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Indias 16-year-old Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa jumped into the world elite this week when the Tamil Nadu teenager reached the final of the online $150,000 Chessable Masters by bold attacking play. It was the latest and most significant success yet for the former prodigy, who became the youngest ever international master at 11 and narrowly missed the youngest grandmaster title at 12.

The epic quality of the schoolboys feat was underlined in his post-match interview after defeating the Netherlands world No 9, Anish Giri, in Tuesdays semi-final. He calmly stated that it was now 2am on Wednesday in Chennai and that he had to be at school at 8.45am to take his 11th-year board exam in commerce before playing Chinas world No 2, Ding Liren, that same evening in the two-day final. Winning the match would be much nicer than passing the exam, he said.

Later in the day he said: It went decently, I guess I will pass. But the final against Ding proved much harder. Their rapid match ended level at 4-4 before Ding won the blitz tie-break 1.5-0.5.

Ding, whose chess activity since 2020 has been much reduced by the pandemic, achieved his own milestone in the semi-final when he defeated Magnus Carlsen 2.5-1.5, winning their fourth game after three draws. Previously Ding had lost four online Tour semi-finals and a third place playoff to the world No 1.

Tuesdays game four was decided late on when Carlsen missed the chance for an unusual fortress draw by 39g3! blocking the position instead of 39Kg7? 40 Bh4! followed by Bg5 when Dings attack broke through.

Dings approach to the final against Praggnanandhaa was to defuse his young opponents attacking ambitions. My strategy was to avoid complications and go for simple positions, he said. The reality had difficulties, both on and off the board. Ding played from his home in Wenzhou in the small hours, finishing at 5am in Chinese time, and the 29-year-old was bothered by mosquitoes and flies throughout the match.

His best game was the first, where he unleashed a move 14 Queens Gambit Declined novelty then rolled his queens side pawn majority down the board for a winning position. Praggnanandhaa fought back strongly on the second day, and missed a winning chance which could have swung the match in the first five-minute blitz tie-break game.

The teenager from Chennai is the leader of an gifted Indian generation, which also includes Arjun Erigaisi, 18, who outclassed the 2022 Wijk Masters, and Dommaraju Gukesh, who was the second youngest grandmaster ever at 12 and who at 15 this spring has won three strong international tournaments in a row.

The Chessable Masters is the fourth of nine events in the $1.6m Meltwater Champions Tour. Carlsen won the first two tournaments, and Polands Jan-Krzysztof Duda the third.

Carlsens loss to Ding was a rare setback for the champion, who this summer will renew his attempt to reach an all-time record 2900 rating points in over-the-board play, starting with the Stavanger elite tournament which begins on Tuesday 31 May. The 31-year-old will then lead Norways team at the 150-nation Olympiad at Chennai in July-August, followed by the traditional Sinquefield Cup at St Louis in September.

Carlsen has also established a niche for himself in offbeat first moves, a genre in which the world champion has previous form. In October 2020 he shocked Wesley So in an online blitz final by choosing 1 f3 and Kf2, a sequence made famous 20 years earlier when an unidentified computer user tricked Nigel Short into believing that he was playing Bobby Fischer.

Then, in last months Oslo Esports final, Carlsen repeated 1 f3 against Duda, this time with the sequence 1e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 e4 Bc5 4 Na4 Be7 5 d4 when the game was eventually drawn. Commentators were aghast, and one suggested that the No 1 deserved to lose for such a choice. Novices are warned against 1 f3 because it weakens Whites king on two diagonals and deprives the g1 knight of its normal development square.

Carlsen said: Ive been trying to experiment to see what first moves you can make playable. Ive been trying to play creatively in online events and I intend to continue that once in a while. I think its been working pretty well in getting my opponents out of the book.

This week, in the preliminary rounds and quarter-finals of the Chessable Masters, Carlsen drastically broadened his first move repertoire, winning with the Saragossa 1 c3, the Mieses 1 d3, and the Bird 1 f4, but his most controversial moment came with 1 h4 against Chinas No 2, Wei Yi.

The move 1 h4 is so offbeat that it does not have a single recognised name, However, advancing your h2 pawn in the opening or middle game to attack your opponents castled black king, whether or not your own king is castled, has become such a routine weapon due to the influence of computer programs that 1 h4 could reasonably be called Harry the h pawn Accelerated.

The opening went 1 h4 d5 2 d4 c5 3 e3 Nc6 4 c4 e6. Queens were exchanged on move 10, and Carlsen should have scored in that game, too, but he mishandled a rook ending and Wei escaped with half a point.

