It was a 17-hour drive, not counting stops a transportation alternative this summer prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but a destination that very definitively tells the story of who Charlie Weis Jr. has become.

When the ascending 27-year-old coaching prodigy arrived in the town he still calls home, South Bend, from Tampa, health protocols dictated that he couldnt give his 25-year-old sister, Hannah, a hug.

And they had to communicate through a screen door at her residence at Hannah & Friends Neighborhood, a facility that provides housing and programming for adults and children with special needs.

On Saturday, hell be back in the area, walking into Notre Dame Stadium for the first time since November of 2009, days before his father, Charlie Weis Sr., was told by the ND administration that his five-year run as the schools head football coach was over.

And Charlie Jr. will do so as the University of South Floridas offensive coordinator, going up against his fathers successor, 11th-year ND coach Brian Kelly, and his seventh-ranked Irish (2:30 p.m. EDT; USA Network).

Its the younger Weis almost vertical climb in the coaching business, his fathers rep and the images of him as a teenager wearing a headset and flashing signals from the sideline, to the disapproval at the time of many in the Irish fan base, that frame his return.

It was Hannah, though, who helped inspire it.

Above all, Hannah just makes me want to be a better person, Charlie Jr. said Tuesday in a phone interview of his only sibling, who was diagnosed with global developmental delays as a toddler. And she makes me want to be extremely grateful for the life that I have and to be able to do all the things that I can do.

She can only speak so many words. She can only do so many things. But despite all that, whenever I see her, shes got a smile on her face. Shes laughing. Shes having fun. She always says she loves you.

And man, if you can be a happy person and a person whos extremely loving with all the adversity and all the things that shes been through, it makes me want to seize every moment of my life that I can.

Charlie Weis Jr. seized coaching.

The Weis family Hannah, Charlie Jr., Charlie and Maura walk the grounds of the site for Hannah & Friends Neighborhood at a 2007 groundbreaking ceremony.

Against the advice of his father. Against the forbidding of his mom, Maura, whom he nevertheless calls his best friend. And despite the boos and the insults, cyber and direct, that pocked Charlie Sr.s final three years at ND after consecutive BCS Bowl appearances in 2005-06.

The ugliness seemed to crest at Charlie Jr.s most recent trip to Notre Dame Stadium, a 33-30 double-overtime loss to UConn on Senior Day 2009 engineered by Huskies starting quarterback Zach Frazer, a player Charlie Sr. had run off a couple of years prior.

It was obviously a hard night, losing to UConn, not fun, Charlie Jr. said. You kind of know how things go and where things were heading, kind of preparing yourself for all of that.

So I just honestly remember after the game going home and being with my dad. And I thought he did a good job, in a very difficult time for him, of teaching me to keep my head up and to look forward and not worry about things.

I learned a lot that day. But of all the things I learned, thats what I remember most.

The elder Weis landed an offensive coordinator gig with the Kansas City Chiefs shortly thereafter, and the move had an unintended profound effect on the trajectory of Charlie Jr.s professional and personal life.

As much as he loved Saint Joseph High School, where he played baseball, he felt like he could make a fresh start at St. Pius X High in Kansas City, Mo. He shed 60 pounds in the offseason and went out for football for the first time, making the team as a wide receiver.

I didnt know at the time how much that it would help my coaching someday, he said. Playing the receiver position, getting a feel for it and seeing it through that lens I think was really important. As a coordinator, you have to develop the pass game and see a lot of that stuff.

So having at least some familiarity with playing the position definitely helps. And I definitely got some good coaching there, good experiences. And then just bonding with the players and being part of a team as a player was another important thing to experience.

Charlie Weis Jr. (left) is in his first season as offensive coordinator for the University of South Florida football team, which visits Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday.

Away from football, his school locker was located next to the woman who Charlie Jr., would eventually marry, Jennifer, a former figure skater who knew almost nothing about football at the time.

She didnt know who I was or who my dad was, and that was actually a good thing, he said. Id talk to her and see her every day. By the end of the year we were dating. We stayed together through college and everything.

God works in mysterious ways. Youd think my dad getting fired was the worst thing in the world. You love South Bend. You love St. Joe High School and wanted to graduate from there. Well I ended up leaving there, moving to Kansas City for my senior year, and so the high school I picked was the one where my (future) wife was.

Oh, and now she pays attention to football, but I think its mainly because of (Chiefs QB) Patrick Mahomes.

Charlie Jr. perhaps first showed signs of coaching chops and definitely audacity in the moments after Charlie Sr.s first game as NDs head coach. Standing on the sideline after Notre Dames shocking 42-21 pummeling of heavily favored and 23rd-ranked Pitt on the road in the 2005 season opener, 12-year-old Charlie Jr. leaned into his dads question about what he thought about the game and uttered, Nice game. Sloppy second half, though, huh?

Father and son still remember that exchange like it was yesterday. And they both too vividly recall moving into former Irish head coach Bob Davies house before building their own.

With a full-sized functional baseball field in the backyard.

As much as I loved playing baseball, coaching football was always my true passion, Charlie Jr. said. Those relationships that my dad has with guys like Kyle Rudolph, Jimmy Clausen, Kyle McCarthy and Golden Tate still today to me made it so cool and made it something that I wanted to do and that I wanted to have.

Charlie Weis Jr. (left) was a fixture on the Irish sidelines during father Charlie Sr.s five-year run as Notre Dames head football coach (2005-09).

And to be a positive influence on young peoples lives and help them grow and help them be the best versions of themselves, not just as players, but as people.

It was his own connection to those players that kept Charlie Jr. following Notre Dame football under Kelly, at least initially.

I feel like hes done a tremendous job at Notre Dame throughout the years, Charlie Jr. said of Kelly.

The two, though, have never crossed paths. Nor has Charlie Jr. and NDs 28-year-old offensive coordinator, Tommy Rees.

