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THE ORJAN Lindroth Memorial Open Chess Championship is being hosted at the Old Fort Bay clubhouse through April 3. The event, which stars several masters of the sport from across the globe, will include three grandmasters and is the first international chess tournament held in The Bahamas to be organised and hosted by Bahamians.

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE local chess community is currently hosting several masters of the sport from across the globe at the Orjan Lindroth Memorial Open Chess Championship.

Hosted through April 3 at the Old Fort Bay clubhouse, the event will include three grandmasters and is the first international chess tournament held in The Bahamas to be organised and hosted by Bahamians.

To open the tournament, Norwegian grandmaster Johan-Sebastian Christiansen played a simultaneous exhibition match against 20 Bahamians, including 10 juniors.

Christiansen was awarded the titles International Master, in 2015, and Grandmaster, in 2018, by FIDE.

This years tournament features a cash prize of $16,500. The event format will be a seven-round Swiss tournament with 90 minute + 30 second increment.

The sections will include open and U1700. Prizes will be awarded to - best performance rated U2200, bet performance rated U2000 and best local performance (floating trophy).

Carver Moncur, president of the Bahamas Chess Institute, said the tournament provides exposure for local players at all ages an opportunity to asses their skill level against elite competition.

We have a lot of title players at this event. It gives the local players an opportunity to play against high-classed players. These players at this level, we would have to travel to compete against and that requires great sponsorship, he said. It makes it difficult for us to grow just competing against each other, we are in a small pool in competition with the local community, but it is good to receive this kind of exposure against this talent.

Lindroth was described as an avid chess player and supporter of the Bahamas Chess Federation.

Mr Lindroths generous contributions to The Bahamas Chess Federation gave inner city kids an opportunity to learn chess and to travel to compete for The Bahamas at international competitions, the organisation said in a release.

His support assisted the BCF in outreach efforts, made it possible for the first female Bahamas Olympiad team to participate at the 2018 Olympiad and enabled BCF to host a grandmaster in The Bahamas to train senior and junior players. Mr Lindroths love for The Bahamas and his love for chess manifested itself through his donation of books and software to the BCF and the annual sponsorship of numerous BCF events and tournaments most notably the Old Fort Bay Tournament.

In 2017, in recognition of Orjans significant contributions to the growth of chess in The Bahamas, BCF named the trophy for the National Chess Championship the Orjan Lindroth Floating Trophy.

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Local chess community hosting several masters of the sport, 3 grandmasters - Bahamas Tribune

On a well-deserved off day in the 2022 FIDE Grand Prix after becoming a candidate for the world championship for the first time since 2016, GM Hikaru Nakamura won the early Titled Tuesday tournament on March 29.

Meanwhile, GM Dmitry Andreikin continued his torrid pace with a second-place finish in the early event and a tournament victory in the late. Andreikin has now placed in the top two in five straight Titled Tuesdays spanning three weeks. GM Jeffery Xiong also had a strong showing this Tuesday, finishing in the top three in both events of the day.

The early tournament saw 341 players join as Nakamura stormed back late to claim victory.

Broadcast of the early tournament hosted by FM James Canty III.

Andreikin actually won the one-on-one showdown with Nakamura in round eight, which threw the tournament into chaos with four players including Andreikin tied for the lead on 7/8, with Nakamura being one of six players just behind on 6.5/8.

After that, however, the tournament was all Nakamura, who won in the last three rounds against GM Jose Martinez, GM Aram Hakobyan, and IM Le Tuan Minh. That final game brought his's overall tournament score to 9.5/11.

Andreikin, meanwhile, drew in the last two rounds against Le and Xiong as no one who held that 7/8 score got more than two points in the last three rounds.And so Nakamura's win in the final round earned him a clear first place.

March 29 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings here.)

Nakamura won $1,000 for his victory and Andreikin settled for the $750 second-place prize. Xiong won $300 for third, GM Pablo Salinas $150 for fourth, and GM Vahap Sanal $100 for fifth. WGM Polina Shuvalova was the highest-scoring woman, winning $100.

