Monthly Archives: May 2020

In case you missed them, see Part 1: An introductionand Part 2:Indian origin of chess

The investigation into a probable Chinese origin of chess has been the subject of a lesser degree of depth in comparison to a possible Indian origin. European researchers, particularly the British, did not ignore that chess was present in China in very ancient times, but always subordinated its existence to a previous game:chaturanga. In that sense, a French researcher, Louis Dubois,[1] argued in the nineteenth century that the game would have entered China from India, relying on astatement fromthe Ha-Pine a massivedictionary which ensures that xiang-qientered China during the mandate ofemperor Vou-ty in the year 537 of the Christian era.[2]

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Without even entering into the analysis to determine the sequence of transmission between the Indian and Chinese cultures, it can be noted that, sharing an ancient tradition, the games in both cases originally appeared as similes of a battle. Although they could be also ascribed to higher planes: metaphysical, philosophical and religious.

Under this perspective, according to English sinologist Joseph Needham,[3] who is considered to be the precursor in assigning the paternity of chess to xiang-qi (still practiced massively in China), the game had a ritual nature. In this context the board that is used, most probably intimately linked to the surface where the ancient liubo[4] was developed, could be seen at the same time likea calendar or as an oracle it responded to the ancestral techniques of fortune tellers.

Xiang-qi is explicitly mentioned for the first time in the year 569 of the Christian era in a text titled Xiang Jing (Xiang Game Manual), attributed toEmperor Wu Di (561-578) of the northern[5] Zhu dynasty, who would also bethe inventor of the game. The prologue of the text was written byWeng Pao this prologueis the only conserved partof the text, of which there exists an English translation by Dennis Leventhal.[6]

We are in the presence of the first treatise referred to any of the known proto-chess variants. Compared with the earlier Indian and Persian texts that could have a similar didactic objective, it is much more precise since, for example, in its own title the game is mentioned. Although its contentis not known in detail, it is supposed to include technical concepts and discussionson the implicit high values of the game from the philosophical, cultural andmoral perspectives. For instance, it is suggested that when one has a position of honour one must be humble and, always on a plane of elevation, it ensuresthat the pieces represent celestialbodies of the cosmos.

In the same vein, a few years later the text known asHsiang Hsi Fu appears, a manuscript authoredby Yu Hsin, where the focus is again on the fact thatemperor Wu Di is owed a game that symbolizes all the phenomena of human existence.

In attempting to determine the origin ofxiang-qi, it is usually held that it is derived from another older autochthonous game,liubo.[7] But Cazaux[8] disagrees with this thesis because, although he does not rule out some kind of influence, since, for example, both are disputed on the same type of surface, he arguesthat in any caseliubo operated like a contributorin the syncretic conception of chess, along withashtpada andpetteia, soits link withxiang-qi would be ratherindirect.

Statuettes probably from the first to the second century of the Christian era representing two players disputing a game of liubo. | Photo: Wikimedia Commons

There are several possible translations to the ideogram that represents the term xiang-qi (hsiang-chi).One of the best known, although it would be linguistically not very correct, is elephant chess, referring strangelyto a piece that, participating in the battle, is not the main one. For several sinologists, however, the most appropriate translation is symbolic chess or image chess.

It is necessary to emphasize that qi means game (it is the same suffix that appears for example in wei-qi), although it is also more specificallyassociated to chess. It was also indicated that xiang-qi can be translated as ivory chess (alluding to the material that pieces are made of, or, again, due toits link with the elephant) or chancellor chess (alluding in thiscase to one of the main pieces).

David Li adds two more possible translations: as the term is so phonetically close to ciang, which means general,we could call itgeneral's chess (the main piece in combat); and another more suggestive, game to capture Xiang, which is the name of the commander of the losing army in thebattle that led to the foundation of the empirebuilt under the dominions of the Han Dynasty.

It should be borne in mind that, in addition to shaping a playful structure in which a battle is represented, inxiang-qi we are also in the presence of an agonal struggle (or should we call ita struggle of complementarity?) between the Taoist concepts of yin and yang (Heaven and Earth) that come from the millennial I Ching. The link is quite narrow if one considers that thereare 64squares onthe board, a number that perfectly coincides with the amount of hexagrams that form the base of the system of ideas inThe Book of the Mutations, which refers to the old Chinese calendar as noted by Jing Fan inthe first century before Christ.

Image of the 64 hexagrams of I Ching

Chinese chess received little attention from Western investigators in earlier times, perhaps because of a certain closure of that culture, which did not favour foreign scrutiny and thus was notthe subject of a systematic investigation, contrasting with the Indian version of chess. Furthermore,there wasadditional difficulty in ascribingxiang-qias a proto-chess variant, given the obvious differences in its design: it is not disputed on a 8x8 board but on a8x9 board (in its centre, there is a horizontal line called river, which looks somewhat extravagant); the pieces do not have the form of statuettes, but they are circular tokens (which can prompt us toconfuse it with some version of go); the pieces are located on the jointsand not atthe centre of the squares; the number of pawns is five, instead of eight;and there are two pieces that are absolutely atypical: the archer and the catapult.

However, when delving into its essential characteristics, it is clear that the similaritiesare much more relevant than the dissimilarities: it is played by two persons; the board is formed by 64 squares; the objective is to catch the leader of the rival force (the general[9] who can only move within a small space called the palace); there are 16 pieces for each participant; many of which are idiosyncratic: pawns,horses,elephants,chariots, which have the same movements as in, for example,chaturanga.

A legitimate question, first timidly drawn, but which has gained more strength over time, is whetherxiang-qi is a derivative of Indian chess or whether the reverse is true. More recently, another suggestive alternative has been drawn: that they may have emerged concomitantly, in time, and of course independently, in space. In any case, the Chinese version of the game is undoubtedlypart of a family that has a common root, from which chess was derived as it would come to be known later. What is still undetermined is whether it was the initial or intermediate link in the chain of creation.

The findings of further investigations may have unexpected consequences: researchers who once embraced the Indian theorymutated their position, and now understand that it is the Chinese who are owed the paternity of chess. This has happened, for example, with the Macedonian Pavle Bidev,[10]who changed his mindbasically due tothe dates of the first text of each culture with references to chess year 569 in the Chinese case (that of Wan Pao) and year621 in the Indian case (that of Ba).[11]

Image of the board showing the starting position inxiang-qi

Looking for literary referencesto the game, Leventhal points out that, on a poetic level, inThe Man of P'a-ch'iung[12]it is stated that, after an extraordinary frost, only two giant tangerine trees survived and, in the interior of theirfruits,we see two eldersvery concentrated playing hsiang-hsi.[13] The author of this beautiful story is Niu Seng-ju (780-848), who became Emperor Wu Zong's prime minister of the powerful Tang dynasty. He is also said to have authoredHs-kuai Lu (Accounts of Mysteries and the Supernatural), where the pieces that are used in the game are described theywere made of gold and bronze.

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The terms xiang and qi, although separately, had been frequently mentioned in earlier times.It is believed that for the first time in Chu Ci (Songs of Chu)of Qu Yuan (known as the Homer of the Orient), a text that would have been written inthe third century beforeChrist.Since the textalso includes a reference toliubo (played with pieces of ivory and a dice made of bamboo), it is not entirely clear if itconsidersthe existence of differentiated games or if it only alludes to one of them. Later mentions, such as one found in Shuo Yan (Garden of Stories),[14]a work from the second century BC, should also be considered as inconclusive.

Chinese professor David Li, in his award-winning 1998 book in which he discusses in detail the origin of his country's idiosyncratic chess, has allowed himself to claim thatxiang-qi goes back to the third century BC, that isto a time in which there were intense fights between neighbouring kingdoms whichwere the prolegomenon tothe unification of the territory. This is a period called "The Warring States".During this period, an episode whichhasGeneral Han Xin(who served King Liu Bang, future emperor of the country) as the main character is retold. The general,in the course of the hard winter of years 204-203 in the pre-Christian era, might have invented the gameto distract the troops and thus alleviate the adverse conditions, while his army was preparing to fighta battle that would ultimatelybe decisive.[15]Thedesign of the game would have been inspired byliubo[16] and wei-ki. However, it is also admitted, perhaps more appropriately, that although the game was probably invented in a later time, already duringthe Christian era, the image that was used when the game was conceivedcould have been precisely that of this battle,considered to be epic and foundational.

Indeed, already in 1793, Eyles Irwin[17] had presented not only the possibility of the Chinese origin of chess but also associated its initial milestone to a battle that was disputed "about two centuries before the Christian era"and led by Hansing (Han Xin), who was considered to bethe inventor of the game.The well-known Irish writer addsthe subsequent sequence of transmission of the game from this territory: to the West, first to Persia, and only later to India, throughthe Silk Route; and to the East, successivelyto Korea and Japan.[18] Moreover,the exceptionality of indicating a precise date of invention the year 174 BC is included.

Li's position is acidly questioned byGerman researcher Peter Banaschak[19] who considers that we are in the presence of a mere story avery well told and perhaps persuasive storythat, however, is not adjusted to the reality of events, as it does not rely on historiographical or scientific elements, and thusconsidered to belong to thefictional realm.

