The letter W starts with a D.

~ Unknown Malcontent.

Welcome, everyone to another exhilarating edition of Blitz and Memes.If you're a fan of puzzles taken from amateur online blitz tournaments, then you have come to the right place, because that is what I do.

As always, the tactics have been selected from the Japan Chess Federation's monthly blitz tournament: TGIF Blitz. The tourney takes place on the 3rd Friday of every month, 21:00 JST, right here on chess.com. It consists of seven rounds of blitz, with a time control of 3+2; and is open to all JCF club members.

The memes on the other hand, have been divined from the infinite corners of the InterWebs...

This month's edition is coming to you a little late, as we had an issue with the tournament notification, meaning that some regular players were unaware of the start of the tournament. Nonetheless, we have five tactics which might prove a little easier to solve than our usual offerings. Good luck trying to solve all of them on the first try.

So, without further ado, let's get to the Blitz and Memes.

A Free Meal

Our first tactic is taken from the fourt-round encounter between Canping and packurkings. Canping, playing White, sees and opportunity that looks too good to be passed up, but perhaps the piece is poisoned?

You be the judge.

Get While the Getting is Good

This next tactic is a great example of taking what is offered, until something better is offered. In the third round mutaito-st, playing Black, captures free material until a shot at the killer blow appears.

Hint: If it's free to be taken, take it.

Using the F-word

Another tactic from mutaito-st, this time in the sixth round, here, playing White, he can take advantage of Black's last move to win material.

Do you understand how to properly use the F-word?

The Man in the Middle

In the sixth round IM rnanjo, playing Black, was able to take advantage of the poorly positioned White king.

Can you put an end to the man in the middle?

At the End of the Night

And at last, we come to the end of the night. Canping, playing White, is able to pull off something brilliant against none other than IM rnanjo.

Good luck with this one.

And that was it, that was June blitz and memes. Congratulations to IM rnanjo for winning with a 6/7 score despite not playing the first round.

Hopefully you found this edition a little easier and were able to get all five puzzles on the first attempt, congrats if you did, you are an excellent solver of puzzles taken from amateur blitz tournaments.

As always thanks for reading, and feel free to share these puzzles with your friends down at the bar or chess club.

Cheers, SheldonOfOsaka.

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June Blitz and Memes - Chess.com

The Entebbe 2024 FISU World University Championship Mind Sports has concluded in central Uganda. The event, which included competition in both chess and bridge, welcomed participants from 16 countries. This was Entebbes second time hosting a FISU event, having held the FISU Championship Cross Country in 2014.

In bridge competition, France, by way of their defeat of Chinese Taipei in the semi-final, took on Poland, which beat Germany in its semi-final. In the final, with a score of 15.30, Poland took the gold medal over France. This gave the country back-to-back gold medals, having prevailed in Antwerp in 2022, and its third in the last five FISU Championships as it won on home soil in 2016 in Lodz. The 3rd place playoff saw Germany take bronze with a score of 42.28.

Poland also had a strong chess tournament taking three out of four individual titles. In the womens blitz event it was a clean sweep for Poland. Julia Antolak took the gold medal with 7.5 points, and fellow countrywomen Liwia Jarocka and Anna Kubicka claimed silver and bronze respectively. For Kubicka, this bronze medal matches hers from the classic tournament two years ago in Antwerp, Belgium.

Aakanksha Hagawane of India won the womens classic gold medal in a very tight competition. A four-way tie materialized with Hagawane coming out on top due to tie breaks. Fellow Indian Saina Salonika finished in second place, while Polands Alicja Sliwicka won bronze. Sliwicka was the defending champion in blitz chess from the FISU Championship in 2022.

On the mens side, Milosz Szpar of Poland held off two Frenchmen to win the gold medal in the classic tournament. His score of 7.5 was enough to give him top spot, while Yovann Gatineau and Benjamin Defromont ended up second and third respectively.

Poland rounded out their stellar week in Entebbe with Igor Janiks win in the mens blitz chess event, with a score of 7.5. Hes a veteran in FISU podium finishes having taken silver in Antwerp in 2022 in both the classic and blitz events. Just behind Janik, tied at 7 points each, were Richard Mladek of Czechia and Richard Turcan of Slovakia, with Mladek claiming silver on the tie break.

