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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Hikaru Nakamura is a 32-year-old <keyword id="2440542" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="eSports">esports</keyword> <keyword id="17103" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Athlete">athlete</keyword> based in Los Angeles, California.</li><li>He is the first <keyword id="6362158" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="chess">chess</keyword> player to join the esports team <keyword id="1036284" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="TSM">TSM</keyword> (formerly <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-esports-organizations-and-teams-power-list-faze-100-thieves-2020-4#team-solomid-18">Team SoloMid</a>). According to <a href="https://www.esportsearnings.com/players/75837-hikaru-nakamura">Esports Earnings</a>, Nakamura has made over $281,000 in winnings from online chess tournaments in 2020.</li><li>At 15, Nakamura became the youngest American to win the title of chess Grandmaster, and competed worldwide as a professional chess player before transitioning to esports. He's currently the <a href="https://ratings.fide.com/top.phtml?list=men_blitz">highest-ranked</a> blitz player worldwide. </li><li>When he's not prepping for a competition, Nakamura streams on Twitch for four to seven hours a day to an audience of 570,000 followers.</li><li>Here's what his job is like, as told to freelance writer Claire Turrell.</li></ul><p>Some people know me as Hikaru Nakamura, while others may know me as GMHikaru. I'm an esport athlete and chess grandmaster. I've been playing computer games since I was eight years old, and I was just signed by USA esport giant TSM as its first esport chess player.</p><p>My stepfather and brother are both chess players and my interest started when I followed them to tournaments. In 2003, I became the youngest American to earn the title of <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/27/21404322/hikaru-nakamura-chess-tsm-esports-sign-contract-player-twitch">grandmaster</a> at the age of 15 years and 79 days.</p><p>I realized chess could be more than a hobby for me when I dropped out of Dickinson College in 2006 and decided to pursue a career as a professional chess player, competing around the world.</p><h2><strong>I was first introduced to console games at the age of 6.</strong></h2><p><strong><div type="image" title="Hikaru Nakamura 1" height="2986" width="3978" msid="79266776" hostid="261"></div></strong></p><p>It was 1994, and I was in Japan with my mom and brother visiting my biological father. I played games like Mario Kart with the old cartridges, but it wasn't until 1998 that I had my first real introduction to PC games, with StarCraft: Brood War. I also played chess online, but I didn't start playing it seriously until much later.</p><p>In 2018, I started streaming on the gaming platform Twitch, where people also broadcast themselves playing games like Fortnite and Call of Duty. Currently, my Twitch channel <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/gmhikaru">GMHikaru</a> has over 570,000 followers.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tv-networks-have-hard-time-getting-young-viewers-watch-sports-2020-5">Older fans may leap back into watching sports on TV post-pandemic, but networks are going to have a tougher time winning back younger viewers</a></em></p><h2><strong>In August 2020, I signed with esports organization TSM as its first esports chess player.</strong></h2><div type="image" title="credit_Hikaru Nakamura jersey" height="891" width="1188" msid="79266779" hostid="261"></div><p>TSM is one of the world's largest esports organizations with teams playing games such as League of Legends, Fortnite, and Valorant. It's about to open a huge <a href="https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2019-09-11/largest-esports-training-center-north-america-los-angeles">gaming facility</a> in Playa Vista, California, which will have a theatre, scrim rooms, academy coaching rooms, a gym, float tank, and nap pods. However, at the moment, like everyone else, I'm working from home.</p><p>The one big change to my life during COVID-19 is my transition from a professional chess player to a full-time streamer. Ironically, I cut down on my traditional over the board competitions in the beginning of 2020, as I was a little burned out and wanted to refocus on defending my US Championship Title.</p><p>I only played in a few events from October 2019 through March 2020 when everything got shut down. Lockdown has allowed me to focus full time on streaming and share the game of chess with the Twitch audience.</p><h2><strong>The biggest misconception about chess in esports is that it's less prestigious than the board game.</strong></h2><div type="image" title="Hikaru Nakamura Eric Rosen" height="2745" width="3660" msid="79266781" hostid="261"></div><p>People might not realize that online chess has been around since 1993, which predates almost all other esports. While traditional games can take up to five hours, online chess games move at a blistering pace and can be completed in as quickly as 10 minutes.</p><p>Fans are now becoming aware of the expertise that's needed, such as mouse skills, which are extremely important when players have only seconds left on the clock. </p><p>Other elements that you get in the esports game, which you don't get with the board game, is the ability to pre-move and make moves in 0.1 seconds. This makes it a big pull for fans as it's very viewer friendly.</p><h2><strong>On an average day when I'm not competing, I'll stream for four to seven hours.</strong></h2><div type="image" title="Hikaru Nakamura streaming_" height="1011" width="1348" msid="79266782" hostid="261"></div><p>I wake up around 6 a.m., boot up my stream around 8 a.m., and stream sometimes until 3 p.m. I play chess, give analysis, and invite some of my subscribers to play against me to make my streams interactive.</p><p>After that, I usually take an hour or two to clear my head while uploading VODs (videos on demand) so that my video editing team can work on the content and upload it to YouTube.</p><p>From there, I usually try to discuss content ideas or what the plans are for the next couple of streams before zoning out and reading a book or watching Netflix and going to sleep around 10 p.m.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/started-own-sports-agency-now-represent-8-top-wnba-stars-2020-10">I started my own sports agency when I was 22 and now represent 8 top WNBA stars — including the legendary Lisa Leslie. Here's how I landed major clients and built my business.</a></em></p><h2><strong>If it's a competition day, my schedule is more rigorous.</strong></h2><div type="image" title="Hikaru Nakamura 2" height="1080" width="1920" msid="79266784" hostid="261"></div><p>I'll wake up around 5 a.m., as most competitions start at 7 a.m. I spend two hours working on chess preparation and my opening strategy, and then I'll compete online for four to five hours. Once I've finished, I'll do a couple of hours of streaming to discuss my games and review the moves that I made. After that, I'll head to bed around 9 p.m.</p><p><a href="https://www.esportsearnings.com/players/75837-hikaru-nakamura">I've played</a> in six major online competitions so far in 2020, and I'll play at least two more before the end of the year.</p><p>I generally try to eat an energy-packed meal like pasta before a stream, since it can go on for hours without a break. If I'm behind schedule, I'll usually eat a couple of breakfast bars and survive on coffee. I've never been overly superstitious when it comes to competitions, but from time to time, I will wear the same shirt multiple days if I had a great game.</p><h2><strong>As a streamer, the days tend to blur together, so I very rarely pay attention to whether it's a weekday or the weekend.</strong></h2><div type="image" title="Credit_Eric Rosen 2 Hikaru Nakamura" height="2333" width="3111" msid="79266788" hostid="261"></div><p>Since I tend to stream six or even seven days of the week, it makes no difference to me. I try to take one day off a week and go hiking in Topanga National Park in California.</p><p>As of right now, there are no meet-and-greet with fans, although I hope to hold one after we get through this trying period of time. Still, I enjoy connecting with people when I'm streaming or through social media. I post about upcoming streams on Twitter or share shots on Instagram when I'm hiking.</p><p>My wildest esports experience was when I was the No. 1 most watched channel on the streaming platform Twitch, and I wasn't even playing. It was when I was a commentator on a match in May 2020 between XQC (Felix Lengyel) and the late Reckful (Byron Bernstein) who was a good friend of mine.</p><p>Since the pandemic, the popularity of chess esports has rocketed and this growing fan base on Twitch helps tremendously. I don't really use any mental tricks in terms of staying level headed before competitions, but I do find that knowing that I have such a large audience of fans who will support me whether I win or lose makes a world of difference.</p>