Nakamura was not one of the 259 players in the second tournament, presumably preparing for the next day in the Grand Prix. Andreikin took full advantage as, like Nakamura, he won the tournament outright on 9.5/11, although they took different paths to get there. Xiong finished second and GM Vugar Rasulov third, both on nine points.

Broadcast of the late tournament hosted by GM Krikor Mekhitarian.

The interesting games began early for Andreikin, who defeated IM RenatoQuintiliano in round two after the Brazilian GM-elect sacrificed a piece for three pawns.

Andreikin toppled GM David Paravyan in round nine, which gave Andreikin 8.5/9 and a full-point lead on the field after Xiong checkmated GM Alexey Sarana in the same round.

Although Andreikin drew his last two rounds just as he had done in the early edition, this time he was just wrapping up an easily winning performance. One of those draws came against Xiong, who went on to defeat Paravyan in the last round to take second place.

March 29 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings here.)

Andreikin's $1,000 claim for the first tournament gave him a total of $1,750 for the day. Xiong took $750 for second place and $1,050 in total. Rasulov won $300 for third. Sarana took $150 for fourth place and GM Fabiano Caruana was in the mix with $100 for fifth. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk won the $100 prize for top female.

Titled Tuesday is a Swiss tournament for titled players hosted by Chess.com every week. There are two events each Tuesday, starting at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time / 17:00 Central European and 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time / 23:00 Central European.

Excerpt from:
Nakamura Wins Titled Tuesday On Break, Andreikin Continues Run - Chess.com

EDIT ON APRIL 2: APRIL FOOLS!We hope you enjoyed our prank post yesterday. US Chess has no intention of getting involved in the "impresario business." A big thank you to Dr. Frank Brady and National Master Alex King for lending their names to this prank, and especially to Alex for writing a genuine, original, piece of music for this.

US Chess is pleased to announce the world premiere of the Jazz Opera "Fischer in Iceland" this fall in St. Louis, Missouri. This opera was commissioned by US Chess as a celebration of both our organization's upcoming move to St. Louis and the 50th anniversary of Bobby Fischer's world championship. Details on the opening date are still to come and casting has just begun.

The opera's libretto is by Dr. Frank Brady based on his 2011 book Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall -- from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness. The story is in three acts covering Fischer's discovery of chess, his world championship victory in 1972, and his descent into madness and his final years in Iceland. Dr. Brady was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 2021.

From his plaque at the World Chess Hall of Fame:Born in New York, Frank Brady has made a lasting impact on the chess world through his literary and organizational efforts. His books on Bobby Fischertwo editions ofProfile of a ProdigyandEndgameare the most acclaimed biographies ever written about a chess player. He oversaw the transition of the US Chess publicationChess Lifefrom newspaper to magazine, which he edited for several years. He also edited and published the short-lived but critically acclaimedChessworld. Brady has performed many significant organizational functions in American chess for over half a century. He served as a member of the Executive Board of the US Chess Federation and was its business manager and ratings director in its early years. An International Arbiter for F.I.D.E., he conducted national and international tournaments. Brady was also President of the legendary Marshall Chess Club, and is now its President Emeritus.

The jazz operatic score is by National Master Alex King, who has previously written the music for our podcasts "Cover Stories with Chess Life" and "One Move at a Time." He is a chess teacher and musician in Memphis, Tennessee, and is part of the team that reinvented the Memphis Chess Club in 2020.

Here are the first 30 seconds from the overture:

Please watch for alerts about ticket availability and we'll see you in St. Louis this fall. And remember: The opera ain't over until Fischer mates Spassky!

Link:
APRIL FOOLS! Announcing the World Premiere of "Fischer in Iceland," a Jazz Opera in 3 Acts - uschess.org

HORROR video captures the moment airport authoritiesopened a suitcase containing more than 140 tarantulas.

The creepy crawlies were being illegally smuggled through customs, but 12 died after being stuffed into plastic bags without proper ventilation.

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Authorities at Bogota Airport in Colombia found the spiders hidden in a chess set bound for Mexico City.

They were due to be sold illegally in pet stores, according to Colombian news outletAlerta Bogota.

