Several chess players have already turned to careers on the political chess board (Nigel Short and Julio Granda only last week!), and at least two more are running for higher office this fall in an attempt to join them.
As has been reported previously on this site, WGM Dana Reizniece-Ozola (who beat GM Hou Yifan at the 2016 Baku Olympiad) has become the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Latvia. Bob Ferguson, a 2200-rated player, is the current Washington State District Attorney...
In the evening of the final round, the closing ceremony of the Batumi Olympiad was held in the Batumi State Musical Center. Here's a pictorial report.
With the winning teams rightly placed in the first rows, the Olympiad's closing ceremony started with a traditional Georgian dance performance. After a video presentation and some brief speeches, the first medals were awarded and then performances and awards followed each other.
Like the opening ceremony, the closing was well received by the audience....
We've had the Candidates and the Olympiad, but the biggest event of 2018 is yet to come. In 32 days, the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana will start in London. Let's start early and provide you with all the information:
When will it be held?
Where will it take place?
Who are playing?
What is the prize fund?
Where can I see the games?
What if I want to visit?
What are the most important regulations?
What about world championship history?
When?
The...
You've learned the main lines of the Trompowsky Attack by now, but what should you do if your opponent plays a new move?
IM Keaton Kiewra explains that you shouldn't fear these miscellaneous lines, since they're not the best ways to handle the opening.
The 1st Chanakya Chess Club Online Blitz Chess Championship was played on chess.com on 7/10/2018. It was an All India tournament where a number of strong players participated. It had a time control of 3+2 blitz. Chess.com India was the Social Media Partner for this tournament.
I am looking forward to more of such tournaments! Know more here: https://www.chess.com/blog/Rakesh/chanakya-chess-clubs-1st-all-india-online-chess-championship
Two GMs participated in this event: RR Laxman (@INDIAN-ELEPHANT)...
China is Olympiad champion once again. Actually, twice again.
Today in Batumi, Georgia, the open section squad won its second team gold medal in the last three Olympiads. The women's team survived a late repetition claim and successfully defended its title from 2016 in Baku. Both sections went to tiebreaks, but China emerged victorious in both after all the results came in.
Note that this report focuses on today's games. A separate, pictorial report on the closing ceremony will be posted here...
I love reading member comments to my articles! It is a pleasure to see how smart and intelligent our chess community is.
Unlike commenters in many internet forums, Chess.com members are polite and helpful. Take for example one of my most recent articles. There I expressed my astonishment that a very strong player and one of the best opening experts of his time, GM Chigorin, played a very bad move: 2...f6.
The readers suggested three possible reasons why he did it:
1. The game was prearranged.
Since...
Poland's amazing run at the 43rd Olympiad was ended today by China, the opponent of the U.S. in a clash for gold in tomorrow's final round. In the women's section, China will defend its sole lead vs Russia.
The world of chess politics changed significantly yesterday, and continued to do so a bit more on the second day of the general assembly. Among the FIDE vice presidents that were appointed was none other than Nigel Short.
The brand new FIDE vice-president @NigelShortchess...
Judit Polgar (@JuditPolgar), unarguably the greatest female player of all time and one of the greatest attacking players of all time, will play 20 fortunate opponents on Chess.com as part of the Global Chess Festival Online. This simultaneous display will take place the day prior to the main Global Chess Festival on .
This year's fourth annual Global Chess Festival will take place all-day Saturday, October 13. The venue is the breathtaking Hungarian National Gallery in Budapest.
Judit Polgar notes...
