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Written by Shivani Naik, Edited by Explained Desk | Mumbai | Updated: September 2, 2020 4:57:34 pmKoneru Humpy won in an Armageddon against Poland's Monica Socko to take India into its first possible Top 2 finish and finals of the first-ever online Chess Olympiad. (Representational)

It was an Armageddon that saw Koneru Humpy take India into the final of the first-ever online Chess Olympiad. India play Russia at 4.30 pm on August 30.

Koneru Humpy won in an Armageddon against Polands Monica Socko to take India into its first possible Top 2 finish and finals of the first-ever online Chess Olympiad. India play Russia in the finals at 4.30 pm on Sunday (August 30).

Chesss version of the penalty shootout can get exciting, and Koneru held her nerve in the cliffhanger.

Heres more about Armageddon.

What is an Armageddon in chess that Koneru Humpy won to take India into the finals?

Its similar to a Super Over in cricket or a penalty shootout in hockey or football. At times it sees players nervously slap on the clocks, fumble with their pieces, and generally hurry through their moves. The online version, of course, wouldve simply seen quick clicks.

The Armageddon is the final decisive clincher and at the Online Chess Olympiad, set out the rules as, White gets 5 minutes, Black gets 4, but a draw would suffice for the latter.

Humpy kept her ice-cool composure to snick a sensational win when even a draw wouldve been enough against Polands Monika Sacko in the semifinal. She had lorded over Socko in the two rounds of rapid earlier.

How did it whip up excitement at the online chess Olympiad semis?

Black, considered at a disadvantage, is given a minute less to process the game and the handicap effectively puts the onus of a win on White.

At that moment, in those 4 minutes, whole of Indias expectations hinged on Koneru Humpys shoulders. But the moment I knew she was playing, I was sure India was winning. Her temperament is exceptional, Prof Anantharam, chess arbiter and raconteur, said.

Prior to that, lots were drawn to pick which of the categories would contest the Armageddon among mens, womens, and juniors. Once it was ascertained that the women would contest, Koneru Humpy was asked to fight the shootout for Indias attempt to get into Top 2 contention for the first time ever.

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Why was it a stunning come-from-behind win?

India was trailing after losing the first round 2-4 where Polish GMs Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Radek Wojtaszek nicked a full point each off Viswanathan Anand and Vidit Gujarati despite some aggressive play from Vidit, while Koneru and Harika Dronavalli drew on the third and fourth boards with Nihal Sarin winning on the penultimate board. Divya Deshmukh had good positional advantage, but couldnt capitalise.

In Round 2, India came back fighting, Anand canny in his opening to strike back against Duda and Vidit driving the knife in after an even opening against Gajewski who turned up to sub Wojtaszek. Koneru and Harika both won as India levelled to win Round Two 4 1/2 1 1/2. Then came the Armageddon.

How did Koneru win the Big A?

It has been dubbed as one of the most exciting Armageddon shootouts of recent times. Socko is a similarly experienced player and did not carry her two losses into the shoot-out showing early aggressive intent with a pawn gambit.

Until moves 35 or 36, things were pretty even, but Sockos pawn move to e5 was a visible tripping after which Konerus superior queen manoeuvring and counter attack saw her stomp through to the finish, as she bulldozed out the bishop.

Also read | Not as grand as it seems: Indias historic showing at Chess Olympiad, explained

What are the most recent instances of the Armageddon?

Four top level online tournaments featuring chesss biggest name Magnus Carlsen were held this year, with the first of those triumphs coming from the Armageddon. But the most exciting one saw the world champion on the losing side against the maverick Hiraku Nakamura in the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour Finals which saw a tennis-like set format.

Set 5 had seen four uneventful draws in the rapid. GM Yan Nepomniachthi had quipped watching: Ok, four draws in rapid section, so theres nothing to tweet about. On cue, things began to sizzle as Carlsen won the fifth Game, with Nakamura responding to rally from behind to win in the forced decider after Carlsen had chosen white.

Giving yourself the time edge also means equipping yourself with the best sword while backing into a corner. Nakamura didnt settle for the winning draw that Armageddons offer, but went for the win. Fun was had by all. Until the next A.

On the final day of the final faceoff, Carlsen won his own tour against Nakamura (who played a stunner till the last 10 minutes) by drawing on black in an Armageddon. The brutality and the epic injustice of it all, was lamented by everyone online.

Of late, which have been the most dramatic Armageddons?

At an Aronian-Grischuk game in Norway last season, the terms were set at 10 minutes vs 7, after classical games were capped at 4 hours, followed by the Armageddon. The vanquished was inconsolable, calling it one of the three biggest disappointing results of his life.

Why do classical romantics frown upon the Armageddon?

It has been said that many chess enthusiasts are critical of Armageddon and/or the scoring system, which downgrades classical games. The Aronian-Grischuk meltdown post the cruel shootoff drew a lot of scornful Internet traffic Armageddons way.

