Mediaboss Marketing

When Viswanathan Anand left Chennai for Frankfurt in February, the city was waiting to see M.S. Dhoni back at Chepauk. The Southern metropolis was also talking about the latest Rajinikanth film, Darbar. All those classical music and dance stages were still alive, though the season had ended.

It was an entirely different Chennai that he returned to, some three months later. The IPL had been postponed indefinitely, cinemas had been closed, dancers and musicians didnt know when they would be able to get back on stage.

The novel coronavirus has changed the world, almost unrecognisably.

Anand is relieved and happy that he can finally be home again; that he can spend time with his wife Aruna and son Akhil, after being quarantined in Bengaluru on his arrival from Germany. He is also glad that he can play chess from his comfortable, familiar workstation at his home in Kotturpuram.

Yes, the five-time World champion wants to play in a tournament again, but he doesnt know when he can do it. I dont know when chess will return to where it was before, he tells The Hindu over the phone. It seems some countries are coming out [of the lockdown], but they are not completely out of danger, while others are still in an earlier stage.

He adds: Only when the vaccine comes, can we breathe easy. A part of me hopes that by August or September we will at least be used to this and no doubt there will be a lot of precautions still. It could well be next year; I am getting used to that reality.

He is also getting used to playing competitive chess online. He had done quite a bit of that while he was stranded in Frankfurt.

And he played some splendid chess, belying his 50 years consider his 17-move demolition of World No. 4 Ian Nepomniachtchi at the Nations Cup.

I was very happy with the win against Nepo, he says. The funny thing is when I was preparing this line in the morning, this particular variation came up and I thought I should familiarise myself with it. I also liked the way I played against Teimour Radjabov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Ding Liren.

He is not surprised that online chess really took off during the lockdown. It has been around for many, many years, like video calls or working from home, he says. We didnt imagine we would be doing those things so often. I hope those people who are introduced to chess online will stay with it.

Anand thinks the Novak Djokovic episode is a warning for everyone. I heard that Serbia was doing well and that enough people had felt the risk had receded, he says. But then you see that what happened with the Adria Tour.

The World No. 1 organised the tennis tour, but before long tested positive for the coronavirus, along with three other players.

We should never take the virus lightly. says Anand. It is like playing chess against the computer. You cant completely understand the thing. All you could is to do, sit and focus on what you are supposed to do right, make your moves and hang in there.

Even if you are doing things right, you dont get points for that, all you get is that you are not infected today, but you have to take all the precautions tomorrow. So this new world of distancing and these new habits we picked up might last longer than we think.

You have reached your limit for free articles this month.

Find mobile-friendly version of articles from the day's newspaper in one easy-to-read list.

Enjoy reading as many articles as you wish without any limitations.

A select list of articles that match your interests and tastes.

Move smoothly between articles as our pages load instantly.

A one-stop-shop for seeing the latest updates, and managing your preferences.

We brief you on the latest and most important developments, three times a day.

Not convinced? Know why you should pay for news.

*Our Digital Subscription plans do not currently include the e-paper ,crossword, iPhone, iPad mobile applications and print. Our plans enhance your reading experience.

Here is the original post:
Dont know when chess will return to where it was, says Viswanathan Anand - The Hindu

During a brainstorming discussion with a colleague on the value of entropy in machine learning models, specifically the models used in threat intelligence work, I mentioned that many of the threat intelligence models in use today seem to overemphasize the pattern recognition aspect of threat intelligence through the egregious use of algorithms. By contrast, they seem to underemphasize the novelty of suchaspects as intuition and chaos, both of which would be present if two malicious actors were pitted against a defensive system that is nothing more than an artificially intelligent system with lots of machine learning algorithms. Then I thought about the game of chess, which cognitive psychologists have studied with great interest for more than 70 years. I did a bit of my own research to see what aspects of chess psychologists found most intriguing, and whetherany of their findings could be used to build better threat intelligence programs.

The 1965 book Thought and Choice in Chess,by Adriaan D de. Groot, seems to have laid the foundation for the study of psychology in chess. There are several other psychologists who studied the game and its players; William Chase, Herbert Simon and Dr. Ferdinand Gobet are worth mentioning. The short synopsis of their combined research on the best chess players is as follows:

There are many more findings published on the cognitive aspects of chess, but this short list led to something researchers today callChunk Hierarchy and REtrival STructures(CHREST). CHREST,in turn, led to the design of computational models that could help psychologists understand why chess experts are so good at the game, by studying the number of moves the typical chess expert memorizes and how an expertorganizes information mentally while playing. The research into CHREST, in turn, led to the development of mathematical models for hierarchical chunking in the brain to help cognitive scientists understand how the brain ingests, organizes, stores and later retrieves information.