That is not since Rees was a 17-year-old high school senior quarterback that Charlie Sr. was recruiting. Oregon showed an interest in both Charlie Jr. and Rees this offseason. Rees interviewed for the offensive coordinator job there that ultimately went to Joe Moorhead.

Charlie Jr. had a chance to do the same, but stuck with the job he landed two days before Christmas as Jeff Scotts offensive coordinator at USF.

Charlie Jr.s previous two seasons were spent coordinating and revving up the offense at Florida Atlantic for Lane Kiffin. His coaching journey also includes stops with Florida and Kansas with his dad at Alabama under Nick Saban, and with pro teams Atlanta and New England.

Not always were the responsibilities glamorous or well-defined, but Charlie Jr. always found a way to make the most of those.

Driving from Tampa to South Bend and back this summer gave him plenty of time to dream, especially about where all this could be headed.

Instead, he thought about his sisters smile and enjoying a promising present.

Im just extremely grateful to be where Im at, at this point in time in my career, he said. Every day Im thankful that Im the OC at South Florida and get to work with a bunch of really good people and coach a bunch of good players here.

I havent really put too much thought into the future. I really just truly am excited to be at USF and to have the moments that I think are possible here. And every day I learn something. Thats how I dream.

See the rest here:
At the heart of the matter, sister inspires Charlie Weis Jr.'s coaching climb - Notre Dame Insider

From podcasters to bloggers and speakers, these influential figures are helping school leaders, IT decision-makers and educators navigate todays uncertain educational landscape.

Theres no denying that 2020 has been a challenging year for teachers, administrators, students and their families. The coronavirus pandemic threw several curveballs at our nations schools and education systems, pushing many educators to teach and work together remotely for the first time.

Despite the hardships this year has brought on, educators were quick to adapt. They worked tirelessly to continue learning for millions of children online without forgoing authentic relationships and community. They embraced the power of technology and learned to use digital tools from collaboration platforms to the cloud in ways that support inclusive, innovative and secure learning experiences for their students.

But its clear that theres still a lot for educators to learn, especially as they likely will rely heavily on technology beyond this school year. To stay agile in a rapidly evolving world, schools and districts will need to be on top of the latest ed tech trends and offerings, even more than they were before the pandemic.

To help,EdTechhas compiled a list of influencers who are using social and digital media to inform, engage and even entertain those in the education space. Below are 30 of the savviest K12 IT leaders, bloggers, podcasters and social media personalities you should be following right now. If you're on the list, spread the news and don't forget to grab our influencer images for your social media pages or websites.

Adam Juarez is a technology integration coach for grades six to 12 at Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified School District in California. He leads teachers in implementing technology in their lessons through one-on-one coaching, demonstrations and professional development. Through his website, podcast and Twitter account, Juarez shares step-by-step advice on using various tools, from Zoom to Google apps.

Adam Phyall is the director of technology and media services at Newton County School System in Covington, Ga. He is also a former high school science teacher. On his social media accounts, website and podcast, Phyall shares tech-focused presentation slides and other insights and tips on educational technology.

Andrew Arevalo is a fourth grade teacher and esports director for McCabe Union Elementary School District in El Centro, Calif. Arevalo, also known by the handle Gameboydrew, discusses topics of blended learning, the power of play and human-centered design on his website and his Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Amelia Vance oversees theStudent Privacy Compasswebsite (formerly FERPA|Sherpa) and reviews applicants to the Student Privacy Pledge. She advises policymakers, academics, companies, school districts and states on child and student privacy law and best practices information she also shares on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Ari Flewelling is a K12 education strategist for CDWG. She specializes in pedagogy-first technology integration to enhance practice and student achievement. Throughout her work, she ensures technology is implemented equitably to provide all students access and opportunity.

Carla Jefferson co-hosts a podcast about educational technology in the Darlington County (S.C.) School District, where she is an instructional technology coordinator. She also is the director of the Darlington County Virtual Academy.

Christopher Bugaj is an inclusive design facilitator, an author and a founding member of the assistive technology team for Loudoun County (Va.) Public Schools. He co-hosts the Talking With Tech podcast, which focuses on augmentative and alternative communication. On social media, Bugaj shares information and advice about making educational experiences accessible to all students. He and his wife have also teamed up to createNight Light Stories, a podcast of original stories for children.

David Chan is the instructional technology director at Evanston Township High School in Illinois and the project lead of his districts one-to-one digital learning initiative. Hes also a Google for Education certified innovator and trainer and regularly presents at educational technology conferences. Follow him on Twitter to stay in the know on all the latest ed tech trends especially for Googles products.

Superintendent David Miyashiro led Cajon Valley Union School Districts seamless transition to the digital age. His Twitter account and the California districts YouTube channel show examples of educators using educational technology in creative ways.

Desiree Alexander, an award-winning educator with multiple degrees, is the founder and CEO of Educator Alexander Consulting. Shes also the North Louisiana regional director for the Associated Professional Educators of Louisiana. Through her blog, social media and YouTube channel, Alexander shares ed tech tips to empower educators.

Esther Park is a high school teacher of English for Speakers of Other Languages who is passionate about integrating technology to provide equitable access to quality instruction for all learners. Through her social media accounts and YouTube channel, she shares instructional resources and tech tutorials to empower educators and students to become global citizens.

Gregory Bagby is the coordinator of instructional technology for Hamilton County (Tenn.) Schools and a professional learning specialist for theNorthwest Council for Computer Education. Bagby, a former principal, discusses educational technology on social media accounts and co-moderates #EdTechChat and #TnEdChat on Twitter.

Jake Miller is a technology integration specialist for Orange City School District in Ohio. His podcast focuses on how educators can use technology to meet their goals, address learning standards and solve problems in the classroom. He also posts helpful how-to videos on his YouTube channel.

