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By Shilpa Mehra

Losing is challenging at any age. It hits at your sense of self. You learn, as you grow older, how to process the emotions relating to losing. Chess fosters this learning. However, chess involves ones mental faculties more deeply than other sports. Therefore, losing a game can be spirit-breaking, leading to most children quitting the game early on as compared to other sports.

Its a little tricky finding the sweetness, beauty and passion for the game in tournaments beyond and outside losing. In chess, you lose; lots at that!

Can we deal with this?

1. Delink chess from intelligence

All kids who play chess may not be brilliant. All kids who dont play chess may be competent. Chess, just like music, is an ability that one develops by practice, practice and more practice. Natural talent is a factor but not the only thing. Those people you see in the prize lists are there mainly due to tremendous daily hard work. Chess is just like studying any other subject. Like music, there is no getting around the focused endless riyaz to make master level or, even club level. Endless with an uppercase E.

2. Why chess and how

Call a family meeting before your kid attends a chess class. Be clear that it must begin at a hobby level. Its going to be devastating if your kid is doing chess once a week and you land up at the age-group national championship.

Best is to choose tournaments that suit the childs level and preparation. Start for fun and see how it goes. Evaluate how much time and money you wish to invest in Chess away from studies and other activities. Does your child really want to go through the grind of professional training? If not, go slow, enjoy chess for what it is: a scholastic fun tool to develop analytical skills, meet interesting people, and an art form.

Take chess like you would learn a new language. Allow the child to attend a chess class to jog the mind. Not everyone visiting the gym is planning on a bodybuilding career. One does not have to be a master musician to enjoy and experience a beautiful symphony. For example, its great to let chess remain a fun activity away from endless television. Chess also is a fantastic parallel profession. You can be semi-pro for life. It works.

3. Parent approval

Those who have travelled to tournaments may have witnessed horror situations watching parents beating up kids on losing. Unfortunately, that happens when much is at stake for a family. Playing tournaments and even basic training is costly.

Understandably, all parents want their kids to succeed, be focused and achieve something. Kids, on the other hand, have the super ability to become lazy, indisciplined monsters. Somewhere in between is a rational line that begins with love. A child losing a chess game, particularly in a tournament, is already upset. Anything you say at that moment will not be heard. The best is to up the affection, hugging and loving quotient at that moment. Keep the analysis for later.

If you want to nurture a champion, let the kid feel a protective cover. Give him the belief that he may lose, the whole world may reject him, but you will love him. A simple hug works. Once the initial sorrow of losing has subsided, you can go back to the disapproval part. The child will be in a better position for positive course correction. Indeed, be strict, but at a time when it will have a productive impact. Its great to plan a distracting activity right after a game like going to a movie or shopping. The worst stuff to say to a kid after a lost game is what he should have played and why he didnt.

4. Just listen

Most chess players like to tell the entire story of what happened. Its best to listen with great attention. Allow the child to describe the game and encourage him to tell you everything, even if you dont play chess yourself.

5. Have faith in the coach

If you dont have faith in your childs chess coach, dont send your child to him in the first place. If you do take up coaching your kid yourself, be very sure about what youre doing. Coaching needs professional methods. Its always a team. Work closely with your child and the coach but allow your child to find his bonding with the teacher and classmates. It takes at least six months to one year to see progress in playing strength.

6. Protect against bullying

Its okay to push your kid up to a point, not after that. The bottomline should be your childs happiness at the end of the day. Its ok to shift your kid to a junior class to protect against branding by peers. Just discuss with your childs coach and move them to a junior group if required. The pace of learning varies tremendously in chess. Have a frank conversation with your child and let them know for sure that their joy in playing chess is essential for you than the result.

Finally, take up chess yourself! You wont need to reread this article. (Not said on a lighter note. chess is great for everyone, at any age.)

(The writer is a child psychologist with research interest in developing analytical skills at a young age. As founder-member of Chess Club Black & White in Lucknow, she published Indias first chess features print magazine from 2004 to 2012. Follow her on Facebook at BlackandWhiteChessMagazineIndia)

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Is your child playing chess? Allow the freedom to lose - The Indian Express

Show includes milestones achieved by Garry Kasparov, Magnus Carlsen,the Polgar Sisters, and others

Press Release

SAINT LOUIS (February 1, 2021) - The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) will host an opening reception for its newest exhibition, Masterminds: Chess Prodigies, celebrating achievements by the games youngest and brightest players, on February 11, 2021, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The RSVP-required reception is free and open to the public and includes curator-led tours of both Masterminds and the wildly-popular Keith Haring: Radiant Gambit exhibition, paying homage to the late art icon. Virtual tours of both exhibitions will be available on the WCHOFs website, Facebook and YouTube channels.

