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A board theme says a lot about a person... like, it says which color board you like. But more than that, it gives important insight into your personality and play style. We looked at some of the most popular and some of the most divisive board themes on Chess.com. Prepare to feel seen.

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You totally knew you could change your board color (yup, you can, right here) but you kept it to the classic Chess.com green anyway. "If it's not broken, don't fix it" right? I bet you haven't changed your coffee order, haircut, or favorite pair of shoes for a while either. No. Your green board says you don't like to rock the boat.

Chess.com really said "what if we yassified Walnut or Dark Wood?" when they created the Brown board. Honestly, it's kind of an offbeat choice; the feeling of playing on a real board, but without the pesky wood grain that reminds you the offline world exists. It's the neo-classical choiceno really, please tell me about the new line you're learning in the Grunfeld.

As a true admirer of the classics, you probably prefer playing over-the-board chess, but acknowledge that this is as close as it gets. You think it's impolite to decline a rematch, and you prefer replaying through annotated games books to doing online puzzles. I won't tell anyone you sleep with Capablanca's My Chess Career on your bedside table.

Icy Sea has all the class of one of those frosted glass chess sets that people display in their homes, but without the constant worry that you'll drop a rook mid-blitz game and shatter it into a thousand pieces. Yet another case where online is just better... but you use the Icy Sea set, so you've known that for a while. Fancying yourself as someone who can play any opening, you're pretty cold-blooded in blitz, and you've banked way too many games of 3+0.

The dark green of the Tournament board gives the feeling of playing a weekend congress without having to be sat across from someone who kicks you under the table every time you make a good move. This is a nostalgic board theme, not used by anyone who learned to play the game post-Pogchamps. Reminiscent of the plastic roll-up sets at your local chess club, it's trying to be a serious board, just like you're trying to be a serious player.

Sitting somewhere between Green and Icy Sea, the Blue board is refined but plain. You didn't want the default, but weren't ready to stray too far from it. It's like ordering the same latte as always, but with an extra shot of vanilla. No one's judging you for it, don't worry.

Using the Bubblegum chessboard makes you the Elle Woods of your Chess.com league division. You know what they say, underrated board color... underrated player? Yeah, people definitely say that. You show up, blitz out 15 moves of theory (or at least, 15 moves of... something), and win on the board in style. What, like it's hard?

You picked one of the most dignified board styles on Chess.com. This design was practically made for longer games of 15+10 in classical mainlines. Every move played on this board theme feels kind of weighty, and even the Botez gambit comes with some heft and grandeur here. You definitely have a full bookcase of chess books at home, and you wouldn't be caught dead playing 1.b3.

The Glass board may be niche, but it's pretty sophisticated. You drink your coffee black and all of your phone apps are on dark mode. You're a 1.e4 player because you think it's "best by test," and I'll bet 10+0 is your favorite time control.

Players with the Lolz board should truly be feared. Anyone who thrives on this amount of glitter is a force to be reckoned with. Lolz board users have no regard for pawns or material in general, favoring activity and chaos. In this way, they are the opposite of Bubblegum board users. The silver sparkles of the Lolz board serve a Y2K aesthetic that reminds you chess is actually supposed to be fun, with a clear message that "I'd rather play 1.g4 every game than ever face a Berlin."

3D board users grew up playing Battle Chess on CD-Rom, and probably have Arcade Animations enabled for their pieces. The top-down view gives the full board game experience, while the board color is left up to the player (and although I'm personally biased towards Bubblegum, all the best board colors also look great in 3D). Plus, the knight pieces that come with this board style have no eyes, so at the very least they can't see when you blunder.

While the 3D look may not be the most popular choice, you can finally say you've found a way to play bullet chess "over the board" without knocking the pieces off the table.

Check out Lularobs on Twitch for more fun content! Be sure to comment below and tell us how you customized your board theme. Which one did you choose, and why?

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What Your Board Theme Says About You - Chess.com

Vaishali Rameshbabu hasn't turned 21 yet, and come July she will wear the Indian colours at the Chess Olympiad 2022. In the same team as her, seasoned veteran, Koneru Humpy is also raring to go. In fact, both women feature as part of an all-women team that India is fielding at the Olympiad. Yet, their approach to the game couldnt be more contrasting.

"Im more excited than nervous the Olympiad is going to be great and Im looking forward to it," says the soft-spoken Vaishali, as she and Humpy sit down for a chat with CNBC-TV18.com, to discuss their teams preparations in the run-up to the Olympiad, to be held in Chennai next month.

