Plane of the Week and Weekly Newsletter 8/19/2025
PLANES & CHESS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
8/19/2025
Plane of the Week: The Convair Sea Dart
The Convair F2Y Sea Dart was a fascinating seaplane that had a lot of firsts. It was the first seaplane to break the sound barrier, the first delta-winged seaplane, and the first jet fighter to employ hydro-skis. It was also one of the first fighter jets with water-landing capabilities. Its tail was equipped with a water rudder for steering in the ocean, and its engines were mounted high on the body to reduce the amount of water that came in. Engineered by Convair for the US Navy, the Sea Dart initially showed much promise. However, a fatal crash and shifting priorities eventually doomed the project. Nonetheless, it was still fascinating and blazed a trail for many future seaplanes.
Gambit of the Week: The Ryder Gambit
The Ryder Gambit is a highly aggressive gambit that sacrifices two pawns and a queen for a smothered checkmate. It begins with the Blackmar-Deimer Gambit: d4, d5, and e4. Following this, Nc3 and Nf6. f3 offers to trade pawns, and Black will accept with exf3. Now we recapture with the queen, initiating the sacrifice on d4. Black is now at a crossroads. They can either play Qxd4 or Bg4. If Qxd4, play Be3. If they retreat the queen back to d8, threaten with the rook. This gives you a substantial developmental advantage. Now, let's say they play the more common move, Qb4, threatening your B-pawn and pinning the knight. In this case, castle long. With this, your rook controls a file a little close to home for Black. Now, Black will likely play the move Bg4, which skewers the queen to the rook. What now? Well, sacrifice the queen with Nb5, of course! The idea here is if they capture the queen, you have Nc7 checkmate. If they do protect the c7 square with the knight, simply capture on b7 and you have a complicated- but winning - position. Now, if Black did play Bg4 after we sacrificed on d4, we would capture on b7 and after Nd7, launch a deadly attack with Nb5. If Black plays Rb8, we have the killer Nxc7, forcing black to give up the queen. If they play Rc8, we have Bf4, adding pressure to the c7 square. From here, we have strong development and a very strong attack.
News
10-Year Old Becomes Youngest Female to Defeat a GM (8/15/2025): Bodhana Sivanandan of the UK has become the youngest female chess player to defeat a Grandmaster after she defeated Grandmaster Pete Wells in a tournament.
Weekly Chess Riddle
I hold the king, exposed and bare,
A mate in one, hanging in the air.
My pieces dance, a perfect line,
Victory's grasp, completely mine.
But then a flag, a sudden fall,
A cruel silence answers victory's call.
No blunder made, no pawn astray,
Yet all my triumph slips away.
What am I?
Trophies will be awarded to the first correct answer. The answer and explanation will be in the next edition.
Previous Riddle Explanation:
The answer was a stalemate. Member CHESSERJAMA got the correct answer (CHESSERJAMA is great at these!).
Club Happenings
New Member: VaylingSrikaxx is our newest member! Welcome!
Dogfight Chess: Please join the latest Planes & Chess Dogfight Chess Tournament!
Vote Chess: We are playing in numerous vote chess matches against ISM Chess Crew, Baseball Chess Crew, and others. Good luck and play well!
Member Activity
Member CHESSERJAMA is once again the most active member (again). Great job!
Editor’s Note
Hello and welcome to the fifth edition of the Planes & Chess Weekly Newsletter! Since our last tournament’s registration is filled, Planes & Chess is hosting a third tournament. All links have been replaced so that they redirect you to the open registration one. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! Again, if you want to suggest an addition, please DM me and I will consider your input.
