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Thecontroversial logo that shook thechess world

The2018 World Chess Championship found itself atthecenter ofaheated discussion about design, sex andLGBT culture. It was covered byall major media outlets, including anabove-the-fold front page feature bytheFinancial Times. Themedia called it one ofthemost important sporting events oftheyear.

One ofthekey issues inthediscussion was theprovocative logo that featured two figures playing chess inaway that, some say, resembled ascene from Kama Sutra.

Theorganizers andthesport had taken arisk bygoing outside its comfort zone andthemessage was amplified bythemedia, which loved theidea that themost conservative sport intheworld was using such provocative visual language. Inchess, theconsumers are also players, andthecampaign allowed them tofinally be associated with something considered cool.

Thelogo went much further than anticipated, getting theCannes Lions award andcreating awhole range ofmerchandise that is still popular.

Theevent itself was avisual experience forthespectators andtheplayers alike. Theexterior andinterior oftheCollege inHolborn, thehosting venue, was decorated with key visual patterns; this was also applied tothecostumes oftheactors who performed intheopening ceremony attheVictoria andAlbert Museum. Theplayful illustrations anddesign oftheonline broadcasting platform made watching thedifficult game easy.

Thedesign was visible outside oftheplaying venue andinside. Lettering andcolor patterns made theevent stand out.

Reporters before thefirst move inthefinal game ofthe2018 World Chess Championship

London hosted theMatch forthefirst time indecades, andLondoners were aware that something is happening intheir city.

Entrance totheplaying venue inHolborn

Visitors were treated with branded merchandise so they felt connected totheevent.

Disposable cups atthevenue

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Looking Back to The Most Talked About Chess Logo Ever - World Chess

How does Magnus Carlsen rate his great predecessors as World Chess Champions on genius, entertainment, influence and sanity? We got to find out in a series of videos made for the New in Chess Classic, in which he assessed the 11th to the 16th World Champions, i.e. Bobby Fischer, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Vishy Anand and himself! He also looked at arguably the two greatest female players of all time, Judit Polgar and Hou Yifan, and rated the top player in each category going back to the likes of Jose Capablanca and Mikhail Tal.

In case you missed them during the New in Chess Classic, weve gathered together all of Magnus Carlsens videos talking about the World Chess Champions. It began with one general video where Magnus picked the top champion of all time in each category.

Genius: A lot of people would say Fischer, I guess. Not so sure about that. I think I will go with Capablanca, though. Hes somebody who came out of nowhere and just played very clear, simple and yet brilliant chess, and that is something that I would characterise as genius-like.

Entertainment: When it comes to entertaining it starts and ends with Tal, and I dont really see any great competition there, both really on and off the board.

Influence: As a modern player I will say that probably I will have to say Garry Kasparov, because he really has influenced all the best players today.

Sanity: I think somebody who definitely stands out as extremely sane and level-headed and just a wonderful person to be around in every way is Anand, so thats the one I will go with.

Magnus then filmed six videos looking at the last six World Champions, himself included!

Genius: I dont consider him to be that big a genius, but still there was some Capablanca-like quality in the way that he made chess look very simple, so Im going to give him a 7 out of 10.

Entertainment: Fischer was certainly everything about him was entertaining, all that was around. His games in themselves were entertaining because he always played for a win, even though they werent always most exciting in terms of new ideas and everything, but considering the whole package, I think he gets an 8 here.

Influence: I would say he scores very highly both in terms of opening ideas, general ideas about the game, and obviously everything thats around Fischer, hes influenced chess greatly, so I think hes going to get a 9 here.

Sanity: In terms of sanity, I think we are judging Fischer as a World Champion, and while he was World Champion I think he was still reasonably well-rounded, so he gets a 4 here, which is not a great score, but certainly later it could have potentially been even worse.

Karpov, the one that succeeded Fischer. Obviously we never got to see a match between them in 1975, since Fischer did not show up for that match, they never agreed on terms.

Genius: I would say in terms of genius Karpov does have that Fischer and Capablanca-like quality of making chess look simple. Certainly he was extremely gifted, and I think I will give him an 8 here, as one of the most naturally talented players Ive ever seen.

Entertainment: I think Karpov in himself was not that entertaining, he was always more of the pragmatic type. Obviously his matches with Garry were entertaining, but that was probably more a product of the match in itself, not necessarily Karpov. So I think Karpov probably only gets a 6 here.