"I dont have a fixed schedule or a routine, she adds while throwing light on her training, "My sleep cycle changes a lot too I play a bunch of online chess games at night so I end up having a checklist but never follow it."

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Seated at the same table, Humpy smiles. "I have a proper routine and schedule," she says, "My daughter is only four and I cant help but ensure that everything is down a routine for me, even back at home. I keep telling myself today to play more training games so that I can stay focused."

Focus, among other skills, was pretty much the order of the day when 15 of India's finest chess players sat down with the newly appointed mentor and champion, Viswanathan Anand, and coach Boris Gelfand, to train for a tournament that India will host only for the first time.

India is fielding three teams comprising 15 players in all. Key Indian chess prodigies and young champions, including the likes of R Praggnanandhaa and Tania Sachdev among others will turn up for the country at the Olympiad.

Many would agree that with the support for chess stronger now than before, this is probably the countrys best chance to go for gold. Having a name like Viswanathan Anand around is an added advantage.

"When he (Anand) shares instances from his own experience, you tend to get some insight into his thought process, which ends up being more valuable to us than him saying 'do this' or 'do that'," says Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi, who joins us in conversation and throws some light on Anands mentorship. "What was he thinking about while playing a tournament? How was he preparing? The answers to those questions give us more insight than specific advice ever would."

As simple as that might sound, the fact remains that training the mind comes with layers of process. This trio knows that all too well. Ive been analyzing positions and looking at end-games from a psychological perspective, says Vaishali, Ive also been preparing some new openings."

For Humpy, preparation involves brushing up on on-board, in-person experience. "I'm lacking a bit of on-board practice experience since I havent played in too many tournaments barring one in December," she adds, "So, I'm focusing on playing a bunch of training games as I acclimatize to the psychological side of on-board chess when compared to virtual chess."

The last two Olympiads were virtual affairs on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a relative return to normalcy in India has permitted teams from around the world to gather in Chennai to play the Olympiad in person, for the first time in two years. Players have had to adjust, accordingly, even equipping themselves with skills that on-board chess games demand. The pressure of representing the country in a big-ticket tournament, however, is ever-present.

"It (pressure) is more in the last couple of years because more newcomers have come into the world of chess," says Vidit, "When you root for someone, you want them to do well. There are people from all places who will travel to watch us perform LIVE. So, that means they come with expectations, and that is something that will weigh on our minds."

Humpy agrees: "Being hosts, everybody is expecting us to win a medal, but I believe we shouldnt think only about results. Its important to enjoy the game, and we should take risks only when the situation presents itself."

Vidit is currently in the process of working on his conversion rate, which he concedes fell upon hard times when it came to finishing games in the last couple of tournaments. "Outside of the preparation, Ive begun telling myself to say no a lot more these days," he adds, "Whenever Im to take an important decision, I ask myself whether the decision I make will help me with the Olympiad. As it turns out, you need to say 'no' to 99 percent of the things so that you can focus on the 1 percent that helps actually you."

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Meet the champions playing for India at the Chess Olympiad this year - CNBCTV18

After postponements due to COVID, the 44th FIDE Olympiad takes place in Chennai, India from July 28 August 10, 2022. The event, originally scheduled to take place in Russia, was relocated by FIDE following Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Having earned the silver medal in 2018 after going gold in the Olympiad prior, the United States has assembled two teams of top talent, eager to leverage their massive skill to regain the top prize against more than 100 teams from around the world.

For the Open section team, IM John Donaldson reprises his role as captain with five of the strongest U.S. players:

GM Fabiano Caruana 2783 (FIDE)

1st in the U.S. / 4th in the world

GM Levon Aronian 2775

3rd in the U.S. / 5th in the world

GM Wesley So 2775

2nd in the U.S. / 6th in the world

GM Leinier Dominguez 2754

5th in the U.S. / 12th in the world

GM Sam Shankland 2718

6th in the U.S. / 25th in the world

Image Caption

IM John Donaldson, Captain of the 2022 Olympiad Open Team. Photo: STLCC/Ootes

For the Womens team, Armenian-American GM Melikset Khachiyan returns as captain, with GM Alejandro Ramirez serving as coach, to lead a roster of outstanding female competitors:

GM Irina Krush 2430 (FIDE)

1st in the U.S. / 33rd in the world

IM Carissa Yip 2418

2nd in the U.S. / 39th in the world

IM Anna Zatonskih 2387

3rd in the U.S. / 61st in the world

WGM Tatev Abrahamyan 2297

9th in the U.S.

WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova 2332

6th in the U.S.