The Colombian environmental agency said it worked with police to recover "more than 140 tarantulas that were to be sent from El Dorado International Airport to a Central American country.

Officials received a tip-off after a delivery company reported discovering "strange objects" during screening procedures at the airport's cargo terminal.

"When the professionals from the Environment Secretariat and members of the (National Police's) Environmental and Ecological Unit arrived at the place to inspect the cargo, they determined that 143 tarantulas of the infraorder mygalomorphae were camouflaged inside a chess set," authorities said in a statement.

Twelve of the 143 spiders died after being transported in plastic bags inside the chess set without proper ventilation.

"The shipment, whose final destination was Mexico City, lacked the respective environmental permits and licenses [necessary for] the use, transport or sale of that wildlife," the statement added.

"Environmental and police authorities have launched investigations to determine the sender and recipient and thereby begin the respective punitive processes."

The surviving spiders were taken for medical, nutritional, and biological care at Bogota's Centre for the Assessment and Rehabilitation of Wild Flora and Fauna.

It isn't yet known where the spiders were taken from, and authorities want to find out which facility they belong to before deciding whether to release them into the wild or relocate them.

Colombia is one of the diverse countries on earth, home to tens of thousands of species, which makes it incredibly attractive to illegal wildlife traffickers.

In November last year, authorities caught two German citizens trying to smuggle more than 300 creatures out of the country via El Dorado Airport.

Some 232 spiders, nine spider eggs, eight scorpions, and 67 cockroaches were seized hidden in more than 200 plastic containers amid rolls of photographic film.

Colombian animal conservation law includes criminal penalties and hefty fines.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, tarantulas are illegally sold to meet demand in the pet trade, due to their tameness and colourful appearance.

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While pet spiders might not be to everyone's taste, one Brit is such a fan he lives with 120 tarantulas.

Arachnophile Aaron Phoenix, 34, has spent around 1,000 on buying 80 different species, some of which have a leg span as big as 10 inches.

They all have their own enclosure in his spare room inBristoland he will tend to them every morning and night with food and water.

House removal contractor Aaron said: "Theyre my passion and obsession. I find them fascinating.

"I could sit and watch them for hours. Theyve had an incredible effect on me and Ill never give up owning tarantulas now.

"They all have their individual quirks. One of my first girls comes up to the top of the enclosure when I drop food in and does this little happy dance to say thank you.

"Another runs to the lid to greet you whenever you walk into the room - it's beautiful to watch.

"Peoples reactions are fantastic. They cant believe it!"

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Skin-crawling moment more than 140 tarantulas found hidden in CHESS SET by customs officers... - The US Sun

Daniil Dubov, a Russian chess grandmaster who has spoken out against his country's invasion of Ukraine, has reiterated his position and suggested that Russia needs a revolution.

While Dubov has stressed that he isn't a politician, he is willing to speak critically about his government, even if he knows how dangerous that might be.

"To be a real opponent, you really have to do something," he said in an interview with Der Spiegel.

"I am not a professional politician. But I love this country and want it to do well. I criticize things because I have the right to do so. For example, I also criticized the government after Crimea in 2014.

"What I am saying now is really dangerous, but the only way to change anything in Russia is a revolution. Personally, I don't want that. I find it rational; you can call me a coward if you want. But I don't want the revolution to start, I don't want Russians to kill Russians. It feels like the only way, but the consequences would be worse.

"Even in terms of democracy, [Vladimir] Putin and his actions are clearly supported by the majority of Russians, like it or not."

The chess player, who shot to fame in 2018 when he won the World Rapid Chess Championship, also spoke about the decision across the world of sport to ban the Russian flag. While some Russian athletes and teams have been banned altogether, in chess Dubov can keep playing but only with the flag of the world federation FIDE.

"I find it strange, as everyone knows where I come from, where I live, which country I played for," he said on that.

"To ban the flag for every Russian is like equating the whole country with the current government.

"I feel great when I play for Russia, but I don't represent the Kremlin. I represent Dostoevsky and Chekhov - I represent the culture, the people."

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Chess champion Dubov: The only way to change anything in Russia is a revolution - Marca English