Jennifer Williams is a professor at Saint Leo University in Florida, co-founder ofTeachSDGsandTake Action Globaland the president of ISTEs Education Leaders Professional Learning Network. As an educator and author of the ISTE book,Teach Boldly: Using Edtech for Social Good,she champions teachers to use educational technology for the benefit of people and the planet. Connect with her on social media to get a daily dose of ed tech inspiration.

A rising star in STEM education and advocacy, Justin Shaifer is a popular-science communicator with a talent for understanding and inspiring Generation Z students. He founded Fascinate, a nonprofit that partners with organizations such as Microsoft and Google to get under-represented students excited about STEM careers. Hes also known forThe Magic Cool Busand his TEDx talk,How to Speak Generation Z,and he is the host ofEscapeLab, a live science show on Twitch. He also creates animatedYouTube videosthat demystify STEM concepts for urban students.

After working as an educator for over 20 years, Ken Shelton is now a professional keynote speaker and educational technology strategist. Through his social media and The Liberated Educator podcast, Shelton engages educators in learning about digital equity, anti-bias/anti-racism, multimedia literacy, instructional design and more.

Kristina Ishmael is an educator, learner, advocate and agent of change. Currently, she is the director of primary and secondary education at the nonprofit Open Education Global. Through her work and social media accounts, Kristina shares best practices for creating inclusive and representative digital learning resources.

Kyle Pace is the instructional technology director at Lees Summit R-7 School District in Missouri. He is also the founder of EdCamp KC, an unconference for educators.

With his blog and Twitter account, veteran educator Matt Hiefield spotlights issues related to digital equity and homework, and the solutions to consider.

Matthew Lynch, a writer, activist and former university dean, uses his online publication, The Tech Edvocate, to share the latest ed tech news in the P20 education sector. He also has a podcast called The Edvocate, which is dedicated to conversations about equity, reform and innovation in education.

Melissa Lim is a technology integration specialist for Portland Public Schools in Oregon. She works collaboratively with her school community in both leadership and classroom settings to support professional learning and the integration of technology and curriculum in her district. Shes also the co-founder ofEdcampPDXand co-organizes events such asEdTech Women Portland. She shares tips for how educators can reimagine education with technology through her social media and website.

When shes not working as a technology specialist for Ladue School District in St. Louis, Mo., Patricia Brown, aka Ms. EdTechie, helps educators create meaningful tech interactions and address the digital divide by sharing practical techniques through her blog, social media and speaking engagements.

Randy Ziegenfuss is superintendent of the Salisbury Township School District in Pennsylvania. In his blog posts and podcasts, Ziegenfuss explores how to shift the K12 school system to be more learner centered, learner friendly and responsive to todays ever-changing, technology-rich world.

Shawn Beard, known to his followers as The Techy Coach, is executive director of curriculum at Sand Springs Public Schools in Oklahoma. Through his website and social media accounts, Beard shares tech tips and best practices learned over the years as a teacher, administrator and Google certified trainer.

Sarah-Jane Thomas is a regional tech coordinator at Prince Georges County Public Schools and affiliate faculty at Loyola University in Maryland. She is the founder of EduMatch, a project that empowers educators to make global connections across common areas of interest. She also is a co-author of the ISTE book series on digital equity strategies, Closing the Gap.

Sheldon Eakins, director of special education at Shoshone-Bannock School District in Fort Hall, Idaho, has a passion for helping educators accomplish equitable practices in their schools. Hes the founder of theLeading Equity Centerand host of the Leading Equity Podcast, which features interviews and stories from voices of equity in education today. Listeners can learn strategies to ensure all students have access to what they need to be successful including technology.

Sonal Patel is a digital learning innovation coordinator for San Bernardino County (Calif.) Superintendent of Schools. She provides professional learning opportunities to increase teacher capacity in blended learning pedagogy and supports teachers and administrators in several areas, such as digital citizenship and using Google and Microsoft tools for education. She uses her blog and social media to share innovative ed tech tips and collaborate with other professionals in her field.

Sophia Mendoza is director of the Instructional Technology Initiative for the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nations second-largest school district. Through this role, she oversees the implementation of computer science education and digital citizenship programs across LAUSDs 1,300 schools. Her work has been recognized by the Center for Digital Education, the Learning Counsel and other educational organizations, including as CoSN and ISTE. Follow her to learn more about how to expand instructional technology opportunities for all students.

Vernon Wright is an entrepreneur, speaker, life coach and consultant. He has more than 15 years of experience in education working in large, urban school districts, and has worked as a teacher, teacher leader, campus leadership team member and in district-level support. He uses a combination of insight, storytelling, experience and humor to reach audiences around the world through social media and the Global EdTech Academy sponsored by Microsoft EDU and CUE.

If youd like to check out the Must-Read IT Blogs from previous years, view our lists from 2019,2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015.

Image by Amira Martin

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30 K12 IT Influencers Worth a Follow in 2020 - EdTech Magazine: Focus on Higher Education

In the game between chess and artificial intelligence, Google DeepMind's researchers have made yet another move, this time teaming up with ex-chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik to design and trial new AI-infused variants of the game.

With the objective of improving the design of balanced sets of game rules, the research team set out to discover the best tweaks they could possibly give to the centuries-old board game, in an ambitious effort to refresh chess dynamics thanks to AI.

The scientists used AlphaZero, an adaptive learning system that can teach itself new rules from scratch and achieve superhuman levels of play, to test the outcomes of nine different chess variants that they pre-defined with Kramnik's help.

SEE: Managing AI and ML in the enterprise 2020: Tech leaders increase project development and implementation (TechRepublic Premium)

For each variant, AlphaZero played tens of thousands of games against itself, analyzing every possible move for any given chessboard condition, and generating new strategies and gameplay patterns. Kramnik and the researchers then assessed what games between human players might look like if these variants were adopted, to find out whether different sets of rules might improve the game.

