With all eyes watching, the presumed top pick in next April's NFL Draft did nothing to hurt his stock on Saturday night.

With the Heisman Trophy already in tow, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow put on a performance like we've never seen in the still brief history of the College Football Playoff. The top ranked Tigers were a two-score favorite against Oklahoma and anyone who wagered on the SEC champs would have barely broken any kind of sweat watching how quickly LSU jumped out to a lead. By halftime, LSU had scored 49 points and Burrow had connected for all seven of his TD passes, four of them to Justin Jefferson.

There is a history of underwhelming and even losing history of Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks on the National Championship stage and no winner of college football's most-prized, personal accomplishment has ever won the title in the CFP format.

Burrow will get the chance to be the first on Monday, January 13 as LSU rolled past Oklahoma in the semifinals, 63-28.

Read more:
Burrow Backs Up Heisman Trophy w/Record-Breaking Performance - WTMM 104.5 The Team - ESPN Radio

Upcoming events include Center for Leadership programs for women, emerging leaders and supervisors.

Women Lead

Faculty from some of the top business schools in the nation, business coaches for Fortune 100 companies, national award-winning leadership consultants and best-selling business authors will be among the facilitators of a new University of Dayton Center for Leadership certificate program launching in March geared toward maximizing the leadership potential of women. "Feedback from our partners indicated a need for a program focused on addressing challenges and opportunities facing women in leadership in a more intensive program that teaches tactics and hands-on skills proven by research along with networking opportunities," said April Mescher, Center for Leadership director of strategic partnerships and marketing. Mescher said women who will benefit most from "Women Lead" are "accomplished leaders ready to further cultivate their strengths and refine their own personal brand of leadership in an environment surrounded by other diverse, high-achieving, uplifting female influences." Sessions during the program that runs from March 12 to Sept. 1 will help participants navigate their leadership identity, leverage mentorship, refine communication and negotiation skills, and create a career map with a work-life balance. Participants also will use Linkage's Advancing Women Leaders 360 Assessment to gain insight into leadership strengths. Click here for more information, including pricing, and to register for Women Lead or call 937-229-3115.

Emerging Leader Program

Employers can help develop future executive leaders with training on the finer points of leadership and business skills during the 2020 Emerging Leader program at the University of Dayton Center for Leadership. Registration is open for the next 12-month, 17-session program that begins Jan. 23, and is geared toward helping employees chart a path to executive leadership. Presenters include faculty from the University of Dayton's School of Business Administration along with consultants to Fortune 500 companies. The Emerging Leader Program is open to the public and costs $13,000; $12,000 for partner organizations. Participants receive a certificate in leadership and admission to two of the Center's future executive development programs.

Supervisory Leadership Certificate ProgramThe Center for Leadership is accepting applications for the session of this 10-session program that starts Jan. 15. The Supervisory Leadership Certificate Program is a development program spanning six months for leaders in public, private and not-for-profit organizations. This program will assist front-line leaders or anyone preparing for a leadership role in developing skills to help them maximize individual and team performance. Upon completion of the program, they also receive two additional days of Supervisor and Professional Development programs. The cost is $4,300; $4,000 for partner organizations. Supervisory Leadership Certificate facilitators average a 4.62 on a five-point scale in participant reviews. Participants in the most recently completed cohort report a 43.5 percent increase in their competency level. One participant said: "I have found most valuable the ability to listen to and to be exposed to individuals from all over the region, as well as to be able to share in their insights and gain an appreciation for the similarities and differences among us."

Professional Development Programs

Jan. 23: "Coaching and Evaluating Performance." This session is designed to enhance management skills and prepare participants for the changing demands of today's workforce. Participants will learn concepts and skills to develop the skills of staff members or correct performance issues.

Jan. 29: "Leveraging the Cross-Generational Workforce." This year, there will be four generations in the workforce. There's a culture clash brewing in the workforce as each generation carries their own values, attitudes and work styles to the office. Left unchecked, it can be disruptive and even toxic to the work environment. This program is for leaders who want to understand employees of all generations so they can find ways to effectively communicate and motivate everyone from old-school to new-school.

Feb. 4: "The Energy Bus: Driver of Positive Change." This interactive program is built around Jon Gordons best-selling book, The Energy Bus. It will help you learn about your impact as the driver of the bus, create a positive vision and eliminate negativity.

Feb. 5: "The Power of Positive Leadership." This program will help leaders in building a strong and positive organizational culture, create clarity through a strong vision and focused actions, and pursue excellence and hold people accountable in a positive way, while confronting, transforming and removing negativity from their team.

Feb. 6: "Effective Decision Making." This program utilizes group exercise, movie clips, real-world examples and case studies to help participants analyze and improve decision-making skills.

Feb. 6: "Going from Peer to Supervisor." This program will guide new supervisors through the transition from individual contributor to leader. Through small group exercises, group discussion and role playing, participants also will learn strategies, behaviors and critical interactions that lead to becoming an effective supervisor.

Feb. 11: "IMPROVing Interpersonal Communication." Leaders with a mastery of the various facets of communication are becoming increasingly rare. Acquiring these skills can be overwhelming and can leave some thinking they may just not have what it takes. This course will use the proven methods of improvisation training to identify weaknesses and create new strengths.

Feb. 13: "Essential Problem Solving for Team Members: Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt." Participants will gain the knowledge and skills to lead Lean Six Sigma problem solving teams through the five-step Lean Six Sigma Problem Solving process.

Feb. 18: "Time Management and Personal Productivity." This session will help with establishing and scheduling priorities, navigating common productivity obstacles and engaging others productively.

Feb. 19: "Leading Change at the First Level." Leading major change is not the same as leading day-to-day operations. In this program, participants will explore the patterns that differentiate great change leaders, focusing on the complicated role of the front-line leader who must follow and lead simultaneously.

Feb. 26: "Elevate Your Personal Leadership Brand for Women Leaders." Today, more women are seeing themselves as catalysts and leaders in helping their community navigate a new way of operating, including from how to conduct business to managing relationships and family. This program will enlighten, strengthen and motivate women in leadership positions and women who are aspiring to positions of leadership. It will enable women to trust their abilities to be powerful forces for positive expansion and growth in their organizations.

March 5: "Leadership is Everyone's Business." Participants will discover how they have shown leadership to meet business and personal challenges, allowing them to gain the confidence and skill to increase their use of the Five Practices of Exemplary Leaders.

