Candidates chess 2024: In 2013, right after Magnus Carlsen won the Candidates tournament in London, a frame captured by Norwegian photographer Morten Rakke went viral. In it, the grandmaster is captured behind a door, slumped on the handrail of a staircase, shirt untucked, his face buried into his arm. An ominous sign on the wall behind Carlsen read: Beware of the steps.

Barely had the world championship challenger caught his breath after qualifying for the world championship, he was interviewed by International Master Lawrence Trent, who asked him how he planned to celebrate his victory. Carlsens answer was revealing. My thoughts have not gone further than getting back to my hotel and lying down. Thats whats next for me.

Trent prodded him further, asking if he was more exhausted physically or emotionally. Its a lethal combination right now, offered Carlsen.

In the decade that has followed, Carlsen scythed his way through the world of chess, racking up five crowns after battling through five World Championship jousts, before eventually abdicating his throne.

A case can be made that the World Championship battle is more forgiving than the Candidates. If you err, you come back with redrawn battle plans and take on the same opponent once more. At the Candidates, though, one loss can suddenly become a slippery slope.

It is into this tournament of suffering that R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi. Koneru Humpy and R Vaishali head for the next three weeks. Each player in the eight-man open event and the eight-women corresponding tournament will play the other opponents twice and the winner after 14 rounds will earn the right to challenge the world champions next year.

The missing Magnus effect

Srinath points out that Magnuss decision to forsake his crown and not compete at the current Candidates cycle in the open event means that players, even first-timers, will want to win this time, knowing an easier battle awaits them at the World Championship against Ding Liren. There is also a possibility that the world no.1 Carlsen could decide to compete in the next Candidates, thus making that one more difficult to win.

Defeating anyone else in the World Championship is definitely relatively easier than trying to beat Magnus in a match. This makes winning the 2024 Candidates more lucrative. Ding has not been in his best shape at all in the past one year. He has a year more and even a weakened Ding is by no means easy. But if he plays at his current form at the World Championship, then the challenger will be the favourite against Ding, points out Srinath.

However, Srinath warns against trying to floor the pedal in a desperate bid to come out flying from the start of the tournament.

For any player competing for the first time, ideally its important to not get overawed by the occasion. Throwing the kitchen sink might actually backfire. This is not the kind of event where you can blitzkrieg your opponent. Its really important to wait for your chances, says Srinath.

Experience matters

Some of the greatest last names in the world of chess Petrosian, Najdorf, Euwe, Spassky, Tal, Fischer, Korchnoi, Karpov, Anand, Topalov, Kramnik, Carlsen and Liren have fought their way out of the trenches of the Candidates tournament before they were deemed worthy of taking a crack at the kings throne.

For all three Indian contenders in the open category (and Vaishali in the womens event), the Candidates will be their first brush with an event with the stakes so high.

There are two ways of neatly dividing the eight-man open category. The 30 somethings Ian Nepomniachtchi, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura who have been around for a while at the elite level, and have considerable experience of how to tackle such events. Then come the players in their late 20s: Vidit Gujrathi and Nijat Abasov. And the final group is the one that has made the world sit up and take notice since the pandemic, 20-year-old Alireza Firouzja, 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa and 17-year-old Gukesh, who is the second youngest player ever at the Candidates after Bobby Fischer.

In many senses its a battle of generations. Its a good platform for youngsters to make their mark at the highest level, says RB Ramesh, who is Praggs coach and has also been instrumental in the development of Vaishali.

The other way of separating the eight-man pack is prior Candidates experience. On one side are the haves: Nepomniachtchi (playing at his third consecutive Candidates tournament and chasing his third win), Caruana (fifth Candidates appearance), Nakamura and Firouzja. And the have nots: Vidit, Gukesh, Pragg and Abasov.

In the womens category too, Viashali steps into her first Candidates event, while Humpy has been there last time.

Over the next three weeks, Pragg, Gukesh, Vaishali, Vidit and Humpy will try and climb the staircase, one treacherous step at a time through a haze of opponents, to be able to take on Liren and Ju Wenjun in the World Championship battle.

But they must be wary. As the sign behind Carlsen warned, Beware of the steps.

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Candidates chess tournament: Why playing at the Candidates and winning it is as tough as the World Championships - The Indian Express

The FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024 is set to take place in Toronto, Canada, on April 3-23. This event marks a historic occasion as it is the first time the Candidates Tournament will be held in North America (as a round-robin). Another first for the 2024 edition: the Candidates and the Womens Candidates are organized together under one roof on the same dates.

