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At the end of the second round of the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad, 43 teams have four match points, and nine teams won clean 4-0 victories and thus have eight game points. In the 44th FIDE Women's Chess Olympiad, 40 teams have four match points; 11 teams with 4-0 victories have eight game points at the end of this round.

In significant games of the open section, World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen debuted for Norway with a trademark endgame squeeze after a long-drawn battle of nerves, while GM Dieter Nisipeanu, on the German team, played a peach of a game. The 73rd-seeded Zambia created a significant upset when they defeated the 27th-seeded Denmark with a score of 2.5-1.5.

In the women's section, significant upsets occurred when 65th-seeded Ecuador defeated 26th-seeded Slovenia with a 2.5-1.5 score and former women's world champion GM Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine was defeated by lower-rated IM Ekaterina Atalik of Turkey.

With such a huge sea of humanity, it is not just the chess on the board that you want to observeyou are also enthralled with the players' attires, contrasts, ages, and poses. As the players are engrossed in playing their games, the colors of the Olympiad showcased in their dresses and headgear command your attention.

Colors on her hat, a smile on her face, and chess in her soulEllen Kakulidis of Denmark. Photo: FIDE/Lennart Ootes.The foremost desire of every chess player, a rich and clean head during playIM Semetei Tologen tegin of Kyrgystan. Photo: FIDE/Stev Bonhage.That which brings a smile to all of us: the innocence of youthMazen Fandi of Syria. Photo: FIDE/Mark Livshitz.

Because GM Viswanathan Anand has a huge fan following in India, he has commanded a lot of attention at the Olympiad. On Friday, he interacted with a large group of enthusiastic young children. They are part of the "Chalo Chennai" ('Let's Go Chennai') initiative and were selected to attend the Olympiad as spectators from chess tournaments conducted all over the country by the All India Chess Federation:

Teams that scored complete 4-0 victories in both rounds are Ukraine, India 2, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Georgia, Argentina, Cuba, Montenegro, and Canadathus scoring four match points and eight game points. However, medal favorites the U.S., India, Norway, Spain, Poland, Azerbaijan, and the Netherlands also won their matches to gain four match points.

Carlsen, in a hallmark 80-move endgame squeeze against GM Georg Meier of Uruguay, employed his favorite methods of playing chess: consistently applying pressure even with limited material on the board, giving the opponent all the chances to go wrong, and demonstrating his famous reputation as a tireless "squeezer":

GM Dieter Nisipeanu of Germany, playing in his true style, unleashed complex tactics to finish with a checkmate in the middlegame. Our Game of the Day lasts just 28 moves:

The top-seeded U.S scraped through with a 2.5-1.5 margin against 47th-seeded Paraguay, with the former being superior by rating on all boards. The decisive win came from GM Leinier Dominguez who clinically outwitted GM Fernando Cubas on the third board. Birthday boy GM Fabiano Caruana started his campaign for the U.S. in this round, but he never had any chances during his game.

GM Wesley So's game was a curious affair, as the American grandmaster seemed to be consistently building an advantage, which was considerable at one point:

The U.S. suffered mildly anxious moments when GM Sam Shankland seemed to have difficulties in the endgame even though he outranked his opponent, FM Ruben D Zacarias, by 545 Elo points:

India scored a 3.5-0.5 victory over Moldova with GM Pentala Harikrishna leading the way and showing his famed endgame prowess. The game is a textbook example of efficient practical endgame play with Hari's fluent and effective play in a simple-looking position:

In addition to the top India team, the other two teams in the open section and all three women's teams of the host country also won their matches, thus pleasing the home crowd, which obviously showed massive support:

France, Azerbaijan, and Armenia are among the 11 teams that scored complete 4-0 victories in both rounds, thus scoring four match points and eight game points. However, medal favorites the U.S., India, Norway, Spain, Poland, Azerbaijan, and the Netherlands also won their matches to gain four match points.

For top-seeded India, GM Koneru Humpy, showing unusual hesitancy in her game against WIM Marisa Zuriel, got into difficulties in an advantageous position on the top board:

Humpy's timely draw offer in an inferior position prompted GM Arturs Neiksans on the Chess.com live commentary to quip, "Koneru just pulled the old trick!"

