The first ever Barak Valley Open Chess Tournament Winter edition has commenced in the spirit of International FIDE Rating competition. Organized by the Cachar District Chess Association (CDCA) in collaboration with Rotary Club, Silchar, a total of 63 players have participated in this edition, among which 26 are International FIDE rated chess players.

After successfully organising Silchar Open International FIDE Rating Chess tournament in 2018, this is the first state level chess tournament taking place in the entire North-East region. Owing to the All India Chess Federation (AICF) not starting the International FIDE Rating tournament calendar yet amidst the pandemic, the CDCA has taken the initiative to organise this tournament under the banner of All Assam Chess Association (AACA).

The inaugural session of the event took place in the Rotary Club of Silchar, Tarapur in the auspicious presence of Dilip Kumar Ram, Superintendent Postmaster of the Cachar Post Office, Shiv Prasad Dutta, Service Director of Rotary Club of Silchar, Former District Governor Arijit Endaw, President of CDCA Dr. Charvak, General Secretary of AACA Rajiv Dhar, General Secretary of CDCA, Nirmalya Chakraborty, and Vice-President of AACA, Bibendu Das.

Usually in Cachar district, every local tournament is being moderated by normal arbiters with normal clocks and everything. But this particular tournament everything weve tried to keep upto the FIDE standards, starting with national level chess boards having its own clock, FIDE rated International arbiters, everything including the atmosphere according to FIDE style, said the General Secretary of CDCA, Nirmalya Chakraborty.

He also said that the tournament will be moderated by International arbiter Pradip Kumar Roy from Tripura, who is a FIDE rated arbiter.

During the session, The President of CDCA, Dr. Charvak thanked Rotary Club of Silchar, Agartala Matrix Chess Academy, Late chess player Santanu Singha, Late Karuna Sindhu Dey, Late Rakesh Ranjan Dhar, and the family of Ranbir Dhar for their unflinching support and in help that theyve provided in organizing the tournament.

Keeping in accordance with the FIDE standard time limit, every player at the start of each round will get 45 minutes and with each move will get 10 seconds more. The two-day tournament has been divided into 3 rounds per day. At the start of the tournament, top seeded player Rajib Dhar had 2052 FIDE Rating points in his bag, followed by Soram Rahul Singh having 2051 rating points. At the conclusion of the day, sitting at the top bagging three points in three rounds are Soram Rahul Singh, Rajib Dhar, Rajdip Das, Iftikhar Alom Mazumdar, Bibendu Das, Abhinav Paul, Abhrajyoti Nath and Ballyr Sinha.

Read this article:

First ever Barak Valley Open Chess Tournament kickstarts in Silchar - Barak Bulletin

On Wednesday night, Joel Embiid was the best player on the court.

Forty-two points on 19 shots is an amazingly efficient night, a career-high for him against the Boston Celtics. Its far from the first time hes showed out from a statistical standpoint against the green and white. In Augusts playoff series, he averaged 30 a game. In the 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals, he averaged 23 and 14.

The impetus behind big nights from Embiid has been typical throughout his career: Boston routinely chooses to go slightly smaller at the 5, with guys like Al Horford and Daniel Theis drawing the assignment. Embiid feels that his advantage is deep in the post, so he tries to run the offense through himself down low.

On Wednesday, we saw the best of how that looks: 21 free throw attempts and 11-14 from inside the three-point arc. But what we also saw is why the Celtics swept Philadelphia in the first round last year. Brad Stevens knows how to mitigate his impact and put the advantage back in Bostons hands.

Stevens has always sprinkled in trapping Embiid to get the ball out of his hands, let different guys take him for long stretches and encouraged him to shoot off the pick-and-pop to keep him away from the basket. However, the real work is on the block and thats where the smaller Theis deserves some credit.

Few are more physical pre-catch and fight for the block the way Theis does. Guys like Tristan Thompson bring solid physicality and hold their ground okay, but cede ground to begin with is a big no-no against a hoss like Embiid.

Thompson got buried beneath the rim too early into a possession, which resulted in a foul. These cant happen against Embiid:

What Theis does so well is know when to be physical (pre-catch) and when to pull the chair. Guys like Embiid, with wide shoulders and long strides, operate on feel down low. When they feel their defender shading a certain direction, it triggers their mind to start their go-to moves in their arsenal based on weight and balance.

It may seem counterintuitive, but theres value in not touching Embiid once he establishes position down low. He cant feel for Theis, so he has to start his move with a dribble to initiate contact that takes away the quick spins or changes of direction. It also looks like Embiid is initiating contact because, well, he is. Referees will let Theis bump a little more after contact is made because he, technically, didnt start the physical play.