Eight players in each category have gone through the excruciating qualification process to earn a chance at becoming a challenger for the World Championship title and facing Ding Liren (open) and Ju Wenjun (womens) at the end of this year.

The lineups pique curiosity as several young talents enter the late stages of the World Championship cycle for the first time.

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Attack like a Super Grandmaster

In this Fritztrainer: Attack like a Super GM with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.

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The Candidates are ready - First impressions from Toronto! - Chess News | ChessBase

William Keegan's in my view

The shadow chancellor is often criticised for her centrist positions, but Labours plan for a long-term rescue is a vital difference between the parties

Sun 31 Mar 2024 02.00 EDT

When preparing to become Labours chancellor in 1964, James Callaghan used to go up to Oxford for economics lessons at Nuffield College. The present shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is already steeped in economic knowledge, including that of the UKs economic history, as her recent Mais lecture at Bayes business school made clear.

I was amused by some of the pre-lecture media speculation that Reeves might express her admiration for Margaret Thatcher. On the contrary, she let it be known, in an aside not in the printed text, that distaste for Thatcherism was one of her motives for going into politics.

It is now a commonplace that the wounded chickens of Thatcherism are coming home to roost. It is a myth that Mrs Thatcher injected a new entrepreneurial dynamism into the British economy: whole sections of manufacturing industry were damaged or even destroyed by her early flirtation with what I dubbed sado-monetarism. In the end, Thatcher resorted to membership of the European single market in 1986 as a means of attracting crucial overseas investment from countries such as Japan. These valued their access to the wider European market from a safe base in the UK.

Alas, thanks to the all too successful campaign run by the egregious Nigel Farage and his predecessors, the safe base was removed by the ill-conceived referendum of 2016.

One of the many benefits of our membership of the EU was steadily tightening anti-pollution rules which no longer apply, as the scandalous dumping of raw sewage into our rivers reminds us.

The damage resulting from the chickens of deregulation coming home to roost is all around us. The scale of the problems facing a putative Labour government is so manifest that Keir Starmer and Reeves lose no opportunity to warn that, if elected, it will take them two terms to repair the damage.

Starmer and Reeves are doing their best to shake off any echoes of Corbynism and to woo the City and big business. They are desperate not to diminish their impressive lead in the polls. Reevess emphasis on the importance of fiscal rules leads many people to wonder whether there is any significant difference between what they offer and the present governments approach.

Well, her Mais lecture provided a welcome answer. While wanting to have strict rules about balancing current expenditure with tax receipts, Reeves recognises that investment which brings benefits in the long term does not have to be paid for in one year! The canard, promoted by too many Tory politicians, that capital expenditure must be balanced by taxation year-by-year is one of the reasons why the UK has underinvested for more than a decade, resulting in what my old friend the late Prof JK Galbraith famously described as public squalor.

Contrary to what the pre-Keynesian brigade still argue, public sector investment does not land future generations with the cost: it lands them with the benefits.

It is interesting that the former top civil servant at the Treasury Lord Macpherson has said that the financial constraints facing the next government may not be as severe as widely feared. He ought to know, and his qualifications for fiscal responsibility are second to none.

Reeves places great emphasis on long-term investment. This will be a necessary condition of a rescue plan for this economy. But I knew, gentle reader, that you were waiting for this we also need to remove the trade barriers that have increasingly been restricting growth since Brexit.

Having criticised the inhibitions on investment that have characterised the 14 years of government since 2010, Reeves added: A rushed and ill-conceived Brexit deal has brought further disruption, with the Resolution Foundation estimating that new trade barriers are equivalent to a 13% and 21% increase in tariffs for our manufacturing and service sectors respectively, and the OBR finding that long-run GDP is expected to be 4% lower.

So what will a Labour government do about it?

If it wins handsomely, the party can stop being so timid about the red wall voters who were conned into voting for Brexit. For sustained growth we need the investment and reduction in trade barriers that rejoining the EU would facilitate.

I find Lord Mandelsons view that our former EU partners would not wish to engage with a UK request to rejoin seriously defeatist. We may be on the verge of war with Putins Russia. The EU needs us back.

On a lighter Easter note, I like the story, told by herself, that Reeves, a junior chess champion, once cheekily asked the great Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov for a game. When one of her aides said it was a bad idea because she had another appointment, Kasparov apparently said: This wont take long. It didnt.