Over 80 artifacts will be on display, including a chess instructional book once belonging to and inscribed by Fischer as a youth, Carlsens prestigious 2013 World Chess Championship trophy, and Carlsens amber chess set that once belonged to former world chess champion Mikhail Tal. Additionally, the exhibition will highlight noteworthy accomplishments by a variety of chess prodigies such as Garry Kasparov (youngest world chess champion; 22 years of age), Hou Yifan (youngest womens chess champion; 16 years of age), and the Polgar sisters: Saint Louis resident Susan (top-ranked female player in 1984; 15 years of age), Sofia (won the Rome Open in 1989 with a performance rating of over 2900, one of the best results achieved by a female player; 14 years of age) and Judit (became the youngest ever grandmaster at that time, beating Bobby Fishers record; 15 years of age).

Unlike many other fields, in chess, kids can sometimes compete withand defeatadults, explains Emily Allred, curator at the World Chess Hall of Fame. Whether were exploring the real-life story of Tanitoluwa (Tani) Adewumi, an eight-year-old Nigerian refugee who won the K-3 New York State Championship only a year after beginning to play the game, or fictional chess prodigy Beth Harmon from The Queens Gambit, the genius behind these chess prodigies is truly awe-inspiring.

Masterminds includes not only the accomplishments of young chess players from around the world but also significant milestones achieved by competitors at the WCHOFs sister organization, the Saint Louis Chess Club, just across the street from the museum in the Nations Chess Capital of Saint Louis, Missouri. There, the youngest player in United States history, Sam Sevian, set the record for achieving the title of chess grandmaster at the age of 13.

Masterminds: Chess Prodigies will be on view through November 7, 2021. To learn more about the exhibition or to find out more about the WCHOFs safety procedures and guest guidelines, visit http://www.worldchesshof.org. Media interviews or additional statistics can be coordinated by contacting Brian Flowers at brian.flowers@worldchesshof.org or (314) 243-1571.

# # #

About the World Chess Hall of Fame

The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to building awareness of the cultural and artistic significance of chess. It opened on September 9, 2011, in the Central West End after moving from previous locations in New York, Washington, D.C., and Miami. Housed in a historic 15,900 square-foot residence-turned-business in Saint Louis Central West End neighborhood, the WCHOF features World Chess Hall of Fame inductees, United States Chess Hall of Fame inductees selected by the U.S. Chess Trust, artifacts from the permanent collection and exhibitions highlighting the great players, historic games and rich cultural history of chess. The WCHOF partners with the Saint Louis Chess Club to provide innovative programming and outreach to local, national and international audiences. For more information, visit http://www.worldchesshof.org.

About the Saint Louis Chess Club

The Saint Louis Chess Club is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization committed to making chess an important part of our community. In addition to providing a forum for the community to play tournaments and casual games, the club also offers chess improvement classes, beginner lessons and special lectures. Recognizing the cognitive and behavioral benefits of chess, the Saint Louis Chess Club is committed to supporting those chess programs that already exist in area schools while encouraging the development of new in-school and after-school programs. For more information, visit http://www.saintlouischessclub.org.

Connect with Us

Engage with the @WorldChessHOF on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, with the exhibition hashtag, #MastermindsChess.

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Masterminds: Chess Prodigies - An exhibtion of the World Chess Hall of Fame - Chessbase News

Ever since the pandemic happened and the entire world went into complete lockdown, with the movement of people across the globe fully restricted; sports was one of those sectors which suffered the most.

Almost all the sporting events in the world across came to a forced halt. The only form of sports, fans all around the globe could enjoy during this strict lockdown was E-sports. With the whole world confined to the four walls of their home, the number of people indulging in e-sports and online gaming rose to an all-time high.

The only traditional sport which could survive or rather thrive during such time was the strategy based game, Chess. While other popular sports like football, cricket, badminton, hockey, among others struggled to stay relevant during the lockdown, chess, much like e-sports, rose to a completely new level.

Chess broard at chess.com

A lot of it had to do with the fact that chess was probably the only traditional sport that did not halt its international tournaments due to the pandemic. In fact, the most prestigious tournament in the sport The Chess Olympiad was successfully conducted online. Besides, various other small and large scale tournaments were also conducted online.

This success for chess over the internet has given a massive boost to the already existing question. Is it time for chess to be included under the bracket of e-sports?

Now to understand the rationale behind this question, let us understand how is e-sports defined?

The most commonly accepted definition for e-sports is, E-sports is an organised and competitive form of video-gaming competition held between two or more individuals or teams who are connected over the internet.

Arent the online chess tournaments the same? Is it not an organised competition between two players or teams who are connected over the internet?

The other logic people backing the inclusion of chess under the umbrella term of e-sports give is the new-found technology of live streaming. It is something that has become synonymous with e-sports, of late.

Also read: How Koneru Humpy broke barriers in a male dominated chess world

Most of the e-sports players live to stream their games through any of the streaming platforms like Twitch, YouTube and, etc. The love for live streaming has also taken the world of chess by storm with many of the top Grand Masters like Hikaru Nakamura, Anish Giri, Vidit Gujarati and others being regular streamers whilst raking up quite a good amount of views on their channels.

This rise in popularity of chess due to the game being played online excessively has even led to one of the most popular e-sports organisation in the world, TSM, to sign the American GM Hikaru Nakamura making him the first-ever chess player to be signed by an e-sports team.