From there, Theis can toggle between pulling the chair and holding his ground. Embiid isnt as crafty with counters and will either bury himself too low beneath the rim or pivot himself to nowhere:

Heres where the math comes in. Every time Embiid is posting up the Celtics, Philly is also not taking a 3-pointer. Surrounding Embiid with shooters was a big part of Daryl Moreys offseason makeover of the roster. And every time Embiid bangs away with physicality, takes contact and exhausts himself to out-muscle his man, he uses ounces of energy that arent there late. His legs get tired earlier, and his jumper becomes a bit less consistent.

The Celtics make sure they dont rotate around Embiid when he goes into his pick-and-pops. They want him to shoot it use those tired legs and keep others from getting involved. Both Theis and Javonte Green stunted short at Joel late in the game, and it produced one of the hardest clanks hes had in a while:

In a two-point game in the closing minutes, this is the net result of a full game of wrestling down low. The legs are off, and its exactly the type of shot the Celts want to force.

It wasnt a victory on Wednesday, but it felt like the typical Celtics-Sixers showdown. Embiid got his, overpowered Theis in the paint and drew a million fouls. And yet, the Sixers couldnt ever create separation or punish the Cs on the scoreboard. Will Philly win a few of these games? Yes. But in the long run, the numbers game bears out well for the Cs. If these teams meet again in the postseason as they have two of the last three years, expect to see something similar: heavy numbers from Embiid and a close score down the stretch.

In a game where Jayson Tatum was absent and Walker on a minutes restriction, there are far more positives than negatives to take away from hanging in against a 42-point outing from their arch nemesis. Round 2 is on Friday.

Link:

The Embiid-Theis chess match - Celtics Blog

The game of chess is almost 2,000 years old, and as technology has improved, so have our ways of playing this classic game. Chess mobile apps allow you to play online and battle powerful AI on the go. Each chess app offers unique features that separate them from the rest. This guide will list the best mobile chess games for iOS and Android and what makes them great.

Chess.com the number one free chess app in the world, and for good reason. With this app, you can play with your friends or compete against other players of similar skill levels. Online play is competitive, and you can climb the leaderboards to increase your Elo rating. This app also features chess lessons and tutorials, though you will need to pay for a premium account to access some of the more advanced lessons. You can also play against a computer and attempt to solve over 150,000 unique puzzles.

Chess for Kids is the perfect app for aspiring child chess players. Its ad-free and allows you to play online. You can also play against the computer offline, and there are plenty of puzzles to solve offline too. Chess for Kids gives parents complete control over their kids accounts and restricts chatting between players.

Chess Tiger Pro is an ad-free premium app that costs $8. If youre serious about improving your chess skills, this is the app for you. It has an incredibly powerful chess engine that displays its thinking, allowing you to understand the game better. This app also allows you to save replays and have the app analyze them, point out your mistakes, and display alternatives.

Chess Universe is a more casual version of Chess.com. It features multiple modes to play with friends, such as bullet, rapid, and blitz. This app also features daily challenges and rewards that keep you coming back. Completing these rewards allows you to level up your accounts avatar.

Dr. Wolf is a chess app that focuses primarily on coaching. The AI will give you step-by-step instructions on what to do at every point of the game. It not only tells you what moves are ideal, but it explains the reasoning behind them. With the free version, you can only have Dr. Wolf coach you for three games. After that, you will need to subscribe to the premium version.

Lichess is another online chess app that pairs you up against players of similar skill levels. It tracks your stats, analyzes your games, and gives you detailed summaries of your performance. Lichness has over 150,000 users and is available in 80 languages. What makes this app so great is its open-sourced and ad-free, so there are no premium accounts.

This app is great for players of all skill levels. Its offline only, but it has a powerful AI that automatically adjusts its strength according to yours. The AI also rates your plays and coaches you on your mistakes. The superb AI and the beautiful gameboards make this a top-notch app.

Read the original here:

Best mobile chess games for iOS and Android - Gamepur

GrandmasterAleksandr Lendermanhas a seat saved for himin the 2021 US ChessChampionship in St. Louis.

The BrooklynGMearned the coveted spot by winning the first-ever US Championship Online Qualifier, a month-long series ofprogressingeventsdesigned to offer a path to the national championship. As one of the U.S.federations highest-rated players, Lenderman wasa pre-selected participant to jointhe online qualifiers final8-playerround-robintournamentthat began Dec. 11.

