TX guv credited for winning political 'chess match' in busing policy American Family News
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TX guv credited for winning political 'chess match' in busing policy - American Family News
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GM Tuan Minh Le started 2024 in style with a victory in one of the most stacked Bullet Brawl arenas ever held. GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Daniel Naroditsky, who finished in second and third respectively, were tested by super-GMs Anish Giri, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Teimour Radjabov, who joined the fray. When all was said and done, Le stood alone at the top with 193 points and won $400 for his efforts.
IM Polina Shuvalova netted the $100 top female player prize after scoring 94 points, while Cesar Talledo Lagos won his third straight community brawl with 72 wins and 19 losses.
January's second Bullet Brawl will take place on Saturday, January 13, 2024, at 1 p.m. ET/19:00 CEST.
Standings
(Full final standings here.)
Despite finishing in the top three in many Bullet Brawl arenas in 2023, this was Le's first time claiming the title, and it took 58 wins, five draws, and 14 losses for him to reach the winning score.
While the Vietnamese GM had no luck in defeating the 25-time combined winners (Nakamura and Naroditsky) in their encounters, Le was exceptional against the field's other super-GMs, scoring 1/1 against Vachier-Lagrave and 2/3 against Giri.
Le's endgame technique was on full display against the French number-two at the halfway point of the arena.
Naroditsky was one of Le's main challengers early in the event and as per usual, he pre-moved his way to numerous wins while streaming live on Twitch. For those curious about how long it takes one of the world's leading bullet chess players to checkmate with a queen and king, the answer is around two seconds.
Nakamura also tried in vain to steal the title from Le but came up four points short, needing a few more games to end quickly like in his 18-move rout of CM Matfey Yurasov. A loss to the 10-year-old Argentinian prodigy FM Faustino Oro in the dying minutes of the arena all but ended his hopes of a 16th title.
Oro's stellar performance in Saturday's Bullet Brawl also saw him go head to head with fellow phenom and 2023's ChessKid of the Year, 13-year-old FM Tani Adewumi. The game ended in a draw after a 66-move battle, and this will surely not be the last time the players clash.
Le's win in what was effectively the strongest edition of Bullet Brawl yet bodes well for the streamer, who will undoubtedly look to improve on his 11th-place finish in the 2023 Bullet Chess Championship.
How to review games? The games from 2024's first Bullet Brawl can be found here.
Bullet Brawl is an exciting new titled arena that features Chess.com's top bullet specialists and takes place weekly on Saturdays. The format is a two-hour arena with a 1+0 time control; the prize fund is $1,000.
Much like Titled Tuesday and Arena Kings, Bullet Brawl often features top GMs, including Hikaru Nakamura, Daniel Naroditsky, Andrew Tang, Tuan Minh Le, and many more!
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Le Wins Bullet Brawl Ahead of Nakamura, Naroditsky - Chess.com
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GM Magnus Carlsen was included in FIDE's full lineup for the Candidates tournament this week, but in an exclusive interview with Chess.com the former world champion says that he is formally turning down the invitation to play in Toronto.
This week FIDE unveiled the official lineup for the highly anticipated Candidates tournament, the event that determines the challenger for a world championship match against reigning champion GM Ding Liren at the end of 2024.
Included in the field is GM Alireza Firouzja, who wrapped up his spot last-minute by winning an open tournament in France with 7/7, and GM Gukesh Dommaraju who picked up the necessary points in the FIDE Circuit race to surpass GM Anish Giri through the Chennai Masters.
Also included is the former world champion, who earned his spot by winning his first FIDE World Cup. The announcement led to a cold shoulder by the Norwegian, citing American comedian and actor Groucho Marx.
In an exclusive interview with Chess.com's Kaja Snare in Oslo this week, the former world champion explicitly confirmed his decision to decline FIDE's invitation.
With a grin, he stated: "I am not playing the Candidates. Don't worry about that!"
When questioned about the reasons behind his decision for not playing more world championship matches, Carlsen candidly expressed: "I would say the main reason is that I don't enjoy it. It's as simple as that. "
Carlsen, who won five world championship matches against GM Viswanathan Anand (2013 and 2014), GM Sergey Karjakin (2016), GM Fabiano Caruana (2018), and GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2021), says there need to be significant changes for him to return to the cycle.
"I think under the current format with the time control that is, it's extremely unlikely that I will compete in the classical world championship again."
Carlsen reflected on the last two years since he relinquished his world championship title.
"I really don't miss it. I really like the life that I have now. Both playing from home, but also travelling and playing tournaments. I simply don't need it," Carlsen said.
Addressing potential changes in the format that might entice him to return, Carlsen suggested: "I think if we reduce the time controls, made it more games, that would be a very good start."
Since abdicating his world championship title in 2021, Carlsen has repeatedly said he will not return to the cycle under the current format. After winning the World Cup this year, he told Chess.com: "Under the current format there is absolutely no chance. Everybody should just operate under the assumption that I will not play the Candidates, and that everybody else that is in the semifinal is qualified for the Candidates."
Carlsen has favored shorter time controls, which he has been dominating recently. He ended 2023 on a great note, first winning the Champions Chess Tour Final. Then he scored an incredible double, winning both the World Rapid Championship and the World Blitz Championship in Uzbekistan.
With a total of 17 world championship titles under his belt, the 33-year-old emphasized that the best player needs to excel at all formats: classical, rapid, and blitz.
"Obviously the rating system lags a bit behind, but if you look at that over time, that's a pretty good indication of who the best players are," he said, humorously adding:"Also, if you want to know who the best player is, you don't have to look at all the different formats; you can just look for my name!"
