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I cant play humans too close to night. One student, an ER doctor, admitted to me during our lessons, If I win, my heart rate goes up and I start panicking, knowing its only a matter of time before I lose again. If I lose, I cant go to sleep until I win, and then the whole cycle starts again.

I only play computers, my students, aged 5 to 65, repeatedly say. Their reasons vary, but it ultimately comes down to the same thing: Playing against other people is just too high stakes.

The problem with only playing computers is that most humans arent trying to learn to play chess like a computer; theyre trying to play like humans. Computers look for the best move. But best means something different depending on whether youre a computer or human. For instance, Magnus Carlssen, the top player in the worldand some chess experts say everlooks for moves that will psychologically throw his opponents, rather than the computers best-move pick.

If playing against a person is too stressful for you, try to sprinkle the games into your chess life, playing at least one game against a human for every three computer games.

Tips for Timers: Whereas playing against bots can be untimed, games with other humans will be timed (unless youre playing Lichess Correspondance Chess, where one move can take up to 14 days). Dont freak out; timers can be your friend. Like anything unfamiliar, they simply require getting used to.

If youre new to playing chess online, ignore the timer at first while you focus on the game and develop your playing skills. Then switch it uppractice focusing on the timer at the expense of the game. Ideally, youll find a happy balance between the two. Meanwhile, you remove the stress of focusing on just winning.

How to Improve Your Game

While you can now play chess games on your phone on the subway, in a Lyft, or waiting in line at the checkout counter, I advise my students to take a few deep breaths before they begin their games and, if possible, have a glass of water at hand. We tend to hold our breath when concentrating, which doesnt help with the nerves that often accompany games against human players. Setting an intention can also help.

While its natural to want to win, a more helpful intention might focus on something you want to work on that day, so that regardless of what happens with your opponent, you can still have a win. Some useful intentions could be:

Made a Mistake? Here Are Some Tips

Its OK to make mistakesyoure only human! When you make a mistake (which you will) the most important thing is to slow down. We tend to run away after making mistakes, but that is when we need to be the most careful and deliberate.

Dont freak out! Pause. Take a breath. Remember that glass of water? Nows the time to sip it.

Remember: Chess is not solitaire

While you come up with your plans, your opponent will be doing just that too! The cool thing here is that trying to figure out what theyre up to can be challenging, but it actually helps develop empathy. Youre practicing what its like to be in someone elses shoesor in this case, chess moves.

Anyone can play

Not only does chess develop (and appeal to) logical thinkers, it also aids (and appeals to) creative thinkers. While a lot of players are math or logic whizzes, most of us (myself included) are not.

Chess demands concentration, willingness, and flexibility

Its exciting to develop the skills to make plans or combinations, but try not to get too attached. Some plans should be broken. Plans simply get you to the next right place where another plan will soon arrive.

Don't lose sight of the forest

Ive seen players fixate on their plans to the extent that they lose the game. Chess games demand that you pivot quickly and adjust. So does life! The most important thing is to make the first move and start your game. If it feels overwhelming, I recommend practicing with puzzles and checkmating techniques, then try a full game again.

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How to Learn Chess Onlineand Sharpen Your Game - WIRED

Chess.com is happy to announce the release of v4, the new version of our mobile iOS app. With this release, both our iOS and Android apps now share our newest interface with many improvements to make your mobile chess experience better!

Many of our members worldwide have already enjoyed and approved the redesigned app with a better interface, more intuitive navigation, and more features. If you haven't downloaded our app yet, don't miss another second and do it right now! And if you do have our app installed, make sure you update it so you can start enjoying the new v4 experience!

The new version of the app has numerous improvements over the lastfrom performance gains to entirely new features that weren't there before. Here are the main things you will notice:

What's better than having all the features you love in your pocket? Have them easily accessible inside an intuitive navigation menu, of course! The app's latest update brings a slick new navigation bar that is always at the bottom of the screen. This makes it easy for you to use our most popular features like Play, Puzzles, and Lessons with just a couple of taps!

We updated our home and Play screens to look and feel even better than before. The magic starts when you turn on the app to find all the most relevant shortcuts to features and information on your home page. You can quickly check your score and rank in Players League, as well as your ratings in each time control, puzzles, and Chess960.

The new Play screen also helps you get right into the action effortlessly. Whether you want to play against one of our Bots, jam some blitz games, or go for the gold in a tournament, you can do it all from the new Play screen.