Lendermancame up clutch throughtwo back-to-back,must-win games, the first over GM TimurGareyevin theseventh and final round on Fridaywhichallowed him to catch the pace of tournament leader IM ChristopherYooat the finish line.Lenderman andYootied for first place and split the top cashprizes, butplayed a final Armageddon game on Saturday to determine the seat in next yearsnational championship.

In that game,Yoowonapre-game bidding processof7 minutes and 30 seconds on his clockto command the black pieces with draw odds.That gaveLendermana full 10 minutes with the white pieces, and his secondmust-win situation in a row.

He employed a Trompowsky attack that saw quick development and left Yoos pawn structure in early tatters. Yoo appeared to have a mouse slip at 25. .. Rf8, leaving his rook open for the exchange, though the position was already looking dire and the youngster seemed to take the hiccup in stride. Lendermans endgame technique with his king and rook was national-championship level worthy.

Lenderman passedChess.comsfair-play review of the Armageddon game and has been formally invited to the 2021 US Chess Championship in St. Louis.

The first-ever online qualifier began in November as anopen Swiss event for the nations U1600 players and has progressed each weekend through a series of increasingly stronger events.Yooentered in the 2400+ Swiss qualifier and then advanced through a 23-player final Swiss, then a final knockout bracket, and ultimately the final round-robin tournament.

The reigning US Chess Cadet Champion, who played Armageddon on his 14thbirthday, was the only non-GM in the 8-player field.

Originally posted here:

Lenderman Wins Playoff, Will Appear in 2021 National Championship - uschess.org

from the good-deals-on-cool-stuff dept

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Daily Deal: The Complete Chess Bundle - Techdirt

Ben Chilwell has revealed that he and Chelsea team-mate Reece James have been bitten by the chess bug.

England defender Chilwell has admitted things are extremely tough at the moment due to the coronavirus pandemic restricting peoples movements andinteractions, andimpacting on their daily lives.

He admits to being in a fortunate position as his job as a professional footballer allows him to go to training every day and interact with friends and team-mates.

While footballers are in a fortunate position, they too are living under Covid-19 restrictions and Chilwell says he is doing different things to ensure his mind remains stimulated.

Chess is one activity that has captured Chilwells imagination. While the standard is unlikely to be on a par with Beth Harmon of The Queens Gambit, it appears the defender and fellow Chelsea star James take it pretty seriously.

"Obviously it's a very tough time at the moment," Chilwell told the Premier League's website. "I'm in a very fortunate position where I am able to come into work and see my friends and do what I enjoy, but there are a lot of people not in that position and are stuck at home with nothing to do.

"There are a few things I've found to keep myself busy [after training] ... activities that are really going to challenge your brain and keep you interested through very tough times.

"Me and Reece James play online chess against each other quite a lot. He wins a few, I win a few. We played a game on the way back from Russia in the Champions League. I think it was one game, but it took four hours - the whole flight!

"I actually asked my mum for some chess books and a chess board for Christmas! That has obviously helped me."

While there isnt another trip to Russia on the horizon for James and Chilwell to sharpen their chess games, Chelsea do travel to Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League on February 23 - which should hand them the opportunity to play.

The focus this week for the pair is a trip to Premier League title contenders Leicester on Tuesday.

See the article here:

Reece James and I played chess for four hours on the way back from Russia! - Chelsea's Chilwell - Goal.com

OVER 2.1 million live views and an average of almost 70,000 viewers watching a game of chess?

Thats the kind of draw the Botez sisters command on Twitch, an online streaming platform. While Twitch is more known for hosting gaming streams (its most popular streamer is Tyler Ninja Blevins, who usually plays Fortnite and Valorant), its also become a haven of sorts for a new generation of tech-savvy, esports-influenced chess players.

Continue reading below

Today we became the chess stream with the most concurrent viewers of ALL TIME, tweeted Alexandra Botez this week. Both the World FIDE Master (WFM) and her sister Andrea hosted BlockChamps, a six-hour chess-meets-Minecraft stream that had popular streamers Pokimane and LilyPichu as guests.

Continue reading below

Recommended Videos

The chess games were also run concurrently on a Minecraft server, with 1,000 players enthusiastically logging in with their block-like characters to watch the matches.

Continue reading below

In their streams, the Botez sisters combine a funny, engaging patter (plus a healthy dose of meme culture) with a seriously beginner-friendly approach to chess. They even got to tutor Game of Thrones actor and Worlds Strongest Man Hafthor The Mountain Bjornsson.

