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Alireza Firouzja, the Iran-born 18-year-old who emigrated to France due to Tehrans punishments for playing Israeli opponents, has become the third youngest Candidate in chess history, with a chance of a glittering prize, the youngest ever world champion.

Firouzja scored 8/11 in the Grand Swiss in Riga to earn a place in the eight-player 2022 Candidates, whose winner will play for the global crown later next year. He reached his target two months younger than Boris Spassky at Gothenburg 1955, and is the third youngest Candidate qualifier, behind only Magnus Carlsen at 15 at the 2005 World Cup and Bobby Fischer at 15 and a half at the 1958 Portoroz interzonal.

Garry Kasparov was the youngest world champion at 22 years and six months when he defeated Anatoly Karpov in their 24th and final game in 1985. Carlsen was also 22, but five months older, when he beat Vishy Anand in 2013. Could Firouzja eclipse Kasparovs record by winning the Candidates then capturing the title?

Historical parallels suggest that this challenge may be a bridge too far for a teenager. Spassky and Carlsen won the Candidates at their second try, Fischer only at his third. There were also championship cycles for the trio where they did not compete or were eliminated before the Candidates.

Spassky was favourite against Tigran Petrosian, yet succeeded only at his second attempt, while Fischer and Carlsen were odds on to beat Spassky and Anand respectively. Firouzja would probably face Carlsen in 2022 and would be expected to lose at his first try, although it might well be different at a second attempt in 2024 when he would still be younger than Kasparov in 1985.

Firouzja also broke through to the top of the world rankings last week, ending up No 5 after briefly touching No 3 before his loss to Fabiano Caruana at Riga. His latest surge seems to have been helped by a conscious change of direction.

Up to a few months ago he was one of the recognised top three, along with Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, in one-minute bullet chess. Lately he seems to have cut down on or even abandoned bullet, and he also withdrew from the current chess.com speed championship, where most of the top GMs are competing.

Instead, his games at Riga showed a notably greater all-round theoretical knowledge and an improvement in his endgames, which used to be his major weakness. The daring and mazy tactical style which was his hallmark has sobered down in favour of a more flexible style waiting for the opponent to allow an opportunity.

This weekend Firouzja makes his debut for France in the European championship at Catez, Slovenia (live and free to watch online, 2pm Friday start), with the extra incentive that a high scoring performance could advance his ranking all the way up to world No 2.

Frances squad, which also includes the world No 10, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, is seeded No 3 behind Russia and Azerbaijan, with Poland No 4 and England No 5. Englands team is David Howell, Michael Adams, Luke McShane, Gawain Jones and Ravi Haria.

Firouzja won his opening round game against Austrias Markus Ragger and advanced to No 4 in the live ratings, but England had a poor day. The open team lost 1.5-2.5 to Norway as Jones won, Haria drew but McShane and Howell lost, while England women lost 0-4 to Spain.

Howell shared the lead with two rounds to go at Riga, but fell back after his penultimate round loss to Firouzja and finished in a multiple tie for fourth, but ninth on tiebreak, on 7/11. Places 3-8 qualified for the 24-player Grand Prix in Berlin next spring, where the top two will earn Candidates places. Unlucky

It would have been a career-best performance for the three-time British champion from Seaford in Sussex, who turns 31 on Sunday, to qualify for the Grand Prix. It could still happen if a player withdraws or, less likely, if he is awarded either the Fide or the organiser wildcard. Realistically, though, the Fide wildcard is likely to go to Chinas world No 2, Ding Liren, who due to the pandemic has played too few games for an automatic place, while the organiser choice will probably be a German or a regular participant in a Bundesliga team.

Eleven Grand Prix spots go to the top players on the December 2021 Fide rating list who are not otherwise qualified, and this may create an unexpected opportunity for Michael Adams. Unofficial calculations claim that the Cornishman, a seven-time British champion who turns 50 next Wednesday, would be second reserve for the 11 Grand Prix rating places.

Adams, whose best career performances have come in world title competitions, is only two rating points behind the lowest qualifier, Russias Andrey Esipenko, on the unofficial live ratings and so has a big incentive to turn back the years, perform well in the nine-round European Teams, and gain crucial points for the December rating list.

Meanwhile, Carlsen continues to relax with one-minute bullet games on Lichess as he prepares for his $2m, 14-game world title defence against Russias Ian Nepomniachtchi starting in Dubai on 26 November.