With an average FIDE rating of 2763, the Open team will be one of the favorites, with only host India and China able to approach such team strength. (The Russian team would be a serious competitor, but they have been suspended from international play by FIDE along with Belarus.)

The American women clock in at an average FIDE rating of 2373, which, if historical precedent holds, would put them within the top dozen teams in Chennai.

Opening ceremonies begin Thursday, July 28, with first moves being played on July 29 at 3 p.m. local time (5:30 a.m. Eastern).

US Chess gratefully acknowledges to the Saint Louis Chess Club and the Kasparov Chess Foundation for their generous, continued support of the United States Olympiad teams and their efforts.

Those wishing to contribute to the U.S. Olympiad teams may do so through our secure online donation form, and enter the amount in the box for Olympiad Teams.

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2022 US Olympiad Teams Revealed | US Chess.org - uschess.org

Indias 16-year-old Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa jumped into the world elite this week when the Tamil Nadu teenager reached the final of the online $150,000 Chessable Masters by bold attacking play. It was the latest and most significant success yet for the former prodigy, who became the youngest ever international master at 11 and narrowly missed the youngest grandmaster title at 12.

The epic quality of the schoolboys feat was underlined in his post-match interview after defeating the Netherlands world No 9, Anish Giri, in Tuesdays semi-final. He calmly stated that it was now 2am on Wednesday in Chennai and that he had to be at school at 8.45am to take his 11th-year board exam in commerce before playing Chinas world No 2, Ding Liren, that same evening in the two-day final. Winning the match would be much nicer than passing the exam, he said.

Later in the day he said: It went decently, I guess I will pass. But the final against Ding proved much harder. Their rapid match ended level at 4-4 before Ding won the blitz tie-break 1.5-0.5.

Ding, whose chess activity since 2020 has been much reduced by the pandemic, achieved his own milestone in the semi-final when he defeated Magnus Carlsen 2.5-1.5, winning their fourth game after three draws. Previously Ding had lost four online Tour semi-finals and a third place playoff to the world No 1.

Tuesdays game four was decided late on when Carlsen missed the chance for an unusual fortress draw by 39g3! blocking the position instead of 39Kg7? 40 Bh4! followed by Bg5 when Dings attack broke through.

Dings approach to the final against Praggnanandhaa was to defuse his young opponents attacking ambitions. My strategy was to avoid complications and go for simple positions, he said. The reality had difficulties, both on and off the board. Ding played from his home in Wenzhou in the small hours, finishing at 5am in Chinese time, and the 29-year-old was bothered by mosquitoes and flies throughout the match.

His best game was the first, where he unleashed a move 14 Queens Gambit Declined novelty then rolled his queens side pawn majority down the board for a winning position. Praggnanandhaa fought back strongly on the second day, and missed a winning chance which could have swung the match in the first five-minute blitz tie-break game.

The teenager from Chennai is the leader of an gifted Indian generation, which also includes Arjun Erigaisi, 18, who outclassed the 2022 Wijk Masters, and Dommaraju Gukesh, who was the second youngest grandmaster ever at 12 and who at 15 this spring has won three strong international tournaments in a row.

The Chessable Masters is the fourth of nine events in the $1.6m Meltwater Champions Tour. Carlsen won the first two tournaments, and Polands Jan-Krzysztof Duda the third.

Carlsens loss to Ding was a rare setback for the champion, who this summer will renew his attempt to reach an all-time record 2900 rating points in over-the-board play, starting with the Stavanger elite tournament which begins on Tuesday 31 May. The 31-year-old will then lead Norways team at the 150-nation Olympiad at Chennai in July-August, followed by the traditional Sinquefield Cup at St Louis in September.

Carlsen has also established a niche for himself in offbeat first moves, a genre in which the world champion has previous form. In October 2020 he shocked Wesley So in an online blitz final by choosing 1 f3 and Kf2, a sequence made famous 20 years earlier when an unidentified computer user tricked Nigel Short into believing that he was playing Bobby Fischer.

Then, in last months Oslo Esports final, Carlsen repeated 1 f3 against Duda, this time with the sequence 1e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 e4 Bc5 4 Na4 Be7 5 d4 when the game was eventually drawn. Commentators were aghast, and one suggested that the No 1 deserved to lose for such a choice. Novices are warned against 1 f3 because it weakens Whites king on two diagonals and deprives the g1 knight of its normal development square.

Carlsen said: Ive been trying to experiment to see what first moves you can make playable. Ive been trying to play creatively in online events and I intend to continue that once in a while. I think its been working pretty well in getting my opponents out of the book.