More here:

Polish success in chess and bridge as Entebbe 2024 FISU Championship Mind Sports wraps up - FISU

GM Denis Lazavik sailed through day two of the 2024 Speed Chess Championship Play-in, winning all three of his matches to qualify for the main event. He played 14 games total on Fridayagainst GMs Yuriy Kuzubov, M Pranesh, and Dmitry Andreikinand didn't lose a single one.

Lazavik is the 16th and final player to qualify for the main event, which begins on July 25. Specific players and match times will be shared once confirmed.

(See full results here.)

Eight players advanced from the Swiss qualifier on the previous day to the double-elimination Knockout on Friday. The players would contest one-on-one matches, with players in the Winners Bracket having "two lives" and those in the Losers Bracket having one.

The tournament's top seed Lazavik won both of his matches comfortably to enter the Grand Final.

He won his first match, against Kuzubov, with a dominant 3.5-0.5 score. While better known to squeeze out small advantages like a python, in game two the teenage GM showed that he's no slouch with tactics either:

Lazavik's next victim was Pranesh, the Swiss winner of the previous day, whom he defeated 3.5-1.5. In game four, Pranesh must have missed the unusual but strong 19.f4!, after which Lazavik won a pawn and the game.

Andreikin, who finished sixth in the Swiss tournament on the previous day, was simply unstoppable in the Losers Bracket. He won nine consecutive games and scored 13 wins out of 16 games, on his way to the Grand Final.

Andreikin put up a 4-0 score against GM Andrew Hong in the first round. In game three, he found a nice tactic to win material. Can you find it?

He then beat GM Alexander Zubov with another 4-0 score. His very first win featured some nice calculations in the rook endgame, as Andreikin found the cruncher 55...Rf1! just in time.

GM Yuriy Kuzubov, after losing the first two games of their match, was the player to cut Andreikin's streak at nine straight wins. While they were evenly matched in the blitz portion, Andreikin's bullet skills prevailed in the last two games. In the first bullet game, White's timid opening play was severely punished, and his queen found itself offsides on a2, never to move again.

The Losers Final vs. Pranesh featured five decisive games, but a convincing score of 4-1 for Andreikin. The most shocking victory was the first one, where Andreikin managed to win a theoretically drawn rook endgame even with a two-minute time deficit.

With that, the stage was set for the Grand Final. Both Lazavik and Andreikin were clearly the best players in their respective brackets on Friday.

Coming from the Losers Bracket, Andreikin needed to defeat Lazavik twice in order to win the qualifier, but he wouldn't even win one game. Lazavik won the first three games before settling for a draw and match victory.

Andreikin could have won game one, but mutual blindness in the following position allowed Lazavik to survive and, later, win.

Lazavik then outplayed his opponent in a rook and bishop endgame, before going on to win game three with a nice tactic against a demoralized Andreikin.

Seventeen-year-old Lazavik will join the likes of GMs Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, World Champion Ding Liren, and many others of the world's best speed-chess players. Asked by the chat whom he looks forward to playing, Lazavik gave a humble and honest reply: "For sure, it's not Hikaru, Magnus, and Alireza!"

With a FIDE blitz rating of 2553, he will be the second-to-last seedjust higher than GM Tuan Minh Le, who has a FIDE blitz rating of 2494. Every other participant boasts at least a FIDE blitz rating of 2600, and most are over 2700. But if there's one thing we know about speed chess, it's that things never entirely go according to plan. Catch the action in about a month from now!

How to review?

You can review the broadcast on Twitch and YouTube. The games can also be checked out on our dedicated events page.

The live broadcast was hosted by GM Robert Hess.

The Speed Chess Championship is Chess.com's most important speed chess event. Some of the biggest names in chess compete to determine the best speed chess player in the world. The main event started with qualifiers on June 27 and 28 and concludes with the first-ever live Final on September 8 in Paris. The games are played with time controls of 5+1, 3+1, and 1+1. The prize fund is $173,000.

Previous coverage:

Read more:

Lazavik Qualifies For SCC Main Event, Goes Undefeated On Day 2 - Chess.com

GMs Awonder Liang and Denis Lazavik won Titled Tuesday on June 25, and several more players locked up a spot in the 2024 Speed Chess Championship after their highly successful Titled Tuesday performances this year to date: GMs Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Alexey Sarana,Tuan Minh Le, Jose Martinez, Alexander Grischuk, and Hans Niemann. They will join nine invited players, and one additional qualifier to be determined, for the SCC.