So what does all this research on the game of chess have to do with threat intelligence? A great deal. CHREST and the subsequent mathematical models for hierarchy and retrieval structures underpin the databases, algorithms and artificially intelligent software used for threat hunting and by the threat intelligence correlation engines today (as well as other types of technology).

Threat hunters today are much likeplayers in a game of chess where the adversary maneuvers in much the same ways as an opponent across a grand chess board. A good threat hunter can determine just who that opponent is, based on the moveshe or she makes. We consider adversarial activity as tactics, techniques and procedures just as we consider a chess opponents moves as rooted in strategy where the decisions made are based upon patterns and models. One could easily consider the science of threat intelligence as the identification of these patterns as quickly as possible to predict future action and to engage appropriate response maneuvers. However, where does the science of threat intelligence intersect the art of intuitive prediction based on skilland experience? How can an analyst derive meaning and predictive value in a seemingly chaotic engagement?

Interestingly, one of the experiments with the CHREST model showed that expert chess players havesuperior memory recall for chess positions that are considered random by weaker players. Why is this important? Because it shows that expert players are not only playing the game based upon the patterns they know or the visual representation they have of the chess board in their minds, they are also playing by intuition or gut-feeling something no mathematical model, machine learning algorithm or artificially intelligent system can duplicate today.

By allowing a team of analysts to rely on their expertise with the introduction of chaos and entropy, we can glean the actions and strategic moves that wed the science of threats with the art of analysis. Then we can truly provide a robust threat intelligence gathering effort that provides threat actor identification, activity prediction, mitigation and response strategies.

To harness the threat intelligence power enabled by chaos and entropy, we can take the followinglessons from the game of chess:

All of this analysis sounds glorious for large firms with lots of available capital. For small businesses with limited access to both financial and human capital, building a sophisticated threat intelligence team is extremely difficult to achieve.Small businesses:

What could a small business or firm do with a limited budget and no sophisticated COTS solution? Itcan hire entry-level cyber security professionals who have a love for the game of chess, because those individuals will bring with them the following capabilities:

Skills such as those needed to findOWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities within an application stack can be taught through suchsites as HackerOne. The best hackers we have ever met had something in common with the best chess players we know a love for the game.

Continue Reading

Management and Strategy Consultant, IBM

Kelly is a management and strategy consultant with over 20 years of consulting experience ranging from security analysis, to functional analysis to security ... read more

Read this article:
A Grand Game of Chess: Entropy and Patterns in Threat Intelligence Models - Security Intelligence

Herbert B. Jacklyn, Courtesy of Family

US Chess recently received a bequest to support the continued development of chess players between the age of 18 and 21. The endowed fund will be known as the Herbert B. Jacklyn Fund.

According to his family, Mr. Jacklyn wanted young chess players to continue enjoying and competing in chess as they entered adulthood. It was a game he loved his entire life and he didn't want people to lose interest or stop playing as they moved on in life.

Herbert Jacklyn was born on December 18, 1924.He grew up in The Bronx and graduated from Columbia University Dental School. He served as an army medic in World War II, where he was stationed in Okinawa and was awarded a purple heart during his service.

He always loved chess and during the 1960s and 1970s he was very active in the local chess clubs and in US Chess. While he made it to a Class A ranking, he also instilled a love of chess in his two sons. Daniel Jacklyn reached Expertand Paul Jacklyn reached Master.

His love for chess continued well into his nineties. Even then, while living in Florida, he was involved in organizing chess tournaments for children in local elementary schools, who all looked up to him and referred to him as the "Chess Master."Mr. Jacklyn passed away on March 8, 2020 at the age of 95.

US Chess will develop guidelines for the Jacklyn Fund program, funded through income generated by the Jacklyn Fund.

Read the original:
The Herbert B. Jacklyn Fund to Support Players Between Ages 18 and 21 - uschess.org

As chess has surged in popularity on Twitch, so have some of the timeless game's more charismatic professional players, like sisters Alexandra and Andrea Botez.