Could we now see the world champion trying 1 g4?!, the move championed for decades by the English IM Michael Basman and his book The Killer Grob? Unlikely. After his draw with Wei, Carlsen dampened expectations: 1 g4 is a lot worse than 1 h4.

3817: 1...Ne5+! 2 Nxe5 Bf5+ 3 Kh5 Kg7+ 4 Bh6 Rxh6 mate. If 2 Kh4 Kg8+! 3 Nxh8 Bxg5 mate.

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Chess: Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa reaches final at 2am on day of his exams - The Guardian

Express News Service

NEW DELHI/CHENNAI: With less than two months left for the Chess Olympiad, the Delhi High court has come down heavily on the All India Chess Federation (AICF) and its secretary, Bharat Singh Chauhan, and stayed his election until the next hearing for violating the sports code. According to the HC, Chauhan did not get a 2/3rd majority during last year's elections as mandated by the National Sports Development Code of India (NSDCI). Chauhan is also the tournament director of the Chess Olympiad but it should not have a bearing on his position as the director.

Surprisingly, the sports ministry, during its hearing on Thursday, differed. There was high drama during the hearing over the Union governments affidavit in the case. Additional solicitor general, Chetan Sharma, who appeared for the sports ministry (it grants recognition to AICF), filed an affidavit on behalf of the ministry.

This affidavit said, among other things, that two-thirds majority was not required by Chauhan to get elected as AICF secretary. The bench asked the counsel if he was sure of this and told him to reconsider the affidavit as it amounted to misrepresentation of criteria.

Interestingly, the bench of Najmi Waziri and Vikas Mahajan, a few days ago, delivered an order pertaining to the sports code violation by Hockey India.

Senior advocate Rahul Mehra, who was present in the courtroom for another matter, stood up and informed the court that in one of his matters concerning another sports federation, the ministry of sports had taken a stand that 2/3rd votes were mandatory.

At this point, the government counsel sought time to consult the ministry and returned to seek permission to withdraw the affidavit. The government, through its affidavit, tried to defend the AICF secretary but its argument was not accepted by the judges.

Mehra, who was present during the hearing, explained the piquant position of the ministry. "The ministry had made a submission in the court about the 2/3rd majority and said it is part of the sports code and is mandatory for all NSFs to follow during one of my hearings related to NSFs violating sports code," he said. "They pick and chose NSFs who they want to recognise and I have been highlighting this. I told the honourable court they were taking a divergent view."

The court has said Chauhan did not get the 2/3rd majority. According to an order dated 31/05/2022: "Election for the office bearers for the period 2020-23 were held in 2021, in which R-3 (AICF secretary) has secured merely 35 votes, this is not 2/3rd majority, it should have been 44 votes out of the total number of 64 votes polled, even if the majority is considered of only the members present and voting. Ex-facie he does not qualify to be elected as the secretary for the second consecutive term." The order cited Hockey India's verdict as well, delivered by the same court (Waziri and Swarana Kanta Sharma) that ruled on, besides other violations, 2/3rd majority issue.

The court has left it to the AICF to deal with it. Chauhan said he would like to speak after he sees the order.

In fact, the ministry, in its affidavit, pointed out that the successful hosting of the Chess Olympiad should not be affected because of the case.

Atanu Lahiri, the joint secretary of AICF who was suspended by Chauhan last year and is in the rival camp, said they would not have any problem if he continued as Chess Olympiad tournament director. " We are in favour of successful conduct of the Chess Olympiad even if it means Chauhan continuing as tournament director," he said.

After this, there are some other federations who would be in trouble because of violating the 2/3rd majority code.

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All India Chess Federation secretary in the dock over sports code issue - The New Indian Express

If you're new to Creative Bloq, then you might not know that we are obsessed with a good old optical illusion. We've seen every rotating horse, upside down Elon Musk and floating ship there is to see from the wonderful world of illusions, and today's mind-boggling find makes a great addition to the pile.

Everyone knows the basis of chess, right? There are two 16 piece sets used in the game one in white, and one in black. At first glance, the picture below looks just like your bog-standard monochrome chess set, but what if we told you they were exactly the same colour? If you're loving this optical illusion and fancy sinking your teeth into some more brain-frazzling designs, then make sure you check out our roundup of the best optical illusions.

The mind-boggler was shared on Twitter by Tom Chivers, who captioned the design, "the top and bottom chess sets are the same colour". it's hard to believe that these sets are exactly the same, but the illusion uses the assimilation phenomenon to trick our brain into thinking they're contrasting colours. And if you don't believe that they are the same, Chivers also shared a video demonstrating that the sets were exactly the same (see below).