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Rachel Reeves the chess player has an eye on the economic endgame - The Guardian

Five years since its launch, the Infinite Chess projecthas expanded globally, offering valuable insights to the chess community on its potential to enhance the lives of individuals on the autism spectrum

The World Health Organization notes that autism affects one in every 100 children worldwide. In 2007, The United Nations General Assembly established April 2 as World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD) to raise awareness and provide opportunities for people with autism not only to survive but also to prosper. In 2019, FIDE answered the call and launched the Infinite Chess project aiming to help children with autism thrive using chess as a vehicle for developing important life skills.

What began as a pilot program in 2019 has grown to encompass 19 countries worldwide, including Albania, Latvia, France, Spain, Portugal, UK, Gibraltar, Mongolia, Turkey, Morocco, Cyprus, India, Gambia, South Africa, Tanzania, Brazil, Taiwan, Malaysia, and New Zealand. Another six countries are expected to join this year: Jamaica, Botswana, Nigeria, Pakistan, Maldives, and Puerto Rico.

Today, the project equips autistic individuals with essential life skills through free training and resources, promoting their acceptance and contribution to society.

In March 2024, a three-day seminar at the Second International Congress of Chess, Education, and Health showcased studies on the project's impact. The results confirmed that chess has helped children with autism improve their socio-emotional well-being and build a stronger foundation for life skills.

In March 2024, a three-day seminar at the Second International Congress of Chess, Education, and Health showcased studies on the project's impact. The results confirmed that chess has helped children with autism improve their socio-emotional well-being and build a stronger foundation for life skills.

In the same month, the Spanish island of Menorca hosted the Second International Congress of Chess, Education, and Health as part of the FIDE100 Celebration program. The congress brought together experts in the fields of chess, education, and health. The three-day seminar showcased studies and experiences from different parts of the world about the role of chess in education and health, including the Infinite Chess project. The results showed that chess has helped children with autism improve their socio-emotional welfare and provided them with a stronger foundation for grasping important life skills.

Reflecting on the past five years, WIM Anastasia Sorokina, the project leader, emphasizes the significant learning experience for both the chess community and health experts. "It has been an important learning curve for both the chess world and health experts. Through direct work with children who have autism, we gained a better understanding of how chess can be made more accessible. Chess is for all we are all one family and FIDE is steadfast in its commitment to providing everyone, regardless of their background or life circumstances, with an opportunity to learn and play chess as it does help make one's life better," she said.

Running in sync with FIDE's Social Commission and supported by the International Olympic Committee, the Infinite Chess project explores how chess can help children with autism develop through the 64-square game. Through specially designed courses and seminars, educators are taught how to present chess to children with autism and help them learn the game.

The program, available online on theInfinite Chess website, as wellas through courses and seminars published on YouTube, has been translated into five languages (English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Russian) and is currently taught to more than 150 children between the ages of four and 17.

You can watch a video on the Infinite Chess here.

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Breaking the limits: How FIDE's Infinite Chess project helps people with autism - FIDE

The eight-player, 14-round Candidates tournament, to decide the 2024 world titlechallenger, begins in Toronto this week. Thursdays opening round of the 500,000 event starts at 7.30pm BST and will be viewable on major chess websites.The 250,000 Womens Candidates is held alongside the open event for the first time.

Who will win? There is a generation battle between the trio of Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura (US) and Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) in their thirties, and the under-21 group of Alireza Firouzja (France) and the Indians Praggnanandhaa R and Gukesh D, with the outsidersViditGujrathi (India) and Nijat Abasov (Azerbaijan) in their late twenties.

Caruana and Nakamura, the World Nos 2 and 3, are the rating favourites, whileNepomniachtchi (twice) and Caruana are previous Candidates winners.

The Russians case is interesting. His two previous Candidates appearances were marked by high-profile publicity, with referencesto help from a supercomputer and a team of aides, while this time his preparation has been low-key. In last years world title match against Ding Liren, Nepomniachtchi took the lead three times before losing, so he will be highly motivated, all the more so since Dings poor 2024 form continued at the Grenke Classic in Karlsruhe last week.

Caruana, the US champion, plays in the rational classical style characteristic of many of the greatest players, though there is a view that he has become liable to choke on big occasions. He failed in the last two Candidates when he was the pre-tournament favourite.