Chess has evolved significantly over the centuries, with new variants coming in to improve perceived issues with the classical game, or to introduce new complications in the competition. Changing the rules can have a huge impact on game strategy, playability and dynamics but historically, understanding the consequences of implementing a particular chess variant has only been possible over time, by observing enough human players.

"Training an AlphaZero model under these rules changes helped us effectively simulate decades of human play in a matter of hours," said DeepMind's researchers, "and answer the 'what if' question: what the play would potentially look like under developed theory in each chess variant."

Some of the alterations tested by AlphaZero included the ability for a player to capture their own pieces, for example, or for pawns to move backwards by one square. "No-castling" disallowed castling throughout the game, while another variant equaled forcing a stalemate with a win, rather than a draw.

The AI system played each variant in 10,000 games at one second per move, and another 1,000 with one minute per move. To determine as objectively as possible how the changes impacted the games' quality, the scientists looked at a number of factors; one of them, which has frustrated chess players since time immemorial, was the proportion of draws observed.

Overall, most variants increased the amount of potentially decisive results, with some rules such as "stalemate = win" understandably driving the improvement. The researchers also found that time controls impacted game decisiveness: games at one second per move were much less likely to end in a draw than those with one minute per move.

Games at one second per move were much less likely to end in a draw than those with one minute per move.

The results also showed that, in a large percentage of games, AlphaZero actively used the additional moves at its disposal thanks to the new rules, rather than sticking strictly to classical moves. "This suggests that the new options are indeed useful, and contribute to the game," said the researchers.

On top of the statistical analysis of AlphaZero's new gameplay, DeepMind's team asked Kramnik to answer more subjective questions about the positions, moves and patterns that emerged as a result of the variants. The player's input, in principle, should reflect which rules might get traction within the traditional chess community.

The Russian grandmaster has for a long time been an advocate of the no-castling variant, and confirmed that the rule is potentially exciting, because it encourages aggressive play by increasing the vulnerability of both players' kings. On the other hand, Kramnik found that the "stalemate = win" variant seems to have a minor overall effect on the game.

SEE: Explainable AI: From the peak of inflated expectations to the pitfalls of interpreting machine learning models

International master Danny Rensch, chief chess officer at chess website Chess.com, also reviewed DeepMind's findings in a video. He described the "stalemate = win" rule, on the contrary, as the one most likely to significantly change gameplay in the chess community.

"You can't fix the draw in chess unless you really eliminate stalemate," said Rensch. "I strongly believe stalemate equaling a win might not only help grow the game to beginner players but actually could make an impact in terms of decisive results we saw."

Ultimately, as useful as AlphaZero's insights can be, it is impossible to predict which rules of chess will stick, if any. The only way to find out will be to observe how human players adopt, change or abandon different variants: who knows, it might be the right time to re-open that long-forgotten chess app.

More:

DeepMind's AI is helping to re-write the rules of chess - ZDNet

The number of chess moves made in the history of the royal game is incalculable. Data taken from the study of the 2015 MegaBase (a database that contains over 4.5 million games) indicates that the average number of moves per game is roughly 38. In this one database alone are over 170 million moves.

There are many databases of chess games, and most of these are solely for tournament playso they inherently and purposefully do not include the overwhelming majority of online games, much less friendly or casual games.So, how do you select the 10 best chess moves of all time?

We began in a similar fashion to how a player selects a chess move: The Chess.com staff created a long list of candidate moves. Our original list was created by scouring books, articles, and multiple expert lists. We added moves from newer games, and we researched the overlaps. Next we started cutting down the long listagain and again. Eventually, we created a strong list of candidate moves, and then the Chess.com Content team voted.

Here are the resultsthe 10 best chess moves of all time:

Coming in at number 10 is the move voted as the best of all time by ChessKid's Chief Chess Officer, FM Mike Klein (a.k.a. FunMasterMike). In the 1964 USSR Championship, GM Ratmir Kholmov had a tough-looking position against the legendary GMDavid Bronstein. Even Stockfish does not see a move that gives White the advantage after Bronstein's 17...Qe7:

With the knight on c3 attacked and Black one move away from consolidation with 18...Bb7, Kholmov needed to find something quickly. Luckily for the chess world, he found an amazing combination!

The first endgame position on this list is seen in the game between Martin Ortueta Estaban and Jose Sanz Aguado played at Madrid in 1933. Black is winning in the following position, but the path forward is unclear. Black's bishop is a tall pawn, at the moment, and Black's pawn structure is more than shattered.

In this position, Sanz uncorked an amazing rook sacrifice with 31...Rxb2!! It takes Stockfish extra time to realize that this amazing move is completely winning for Blackthe passed pawns on the c-file cannot be stopped!

IM Edward Lasker (a five-time U.S. Open Champion and friend/distant relative of former world champion Emanuel Lasker) played a famous game against George Alan Thomas in London in 1912. The legendary king hunt begins after Thomas' blunder with 10...Qe7:

Lasker has a lead in development, his minor pieces dominate the center, and Black's kingside has been weakened. In this position, Lasker found a wonderful queen sacrifice that forces checkmate in seven moves.

This bishop endgame is unique on this list as it is the only studythe position is not from a game played by two players but was composed by a problemist. According to the Harold van der Heijden Endgame Study Database IV, this study was composed by P. Heuacker in 1930 and published in Neue Freie Presse #44.

So, how did this 90-year-old study make the list for the 10 best moves of all time? Let's take a look.

At first glance, this looks like a boring and dead-equal bishop ending. It feels like Black can just move their e-pawn and forever control the queening square for White's h-pawn with their dark-squared bishop on d4. If you show this position to Stockfish, it initially agrees and shows an evaluation of all zeros (0.00).

