterful. I think they, along with the entire cast and crew, did a fantastic job.

9.What can you say about the current online chess model? How have you been adapting to the virtual world?

There are obvious drawbacks to online chess and competition, but there are positives as well. During these difficult days, it has granted aficionados chances to play regularly and stray sharp. It seems that untold new players are being drawn to the game every week. The software is getting better and better.

I can only imagine what Bobby Fischer would have done if he had had access to all these programs and possibilities. For me, I still give lessons online. There are advantages, indeed, because you can look at material more quickly and see more examples over a given time frame. But I do feel something is lost at the same time, at least on the human level. Nevertheless, the future of chess remains quite bright.

10.What advice could you give to the readers?

The best way to improve at chess is to play and be challenged regularly. While playing, I believe you should give it your all. Too many of us take training lightly, playing practice games too casually. Students should practice and train for real, always giving their very best. I will leave the readers this final piece of advice. Play as if the future of humanity depends on your efforts. In fact, it does.

See more here:
From the 64 squares to Hollywood: In conversation with chess coach Bruce Pandolfini - Sportskeeda

To the editor:

Joe Bidens Gun Control Policy/Will Biden Take Away Your Guns? That is the name of a YouTube video, wherein the guy has the information from Bidens website right in front of him, and he pragmatically talks about it to explain what each of Bidens gun control points would mean in actuality.

This whole thing with guns and the Second Amendment reminds me of when there was a push to get the Equal Rights Amendment passed, which on the surface sounded good. But in actual interpretation, one thing the ERA would have meant is that women would be required to fight in combat alongside the men, in a war. (And yes, I know, nowadays some women wish to do this). But my point is that even though the ERA didnt pass, the people who wanted it to pass have brought about their desires in other ways. I compare this to what Biden/Harris want to do with our gun rights, and I think the guys reasoning in this video is sound about how we WOULD lose most of our gun rights.

One thing to remember too, is that the lawless will always have the guns that we wont have if Biden/Harris get their way, which would leave us very vulnerable in our homes.

I so appreciated the article by Kate Anderson about the rule of law, which was followed by an article by Debbie Mays about chasing leprechauns, criticizing what Kate had said about gun control however, my guess is that even though Kate worded it as losing our Second Amendment, she probably in actuality meant what the YouTube video explains.

Diana Larsen

Hyrum

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More about Biden and the Second Amendment | Letters to the Editor - The Herald Journal

When it came to her final word at the Miss USA pageant, Asya Branch was asked to speak on gun laws. And she wasn't afraid to state her support for the Second Amendment.

"I think it's important that we not ban guns because, obviously, people will find a way to get what they want anyway," Branch, who represented Mississippi, said onstage as she stood among the final five contestants on Monday night. "But I think it's our Second Amendment right, and I think we just need more safety surrounding that."

Branch's words caught the attention of Twitter and various media outlets especially after she was announced as the winner mere minutes later.

Branch spoke out in support of the Second Amendment during the pageant. Benjamin Askinas/Miss USA

"I think that AK-47s and other guns along those lines should be left to our military," Branch said. "There's no reason for civilians to have those types of weapons."

The Federal Assault Weapons Ban which was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994 expired in 2004. Congress has passed scant gun legislation in recent years, despite a wave of mass shootings in the country, and the fact that a 2019 Politico/Morning Consult poll found that nearly 70% of all American voters would support a new ban on assault weapons.

During her final word in the Miss USA pageant, Branch noted that she had grown up in a home with guns and "learned from an early age how to load, how to fire, and gun safety."

Branch said she grew up with guns in her home from an early age. Benjamin Askinas/Miss USA

"As our Second Amendment right, we obviously have the right to bear arms," she said. "And where I'm from, there are a lot of guns people like to hunt. It's important that we just really enforce gun safety and make sure that people have permits and that they're legally able to own a gun."

"It's just a matter of making sure that when we put guns in the hands of people, that they're capable of being safe and making sure that they're using it for the right reasons," she added. "Go hunting, go shoot targets, use it as more of a sport. Let's not harm each other."

People on Twitter recently criticized Branch after a photo of her singing at a Trump rally resurfaced on Monday night. Benjamin Askinas/Miss USA

The pageant queen also caught Twitter's attention when an Instagram photo of her singing at a Donald Trump rally in 2018 resurfaced.

Branch told Insider that she had been contractually obligated to sing the national anthem at the rally while she was Miss Mississippi for the Miss America organization, which is separate from Miss USA.

"I think what people miss a lot of the time is the fact that, as Miss Mississippi in the Miss America system, I was under a contract as an employee of the organization," she said. "Part of my contract obligated me to attend appearances, and that [Trump rally] was one of them."

"And I think that any opportunity that I get to sing the national anthem is a true honor, regardless of where it takes place," she added.

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Miss USA does not believe that the country should ban guns - Insider - INSIDER

Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt, who is in charge of election oversight in the city, appeared on 60 Minutes Sunday night where he addressed President Trumps attacks on the integrity of the voting in Pennsylvania. Trump made repeated attempts to limit the amount of votes that could be counted in the state, and when those attempts failed and the mail-in ballots handed President-elect Joe Biden victory in the state, Trump began making accusations of widespread fraud. Though Trump and his lawyers have failed to present any actual evidence of widespread fraud, conspiracies have gained traction among his supporters, who joined the president in his calls to stop counting the votes.

From the inside looking out, it feels all very deranged. At the end of the day, we are counting eligible votes cast by voters. The controversy surrounding it is something I dont understand, Schmidt said. Its people making accusations that we wouldnt count those votes, or people are adding fraudulent votes, or coming up with all sorts of crazy stuff.

Schmidt said that the accusations of wrongdoing targeting him and others taking part in counting the votes in Pennsylvania has turned into real-life danger. Two armed Virginia men were arrested outside a vote-counting facility in Philadelphia last week, and Schmidt says there have been threats.

Calls to our offices reminding us that this is what the Second Amendment is for, people like us, Schmidt said. Youre getting calls like that? Bill Whitaker asked, adding, Thats a not-so-vailed death threat. Yes, Schmidt replied, for counting votes in a democracy.

Although the president and his allies cried foul, Schmidt says that the election was handled with integrity. And though Schmidt is a Republican, and mail-in ballots skewed heavily along partisan lines in favor of Biden, Schmidt doesnt believe the counting of votes should be a partisan issue.

Counting votes cast on or before Election Day by eligible voters is not corruption, it is not cheating, it is democracy, Schmidt said. There really should not be a disagreement, regardless of party affiliation, when were talking about counting votes cast on or before Election Day by eligible voters, its not a very controversial thing, or at least it shouldnt be.

60 Minutes airs Sundays at 7:30 p.m. on CBS.

Watch Stephen Colbert fight back tears and make an emotional plea to Republicans following Trumps press conference:

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'This is what the Second Amendment is for': Philadelphia City Commissioner discusses disturbing threats - Yahoo News