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If you've enjoyed our previous data visualizations of the most accurate chess players over time and the countries with the most grandmasters over time, then you'll want to check out our latest: The top women over time!

With the 2023 FIDE Women's World Championship ongoing, now is a good moment to take a walk through the history of the highest-rated women by FIDE since 1970. From GM Nona Gaprindashvili to GM Judit Polgar to GM Hou Yifan, watch below to see how the greatest women to ever play chess have compared for the last five-plus decades.

Jump to: Video| Methodology| Trends & Observations

The basis of the list is the active top 10 FIDE rating list, which has been published at least once a year since 1970. At the time, not every active player had a rating, and Gaprindashvili was the only woman with one. She became world champion in 1962 and was way ahead of other women playing chess at this time. Between 1971 and 1972, the number of women with a FIDE rating increased from three to 129.

After periods of biannual, quarterly, and bimonthly releases, the list finally moved to monthly in 2012. Until 2012, players remain on the graph until permanently falling below top-10 status. Any player in the top 10 at any point after 2012 remains on the chart through to the end, except in the cases of GM Judit Polgar and GM Viktorija Cmilyte, both of whom have retired or gone inactive.

To create an uninterrupted monthly chart in the video, data between lists was interpolated. The lists used are sourced to OlimpBase through 1999 and FIDE from 2000 onward.

There were many great women players before 1970 who do not appear in the video solely for the lack of a rating list. Vera Menchik was the most notable player in this group. She won all eight women's world championships she played, often in sizeable tournament fields. Menchik died in a bombing raid on London in 1944.

Gaprindashvili is the first player whose dominance was tracked statistically. Her strength as a player only made the Netflix controversy even more bizarre: the megahit series The Queen's Gambit included an unnecessary and incorrect line about Gaprindashvili, stating that she didn't play in events with men. Gaprindashvili sued Netflix and they settled for an undisclosed sum.

Throughout the video, there is usually a clear #1 player, starting with Gaprindashvili. She was followed by GM Maia Chiburdanidze. The mid- to late-1980s and early 1990s buck this trend until Judit Polgar's dominance arises in the 1990s and 2000s. Since Polgar retired, Hou Yifan has been the top player.

The list of these number ones is quite exclusive, with only six players reaching the pinnacle. Judit Polgar was #1 for 25 years, just under half the period in review.

Every player in the video rises between July 1986 and January 1987, during which Chiburdanidze gains the top spot over GM Susan Polgar. That happened because FIDE awarded 100 extra rating points to every player besides Polgar, on the grounds that women's ratings were lower than they should have been due to playing in fields with each other, while Polgar was more regularly playing in open events with men. Polgar's exclusion from the gains was nonetheless questionable as she was not the only player with records against the men. Chiburdanidze herself, for instance, finished third out of 16 as the only woman playing the 1984 Rubinstein Memorial, played in similar events before and after that point.

In total, 80 women have ranked in the top 10 on at least one FIDE list. They all appear in the video.

Read the original:
The Top Women Chess Players Over Time - Chess.com

The Chief Teller has reported the following results for the 2023 US Chess Executive Board (EB) Election. The Chief Teller is calling the results provisional for reasons explained further below.

The top four are elected to four-year terms on the EB starting at the conclusion of the 2023 Delegates Meeting on August 5 or August 6 (whichever day the meeting concludes).

The difference between Vish Viswanath and Fun Fong is four votes, or 0.5%. Mike Nietman, the Election Committee Chair, has asked for a recount to verify the results due to this closeness. The Chief Teller is unable to conduct the recount for several days. He will secure the ballots in a sealed box until the time he has the ability to perform the recount. This is expected to be no longer than a week. This post will be updated with a final tally when it is available.

Follow this link:
2023 US Chess Executive Board Election Results | US Chess.org - uschess.org

When I was 12 years old, we got a school assignment to write an essay about a personal hero. I had just finished reading the immortal classic The Twelve Chairs, and the book had a profound effect on me. It was difficult not to fall in love with the main protagonist of the book, Ostap Bender. A charismatic man with a fine sense of humor was the complete opposite of the traditional characters of books that we studied at school. So I decided to write my essay about Ostap Bender.

I have to admit that it was a questionable decision because, despite all his charisma, Ostap Bender was a crook. In my defense, I was only 12 years old and was completely blown away by GM Mikhail Tal's favorite book. Moreover, some twenty years later, FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov erected a statue of Ostap Bender in his Chess City.

My school assignment was almost half ready when our teacher decided to take a look at it. I proudly showed her my work, but her reaction was quite unexpected. She got madvery, very mad! She didn't bother to explain that Ostap Bender is not the best role model. She was upset for a different reason.

"What were you thinking about?" she was practically yelling. "Our country is preparing to celebrate Vladimir Ilich Lenin's birthday, so you are supposed to write about Lenin!" she concluded very angrily. Thanks to my teacher, I got another valuable lesson about double-speak, which helped me a lot in the future. Of course, I wrote my essay about Lenin and got a perfect grade!