However, it is really White to move and win. The first move isn't terribly difficult to find, but it is the fourth move that blows my mind.

A truly beautiful endgame idea that displays that there is life in even the dullest-looking positions. The simultaneous simplicity and complexity make this my favorite studyI consider it icing on the cake that it still confuses powerful engines.

Bura had the white pieces against Paric in their game played in Yugoslavia in 1982. Bura was down two pawns, and his queen and rook were both hanging:

Trading queens with 1.Rxa1 Nxd4 looks unpleasant, but what else is there? Bura shows us!

It is rare that a desperado queen sacrifice occurs on an empty squareit is even rarer when it wins!

Kicking off the top five we have a favorite move of Chess.com's Chief Chess Officer, IM Danny Rensch. In the 1949 USSR Championships, GM Efim Geller had Black against GM Salo Flohr, and they reached the following rook and pawn endgame:

Geller is up a pawn, but his rook is attacked. If he allows White to take the e5-pawn with check, then his extra pawn on a4 could fall. What spectacular move did Geller play?

GM Evgeny Vladimirov, a world-class player at his peak, was on GM Garry Kasparov's team in the 1986 world championship match against GM Anatoly Karpov. However, he should be best known for the move he played against GM Vladimir Epishin in 1987, which reached the following position after Epishin's 25.Qxb3:

Recapturing the queen seems more than logical and would be the likely move by more than 99.99999% of chess players. Stockfish gives 26.cxb3 as roughly equal, while 26.axb3 gives a nice advantage to White. However, Vladimirov had other plans, and he found the only move that wins on the spot.

It takes a lot more than guts and calculations to find and play a move like 26.Bh6!! It requires creativity and vision beyond a measurable scope. Moves like this one are why some people play chess.

Frank Marshall was known for his brilliant attacks and tactics, and the move he played in this game is definitely the best move he ever played. Marshall had Black against Stefan Levitsky at the 1912 Breslau tournament, and the following position was reached after Levitsky's 23.Rc5:

Black is winning and has several moves that can maintain the advantagebut one move is outstanding in this position for Black. Can you find it?

Marshall's 23...Qg3!! is one of those moves that gets burned into people's memories quickly. To put a queen on a square where it can be captured so many times and still win so emphatically is unforgettable.

At the number-two spot, we have the first of two unanimous picksthat's right, the entire Chess.com Content team picked this incredible move. Meier was White against Muller in 1994 and achieved the following winning position:

Many moves keep White's advantage here, and more than one increases the advantage. However, the move played in the game is by far the most spectacular. Can you find it?

This move looks like an upgraded version of Marshall's legendary move for a few reasons:

The top move on the list will come as little surprise to those who have followed chess for a long time or have seen this move beforeit is widely accepted as the single best move of all time.

This move was the second unanimous vote by the Chess.com Content team and was voted as the best move by several Chess.com content team members, including Chess.com's Director of News, Peter Doggers; Chess.com's Curriculum Director, NM Jeremy Kane; and Director of Chess.com India, IM Rakesh Kulkarni.

Those who haven't seen this move before may be surprised that the sacrifice comes in an endgame, as GM Alexei Shirov is known as one of the greatest attacking players of all time. Although GMs Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana are ranked numbers one and two in the world (as of September 2020), Shirov still has the best move of all time.

Shirov produced his brilliancy as Black against GM Veselin Topalov at Linares in 1998, and the following opposite-colored bishop endgame was reached after Topalov's 47.Kg1:

Opposite-colored bishop endgames are known to be notoriously drawish. Despite being up two pawns, Black's path to victory is not clear. If White can get their king to the center (to e3 or d4), there will be no way through.What makes this move even more amazing is that Shirov finds the only way to actually win this position.

The move Shirov played is still not considered by Stockfish, which makes it that much more deliciousOK, that's enough buttering you up. Here is Shirov's mind-bending move with annotations by GM Daniel Naroditsky:

So there you have itChess.com's top-10 best moves of all time. I hope you enjoyed taking a look at these remarkable moves. In the comments, let us know your favorite of these moves or another one if not mentioned in this list.

Link:

The 10 Best Chess Moves Of All Time - Chess.com

As a global pandemic continues to determine a new normal, tens of thousands of viewers have been tuning in to watch people play chess on a livestreaming website called Twitch.tv. An American chess grandmaster, Hikaru Nakamura, along with a number of celebrities of the video game world, is leading a renaissance in the ancient game.

While viewers eagerly await Nakamuras streams to begin, they are treated to a slideshow of memes involving Nakamuras face superimposed into scenes from pop culture. First, a reference to a well-known Japanese animation, next a famous upside-down kiss with Spiderman and finally, Nakamuras characteristic grin is edited onto the Mona Lisa herself.

From Aug. 21 to Sept. 6, Twitch and Chess.com are hosting a tournament, called Pogchamps, where some of the most popular gaming streamers in the world compete in a chess tournament with US$50,000 on the line.

The current renaissance in chess is happening at the confluence of livestreaming technology, video game culture, and one grandmasters exceptional skills as both a chess player and an entertainer. What is emerging is an unexpectedly good pairing between chess and a digital generation that is showing how influential gamers can be.

The game of kings is more popular than ever, with over 605 million players worldwide, and now, memes are involved.

Twitch.tv is a streaming website where millions of people watch content ranging from video games to conversation to chess. AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File

Twitch.tv is a live-video streaming website that was started in 2011 as a platform for users to watch other people play video games. In recent years, Twitch has grown to become the cultural hub of the gaming community. It now hosts tens of thousands of creators who broadcast live to a global audience of around 17.5 million viewers a day.

Since 2015, chess viewership has experienced exponential growth on Twitch. Then, a mere 59 people were watching chess streams at any given time. Today, that number averages 4,313. At the time of writing this, viewers have consumed close to 38 million hours of chess in 2020 alone.

