New Features, New Records, And... New Champions?
May's monthly update is here and we're recapping the Candidates Tournament, hooking the world's number one player up to a lie detector, and highlighting some of the chess world's true artists.
Also, a much-requested dashboard for following events, new world records, and an unexpected 17-year-old contender for the world championship crown. It's been a big month.
Here's what this update covers:
Product & Engineering
If you missed the old Chess24 interface when following events, you're in luck.
- The team has worked hard on a new dashboard for our Events page, making it easier to follow along with your favorite tournaments.
- Ever felt like chess bots should be more futuristic and terrifying? The new Chessdiver bots are here for you. Can you help the community reach 100% completion?
- If you visit the Puzzles pages on a web browser, you'll see a new 'stats' button on the menu to the right. Check out your puzzle stats and previously solved puzzles there!
- In April, our puzzle database grew by 3,835, going from 839,749 to 843,584. 🧩
If you are in tech and would like to join our team, we're hiring!
Events
The Candidates Tournament is over, and we have a new contender for the crown.
- A new challenger appears: GM Gukesh Dommaraju will become the youngest-ever person to play for the world championship at only 17 years old, taking on GM Ding Liren.
- Meanwhile, GM Tan Zhongyi won the 2024 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament after leading the entire tournament.
- But that's not all: check out nine things we learned at the 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournament. Whose future is looking bright, and who remains a mystery?
- GM Hikaru Nakamura showed why he's the world's most decorated bullet chess player, returning to the Bullet Brawl arena with a nearly perfect score of 74.5/76.
- Nakamura was also in blazing form during April's Titled Tuesdays, sweeping the final April event by winning both the early and late editions of the contest.
- Coming up: the Champions Chess Tour returns with the 2024 Chess.com Classic. The second leg of the CCT will feature GMs Magnus Carlsen, Alireza Firouzja, Vincent Keymer, and more.
Community
The chess community keeps on doing amazing things.
- Nigerian chess player Tunde Onakoya shattered the Guinness World Record for the longest-ever chess marathon, raising $110,000 for Chess in Slums Africa.
- It was a sibling rivalry in April's Variants Community Series event, as brothers Matfey and Timofey Rogov went head-to-head in an explosive Atomic Chess final!
- Chess.com has partnered with the Charlotte Chess Center, one of the top chess clubs in the United States, combining the best of online chess with in-person events.
- Are you an American football fan? Make sure you join the BlitzChamps Club... There might be some exciting news coming your way soon.
- Last but not least, our official Candidates Prediction Contest winners have been announced! The ultimate winner was @SameshC41, who correctly answered 15/29 questions.
Content
From April Fool's jokes to world champion-level secrets... the truth is revealed.
- We've seen IMs Danny Rensch and Levy Rozman have a wholesome lie-detector session, but now it's time for Carlsen and GM David Howell, who pull no punches! Does Magnus regret walking away from the classical world championship? Let's find out.
- In case you missed it: Chess.com is not changing to a Tinder-style swiping approach, and many of you correctly guessed it was an April Fool's joke. Danny using the word 'rizz' was the first clue that something was up.
- Is chess a form of art or a science? No matter where you stand on the argument, WFM Maria Yugina's beautiful chess paintings are firmly in the 'art' category.
Chessable
April featured some high-level courses aimed at intermediate to expert players.
- GM Peter Leko's Super Grandmasters Strategy series has a new addition, as the legendary former world championship challenger shares decades of wisdom on the Ruy Lopez.
- GM Romain Edouard, an opening theory expert and former second for world champion GM Veselin Topalov, released his lifetime repertoire on the King's Indian Attack.
- GM Nils Grandelius released 'The Grand Toolbox: Fighting Flank Openings,' preparing you against any unexpected flank openings White might play against you.
ChessKid
GM Yagiz Erdogmus recently became the world's youngest current grandmaster, but there are plenty of other young stars making a name for themselves.
- WCM Bodhana Sivanandan, who just turned nine years old, has earned her first WIM norm at the European Women's Championship, becoming one of the youngest-ever players to do so.
- Fellow ChessKid ambassador WFM Megan Paragua, at twelve years old, won double gold at the World Youth Rapid & Blitz in Albania!
Fair Play
Last month's Fair Play highlight was the team's report on cheating in Titled Tuesday events. The TL;DR version? Research indicates that upset rates in Titled Tuesday games and over-the-board blitz games are very similar. This is the first of several reports, and upcoming editions will go into more detail on specific issues and questions relating to Fair Play.
Fair Play stats for April:
- 313,806 reports created
- 56,853 Fair Play closures (including 13 titled players: 2 NMs, 3 FMs, 1 GM, 5 CMs, 1 IM, 1 WIM)
- 62.1K mute actions
- 54.2K accounts muted
- 149.5K abuse closures
- 22,358,347 rating points refunded
Support
The Support Team has switched to a new rating system to get a more accurate impression of how satisfied users are with the help they receive.
- Average Time to First Response: 1 day, 20 hours
- Total Requests Received: 66,068
- Average Quality by Member Rating: 86.4%
- Total Ratings: 2,750
Thank you for being part of the world's largest chess community. Let us know your thoughts and ideas in the comments below!
Missed an update? You'll find last month's edition here.