A game of xiang-qi (and a western observer, the author of this work), at Tiantan Gongyuan Park (near the Temple of Heaven), Beijing, October 2013 |Photo: Hugo Orlando Lopez

Besidesthis critical exercise, in another work[20] of the German researcher, which assumes more ofa proactive tone, after studying the term xiang-qi carefully, he analyses punctually the different chronologies in which the game could haveappeared in China. Some very distant theories are discarded at once based ontheir temporal inconsistency, like thosegoing back to times of legendary emperors.Such is the case of the theory that relates to Shennong, who governed between centuries XXVIII andXXVII before Christ, according to what was later exposed in the XIV century by a Buddhist monk named Nianchang;or the onefocusedon his successor Huangdi, the famous Yellow Emperor, creator of the game according to Zhao Buzhi, who lived betweencenturies XII and XI. Both hypotheses seem to correspond rather to the field of the mythological.

Banaschak also considersLi'ssuggestionthat the game arose in China in the third century BC. But Banaschak chooses instead tolocate the birth of the game in the sixth century, already in the Christian era, noting that in any casexiang-qi is not original of China but ratheran adaptationfrom either the Indian chaturanga or the Persian atrang.

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However, and to show that the hypothesis of a Chinese origin of chess remains valid, it should be remembered that the first texts of that origin, in which a reference to xiang-qiis made, are earlier and far more specific than those coming from India referring tochaturanga. On the other hand, the archaeological findings in both territories are not too conclusive, andthose that have appeared in the context of the Silk Route could be linkedboth for the Indianand the Chinese theories. To make the situation even more complex, it could evenbe speculated that both games, instead of being interdependent, and therefore admitting an order of priority among them, could have arisenconcomitantly and isolated from each other. Therefore, those who support thatchess comes from Chinastill have a wide open space to strengthen their central theory, in the framework of a primordial question that is far frombeing solved.

For the moment, let us remember a beautiful poem that Argentine writer Alberto Laiseca[21] dedicated to xiang-qi, which begins thus: "In the chess of my land there is a cannon. / It does notattack the adversary simply. / Never something so direct. / It takes as an excuse an intermediate chessman; / regardless of whether it iscomrade orinvasor. / Because the cannon cannotshootthe walls straight, but over them... ".[22]

These verses correspond to Ajedrez de pas central (Chess of Central Country). And, in fact, China has really been, at all times, a Central Country! So central that the world of chess could come to recognize, sooner than later, that it was in that immense and millennial territory that the flame of a game that captivated Humanity was once first lit.

[2] It is very possible that the reference is to the emperor Wu Di, of whom it is spoken later, reason why the date could be slightly incorrect.

[4] The wise Confucius (550-470 BC) is credited with this reference: "It is difficult for a man who always has a full stomach to put his mind into operation. And the players of liubo and weiqi? Even playing these games is better than being idle". Wei-qi is the antecedent ofgo, the other great millennial game that, likechess (and xiang-qi!), transcended the boundaries of time.

[5] For those who hold the Indian theory, this temporal location is considered as another proofthat favours their position since, at this time, there was the maximum expansion of Buddhism in China, a religion that had entered from the neighbouring territory.

[7] Its existence goes back to at least the fourth century BC although, for instance the historian Sima Qian (145-90 BC) in Shj (Historical records), the first systematic approach to Chinese history, mentions allegorically the episode of Emperor Shang Wu Yi,who ruled between 1198 and 1194 BCand, trusting his omnipotence, wanted to playliubo against God himself. This game had wide diffusion, but it lost popularity towards the century VI AD, just when xiang-qi gained strength. Liubo means "six sticks" its rules are rather unknown, although there are efforts to reconstruct them. It would be a racing game, that includeda general and five pawns (it has even been assured that they were actually fish, stones and owls). Note the correspondence with the xiang-qi, where there are only five pawns and not eight as in other proto-chess versions. As the main square of this game was called water, it is believed that from there derives the row assigned to the river on the board in which Chinese chess is practised.

[9] Inchaturanga the main piece is the King. The same thing happens in almost all the previous and later proto-chess variants of the whole Eastern tradition and also European. But the Chinese case is different becausewhat was expected does not happen: the Emperor does not appear as a chessman. This has an explanation: according to a legend quoted by Pujol Nicholas, originallyxiang-qiused such a piece,but it stopped doing so from the momentan Emperor of the real world, when learning that in a game one of the players had captured the strongest piece of his opponent, decided to execute them both. An instinct of survival of future game enthusiasts in the context offear of the sovereign, made the Emperor disappear as a figure ofxiang-qi, symbolically increasing its relevance since its absence should not be interpreted as an omission but as a sign of reverential respect.

[10] Source: How I reorientated my chess beliefs; Yu Igalo, 1987.

[11] Bidev adds another detail when he says that, atthe moment Emperor Harsha dies in India in 648, there was only a proto-chess variant:chaturanga. On the other hand, when his Chinese counterpart Tsung died two years later, there were three different versions; in the times of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), when Su-Ku-Siang King publishes Su-Ku-Siang (Manual of the three games Siang), this is the case.

[12] It is the name of a region in the present Chinese province of Sichuan.

[13] This is another way of denoting the game of xiang-qi.

[14] Shuo Yuan is a text that was presented to King Liu Xiang in the 17th year of the pre-Christian era, which includes the reference: "Meng Changjun played Xiangqi and danced with Mrs. Zheng".

[15] Note that this story has many similarities with the one that supportsthe possibility that chess had been invented in the context of the Siege of Troy.

[16] Li locates the origins ofliuboback invery old times, perhaps to the XXIII century before Christ.

[17] Irwin, who was born in Calcutta, India, worked for the British in the East. This thesis was sustained in a letter addressed to the Count of Charlemont, the President of the Royal Irish Academy, written in the city of Canton on March 14, 1793. He speculated that the Chinese game went to Persia where, in addition to introducing to the vizier as a piece, the river wasremoved from the board, which was resolved taking into account the dry nature prevailing in that region, at https://archive.org/details/jstor-30078706. In the same vein, a few years earlier (in 1789),English lawyer Daines Barrington hadissued an article favouring the theory that chess entered Tibet and Hindustan from China (Source: British Miscellany and Chess Player's Chronicle, Volume 1, R. Hastings, 1841).

[18]Sam Sloan, an American scholar who also plays xiang-qi very well, waseven more precise. Sharing the idea of Chinese primacy, he understands that the routes of propagation tookplace in all possible directions: to Japan, Laos, Cambodia, Korea, Burma, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia (and through the island of Java to Sumatra), by the Eastern side; and, through Uzbekistan, through the Silk Route, to Afghanistan and Persia, and then arrive to the Arab world (and later to Europe), to Ethiopia and to India, which, as we see, remains in a range completely peripheral. In this regard, Sloan comes to speculate that in the Indian subcontinent the game entered perhaps more than a millennium after its invention in China. In doing so, he wonders how, having texts in Sanskrit dating back to 1500 BC, there are no references about any proto-chess variants in India until only more recentperiods. Source: The origin of chess by Sam Sloan, at http://www.anusha.com/origin.htm.

[22] En el ajedrez de mi tierra existe un can. /No ataca simplemente al adversario. /Jams algo tan directo. /Toma como excusa un trebejo intermedio; /con independencia de si es camarada o valor invasor. /Porque el can no sirve para disparar contra las murallas, sino por sobre ellas.... Thus reads the original text in Spanish.

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On the origins of chess (3/5) - Chessbase News

Written by Sandip G | New Delhi | Updated: May 14, 2020 1:51:49 pm A screenshot of the FIDE Online Nations Cup match between Chinas Ding Liren and the United Statess Hikaru Nakamura.

It was around midnight in Beijing that Chinese Grandmaster Wei Yi broke into a rueful smile, as his American opponent Fabiano Caruana, sitting in his beachside house in Miami, where it was just noon, killed a thrilling faceoff with a slick end-game manoeuvre. The victory left the FIDE Online Nations Cup super-final locked in a 2-2 draw, though China were declared winners as they had won the round-robin phase.

The four Chinese GrandmastersYi, Ding Liren, Hou Yifan and Yu Yangyiappeared briefly for a video conference on the ChessBase website, that was live-streaming the week-long tournament. Following on the livestream, their eyes looked sleepy but beaming, the voices sounded happy but drowsy to all who followed them online. Their American counterparts were dreary and downcast, though Caruana later lifted the gloom with his characteristic humour.

Bafflingly, despite the mounting friction between the two countries, the Chinese victoryor the American defeatwas not lost in political symbolism, layering and interpretations. Like when the Cold War was raging, and the Soviet chess machine was meant to demonstrate mental and athletic primacy over the decadent West. Here, even if you take the Trump administrations swelling antagonism of China, the accusations and castigations that had flown from the White House to Beijing in the last few weeks, tropes of ideological victory or metaphors of global domination werent woven into Chinas triumph. For all what it was, the context didnt leap out of the 64 squares on the board. There was no political rhetoric.