March 10: "Emotional Intelligence: Becoming More Effective in Reaching Others." This session provides an in-depth look at the domains and competencies of the emotional intelligence model, which improves your ability to affect change in yourself and others. You will learn how to recognize and identify emotions that drive behaviors. Key takeaways are how to positively influence a challenging situation or personality. Additionally, you will learn about negotiation, power, influence, teamwork and development.

March 11: "Communications Skills for Leaders." Participants will gain tips to establish goodwill and motivate audience action, organize content strategically for optimal audience engagement, and increase presentation confidence through audience analysis and preparation.

March 17-18: "Project Management Essentials I & II." This program focuses on the practical skills, tools and techniques used to effectively manage all phases of a project initiation, planning, execution and closing. Participants will work on a practical case study project in small groups to clarify the project's goal and objectives, identify deliverables, create a work breakdown structure and build a schedule.

March 19: "Work-life Balance Transformation: Cultivating and Facilitating Change." This program will help leaders learn how and why they need to put their physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs first. It also will train leaders on how to build, implement and execute a work-life balance plan so they can be extremely successful at work and home.

March 26: "Productive Conflict Management." Participants will practice different approaches for managing conflict between individuals and teams, review the five conflict styles, and assess their specific conflict style by utilizing the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument.

April 1:"Professional Communication and Presence." This session will help participants create awareness of how image influences perception and its relationship to professional development and understand non-verbal communication and the message it sends.

April 7: "Navigating Difficult Conversations." This interactive workshop helps participants build strong communication and conflict resolution skills plus understand the casualties of unresolved conflict productivity loss and employee turnover, among others.

April 14: "Boost Results through Effective Delegation." This program utilizes a personal delegation assessment, analyzes delegation challenges, and draws from group exercises to increase accountability for yourself and your teams. This program also will help leaders implement a delegation approach proven to increase productivity and follow up on employee progress without micromanaging.

April 15: "Essential Problem Solving for Team Members: Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt." Participants will gain the knowledge and skills to lead Lean Six Sigma problem solving teams through the five-step Lean Six Sigma Problem Solving process.

April 21: "Going from Peer to Supervisor." This program will guide new supervisors through the transition from individual contributor to leader. Through small group exercises, group discussion and role playing, participants also will learn strategies, behaviors and critical interactions that lead to becoming an effective supervisor.

April 22: "Strengths-Based Leadership." This session will help participants define the benefits of focusing on their strengths, explore how strengths impact decisions and utilize strengths to fulfill the basic needs of employees.

April 23: "Building Success and Connection through Workplace Storytelling." A compelling story is the fastest route to human connection and influence. Stories make presentations better, make ideas stick and help people persuade. This interactive program will teach participants how to distinguish themselves and their companies through the stories they tell and develop a personal story people want to hear to better connect with customers, employees and colleagues.

April 28: "Coaching and Evaluating Performance." This session is designed to enhance management skills and prepare participants for the changing demands of today's workforce. Participants will learn concepts and skills to develop the skills of staff members or correct performance issues.

May 5: "Advanced Project Management." This is a follow-up to Project Management Essentials I & II. Participants will take a closer look at the concept of critical path and how to use it when executing a project. The class also includes a two-hour exercise during which participants work in teams to make decisions and develop a project schedule for a client.

May 12:"Assertiveness. Communicating with Impact" This program will help leaders identify their preference for one of the four personal influence styles and learn how individual styles may hamper interpersonal communication.

May 13:"Effective Decision Making." This program utilizes group exercise, movie clips, real-world examples and case studies to help participants analyze and improve decision-making skills.

May 19: "Powerful Presentation Skills." Participants will learn to use powerful business presentation skills to influence behavior and reach desired outcomes, including tips to reduce nervousness, best practices for visual aids and how to have a strong connection with your audience.

May 28: "Coaching and Evaluating Performance." This session is designed to enhance management skills and prepare participants for the changing demands of today's workforce. Participants will learn concepts and skills to develop the skills of staff members or correct performance issues.

May 28: Maximize Your Potential at Work: Individual Lean Six Sigma. Designed for employees at all levels of an organization, participants will learn the three-step process for continuous improvement.

June 2: "Leading Change at the First Level." Leading major change is not the same as leading day-to-day operations. In this program, participants will explore the patterns that differentiate great change leaders, focusing on the complicated role of the front-line leader who must follow and lead simultaneously.

June 3: "Project Leadership." This program focuses on the five skills necessary to effectively lead the people associated with a project - identify, communicate with and influence stakeholders; develop a productive project team and make effective project decisions.

June 11: "Employee Engagement: Communicate & Coach High Performance Teams." This program defines what employee engagement is and why it matters. Participants will define and apply strategies in communication to engage employees through clarity in messaging, building trust and fostering interaction. Participants also will learn and apply effective performance management practices that motivate employees in their own development by setting strong goal statements and using effective feedback and coaching.

June 16: "Leadership is Everyone's Business." Participants will discover how they have shown leadership to meet business and personal challenges, allowing them to gain the confidence and skill to increase their use of the Five Practices of Exemplary Leaders.

June 17-18: "Project Management Essentials I & II." This program focuses on the practical skills, tools and techniques used to effectively manage all phases of a project initiation, planning, execution and closing. Participants will work on a practical case study project in small groups to clarify the project's goal and objectives, identify deliverables, create a work breakdown structure and build a schedule.

June 23-24: "Advanced Problem Solving for Team Leaders: Lean Six Sigma Green Belt." This session will help participants gain basic knowledge and skills to lead effective problem-solving teams; understand the five-step Lean Six Sigma problem-solving process called DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control); and understand when and how to use problem-solving tools and techniques.

June 24: "Communications Skills for Leaders." Participants will gain tips to establish goodwill and motivate audience action, organize content strategically for optimal audience engagement, and increase presentation confidence through audience analysis and preparation.

June 25: "Going from Peer to Supervisor." This program will guide new supervisors through the transition from individual contributor to leader. Through small group exercises, group discussion and role playing, participants also will learn strategies, behaviors and critical interactions that lead to becoming an effective supervisor.

The cost for a professional development program is $395 for the general public, $345 for University of Dayton alumni and $299 for center partners.

Executive Development ProgramsFeb. 12:Lead, Follow or Get out of the Way: Accountability for Superior ResultsbyLinda Galindo, an expert in the field of personal and organizational accountability and high-performance executive team building. She is a co-author of 85% Solution,Where Winners Liveand the author ofWay to Grow.