It is seen as an unwelcome disruptor corrupting the classical pace and rhythm with its restless impatience. Some would say chess is clucking at the hyper hand activity involved. Carlsen had weighed in favourably; The Guardian quoted him as saying: There has been plenty of fight in the classical games, and having Armageddon just gives it an extra dimension. Its just extra excitement every day. I am sure there are people who like it, people who dont like it, but I think its been very exciting so far and I look forward to the future. The fact that a coin flip decides time odds, drives critics nuts.

What are the oddest things to happen during an Armageddon?

Yan Nepomniachtchi and Nakamura faced off in a World Cup quarters in 2015 where Nakamura won in an Armageddon. But the Russian protested belatedly that Nakamura had used both hands to make a single move on the rook and king allusion to a form of penalty invoking act, while castling the king.

Its a typical error that can happen with the clock breathing down the earlobe menacingly. But the appeal was denied after a microscopic interpretation of sub-clauses of rules. In a blitz/rapid World Mind Games at Birds Nest in 2008, K Sasikiran rightly pointed out that should a piece be knocked out, it should be adjusted on own clock by the opponent. But a rematch was ordered, which India lost. Time control pressures can wreak havoc, and Armageddons typically see pulse rate soaring as the game is spiced up.

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Explained: Armageddon, the penalty shootout of the chess pieces - The Indian Express

Two traditional tournaments organized by the Saint Louis Chess Club will be held online next month: the Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX (Sept. 11-13) and the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz (Sept. 15-19). The first tournament is a round-robin this year, meaning that GM Garry Kasparovand GMMagnus Carlsenwill meet in an official event for the first time since 2004.

When the Grand Chess Tour was canceled due to the coronavirus crisis, many tournaments suddenly disappeared from the calendar. One of the tour's events has been re-instated as an online edition: the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz (more on that below).

The club also hosts a Chess960 event each year (mysteriously calling it Chess9LX), and it's nice to see that this wasn't canceled eitherif only for the fact that GM Garry Kasparov will again participate!

Online chess was never a big thing for The Boss during his career, partly because there were far fewer online events organized in the first place. This tournament seems to be his first official online event since his retirement.

Among Kasparov's rivals will be the world number one and two of classical chess, GMs Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, as well as the reigning Chess960 World Champion Wesley So and the Iranian prodigy GM Alireza Firouzja.

Last year the format was one-on-one matches, but this year the tournament is a round-robin. This means Kasparov will be playing against all nine participants, including Carlsen. This will be a historic clashalbeit online, albeit Chess960as the two world champions only faced each other in one previous event. That was also rapid and blitz chess, and it took place back in 2004 in Reykjavik, when Carlsen was 13 years old and Kasparov 41, a year before he would retire.

In 2017, when Kasparov played in the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament, he could have faced Carlsen as well, but it happened to be an event in which the Norwegian didn't play, coincidentally or not.

In Chess960, the starting position is different than in regular chess.While the pawns' positions remain the same, with White's pawns all on the second rank and Black's pawns on the seventh, minor (knights and bishops) and major pieces (rooks, king and queen) are placed semi-randomly on the first and last ranks.More about Chess960 (or Fischerrandom) can be found here.

The tournament will be held online on September 11-13 with three rounds per day. The players will learn what starting position they'll play only three minutes before the round.The time control is 20 minutes plus a 10-second increment. The total prize fund is $150,000.

Champions Showdown: Chess9LX | Participants

Right after this tournament, the Saint Louis Chess Club continues with another event, and for that, it's back to regular chess.

The Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz will be held September 15-19 and follows the standard schedule of such events in the Grand Chess Tour: first, three days of rapid with three rounds per day (25 minutes plus a 25-second increment) followed by two days of blitz with nine rounds per day (five minutes plus a three-second increment). The total prize fund is $250,000.

Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz | Participants

Games will start daily at 1:00 p.m. St. Louis time (GMT-5) which is 11:00 a.m. Pacific time and 20:00 Central European time.Both tournaments will include expert commentary to choose from:

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Carlsen, Kasparov Will Clash For The 1st Time In 16 Years - Chess.com

8/27/2020 Besides the Biel Triathlon played in July, no elite over-the-board tournament has been organized after the coronavirus crisis prompted the chess world to focus on online events. In a little over a month, however, we will get to see a strong field fighting over the board. The Altibox Norway Chess Tournament with Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Alireza Firouzja and Aryan Tari kicks off October 5! | Photo: Lennart Ootes

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Press release

The world as we know it has changed and people all over the world are facing challenging times. Sport events of all types have been cancelled as we together have been distancing ourselves to avoid the spread of the virus. For chess, this has been the case as well, where tournaments all over the world have been cancelled. However, online chess has grown exponentially during this period as tournaments and other chess events have been organized on different online platforms. This has certainly been positive for chess, as it is a perfect sport to follow online!

The time for chess across the physical board is back!

This years Altibox Norway Chess tournament will be different, but nothing short of exciting! It will be a double round-robin tournament with six players:

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The first round starts October 5 and the tournament ends on October 16. There are two free days (October9 and 14).

We cant wait to bring these incredible chess players back together for some exciting chess matches! The Armageddon games that we introduced last year will continue as theyturned out to be a major success.