Nakamuras primary career is as a popular streamer, so that heclaims to play with less pressure than most of his rivals. However, In the final round of the 2022 Candidates he missed easy chances to draw with Ding and so qualify for a title match with Nepomniachtchi.

Firouzja is still only 20, but already has a long and successful career at the highest level. His previous Candidates in 2022 was disappointing, as he finished sixth of eight and notoriouslyplayed a bullet match in the small hours while dropping out of contention.He has flirted with an alternative career in fashion design, and only qualified for the 2024 Candidates by a controversial route.He remains an outstanding talent, capable of winning the event if on his best form.

Three Indians in an eight-player field would normally imply a good chance, but for Praggnanandhaa, 18, and Gukesh, 17, the chance probably comes too early. Teenagers have a poor Candidates record. Vidits strong finish at the Grand Swiss in the Isle of Man qualified him, but his overall form is variable, while the 100-1 outsider Abasov is the lowest rated by a wide margin.

Its an open Candidates. I hesitatingly choose Nepomniachtchifor a third victory, but would not be surprised if Caruana or Firouzja won.

The womens Candidates looks easier to predict.Aleksandra Goryachkina and Lei Tingjie are the two highest rated players, both have won the Candidates previously, and both went close in their world title matches against the holder Ju Wenjun. My narrow preference is for the Russian.

Puzzle 2566

David Peng vs Pavel Anisimov, Titled Tuesday 2020.White to move and win.

Click here for solution

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Chess: generation battle as world title Candidates starts in Toronto - Financial Times

GREENVILLE, S.C. Award-winning author Karin Freeland will be speaking about personal branding later this month at the Womens Energy Network Conference.

The 2024 WEN Conference will be April 28th-30th, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. Founded in 1994, WENs vision is to be the premier organization that educates, attracts, retains and develops professionals. Three decades later, WEN has expanded into a Global organization with 25 chapters and boasts over 7,000 members worldwide. The 2024 WEN Conference will continue to build on WENs mission to provide members with platforms for personal and professional networking, as well as fostering career growth and leadership advancement for women throughout the energy value chain.

Freeland will be speaking on April 29 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. with a focus on the importance of a personal brand. Her session will cover not only how to create a strong personal that stands out in the market, but shell also share strategies for marketing your brand.

Dedicated to empowering women to reinvent their careers and achieve unprecedented levels of success, Freeland is a recovered corporate workaholic with a passion for guiding women toward realizing their aspirations. She employs her innovative coaching programs and proprietary EDIT Methodology to equip them with the essential tools and strategies to overcome obstacles, live their purpose, and create a balanced, fulfilling career.

Drawing from her breadth of experiences, Freeland held pivotal leadership positions including Chief of Staff to the President of Verizon Enterprise Solutions, Head of Demand Generation & Marketing at Centrica Business Solutions, and VP of Digital GTM and Learning at JS Group. Yet, amidst her corporate triumphs, Freeland faced a pivotal juncture, catalyzing a profound transition from corporate to entrepreneur.

She now runs Karin Freeland Coaching & Consulting as well as is the host of the Rock Your Reinvention Podcast. In addition to her coaching and speaking engagements, Freeland is the author of Grab Life by the Dreams: The Essential Guide to Getting Unstuck and Living Your Purpose. She shares her wisdom and expertise with a broader audience through her regular segment, Monthly Mindset, on the local news station, where she provides tips and actionable strategies for personal growth and success.

About Karin Freeland:

Karin Freeland is a certified Life Reinvention Coach focused on helping women transform their lives and achieve their dreams by using the lessons she learned in her 15 years in the corporate sector. She is an award-winning author, and was recognized by Entrepreneurs Herald as one of the Top 20 Life Coaches To Look Out For In 2021. She was named a Woman of Influence by the SC Biz Journals in 2024. Learn more about her and her company Karin Freeland Coaching & Consulting, LLC at http://www.karinfreeland.com

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Greenville-based life coach speaking at major Atlanta Event - The Post and Courier

Recently, I found myself in Atlanta, Georgia, for several days and I knew that a visit to Waffle House was in my future. Its not difficult to find one since theyre as plentiful as pizza places in New York City. As of February 2024, there were 1,986 Waffle Houses in the United States and 439 of them or 22% are in Georgia. Viral videos of late night food fight shenanigans and wiseacre waitresses add to the appeal. Theyre open 24-hours a day, 365 days a year and I wonder how anyone keeps track of the front door key since the place is literally never locked. The Federal Emergency Management Agency even coined the term Waffle House Index because the restaurant is known to stay open during even the worst of bad weather. If a Waffle House is closed because of a hurricane, batten down the hatches, because its serious.

