Archive for the ‘Chess’ Category

Chess: D Gukesh Finishes Seventh at Superunited Rapid and Blitz; Fabiano Caruana Clinches Title – myKhel

By Mykhel Staff

oi-Avinash Sharma

Zagreb (Croatia), Jul 15: Indian chess prodigy D Gukesh secured the seventh spot at the Superunited Rapid and Blitz tournament, emerging as the best performer among the Indian participants.

The top-seeded Fabiano Caruana from the United States clinched the title with a commanding performance, reinforcing his stature in the chess world.

Gukesh concluded the event with a total of 14 points. Fellow Indian player Vidit Gujrathi finished ninth, accumulating 11 points. Caruana's victory in the tournament followed his recent triumph at the Superbet Classic, marking a period of remarkable success for the American grandmaster.

Caruana's dominance was evident as he amassed a record 27 points over nine rounds of rapid and 18 rounds of blitz chess. This performance matched the record set by Norway's World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in 2019. Caruana's nearest competitors trailed by four points, underlining his superiority throughout the event. His efforts earned him a substantial $40,000 prize and propelled him to the top of the Grand Chess Tour standings.

The second spot was shared by Alireza Firouzja of France, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, and Wesley So of the USA, each scoring 23 points. Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi followed in fifth place with 18.5 points, ahead of American Levon Aronian, who finished with 17 points.

Gukesh's performance will be scrutinized by his team as they prepare for the World Championship match against China's Ding Liren in November. In the rapid section, Gukesh scored nine points from a possible 18, with three wins, three draws, and three losses. However, he struggled in the blitz section, managing only five points from 18 games.

Vidit Gujrathi showed better form in the blitz segment, scoring seven points, but he faced challenges in the rapid games, securing just one win and two draws.

Caruana's victory in Zagreb has significant implications for the Grand Chess Tour standings. With Indian sensation Praggnanandhaa absent from this tournament, Caruana now leads the table with 22.5 points. Firouzja is in second place with 17.58 points, while Praggnanandhaa has slipped to third with 16.25 points. The final two events in Saint Louis, USA, scheduled for August, will be crucial for determining the ultimate standings.

1. Fabiano Caruana (USA) - 27 points 2-4. Alireza Firouzja (FRA), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA), Wesley So (USA) - 23 points each 5. Ian Nepomniachtchi (FID) - 18.5 points 6. Levon Aronian (USA) - 17 points 7. D Gukesh (IND) - 14 points 8. Anish Giri (NED) - 13.5 points 9. Vidit Gujrathi (IND) - 11 points 10. Ivan Saric (CRO) - 10 points

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Story first published: Monday, July 15, 2024, 20:13 [IST]

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Chess: D Gukesh Finishes Seventh at Superunited Rapid and Blitz; Fabiano Caruana Clinches Title - myKhel

Chess Table Murder: One Dead, One Wounded in Latest Spasm of Violence in the East Village – ourtownny.com

Dried blood could be seen on a chess table next to a coffee cup inside Tompkins Sq. Park where two people were shot on the morning of July 12.

One victim, a 74 year-old man was administered CPR on the scene but perished and was pronounced dead shortly after he was raced to Bellevue Hospital. A second victim, a 44 year old male, staggered out of the park and into a deli on Avenue A near the corner of E. 8th St. He too was rushed to Bellevue Hospital and was listed in stable condition.

Said one poster on the blog EV Grieve, I live on the corerm of 7th and A. I heard the gunshots and immediately looked out my window. I saw the 44 year old victim running across A with blood all over his shirt.

A sad day in the EV, he continued. I hope they find the shooter.

Another poster who went by Sarah on the site said, Jesus Christ. This is awful. Sympathies to the victims and their families.

Police told Straus News that no arrests have been made.

Ron Luvov, a retired guidance counselor who lives in Stuyvesant Town told Our Town he was going to head to the park to do some bird watching and grab lunch when he got the alert about the shooting on the Citizens app.

Theres definitely more crime happening lately, he said. Its back to the 80s.

Another young woman the scene said, I used to live around here and come back all the time. While she said crime seems to have spiked recently, she said long time denizens of the neighborhood tell me it was a lot worse years ago.

The chess tables have been a source of problems in the park in recent years. Police said a person of interest was seen in the park wearing gloves, a mask and a hoodie shortly before the shooting at 9:45 a.m. He fled East on E. 7th St. after the shooting. Police were said to be searching for crime scene footage of the shooting.

At least five shots rang out, according to one posting on the blog EV Grieve.

Luvov said there seems to be a growing spate of violent crime in the area lately, although he noted that a recent fatal stabbing a few blocks north two weeks earlier resulted in a clean up drive by law enforcement. The finally cleaned up E. 14th St, Luvov said.

