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The 2020 PRO Chess League is back, ending a 247-day drought since the end of last season. With the new improvements to the league format, fans watched the most competitive week in PRO Chess League history. The stronger competition brought debuts forAlexander Grischuk,Wei Yi,David NavaraandEvgeny Tomashevsky, but also showcased PRO Chess League stars likeFabiano Caruana,Wesley So, Hikaru NakamuraandMaxime Vachier-Lagrave.

1. Saint Louis is still really good.

The Arch Bishops are a favorite to win this year's PRO Chess League, and after dispatching the New York Marshalls last Monday, cemented their status. Even with bothNakamuraandGadir Guseinov headlining the New York lineup, the defending league champions proved too much to handle.

The match started to slip out of reach whenSo beat Nakamura in the second round. Nakamura needed to take some risks to keep the match close, but So's solid play gave Black the endgame advantage:

Saint Louis took the match 10.5-5.5, thanks to strong performances from both So andCaruana. New York faces the Brazil Capybaras on Monday, and the Arch Bishops will take on the UK Lions.

2. Russia stuns China in season opener.

China looked like a serious competitor to Saint Louis in the preseason, butVlad Dobrov's perfect 4/4 will leave the Pandas scrambling for a better strategy next week. A last-minute substitution for Russia, Dobrov opened his day with a strong defensive win againstWen Yang:

In the third round,Weiseemed to have built an edge, but a quick blunder gave Dobrov the point:

Dobrov's performance was crucial to Russia's 9.5-6.5 win, as no other Russian players scored over 2/4. China now enters a must-win match against Armenia next week, while Russia will take on the Turkey Knights.

3. Sweden has the best fans.

After falling short of qualification in past seasons, the Wasabis finally made their PRO Chess League debut against their Scandinavian rival, the Norway Gnomes. Determined to win, the Wasabis putJon Ludvig Hammeron notice a few days before the match:

The Stockholm-based club started slowly and quickly fell behind 3-1 after the first round.Sweden slowly worked their way back into the match, and with the score locked at 7.5-7.5,Bassem Aminbroke the tie, beating Hammer with the black pieces to clinch the match:

Watching from the Wasa SK in Stockholm, Sweden's fans were pumped to see the Wasabis win in their debut. In his interview,GM Erik Blomqvist said that at least 50 fans came to watch him play live.

Sweden will face Spain next week in a match they should be favored to win. If they do, the fan-favorite could face Vachier-Lagrave's Roosters in a clash of unbeaten teams in week three.

With the higher level of competition, this week's Game Of The Week was especially hard to pick, but none is more deserving than the fighting draw betweenYannick Gozzoli andKacper Piorun. While it's rare for a draw to be selected, this game brought a complex endgame where both sides had winning chances. For most of the game, both players were under one minute on the clock, making this draw an exciting affair:

The France Roosters went on to win the match after sweeping the Poland Hussars in the final round. This week's honorable mention goes toSam Sevianof theNew York Marshalls for his win with the black pieces againstCaruana:

Sevian played incredibly well, posting a 98.1 CAPS score against the 2018 world championship challenger.

During this week's Eastern Division broadcast, a fan asked which game deserved Blunder Of The Week. With several strong contenders, the PRO Chess League has decided to select theHungary Hunters' Gergely Antal. After holding a worse position for much of the game, Antal erred with five seconds left on the clock:

Hungary could not quite recover, and theArmenia Eagleswent on to win the match, 11-5. The Hunters play the Croatia Bulldogs next week, a match they should be favored to win.

Stats matter in the PRO Chess League. Here are three stats you may have missed in the season's opening week.

1. The Bird's Opening (1.f4) scored 100% in the opening week. Sure, it was only one game, but Italy'sLorenzo Lodici,well-prepared for his game againstWouter Spoelman, developed quickly and sacrificed pieces as early as move 15. The Bird's Opening is not a likely candidate to get more screen time this season, and new openings are always welcome:

2. Speaking of Lodici, he and just four other players scored a perfect 4/4.Ray Robson (Chicago), Anton Korobov (Germany), Dobrov (Russia) and Shant Sargsyan (Armenia) also completed a perfect day. Of the five players, only twoDobrov and Sargsyannotched performance ratings over 3000. Nearly making the list, Bassem Amin (Sweden) scored three out of three, as his first-round opponent had to forfeit.