I found a Waffle House within walking distance of where I was staying and made my way to breakfast. Its only my third visit to the iconic eatery and I looked forward to it. Walking in, the bright fluorescent glow of lights greeted me as did the manager who looked younger than the Birkenstocks in my closet back home. Sit anywhere you want, he said, his voice cracking with youth.

I seated myself at a booth and Ms. Carol approached me with a menu. Her name tag said she had been with Waffle House for four years, but shes been of this earth much, much longer. She called me "sweetie" and reminded me of every waitress who worked at Mels Diner on Alice all rolled into one. When I ordered a Coca-Cola instead of coffee, her eyes narrowed as if to understand what kind of person she was dealing with. She took my order of scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese grits, and a biscuit and returned shortly with a Coke that was in a glass big enough to take a bath in. Minutes later, I watched another customer come in and ask the boy-manager which section was Ms. Carols and she proceeded to sit at the counter directly across from my booth. She was greeted warmly by our waitress who said, The usual? I longed to be a regular of Ms. Carol.

My food arrived and I was only slightly disappointed to see that cheese grits at Waffle House is just a half slice of American cheese haphazardly tossed onto the top of the bowl of grits. What was I expecting, Parmesan and fontina? I stirred it in and ate my breakfast as I watched Ms. Carol interact with her customers. It was like dinner and a show.

Staring at me wont make me move any faster.

Ms. Carol

Another man came in and sat down at the counter and immediately began looking for a server. His head was spinning around so much he looked like the girl in The Exorcist. He locked eyes on Ms. Carol who was wiping down another section of the counter. His impatience was palpable. She slowly looked up at him and then said something that filled my own longtime server's heart with joy: Staring at me wont make me move any faster.

She had a half smile on her face that made me think she was being funny, but one eyebrow raised that made it clear she was serious. It was a delicate balance of both. The man realized his place and Ms. Carol finished what she was doing before going up to him. I dont know if he too was a regular, but it was clear that she was the one in charge. This was the Waffle House energy I wanted.

Some servers might have shriveled at that mans menacing gaze, but Ms. Carol understood that he needed her just as much as she needed him. Respect is a two-way street and she made sure he knew it.

It was now raining outside and when Ms. Carol cleared my plate I told her I was going to have to wait a bit until the rain slowed down since I had walked. Stay as long as you want, hon. You want another Coke? I declined the offer since I had already consumed more than enough. It soon stopped raining, I tipped 40% and went on my way. Those cheese grits really stuck with me, but not as much as Ms. Carol.

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Waffle House Waitresses Are the Life Coaches We All Need - Food & Wine

For the fans of Tom Brady, his former wife, Gisele Bndchen, dating a Jiu-jitsu instructor, has been shocking. But for the supermodel, she had her reasons. As theorized by life and peak performance coach Corey Wayne, Bndchen is now happy with her personal life. In the latest episode of his YouTube channel, Coach Corey Wayne, he drew focus on the models personal life. Coach Wayne asserted, There were pictures of her with this guy, you know the Jiu-Jitsu guy, best football player in the world to just a regular Jiu-Jitsu dude.

Wayne pointed out that in a world that is ruled by beauty and money, all Valente has is a passion for the jiu-jitsu sport. However, it did not come in the way of Bndchen falling in love with him. Thats because, as pointed out by the coach, I think shes a billionaire, at this point. She doesnt need money. Shes set for life financially, shes got plenty of businesses and other things shes into.

Well, Bndchen might not be a billionaire yet, but with a net worth of $400 million, finance is not a problem for her. In fact, during Bndchen and Bradys their divorce, many were surprised to know that the models net worth was much higher than Bradys. Further, Wayne isnt wrong about her business ventures. She has a line of sandals with Grendene. Additionally, back in 2010, she also had her own skincare line called Seeja. While it was discontinued, the model ventured into other territories.

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She has authored two books: Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life (2018) and Nourish: Simple Recipes to Empower Your Body and Feed Your Soul (2024). Lets not forget that she has also been featured in The Devil Wears Prada, Taxi, and a few other movies and shows.

Thus, rather than financial dependence, Bndchen seeks emotional availability. On that front, Coach Wayne is of the opinion that Valente surpasses Brady. She dates a guy that is not at the same level as Tom and gives him a chance because hes present with her. But how did Bndchen and Valente even meet?