Players will get the following points per round:

The team of theAltibox Norway Chess have ensured that the tournament willbe safe for players, teams and other crew members.

[Magns Carlsens photo: Lennart Ootes]

[Originally, the lineup included Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri. On August 25, it was announced that Jan-Krzysztof Duda would replace him.]

Anish Giridecided to withdraw due to growing concerns around the Covid-19 situation in the Netherlands.

Now, the Altibox Norway Chess team is thrilled to announce that Polish Grandmaster Jan-Krzysztof Duda has accepted the invitation to play in this historic edition of the tournament. It will be Dudas first time playing in Altibox Norway Chess. Duda is a very interesting player and will be a great addition to the tournament.

Duda noted:

I must admit that I was surprised by the proposal to play in the tournament in Stavanger, which I got on my way to Ustro for the MOKATE tournament. However, I did not even think about declining this offer for a moment. Extremely interesting and, for me, a strong line-up of the tournament promises great emotions, and for me it will be another opportunity to test myself with the best chess players in the world. For my part, I promise what Im known for courage, uncompromising play and fight to the very end. I intend to use the possible quarantine for broadening my knowledge about Norway and preparing for the tournament.

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Altibox Norway Chess with Carlsen and Caruana returns in October - Chessbase News

There is a strange long-distance chess game going on between Dublin and Brussels focused on picking a replacement for Phil Hogan. And this chess game has compounded the already messy political wrangling going inside the three-party Coalition.

he Government's focus has been on trying to figure out what the EU Commission President's next move would be - once they have shown their hand. If they comply with a request to send the name of a man and a woman, is the man definitively not going to get the job? And just what calibre of job might be available?

For those of us who like our politics, this one carries more than a hint of intrigue.

People around Government Buildings keep stressing that Brussels has no legal right to demand two nominations, male and female. This is true - but it does not help things.

Realpolitik is that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has the final decision on who gets what. Given the recent history of this one, it would be prudent to comply with her wishes.

Ireland will not keep Phil Hogan's trade portfolio, but two high-calibre names could secure a meaningful role for his successor, maintaining Irish political heft.

Informal talks are going on between European experts in Government Buildings and Ms von der Leyen's advisory team, while Ireland's EU embassy is heavily on the case. But hard information is scarce - and there can be no guarantees.

In the simplest terms, it means Simon Coveney has no guarantee of anything much. If he lets his name go forward as one of two, he could be rejected in favour of the female nominee. Or, he could come through and be handed a portfolio with little political relevance.

Yesterday in Brussels, Ms von der Leyen hosted the big return-to-work, meeting her Commission team. It was an informal affair focused on identifying the many challenges facing the European Union in the coming months.

Ireland's Commission nominee was at best a sidebar, viewed through the prism of who might be getting promotion now that one of the heavy-hitters, Mr Hogan, had unexpectedly departed. Ms von der Leyen's immediate focus is on her first so-called 'State of the Union' address, to be delivered to the European Parliament next Wednesday week, September 16.

You're already forgiven if you have not heard about this before. It is a product of the 2009 Treaty of Lisbon, borrows heavily from the USA, and is an effort to put more political transparency, and indeed some political oomph, into the EU's sometimes byzantine politics.

Suffice to say this is big stuff for the woman known increasingly as 'VDL' since it is her first of these and she needs to show leadership on Covid-19, Brexit, climate change and a plethora of other pressing issues. When it comes to Irish issues, she can afford to wait.

Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis has taken temporary responsibility for trade. The former Latvian prime minister has been briefed by Mr Hogan and is familiar with the big-picture issues.

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John Downing: In this long-distance chess game there is only one kingmaker - Independent.ie

Whether championing math, poetry, or just how to be a decent human being, the inspirational teacher is as familiar to movie audiences as the class stoner. Critical Thinking does little to detach itself from genre clich; yet this heartfelt drama about a rough-and-tumble group of high-schoolers who claw their way to a national chess tournament has a sweetness that softens its flaws.

Based on a true story and set in an underserved Miami neighborhood in 1998, the movie drops us into the boisterous classroom of Mr. Martinez (played by the director, John Leguizamo).

Chess is the great equalizer, he tells his multiethnic students, using the game to teach his critical thinking elective with a side of racial history discouraged by his school board. The principal (Rachel Bay Jones) might treat his classroom like a dumping ground for miscreants, but Martinez, assisted by wigs and funny accents, explains complicated chess moves with a deftness that cuts through their indifference.

With goals as modest as the lives of its characters, Critical Thinking follows the predictable arc of the underdog drama as the chess team overcomes troubled home situations and other setbacks on the road to a Beverly Hills-set finale. Slow and straightforward, the movie knows that a chess match is hardly a barnburner; but its lively young performers and their eventual triumph are easy to warm to. Drugs and gangs might beckon and ICE hovers just outside the frame but theyre no match for the values of sportsmanship and teamwork. And Mr. Martinezs pep talks.

Critical ThinkingNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 57 minutes. Watch through virtual cinemas, or rent or buy on iTunes, Google Play and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators.

Link:
Critical Thinking Review: All the Right Moves - The New York Times