Influence: He certainly has influenced modern players and culture, probably to a lesser degree than Fischer and Kasparov, but still pretty highly, so Im giving him an 8 here as well.

Sanity: In terms of sanity there were some strange episodes obviously in his World Championship matches. I think in general Karpov has held up fine and he gets a score of 7 here.

Garry Kasparov - in my opinion the greatest player theres ever been.

Genius: Garry was certainly a hard worker, but he had this very, very special kind of talent for the game as well, that you could see already at a very early age, and he could find ideas that nobody else could, so I think Garry gets a perfect 10.

Entertainment: In terms of entertaining there were quite a lot of short draws in the World Championship matches. Generally everything about Garry was entertaining, but he would have gotten a 10 except for his tendencies to offer a bit too many draws for my liking, so thats going to be a 9.

Influence: In terms of influence I would say on the modern generation thats a pretty good 10 as well.

Sanity: In terms of sanity he gets the same mark as Karpov, which is a 7. There certainly have been episodes with Garry as well, but personally at the very least Ive found him very interesting to be around and not a problem at all.

The man who... the only one to have beaten Garry Kasparov in a World Championship match, and that is Vladimir Kramnik.

Genius: In terms of genius I would say he was - hes retired I guess now from classical chess, so I can say was - extremely gifted, and I will give him an 8 on the genius scale.

Entertainment: I would say he was very entertaining at least in parts of his career. There was a part where he made a bit too many draws, but I would say in his youth and also last years of his career certainly his games were among the most entertaining to follow, so he gets an 8 here.

Influence: In influence I would say Kramnik has great, great influence on the new generation. He has not singlehandedly, but hes the one who popularised the Berlin Defence and many other openings as well. He has had great influence so hes going to get a very strong 9 here.

Sanity: And in terms of sanity, I think Kramnik is relatively well-rounded. He does have some interesting ideas, but he will get a weak 8 on this one.

Genius: I think he scores very high there, certainly somebody who also came out of nowhere - he was the first grandmaster from India. He has an unbelievable natural understanding of the game, so Im going to give him a 9 here.

Entertainment: Anand definitely can be entertaining, both as a chess player and as a person, but I feel like he doesnt quite reach the levels of some of the others, so hes going to get a 7 here.

Influence: In terms of influence chess-wise there has been a bit of an influence from Anand, but I think people used to say about him that he would always be the second person to play a very good idea. He would always pick up on great ideas from others. He was extremely, or still is, extremely adaptable, but he wouldnt necessarily always come up with them himself. But on the other hand, he has influenced an entire country to go from being nobodies at chess to arguably the greatest chess country behind Russia, so I will give him an 8 here.

Sanity: In terms of sanity I think this is going to be a perfect 10 from Anand.

I really, really thought we were done! Apparently we werent because theres one more World Champion to consider after Anand, and that is, unfortunately, yours truly!

Genius: In terms of genius, though, I dont consider myself a genius in general. I think in chess terms I should score fairly highly, because I believe Im quite naturally talented, so Im going to give an 8 here.

Entertainment: In terms of being entertaining, obviously Im an extremely entertaining person, like my jokes are drier than wood, and I have some things going for me. I think in terms of entertaining on the chessboard Im open to trying new ideas, Im always fighting towards the very end, but I also understand that my style is still slightly geared towards longer games and its not everybodyscup of tea. But I think still an 8 is pretty fair here.

Influence: Im probably more on the Anand side here of not necessarily coming up with the ideas myself and being more of a follower than a creator. There has obviously been a bit of a chess boom in Norway, so that helps, but I think influence is not my greatest strength, so Im going to go with a 7 here.

Sanity: In terms of sanity, you know, I have my moments, good and bad. Overall I think Im somebody who can certainly be very upset after games. Usually it doesnt last, and there havent been any too egregious moments so far, so Im going to give myself the highest grade that I get on any of these on sanity, and its going to be a very subjective 9.

As a bonus, Magnus then looked at the players he considers the two greatest female players of all time, Judit Polgar and Hou Yifan. Hou Yifan is a 4-time Womens World Champion while Judit could have become Womens Champion at any moment, but decided to focus on open competitions, where she reached as high as world no. 8.

Genius: I think Judit, in terms of genius, I feel like shes more of a product of shes certainly naturally talented, but I wouldnt necessarily say that I can see genius in her play. Its I think more about extreme repetition from when she was young, that shes able to recreate some remarkable patterns, so Im going to go with a 7 here for Judit.

