2/13/2020 In Vienna, chess is back in the public space. People play on streets and squares, in the Main Library, and even in coffeehouses where chess once was very popular. The driving force behind this movement is the Dutch chess activist Kineke Mulder. Who is very active indeed.

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The coffeehouse is the cradle of European chess club culture. A lot of clubs were founded in coffeehouses and the coffeehouses in Vienna arguably provided the archetype of a cultivated atmosphere that came with a cup of coffee, intellectual conversations and a few games of chess. Coffeehouses also offered an opportunity to play chess for money and to enter heated debates about the best move while analysing.

But in the last decades the classical chess coffeehouse has been on the decline. However, in Vienna, formerly a stronghold of the game and coffeehouse culture, chess is in the process of reconquering public space. Driving force behind this development is a woman: Kineke Mulder. Who hails from the Netherlands, from Groningen, another stronghold of chess. Which is fitting because in its heyday the chess culture in Vienna was also very international.

The idea was born in 2015/16, at a time when many people had fled their homes,were travelling around Europe and were looking for a place to stay. Many stranded in Vienna, did not know where to go and were literally living on the street. Kineke Mulder saw this and came up with the idea to give them at least an occupation: chess. Chess is easy to learn and connects people. Even if you do not speak a common language, you can quickly play a game of chess with each other. "We are all equal when we play," is Kineke Mulder's motto.

Soon Kineke Mulder found supporters and the project grew. Chess is now played regularly just like that on the squares and streets of Vienna and at street festivals. But not only there. The Main Library is also regularly imbued with coffee house atmosphere during the monthly chess tournament.

In the Vienna Main Library

Chess is also played at the junk goods market 48-Tandler. The blitz-tournament even attracted almost the entire women's national team of 1996, that is WIM Helene Mira, WFM Jutta Borek and WFM Maria Horvath.

The trio

Christian Hursky, president of the Austrian Chess Federation and member of the Austrian Landtag took part in the simul. Incidentally, this year the Austrian Chess Federation celebrates its 100th birthday.

And it is even back in its old stronghold the coffeehouses. Not in each and every one but nevertheless getting more and more popular.

Schachcaf

E.g. with the "Chess Unlimited Krampusturnier" in the Caf Ritter, with sociable Dieter Chmelar (journalist, TV host, cabaret artist), Nikolo and Alma Zadic, minister of justice.

Prominent people at the Krampusturnier

The house was packed...

...the games exciting.

With Kineke Mulder and her friends chess in Vienna has also become more feminine, and thus more sociable. There is even a women's chess club in Vienna, for a few years now. For all women who want to start with chess, but don't quite dare to make the move, comrade-in-arms Eva Husar has a tip from woman to woman: chess can be crocheted first.

Photos:Little hussar chrochet. P.S: All materials are recycled. The little extra: the board is also the bag for the pieces.

As a trained advertising designer Kineke Mulder is also able to show what she and her chess friends do and recently she published a brochure (PDF) with the chess events of the last year. There were plenty of them.

Meanwhile, chess columns, e.g. Ruf & Ehn in the Standard, have noticed this new chess culture in Vienna and expressed their joy in a number of articles.

There's also a video about the new chess movement:

Translation from German: Johannes Fischer

Excerpt from:

The new chess culture in Vienna - Chessbase News

In 1843 Andrei Alexandrovich Ascharin was born in the Estonian coastal town of Prnu. His parents were of mixed origins: Alexander, of Russian extraction and Louise, of German extraction. This was common among the Baltic people at the time. His family moved from Prnu to Dorpat 80 miles due east. He went to the Dorpat High School and attended the Universitt Dorpat, now the University of Tartu, where he studied law, until 1874. After graduation he moved to St. Petersburg as a journalist for the German language newspaper Sankt Petersburger Heroldand then for it's competitor Sankt Petersburger Zeitung.

Ascharin learned to play chess while attending high school in Dorpat. There, his chief rival was his classmateHermann Clemenz who would himself become a strong player. His other chess friends included Friedrich Eisenschmidt, G. Vogt and Friedrich Amelung.

Here's a couple youthful games between Ascharin-Vogt and Ascharin-Clemenz. The mistakes (even blunders) show how far they needed to go but the ideas evidenced their potentials. It also demonstrates that Ascharin wasn't yet standing out from his classmates. Vogt was a talented blindfold player. Herr Stud of Dorpat had written in a letter published in the Neue Berliner Schachzeitung in 1866 which said "The talent of my friend Vogt in blind-playing has often given us the opportunity to watch such a production with six, seven and eight simultaneous opponents. Calmness, clarity of combinations and a lively presentation are very much in his mind."

As can be seen in the above 1892 photograph of Ascharin with Mikhail Tschigorin, our subject was a man of small stature. He also spend most of his life in somewhat poor health which eventually led to his premature death at age 53. In 1878 he married Alwine Runge. Together they had three children: a son, Fredja, born in early 1887 but who died from the dreaded scarlet fever on March 24, 1892, a son, Andreas, born Sept. 13, 1889 and a daughter, Lydia, born Dec. 30, 1891.

While in St. Petersburg, Ascharin was exposed to some of the great Russian players of the day such as Emanuel Schiffers, Ilya Shumoff and Mikhail Tschigorin. In fact in November of 1876 --Tschigorin had already started editing his chess paper, the Shakhmatnyy listok-- Ascharin, Tschigorin, Schiffers and Shumoff held a small tournament in the Caf Dominic. This knock-out tournament was won by Ascharin (two days after the completion of that small tournament, an even smaller one was held between Tschigorin, Schiffers and Shumoff).

