Archive for the ‘Chess’ Category

European Team Chess Championship 2023 starts in Budva … – European Chess Union

The 2023 European Team Chess Championship kicks off this Saturday in Budva, Montenegro. The event will be played from 11th to 20th November in the Conference Hall of the *****Hotel Splendid.

The Championship is played in 9 rounds, swiss system, with Open and Womens sections separately. The time control will be 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds increment for every move played starting from move one.

70 teams from 39 European federations will participate in the event, with 38 teams in the Open section, and 32 teams in the Womens event. Azerbaijan (Rtg average 2701) headlines the Open tournament, followed by Romania and Germany (Rtg average of 2676 each). England (Rtg average 2671) will be the fourth seed and Armenia (Rtg average 2667) is ranked fifth on the starting list.

Top European players will represent their federations at the championship including the World No1 GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2829), GM Richard Rapport (ROU, 2748), GM Teimour Radjabov (AZE, 2745), GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE, 2734), GM Vincent Keymer (GER, 2721), GM Nikita Vitiugov (ENG, 2712), GM Haik Martirosyan (ARM, 2708), GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU, 2700), GM Jorden Van Foreest (NED, 2700), and GM David Navara (CZE, 2695).

The team of Georgia (Rtg average 2471) top seeds the Womens tournament. Azerbaijan (Rtg average 2392) is second on the starting list, followed by Germany (Rtg average 2385), Ukraine (Rtg average 2365) and Bulgaria (Rtg average 2362).

The best rated players in the Womens event are GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI, 2526), GM Bella Khotenashvili (GEO, 2488), GM Nino Batsiashvili (GEO, 2487), GM Elisabeth Paehtz (GER, 2473), WGM Dinara Wagner (GER, 2467), IM Meri Arabidze (GEO, 2458), IM Efroimski Marsel (ISR, 2448), IM Gunay Mammadzada (AZE, 2441), and GM Pia Cramling (SWE, 2440).

Starting rank lists of both events can be found here.

The Opening ceremony of the event will be held tomorrow evening at the playing venue of the tournament. The start of the Opening ceremony is scheduled for 19:00 CET, and the Captain meeting will take place at 21:00 CEST.

Live broadcast of the games with commentaries by GM Alojzije Jankovic and Dragana Nikolovska will be available exclusively on the ECU YouTube Channel.

The ECU General Assembly 2023 and the ECU Congress 2023 will be held from 17-20 November in Budva, during the European Team Chess Championship 2023. Detailed information about the ECU Congress 2023 can be found here.

Official website of the event

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European Team Chess Championship 2023 starts in Budva ... - European Chess Union

Bullet Brawl Winner Martinez Executes Knight And Bishop Checkmate – Chess.com

GM Jose Martinez was crowned as November's first Bullet Brawlwinner after surviving a late resurgence by GM Oleksandr Bortnyk on Saturday. Having built a solid lead in the first half of the event, Martinez looked to be running away with the event. However, a 15-game win streak by Bortnyk meant that the race to the finish was closer than expected.

The top-scoring female in Saturday's event was a new winner, WCM Veronika Shubenkova, who won $100 for her efforts, while in the community event, Cesar Lagos managed to win by a margin of 12 points over Umut Can.

The next edition of Bullet Brawl will take place on Saturday, November 11, 2023, at 1 p.m. ET/19:00 CEST.

How to review games?The games from October's final Bullet Brawl can be found here.

After a third-place finish in last week's event, Martinez returned to the Bullet Brawl arena with the accuracy and dexterity required to finish ahead of hiscolleagues rated 3000 and higher. While top bullet chess players like Bortnyk, IM Renato Terry, and GM Tuan Minh Le were playing, Martinez was able to capture a lead after a strong start.

It wasn't all smooth sailing for Martinez, though. In his fifth game, the Peruvian was tested by GM Jose Cardoso, who forced the eventual winner to checkmate with a knight and bishop with just 12 seconds left on the clock!

Bortnyk also piled the pressure on Martinez as the match clock wound down, scoring 15 straight wins in an attempt to wrestle the title from Martinez and double down on his victory in the previous edition.A 26-move, electrifying win over GM Sergei Zhigalko was the boost of momentum Bortnyk needed to galvanize his comeback attempt.

