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Guildford are unbeaten in Britains national league, the 4NCL, for over eight years, scoring 81 wins and two draws and dominating opponents. This week, though, the juggernaut halted when the Surreyclub was defeated by the continental elite in the online European Club Cup.

The 91 competing teams included numerous high-class squads whomade it the strongest ever entry for this long established event. Teams of four, with reserves, played using a fast time limit of half-hour games.

Guildfords quintet, led by England No1 Michael Adams, are all experienced grandmasters, and were effectively the England national team plus a Bulgarian reserve.

Deizisau were the surprise winners among10 finalists, scoring 14/18. Sponsored by Grenke Bank, the Stuttgart teams star performer was Vincent Keymer, 16. French and Russian clubs were close behind, with Guildford (+3=2-4) seventh.

Andrey Episenko, 19, who beat world champion Carlsen at Wijk in January, sacrificed rook and knight en route to a 21-move mating attack againstFrances No2.After Black missed a chance to stay level by 14...Nf6, itwas like watching the legendary Mikhail Tal reincarnated.

Major over the board tournaments in Norway and Sweden have recently been postponed due to the pandemic, so there will be anxiousmoments before the world title Candidates, abandoned at half-way, can resume in Ekaterinburg on 19 April.

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Fabiano Caruana v Magnus Carlsen, Isle of Man 2017. Black to move. How did Norways world No 1 persuade the US world 2 to resign?

Click here for solution

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Chess: Guildford, unbeaten for eight years, find the strongest ever Eurocup a bridge too far - Financial Times

It was a great weekend for American collegiate chess, and an even better one for the state of Missouri: two of its schools claimed both gold and silver medals in FIDEs first World University Online Blitz and Rapid Championships.

On Saturday, March 27, the University of Missouri won the gold medal in World University Team Online Blitz Cup, with Saint Louis University claiming silver. The next day, the two schools swapped places in the standings for the Team Rapid Cup event, with SLU earning the gold medal and Mizzou finishing second. In both events, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley placed third.

As it turned out, the United States has the strongest chess universities in the world right now, said"> GM Bartek Macieja, coach for UT-RGV who helped FIDE organize the collegiate championships. It wasnt obvious to me I expected some Russian schools or some Chinese universities to do very well in this event, but no. Three of them were from the United States.

The World University Online Team Cup events were the culmination of several world collegiate championship events organized by FIDE and the UT-RGV throughout the month of March. Earlier in the month, World University Online Championship events were held for individuals in both Blitz and Rapid time controls. According to the results of those individual championships, the four best team scores qualified for the Cup events, which were played as knockout duels of two matches each, using four boards.

Team members, by school and event were:

University of Missouri

Saint Louis University

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

The three American universities also secured an assortment of individual medals. In the individual Blitz Championship, Mizzous Antipov earned the bronze medal in the Open section, while Badelka placed second in the womens section, and UT-RGV's Sliwicka in third.

In the Individual Rapid Championship, Mizzous Antipov and Oparin won silver and bronze medals in the open section, while Badelka brought home the bronze in the womens section.

Additionally, WIM Julia Antolak from UT-RGV earned the gold medal and became the 2021 World University Online Rapid Womens Champion. The event, however, has since become the focus of significant controversy. The individual Womens Rapid final was played Thursday, March 25 and initially won by IM Iulija Osmak, though by the weekend her title as womens champion was revoked.

Osmak, a 23-year-old Ukrainian Womens Champion playing for UT-RGV, was one of 20 players flagged by FIDEs Fair Play Panel and disqualified from the Rapid Championships. After initially scoring 4.5/5 in Thursdays finals, each of her games were reversed to losses by forfeit, and a half point was awarded to each of her opponents.

FIDEs decision to disqualify for a suspected fair play violation was final, and Osmak was not allowed an appeal, review or any other challenge. Further muddying the waters of an immediately difficult situation, FIDE did not claim that the suspected fair play violation is proof of actual cheating or an admission of guilt by the disqualified player. You may view FIDEs Fair Play report here.

Though FIDEs decision was abrupt and without recourse, it has undoubtedly created passionate debate throughout the internet chess world. For a thorough dissection of FIDEs decision and the surrounding fallout, you may view Chess.com journalist Peter Doggers report here.

For a full list of results, video interviews and description from each of FIDEs 2021 World University Online Chess Championship events, please visit the official website.

See more here:
Mizzou, SLU win World University Online Team Championships - uschess.org

It was widely speculated that the Buccaneers would definitely retain at least one of their top two free agents following the Super Bowl. There was no way theyd be able to keep wide receiver Chris Godwin as well as edge rusher Shaquil Barrett.

But they did.