A game from that event:

Between October and December of the next year another tournament was held, this time with more contestants and the venue was a restaurant/caf operated by a Mr. Prader. The competitors were:Ascharin, Schiffers, Tshigorin, Clementz (who had only arrived in St. Petersburg 4 weeks earlier) and Semyon Alapin. Tschigorin won this event (and the 15 rubles prize), followed by Schiffers, Ascharin, Clementz and Alapin.

Below is a game between Ascharin and Alapin from 1877, also at the Caf Prader, but several months prior to the tournament played there:

The Baltische Schachbltter of 1891 published an 1878 letter from Friedrich Amelung which gives a sense of the chess situation in Russia at the time, :

...in the course of the last year 1877 three new strong Russian chess players became known, namely: Mr. Solowzow [Alexander Vladimirovich Solovtsov] in Moscow, who successfully played against Messrs. Urussov [Prince Sergey Urusov], Drosdow [Alexander Dmitrievich Drozdov (1838-1904)],and Schmidt [Dr. Eugen von Schmidt, an Estonia who moved to Moscow], also Mr. Alapin in Petersburg and Mr. Hellwig in Dorpat [A. Hellwig eventually moved to Moscow for at least a time]. In my chess report No. 1, 1877, I named strongest chess players of Russia: Mr. Winawer in Warsaw, Messrs Schiffers, Shumoff, Tschigorin, Asharin in Petersburg, Messrs. Drosdow, Urussow and Schmidt in Moscow, finally the provincial players Messrs. Clemenz, Chardin [Andrey Nikolaevich Chardin, a lawyer who moved to Samara in 1878. He lost a tightly contested match to Schiffers in 1874. A young Vladmir Lenin worked as his legal assistant in 1893. They were known to have played many games together] and V. Knorre [Viktor Knorre, the Russian astronomer, was originally from Dorpat, then moved to Berlin], i.e. a total of 11 chess players of the first rank along with several players of the second rank, to which we now add the three named players, and we are thus getting a handsome majority of strong chess players in Russia, like no other European or non-European country may be, except in Germany and England alone.

A game between Tschigorin and Viktor Knorre in 1874:

In 1877, after his little victory (1876) in St. Petersburg, Ascharin lost a close 9 game match to his chess mentor, Friedrich Amelung, 5-4. By 1879, Tschigorin had risen tremendously, winning the St. Petersburg tournament (after a play-off with Alapin) while Ascharin languished in 6th place out of the 9 contestants. When he secured a position teaching German literature and language at the Alexander High School for Men and the Lomonosov High School for Women in 1879, Ascharin and his wife, who also hailed from Prnu, moved back to the Balkins but this time to the Latvian city of Riga where they would live out their lives.

Riga provided a whole new chess frontier for Ascharin.

In 1880 there were no first class players in Riga other than Ascharin himself. His arrival seemed to spark interest in the game. Ascharin joined the Schachclub des Gewerbevereins, the trade association chess club which met at the Hotel Deutsches Haus and where he could give their best players knight odds. Bored with that poorly attended venue, he seldom frequented it himself, preferring the coffeehouses where chess was commonly played. The chief among these was the Caf Krpsch which had the reputation as being Riga's Caf de la Rgence. He also played visiting masters. The three columns below indicate "win, lose draw."

Below is one of the games between Emil Schallopp and Ascharin in 1890:

The above game was played in 1890. This was a hallmark year for Riga chess for this was when Ascharin organized the Riga Chess Club, which in turn elevated Riga into a first rate chess locale.

Before delving into that, three Riga chess enthusiasts are worth mentioning: the Behting brothers, Johann, Carl and Robert. All three were problemists, Though Carl and Johann were the most successful in that area. Robert, on the other hand won the 1st Baltic Championship (the Baltic Chess Union Congress) in April, 1899. Carl and Robert were also strong correspondence players.

The first discussions concerning the establishment of the Rigaer Schachverein (the Riga Chess Club) took place in March 1890 at a meeting which included Mr. Ascharin, Dr. Alex Helling, and Pastor N. Hugenberger (ironically, the latter two mentioned both died the following year). With C.arl von Reisner and Paul Kerkovius added to the commission, the Grand Opening took place on Dec. 4, 1890, A letter written by Ascharin dated Oct. 17, 1890 gives some insight:

Dear friend! - Our chess club is blooming mightily! We are already 50 members. We have rented a nice big restaurant consisting of two, large nicely furnished halls and a room for the deliberations of the bard . The cost [for the venue] for two game nights a week is 200 rubles annually. However, we receive 100 rubles a year from the Rigaer Tageblatt, a local newspaper, for the chess number [the chess column] that appears every two weeks. It is edited by three members of the chess club, P. Kerkovius, Ellinson and Carl Behting, the problem artist, under my supervision and, as can be seen from the magazines, receives many good reviews. The board consists of 5 members and 2 substitutes. President: Asharin, Vice President: Dr. med. Helling, Secretary: C. v. Reisner, treasurer: Kerkovius, archivist: Pastor Hugenberger. . . . The annual membership fee is 5 rubles and 1 ruble registration fee. . . . As a result of donations, our library already consists of around 40 chess books. We hold the German weekly chess, published by Schallopp, Heyde and Hlsen, and the Petersburg Schachmaty. It goes without saying that we bought the two issues of your latest chess opus.