This week, in the preliminary rounds and quarter-finals of the Chessable Masters, Carlsen drastically broadened his first move repertoire, winning with the Saragossa 1 c3, the Mieses 1 d3, and the Bird 1 f4, but his most controversial moment came with 1 h4 against Chinas No 2, Wei Yi.

The move 1 h4 is so offbeat that it does not have a single recognised name, However, advancing your h2 pawn in the opening or middle game to attack your opponents castled black king, whether or not your own king is castled, has become such a routine weapon due to the influence of computer programs that 1 h4 could reasonably be called Harry the h pawn Accelerated.

The opening went 1 h4 d5 2 d4 c5 3 e3 Nc6 4 c4 e6. Queens were exchanged on move 10, and Carlsen should have scored in that game, too, but he mishandled a rook ending and Wei escaped with half a point.

Could we now see the world champion trying 1 g4?!, the move championed for decades by the English IM Michael Basman and his book The Killer Grob? Unlikely. After his draw with Wei, Carlsen dampened expectations: 1 g4 is a lot worse than 1 h4.

3817: 1...Ne5+! 2 Nxe5 Bf5+ 3 Kh5 Kg7+ 4 Bh6 Rxh6 mate. If 2 Kh4 Kg8+! 3 Nxh8 Bxg5 mate.

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Chess: Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa reaches final at 2am on day of his exams - The Guardian

Express News Service

NEW DELHI/CHENNAI: With less than two months left for the Chess Olympiad, the Delhi High court has come down heavily on the All India Chess Federation (AICF) and its secretary, Bharat Singh Chauhan, and stayed his election until the next hearing for violating the sports code. According to the HC, Chauhan did not get a 2/3rd majority during last year's elections as mandated by the National Sports Development Code of India (NSDCI). Chauhan is also the tournament director of the Chess Olympiad but it should not have a bearing on his position as the director.

Surprisingly, the sports ministry, during its hearing on Thursday, differed. There was high drama during the hearing over the Union governments affidavit in the case. Additional solicitor general, Chetan Sharma, who appeared for the sports ministry (it grants recognition to AICF), filed an affidavit on behalf of the ministry.

This affidavit said, among other things, that two-thirds majority was not required by Chauhan to get elected as AICF secretary. The bench asked the counsel if he was sure of this and told him to reconsider the affidavit as it amounted to misrepresentation of criteria.

Interestingly, the bench of Najmi Waziri and Vikas Mahajan, a few days ago, delivered an order pertaining to the sports code violation by Hockey India.

Senior advocate Rahul Mehra, who was present in the courtroom for another matter, stood up and informed the court that in one of his matters concerning another sports federation, the ministry of sports had taken a stand that 2/3rd votes were mandatory.

At this point, the government counsel sought time to consult the ministry and returned to seek permission to withdraw the affidavit. The government, through its affidavit, tried to defend the AICF secretary but its argument was not accepted by the judges.

Mehra, who was present during the hearing, explained the piquant position of the ministry. "The ministry had made a submission in the court about the 2/3rd majority and said it is part of the sports code and is mandatory for all NSFs to follow during one of my hearings related to NSFs violating sports code," he said. "They pick and chose NSFs who they want to recognise and I have been highlighting this. I told the honourable court they were taking a divergent view."

The court has said Chauhan did not get the 2/3rd majority. According to an order dated 31/05/2022: "Election for the office bearers for the period 2020-23 were held in 2021, in which R-3 (AICF secretary) has secured merely 35 votes, this is not 2/3rd majority, it should have been 44 votes out of the total number of 64 votes polled, even if the majority is considered of only the members present and voting. Ex-facie he does not qualify to be elected as the secretary for the second consecutive term." The order cited Hockey India's verdict as well, delivered by the same court (Waziri and Swarana Kanta Sharma) that ruled on, besides other violations, 2/3rd majority issue.

The court has left it to the AICF to deal with it. Chauhan said he would like to speak after he sees the order.

In fact, the ministry, in its affidavit, pointed out that the successful hosting of the Chess Olympiad should not be affected because of the case.

Atanu Lahiri, the joint secretary of AICF who was suspended by Chauhan last year and is in the rival camp, said they would not have any problem if he continued as Chess Olympiad tournament director. " We are in favour of successful conduct of the Chess Olympiad even if it means Chauhan continuing as tournament director," he said.

After this, there are some other federations who would be in trouble because of violating the 2/3rd majority code.

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All India Chess Federation secretary in the dock over sports code issue - The New Indian Express