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There's a famous story in basketball featuring Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird. Before the first-ever Three-Point Shootout in 1986, he went into the locker room, asked who was finishing in second place and walked out. He won the contest.

There's nothing quite like trash-talk paying off if you're the one dishing it out. Of course, if you're the one hearing the trash-talk, there's nothing like seeing it backfire on your opponent. Throughout chess history, that latter possibility tends to play out more often.

While games like basketball or cricket have more scope for trash-talking than chess, that doesn't mean it can't happen in the royal game. It's especially common at clubs, parks, or coffeehouses. In my early years of chess life, I used to go to a club in my town and I can still recall being told during some games to "run, run, run with your king now."

On the professional or competitive level, players used to occasionally undercut other players in a tournament bulletin or newspaper column. These days, Twitter is the preferred medium for pre-match and post-match trash-talking.

Here are five times that trash-talking backfired in chess:

We begin with a more classic example of trash-talking in chess. In the video below, we see GM Maurice Ashley both receiving and dishing out some good old fashioned trash-talk:

Ashley met not just a trash-talker on this day but a hustler who tried to take both of Ashley's knights on the same move (slow motion replay at 2:30). Throughout the game, Maurice gave as well as he took on the talk. The chess hustler's trash-talk definitely backfired, as the game was no contestAshley won easily.

The famous Carlsbad tournament in 1929 featured some very strong players of the period, and it also included Vera Menchik. Prior to the event, Albert Becker, a Viennese master, made fun of the fact that she was invited and proposed the following:

Gentlemen, I have a great idea. I suggest forming a club named after Vera Menchik. Those who will manage to lose a game to her will become full members of the club. Those who draw will only be considered as candidates for membership.

Menchik won the game, making Becker the first member of the "Vera Menchik Club." Not only did she beat him, but she did so handsomely by dominating the game both positionally and tactically. If you have ever been a victim of trash-talking in chess, I am sure you know how satisfying it is to punish it over the board. I can only imagine what it feels like to punish a trash-talking misogynist by running over him.

On the other hand, if you do decide to go the trash-talking route to try to gain a psychological edge, make sure you are prepared enough for it not to backfireand never belittle another person because of their gender.

What if you had to win a chess game to save your life? Well, that was exactly what Russian-French player Ossip Bernstein had to do. He was on the verge of being executed by a firing squad. On the day of his execution, one of the officials recognized his name as he was a chess lover himself. The verbal confirmation wasn't enough, and the official asked Bernstein to prove it by beating him in a game of chess.

Bernstein won the game and was released. He eventually moved to France and continued his work as a finance lawyer and also kept in touch with chess.

At the age of 72, he was playing in a round-robin tournament. His opponent in the 16th round, GM Miguel Najdorf was leading by half a point. He underestimated Bernstein and believed that he could easily beat him and win the event. He went on to convince the organizer to double the prize money as he was very confident of his victory.

What followed next was an extraordinary display of great chess skills by Bernstein as he won the game. It is considered as one of his best chess achievements, and you can enjoy his impressive victory over his loudmouth opponent in the video below:

I'm sure that Bernstein's victory was that much sweeter after Najdorf had thrown shade (to put it mildly) at him. I also wonder how he spent the extra money he made thanks to his no-doubt embarrassed opponent.

GM Efim Bogoljubov made some nasty remarks about Jose Capablanca's play in the bulletin of the Moscow 1925 event. Apparently, what many people admire about Capablanca's playing style, making chess seem simple, was not to Bogoljubov's taste.

Capablanca defeated Bogoljubov in their game, but Bogoljubov went on to win the tournament. Their game in particular was discussed heavily, and there were some strong disagreements about the evaluations among the annotators. Edward Winter compiled them all in a wonderful article titled "Analytical Disaccord."

Since Bogoljubov won the tournament, one could say the Cuban master won the battle but lost the war. That would have been the case if the story ended there. However, we would not be talking about it unless the trash-talker ultimately ended up losing the war, too.

A few years later, Capablanca defeated Bogoljubov in an instructive endgame and proved his strength once again. Defeating someone who has talked trash to or about you publicly can be a satisfying experience indeed.

Trash-talking now often begins on social media, and is even fueled by fans and the press. One episode that deserves an article in itself is the funny tweet exchanges between World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen and GM Anish Giri.