Below is a game between Ascharin and fellow club founder, Pastor N. Hugenburger. Hugenberger taught Religion at Lomonosov High School. One can see the apparent skill disparity. Another founder, Dr. Alexander Helling had received his degree from Dorpat University in 1884. He set up practice in Riga in 1885 where he also operated a boarding school. He was known in the Riga music circles as a cellist. He died from pneumonia on May 14th 1892 at age 36. Paul Kerkovius (1868-1940) was the publisher of Riga's main newspaper, the Rigaer Stadtbltter. Between 1896 and 1916 Kerkovius was one of those involved in a famous series of correspondence games played between Riga and various foreign chess clubs such as Orel, Moscow, Stockholm and Berlin during an extended period of time. At the conclusion, although delayed by the war, a book was published by Helms and Cassel (both of whom owned and edited the extraordinaryAmerican Chess Bulletin). Due to the Riga's reputation for analyzing and compiling data, these matches, as well as the analyses, were considered very important at the time. The "Riga Defense," also referred to as the "Bohl Variation" was elevated from relative obscurity into prominence thanks to this series of games.

Above you can see Paul Kerkovius, Carl and Robert Behting in 1916.

Here is a game demonstrating Carl Behting's skill as a correspondence player:

And here are the two games from the 1896 Riga vs. Orel correspondence match:

The Riga Chess Club was already developing a reputation in 1892. That along with Ascharin's connections convinced a handful of world-class masters to visit the club. The club rented rooms in Riga's impressive Grossen Gilde or Great Guild, one of the oldest building in the Baltics.

Mikhail Tschigorin visited in September 1882. He conducted a 30 board simul (against 40 opponents since 10 played in consultation) that lasted almost 6 hours, non-stop. Tschigorin won 28, lost 2. He also played Ascharin in a 3 game match, winning all three. Ascharin compared their duel to that between Hektor and Achilles, with Ascharin as the doomed Hektor and Tschigoin as the invincble Achilles.

In March 1893, Emil Schallopp who had been to Riga on two previous occasions, gave a 21 board simul, winning 20 and losing one to Carl Behting. The simul lasted from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Ascharin played Schallopp in a three-game match, winning all three games.

Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch visited the club inNovember 1893. He also held a 30 board simul that lasted 6 hours. Of these he won 25, drew 4 and lost one to Carl Behting. On the second evening he gave a 6 board blind-simul, winning all the games. On the third evening Tarrasch was scheduled to play a mini-match with Ascharin but Ascharin was ill and had to forego that which he had probably been keenly anticipating. Instead, a hasty simul was arranged with mostly different players. Initially set up to be a 15 board event to lighten Tarrasch's load,, there were so many complaints that it was expanded to 30. The exhausted Tarrasch rushed through this second simul in 4 hours winning 22, losing 5 and drawing 3. Those beating Tarrasch were Messrs. H. Ehlert, R. Behting, Kandaurow, and the lawyers Wittram and Henrichson.

September of 1894 saw Emanuel Schiffers arriving in Riga where he played a 23 board simul against selected opponents. He won 14, lost 4 and drew 5. It was observed that Schiffers didn't take the battles as seriously and other masters. the simul lasted 5.5 hrs.

William Steinitz came to Riga in February 1896. the first evening, Feb. 10, he played a two game match at the CafKrpsch against Carl Behting, giving him Knight-odds, each winning a game. On Feb. 11 he gave a 30 board simul. Steinitz won 29 and drew one after 6 hours. A match between Steinitz and Ascharin had been scheduled for Feb. 15 but Ascharin was too ill to play. Instead, a consultation game between the team of P. Bohl, M. Ellinson and K. Kupfler (playing white) and Steinitz was hastily arranged. Steinitz won. A banquet following the game.

Tschigorin paid the Riga Chess Club a second visit in September 1897. Yet another 30 board simul was held. Tschigorin won 22, lost 4 and drew 4. It was noted that all 30 of the boards were in consultation. During the banquet in his honor, Tschigorin raised a toast to the departed Andreas Ascharin (who had died in December 1896)..

Having played against various masters, comparisons of their styles and conduct was inevitable.

(below are, in some cases, somewhat liberal translations using Google )

Tschigorin: Tschigorin is of medium height, slim, black, the bronze-colored face that reddened under the exertion of the brain, narrow, not too thin, the look friendly, harmless, but also penetratingly sharp. The whole appearance gives the impression of restlessness. . . . If Tschigorin does not finish a combination quickly enough, he gnaws on his thumbnail, or nervously runs his forefinger through his mustache or small full beard, or taps with the same index finger in quick succession, (calculating the variations). Of course, he doesn't have the unpleasant habit of speaking during the game. With the exception of a few brief replies, the five hours were almost silent.

Schallopp: The dark-eyed, brunette, hot-blooded Russian (Tschigorin), as he showed himself in the same lower rooms of our great guild in his 30 simultaneous games, plays violently, as a falcon quickly strikes and captures its prey; the bright-eyed, blond, cold-blooded German (Schallopp) follows his game calmly, evenly, indifferently removing the small obstacles, carefully clearing them out of the way before he makes the surprising ingenious advance; that is to say: he does not scorn a seemingly insignificant pawn who covers his dominion with his body, but quietly captures it in before he dares the main attack. Yet Mr. Schallopp still smiles mildly and kindly, like a man of gentle temper- while Mr. Tschigorin did not smile in the course of his nearly five-hour game. And while the latter face gradually reddened and his forehead shone in the sweat of effort, Mr. Schallopp remained chastely white and only at the last his cheeks shimmered in redness.

Tarrasch: Tschigorin plays like a hawk, sharp, hot and bold; Schallopp - like an armored dove, gentle, smiling, but greedy for food; Tarrasch - like a raven, looking wise, very deliberate, prey promptly before he attacks.

