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Chess.com To Partner With ChessParty For Live PRO Chess League Finals In Norway – Chess.com

Posted: February 16, 2020 at 6:45 am


Palo Alto, Calif., February 12, 2020Chess.com is teaming up with Chessparty 2020 to present the live PRO Chess League Finals in Oslo, Norway this May.

ChessParty 2020will include the PRO Chess League finals but will first and foremost be a major social event. For three days the Oslofjord Convention Center will transform into a party for everyone, where activities like football, skating, swimming, boating, beach volleyball, table tennis, and barbecuing will provide the entire family with the finest experience Norway has to offer.

Tickets and accommodations begin at 40 Euros per day and 31 Euros per night, respectively. Tickets for children under the age of 18 begin at 20 Euros.Click here to purchase.

For the first time in league history, Chess.com will be bring its premier online event to Europe," said Danny Rensch, Chief Chess Officer at Chess.com. "We're delighted to be teaming up with the Norwegian Chess Federation, the Oslofjord and most importantly our title sponsor ChessParty 2020 to make this dream a reality."

Chessparty 2020 will bring several guests from the chess community including World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen. In addition, GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Wesley So, as well as top streamers like WFM Alexandra Botez, IM Anna Rudolf, and GM Eric Hansen will be in attendance for the finals. Attendees will have the opportunity to play in ongoing chess events for players of all skill levels, including an open Fischer Random tournament.

The event will take place on May 22-24 at the Oslofjord Convention Center in Sandefjord, a picturesque coastal town just an hours drive outside Oslo, which hosts many of the nation's top sporting and cultural gatherings

Like last year's event, the PRO Chess League live finals will feature the season's semifinals, third-place match, and finals in front of a live audience.

"As huge fans of the PRO Chess League, we are super excited over having the honor to host this years finals. For our ambitions with Chessparty 2020, to have Chess.com's PRO Chess League as a partner, is a dream come true," said Harald Christian Sagevik, Marketing and Communications Director of the Norwegian Chess Federation.

"We will do our best to make this event as incredible as possible for both the contestants and the spectators," Sagevik added. "We cant wait to show the world the beautiful venue situated by the Oslofjord and with all the extra tournaments and activities we have to offer. In the program, you will find something for everyone, including a lot of non-chess activities. And, best of all, we have managed to do so at very affordable prices."

Tickets for the event and accommodations can be purchased herewith day pass tickets starting at 40 euros for adults and 20 Euros for children under the age of 18, while accommodations are priced starting at 31 Euros per person, per night.

About ChessParty 2020: As a newly-launched joint venture by Kjentfolk AS and the Norwegian Chess Federation, ChessParty 2020 will leverage the Oslofjord Convention Center's outstanding venue to launch the world's first truly global chess party featuring the best players in the world and activities for players and fans of all ages and skill levels.

About Chess.com: Chess.com is the worlds largest chess site, with a community of more than 33 million members from around the world playing millions of games every day. Launched in 2007, Chess.com is the leader in chess news, lessons, events, and live entertainment. Visit Chess.com to play, learn and connect with chessthe worlds most popular game.

Contact:

ChessParty 2020: Marketing and Communications Director Harald Christian Sagevik hc@chessparty.com

Chess.com: Director of Business Development Nick Barton nick@chess.com

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Chess.com To Partner With ChessParty For Live PRO Chess League Finals In Norway - Chess.com

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February 16th, 2020 at 6:45 am

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Knighthawks take third at state chess championships – taosnews

Posted: at 6:45 am


Staff report

The Taos Knighthawks had an all-around good week in Albuquerque when they participated in the NMAA State Chess Championships, as the team finished in third place in the combined Class 4A and 5A Large School Division.

Taking place on Thursday and Friday (Feb. 6-7) at the Ramada Hotel, the Knighthawks, who were highly seeded after their regional co-championship appearance, faced a trio of teams on their way to their third-place finishing.