It was as Garry Kasparov, agonisingly watching Team Europe plunge in the tournament, said after the final: Solely the moment to acknowledge China as a superpower in chess. They have an exceptional generation of quality players. Maybe, one of them could be a future world champion.

A few weeks ago, in an entirely different context, the legendary chess player had criticised the country: China will have to be held to account, and their free world enablers too. Past time to end the one-way street of engagement of dictatorships with the free world, exporting corruption and death along with oil and goods. But here, he had kept the politics out of the board.

Whether one of their golden generation could wrestle the crown and sceptre from Magnus Carlsen (still only 29) has to be seen, but China has been making rapid strides in the game. Long ago chess was banned by Beijing for the first eight years of the Cultural Revolution.

Then in 1975 the Malaysian patron Dato Tan, in partnership with Chinese officials, conceived and financed the Big Dragon project to make China a global chess power. Its model was the USSRs state-run strategy in the 1930s and 40s, spotting players at a young age and putting them into the right climate to blossom. The state nourishes and develops them from childhood, carefully grooms them for the international arena, and handsomely awards them when they start yielding results, which they have been steadily accomplishing.

First China captured the womens world title from the previously dominant Georgians, before they advanced in the biennial team Olympiad until winning it in 2014. Finally, after many years when Chinese grandmasters stalled in the top 20 or 30, they found Ding, who has a classical and dynamic playing style. Apart from the third-ranked Ding, they have three more in the top-25. Only Russia has more. And unlike the USAs talent pool, Chinas is entirely home-grown.

READ | Chess greats face off online, webcams watch moves

As much as the outcome of the tournament was a symbol of Chinas emergence as a chess superpower, it was a metaphor of hope in these trying times. When the pandemic and lockdown shuttered the sporting world, chess managed to conduct a tournament featuring the best of the world, barring Carlsen, who had just finished hosting his own online tournament recently.

Yifan candidly put the overwhelming emotion of the chess fraternity into words: Im actually more excited about that we are here. Under this global climate, it is very important that we are trying to bring up something together that makes chess somehow lift in the air. This is I guess a privilege for chess, that we can do a lot of different events online. I certainly had a lot of fun, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was fun, but it also required a lot of adapting and adjusting, for players, organisers, audience and arbiters. They had just three weeks to organise and prepare, and though it was not exactly a plunge into the unknown, it posed a whole new set of challenges.

Like Team Europes Zoom conferencing conked out briefly on the second day. Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri was so worried about his internet connection that he spent the week leading up to the tournament fishing out methods to keep the connection stable. I was playing in a smaller online tournament and the Wi-Fi went out. I was furious. I did a lot of research and I upgraded everything. Now my Wi-Fi is absolutely insane, he told ChessBase.com.

To nail the wobbly connection, Dinara Saduakassova, playing from her home in Nur-Sultan, set up two mobile routers as a backup. We have a lot of unannounced power cuts in the city. So its better to keep the mobile-phones ready. Its a saviour, she said.

READ | Anand rested, India lose to China in Online Nations Cup

For Italian-American Caruana, a bigger problem was that he couldnt go to the bathroom between rounds. To keep the integrity of the tournament and prevent cheating allegations, FIDE had insisted on players not moving from the chairs, which means they cant move from where they are sitting and there are multiple cameras gazing at you.

The urge forced him to play quicker against Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi. I was just trying to play as quickly as possible because I kind of had to use the restroom. I just wanted the match to get over as fast as possible and I literally ran to the rest-room, he said in the post-match interview.

For many of them, the adjustment was physical. Playing someone whos sitting miles away, staring into a virtual board and the head of your opponent blinkering from the corner of the screen. Admitted Indias B Adhiban: Its like youre playing a computer. The whole intensity and body language are missing. You get used to it, but you miss that human element. Though you ideally like to play in quieter environments, you miss your opponents face. Its not fake, but as Caruana noted: Its like playing someone from a parallel universe.

The emotional face of the game was missed. We are missing the emotional part when people meet and shake hands. People love when they look over the board into the eyes of their opponent. People are missing that. But this is a very good substitute, said FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich. He though could not imagine a China-US finale in a real tournament. That would have been sensational, he said. It could have been the perfect storm too, where political symbolism and posturing would not have been too far away.

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Enter the dragon, in black and white: China win Online Nations Cup - The Indian Express

DOCE is super easy to learn. You can read the rules in five minutes, and you can teach the game in less.

You need one playing grid, two sets of dice, and two markers. Thats it. The rulebook and a score tracker come with the game, but thats not essential if you want to keep score on paper and if you know all the rules.

And then you follow these simple steps:

Place a die on any available square.

Attempt to make a line of four of your own dice or three of your dice and one of your opponents at the end of the line.

Score points based on the state of the board when someone wins.

Play four rounds of the game.

Total the points from the four rounds and declare a winner.

So what makes it different from something like Hasbros Connect 4?

Well, there are some additional rules to consider that take DOCE to the next level of complexity and enable some exciting gameplay.

When a player places a die on the grid, they must also place the marker on top of it. This marker signifies the last die placed, but it also informs the player of the no-play zone. On the next turn, the player cannot place their die in any of the adjacent squares. This effectively cuts off anywhere between three and eight grid placements on the next turn. And it prevents a player from simply placing the die in a straight line one after the other.

That limitation means that this game doesnt end as quickly or as inelegantly as a game of tic-tac-toe or Connect 4. Players have to think in advance how they want to approach the game board, and it requires more finesse and more tactical awareness.

And, beyond that, there is also the blocker die. This die is a special one-time use for players, and it eliminates the square it is played on. This means you can thwart the progress your opponent has made toward a completed line.

Also, when you use the blocker die, it can be played anywhere on the board (including the no-play zone) and you get to play a numbered die afterward as normal.

Its a powerful mechanic that further increases the time and strategy of the game.

I liked a lot of things about DOCE.

Playing over four rounds meant that one mistake or unfortunate round could be countered later in another round. It lengthened the time spent playing and it made good victories feel more important. Losing a 20-point round wasnt as discouraging when I had just won a 35-point round prior to that. It gives players multiple chances to succeed and makes it feel like a mini-tournament or best-of kind of competition.

Like chess in the park, DOCE is a game that you can enjoy just about anywhere while having a good conversation with the person sitting across from you. There is enough strategy to stimulate the brain, but the small-box dice duel doesnt weigh heavily on you as you play. Its light but tough. Small but cunning.

And there are also variants that you can try out to add new twists to the gameplay.

Master Die has players, at the start of each round, roll a die the resulting number is off-limits for the duration of the round.

Luck of the Roll requires players to roll 3 of their dice at the beginning of a turn and those are the only options available to put down.

Hard Mode places one of the blocker die into the middle square of the grid and removes the other one from play.

Think Ahead means that every die a player places must be higher in number than the previous one, with the placement of a 6 resetting the count.

There are also modified modes of some variants that add different rules.

So for such a small game, there is a lot in DOCE that strategy lovers and tabletop enthusiasts will like. Its easy enough for everyone, including kids, to enjoy.

And its fun.

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DOCE Review: A Clever Dice Duel To Take On Chess And Other Games - GameTyrant

Nirmal Das had on March 28 launched an online chess tournament out of sheer boredom induced by the coronavirus-related lockdown.

The intention of this 39-year-old civil engineer in Tripuras Public Works Department was to connect with dozen-odd players of the board game in his hometown and State capital Agartala. In 44 days, the fee-free tournament, played across four formats, has 975 participants from across the globe and counting.

Some tournament regulars are from countries like Brazil, Germany, South Korea and the Philippines. Many foreign and Indian participants have a Fdration Internationale des checs or FIDE rating of more than 2,000, a benchmark for quality players.

Chess has been my passion, though not of the digital kind. Boredom because of staying indoors during the initial days of lockdown made me log on to lichess.org, a chess portal. The idea of an online tournament on this platform struck me and I decided to give it a try, Mr .Das told The Hindu on Sunday.

The tournament started with 15 local enthusiasts, including his son who had participated at the Under-7 nationals in 2019. About 70 players from Agartala signed up in less than a week followed by 80 more from Assam and other north-eastern States.

Chess lovers from Delhi, Karnataka and other States soon joined and the number swelled to 450. It kept getting bigger as players from Bangladesh, Nepal, the Philippines, South Korea, Germany, Brazil and other countries joined, he said.

At 75 years, Anju Sarkar, a former Tripura chess champion, is a regular at these online tournaments and is the oldest player.

Mr. Das has set a condition for Indian participants: download the corona tracker first. The entry of foreign participants is unconditional.

Mr. Das initially conducted the tournament twice a day. With many countries easing the lockdown, it is now being conducted once at 8 p.m.

The duration for the tournament for the bullet, blitz and rapid chess tournaments is 2 hours. For classical chess, it is 2 hours 30 minutes. The top seven performers get featured on the honours list every day.

The four types of chess tournaments are held by rotation. For instance, Sakhawat Hussain of Karnataka won the 68th Lockdown Online International Chess tournament of the classical type on Friday followed by Aisha Wadhwani of Haryana while Ronaldo Luis of Brazil took the fifth spot, Mr. Das said.