I'm a chess grandmaster who's made over $280,000 from esports tournaments. As the highest-rated blitz player in the world, I spend up to 7 hours a day playing chess online.

The <keyword id="21388035" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chess-community" source="keywords">chess community</keyword> went into a frenzy as it hailed India's D <keyword id="19905851" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gukesh" source="keywords">Gukesh</keyword> as a potential "future world champion" after he etched his name in the history books by winning the prestigious Candidates tournament in Toronto. Gukesh drew with American Hikaru Nakamura in the final round to not only win the prestigious tournament but also become the youngest ever challenger to the world title at 17. <br /><br /> Five-time world champion and the only other Indian to win the Candidates, the legendary <keyword id="20221790" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Viswanathan-Anand" source="keywords">Viswanathan Anand</keyword> was one of the first people to congratulate the teenager. <br /><br /> "Congratulations to @DGukesh for becoming the youngest challenger. The @WacaChess family is so proud of what you have done. I'm personally very proud of how you played and handled tough situations. Enjoy the moment," Anand wrote on 'X'. <br /><br /> Gukesh had become the third youngest player in history to earn the Grandmaster title at the age of 12 and English grandmaster David Howell said he knew the prodigiously talented player would go on to do great things from the moment he played his first match against the Indian. <br /><br /> "Congrats to Gukesh on winning the Candidates!! What a tournament I knew he was special ever since our first game. He was just 12 years old (but already a GM! ) While analysing, both his mature attitude and his calculation skills impressed me hugely. Future world champ?" Howell wrote. <br /><br /> Former world champion and Grandmaster <keyword id="21388036" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vladimir-Kramnik" source="keywords">Vladimir Kramnik</keyword> of Russia congratulated Gukesh for his astounding performance. <br /><br /> "What an evening Congratulations to Gukesh and special award for both Fabi, Ian for their incredible performance today. One of the most interesting games I ever saw. Bravo, REAL FIGHTERS, for giving it all. Most important, more than anything in chess in fact Full respect," Kramnik wrote. <br /><br /> With the win, Gukesh bettered the legendary Garry Kasparov's 40 year-old record. The Russian great was 22 when he qualified in 1984 to clash with compatriot Anatoly Karpov. <br /><br /> The Chennai-based teen will take on reigning world champion, China's <keyword id="20216378" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ding-Liren" source="keywords">Ding Liren</keyword>, for the crown later this year. <br /><br /> Indian grandmaster Koneru Humpy, who finished second in the women's section, said "Congratulations to @DGukesh for becoming the youngest challenger!!" <br /><br /> Another Indian Grandmaster Tania Sachdev said Gukesh's win shows that "furture is here." <br /><br /> "GUKESH WINS THE CANDIDATES!! The future is here. It's today. 22.04.2024 a date to remember It's going to be Ding Liren vs Gukesh, World Chess Championship 2024" Sachdev tweeted. <br /><br /> Dronacharya award-winning coach Ramachandran Ramesh lauded the Indian's inspiring run at the tournament. <br /><br /> "Hearty Congratulations to young @Gukesh for convincingly winning the Candidates. Inspiring performance! Whole India is proud of you!" Ramesh tweeted. <br /><br /> Meanwhile, Azerbaijani chess grandmaster Teimour Radjabov was left spellbound by the teenager's achievement. <br /><br /> "@DGukesh congratulations, stunning! At any age, but at 17 years old... it is just WOW!" he wrote.<br /><br /><b>SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/webstories/at-17-indian-chess-prodigy-d-gukesh-becomes-youngest-challenger-for-world-championship/slidelist/109492021.cms" target="_blank"></a></b><br /><br /> <b><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/webstories/at-17-indian-chess-prodigy-d-gukesh-becomes-youngest-challenger-for-world-championship/slidelist/109492021.cms" target="_blank">At 17, Indian chess prodigy D Gukesh becomes youngest challenger for World Championship</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/telecom-companies-may-hike-tariffs-by-up-to-17-after-the-general-elections-as-per-analysts/articleshow/109240274.cms" target="_blank"></a></b><br /><br /> <b><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/telecom-companies-may-hike-tariffs-by-up-to-17-after-the-general-elections-as-per-analysts/articleshow/109240274.cms" target="_blank">Telecom companies may hike tariffs by up to 17% after the general elections, predict analysts</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/ev-sales-expected-to-grow-by-over-65-in-2024-double-its-overall-market-share/articleshow/109155691.cms" target="_blank"></a></b><br /><br /> <b><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/ev-sales-expected-to-grow-by-over-65-in-2024-double-its-overall-market-share/articleshow/109155691.cms" target="_blank">EV sales expected to grow by over 65% in 2024, double its overall market share</a></b><br />

