Monthly Archives: January 2020

Theres been a number of chess clubs at Concordia over the years, but as it often happens in university, members graduate or move on without passing the club down to other students.

Chess Club Concordia is a brand new club that was created and given club-status by the CSU back in October 2019 thanks to its four executives and establishing members Nick McNulty, Sami Noun, Liam Douglas and Adam Luqman Hakim Bin Mohamed, alongside Roman Zelensky who joined as an executive shortly after petitioning.

The four executives (pictured in feature photo) of the club held a tournament on Jan. 16 to decide who would represent Concordia at the Canadian University Chess Championship on Jan. 18 and 19 in Waterloo, Ontario. After the last checkmate, the four members heading to Waterloo include executives Luqman, Noun and Zelensky and member Jason Chan.

We had to create a whole new club, said McNulty as he took one of my pawns off the board. Concordia has probably never participated [in the tournament]. I think this is a great opportunity to maybe get our asses kicked, but thats not the point. The point is telling the world that Concordia has a chess club. Were trying to garner more interest.

I sit across from McNulty for a game while we talk. There are about six games going on at once, with a couple of people watching some of the more interesting matches. Some are regulars, others are brand new to the club or are just sitting down for the love of the game.

A player asks me if Im doing a Vienna Game opening move. I quickly reassure them that there is absolutely no strategy involved in my gameplay.

I was in chess club when I was in elementary school, said McNulty. Once I met Sami (Noun), he asked if I played, and we started playing online. Chess is a lot of study and memorization, but also its intuition and speed. Its a matter of sensing whats going to happen.

The long table where all the games are being played is extremely social. Players swap opening move strategies, laugh at a viral video of World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen beating a player in five moves, compare Lichess scores, and discuss their favourite online chess personalities like Eric Rosen and Chessbrah.

Photo by Matthew Coyte

If we win one game at the championship, that would be pretty nice, said Douglas. Its not about winning so much, its more about us just being there. Hopefully in the future well go to more tournaments that are maybe a bit closer.

Both McNulty and Douglas talk about the community of chess players that theyve found since helping start the club.

The club has participated in a couple of open tournaments over the past couple months. The turnout for open events at the library is actually quite numerous, said Noun. Its not five or six, but open events we get 50 to 60 people who stop and play and ask questions.

The club doesnt have funding from Concordia to pay for the trip, so the four executives will be paying for the trip themselves.

Right now were only going to send four people because were worried that were not going to get the money wed need [to send two teams], said McNulty. Were told that special funds requests open in February, and well hope to be reimbursed later.

As McNulty traps my king into a checkmate, an onlooker reassures me by telling me that I only lost because I made bad moves.

Chess is pretty frustrating sometimes, said McNulty. Especially if you want to get good at it for some reason.

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Rook out folks, Chess Club Concordia is here to play - The Concordian

Tony nominee Ramin Karimloo (Les Misrables, Anastasia) and Samantha Barks (Pretty Woman, Les Misrables) will co-star in the Benny Andersson-Bjrn Ulvaeus musical Chess at the Umeda Arts Theater Main Hall in Osaka, Japan (January 2528) and at the Tokyo International Forum Hall C in Tokyo (February 19).

Karimloo will play Anatoly with Barks as Florence, Luke Walsh (Rock of Ages) as Freddie, Takanori Sato as the Arbiter, Eliana as Svetlana, and Hideya Masuhara as Molokov. In the video above Karimloo, Barks, Walsh, and the rest of the company rehearse for the upcoming production; watch portions of The Story of Chess, Nobody's Side, Pity the Child, and Anthem.

The ensemble includes Megumi Iino, Hiroaki Ito, Takashi Otsuka, Kana Okamoto, Yousuke Kawano, Naoki Shibahara, Tatsunori Senna, Kota Someya, Nanaka, Ai Ninomiya, Ami Norimatsu, Maya Harada, Kan Muto, Daisuke Moriyama, Sayaka Watabiki, and Kiyoka Wada.

Nick Winston directs and choreographs.

Chess tells a story of love and political intrigue, set against the background of the Cold War in the late 1970s-early 1980s, in which superpowers attempt to manipulate an international chess championship for political ends. The 1984 musical features music by ABBA songwriters Andersson and Ulvaeus and lyrics by Tim Rice.