On Saturday, Snehaal Roy of Assam, a Class VI student with a FIDE rating of 1,252 won the rapid tournament followed by Kingshuk Debnath of Tripura. Rafi Islam of Bangladesh took the sixth spot.

On May 8, Mr. Das restarted the daytime tournament for 2 hours but only for beginners, part-timers and those who had lost touch with the mind game on a 64-square board.

What excites me is that I have been able to provide a platform where any chess player can play against any other, with or without FIDE ranking, Mr. Das said.

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Tripura engineers online chess tournament gets players from around the world - The Hindu

There's more news about GMHikaru Nakamura this week, as the American grandmaster won the May 12 edition ofTitled Tuesdaywith 9.5/10, finishing ahead of the Iranian prodigy Alireza Firouzjaand 1,083 other participants.

The next Titled Tuesday will be played on May 19 at 10 a.m. Pacific / 19:00 Central Europe.

Nakamura almost never skips Titled Tuesday. Besides, among many other participants, in recent months he invariably streams his play on his channel as well. The question of whether this streaming is affecting his chess is an old one and related to Nakamura's drop in Elohe is now the world number-18 at 2736 and 80 points below his all-time peak.

Yesterday @Hikaru showed that he's capable of playing online chess to his own high standards while commenting on it. He won the tournament alone with 9.5/10, the same score as the last time he won, on June 4, 2019. It was the 10th time he has won Titled Tuesday, which is a record.

He dropped half a point in the third round in a long game with Indian GM @VishnuPrasanna. He was winning out of the opening, then even more, but somehow Vishnu came back and was even briefly winning himself. In a completely level endgame, Nakamura tried for a bit, but the draw was inevitable.

But that was it. The night belonged to Nakamura as he won the next seven games in a row to reach 9.5/10, which nobody else managed. Here's his last-round game againstGM @Oleksandr_Bortnyk, a blitz specialist who won Titled Tuesday with a perfect 9/9 on October 4, 2016.

The fans were also thrilled about the participation of Firouzja, who had been absent for a while. The Iranian prodigy suffered an early loss in round three but was still playing for the marbles in the final round after six straight wins. His faced Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (@Azerichess), who blundered a full piece in an equal endgame:

Nakamura wonthe $750 first prize for finishing clear first with 9.5/10. Firouzja shared the second place only with GM Le Quang Liem (@LiemLe); both earned $275. A group of 10 players got their $10 share of the $100 fourth prize.GM @KaterynaLagno won the $100 prize for the best female player.

May 12, 2020 Titled Tuesday | Final Standings (Players on 8.5 or more)

(Full final standings here.)

See also:

The rest is here:

Nakamura Streams, Wins Titled Tuesday Ahead Of Firouzja - Chess.com

This historical article appeared in the magazine Computerschach International in 1983. It was in German and has been translated and edited for republication on our news page.

Imagine that you are travelling by car and have a breakdown. It's the middle of the night and it's completely dark. You are in a rural area, but fortunately you can see a light in the distance. Obviously a house where you can get help or at least make a phone call.

You take the small flashlight that you always have in your car and set off. But you don't get very far, because soon you see a nasty-looking fence in the beam of your torch, two meters high and covered with barbed wire. It blocks your way to the house. Of course you could try to climb over the fence, but you'll probably tear your expensive suit and break your neck. On the other hand, you can't possibly spend the whole night outdoors.

So what do you do? You shine your flashlight to the left and to the right, but everywhere the fence seems to continue. In front of you, you suddenly see a gap in the fence, obviously a passageway through which you can easily get to the house. At least almost without problems. Because directly in front of the gap you can see a big mud puddle in which a pig is wallowing. You have to wade through this puddle if you want to get to the house. That will certainly not do your suit any good, and you will certainly not smell like a rose when you reach the house. But at least it's better than having to climb over the fence.

So hold your nose closed and walk bravely through the mud. You get to the other side and breathe a sigh of relief. That's all over, you can get to the house that will save you. But now you can see in the light of your flashlight that the fence had no passage but only a small indentation.

Unfortunately the passage through the puddle did not help, you have to climb over the fence. Beside the torn suit and possible injuries you have also dirtied yourself with mud, which was completely unnecessary. If you had a better flashlight, this wouldn't have happened. You would have seen for sure that crossing the puddle was useless. And you might have discovered that there's a gate to the left through which you could have simply walked...

I found this nice little story in a book about chess computers (Julio Kaplan: "How to get the most from your chess computer", R.H.M. Press/Pitman, 1980). The author belongs to one of the best connoisseurs of the matter, because he himself has written quite a few programs for chess computers, and he is also an excellent chess player. Born in Argentina, Julio Argentino Kaplan Pera became junior world champion in 1967 (ahead of Hbner and Timman!) and has lived for many years in Oakland, California, where he is part of a software company, Autodesk, that makes software services for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education, and entertainment industries.

Kaplans book belongs in the collection of every computer chess friend. Besides a very well-founded introduction to chess programming you will find many excellent and knowledgeable hints that increase the fun of playing against the computer.But what does the story about the fence and the puddle have to do with computer chess? Well, it illustrates in a catchy way the phenomenon known as the "horizon effect." Even computers get into situations not unlike the one described above.

We want to illustrate the horizon effect with the help of a classic example from the doctoral thesis of Hans Berliner, former correspondence chess world champion and now computer scientist at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

[Diagram from the time: White to move]

Any human chess player can immediately see that the white bishop on a4 will be captured by the black pawns on the queenside. But for a chess program that could, in pioneer days, only process a few thousand positions, and look around three half-moves ahead, there were some traps.

Among many other move sequences the computer would find 1.Bb3 c4 2.Bxc4. A static evaluation of the position would give an advantage of one pawn, which would of course be a fatal misjudgement. Most programs therefore performed a so-called "quiescence search at this point, evaluating all capture sequences until the position became "quiet."

During this quiescence search, the computer discovers that further moves will bring an advantage for the opponent (2...bxa4 etc.). But instead of accepting this as inevitable, it develops a foolish plan to "save" the bishop. The computer plays 1.e5? A human being would see at a glance that this does not change the bishop's situation. But for the program, the bishop is effectively saved.

Let us reconstruct the reasoning of a three-ply search. After 1.e5 bxa4 2.exf6, the original material balance is preserved. But what is the situation after 1.e5 dxe5 2.Bb3 for the program? Perfect, because no subsequent capture loses a piece. 2...c4 is not a conspicuous move and is not considered in the quiescence search. For the program, the sacrifice of a pawn to save the bishop is fully justified. After 1.e5 dxe5, it naturally discovers that the threat has not disappeared, and it must again develop a clever plan to save the bishop: 2.Rxd7 Nxd7 3.Bb3. This loses the exchange, but again that apparently saves an entire piece.

As you can see, computers at the time could give away a lot of material to delay the inevitable. It was a problem that every chess program that worked with a search tree (i.e. practically all of them) had to face. Beyond the terminal positions there was complete darkness for the program, just like for the person seeking help in our example above. He can only see as far as the cone of light of his flashlight reaches.

The example of Prof. Berliner was for computers in the very early days of chess programming. Soon they were equipped with more sophisticated search algorithms that made them less short-sighted. But we could easily find examples where even more advanced chess computers fell victim to the horizon effect. Take the following drastic position:

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Black, as you can easily see, wins easily by simply giving up the rook. Todays programs will tell you in a second or two that e.g. 1...f5 results in a mate in 14, and 1...e5 mate in 15. But with the programs at the time you could experience strange things. Many would give away the win in the foolish attempt to save the rook: 1...f6 2.Bxf6 e5 3.Bxe5 d4 4.Bxd4 c3 5.Bxc3 and now the position is a draw.

You know that on the diagram boards on our web page you can move pieces, and in fact I can add an engine to play countermoves. So I had this idea to provide you with the experience of what it was like to play a 1983 chess program. Unfortunately, though, even if I set our JavaScript engine to work for a thousandth of a second per move, it will still win the position easily for Black. So you are going to have to simply imagine what it was like back then.

Now let us look at another position I used to test the ability of 1980s computers to avoid the horizon trap:

In 1983 I used the position on commercial chess computers and commented my results, ironically:

1.Kxhl is a clear mistake. It leaves the computer no other option but to destroy you: 1...Ke5 2.Kg2 Kd4 3.Bg8 c4 etc. But can you achieve a better result? Not against a human opponent, of course, but against a computer on the lower levels. We have to simply take advantage of the horizon effect and subtly deceive our electronic friend. For example we play against the CC Sensory 9 [one of the most popular computers in 1983] on level 3 and start with1.Kf3!! You probably won't believe it, but only with this nonsensical move do we have a chance to draw.

The computer starts to calculate and first considers 1...Ke5, with which it would win without further ado. But soon it realizes that the opponent can then capture the black knight with 2.Kg2. But it doesn't want to give that up (the fact that we spurned the knight one move before has of course no meaning for the computer) and so it quickly hatches a clever plan to "save" the knight: 1...c4? With this move it has pushed the loss of the knight beyond its calculation horizon. For it the knight remains in play, and for that it gladly gives up a pawn.