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Bndchen met Valente when she took her pre-teen son to his academy for jiuj-itsu lessons. Even though, initially, the supermodel visited the academy for her son, later on, she too developed an interest in the sport and started training in December 2021. Earlier in an interview, Bndchen shared, Initially, I wasnt even considering it for myself. But when I brought [her son] to the first class and started talking to Joaquim, I realized that it was much more than self defense.

It was the philosophy behind the sport that inspired her as she claimed, It felt very much in line with what I believe in and look for in my life, and how I have a path to develop and become the best version of myself. Besides the sport, both Bndchen and Valente share Brazilian roots which further added to the spark between the two.

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Recently, Valente was spotted supporting the supermodel at the launch of her cookbook at The Hub in Miami. Giseles newfound purpose formed the foundation of her friendship with Valente, which took a romantic turn.

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She is a Billionaire: Gisele Bndchen Left Tom Brady for Joaquim Valente Because He's 'More Present With Her ... - EssentiallySports

Many growth investors gravitated back toward the cryptocurrency market this year as hopes for lower interest rates, the approvals of the first Bitcoin spot price exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and big institutional purchases suggested the "crypto winter" was over. However, it's still tough to gauge the true value of most cryptocurrencies, since their price is driven more by supply and demand than by an actual underlying business.

Earlier this month, I suggested that investors buy three promising tech stocks -- Nvidia, Super Micro Computer, and ASML -- instead of going all-in on cryptocurrencies. Today, I'll add three other speculative plays to that list of potential cryptocurrency alternatives: Symbotic (NASDAQ: SYM), QuantumScape (NYSE: QS), and IonQ (NYSE: IONQ).

Symbotic is a provider of warehouse automation robots and software. It claims a $50 million investment in just one of its modules (which includes its robots and software) can generate $250 million in lifetime savings over 25 years.

Symbotic went public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in June 2022. Its revenue surged 136% in fiscal 2022 (which ended in September 2022) and 98% in fiscal 2023. However, most of that growth came from a deal with Walmart, which tapped Symbotic to automate all of its regional distribution centers across the U.S. through fiscal 2034. Walmart still owns 11% of Symbotic and accounted for 88% of its revenue in fiscal 2023.

That customer concentration is worrisome, but it's secured deals with other big retail customers like Target, Albertsons, and C&S Wholesale. It also launched a new warehouse-as-a-service platform called GreenBox with its other big backer, SoftBank, last July.

Analysts expect Symbotic's revenue to rise 48% in fiscal 2024 and 42% in fiscal 2025. It's still bleeding red ink, but it's expected to turn profitable on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis by fiscal 2025. Its stock isn't cheap at 16 times this year's sales, but it might be a great pure play on the warehouse automation market.

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QuantumScape develops solid-state batteries, which are more stable, charge faster, and last longer than traditional lithium-ion batteries. Those batteries are a great fit for the electric vehicle (EV) market, and the company's biggest backer is Volkswagen. Like Symbotic, QuantumScape went public by merging with a SPAC in November 2020. But unlike Symbotic, QuantumScape doesn't generate any meaningful revenue yet.

QuantumScape hasn't commercialized any of its batteries since its public debut, but its latest batteries could give EVs a range of 400-500 miles with a charge time of less than 15 minutes. It's also developing batteries that can reach 600 miles with a charge time of under 30 minutes. For reference, most top-tier lithium-ion batteries for EVs have a range of roughly 300 miles and a charge time of 30 minutes. Volkswagen also recently conducted an endurance test that found that QuantumScape's batteries could power an EV for over 310,000 miles "without any noticeable loss of range." Most lithium-ion batteries lose approximately 10% of their range after the first 200,000 miles.

QuantumScape's technology sounds disruptive, but it's tough to value its stock without any revenue. However, if it successfully commercializes its first batteries before its like-minded competitors, its stock could skyrocket over the next few years.

Investors looking for another speculative play should take a look at IonQ, a quantum computing company that merged with a SPAC in October 2021. IonQ provides quantum computing power as a cloud-based service, and it's trying to shrink qubit processing unit (QPU) systems from several feet to a few inches wide with its "trapped ion" technology.

It expects that miniaturization to make it easier to build large quantum computing systems that process binary "bits" of zeros and ones simultaneously. That big leap could support the growth of the cloud, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) markets.