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Michael Mayer directs the semi-staged concert presentation of the operatic pop-rock musical that features a revised book by Danny Strong.

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Watch Ramin Karimloo and Samantha Barks Belt Out Chess Tunes in Rehearsal for Japan Production - Playbill.com

MAHWAH Most likely you're no match for 12-year-old Gary Leschinsky. His opening is pretty strong and so are the rest of his moves. You can say he's the king of his castle.

As you may have deduced from the cheap puns, Gary is a chess player. Not just any chess player, he is self-taught and within two years of playing his first game ranksnumber 15 in the United States in his age group.

Gary Leschinsky with his chess trophies(Photo: Marsha A. Stoltz)

"My mother kept talking about chess champion Garry Kasparov," Gary said."I didn't know who hewas so I looked him up on the internet.Then Ilooked up how to play."

That's it.

His father BorisLeschinsky concedes his influence was limited to playing checkers, but he's learned enough of the game to assist Gary by moving the pieces as instructed. Gary plays blindfolded to even the playing field.

"My commitment is way smaller than his," Boris Leschinsky said."We are happy to support his passion."

Gary now divides his time between a trainer, tournaments and playing online.He plays all formats, but least likes "blitz" games where each player gets three to four minutes to plot their next move.

Bernice and Mark Leschinsky look on and father Boris gives assistance to Gary and sister Barbara.(Photo: Marsha A. Stoltz)

"There's no time to think at all," Gary said."Now I play with a two-hour time control."

The middle-schooler said it's "hard to find good tournaments," but he has managed to make friends while attending nearby events that are either open to all orgeared to his age and grade.

"Your first tournament is really important because of the chess rating system," Gary said. "Everyone starts out at 100.A bad tournament would get you 101.I got 500 my first time."

Within six months, Gary's U.S. Chess Federation rating went from 500 to 1,600. As of Jan. 7, it was 2,156, only 44 points shy of national master status.Heplaced first in the New Jersey Grade 6 Championship in November.

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Gary can't explain why he has progressed so rapidly, other than a general: "I'm good at math." Alexander Stripunsky, a trainer at International Chess Academy in Glen Rock, saidit's "an ability to learn quickly."

Gary, Stripunsky said, "has always been an exceptional learner, partially because of his great work ethic, partially because of his ability to capture the essence of the process going on, the nature of the position."

Fortunately for mere mortals, Gary can't tell a good player from a bad one in the early part of a game, but it's the end game that separates the sheep from the goats, so to speak.

Gary Leschinsky plays 10 boards simultaneously during the CDI tournament in Mexico last November.(Photo: Photo courtesy of Boris Lachinsky)

"It's hard to do the end game, king safety, pawn structure is pretty important," Gary said. "Older people know better what's good and what's bad."

When not preoccupied with chess or school, Gary enjoys ping pong, running, and promoting an invention he hadpatented while he was in the third grade.

"It's called the A-Watch, short for allergy watch," Gary said."I have a lot of allergies, and this watch is designed to detect symptoms of food allergies." He said when he attends parties or hanging out with friends and doesn't know what ingredients are in foods, the watch "has a skin sensor that detects my heart rate, sweating."

The prototype is still in development, and Gary is looking for collaborators to advance his idea. But Gary presented his watch as one of seven students who addressed theLa Ciudad de las Ideas in Mexico last November. The International Festival of Brilliant Minds brings together "talented people," according to Gary, for talk and inspiration.

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"I met President Trump's first press secretary, Sean Spicer," Gary said."John Gray, who wrote 'Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars,' Harvard professor Tal Ben-Shahar, who talked about how to be happy. My favorite wasan artificial intelligence talk by David Cox from IBM."

For all that rarefied air, the sixth-grader at Ramapo Ridge Middle School can still come down to earth.

"It was pretty cool," Gary said of his trip. "I got to skip school."

Gary will be playing in the Liberty Bell Open in Philadelphia this weekend.

Marsha Stoltzis a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community,please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email:stoltz@northjersey.com Twitter:@marsha_stoltz

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Mahwah boy is a nationally ranked chess player, patented inventor. And he's only 12 - NorthJersey.com

Ubisofts scientists have done the unthinkable and combined the two biggest new gaming genres of the last few years. The publisher revealed today that it plans to release Might & Magic: Chess Royale for mobile and PC on January 30. As the name suggests, it mixes together elements of auto battlers (think Auto Chess) and battle royale games (PlayerUnknowns Battlegrounds and Fortnite).