[Read: These tech trends defined 2020 so far, according to 5 founders]

At the helm of this explosion is Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura. Nakamura is a five-time U.S. chess champion and a top 10 ranked chess player in the world.

In addition to his traditional competitive career, in 2015, Nakamura began streaming chess on Twitch. At first, he was relatively unnoticed, but in 2019, when he started dedicating upwards of 30 hours per week to streaming, Nakamura became known as GMHikaru to his growing fanbase online. In 2020, those fans have already watched an astonishing 9.95 million hours of Nakamuras channel. At times, over 45,000 viewers have watched a single game.

Why is this flood of interest in chess happening now?

Hikaru Nakamura is a top-ranked grandmaster and, more recently, one of the most popular streamers on Twitch. Andreas Kontokanis via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Nakamura is a great player and a jovial person, but there are many thousands of modern, high-production video games being played by charismatic and skilled streamers on Twitch. Viewers on Twitch have discovered a profound interest in learning the fundamental mechanics of a board game from the sixth century.

Nakamura has attracted the interest of other massively popular streamers with millions of followers xQc, forsen, Nymm and the late Reckful, to name a few. These collaborations with celebrities of the gaming world have been a huge boost to chesss popularity as Nakamura plays games against these streamers while blindfolded or foregoing the use of the queen. These games illustrate for the new fans and top streamers the skills, cunning, and joy that are rapidly coming to be associated with chess. Hikaru is literally the discipline in action, comments Devin Nash, a popular Twitch analyst.

This popularity culminated in a chess tournament called Pogchamps. In June, 16 of Twitchs top streamers played in a round robin chess tournament after being coached by a number of world-class chess players, including Nakamura. The event was so popular with both the streamers and fans at one point more than 150,000 people were watching that a second Pogchamps was immediately scheduled. The second tournament is running through September 6 and features streamers like xQc and even Hafthor Julius Bjornsson the actor who played The Mountain in Game of Thrones.

There are a few pieces involved in this world of online chess: the streaming technology of Twitch, Nakamura, the online gaming community, and the game of chess itself. Just as in the board game, no single piece in this evolving landscape of chess is alone driving the popularity. As Nakamura, gamers and the chess world collide, each piece is changing the others.

My research focuses on understanding the economic and cultural significance of video game communities. This year has proven what many who study video games have long claimed: that online gaming is significant far beyond the confines of video games. Today, music artists are shaking the foundations of their industry by migrating onto Twitch to great success. Doctors and medical researchers as well are strengthening their ties with gaming and gamers: for instance, raising $3.1 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation in collaboration with Twitch in early 2020.

Beyond these headlines, I focus specifically on how streamers like Nakamura create micro-communities with their own cultural norms and spheres of influence. The strong human connections that develop in these spaces extend beyond the digital world. In the case of Nakamura and chess, the results are new ways of playing chess, a new meme-filled language surrounding chess and, as gamers continue to watch chess in huge numbers, an illustration of how gamers connect with each other and parts of the offline world in meaningful ways.

Twitch culture is irreverent, young and technocentric, a far cry from the august image of chess. Frederic J. Brown/Stringer/AFP via Getty Images

But not everyone is accepting of this cultural shift. Twitch viewers are mostly males in their early 20s and are, in general, a notoriously irreverent bunch. This is partly how they gain the reputation as disillusioned and dysfunctional.

As chess has grown in this community, an established elite guided by a few longtime chess players and commentators see the trend as detrimental to a once noble contest.

Ben Finegold, a prominent U.S. grandmaster, refers to the streamers with whom Nakamura has collaborated as negative talent. Unlike a normal person who has talent in chess, says Finegold, users on Twitch ought to be ignored lest they diminish the good name of a traditional chess community.

Some at the head of traditional chess, however, disagree. David Llada, the chief marketing and communications officer for the International Chess Federation, acknowledges the damage of insular thinking: Our main sin is that chess people tend not to think outside the chess board. They dont pay enough attention to the world around them.

Whatever the old guard of chess believes, this ancient game has found a new, passionate, and receptive audience. A digital generation on Twitch has built bridges between worlds not only for chess but for the musical and medical worlds as well. The memes are here to stay. What is next for online gaming and the game of kings remains to be seen, but neither will likely be the same.

This article is republished from The Conversation by Ilya Brookwell, Assistant Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, University of California, Riverside under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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The classic game of chess has found a new home: Twitch - The Next Web

John Leguizamo directed and stars in the how-to-play-chess tutorial Critical Thinking.

1988, Id watch national champions play at Washington Square Park. The intellectual hustle looked badass exciting. I got hooked but, an amateur dilettante, I could never beat them. Not that good. I can survive the first three to five moves then forget it. Id go to try and take their money, but all I could get were the moves. However, what I learned was how to play chess.

The winter of 2018, this shoot took just 20 days and cost $3 million to make. I was teaching real tough mostly black and Latino kids in a rough neighborhood near the bridge in Miami. And they got good enough to enter a national championship.

Yeah, but why? Maybe 11 humans care about a knight jumping a rook. Tweezing your chin has more action.

Look, this is the game as youd never seen it before. Impossible to show chess on camera. Its all mental. But we taught them to play. Taught them the strategies. In 98, I played with five guys. I created exact moves. Now, making the pieces king, queen, bishop lifesize Ive made the game accessible.

To catch a rook being rooked, the film on demand is getting raves.

To see other moves, try Pieces of a Woman. Its about a Boston couple who give birth at home. It stars Shia LaBeouf, Ellen Burstyn, Vanessa Kirby and premieres at the Venice Film Festival then Toronto. Martin Scorsese liked it enough to ask to add his name, be made executive producer, and he says: I was emotionally invested in it from the first scene Its a privilege to help it find the wide audience it deserves.