Schiffers: ...Schiffers is not attached to the game with body and soul, and still pursues physical interests: Tschigorin and Dr. Tarrasch did not smoke at all, Schallopp smoked coldly on a cigar, Schiffers smoked almost 25 cigarettes during the 5 hour game and drank a glass of beer, which his predecessors also carefully avoided. From all of the chess masters who have been seen here can be observed: they all boast enviable, thick hair, which, like Mr. Schiffers, has a mane-like appearance and gives his head a somewhat artistic appearance. How can one explain this phenomenon? Apparently, excessive thinking does not cause baldness, as some people want to believe.

Steinitz: Steinitz observes a deliberate, never rushing, downright relentless style of playing.... The big man is as small as possible in figure, round, stocky, the large, moderately hairy head with the reddish full head seated deep between his shoulders, his little nose is set apart only by his bulging nostrils, the forehead high and square, the small eyes as if protected from an overhanging hawk skin, the gently reddened, full face usually shines with a jovial smile. Beautifully soft; the hands with the pointed fingers are small and delicate, which old master Steinitz sometimes drums lightly on the table during play or makes an innocent fist, depending on the case. Otherwise he will not reveal any trace of nervousness.

Due to failing health, Ascharin resigned his position as president of the Riga Chess Club in 1895. Ottomar von Haken (Otomrs fon Hkens 1854-1929) was elected in his place. and served until 1899Paul Kerkovius took over.

In 1894 Ascharin published a little collection of his anecdotes, originally released in supplements (feuilleton) in theRiga Tageblatt, in a book entitled Schach-Humoresken.

During his life Ascharin had over a dozen other books published, mostly involving translations of Russian poetry into German. However, he also published a book of his own poetry in 1878,Gedichte von Andreas Ascharin. Below is an example of his writing (with English translation assistance kindly provided to my own interpretation by chess.com member @white_castle27)

An Unsterblichkeit zu glauben, Bringt unzweifelhaft Gewinn, Keinem will den Trost ich rauben. Da ich selbst unsterblich bin.

Deine Augen geben Kunde Von der Liebe Himmelreich, Und ein Ku von deinem Munde Machet mich den Gttern gleich.

Believing in immortality Undoubtedly yields profit I don't want to rob anyone of solace. Since I am immortal myself.

Your eyes give honor From the love of heaven, And a kiss from your mouth Makes me like the gods.

Upon his death on Christmas Day 1896, the Baltische Schachblatter was filled with memorials celebrating his life, his legacy but even more so his gentleness, kindness and generosity.

[While Wikipedia and several other places online list his death as Dec. 24, Jeremy Gage, as well as most contemporary reports tell us it was Dec. 25]

and we finish up with a strange, but fun, little odds game:

Visit link:

Ascharin and Other Things - Chess.com

2/10/2020 Chess compositions have been around for over a thousand years, and composers aim to tap not only the practical but also the aesthetic sense of solvers. Recently AZLAN IQBAL has investigated the potential of fully-computer-generated chess problems, and here he presents some conclusions about what passes the threshold of beauty.

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Perhaps the earliest recorded chess problems were by al-Adli who was reputedly the author of the first book about chess (or rather, an earlier but still recognizable form of the game) and lived in the 9th century CE. He is also said to have played it in the presence of one named, al-Mutawakkil, and therefore was not likely just or even primarily a composer of problems [1]. In the 21st century, however, composing original chess problems is no longer something that only humans can do autonomously. Chesthetica, a program I developed, has been doing so for years now with no end in sight. It composes, quite literally, like a machine. Also, it does not use any kind of machine learning but a totally different approach I call the Digital Synaptic Neural Substrate or DSNS, for short. There is, in fact, no learning going on at all despite having the word neural in it (related books on the subject can be found here).

The feedback I have received over the years about these compositions from the general chess-playing community has been largely positive. However, among master or even grandmaster composers, less so. This is despite some of Chestheticas compositions being intriguing enough for publication in a chess problem magazine [2]. Perhaps the first ever to publish compositions composed entirely and autonomously by a computer program.

Personally, I lack the necessary experience (and frankly interest or inclination) to be able to appreciate all the intricacies of traditional chess problems, which apparently put them on a higher aesthetic level than anything Chesthetica has produced so far. I suppose the same could be said for other artificial intelligence (AI) systems even with far more resources behind them that generate things like paintings and music. The best human painters and musicians are still better. Perhaps they always will be as far as humans are concerned.

Regardless, in this article I wanted to share with readers what the general global chess community, not just master players and composers, apparently find appealing when it comes to chess problems. For that purpose, I exported the post data from the Chesthetica Facebook page between May 26th and November 21st 2019 (Facebook only allows up to the last 180 days). This showed various statistics regarding all the chess problems published there within that period. Pundits may prefer to just call them constructs, a type of chess problem, since the expression of themes (in particular) is not a critical component. I had been sharing these problems composed by Chesthetica to a selection of large chess problem/puzzle communities that are also on Facebook. Each post there can potentially reach tens of thousands of people. None of these posts were ever boosted by me, by the way (e.g. with money to Facebook or requested assistance from anyone).

Since every few weeks Chesthetica composes far too many problems for any one person to go through in detail individually, for the purpose of online publication (and with the help of more filtering tools I have programmed into Chesthetica), I am able to choose some and reject others based on certain criteria. The process undoubtedly means I would have rejected some problems that others would likely have found appealing and this cannot be helped. To be fair, some problems are also just bad, weak, too weird or make no sense in my view and rejected for those reasons too. The information of primary interest to me in the exported data was what Facebook calls lifetime engaged users which they define as, the number of unique people who engaged in certain ways with your page post, for example by commenting on, liking, sharing, or clicking upon particular elements of the post.

For the given period mentioned earlier there were 87 posts that included mates in 3, 4, 5, and study-like constructs. Even the main line of the solution was selected by Chesthetica. After ranking them in terms of lifetime engaged users, I could contrast the top 5 compositions by Chesthetica versus the bottom 5 which presumably reflects what most people like (and dislike) about these compositions. Here they are (with the Chesthetica version number that produced them):

Tip: You can play against each diagram to checkmate!