In Might & Magic: Chess Royale, you put together an army of units from the Might & Magic series in a fight against 99 other players. The game borrows a lot from Dota: Auto Chess, Dota Underlords, and Teamfight Tactics. Players must focus on creating powerful synergies between units. But Chess Royale drops the teams and instead has every player fighting for themselves. As in Fortnite or PlayerUnknowns Battlegrounds, you want to outlast everyone else to get the victory.

While this isnt a direct spinoff of Ubisofts Might & Magic Heroes strategy games, fans of those games will recognize many of the units. And some knowledge should transfer from one game to the other.

Ubisoft has already begun testing Might & Magic: Chess Royale in a soft launch. This has enabled the games designers to work on optimizations.

One of the big goals is to create relatively short matches. Ubisoft claims that you can lose quick or win quick with game sessions that last 10 minutes. That could help distinguish it from the auto battler crowd. Dota Underlords and Teamfight Tactics can have 30-minute matches or longer.

But Ubisoft is definitely chasing the trends. And thats going to make it challenging to find an audience. Teamfight Tactics and Dota Underlords are already major hits with millions of players.

Of course, that doesnt mean Chess Royale doesnt have a chance. Fortnite and then Apex Legends proved that new games could come along and thrive in the battle royale space. Maybe Chess Royale will do the same for autobattlers.

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Might & Magic: Chess Royale is an auto battle royale from Ubisoft - VentureBeat

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Letter to the editor: More people should learn to play chess - TribLIVE

An Iranian chess referee who has been accused of violating her country's Islamic dress code while adjudicating a women's tournament said that she does not want to return home from Russia out of fear for her safety.

Shohreh Bayat, 32, told Reuters she would not travel back to her homeland unless she was given security guarantees in writing from Iran's chess federation.

"I really hope they will provide me something to ensure I will be safe if I come back to Iran," said Bayat, who is in Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok as chief referee at the Women's World Chess Championship.

"But if that doesn't happen, I'm just examining my options and considering anything."

The Iran Chess Federation could not immediately be reached for comment.

Bayat got into trouble during the first stage of the championship in Shanghai last week when Iran state media criticised her for photographs in which she appeared not to be wearing the headscarf.

Since Iran's Islamic Revolution, all women are required to wear the headscarf, known as the hijab, in public and sportswomen are also required to wear it abroad. Women who break the dress code can be publicly berated, fined or arrested.

Bayat says she does not agree with the hijab, but that she had been wearing a headscarf during the championship's first matches, although it had been loose and was not visible from some angles in photographs of her.

"Apparently it was not enough for the Iranians," she said.

Bayat also said that the Iran Chess Federation had asked her to write an apology and to post it online, something she said she had refused to do because she did not want to support the hijab publicly.

"I just did not want to do that," she said.

Bayat then stopped wearing a headscarf altogether while presiding over subsequent matches.

"I noticed that they have already condemned me," she said. "I decided not to wear hijab because it won't change anything."

Nigel Short, the International Chess Federation's (FIDE) vice president, spoke out in support of Bayat on Twitter, calling her "a great ambassador for her country".

Bayat is one of many Iranian sportspeople to come to blows with the authorities over the hijab and other policies.

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Earlier this month, Iranian chess grandmaster Mitra Hejaziour was expelled from the national team for not wearing the hijab at the World Rapid and Blitz Championship in Moscow.

Bayat's decision came days after Iran's only female Olympic medalist, Taekwondo champion Kimia Alizadeh, announced she had left her homeland because she had had enough of being used by its authorities as a propaganda tool.

In December, Iran's Chess Federation said top rated chess champion Alireza Firouzja had decided not to play for Iran because of an informal ban on competing against Israeli players.

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Iranian chess referee afraid to return home after being accused of violating dress code - Haaretz

Britains 4NCL (Four Nations Chess League) has been monopolised by a single team for almost a decade now.

Guildford last lost a match in 2012, since when the Surrey players have won 79 encounters and drawn just two. They often score at least 7-1 over eight boards, and even single game defeats are rare.

They had just one game loss in the entire 2018-19 season, and in last weekends matches, which launched the 2019-20 fixtures, Guildford crushed Cambridge University by 8-0, then Barbican, the City of London team, by 7-1.