3. All four of Argentina's players had performance ratings of 2690 and higher. In their thrashing of the U.K. Lions, each of the Krakens' players scored at least 2.5/4. Considering the performance ratings, the Krakens outperformed the Saint Louis Arch Bishops, asLeinier DominguezandLe Quang Liem both managed a 2666 performance rating. Argentina's best game came fromAlan Pichot, who beatGawain Jonesafter making a long-term sacrifice in the endgame:

This week's power rankings were compiled by Isaac Steincamp (@IsaacSteincamp), who served as a general manager for the Pittsburgh Pawngrabbers for three seasons before working with Chess.com.

Opening week in the PRO Chess League tells us which teams were prepared to play. Managers are still trying to determine their best lineups and adjust to the new format of the league. However, losses are expensive this year. With only seven weeks of regular season to play, each match is critical, and managers need to be smart moving forward.

It's easy to overreact given the small sample size of games, but here are this week's power rankings:

No surprises here. After a dominating performance against the New York Marshalls, the defending PRO Chess League champion looked the part withCaruanaandSo combining for 6.5/8. Except for Canada, it's quite difficult to see another Western Division team beating the Missouri-based squad. Its regular season losses generally stem from significant upsets: Minnesota and Pittsburgh in 2018, and Miami in 2019.

General ManagerArtak Manukyan will tell you his team is not a title contender in 2020, but his team is fun to watch.Sargsyanwas just one of two Eastern Division players to score a perfect 4/4, and Armenia beat a talented Hungary team.Zaven Andriasianis particularly impressive, notching 3.5/4. This team will need to get through Russia, India, and China to win the Eastern Division, but the race to first place just got even more interesting.

While it was not the biggest story in this week's opener, Argentina's crushing upset over the U.K. Lions is one of the big surprises in the season's opening week, although it's hard to read too much into this one result. Argentina has just one player rated over 2600, and while Pichot looks to be a star player for the Krakens, the schedule now gets tougher. For Argentina to make a significant jump in the power rankings, they'll need to upset Canada next week.

Still one of the favorites to win the title this year, China will have to grow quickly from their loss to Russia. Other than conceding a perfect score against Vlad Dobrov, China did everything else right by holding the other three boards to a combined 5.5/12. Based on this week's result, don't be surprised ifLi Di becomes a featured player in the Pandas' lineup. The 20-year old is a proven force in the PRO Chess League with victories over So,Eltaj SafarliandTigran Petrosian in 2019.

Truly impressive opening-week performance, even with a loss to the France Roosters. WithoutJan-Krzysztof DudaandRadoslav Wojtaszek, the Hussars still nearly upset the Central Division favorite last Thursday. While they will need some help to win the division, second place is easily within reach for them. With so many other strong players on the roster, Poland is officially a dark horse to win the PRO Chess League.

This year the PRO Chess League is raising the stakes with its Fantasy Contest that offers weekly cash prizes and even more opportunities to win. Every week will have three contests, one for each division. The first-place finisher in each contest will wina three-month diamond Chess.com membership, and a perfect submissionin any contest will win up to $100, so make sure to complete your three submissions every week.

This past week's winners are:

Make sure to submit your Fantasy lineup for every division each week to win prizes! You can reach the Fantasy portal on the PRO Chess League website by clicking the button below:

Next week the PRO Chess League will bring a critical prime-time match between the California Unicorns and the Chicago Wind. California will be looking to rebound from last week's loss to Canada, while the Wind have a chance to win two straight after beating Brazil. California needs a win to stay in the playoff race, as a second loss before facing Saint Louis and New York can put its postseason hopes in serious jeopardy.

Wednesday will bring the first division doubleheader of the season. The China Pandas face the red-hot Armenia Eagles in a 2018 PRO Chess League Final rematch. China avenged their 2018 defeat by winning in last year's third-place match, so next week's match will be the third edition of the rivalry. TheNorway Gnomeswill face the France Roosters in the Central Division's prime-time match, a key test for both sides.