Get ready to know yourself better than you've ever known before! The new version of the app brings a new Stats page with all the relevant data you need to know broken down into multiple time frames. Diamond members can also enjoy all the in-depth data from the Insights feature right from their phones.

As if the performance improvements, better interface, and new features weren't enough, you can now enjoy a much better-looking app. We've dressed our app for success, so get ready to turn some heads when you open it up in public!

Have you tried the new version of our mobile app for iOS or Android? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!

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Try Out The New Chess.com v4 on iOS and Android - Chess.com

GM Viswanathan Anand is supporting FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich in his bid for a second term as FIDE President. Both were present at a press conference in New Delhi on Friday, where Dvorkovich announced that he will be running for re-election.

Dvorkovich's statement was communicated via FIDE's Twitter account:

"The past four years have been challenging for all of us, but I am proud to acknowledge that I personally, and the entire FIDE leadership team, have worked with full dedication for the benefit of chess all over the world. However, there are even more important tasks ahead.In this situation, I consider it is my moral duty to confirm that I intend to run for the second presidential term. I count on the support of the General Assembly and the whole chess society. Gens Una Sumus."

The decision to run for a second term is somewhat controversial in light of Dvorkovich's recent statements on the war in Ukraine and his background as a Russian politician. Initially, the FIDE President seemed to be holding an anti-war point of view, saying to the American website Mother Joneson March 14: "Wars are the worst things one might face in life including this war. My thoughts are with Ukrainian civilians."

A day later, however, a different and rather nationalistic statement was published, and Dvorkovich said he was "sincerely proud of the courage of our soldiers" and that there is"no place for either Nazism or the dominance of some countries over others."

He made the latter statement as the chairman of theSkolkovo Foundation, a position Dvorkovich no longer holds.

The Ukrainian Chess Federation and some Ukrainian top players have called for a full ban on Russia and expressed a desire for a new FIDE leadership, but they seem to have received little support for theirhowever understandablepoint of view.

"Yes, I am committed to run for re-election and Anand will be a huge part of our team," said Dvorkovich today.

Anand said he would be actively supporting the FIDE President, but at the moment it's not exactly clear how."We have had a good discussion, but we haven't decided yet in what role or capacity I will be involved," said Anand.

"I am willing and determined to work with this team. It is a wonderful team led by Dvorkovich, and they have done a lot for the sport. As and when a decision is taken, I will let you know."

Anand and Dvorkovich were present at an event in New Delhi held on Friday to officially hand over the hosting rights of the FIDE Chess Olympiad to India. The event will take place July 28-August 10, 2022 in Chennai.

Continued here:
Dvorkovich To Run For 2nd Term, Supported By Anand - Chess.com

The 2022 President's Cup returns to over-the-board for the first time since 2019, and the best four teams from the 2022 Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Championship have been invited to Texas Tech University to compete for the U.S. College Championship. The games will be live-streamed on Twitch for the first time in its 21-year history. Below are all the details of the event and information on how to follow all the action.

How to watch?

Format

The President's Cup is a round-robin event between the top four teams from the Pan Ams. The Final Four features Saint Louis University, who won the Pan Ams tournament with a perfect score of 6/6, the University of Texas at Dallas and Texas Tech University, who both went 5/6 to tie for second, and Webster University, who went 4.5/6 and earned the fourth and final spot on tiebreaks.

The winner of the President's Cup is determined by board points, not by team wins. Since it's a round-robin event, there will be three rounds. Each team has four players, and every match has four games with each game being worth a point. The team with the most points at the end of the three rounds wins.

Teams

These are the rosters of the teams from the Pan Ams along with their national ratings at the time of the competition, points scored, and the number of games they played. You can find the full list of the Pan-American results here.

Broadcast Schedule

The President's Cup will be streamed live on the official Collegiate Chess League Twitch channel at twitch.tv/CollegiateChessLeague.

Be sure to tune in and watch the hotly contested championship between these powerhouse teams. Can SLU continue their dominance from the Pan Ams and win their first-ever President's Cup? Will Webster pick up where they left off in 2017 after they won a record five straight championships? Or will the cup stay in Texas with UT Dallas or TTU? Find out this weekend!

For any questions about the event, feel free to contact tournament organizer Alex Onischuk atAlex.Onischuk@ttu.edu

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President's Cup 2022: All The Information - Chess.com

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