In the first round, Taos faced off against Hope Christian and cruised to an easy 5-1 victory. Hope Christian was a top 10 team in the state prior to the match.

Taos picked up another easy victory when it faced Kirtland Central High School, a top two school in the northwest region.

But the Knighthawks finally met their match when they faced Los Alamos in the third round on Friday, and lost 4-2. Taos head coach Dennis Hedges said that due to a pairing error, the two teams faced off and it was one game that made the difference by the end of it.

For third place, the Knighthawks faced Oate High School, the best school from the southern region, and came away with a big victory. Kian Morgan and Nitis Morgan, who were playing on the top two boards, prevailed with "crushing victories."

Robbie Gersten and Jaimie Ritchie picked up victories on board three and four, respectively. Aidan Heflin, who hadn't competed in chess in over five years, finished with a 4-0 record throughout the event.

Sean Ritchie, an Anansi Charter School seventh grader, also attended the state tournament but couldn't compete due to his age. Because of that, he played in a side tournament with high schoolers and won a first-place medal by the end of it.

Hedges said that, for having no seniors, he was proud of his team.

"It was great seeing the team come together for the event," Hedges said. "The older boys hadn't been concentrating on chess the last few years, focusing more on soccer and high school academics. But they sure hadn't lost their skills that they had developed as young players. And with no seniors on the team, they [can] return next year as even more of a powerhouse."

- Staff report

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February 16th, 2020 at 6:45 am

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Leonardo and chess – TheArticle

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Around the time of the furore and excitement surrounding the so-calledDa Vinci Code, the Times sent me a weirdly futuristic looking chess diagram and asked me to explain what was happening. If anything, it resembled the Max Ernst surrealist chess design of 1944, but in fact it was taken from amasterpiece of the early literature of chess, which had recently resurfaced after being thought lost for five centuries.

My response forthe Timeswas that the rediscovery of this book was of much more than scholarly or antiquarian interest, for it had been suggested that its chess puzzle diagrams were not only designed by Leonardo da Vinci, but also drawn by him and, the most tantalising prospect of all, perhaps even composed by him.

This book,De ludo schacorum(about the game of chess), was written by the Renaissance mathematician Luca Pacioli, who lived from the mid-15th century to the early 16th century. The so-called new chess, which considerably enhanced the powers of the pieces, was introduced around 1475 and Paciolis long-lost tome was said to be a series of educational positions and chess puzzles featuring both the old and new styles of chess the latter known asa la rabiosa(with the mad or angry queen), because of the vastly extended powers of this new piece. This is the form of chess that is prevalent now. In my column forThe Articleabout Shakespeares knowledge of chess, I explained the rules of the older version, Shatranj, which had reached Europe via Arabic culture.

The puzzles showing the new chess were rumoured to have been composed to demonstrate how the fresh powers of queen, bishop and pawn truly functioned on the open board. However, Paciolis book had been lost and doubts were raised that it had even been written at all. Then, suddenly,the book resurfaced from the 22,000-volume library of Count Guglielmo Coronini, and facsimiles were in preparation, showing the strange and rather beautiful diagrams in red and black, illustrating the powers of the pieces in action.

The Guardianhad just published the only readily available puzzle from the book, with a commentary by its chess correspondent at the time who conceded that he did not have the foggiest idea what the puzzle meant or whether it was taken from the old or new style of chess.And quite right too.The difficulties included: no indication as to whether it was white or black to move; no clear identification of which symbols represented which pieces and finally no evidence of a question, such as White to play and give checkmate in two moves. A real Da Vincian conundrum, with of course the elephant on the board being the supreme question: did Leonardo design the pieces and even create the puzzle?

Having had time to examine the puzzle more closely, I established that it was definitely the newrabiosaform of chess, which we still play now. I also worked out that there was a fiendishly difficult forced checkmate from the puzzle position.

I found this to be amazing. Since the new chess had been in existence for only a few years when the book was written. Given its relative novelty, the person who composed this puzzle was evidently a chess genius.