March 24 (morning):Crucial Conversations for Leaders: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are HighbyJoseph Grenny, co-author of fourNew York Timesbestsellers and creator of four award-winning training programs of the same titles -Crucial Conversations,Crucial Accountability,Influencer, andChange Anything.

March 24 (afternoon):Influencer: The New Science of Leading ChangebyJoseph Grenny.

April 16:Innovation is Everybody's Business: How to Ignite, Scale and Sustain for a Competitive AdvantagebyTamara Ghandour, creator of the Innovation Quotient Edge Assessment, the only tool to measure people's natural innovation strengths.

May 14:Intentional Purpose: Building Your Brand As A LeaderbyDorie Clark, a marketing strategy consultant, professional speaker and frequent contributor to theHarvard Business Review. She is recognized as a branding expert forForbesandInc.magazines and is the author ofReinventing You,Stand Out, andEntrepreneurial You.

The cost for executive development programs is $995 for the general public, $945 for University of Dayton alumni and $897 for center partners.All sessions for every program run all day, unless otherwise noted, and will be on the University of Dayton River Campus at Daniel J. Curran Place.For more information about Center for Leadership programs and to register, call 937-229-3115 or visitthe Center for Leadership website.

More:
Briefly speaking - University of Dayton - News Home

The NFL playoffs are here. The timing of turning the page to a new year and getting 12 teams with 0-0 records is delightful. It also means taking our preseason projections, tossing them to the curb and starting over with an NFL playoff projection.

We know the 2020 NFL playoff schedule through the divisional round, and we have lines for Wild Card Weekend. Anything past that is my personal projection. Just like -- in case you can't figure this out -- my entire layout here. These are predictions and projections. We'll update them every week.

If you need more immediate content and breakdowns on the upcoming playoff games, may I suggest checking out our Pick Six Podcast, our daily NFL pod with emergency episodes for coach firings and breakdowns from every single slate of NFL games.

You can listen to the latest episode, where the Superfriends make bold playoff predictions and revisit their preseason predictions, in the player below, and you can subscribe to the show right here.

Get into the playoff action by playing CBS Sports Playoff Pick'em. Pick the games for yourfree chance to win $5,000or start a fully customizable pool with friends. Terms apply.

This is the easiest pick of Wild Card Weekend in my opinion. The Texans had another great year and won another division title under Bill O'Brien. But they're not the most inspiring team out there. The problem is, even with Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller, the Texans love to run Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson. This should be a wide-open offense but instead they tend to try and be conservative. I believe that plays directly into the Bills' hands -- you can beat Buffalo on the ground, but I'm not sure Houston has the juice up front to do it. Running the ball, giving up points and getting behind, then having to throw against the Bills secondary? That's a recipe for disaster.

PROJECTED SCORE: Bills 24, Texans 17

The Titans are going to be the trendy underdog for Wild Card Weekend after hammering the Texans' backups and everyone seeing the Patriots gag away a first-round bye thanks to a home loss to the Dolphins. No thanks! I'll be on the Patriots here, because, well, they are the Patriots. I do worry a little bit about the Titans' ability to run the ball in a physical nature, but we're talking about Ryan Tannehill going into Gillette Stadium in a prime-time game against Tom Brady. As much as I like the Titans, I'm not there yet with this Tennessee team, especially if everyone is picking it to win.

PROJECTED SCORE: Patriots 31, Titans 21

The worst possible scenario for the Vikings broke out, with the Saints landing the No. 3 seed and Minnesota heading to New Orleans. It's a tough place to play, no one is hotter than Drew Brees right now, Alvin Kamara looks healthy and we haven't seen the Vikings look good in the past few weeks. I would assume everyone will back the Saints to win and cover -- I think Minnesota will keep it close in a shootout. Mike Zimmer is a very good coach and it's a 1 p.m. ET game, so that's good for Kirk Cousins? If Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook are both ready to roll for this game, I believe the Vikings will keep it close in a shootout but ultimately come up just short.

PROJECTED SCORE: Saints 35, Vikings 31

Two bruised and battered fighters getting in the ring for this one. The Seahawks are missing tons of players and the Eagles are, frankly, missing even more. If you knew every single person catching passes from Carson Wentz on Sunday, you're either the biggest Eagles fan in the world or, more likely, a big, fat liar. I don't know how this is going to go, but I wouldn't want to bet against either one of these teams pulling off something crazy. The Seahawks have the better quarterback with playoff experience, so for now I'll take them. Here's the one thing I would worry about: The Seahawks love to run the ball and are stubborn about it until they get in a pinch. The Eagles are good against the run and you can destroy them through the air. Will Brian Schotteinheimer be smart enough to adjust? For now, I'll say yes.

PROJECTED SCORE: Seahawks 21, Eagles 17

All spreads after the wild-card round are my projections.

Third time is a charm! The Seahawks advance only to get a rubber match against the 49ers in San Francisco, where Russell Wilson and Co. won on Monday Night Football in a crazy game earlier in the season. This line is really high, but the 49ers were just -3.5 at Seattle and managed to cover (although they probably should have lost). I wouldn't want to fade Wilson getting more than a touchdown in a spot like this, but I also wouldn't want to get in the way of the 49ers having just played Seattle and having just gotten to rest while the Seahawks traveled across the country for a physical brawl against Philly. The 49ers with two weeks to prep and get healthy have a massive advantage here.

PROJECTED SCORE: 49ers 28, Seahawks 24

Another rematch, with the Ravens having won and covered in the first game in Buffalo. That's also an extra week for the Ravens to prepare for the Bills and their defense and for Baltimore to get healthy after sitting everyone in Week 17. No one has been hotter than the Ravens, but I don't think the time off necessarily hurts their offense. It's not a rhythm passing situation where Lamar Jackson just got nuclear. It's a situation where they can rest up, prep to smash the ball down the Bills' throats and invent creative new offensive schemes. The Ravens with a bye are very dangerous.

PROJECTED SCORE: Ravens 35, Bills 17

Rematch number three! The Patriots will be heading back to the scene of last season's AFC Championship Game, and how the game against the Titans plays out might dictate what happens in this matchup. If the Patriots are in a dogfight with Tennessee and get beat up by Derrick Henry, they could limp into Kansas City. Juan Thornhill's injury is a major concern, but this secondary for the Chiefs is really playing well down the stretch. I think they're a legit dangerous defense, and I don't think the Patriots will be able to throw on them. The Chiefs are a substantially better team.