As he often does, Bortnyk also streamed the arena live on his Twitch, and viewers were treated to an animated celebration after the GM found a surprising checkmate following a middlegame mouse slip.

When the clock did expire, though, Martinez had an eight-point buffer over Bortnyk (238 to 230), and one of the reasons for this was the result of one of their earlier clashes, which the Peruvian GM converted after an incisive knight sacrifice.

With 106 titled players playing in Saturday's Bullet Brawl, it was unsurprising to see a few familiar faces in the field. Most notably, popular content creator IM Eric Rosen made a cameo. The American IM, who scored 88 points, was able to finish in 24th place thanks to his tactical acumen.

November's second Bullet Brawl is expected to gain a significant boost at the top end as the 2023 FIDE Grand Swiss finishes up in the Isle of Man. Expect to see players such as GMs Hikaru Nakamura, Alireza Firouzja, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave back online next Saturday.

Standings

Bullet Brawl is an exciting new titled arena that features Chess.com's top bullet specialists and now 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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Bullet Brawl Winner Martinez Executes Knight And Bishop Checkmate - Chess.com

Celestial Minds Chess Celebrates 20th Anniversary Extravaganza … – India New England

By Kishore Tiruveedhula

BURLINGTON, MACelestial Minds chess academy is celebrating its 20th anniversary chess extravaganza this Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023, at the Academy of Creative Arts in Burlington, MA.

Celestial Minds, founded by Kavyashree Mallanna, state champion from India and USCF rated expert player, started the journey in 2003 and has contributed to the field of chess in various ways organizing, coaching, inviting grandmasters for free seminars, simul chess displays, USCF rated events and FIDE chess tourneys in India, just to name a few.

Additionally, Kavyashree also initiated several outreach projects as part of the Express through chess campaign to enrich the life and experience of specially abled children.

Having a great record of accomplishment of two decades of chess activities and learning, Celestial Minds just marked the milestone with an All India Open Rapid Chess tournament (an AICF approved event) in Goa last month and also had two social outreach initiatives in Government run schools of Mysore.

As part of the culmination of our anniversary celebration, the upcoming chess extravaganza event on Nov. 11 is a day to be cherished by all chess fans be it amateurs, novice, or competitive players of all ages. The event will be graced by two special guests National Chess Master, Scott Low and chess enthusiast, Jason Shuster, who will train and play simul chess; Training and simul chess is open for all ages is a beautiful opportunity to challenge the masters.

The event is also an opportunity for the competitive scholastic players to be part of the USCF rated tourney.

Celestial Minds said that Dr. Manju Sheth, MD president of INE MUltiMedia and Women Who Win, will grace the occasion as the chief guest and will hand away the prizes. Dr. Sheth works for women empowerment and encourages women achievers.

The event will also recognize and felicitate local New England chess talents and the budding chess players who have excelled in 2022-23.

The Celestial Minds team looks forward to hosting this chess extravaganza, all are welcome to play / attend. For more details email- info@celestialminds.net, or call at 603-204-1375.

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Celestial Minds Chess Celebrates 20th Anniversary Extravaganza ... - India New England

Berkeley to host first U.S. chess championship for women over 50 – Berkeleyside

The Berkeley Chess School holds regular tournaments for youth and adults. It will be the host of the first-ever U.S. Senior Womens Champion this weekend. Courtesy: Berkeley Chess School

Since its founding in 1982, the Berkeley Chess School has overseen several major milestones for women in chess. It hosted the first girls and womens California chess championships, as well as the first regional championships for women in western states.

U.S. Senior Womens Championship, Berkeley Chess School, 2622 San Pablo Ave., Friday-Sunday, Nov. 3-5

The school is poised to add a fourth landmark achievement to its list: It will host the inaugural U.S. Senior Womens Championship, which begins Friday evening and runs through Sunday.

Twelve of the countrys top women chess players over 50 will square off against each other over five intense rounds. The tournament, which will be played using the Swiss system (meaning no one gets eliminated), will be streamed online and can be viewed for free in person at 2622 San Pablo Ave. Spectators watching the tournament live will be asked to place their phones on a designated table in the tournament room as part of an anti-cheating protocol.