Talking about chess heroes, I have never hidden my preferences. It is mostly World Champions (pretty much all of them) and some extraordinary grandmasters who never got the highest title (like GM Viktor Korchnoi, for example). In some cases, I hope that they just haven't gotten the title yet (like GM Hikaru Nakamura). There are also chess players, like IM Rashid Nezhmetdinov, who became my heroes for their artistry.

Now, I have a new chess hero that's in a category I cannot really define. He's still young, and who knows, maybe one day he'll become a world champion. He definitely values art in chess. But, he is also something newsomething related to the modern meme culture.

Without further ado, let me introduce you to GM Jergus Pechac. The readers of my column might remember the game which was featured in this article:

In that article, I wrote:

Due to an obvious mouse slip, he [GM Boris Gelfand] leaves his queen under attack. By simply capturing the queen, you would win the match and proceed to the next round of the FIDE World Cup qualifier. What would you do?

The young Slovak grandmaster didn't want to win the game and the match this way, so he offered a draw! Caissa, the goddess of chess, decided to reward Pechac, who won in the armageddon and advanced to the next round. While I am sorry for my old friend Gelfand, I am extremely happy that chess chivalry is alive!

As you can see, unlike my childhood hero Ostap Bender, Pechac has a very high moral standard! But what about his chess and the meme culture? Let me explain. You might have seen a video that was popular a couple of years ago.

A nicely dressed young man at a concert is visibly uncomfortable. He is probably waiting for his date because he is constantly looking at his watch, but the date never shows up. Finally, giving up hope, he thinks, "Ah, screw it!" and shows his true inner self.

When I looked at Pechac's games, I saw some similarities with the video. In his recent tournaments, Pechac played all kinds of solid openings like the Queen's Gambit or the boring Berlin Defense.

And at some point, just like that dancing man, Jergus probably thought, "I've had enough," and then all hell broke loose!

For starters, he decided to start playing GM Vladimir Kramnik's type of chess and never castled:

Then he said "hold my beer" to all the people who think they are "brave" when they play the Bongcloud in a meaningless blitz game. Can they do it like Pechac and push their rook pawns against 2600+ grandmasters in official tournament games?

By the way, unlike the Barnes Opening and other meme openings, Pechac's push of his a-pawn has a point. It takes just one natural-looking move for White to lose his b5-bishop!

Yes, even after blundering the bishop, I would still prefer White's position. But still, it is a very unexpected turn of events in such a classical opening as the Ruy Lopez! By the way, if you are collecting opening traps, here is a similar one for you:

Finally, Pechac turbocharged his meme mode and played 1.Nh3 against a very strong Romanian grandmaster and well-known opening expert, GM Alexander Motylev:

Now I've seen everything! All hail my new chess hero, GM Jergus Pechac!

Go here to read the rest:
The New King Of Meme Openings - Chess.com

With an unbelievable perfect score on Saturday, GM Magnus Carlsen seized the lead by a three-point margin at the SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz Croatia 2023. His 9-0 blitz performance plus his victories in the last two rapid games add up to an 11-game winning streak so far.

Previous leaders, GMs Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchiare tied for second. World blitz number-one, GM Alireza Firouzja, scored victories against both, rising to fourth overall with the second-highest blitz score.

The action continues on Sunday, July 9, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern/14:00 CEST.

How to watch

Though the rapid segment finished with Caruana and Nepomniachtchi on top, Carlsen forecasted that Firouzja was more of a threat in blitz and that the previous leaders would have to fight to keep up with him. This couldn't have been more accurate.

Straight out of the gate, Carlsen showed what he's capable of in faster time controls. Facing Caruana in round one, Carlsen squeezed a win out of a queen ending, even with few pawns left, all on one side. The finish was an elegant combination of dynamic play and keen awareness of Caruanas defensive triesa masterclass in generating chances from a tiny advantage.

With this victory, Carlsen climbed into a tie for second with his opponent. In round two, Carlsen won again, defeating GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda in a tense battle where the Polish grandmaster ended up blundering a critical pawn.

Meanwhile, Firouzja took down the other previous leader, Nepomniachtchi, and crossed the 2900 threshold in his live blitz rating in the process.

The standings began to reflect Carlsen's words from the day before: He was tied for first with Caruana while Firouzja also steadily ascended the standings.

Rounds three and four featured all decisive games. GM Richard Rapport threw a wrench in Firouzja's comeback. Perhaps inspired by the spirit of GM Mikhail Tal, the Romanian grandmaster tried an intriguing yet unsound piece sacrifice. His enterprising play paid off when Firouzja blundered a mating combination in the time scramble in the complex position.

Position after Rapport's 14.Bxh4 sacrifice

Though Firouzjas progress stalled, Carlsens continued. He defeated GM Gukesh D. with another endgame squeeze. After just three rounds of the faster time control, Carlsen stood atop the scoreboard as the sole leader. For the rest of the day, he didn't give any of the players a chance to change this.