PROJECTED SCORE: Chiefs 27, Patriots 21

Struggled with this line, because I think people will be all over the Saints if they're not favored, or maybe even up to -3. However, I'm just not sure the Saints would be -9 at home, so I think it would open at a pick 'em before moving in New Orleans' direction. The Saints are 5-1 to win the title, while the Packers are 12-1. That's a remarkable disparity considering one team has to play three games and the other is getting a bye.

PROJECTED SCORE: Saints 17, Packers 10

If this matchup doesn't happen, people will be legitimately upset. This is the best possible AFC Championship Game, a preview of battles that could take place for years to come between Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. We should sign up for this matchup every year for the next decade-plus as football fans. I will certainly sign up for it now. The Chiefs actually beat the Ravens earlier this season; people forget that! I think they beat the Ravens again -- they have the better passing attack and have morphed into a consistent defense. I'm a little worried about injuries to the secondary (Juan Thornhill is a big blow) and you could see the Ravens running downhill all day on this team. But I think the Chiefs have enough to hold them off and win this game.

PROJECTED SCORE: Chiefs 24, Ravens 21

Barely avoided the bracket that was loaded with chalk, thanks to the Saints being the No. 3 seed in the NFC. I think they're the better team than Green Bay, so they can certainly advance without home-field advantage. This would be an epic matchup, harkening back to the 2011 divisional-round shootout from the Alex Smith days. I don't know exactly how comfortable I would feel fading Kyle Shanahan at home, but the way Drew Brees and Co. have been playing, I think the Saints are going to make a deep run.

PROJECTED SCORE: Saints 24, 49ers 21

Epic matchup between two great offenses -- hopefully the weather in Miami cooperates! -- with the Saints returning to the scene of the crime 10 years since they won their only Super Bowl. Unfortunately for Brees and Sean Payton, it's time for Andy Reid to win his first. The oft-maligned time manager comes through with a title thanks to Patrick Mahomes and a solid defensive performance from the Chiefs as Kansas City brings home the championship.

PROJECTED SCORE: Chiefs 31, Saints 28

See original here:
2020 NFL Playoff Bracket Projection: Chiefs get Andy Reid first Super Bowl win over Saints - CBS Sports

Kenny Chesney has three,Miranda Lambert has four songs as a solo artist and one collaboration, andCarrie Underwood has two of the50 best country songs of the 2010s.

The decade's biggest and best songs come from country artists still relevant today, mostly.

Who has the No. 1 song of the 2010s? We'll hold that secret for now, but you can be assured this artist is one of the most important (perhapsthemost important) artist of the last 10 years, and the song is one still flirting with country airplay charts in 2019 and 2020 a half-decade after it debuted!

Artists like Eric Church, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton and Tim McGraw helped define the 2010s in country music, but in the last two or three years newcomers like Midland, Dan + Shay and Brett Young have put down a strong stamp. All make the list at least once, asdoFlorida Georgia Line, Keith Urban, Taylor Swift (twice!) and Sam Hunt.

Rankings on this list are based on radio and sales figures, reader feedback, staff opinion and influence. All songs released between Jan. 2, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2019 were considered, although a song's ability to maintain relevance through the years gave it more credibility, and thus a higher ranking.

Here Are the Top 50 Country Songs of the 2010s:

Read more:
50 Best Country Songs of the 2010s - Taste of Country

Another complete year of exciting chess has ended2019 has had the most power-packed schedule in recent years with elite tournaments, official events and strong opens. Overall, it was a fun year that gave us plenty of awesome games.

The strong chess players of Chess.com's content team (@peterdoggers, @danielrensch, @samcopeland, @Luisfsiles,@mikeklein, @gmkrikor, @Isaacsteincamp, @coachjkane, @fischwitsch and @rakesh) had the fun and tiring(!) task of short-listing and then ranking the year's most memorable games.

(Note that our columnist @Gserper wrote about his most memorable10 games of 2019 as well and it's quite a different list!)

Each person next voted on his 10 favorite games with the top game getting 10 points, the 10th-best game getting one point, and so forth.

Below you'll find the list of the games finishing in 10th to first places.

We kick-start our countdown with this fascinating win by the eventual winner, Valentina Gunina, at the Cairns Cup. Playing as White, Gunina shows immense attacking prowess as she blows away Marie Sebag, who was making her comeback to top-level chess after a short absence.

Gunina plays a typical Sicilian style with a free-flowing attack on the kingside even though Sebag hasn't castled. The computer dislikes White's overambitious playbut Sebag errs. Gunina then executes the attack to perfection with all her pieces and forces resignation!

Two games tie with the score of 30 points, but the Dubov-Giri game ranks behind Carlsen-Ding that is much more significant. Daniil Dubov is also the only player to have two top-10 wins in 2019.

This win by Dubov is true to his style. Get an advantage out of the opening. Complicate things and go for a wild attack. Then win!

Dubov plays the brilliant 19.0-0-0 to win an absolutely crazy game. His king doesn't have any pawn in front of him but still is completely safe! Then all of Dubov's pieces combine to create havoc. In the end, his knights dazzle beautifully, and he crashes through against the solid Anish Giri.

This game was beautifully played by both sides in the blitz playoff of the Sinquefield Cup.Apart from being an astounding game, it is also historically important becauseMagnus Carlsen lost a playoff match for the first time in more than 10 matches and 12 years!

Ding Liren was already leading the playoff and expected Carlsen to come "all guns blazing." Ding equalized comfortably as Black in the Spanish and then put pressure along the c-file. Carlsen complicated matters as expected, and a slugfest was underway. In wild complications, Ding kept his cool and gave up material for the initiative. Carlsen risked more, but Ding was ready. He gave up his queen and made good use of Carlsen's weakened position in what may be the best blitz game of the year!

The following game was essential in July to determine two candidates' spots from the FIDE Grand Prix. EventuallyAlexander Grischuk and Ian Nepomniachtchi qualified, but Maxime Vachier-Lagrave should be proud of his effort.

Grischuk played an offbeat line against the Grunfeld. It later transposed into a Benko with the inclusion of h4 for White. Vachier-Lagrave played energetic chess and never really allowed White to get back in the game. Interestingly, Grischuk's rook went to a3 on the 10th move and didn't move again in the game!

Meanwhile, the Frenchman used both his rooks and his bishop beautifully and wrecked White's position completely. Domination personified!

The following game was played at the world's strongest open, the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss. In round eight, David Anton Guijaro uncorked an idea researched by his trainer and deviated from theory. Anton took a full hour for his next move and then only 19 seconds on the following move to sacrifice a piece.

