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Chess.com, a popular chess site where online games can be contested among players of international and lesser stature, has published its interpretation of The Ten Best Chess Moves of All Time.

These moves were chosen from literally billions. Chess.com said it mounted a team assisted by modern computer technology to find the most astonishing moves of all time from tense world championship matches, subtle endgames, incredible studies and scintillating attacks. After some time, the Chess.com content team members voted for their choices and finalized a list.

Chess.com succinctly describedhow the task was done: Our original list was created by scouring books, articles and multiple expert lists. We added moves from newer games and we researched the overlaps. Next, we started cutting down the long list again and again. Eventually, we created a strong list of candidate moves and then the Chess.com content team voted.

Coming in at number nine on the list of all-time greats for best moves is a game by Jose Sanz Aguado, a Spaniard, who stunned the chess world with an amazing Rook sacrifice.I replayed this game sometime in the 1980s and was justifiably impressed by it.

An amazing move

On move 31 Black uncorked an amazing move: 31 Rxb2!! sacrificing the Rook. Blacks c-pawns cannot be stopped. According to Chess.com, it took the chess computer, Stockfish, extra time to realize White was completely lost.

Madrid, 1933

White: Martin Ortueta Esteban

Black: Jose Sanz Aguado

1. e4e6 2. d3d5 3. Nc3Nf6 4. e5Nfd7 5. f4Bb4 6. Bd2O-O 7. Nf3f6 8. d4c5 9. Nb5fxe5 10. dxe5Rxf4 11. c3Re4+ 12. Be2Ba5 13. O-ONxe5 14. Nxe5Rxe5 15. Bf4Rf5 16. Bd3Rf6 17. Qc2h6 18. Be5Nd7 19. Bxf6Nxf6 20. Rxf6Qxf6 21. Rf1Qe7 22. Bh7+Kh8 23. Qg6Bd7 24. Rf7Qg5 25. Qxg5hxg5 26. Rxd7Kxh7 27. Rxb7Bb6 28. c4dxc4 29. Nc3Rd8 30. h3Rd2 31. Na4 (Diagram) Rxb2!!32. Nxb2c333. Rxb6c434. Rb4a535. Nxc4c20-1.

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Chess site chooses ten best moves of all time - Stabroek News

Written by Shahid Judge | Mumbai | Updated: October 14, 2020 8:00:53 amIgors Rausis resurfaced in Valka, Latvia as one of the 37 contestants at a small-scale tournament. (Source: Twitter/nigelshortchess)

If you run the name Igors Rausis through a search engine, chances are the first image will be of the chess player, sitting fully clothed on a lavatory, consulting his mobile phone while still active in an international match. The infamous incident, that took place in Strasbourg in France last year, resulted in the Grandmaster being stripped of his title and banned from international chess for a record six years.

On Saturday however, the 59-year-old resurfaced in Valka, Latvia as one of the 37 contestants at a small-scale tournament. The only GM present at the event, Arturs Neikns, recognised Rausis despite a mask on the latters face. Only, it was Rausis playing under a different name Isa Kasimi.

The cheating scandal last July made global headlines as the photo of Rausis in a toilet cubicle consulting his phone did the rounds online. For breaching the regulations, the international chess body FIDE banned Rausis from competing at international events in December. He, however, decided to show up at the Valka tournament as Isa Kasimi he even has a passport bearing that name.

GM Neikns realised this after the unrated Kasimi comprehensively beat his first-round opponent.

I looked from afar but couldnt tell as he was avoiding everybody, Neikns recited the incident to Chess24. When the third round was about to start, I decided to investigate and came closer. And there he was, Rausis in person, hiding behind a mask and additionally (carrying) a crutch. I immediately established eye contact and asked directly: What are you doing here?

While bizarre, Rausis or Kasimis, decision to compete in Valka was not illegal. He is not allowed to compete at any international events that can give him ELO (ranking) points. The tournament in Valka. however, was a memorial for former Latvian player Vsevolods Dudzinskis who passed away in January this year, and offered no more than the 1000 Euro prize money.