The story of Carlsen and Giri's constant exchange of "compliments" is perhaps one of the best-known and most well-documented in chess, thanks to their inclination to take matters to their social media channels.

It all started back in 2018 when Giri joined GM Vladimir Kramnik's team to help him prepare for the Candidates tournament that year. Carlsen took this opportunity to take the first public jab in the Dutch grandmaster's direction.

Some players would let this sort of remark coming from the world champion go, but we all know Giri's witty sense of humor. After a few tweet exchanges between the two players, things escalated when Carlsen posted the following message:

The social media war of words between Carlsen and Giri reached its pinnacle prior to the Chessable Masters event online. Giri defeated Carlsen in berserk mode, tweeted about it, and even made a video trolling the world champion.

He also won with the black pieces on demand in the event, and that created a lot of buzz on social media. Ultimately, Carlsen clinched the online event. Giri came incredibly close to winning the game, but he missed Carlsen's resource on the 35th move:

As the tweet flattery between the two has not come to an end, it is impossible to say who will have the last laugh. Regardless, it is fair to say that their Twitter interactions, which have since become more light-hearted, do make us giggle.

The next time you think about trash-talking your opponent in any setting, remember what you read in this article. It could backfire.

Have you ever played a game where trash-talking occurred? Does the trash-talking give the player an extra boost to do their best? Are you aware of other famous instances where trash-talking backfired? Let us know in the comments below!

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5 Times That Trash-Talking Backfired In Chess - Chess.com

GM Parham Maghsoodloo won Titled Tuesday this week with a 9.5/11 score, beating out second-place IM Minh Le and third-place GM Rustam Khusnutdinov on tiebreakers. GM Dmitry Andreikin finished fourth on 9/11. Maghsoodloo previously won Titled Tuesday on October 13, 2020.

After last week's 11/11, GM Hikaru Nakamura won his first six games this week, for an 18-game Titled Tuesday winning streak including the last round on August 10.

530 titled players participated this week. The tournament was the usual 11-round Swiss format under a 3+1 time control.

Live broadcast of this week's tournament, hosted by NM James Canty III.

In round seven, Nakamura met Maghsoodloo. Up a piece for three pawns and low on time in the ending, Maghsoodloo converted. The win gave him the last perfect score of the tournament, although Maghsoodloo fell to GM Vladimir Fedoseev the next round, ending the chance of Titled Tuesday seeing a second straight perfect score.

By the final round, Maghsoodloo was a half-point ahead of the field and took a draw with Andreikin. After tiebreakers, Maghsoodloo's 9.5 was enough for first and Andreikin had the best performance among those with 9/11.

The tournament victor's last win, in round 10, came against GM Raunak Sadhwani in a theoretically drawn ending but one that is always difficult for the player without the extra piece to hold.

On his way to second place, Minh Le also had to get through Nakamura. Without a chance at winning the tournament, Nakamura went with the fan-pleasing 2.Ke2 for the final round game.

But the wildest game of the week, and in Titled Tuesday overall for some time, was played between FM Pedro Martinez and IM Greg Shahade in round eight.

August 24 Titled Tuesday | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings here.)

Maghsoodloo won $750 for his victory. Minh Le took home $400 for second place. The $150 for third went to Khusnutdinov and Andreikin won $100 for fourth place. The $100 prize to the highest-scoring woman went to WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya, who went 8/11 to tie for 24th.

Titled Tuesday is a Swiss tournament for titled players that runs weekly on Chess.com. It starts at 10 a.m. Pacific time/19:00 Central European every Tuesday.

Link:
Maghsoodloo Wins August 24 Titled Tuesday - Chess.com

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Late summer is the traditional time for a new chess season, but thisyear clubs are reopening and weekend congresses resuming amid a basic uncertainty.On the one hand, Covid-19 wiped out almost all over-the-boardchess activity in 2020; on the other, there has been a massive boom in the game online, sparked by Netflixs The Queens Gambit and by world champion Magnus Carlsen.

So far, results are mixed. Some English clubs such as Liverpool, Harrogate and Camberley are already in full swing, with an influx of new members, while others have yet to reopen. Congresses such as this weekends Northumberland event in Gateshead are oversubscribed, but popular events in Guernsey and Torbay have been cancelled.