It should be noted that aesthetics is a significant but not the only aspect that attracts people to chess problems. My experience working in this area for over a decade (with chess as the primary domain of investigation) suggests that, rather obviously, different people tend to like different things. Even so, there are still clearly bad compositions and clearly good ones that most of us (i.e. with a working knowledge of the game or better) would generally agree on if we are not told in advance what to look for. Perhaps in a thousand years some of Chestheticas compositions would also have survived and be marvelled upon, if not for their aesthetics then maybe due to the fact that a computer program back then could compose original chess problems autonomously at all.

Having said all that, do you, dear reader, agree with the ranking of a sampling of the general global chess community as shown above or would you arrange the compositions in a different order?

Let us know in the comments!

Want to learn more?

The top 5 and bottom 5 problems shown above (click or tap a game in the list to switch)

More:

What do people really find attractive in chess problems? - Chessbase News

Palo Alto, Calif., February 12, 2020Chess.com is teaming up with Chessparty 2020 to present the live PRO Chess League Finals in Oslo, Norway this May.

ChessParty 2020will include the PRO Chess League finals but will first and foremost be a major social event. For three days the Oslofjord Convention Center will transform into a party for everyone, where activities like football, skating, swimming, boating, beach volleyball, table tennis, and barbecuing will provide the entire family with the finest experience Norway has to offer.

Tickets and accommodations begin at 40 Euros per day and 31 Euros per night, respectively. Tickets for children under the age of 18 begin at 20 Euros.Click here to purchase.

For the first time in league history, Chess.com will be bring its premier online event to Europe," said Danny Rensch, Chief Chess Officer at Chess.com. "We're delighted to be teaming up with the Norwegian Chess Federation, the Oslofjord and most importantly our title sponsor ChessParty 2020 to make this dream a reality."

Chessparty 2020 will bring several guests from the chess community including World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen. In addition, GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Wesley So, as well as top streamers like WFM Alexandra Botez, IM Anna Rudolf, and GM Eric Hansen will be in attendance for the finals. Attendees will have the opportunity to play in ongoing chess events for players of all skill levels, including an open Fischer Random tournament.

The event will take place on May 22-24 at the Oslofjord Convention Center in Sandefjord, a picturesque coastal town just an hours drive outside Oslo, which hosts many of the nation's top sporting and cultural gatherings

Like last year's event, the PRO Chess League live finals will feature the season's semifinals, third-place match, and finals in front of a live audience.

"As huge fans of the PRO Chess League, we are super excited over having the honor to host this years finals. For our ambitions with Chessparty 2020, to have Chess.com's PRO Chess League as a partner, is a dream come true," said Harald Christian Sagevik, Marketing and Communications Director of the Norwegian Chess Federation.

"We will do our best to make this event as incredible as possible for both the contestants and the spectators," Sagevik added. "We cant wait to show the world the beautiful venue situated by the Oslofjord and with all the extra tournaments and activities we have to offer. In the program, you will find something for everyone, including a lot of non-chess activities. And, best of all, we have managed to do so at very affordable prices."

Tickets for the event and accommodations can be purchased herewith day pass tickets starting at 40 euros for adults and 20 Euros for children under the age of 18, while accommodations are priced starting at 31 Euros per person, per night.

About ChessParty 2020: As a newly-launched joint venture by Kjentfolk AS and the Norwegian Chess Federation, ChessParty 2020 will leverage the Oslofjord Convention Center's outstanding venue to launch the world's first truly global chess party featuring the best players in the world and activities for players and fans of all ages and skill levels.

About Chess.com: Chess.com is the worlds largest chess site, with a community of more than 33 million members from around the world playing millions of games every day. Launched in 2007, Chess.com is the leader in chess news, lessons, events, and live entertainment. Visit Chess.com to play, learn and connect with chessthe worlds most popular game.

Contact:

ChessParty 2020: Marketing and Communications Director Harald Christian Sagevik hc@chessparty.com

Chess.com: Director of Business Development Nick Barton nick@chess.com

###

The rest is here:

Chess.com To Partner With ChessParty For Live PRO Chess League Finals In Norway - Chess.com

Staff report

The Taos Knighthawks had an all-around good week in Albuquerque when they participated in the NMAA State Chess Championships, as the team finished in third place in the combined Class 4A and 5A Large School Division.

Taking place on Thursday and Friday (Feb. 6-7) at the Ramada Hotel, the Knighthawks, who were highly seeded after their regional co-championship appearance, faced a trio of teams on their way to their third-place finishing.

In the first round, Taos faced off against Hope Christian and cruised to an easy 5-1 victory. Hope Christian was a top 10 team in the state prior to the match.

Taos picked up another easy victory when it faced Kirtland Central High School, a top two school in the northwest region.

But the Knighthawks finally met their match when they faced Los Alamos in the third round on Friday, and lost 4-2. Taos head coach Dennis Hedges said that due to a pairing error, the two teams faced off and it was one game that made the difference by the end of it.

For third place, the Knighthawks faced Oate High School, the best school from the southern region, and came away with a big victory. Kian Morgan and Nitis Morgan, who were playing on the top two boards, prevailed with "crushing victories."

Robbie Gersten and Jaimie Ritchie picked up victories on board three and four, respectively. Aidan Heflin, who hadn't competed in chess in over five years, finished with a 4-0 record throughout the event.

Sean Ritchie, an Anansi Charter School seventh grader, also attended the state tournament but couldn't compete due to his age. Because of that, he played in a side tournament with high schoolers and won a first-place medal by the end of it.

