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US Chess is saddened to learn of the sudden passing of IA Andre Harding at the age of 40.

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Andre Harding (photo courtesy Danny Rohde)

Andres passing is a massive loss for the tri-state chess community. An active teacher and tournament director for more than 20 years. Andre began as an active player. With much work, and through many tournaments, he eventually made it to becoming a US Chess candidate master and expert. Andre started his professional chess work as a tournament director for The Right Move Chess Foundation in 2002, and as an assistant manager at the Marshall Chess Club.

After graduating from the City College of New York, in 2005, Andre decided to take on additional responsibility as a chess teacher. He worked in several schools across the tri-state area, including CGPS. Chapin, Brearley, Horace Mann, Avenues, Harlem Childrens Zone, Bronx Lighthouse Charter School, and many public schools in NYC. He also worked on his knowledge along the way, becoming a FIDE National Instructor in 2011.

Andre was an outstanding tournament director, working for many years in the NYC scholastic tournament scene, and for many organizers. He worked over 500 events and close to 1400 sections as a tournament director. Recently, Andre pushed himself to work more norm events, achieving the ANTD title from US Chess. He reached a pinnacle in tournament directing by earning his IA title from FIDE in 2023. His US Chess and FIDE directing records are testament to his dedication to his craft.

Andres students and peers all noted his mindful nature and kind, gentle soul. This allowed Andre to work with students in a way that successfully guided their own paths with the game. Andre used his own experience as a player to provide positive motivation for his students.

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Harding with some of his friends and students (photo courtesy Danny Rohde)

No task at a chess tournament was beneath him Andre was happy to take on any needed role. From providing a calm, instructive game review with a scholastic player after they finished, to working as a floor or computer TD at a major scholastic event, to having the privilege of writing up norms for players after their achievements... his impact across many areas of the chess community will be sorely missed.

Andre often talked about his contributions, role, and provided resources for players, students, parents, teachers and directors via his website, chess-essentials.com. He always appreciated being around the New York area chess community, becoming a critical part of the culture himself.

Andre is survived by his parents, Sharon and Louis Harding, as well as his sister, Lauren. His family would like everyone reading this to know just how much he loved what he did in the chess community.

If you are in the New York area, here is the information for the viewing and funeral on Friday, December 8th. The viewing is from 3pm-5pm, with the funeral service immediately after atCanaan Baptist Church of Christ, 132 West 116th St, New York, NY.

Read more:
IA Andre Harding (1983-2023) | US Chess.org - uschess.org

Yelyzaveta Grebenshchykova from Dnipro won the bronze medal at the World Youth Chess Championship in the under-18 girls category, the head of the Sports Department of the Dnipro City Council Oleksandr Osypov wrote on Facebook.

According to Osypov, the 17-year-old Grebenshchykova showed the best result among the seven Ukrainian chess players at the tournament.

She won seven games, drew three and lost only once. In the end, she scored 8.5 points, Osypov added.

In the final round, Grebenshchykova clinched the bronze in a tough game where she played black pieces and defeated her opponent, Anna Zhurova, who played under the FIDE (International Organization of Chess Players) flag. Grebenshchykova edged out Zhurova by half a point in the final standings.

The tournament was held in Montesilvano, Italy using the Swiss system format among boys and girls in the under-14, under-16 and under-18 age groups. The event consisted of 11 rounds.

Read also:

See the original post:
Ukrainian teen takes home bronze from Youth World Chess ... - Euromaidan Press

The 2023 edition of the historical chess event Tournament of Peace kicked off today in Zagreb, Croatia. It is a 10-player round-robin tournament, taking place from 22 to 30 November in the National and University Library.

GM Anton Korobov (UKR, 2667) headlines the participants list this year, followed by GM Hans Niemann (USA, 2659), GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (UKR, 2653), GM Ivan Cheparinov (BUL, 2649), GM Ante Brkic (CRO, 2622), GM Alexander Motylev (ROU, 2619), GM Ivan Sokolov (NED, 2588), GM Hrvoje Stevic (CRO, 2549), GM Zdenko Kozul (CRO, 2531), and GM Robert Zelcic (CRO, 2478).

The Opening ceremony of the event took place today, shortly before the start of the first round. The ceremony was attended by the ECU President Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili, ECU Vice President Mr. Alojzije Jankovic, and distinguished representatives of the city of Zagreb, Zagreb Chess Federation and Croatian Chess Federation.

The ECU President Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili played the first ceremonial move in the game between the Chairman of the ECU Trainers Commission GM Ivan Sokolov (NED, 2588) and GM Robert Zelcic (CRO, 2478) to mark the start of the first round.