The most striking positive has been with small tournaments giving opportunities for international titles and norms. Muswell Hill produced two master results, while the Wood Green Invitational, which finished on Monday, provided a second (of three needed) grandmaster norm for 22-year-old Ravi Haria and an IM title for Marcus Harvey. The tournament was played at Stafford, but got its name because most competitors represent Wood Green in Englands national league.

Haria made his mark earlier this year when he defeated strong GMs from France, Germany and Russia in the knockout World Cup. He won with 7.5/9 at Stafford, and now needs another 36 rating points and one more norm for the GM title. It should not be long delayed.

Harias best win, against the Hungarian top seed,showed the power of two rooks on the seventh, also known as raging rooks, as they caught the white king in a mating net.

Next month the England team of six, including three women or girls, competes in the Fide online Olympiad, for which 150 countries entered. If international chess sounds too distant for FT readers, it is not if you are among the millions who play online.

Membership of the English Chess Federation opens the door for internet players of all standards from strong to weak to take part in individual and team national, and even international, contests.

Puzzle 2433

Yuri Averbakh vs Peter Dubinin, Moscow 1951. White to play. What was his winning move? Averbakh, at 99 the worlds grandmaster, was in intensive care with Covid-19 a few weeks ago, but has since been released from hospital.

For solution, click here

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International honours for English talents as over-the-board chess returns - Financial Times

Sixteen popular online celebrities will take to the 64 squares beginning on Sunday as they battle for $100,000 in prize money in PogChamps 4, the latest edition of the popular Twitch streaming chess tournament.

Several returning players are joined by new streamers for the latest edition of PogChamps.

Those who have watched previous editions of PogChamps will recognize players like MrBeast, Rubius, Ludwig, Boxbox, QTCinderella, and ConnorEatsPants. Boxbox and Ludwig both reached the semifinals of PogChamps in earlier efforts.

A slew of PogChamps first-timers will join the veterans for the upcoming tournament. Some of the biggest names include Spanish streamer IamCristinini, Magic: The Gathering streamer Crokeyz, and freestyle rapper Harry Mack.

PogChamps 4 begins with a group stage round, in which players will compete in pools of four. Each match consists of two games. If a player wins the match outright, they earn three points, while the loser earns zero. If a match ends in a 1-1 tie, the players compete in a sudden death tiebreaker, with the winner taking two points and the loser settling for one.

After round-robin play concludes, the top two players in each pool will advance to the Championship bracket, while the other two players move to the Consolation bracket. From that point on, players compete in knockout matches in the hopes of winning a PogChamps title.

The overall champion will win $20,000, while the Consolation champion earns $7,000. While players will be competing for prize money, the tournament will also raise funds for Rise Above the Disorder, an organization dedicated to affordable and accessible mental health care.

If youve never watched PogChamps before, dont go in expecting chess like youve seen on the Champions Chess Tour or at other professional events. Many players are brand new to chess, while others have only limited backgrounds in the game, making this a low-level amateur event.

But one of the joys of PogChamps is watching players improve over the course of the two-week event. Grandmasters and other strong players will coach many of the participants, and every tournament produces at least one or two players who quickly become formidable by spending hours working on their games each day.

PogChamps 4 begins on Aug. 29 and will wrap up with both finals on Sept. 12.

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PogChamps 4: The Twitch Celebrity Streaming Chess Tournament... - OnlineGambling.com

PROVIDENCE Over the last decade, Indias political and economic progress has faltered. Its once-plausible aspirations of becoming a global power on par with China now seem fanciful. The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a devastating human and economic toll. In such circumstances, sports can be a national balm.

This years Tokyo Olympic Games brought a slight reprieve. India took home its first gold medal in track and field, achieved a partial return to past glory in mens field hockey, and saw its womens field hockey team display heart-wrenching grit and determination, even as it fell short of winning a medal. Ultimately, though, a ranking of 48th in overall medals, for a country with 1.4 billion people, only reinforced the sense of underperformance.

Against this backdrop, a game of the mind may be one of the brighter spots. India is quickly becoming a legitimate global chess superpower, leading the United States and China on key metrics, and running neck and neck with Russia, the historically dominant chess power. Since 2012, 44 Indians have been anointed as grandmasters (GMs), the highest achievement in chess, compared to 18 for China and 22 for the US. Even Russia added just one more than India.

