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July 4 2022, 2:09 pm | BY Ricki Green | No Comments A blog by Damon Stapleton, chief creative officer, The Monkeys New Zealand.

The French Riviera. A sunny place for shady people. Somerset Maughan

When it comes to Cannes and advertising, people often start with whats wrong with it. I dont want to do that after a million zoom calls over the last couple of years. I would rather write about the joy of Cannes. And the joy comes from those mad people you see fleetingly every five years or so. People.

So, if you dont mind, I would like to start in another place full of people. To be specific, Brick Lane in London.

In the middle of a mile-long market I found a beret-wearing cigar-smoking man who could have been from a variety of European countries, playing chess against all comers. He was doing it for free. He was doing it because it made him happy. He reminded me how important it is to do things simply because they are fun.

There was a small crowd that began to grow as he played a young woman who had evidently been there the weekend before. She had been practicing all week and in a beautiful twist she beat our possibly French hero. There was applause and laughter. There was clapping of hands. Grumpy Londoners were delighted to be there. There was joy.

Joy. For a few years we were trapped in our own worlds. And then we were all in the same one.

There is a beautiful line in the Lawrence Kasdan 1991 movie Grand Canyon which is, Never go to the Grand Canyon alone. Perhaps, this is what Cannes was about this year. The festival was great but being with all those crazy people you hadnt seen for years was really special. The tribe found itself. And then we carry on for another year.

Cannes is not perfect by any means. I have been going for more than a decade. It has made me very angry and very happy and probably everything else. There is work that wins that I believe shouldnt. There is work I have done that I think should have done better. And I am sure every creative in the world feels that way. With at least 30,000 entries that will never change.

Cannes has also become massive. It is now a festival that encompasses a multitude of industries and channels. I hear gaming will be introduced next year. So if you think its big now, hold onto your hats. This is of course the problem. If advertising is everything and everywhere, how do you have a finite festival for it? Where is the centre of creativity? Maybe a topic for another blog.

More than a few people have said to me its lost its centre or soul. People complain about the size of the boats, how much ros is consumed and the kind of work that wins. This kind of criticism has happened ever since I first landed on that scary runway in Nice 15 years ago. All of this may or may not be true depending on your point of view. The truth is, each time I go I either have a brilliant time or a terrible time. There is no in between. Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that it has far more to do with me and where I am at in my career than the place itself. Cannes is a strange mirror. It is always just what is happening right now. Good and bad.

So what did the mirror show me this time? It showed me that there is no substitute for being there. It showed me there is no substitute for seeing all those crazy people that make advertising fantastic. Something we should be way prouder of than we are. The people are the place.

Like that cheering crowd in Brick Lane watching chess. It didnt make sense but it made sense to us. Isnt that what living is? People were excited again. Just because we were there. It made us happy because it was fun.

I saw junior teams in Cannes who were there for the first time with wide eyes and wider smiles. They were inspired. They realised how big their universe truly was. You could see nothing was going to stop them. I dont think there is a value or price you can put on that feeling. Our industry should not take it for granted. Especially if you are trying to do difficult things.

Perhaps I, like many of us, have become a little jaded by the passing parade over the years. But this Cannes I remembered what it felt like the first time I went to the South of France. I loved the ideas. I loved the adventure of it all. I loved the people. I saw the potential.

I was a creative not a critic.

This year, after a two year winter the sun came out. I think we all needed this. It felt like normality again. It felt like life and living. The world felt open again. And that felt joyous.

My shady people had found their sunny place once again.

damonsbrain.com

Excerpt from:
Damon Stapleton: The chess player in Brick Lane and the joy of Cannes. - Campaign Brief

World Amateur Championships 2022 to be held in Malta

The details of the World Amateur Championships 2022 to be held in Malta have been announced by the World Chess Federation (FIDE).

This official world event will take place October 20 and 30 with six world championship titles in play: U2300, U2000 and U1700, each open and womens.