Now you can also see why 1.Kf3 was important. Had we captured the knight, 1...Ke5 would have come, of course. And if the king had stayed at g2, the computer would have realized too quickly that it would lose the knight anyway. It wouldn't have bothered about it at all and would have won the game ice cold.

But we have not yet solved all problems: 2.Bxc4 Ke5! Obviously the computer wants to attack the bishop after 3.Kg2 with 3...Kd4 and thus "save" the knight again. Since this also happens to win, we have to play carefully and once again lead the opponent away from the right path: 3.Bg8! Again it wants to continue correctly with 3.Kd4, but then discovers that we are threatening the knight and tries to save it again: 3...b3? The trick worked, we have a draw: 4.Bxb3 Kd4 5.Kg2 etc.

This time I have set the JavaScript engine in the diagram above to a tenth of a second per move for you to experiment with. See if you can trick the computer. I cannot guarantee anything your computer may be too fast for the engine to go astray.

In the next historical installment I will discuss further dirty tricks we were able to use against computers in 1983 and some positions that even today are fairly simple for humans but extremely difficult for chess engines. Interested?

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Darkness on the Horizon (1) - Chessbase News

Lets be real. Chess players have it pretty good during these trying times.

Our game can be played without leaving the house, and we are used to spending inordinate amounts of time inside the house, studying and playing hour after hour of bullet. Limited travel and social distancing have affected over-the-board play, and traditional tournaments throughout the world have all been cancelled. But in contrast to games of a more physical natural, ours can be played entirely on the internet.

All the chess sites have been overrun with players, and in fact there have even been issues handling the increased load. The sudden cancellation of the Candidates Tournament, however, meant the status of top-level chess events was in question. And as is often true over the board the World Champion was the first to take the initiative.

The inaugural Magnus Carlsen Invitational was hosted by Chess24 and included eight of the worlds top Grandmasters: Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Ding Liren, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Anish Giri, Hikaru Nakamura, and Alireza Firouzja. While the more established players have already made names for themselves, I think chess fans were extremely excited to watch the wunderkind Firouzja compete, as the Iranian prodigy recently defeated Carlsen in the final of Chess24s recently completed Banter Blitz Cup. There was a lot more than pride at stake, too. Carlsen put up a whopping $250,000 prize fund, with first prize taking home a cool $70,000.

The tournament, which ran from April 18th to May 3rd, started with a round robin series of mini-matches. Each match consisted of four rapid games followed by an Armageddon blitz game if the series was tied 2-2. Match winners earned 3 points, unless it went to Armageddon, in which case the winner would get 2 points and the loser would get 1. The top four players would move on to the semi-final stage, and while the matches were almost all closely contested, four players clearly stood out above the rest. In place order, they were Nakamura, Ding, Carlsen, and Caruana.

The semifinal matchups were structured similarly to the preliminary phase, except that instead of going to Armageddon right away, players would play two blitz games before heading to Armageddon. The first semifinal between top Americans Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana was an exciting affair. Lets check out a few crucial moments from their battle.

[Event "Magnus Carlsen Invitational"][Site "chess24.com"][Date "2020.05.01"][Round "3.1"][White "Caruana, Fabiano"][Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"][Result "0-1"][ECO "C54"][WhiteElo "2773"][BlackElo "2829"][Annotator "Friedel,Josh"][SetUp "1"][FEN "r4rbk/1p4p1/1bpp1q1p/5B2/Pp1P2R1/3Q2NP/1P3PP1/R5K1 b - - 0 30"][PlyCount "23"][EventDate "2020.??.??"][WhiteTeam "United States"][BlackTeam "United States"][WhiteTeamCountry "USA"][BlackTeamCountry "USA"]{Fabiano seems to have the light squares on lockdown and is ready togo after Black’s king. Unfortunately for him, this is all an illusion, andthis was excellently demonstrated by Hikaru’s next move. What did the currentUS Champion play here?} 30... Ra5 $1 {This sneaky-looking move is truly asilent killer. It attacks the bishop, and after it moves White’s coordinationwill be completely disrupted.} 31. Bg6 {This allows a powerful move for Black,but it was hard to suggest an improvement.} (31. Rg6 Qxd4 {does not helpWhite’s cause in any way.}) 31... Be6 $1 {and the rook is simply without asafe square.} 32. Ne4 {This saves the rook, but cuts off the protection of d4.}(32. Re4 {allows} Qxg6) 32... Qxd4 33. Qxd4 Bxd4 {This endgame is completelyhopeless, as Black’s two bishops and queenside majority dominate the wholeboard. Nakamura went on to win quite easily.} 34. Rd1 Bxb2 35. Rg3 Be5 36. Re3Bd5 37. g3 Rxa4 38. f4 Ra1 39. Red3 Rxd1+ 40. Rxd1 Bc3 41. Nxd6 Rf6 0-1

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[Event "Magnus Carlsen Invitational"][Site "chess24.com"][Date "2020.05.01"][Round "4.1"][White "Nakamura, Hikaru"][Black "Caruana, Fabiano"][Result "0-1"][ECO "E61"][WhiteElo "2829"][BlackElo "2773"][Annotator "Friedel,Josh"][SetUp "1"][FEN "1r6/1P4k1/3p2q1/N1pPp1bp/4P1pP/3Q1pP1/8/5R1K b - h3 0 48"][PlyCount "21"][EventDate "2020.??.??"][WhiteTeam "United States"][BlackTeam "United States"][WhiteTeamCountry "USA"][BlackTeamCountry "USA"]{Needing to win with Black, Fabiano chose a risky King’s Indian structure,and his risk paid off. He’s up a pawn and his kingside pawns look menacing,but how does he finish off the game?} 48... Bxh4 $1 {The time to crash throughhis come. There is no forced mate, but Black’s pawns will simply be too strong.} (48... Bh6 $2 {or a similar retreat would allow White to play a move like}49. Qb1 {and the b-pawn should be strong enough to cause problems.}) 49. gxh4Qf6 50. Kg1 Qxh4 (50... Qf4 $1 {was even more deadly, but this is hard to spotwith little time on the clock. The idea is that with the f-pawn defended, g3can be a threat in addition to Qg3+.} 51. Rf2 (51. Qc2 g3 $1 {is crushing.})51... Qg3+ 52. Kf1 Qxh4 {and White’s king has all sorts of problems.}) 51. Qd2Kg6 $1 {I really like this move by Fabi. He improves his king, guards againstQg5+ type ideas, and demonstrates that White can’t really demonstrate thesethreats.} (51... Qg3+ 52. Kh1 Qh3+ 53. Kg1 {leads nowhere.}) 52. Nc4 Qf6 {Another strong move played under pressure. g3 is again a powerful threat.} 53.Na5 Qh4 (53... g3 {was immediately winning, since after} 54. Nc4 f2+ 55. Kg2Qh4 {White has no real defense to Qh2+ and g2.}) 54. Nc4 Qf6 55. Ne3 {Hikaruvaries, probably because he knows Fabiano will find g3 on the 2nd repetition.}Qf4 56. Qf2 Qxe4 57. Re1 Rxb7 58. Ng2 Qd4 {White resigned, as there are simplytoo many pawns to deal with.} 0-1

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[Event "Magnus Carlsen Invitational"][Site "chess24.com"][Date "2020.05.01"][Round "5.1"][White "Caruana, Fabiano"][Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"][Result "0-1"][ECO "C54"][WhiteElo "2773"][BlackElo "2829"][Annotator "Friedel,Josh"][SetUp "1"][FEN "r3qrk1/1pp3p1/1b2pnnp/3p4/p2PP3/P3BNNP/1PQ2PP1/R3R1K1 w - - 0 18"][PlyCount "68"][EventDate "2020.??.??"][WhiteTeam "United States"][BlackTeam "United States"][WhiteTeamCountry "USA"][BlackTeamCountry "USA"]{In the first blitz game to decide this All-American affair, Fabihas some decisions to make in the center. Would you play e5, take on d5, orkeep the tension?} 18. e5 $6 {The American #1 decides to grab space, but thisdecisions leads to real problems in a few moves.} (18. exd5 Nxd5 19. Qe4 {is certainly nothing special, but I doubt White is worse here.}) (18. Bd2 $1 {is the move l like, improving the bishop and e1 rook at the same time whilealso disrupting potential Ba5 ideas. I might slightly prefer White, but it isvery close to equal.}) 18... Nd7 19. Nd2 $6 {I think White wanted to play forf4-f5, but this is simply too ambitious.} (19. Rac1 {keeping an eye on the c5break was probably to be prefered, though I still prefer Black now.}) 19... Ba5$1 {Hikaru doesn’t miss his chance to disrupt White’s coordination. C5 iscoming now with huge force.} 20. Rec1 c5 $1 21. dxc5 Ngxe5 {White’s center hasbeen decimated, and his pieces lack coordination. Hikaru converted hisadvantage in exemplary fashion, and this win put him once again in theposition of having to draw with White to advance. This time, he took hisopportunity and advanced to the final.} 22. Rf1 Nc6 23. b4 axb3 24. Nxb3 Bc725. Nd4 Be5 26. Nge2 Ra5 27. Nxc6 bxc6 28. Ra2 Qe7 29. Rc1 Rfa8 30. a4 Bf6 31.Ra3 e5 32. Ng3 Qe6 33. Qg6 d4 34. Bd2 Rxa4 35. Rxa4 Rxa4 36. Ne4 Nf8 37. Qg3Kh7 38. Rb1 Ra7 39. Qd3 Kg8 40. Rb8 Be7 41. Qf3 Qf7 42. Qg3 Qe6 43. Re8 Kh7 44.Rb8 Nd7 45. Qd3 Qg6 46. Rc8 Nf8 47. Rxc6 Qxc6 48. Ng5+ Kh8 49. Nf7+ Kg8 50.Nxe5 Qd5 51. Bf4 Bxc5 0-1

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The second semifinal between Carlsen and Ding was no less exciting. The World Champion lost game two and had to fight from behind to overtake the world number three. Game four especially felt like it could have gone either way, but the World Champion escaped by the skin of his teeth.