Englands national team, which won medals at the 2019 world and European championships, form Guildfords core players along with highly rated GMs from France. Continuity also counts. Roger Emerson and Nigel Povah, the managers and sponsors, are experts with successes of their own.

Guildfords hegemony faces a double challenge this season. Manx Liberty, based in the Isle of Man, has a nucleus of GMs who played for Trier in the Bundesliga, and is now sponsored by the website Chess.com. Manx lost to Guildford in the 2019 final round after a close match, and is set for a fresh attempt with a reinforced squad.

Yorkshire-based White Rose, the strongest team in the North, has new backing from Magnus Carlsens Chessable learning site and hopes to field elite GMs from India and the US who teach there in the later 4NCL rounds.

It promises to be a competitive season.

2350

Can you work out Whites bizarre three-move winning tactic in this (see graphic ) apparently drawn rook ending?

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Chess: find Whites weird three-move winning tactic - Financial Times

The stage is set for an intriguing All-Ireland club final. In one corner stands Corofin, the team that can play and win against multiple layers and styles of contrasting opponents.

Challengers to their thrown, Kilcoo, are an outfit who have perfected a style of nullifying the opposition and winning tight games. This will be a game of chess on a football field.

Kilcoo will spin lines of men in front of their goalkeeper. Theyll create a claustrophobic cauldron enticing the Corofin players into their back garden. Corofin will be squinting to find the imaginary channels that will look invisible to the naked eye.

Every duel on the pitch will have such a domino effect on the result. Here are three possible matchups that may prove vital to the outcome.

Kieran Molloy v Ryan Johnson.

Ryan Johnson will bring massive energy, pace and drive to Kilcoos play. He will cover every blade of grass in Croke Park in his pursuit of possession.

His starting position will have no relevance to his actual positioning on the field.

A former Hogan Cup winner with St Colmans Newry, Ryan showcased his scoring ability with a smartly taken goal against Ballyboden in the semi-final and two excellent points against Naomh Conaill in the Ulster final.

His aim, like all his teammates, will be to torment the Corofin team when not in possession, forcing them to cough up cheap balls and then hit them on the break.

Kieran Molloy will be well versed on Johnsons role as their paths have crossed before in the Sigerson Cup.

This is a feisty matchup and both men will not back down or be found wanting in the physical exchanges. At times tomorrow, Molloy will get plenty of time on the ball.

Its how he uses it in those moments that will determine how Corofin attempt to unlock the opposition defence.

Daithi Burke v Dylan Ward.

Dylan Ward is a new addition to the Kilcoo team and hell be facing a quadruple hurling All-Star whos bidding to become a quadruple club football champion.

It is a mammoth task for a rookie playing in Croke Park but Dylan Ward played superb football in upsetting the odds against Ballyboden and gave Michael Darragh McAuley plenty to think about.

His box-to-box style was instrumental in crushing waves of Ballyboden attacks and he displayed huge bravery in the middle-third using his tall frame to his advantage. Kilcoo will look to his pace and force Daithi Burke to do the chasing.

Burke is certainly a player of intercounty football standard and has produced stellar dual performances anytime he has featured at GAA HQ. Hell have no problem dealing with the physical exchanges which will unfold tomorrow but hes going to get tested aerobically against a fearless Ward cub.

Tracking and tagging runners will be calls throughout the pitch as Kilcoo will break like greyhounds once they force turnovers. If Daithi Burke and the Corofin players are anyway off-guard, you can be sure that Kilcoo will punish them on the scoreboard.

Jason Leonard v Daryl Brannigan.

As current club footballer of the year in both Down and Ulster, and amongst the front-runners for national club footballer of the year, Daryl Brannigan is a player who Corofin must contain.

His consistent excellence at wing-back has propelled Kilcoo to this final. His menacing runs, into the heart of the opposition defences has caused frequent panic and drawn countless frees.

Scores come from every line in the Kilcoo team and Brannigan is central to this. He scored 1-2 against Naomh Conaill and plundered another goal before Christmas against Ballyboden.

Attack is the best form of defence and Corofins vice-captain, Jason Leonard will have this thought, to the forefront of his mind, when shaking the hand of Brannigan tomorrow.

The 25- year-old teacher has developed and honed his skills as a middle third player - equally good playing as an attacking half-forward, midfield link player or as a covering defender.