They bring some legit chess chops to the table, too. According to FIDE, 25-year-old Alexandra is currently ranked #2020 in the world, and #169 among active players in her home federation of Canada. According to a profile by the New York Posts Kirsten Fleming, her father taught her the sport at the age of six.

Continue reading below

At eight years old, she already won a national championship. At 15, she won the US Girls National championship. Alexandra enrolled at Stanford University and became the chess clubs first female president. She attained her WFM rank in 2013.

Her 18-year-old sister Andrea does not yet boast international chess credentials.

Like many in the chess orbit, their viewership numbers got a big bump from The Queens Gambit, the immensely popular show on Netflix.

In the beginning of 2020, they only had 61,000 followers on Twitch. They now have more than 581,000. Their YouTube account, BotezLive, has 237,000 subscribers.

Continue reading below

Chess exploded on Twitch, and I was one of the top streamers. I remember being so excited, I couldnt sleep. I was so high on adrenaline, Alexandra told the New York Post.

The sisters popularity on Twitch is emblematic of a new generation of digital savvy chess players whove seized upon the tactics of esports players streams, memes, and all to pump some Gen Z energy into the ancient sport.

In fact, the Botez sisters signed on with esports organization Team Envy last December.

Continue reading below

The Botez sisters are the most entertaining creators in chess right now, and theyve played a major role in popularizing the game on Twitch, said Andrew Peterman, chief content officer at Envy Gaming, in a statement on Chess.com. Signing Alexandra and Andrea to launch our new Envy creator network is about much more than chess, however. Its about giving people access to the personalities that represent the future of entertainment.

They are, surprisingly, not the most popular FIDE ranked streamer on the platform.

In terms of follower count, they are dwarfed on Twitch by Hikaru "GMHikaru" Nakamura, a FIDE Grandmaster who has more than 857,000 followers.

Read more:

Who are the Botez Sisters, one of chess's most popular streamers? - Sports Interactive Network Philippines

Video games are weird. I dont just mean in the traditional hey look at this wacky nonsense over here way either. The development of games and entire genres can be just as crazy as the games that come from them. Nowhere is this more true than with modding. A mod of a game can become a new mode. That mode can become a new game. Then that game can become a genre. In the case of MOBAs however, that genre became a powerhouse. Auto Chess MOBAis the next step in the development ouroboros.

For those unaware, this all really started withWarcraft 3. While it may be hard for some of you to believe, there was a time whenWarcraftwasnt an MMO. All joking aside, whenWarcraft 3 came out, just like withStarcraft before it, the modding scene was huge. One such mod of the game had players controlling one single hero instead of an army of grunts, and facing off against another players group of heroes. Sound familiar? Well this mod became known as Defense of the Ancients, orDotA.

Flash forward a few years and DotAis its own franchise, while Riot Games has the equally popular League of Legends franchise. Even Blizzard tried to jump on the MOBA bandwagon with Heroes of the Storm, although it achieved far less success than its contemporaries. Modders werent content to stop there though, no way. Soon enough a new game type emerged from DotA 2 calledDotA Auto Chess. In this game mode, players place their heroes on predetermined paths and have them fight automatically like a hybrid of Poker and Chess.

Thus was the birth of the autobattler. Shortly after, the games industry did what the games industry does best, and a plethora of imitators emerged. Riot Games came out with Teamfight Tactics, Valve created DotA Underlord, and Blizzard even added a autobattler type mode to its TCGHearthstone. Well, the team who originally created DotA Auto Chess went out to make its own version of the game, but unattached to the DotA franchise. Thus,Auto Chess was brought into the world. This brings us full circle to now. Publisher Dragonest and developer Drodo Studio, the creators of Auto Chess, have announced a MOBA based on Auto Chess, the aptly titledAuto Chess MOBA.

A game based on a game based on a mod based on a game based on a mod. Confused yet? Well, all you need to know is that all of the heroes in Auto Chess MOBAwill be completely free, the game will have no paid rune system, and will feature a day and night cycle as well as destructible objects. There is no word yet on when exactly this game will drop, but you can keep an eye on the Auto ChessTwitter page as more updates become available. If you want to see where it all (kinda) started, you can get Auto Chess right now via the Epic Games Store.

Continued here:

Auto Chess MOBA is a new MOBA based on Auto Chess - PC Invasion

A longtime tradition in my family is fully underway: chess by mail.

There's a chessboard on our dining room table. It's been there for months. This board mimics the one that's on the coffee table at my parent's house. These two separate chessboards are the same game, connected through mail.

