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SAN DIEGO The pawns are lined up and the gleaming white knight stands ready to attack. The game will resume, again, as soon as the hitters meeting is finished and sometime before the star third baseman lights up a box score.

Given Manny Machados torrid start for the San Diego Padres this season, it would be predictable to joke that the five-time All-Star is playing chess while his peers are playing checkers. But in Machados case, it is also true: When hes not battering opposing pitchers and stealing hits with acrobatic defensive plays, Machado can be found keeping his mind sharp with quiet contemplation at a chess board.

Chess is interesting, said Machado, who learned the game from Brady Anderson, the former player and Orioles executive, in Baltimore in 2017. Its something you cant just go play. Youve got to think ahead to what your opponent is thinking, what hes trying to do to you, how hes trying to attack you.

The game intrigued Machado from the beginning. He keeps a board on a small table between his locker and his clubhouse neighbor, Fernando Tatis Jr., has another board in the nearby players lounge; and plays at home during the winter with his father-in-law, Luis Alonso, who is the father of the former major leaguer Yonder Alonso.

When Tatis Jr. revealed last season that he occasionally plays chess, Machado began bringing a board to the park for matches in his downtime, just like the ones he had played in Baltimore.

If you play every day, youre in a battle with him, said Wayne Kirby, the Mets first-base coach and a regular opponent of Machados, both in Baltimore and again last summer in San Diego.

So many Orioles would play chess in Machados time there that players would wait in line and call I got next as if at a court for a pickup basketball game, Kirby said, and eventually the team kept three chess boards in the clubhouse and a traveling board for road trips. Machado said he is still recruiting new opponents in San Diego, having thus far matched wits with outfielders Wil Myers and Trayce Thompson, who this week was designated for assignment (in baseball, not in chess). Machado has also played a little with Tatis Jr.

His regular opponent, though, is Michael Brdar, San Diegos first-year hitting coach.

Its been fun, Brdar said. Hes good. Hes very good.

Machado vividly remembers the first time he and his main Orioles nemesis, Jonathan Schoop, played a game. It was in Seattle in 2017, Machado said. Both were beginners then, so raw that Machado said their first game lasted only about three minutes.

We both sucked, Machado said. It was interesting to pick up and learn from it.

Machado and Schoop had ascended together through Baltimores farm system and were competitive in everything, including who had the strongest throwing arm. They continued improving as chess players until their matches became something close to an addiction, complete with trash talking that still echoes today.

Who won more?

Come on, thats not even a question, said Schoop, who now plays second base (and plenty of chess) for the Detroit Tigers. I let him beat me a couple of times just to make him feel good. If we played 100 times, hed beat me maybe 10 times.

Machado laughs when this is relayed to him and corrects Schoops math.

Honestly, in the beginning it was a little rough because he knew a little more than I did when I started, Machado said. But once I learned how to do a couple of moves, he had no chance against me. Now, its probably 70/30 Im 70, hes 30.

Machado then upped the ante: I dont think he could win a game against me now. He wont even get his Queen out of the way. Hed be done.

Schoop, though, claims to know all of Mannys moves, especially one tendency in particular. If you take the horse away from him, he said, referring to the knight, hes done.

Kirby concurred. The horse is huge for Manny, he said. He likes that horsey.

Kirby and Schoop said games between the players would sometimes devolve into arguments because both were so competitive. Sometimes, Schoop said, Machado would accuse him of cheating.

They wouldnt get to 100 games, theyd be arguing too much, Kirby said. Theyd get into it because once you touch your queen or something, and then take your hand off of it, youre done. Both of them would be claiming they didnt take their hand off a piece.

In San Diego this season, Machado has had a hand on and in everything. Through Thursday, his .383 batting average, 46 hits and 27 runs scored all led the majors. At 29, he already ranks 19th among active players on M.L.B.s hits list (1,471) and 18th in home runs (258).

With Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera nearing the ends of their celebrated careers, it appears there will be a long wait for the next member of the 3,000-hit, 500-homer club. But Machados unusual combination of youth, production and durability could make him a candidate to join that fraternity one day.

Machado called Cabrera the best hitter Ive ever seen and spoke admiringly of his production.