The future is here: Chess community lauds Gukesh's historic win

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An eight-year-old girl has set new chess records at a European tournament.</li><li>Bodhana Sivanandan won the women's prize at the European blitz championship in Croatia.</li></ul><p>An eight-year-old girl from London has set new <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/deepmind-founder-demis-hassabis-chess-champion-peter-thiel-funding-2023-12?r=US&amp;IR=T">chess</a> records at a European tournament.</p><p>Bodhana Sivanandan won the women's prize at the European blitz championship in Zagreb, Croatia, finishing 73rd out of 555 players.</p><p>Sivanandan arrived late to the event in the Croatian capital after going to the wrong entrance and had to forfeit her first game, losing by default, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/dec/22/chess-bodhana-sivanandan-eight-sets-new-records-with-victory-in-zagreb">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>Nevertheless, the young prodigy won 8.5/13 points against a field that contained some of the best players in the world, including 48 grandmasters — the highest title a chess player can hold.</p><p>In one game, the eight-year-old defeated the international master and England women's coach Lorin D'Costa.</p><p>In the final round, she drew with Romanian grandmaster <span>Vladislav Nevednichy, 54, the youngest player ever to avoid defeat to a chess champion of the top rank in a competitive game.</span></p><p><span>Her tournament performance was</span> rated at 2316,<span> the level of a woman grandmaster, per The Guardian.</span></p><p>Dominic Lawson, the president of the English Chess Federation, said her performance was "completely remarkable but not that surprising, because she is a phenomenon," <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bodhana-sivanandan-chess-master-defeat-match-hcd5j7pmt">The Times</a> reported.</p><p>"It's an extraordin­ary result for an eight-year-old and something we've certainly never seen in this country," Lawson said. "She has a remarkably mature playing style, it's strategic and patient. She has what you might describe as a long game."</p><p>Many seasoned chess players have also weighed in on Sivanandan's fine display, with <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/IrinaBulmaga/status/1736077518363382168">Irina Bulmaga</a>, a Romanian professional chess player and international master, hailing it as an "unbelievable result."</p><p>"What a phenomenon she is," she added in a post on X, formerly Twitter.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/LawrenceTrentIM/status/1734976939243208972">Lawrence Trent</a>, another international master wrote in another post: "Bodhana Sivanandan is one of the greatest talents I've witnessed in recent memory. The maturity of her play, her sublime touch, it's truly breathtaking. I have no doubt she will be England's greatest player and most likely one of the greatest the game has ever seen."</p><p>The eight-year-old took up the game during the UK's COVID-19 pandemic and learned quickly, even being invited to play chess with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street, The Times reported.</p>

8-year-old British schoolgirl amazes chess world with historic European championship victory