Liang won outright over second-place Grischuk, while Lazavik neededtiebreaks to outlast Niemann and GM Magnus Carlsen.

With 724 players in the early field, three jumped out to a 6/6 start, but Liang wasn't part of that group. Only one of them, GM Anton Korobov, won in the seventh round. Liang didn't join the lead until the next round, when he beat GM Mustafa Yilmaz while Korobov only made a draw.

They showed down in the ninth round, where Liang took control. In an opposite-sides castling affair, Liang's king appeared to be less safe, but Korobov never broke through and eventually the tide turned.

Liang's resulting sole lead didn't last after his draw in the 10th round with GM Arjun Erigaisi, allowing Le to join Liang atop the leaderboard.

The winner of Liang-Le in the final round would thus claim the whole tournament. After a tense early middlegame, Liang broke through tactically in the center and kingside, and afterward converted easily.

Five players entered the round on 8.5 points, giving them a chance to jump Le. Only one of them did, which was Grischuk after he checkmated Carlsen in rare fashion. Revenge for Carlsen's win in the fourth round of the 2013 Candidates Tournament? Okay, probably not. Just a good win to secure second place in a Titled Tuesday.

Meanwhile, eight players tied for third on nine points. Of the three with the best tiebreaksArjun, GM Fabiano Caruana, and Sarananone of them actually won in the final round, all making draws there instead.

June 25 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings here.)

Liang won $1,000 while Grischuk earned $750. Arjun took home $350, with $200 going to Caruana and $100 to Sarana. WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova won the $100 women's prize, scoring 7.5 points.

Unlike in the early tournament, the winner of the late tournament was also the last perfect player. After winning his first seven games, Lazavik coasted to victory with three draws in his last four contests, completing an undefeated performance to win the late tournament for a second straight week.

Lazavik's only win in his last four games came against GM Pranav Venkatesh in round 10...

The win didn't quite allow Lazavik to break free, as Niemann also won in the round. Niemann stormed back from a fourth-round loss against the great GM Alexei Shirov by winning his sixth straight game, this one against GM David Anton.

Lazavik and Niemann played the "Berlin Draw" in the 11th round, securing a share of first. One player joined them: Carlsen, who got a taste of his own medicine (in terms of silly openings) when FM Artin Ashraf began their game with the moves 1.a4 and 2.a5, but also got the last laugh with a victory.

While tiebreaks were setting the podium, they also helped Anton finish fourth as he recovered from his setback by winning in the final round, while GM Andrew Hong took fifth.

June 25 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings here.)

Lazavik earned $1,000 for first place while Niemann managed $750 and Carlsen $350. Anton won $200 and Hong $100 to round out the top five. IM Bibisara Assaubayeva scored eight points to win the $100 women's prize in the 21st overall place.

With the SCC qualification stage complete, attention now returns to the yearlong standings. The top women's scores are even closer now than last week, with a mere six points between first and fifth as IM Polina Shuvalova is now in fourth. Le took over fifth in the open standings from GM Dmitry Andreikin.

Juniors: GM Denis Lazavik (179.0 points)

Seniors: GM Gata Kamsky (167.0 points)

Girls: WCM Veronika Shubenkova (113.5 points)

The Titled Cup fantasy game Chess Prophet continues as well. Current standings can be found here. (Login required.)

Titled Tuesday is Chess.com's weekly tournament for titled players, with two tournaments held each Tuesday. The first tournament begins at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time/17:00 Central European/20:30 Indian Standard Time, and the second at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time/23:00 Central European/2:30 Indian Standard Time (next day).

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Titled Tuesday June 25, 2024 - Chess.com

The game of chess just keeps getting younger and younger! Grandmaster titles are now being achieved at twelve, thirteen, and fourteen years of age. Young talents are able to take advantage of the wealth of information, consistent and regular tournaments, and government supports on a global level. The one thing that remains from the dawn of chess is that to reach the top hard-work is still king.

Top Youngest Grandmasters | Top Women's Youngest Grandmasters

Top 12:

This list showcases the top 44 youngest grandmasters as of April 1, 2024. After barely holding onto the record with GM Gukesh Dommaraju missing him by just 17 days, GM Sergey Karjakin's record was broken by IM Abhimanya Mishra in 2021.