I am just so chuffed that I actually was chosen to do it, said Berkeley Chess School founder Elizabeth Shaughnessy, who has long worked to increase recognition of female chess players. Just 14% of the U.S. Chess Federations membership is female, according to the governing bodys website.

The lineup of participants includes the Ukraine-born Anjelina Belakovskaia, who holds the title of Woman Grandmaster and is a three-time U.S. Womens Chess Champion; Chilean-American Beatriz Marinello, who holds the title of Woman International Master and was vice president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) from 2010 to 2018; and Ukraine-born, Bay Area resident Natalya Tsodikova, who holds the title of Woman FIDE Master and won the California Womens Championship in 2019.

Alexey Root, who holds the title of Woman International Master and who has authored several books on chess strategy and womens chess history, will hold a book signing at 6:15 p.m. on Friday, 45 minutes before round 1 starts.

The senior womens championship cost around $20,000 to organize, with support from the Eades Foundation and U.S. Chess Federation. Prize money totaling $8,000 is split among the top five winners.

Shaughnessy said she embraced the opportunity to host the tournament in Berkeley because she knows firsthand the challenges older women face.

In 1970, she was named the Irish Womens Chess Champion; just three years later, following the birth of her eldest daughter, Orna, she went on hiatus. She returned to competition 25 years later, securing a spot on the 1998 Irish womens team and representing her home country in several Chess Olympiads. But she felt her skills never fully returned to where they were in her youth.

Shaughnessys story is not uncommon among competitive female chess players.

Even the legendary Hungarian chess grandmaster Judit Polgr, the only woman to have ever been a serious candidate for the World Chess Championship (open to both men and women), retired from competition to dedicate more time to her children.

If I can get older women who have raised their children now and are wondering what to do with themselves into playing chess, it would help them see its not just live a long life, but its live with your marbles in place, said Shaughnessy, who is 86 and credits chess for keeping her mind sharp (she still plays chess online daily). Thats the big deal.

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Berkeley to host first U.S. chess championship for women over 50 - Berkeleyside

First ever Living Chess game to take place in ELC High School – Kuensel, Buhutan’s National Newspaper

Sherab Lhamo

Bhutans first ever living chess game will take place at ELC High School, Thimphu on November 11 at 10am.

Living chess or human chess is a form of chess in which people take the place of the chess pieces on a large chessboard.

Living chess was first played in 1454 in Marostica,northern Italy. Then, two noblemen fell in love with the daughter of the Lord of Marostica. They challenged each other to a duel for the daughters hand, but the Lord forbade them from the duel to avoid becoming enemies if one of them lost.

Instead, the Lord decided that the two noblemen to play a chess game, a living chess. The game took place on the square in front of the lower castle in the presence of all the people.

Even to this day, the game is being played, and the tradition has spread across the world.

The small town of Strobeck in Germany is devoted to chess and even has a stone 600 sq.ft chess board in the town plaza. The game is being played yearly.

Jane Hancock, a chess teacher in ELC, the one who brought the idea to Bhutan, said that she wanted to create living chess here in 2019 but unfortunately due to the pandemic she could not.

In September 2022, plans started to slowly evolve to create living chess,she added.

The entire staff is involved in making this possible with 32 students as chess pieces. The chess board is made of strong material of around 600 sq.ft like the one in Germany, according to Jane.

ELC students have been studying chess since September 2022.

The students have been rehearsing for the last two months.

They are extremely prepared for the game, said Jane.

The costumes for the living chess are based on Bhutanese culture; the chess pieces, including the king,queen,two bishops, two knights, and two rooks will be dressed up in traditional attire representing the hierarchy role. The pawns too will wear cultural decorations.

Yangcchen Pelmo and Tshewang Loday, the facility staff, are the designers, who have been working for months on the design aspect of the game.

According to Jane, chess is an important activity for developing students critical and strategic thinking, helping to develop critical thinking and good sportsmanship. Some studies on chess have concluded that chess players tend to have better memory, attention spans, and overall brain function.

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First ever Living Chess game to take place in ELC High School - Kuensel, Buhutan's National Newspaper