<p class="drop-cap">There is a singular misery to trying your very best, after months of training, only to be crushed by a 6-year-old.</p><p>Last December, I spent a cloudy day holed up at the Mechanics' Institute, a venerable chess club in San Francisco, to play in the 22nd annual McClain Memorial Tournament. It was my first in-person chess competition, and I was full of optimism.</p><p>I faced a severe-looking child who wore a food-stained sweatshirt emblazoned with a cartoon penguin. He did not speak. He alternated between fidgeting uncontrollably and fixing me with a disconcerting death stare. He spent much of his time between moves crawling around beneath the table (an interesting psych-out technique, but not one I think I could pull off).</p><p>Early in the game, I made an amateur mistake that left me down a knight. From there it was all over, even if I didn't immediately realize it. A checkmate soon followed.</p><p>My first game had been against a middle-aged asset manager, and we'd discussed the strangeness of us adults competing against children. (He also beat me.) After an undignified lunch of Doritos and a chocolate protein shake, I managed to eke out a win against my third opponent. A tech worker in her mid-20s, she noted she was nursing a severe hangover, and she had a helpful habit of involuntarily gasping whenever she realized she'd made a mistake. At that point, I'd take whatever modicum of dignity I could salvage.</p><p>For the first three decades of my life, I'd had fleeting phases of mild interest in chess, playing the occasional game online while procrastinating or over the board with a drink. But the game's foreboding density and association with supreme intellect dissuaded me from going any deeper. Over the past few years, however, a drumbeat of fanfare and tabloid headlines about the seemingly staid game became inescapable. Like so many other people, I got chess-pilled.</p><p>Chess.com, the world's leading chess site, now regularly reports record numbers of players — it said that in February 2023 it hosted more than 1 billion games a month — sporadically crashing under the weight of demand. The pandemic's enforced isolation and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-netflix-is-changing-the-entertainment-industry-2021-8">Netflix's</a> smash hit "The Queen's Gambit" collectively introduced an entire generation to the game. Socialites are playing chess on "The Real Housewives of New York City." Twitch streamers and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-started-with-youtube-podcasts-build-an-audience-2024-5">YouTubers</a> have racked up millions of followers and ushered in a radical new culture — meme-drenched, rapid-fire, and drama-prone.</p><p>Chess has never been more popular, but its ugly side has also never been more exposed. The same characteristics that have driven its popularity online — an easy-to-understand eight-by-eight grid, a strategy without chance or luck — have also made it a cheater's paradise. Meanwhile, rampant sexism festers at chess' heart.</p><p>What the hell was happening to the game of kings? To find out, I decided I needed to get better at the game and face off against everyone I talked to.</p><p class="drop-cap">In 1990, when Judit Polgár, the greatest female chess player, was emerging as a child prodigy, the world champion Garry Kasparov dismissed her as "after all, a woman."</p><p>"It all comes down to the imperfections of the feminine psyche," he said. "No woman can sustain a prolonged battle."</p><p>Sexism persists in every level of the game. In 1990, according to the US Chess Federation, only 4% of chess players were women. Today it's 14%. There are innumerable tales of how women were belittled, mistreated, harassed, and abused — from snide remarks about "losing to a girl" at a chess club to sexist comments during online play. Juliana Gallin, a graphic designer in San Francisco, told me before a game on Chess.com (she wiped the floor with me) that she had deliberately omitted any references to her gender in her online profile. Even at professional tournaments, many women say commentators and audiences sometimes fixate on their appearances and clothes rather than the quality of their chess. FIDE, the <a target="_blank" href="https://ethics.fide.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/New-EDC-Procedural-Rules-as-approved-by-FIDE-Council.pdf">international chess body</a>, requires anyone wishing to make a misconduct complaint to first pay a fee of 75 euros.</p>          <p>In 2023, the chess world had its own #MeToo moment. It started when the grandmaster Jennifer Shahade accused Alejandro Ramírez, a grandmaster and well-connected coach, of sexual assault. A slew of further allegations against Ramírez — and claims that the US Chess Federation had failed to act — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/alejandro-ramirez-jennifer-shahade-chess-allegations-622263b8">soon followed</a>. (Ramírez has denied the allegations.)</p><p>Shahade and I played a quick game — she smothered me, picking off my pawns until my structure crumbled — and talked. Shahade told me that, in addition to the gender imbalance, part of the issue is that chess is "complex to attack because there's so many different cultures," adding that "every country might have its own policy for safe play." Beyond that, she said, "all ages play together — which mostly is a really awesome thing about the game that we love — but unfortunately for bad actors that could be an opportunity for grooming."</p><p>And there's no easier place for bad actors to take root than in chess' most popular venue: online.</p><p class="drop-cap">More than anything else, the internet has transformed how chess is played and talked about. It has infused the 1,500-year-old game with modern video-game sensibilities and smack talk. Online chess can feel a world away from the carefully considered hourslong games of old; many modern players prefer "bullet chess," whose warp speed games take less than three minutes. Beyond Reddit hubs like the more pedantic r/Chess (1.1 million members) and the oddball, shitposting r/AnarchyChess (500,000), ground zero for chess' reimagining is video platforms like YouTube and Twitch. Dedicated chess influencers like Levy "GothamChess" Rozman (nearly 5 million YouTube subscribers) and the Botez sisters (1.5 million subscribers) offer guidance to amateurs like me, dissecting tournament games and diving into the nearly constant beef between chess celebs. Even grandmasters — historically cast as cerebral recluses — are getting in on the action. The five-time US champion Hikaru Nakamura (2.3 million subscribers) has become one of the most prolific streamers out there.</p><div type="image" title="Rey Enigma plays chess against Anna Cramling" height="683" width="1024" msid="109978342" hostid="261"></div><p>"You definitely can make in general a lot more from making content than what you can from playing competitive chess," said Anna Cramling, a fast-talking 21-year-old Swedish player with nearly 900,000 YouTube subscribers. After we chatted, we played a quick game; I timed out with no good moves open to me. All the time in the world wouldn't have made a difference.</p><p>The seedier side of internet culture has also wormed its way into chess. "The biggest downside to what I do is I don't always feel safe," Cramling said. Some of her followers, she says, are often "trying to get to know things about me." Poor sportsmanship abounds: Some players rage quit when they make mistakes, try to "stall" their opponents, or abort games if they don't get to play as white. Chat rooms are full of normalized abuse, often sexual or racist. Sometimes dark behavior bleeds out beyond the screen: In late 2023, Nakamura said the police had <a target="_blank" href="https://kick.com/gmhikaru?clip=clip_01HGP490KWBC8473KX5F71RV06">turned up at his home</a> after someone tried to "swat" him.</p><p>But is playing online as fulfilling as playing over the board? As I explored, I kept up a steady stream of middling games on <a target="_blank" href="http://Chess.com">Chess.com</a> — my Elo rating slowly rising — but wanted a more immersive experience. I decided to devote an entire day to playing bullet chess.</p>          <p>In the version I played, a 1:1 time control, each player was allotted one minute total for the entire game plus one additional second per move. My first game went beautifully: excellent piece development, no big mistakes, and a neat checkmate. During game two, I started to feel a little frantic. By hour two, the games were blurring into one another — aching hands, no time for strategy, just vibes. When I took a break for a virtual doctor's appointment, I was seized with a compulsion to fill out the intake forms at blitzkrieg speed.</p><p>I had a breakthrough when I switched up the time control. Now I was playing just a flat minute per player, no additional time. Suddenly I was winning clearly lost games because I was just a bit faster on the draw. All I had to do was hide my king in the corner and make my structure just convoluted enough, and I'd win by default as my opponents timed out. It was a lightning-fast game of pattern recognition and counterstrike reflexes, and totally unconducive to improving my actual chess skills.</p><p>Eight hours later, I was 150 games down and completely exhausted. It was time to log off.