New Records, New Champions, New Bots
The 2023 Speed Chess Championship ran its course, the Chess Clash event concluded after some spectacular battles, and Billie Joe Armstrong has awoken from his slumber—September has ended.
Enjoy a recap of everything that happened over the last month, and find out what's happening now!
Here's what this monthly update covers:
The month of Clash may be over, but October's bots have arrived!
- Paul Morphy is among the terrifying new bots haunting Chess.com's servers. Morphy was once known as ''the pride and sorrow of chess''; will it be pride or sorrow for you as you play him?
- Spell Chess remains a playable chess variant on Chess.com. The rules are the same as the classic game we know and love, with the addition of two magic spells: Freeze and Jump.
- In the excellent month that was September, we added 18,265 new puzzles, bringing our total up to 760,564.
- The team has also worked on various behind-the-scenes optimizations to make sure your Chess.com experience is smoother and faster.
If you are in tech and would like to join our team, we're hiring!
Events
Last month was full of new records and new champions, and we might see even more soon.
- If you missed the Speed Chess Championship final between GMs Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, do yourself a favor and check it out. This neck-and-neck match between two of the greatest players of their generation ended by the very finest of margins.
- The fall season of the Collegiate Chess League is well underway, with the University of Missouri currently in top spot. Which university will prove they have the best chess players around?
- The AI Cup saw GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in sparkling form as he defeated GM Magnus Carlsen to claim the trophy and qualify for the Champions Chess Tour Finals in Toronto.
- Bullet Brawl saw a new record set by GM Hikaru Nakamura last month: an incredible 46 unbeaten games in a row. Ten days later, GM Nihal Sarin surpassed that record with 56 consecutive undefeated games. Will we see 66 soon?
Community
Photo editing stars, here's your chance to shine.
- Insert our very own IM Danny Rensch wearing his iconic pawn suit into a masterpiece of your choice, and be in to win an exclusive Secretlab TITAN Evo Champions Chess Tour chair.
- Chess Clash was both supremely entertaining and a little chaotic as some of the chess world's most popular figures tried to figure out their strategies with $50,000 in charitable donations on the line.
- The Chess.com Discord community managed to defeat Danny (of Giant Pawn Suit fame) in the last Danny vs. Discord event. Well, he’s back, and this time the game is bigger than ever. Danny vs. The World has arrived, and our favorite local Crossfit Dad is ready to take on all challengers.
- The line between online chess and over-the-board chess is blurring more and more; just ask the VR chess community. Created during the 2020 lockdowns, the VR Chess Club blends the convenience of online chess with the social 'playing hall' aspects of IRL chess. Check it out!
- Final reminder: Chess.com will be at TwitchCon Las Vegas between October 20-22, and we’d love for you to join us.
Content
Chess is for everyone. New prodigies, former champions, and adult improvers all have a valuable place in our world. Check out some of our favorite content from the last month below.
- More than two generations apart, but equals over the board: See how chess can unite people of all ages as the 79-year-old British chess champion Peter Lee meets 8-year-old prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan.
- You might have seen him playing chess tennis with IM Eric Rosen, sharing some tactical tips on social media, or even hosting a chess trivia show; KDlearns is a relatively new name in the online chess scene but is making a big impact.
Chessable
It's not too late for you to become the internet's new favorite chess teacher. Check out the details below.
- The 2023 Create Your Own Course Contest continues, and is open to Chessable PRO members of all levels. Whether you create a course for beginners or are eager to share your advanced opening prep with other tournament players, try your hand at teaching and be in to win amazing prizes.
- The third and final part of GM Sam Shankland's complete 1.c4 repertoire has been released. Check out this free preview of the course to learn directly from one of the top American grandmasters.
ChessKid
ChessKid is coming to a town near you (assuming you live near Charlotte, North Carolina).
- ChessKid has announced its first major in-person event: the ChessKid National Festival! IM Danny Rensch, IM Levy Rozman (GothamChess), and FM Mike Klein will be among the attendees, with plenty of family-friendly activities and events planned.
- ChessKid superstar IM Alice Lee played board one for the USA women's team at the FIDE World Women’s Team Championship 2023, earning an individual gold medal for her exceptional performance.
- National Chess Day won't go by unnoticed: ChessKids can tune into a live stream on October 14, hosted by FM James Canty III on the official Twitch channel.
Fair Play
The Fair Play team stayed vigilant in keeping Chess.com a safe and fair place to play for everyone.
Fair Play stats for September:
- 54,398 Fair Play closures (including 6 titled players)
- 88.1K mute actions
- 78.3K accounts muted
- 106.9K abuse closures
Support
The support team is always here to help and dealt with almost 90,000 requests in September.
- Average Time to First Response: 1 day, 10 hours
- Total Requests Received: 89,612
- Average Quality by Member Rating: 94%
- Total Ratings: 6,806
As always, thank you for making Chess.com such an amazing place, and thank you for the comments you leave on these updates. Stay tuned—your thoughts might be featured in one of these updates soon...