* Pending official FIDE confirmation

Abhimanyu Mishra became the youngest international master in 2019 at the age of 10 and began earning his GM norms in 2021. On June 30, he earned his third and final norm at the Vezerkepzo GM Mix Swiss tournament in Budapest, Hungary to become the youngest GM in history. Mishra broke Karjakin's record, which had stood for 19 years, by more than two months in age.

Here's a clean victory for Mishra over GM Zoltan Varga from the 5th Vezerkepzo GM tournament in 2021.

For 19 years, GM Sergey Karjakin held the record for the youngest grandmaster in chess history at 12 years old and 7 months. Like many children, Karjakin learned chess at the age of five, and just six years later at the age of 11 he was an international master. Karjakin has been World Rapid Champion (2012), and World Blitz Champion (2016). In March 2016 he won the Candidates' Tournament and earned the right to challenge Magnus Carlsen for the World Chess Championship. Though Karjakin lost this match to Carlsen in November 2016, he still has aspirations to challenge the champion in the future.

Karjakin played one of the best games of his career against Caruana at the 2016 Candidates' Tournament. This fighting, back-and-forth game shows the trademark style of Karjakin.

At the age of 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days, Indian prodigy GM Gukesh Dommaraju (or Gukesh D.) became the second youngest grandmaster in chess history. He scored his third grandmaster norm at the 17thDelhi International Chess Grandmaster Openin New Delhi, India.Gukesh's talent was spotted by his first and school coach Mr. Bhaskar, who made sure little Gukesh became a FIDE rated player within six months of learning the game!

Gukesh played his last game as an International Master, winning this game to earn his final grandmaster norm.

When GM Javokhir Sindarov earned the grandmaster title, he was the first player since Karjakin to reach the title before he turned 13! The Uzbek youngster earned each of his three norms in one year at the 2018 Alekhine Memorial, the FIDE World Junior Championship and the First Saturday Tournament.

Sindarov earned his final grandmaster norm at the First Saturday Tournament in Budapest, Hungary, where he recovered from a first-round loss, going on a 7/8 run in his remaining games.

At the age of12 years, 10months, and 13 days, Indian prodigy GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu became the then second youngest grandmaster in chess history. He scored his third grandmaster norm at the fourth Gredine open in Ortisei, Italy.

Praggnanandhaa first made his name known by winning continental (Asian) championships and two world championship titles. Praggnanandhaa was also theworld's youngest international master at 10 years old, a record he still holds.

Having already earned his final GM norm in the Gredine open, the Indian prodigy beat GM Roeland Pruijssers to finish a record-breaking tournament performance:

GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov's name made headlines first when he defeated two grandmasters at the age of nine, in 2014 at the Tashkent Open. He scored his first GM norm in the 2016 Chigorin Memorial and then went on to achieve his second in Abu Dhabi in August 2017. He is by far the biggest Uzbek talent sinceRustam Kasimdzhanov, who won the 2004 FIDE Knockout World Championship in Tripoli.

Abdusattorov earned his final grandmaster norm at the Chigorin Memorial, where he beat both GMs S. P. Sethuraman and Evgeny Levin.

Now a PhD student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, GM Parimarjan Negi earned the grandmaster title back in 2006 when he was just 13 years old. Since he got the title, Negi has won the Arjuna Award (2010) from the Indian government, the Indian and Asian Chess Championships, and was a member of the 2014 bronze medal-winning team at the Olympiad for India.

Negi's performance in this win against GM Ragger was a fantastic demonstration on how to beat the Caro-Kann, as White's pressure throughout the game was constant.

Nicknamed the "Mozart of Chess," GM Magnus Carlsenis in a league of his own. The reigning world champion's rating has skyrocketed past Garry Kasparovs previous record of 2851 to an unfathomably high 2882. With fierce determination and a palpable will to win, he has dazzled fans with his ability to out-work his opponents and find computer-like moves in his games time after time.

While Carlsen is most known for grinding out wins in near-equal endgames, his most famous game might be his draw against Garry Kasparov, when he was just 13 years old.

GM Wei Yi has broken all kinds of rating and age records throughout his lifetime. He is also the 2nd youngest player in history to break the 2600 rating barrier, after John M. Burke.

Wei's quick progress is apparent, earning both the international master and grandmaster titles in the same year. He was the worlds youngest grandmaster when he earned the title, being only 13 years 8 months and 23 days old.

