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In light of the recent COVID-19 outbreak, Chess.com is bringing your favorite over-the-board events online with the support of US Chess online ratings. As a result of US Chess' Executive Board ruling, tournament directors across the country can now organize official online rated blitz and rapid events on Chess.com. After working closely with US Chess, Chess.com has prepared a secure infrastructure for organizers to run events, with the added protection of our industry-leading cheat detection software.

This step-by-step guide will showcase how tournament directors can run their online events on Chess.com while abiding by US Chess' requirements to be eligible to run online rated events. Please note that as Chess.com continues to roll out new features, this article will be updated to reflect the most efficient tournament directing practices.

To learn about a specific subtopic, click one of the links above. Chess.com has also created a general video overview on running US Chess online rated events, which you can watch here.

Chess.com clubs are the best way for organizers and tournament directors to centralize communication, organize tournaments, and keep in touch with their community online. With over 35 million players on Chess.com, many players in your organization are likely already active on-site and are eager to play US Chess online rated events against their rivals.

Watch IM Danny Rensch's video for a video demonstration of how to create a club on Chess.com:

In response to COVID-19, club creation is currently free and accessible for all Chess.com members. For a step-by-step guide, follow our article on how to maximize engagement for your club.

For organizers looking to restrict entry to their club for paying members only, make sure to turn off "Anyone Can Join" off in order to approve members manually. Watch our video demonstration below to see this in action.

Larger clubs that are new to Chess.com should consider applying for a Chess.com affiliate in order to earn a cash kickback for new users that upgrade to premium. For more information, click the link below.

Read More: Earn Passive Revenue For Your Club As A Chess.com Affiliate

Once you have built a virtual home for your organization on Chess.com, fill out the application below to advertise your events. Both Chess.com and US Chess will be launching a page for active US Chess affiliatesto help US Chess members find regular online rated games. Promoting your organization on these pages will allow you to connect with many new online players and run larger events.

If you are interested in running US Chess online rated events but are not an active US Chess Affiliate, learn more about running tournaments here.

Once approved by US Chess, a Chess.com representative will contact you in order to run officially verified cash prize tournaments. Organizers that do not fill out this form but run cash events without verification run the risk of having their tournaments canceled to protect our online community from fraud.

Promote Your Events

Verifying your affiliate will allow you to advertise your online rated events as a TLA and reach more players.

In order to compete in any US Chess Online rated event, players are required to be an active US Chess memberand have filled out the form below. For weekly games, the officialUS Chess - Members Only clubruns regular online rated events.

Please allow 48 to 72 hours for US Chess to verify your US Chess ID and PIN.By registering your Chess.com username with your US Chess ID, US Chess is able to ensure you are protected from rating fraud.

For a faster processing time, we recommend requesting to join the club after filling out the application. You only need to fill out the form once to gain eligibility, but if you change your username you may need to resubmit the form to renew your authentication.

If you do not know your PIN, check the back of your Chess Life magazine. If you do not have a Chess Life magazine subscription, please visit the US Chess PIN Request Center and fill out the required information. Upon completion, US Chess will send your PIN to the email they have on file for you.

Looking for a Game?

Connect with other US Chess Members and play online rated games with players across the United States.

Swiss tournaments are a natural option for larger online events and can be scheduled easily within Chess.com's clubs. Our club tournament technology currently handles event scheduling, player check-in, and pairings, meaning tournament directors will not need to use WinTD or SwissSys to manage their events.

Watch IM Danny Rensch's video demonstration below to learn more about organizing and playing in Swiss tournaments on Chess.com:

When scheduling a future tournament within your club, please note that players will only be able to start joining the event 60 minutes prior to the event start time. This is a proven practice that will minimize first-round forfeitures. While late joining is possible there are limited spots available in each tournament. As discussed in the FAQ section, it is not possible for players to request half-point byes in an event.

Once a tournament is complete, you can access a tournament archive through the top panel on your club profile.

By clicking "Live Tournaments" you can access your club's tournament archive, which will breakdown topical information such as the tournament name, time and date, winner, and the total number of players. Once you click on a particular event, you will reach the tournament's landing page:

On each tournament landing page, users will be able to access the tournament crosstable, as well as a downloadable PGN of all of the event's games. Within the tournament crosstable, users can see each player's pairings (with a link to the game), score, and tiebreaker.