</p><p class="drop-cap">Out in the world, chess' resurgence has been accompanied by a wave of new clubs and events.</p><p>In April 2023, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/04/15/school-chess-class-clubs/">The Washington Post reported</a> that chess was causing an "epidemic of student distraction." In Berkeley, California, a controversial unlicensed street club has become a flash point for debates about <a target="_blank" href="https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/10/06/students-community-defend-telegraph-chess-tables-berkeley-city-council">gentrification</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2023-10-04/article/50429?headline=The-City-of-Berkeley-Makes-a-Pawn-of-the-Chess-Club---Steve-Martinot">police brutality</a>. When I visited, I was bested by a guy who I suspected was extremely high and who got up to dance to Bill Withers between moves.</p><p>A couple months into my chess journey, I was in New York City for the week. I made a pilgrimage to the Marshall Chess Club, a 109-year-old institution in Greenwich Village.</p>          <p>Inside, rows of players sat in perfect silence as the bust of the club's founder, Frank Marshall, the American chess champion of 1909, frowned down at them. But my itch to play could not be scratched: The club was hosting a tournament that day, a nice man told me apologetically, for high-ranking players only. Even the youngest attendees would demolish me. "These aren't your normal kids," he said.</p><p>The following evening, I went to an East Village bar and found a very different scene at Club Chess. Beneath impressionist murals of naked women, and among candles and pumping EDM, an eclectic crowd of hipsters, skaters, and the occasional dyed-in-the-wool chess nerd mingled. There were no chess clocks in sight, and downstairs there was a full-on dance floor. It was standing room only. Founded in 2023 by Alexander Luke Bahta — who spent the evening swanning around, tailed by a photographer and reporter for a lifestyle blog — Club Chess has been described by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/sep/13/new-york-gen-z-chess-clubs">The Guardian</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.curbed.com/article/club-chess-maneros-of-mulberry.html">New York magazine</a> as the epicenter of chess' ascendance in nightlife.</p><p>I played a young Canadian mycologist in an evenly matched game that she ultimately resigned. Then came a wiry Romanian in athleisure — Elo rating 2200, extremely good — who inexorably ground me down, trapping one of my bishops and stomping through my pawn structure. Afterward I watched him play the burly security guard and checkmate him barely a dozen moves in. The bouncer "plays unconventionally," the Romanian said diplomatically.</p><p>"That guy's a monster," the bouncer told me later.</p><p>With work looming the next day, I left the party, still going strong, at about 11 p.m., feeling rejuvenated. It had been chess at its purest and most freeing — no scores or internet trash talk to be found.</p><p class="drop-cap">If you've heard anything about chess in the past couple of years, it's probably been about anal beads.</p><p>In 2022, the world champion Magnus Carlsen accused the grandmaster Hans Niemann, chess' enfant terrible, of cheating in a tournament. What followed was a breathless debate (not by Carlsen) over whether Niemann had managed this with a device hidden in a particularly intimate part of his body.</p><div type="image" title="Chess tournament" height="683" width="1024" msid="109978343" hostid="261"></div><p>The consensus among serious chess players is that the specific allegation is absurd, but paranoia about cheating pervades the game, from grandmasters playing in tournaments to amateurs whacking away at each other online. <a target="_blank" href="http://Chess.com">Chess.com</a> bans 90,000-odd <a target="_blank" href="https://www.chess.com/fair-play#fair-play-numbers">players every month for cheating</a>.</p><p>I understand why. I've cheated at chess.</p><p>Years ago I periodically played online against a college buddy. He beat me, a lot. So in one or two games, purely out of curiosity, I booted up a chess engine, plugged in the moves he made, responded with the computer-determined optimal moves, and won handily. I told him promptly what I'd done. But there was also a prurient little thrill to winning, no matter how undeserved. And I'm hardly the only one who feels this way.</p>          <p>Chess is an extraordinarily easy game to cheat at. Computer programs have handily beaten human players ever since Deep Blue versus Kasparov in 1997. And there's no easy remedy. At the most basic level, there's the risk of people copying computer moves by rote, but that's relatively straightforward to detect. For more sophisticated players, cheating on a single move at the right moment is sometimes enough to give them the edge. Even just a signal — a cough, a gesture, a vibration — that their seemingly innocuous next move will actually be critical, even if they're not told what the right move is, can be enough to make a player slow down and find the pathway to the (ill-gotten) win.</p><p>Hence a constant fear of cheaters and a string of minor scandals. The former world champion Vladimir Kramnik has in recent years repeatedly cast aspersions on other high-profile players, including Nakamura. (<a target="_blank" href="http://Chess.com">Chess.com</a> subsequently said it investigated "dozens of players" whose play Kramnik had questioned and found no evidence "in the vast majority of cases.") The grandmaster Fabiano Caruana <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADK1o1sZ0s0">said in a recent interview</a> that he'd "bet a lot" that someone in the top 10 players had cheated at some point.</p><p>The concern can taint players' enjoyment of the game.</p><p>"It just sucks because you're trying your hardest — but it kind of doesn't matter because you're just playing god, essentially," said Dan Timbrell, a 33-year-old working in machine learning in the Netherlands. "You are pulling your heart and soul into really trying to win a game, and then you just realize it is just punching a brick wall."</p><p class="drop-cap">Over four months, I played a shit ton of chess, and I learned a lot by being summarily beaten by nearly every person I talked to. But I also felt more and more burned out by the game. I found myself constantly fretting about my Elo rating. It distracted from what actually mattered: the chess.</p><p>Chess is a notoriously brutal game for the ego. If you lose, it's simply because you weren't good enough. Chess is a skill that can be learned, like any other, but that doesn't stop people online from discussing ad nauseam whether there's a correlation between chess prowess and IQ. Add internet-tracked Elo ratings, and you've got a potent recipe for an inferiority complex.</p><p>As a 27-year-old musician in New York City who got into chess after watching "The Queen's Gambit," told me: "You either make good moves or bad moves. So it's very easy to say, 'Oh my, I've made a terrible move — I'm so stupid.'"</p><p>I could relate. When I was playing online, I began gravitating toward anonymous, logged-out games — a far more relaxed affair.</p><p>Chess' problems aren't unique. But it is uniquely positioned to act as an accelerant for the internet's worst impulses: sexism, abuse, cheating, elitism, and toxic nerdery. It's a far cry from what Juliana Gallin described to me as "the stunning, breathtaking beauty and magic of chess." My most memorable chess experiences, the places where I encountered that magic, weren't online. They were playing in the crowded thrill of Club Chess in New York, or trading pieces with a buddy over a gin and tonic in a Lake Tahoe cabin, or battling it out in the cafeteria of a Russian bathhouse in San Francisco.</p><p>As I was wrapping up this story, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26174PF9Gmw">YouTube recommended me a video by ChessPage1</a>, a janky instructional channel. At the high levels, the robotic-sounding voice said, players need an encyclopedic knowledge of openings and theory and a grand strategy to execute. But among us mortals, people screw up in minor ways several times a game.</p><p>"If you can be the guy who just doesn't blunder and also spots the opponent's blunders," the voice said, "you can easily become a very good chess player without having to pull off some complex mastery game plan … You don't have a game plan, your opponent doesn't have a game plan, everybody is confused. But confusion means high probability of blunders, and if you don't blunder, you will crush 99% of your opponents. Congratulations, you are now enlightened and smart." They added, "Remember, whenever you feel like you need a complex strategy, <em>just don't blunder</em>."</p><p>It's good advice for chess, and for life. If in doubt, remember that basically no one else has it figured out either. Just try not to screw up too badly.</p><p><a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/rob-price"><em><u>Rob Price</u></em></a><em> is a senior correspondent for Business Insider and writes features and investigations about the technology industry. His Signal number is +1 650-636-6268, and his email is </em><a target="_blank" href="mailto:rprice@businessinsider.com"><em>rprice@businessinsider.com</em></a><em>.</em></p>