Hedges said that, for having no seniors, he was proud of his team.

"It was great seeing the team come together for the event," Hedges said. "The older boys hadn't been concentrating on chess the last few years, focusing more on soccer and high school academics. But they sure hadn't lost their skills that they had developed as young players. And with no seniors on the team, they [can] return next year as even more of a powerhouse."

- Staff report

Read the original post:

Knighthawks take third at state chess championships - taosnews

Around the time of the furore and excitement surrounding the so-calledDa Vinci Code, the Times sent me a weirdly futuristic looking chess diagram and asked me to explain what was happening. If anything, it resembled the Max Ernst surrealist chess design of 1944, but in fact it was taken from amasterpiece of the early literature of chess, which had recently resurfaced after being thought lost for five centuries.

My response forthe Timeswas that the rediscovery of this book was of much more than scholarly or antiquarian interest, for it had been suggested that its chess puzzle diagrams were not only designed by Leonardo da Vinci, but also drawn by him and, the most tantalising prospect of all, perhaps even composed by him.

This book,De ludo schacorum(about the game of chess), was written by the Renaissance mathematician Luca Pacioli, who lived from the mid-15th century to the early 16th century. The so-called new chess, which considerably enhanced the powers of the pieces, was introduced around 1475 and Paciolis long-lost tome was said to be a series of educational positions and chess puzzles featuring both the old and new styles of chess the latter known asa la rabiosa(with the mad or angry queen), because of the vastly extended powers of this new piece. This is the form of chess that is prevalent now. In my column forThe Articleabout Shakespeares knowledge of chess, I explained the rules of the older version, Shatranj, which had reached Europe via Arabic culture.

The puzzles showing the new chess were rumoured to have been composed to demonstrate how the fresh powers of queen, bishop and pawn truly functioned on the open board. However, Paciolis book had been lost and doubts were raised that it had even been written at all. Then, suddenly,the book resurfaced from the 22,000-volume library of Count Guglielmo Coronini, and facsimiles were in preparation, showing the strange and rather beautiful diagrams in red and black, illustrating the powers of the pieces in action.

The Guardianhad just published the only readily available puzzle from the book, with a commentary by its chess correspondent at the time who conceded that he did not have the foggiest idea what the puzzle meant or whether it was taken from the old or new style of chess.And quite right too.The difficulties included: no indication as to whether it was white or black to move; no clear identification of which symbols represented which pieces and finally no evidence of a question, such as White to play and give checkmate in two moves. A real Da Vincian conundrum, with of course the elephant on the board being the supreme question: did Leonardo design the pieces and even create the puzzle?

Having had time to examine the puzzle more closely, I established that it was definitely the newrabiosaform of chess, which we still play now. I also worked out that there was a fiendishly difficult forced checkmate from the puzzle position.

I found this to be amazing. Since the new chess had been in existence for only a few years when the book was written. Given its relative novelty, the person who composed this puzzle was evidently a chess genius.

As well as being highly advanced for its time, the solution also succeeded brilliantly in its didactic purpose of showcasing the sweeping new powers of queen and bishop as well as the potentially devastating weapon of a humble pawn now being able to promote to a mighty queen. Normally this would end the contest in the promoters favour. However, in this puzzle the losing side even manages to promote to a queen with check, yet still succumbs.

What about Leonardo da Vincis involvement, as suggested by the owners of the book. the Fondazione Coronini Cronberg?

The standard chess history by Richard Eales, of the University of Kent, confirms that this shows how the new chess quickly captivated leading intellectuals in Renaissance Italy the kind of people in Leonardos circle, even if his own role remains tantalisingly unprovable.

Pacioli and Leonardo were associates, and it is recorded that Leonardo provided illustrations for Paciolis work on the mathematics of the golden mean,De divina proportione. Both men fled from the court of Ludovico Sforza in 1499 when the French attacked Milan and both were protected by Isabella dEste, a chess enthusiast who possessed various chess sets. She has been tentatively identified as playing chess in a late Quattrocento panel in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, once attributed to Francesco di Giorgio, c. 1485, and more recently to Liberale da Verona.

My conclusion forthe Timeswas that Leonardo did not draw the main corpus of puzzle diagrams for the book. However, he may well have sketched the original designs for the pieces. These, we now know, are shown in array at the start of the book and they are artistically superior to the diagrams which follow in the text, which are unambitiously redrawn copies. The owners suggest that the original design of one key piece, for example, is almost exactly identical to Leonardos design for a fountain in his so-calledAtlantic Codex. Others contend that this type of design could easily be generic.

Finally. There is the alluring possibility that Leonardo himself composed the problem.

Contemporary books about the new chess are exceedingly rare, and the few we do have tended to concentrate on a few puzzles, which subsequent authors simply copied.

However, as Richard Eales says, nothing like this puzzle has so far been found in other publications, or the older manuscripts or printed chess books. Furthermore, the diagrams are stunningly different from anything else of its day. The possibility that Leonardo did compose this puzzle is enticing and by no means impossible.

In the puzzle,as I reconstructed it in the diagram below, it should be noted that Black is in check from the white bishop one4yet both kings are in serious danger and could easily fall prey to a sudden checkmate.

With both sides clinging to a precipice, the fact that White has the initiative conferred by the bishop check annihilates both of Blacks two principal defences.

Solution One:1 Qxe4+ 2 Qxe4+ Ka7 3 Ra3+ Bxa3 4 Qe3+ Rd4+ 5 Qxd4+ Kb7 6 Qd7+ Ka8 7 Qxe8+ Kb7 8 Qb8 checkmate.