Eric Adams and local city council leaders had called for a crackdown on vagrants who were congregating along the south side of East. 14th between Ave. A and First Ave. after the triple stabbing

The Immaculate Conception Catholic Church on E. 14th St. runs a weekly flea market in the court yard between the church and the now shuttered elementary school, but the licensed vendors inside also seemed to attract a raft of unlicensed vendors to the sidewalk outside in recent years. Locals tabbed the unlicensed vendorswho set up blankets on block and sold everything from canned food, housewares and electronicsthe thieves market.

In the stabbing death on June 30, police arrested a homeless man, Alejandro Piedra, 30, and charged him with murdering 38 -year-old Clemson Coxfield, who had attempted to come the aid of a woman who was also stabbed by a deranged Piedra. According to one report in the New York Times, Piedra had some stolen items that he was attempting to exchange for drugs on the block. But when he was turned down, he went on a violent rampage.

Inside Tompkins Sq. Park, there were was several shootings in March only five days apart. In one incident, two innocent bystanders were wounded in a March 16th shooting. In another shooting incident five days later, no one was injured. Police arrested Waldemar Alverio, 33, on attempted murder, assault, and reckless endangerment charges for the two shootings that occurred on March 16 and March 21.

No arrests had been made in the July 12 shooting at presstime but police said the investigation is continuing.

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Chess Table Murder: One Dead, One Wounded in Latest Spasm of Violence in the East Village - ourtownny.com

Cold-blooded Josh Hartnett played 4-D chess with nail polish on The Bear – The A.V. Club

M. Night Shyamalan was right about Josh Hartnett. Beneath that inviting smile and puppy dog eyes lie the black heart of a killer. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about his recent appearance on The Bear, Harnett made nice. He talked warmly about the sweet Taylor Swift concert he took his daughters to, the magical carbonara in Lake Garda, Italy, and the psychological warfare his character is conducting on his future wifes former spouse. Yes, chef. This guys a sicko.

Three memorable moments from the 81st Golden Globe Awards

In the season three episode Violet, Hartnett appears as Frank, the new fianc of Riches ex-wife. When Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) drops his daughter, Eva (Annabelle Toomey), off at Franks for the weekend, Frank corners Richie with the intent of torturing his poor, stupid rival. Apologizing to Richie for not giving him the heads up about the whole marrying his ex-wife thing, Franks awkward demeanor is a ruse performed to make sure Richie saw the fucking nail polish adorning Franks fingers.

Hartnet explains that he loves working with Ebon because hes very reactive, but his character needs to feel like this is all above board and that Richie wont resent Frank for marrying his ex-wife. Hes genuinely in love with Tiffany but doesnt want to make anything difficult for his new stepdaughter, or for his wife, or for himself, Hartnett says. This is a really tricky thing to navigate. Its very high stakes, all set to Taylor Swift.

And with the magic words Taylor Swift, like Adrian Veidt launching a giant squid 35 minutes before Dan Dreiberg could reach him, Hartnett reveals the mastery of his plan. There were a few things I did to maximize how intimidating he would be to Richie, he says. Like the nail polish.

Eagle-eyed Bear watchers undoubtedly clocked the multicolor nail polish adorning Hartnetts delicate digits. Richie sure did. My girls are constantly painting my fingernails and I thought, thats something Frank would be proud of as a stepdad, Hartnett says. And Richie would see it and be like, Oh, this makes me feel terrible. I also wanted it to look like even though he has this big beautiful house, that hes been working on it himself.

How can Richie compete with a guy who works on the very house he owns and allows his future stepdaughter to paint his nails? If the paint is dry, maybe he could consider ripping Richies still-beating heart from his chest. Richie has been replaced. As usual, the point goes to Hartnett.

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Cold-blooded Josh Hartnett played 4-D chess with nail polish on The Bear - The A.V. Club

Chess Developers Accused of Giving Queen a "Man Jaw" – Hard Drive

Enschede, Netherlands DGT, the manufacturer of chess sets used in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament is being accused online of changing the Queen piece to have a man jaw.

DGT recently revealed their newest set and a contingent of players in the Chess community are furious over what they are calling a man jaw

This is an atrocious tragedy and a blatant attack on our game, posted Twitter user WhitePiecePower. I always figured our game was safe from DEI and ESG garbage but I guess I was wrong. They took our beautiful, sexy, and feminine Queen and gave her a blocky and defined man jaw. This is a pathetic move to appease the woke overlords and we must fight back.

Why would they do this, posted KingMe69. The Queen in the old set was an iconic sex symbol. She had poise and grace, a nice soft face. Now shes much more striking with a defined square jawline like a man. Are they trying to make us gay?

DGT has defended the new Queen piece and claims there is no woke conspiracy nor do they think the piece has a man jaw.