I know the games changing a little bit, but theres no hitters like that anymore who go out and get 3,000 hits, 500 homers and 600 doubles, right? Machado said. Thats slugging.

It is the kind of hitter Machado strives to be, and it is the kind of hitter he is again after a nagging left shoulder injury last summer left him unable to lift his arm for a time. He still played 153 games, refusing to go on the injured list, and even now he smiles coyly while declining to reveal the exact diagnosis of the injury. (I cant say that. I cant tell you. I dont know what it was. Im not sure what it was.)

It is the entire package of slugger, star fielder, lineup staple and chess kingpin that has elevated him into a team leader for a club that has had its issues with that in the recent past.

You see him from afar and you have your opinions about him, Manager Bob Melvin, who joined the Padres this off-season, said of Machado, who has moved past some early-career issues and into a leadership role. And then you get here and see what hes all about. He is somewhat vocal, definitely leads by example. He shows up to play every single day. He performs every single day. There are subtle things about him that scream leadership.

Brdar, who started playing chess after watching The Queens Gambit two winters ago, suggested there can be a link between chess and hitting.

Youre going to make a bad move in chess, and a lot of times its how you recover from that instead of letting it leak into two, three, four bad moves in a row, Brdar said. Thats similar to hitting.

Youre going to chase a pitch here and there, youre going to miss a mistake here and there. But more often than not its about what you do the next two, three, four pitches after that, or the next two, three, four at-bats after that. I think there are definite parallels.

Machado agreed, noting that youre training your brain to do something right. People read, people do little puzzles to activate their mind.

For Machado, chess fills that role.

He and Brdar play slow games on the board in front of Machados locker if the hitting coach walks through the clubhouse and sees Manny has made a move, for example, Brdar will stop and make his own, and vice versa. Then, after the hitters meeting or batting practice, theyll play longer games on the board in the players lounge.

Right now he plays a fianchetto with his bishop, Brdar said of Machados opening strategy in many games. So he likes to have his bishop have the whole visual diagonally of the whole board.

Thats my move, Machado said. When I saw The Queens Gambit, I didnt really know the names at the time. I still dont that much. I know a few. But its all about openings. If you put yourself in a good position and start attacking in a certain way and you stick to it, you can do it. Thats one of the moves I use the most.

Brdar proudly reports that he has learned to shut down that move. Machado ruefully admits that in their games so far this season, the hitting coach has won three times and Machado only once, with one tie.

But its a long year, Machado said. Things change. Its just like baseball. You go on a hot streak, you go on a cold streak. Im on my cold streak right now.

More:
Manny Machado Brings Chess (and Hits) to the Padres - The New York Times

Wilhelm Steinitz (May 14, 1836 August 12, 1900)

Wilhelm Steinitz looms as one of the largest figures in chess. Earning the distinction of being the first ever World Champion in 1886, he was a successful competitive player and chess journalist whose theoretical teachings revolutionized chess and laid the foundations of the modern game. He is, arguably, chess greatest thinker.

Steinitz was born on May 14, 1836, in Prague, the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia that is now the Czech Republic. He was the last of thirteen children of a poor Jewish tailor who groomed him to become a rabbi.

Steinitz and his family were confined in the Jewish ghettos of Prague, but when these were abolished in 1850, he became free to roam the city. One of his favorite places was the Caf Wein, the chess haunt of the best players in Prague.

The young Steinitz was so proficient at mathematics that his parents soon abandoned their plans for a religious vocation for him and sent him instead to the Vienna Polytechnicum in 1857. He worked as a journalist in the city to support himself, but, with his income proving insufficient, he eventually abandoned his studies and turned to chess for a living.

Master Class Vol.9: Paul Morphy

Learn about one of the greatest geniuses in the history of chess! Paul Morphy's career (1837-1884) lasted only a few years and yet he managed to defeat the best chess players of his time.

Steinitz was already a strong player when he came to Vienna. He spent most of his time at the Caf Rebhuhn, and there gradually developed into Viennas strongest player. He won the citys championship on his third try in 1861, scoring 30 points out of 34 games. This performance was reminiscent of Paul Morphys dominance only three years before, that he became known as The Austrian Morphy.