This game is perhaps Wei Yi's most famous win, as he played with his true attacking style against GM Lazaro Bruzon in the 2015 Danzhou Tournament:

GM-elect Andy Woodward will be the 10th-youngest in history and the youngest in the world when confirmed by FIDE at their next conference.

GM Raunak Sadhwani is currently India's fourth youngest ever grandmaster.While also getting is Elo over 2500, Sadhwani scored his third grandmaster norm in the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss in October 2019 in Isle of Man.

Sadhwani ended up scoring 50 percent in a strong field. His opponents were GMs Sanan Sjugirov, Sergey Karjakin, Surya Ganguly, Ivan Saric, Pavel Eljanov, Peter Leko, Gabriel Sargissian, Markus Ragger, Alexander Motylev, Bassem Amin and Maksim Chigaev.

Here's how he defeated former European Champion Alexander Motylev:

GM Bu Xiangzhi earned his title in 1999, making him the youngest GM in chess history when he broke the record (Karjakin would break the record in 2002). Bu won the Chinese Chess Championship in 2004, and has since represented China in four Olympiads, including the 2018 Olympiad where China won gold.

A well-known talent, Bu made more headlines in 2017 when he eliminated Magnus Carlsen in the World Cup, and then beat the world champion again in the World Rapid Championship later that same year.

Only six female players have successfully broken the grandmaster barrier before turning twenty.

Four-time women's world chess champion GM Hou Yifan also holds the record for the fastest any female player has reached the GM title, at just 14 years and 5 months. The Chinese grandmaster is the third woman to ever break the top 100 live rating list, behind GMs Maia Chiburdanidze and Judit Polgar.

Hou has played in many elite invitational events, including the Tata Steel Chess tournament where she beat GM Anish Giri with the Black pieces:

When GM Humpy Koneru made the grandmaster title in 2002, she broke the record for fastest woman to reach the GM title at just 15 years and 1 month. In 2011, the Indian grandmaster was the challenger for the women's world championship title, where she lost to Hou Yifan. Over fifteen years later, Koneru is still one of the best female players in the world.

One of Koneru's best wins came against Peruvian grandmaster Julio Granda Zuniga, where the final position is a worthy Puzzle Rush tactic!

GM Judit Polgar is the only female player to have ever broken 2700 and is the strongest women's chess player of all-time. Polgar is now retired, but has beaten players like Magnus Carlsen, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, and many others.

There is no game in Judit Polgar's career that is more famous than her victory over Garry Kasparov in 2002.

Currently the fourth best female chess player in the world, GM Kateryna Lagno has broken records on her way to the top of competitive womens chess. Lagno won the European women's championship in both 2005 and 2008, and played in the 2018 women's world championship against GM Ju Wenjun.

Here's a crushing win of Lagno's against former women's world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk:

GM Aleksandra Goryachkina has taken the chess world by storm. At just 20 years old, the Russian grandmaster has already broken the top 10 women's list. In 2015, she won the Russian women's championship superfinal. The Russian grandmaster repeated the feat in 2017.

While perhaps not her toughest opponent, Goryachkina showed how dangerous she can be in this display against the Stonewall Dutch:

GM Lei Tingjie is one of the strongest female players in China. Lei has participated in a myriad of team events for China that have resulted in gold medals: the Asian Nations Cup (2016), the Batumi Olympiad (2018) and the World Team Championship (2019).

Here's a game Lei won in the 2017 World Rapid Championships with Black, a complete positional masterclass from start to finish!

Now, it's your turn...

Do you think that these records will be broken with the new computer-powered generations?

Please, let us know in the comments section.

See the article here:

Who Are The Youngest Chess Grandmasters? - Chess.com

This week's question: Employees of Silicon Valley and Wall Street giants, including Google and Goldman Sachs, recently faced off at a chess match, with teams aiming to prove their employer's intellectual superiority. If you could name the chess team for a major corporation, what would you call it?

Click here to see the results of last week's contest: Hot dog memoir

How to enter: Submissions should be emailed to contest@theweek.com. Please include your name, address and daytime telephone number for verification; this week, please type "Chess team" in the subject line. Entries are due by noon, Eastern Time, Tuesday, July 9. Winners will appear on the Puzzle Page of the July 19 issue and at theweek.com/puzzles on July 12. In the case of identical or similar entries, the first one received gets credit. All entries become property of The Week.

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The Week contest: Chess team - The Week

In January 2024 I hit my highest online rating ever: 3,103 on Chess.com. This put me next to chess super grandmasters and in the top 10 on the website.