Following last weeks 10-0 against the speed expert GM Andrew Tang Carlsen, also known as Dr Nykterstein, won 10-0 again, this time against the Belarus GM Sergei Zhigalko, but found it harder against 21-year-old Nikolas Theodoru.

The little-known Greek GM, though losing heavily overall in a marathon series of around 100 games spread over two or three days, actually checkmated the world champion on at least six occasions.

Guardian reader Peter Ballard points out that Firouzja is the fourth, not third, youngest Candidate. Vlad Kramnik, the 2000-2007 world champion, qualified as a Candidate at 18 years and one month at the 1993 Biel interzonal.

3789 1 Rg1! threatens 2 Rh3+! gxh3 3 Qh6+ Kg8 4 gxh3+ winning. The best Black can do is 1...Qd7 2 Rh3+ gxh3 3 Qh6+ Kg8 4 gxh3+ Kf7 5 Rg7+ Ke8 6 Rxd7 Kxd7 7 Qxf8 Rb1+ 8 Kg2 fxe5 9 Qg7+ Kd6 10 Qxa7 and the a6 pawn wins.

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Chess: Teenager Alireza Firouzja aiming to be youngest ever world champion - The Guardian

In the most active Titled Tuesday since August, GM Rustam Khusnutdinov took home the victory with a 9.5/11 score, winning on the tiebreak system over second-place finisher GM Dmitrij Kollars. In a logjam on 9 points out of 11, two well-known GMs took third and fourth place on the tiebreaks: Baadur Jobava and Alexander Grischuk, respectively.

538 players participated in this week's Titled Tuesday, as usual, an 11-round Swiss tournament with a 3+1 time control. It was the most players in a Titled Tuesday since August 31.

Live broadcast of this week's tournament, hosted by WCM Rebecca Selkirk.

The lead changed hands several times in the mid-to-late rounds: Kollars was the last perfect player, on 7/7, but lost in round eight to GM Hikaru Nakamura, who took the tournament lead on 7.5/8. Nakamura drew with Jobava the next round, however, allowing several players to catch up with him with two rounds to go.

After nine rounds the tournament was wide open with five players tied for first on 8/9, but Khusnutdinov was the only of them to win in round 10 (against GM Aryan Tari), establishing himself as the favorite entering the last round of play.

Khusnutdinov quickly drew in the final round with fellow Kazakh GM Denis Makhnev, leaving him to watch two other players on 8.5/10 who could catch up. Kollars did so with a win over GM Jose Martinez. However, Khusnutdinov's tiebreaks were much better.

The other relevant game featured two Speed Chess Championship (SCC) competitors. Grischuk (who will face GM Nihal Sarin in the SCC on Thursday) stopped Nakamura to reach nine points, while Nakamura stayed at 8.5 points and finished 10th. Nakamura plays GM Peter Svidler in the SCC on Friday.

The top two finishers Khusnutdinov and Kollars had something in common: losses to Nakamura, who ultimately had to play all of the top five finishers. Third-place Jobava was actually the only undefeated player in the tournament, scoring +7 =4.

November 9 Titled Tuesday | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings here.)

WCM Veronika Shubenkova won the $100 prize for the highest-scoring female player.

Titled Tuesday is a weekly Swiss tournament for titled players on Chess.com. It starts at 10 a.m. Pacific time/19:00 Central European every Tuesday.

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Khusnutdinov Wins November 9 Titled Tuesday - Chess.com

Most people have a set list to tick off when visiting a new country. The national museum, the famous bridge, the legendary music venue. For me, no holiday is complete until Ive checked out the local chess scene.

The habit started on a solo trip to Paris a few years ago. As a keen chess player no master, but a competent amateur I made sure to visit Jardin du Luxembourg, where chess enthusiasts famously congregate for games.

After enjoying some matches before dusk fell and the regulars packed up, I offhandedly asked my opponent where else was good to play. In the manner of a John le Carr character, he gave me a time, a name and an address. Intrigued, I followed his instructions and found myself in an empty bar, about to close, in the 11th arrondissement. No chess in sight, but when I said the name Id been given, the barman shouted with delight and pulled out a board.

As we played, more people arrived. I had joined Pariss underground chess community, and was welcomed in as LAnglais. Our group moved on and visited two more bars, playing increasingly frenzied and drunken games of three-minute blitz chess. We ended up at a nightclub, where punters dancing on tables made further games impossible.