In the GM Viswanathan Anand vs. Gukesh rematch, the protege went for a fascinating piece sacrifice, slamming his bishop into the former world champion's kingside with the hopes of sacrificing his queen next for a mating combination.

Position after Gukesh's 16.Bxg7

But Anand's defensive abilities were up to the task, accurately navigating his way free of the prodigy's attack. How would you defend against Gukesh's looming siege?

In round six, Carlsen faced his closest rival, Nepomniachtchi, gradually grinding him down in the pawn-up ending until sneaking a mating net around the enemy king.

With a 6-0 score and wins versus both the rapid leaders, Carlsen began to realize his hope for a perfect score wasn't out of the realm of reality: When I had 6 out of 6, when I played Alireza, and I thought if I could beat him, maybe I could do it."

With five victories to his name himself, Firouzja was in striking range of Carlsen, eager at the chance to play head-to-head in round seven.

Unfortunately for the blitz number-one, it was a rather one-sided game. Surprised by Carlsen's early queen development in the Caro-Kann Fantasy Variation, Firouzja seemed unsettled from the get-go, struggling in the opening despite playing white. Carlsen soon gained a compelling initiative due to his rival's less-developed pieces and loose pawn structure.

Position after Carlsen's 3...Qa5+

Yet, Carlsen's greatest challenge was still ahead of him. In the penultimate round of the day, Rapport posed a major threat to Carlsens winning streak. Fearlessly diving into tactical complications with the hopes of outcalculating Carlsen in all phases of the game, Rapport crashed through with his dark-squared bishop leaving it open to capture several times.

In fact, at one point, Carlsen thought he was done for: "When he played Bxg3, I thought: OK, that's it. It's not going to happen."

In the time scramble, Carlsen's exceptional endgame ability under pressure came through. The players each raced their passers down the board, but the six-time world blitz champion's queen and king worked overtime in offense and defense to create a decisive edge.This incredible duel is our Game of the Day, analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao below.

In the final game, Carlsen completed his goal in the most fitting way. With his trademark ability to create winning chances from advantages imperceptible to the human eye, Carlsen defeated Lupulescu in an even rook ending.

As GM Constantin Lupulescu offered his hand in resignation, Carlsen raised his hands in the air victoriously. His 9-0 day was official. And he had defeated every single other player in the tournament to get there.

Carlsen was in a state of sheer delight after the game: "I've had good days in terms of quality of play, but this feels really special."

Standings - Overall

Today also had a considerable effect on the live world blitz rankings. Carlsen gained nearly 30 rating points to take over second from GM Hikaru Nakamura. Now just nine points away, he's landed within inches of world number-one, Firouzja. Can Carlsen continue his streak on Sunday and take over the top spot?

Standings - Blitz

All Games - Day 4

The SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia 2023 is the third leg of the Grand Chess Tour (GCT). Starting on July 3, the event featuresMagnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand as wild cards along with Tour mainstays like Alireza Firouzja, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and more top-notch competitors battling it out for their share of the $175,000 prize fund.

Previous Coverage:

Continued here:
Carlsen Towers Above Rivals With Perfect Score - Chess.com

Queens of Chivhu

Godknows Dembure, who teaches at Makumimavi Primary School, is doing in Chivhu what Katende did at Katwe, a slum in the Ugandan capital of Kampala, after meeting school dropout Phiona during a missionary-run outreach.

At Nharira Primary School, his previous workplace, Dembure established a chess club named Queens of Chivhu inspired by Queen of Katwe to help girl students improve their critical thinking and mathematics skills through chess. Dembure had himself learned to play chess when he was a trainee teacher.

"When I started this chess project, it was as a kind of antidote to the problems that existed in the area where I was teaching. Child marriages, pregnancy and dropout rates were high, prompting me to look for a way to help these girls gain confidence and wriggle out of the situation they were in," Dembure tells TRT Afrika.

"When I started this chess project, it was as a kind of antidote to the problems that existed in the area where I was teaching. Child marriages, pregnancy and dropout rates were high, prompting me to look for a way to help these girls gain confidence and wriggle out of the situation they were in," Dembure tells TRT Afrika.

Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) data shows that rural girls are twice more likely to be married before 18 than their urban counterparts.

Zimstat also notes that 33.7% of girls aged under 18 are already married, which works out to one in three girls under 18. In comparison, only 2% of boys get married before reaching the age of 18.

Zimbabwe is among the 20 African countries where child marriages are rampant.

Funding challenges

In Zimbabwe, chess is still considered an elite sport, played mostly in the country's top schools. A rural chess hub like Chivhu is the exception. Girls emerging from Dembure's Queens of Chivhu club have already triumphed at various levels of the sport, competing in and winning local, national and international competitions.

Dembure says funding to enable his wards to attend competitions is a challenge in the absence of income-generating avenues. Parents in the area already struggle to pay for their children's education so, there's little else they can provide for chess.

Sometimes, Dembure ends up funding the club with his own earnings so that the girls can go to tournaments and gain competitive experience.

Here is the original post:
Zimbabwe's chess 'queens' are checkmating adversity - TRT World