Entertainment: I think one thing that her games never lacked is entertainment. This one is going to be a 9, pretty clearly. Shes somebody who always sought to attack, no matter what, for good and for bad. I think its no coincidence that people played their best games against her and that she also managed to really, really crush some of the best players in the world, because she had a very entertaining and uncompromising style.

Influence: In terms of influence, I would say being the best female chess player of all time she has great influence that she has used, and is still using, very well, so its going to be a 9.

Sanity: In terms of sanity, I have I think no reason not to give her a 10 here.

Hou Yifan I would consider the second strongest female chess player of all time.

Genius: In terms of genius, I wouldnt necessarily say that I saw too much genius in Hou Yifans play. Shes definitely talented, was very strong at a young age, but I dont necessarily see that in her play, so shes going to get a 6 here.

Entertainment: Hou Yifan has a very entertaining style, uncompromising, a bit similar to Judit in that sense in that she wins great attacking games and also loses a few of them, so she gets an 8 here.

Influence: In terms of influence I would say its a little bit early to say since shes still fairly young, but shes going to get a 6 here since there have already been quite a few Chinese players that have followed in her footsteps.

Sanity: In terms of sanity, again, all my interactions with her have been good, no reason to give anything other than a 10 for her.

Here are the scores Magnus gave to all the players:

Link:
Magnus Carlsen ranks the World Chess Champions - chess24

From the very origin of our beautiful game to the current global online chess phenomenon, India has contributed significantly to the world of chess. Historical records show that the 8x8 chessboard dates from the days of Mahabharata and Ramayana. Board games are also described in early Buddhist literature as well as Chinese works.

Considering the rich Indian chess history and the timeline of chess, it helps to know the immense contributions made by Indians:

OriginsThe rules of chaturanga were a lot different from modern chess. The word "chaturanga" means "four-limbed," referring to ancient army divisions of infantry, cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry. In Shiva Purana as well, there is a mention of Lord Shiva playing a game of dice on an 8x8 board.

When I was growing up, I was told two stories, and it is hard to test the veracity of them, but they are nevertheless legendary.

Mandodari found it hard to see the state of Ravana in anger, so she prayed to Lord Ganesha for a solution. Ganesha accedes to teach the game to Ravana and asks him to treat it as a virtual mode of battle rather than fighting real wars.

Indian Chess Openings

You might know about the King's Indian Defense, Nimzo Indian Defense, and Queen's Indian Defense as openings, but have you ever wondered why these names have "Indian" attached to them? Under the Indian rules of chess in the early 19th century, only the central pawns had the privilege to move two squares initially and en passant was not allowed.

Enter John Cochrane (a Scottish lawyer) who had not only authored chess books but had also played against the existing chess giants of his periodStaunton, La Bourdonnais, and Deschapelles. In the chess world, the opening arising after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7 is named after him. For those interested in endgames, you can also check out the Cochrane draw.

Cochrane was stationed as a barrister in Calcutta and also became the president of the Calcutta Chess Club. Arnie Moll wrote a detailed article about Cochrane's acquaintance with the Indian player Mahesh Chandra Banerjee. It is important to note that Mahesh was still playing the game keeping the old rules in mind.

The games with Cochrane helped Mahesh shape his game and accustomed him to the new rules. His usual way of playing as White included developing the king's knight and fianchettoing the bishop, which is now known to us as the Reti Opening. With the black pieces, he tried the Grunfeld Defense, the King's Indian Defense, as well as the Nimzo Indian Defense.

After his stint in India, Cochrane introduced the term "Indian openings" for such a class of openings, and this was firmly established in chess literature. Another interesting point is how Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) played a great role in developing chess in India, tracing back to the 1850s. The Goodricke International GM event (1990 to 2002) in Calcutta was known as the GM-spinner and was the only norm event in India for many years.

GM Sandipan Chanda (the second of Vishy Anand), who hails from Kolkata, told me that the Indian monk Swami Vivekananda learned chess at a young age and was quite good at it. A historical source states that Narendranath Dutta (his pre-monastic name) was home-schooled in Raipur and spent time learning various subjects like cooking, chess, and philosophy during that period that shaped his personality to a great extent.

The only other monk I know of who played chess at a high level is Om Swami, who also wrote a chess fiction book titled The Last Gambit.