Chess has existed in some form since the 6th century, with the standardization of its pieces coming in the 15th century and its rules in the 19th century. But the ancient game hadnt fared well competing for views on Twitch until March 2020, when growth became substantial before turning exponential in May. The Botez sisters have been key to its surge.

Alexandra and Andrea are funny, engaging, and absolute savages on the chess board. While the chess community has been lambasted as elitist for gate-keeping against casuals, the Botez sisters feel like real people who just want to help the community grow (and maybe roast people, or themselves, along the way).

Alexandra, the older of the two, is just 24 years old but already an established force within the chess community, boasting the Woman FIDE Master title and numerous championships dating back to her time with the National Canadian Team as a 15-year-old.

Andrea, conversely, is just out of high school and devoid of international chess recognition despite being a talented player herself, with national competitions and some prize money under her belt. Together, theyre talented enough to help tutor celebrities like Hafthor the Mountain Bjornsson, but also humble enough to engage with their communities outside of the chess board.

That dynamic exemplifies the meteoric rise of chess on Twitch. The intrinsic qualities of chess, with its high skill-ceiling and steep learning curve, are not foreign to Twitch users. However, the game has lacked the interest of popular streamers and community engagement from skilled players. That changed in May 2020 when Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura decided to take the infamous Felix xQc Lengyel under his wing.

Often working alongside Nakamura, whether by providing tutelage, competing, or simply commentating in a burgeoning online chess scene, the Botez sisters have carved out a tremendous niche. Their channel has since gone from about 73,000 followers in May to near 250,000.

With Twitch popularity dictated by both in-game talent and the ability to foster community, Alexandra and Andreas ability to mesh technical superiority with community engagement is unparalleled in chess. While Hikaru can be hilarious himself (especially when hes dryly poking fun at players), the Botez sisters are entrenched in the platforms culture and are avid propagators of the memes and conversations that help develop a fanbase with a foundation not solely built on raw chess skill.

Whether its dissecting chess matches, trying out games like Griftlands, or simply talking with (or roasting) their peers and fans on Just Chatting, the Botez sisters prove how much stronger your community can become when top players dont take themselves too seriously.

Original post:
Who are Alexandra and Andrea Botez? The chess queens of Twitch - Dexerto

Weve seen the workout videos and the bombs that Washington Redskins quarterback Dwayne Haskins has been letting loose on the field this offseason, and nearly every fan of the team is hoping that it leads to success in the regular season and beyond.

However, its important to note that not all of Haskins struggles were physical in 2019 a lot had to to with mental decisions on third downs, and even some maturity questions off the field. So while we cant see how that side of his game is improving, we are at least getting more information on what the young QB is doing in order to build up his mental fortitude.

Hes been playing a lot of chess.

While working with QB trainer Quincy Avery, Haskins has been joining up with other NFL players to improve an intangible skill: brainpower.

I got each of my quarterbacks with a chess pro, Seth Makowsky, Avery said on The MMQB Podcast. So I got them all playing chess to that we can start coming up with procedures that we can go through not only in chess but at the line of scrimmage.

So the same way we go to a chessboard, I look left to right, identify my threats, where am I under attack, how can I attack them those are the same sort of steps that I need to take when I approach the line of scrimmage.

It may not result in more accurate passes or a few extra scrambling yards, but being able to dissect schemes at the line of scrimmage should directly result in fewer sacks and better blitz pick-ups.

Whats the front, which way are the safeties rotating, who can bring me pressure, how do I protect myself from that pressure, how do I attack the defense, Avery said, drawing a parallel from the chess board to the gridiron. Its having a checklist of things that you ned to do every time you come to the line of scrimmage so youre not wasting mental energy trying to figure things out at the last minute, so youre not getting beat by blitzes because you just didnt check something that you shouldve checked and you wouldve if you had the same process every time you came to the line of scrimmage.

If I get my guys doing this and each one of them has really bought in I think that its going to pay real dividends and these guys are going to reap the benefits this upcoming season.

Later in the interview, Avery went on to commend Haskins for his growth in 2019 despite being in a tough situation, and he even said that he believes the Redskins QB has one of the better Football IQs that hes been around. Based on the physical improvements weve seen from Haskins this offseason, we can only hope that all of this work will start to show itself on the field in 2020 and that it will result in more successes and wins.

Read the original post:
Dwayne Haskins is playing chess to improve decision-making ahead of 2020 season - Redskins Wire