However, if you think it was a result of great preparation and a positive life - not at all. Surprisingly, it happened during one of the worst periods of my life.

The worst year in my life

2023 started very badly I got divorced, had health issues, and some other significant troubles I can't even talk about yet. Life was going downhill, and despite my efforts to stay positive and tackle the problems, my challenges had a significant negative impact on me. It also greatly affected my online chess rating. In 2021, I reached my peak at 3,064, but in 2023, my rating dropped below 2,800.

Not surprising, right?

It's the expected outcome of a series of unfortunate events. Reflecting on it, I've come to a big conclusion: Don't play chess when you're emotionally overwhelmed; it just adds to the reasons for feeling down.

But then, one day, everything changed.

The day of the Revolution

Since I had lots of tough days last year, I was looking for a light in the darkness, and my friend suggested a book by Kamal Ravikant called, "Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It."

Long story short, it helped me a lot, and in my worst moments I tried to apply the ideas learned from the book. One day, after some meditation practice, I was in a great mood and a sudden question appeared in my thoughts, Why not play chess?

I sat down in front of the laptop, and in a few hours, I crossed 2900. The mood that day was fantastic and was multiplied after this successful session. I didn't analyze how that happened, I just enjoyed it all. I continued the routine for the next few days, any second I had the crazy feeling, "I want to play chess", I did so, and sometimes this even occurred during my working time in the ChessMood office. (I know my boss is reading this, so sorry.)

I grasped this fantastic idea from The Surrender Experiment article and it worked out perfectly.

Shortly, I crossed the 3,000 barrier again!

Dont focus on numbers

Once I crossed 3,000 I closed the website and went to sleep with satisfaction thinking that I would now take a break. The next day I again had the mood to play, but there was a question, What should I do? Look at the 3,000 number and admire it or follow the method that helped me get there and keep playing. I am sure you know my decision, I kept playing but with the strict condition to play only in a good mood. 3,020 - 3,040 - 3,063 in a short while. I regained my absolute peak rating, and a sudden idea struck me, what about 3,100? Why not? I am so close. Then I calmed down and applied the advice that I always give to my students:

Dont focus on the rating - focus on good chess. If you play well enough, the rating will chase your strength and go up.

I kept playing, winning, or losing games, and forgot about my rating. One day I found myself just a few points away from the dream, without even knowing what would happen next.

From Hero to Zero

After winning one of the games, I looked at the number, and it was 3,098!! The next game started, one win and thats it! I had the position below, up the entire army against the lonely king - but a move away from checkmate, I flagged!!!!!!!

I couldn't believe that happened to me. I had my dream in my hands, and it just vanished. A crazy feeling of tilt took control of me, and I started ruining my dream. A few days later, after losing another game, I saw this number next to my name.

I lost about 100 points. I was about to give up and quit and never play chess again. However, as a professional chess player and a coach, I dont have the right to give up easily. Instead, I decided to analyze and understand why this happened. Why did I go from Hero to Zero in just a few days? To figure out the reason for this failure I tried to look back and understand what I did specifically on the days when I played bad chess. Nothing really came to my mind until I remembered a conversation.

Most common mistake

My team member and friend said, "Stop playing chess today, you will lose it all." On questioning why, he said, "Look at your facial expression, you are completely not in the mood." Unfortunately, that day I ignored this advice and kept losing my rating. But looking back, that was an Eureka moment!

My mood! The reason that took me high to the sky was also the reason I dropped down. I played without my winning card! Without my superpower!!! Guess what happened next? I just used it again, and afterward climbed back to 3,072. Again being close to the goal.

Its time to tell you about one of the most significant days in my chess career.

The decisive Saturday

Saturday, Jan 13, 2024, at 5 in the evening I started my private educational stream for ChessMood students, and around 6:45 I could go home to rest. However, while walking downstairs, the magical desire to play chess put me in front of my desk. I was so unbelievably confident. With a rating of 3,072, I had only 29 points left, and I said, Its time to cross 3,100.

For 5 minutes, no one accepted my challenge as I was only looking for 3,000+ opponents. For one second Fabiano Caruana was online and, in a state of euphoria, I even challenged him. Luckily I didnt get accepted 🙂

After a few minutes, the match started with GM David Paravyan, a 3,000+ GM who consistently plays online blitz games and is my long-time rival. We had different scores during several played matches, but this time with a score of 7.5 - 2.5, I had the following position as white.