Speaking to Chess24, FIDE general director Emil Sutovsky said: Fide does not own chess. We cant decide that Rausis has no right to play the game, as long as the tournament has nothing to do with FIDE. However, Id expect organisers and indeed players to manifest their attitude towards the participation of a convicted cheater in the tournaments.

Meanwhile, British GM and FIDE vice-president Nigel Short was outraged.

I fail to understand why any chess organiser would allow the disgraced Igors Rausis to participate in their event, he said to The Times.

Its not illegal to change ones name either, but why do it? Rausis/Kasimi explained to Chess.com.Because the name Rausis is completely shamed. First of all, I feel sorry for my entire family. Even my daughter was ashamed of this story. This toilet photo, you cannot imagine, it was published everywhere, in all media, especially here in Latvia.

Rausis was born in Alchevsk, in the former Soviet Union and present-day Ukraine. Before his chess career, he had been training as a neurologist and worked as an ambulance crew member in Sevastopol, Ukraine.

He became a GM in 1992 when he was representing Latvia. In 2000, he decided to represent Bangladesh and switched to the Czech Republic in 2008. As reported by the Dhaka Tribune last year, he was also the Bangladesh national coach till the incident in Strasbourg.

As a player, he was the oldest in the top 100 and had remarkably not fallen along with the trend of an elder player falling down the ranks. Instead, over the last few years, his ELO rating moved up from the 2500s to the 2700s, a category dubbed Super Grandmaster.

However, the sudden, rapid and unexpected rise raised many flags. FIDEs fair play commission was subsequently alerted by a statistical model employed to catch computer cheats on the possibility of Rausis cheating. Secretary of the fair play commission Yuri Garrett confirmed to The Times that they had been closely following a player (Rausis) for months.

During the Strasbourg Open, which awarded the winner a prize of 1000 Euros, a photograph was taken of Rausis from above the cubicle, showing him consulting with a software program on his phone. The use of any and all technology, unless approved beforehand, are prohibited, especially mobile phones as there are numerous applications that can analyse and suggest moves.

Article 12.3.B in the FIDE handbook states: Without the permission of the arbiter a player is forbidden to have a mobile phone or other electronic means of communication in the playing venue, unless they are completely switched off. If any such device produces a sound, the player shall lose the game. The opponent shall win.

The handbook defines the playing venue as playing area, restrooms, refreshment area, area set aside for smoking and other places as designated by the arbiter.

Though Rausis may be the only known case of a player changing his identity to get into a tournament, he isnt the only one who has been caught illegally using technology.

Former Georgian GM Gaioz Nigalidze was found using a phone in the toilet at the 2015 Dubai Open. In this incident, the phone was allegedly hidden in the lavatory where Nigalidze would constantly visit. This alarmed his opponent Armenian GM Tigran Petrosian, who then alerted the arbiter. A search of the lavatory confirmed a hidden phone which was logged into Nigalidzes social media account. He was subsequently handed a three-year ban.

There was also a low ranked Italian player, Arcangelo Ricciardi who was caught for allegedly using Morse Code to win matches. At an event in Imperia in Northern Italy in 2015, Ricciardi, ranked 51,366 in the world beat players ranked in the top 3000, including a French GM and Slovakian International Master. He was believed to have concealed a camera in his pendant and had a box placed under his armpit which would receive the information.

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Igors Rausis: Chess cheat resurfaces after an infamous toilet break - The Indian Express

India enjoyed an unbeaten day with a win and two draws to move up to fourth place after six rounds in the Asian Online Nations (Regions) Cup Team Championship for men on Friday. The top-seeded Indians, who were sixth after three rounds, were held to a 2-2 draw by a strong Kazakhstan team, seeded second, in the sixth round after having shared points with Iran in round four before beating Jordan 3.5-0.5.