Sexism, cheating, and nightclubs: inside the dark heart of modern chess

Former World Chess Champion and Russian chess grandmaster <keyword id="151825" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="garry-kasparov" source="Orion">Garry Kasparov</keyword> has congratulated Indian grandmaster <keyword id="6686798" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rameshbabu-praggnanandhaa" source="Orion">Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa</keyword> who stormed into the final of the <keyword id="4960608" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="fide-world-cup" source="Orion">FIDE World Cup</keyword> in Baku, Azerbaijan.<br /><br /><keyword id="4016708" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="praggnanandhaa" source="Orion">Praggnanandhaa</keyword> defeated World No. 3 <keyword id="99931" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="fabiano-caruana" source="Orion">Fabiano Caruana</keyword> to reach the final of the FIDE World Cup, and his mother was also present at the event to witness her son's triumph. <br /><br /><keyword id="156061" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="kasparov" source="Orion">Kasparov</keyword> called his mother's support "a special kind of support" and extended wishes to the Indian Grand Master for his exceptional performance. <br /><br />"Congrats to @rpragchess -and to his mother. As someone whose proud mama accompanied me to every event, it's a special kind of support! The Chennai Indian defeated two New York cowboys! He has been very tenacious in difficult positions," Kasparov wrote in his tweet. <br /><br />The Indian chess prodigy managed to beat the American player 3.5-2.5 after tiebreaks. He will face World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen for the title clash.<br /><br />Earlier, Praggnanandhaa beat compatriot Arjun Erigaisi 5-4 in a sudden death tie-break to book a place for himself in the semifinals on Thursday. The 17-year-old Praggnanandhaa has already secured a spot in next year's Candidates event.<br /><br />Praggnanandhaa created history by advancing to the final of the FIDE World Cup, his coach RB Ramesh expressed his immense pride in Praggnanandhaa's exceptional performance in the global tournament and said that he is optimistic about Prags chances in view of the openings strategies discussed.<br /><br />"I am extremely proud that he has been doing phenomenally well in this World Cup and he qualified for the World Cup final. And what I hear is he is the youngest to do so. And also he is the only Indian to qualify for the final," coach Ramesh told ANI.<br /><br />The final matches of the FIDE World Cup will begin on Tuesday. (ANI)<br /><br />

Former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov hails Indian prodigy Praggnanandhaa for reaching FIDE WC final

Baku (Azerbaijan), Continuing his dream run, Indian Grandmaster R <keyword id="4016708" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Praggnanandhaa" source="Orion">Praggnanandhaa</keyword> on Monday stunned world No.3 Fabiano Caruana 3.5-2.5 via the tie-break in the semifinals to set up a summit clash with world number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway at the FIDE World Cup chess tournament here. After the two-game classical series ended 1-1, the 18-year-old Indian prodigy outlasted the highly-rated American GM in a battle of wits in a nerve-wracking tie-breaker. <br /><br /> In the final beginning on Tuesday, Praggnanandhaa will take on five-times title winner Carlsen, who beat Azerbaijan's Nijat Abasov 1.5-0.5 in his semifinal. <br /><br /> Praggnanandhaa becomes the third youngest player after the legendary Bobby Fischer and Carlsen to qualify for the Candidates tournament. <br /><br /> "I didn't expect to play Magnus in this tournament at all because the only way I could play him was in the final, and I didn't expect to be in the final. I will just try to give my best and see how it goes!," he said after booking a spot in the summit clash. <br /><br /> "It feels really good to qualify for the Candidates; I really wanted to fix this spot." <br /><br /> With the two 25'+10" games ending at 1-all, Praggnanandhaa prevailed in the first 10'+10" game against Caruana to get within a draw of setting up a final clash with world No.1 Carlsen. <br /><br /> "Pragg goes through to the final! He beats Fabiano Caruana in the tiebreak and will face Magnus Carlsen now. What a performance!," chess legend Viswanathan Anand posted on social networking site 'X', formerly Twitter. <br /><br /> In the first game of tie-break, the Indian GM withstood a lot of pressure from Caruana and held on for a draw in an exciting encounter. The second rapid game too saw a similar result, pushing the semifinals to the 10'+10' series. <br /><br /> Praggnanandhaa has been in a rich vein of form in the World Cup and his biggest scalp before Caruana was another American Hikaru Nakamura, the world No.2 and second-seed, following which he stopped compatriot Arjun Erigaisi. <br /><br /> "Congratulations @rpragchess for winning against Fabiano and going to the finals at the World Cup in 2023! Proud and happy!," noted chess coach R B Ramesh wrote on 'X'. <br /><br /> Former women's world No.1 Susan Polgar also hailed the young Indian GM. <br /><br /> "Congratulations to GM Praggnanandhaa for reaching the 2023 World Cup final to face Magnus! He defeated world #2 Fabiano in the playoff to earn the coveted spot! He also defeated world #3 Hikaru earlier!" <br /><br /> AICF president Sanjay Kapoor said, "Congratulations to Praggnanandhaa @rpragchess on his amazing victory &amp; making it to the FINALS of @FIDE_chess Chess World Cup. Bravo! Indian chess lovers can't wait for the Final as it promises to be one RED HOT Contest with the World no.1 @MagnusCarlsen on the other side!" <br /><br /> By becoming only the second Indian after Anand to reach the semifinals of the world cup, Pragg booked a spot in the Candidates event in 2024 to determine the challenger to Ding Liren. <br /><br /> The top three finishers in the tournament qualify for the Candidates event in 2024 to determine the challenger to current world champion Liren of China.