My heart rate dramatically increased I saw the move that promised me the win. What to play?

Black cant take on h3 as the bishop on f3 would be hanging, and otherwise, a powerful h-passed pawn will be enough to win the game. My opponent resigned.

For a second, I forgot what was going on and was about to play the next game. However, looking at the bottom left part of the screen, I saw this beautiful - dream picture.

I screamed like the famous Lion that is shown before Tom and Jerry cartoons.

I scared everyone else in the building but it was worth it.

Conclusion

The journey is over, and I am now going to rest for a while. I have a message for every chess player, as this painful experience of losing 300 rating points and then gaining 350 opened my eyes.

Some people play chess just for fun, others play as a distraction from their daily routines and problems, and some are professionals.

However, my biggest advice, proven by the results of this journey:

Play chess when you are in a good mood and when you want it like nothing else.

Its hard to think about my next goals. Maybe I should aim for 3,200?

Mmm I need some encouragement. If you think I should do it, put + in the comments, and feel free to share your thoughts.

Related articles

How I crossed the plateau and reached 3000 on chess.com

And here is my gift for you!

My 10 best games You can watch all three courses for free, by creating a basic account here.

Originally posted here:

How I crossed 3100 and got into the top ten on chess.com - Chess.com

After progressing to the ChessKid Youth Championships Knockout earlier in the day, 13-year-old GM-elect Yagiz Erdogmus has commanded another headline with a historic Bullet Brawl victory on Saturday. Scoring 220 points, he finished well ahead of second-place GM Oleksandr Bortnyk (190) and Canada's GM Eric Hansen (184) as well as 107 other titled players.

With this result, Erdogmus became the first IM and junior to win the event and has joined an exclusive list that features eight unique winners. IM Meri Arabidze won the $100 best women's prize while Cesar Frank Talledo Lagos took out the community event.

The next Bullet Brawl will commence on Saturday, July 6, 2024, at noon ET/18:00 CEST.

Standings

While most 13-year-olds were enjoying their weekend off from school, Erdogmus kept busy beating many of the world's best chess players in the latest edition of Bullet Brawl. In a field stacked with the likes of GMs Tuan Minh Le, Matthias Bluebaum, Sam Sevian, and Jose Martinez, Erdogmus' performance serves as a reminder that age plays second-fiddle to talent when it comes to chess ability.

A win over Le marked the perfect start for Erdogmus who backed this up by scoring 4/6 against GMs in his first 10 games of the arena. The Turkish sensation became a true contender when he dispatched both IM Renato Terry and Martinez in 25 and 22 moves, respectively.

To cement his position at the top, Erdogmus strung together two 21-game unbeaten streaks, the first of which featured no fewer than six miniatures. Notably, one was an 18-move victory over the former world junior champion GM Pablo Zarnicki.

Bortnyk, who was a top contender for first place, kept in touch with the lead while streaming on Twitch but could only manage 1/4 against Erdogmus, with most of their games descending into chaos and ending with time scrambles.

Erdogmus' super Saturday even seemed to catch the attention of the longtime world number-one GM Magnus Carlsen who challenged him to a blitz match at the conclusion of the event. Though the score heavily favored Carlsen (12.5-3.5), Erdogmus did manage to pick up a few wins.

Boasting a FIDE rating of 2569, Erdogmus is the 12th-highest-rated U18 player in the world and is the fifth-highest-rated player from Turkiye. Although GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Daniel Naroditsky did not participate in this week's brawl, they will no doubt take notice of Turkiye's emerging prodigy.

How to review games? The games from this week's Bullet Brawl can be found here.

Bullet Brawl is an exciting titled arena that features Chess.com's top bullet specialists and takes place weekly on Saturdays. The format is a two-hour arena with a 1+0 time control; the prize fund is $1,000.

Much like Titled Tuesday and Arena Kings, Bullet Brawl often features top GMs, including Hikaru Nakamura, Daniel Naroditsky, Andrew Tang, Tuan Minh Le, and many more!

