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CHERRYVALE The Chanute High School chess team finished second at a tournament in Cherryvale on Saturday, with the Blue Comets securing 17 out of 24 possible points. Frontenac earned first place at the tournament.

We may have lost this battle, but the war is already decisive. We are a force to be reckoned with; we are unstoppable, said chess player Eric Erbe.

Erbe received fourth place while fifth place went to Zerek Haight. Jacob Hurtado earned seventh place while Brayden Baker finished in eighth. Twelfth place went to Nathan Studebaker, 13th to Josept Lazobarahona and Madisyn Lopez earned 18th.

To say I am proud of these kids is an understatement, said head coach Kyle Gregg. They fought hard all the way to the bitter end. We faced some really tough opponents and in the end we just couldnt pull off the first place victory. Frontenac seems to be our unofficial rival this season and we have been neck and neck all season.

Gregg said the team was missing a few players but the team as a whole played well.

I dont harp on the losses too much because I know that without them we cant grow as a team. We wont let this one bother us too much, but we will use it to fuel the hunger for our next one, he said.

The Blue Comet chess team will play at home Nov. 18.

And we will be spending our time until then making sure that we are at 100% of our ability, Gregg said.

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CHS chess team gets second at Cherryvale | News | chanute.com - Chanute Tribune

Maqonda Ndlovu

Namibias top female chess player Lischen Mentile has embarked on a journey that will see her distribute 1 000 chess boards to various entities in Namibia this year.

Speaking to New Era Sport yesterday, the 26-year-old Candidate Master said the project is part of the global efforts by Gift of Chess to distribute one million chess sets globally by 2030 by donating 1 000 or more chess sets to each country globally.

Namibia is one of the beneficiaries of this project. Gift of Chess reached out to me to be part of this initiative and as a chess coach, myself, I agreed because it is part of what I am already doing. They sent the sets with instructions on how I should distribute them, she said.

Mentile added that she will be doing a micro-distribution, meaning each beneficiary will receive five sets of these chess boards.

She said she would be targeting orphanages, prisons, schools, refugee camps, chess clubs, academies and communication centres in rural areas.

The Namibia Chess Federation will be receiving 100 boards as part of the conditions.

The aim is to make chess an accessible tool for those who do not have access to the game, especially people who cannot afford to buy chess boards. This will hopefully give a lot of people an experience and opportunities of the gift that chess has to offer beyond it being a game, she said.

She added that her first handover in Namibia will be tomorrow at the Peoples Primary School in Katutura, where she will make a small presentation during the handover.

The four-time chess Olympiad said those who wish to be coached can approach her or any other chess club or academy in the country, while those who want to establish clubs or academies can approach the NCF.

If there is any interest in continuing to play chess after the handover, I am willing to help; I can also refer and advise, she concluded.

The Namibia national team player started playing chess at the age of six. She is currently a social media manager for non-profit organisations and an online chess coordinator for girls in different countries.

Mentile added that chess is well-known worldwide but not much in Namibia, which is why the project will ensure that chess reaches all the corners of the country to grow a chess culture.

She said a lot of people, organisations, schools and entities have already approached her about requesting the equipment.

Meanwhile, the Gift of Chess Organisation says it wants to use chess as a simple tool to expand opportunities for all.

The Gift of Chess is a charitable organisation, transforming lives through our universal language of chess. jrnmarko@gmail.com

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Mentile to distribute 1 000 chess boards - Truth, for its own sake. - New Era

Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi and USC head coach Lincoln Riley have gone up against each other before. In the 2018 Orange Bowl, a College Football Playoff semifinal game, Lupoi coordinated Alabamas defense while Riley was the offensive play-caller for the Oklahoma Sooners. That same chess match will be on display this Saturday when Lupois Oregon defense takes on Rileys USC offense.

(h/t Zachary Neel of Ducks Wire)

Question: Tosh Lupoi faced Lincoln Riley back in the 2018 Sugar Bowl, do you pull anything from that meeting schematically in preparation for this game?