The major upset of the day was IM Ekaterina Atalik's victory over GM Mariya Muzychuk. Atalik seemed to conduct the game fluently, keeping a good grip on the proceedings throughout:

A surprise happened in the Lebanon-Syria match when veteran GM Pia Cramling won her game in just nine moves against WIM Knarik Mouradian who blundered early:

It was a special moment at the press center after the second round. The youngest participant of the Olympiad, eight-year-old Randa Seder (Elo 1442) of Palestine, who won her game against unrated Mohamed Fahima Ali Mohamed of Comoros, spoke to the press corps along with her teammates.

See full results here.

The 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad and Women's Chess Olympiad are over-the-board team events where national chess federations compete in classical games for gold medals, trophies, and the title of strongest chess nation in the world. The event consists of an 11-round Swiss tournament where each player from a national team plays against another player from the opposing national team. Teams receive "game points" for winning or drawing games and "match points" for winning or drawing a match. Teams with the most match points for each section become the champions of their section, with a third award going for the team with the most points from both sections combined.

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Favorites Continue With All Wins - Chess.com

The final week to qualify for the Chess.com Global Championship Knockout Phase began with GMs Maksim Chigaev and Andrey Esipenko winning the 13th and 14th Play-ins. GMs Pavel Ponkratov and Ray Robson also qualified by each winning second place respectively.

The last two rounds of the Play-in Phase start on Friday, August 5, at 5 a.m. PT/14:00 CEST and 10 a.m. PT/19:00 CEST. For titled players who would like to join in and play against legendary GMs such as Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand, be sure to get verified so you can play in the next event.

Chigaev won clear first with an undefeated 7.5 points, starting with a 5-0 winning streak. In the penultimate round, he defeated GM Sergey Pavlov in 29 moves by pressing on his weakened kingside.

The highest performing non-GM was once again FM Marco Riehle, who finished fourth with seven points. He upset GM Yi Xu in round eight, gaining the advantage in a queenless middlegame and pressing for victory in 80 moves.

Ponkratov and GM Anton Demchenko finished second and third, also with 7.5 points. In their first playoff game, Demchenko was on the verge of winning a pawn in the ending when he made a mistake, and Ponkratov caught his king in a mating net.

In the second game, Demchenko struck back, gaining a rook and three pawns for a knight and a bishop, eventually breaking through with a mating attack.

In the armageddon tiebreaker, Ponkratov poked holes in Demchenko's position on both sides of the board and brought a rook to the seventh rank to begin hunting down his opponent's pawns. Demchenko fought back with his bishop pair, but Ponkratov eventually broke through on the kingside.

By advancing, Chigaev and Ponkratov earn the chance at a minimum of $5,000 in the knockout phase along with their respective Play-In prizes of $850 and $600. Demchenko earns $400 for third place.

Play-in #13 Swiss | Final Standings (Top 10)

*Note a playoff occurs between second and third place for qualification into the Knockout Phase.

(Full final standings here.)

Esipenko finished first, scoring 7.5 points and going undefeated. He defeated the previous tournament leader, GM Jos Ibarra, in the last round, fighting for many moves to take over the advantage in an equal ending.

Robson and GM Mikhail Antipov finished second and third, tying with 7.5 points. Robson won the first playoff game by trapping Antipov's overzealous centralized rook.

The second playoff game was a must-win for Antipov. He used most of his time trying to squeeze any winning chance out of the position, but ultimately, the two agreed to a draw in a rook ending, and Robson celebrated qualification with a fist pump in the air.

In the post-match interview, Robson talked about his recent improvement in online performances: "I'm feeling great. I've struggled in all these Rapid Chess Championships and CGCs so far. Although, the last couple weeks, I've been trying to focus more on it and do better. I feel like I am doing better."

By advancing, Esipenko and Robson earn the chance at a minimum of $5,000 in the knockout phase along with their respective Play-In prizes of $850 and $600. Antipov earns $400 for third place.