Solution Two:1 Rd5 2 Ra3+ Bxa3 3 Bxe5 f1Q+ 4 Kxd5 Nd6 5 Ke6+ Ka7 6 Bd4+ Bc5 7 Bxc5+ Ka6 8 Qb6 checkmate.

At the time, I wrote that only a powerful intelligence could have devised the puzzle and the solution, which would tax the mental powers of most strong players even today and in its complexity and richness could only really be solved easily by a computer. The evidence of a commanding intellect behind this chessboard conundrum is palpable indeed.

Sadly, it now transpires that in my enthusiasm for connecting the puzzle to Da Vinci, I had over complicated the solution by incorrectly identifying the two kings and queens in the original diagram. They should be the other way round, in which case the puzzle (White to play and checkmate) becomes rather banal. I am indebted to Martin Kemp, the great Leonardo expert and prime endorser ofThe Salvator Mundias a genuine Leonardo, for helping to pour a dose of cold-water reality on my desire to link the mystique of Leonardo to this puzzle.

In fact, once the whole book became available it immediately also became clear that the piece one5should be the black king and the piece ona8the black queen.

Similarly the piece onc4should be a white queen and the piece onb1the white king.

Da Vinci perhaps played chess with his friend Pacioli, he may even have sketched the original design for the pieces, but it now seems more than unlikely that the great Renaisssnce man had anything to do with creating the chessboard puzzle.

To read the fascinating storyChess: The History of a Gameby Richard Eales, please see here.

Click here for a lecture on the Pacioli piece design.

For more on Leonardo, please see How to think like Leonardo Da Vinci, a bestseller written by the American Leonardo expert Michael Gelb.

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Leonardo and chess - TheArticle

St Louis in the US has become the unofficial global chess capital due to the billionaire and FT reader Rex Sinquefield, who hosts the annual Sinquefield Cup and other major events. St Louis 2014 was marked by world No2 Fabiano Caruanas brilliant start of seven wins in a row, while Magnus Carlsen, the world champion, has won the Cup twice.

A special moment came in 2017, when the all-time No1 Garry Kasparov made a cameo reappearance to hold his own against the US top trio in an invitation speed contest.

Now there is the womens Cairns Cup, derived from Jeanne Sinquefields maiden name, which is in its second year and can be watched free and live online from 7pm GMT daily until February 17.

The entry includes Chinas reigning world champion Ju Wenjun and Indias world No3 Humpy Koneru, and yet to really take off as a must-watch event it needs to aim still higher. The retired but still legendary Judit Polgar, the current No1 and Oxford student Hou Yifan, and the rising star Aleksandra Goryachkina are the trio who could make the Cairns Cup a historic landmark.

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Mariya Muzychuk v Humpy Koneru, Cairns Cup 2020. White played 1 R4xh5+ gxh5, and the commentator, former US No1 Yasser Seirawan, predicted 2 Rxh5+. Why was the grandmaster wrong, and can you find Whites better and winning choice? Click here for a link to the complete game.

Click here for solution

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Chess: can you find the winning move a former US champion missed? - Financial Times

Norway's Magnus Carlsen has won the last four World Chess Championships and is BetOnline's -300 favorite to win again this year. Photo by: Lennart Ootes (Wiki Commons)

Magnus Carlsen is the king of competitive chess.

People who are awed by the 15-game winning streak of the NBAs Toronto Raptors need to get to know Carlsen. The 29-year-old Norwegian is unbeaten in his last 111 consecutive classical games. Thats a world record.

Carlsen has also won the last four World Chess Championships. The planets elite grandmasters of chess gather next month in Yekaterinburg, Russia for the 2020 edition of this biennial competition.

Carlsen is the overwhelming favorite to make it five titles in a row. BetOnline pegs Carlsen as the prohibitive -300 chalk.

Odds taken Feb. 12

Russias Garry Kasparov and Germanys Emanuel Lasker share the record, each with six consecutive world title wins.

Indias Viswanathan Anand had won five world titles, including the last four, when Carlsen beat him in 2013. He beat Anand again for his second title. Carlsens added two more crowns since.

The Norwegian prodigy is described as the Mozart of chess. Last month, he shattered Sergei Tiviakovs world unbeaten mark of 110 consecutive matches.

One more world title and the value of Carlsens rookie card really figures to soar. Kasparov, probably the most famous chess master of them all, won six straight world championships from 1985-95.

Lasker was a turn of the 20th century star who earned his six successive global chess crowns between 1894-1910.

They are among eight players whove won at least four world chess championships but only five of those players managed to win as many as four in a row.

Top 8 Entertainment Betting Sites

If the NFL operated in the same manner as the World Chess Championship, the Kansas City Chiefs would already be one of the teams in Super Bowl 55.

As defending champion, Carlsen is anointed one of the two available spots in the championship final. Meanwhile, eight other contenders will square off in whats known as the Candidates Tournament.

This is a double-round robin competition. The survivor of this event earns the right to meet Carlsen for the world title.

American Fabiano Caruana is among the eight candidates. He lost the 2018 world championship final match to Carlsen.

Chinas Ding Laren is another potential finalist. He was chess Grand Champion in 2019. Azerbaijans Teimour Radjabov has recorded wins over four world champions, including Kasparov and a 2014 victory against Carlsen.

Every great champion eventually falls. Is this the year Carlsen takes a tumble?

If you arent anxious to play Carlsen at such negative odds, thats understandable. Those seeking a value bet on the World Chess Championship can take advantage of BetOnlines Carlsen vs the field prop wager.

Rather than rolling the dice on which of the eight contenders will emerge victorious from the Candidates Tournament, this wager gives you all eight challengers rolled into one.