Chess Movies And DocumentariesShatranj Ke Khiladi

Satyajit Ray adapted Premchand's story titled Shatranj ke Khiladi into a movie in 1977. The film, set against the background of British India, is a parallel story of two kings who are obsessed with chess while their kingdoms are in danger.

Algorithms

This documentary follows the journey of three visually impaired boys from different backgrounds in India who play chess. The crew follows them while they play competitive chess and the experience is realistically documented. The story explores the challenges they faced. The film features Indian National Champion Darpan Inani, who recently became a chartered accountant.

Mir Sultan Khan

Mir Sultan Khan was born in 1905 in Mitha Tiwana (British India at that time, now Pakistan). He learned chess at the age of nine and was considered the strongest player of Punjab by 21. He became a national champion in 1928 and went on to win British championships in 1929, 1932, and 1933. He is the first chess player from Asia to compete at an elite level. After coming back to India in 1933, he rarely played chess and disappeared from the scene.

We could actually regard him as the first grandmaster from Asia for the chess understanding he possessed. He was often dubbed as the world's most natural player during his active years. Every mention of Sultan Khan must definitely include his win over Jose Raul Capablanca!

Mir Sultan Khan's OpeningsGM Gregory Serper explains in his article that Sultan Khan liked to plant his knight on e5 and then further support it with f2-f4, which we now know as the Colle System or Stonewall Attack. He defeated the great GM Akiba Rubinstein with this approach.

He also employed the same idea with the black pieces, which we know as Queen's Gambit Declined, Lasker's Variation.

Recently, GM Daniel King wrote a book on the life of Mir Sultan Khan. It was published by New in Chess and also contains a foreword by Vishy Anand.

First International Master From India

Manuel Aaron (born December 30, 1935) is India's first international master, and he attained the title at the age of 26 in 1961. He recently co-authored a book along with Dr. Vijay Pandit on the history of Indian chess.

In addition to being a player, Aaron has contributed significantly to the growth of Indian chess by organizing many events and camps. His work as an administrator was a big boost to Indian chess. He worked as a secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Association and as a chairman of the All India Chess Federation for many years. Here is his amazing win over former world champion Max Euwe.

First Grandmaster From India, Viswanathan Anand

Anand became India's first GM in 1988 at the age of 19. Both he and Aaron are from Chennai (then Madras), which is considered the mecca of Indian chess. The success of Anand paved way for major chess progress in the country. The five-time world champion took the chess world by storm with his lightning calculation skills. With the advent of Anand, the entire country witnessed a chess boom, and it taught the world how one person could make a difference.

Numerous novelties have been uncorked by Anand, but the extraordinary work he did in the Semi-Slav (Meran variation) paid off in his match against GM Vladimir Kramnik in Bonn, 2008. One of Anand's best games is also a result of his amazing opening preparation, where he unleashed a powerful novelty in the Semi-Slav against GM Levon Aronian.

Women's ChessIn 1933, an Indian named Fatima Ghulam won the British Women's Championship. She was employed in the home of Sir Umar Hayat Khan who had also got Sultan Khan to London.

In 1974, the federation started the Women's National Championship, and it was at this time that Indian chess witnessed the sensation of the Khadilkar sisters. For the next 10 years, the title would always go to one of the three sistersVasanti, Jayshree, or Rohini.

In 1978, Rohini Khadilkar had prepared to play in the open championship. Some officials of the federation raised objections in this regard, Later her father, Nilkanth Khadilkar, wrote to FIDE President Max Euwe and got a mandate that she could play in this event. This proved to be a major breakthrough for Indian chess.

In recent years, GM Humpy Koneru has been consistent with her performances at the elite level. She also won the World Women's Rapid Championship in 2019 and was part of the Indian team that won gold in the online Chess Olympiad.

GM Harika Dronavalli was also part of the Indian team that won the gold in the online Chess Olympiad. She has won three bronze medals (2012, 2015, and 2017) in the Women's World Championship.

Young Guns

We are seeing how the game of chess keeps getting younger and younger. Indian prodigies are keeping up with the competition. Young Indian chess whiz GM Dommaraju Gukesh became the second-youngest grandmaster in the world when he attained the title at the age of 12 years, seven months, seven days. (Karjakin had achieved it at exactly 12 years, seven months.)

Five Indian grandmasters have made it to the top-15 list of youngest grandmasters. This speaks volumes about the competition among the juniors in India.