Play-in #14 Swiss | Final Standings (Top 10)

*Note a playoff occurs between second and third place for qualification into the Knockout Phase.

(full final standings here.)

The Chess.com Global Championship is a worldwide prize event open to all Chess.com verified players. The event has a $1,000,000 prize fund and brings together players from all around the world with chess legends like GMs Alexei Shirov, Vasyl Ivanchuk, Hou Yifan, and many more. The Play-in phase consists of 16 Swiss tournaments which will award the top-two players from each event with a share of the $60,000 prize fund and a spot in the CGC Knockouts.

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Last Week To Qualify Kicks Off With Wins For Chigaev, Esipenko - Chess.com

The Dalai Lama once said that there are 34000 distinguishable emotions. Even he would be hard pressed to show a single emotion if he were at the Chess Olympiad in Chennai as a spectator. Because its not allowed. They cant say a hello if a player veers closer to their enclosure, they cant cheer for their favourite player or flash banners to garner their attention. Mobile phones and cameras have to be kept in the cloak room; they cant munch popcorn or guzzle the cola, forget the bubbly concoctions; between the audience, they cant debate or fight, no release of excitement after a piece capture following an elaborate manoeuvre, like after a rally at the Wimbledon Centre Court. Even the players dont high-five or fist-punch. Nothing moves, everything is static. Watching chess from the galleries seems an exercise in self-control. The silence suffocates.

Perhaps, chess, as Garry Kasparov once said, is never meant to be watched from the galleries as any other spectator sport. You cannot say, go, go, rah, rah, good move! People want some emotion, but chess is not a sport, but an art, he had once said. Kasparov never liked crowded halls as he felt the masses distracted him. So an artistic sacrifice or a creative gambit or a surprising gamble are best enjoyed over an online stream or at a chess club with friends. Arguably, its this intrinsic, unchangeable nature of chess that makes it spectator-unfriendly when watching from the galleries.

Thats the curse of board gamesno board game is a spectator sport. Scrabble fans dont agonise over the fact that its never going to be at the Olympics. They are so close to the actioncloser than perhaps a bout of boxing or wrestling, almost within touching distance from the players, yet they are so far from the action to understand what is unfolding on the boards.

Not that it has doused spectators from crowding the galleries at the Chess Olympiad. The gallery at the main hall is a few metres away from the boards, where the spectators can stand and watch them from side-on from behind a wall, guarded by volunteers. Hall B gives a better vantage point, as the platform is elevated and there are chairs.

You could watch the players, if the players are expressive, most dont betray emotions, gauge the mood; if you a chess whiz yourself, you could follow the moves by observing the movement of the hands.

You get a glimpse of whats happening on the board closest to the gallery. You can see some of the blocks and then guess the moves and the lines. But for that you need to know the game at a decent level, says R Raghunathan, a former chess player who has been travelling to the venue every day.

But he says he is here more for the ambience than seeing whats unfolding on the board. I am here for the ambience. There are people from everywhere, most top players in the world, Carlsen, So, Caruana, Aronian. I dont know when I can ever see them again in one tournament. Besides, there are a lot of boys from Tamil Nadu and we need to show them some good home support. If I wanted to enjoy the game and analyse the moves, I could have sat at home and streamed the games online, he says.

Most of the spectators inside the gallery are supporters and relatives or friends of players rather than aficionados or just there because of the buzz. Like Raghunathan, Felix Anandaraj has been shuttling from Tambaram to Mahabalipuram on his bike in the hot sun just to cheer for D Gukesh, who he knew since childhood. I dont know the game much and I dont understand whats happening either (from the gallery), but I come here on most days to show my support to meet the players and soak in the whole atmosphere, he says.

So, most of the chess nuts at the venue gather in the sprawling golf-banks like a courtyard at the venue. There is a giant screen streaming live games from the FIDE live channel with the commentary of Judit Polgar and Mihail Marin. But most have other live streams running on their smartphones too so that they can peek into other games too. But they dont watch the games without taking their eyes off it. Rather, they enjoy discussing the game within their groups.