As well as being highly advanced for its time, the solution also succeeded brilliantly in its didactic purpose of showcasing the sweeping new powers of queen and bishop as well as the potentially devastating weapon of a humble pawn now being able to promote to a mighty queen. Normally this would end the contest in the promoters favour. However, in this puzzle the losing side even manages to promote to a queen with check, yet still succumbs.

What about Leonardo da Vincis involvement, as suggested by the owners of the book. the Fondazione Coronini Cronberg?

The standard chess history by Richard Eales, of the University of Kent, confirms that this shows how the new chess quickly captivated leading intellectuals in Renaissance Italy the kind of people in Leonardos circle, even if his own role remains tantalisingly unprovable.

Pacioli and Leonardo were associates, and it is recorded that Leonardo provided illustrations for Paciolis work on the mathematics of the golden mean,De divina proportione. Both men fled from the court of Ludovico Sforza in 1499 when the French attacked Milan and both were protected by Isabella dEste, a chess enthusiast who possessed various chess sets. She has been tentatively identified as playing chess in a late Quattrocento panel in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, once attributed to Francesco di Giorgio, c. 1485, and more recently to Liberale da Verona.

My conclusion forthe Timeswas that Leonardo did not draw the main corpus of puzzle diagrams for the book. However, he may well have sketched the original designs for the pieces. These, we now know, are shown in array at the start of the book and they are artistically superior to the diagrams which follow in the text, which are unambitiously redrawn copies. The owners suggest that the original design of one key piece, for example, is almost exactly identical to Leonardos design for a fountain in his so-calledAtlantic Codex. Others contend that this type of design could easily be generic.

Finally. There is the alluring possibility that Leonardo himself composed the problem.

Contemporary books about the new chess are exceedingly rare, and the few we do have tended to concentrate on a few puzzles, which subsequent authors simply copied.

However, as Richard Eales says, nothing like this puzzle has so far been found in other publications, or the older manuscripts or printed chess books. Furthermore, the diagrams are stunningly different from anything else of its day. The possibility that Leonardo did compose this puzzle is enticing and by no means impossible.

In the puzzle,as I reconstructed it in the diagram below, it should be noted that Black is in check from the white bishop one4yet both kings are in serious danger and could easily fall prey to a sudden checkmate.

With both sides clinging to a precipice, the fact that White has the initiative conferred by the bishop check annihilates both of Blacks two principal defences.

Solution One:1 Qxe4+ 2 Qxe4+ Ka7 3 Ra3+ Bxa3 4 Qe3+ Rd4+ 5 Qxd4+ Kb7 6 Qd7+ Ka8 7 Qxe8+ Kb7 8 Qb8 checkmate.

Solution Two:1 Rd5 2 Ra3+ Bxa3 3 Bxe5 f1Q+ 4 Kxd5 Nd6 5 Ke6+ Ka7 6 Bd4+ Bc5 7 Bxc5+ Ka6 8 Qb6 checkmate.

At the time, I wrote that only a powerful intelligence could have devised the puzzle and the solution, which would tax the mental powers of most strong players even today and in its complexity and richness could only really be solved easily by a computer. The evidence of a commanding intellect behind this chessboard conundrum is palpable indeed.

Sadly, it now transpires that in my enthusiasm for connecting the puzzle to Da Vinci, I had over complicated the solution by incorrectly identifying the two kings and queens in the original diagram. They should be the other way round, in which case the puzzle (White to play and checkmate) becomes rather banal. I am indebted to Martin Kemp, the great Leonardo expert and prime endorser ofThe Salvator Mundias a genuine Leonardo, for helping to pour a dose of cold-water reality on my desire to link the mystique of Leonardo to this puzzle.

In fact, once the whole book became available it immediately also became clear that the piece one5should be the black king and the piece ona8the black queen.

Similarly the piece onc4should be a white queen and the piece onb1the white king.