I mean, ultimately, obviously, theyre really good on offense, (Oregon coach Dan) Lanning replied. Lincolns a great play-caller. He does a phenomenal job of scheming up plays, you know, game to game. I think he does a good job of keeping it simple and getting into the right looks, you know, they, they see you in certain looks, they take advantage of it. So, you know, overall, this is a really good offense, as good as well see.

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Lots of chess-match dimensions emerge in USC-Oregon battle - Trojans Wire

Out of the seven players who entered the final round with chances to win the Qatar Masters, three hailed from India, three from Uzbekistan and one from the United States (Hikaru Nakamura). The frontrunner was 20-year-old Arjun Erigaisi, who beat David Paravyan on Thursday to get a half-point advantage over the field.

As for the Uzbek representatives fighting for overall victory, the three were coincidentally the same three that played on the top boards for the team that brilliantly won the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Chennai. Back then, the top two boards were occupied by two Nodirbeks, Abdusattorov and Yakubboev, respectively.

As round 9 progressed in Qatar, it seemed like it was going to be a battle of who would get to catch Arjun, who seemed to be holding a draw from a tough position against Abdusattorov.

Until disaster struck.

The position was balanced when Arjun blundered with 48...Rh4, allowing 49.Bf6+. Resignation followed only seconds later.

A truly heartbreaking mistake, both for Arjun and for his compatriots following the game outside the playing hall as recorded by the magnificent ChessBase India team.

By that point, Javokhir Sindarov had already drawn his game, while Narayanan S.L. had held the ever-dangerous Hikaru Nakamura to a draw, which meant only Yakubboev or Khartikeyan Murali could catch Abdusattorov in the final standings.

Yakubboev, playing white, had the better minor piece, the better pawn structure and a dangerous central passer to boot.

Karthikeyan saw it necessary to give up an exchange with 39...Rxe3 here. Under the circumstances, it was a reasonable try, but Yakubboev did a good job in converting his advantage into a win that granted him the right to fight for the title in a blitz tiebreaker with his teammate and namesake.

Yakubboev showed better nerves than his younger (and higher-rated) opponent to prevail with the black pieces in the first blitz encounter. In the rematch, the older of the Nodirbeks got to force a queen trade with a good-looking exchange sacrifice.

25.Rxe6 Bxe6 26.Qxc7 means there is no way for Black to keep the queens on the board if White chooses to trade them. Only needing a draw, Yakubboev did swap the queens shortly after, but also continued to look for ways to activate his pieces.

When the draw was agreed on move 49, it was Yakubboev who had a winning advantage. Three wins on a single day (one over Karthikeyan and two over Abdusattorov) gave the tournaments 19th seed overall victory!

Yakubboev is a 21-year-old who was awarded the title of grandmaster only in 2019. A 3-time Uzbek national champion, he does not receive as much attention as his younger compatriots Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov.

However, Ivan Sokolov, the captain of the national team that grabbed gold in the Olympiad, did not mince words in praising his abilities in a lengthy interview conducted by Sagar Shah:

SS: The player on board two, Nodirbek Yakubboev, not much is known about him. Because when Sindarov became a GM, he was around 12 years and a few months old, so he became well known because of that. Abdusattorov is very well-known after becoming the World Rapid champion. But Yakubboev was very solid on board two, he was unbeaten. What would you say are his strengths?

Sokolov: Yeah, hes a little bit less known indeed than those players because hes slightly older than them. But hes still a very young and a rather universal player.

He works a lot. He also works a lot in the kind of areas where many young players are not working. Hes just trying to improve his chess, and not only interested in the most promising opening variation. I see a great future for him as well.

In Chennai, Yakubboev finished undefeated with an 8/11 score, having obtained draws against the likes of Levon Aronian, Vidit Gujrathi and Jorden van Foreest. Now, in Qatar, the 2616-rated Uzbek outscored the likes of Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri!