Says S Roshan: What we do is we watch a move and analyse the line, strategies and possibilities among ourselves, doing sort of an alternative commentary. That way, we are playing the game ourselves, working out possibilities and permutations ourselves. Watching chess, like any other game, is best as a community experience. It feels a bit more interesting being here than it does just sitting in front of a chess board at our house.

Its how the mind of a true blue chess fan works. While spectators of most other sports enjoy the momentwhen a goal is scored or a six is struckchess fans get their joy from calculating what could possibly happen next, or after that. We are always thinking of progression, of patterns and possibilities. The best thing about the game is that you can play their game yourselves, and games as far back as those of Capablanca or Alekhine. All you need is a list of moves and a board, he elaborates.

On that note, chess has more space for the strategic as well as emotional involvement from the spectators. Raghunathan chips in: We are as emotionally invested in a game or players as spectators in other games too are. We like to see our favourites like in other sports too. As Kasparov said chess is indeed an art, but like any good art it too stirs emotion in the heart of the connoisseurs.

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The noisy silence of the chess fans: Why are the Chennai fans thronging the Chess Olympiad venue despite endless restrictions? - The Indian Express

This was to celebrate Chennai being the host city for the Chess Olympiad 2022. There were three chessboards underwater, off the coast of Neelankarai

This was to celebrate Chennai being the host city for the Chess Olympiad 2022. There were three chessboards underwater, off the coast of Neelankarai

The barracudas off the coast of Neelankaraiwere going about their Sunday as usual when they noticed something peculiar: three checkered square boards. And on them stood black-and-white pieces in theshape of pawns, bishops, knights, rooks, kings and queens. Soon, schools of bannerfish, angelfish, jackfish and a solitary turtle joined the barracudas, as they witnessed their first underwater game of chess.

The six players, however, played on unperturbed, periodically rocked by underwater surges. SB Aravind Tharunsri, the organiser of this innovative feat, kept an eye on the proceedings, dressed as Thambi, the mascot for the ongoing 44th Chess Olympiad. The participants are all scuba divers trained by him. Each game lasted for about 15 minutes, says Aravind, founder of Temple Adventures diving centres in Neelankarai and Puducherry.

SB Aravind dressed as Thambi.| Photo Credit: Temple Adventures

The idea was to celebrate Chennai being the host city for the Chess Olympiad 2022. This is our way of encouraging all the chess players from India and around the world, says Aravind. The chess boards and pieces were specially designed so they stay underwater. The chessboards weigh 10 kilograms each and had iron attached to the base. The chess pieces were filled with iron filling to add the needed weight. My Thambi mask was designed by art director PP Saravanan, keeping the specifications of my face and diving regulator in mind. The mask made of fibre, measures one-and-a-half feet in height and comfortably fits the regulator too, he explains.

Scuba divers playing a game of chess underwater.| Photo Credit: Temple Adventures

It took us two hours to set up everything, align the boards, and play the game. We kept coming up to the surface every 20 minutes, says Aravind, who along with his team took a boat five kilometres out to sea at 6.30 in the morning. They then dove down to a depth of 60 feet. This is not the best time for diving. The South West monsoon is on and the currents are also strong, he says.

The underwater chess team.| Photo Credit: Temple Adventures

The visibility over the last few days had not been good but the team was lucky to get eight to 10 metres of visibility on the day of the feat. Aravind is pleased with the result and has many more underwater events planned. Some of the other underwater activities he had earlier organised include a game of cricket, exercises, and cycling.

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This team from Chennai played a game of chess in the sea, 60ft underwater. Here is what it looked like - The Hindu

Impact Chess hosted a "Chess in the Park" event at Turning Basin Park in Princeton.

Transfixed by the boards in front of them, a group of youthful participants with smiles and concentrated stares faced off against a single player playing 19 simultaneous games against them. For two hours, the focus was on chess.

Out of the 25 total children who joyously faced off against National Master Winston Ni, only three lasted until a technical draw was announced. This was a busy day for Ni, but also for Eric Wu, the founder of nonprofit Impact Chess, the organization responsible for hosting their first ever Chess in the Park event on July 10 at Princetons Turning Basin Park.