White's initiative was more than clear, and his play was precise. Grischuk's king made more moves than his queenside pieces! Finally Anton's attack crashed through, and Grischuk stretched out his hand in resignation.

Watch David Anton on his win vs. Alexander Grischuk from Chess.com on http://www.twitch.tv

This game wasn't played at the highest level, but thanks to social media, it didn't go unnoticed. The two next games feature strong international masters beating super-grandmasters in tactical skirmishes and with black pieces!

Mikheil Mchedlishvili is an Olympic player for Georgia while his opponent is a strong Indian IM, who is nicknamed Indian Tal. Rathnakaran K was relatively unknown at the global level but not anymore. If you think my compatriot's nickname is unwarranted, please check for yourself!

In this game, Rathnakaran doesn't go for the normal recapture and gives up his queen on move eight! He gains tremendous compensation in terms of development advantage, activity and initiative. His play is far from perfect, but the energy and style in which Black plays are sure to leave a smile on your face!

Danish-American IM Kassa Korley scored a sensational win over seasoned campaigner Alexander Moiseenko of Ukraine at the Xtracon Open in Denmark. In this game, Korley played an idea that two others had already played, including himself!

Korley's knights maneuver majestically to blow up White's kingside. He then shows no mercy to his former-2700 opponent and mates in 25 moves!

This incredible game was played in the recently concluded European Club Cup. Croatian number-one, Ivan Saric, is a seasoned campaigner and has had great results, but none of his former games features such an immense material imbalance.

Saric started with a side line in the French Winawer. A typical fight ensued with the position being closed but with plenty of tactical possibilities. Saric sacrificed some material and then some more. On move 51, the position imbalance was bishop, knight and six pawns for White versus two rooks, bishop and a pawn for Black. Saric then played beautifully (but Black missed a draw on move 65)a spectacular game with high instructive value.

A strong contender for game of the year is this thrilling one played at the European Team Championship in November.Dubov, who also was on World Champion Magnus Carlsen's team during last year's world championship match, is well-known for his opening preparations. He uses an interesting idea of castling queenside on move eight in the Queen's Gambit.

Dubov continues his explosive play on the kingside and manages to open several files. In the middlegame, he suddenly shifts gears and goes on a rampage. In typical Tal style, he sacrifices one piece after another. He literally drags Black's king from g8 and finally catches him on a2! Rasmus Svane was gracious to allow checkmate in one of the best attacking games of the year.

The year 2019 was definitely the breakthrough for the former Iranian prodigyAlireza Firouzja. The youngster had an absolutely topsy-turvy year having crossed 2700 and having to switch federations to play in the World Rapid & Blitz Championships. In this game, he was on the receiving end of an amazing queen sacrifice by the Indian grandmaster Murali Karthikeyan.

This theme is very similar to the one in Nezhmetdinov vs. Chernikovin 1962. Karthikeyan's game is more impressive because it wasn't played in the Romantic era of chess and he isn't always an attacking player like Nezhmetdinov.

Sit back, relax and enjoy the best game of 2019!

What makes a game stand out from others? A brilliant king hunt, a positional squeeze, an endgame masterclass or a brilliant opening novelty that wins?

What's clear from the results is that the bar is very high this year.Magnus Carlsenhad an amazing year but doesn't have a win featured. Maybe his unbeaten 107-streak is the reason. Many weird and bizarre games happened. Carlsen and Vidit Gujrathidrew in just five moveswhile David Howell and Harikrishna Pentala played for 236 to split the point.

Two honorable mentions that are notable wins happened too late to be considered:

Several fantastic games received double-digit points but nevertheless did not make it into the top-10:

Think we have overlooked a game? Have a favoritegame of your own? How much do you agree with our scoring?Let us know in the comments!

Read this article:

The 10 Best Chess Games Of 2019 - Chess.com

The world No 1 dominated his rivals in 2019, winning 10 elite tournaments, but is expected play less in his title defence year

Hikaru Nakamura v Jan-Krzysztof Duda, world blitz 2019. Can you find a win for Black

(to move)? Duda, Polands No 1, got it wrong.

Magnus Carlsen ended his vintage year of 2019 as he began it, as a superb all-round player who outclasses his rivals. Carlsen won at Wijk in January last year and at Moscow in December where he took both the world 30-minute rapid and the five-minute blitz crowns, losing only one game out of 38.

Overall the Norwegian, 29, won 10 elite tournaments over the year, with just two odd failures at speed in St Louis and at Fischer Random in Oslo. The standout difference between todays champion and Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov is that Carlsen has been far more active than the other legends in their peak years, taking on new challenges with hardly a break. And in his spare time he briefly became world No 1 in Fantasy Premier League. True, Kasparov was No 1 for some 21 years while Carlsen is eight years and counting.

Carlsens style has become sharper since he worked in 2018 with AlphaZero and the creative tactician Daniil Dubov: For me it is easier to play for a win. Perhaps the others risk more if they do so. I think thats the brutal truth. If you are a bit better you can afford to take more risks.

It will be different in 2020, as Carlsen has already announced: I will definitely play less. I have played a lot this year and my level of energy has become empty at the end. Not realistic to play as much in 2020, he said.

Three major targets remain. At Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee starting on 11 January he can break Sergei Tiviakovs record of 110 classical games unbeaten. Carlsen missed out on a 2900 classical rating despite getting near it in mid-year, so this can be a 2020 target. His current rating is 2872 and his all-time peak remains at 2889.

Perhaps most of all, Carlsen will want to defend his title more convincingly than in 2014, when with the scores level at 2.5 each Vishy Anand missed a simple winning chance, or 2016 and 2018 when the classical scores were tied at 6-6 before Carlsen defeated Sergey Karjakin and Fabiano Caruana in speed tie-breaks. As of now, Caruana and Chinas Ding Liren are the favourites to win the candidates in March and Carlsen respects them both as serious contenders.

Aside from Carlsen, the main talking point at Moscow was Alireza Firouzja, who quit his native Iran due to its ban on playing Israelis and will probably represent France, where he now lives.

The 16-year-old is already perceived as a potential world title challenger in the mid 2020s, so the dramatic end to his blitz game with the champion, where he missed several wins before his controversial loss on time, has become compulsive viewing.

The final position, where Carlsen had a lone bishop and a tablebase draw, was a loss for Firouzja under Fide rules because a mating position was legally possible. The teen often plays blitz games on websites where the rule is different, so that WK a8 WP a6 v BK c7 BN c8 with White to move and 1 a7 Nb6 mate is forced, may become a draw online if White loses on time and the server then decrees that Black lacks mating material.