In the India-Kazakhstan match, the talented 16-year-old Nihal Sarin and the experienced K Sasikiran scored wins over Rustam Khusnutdiov and Denis Makhnev respectively. B Adhiban and captain Surya Shekhar Ganguly lost their games. Sasikiran has been a top performer for India, having won all his six matches so far while Ganguly has four victories from five games.

After the conclusion of six rounds, India is on nine match points (two points for winning a match and one for a draw). The team has so far won three matches and drawn three. The countrys top two players former world champion Viswanathan Anand and Vidit Gujrathi are not part of the squad.

After being forced to share points by Indonesia, the Indians bounced back strongly to thrash Jordan 3.5-0.5 with Sarin, captain Ganguly and Sasikiran posting victories. Sameer Mansour held B Adhiban to a draw to prevent an Indian sweep.

In the match against Indonesia, Adhiban drew on top board against Yoseph Theolifus Taher while Sarin and Susanto Megaranto shared honours. Sasikiran posted Indias only win, beating Muhammad Agus Kurniawan while S P Sethuraman slipped to defeat against Novendra Priasmoro from a good position as the teams settled for the 2-2 result.

Iran leads the field with 11 match points with Australia and Kazakhstan in second and third place with 10 match points each. The tournament is being played on nine-round Swiss System preliminaries in both mens and womens division with a time control of 15 minutes plus 5 second increment.

The top eight teams will qualify for the knockout stage of quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals. Each stage will be a duel of two matches. Cash prizes worth USD 20,000 and gold, silver and bronze certificates as individual board prizes in the preliminary stage are up for grabs. The womens event resumes on Saturday for rounds four to six with the top-seeded Indians in eighth spot. The tournament will conclude with the finals on October 25.

Read Also: Asian Online Chess: Indian men placed 6th after three rounds

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Asian Online Chess: Indian men in 4th position after six rounds - The Bridge

As exhilarating as it is watching Simmons power his way through a Sixers game, or Federer outpace whichever unfortunate soul happens to be trading volleys with him at the time, there are few sporting moments filled with as much tension as a good game of chess.

The publicity may be relatively niche, and the live audiences infinitely quieter, but the timeless two-player strategy game is built on a natural cycle of soul-consuming stress and a palpable sense of victory that has been drawing crowds, and wrecking players, since the international chess tournaments started in 1851.

Its been well documented that elite chess players can burn up to 6,000 calories per day during multi-day tournaments a mental-induced expenditure brought on by acute stress and intense concentration, which often leads to physiological changes like increased heart rate and oxygen intake. Its not uncommon now for a Chess Grandmaster to prep for a tournament with vigorous exercise and specific dieting (usually carb-loading for those valuable glycogen reserves), reiterating just how taxing a high-stakes game of chess can get, even if the players are just sitting down for hours on end.

Whether the board kicks off with the infamous Ruby Lopez an opening play involving a pawn, knight and bishop or ends with a tactical Queen Sacrifice, the constant flow of baiting opponents and setting up power plays several moves in advance has led to chess being used as a metaphor for just about anything that involves strategic thinking and scenario planning; a reference point that has gone on to influence world-changing military strategies and the intellectual advances of the 20th century.

Throughout the games long life, numerous history-making moments and fist-pumping victories reflect just why it has endured since its alleged inception back in the 6th-century. These are just some of the best chess games, tracking storied wins, high stakes and bitter losses.

German chess master Adolf Anderssen is generally considered to have been the worlds best player during the mid-1850s when international tournaments first started popping up around the world. During the very first of those tournaments, the sixteen-player competition in London, 1851, Anderssen sat down with Frances Lionel Kiseritzky during a break for an informal game which reportedly was so dramatic at the time that its now referred to as The Immortal Game.