World Cup chess: Praggnanandhaa shocks Caruana, meets Carlsen in final

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Warning: Spoilers ahead for <keyword id="128682" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Netflix">Netflix</keyword>'s "<keyword id="10217071" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="the-queens-gambit">The Queen's Gambit</keyword>."</li><li>"The Queen's Gambit" has inspired a surge of interest in <keyword id="6362158" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="chess">chess</keyword> around the globe and draws parallels to real life.</li><li>The final episode of the hit series shows fictional chess prodigy Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) facing off against her Soviet rival in 1968.</li><li>The scene echoes US chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer's 1972 "Match of the Century" against the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky. </li><li>Both matches highlight <keyword id="24525" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="cold-war">Cold War</keyword> tensions between the US and Soviet Union.</li></ul><p>In the final episode of The Queen's Gambit, chess prodigy Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) realizes her dream of traveling to Moscow to play Soviet rival Vasily Borgov (Marcin Dorociński). The year is 1968.</p><p>After a tense match lasting several days, Harmon finally outmanuevers Borgov and receives a standing ovation. </p><p>"The president has invited you to the Oval Office," Harmon's bodyguard tells her in the car ride to the airport following her win. "It's a big deal, beating the Soviets at their own game."</p><p>While Netflix's hit miniseries, adapted from Walter Tevis' 1983 novel of the same name, is fictional, it draws parallels to real life.</p><p>Just like in "The Queen's Gambit," chess became a stage for Cold War tensions between the <keyword id="6356955" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="united-states">United States</keyword> and Soviet Union.</p><p>On July 11, 1972, eight-time US chess champion Bobby Fischer faced off against Russian player and reigning World Chess Champion Boris Spassky in what became known as the "Match of the Century." For <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2013/sep/02/fischer-spassky-world-chess-championships-1972">24 years prior</a>, Russians held the World Championship title.</p><p>The match took place in Reykjavik, Iceland. </p><p>Its significance beyond the chess world became evident when National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1972/07/18/archives/kissinger-phone-call-to-fischer-disclosed.html">called Fischer on July 17</a> to persuade him to continue the match, Dominic Lawson, president of the English Chess Federation, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32542306">wrote for BBC magazine</a> in 2015.</p><p>Fischer had previously <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1972/07/13/archives/fischer-walks-out-comes-back-loses-fischer-walks-out-comes-back.html">threatened to abandon</a> the championship.</p><p>"That 1972 match in Reykjavik highlighted as nothing else the role of chess in a different sort of conflict -  the Cold War. For the Soviet Union, supremacy at the chess board was a demonstration - as its rulers saw it - of the superiority of their socialist system over the Western capitalist one," Lawson said.</p><p>"Everyone spoke of a duel between east and west, and that's what it was," the game's referee, Lothar Schmid, <a href="https://www.thelocal.de/20120711/43669">told</a> The Local in 2012 in honor of the 40th anniversary of the game.</p><p>The match went on for months and spanned 21 games. Finally, on September 1, Fischer <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1972/09/03/archives/fischer-celebrates-winning-of-crown-by-playing-chess-fischer.html">won</a>.</p><div type="image" title="Match of the Century 1972 - Chess - Iceland" height="1798" width="2397" msid="79848419" hostid="261"></div><p>In a column for the New York Times, chess expert Dylan Loeb McClain <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/arts/television/chess-queens-gambit.html">pointed out</a> similarities between the character of Beth Harmon and Bobby Fischer, among them the fact that they grew up with little, became the youngest ever US chess champions, and studied Russian in order to learn from and best their Soviet rivals.</p><p>Tevis, in his <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=i2hsDwAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT5&amp;source=gbs_selected_pages&amp;cad=3#v=onepage&amp;q=spassky&amp;f=false=spassky&amp;f=false">author's note</a> for "The Queen's Gambit," acknowledged that Fischer was an inspiration for the book.</p><p>While the two characters are similar, Harmon does not share Fischer's notoriously eccentric personality.</p><p>In the years leading up to 1972, "Fischer was labelled an insufferable diva and a psych-out artist who made life hell for tournament officials and tried to rattle opponents by complaining about, among other things, high-frequency sounds that only he and several species of mammals could detect," Rene Chun <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/12/bobby-fischer-s-pathetic-endgame/302634/">wrote</a> for the Atlantic in 2002.</p><p>Following the 1972 match, the fame and press attention Fischer received led him to withdraw into a "weird, contrarian solitude he maintained more or less for the rest of his life," the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/19/crosswords/chess/19fischer.html">New York Times reported upon his death in 2008</a>.</p><p>As time went on, he devolved into paranoia and increasingly expressed anti-American sentiments. In a Philippine broadcast interview recorded on September 11, 2001, Fischer accused the US of using him as Cold War pawn.</p><p>"When I won the world championship in 1972, the United States had an image of, you know, a football country, a baseball country, but nobody thought of it as an intellectual country,"  he said, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/12/bobby-fischer-s-pathetic-endgame/302634/">per the Atlantic</a>. "[...] I was useful then because there was the Cold War, right? But now I'm not useful anymore. You see, the Cold War is over and now they want to wipe me out, steal everything I have, and put me in prison."</p><p>Fischer died in Iceland, where he was <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2004-12-17-0412180139-story.html">offered asylum</a> in 2004 after violating international sanctions to play a chess match in Yugoslavia. </p><p>Being a book adaptation, "The Queen's Gambit" was produced as a limited series; however, given the show's popularity some have <a href="https://www.radiotimes.com/news/on-demand/2020-11-12/the-queens-gambit-season-two-release-date-netflix/">speculated</a> about the possibility of a second season. </p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/surprising-dramatic-history-of-chess-chaturanga-the-queens-gambit-netflix-2020-12">The dramatic history of chess, from attempts to ban the game to the rise of supercomputers</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/meaning-behind-queens-gambits-mesmerizing-outfits-fashion-evolution-2020-12">The hidden meaning behind 12 of 'The Queen's Gambit's' most iconic outfits</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/the-crown-netflix-true-story-princess-diana-1983-australia-tour-2020-11">Photos show the true story behind Princess Diana's famous Australia tour featured on 'The Crown'</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/the-crown-true-story-avalanche-prince-charles-princess-diana-marriage-2020-12">The true story behind the fatal avalanche on 'The Crown' that was a turning point for Charles and Diana's marriage</a></li></ul>