Read More: How to Organize a Live Tournament

For organizers looking to host a more intimate online event, "quads" offer an easy tournament format without needing to work within Chess.com's club infrastructure. Commonly referred to as Quads, these round robins only require four players and can be organized easily within Live Chess.

To run a successful quad, players should be comfortable adding friends and creating custom challenges on Chess.com. For players new to Chess.com, here is a quick video demonstration from IM Danny Rensch.

For a step-by-step guide on how to create challenges from an Android or iOS device, read our support guide below.

Read More: How to Create a Challenge in Live Chess

Want to see what this looks like in practice? Watch the demonstration below to see how to manage club registration, provide various admin roles to specific users, file Fair Play complaints, and view a tournament crosstable.

As mentioned in the video, if you are running an event with over 100 participants, please contact Isaac Steincamp (isaac@chess.com) with a copy of your registration list for technical consultation on how to run a US Chess online rated event.

With a secure infrastructure in place to run US Chess online rated events, Chess.com is committed to protecting its players and community with our cheat detection technology. Chess.com currently reviews millions of games every day, and with our years of experience running online cash prize events, our Fair Play Team is confident that US Chess online rated play will remain clean, safe, and fun for everyone.

All US Chess Online rated events played on Chess.com will be automatically processed for Fair Play. For organizers submitting rating reports to US Chess, Chess.com recommends waiting 72 hours to allow our processor to complete a conclusive tournament screening. Before any accounts are closed, all reports are thoroughly reviewed by a team of specialists who have reviewed and closed thousands of accounts in their roles as Chess.com statisticians.

In order to report a specific user for a Fair Play violation, follow this walkthrough guide from our Support team.

Both Chess.com and US Chess actively recommend requiring your participants to join an active video call mid-tournament to take note of additional Fair Play infractions. Currently, there are many video call clients that can satisfy your organization's budget:

Regardless of which platform you choose for your organization, tournament directors should be comfortable chatting directly with players, and requesting for them to share their screen.

If you are interested in directing online rated events, all US Chess members are eligible to apply to become a Certified Club Tournament Director. Club Tournament Directors maintain their status for a non-renewable three-year term, after which they must pass the Local Tournament Director exam in order to maintain their license. Information regarding the limitations of club level organizers can be found here.

Want to join a network of US Chess tournament directors? Join the US Chess Tournament Directors Club on Chess.com!

Run Your Own Events

Apply to be a US Chess Club Tournament Director to run online rated events for your organization.

Check back soon for a page detailing active US Chess affiliates on Chess.com. Verified US Chess members are eligible to play in online rated events organized by any US Chess affiliate, provided they meet the registration requirements of the tournament director.

In order for your organization to be listed as an active US Chess Affiliate on this page, make sure you fill out the application above.

Can my organization run events with cash prizes on Chess.com?

Yes. Upon filling out the form linked above, Chess.com will verify active US Chess affiliates to run cash events independently of our official tournaments. Once verified, a Chess.com representative will publicly denote your club as a clearance to run cash prize events.

How can I run a multiple-day tournament in club tournaments?

Currently, Chess.com Tournaments do not support multi-day tournaments. Organizers determined to run multi-day formats should be comfortable explaining how to challenge players on Chess.com to their players in order to ensure pairings take place.

That being said, the US Chess Executive Board has only approved online blitz (ranging from 3|2 to 10|0) and online rapid (ranging from 10|1 to 29|0) rated games. Therefore organizers looking to run online US Chess rated events should be able to consolidate their tournament schedule into a single day in order to avoid technical issues.

Do I need to create a separate club every time I want to run a new rated event?

Within the existing technology on Chess.com, tournament directors will need to create a club environment for each event if they want to restrict entry to paying members. That being said, there are several logistical workarounds Chess.com recommends if you plan on running regular events:

Chess.com is continually developing new features for our online community. As our club tournament resources continue to improve, this article will be updated to reflect the most efficient practices for organizers.