Whiffs of post-coronavirus health are returning to Hollywood. Baz Luhrmanns Elvis resumed production in Australia. It closed March 19 when Tom Hanks was diagnosed with the virus. He plays Elvis manager the Colonel Wheel of Fortune spun back. A redesigned platform allows 6 feet of space around Pat Sajak. Each contestants own device fits into the wheel, so now they spin the thing without touching it Doug Liman, who says hell direct Tom Cruise in outer space (?*%%$#!), has another earthly project. A pandemic romantic, comedic heist thing with Anne Hathaway. Lockdown. Taking place on this planet.

Real estate yentas say no home/condo/shack/BnB/share/estate can again have a master bedroom. Master conjures slavery. So what Augustas golf tournament calls itself next spring, who knows? Henceforth even a bum sponging on a friends share in Rockaway that mattress will now be called owners bedroom Yesterday, I did my manicure. Today, I do my pedicure. Tomorrow, the white hairs back to brown. Primping in this pandemics making me anorexic.

Stop knocking de Blasio. You cant move him, dump him, replace or sideswipe him. A president you can impeach. A San Franciscan serpent for whom nobody voted, yet has delusions of adequacy can shut a hardworking hairdressers salon. But only the governor can zap the mayor. Cuomo knows it. Its been suggested to him. He wont do it. If you have nothing else on your mind, figure out why.

Nannies are taking their charges to play Hide and go shop.

Only in New York, kids, only in New York.

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John Leguizamo on bringing the 'intellectual hustle' of chess to life - Page Six

The first time legendary World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov and current World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen faced off was in the Reykjavik Rapid tournament in 2004. Kasparov was only a year away from retirement, while his fresh-faced opponent was only 13 years old. Sixteen years later, the two heavyweights will face off once again, this time playing online in the upcoming Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX.

Chess960, also known as Fischer Random Chess, is a chess variant invented by 11th World Champion Bobby Fischer. The game uses the same board, pieces and rules of chess except that the pieces on the back rank are randomized following specific rules. The game has become more popular. So much so that the International Chess Federation staged the first official Chess960 World Championship in 2019. The American grandmaster Wesley So won the first title after demolishing Magnus Carlsen with a score of 13.5-2.5 in the finals.

Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX has become a staple on the St. Louis Chess Clubs calendar. The event previously featured a series of matches between top players. However, this edition will be a round robin instead, which means that all 10 players will play each other. The tournament will take place online Sept. 11-13 with a total prize fund of $150,000. The star-studded field will include:

The chess festivities will continue with another well-known chess event, the 2020 St. Louis Raid and Blitz. The St. Louis Rapid and Blitz had been one of the stops of the Grand Chess Tour, but due to the cancellation of the tour as a result of the ongoing pandemic, it will take place as a stand-alone event. The 10 players will be competing online for a $250,000 prize fund in nine rapid games and 18 blitz games over five days of play. The top American grandmasters and crowd favorites grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So, Leinier Dominguez and Jeffery Xiong will be joined by grandmasters Magnus Carlsen, Alexander Grischuk, Levon Aronian, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Pentala Harikrishna.

Chess fans will be particularly delighted with these fields that include both youth and experience, in particular the two young phenoms Alireza Firouzja and Jeffery Xiong. It will be the first time that this Iranian player makes an appearance in a top American event. Firouzja has been garnering fans due to his uncompromising, fearless style of play and is considered to be a future contender to the World Championship title by many. He cemented his status as a top player with his result in the 2019 World Rapid Championship, where he finished second, only a point behind the winner, Carlsen. The 2016 World Junior Champion Jeffery Xiong is a force to be reckoned with as well, as he is coming fresh off the Online Olympiad, where he represented the U.S. team, scoring 10 points in 13 games. He made waves in the 2019 World Cup when he made it all the way to the semifinals, only to lose to the eventual winner, Teimour Radjabov.

Games will start daily at 1 p.m. CDT (GMT-5) Sept. 11-13 for Chess 9LX, followed by the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz from Sept. 15-19 with expert commentary featuring Yasser Seirawan and Maurice Ashley and Jennifer Shahade. Viewers can watch live on uschesschamps.com or on STLChessClubs YouTube and Twitch.tv channels.

Tatev Abrahamyan is a woman grandmaster. She started playing chess at the age of 8. She has competed in five Chess Olympiads, earning a bronze team medal for the United States in her first appearance. Tatev has also competed in multiple U.S. Womens Chess Championship as well as Womens World Chess Championship.

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On Chess: St. Louis Chess Club To Host Two Upcoming Online Chess Tournaments Featuring The World's Top Grandmasters - St. Louis Public Radio

Register for the tournament up to one hour before it begins here

New York, NY, September 3, 2020 CLG, a top-tier North American esports organization, and Chess.com, the world's largest online chess website, have announced a partnership with the first-ever CLG Chess Arena. Starting on Tuesday, September 8 at 2 p.m. Pacific Time (23:00 Central European Time), this event isopen to participants at every level of play, with a prize pool of $2,100. The arena is the first of its kind, as it marks the first time a professional esports organization is hosting a live tournament on Chess.com.

As chess continues to grow in both popularity and accessibility, we believe this is an opportunity to connect further with chess players and those who are fans of the game, said Dan Fleeter, COO of CLG. CLG is consistently looking for ways to innovate and bring communities together and we see this as just one small step towards our foray into the world of Chess.

Prizes will feature both overall and class prizes, giving players of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for cash.

WGM Qiyu "CLG Nemo" Zhou, a content creator and chess player who holds the titles of FIDE Master and Woman Grandmaster, will be hosting the tournament. She won the Canadian Womens Championship in 2016. The tournament will be broadcast live on both Nemo's and CLGs Twitch Channels.