Anderssen employed several gambits throughout the play, sacrificing pieces in order to gain a major tactical advantage over Kieseritzky. Back then, not accepting an obvious sacrifice was seen as unconventional, so Kieseritzky was basically backed into a corner, despite only losing three pawns throughout the game. In the end, Anderssen forced a checkmate with just two knights and a bishop, springboarding off his various sacrifices to dominate the game just 22 positions in.

Chess most recognised player, Garry Kasparov, went head-to-head with IBMs Deep Blue supercomputer on two separate occasions in the mid-to-late 90s, resulting in the very first incidence of AI outpacing one of the worlds foremost intellects, sparking concern that machines were catching up to human intelligence. With both matches shaped by tournament conditions, Kasparov emerged the winner in the initial 1996 match-up but was bested in the rematch a year later. It later became the subject of an ESPN documentary titled The Man vs. The Machine.

While not a particularly exciting round of matches, the stakes were profound with Kasparov (at the time) considered the worlds very best player and the only person whose loss could indicate a major step forward for technology. Kasparov swiftly lost the very first game in 1996 without any trace of a computer bug; though one of the rounds in 1997, which Deep Blue won, is still said to be the result of a glitch in the system. Nevertheless, it marked a turning point in the way scientists and the general public viewed artificial intelligence at the time, and while it wasnt quite Will Smith being thrashed by a USR demolition robot, the implications were both exciting and terrifying.

Referred to as The Game of the Century, this 1956 showdown between 13-year-old Bobby Fischer and Donald Byrne was the very definition of an upset victory. Fischer was emerging at the time, and 26-year-old Byrne was considered one of the strongest players in the world. In fact, just a few years later he was awarded the International Master title by the World Chess Federation. Regardless, he still got absolutely decimated by 13-year-old Bobby.

The game is most noted for Fischers bold queen sacrifice towards the end, netting one rook, both bishops and one pawn for his trouble. Niche chess circles claim this move was heard around the world, which is a pretty big deal for someone so young. Fischer would go on to become the worlds youngest grandmaster two years later.

Garry Kasparov was clearly a bit of a magnet for history-breaking chess games, and his famed rivalry with Anatoly Karpov was full of them. This one from their world championship match in 1985 stands out amongst several others due to its technical brilliance and constant flip-flopping of odds.

Kasparov emerged the victor with Karpov unable to retain his world title thanks to what is known as a Sicilian Najdorf defence often referred to as the Cadillac of chess openings with its slick play designed to deprive White certain tactical squares, leaving Black nimble and open enough to attack in any number of ways. The game is regularly noted for how far-sighted Kasparovs moves were a testament to what separates a great chess player from an exceptional one.

Now, check out how a Grandmaster of memory recited pi to over 100,000 decimal places.

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The Best Chess Games In History - Boss Hunting

By: PTI | Chennai | Updated: October 11, 2020 12:37:03 pmNihal Sarin emerged winner in the Chess.com's 2020 Junior Speed Online Chess Championship. (Source: Twitter/NihalSarin)

Young Indian player Nihal Sarin emerged winner in the Chess.coms 2020 Junior Speed Online Chess Championship, beating Russias world junior No. 6 Alexey Sarana 18-7 in the final.

The title win earned the 16-year old Sarin $ 8,766 and enabled him to qualify for the 2020 Speed Chess Championship Final which will feature the worlds best players.

Sarin had beaten American Andrew Tang, Australias Anton Smirnov and Armenian Haik Martirosyan en route the title.

Past winners of the Speed Chess Championship include Magnus Carlsen (2017) and Hikaru Nakamura (2018, 2019).

The Indian teenager had lost in the first round of the 2019 Junior Speed Chess event.

According to a press release, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand praised Sarin, saying, Nihal is one of the worlds fastest juniors, and this result confirms it.

Sarin, a former world Under-10 champion, will join the Indian mens team that is taking part in the Asian Online Nations (Regions) Cup Team Championship which began Saturday.

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Indias Nihal Sarin wins Junior Speed Chess Championship - The Indian Express