Firouzja requested to see the Fide rule in print, an action paralleled long ago when Yuri Averbakh and Viktor Korchnoi were not sure of the rules on castling. His appeal against the result was doomed to fail because he had not complained during the game when he alleged he was disturbed by Carlsen speaking in Norwegian. Carlsen was magnanimous afterwards, but such incidents can have lasting effects on relationships between players.

Hastings has its final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday afternoon (2.15pm start). Online viewing is available on two different sites and includes computer commentary.

3652 1...Bxg2+! 2Rxg2 and now Duda fell for 2...Re1+?? 3 Rg1 Qc1 4 Rxh5+! Instead 2...Qc1+! 3 Qg1 (3 Rg1 Rxh2+) Re1 wins for Black.

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Chess: Carlsen wins speed titles after controversial game with rising star - The Guardian

This article was submitted in response to the call for ideas issued by the co-chairs of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, Eric Schmidt and Robert Work. It addresses the first question (part a.), which asks how will artificial intelligence affect the character and/or the nature of war.

***

Will artificial intelligence (AI) change warfare? Its hard to say. AI itself is not new the first AI neural network was designed in 1943. But AI as a critical factor in competitions is relatively novel and, as a result, theres not much data to draw from. However, the data that does exist is striking. Perhaps the most interesting examples are in the world of chess. The game has been teaching military strategists the ways of war for hundreds of years and has been a testbed for AI development for decades.

Military officials have been paying attention. Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work famously used freestyle (or Centaur) chess to promote the third offset strategy, where humans and computers work together, combining human strategy and computer speed to eliminate blunders while allowing humans to focus on the big picture. Since then, AI and supercomputers have continued to reshape how chess is played. Technology has helped to level the playing field the side with the weaker starting position is no longer at such a disadvantage. Likewise, intimidation from the threat of superhuman computers has occasionally led to some unorthodox behaviors, even in human-only matches.

The experience of AI in the chess world should be instructive for defense strategists. As AI enters combat, it will first be used just in training and in identifying mistakes before they are made. Next, improvements will make it a legitimate teammate, and if it advances to superhuman ability in even narrow domains of warfighting, as it has in chess then it could steer combat in directions that are unpredictable for both humans and machines.

What Does Chess Say About AI-Human Interaction?

Will AI replace soldiers in war? The experience of using AI and machine learning in chess suggests not. Even though the best chess today is played by computers alone, humans remain the focus of the chess world. The world computer chess championship at the International Conference on Machine Learning in Stockholm attracted a crowd of only three when I strolled by last year. In contrast, the human championship was streamed around the globe to millions. In human-only chess though, AI features heavily in the planning process, the results of which are called prep. Militaries are anticipating a similar planning role for AI, and even automated systems without humans rely on a planning process to provide prep for the machines. The shift toward AI for that process will affect how wars are fought.

To start, computers are likely to have an equalizing effect on combat as they have had in chess. The difference in ability among the top competitors in chess has grown smaller, and the advantage of moving first has become less advantageous. That was evident in last years human-only chess championship where competitors had the closest ratings ever in a championship, and the best-of-12 match had 12 straight draws for the first time. There have been more draws than wins in every championship since 2005, and though it is not exactly known why, many believe it is due to the influence of superhuman computers aiding underdogs, teaching defensive play, or simply perfecting the game.

AI is likely to level the military playing field because progress is being driven by commercial industry and academia which will likely disseminate their developments more widely than militaries. That does not guarantee all militaries will benefit equally. Perhaps some countries could have better computers or will be able to pay for more of them, or have superior data to train with. But the open nature of computing resources makes cutting-edge technology available to all, even if that is not the only reason for equalization.

AI Favors the Underdog and Increases Uncertainty

AI seems to confer a distinct benefit to the underdog. In chess, black goes second and is at a significant disadvantage as a result. Fabiano Caruana, a well-known American chess player, claimed that computers are benefiting black. He added that computer analysis helps reveal many playable variations and moves that were once considered dubious or unplayable. In a military context, the ways to exert an advantage can be relatively obvious, but AI planning tools could be adept at searching and evaluating the large space of possible courses of action for the weaker side. This would be an unwelcome change for the United States, which has benefited from many years of military superiority.

Other theories exist for explaining the underdogs improvement in chess. It may be that computers are simply driving chess toward its optimum outcome, which some argue is a tie. In war it could instead be that perfect play leads to victory rather than a draw. Unlike chess, the competitors are not constrained to the same pieces or set of moves. Then again, in a limited war where mass destruction is off the table, both sides aim to impose their will while restricting their own pieces and moves. If perfect play in managing escalation does lead to stalemate, then AI-enhanced planning or decision-making could drive toward that outcome.

However, superhuman computers do not always drive humans toward perfect play and can in fact drive them away from it. This happened in a bizarre turn in last years chess world championship, held in London. The Queens Gambit Declined, one of the most famous openings that players memorize, was used to kick off the second of the 12 games in the London match, but on the tenth move, the challenger, Caruana, playing as black, didnt choose either of the standard next moves in the progression. During planning, his computers helped him find a move that past centuries had all but ignored. When the champion Magnus Carlsen, who is now the highest-rated player in history, was asked how he felt upon seeing the move, he recounted being so worried that his actual response cant be reproduced here.

It is not so much that Caruana had found a new move that was stronger than the standard options. In fact, it may have even been weaker. But it rattled Carlsen because, as he said, The difference now is that Im facing not only the analytical team of Fabiano himself and his helpers but also his computer help. That makes the situation quite a bit different. Carlsen suddenly found himself in a theater without the aid of electrical devices, having only his analytical might against what had become essentially a superhuman computer opponent.

His response might presage things to come in warfare. The strongest moves available to Carlsen were ones that the computer would have certainly analyzed and his challenger would have prepared for. Therefore, Carlsens best options were either ones that were certainly safe or ones that were strange enough that they would not have been studied by the computer.

When asked afterward if he had considered a relatively obvious option that he didnt chose seven moves later in the game, Carlsen joked that Yeah, I have some instincts I figured that [Caruana] was still in prep and that was the perfect combination. Fear of the computer drove the champion, arguably historys best chess player, to forego a move that appeared to be the perfect combination in favor of a safer defensive position, a wise move if Caruana was in fact still in prep.