It all started when my dad was telling stories of how his dad would play multiple games of chess this way. Recently, my wife and dad started a chess game via snail mail. My family really gets into picking the right postcard for the upcoming chess move. You jot your note, add your chess move like, "b8 to a6," slap a stamp on it, raise the flag on your mailbox, and wait for your opponent's return move to arrive in your mailbox. It's a fun way of keeping in touch while supporting our postal service.

1. Contact someone you want to start a chess game with.

2. Make sure you both have chessboards and all the pieces.

3. Study up on chess if need be and learn all the move notations. There's plenty of how-to's online to get you going.

4. Get some postcards and stamps. We love getting antique postcards from thrift shops.

Chess Viewing to Get You Going

The Queen's Gambit (streaming now on Netflix) Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) Magnus (2016) Brooklyn Castle (2012) Queen of Katwe (2016)

View post:

Here's How to Play Chess by Mail, and What Movies to Watch to Get Your Game Going - Willamette Week

GM Wesley So defeated GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda in a Speed Chess Championship match that was tight in the beginning and tight in the end, but it was a tour de force by So in the middle. With the exception of World Champion Magnus Carlsen and GM Hikaru Nakamura, So is the most accomplished player in Speed Chess Championship history, and with this victory, he has advanced to the semifinals where he will face the winner of the match between Nakamura and GM Vladimir Fedoseev.

How to watch?The games of the Speed Chess Championship Main Event are played on the Chess.com live server. They are also available on our platform for watching live games at Chess.com/events and on our apps under "Watch." Expert commentary can be enjoyed at Chess.com/tv.

So and Duda had played one previous Speed Chess Championship match in 2018, and So won convincingly, 20-7. Two years later, Duda is a considerably more accomplished player and no longer a junior. Would his performance against the reigning U.S. champion be superior this time around?

In general, yes, Duda performed much better. The final score of 16-10 was certainly closer, and Duda even leaped out to an early lead of 2.5-0.5. He ultimately drew the 5|1 time control (4-4) and won the 1|1 time control 5-4, but in the 3|1 time control, So was simply untouchable. He won 7 games and drew only two for a point total of 8-1. After the match, commentator GM Robert Hess said that So was "the best player in the entire world in the 3|1 time control." Given that So has defeated both Carlsen and Nakamura in this time control, Hess has good supporting evidence for this bold claim.

The high-water mark in the match for Duda came after games two and three when Duda first won an excellent game two in a smooth and convincing fashion.

He then defended a dangerous attack in game three with accurate play.

So's first win came in game four when he won an instructive endgame thanks to his dominant knight. So has consistently shown himself to be one of the most accurate and unperturbable blitz chess players in the world. He's incredibly hard to tilt, and if his opponent starts tilting, things can quickly go downhill.

Duda scored the next full point in an opposite-colored bishops endgame where the outside passed pawn on the a-file gave him excellent chances. So then won game seven below in a remarkable time scramble before collecting a full point with a nice attack in game eight to close out the 5|1 time control in a 4-4 tie.

Amazingly, Duda was only able to draw the third and fourth games in the 3|1 time control. So won all other games, and his win in the fifth game was a real blitz chess masterpiece. He sacrificed a piece early and carried the pressure through to the endgame where his rook tied down Duda's forces. When Duda missed the chance to give the piece back and achieve balance in the rook endgame, So pushed his pawns forward on the kingside and Duda's extra knight could only spectate.

As the match advanced to 1|1, Duda was almost mathematically out of contention, but he did start well with a victory. After the two grandmasters exchanged a series of victories, Duda's consecutive wins in games five and six gave him the edge in the time control, and he ultimately won it 5-4. The most insane moment came when Duda hung his queen in the second game, but So missed the opportunity to take it!

In fact, the final game was declared a draw as after time ran out, the server temporarily went offline due to high traffic to play the newly released Beth Harmon bots. As this game did not affect the match outcome, the players agreed to adjudication of the game rather than wait for the match to be restored after a server restart.

All Games

The 2020 Speed Chess Championship Main Event is a knockout tournament among 16 of the best grandmasters in the world who will play for a $100,000 prize fund, double the amount of last year. The tournament will run November 1-December 13, 2020 on Chess.com. Each individual match will feature 90 minutes of 5+1 blitz, 60 minutes of 3+1 blitz, and 30 minutes of 1+1 bullet chess.

See also:

The rest is here:

So Defeats Duda With Incredible 3|1 Performance In Speed Chess - Chess.com