The top womens category offers particular potential as it allows entry ranked just below the worlds top 25 girls and roughly top 150 women. The event initially planned for April 2021 will have an increased prize fund of 15,000.

The event follows the European Small Nations Team Championship held at the end of last year, part of the official European calendar.

The last official world event to take place in Malta was the 1st World Youth U16 Olympiad in 1994, which included 12-year-old prodigies Ruslan Ponomariov and Francisco Vallejo Pons.

Before that, the 24th World Olympiad was held in the Great Ward of the then newly-inaugurated Mediterranean Conference Centre in 1980, at which event Garry Kasparov (see photo below) made his Olympiad debut as second reserve for the USSR (gold) at the record age of 17, and winning the bronze medal behind Yugoslavias Pedrag Nikoli and Maltas Andrew Borg.

Entries are strictly through the respective chess federations by September 5. More information is available on the FIDE website.

CM Timothy Mifsud returns to First Saturday IM tournaments

The July 1, 2022 FIDE rating list published last week unveiled a new king atop Malta's active hill. Well, newish.

After a long hiatus, 18th Malta champion CM Timothy Mifsud returned to the board at the June edition of the famous First Saturday IM norm tournaments held in Budapest, Hungary.

Mifsud won the national championship six times (1993-98) and the national junior championship thrice (1992-94), and still holds the record of youngest ever champion (14 years).

Facing nine titled players with an average rating of 2248, Mifsud held his own performing only slightly below his last international rating, including wins against FMs Tibor Bodi and Mark Lyell, as well as draws against GM Tibor Fogarasi, IM Sandor Farago and WIM Isha Sharma.

Independent journalism costs money. Support Times of Malta for the price of a coffee.

The rest is here:
Chess: Malta and national champion return to world scene - Times of Malta

Chess found a way to beat COVID-19 with online games, says five-time world champion Anand

Chess found a way to beat COVID-19 with online games, says five-time world champion Anand

Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand on Tuesday hoped for more womens chess players to break through the ranks in the country.

Anand was in conversation with R. B. Ramesh at Sportstarsfirst-ever South Sports Conclave here. It is very easy to feel very optimistic about Indias youngsters on the boys side but not on the girls side, Anand said during a panel discussion titled Chess and Chennai.

Women like Dronavalli Harika, Koneru Humpy, Bhakti Kulkarni and Tanya Sachdeva are still doing well even though they have been around for a while.

The new ones arent really breaking through. I hope this Olympiad will spark something off.

Globally we need more women taking part in the game. It is a global problem. The India-specific thing is that Humpy and Harika are still very dominant. I wish them well, but it would be good if they had more competition from youngsters.

In 2020, when COVID-19 brought sporting activities to a halt, chess found a way to beat the dreaded virus. Online games featuring players of all standards, from beginners to GMs, were being played across time zones. In late August 2020, India was crowned the joint winner, along with Russia, at the online Chess Olympiad. This was the first time the prestigious event was held virtually.

Anand weighed in on the ease of playing chess online. As long as you use it for learning purposes where you train specific skills it is very healthy. But when you get into an addiction, you want to play one more game because you want to swindle in one time.

You are not trying to improve any more but just trying to score and that is unhealthy. It has to be done more consciously.

The 44th Chess Olympiad will be held in Chennai from July 28 to August 10. The Olympiad, which was moved out of Russia after it invaded Ukraine, was awarded to Chennai recently, making it the second major global event of the sport to be held in India after the 2013 World Championship between Anand and Magnus Carlsen.

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Viswanathan Anand calls for more women chess players - The Hindu

The Tamil Nadu government has sanctioned 92 crore for the 44th Chess Olympiad, the worlds biggest chess event, to be hosted by the State from July 28 to August 10 in Chennai, said Chief Minister MK Stalin. He was speaking at the Sportstars South Sports Conclave in Chennai on Tuesday.