The rounds are played each day at 3:00pm, except the last round will be played on the 30th of November at 11:00 am. Time control of the tournament is 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30 minutes till the end of the game, with 30 seconds increment per each move, starting from the move one.

Pairings, rankings and results can be found here.

Live games

Read more from the original source:
Tournament of Peace 2023 kicked off in Zagreb European Chess ... - European Chess Union

Chess

H NI Master L Tun Minh will be Vit Nam's sole representative at the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship 2023 in Uzbekistan next month.

Nguyn Minh Thng, general secretary of the Vit Nam Chess Federation, said Minh was a strong player in either rapid or blitz chess categories.

He won gold medals at the 31st SEA Games on home soil.

In July, Minh took part in the online 2023 Super United Rapid & Blitz Croatia event where he checkmated super grandmasters such as reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway.

Minh competed in last year championship but he did not make top three.

The 2023 championships will open on December 25 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, with a US$1 million prize fund.

The Open and Womens competitions are held separately, with around 180 players in the Open events and 100 players in the Womens events.

The first Championship on the schedule will be the FIDE World Rapid Chess 2023 which will be played from December 26-28. The Open Rapid Championship will be played in 13 rounds and Womens Championship will be played in 11 rounds, both in Swiss system.

FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship 2023 will be played over two days December 29-30. The Open Blitz are played over 21 rounds while it is 17 rounds for the Womens.

The top prize in each Open event is $60,000, with $40,000 for the Womens tournaments.

In last years event in nearby Almaty, Kazakhstan, Carlsen ensured he wouldnt be without a world title in 2023 by clinching clear first in both the World Rapid and Blitz Championships, to grow his world championship haul to 15 titles: five Classical, six Blitz, and four Rapid. VNS

See the article here:
Master Minh to represent Vit Nam at World Rapid and Blitz Chess ... - Viet Nam News

YOUNGSTOWN U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson said he will resign his elected post in the first quarter of next year, before he is scheduled to take over on March 15 as president of Youngstown State University.

Johnson, R-Marietta, was hired for the new post Tuesday by an 8-1 vote of the universitys board of trustees.

His resignation will likely result in several Republican candidates seeking to succeed him in the 6th Congressional District seat. The 6th is considered a safe Republican district that takes in all or part of 11 counties including Jefferson, Harrison, Carroll, Belmont, Columbiana, Mahoning, Monroe, Noble, Washington, Stark and Tuscarawas counties. Mahoning is the districts most-populous county.

Dec. 20 is the election filing deadline for candidates wanting to run in the March 19 primary for the full two-year term.

With Johnsons resignation occurring after the Dec. 20 deadline, the state would likely be unable to schedule a special primary in March and then a special election in August for the seat.

A Republican and Democratic primary is first needed before a general election for the unexpired term.

That would mean the seat wouldnt be filled until next Novembers election.

It would leave the 6th Congressional District without a representative for most of 2024. And even if an August special general election were held, the district still would be without a representative for about six to seven months.

James A. Traficant Jr., who represented Mahoning and most of Trumbull counties in the U.S. House, was expelled July 24, 2002, after being convicted of 10 felonies, including bribery and racketeering. That left that district without a representative for five months.

State Sen. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, who has eyed higher office, said he is strongly considering attempting to succeed Johnson in the district. Rullis state Senate district includes all of Mahoning and Columbiana counties.

Rulli said he was planning to run last year for Congress if he were in a district that didnt include a Republican incumbent. But Johnson, who has represented Columbiana County since he was first elected in 2010, kept that county in his district.

We thought we were two or three years away from this decision, and now its only a couple of weeks, Rulli said. Im trying to work through things. Just that its an idea and a possibility is beautiful.

He plans to announce his decision shortly.

Other potential candidates are state Rep. Ron Ferguson, R-Wintersville; Christina Hagan of Marlboro, a former state House member who lost a congressional election in 2020 to Democrat Tim Ryan; and Madison Gesiotto Gilbert, who lost a congressional district race in 2022 and serves as a national spokeswoman at the Republican National Committee. Hagan and Gesiotto Gilbert live outside the 6th District, but a congressional candidate only needs to live in Ohio to run.

Sources say Christian Palich, who lives in the Columbus area and is vice president of public affairs for Taft Stettinius & Hollister, a law firm, was interested, but has since changed his mind. Palich is a former president of the Ohio Coal Association, worked in the Donald Trumps presidential administration at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as well as for Johnson.

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Johnson's upcoming resignation will trigger political chess game - The Steubenville Herald-Star