[Event "Magnus Carlsen Invitational"][Site "chess24.com"][Date "2020.05.02"][Round "2.2"][White "Ding, Liren"][Black "Carlsen, Magnus"][Result "1-0"][ECO "C54"][WhiteElo "2836"][BlackElo "2881"][Annotator "Friedel,Josh"][SetUp "1"][FEN "6k1/1pq2pp1/p2R1n1p/P3pN2/2r1P3/3Q2PP/5PK1/8 b - - 0 31"][PlyCount "4"][EventDate "2020.??.??"][WhiteTeam "China"][BlackTeam "Norway"][WhiteTeamCountry "CHN"][BlackTeamCountry "NOR"]{Magnus is up a pawn here, but Ding has a menacing knight on f5.Despite this, the position should be roughly equal. Carlsen’s move here,however, proved to be a ghastly oversight.} 31... Kh7 $2 (31... Rc3 32. Qe2 Rc2{with the idea of continuing to chase the queen should result in a draw.} 33.Qf3 Rc3 34. Qe2 $11 (34. Nxh6+ $2 Kh7 {leaves White with no mate and too manypieces hanging.})) (31... Nxe4 {is also playable according to the machine, butallowing Rd8+ and Ne3 is counterintuitive for a human.}) 32. Rxf6 $1 gxf6 33.Qe3 {and just like that, Black is mated! This left Magnus down 1.5-.5 goinginto the final two games of their match.} 1-0

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[Event "Magnus Carlsen Invitational"][Site "chess24.com"][Date "2020.05.02"][Round "3.2"][White "Carlsen, Magnus"][Black "Ding, Liren"][Result "1-0"][ECO "D02"][WhiteElo "2881"][BlackElo "2836"][Annotator "Friedel,Josh"][SetUp "1"][FEN "r4rk1/1p1b2p1/3qpp1p/3p1P2/p2P4/1nPB1NP1/4RP1P/1Q2R1K1 b - - 0 24"][PlyCount "18"][EventDate "2020.??.??"][WhiteTeam "Norway"][BlackTeam "China"][WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"][BlackTeamCountry "CHN"]{Carlsen has sacked a pawn, but in return he has a lot of initiativeon the light squares. How should Ding react to this f5 pawn thrust?} 24... exf5$2 (24... Rae8 {forces White to exchange a pair of rooks, which makes a bigdifference.} 25. fxe6 Rxe6 26. Rxe6 Bxe6 27. Nh4 {and unlike in the game,Black should survive after} Bf7) 25. Nh4 Rae8 $2 {This compounds his problem,and I assume that the Chinese #1 miscalculated something.} (25... Rfd8 {giving the queen the f8 square was likely best, but this is not an easy moveto play, as White can take on f5 and penetrate with Re7 at his leisure.}) 26.Nxf5 Bxf5 {This knight has to be taken, but it allows White to go up theexchange.} (26... Qc7 27. Ne7+ {is even more crushing.}) 27. Rxe8 Nd2 28. Rxf8+Kxf8 29. Qxb7 $1 {One last accurate move, taking advantage of Black’s king toplay for the initiative. Black is lost.} Nf3+ (29... Bxd3 30. Qc8+ {leads tomate.}) 30. Kh1 Nxe1 31. Bxf5 $6 {One small blemish on Carlsen’s fine effort.}(31. Qa8+ Kf7 32. Bxf5 {is more accurate, as now Bh7 is a large threat.}) 31...Nf3 $2 (31... Qe7 32. Qa8+ Qe8 {and somehow it is difficult for White to win,since after} 33. Qxd5 Qe2 {White can only give a perpetual.}) 32. Bg6 Ng5 33.Qc8+ 1-0

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[Event "Magnus Carlsen Invitational"][Site "chess24.com"][Date "2020.05.02"][Round "4.2"][White "Ding, Liren"][Black "Carlsen, Magnus"][Result "0-1"][ECO "D45"][WhiteElo "2836"][BlackElo "2881"][Annotator "Friedel,Josh"][SetUp "1"][FEN "1b1q1r2/3r2pk/1pbPp2p/p1p1Pp2/P1P2N2/4P2R/1B3QPP/3B2K1 b - - 0 40"][PlyCount "11"][EventDate "2020.??.??"][WhiteTeam "China"][BlackTeam "Norway"][WhiteTeamCountry "CHN"][BlackTeamCountry "NOR"]{The winner-takes-all game of their match has been a madhouse. At firstMagnus was better, but Ding convincingly outplayed him and how has the upperhand. Carlsen finds the only way to stay in the game.} 40... Bxd6 $8 {Otherwise he’s positionally dominated and will soon be crushed on the kingside.} 41. Nxe6 $2 {Ding gets too tricky.} (41. exd6 Rxd6 42. Be2 {is simple andstrong. White’s two pieces are far stronger than the rook here, and thatbishop on b2 is an absolute monster. Black will probably have to shieldagainst it with a move like Rf6, but after that White should surely have theadvantage.}) 41... Qe8 (41... Bxe5 $1 {discovering on the d1 bishop was evenstronger.}) 42. Nxf8+ Bxf8 43. Qxf5+ g6 {White’s position might be salvageableafter a move like Qb1, but with little time this is nearly impossible todefend, and Black collapses quickly.} 44. Qf1 Bg7 45. Bc2 Rd2 {This crazy winhanded Carlsen the match win, and propelled him into the final againstNakamura.} 0-1

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The final between Carlsen and Nakamura also went down to the wire. It may be Magnus own tournament, and he may even have won it, but Carlsens competitors didnt make life easy for him at any point.

[Event "Magnus Carlsen Invitational"][Site "chess24.com"][Date "2020.05.03"][Round "10.1"][White "Carlsen, Magnus"][Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"][Result "1-0"][ECO "A29"][WhiteElo "2881"][BlackElo "2829"][Annotator "Friedel,Josh"][SetUp "1"][FEN "8/8/1R2pb2/7p/3pN1kP/3P2P1/5K2/3r4 b - - 0 63"][PlyCount "42"][EventDate "2020.??.??"][WhiteTeam "Norway"][BlackTeam "United States"][WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"][BlackTeamCountry "USA"]{This first game of the final was fought tooth and nail, with the USChampion defending an unpleasant endgame for all he’s worth. Up until now he’sdone an excellent job and resisting the World Champion’s pressure, but at thismoment he finally made a slip.} 63... Be5 $2 (63... Kf5 64. Rb5+ e5 {looksscary, but it seems to allow Black to hold on.}) 64. Rxe6 {The hanging bishopmeans there is no time to capture the d-pawn.} Kf5 65. Ke2 $1 {Perhaps it wasthis intermezzo that Naka missed, allowing Carlsen to save the d-pawn.} Rg1 {Whether this is completely lost is unclear, but for someone to defend thiswith little time is nearly impossible. Magnus won in his typical smoothfashion.} (65... Rxd3 $2 66. Rxe5+ {wins immediately for White.}) 66. Rh6 Bxg367. Rxh5+ Kf4 68. Rh8 Re1+ 69. Kd2 Re3 70. h5 Be1+ 71. Kc2 Rh3 72. h6 Kf5 73.h7 Kg6 74. Rg8+ Kxh7 75. Nf6+ Kh6 76. Rh8+ Kg6 77. Rxh3 Kxf6 78. Kb3 Ke5 79.Kc4 Bf2 80. Rf3 Be3 81. Rf8 Ke6 82. Kc5 Bg1 83. Kc6 Be3 84. Re8+ 1-0