When I woke the next morning, I was unsure if Id dreamt the whole thing. But I had exchanged contacts with one of my new friends, and on my return to Paris four years later I messaged him asking for more chess recommendations. Within minutes, I was sent the name of a new spot Blitz Society, south of the Seine.

To an amateur enthusiast like myself, it is heaven: a bar consisting purely of tables with chessboards built into them, each with pieces and clocks provided. People turn up throughout the evening, with friends or by themselves, and are paired off for games by the bar staff.

I found myself matched with a young Parisian who worked for the civil service. While our two governments were involved in a war of words over fishing rights, we took the fight to the chessboard. Throwing friendly, good-natured insults at each other about our respective nations stereotypes and deficiencies, we built a friendship over the board. I introduced him to some chess variants where the rules are changed and the games are wild. He particularly liked Bughouse, played with four players across two boards. Captured pieces are passed to your teammate for them to place on their board where they wish.

Paris is not the only city to offer much to a chess-loving traveller. Ive had many memorable experiences at Budapest spas, in Porto bars, on the Great Wall of China, in an Iraqi desert, and even on top of a 10,000ft Swiss mountain. Chess is a universal religion. Its devotees are weird and wonderful people. Sometimes eccentric, often obsessive, always interesting, they also tend to know far more about their cities than most. Spontaneous opponents have become city guides, emergency contacts, lifelong friends.

New York must hold the crown for the king of casual street chess. Go to Union Square or Washington Square park and youll find Wall Street bankers and homeless ex-cons sitting across tables from each other, pieces flying. They come from completely separate walks of life but here they are equals. A chessboard is a level playing field, where social status, economic power and racial identity have no bearing on the outcome. All that matters is ability.

If youre feeling lucky, you can always find a hustler to wager against. When cash is involved, Id caution against taking on the shabby-looking men in the park. They have been playing for decades and know all the tricks. The sharp-suited yet less experienced guys from Wall Street are much easier to profit from.

On one of my own travels in New York, too much time in the Downtown shops and bars had left me out of dollars on my final day. A successful session at Union Square supplied me with enough to get a taxi to JFK airport.

But you dont have to rely on an existing culture of street chess to find a game when abroad. My foldable silicone chessboard and pouch of pieces less than 20 from the Chess and Bridge shop on Baker Street have been trusty companions on countless overseas adventures. Armed with your own set, youd be surprised how easy it is to find an opponent in a foreign country.

During a solitary trip to Copenhagen, I set up my board at the youth hostel where I was staying. I was given a few curious looks, but within minutes a local approached and gestured enquiringly. He sat down to play and we quickly got into the rhythm of fast-paced blitz games. Soon, a dozen backpackers were crowded round the board. Many confessed to not knowing how the pieces move, yet were fascinated nonetheless. My opponent spoke no English and I no Danish, but it didnt matter. The exchange across the chessboard was more stimulating and compelling than any conversation Id had during the trip.

This is the beauty of chess. It is a debate without words, a silent conversation (although trash talking is a common and entertaining feature of street chess). You must put yourself in your opponents shoes, read them and understand them. You must assess their style, identify their strengths, learn their weaknesses and vulnerabilities, discern their strategy, predict their moves. These techniques arent just relevant to chess they are life skills too. The ability to look ahead and see round corners is just as valuable in the worlds of business and politics as it is on a chessboard.

Chess is not always risk-free. Most pieces have lead discs in their bases to give them weight and stop them from tipping over. I learned to my cost on a trip to Beirut that having 32 lead-weighted chess pieces in your bag carries significant danger when going through airport security. With the baggage scanner alarm going ballistic and airport security staff shouting about what were either concealed bullets or some kind of bomb in my bag, I found myself confronted by heavily armed security forces.

The situation only worsened when they opened up my bag to find my digital chess clock, which had been left on, ticking, flashing and counting down towards zero like a nuclear device in a spy movie. It would have been comical if it hadnt been so serious. Fortunately, one security guard recognised the clock for what it was and I escaped intact. I can only assume he must have been a chess player himself. I should have asked if he fancied a game.

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The weird and wonderful world of underground chess - Spectator.co.uk

Digitalization keeps on coming to one of the oldest games in the world as FIDE, the International Chess Federation, announces its plans for a nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace. The group said that the marketplace, which launches at the end of November, will be called ChessNFT.

FIDE is the first global sports federation to create its own NFT ecosystem and it does so ahead of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2021. The event is set to take place at the Expo 2020 Dubai from Nov. 24 to Dec. 16.