The Qatar Masters grants a $5,000 first prize for the woman player with the best placement in the final standings. The winner this year was 22-year-old rising star Vaishali Rameshbabu, Praggnanandhaas sister.

Vaishali was the second-highest rated woman player in the field, behind Kazakh IM Bibisara Assaubayeva. With a 5/9 score and a better tiebreak score than her compatriot Divya Deshmukh, Vaishali secured both the aforementioned prize and her third GM norm. To get the highest title awarded in chess, the young player only needs to surpass the 2500-rating barrier.

Making the right decisions in chess - Fundamentals

In a total of 6 chapters, we look at the following aspects: the right decision based on tactical factors, decisions in exchanges and moves, complex and psychological decisions in longer games and in defence.

After gaining 19.7 rating points at the Asian Games and the Qatar Masters, Vaishali climbed to the 21st spot in the womens live ratings list, with 2467.7 Elo points to her name!

...158 players

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Nodirbek Yakubboev wins Qatar Masters in blitz tiebreaks - ChessBase

It's hard to imagine a better week for GM Jose Martinez, who, after sweeping Titled Tuesday just two days prior, went on to win Chess.com's first Variants Community Series (VCS) Final.

His march to victory, and a $1,000 first-place prize, included two 3-0 sweeps, against IM Ruben Kollner in the Quarterfinals and then, in the Final, against French streamer and content creator NM Kevin Bordi (Blitzstream).

This seven-week cycle featured King of the Hill. The second cycle of the VCS begins after a week break, on November 2, and runs every Thursday starting at 12 p.m. ET/18:00 CEST/21:30 IST. The chosen variant, by community vote, will be 3 Check Chess.

The VCS is a series of events for streamers and the chess variants community. Each seven-week cycle is centered around one variant. Every Thursday for six weeks, participants compete in a two-hour arena of that variant, where the prize fund per cycle is $3,750 plus 610 Twitch/Kick subs. More details can be found here.

The Thursday of Week 7 is the Final, the focus of this article. The eight winners from previous weeks (six arena winners and two top-scoring streamers) were pitted in a single-elimination knockout bracket. Each match was a best of four with a time control of 3+2.

Of 31 total games in the Final, there were just two draws. Since the variant adds a third way of winning the game, besides checkmate or winning on time, it is perhaps even more surprising that there were any draws at all.

Martinez, more popularly known as Jospem (his username), was smooth sailing in the Quarterfinals where he won all three games and skipped the fourth. He won games one and three by placing his king in the center, but he finished game two with a checkmate on the board:

Bordi, who streamed live and would go on to play in the final round, had a markedly more difficult time against Polish GM Zbigniew Pakleza. After their four games ended in an even score, they played two 1+2 gamesboth were won, finally, by Bordi.

The second is entertaining as it features a strategy that is specific to only this variant and simply does not exist in regular chess. Black sacrificed his knight with 26...Nce5!, then the exchange, to break down the white center. The same kamikaze knight completed its duty with34...Nxe4, a final sacrifice and the last move of the game.

Bordi was rewarded with a less strained path in the Semifinals as he swept IM Renato Terry, a regular participant in community events, 3-0 in the Semifinals.

This time, it was Martinez who faced a greater challenge in GM Thomas Beerdsen. The Peruvian grandmaster prevailed 2.5-1.5 after losing the first game, drawing the second, and winning the last two.

The draw, the second and last of the tournament, is the funniest. Just one pawn left the board for the entire game, which lasted 105 moves and ended with repetition in a hopelessly locked position.

In the Final against Bordi, Martinez clinched after winning all three games. In the first game, he won a full queen, in the second he brought his king to d5 in the middlegame, and in the third he won the queen again.

The first of those games had a nice variation where fans were deprived of the mic-dropper 27.Bc4!!, which White never got an opportunity to play.

This week will certainly be tough for Martinez to follow and soon, hopefully, fans will see if he can repeat the same performance in the 3 Check Chess variant!

Final Standings

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2023 Variants Community Series: Martinez Is King of The Hill In ... - Chess.com