Can players pay entry fees and club membership fees on Chess.com?

Chess.com does not currently support payments to third-party recipients. We advise using your organization's existing registration processing software as a means of collecting various fees from players.

Can Chess.com make each player's rating more equitable to their US Chess rating?

Given the mass influx of requests regarding tournament support, Chess.com cannot adjust a player's Chess.com ratings to make them more synonymous with their US Chess rating. We advise all players to play in Live Chess prior to each tournament to ensure an event has equitable pairings.

Can I withdraw and re-enter into a Live Tournament, or take half-point byes during an event?

No. Chess.com's club tournament environment currently does not support half-point byes and mid-tournament re-entry. For users playing online rated events on iOS devices, we recommend staying on the tournament screen at all times, as toggling between applications and other features on site can result in tournament withdrawal.

See the original post here:
How To Play In US Chess Online Rated Tournaments - Chess.com

Carissa Yip (photo Ootes)

Alexandra Kosteniuk (photo Ootes)

On Saturday April 18th, our BotezLive Saturday fundraisers continue at 2 ET with a match between IM Carissa Yip and former Womens World Champion Alexandra Chess Queen Kosteniuk.

Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk was the champion of our Isolated Queens tournament,which was hosted by US Chess Women and BotezLive in March, to celebrate the female chessplayers all over the World practicing social distancing. Kosteniuks twitch stream is a popular channel, and she recently added English streams to the programming.

Carissa Yip is a popular young International Master, and she has written several articles for CLO. Shes also a new streamer on twitch.tv/carissayip. After the match on the 18th, you can follow Carissas progress in the IM Not a GM speed chess event on chess.com, a 16-player knockout featuring some of the most popular IMs in the country. Yip faces IM Dean Ippolito in the first round and if she wins, she will face the winner of Greg Shahade and Anna Zatonskih.

Three weeks ago, Kosteniuk and Yip met in the aforementioned Isolated Queens event.

What should Carissa do here?

r1bq1b1r/1ppn2pp/pk6/8/2QPpB2/2N5/PPP2PPP/R3K2R w KQ - 0 15

You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.

White to Move and Win

15. Bxc7! wins the queen

Find the full game below- Kosteniuk eschewed the theoretical perpetual on move 10, and was punished for it.

[Event "Live Chess"][Site "Chess.com"][Date "2020.03.21"][White "Magician4MA"][Black "ChessQueen"][Result "1-0"][ECO "C43"][WhiteElo "2506"][BlackElo "2674"][Annotator "jensh"][PlyCount "87"][EventDate "2020.??.??"]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nxf7 Kxf7 7. Qh5+ Ke78. Qe2 Kf7 9. Qh5+ Ke7 10. Qe2 {…Kf7 leads to a forced draw after Qh5+} Kd6$2 11. Bf4+ Kc6 12. Bxe4 dxe4 13. Nc3 a6 14. Qc4+ Kb6 15. Bxc7+ Qxc7 16. Nd5+Ka7 17. Qxc7 h5 18. a4 Rh6 19. Qf4 Bd6 20. Qe3 Rg6 21. g3 Nf6 22. Nxf6 Rxf6 23.O-O-O Bg4 24. Rd2 Rc8 25. Kb1 Bf3 26. Re1 Rf7 27. c3 Rf5 28. Rc2 Be7 29. c4 Bb430. Rec1 Rf6 31. c5 Bg4 32. d5 a5 33. c6+ b6 34. Ka1 Bd6 35. Rc4 Rf3 36. Qxe4Rxf2 37. c7 Re2 38. Qd3 Be5 39. R1c2 Re1+ 40. Ka2 Be2 41. Qd2 Bxc4+ 42. Rxc4Rf1 43. d6 Rff8 44. Qd5 1-0

You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

Despite this loss, Kosteniuk went on to finish the Isolated Queens tournament a half point ahead of the field.

Saturdays match format is best of seven with a time control of three-minutes with a two second increment. The action kicks off at 2 ET at twitch.tv/botezlive.The prize fund is $500 with a $350/150 split and Alexandra Botez will provide educational commentary on the match.