Following his victory in 1861, the Vienna Chess Society asked Steinitz to represent Austria in the great London Tournament of 1862. This was to be his first international tournament, and the tough field that included Adolf Anderssen, Louie Paulsen and Johan Lowenthal would test him thoroughly. He finished only sixth, but won the tournaments brilliancy prize for his game against Augustus Mongredien.

Steinitz must have found ample opportunities in London for a budding chess professional like him, because he attempted to stay there for good. For one, there was the legendary Simpsons Divan, the only caf in Europe that rivaled Frances Caf de la Rgence. There, Steinitz could give odds and make easy pickings of amateurs, or challenge other strong players to a match. It was in these matches, especially, that masters like Steinitz displayed their skills and built their reputation. With the players and their patrons placing huge bets aside, these matches became the gladiatorial, nerve-wracking contests of Victorian London.

The interior of the Caf de la Rgence circa 1906

Steinitz beat Joseph Henry Blackburne in 1863 (8-2), and Henry Bird in 1866 (7-5) in this sort of high-stakes play. Now considered as Londons strongest player, Steinitz challenged Adolf Anderssen shortly after beating Bird.

Anderssen had been considered the worlds best player after Paul Morphy withdrew from competition in 1858, and this he affirmed by winning London 1862. If Steinitz hadnt surpassed him yet, he muddled the chess hierarchy, beating Anderssen narrowly, 8-6. Every game in this tough match was decisive, and Steinitz would always point to 1866 as the year he became world champion.

Find more info at Chess Archaeology

Yet, even Steinitz himself knew that his claims to ascendancy over Anderssen were shaky at best. Their match was tied at 6-6, and he might have only been fortunate to win the last two games. In the succeeding years, he failed to show clear superiority over his rival. Anderssen, in fact, won the great Baden-Baden Tournament of 1870, beating Steinitz in their two encounters.

The defeat so affected Steinitz that he began a thorough assessment of his game. While, perhaps, he only meant to fix his weaknesses, he could not have been aware that he had begun his theoretical undertakings that were to influence the game profoundly.

Three years later, in the strong Vienna Tournament of 1873, Steinitz unveiled a new, positional playing style. He won the tournament ahead of Anderssen, one of the few times he outperformed Anderssen in a non-match play.

Steinitz took a nine-year break from competition after this victory, and spent the period on that other significant endeavor of his career - chess journalism. In 1873, he became the chess correspondent of The Field, the leading British sports magazine.

The Field became Steinitzs platform for his new approach to the game, and his writings and ideas were later to become the basis of the classical principles of chess. While these ideas were yet too novel for the Romantics to understand in Vienna 1873, they would soon awaken every player to a whole new understanding of the game.

When Steinitz returned to competition, he won the Vienna International Tournament of 1882. His great rival Anderssen had passed away, but a new force in his protg had emerged. He was Johannes Hermann Zukertort. Like Steinitz, he had also beaten Anderssen and Blackburne in matches.

Zukertort won the equally strong London International Tournament of 1883 in dominant fashion, which established him and Steinitz as the two strongest players in the world. Only a match between them could settle the matter of the worlds best player.

Master Class Vol.5: Emanuel Lasker

The name Emanuel Lasker will always be linked with his incredible 27 years reign on the throne of world chess. In 1894, at the age of 25, he had already won the world title from Wilhelm Steinitz and his record number of years on the throne did not end till 1921 when Lasker had to accept the superiority of Jose Raul Capablanca. But not only had the only German world champion so far seen off all challengers for many years, he had also won the greatest tournaments of his age, sometimes with an enormous lead. The fascinating question is, how did he manage that?

The match came to be arranged almost three years later, in the United States of America in January 1886. It was, of course, no different from all the other tough matches they had been involved in as leading masters, what with the $2000 a side that Steinitz, Zukertort and their patrons had wagered. This time, however, the chess world wanted formality, and thus the players, their patrons, and the public alike acknowledged the match to be the first-ever World Chess Championship.

Johannes Zukertort and Wilhelm Steinitz

Zukertort raced to a 4-1 lead. Steinitz, however, fought back and proved too formidable for Zukertort, eventually wining, 10-5, to become the first official world champion. The match made it clear that Zukertort had not reached Steinitzs level of positional understanding.