IonQ gauges its quantum computing power in algorithmic qubits (AQ). It achieved AQ 29 in 2023, AQ 35 earlier this year, and it aims to reach AQ 64 by 2025 with a longer-term target of 1,024 by 2028. It only generated $22 million in revenue in 2023, but it continues to lock in new government and commercial customers. Analysts expect its revenue to rise 77% in 2024 and 110% in 2025 -- so it could still have plenty of upside potential.

IonQ isn't profitable yet, and its stock looks pricey at nearly 50 times this year's sales. But if it can achieve its ambitious miniaturization goals and scale up its business, its sales could soar as the nascent quantum computing market expands.

Should you invest $1,000 in Symbotic right now?

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Leo Sun has positions in ASML. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends ASML, Bitcoin, Nvidia, Target, Volkswagen Ag, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

3 Growth Stocks With More Potential Than Any Cryptocurrency was originally published by The Motley Fool

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3 Growth Stocks With More Potential Than Any Cryptocurrency - Yahoo Finance

Disgraced cryptocurrency wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in jail on Thursday following his conviction in one of the biggest financial fraud cases in history.

Issued on: 28/03/2024 - 17:17Modified: 28/03/2024 - 17:47

3 min

US prosecutors were seeking a prison term of 40-50 years after a New York jury found Bankman-Fried, known by his initials SBF, guilty in November following a five-week trial that probed the one-time high roller's spectacular fall.

During the hearing Bankman-Fried told the courtroom that he was "sorry about what happened at every stage. And there are things I should've done and things I shouldn't have."

They "built something beautiful," Bankman-Fried said. "And I threw it all away."

The final sentence was meted out by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan who used the hearing to carefully walk through the financial crimes committed by Bankman-Fried.

There was "never a word of remorse for the commission of a terrible crime," the judge said, adding that there was a risk Bankman-Fried would commit crimes again.

With the sentencing now done, Bankman-Fried's lawyers said they would appeal his conviction.

Calling Bankman-Fried's seven-count conviction reflective of the defendant's "unmatched greed and hubris," the government's sentencing request argued for significant jail time in light of fraud it estimates at more than $10 billion.

Bankman-Fried's attorneys depicted their client as a diligent young man motivated by philanthropy who got in over his head, calling the government's proposed sentence "barbaric."

Their portrayal is similar to the one SBF's defense presented at trial which was quickly rejected by jurors after just five hours of deliberation.

Bankman-Fried's defense team had asked for six years in prison, a sentence that would return him "promptly to a productive role in society," said the attorneys led by Marc Mukasey.

A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a billionaire before the age of 30, Bankman-Fried conquered the crypto world at breakneck speed, turning FTX, a small start-up he cofounded in 2019, into the world's second largest exchange platform.

But in November 2022, the FTX empire imploded, unable to cope with massive withdrawal requests from customers panicked to learn that some of the funds stored at the company had been committed to risky operations at Bankman-Fried's personal hedge fund, Alameda Research.

During the trial, some of Bankman-Fried's closest associates said that he was key to all the decisions that saw $8 billion vanish from FTX.

This group included Caroline Ellison, the former Alameda CEO and Bankman-Fried's on-and-off-again girlfriend, who testified that Alameda had stolen "around $14 billion" from FTX clients and that Bankman-Fried "directed me to commit those crimes."

Filings from the prosecution and defense offered starkly different takes on Bankman-Fried, the son of two well-regarded law professors at tony Stanford University.

"The lack of contrition is galling," said US Attorney Damian Williams, who took issue with the image of Bankman-Fried as "selfless" and "altruistic," as championed by the defense, noting he used funds for "luxury" real estate, donations to rub shoulders with political leaders, a Super Bowl television ad and "access to celebrities."

The defense's statement describes Bankman-Fried as "wracked" with remorse over the implosion of FTX.

Bankman-Fried's attorneys also pointed to statements from FTX's current leaders expressing confidence that FTX customers and creditors would get back their money, saying in the brief that "the harm to customers, lenders and investors is zero."

That argument drew a scathing response from FTX Trading Chief Executive John Ray, who said ongoing recoveries of ill-gotten gains do not make up for fraud.

"That things he stole... were successfully recovered through the efforts of a dedicated group" of professionals "does not mean the things were not stolen," Ray said in a letter to the court.

"What it means is that we got some of them back."

(AFP)

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Fallen cryptocurrency mogul Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in jail - FRANCE 24 English