Wu, a four-time NJ state grade champion, wanted to give the children who assembled an experience, a memory, of chess for them to leave with. He noted the enthusiastic reactions of the younger players as Ni who is also the director of community engagement for Impact Chess, a rising senior at Princeton Day School, and the 2018 National K-9 Champion made moves in his simultaneous exhibition.

I found that just to be super beautiful, because of how much these kids are involved in the game and how much they care about it, and through that thinking, through that competitive atmosphere, you can really see growth, Wu said.

Along with the Princeton Chess Academy and volunteers, Impact Chess had set up 20 chess boards, then started with 30 minutes of free play for the young students. Wu said the day, which steadily grew in size and spirit over four hours, exceeded his expectations.

Explaining that the mission of Impact Chess is to spread chess to those who would benefit from it the most, Wu acknowledged that while the game can help anyone, the nonprofit mainly focuses on children and seniors.

For children, he added, there are positives in inspiring them, giving them a hobby or passion they can pursue, which helps them a lot later in life as they develop, but the same social and cognitive perks can apply to seniors, too.

Wu has spent this year advocating for the advancement of chess, officially registering the nonprofit organization in January, 2022. According to its website, Impact Chess has raised $1,330 and impacted 100 people through attendance at events and donations.

But before chess came into Wus life, there was Go.

When I was very young, and I lived in China, the popular board games were Go and Chinese chess, said Wu, who usually played with his father, Haibo. Go is also strategy-based, but features a larger board with an increased number of moves and pieces chess has 20 starting possibilities to Gos 361, and instead of representing hierarchical ranks as chess pieces do, Go stones are rounded with the objective being to take up as much of the board, or territory, as possible.

Born in San Francisco, Wu frequently moved back and forth between California and China until his family relocated to Princeton in the summer before second grade. There, he noticed that chess dominated the world of thinking board games, so his days of Go stopped.

From the day he signed up for chess summer camp at Princeton Academy, right next to the Princeton Day School he would later attend, it was obvious that Wus future would be heavily influenced by chess and its principles.

Chess has taught me a lot, and throughout the process I felt my own growth. I became better at chess, and I also met new people, so thats why Ive been playing ever since, he said, adding that chess helped him explore creativity, strategic thinking, and how to remain calm under pressure.

Wu, 16, has lived in Princeton for nearly half of his life, but he is also a rising junior at Phillips Exeter Academy, a private boarding school in New Hampshire. His chess rating is around 2,000 what he describes asexpert level and he is also in the top 100 for his age in the United States. Yet entrepreneurship is more of his current focus.

The idea for Impact Chess came from a late-night phone call with a friend, where Wu, still in Exeter, found himself reminiscing about past life experiences.

Eric Wu is the founder of Impact Chess.

Thinking back, I realized that a lot of the decisions I made were perfectly what would have led me to where I am today. I was able to, in a lot of different situations, find the best thing for myself and also others, he explained, linking that to his deep understanding of chess, where high level players regularly think several moves ahead. At that moment, I really felt that I was blessed by the game of chess, [and] I thought I should definitely give this to other people. Theres so many ways that chess can help.

Wu knew that gearing programming towards students, especially those from underserved and underrepresented communities, could result in a brighter future changed by the mutual celebration of chess.

In todays society, political polarization is almost at an all-time high. Chess teaches us so much about perspective, strategic thinking, and removing emotions from judgment all those things that could definitely just help people think more rationally, more sympathetically. I really feel like chess is just a great tool that helps people think about so many different things, and I wanted to share that with others, Wu said.

A renewed interest in the game, due in part to both the pandemic and the success of Netflixs The Queens Gambit, was another factor in making the dream of bringing chess to new audiences possible. The sale of physical chess sets rose, as did the rate of female players who identified with the shows lead.

Online platforms such as Chess.com exploded, as people were inspired by not just media, but the chance of escaping isolation, as many chose boards over boredom. Twitch, which has had a partnership with Chess.com since 2018, streamed matches and tournaments live.