Have a burning question about next week's matches? Starting Sunday, every weekly preview will answer at least one question from a fan. To submit your question, you can tweet using #prochess or leave a question in the comments of this article. You can ask about your favorite team, player, or anything related to the PRO Chess League!

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PRO Chess League Week In Review: Season Starts With Surprises And Upsets - Chess.com

This chess column is the commencement of my weekly contributions to TheArticle, and I must express my gratitude to editor Daniel Johnson, for giving me the opportunity to explore this new way forwards.

For some time I have felt that traditional newspaper chess columns, designed to appeal to the general chess enthusiast (rather than the devoted chess expert) are failing to keep pace with 21st-century technology. Papers are indeed paying minimal homage to modern technology by reproducing material online, but without the ability to play over games on screen, this represents little more than offering the same fare online as in print.

Readers and fans will still need a chessboard and pieces to follow a game. In contrast, the modern chess column should be accessible anywhere that readers have mobile communications. To enjoy a chess column, you should not need to be stuck at home with a chess set.

This column will be different. I will not be spending time on analysing the latest wrinkle in the Chelyabinsk sub variation of the Sveshnikov line of the Sicilian Defence from the game between Bonsch Osmolovsky and Dus Chotimirsky played in the the Union Championship of Magnetogorsk. Rather, to adapt a phrase from Stefan Zweig, I will focus on what I describe as Sternstunden der Schachheit: stellar moments from the rich and diverse archives of chess, which seek to place the game in its historical, cultural and even financial context.

Games will be made available by linking towww.chessgames.coma free website which not only gives you access to instantly replayable games onscreen, but also invites readers to contribute their own comments to the analytical debate. There is also a computerised analysis function to add an extra dimension of enlightenment, should it be desired.

My inaugural focus of specific interest will be the annual Hastings tournament, which was founded in 1895, with probably the strongest chess tournament ever held up to that time. This years Hastings finishes during the first week of January and at some point I shall return to the 2020 event.

During the 19th century the UK experienced a kind of love affair with chess. The first ever international chess tournament took place in London 1851, with powerful tournaments across the country to follow, of which Hastings 1895 was, at that time, the most impressive. Moreover, Masters and champions of world status regularly gravitated to London, including Paul Morphy, Wilhelm Steinitz , Johannes Zukertort and Emanuel Lasker. Their names are still inscribed on the famous chessboard at Londons Simpsons in the Strand.

Our 19th-century love affair with chess went out with a bang in 1899, when the greatest tournament held anywhere up to that time (exceeding even Hastings) was staged in London. But this was to be the swansong. Over the next 46 years only one significant match, a mere six Grandmaster tournaments and the inaugural chess Olympiad were to be held in London. And worse was to come; between 1947 and 1972, a period of 25 years, no single Grandmaster level tournament was staged in London at all! Hastings was left to carry the flag through all this time as the sole regular Grandmaster level chess tournament in the UK.

How can this be explained?

The answer is that these chess tournaments provide an alarmingly accurate barometer of the financial health of the nation. Chess tournaments famously produce great beauty, intellectual depth, fabulous publicity and profound artistry, but very little hard revenue. They, therefore, flourish in environments where there is wealth to spare. From 1895 to 1899 Britain might have been thought to be at the zenith of her imperial might and wealth, yet the nations riches were about to be sucked into the running sore of the Boer war, which in current terms cost 20 billion pounds. Meanwhile, the nations attention was soon to be diverted by diplomatic, armaments and, ultimately, overt military conflict with the Kaisers Germany.

Howard Staunton, the founder of the 1851 tournament, and great Victorian polymath, believed, and wrote, that chess was the appropriate recreation for men of genius, and in spite of the counter-attractions of computer games, that description remains true to the present day.

In this respect, Hastings 1895 was fortunate in witnessing a number of outstanding cerebral masterpieces, the most thrilling of which was the victory by former world champion Steinitz against the German master Von Bardeleben. When the loser conceded, Steinitz was threatened with checkmate, and every single one of his pieces was under attack . . . yet he was still able to demonstrate a forced win.

