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How many times have you wanted to get up from a difficult chess game and aim a right hook at your opponents jaw?

In the world of chess boxing, that would be perfectly legal.

Many people are surprised its a real sport, but chess boxing has been around for 30 years and is popular in Germany, Britain and a few other countries. Players alternate rounds between a speed chess game and a match in the ring. A checkmate or a knockdown ends the contest.

Winnipeg-born Sean Mooney is retired from the sport now, but once played a memorable match at Royal Albert Hall in London that was billed as a battle of the bankers. He worked for Goldman Sachs at the time. Mooney won all three matches he contested.

When you get punched in the head, everyones chess rating drops by about 200 points, says Mooney, who is now a business strategist and consultant in Portland, Oregon. He said blunders at the board were common in the first few seconds after a boxing round ended.

Mooney thinks chess boxing might be ripe for renewed popularity. And a Toronto filmmaker, David Bitton, has recently released a documentary called By Rook or Left Hook - the Story of Chess Boxing.

1.Rxg7+ Kh8 2.Rh7+ Nxh7 3.Nf7+ Kg8 4.Nh6 mate.

Read more here:
In chess boxing, hitting your opponent isn't just legal, it's required - The Globe and Mail

In September 2021, a pilot project of FIDE/UNCHR, Girls Club Chess for Protection Kakuma 2021/2022, was launched by the World Chess Federation (FIDE), United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Lutheran World Federation, Kenya Chess Federation and Kakuma Chess Club.

Kenya is one of the biggest refugee-hosting countries in Africa and the world, hosting over 508,000 refugees mainly from the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa region. Over 40 per cent of all refugees reside in Kakuma refugee camp. The majority of the refugee population in Kakuma and Kalobeyei consists of children and youth.

The project started in the Angelina Jolie primary school with an attendance of 40 students. Chess lessons were held twice a week, once with titled coaches from FIDE WGM Anastasia Karlovich and IM Salome Melia, and once with a local tutor with Peter Diing coordinating in Kakuma.

Within the project, girls not only learn chess but also read and discuss books, improve various skills and achieve personal goals. Apart from acquiring an excellent hobby, entertainment and socialisation, participants could build essential life skills: make their own decisions and take responsibility for them; learn how to correct mistakes, if necessary; improve memory skills; build attention focus skills; develop logic and creativity; increase self-awareness; and recover self-respect, self-esteem and self-confidence.

As the next step in this project, led by FIDE vice president Anastasia Sorokina and FIDE managing director Dana Reizniece-Ozola, a curriculum to be used at other refugee camps was published recently. It was prepared by WGM Anastasiya Karlovich, WFM, IA Shohreh Bayat and WFM Martina Skogvall, and reviewed by WIM Natalija Popova.

White to play and mate (Magnus Carlsen v L Quang Lim, FTX Crypto Cup 2022)

Solutions for chess problems published online on August 14: Ganguly 39... Kg8 40 Qh7+!! Kxh7 41 Nf6+ Kh6 42 Nxf7#; Li 48 Nf6?? Ne2+ 49 Kxe2 Qd1+ 50 Kxd1 - (48 Qe8+ Kh7 49 Qe7+ Kh6 50 Qf6+ Kh7 51 Nc3 Qb2 52 Ne4 1-0); Veiga 26 Qxh7+ Kxh7 27 Rh3+ Nh4 28 Rexh4+ Kg6 29 Rg4+ Kf6 30 Bg5+ 1-0.

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Learning life skills through chess - Times of Malta

D. Gukesh continued his relentless climb in the world rankings after scoring a hat-trick of wins in the ongoing Turkish Isbank Chess Super League in Ankara on Thursday.

Playing on the top board for third-round leader Turkish Airlines Sports Club, Gukesh defeated Grandmasters Aryan Gholami (2507), Andrey Esipenko (2682) Vahap Sanal (2574) to reach World No. 18 in live rankings and 2735.9 as per live ratings.

With R. Praggnanandhaa making waves in the cash-rich FTX Crypto Cup rapid event, and Arjun Erigaisi leading the Abu Dhabi Masters after three rounds, Gukesh added to the joy by gaining another 10 rating points and six places from the time he finished the Chess Olympiad with twin medals.

As things stand, the country's youngest Grandmaster trails 12th ranked Viswanathan Anand (2756) by around 20 points and leads third-placed P. Harikrishna by 19 points.

Like never before, India has five players in the top 35 of world rankings and eight in the top 90.

Praggnanandhaa (2675.5) and Nihal Sarin (2671.5), with live rankings of 66 and 69, are targeting the coveted 2700-rating barrier.

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D. Gukesh breaks into top 20 in chess rankings, is World No. 18 in live ratings - Sportstar

Keytaon Thompsons younger brother Kayden had a problem.

He had taken up chess, enjoyed the game and decided to compete against other young players in Louisiana, where the family lived.

Kayden needed someone to practice against, though, so his older brother Keytaon a star wide receiver at Virginia came to the rescue.

He wanted some competition, so he could get sharper, Keytaon Thompson said. I told him Id help, so I started reading a bunch of books.