"CLG is an elite esports organization that we are excited to be working with to promote chess to new audiences," said Isaac Steincamp, Chess.com's Director of Strategy. "Promoting the game for both professional and novice players is a priority for Chess.com, and we're happy to be partnering with an organization that values the greater online chess community."

The two-hour long arena will kick off on Tuesday, September 8 at 2 p.m. Pacific Time (23:00 Central European Time) and will be hosted by WGM Qiyu (CLG Nemo) Zhou on the official CLG Twitch Channel. The event will be open to the public from Live Chess, and will feature a 5+0 time control.

Looking to join CLG's official Chess.com club? Make sure to join their club for exclusive cash prize tournaments and updates.

About Counter Logic Gaming CLG is a top tier North American esports organization respected for its championship legacy and passionate fanbase. CLG was founded originally in 2010 as a League of Legends team by George Georgallidis, with the intent of pushing the boundaries of esports and creating a thriving community around it. CLG is now one of the largest esports organizations in the world. CLG fields teams in all leading esports titles: League of Legends, Fortnite, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Apex Legends and Super Smash Bros. In 2017, CLG partnered with the Madison Square Garden Company, allowing CLG to further disrupt and cement its legacy in esports history. CLG has won multiple championships throughout its history, most notable are the LCS Summer 2015 Championship at Madison Square Garden, the LCS Spring 2016 Championship at Mandalay Bay; and the Halo 2016 World Championship in Hollywood, California. More information is available at http://www.clg.gg

About Chess.com Chess.com is the worlds largest chess site, with a community of more than 42 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. More information is available at http://www.chess.com

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Chess.com Teams Up With CLG For First CLG Arena With $2,100 In Prizes - Chess.com

This weekend was a treat for the chess enthusiasts as the team that won India its maiden Chess Olympiad gold celebrated its victory with a special Twitter Chat using the services new conversation settings.

This exclusive Twitter Chat was hosted by the vice-captain Srinath Narayanan and the comic Samay Raina. They engaged in light-hearted conversations with Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, captain Vidit Gujrathi along with the other members of the Indian team including Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, Vantika Agrawal , Nihal Sarin, Divya Deshmukh, Praggnanandhaa and Bhakti Kulkarni. The winning team talked about its Chess Olympiad experience and also shared some tips for budding chess players, on how to prepare for a tournament as big as the Olympiad. The chat also saw the participation of another eminent Indian player, Adhiban Baskaran, and streamer Sagar Shah.

The Indian team created history on August 30 by winning its first-ever gold in the 2020 Online Chess Olympiad. This was the first time FIDE, the international chess federation, was holding the Olympiad in an online format due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The chat started off with some smooth opening moves by Srinath and Samayand quickly progressed to an engaging session of banter between the participants. The chat also saw members of the team sharing their thoughts about some significant developments in the game.

During the chat, Vishwanathan Anand was asked about his views on FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovichs suggestion of staging a Champions Series between India and Russia. In his reply, the Indian chess legend said that he liked the idea and it is on the lines of similar series of matches Russia has played against many other teams, including China.

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The Grandmaster was also asked about his opinion on one of the most interesting new trends in the tabletop game, that of streaming, by Samay, who is an accomplished chess streamer himself. Vishwanathan Anand answered by saying that he was supportive of the development, which would help attract a newer demographic to the game.

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The players sharing their experiences, their favorite moments as well as their journey throughout the tournament in general, were some of the other key highlights of this memorable chat:

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Indian chess team celebrates its Olympiad victory with a special Twitter Chat - WION

In the first match of theJunior Speed Chess Championship sponsored by ChessKid, GM Nihal Sarin (India) defeated GM Andrew Tang (U.S.) 16-8. Tang had entered the tournament by winning the eight-player Knockout Qualifier tournament on Wednesday.

The first match of this year's junior championship was between the top seed and the 16th seed. However, with Tang's reputation of being one of the strongest bullet players on the planet, it wasn't fully clear to what extent Nihal was the favorite in this match.

According to Chess.com odds calculations, this was the case, and the Indian youngster delivered.

Nihal (@nihalsarin) won the five-minute portion 4.5-3.5 and the three-minute 5.5-2.5. But that was before the bullet, right? Well, also there Nihal was the stronger player as he crushed Tang (@penguingm1) 6-2. A stunningly big win for the Indian grandmaster.

Game eight, the last one with a five-minute time control, was one of the best of the match. Nihal was up a queen against rook and two pawns, and Tang's position looked like a fortress (but it wasn't). With both players playing their last 60 moves or so with just seconds on the clock, Nihal managed to convert in the end. Very impressive.

All games

Tang earned $166.67 based on win percentage; Nihal won $500 for the victory plus $333.33 on percentage, totaling $833.33. He moves on to the next round, where he will play the winner of the matchGM Anton Smirnov vs. GM Raunak Sadhwani that is on September 23.

"The match was very close throughout, said Nihal."The five minutes, it was very tough for me. Somehow, Andrew was playing extremely well and very fast. At some point, I was just trying to not get so angry. At some point, it just started going very well for me."

The Indian GM added some more nice words about his opponent: "I knew it was going to be very tough. Andrew is, of course, very fast and strong, and Im a big fan of him!"

Tang responded: "Weve played many games, but... thats flattering!"

The live broadcast of the match.

Remaining matches in the round of 16:

The 2020 Chess.com Junior Speed Chess Championships is sponsored by ChessKid, the world's number-one site for kids to learn and play chess. Sixteen GMs younger than 21 years old play in a knockout format with 90 minutes of 5|1 blitz, 60 minutes of 3|1 blitz, and 30 minutes of 1|1 bullet chess. In this second edition, there's a total prize fund of $25,000 on the line. Find all information here.

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Nihal Beats Tang In Junior Speed Chess Championship - Chess.com