Hes astute in possession, disciplined in his tackle and accurate in front of goal. Hes the assigned free-taker from the left flank and one would assume that he will get several opportunities to test his radar tomorrow in Croke Park.

A fascinating game awaits. Kilcoo with a cocktail of pressing high and dropping deep. Their mantra - Turnovers.

Keeping the game tight will be their game-plan. Corofin with a cocktail of gaining possession and maintaining possession. Their mantra Patience.

Movement will be their game-plan.

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John Divilly: Corofin-Kilcoo will be a game of chess on a football field - Irish Examiner

Chess is back for 2020. Well, it never actually went away but apparently its cool again. Was it ever cool? Anyway, its back in a big way with clubs, cafs, theatre shows and even chessboxing (more on that later) popping up in the capital. Even Vogues been writing about it which must mean its officiallycool, right?

First up theres Casual Chess, the Central London caf run by female chess players who gather every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday (upstairs at Leon on Tottenham Court Road of all places) to battle it out for top spot. Everyone is welcome men too even though the club is female-only run. Those looking to get involved can use their helpful Facebook group to arrange to meet a player of a similar level could chess be the new Tinder?

If youre rated FIDE 2000 or above (I imagine this is very good) you can post it on the group and the organisers will hook you up with a top player to compete against. As someone who doesnt know their pawns from their bishops (Im ashamed to say Ive never played), this chess malarkey sounds very civilised.

Plus, its completely free. Well on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays it is, you just need to buy something from the Leon counter. And on Fridays the team collect a 3 donation towards running cost, but offer free lessons to women and people underrepresented in the mainstream chess world. Again, so civilised.

For the braver chess fans out there, let me take it up a notch and tell you about Chessboxing.

Chessboxing is an unorthodox mix of two of mankinds oldest sports (is chess really a sport, though?), in which opponents slug it out over a chessboard in the ring with alternate rounds of chess and boxing until there is a winner either through checkmate or knockout. Civilised? Chess players are wild!

The next nerd fight will take place on St Patricks Day at The Dome in Tufnell Park and promises to be the ultimate test of brains and brawn.

For the more voyeuristic among the chess curious, AKA me, make your move into chess with Ravens: Spassky vs Fischer, the play currently showing at the Hampstead Theatre.

Set in 1972 Reykjavik, it takes a look at players, Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer and what became the Match of the Century the first chess game to attract such global media attention. Its set against the Cold War and showcases an intense face-off of superpower, fame and superiority from both sides of the Atlantic.

Youll need to be quick as its in its final run last show is on 18th of January but there are still tickets left. Get them here.

Looks like pawns and bishops are pretty badass after all. I might take the caf up on their free chess classes for girls and get involved.

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Checkmate: Is Chess Really Cool Again? - The Handbook

President Vladimir Putins latest move promises to be one of the biggest shake-ups of Russian politics since his predecessor Boris Yeltsin sent tanks to shell Parliament in 1993 while his opponents were barricaded inside.

The revolution proposed by Putin may not be a bloody one, but it does suggest an overhaul of Russias Constitution with far-reaching consequences.

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Though this grand plan is still playing out, many observers say Putin appears to be attempting to use this makeover to dramatically prolong his political lifespan and grip on power.

During a speech in Moscow, the former KGB officer proposed plans to weaken his presidential successor and transfer that power elsewhere in the government. It would carve out a new role outside the presidency, perhaps ready for Putin, 67, to step into once his fourth term ends in 2024.

For the West, it raises the prospect that his influence will continue meddling in elections around the world, annexing neighbors land, and brutally cracking down on democratic opposition at home potentially for decades to come.

It is hard to see this as anything other than a ploy to remain in control beyond 2024, said Valeriy Akimenko, a senior research associate at the Conflict Studies Research Centre, a research and consultancy group in England. We simply dont know the whole story or the whole plan. Possibilities range from the tried and tested to the relatively novel.

Putin delivers his annual state of the nation address in Moscow on Wednesday.Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

Many had predicted Putin would try to extend his power beyond its constitutional limits. His 20 years in power, switching between the presidency and prime ministership, already constitute the longest reign since that of Joseph Stalin, who died in 1953.