Within a month, Thompson said, he had gotten good enough to beat his brother occasionally.

Thats the way I approach something new, he says.

And thats the way Thompson is approaching this season as a wide receiver with the Cavaliers.

Thompson is known as a multi-purpose player a quarterback at Mississippi State, and then a running back-receiver last season with the Cavaliers. New Virginia head coach Tony Elliott has said Thompson might run the ball on occasion this fall, but his primary role in the Virginia offense will be at receiver.

Thats what were focusing on, said Elliott, who coached wide receivers during his years as a Clemson assistant.

Thats all great with Thompson, a graduate student in his final year with the Cavaliers.

Im focusing on wide receiver, he said. And Ive been working on the kinds of things that are essential for a wide receiver to know.

Elliott said Thompson is an extremely talented player, a lock to have a career in the NFL. All thats lacking, according to Elliott, is the technical background something Thompson never really got when he moved from quarterback to receiver.

Ive seen him grow as a technician, Elliott said.

Can Thompson translate his growing acumen as a chess player to football?

Its a great game, Thompson said. There are a lot of moving pieces, a lot of strategy.

Thompson enjoyed learning the intricacies of chess. Hes approaching his wide receiver education the same way.

Im working on a lot of things that feel kind of unnatural, he said. But theyre part of being a wide receiver.

Virginia's Keytaon Thompson last season had 78 receptions for 990 yards and had five or more catches in each of the Cavaliers final five games. He was named to the all-ACC preseason team, at the all-purpose position. (University of Virginia T)

Some scouting analysts believe Thompson has an edge as a receiver because of his experience at quarterback. He understands the way routes work and how to beat defenses.

He could have turned pro after last season and would have been a likely NFL draft pick. But Thompson, like Cavaliers quarterback Brennan Armstrong, decided to come back for another season.

Thompson last season had 78 receptions for 990 yards and had five or more catches in each of the Cavaliers final five games. He was named to the All-ACC preseason team at the all-purpose position.

Now Elliott wants him to do even more.

He now understands that Coach Elliott will be on him every single day. Elliott said with emphasis.

I dont want him to just reach the NFL, Elliott added. I want him to stay in the NFL.

Thompson said of Elliotts pushing, Hes not lying about that. Hes on me every day.

Coach Elliott and I have a great relationship, Thompson added. Im having a ball at practice.

Elliott and the rest of the coaching staff are working to get him out of my comfort zone, Thompson said.

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Ive watched guys recently who went to the NFL and were successful, he said. Thats what I want. And I want a career there.

Virginia coaches want to ease the pressure on Armstrong and the receivers, and rely more this season on the ground game. Thats fine with Thompson.

We will use the running game a bit more, and that should help all of us, Thompson said, adding that defenses wont be able to focus on the receivers like they did at times last year.

I think people will like the offensive changes. Our offense should be harder to stop.

This will be Thompsons sixth season of college football, and he wants to make the most of this last campaign.

Ive been playing longer than just about anyone else, said Thompson, who turns 24 on Oct. 23. I guess Im an old guy, huh? Im trying to help the other guys, to share my experience with them.

View original post here:
Keytaon Thompson, a budding chess player, is preparing for his next move in Virginia's new-look offense - The Virginian-Pilot

Monterey Car Week has been a hotbed of EV debuts this year with unveilings from Dodge, Acura, DeLorean and a host of other automakers. On Thursday, Lincoln revealed the Model L100, its futuristic foray into electrified mobility, which draws inspiration from the companys very first luxury sedan, the 1922 Model L.

Lincoln Motors

Like its pre-Depression predecessor, the Model L100 exhibits a shocking degree of opulence. Next generation battery cell and pack technologies, read the Thursday release, will deliver game changing energy density, while the steering wheel will be replaced with a jewel-inspired chess piece controller that captures light and depth by redefining the vehicle controls inside the cabin. That fancy yoke wont be much use for actual steering thanks to the vehicles theoretical autonomous driving capabilities taking care of the navigating.

Lincoln Motor Comapny

Concept vehicles allow us to reimagine and illustrate how new experiences can come to life with the help of advanced technologies and allow our designers more creative freedom than ever before, Anthony Lo, Fords chief design officer, in a statement. With the Model L100, we were able to push the boundaries in ways that evolve our Quiet Flight brand DNA and change the way we think about Lincoln designs of tomorrow."

Lincoln Motor Comapny

Other fantastical design details include animal-free interiors with front row seats that can flip to face the rear passengers (good thing the cars driving itself), a digital floor and canopy that can project realistic animated scenes onto the floor and ceiling, a full-length hinged glass roof and reverse-hinged doors that open up like a lily.

Lincoln Motors

There's no word yet on when the production vehicle spawned from this concept will arrive. Unfortunately many of the ideas presented here will inevitably be cut, going the way of Mercedes awesome, Avatar-inspired trunk hatch wigglers.

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Lincoln replaced the steering wheel with a 'chess piece controller' in its Model L100 concept - Engadget