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GM Ding Liren has withdrawn from several events since becoming world champion. Now the Chinese star reveals to Chess.com that an unspecified illness is the cause of his absence and that he intends to return to tournament play in 2024.

Where is Ding? That's a question that has led to huge speculation among chess fans in the last few months. The world champion hasn't played a single tournament since May when he finished eighth in the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest, an event that he played less than a week after winning the title in a grueling 18-game match against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Ding then withdrew from the Superbet Rapid & Blitz shortly after that event. It was an exhausted world champion who instead returned to Beijing to give interviews to the Chinese media. There, he hinted that he won't have a long career, but doesn't intend to retire just yet.

"I can't find more fun, and I want to find new happiness elsewhere," he was quoted as saying.

Ding then also cancelled his participation in the Global Chess League in June, Chess.com's Speed Chess Championship in September and the Asian Games shortly after. This week, the Grand Chess Tour also shared the news that Ding has been replaced by GM Levon Aronian and GM Liem Le in the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz and the Sinquefield Cup, where he was scheduled to play.

Ding's absence is in stark contrast to the former world champion GM Magnus Carlsen, who has been active this year. The Norwegian has played the Champions Chess Tour, the FIDE World Cup, the European Club Cup, and the Qatar Masters, and is also now set to play the European Team Championship for Norway in a week.

Ding, on the other hand, made his first public appearance in months during the Chinese National Mind Games tournament at the end of October, where he was a co-commentator on national TV along with GM Wang Rui.

His public appearance is a positive sign and hints at a potential comeback, which the Chinese star now confirms.

In an email to Chess.com, Ding reveals that he has been struggling with illness for some time. The world champion did not go into details, but said that has been the cause of his absence from tournament play.

The 31-year-old also says that he will not play in any more events in 2023 but intends to make a comeback in the 2024 Tata Steel Chess tournament that runs January 12-28. The field in Wijk aan Zee has not yet been officially announced.

The next World Championship match is scheduled to take place at the end of 2024 between defending champion Ding and the winner of the Candidates Tournament, which is set for Toronto, Canada in April 2024.

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Ding Reveals Reason For Withdrawals, Expects Comeback In 2024 - Chess.com

IM Levy Rozman's much anticipated new book was released with a bang on October 24, receiving excellent reviews, making it to the New York Times bestseller list and reaching number one on three Amazon lists.

How to Win at Chess: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners and Beyond is the long-awaited book by GothamChess, the World's biggest chess YouTuber boasting more than 4 million subscribers. As the title indicates, the book targets beginners who want to know everything about the game including "all the important moves and strategies to start off strong and keep you thinking several steps ahead."

Last week the book hit the shelves and Rozman shared a post on X/Twitter that went through his journey from playing chess in his childhood, to becoming a teacher, until becoming a Youtuber and author.

The book reached 1st in three categories: Puzzle Books, Board Games, and Chesspositions it has kept since. In the latter category, it is currently ahead of classics such as Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, Modern Chess Openings by GM Nick de Firmian, and IM Jeremy Silman's How to Reassess Your Chess.

The chess YouTuber also impressively reached 25th among all books on Amazon for one day. "This is insane," he wrote on X/Twitter. "Some of these books sell millions of copies. Thank you all so, so much."

Days later, the book has even made it to 4th place on the prestigeous New York Times bestseller list, in the category "Advice, /How-To & Miscellaneous".

Rozman revealed two months before the release that more than 12,000 copies had been sold. His publisher Penguin Random House declined to give further comments to Chess.com on the number of book sales.

How To Win At Chess has since dropped to 142nd on the overall Amazon list. And the reviews on Amazon could hardly be better: 97% out of 164 reviewers rated it 5/5, with comments such as:

"This is the first book I've seen that could easily introduce someone who doesn't know anything about the game."

"It's fantastic! Please don't buy it, I want to beat you all."

"Levy can be proud, this is a fantastic book and fills a gap in modern chess literature."

In an interview with The Guardian last month, Rozman said that he did his best to hide the fact that he was playing chess due to the negative stereotype that came with the game.

Now I have kids come up to me that tell me how much they love chess and they love my ideas, and I look at them and I go, You look like you would have bullied me in school, he said.

GothamChess held a live event in Brooklyn, New York, which was sold out. More events are planned in November, he said in a recent YouTube videoone of them is already close to sold out.

While Rozman has seen incredible success, not everyone seems thrilled about his YouTube titles, which have been criticized for being "clickbait." Last week GM Hans Niemann, currently playing the FIDE Grand Swiss in the Isle of Man, reacted to one GothamChess video where his play in a title was described as "perfect."

"Some seek solace in YouTube clickbait because they have nothing insightful to provide regarding actual chess games.", Niemann wrote, with Rozman responding:

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'GothamChess' Releases New Book, Immediately Tops Three ... - Chess.com

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

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

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