Da Vinci perhaps played chess with his friend Pacioli, he may even have sketched the original design for the pieces, but it now seems more than unlikely that the great Renaisssnce man had anything to do with creating the chessboard puzzle.

To read the fascinating storyChess: The History of a Gameby Richard Eales, please see here.

Click here for a lecture on the Pacioli piece design.

For more on Leonardo, please see How to think like Leonardo Da Vinci, a bestseller written by the American Leonardo expert Michael Gelb.

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Leonardo and chess - TheArticle

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February 16th, 2020 at 6:45 am

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Chess: can you find the winning move a former US champion missed? – Financial Times

Posted: at 6:45 am


St Louis in the US has become the unofficial global chess capital due to the billionaire and FT reader Rex Sinquefield, who hosts the annual Sinquefield Cup and other major events. St Louis 2014 was marked by world No2 Fabiano Caruanas brilliant start of seven wins in a row, while Magnus Carlsen, the world champion, has won the Cup twice.

A special moment came in 2017, when the all-time No1 Garry Kasparov made a cameo reappearance to hold his own against the US top trio in an invitation speed contest.

Now there is the womens Cairns Cup, derived from Jeanne Sinquefields maiden name, which is in its second year and can be watched free and live online from 7pm GMT daily until February 17.

The entry includes Chinas reigning world champion Ju Wenjun and Indias world No3 Humpy Koneru, and yet to really take off as a must-watch event it needs to aim still higher. The retired but still legendary Judit Polgar, the current No1 and Oxford student Hou Yifan, and the rising star Aleksandra Goryachkina are the trio who could make the Cairns Cup a historic landmark.

2354

Mariya Muzychuk v Humpy Koneru, Cairns Cup 2020. White played 1 R4xh5+ gxh5, and the commentator, former US No1 Yasser Seirawan, predicted 2 Rxh5+. Why was the grandmaster wrong, and can you find Whites better and winning choice? Click here for a link to the complete game.

Click here for solution

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Chess: can you find the winning move a former US champion missed? - Financial Times

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February 16th, 2020 at 6:45 am

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2020 Chess World Championship Odds – Magnus Carlsen Listed as Heavy Favorite – Sports Betting Dime

Posted: at 6:45 am


Norway's Magnus Carlsen has won the last four World Chess Championships and is BetOnline's -300 favorite to win again this year. Photo by: Lennart Ootes (Wiki Commons)

Magnus Carlsen is the king of competitive chess.

People who are awed by the 15-game winning streak of the NBAs Toronto Raptors need to get to know Carlsen. The 29-year-old Norwegian is unbeaten in his last 111 consecutive classical games. Thats a world record.

Carlsen has also won the last four World Chess Championships. The planets elite grandmasters of chess gather next month in Yekaterinburg, Russia for the 2020 edition of this biennial competition.

Carlsen is the overwhelming favorite to make it five titles in a row. BetOnline pegs Carlsen as the prohibitive -300 chalk.

Odds taken Feb. 12

Russias Garry Kasparov and Germanys Emanuel Lasker share the record, each with six consecutive world title wins.

Indias Viswanathan Anand had won five world titles, including the last four, when Carlsen beat him in 2013. He beat Anand again for his second title. Carlsens added two more crowns since.

The Norwegian prodigy is described as the Mozart of chess. Last month, he shattered Sergei Tiviakovs world unbeaten mark of 110 consecutive matches.

One more world title and the value of Carlsens rookie card really figures to soar. Kasparov, probably the most famous chess master of them all, won six straight world championships from 1985-95.

Lasker was a turn of the 20th century star who earned his six successive global chess crowns between 1894-1910.

They are among eight players whove won at least four world chess championships but only five of those players managed to win as many as four in a row.

Top 8 Entertainment Betting Sites

If the NFL operated in the same manner as the World Chess Championship, the Kansas City Chiefs would already be one of the teams in Super Bowl 55.