This is no small achievement, considering that an Indian first attained GM status only in 1988, a full 41 years after independence. Reflecting this ascendancy, the Indian team of men and women tied for first place with Russia in the 2020 FIDE Online Chess Olympiad.

Just as heartening as the overall tally of GMs is the age profile and regional distribution of Indias chess talent. Nearly half of the last 20 GMs, and some of the most promising of them, are in their teens, and several players come from outside that usually account for chess champions. Just as Indias proficiency in cricket improved as opportunities broadened beyond the English-speaking elite, chess has flourished by drawing in talent from smaller cities and towns.

Why is this explosion of talent happening now? National sporting success is not easily explained; but, in Indias case, a superstar effect cannot be ruled out. We can never know why 1970s Sweden produced tennis great Bjrn Borg, the winner of 11 Grand Slam titles. But we do know that there was an explosion of Swedish talent in subsequent decades as Borg became a role model that young Swedes wanted to emulate.

Similarly, Indias excellence in chess today is almost certainly tied especially to its first GM, Viswanathan Anand, and also to female players like Koneru Humpy. Anand came out of the blue in the late 1980s to become the worlds leading player, winning five world championships and remaining at the top, in both the traditional and more rapid versions of chess, for nearly 25 years. Humpy is the reigning womens world rapid chess champion and was the youngest woman ever to become a GM when she attained the rank in 2002. With a lag of a decade or two, the current crop of GMs appears to have burst onto the scene as a result of the Anand and Humpy effects.

But other factors are also at play. In the pre-digital world, learning, playing, and competing at the top levels of chess often required an organisational infrastructure, not always Indias strong suit. But now, every player is connected to the Internet, and chess students can avail themselves of chess engines and databases as well as virtual access to experts. Online tournaments allow players to compete from the remotest places. As the digital revolution has unfolded, Indias hundreds of millions of young people have become a deep pool for chess talent. At this scale, the probability of producing excellent players has risen exponentially.

Another hypothesis is that the advent of sophisticated chess machines has tilted the skill set in favour of memory relative to brute calculation over the board. These machines establish winning and losing patterns of play that a player can memorise and then recall during a match. In this new era of chess, the Indian education systems over-emphasis on rote learning may offer a distinct advantage, as it does in spelling bee contests, where Indian-Americans also tend to dominate.

But Indias chess revolution is not complete. For all of its GMs, none are in the worlds top ten, and none pose a serious threat toMagnus Carlsen, the Norwegian reigning world champion who took the title from Anand in 2013.

Moreover, there is a harsher side to the digital eras democratisation of opportunities in chess. Indian parents have gambled their life savings to send their sons to international tournaments; girls have put aside their own dreams so that their male siblings can access limited resources; and players themselves must make hard choices between career preparation and the pursuit of the game. Even with the new digital tools, success at the highest levels requires resources and a team of other players, psychologists, managers and fitness coaches.

Most critically, while chess opportunities are expanding, there are still hard limits in place. Sadly, all of the major axes of exclusion in Indian society, group identity, geography and gender, seem to carry over into the game. Disadvantaged minorities such as the Dalits (formerly known as untouchables) and Muslims are thinly represented, if at all, among the top players, as are players from the poorer regions of the Hindi-speaking heartland. Among Indias expanding roster of GMs, there are only two women (whereas China has nine).

Still, India is churning out GM-level chess talent at a ferocious pace. If its problems of still-limited resources and exclusion can be addressed, its future as a chess superpower will become only brighter.

This would make for a fitting historical irony. In the twentieth-century filmmaker Satyajit Rays The Chess Players, two self-centred noblemen, neglecting their spouses and official responsibilities, obsessively play chess even as their kingdom is being annexed by the British. Successful colonisation is portrayed as Britains superior ability at the metaphorical chess game of imperial strategy. Today, in the more literal version of the game (reputedly invented centuries ago), that history is being reversed: Indians are gradually becoming the grandmasters of the world.

Arvind Subramanian, a former chief economic adviser to the government of India, is the author of Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of Chinas Economic Dominance.

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India's kings and queens of chess - Jordan Times