In war, there will be many options for avoiding the superhuman computing abilities of an adversary. A combatant without the aid of advanced technology may choose to withdraw or retreat upon observing the adversary doing something unexpected. Alternatively, the out-computed combatant might drive the conflict toward unforeseen situations where data is limited or does not exist, so as to nullify the role of the computer. That increases uncertainty for everyone involved.

How Will the U.S. Military Fare in a Future AI World?

The advantage may not always go the competitor with the most conventional capabilities or even the one that has made the most computing investment. Imagine the United States fighting against an adversary that can jam or otherwise interfere with communications to those supercomputers. Warfighters may find themselves, like Carlsen, in a theater without the aid of their powerful AI, up against the full analytical might of the adversary and their team of computers. Any unexpected action taken by the adversary at that point (e.g., repositioning their ground troops or launching missile strikes against unlikely locations) would be cause for panic. The natural assumption would be that adversary computers found a superior course of action that had accounted for the most likely American responses many moves into the future. The best options then, from the U.S. perspective, become those that are either extremely cautious, or those that are so unpredictable that they would not have been accounted for by either side.

AI-enabled computers might be an equalizer to help underdogs find new playable options. However, this isnt the only lesson that chess can teach us about the impact of AI-enabled supercomputers and war. For now, while humans still dominate strategy, there will still be times where the computer provides advantages in speed or in avoiding blunders. When the computer overmatch becomes significant and apparent, though, strange behaviors should be expected from the humans.

Ideally, humans deprived of their computer assistants would retreat or switch to safe and conservative decisions only. But the rules of war are not as strict as the rules of chess. If an enemy turns out to be someone aided by feckless computers, instead of superhuman computers aided by feckless humans, it may be wise to anticipate more inventive perhaps even reckless human behavior.

Andrew Lohn is a senior information scientist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation. His research topics have included military applications of AI and machine learning. He is also co-author of How Might Artificial Intelligence Affect the Risk of Nuclear War? (RAND, 2018).

Image: U.S. Marine Corps (Photo by Lance Cpl. Scott Jenkins)

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What Chess Can Teach Us About the Future of AI and War - War on the Rocks

CHENNAI: India's newest world champion Koneru Humpy says it was a dream to win a world title but the triumph in the blitz format surprised even herself as she was always a contender in the classical format.

Humpy capped the 2019 in a stunning fashion since she made a comeback to the sport this year after starting a family.

"This is my first world title. People were expecting me to become a world champion for a long and it really came unexpected. I was not favourite in the rapid tournament. I finished well in the final standings and it went into the tie-break," Humpy told PTI after returning from Moscow.

She had finished 12th in the blitz event that followed the triumph in rapid format.

The Vijayawada-based Humpy said she has unfinished business in winning the world title classical format and she will strive to achieve that.

She had lost in the world championship final in classical format to Hou Yifan in 2011.

"I was always the contender but I did not become the champion. I came close to it. I will continue playing and fighting for that. It will come, when it has to. It is a totally different challenge for the classical world title. You need different types of skills for different formats. I will continue to give my best to realise that one big goal."

About being away from the game and what motivated her to make a comeback, the 32-year old, who has a two-year old daughter, said she had never quit the sport.

"I always wanted to come back and it was planned. Once she (my daughter) was born, I thought after she was one-year-old, I decided to start playing tournaments. But, of course, the first few tournaments were bad performance for me.

"Obviously with a break, playing at a higher professional level, it is expected that it is not easy to succeed. From January onwards, I started doing well. I started off with Gibraltar and did pretty well there."

Her major victories were in the women's Grand Prix in September in Russia and joint first finish at Monaco Grand Prix. She was also the best foreign player in the Chinese League, where she remained unbeaten.

"Overall, I had a good performance in the year (2019) with a gain of 30 rating points in classical and around 45 points in rapid."

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World title triumph was unexpected success: Koneru Humpy - Times of India

Mentioned in this article

League/Tournament Brands:

In part one of our top 10 esports business stories from China (which you can read right here), we detailed five of the most important stories of 2019 from the region.

Those included team investments and major international wins, plus one of the industrys largest multi-million dollar media rights deals to date.

In this second half looking back at the milestones of Chinas esports business in 2019, all but one of the top five stories involve Tencent, Riot Games, and League of Legends in some way.

Here are the top five entries in the top 10 esports business stories of 2019 in China.

Between August 20-25, game publisher Valve hosted Dota 2s The International Shanghai (TI9) at Shanghais Mercedes-Benz Arena. TI9 was the first event of its kind to be hosted in China in nine years, and also the first esports tournament in which the winner could win over 100M ($14.31M) in prize money in China. Eventually, esports organization OG took home $15.5M of the $34M prize pool and became the only organization to win the TI championship for two consecutive years. OG and its players also ranked #1 in The Esports Observers Top 10 Esports Players and Teams of 2019 by Total Prize Winnings.

Since 2011, The International has broken its own record as the highest esports prize pool tournament every year. This time, TI9 surpassed the $30M Fortnite World Cup and kept its crown.

However, the event not only broke the record, but also broke hearts. The event showed a significant lack of control in ticket sales, which led to a serious problem for fans trying to attend the event.e. In September, the League of Legends community also reported ticket sales issues during the 2019 World Championship, highlighting a growing issue within top-esports events.

In the past three years, the Tencent Global Esports Annual Summit has become the most significant esports conference and summit in China. On June 20, Tencent Holdings first detailed at the summit that it earned $66M from media rights and another $64M from sponsorship deals related to its esports operations in the first half of 2019.

In addition, TJ Sports released a while paper for League of Legends esports, reporting that the 2017 LPL Summit Split contributed 3B ($436M) media value for itself and its six official partners, including Jeep. Mercedes-Benz also received approximately 600M ($87.2M) in media value as the official Chinese partner of the 2017 League of Legends World Championship.

TJ Sports also revealed that the company would open bids for one-two new franchise spots in the 2020 LPL. In December, Wuhan-based esports organization eStar became one of the new teams in the 2020 LPL.

On Jan. 10, Tencent Holding and game publisher Riot Games established a joint venture called TengJing (TJ Sports) in Shanghai. The companys main focus in 2019 was on the League of Legends relevant esports business in China, including tournament organizing, and talent management. Tencent and Riot Games equally hold 50% of shares in the venture. In addition, TJ Sports named Jin Bobby Yibo and Lin Leo Song as the co-CEOs of the company, and announced Mercedes-Benz as the head partner of the LPL.