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Chess the barometer of a nation's health - TheArticle

Clemson's Isaiah Simmons can not be labeled as a linebacker or safety or slot cornerback. It would be unfair to his skill set. Fans witnessed his rare ability recently in the College Football Playoff National Championship. He can play a handful of positions, which is why he is so valuable to NFL teams.

During the regular season, Simmons played five different positions, according to Jordan Reid of The Draft Network. He spent 253 of 635 eligible snaps (40 percent) as a slot cornerback. He also spent 166 snaps at safety (26.1 percent), 132 snaps at outside linebacker (20.1 percent), 72 snaps at inside linebacker (11.3 percent) and 12 snaps as a boundary cornerback (1.9 percent).

There is an old saying that goes "Jack of all trades, master of none." Simmons is the exception to that rule. He excels in so many different areas on the field, which makes him a perfect fit for the modern NFL. Teams with a top-five pick like the Lions (No. 3) and Giants (No. 4) should think long and hard before passing on such a versatile player who is athletically gifted in all his role and who creates a difficult visual for opposing quarterbacks. Prior to the snap, the quarterback is trying to read where each player is on the field and predict their task on that particular play.

Here is an example: Denver Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. walks onto the field. He might blitz but, in all likelihood, his assignment is to mirror the slot receiver. In the same game, edge rusher Von Miller walks onto the field. His 112.5 career sacks versus three interceptions are an indicator that his coach is asking him to rush the passer, not drop into coverage. Safety Justin Simmons then walks onto the field. He could be sent on a blitz but his four interceptions this season did not happen in the backfield. Before the snap, the quarterback is reading each of these players. He visualizes where they are positioned, who they are communicating with and any step they take to tip off post-snap movement. Those are typically solidified roles.

Finally, Isaiah Simmons walks onto the field. The quarterback has no idea what he will do on any given play. He could line up as a single high safety and later crash the backfield because of his speed. He could line up off-ball, drop into coverage and take away half the field. On one particular play, he lines up in the box. The quarterback reads run support or maybe blitz. The snap, Simmons suddenly bolts back into coverage. Now, the quarterback's first read is gone. He frantically starts working through his progressions, which only gives Miller more time to get home for a sack. That's just one example of how the Kansas native impacts play.

Pictures and videos say a thousand words, right? Here are some examples of plays that the junior has already completed.

On this play, Simmons is playing on the edge spying the quarterback. Watch as the quarterback commits to one direction and the Clemson star reacts, bursting towards the ball.

Here is another example. On the first play, against Ohio State, Simmons is playing single high safety. He reads the eyes of quarterback Justin Fields and covers half the field to come over and make an interception.

One more play: Simmons is playing safety again but closer to the box. He breaks hard on a shallow crossing route underneath. The play is stopped for a short gain.

He is such an instinctual player. One trait that immediately drew my attention to Simmons is his consistency as an open field tackler. If you have ever walked through a wooded area, Simmons is the burr that gets attached to your clothes. You're not really sure how it even got there, but it freeing itself from your clothes is not really an option. If you are still not convinced, maybe this will help: Simmons once went toe to toe with running back Travis Etienne in a foot race. Etienne is a likely second-round pick and one of the fastest players in the 2020 NFL Draft class. Do not be surprised when he leads the pack as a vertical jumper at the NFL combine either.

One of my favorite plays in film study went like this: The Tigers were playing South Carolina. Simmons is covering wide receiver Shi Smith, who is smaller in stature but fast, down the field. It is simply not enough for him to mirror the receiver down the field with his length and take away the play, Simmons actually gets his head around to find the ball and knock it down. He tackles with such great balance and changes directions well. There is nothing that he can not do.

As of writing this Jan. 16, Simmons had not yet declared for the 2020 NFL Draft. It is likely that he will, and he will be rewarded as a top-10 pick. He has been a top-five talent in my rankings from the beginning but he currently sits at No. 6 in our CBS Sports composite rankings. Several teams could use a defensive chess piece like him, but keep an eye on the Detroit Lions, New York Giants, Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals.