Still, its difficult to see anyone winning this other than Carlsen. Hes been at the top of his game for several years. At 29, he hasnt even reached his prime years yet.

Pick: Magnus Carlsen (-300)

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An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.

NFL NBA MLB NHL NCAAF NCAAB Tennis

An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.

Originally posted here:

2020 Chess World Championship Odds - Magnus Carlsen Listed as Heavy Favorite - Sports Betting Dime

Connected rooks on the 7th or 2nd rank are called pigs. This is because they gobble up everything in their path. With this hint in mind, please try to find whites best move.

Whites f2 pawn and square is a pressure point. Blacks pieces target that square and pawn, while whites rook, queen and king defend that square. Black indirectly exploits that pressure by having its queen capture whites g3 pawn with check.

If the whites f2 pawn takes the queen, blacks rook checks from g2 (see next diagram).

This forces the white king to h1. Blacks rook then checks again from h2. The white king steps back to g1, as blacks other rook on c2 mates from g2.

Hence, after the black queen checks from g3, whites king flees to h1. Now blacks queen does a little maneuvering. First, the queen snatches whites h3 pawn with check. The king moves back to g1. The queen checks again from g3, forcing the king to h1 (see next diagram).

The queen next checks from f3. If the king goes back to g1, one of blacks rooks moves to the 4th rank so as to slide over to the g and h files and mate white with blacks queen and rook. If the king retreats to h2, black has simple option of bursting through on the f2 square and winning an overwhelming amount of material. Better, but not as simple it is for black to move its c2 rook to c3. The rook and queen form a mating battery on the 3rd rank, which does allow white to do a spite check with its queen.

The lesson this week is that connected rooks on the 7th or 2nd rank have a bite that is worse than their oink.

Reach Eric Morrow atericmorrowlaw@gmail.comor(505) 327-7121.

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Chess Corner: A bite worse than their oink - Enid News & Eagle

This article originally appeared on VICE Netherlands.

Iepe Rubingh does a final check of the venue to make sure everything is ready. There's a small table inside a boxing ring, with a stool either side of it. The audience has their eyes glued to the doors, waiting for the athletes to emerge. Tonight, they're hoping to witness either a checkmate, a knockout or both we are, after all, at a chess boxing match.

Like korfball and ball shooting (the Dutch word, "klootschieten", is more fun), chess boxing is another unique sport born in the Netherlands. Former performance artist Iepe Rubingh came up with the intriguing combination of brain and fist-fighting, before stepping into the ring himself for the world's very first match, in 2003.

Sixteen years on, Ignition Festival is hosting another match in the same venue, Amsterdam's iconic church-turned-concert hall, Paradiso.

Out in the hallway, Olegs Petrovsky from Latvia is almost ready, rinsing his mouth guard. He'll play a round of chess, followed by a round of boxing. If five rounds of both don't result in either a knockout or a checkmate, a panel of judges will decide on the winner.

"That first time was incredibly nerve-wracking," says Rubingh. "We had no idea how a match would actually play out. Aside from a year of extensive prep work through training, we didn't have much experience with either chess or boxing. The guys fighting today are a thousand times better."

That's probably because the sport has grown by about a thousandfold since that first match. About 3,500 people participate worldwide, with matches organised in Finland, India, Russia and Germany.

Petrovsky pulls up the hood of his robe and steps into the room. Daniil Soloviev, his Russian opponent, also enters the ring, taking his place on one of the stools. According to the announcer, the men will begin by flexing their chess muscles. The athletes wear noise-canceling headphones to increase their focus. They won't hear the announcer's scream of surprise at Solovievs risky moves.

The audience watches the game on a big screen, while the guys smack their pieces onto the board and hit the timer as soon as theyve made their move. The crowd is going wild, but neither player hears a thing.

Kick-boxing legend Rem Bonjasky is seated next to the announcer, waiting to commentate on the boxing segment. "He's super smart," says Rubingh. "If he were an actual chess boxer, he might have been world champion."

The first round of boxing gets underway. You'd think most chess players eschew violence, but in chess boxing it's an essential element of the game players punch each other in the gut and in the jaw. To compete in chess boxing, you need to have at least rudimentary knowledge of both, says Rubingh. "Otherwise, youll be on the ground in 12 seconds flat or checkmated in the first round."

Petrovsky resumes his chess game with a fresh cut to the head. Rubingh explains that he would be feeling exhilarated. "All of your blood flows to your muscles, so you dont have a lot of oxygen in your head. Youre thinking under a lot of pressure it's like being an astronaut or a soldier." With ringing ears and a heart-rate of 160 beats per minute, the guys try to focus on the board in front of them.

The match goes five rounds without a knockout or checkmate. But Solovievs timer goes off during the final chess round the Russian has run out of time, and so Petrovsky wins. The evenings second match is between Denis Gurba (Russia) and Sakari Lhderinne (Finland). The Russian player is out for revenge, after the Finn won their most recent battle.

Chess pieces fly off the board, punches are thrown even faster. Then, toward the end of round three, Gurba has his opponent all but cornered on the chessboard. Just before he can seal the deal, the bell rings, signalling them to step back into the boxing ring.

After a well-placed hit to the jaw, Gurba slumps. He gets a standing eight count, and the roles suddenly seem reversed. But despite wobbling, Gurba somehow stays upright. He makes it to the end of the round and back onto his stool, where he checkmates Lhderinne.

Chess boxing might sound like a joke, but the atmosphere is electric and the athletes are impressive. The punches are also very real my camera got whacked, and I left with a bloody eyebrow to rival Petrovskys.

Scroll down for more pictures of the event at Paradiso, organised by Ignition.

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Chess Boxing Is Equal Parts Brains and Brawn - VICE UK