This week Putin made his opening chess move, announcing what his opponents and many independent experts characterized as the first stages of a power grab. Leonid Volkov, an opposition politician and a close ally of arch Putin critic Alexei Navalny, went so far as to call it a constitutional coup.

Putin proposed giving far more power to the countrys parliament and the State Council, stripping the presidency of the power that he has wielded with such singular might.

Meanwhile, his loyal prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, announced he was resigning along with the rest of the government. He was replaced Thursday by a relatively unknown technocrat, Mikhail Mishustin, lauded for his work modernizing Russias tax office but not seen as a serious political contender in the long run.

Although appearing to strengthen the separation of powers to a level not recently seen in Russia, there are several ways these maneuvers might benefit Putins long-term plans.

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Some experts have predicted he may leave behind the weakened presidential office and shift to a role leading a newly emboldened State Council, an advisory body that would enjoy enlarged powers under Putins proposals.

This would mirror the path of Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstans former president who last year stepped down after more than 30 years but remained leader of the nation and chairman of its powerful security council.

Others predicted Putin might seek an umbrella role governing a new union between Russia and its former Soviet neighbor of Belarus, although this has so far been resisted by that countrys leader, Alexander Lukashenko.

I would say foreign policy is the one thing where we will keep seeing Putin in the future, said Kadri Liik, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, adding that it interested the Russian leader a lot more than the nitty-gritty of his homelands economics.

Born in 1952 in Leningrad, now called St. Petersburg, Putin grew up in the former Soviet Union, a superpower that occupied nearly one sixth of the worlds landmass.

He was an officer in the secret police and intelligence agency KGB, posted to then- East Germany in the 1980s, later recalling the deep, personal anguish at seeing firsthand his homeland breaking apart. Once in office, he made restoring this perceived former greatness a cornerstone message.

Putin, center, and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, center left, attend a cabinet meeting in Moscow on Wednesday.Dmitry Astakhov / AP

Russia has been a great power for centuries, he told lawmakers at his confirmation as prime minister in 1999. We should not drop our guard in this respect, neither should we allow our opinion to be ignored.

But over his political reign, thats meant Russia increasing its anti-Western propaganda and aggressive international behavior, Akimenko at the Conflict Studies Research Centre said. If Putin were to step into a new role, it is hard to imagine that after more than a decade in progress, this trend would suddenly be reversed, Akimenko added.

Despite his global influence, Putin is having to tread carefully. His popularity skyrocketed in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraines Crimea, but has since dipped after a change to the retirement -age sparked mass protests.

Meanwhile, the economy struggled in part due to foreign sanctions imposed after the Crimea annexation, U.S. election meddling, and the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet by a Russian missile system.

Under Putin, Russia has become less democratic and more authoritarian, now ranked among the most repressive countries in the world according to an annual report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, a research group, which has offices based around the world.

Russians have increasingly taken to the streets over a host of social issues this year, prompting harsh crackdowns by the Kremlin.

Nevertheless, Putin appears eager to give his plans the air of legitimacy by suggesting they should be approved by a popular vote, according to Nikolai Petrov, a senior research fellow at the London think tank Chatham House.

Legitimacy issue is very important in this regard, Petrov said. It looks like Putin has been unable to fix this by using foreign policy and military successes and is switching back to electoral legitimacy.

The current rules mean he would have to take a break until 2030 before running for president again, something he ruled out last year: Will I be doing this until I am 100 years old? No.

At least on the surface, Putins gambit has been welcomed by Russias political elites over whom the president continues to exert tremendous influence. It was deemed a necessary change of course and long overdue by several political parties that technically represent the opposition but in reality often side with the Kremlin.

Whatever his future role, Putins plans would mean his successor will not have nearly the same clout. Future presidents would only be able to serve two terms total (Putin is in his fourth), they must have lived in Russia for 25 consecutive years, up from the current 10, and they cannot have ever had foreign citizenship or even a residence permit in another country.

And its possible that these greater checks on the presidency will have the byproduct of strengthening institutions and creating a system of quasi checks and balances, according to Petrov.

But it would also rule out opponents such as Navalny, perhaps Putins most prominent critic who left Russia to study at Yale University in 2010, and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an exiled former oligarch who had in the past been granted temporary Swiss residency.

In all, the proposals would mean that there can be no second Putin, Alexander Baunov, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, tweeted.

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Putin moves the first chess piece in what many see as a grand power-grab strategy - 41 NBC News