If you want to know who the best player is, you don't have to look at all the different formats; you can just look for my name!
Magnus Carlsen
Carlsen's decision to skip the upcoming Tata Steel Chess Tournament marks the first time in a decade. His next scheduled event is the new $200,000 Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge taking place in Germany February 9-16.
Meanwhile, GM Nijat Abasov, who finished fourth in the FIDE World Cup, will replace Carlsen in Toronto, completing the field for the event scheduled April 2-26.
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Exclusive: Carlsen Confirms He Will Formally Decline Candidates Invitation - Chess.com
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The people have spoken! Over 16,000 voters chose the best games, moves, creators, and all things chess in 2023. Now, it's time for us to reveal the winners of the 2023 Chess.com Awards.
2023 was the greatest year for chess yet. We've witnessed the biggest wave of new players picking up the game, received mass media attention, and met our new world champion. But that's not all!
Chess was at one point the most popular free game on the iOS app store and topped three Amazon bestseller lists with IM Levy Rozman's book. Chess even spilled into the universe of other sports when tennis prodigy Carlos Alcaraz and world-renowned soccer coach Pepe Guardiola recorded videos sharing their love for the game.
Not everyone can give up the world champion title and still be crowned Player of the Year. But if anyone can do it, it's GM Magnus Carlsen! This is the third time in four years that Carlsen has won this award, and it's easy to understand why.
The world number-one dominated speed chess by winning the 2023 Champions Chess Tour after coming in first in three CCT events, two Grand Chess Tour events, and the 2023 Speed Chess Championship. More impressively, though, Carlsen has finally won the only title missing from his resume, the 2023 FIDE World Cup, not to mention the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships.
Indian chess fans have a lot of reasons to be proud of their country. Among them, IM Vaishali Rameshbabu is sure one of the highlights! Vaishali had a stellar year, indeed; she earned her third GM norm in the 2023 Qatar Masters, went undefeated to win the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss, and then crossed the 2500 rating mark after winning the IV El Llobregat Openthe last requirement she needed to attain the GM title.
While Vaishali is surely celebrating her qualification for the Women's Candidates in 2024 she sure has time to commemorate another accolade after winning the Woman Player of the Year award.
If the third time is a charm, Rozman is definitely looking charming. For the third consecutive year, the man behind YouTube's biggest chess channel has won the Creator of the Year award. Spearheading chess content creation, Rozman has also found the time to write a book, commentate on major events, and make it to Forbes' 30 under 30 list.
What does it take to win against the world's number-one player? Two sacrifices, a 95 accuracy score, and the name GM Wesley So. The American player was not intimidated by Carlsen and launched a devastating sacrificial attack seemingly out of nowhere. It didn't matter that the engine didn't really like it. It didn't matter that So was up against the best player in history. When the game was over, So was the only one standing, with his victory elected as the Game of the Year. You can check out the full game below, annotated by GM Rafael Leitao:
Another one for Carlsen, this time against none other than GM Hikaru Nakamura. In one of the most thrilling Speed Chess Championship finals ever, Carsen found the brilliant 40.Rxc5+!! in the last game of the event. The first of two rook sacrifices, this move began a mating combination that secured the 2023 SCC title for the world number-one.
In September 2023, the young prodigy GM Gukesh Dommaraju reached his peak rating of 2758, becoming the eighth-strongest player in the world. This was the first time in 37 years that a player surpassed GM Viswanathan Anand as the top-rated player in India. Just a few months later, Gukesh won the strongest classical tournament held on Indian soil to make it to the 2024 Candidates Tournament. Gukesh's impressive run gave him a chance to potentially become the youngest world champion ever in 2024 and made him the Rising Star of the Year in 2023!
By now, everyone knows the story of the Nigerian-born kid who became a chess prodigy. This year, FM Tani Adewumi kept pursuing his grandmaster title and also found the time to do so much more! The young ChessKid caught mass media attention yet again, this time by playing chess against tennis legend Roger Federer. All while winning a match against Harvard University students, helping with his Foundation, and playing tournaments!
Very few people will ever experience the feeling of becoming the world chess champion. But in 2023, GM Ding Liren got to know that feeling when he defeated GM Ian Nepomniachtchi to win the FIDE World Chess Championship. Getting there was not easy, with Ding having to win games to tie the score three times in the classical portion of the match before finally winning in the rapid tiebreaks. After 18 tense games, Ding finally won the match, and after the final handshake sat at the table with head in hands, overcome with emotion. And this was the Photo of the Year:
Maybe it's the way he understands the mind of chess fans like no other commentator, or perhaps it's just the way he screams, "The rooook!". Whatever it is, people love it, and that's why they chose Levy as the Commentator of the Year in 2023!
It was a busy year at the GothamChess household. This year, the renowned Youtuber and commentator also became a renowned Chessable course author, topping the charts with his GothamChess 1.e4 Repertoire (Short & Sweet version here, in case you want to take a look at the free sample) and winning the Chessable Course of the Year award.
At this point, it's getting harder and harder to come up with new ways to praise Rozman. 2023 was also the year when Levy published his first book, How To Win At Chess. The book was a massive success among learners and voters, who elected his work the Book of the Year.
We thank you for once again taking the time to celebrate chess and vote for the 2023 Chess.com Awards. We're excited to be a part of this journey with you, and we can't wait to enjoy another great year of chess in 2024! Happy New Year!
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Announcing The 2023 Chess.com Awards Winners - Chess.com
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