As defending champion, Carlsen is anointed one of the two available spots in the championship final. Meanwhile, eight other contenders will square off in whats known as the Candidates Tournament.

This is a double-round robin competition. The survivor of this event earns the right to meet Carlsen for the world title.

American Fabiano Caruana is among the eight candidates. He lost the 2018 world championship final match to Carlsen.

Chinas Ding Laren is another potential finalist. He was chess Grand Champion in 2019. Azerbaijans Teimour Radjabov has recorded wins over four world champions, including Kasparov and a 2014 victory against Carlsen.

Every great champion eventually falls. Is this the year Carlsen takes a tumble?

If you arent anxious to play Carlsen at such negative odds, thats understandable. Those seeking a value bet on the World Chess Championship can take advantage of BetOnlines Carlsen vs the field prop wager.

Rather than rolling the dice on which of the eight contenders will emerge victorious from the Candidates Tournament, this wager gives you all eight challengers rolled into one.

Still, its difficult to see anyone winning this other than Carlsen. Hes been at the top of his game for several years. At 29, he hasnt even reached his prime years yet.

Pick: Magnus Carlsen (-300)

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An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.

NFL NBA MLB NHL NCAAF NCAAB Tennis

An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.

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2020 Chess World Championship Odds - Magnus Carlsen Listed as Heavy Favorite - Sports Betting Dime

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February 16th, 2020 at 6:45 am

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Chess Corner: A bite worse than their oink – Enid News & Eagle

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Connected rooks on the 7th or 2nd rank are called pigs. This is because they gobble up everything in their path. With this hint in mind, please try to find whites best move.

Whites f2 pawn and square is a pressure point. Blacks pieces target that square and pawn, while whites rook, queen and king defend that square. Black indirectly exploits that pressure by having its queen capture whites g3 pawn with check.

If the whites f2 pawn takes the queen, blacks rook checks from g2 (see next diagram).

This forces the white king to h1. Blacks rook then checks again from h2. The white king steps back to g1, as blacks other rook on c2 mates from g2.

Hence, after the black queen checks from g3, whites king flees to h1. Now blacks queen does a little maneuvering. First, the queen snatches whites h3 pawn with check. The king moves back to g1. The queen checks again from g3, forcing the king to h1 (see next diagram).

The queen next checks from f3. If the king goes back to g1, one of blacks rooks moves to the 4th rank so as to slide over to the g and h files and mate white with blacks queen and rook. If the king retreats to h2, black has simple option of bursting through on the f2 square and winning an overwhelming amount of material. Better, but not as simple it is for black to move its c2 rook to c3. The rook and queen form a mating battery on the 3rd rank, which does allow white to do a spite check with its queen.

The lesson this week is that connected rooks on the 7th or 2nd rank have a bite that is worse than their oink.

Reach Eric Morrow atericmorrowlaw@gmail.comor(505) 327-7121.

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February 16th, 2020 at 6:45 am

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Chess Boxing Is Equal Parts Brains and Brawn – VICE UK

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This article originally appeared on VICE Netherlands.

Iepe Rubingh does a final check of the venue to make sure everything is ready. There's a small table inside a boxing ring, with a stool either side of it. The audience has their eyes glued to the doors, waiting for the athletes to emerge. Tonight, they're hoping to witness either a checkmate, a knockout or both we are, after all, at a chess boxing match.

Like korfball and ball shooting (the Dutch word, "klootschieten", is more fun), chess boxing is another unique sport born in the Netherlands. Former performance artist Iepe Rubingh came up with the intriguing combination of brain and fist-fighting, before stepping into the ring himself for the world's very first match, in 2003.

Sixteen years on, Ignition Festival is hosting another match in the same venue, Amsterdam's iconic church-turned-concert hall, Paradiso.

Out in the hallway, Olegs Petrovsky from Latvia is almost ready, rinsing his mouth guard. He'll play a round of chess, followed by a round of boxing. If five rounds of both don't result in either a knockout or a checkmate, a panel of judges will decide on the winner.