No idea what assimilation is? Well, according to The Oxford Compendium of Visual Illusions (opens in new tab), is the phenomenon "in which the perceived colour of a region shiftstowardthat of its neighbour". This isn't the first optical illusion we've seen that uses assimilation back in March, a user on Twitter shared a series of head-frazzlers that were all the same colour, even though they look totally different.

If you're loving all this optical illusion talk, and feel inspired to make your own, then why not download Photoshop and have a go? And if you need a few more designs to help you get started, then perhaps our roundup of the best trompe l'oeil illusion will come in handy.

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So you're telling me these two chess sets are the same colour? - Creative Bloq

The Ravens are in their second week of organized team activities, and offensive coordinator Greg Roman already likes the flexibility offered by tight ends Mark Andrews, Nick Boyle and rookies Charlie Kolar and Isaiah Likely.

When the Ravens traded wide receiver Marquise Hollywood Brown to the Arizona Cardinals in a surprising move on the first day of the NFL draft in April, most thought the teams next move would be selecting a receiver at some point.

Instead, the Ravens used two of their six fourth-round picks on Kolar and Likely, a sign Baltimores offense in 2022 might resemble the record-breaking 2019 version that allowed quarterback Lamar Jackson to thrive and take home the NFL Most Valuable Player Award unanimously. The Ravens used multiple tight end formations with Andrews, Boyle and Hayden Hurst that season and led the league in rushing.

Theyre chess pieces, Roman said of Likely and Kolar. How it all fits together could be pretty interesting.

Roman said the 6-foot-6, 252-pound Kolar is a big target and a good all-around player. He caught 168 passes for 2,181 yards and 23 touchdowns in four seasons at Iowa State, including 62 receptions for 756 yards and six touchdowns in 2021 on his way to being a finalist for the John Mackey Award, given to college footballs most outstanding tight end.

Likely, meanwhile, can do many things unscripted as a receiver, Roman said. The offensive coordinator is confident the former Coastal Carolina standout will continue to develop in other phases of the game.

During Likelys senior season with the Chanticleers, he caught a touchdown pass on more than 20% of his 59 receptions while racking up 912 yards. Even though Likely is considered slight for an NFL tight end at 6-4 and 225 pounds, the Ravens were intrigued with his ability to make plays and line up at multiple spots on the field.

Theyre really both like receiving, F-type tight ends, where you can put them in the slot, and theyre going to give a safety a challenge, theyre going to make a safety work, Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz said last month. Theyve got [the] size to be a mismatch for a nickel. [Theyre] both very competitive as perimeter blockers. They understand angles, [and] how to get on players.

Andrews, a two-time Pro Bowl selection who had a career year in 2021, believes Kolar and Likely will be good players for a long time, noting they have adapted well to the offense and can run fast routes.

I think they both have a natural, kind of, a knack for football [and] understanding the game which is special, the All-Pro said.

Aside from the rookies, Roman said Boyle looks like a completely new guy after only playing five games last season as he worked his way back from a knee injury he suffered in 2020.

Its unbelievable what he has done and the hard work he has put in, Roman said. Hes looking really good.

Its still too early to tell how the Ravens will operate their offense with a crowded tight ends room. However, if it resembles the heavy formation sets that were on display in 2019, the Ravens could be very productive.

According to FiveThirtyEight, Baltimore rushed for 1,089 yards in 2019 in heavy sets, a formation that often features no wide receivers and commonly employs three tight ends and two running backs or two tight ends and three running backs. Andrews, Boyle and Hurst averaged 12.3 yards per catch while accounting for more than half of the teams 3,225 total passing yards.

Were starting to visualize what we could possibly do, Roman said. Im sure itll be different than last year as it was different than the year before.

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Rookie chess pieces, healthy Nick Boyle give Ravens OC Greg Roman plenty to work with at tight end in 2022 - OCRegister

Is Lincoln Riley just not trying hard enough to develop his defense with the help of coordinator Alex Grinch? Is Riley the proverbial kid in the candy store who likes the sweets and treats but isnt willing to eat his vegetables and tend to the less fun, less sexy parts of putting together a complete team?

One should not think that Rileys clear decision to lean on his offense this year means that he is failing to develop his defense. This is more about being in tune with the needs of successful college football teams. Nick Saban embraces defense, but he knows that winning big in modern college football requires having an elite offense which maximizes skill-position talent.

Saban won the 2020 SEC Championship Game 52-46 over Florida. He needed an offense which could outscore opponents. It is little different for Riley at USC.

I talked about these and other related tension points with Mark Rogers on his USC YouTube show at The Voice of College Football.

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Lincoln Riley is making chess moves by leaning into his offense - Trojans Wire