This was followed by popular chess streamers on Twitch and Women Fide Master (WFM) Alexandra Botez and her sister Andrea Botez joining the Texas-based e-sports organisation, Team Envy in the latter part of December 2020.

While the question, Is online chess an e-sport? is being asked for quite some time now, the recent developments in the field definitely suggests so.

Over the board game certainly has its charm and top Grand Masters from across the world might still choose a physical tournament over an online one any day, but no one can deny the boost online chess has given this age-old sport.

Chess, over the years, has struggled to be recognised as an Olympic sport and with the push for inclusion of e-sports in the quadrennial event at an all-time high this might just be the right time for chess to be categorised as an e-sport.

Also read: The chess champion who became Indias youngest billionaire entrepreneur

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Is it time for chess to be included under the e-sports bracket? - The Bridge

Chess.com is thrilled to host PogChamps 3 presented by Grip6, which is set to begin on February 14. Expected to be one of the most viewed chess tournaments in history, PogChamps 3 will have a $100,000 prize fund. Among the participants of this landmark event will be internet sensation MrBeast, world-famous rapper Logic, and Rainn Wilson, star actor in NBC's hit show "The Office."

Thefirst PogChampsand PogChamps 2 shattered viewership records, achievingclose to 300 million minutes watched. PogChamps 3 is poised to be the largest yet, and will be placing an emphasis on supporting the chess community.In addition to the increased prize fund, Chess.com is proud to declare that it has also reserved $100,000 for community donations.

Here's all the information you need to follow the 2021 Chess.com PogChamps:

All Chess.com PogChamps matches will be broadcast live with commentary by chess celebrities GM Hikaru Nakamura, WFM Alexandra Botez, IM Levy Rozman, IM Anna Rudolf, and more on Chess.com/TV.Players may choose to stream as well on their own channels on a delay and will not be permitted to use chat for outside assistance. Players who choose not to stream will be required to join a Zoom call for fair play and broadcast purposes.

Official match times for each game will be posted prior to the subsequent round of play. The dates for each stage of the event are as follows:

Total Prize Fund: $100,000

Each player's winnings are determined by how far they advance into the Chess.com PogChamps.

Group Stage: 16 players, $8,000 prize pool.

Championship Bracket: 8 players, $60,000 prize pool

Consolation Bracket: 8 players, $32,000 prize pool

During PogChamps 3, Chess.com will match up to $100,000 in donations to the participants' preferred non-profit organizations.

Championship Bracket:

Consolation Bracket:

The percentages above reflect total percent of donations awarded to each participant's preferred non-profit organization.

Group Stage

In the case of a tie on points, the first tiebreak is average CAPS score across all three games.

Championship and Consolation Brackets

Chess.com set groups based on a variety of factors including (but not limited to) blitz rating, rapid rating, tactics rating, total games played, and amount of chess streamed.

The field:

Do you want to see how you stack up against some of the PogChamps 3 players? Then click the button below to go to our Play Computer page where you can match your wits with the xQc, Ludwig, Pokimane, Neeko, and CodeMiko bots!

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PogChamps 3: All The Information - Chess.com

The Week

Confidence in the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine seems to be growing. New analysis released this week suggests that not only does the vaccine protect against symptomatic COVID-19 infections, it could also significantly curb transmission, making it a potentially very effective tool for bringing the virus to heel. The vaccine is affordable, easy to produce and store, and has been approved by health regulators in the United Kingdom, India, and Europe, as well as several other countries. But it has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States, where it's still undergoing late-stage trials. That's led to some harsh criticism. The Mayo Clinic's Vincent Rajkumar called the delay a "huge blunder," while The Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf described it as "the most profound impingement on my liberty I've faced." Writer Matthew Yglesias lamented a lack of pressure from lawmakers and the U.S. media for speedy approval. For starters, AstraZeneca hasn't submitted any paperwork to the FDA, so, in short, it can't grant approval for what hasn't been requested, notes Axios' Sam Baker: AstraZeneca has not submitted this product for FDA authorization. The FDA cannot authorize products whose manufacturers arent asking for authorization. Political pressure on the FDA, in addition to being a thing that everyone rightly opposed when Trump did it, cannot change this https://t.co/LnsZPGz4ZG Sam Baker (@sam_baker) February 3, 2021 But there are more complex reasons behind the holdup. In the U.K., Business Insider notes, health regulators "rely more heavily on a company's data to make conclusions," whereas in the U.S., an independent advisory committee takes a look at data sets from both the FDA and drug companies before the FDA can make its final decision. In this case, the FDA was concerned following a series of missteps by AstraZeneca, including the company's failure to alert the agency about a decision to halt trials after a U.K. participant fell ill in September, and a strange discrepancy and incomplete testing of promising but mistakenly-administered half-strength doses. There's speculation submission and approval will come in April, but until the U.S. gets clearer data, the vaccine will remain in regulatory limbo. More stories from theweek.comMarjorie Taylor Greene is getting exactly what she wantsDemocrats may only have one chance to stop America from becoming a one-party stateStephen Bannon, pardoned by Trump, may now be charged over the same scheme in New York

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Local woman shines in world of chess - Yahoo News