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[Event "Magnus Carlsen Invitational"][Site "chess24.com"][Date "2020.05.03"][Round "11.1"][White "Nakamura, Hikaru"][Black "Carlsen, Magnus"][Result "1-0"][ECO "D37"][WhiteElo "2829"][BlackElo "2881"][Annotator "Friedel,Josh"][SetUp "1"][FEN "8/3n4/2p1k1p1/2Pp1p1p/3P3P/4KNP1/5P2/8 w - - 0 41"][PlyCount "33"][EventDate "2020.??.??"][WhiteTeam "United States"][BlackTeam "Norway"][WhiteTeamCountry "USA"][BlackTeamCountry "NOR"]{Magnus seemed to be fine out of the opening, but he wasconvincingly outplayed by Hikaru in this endgame, one which the Americantypically plays on the Black side. Here White finds one final maneuver inorder to seal the deal.} 41. Ne1 $1 {Hikaru aims to bring his knight to e5,but he needs f4 to be available.} Nb8 42. Nd3 Kf6 43. f4 $1 (43. Ne5 $6 {allows counterplay with} g5) 43... Nd7 44. Ne5 {Well-calculated by Naka.} Nf8 (44... Nxe5 45. fxe5+ Kf7 (45... Kg7 46. Kf4 Kh6 47. e6 {wins easily.}) 46. Kf4Kg7 47. Kg5 Kf7 48. Kh6 {and Black can resign.}) (44... Nb8 45. Kd3 {andHikaru will win by bringing his king to the queenside, while Black’s king istied to the defense of g6.}) 45. Nxc6 {Magnus parts with his c-pawn, but thisonly puts off the eventual defeat. This win put Hikaru back on even footing.}Ke6 46. Ne5 Ke7 47. Kd3 Kd8 48. Kc3 Kc7 49. Nd3 Nd7 50. Nb4 Nf6 51. Kb3 Kb7 52.Ka4 Ne4 53. Nxd5 Nxg3 54. Kb5 Ne4 55. c6+ Kc8 56. Kb6 Nd6 57. Ne7+ 1-0

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[Event "Magnus Carlsen Invitational"][Site "chess24.com"][Date "2020.05.03"][Round "12.1"][White "Carlsen, Magnus"][Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"][Result "1-0"][ECO "D37"][WhiteElo "2881"][BlackElo "2829"][Annotator "Friedel,Josh"][SetUp "1"][FEN "r1bq1rk1/3n1ppp/p3pn2/1pb3N1/2B2B2/2N1P3/PP3PPP/R2Q1RK1 w - - 0 12"][PlyCount "81"][EventDate "2020.??.??"][WhiteTeam "Norway"][BlackTeam "United States"][WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"][BlackTeamCountry "USA"]{In what appears to be a standard Queen’s Gambit Accepted structure,the World Champion decides to mix up the game.} 12. Bxe6 $1 fxe6 13. Nxe6 {Black has quite a few options here, but they all lead to a similar pieceimbalance.} Qe7 14. Nxf8 Qxf8 15. Ne4 $1 {A cute way to snag the dark-squaredbishop.} Bb7 (15... Be7 16. Nd6 {looks very unpleasant.}) (15... Nxe4 $2 16.Qd5+ {loses the a8 rook.}) 16. Nxc5 Qxc5 {At first I was unsure about thisposition, but the more I looked at it the more I liked White. The f3-e4 ideawill blunt the bishop on b7 while restricting the the knight on f6. White’srooks also enjoy the two open files which Black will struggle to fight for.}17. Rc1 Qd5 18. f3 Qxa2 {Hikaru gets a pawn for his trouble, but Magnuscorrectly estimates that keeping Black’s pieces restricted is more important.}19. e4 Nf8 20. Rf2 Rc8 21. Rxc8 Bxc8 22. Qd8 Qe6 23. Bd6 Qe8 24. Qxe8 Nxe8 25.Bb4 {Hikaru has done well to survive to the endgame. While perhaps he couldsurvive with best play, it is incredible difficult to play, and Carlsen won itin very straightforward fashion.} Ne6 26. Rd2 Kf7 27. Kf2 Nf6 28. Ke3 g5 29.Rd6 Nd7 30. g3 Ne5 31. b3 h5 32. h4 gxh4 33. gxh4 Ng6 34. Be1 a5 35. Rd5 a4 36.Rxh5 Nef4 37. Rg5 axb3 38. h5 Nf8 39. Bc3 b4 40. Bb2 N8e6 41. Rf5+ Kg8 42. Rxf4Nxf4 43. Kxf4 Ba6 44. Kg5 Bd3 45. Kg6 Bb5 46. f4 Be8+ 47. Kg5 Bc6 48. e5 Bd549. f5 Kh7 50. e6 Bc4 51. Kf6 Be2 52. Ke7 {This win put the World Championback in the lead, and after a hard-fought draw in the 4th game, he clinchedthe title in fine fashion.} 1-0

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Will elite online events continue to take place after this is all over? Thats hard to answer for now. All I know is that it was extremely fun to watch, and I think the players and fans alike would love seeing such events continue to have their place.

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Living up to his Name: Carlsen Wins Carlsen Invitational - uschess.org

To raise funds for background dancers in Bollywood, who have had no means to earn money for two months now due to the lockdown, rapper and singer Raftaar has come up with the second edition of 'Chess for Charity', a fund-raising live-stream event. He has joined hands with comedian and amateur chess player Samay Raina for the initiative. The event will feature international masters and national grandmasters such as Vidith Gujrathi, Alexandra Botez and Tania Sachdeva and comedians Tanmay Bhat, Vaibhav Sethia, Kenny Sebastian and Biswa K Rath, cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal, dancer Raghav Juyal and VJ Varun Sood.Recently a group of dancers came together to appeal to the entertainment fraternity for financial assistance as their savings are running out. The video featured a number of background dancers narrating how difficult it has become for them to survive with no income during the lockdown. The video also pointed out how most of the background dancers seek to earn a living through television, reality shows and performances. With all shoots on halt and no alternate means of a livelihood, most of these dancers do not have money to even retain a roof over their heads. Raftaar says, "The COVID-19 outbreak has proved to be a major setback to millions financially, emotionally and mentally. I've been a part of the dance community and very well understand the problems they might be facing due to this lockdown. I wanted to help in whatever way I could and give back to the community that gave me my identity. One of my buddies, Shamshad from the Cine Dancers Association, contacted me and voiced all the concerns and setbacks they were facing. Immediately, the name Samay Raina popped up in my mind and he didnt think twice before saying yes to planning this initiative. All of us are in this crisis together and it is only humane to lend a helping hand wherever needed. Now is the time to stand together."

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Raftaar joins hands with a charity chess event to raise funds for background dancers - Times of India

By: Editorial | Published: May 15, 2020 1:27:59 am For several years, players with promise emerged from China but entering the top 10 proved difficult.

Last October, Chinas World No 3 Ding Liren defeated world champion Magnus Carlsen in a dramatic play-off to capture the prestigious Sinquefield Cup in St Louis, strengthening the growing impression that the 26-year-old can challenge the Norwegians global crown in 2020. The pandemic has put the prospect on hold, but by claiming the FIDE Online Nations Cup, China has asserted its credentials as a global superpower in chess, a game it had ironically banned in the incipient years of communist rule. The victory was a reflection of Chinas real depth and quality, a triumph of the long-term strategy, Big Dragon, designed to make the country one of the leading chess powers by 2010.

Barring the mens world crown, they have conquered vast areas of the 64-square board for the last decade. Hou Yifan, just the second woman after Judit Polgar to crack the list of the worlds top 100 players and the youngest ever world champion, has been sitting atop the womens grid for the better part of the last five years. In the top 15, she has four compatriots for company. Like in badminton and table tennis, womens chess has become a field of Chinese expertise. And unlike several western countries, China has thrived on home-grown and not assembled talent, by investing in people and spreading opportunity across the country. Yifan grew up in a remote county town in Jiangsu Province; Ding in a small town in Chinas eastern province of Zhejiang.

The mens circuit, though, was more difficult to crack. For several years, players with promise emerged from China but entering the top 10 proved difficult. Then came Ding, whose rise to World No 3 was as meteoric as it was spectacular. Barely a passing mention till 2017, he improved rapidly in the last three years, beguiling his adversaries and friends with a smile and an incredibly attacking game. If Ding manages to dethrone Carlsen, Chinas emergence in the game it had once banned would be complete.

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A meteor called Ding - The Indian Express

Former world champion and legend of the game GMVishy Anand speaks to David Cox about competing with the elite at the age of 50, the impact of technology on the chess world, and the irritations of having an entirely new generation of players discover his most embarrassing moment.

Having become Indias first grandmaster back in 1988, Anand has been mixing it with the games very best for more than three decades. It is remarkable longevity in a sport that has increasingly become a young mans game at the elite level.

Dubbed "Lightning Kid" for his rapid playing speed as a teenager in the 1980s, Anand has continuously evolved as a player. This has been most evident in his willingness to embrace new technology as the game began to change through the advancing computer power available in the 2000s and beyond.

It helped him crush his great rival Vladimir Kramnik in their 2008 world championship match, and enabled him to compete in world championship encounters nearly two decades apartagainst Garry Kasparov in 1995 and Magnus Carlsen in 2014.

Even at the age of 50, Anand is still ranked in the worlds top 20, with his victory in the 2017 World Rapid Championships showing that he is still capable of mixing it with the very best.

The interview was conducted via phone. Text may have been edited for clarity or length.

Chess.com: Many people have said how remarkable it is that youre still competing at the top level at 50. So many of your rivals from the 1990s and 2000s have either retired or slipped down the rankings. What keeps you going?