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Bullet Brawl June 29, 2024: 13-Year-Old Erdogmus Becomes First Junior To Win Bullet Brawl - Chess.com

A year and a half ago, ChatGPT burst onto the scene, sparking an intense race among tech giants like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Facebook to develop the most advanced AI models. Despite initial rapid advancements, the AI field has hit a plateau, prompting a reevaluation of how we push the boundaries of artificial intelligence

The AI Plateau: When More Data Yields Less Progress

The initial models were trained on roughly 20% of the total text on the Internet. Subsequent models accessed more substantial segments of the web, with the latest iterations trained on 15 trillion tokens, covering a vast expanse of the entire history of written content produced by humanity.

The anticipation was that the more data the models were trained on, the better their capabilities would become. Expectations were high that training on the entirety of human-written language might lead to the emergence of superhuman intelligence. Predictions included groundbreaking achievements such as discovering new laws of physics, developing innovative drugs, and solving long-standing mathematical puzzles.

However, these expectations were not fully realized as the incremental improvements in AI capabilities began to plateau. For instance, the leap in performance from GPT-2 to GPT-3 was significant, but subsequent improvements, such as from GPT-3 to GPT-4 and then to GPT-4o, demonstrated diminishing returns. This suggested that simply amassing more data might not necessarily translate into exponential growth in AI intelligence.

AI's New Paradigm: The Path to Mastery Through Self-Play

In contrast, the development of AlphaZero by DeepMind showcased a different model of AI excellence. AlphaZero, an AI program designed to master the games of chess, Go, and others, did not rely solely on human expertise. Instead, after an initial phase of learning from human game data, it transitioned to a phase of self-exploration and self-play.

This second phase involved the AI playing against itself billions of times, creating and exploring numerous new game scenarios never seen before in human play. This extensive experimentation allowed the AI to develop a profoundly deep and innovative understanding of game dynamics, leading it to discover strategies and techniques previously unknown or underappreciated by human grandmasters.

From Imitation to Innovation: AI's Next Leap Forward

(photo credit: Razor Labs)

This approach underscores a potential pathway for AI to achieve superhuman capabilities in fields beyond games. By adopting a similar two-phase approachinitial learning from existing data followed by a phase of creative self-explorationthere is a possibility for AI to achieve superhuman intelligence and make significant contributions to fields such as physics, medicine, or mathematics. This method could enable AI to not just mimic human thought processes but to diverge and possibly innovate beyond them.

By leveraging the strategies evolved through countless self-play sessions, new frontiers in AI development are being opened. AI systems can independently generate knowledge that hasn't been explicitly programmed or previously conceived by humans. This independent creative capability could lead to breakthroughs in numerous domains, offering new solutions that are currently beyond our grasp.

Drug Discovery, Novel Materials, and Sustainable Energy: Embrace the Excitement, Not the Fear

Looking ahead, these capabilities could extend far beyond traditional game boards. AI systems could revolutionize drug discovery by predicting molecular behaviors and interactions, rapidly developing new medicines. They could also aid in formulating a unified theory of physics, unraveling cosmic mysteries. In materials science, AI might invent novel materials, enhancing sustainable energy solutions and driving technological advancements.

While these technologies may take years to mature, their potential societal benefits should inspire excitement rather than fear. As these tools evolve, they promise to solve some of humanity's most pressing challenges, turning distant possibilities into achievable realities.

Michael Zolotov, 33, is an AI expert with a master's degree in electrical engineering. He is the Co-Founder and CTO of several leading AI companies, including the publicly traded Razor Labs, which develops AI technologies for asset-intensive industries, and Axon Vision, which provides AI solutions for the defense market. Michael also co-founded the Future Learning school, the first Deep Learning training academy for AI engineers in Israel.

By Michael Zolotov, AI Expert, Co-Founder, and CTO of Razor Labs

This article was written in cooperation with Razor Labs

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Breaking the AI barrier: From Chess masters to superhuman AI - The Jerusalem Post

Candidate Master (CM) Ronuel Greenidge remained undefeated in rounds seven and eight to win the Guyana Chess Federations (GCF) Malta Supreme Grand Prix.

When play continued yesterday at the David Rose Special School in Thomas Lands, Greenidge faced Alexander Zhang, and the duo engaged in a gripping seventh-round battle that ended in a draw after time had expired.

However, in the eighth round, Greenidge sealed the deal with a victory over another Zhang, this time younger sibling Nicholas, to end the tournament undefeated and become the undisputed winner of the GCFs fourth Grand Prix. In his eight games, Greenidge secured 6.5 points.

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Undefeated Greenidge wins Chess Grand Prix - Stabroek News