Find more info at Chess Archaeology

Steinitz defended his title successfully three times, twice against Mikhail Chigorin in 1889 and 1892, and against Isidor Gunsberg in 1890. He finally lost it to Emanuel Lasker in 1894, but by then he was already fifty-eight and well past his prime.

Steinitz remained competitive after losing the title, and finished respectably in great tournaments such as Hastings 1895, St. Petersburg 1895, Nuremberg 1896, and Vienna and Cologne in 1898. Only in London 1899 did he fail to land a prize, but then his health had already seriously deteriorated. He passed away the following year.

Steinitz stands as the most influential figure in the game, and no one has caused as much upheaval in chess thought as he did. He was a child of the Romantic Era, but was the first to sense the fundamental flaws of the attack at all costs Romantic style of play. His keenness and compelling

drive to search for the truths of chess gave rise to the Classical school. He demonstrated clearly the ideas and principles of this school in his writings, and they were completely understood and assimilated by the succeeding generations. Chess would move on to the Classical Era, its golden age, and the classical style of play would soon be perfected by outstanding players such as Siegbert Tarrasch, Akiba Rubinstein, and Jose Raul Capablanca.

Steinitz himself understood all his contributions when he said:

I was champion of the world for twenty-eight years (referring to 1866 as the year he became world champion) because I was twenty years ahead of my time. I played on certain principles, which neither Zukertort nor anyone else of his time understood. The players of today, such as Lasker, Tarrasch, Pillsbury, Schlechter and others, have adopted my principles, and, as is only natural, they have improved upon what I began, and that is the whole secret of the matter.

Steinitz true legacy has perhaps been aptly expressed by an adoring follower. This little man, he said, taught us all to play chess.

The following games of Steinitz are worthy of close study:

You can go over all five games in the replayer below. Feel free to try your own variations!

See the article here:
Wilhelm Steinitz, the thinker, and the dawning of chess' classical age - ChessBase

The Tamil Nadu government and the All India Chess Federation on Saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding for hosting the 44th Chess Olympiad in the ancient coastal town of Mamallapuram near here from July 28 to August 10.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Chief Minister M K Stalin here, a day after the government appointed 18 Working Committees headed by senior bureaucrats and Director General of Police Sylendra Babu to oversee the preparations for the world championship.

The committees include transport, sponsorship, hospitality, media and publicity, security, food, medical services, electricity, and organizing school chess events. Since this is the first time that India will be hosting the world championship, the Tamil Nadu government is pulling all stops to ensure that event is successful.

The ancient coastal town of Mamallapuram known for its magnificent architecture of the famed Pallava Kingdom will play host to the 44th Chess Olympiad from July 28 to August 10, after the international event was shifted out of Russia due to its offensive against Ukraine.

The coastal town, which had welcomed high-profile visitors in Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the 2019 Indo-China informal summit, is gearing up to welcome over 2,000 chess players from 180 countries across the globe.

Over 2,600 rooms, mostly sea-facing, in luxury resorts that dot the scenic East Coast Road (ECR) connecting Chennai with Mamallapuram, have been booked for the Chess Olympiad.

The event will be held at Four Points by Sheraton a sprawling and luxurious resort on the ECR just outside Mamallapuram while players and delegates will stay at high-end hotels like Taj Fishermans Cove, Sheraton Grand, Radisson, and Intercontinental among others, sources told DH.

As the International Chess Federation (FIDE) removed Russia as the host for the 44th Chess Olympiad in February, the AICF approached several state governments including Tamil Nadu to find out whether they are interested in holding the prestigious tournament.

Mamallapuram is one of the top tourist destinations in Tamil Nadu attracting lakhs of foreign tourists every year. The magnificent Shore Temple, Arjunas Penance, one of the Group of Monuments declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, Krishnas Butterball, and Five Rathas are major tourist attractions in the coastal town.

See the original post here:
Tamil Nadu gets ready to host 44th Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram - Deccan Herald

HANOI - Losing two gold medals in Armageddon tiebreakers might seem like a catastrophic event for Tin Jingyao and defending champion Gong Qianyun, but the Singaporean duo were happy to pick up two silvers in the mens and womens rapid chess respectively on Tuesday (May 17).

Competing at the Quang Ninh Exhibition Centre in Quang Ninh, the SEA Games finals went down to the wire for 21-year-old debutant Tin and defending champion Gong, 37, after their respective matches against married couple Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and Pham Le Thao Nguyen ended 1-1 after two rounds of play.