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2020 NFL Draft: Why Clemson's Isaiah Simmons is the ultimate chess piece that the Giants and Lions are missing - CBS Sports

Ubisoft is continuing its crusade to try and make money from the Might & Magic license by creating a mash-up of the two most popular genres on mobile right now, Auto Chess and battle royale.

The upcoming mobile game goes by the incredibly creative title Might & Magic: Chess Royale. We bet that was a long board meeting trying to come up with that.

Chess Royale pits you against 99 other opponents to determine who is the last person standing. Each round, your team will face a single opponents team, and the winner progresses while the loser is knocked out.

Youll recruit heroes and units from the franchises history and upgrade them each round. Its like a standard Auto Chess game in that respect.

Each match is designed to be over within 10 minutes, so dont worry about them lasting hours as is typical of the genre.

You can pre-register for Might & Magic: Chess Royale right now on Google Play, if you find the thought of it interesting. It launches January 30 on Android.

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Might & Magic: Chess Royale is a Mash-up of Auto Chess and Battle Royale, Launching January 30 on Android - DroidGamers

LUBBOCK, Texas (NEWS RELEASE) The following is a news release from Texas Tech University:

At the end of each of the six rounds of the 2019 Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Championship, the competitors facing the Texas Tech University A Team all heard the same thing: checkmate.

We won all six matches, saidTexas Tech Knight RaidersCoach Alex Onischuk.That is very unusualto achieve in this tournament I dont remember the last time when a team finished 6-0 in this competition.

But thats just what the team did, earning first place in the tournament, held Dec. 27-30 at the Charlotte Chess Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The win secured Texas Techs spot at the Presidents Cup, also known as the Final Four of College Chess, April 3-5 in New York City.

This is the ninth time in program history Texas Tech has qualified for the Final Four. Texas Tech won the Final Four in 2011 and 2012.

To earn the top spot at the 2019 Pan-American tournament, Texas Tech beat teams from Ohio State University, Harvard University, the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, Saint Louis University (SLU) and University of Texas at Dallas (UTD).

Starting from round three, we were playing very tough opponents and winning all our matches with the smallest margins, Onischuk said. The toughest was the final round against the University of Texas at Dallas. About two hours into the round, it lookedlike wewere going to lose, but our guys managed to turn the tables around. After almost five hours of play, we eventually won.

Im also happy for our womens team.They finished first among the womens teams and overall placed 34th.

Sixty-three teams competed at the Pan-American Championship this year, including three teams from Texas Tech. The A Team took first place with 6 points, the Womens Team earned first place among womens teams and 34th place overall with 3 points, and the B Team placed 26th, also with 3 points.

The Texas Techs A Team win broke a recent streak at the Pan-American Championship by Webster University, which has won the tournament every year since 2012, except for Texas Techs first-place win in 2015. Webster, which placed second (5 points), will join Texas Tech at the Final Four, along with third-place SLU (5 points) and fourth-place UTD (5 points).

We all feel very happy of course, Onischuk said. Before the tournament, we hoped we could get into the Final Four and, with very good play, maybe even win. But nobody expected us todominate this event. It was really a team effort. Everyone played well, and in every round, we had someone who would make a decisive victory.

Onischuk said he and the players are looking forward to competing in New York City this spring.

We will have a competitive team at the Final Four, Onischuk said. I feel that we are getting better with every tournament. Im optimistic. Our players got even more confident, and I know they will be ready.

The 12 students who competed at the tournament were:

For a full listing of the 2019 Pan-American final standings,visit the tournament website.

About the Texas Tech Chess ProgramTheTexas Tech Chess Programwas established within theDivision of Diversity, Equity & Inclusionin 2007. The Knight Raiders, the universitys chess team, has since earned more than 10 national titles and the program was named Chess College of the Year in 2014. Head coach and director Alex Onischuk was named Grandmaster of the Year in 2014 and has been ranked as one of the top 100 players in the world for the past 20 years. In 2018, Onischuk was inducted into the Chess Hall of Fame.

(News release from Texas Tech University)

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Check Em: Texas Tech Knight Raiders dominate at the Pan-Am Chess Championship - KLBK | KAMC | EverythingLubbock.com