With many tournaments and school clubs on hiatus to reduce the spread of COVID-19, this monthsBotezLive matches will benefit online educational opportunities for US Chess members and followers, such as Zoom seminars and masterclass streams led by male and female professionals and coaches. 60% of on stream donations will support US Chess online programming while 40% goes back to support future matches. Thanks to all of the twitch donors, guest commentators and to Ian Maprail Silverstone for supporting these events.

See you on Saturday!

Find out more aboutAlexandra in our premiere Ladies Knight episodeand ina recent NBC articlewithvideo about the streaming boom.

Find out more about our Womens Programs atuschesswomen.org,find out afull listing of our womens related articles and announcements here.

Continued here:
Kosteniuk and Yip BotezLive Match to Benefit Online Education - uschess.org

GM David Smerdon (@smurfo) defeated chess engine Komodo (@PlayKomodo), playing with knight odds, 5-1. The Man vs. Machine rapid match was played on Chess.com on April 10 and 11 and provided more insight into the effect of material imbalance in human vs engine play.

A knight is a knighteven for Komodo.

While many experts, including grandmasters, predicted Smerdon to lose the match with big numbers, the Australian grandmasterwas right when he noted on his website before the match:

"Still, Komodo may be Komodo, but a knight is a knight (to paraphrase Mikhail Tal). A rapid game is nowhere near as long as a classical game, but neither is it the tactical lottery of a blitz match, so in theory, I should be able to avoid outrageous blunders."

Commentary was provided by GM Evgeny Miroshnichenko and IM Andreas Toth.

Smerdon needed a game to warm up as he blundered terribly in the opening in the first game. However, after that, he played solid games, managed to trade pieces at the right moments and comfortably converted endgames with extra material.

Here is that first game:

GM Larry Kaufman of the Komodo team commented:

"David played very well except for the first game. In game five, it looked like he might have to settle for a draw playing a difficult endgame with only the 10-second increment, but he played it splendidly and won after more than a hundred moves. His other four wins were relatively easy. It looks like full knight odds is just too much for a grandmaster at the 15' + 10" time control. Perhaps next time we'll try knight for b7 or c7 pawn, or full knight odds at Chess960 vs. a GM."

Here's that fifth game mentioned by Kaufman, where Smerdon indeed shows strong determination to also win this endgame with an extra piece:

Smerdon on Facebook:

"My odds match against Komodo is over, with me prevailing by five wins to one. It turns out that "the knight is just too strong" (Evgenij Miroshnichenko), even though about 75 percent of the pre-game predictions were for a computer victory (including by many grandmasters, correspondence players, computer experts - and my wife). It turns out that the trade-off between chess strength and chess odds is really difficult to estimate. But others had a better sense (Peter Svidler)."

ThisMan vs. Machine match was held in conjunction with a special anniversary issue of the "ICGA Journal" (International Computer Games Association). It consisted of six games with a time control of 15 minutes and a 10-second increment per move.

Smerdon played Black in every game; Komodo was missing a knight in the starting positions, alternating from removing it from b1 and from g1. It was the first formal match on record in which a grandmaster takes knight odds in rapid (as opposed to blitz) chess from any opponent.

Komodo is a computer chess engine developed by Don Dailey, GM Larry Kaufman, and Mark Lefler. It is the 2019 World Computer Chess Champion and was acquired by Chess.com in the spring of 2018.

Smerdon is a semi-retired grandmaster who lives in Brisbane, Australia, where he works as a lecturer at the University of Queensland. His areas of research are applied economics; economic development and growth; and experimental, behavioral, and evolutionary methods.

All games

Previous report:

Read this article:
Smerdon Beats Komodo 5-1 With Knight Odds - Chess.com

Chess.com's Team Battle series continueson Saturday, April 11 at 12 p.m. Pacific Time (20:00 Central European Time) on Twitch.tv/Chess.This month's theme, Zoomers Play Chesswill feature a teenage clash between Chess.com's top teen streamers.

IM Hans Niemann andAndrea Botez will play againstIM Carissa Yip and NM Justin Liang, with the majority of proceeds going to NoKidHungry, an organization dedicated to providing food for children in need, particularly those most affected by COVID-19.