"That first time was incredibly nerve-wracking," says Rubingh. "We had no idea how a match would actually play out. Aside from a year of extensive prep work through training, we didn't have much experience with either chess or boxing. The guys fighting today are a thousand times better."

That's probably because the sport has grown by about a thousandfold since that first match. About 3,500 people participate worldwide, with matches organised in Finland, India, Russia and Germany.

Petrovsky pulls up the hood of his robe and steps into the room. Daniil Soloviev, his Russian opponent, also enters the ring, taking his place on one of the stools. According to the announcer, the men will begin by flexing their chess muscles. The athletes wear noise-canceling headphones to increase their focus. They won't hear the announcer's scream of surprise at Solovievs risky moves.

The audience watches the game on a big screen, while the guys smack their pieces onto the board and hit the timer as soon as theyve made their move. The crowd is going wild, but neither player hears a thing.

Kick-boxing legend Rem Bonjasky is seated next to the announcer, waiting to commentate on the boxing segment. "He's super smart," says Rubingh. "If he were an actual chess boxer, he might have been world champion."

The first round of boxing gets underway. You'd think most chess players eschew violence, but in chess boxing it's an essential element of the game players punch each other in the gut and in the jaw. To compete in chess boxing, you need to have at least rudimentary knowledge of both, says Rubingh. "Otherwise, youll be on the ground in 12 seconds flat or checkmated in the first round."

Petrovsky resumes his chess game with a fresh cut to the head. Rubingh explains that he would be feeling exhilarated. "All of your blood flows to your muscles, so you dont have a lot of oxygen in your head. Youre thinking under a lot of pressure it's like being an astronaut or a soldier." With ringing ears and a heart-rate of 160 beats per minute, the guys try to focus on the board in front of them.

The match goes five rounds without a knockout or checkmate. But Solovievs timer goes off during the final chess round the Russian has run out of time, and so Petrovsky wins. The evenings second match is between Denis Gurba (Russia) and Sakari Lhderinne (Finland). The Russian player is out for revenge, after the Finn won their most recent battle.

Chess pieces fly off the board, punches are thrown even faster. Then, toward the end of round three, Gurba has his opponent all but cornered on the chessboard. Just before he can seal the deal, the bell rings, signalling them to step back into the boxing ring.

After a well-placed hit to the jaw, Gurba slumps. He gets a standing eight count, and the roles suddenly seem reversed. But despite wobbling, Gurba somehow stays upright. He makes it to the end of the round and back onto his stool, where he checkmates Lhderinne.

Chess boxing might sound like a joke, but the atmosphere is electric and the athletes are impressive. The punches are also very real my camera got whacked, and I left with a bloody eyebrow to rival Petrovskys.

Scroll down for more pictures of the event at Paradiso, organised by Ignition.

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Chess Boxing Is Equal Parts Brains and Brawn - VICE UK

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February 16th, 2020 at 6:45 am

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Another Watch Incident At Indian Team Championship – Chess.com

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WGM Swati Ghate became the second victim in five days of the strict anti-watch rule at the Indian Team Championship. Like Baskaran Adhiban, she forfeited her game for wearing an analog watch, despite attempts by her opponentIM Tania Sachdev to continue the game.

Only a few days after GM Baskaran Adhiban forfeited his third-round game in the National Team Open in India for wearing an analog wristwatch, the same happened to another player. As reported by Chessbase India, Swati forfeited her game in the last round after a deputy arbiter had noticed a watch on her wrist.

Unlike Adhiban's opponent, who claimed the win himself, Sachdev wanted to continue the game.

"I had noticed the watch a couple of moves into the game," Sachdev told Chess.com. "I had no intention of informing the arbiter so I continued playing without giving it any thought. A few moves later the section arbiter spotted the watch and declared a loss. I requested the section arbiter, and on being refused, the chief arbiter, to let us continue but it wasn't possible due to rules."