Both matches were settled by an Armageddon tiebreaker, where players first draw lots to determine their colour.

The player with white pieces has more thinking time on the clock than the black, but the player with black pieces has the advantage of winning the game if they can hold their opponent to a draw.

Despite missing out on gold, Tin, an undergraduate at the National University of Singapore, was delighted to pick up his second medal after winning a bronze in the mens standard individual last Sunday.

He said: I was happy enough just to have reached the final. The level (at the Games) has been quite strong so its a bonus to be getting a medal.

While Gong, who was the first Singaporean to win a SEA Games gold in the sport in 2019 was not able to defeat her fellow Woman Grandmaster in the final, she was happy to be on the podium after a poor outing in the womens standard individual.

The 37-year-old said: I was disappointed after the first day so even before the final, I was happy to be able to get a medal.

I could have done better today as well but it is a good learning experience for me.

Both chess exponents will look to go one better in their final event, the mens and womens blitz, on Friday.

Continue reading here:
SEA Games: Two silvers for Singapore in rapid chess - The Straits Times

In a recent report, we asked readers and listeners from around the world to write us about their hobbies and studies.

In this weeks Everyday Grammar, we will share part of a message from Evgeny in Ukraine. Evgeny wrote about his school and his favorite hobby: chess. You will learn about how Americans describe schools and grades, and how to talk about when you began your hobbies.

Evgenys message

Here is part of Evgenys message:

My name is Evgeny I am studying in the 11th grade of the comprehensive school "Pearl". I am a chess player. I have been playing this wonderful game since 9. I have won many city and region tournaments and also took part in a lot of national championships....

Lets start with the sentence about Evgenys studies:

I am studying in the 11th grade of the comprehensive school Pearl.

We suggest removing the present progressive verb studying.

In general, Americans identify grade level in school with only the verb BE. We also use the preposition at instead of of when identifying a school.

So, you might hear an American student say, I am in the fourth grade at Park Hill or I am in the 10th grade at Western High School.

Evgenys sentence could be changed to something like this:

I am in the 11th grade at Pearl, a comprehensive school.

This form of the sentence might be a littler clearer to a speaker of American English:

I am in the 11th grade.

The reason we made this point about American English is because Evgeny used the term comprehensive school, a kind of school that is generally not familiar to Americans.

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, a comprehensive school is a British term for a school for children of all different levels of ability who are over the age of 11.

Evgenys hobby: chess

Now lets explore how Evgeny describes his hobby.

I am a chess player. I have been playing this wonderful game since 9. I have won many city and region tournaments and also took part in a lot of national championships...

Evgeny did a great job of ordering his statements. He started with the most general information and then gave more details in the following sentences.

We recommend adding a little more information to the second sentence, I have been playing this wonderful game since 9.

In general, we use numbers alone to describe times of the day, as in I woke up at five or Ive been here since eight.

We generally add the past tense of the verb BE to describe an age.

So, Evgenys sentence could be updated to something like this:

I have been playing this wonderful game since I was 9 years old.

Or:

I have been playing this wonderful game since I was 9.

Evgeny described his success in chess:

I have won many city and region tournaments and also took part in a lot of national championships.

We suggest using the term local instead of city and replacing region with regional. We also propose replacing the phrasal verb took part with a verb such as participated or competed.

The updated sentence could be something like this:

I have won many local and regional tournaments and I have also competed in national championships.

Closing thoughts

Toward the end of his message, Evgeny wrote:

I think chess can help children improve their focus and concentration skills...

We agree with Evgenys statement. We also wish him the best of luck with his English studies and his future chess matches.

If you would like to receive writing suggestions in a future report, send us a short description of your favorite book. Explain why you like the book and what it means to you. You can write us in the comments section or email us at learningenglish@voanews.com

Im John Russell.

John Russell wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.

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hobby n. an activity that a person does for pleasure when not working

regional adj. describes a part of a country, of the world, etc., that is different or separate from other parts in some way

focus n. a main purpose or interest

concentration n. the ability to give your attention or thought to a single object or activity : the ability to concentrate

Continued here:
Hobbies and Studies - VOA Learning English