The match will last three hours, featuring a 15+10 time control. The two teams of two players will play hand and brain to score as many points as they can before time runs out.

This team battle's prize fund will feature $500 in cash as a starting point with 40 percent of all in-stream donations going towards the prize fund with the remaining 60 percent going towards charities aimed at serving those coping with mental health challenges during the prolonged quarantine.

"As us zoomers say: easy dub, said Carissa Yip on the match. "But on a more serious note, the ongoing COVID-19 crisis warrants fundraising for needful communities, and Im glad we can fulfill this charitable cause with our match."

Justin Liang, a national master and active Twitch streamer, will be making his debut on Saturday as Carissa's teammate.

Liang had the following to say about the upcoming match: "Hans has adopted me, and I've adopted Andrea, so that evens out. But also having Carissa as a partner definitely makes this look like an easy win."

Along with playing for the prize pool, the players will compete on behalf of charities aimed at combating the negative mental health effects attributed to prolonged isolation, and viewers will be able to donate to them during the stream.

"Its going to be difficult for me to carry Hans, but I know I can do it. Hans will bring the trash talk, and I will bring the energy," said Botez on teaming up with Niemann. Last January, Niemann reached the Puzzle Battle World Championship semifinals after upsetting GM Hikaru Nakamura.

Niemann, the American International Master with two grandmaster norms to his name, will be making his Team Battles debut. While he can regularly be found on the Chess.com servers playing blitz and bullet against the best players in the world, he was looking forward to the upcoming change of pace.

Im excited to be representing the zoomer chess community. This match has a lot of personalities and I looked forward to some eventful trash talk," Niemann said. Im also very happy to raise money for NoKidHungry. I live in New York and Ive volunteered at chess in the schools which helps underprivileged kids through the game of chess. I have friends who rely on school for meals so Im very happy that this stream will go to making sure every kid has food.

The last edition of Team Battles saw over $3,500 donated during the stream which contributed towards COVID-19 research and prevention around the world.

This team battle continues a series of creative clashes, including Femme Batale, Chess.com vs Chessbrah, and more on Twitch.tv/Chess and Chess.com/TV.

Read the original post:
Zoomers Set For Hand & Brain ChessTV Takeover This Saturday - Chess.com

As we navigate this unusual time, some people are taking the opportunity to learn new things. Playing chess could be among your newfound skills when this is all over. This week, the column presents an introduction to chess.

Chess first appeared in India in the seventh century AD, so it is very old. In ancient tombs, certain pieces were found which archaeologists assure us constituted a form of chess.

Originally, it was a game of war. It was called Chaturanga and it rapidly made its way to Persia and Arabia. Some of the Arab terminology remains to this day. For example, the word checkmate comes from the Persian shah mat, with shah meaning king and mat meaning helpless or lost.

The oldest recorded game, according to H J R Murray, was played in the first half of the tenth century between Abu-Bakr Muhammad and his pupil Abul-Faraj al-Muzaffar. The game was discovered in a manuscript and was deciphered and translated. The rules of chess differed then in several instances. Pawns could advance only one square at a time and could promote only to a Queen. The Bishop could only advance two squares at a time and similar to the Knight could pass over an occupied square. The Queen could move only one square diagonally and there was no castling.

A chess set is integral to the pursuit of chess. A person can play the game via the internet but owning a chess set is vital for practice before testing the net. Further information can be obtained from the Guyana Chess Federation, which can point interested persons to local tutors after things return to normalcy.

In the meantime, the diagram on this page depicts the start position of a chess game. The game is played on a checkerboard of 64 squares similar to draughts or checkers. You will notice that the white squares are always on the right-hand side.

Chess is a game for two players, each of whom moves his 16 pieces according to fixed rules. Each player tries to checkmate his opponents king. On the back or second rank of the chessboard, the chess pieces are arranged as follows starting from left: Rook, Knight, Bishop, Queen, King, Bishop, Knight, Rook. On the first rank of the board, there are pawns. One word of caution when arranging the pieces: while the pieces and pawns are placed directly opposite to each other, the white Queen goes on a white square, and the black Queen goes on a black square.

Read more from the original source:
An introduction to chess - Stabroek News