The game was played in the last round of the championship, which took place in Ahmedabad, the largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. The incident with Adhiban occurred in the third round, last Saturday.

Swati, a seasoned player with three IM norms who played for India at four Olympiads (1998, 2002, 2006 and 2008),was unavailable for comments.

In most FIDE events, electronic devices are banned. However, inMarch 2018, the All India Chess Federation (AICF) banned the use of all wristwatches to simplify matters for arbiters.

Two players lost their games in less than a weekand a third in total. GM Martyn Kravtsiv was the first victim at the 2018the KIIT Open in Orissa. The call for changing the rule is getting stronger.

Sachdev: "Its unfortunate and no one should win or lose like this. I am not sure whats the solution. I get the rule of no electronics. The idea of allowing analog is also not as easy as in big tournaments its difficult for arbiters to check each watch to ensure if its analog or not. I am going to leave it to the experts to figure out a way forward so such incidents dont happen and the players need to do their bit and follow rules."

It was already after the incident with Adhiban that AICF secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan suggested that the rule might be changed."[I]f there are enough player voices who come up to us and say they want it changed, we will look into it," he said.

Update Feb. 14: Mr Chaugan gave a further comment to Chess.com:

"The rule was made just to ease out the task. We run a tournament with over 2500 players playing at the same time so to keep a vigil on smartwatches was never too easy.

However, in the face of what has transpired in the cases of Adhiban and Swati, it looks like we need to address this again. We will seek the advice of our Arbiters Commission on the matter."

See also:

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February 16th, 2020 at 6:45 am

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Chess boxing: a sport of two extremes – The Peak

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By: Ahmed Ali, Peak Associate

Imagine, if you will, a sport that simultaneously pushed its athletes to their physical and intellectual limits a sport that requires an extreme amount of focus, restraint, and raw power. Well, imagine no longer, as the odd, but nevertheless impressive, new sport known as chess boxing has burst onto the scene.

Chess boxing is a sport in which two athletes alternate between six rounds of chess and five rounds of boxing, lasting three minutes each. In chess boxing, the winner is whoever gets a checkmate or a knockout first. Athletes can also be disqualified for trying to stall for time and, in the event of a draw, the winner is determined by points scored in the boxing ring. If the two athletes are still tied after their five boxing rounds have been assessed by the judges, the athlete playing the black side in chess is determined to be the winner.

This sport of two extremes was created by Dutch performance artist Iepe Rubingh in the early 2000s. Rubinghs idea was to create performance art to make people think by ushering in a new sport that was based on the 1992 comic Froid quateur. In the comic, there is a chess boxing championship in which two athletes spend an entire day in a boxing match (with a ring painted like a giant chessboard) and the next day in a round of chess. Rubingh likely found this set up to be unwieldy, so he refined the rules to make a match of chess boxing more manageable in terms of time. In 2003, Rubingh started the first official chess boxing competition and, somewhat unsurprisingly, became the first champion.

What was surprising was that this new sport ended up becoming wildly popular. Since then, in collaboration with the Dutch Boxing Association and the Dutch Chess Federation, the World Chess Boxing Organization was formed with the goal of legitimizing chess boxing worldwide. Rubingh himself has set aside his career as an artist to focus on promoting and expanding the sport, which is particularly popular in Germany, the UK, India, and Russia.

One of the most difficult aspects of the sport is the mental fortitude it requires. It can be extremely taxing to amp yourself up for a fight, only to have to quickly calm down for a tough mental exercise, and then have to repeat the process up to six times. The official Chess Boxing Global website describes this unique challenge, noting that chess boxing is a rare blend of contrasting skills that requires athletes to combine a powerful body with a sharp mind. While there are many quirky elements to the sport, its this transition between physical and intellectual extremes that creators and proponents of the sport describe as its most intriguing feature. As the official website notes, In the ring, the fighter is fueled by testosterone, adrenaline, and skill. Three minutes later, he [or she] changes battlegrounds. The contender has only seconds to restrain his fighting instinct and move into the silent logic of his mind. It is the only sport in which the heart, mind and body perform in total harmony.