Tampa Bay was able to place the franchise tag on Godwin and re-signed Barrett. They were moves all parties agreed to and now that we look back on it, it appears that there may have never been any doubt the Bucs werent keeping both.

Despite how seamless it may look now, general manager Jason Licht says that it was a chess game when asked how they were able to pull off retaining them.

All of these guys, they wanted to be here at the end of the day, why wouldnt you? Were coming off a Super Bowl, we have the GOAT at quarterback, a great head coach, great ownership, and a great town, Licht said on SiriusXM NFL Radio with Bill Lekas and Charlie Weis. It was a little bit of a chess game deciding what to do there. We wanted to make the move we felt had the best chance to keep both and it turned out we got it right and everybody is very happy about it.

Licht and the Buccaneers are returning all 22 starters from their Super Bowl roster. That makes them the first team in the salary cap era to do so.

Godwin and Barrett were huge hurdles they cleared early on to be able to do so.

Continue reading here:
Bucs decision to bring back Godwin and Barrett was a chess game - Bucs Nation

Sydney rapper Yibby has shared his second single of 2021, Chess Not Checkers.

The track, released yesterday (March 31), follows on from the release of Cigar in early February, which featured Lord Apex. Chess Not Checkers features a verse from Arno Faraji, marking his first new music of the year.

Listen to the track below:

In a press statement, Yibby explained that the songs title stems from a saying that went around in his circle of friends.

[It] mean[s] that you have to think long-term or strategically about things, he said. When someone would make a smart move, we would say that.

The saying came to mind, Yibby continues, when he was shown a new instrumental in the studio. The beat was a co-production between Kid Fiction and Clockwork Odyssey.

When I heard the beat, I knew it reminded me of that feeling, he said. It was high energy and natural but still calculated.

Farajis involvement came later in the piece, after he and Yibby met in Sydney while the former was on a national tour. When I listened to the demo back I knew hed be right for it, he said. His verses have crazy bounce.

Chess Not Checkers and Cigar follow on from the two singles Yibby released in 2020, No Sweat in April, and Ballin in November, which featured Angelo The Poet.

Faraji, meanwhile, was last seen as a featured artist on Kwames 2020 EP Please, Get Home Safe. He also released a collaborative single with Two Another, Just A Phase, in July last year.

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Yibby and Arno Faraji team up for new single Chess Not Checkers - NME.com

On the second day of the final, rounds 5 to 9of the all-play-alltournament were played. After day 1, Clichy and Deizisau weresharingthe lead with six matchpoints each, with the French slightly ahead by one board point.

Already the 5th round saw Deizsau taking the sole lead, as they defeated the womens squadfrom Monte Carlo, while another German club,Hamburger SK, defeatedClichy.

The victory did not come easy forDeizisau, though, as they scored a single win (and three draws) against the winners of the Womens European Club Cup. Georg Meier who finished the eventwith a remarkable5/6 score defeatedAleksandra Goryachkina, a player who can normally hold her own against the (male-dominated) worlds top players:

Practical Chess Strategy: The Bishop

When it comes to strategy, one of the key things that chess professionals understand much better than amateur players is the role of the bishop which is the key theme on this video course.

The ultimate testfor the team from Deizisau came in round 6, when they faced the strong squadfrom St. Petersburg, a team that has often fought for the title in similar events. This match could not be lost: to keep the lead in the standings, but also to strengthen the belief that they could winthe tournament! And they succeeded.In a hard-fought 2:2 draw (there were no draws on individual boards), Alexander Donchenko and Vincent Keymer each took a full point.

In Round 7, the Poland Husars, led byJan-Krzysztof Duda, were then left behind in the standings with a 2:1win Georg Meier and Vincent Keymer, the most successful point scorers for the eventual winners, scored victories in this match.

In Round 8, Deizisau thankedHamburger SK fortheir support earlier in the day (see above) as the match was drawn 2:2.

At the end, it all came down tonerves a win againstLadya Kazan, who had not been too successful until that point, was needed to secure overall victory. This was once again a battle of equals,except on board 4, whereDmitrij Kollars had a large rating advantage over his opponent. Kollars kept his nerve and scored the full point.Deizisau won the match 2.5:1.5.

Clichy finished strong, with wins over Novy Bor and Odlar Yurdu, but that was not enough to catch the Germans. Mednyi Vsadnik and Poland Hussars obtained 11 match points each, but the Russians had two more board points, which was enough to secure the bronze.

A Classical Guide to the French Defence

This DVD gives you the key to start out with the French Defence. GM Yannick Pelletier is a specialist of this opening, and believes that the most efficient way to understand its ideas, plans, and typical structures is to study classical lines.

Read more:
SF Deizisau convincingly wins the European Club Cup - Chessbase News