To be honest we have no idea what these complaints are, said Dirk Jansen, a piece designer at DGT. When we first heard them we thought it was a prank but apparently these people are serious. We wanted to update our pieces and we thought this new Queen design was more striking but equally sexy. There are tons of real-life women we based this design on. Nobody made us change the Queen piece and weve never heard of this Sweet Baby Inc. we keep getting threatening messages about.

Online personality Pawwnz, who is leading the charge against the new Queen piece believes that DGT isnt telling the entire truth.

Theres something they arent telling us, most likely because they cant. Theres simply no way they willingly made this change without being strong-armed by some DEI ESG overseer demanding them to make the Queen masculine and ugly. I will get to the bottom of this and we will get the Queen changed back to the sexy woman she should be and the best way for you to support this cause is to become a paid subscriber to my account.

At press time, Pawwnz and the other players have moved on from the Queen piece and have begun complaining about the use of the black pieces in the marketing of the new set

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Chess Developers Accused of Giving Queen a "Man Jaw" - Hard Drive

Sunday, July 7: Great Chess Fest in London – Chess News | ChessBase

Press release

More than 15,000 people are expected to descend on Londons Trafalgar Square on Sunday, July 7, for ChessFest 2024, the UKs biggest chess event.

The festival, now in its fourth year, will draw chess enthusiasts from across the country, including many of the countrys top grandmasters, for a day of fun suitable for every level of player. It is organised by the charity Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC) and will take place from 11am to 6pm.

This years star turn will be nine-year-old Harrow schoolgirl Bodhana Sivanandan, England's first world youth champion in 25 years.

CSC can also reveal today the prodigy has been picked for Englands 2024 Chess Olympiad womens team. When she competes in Budapest this September, we believe she will be the youngest sports star ever to play in a full England team.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Bodhana

Bodhana said:

"ChessFest is such a fun event, I had a great time last year. I'm so pleased to be picked for England, it's a great honour and I'm looking forward to being partofateam."

With the support of our main sponsor, XTX Markets, Westminster Council and the Mayor of London, ChessFest is expected to attract even more than last years 15,000 people, as the whole of the iconic square will be taken over for a day of free and fun family-friendly chess activities.

So why not come on down to Trafalgar Square everyone is invited, no need to book just turn up on Sunday 7th July for a full day of free chess fun!

England selector and chief executive of CSC Malcolm Pein said:

"It's wonderful to have Bodhana, England's first world youth champion for 25 years, coming to ChessFest. We can announcetoday that she has been selected to play for Englands Womens team at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest this September. At nine years of age, she must surely be the youngest to be selected to represent England in any international sporting competition.

You can challenge Bodhana on Sunday in Trafalgar Square where she'll be playing 20 opponents simultaneously as part of ChessFest, a free chess festival for all the family.

The chess craze in the UK triggered by NetflixsThe Queens Gambithas created millions of new players and, a golden generation of emerging talent, that includes Shreyas Royal (15), Ethan Pang (9) and Supratit Banerjee (9). They will also be at ChessFest taking on all-comers on Sunday at speed chess."

So why not come on down to Trafalgar Square everyone is invited, no need to book just turn up on Sunday 7th July for a full day of free chess fun!

Youll be able to:

This years ChessFest theme is Alice Through the Looking Glass, the wonderful 19th century childrens fantasy tale by Lewis Carroll that features dramatic chess games.

Will the Red Queen triumph over the White King on our living chess board? Will the March Hare overcome Tweedledum & Tweedledee?

Youll be invited to take part and cheer on your favourite characters as our professional troupe of 32 actors play out the roles of the chess pieces and bring this famous story to life for a 21st century audience.

You can also take part in live linkup challenge matches between ChessFest participants on Trafalgar Square and our sister ChessFest event in Hull.

All the action from the live chess games and challenge matches will be broadcast on a giant screen at the foot of Nelson's column.

So, whether youre coming along with family & friends, your school or local chess club, everyone will find fun activities to take part in.

For a flavour of what to look forward to at ChessFest, you can watch a video of the inaugural ChessFest here.

Please spread the word about ChessFest to your friends, family, school and workmates we look forward to seeing you there!

Everything you need to know about ChessFest 2024 is at: https://chess-fest.com

You can also follow us social media at:

About Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC):

Chess in Schools and Communities is a UK-wide charity founded in 2009, whose mission is to improve childrens educational outcomes and social development by introducing them to the game of chess. We run over 1,000 projects in schools, libraries and prisons and a world-class tournament, the London Chess Classic, each December.

About XTX Markets:

ChessFest is supported by XTX Markets, a world-leading algorithmic trading firm delivering quality liquidity across financial markets.

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Sunday, July 7: Great Chess Fest in London - Chess News | ChessBase