For Tamil Nadu, it is a great pride to be the host in which over 200 countries and nearly 1,000 players will participate. For the first time, India is hosting the event and Tamil Nadu grabbed the opportunity to host the prestigious event, he said.

Originally, Russia was to host the event. However, due to the war in Ukraine, FIDE decided to drop Russia. Many countries tried to host the tournament. However, Tamil Nadu in association with the All India Chess Federation successfully brought the tournament to India We took quick decisions and did all the necessary work expeditiously and we got the rights to host the tournament, he said.

The word 'development' has a broad meaning. One of the most important areas of development is in the field of sports, and Tamil Nadu is moving forward today in sports as well, he said.

A few weeks ago, Stalin released the logo for the 44th Chess Olympiad. A horse was designed and looked like a 'knight' in the game of chess and it looked like a salutation. According to the Tamil tradition, it is wearing a dhoti-shirt and named 'Thambi (brother), he said.

At a time when such a 'countdown' for the Chess Olympiad has begun, it is very fitting that this conclave is taking place. I sincerely congratulate The Hindu group for choosing the right time and would like to express my gratitude for that, he said.

This field of sports is a classy field. The Government of Tamil Nadu is taking a number of initiatives in the field of sports.

Stalin said he hoped that the conclave will encourage all sports and sportspersons in Tamil Nadu and give the government suggestions and ideas on how to encourage school and college students to pursue sports and how to host mega events.

We have a lot of dreams in the field of sports and to realise these dreams, we have to find ways and I hope this conclave will be a good starting point for that as well, Stalin said.

Malini Parthasarathy, Chairperson, THG Publishing Pvt Ltd, said the objective of organising these conversations is to help the widely expressed national goal to make India a front ranking sporting nation by improving the existing sport infrastructure, intensifying opportunities for training and building key skills that enable grassroot sports to flourish in our streets and fields.

We are proud to start our first dialogue here in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, our home state where our Chief Minister is expressing keen interest in developing sports and building youth skills in this regard, she said.

Published onJune 28, 2022

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TN sanctions 92 crore for Chess Olympiad in Chennai - BusinessLine

A MALPAS man has beaten a Scottish master while competing for Wales in an international chess tournament in Italy.

Charles Higgie is competing for Wales Cymru over 50's team in the World Team Championships in Piedmont in the north-west of Italy.

Charles lost his first game to Grandmaster, Alberto David of Italy and then went on to defeat his first master, Andrew Burnett of Scotland.

He said he was pleased to beat his Scottish opponent.

He added: "I have never beaten a master before, it is quite an achievement.

"I have beaten those of higher ratings before but I have never beaten a master.

"It was a very long game, it lasted 60 moves.

"It was very even all the way through.

"I offered a draw at one point which he declined."

Charles went on to lose to opponents from Canada, Sweden and Norway but managed to beat another opponent afterwards leading to him having two victories in the tournament.

The Malpas man said these were strong opponents but added he expected the teams results to improve.

He explained: "Having played strong sides in the first rounds of the tournament, we will be playing weaker teams in our last three matches.

"I expect our results to improve."

Charles said he's played chess from a young age, then stopped after the birth of his daughter in the 1990s and then started again after she went to university.

He added: "I have been playing chess since I was about six or seven.

"I was North Wales champion in 1980 and 1990.

"I gave up chess after when my daughter was born in 1992 to concentrate on looking after her.

"Obviously, I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my daughter and then in 2010 I took it up again when my daughter went to university.

"I have been playing chess seriously for most of my life."

The tournament has an over 50s tournament and the other in the over 65s and Wales has a team in the over 50s section.

As he turns 65 next year Charles says he is looking at competing next year in the over 65 tournament.

He said: "I am 64, so next year I will be 65 and there are some other people becoming 65.

"So next year we might enter one team in the over 65s and one team in the over 50s."

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Scottish chess master falls at the hands of Malpas man - Whitchurch Herald