Personally, I think one of the coolest things about this sport is the fact that its entirely possible that someone with no boxing experience could beat Floyd Mayweather in what is technically, at least partially, a boxing match. All this could be done without having to actually fight him, as long as the checkmate was secured in the first round of chess. If not, well, that might be the last game of chess one ever played.

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Chess boxing: a sport of two extremes - The Peak

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February 16th, 2020 at 6:45 am

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Relationships: Portal to the Divine – Healing and Transformation – Beliefnet

Posted: at 6:44 am


What do relationships mean to us. Valentines Day Weekend is a time to consider our connection to love and what it means to our lives. The love and awareness we have of self is a gateway to how we view other people. Yet, often in close relationships, the desires we have for ourselves and self-awareness, are projected on to our family and beloved. We seek to change others, instead of accepting them unconditionally.

I find this layer very hard to achieve. As much as I am accepting of others, I also wish for them to be making healthy choices for themselves.

Perhaps helpful is to gain perspective. Eckhart Tolle teaches something which may be applied to help in this regard:

What a liberation to realize that the voice in my head is not who I am. Who am I then? The one who sees that.

Past our immediate thoughts and feelings, instinctual reactions and thought-responses, is something unfathomable a spiritual oasis which is innately peaceful, unconditionally loving and giving. It is a helpful skill to connect to this internal universe. That way we will be less inclined in future to be reactive, and more likely to respond with compassion. When the external relational world is cluttered and overly emotional, close your eyes, go within and touch the divine.

When you open your eyes, it will help to see your relationships from a divine perspective. The voice in your head will soften and shift in time to match your soul vibration.Patterns of hurt and reactivity can be overcome with this type of mindfulness.

Its a valuable reminder to enjoy the souls you have chosen to share this human incarnation with. I am sure I am not the only one, who has taken people for granted, or expected things from them. Its hard to avoid a certain level of expectation.

We are often also caught up in emotional arguments that cloud the feelings of love and heartfelt compassion beneath the surface.

Most of us have challenging individuals in our families and perhaps even difficult partners or lovers. There are many underlying reasons for this, and much complexity. It is important to honour the journey of others, and also acknowledge that we have chosen important figures in our lives to share our journey. If we have chosen it, there is a soul purpose for it. It may range from being quite obvious to being almost impossible at this time to understand or accept. This is particularly true of having abusive people as family members or partners.

It is important to both give and receive love. It is important to develop a balance of self-love and service of other people. If we go too far in giving or taking, then we lose this balance.

Some of us fail to balance our needs with the needs of others, being selfless or selfish. We fail to listen to our hearts, so we judge ourselves and others harshly. (quoted from Wisdom of Souls by Michael Newton Institute,p.89)

Why are people in our lives? Especially people we consider difficult?

We attract partners who are like us. Our unresolved issues draw to us others with similar emotional patterns. We have been designed to resolve our issues. Until we do, others will be like mirrors, reflecting our distortions and dysfunctions back to us. A closed heart will meet another closed heart, until we awaken. (quoted from Wisdom of Souls by Michael Newton Institute, p.109)

The goal is awakening, and what higher goal could there be? The people in our lives are not accidental. If we want to change what turns up, we have to look within and change our patterns.

This Valentines Day weekend, will you bless yourself with love and fully embrace and enjoy the experience of being human? Will you sing and dance whilst opening your heart to love? Will you connect with your loved ones and share the sacred blessings of I love you to those who have your heart. My prayer for you is that you will be the love you wish to see in the world.

With All My Love,

David

Be the love you wish to see in the world David Starlyte

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Here is the original post:
Relationships: Portal to the Divine - Healing and Transformation - Beliefnet

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February 16th, 2020 at 6:44 am

Posted in Eckhart Tolle


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