The establishment of TJ Sports could be considered the beginning of major Chinese esports business news in 2019. It also signals that both companies want to entirely separate esports from the gaming industry, and create an exclusive space for League of Legends esports. In June, TJ Sports partnered with Riot Games to create the 2020 League of Legends World Championship Committee, which will co-host the 2020 World Championship in China.

In February, one month after TJ Sports established, the company brought global sportswear brand Nike to the sponsors list of LPL. Nike is now the exclusive apparel sponsor of the LPL from 2019-2022.

According to Chinese media outlet Lanxiong Sports, the deal was valued at 50M ($7.48M) a year, including cash and equivalent products. Sources close to the deal also confirmed these details with The Esports Observer.

For a long time, people were struggling to evaluate the sponsorship value of Chinese esports. For the first time, Chinas esports industry saw a shadow of what might be if it reaches the heights of a traditional sports league. For example, Nike signed a 10-year sponsorship deal with the Chinese Football Association Super League in 2018, for 300M ($45M) a year.

The deal also started an apparel business competition in esports in the region. Brands and the industry started to consider what should esports apparel line look like? In April, Nike unveiled its first LPL co-branded t-shirt called Gamer to the public. In September, the company unveiled all 16 LPL team uniforms, featuring a wide V style with the Nike Swoosh and LPL logo, but no team sponsors logos.

Another major Chinese apparel brand Li-Ning also created its own esports apparel line with multiple Chinese esports organizations. Compared with Nike, Li-Ning decided to direct sponsor teams and players, even acquiring LPL team Snake. (Snake was later rebranded to LNG).

What is going to be the next big esport? No individual or organization is 100% sure how to answer this question. If 2018 was about the rise of the battle royale genre (games such as Fortnite and PLAYERUNKNOWNS BATTLEGROUNDS), then 2019 belongs to the auto battler genre, and it all came from a Dota 2 mod called Dota Auto Chess.

On Jan. 4, an unknown game was released in the Dota 2 game system. Dota Auto Chess was designed by a five-man Chinese game studio Drodo Studio, and in only a month reached a peak of more than 300K concurrent players and 4.13M subscribers, globally.

For a while, Dota Auto Chess became the hottest card-style game not only Chinese live streaming platform Douyu and Huya, but also on Twitch. The huge success attracted plenty of partnership offers from game publishers, most notably Valve and Tencent. In March, Drodo Studio decided to partner with Chinese tournament organizer ImbaTV and game company Long Mobile to develop a mobile game called Auto Chess, and unveiled a $1M Auto Chess Invitational esports competition in Shanghai.

Meanwhile, Valve and Riot Games started to develop their own standalone versions inspired by Dota Auto Chess. A new game genre was officially born the auto battler, complete with competition from game publishers around the world.

At time of writing, Riot Games has developed Teamfight Tactics (TFT), which was directly inspired by the popular Dota 2 mod. The game had massive viewership on Twitch at launch and Riot Games claimed that the company would double down on developing TFTs esports scene.

Valve developed Dota Underloads, which also featured a 5K ($5.7K) esports competition at the ESL ONE Hamburg Dota 2 event. Blizzard Entertainment also announced an auto battler mode in Hearthstone called Hearthstone Battlegrounds at BlizzCon 2019. Despite the fact that Tencent owns Riot Games and indirectly owns TFT, the company has added an auto battler mode into its Honor of Kings system called Kings Simulation Battle.

In many ways, the phenomenon of Dota Auto Chess is the best underdog story not only the Chinese esports industry, but also the gaming industry as a whole. Despite the fact that the Chinese game publisher Tencent indirectly owns most of the esports titles including League of Legends, Fortnite, Clash Royale, Rocket League, PUBG, and CrossFire, Tencent still has not developed an esports title from China that has found worldwide appeal. Dota Auto Chess was actually the first game with a worldwide player base that can also boast made in China.

It is still too early to say that the auto battler genre is the next esport, however. Looking on TEOs retrospective of esports history, its easy to see that an esports success is defined by the community rather than game publishers. The success of the auto battler as a genre can not only credit those five Chinese developers from Drodo Studio, but also the esports community, who embraced this clever game mod.

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Nike, The International, and Auto Chess2019's Top 10 Esports Business Stories in China (5-1) - The Esports Observer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Chess.com and Bill Perkins to launch Skylar Chess Fest in Houston April-May 2020.

San Francisco, Dec. 27. 2019Some of the world's biggest celebrities and chess starswill travel to Houston to take part in a first-of-its-kind event, the co-organizers announced today.

This event will feature celebrities from sports, music, poker and chess with activities planned throughout the weekend to celebrate chess. A group of super-grandmasters vying for their piece of a $150,000 prize fund will play an elite rapid and blitz tournament.

Bill Perkins, the hedge fund manager and poker star, contributed $150,000 towards the prize fund, which will be available to be donated by the winners to various charities to support chess around the world. The four-day event kicks off with a gala on April 30, followed by the three days of events at the Westin Galleria Hotel and will be broadcast live exclusively at Chess.com/TV.

Editor's Note: Want to be notified when tickets go on sale?Click here!

Various tournaments, guest speakers, a silent auction and a scholarship tournament will headline the festivities, including a pro-am event featuring six of the world's best chess players and six celebrities. The marquee event, a rapid and blitz tournament, will feature one of the biggest prize funds of the year and some of the top players in the world. Regular and VIP passes will be available for purchase in early January and demand is expected to be high while availability will be limited.

Bill Perkins, founder and manager of Skylar Capital, commented on his motivation to organize this special event: "I'm very excited to partner with Chess.com to promote chess and support charitable causes at the same time in the dynamic city of Houston, Texas. Looking forward to a fun format and meeting chess lovers from around the globe."

A scholarship tournament funded by Perkins will be a highlight during the event. Young chess players from across Houston will compete for their piece of a $10,000 scholarship fund, which will promote academic excellence through chess.

Chess.com will act as the official organizing partner and technology platform for the event, managing the chess activities on site with its events team. A commentary team featuring IM Danny Rensch will call all the action for the elite rapid and blitz tournament from the Westin Galleria, which will also be broadcast live across Chess.com's video platforms and Chess.com/TV.

Among the celebrities expected to attend are Houston sports stars, professional poker players, Houston musical artists and other influential people from around the world.

A later release containing ticketing information will be published after the new year and will provide a link to purchase passes for this groundbreaking event.

Contact:

Nick BartonDirector of Events & Business Development, Chess.come-mail: nick@chess.comphone: (800) 318-2827

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Bill Perkins And Chess.com To Launch Skylar Chess Fest In Houston - Chess.com