Indian superstar Nihal Sarin has already started winning online games against GM Magnus Carlsen and in a few more years, we might see him play for the world championship title, too.

The young Indian prodigy, GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, is another player with his eyes set on the world championship title.

The emergence of such chess stars in India has tremendously surged the promotion of chess in the country and the entire world. Their personalities, work, and contributions have left a life-long impression for which we will be forever indebted.

With the creation of the game itself, the many pioneers of Indian chess, World Champion Anand, and the promising young generation of Indian grandmasters, it is clear that India has made massive contributions to the chess world.

Continue reading here:
What India Taught The World About Chess - Chess.com

The Arena Kings Season 7runs from May 12 through August 4. Streamers will clash in a series of 3|0 blitz arenas to fight for their piece of a $40,000 prize fund and the Arena King title.

Arenas start every Wednesday at 10 a.m. Pacific Time/19:00 CEST. The top 16 streamers from each arena will be invited to join a subsequent knockout event with even more prizes. Like in previous editions of the event, Chess960 fans will be able to enjoy arenas dedicated exclusively to this variant.

The Arena Kings event is open to all Chess.com users, with Twitch Affiliates who stream during the events being eligible for winning the prizes. It's not necessary, however, to be a member of the Chess.com Streamer's Program to be eligible to win.

You can find quick links to important event information below:

All Arena Kings Season 7 matches will be broadcast live with commentary on Chess.com/TV and Twitch.tv/Chess.

Below you can see the format for every arena and knockout event for this season:

Arenas

Knockout Events

Arena Kings Championship

Championship Final

Arena Kings Season 7 has a total prize fund of $40,000. Below you can find more details about the prize distribution:

Weekly Arena Prize Fund: $2,500

Championship Arena Prize Fund: $10,000

If a player is eligible for more than one prize in a given week (e.g. 10th place and U1800), they will get both prizes. If a player advances to the semifinal stage of the knockout event or beyond only the higher prize will be awarded. In that case, the under-prize will be reassigned to the next eligible participant.

While every Chess.com user is invited to play in this event, only streamers are eligible for prizes. To be eligible, you must fulfill every requirement below:

The following applies to allstreamers:

For Twitch streamers:

For YouTube streamers:

Streamers who believe they are eligible for one of the U2200, U1800, or U1400 prizes should claim it by filling out this form. Please note that it may take up to 48 hours for final results and prizes to be announced.

By participating in Arena Kings, streamers agree that Chess.com can use their content for mashup/highlights. We will always reference the original channel and source of the clips used.

The Arena Kings Championship qualifiers work on a point-based system, where streamers collect points during the entire season leading up to the Championship Final. Players need to accumulate at least 100 Grand Prix points throughout the season and/or win any of the arena prizes. The list below displays how to earn Grand Prix points:

Note that points are accumulated if a player is eligible for multiple Grand Prix points in the same event (for instance, if a player wins the 9th place points and U1800 points).

All results will be listed here.

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Arena Kings Season 7: All The Information - Chess.com

After their first record-breaking event, BlockChamps, the star duo WFM Alexandra and Andrea Botez are back with another groundbreaking event: the Botez Bullet Invitational. Fan-favorite streamers and content creators will go head-to-head to compete for a piece of the $10,000 prize fund starting on May 5, 12 p.m. PT/21:00 CEST. Viewers will be able to watch the event live on BotezLive and Chess.com/TV.

For this event, the Botez sisters will bring back notorious participants from past events like BlockChamps and PogChamps. Fans will enjoy the presence of behemoth content creators like Ludwig, QTCinderella, MoistCr1tikal, Tubbo, and more! Previous PogChamps champions Voyboy and Sardoche will also return for the new challenge, along with many others!

We want to create more fun chess events for streamers who picked up the game over the last year. Hopefully, this will be the first on the menu!

-Alexandra Botez

The event will consist of a one-hour pre-show hype session followed by a one-hour 1|0 bullet arena. As this will be the first time these stars will officially compete in such a fast time control, it's hard to predict what will happen. However, one thing is for sure: viewers can expect a festival of excitement, drama, and prime entertainment.

Below you can see the confirmed players:

With a field full of heavyweight content creators, expectations for the Botez Bullet Invitational are high. Make sure you tune in to Twitch.tv/BotezLive or Chess.com/TV on May 5 at 12 p.m. PT/21:00 CEST to enjoy the show!

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Announcing The Botez Bullet Invitational On May 5 - Chess.com