Vishy Anand: Like everyone, I think it comes as a shock to realize that people suddenly see you as the veteran. One day youre 20, and the next day youre 50. I remember being surrounded by [Jan]Timman, Kasparov, [Anatoly]Karpov and they were all older. Then you dont notice, and one day you realize everyones younger than you. And then, you realize everyones much younger than you.

Even now, when I met [Alireza]Firouzja, I was shocked to find he was born three years after Id been world champion for the first time in 2000, and now we are competing. I understand that cuts me some slack, and I also try to be a little more forgiving of myself if I dont have a good event. But you cant take that too far. Either you play as if it matters or you dont.

Either you play as if it matters or you dont.

Last year I interviewed Anish Giri, who put your longevity in the game as down to being "truly young at heart," and said: "Vishy is the kind of guy who I am sure updates all the apps on his phone." Is this true?

I actually read that, and I laughed my head off. I couldnt think what exactly updating your apps had to do with youth, but he hit the nail on the head. I do obsessively update my apps and software. I have no idea why, sometimes its just boredom! But it was a very cute way of expressing it. After I read the interview, I showed him my phone and said: "See, all the apps are updated!"

I remember looking at your progression as a teenager. You became an IM at the age of 15, a national champion at 16. Was a professional chess career always the only option for you?

I drifted into chess as a career. It was an emotional decision based on what I love, and I realize Im very lucky it was that smooth for me. In India, theres a couple of inflection points in 10th grade and then in 12th grade where people who compete at sports hesitate and think: Am I really getting anywhere? Should I look at options?

I drifted into chess as a career.

But I won the national championships when I was in 10th grade, I became a GM in 12th, and when I finished university I was ranked five in the world. That was very nice because it meant that I never had this difficult conversation with myself. I wanted to do chess, and nobody ever showed me a reason why I shouldnt

What did your parents make of it all? Did they or you ever worry about the security of life as a chess player?

My parents may have had doubts because my father worked on the railways. They had no idea what this chess was. But they went with the flow, they knew I loved it, so they held back from saying anything.

As for job security, I feel that in the end, chess is no more or no less risky than any other career. Nowadays I tell people, in which career do you have any sort of job security? These days we have to be on our feet a lot. And I can invariably pose this question back to the journalist asking me. What does job security look like in your profession?

Touch Vishy, touch. Going back to your early career, theres a now-famous game from Biel 1988 where you lost to Alonso Zapata in six moves.

Its gone down in legend that youd seen a previous game Christiansen-Miles in which Black made the same losing mistake on move six, but you didnt know it was a pre-arranged draw? Tell us the back story behind that game?

I was quite impulsive and fast at that point, and I remember that I bashed out 5...Bf5 after all of a few seconds. And then I went cold because I suddenly realized I couldnt see a response to 6.Qe2.

I was sweating, and my opponent was so stunned he kept staring at the board. He probably sat there for one or two minutes in disbelief rather than anything else, which felt to me like an eternity. Finally, he played 6.Qe2, I resigned and disappeared quickly before people realized what had happened because I was feeling really embarrassed.

My explanation was Id either seen a variation where white plays c4 and Nc3, and then I play ...Bf5, and Id confused this. Or I may have seen that Christiansen-Miles game. I honestly have no idea which it was. Who can tell, it all happened in seconds.

But I kind of rescued the tournament. It didnt go too badly, I think I finished in the middle somewhere, and I thought that was the end of that. But this game bugged me for many years afterward, and I couldnt see why. Id be like: It was one bad day, can you leave me alone? And then it was very irritating when a whole new generation of players discovered this game, and I had to remember it all over again!

I guess at least back in 1988, there was no internet broadcast of the game.

Exactly, in those days, open tournaments had only a few demonstration boards operated by volunteers. So most of the participants looked at me disappearing after a few minutes and thought I must have agreed on a quick draw. Back then no one could follow the results in real-time, so most people didnt realize that I had in fact lost in this embarrassing way until a month or two later which was a relief for me.

When youre young, you come the next day. Lifes optimistic, and you just go on. But if it happened nowadays, can you imagine the number of silly tweets that Id have to answer.

Anish would be all over it!

Yeah!

Speaking of how the world has changed, you competed in those two world championship matches nearly twenty years apart in 1995 and 2014. In what ways were those two experiences most different?

For me, its quite striking that some of the work that took us one or two weeks back in 1995 with a team of four people working full time, the computer finds in exactly two seconds. Some of the moves Im most proud of from the 1995 match preparation are just suggested instantly. I could spend a lot of time trying to explain to the juniors of today that once upon a time it was very difficult to find these moves, but you feel like one of these old fogies so you just give up!

Some of the work that took us one or two weeks back in 1995 with a team of four people working full time, the computer finds in exactly two seconds.

Nowadays the challenge is really managing the flow of information. Keeping a birds eye view of whats happening because you can generate a lot of material with the computer, but unless it makes sense to you at the board it doesnt help. You need to be able to still figure out your way if youre dropped into a position that you may not remember.

Its a bit like how we can generate maps of the whole world today. But if I drop you in a place without a map, can you still find your way? Thats the key to top-level chess these days.

The new means of preparation particularly benefited you when you faced Kramnik in your world championship match in 2008, arguably your most convincing victory. Tell us about that?

Youre right, we were able to do some very advanced preparation because we had access to some very good hardware. But crucially my attitude and the technology were in sync. I was in the mood to take risks, and I was really eager to learn and do something new. And then suddenly the technology to do it with was available. So both coincided beautifully, and I think thats a big part of the explanation for why I did well in that match.

But crucially my attitude and the technology were in sync. I was in the mood to take risks, and I was really eager to learn and do something new.

I actually feel my attitude was very similar to Kramniks when he challenged Kasparov in 2000. Back then he was ready to do anything in that match, try new things, old things, and you could see the effect it had on him.

That 2008 victory must have been particularly satisfying for you because while you had won the FIDE title in 2000 and became the undisputed champion in Mexico City in 2007, that match in 2008 was in many ways the end to all the politics which had dominated chess for many years.

I was extremely proud of my performance in New Delhi in 2000, even if the FIDE title was somewhat bittersweet because there was always someone saying that if you have two champions, you actually have none. Which is quite correct because it doesnt make sense. It was a ridiculous situation for the sport, but it wasnt my fault, or Kramniks fault, or anyones fault in particular.

It was huge that I was able to win the title in 2007, and for the first time, I didnt have this monkey on my back. I didnt have to answer silly questions about which title it was. However, there were still lingering issues with the format, because some people would say: "Yes, but it wasnt really in a match." And that was annoying.

So Bonn was where all the silly noise died down. I remember coming back to my hotel room after the event and just feeling, now I dont have to say anything to anyone. I just have to say: "I am world champion." That was liberating. As soon as I got to my room I told [my wife] Aruna: "I just dont have to deal with idiots anymore." And she laughed because she understood what I meant.

I remember coming back to my hotel room after the event and just feeling, now I dont have to say anything to anyone. I just have to say: "I am world champion."

When you lost the title five years later to Magnus in 2013, did it ease the blow somewhat as you knew you were passing on the mantle to a player who would go on to become a great of the sport?

Partially yes. I felt annoyed that I was unable to put up a better fight though. I particularly hated the fact that it happened in Chennai. Of all the matches I played, it had to be this one that I lose in my home town. But I understood that certainly, he would carry the mantle of being world champion very well. I felt that, OK, now its not my problem anymore, what has happened has happened, and I should deal with it.

I particularly hated the fact that it happened in Chennai. Of all the matches I played, it had to be this one that I lose in my home town.

You were in the Candidates in 2016, and you finished in joint second place at the age of 46. Do you feel you could one day contest another world championship match or maybe become champion again?

I dont rule it out, but the journey is getting longer! I first have to qualify for the Candidates, then I have to win the Candidates, and then I have to go there and win the match. The more steps you have, the harder it is. You can hope for one miracle somewhere, and Im still capable of benefiting from a miracle so Im not that far off. But it looks like Ill need two or three.

So I dont fret about it a lot. If I find myself in the Candidates, then great Ill take that chance. And then if I find myself in the world championship match, well deal with it. But I would be as surprised as anyone. Ill continue to play and try to compete, and well leave it at that.

Finally, you mentioned Firouzja earlier, and were now seeing the rise of the next generation of talents in their teenage years or early 20s. Do you feel that chess has become progressively more of a younger mans sport over the course of your career?

Very much so. I once had a look at the world ranking list in the early 1980s, and the average age of the top 10 was in the mid-30s. There were a couple of 60-year-olds in there. And then for comparison, I did the same thing in 2015-2016, and the average age had dropped to mid-20s, with two forty-year-old outliers.

So yes, the overwhelming evidence is that chess is getting aggressively younger, and theres a simple explanation. Technology has reduced the value of experience. It has put experience in a sort of silo, where its valuable only in certain conditions.

All experience gives now is some kind of wisdom of having faced a certain situation before, understanding the complexities of making certain decisions, but it doesnt benefit you as much. I think thats simply why youngsters get much better, because they calculate better.

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Vishy Anand Interview: It comes as a shock that people suddenly see you as the veteran - Chess.com