Just last month, the reigning world champion,Magnus Carlsen, won an NFT trophy in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. A replica trophy was auctioned off to a fan for 6.88 ETH, with the winner also getting the chance to play with Carlsen.

By further delving into the world of NFTs, FIDE said that it hopes to welcome a new crypto demographic through the gamification of iconic match moments, unique collectibles, chess-related art and more.

They partnered with TON Labs, the core developer of the FreeTON Network, rebranded as Everscale, to bring the ChessNFT marketplace to life. The NFTs will utilize a new variation of the technology called TrueNFTs, which are a product of the Everscale Network. TrueNFTs store the actual media files on the blockchain, itself, rather than merely linking to disruptable content, often hosted elsewhere. The platforms interface will also accommodate the use of both fiat and cryptocurrencies, according to the release.

ChessNFT.com joins the rapidly growing list of NFT marketplaces, which is currently led by Opensea in terms of cumulative settlement volume.

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The International Chess Federation is first global sports association with its own NFT marketplace - Cointelegraph

Dallas Cowboys WR Michael Gallup is one of the more underrated receivers in the game, but will make his season debut at the right time Sunday vs. the Falcons. The Cowboys offense is coming off of their worst performance of the season, only managing two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter against the Broncos to turn a 30-0 deficit into a 30-16 loss.

The Cowboys were far from the only contender to take a step back in week nine, and this league-wide trend towards parity continued with the Dolphins win on Thursday against the Ravens. While some clubs made moves at the trade deadline, the Cowboys remained insistent the players returning from injury can provide a boost for the 6-2 NFC East leaders. Gallup will get the first chance to do so, rejoining a position group that already ranks among the leagues best.

Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, and Cedrick Wilson have all made up for the loss of Gallup in Kellen Moores offense. Lamb has matched Gallups career average in yards per reception at 15.4 this season, but with the Cowboys offensive line not at full strength the chances for Dak Prescott to throw downfield have been limited.

Though it hasnt taken away from their balanced running game, the connection Prescott and Gallup have on deep passes has been missed. Last week, the Broncos consistently brought one more than the Cowboys could block both in the run game or on blitzes. They did so by trusting their secondary in man coverage. Gallup is the type of player that can make contested catches in coverage look easy, while also taking the top off of a defense.

Theres a mantra in roster building around the NFL that if a team feels they have a position group capable of winning them games, add another contributor as opposed to striving for balance across the roster. The Cowboys will also get help on defense back today as DT Trysten Hill comes off IR, but Gallup fits this mantra perfectly. Proving the Broncos loss as an outlier for this explosive offense is something Gallup can help with immediately.

Dallas should still find ways to incorporate players like Wilson and Tony Pollard into their passing game, something they can do with more creativity now that the projected starting lineup of Cooper, Gallup, and Lamb is back together. Using these pass catchers in motion to help with the blocking scheme and ease the loss of Tyron Smith is something the Cowboys should be prepared for.

Gallup was targeted five times with two catches against the Falcons last year, a signature 40-39 comeback win for Mike McCarthys team. Just how ready he is to exceed this stat line and contribute today, or if his role will be as more of a decoy, remains to be seen. It will take even longer for the Cowboys to reclaim their status as one of the NFLs top teams after their week nine setback, but getting the ball to Gallup is a step in the right direction.

The Cowboys have only scored a touchdown on half of their red zone trips this season. Just the Bengals, Jets, and Giants have an equal or worse conversion rate. For as effortless as this offense looks moving the ball at times, not finishing drives with seven points leaves the door open for Dan Quinns defense to be exposed. Theyve done a great job getting the ball back to the offense when needed in close games, but perform even better attacking with the lead. This takes opponents out of their running game, something the Cowboys never did against the Broncos.

Simply having to prepare for all the options the Cowboys will now have on offense is close to enough for opponents to come into their matchup expecting to keep up only by throwing at a high volume.

On the receiving end of six red zone touchdowns through his Cowboys career, there hasnt been much missing from Dallas passing attack so far this season but Gallups ability to go up and get the ball will stand out as the Cowboys look to bounce back against a defense allowing 237 passing yards per game.

The Falcons have allowed over 30 points in three games this season, escaping with a road win at the Saints 27-25 last week.

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WR Michael Gallup Could Be Chess Piece Cowboys Offense Needs - Inside The Star