While Wu appreciated that the popularity of chess increased, a downside was that because of the pandemic, many tournaments, events, in-person lessons, and classes all had to be canceled. So even though the pandemic has helped this surge and chess playing in general, it really harmed the in-person experience of the over-the-board tournaments, and the United States Chess Federation events.

Wu continued that these closures, and overall, the harm that COVID has caused, all factored into the message of Impact Chess not just to expand the games reach, but to try to heal these communities back together, he said.

Prior to the pandemic, Wu, his dad, and friends used to play with members of the Township Senior & Community Center Chess Club. The power of chess bridged the gap between the varying age groups and skill levels, but after being shut down for such a long time, the club struggled.

In June, the only attendees were Wu, his dad Haibo, and club president Bong Ortiz.

This motivated Wu to work with the club to establish quad tournaments where each player engages in three rounds against those of similar ranking.

It was actually a huge success, because there were around a dozen participants, which was incredible compared to the three people that were at the club meeting, Wu said, with that collaboration still ongoing.

Impact Chess also partnered with Arm in Arm, a Trenton nonprofit to help those in need receive basic care and employment, to donate 63 chess sets to Robbins Elementary School. After volunteers taught grades the basics of the game, 45 of those sets went to families, while 17 stayed behind, one for each classroom.

As Impact Chess is still in its infancy, Wus priorities are to establish opportunities for outreach, instruction, and community building at the moment, that means organizing events and recruiting members.

Their national scale already includes leaders in Massachusetts, Boston, Michigan, and Northern California, while international operations have started in Toronto, Canada. Planning for the future, though, was made easier through connections closer to home.

When Eric and Haibo first started playing in Princeton, they mainly stuck to school tournaments, but his father created a group chat for parents of local chess players in hopes that they could all share resources.

Soon, the platform became a place for mentorship opportunities as well, now amassing about 2,000 members. With more than just guardians, the chat has allowed Wu to interact with chess players he idolized as a child. As most of them are now college students, they were more than open to the idea of offering their time and advice. Since Eric was able to build on these preexisting relationships, it was a natural transition for them to become involved.

One of the advisors is Andrew Tang, a grandmaster and Princeton University student regarded as one of the best bullet chess players in the world, referring to a variant of chess with very short time controls such as hyperbullet (30 seconds per player) or ultrabullet (15 seconds per player).

Other notable figures include Darwin Yang, a grandmaster getting his Ph.D. in economics at Princeton, Jennifer Yu, the 2019 U.S. Womens Champion and woman grandmaster, and Jeffery Xiong, who qualified for the grandmaster title at age 14, after he became the youngest champion in the history of the Chicago Open, according to the website.

While these younger players are Wus friends, two of the adult advisors are his coaches, renowned chess grandmasters Larry Christiansen and Gregory Kaidanov.

Wu maintained that the beauty of chess lies in its inability to discriminate.

No matter what, when you play chess, you have 16 pieces on the board, the exact same as your opponent. That is something that is truly magical about chess, because I would say almost anyone could play it. Even if youre playing against the world champion, for instance, technically you have a chance. You start out completely even, whereas in a lot of other activities, there are some limits, he said, such as being athletic or tall in sports. For chess, you just have to be willing to play it, to try to outthink your opponent.

If you lose, you do so with grace, Wu said, which is yet another merit to chess.

Ive lost over 200 games before, and in a lot of things I do, I dont really experience much failure things are more in the gray area. But for chess, you either win or you lose. It doesnt matter how close you were, it doesnt matter how much time you spent, at the end, the result is what it is, ending in either a victory, loss or a draw.

Every month, Impact Chess is set to host Chess Club quads, as well as Chess in the Park Events, with the latter next scheduled for Sunday, August 7.

For Impact Chess, I definitely want to continue it even beyond high school, maybe even beyond college, because its something that I really love doing, and thats what I think entrepreneurship means, Wu said. Entrepreneurship is the creation of value.

He will always play the game and aims to attend nationals, but Wu defines his professional path through the ability to expand on his imagination where, by combining strategies with his passion, he is sure to make winning moves outside of chess.

More information: impactchess.org.

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