The true story behind the US-Soviet Union chess rivalry in 'The Queen's Gambit'

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Alina L'Ami</span></p><p class="caption">World number there Fabiano Caruana.</p></div><p></p></div></div>The <a href="http://grandchesstour.org/2017-grand-chess-tour/sinquefield_cup">Sinqufield Cup</a> is underway at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis, and once again, the world's most elite players have turned out to battle for the prize. The Cup is a stop on the Grand Chess Tour, which also includes tournaments in Paris and London and is intended to function as a sort of counterpoint to the World Chess Championship.</p><p>The WCC has been won the last three times by Norway's Magnus Carlsen, who is once again the field at the Sinquefield Cup. In his first game, he's facing down American Fabiano Caruana, currently the number three player in the world - and the number two in the US, behind Wesley So.</p><p>The Sinquefield Cup is an event with some major positive memories for Caruana, who used to play for Italy but switched his affiliation to the US in 2015. The 25 year old was born in Miami and grew up in New York City. Since he burst onto the big-time chess scene in 2007 and became at that time the youngest American Grandmaster in history.</p><p>In 2014 at the Cup, Caruana won in dominating fashion, almost running the table against a field that included Carlsen and former WCC Viswanathan Anand. The performance was compared with some of Bobby Fischer's, and Caruana immediately looked as if he were headed toward a showdown with Carlsen for the WCC (Caruana has beaten Carlsen five times). </p><p>At the 2016 Candidates Tournament to choose Carlsen challenger, however, Caruana narrowly missed his chance, losing with black against Sergey Karjakin of Russia, who would go the distance against Carlsen in New York last year, taking the WCC to tiebreaker games before losing.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Maria Emelianova</span></p><p class="caption">Carlsen and challenger Sergey Karajakin at the 2016 WCC.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Caruana spoke to me before the Sinqufield Cup kicked off and reflected on the Candidates defeat. His feeling was that he wasn't properly prepared, and that if can return to the WCC cycle for the 2018 title, he'll be better equipped to go the distance.</p><p>He certainly isn't intimidated by Carlsen, also he was a bit disappointed by his 2017 play. He wasn't able to win, for example, the US Chess Championship, a title he nabbed in 2016 for the first time against an exceptionally strong field.</p><p>For his first match in St. Louis, Carlsen found himself in the enviable position of taking on Carlsen with the white pieces, a good opportunity to play for a win.</p><p>But he can't ignore his American competition. Both So and Hikaru Nakamura, world number seven, are in St. Louis. Caruna is even with So in their games, but Nakamura hold a one-win advantage.</p><p>Ultimately, the Cup will help Caruana establish a pace for the remainder of 2017, heading into another grueling march to sit opposite Carlsen at the WCC board. </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-a-computer-is-thinking-when-it-plays-chess-against-you-2016-10">Here's what a computer is thinking when it plays chess against you</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="trZHExNDE60TGyYqLF8DK2nSDPHiUBWZ" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

America's best hope for a World Chess Champion is returning to the tournament that marked his most epic victory

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Sam Sevian is 14 years old, but also one of the youngest chess Grandmasters in the world - and the youngest GM in US history.</p><p>He's playing in his first US Chess Championship - and he just took out Wesley So, the number 8 ranked player <em>on the planet! </em><em><br /></em></p><p>That's right, a kid who can't even drive has taken down a Super-GM, rated 2788 (Sevian is 2531, just slightly above the GM threshold).</p><p>Wesley So is supposed to be a challenger to Magnus Carlsen, the current World Chess Champion. The number-two US player isn't supposed to be losing in the third round to a youngster who just became a GM.</p><p>But this is chess these days. In the era of computer analysis, with players about to study thousands of games and hundreds of variations, GMs are younger and <em>better </em>than ever before. </p><p>Hey, this was a risk that the two top US players, Hikaru Nakamura (number 3 in the world) and So (number 8 in the world) were taking by playing the US Chess Championship. The field is full of young players who are rated well below the Super-GM level, defined as being rated 2700 and above.</p><p>It was a brilliant win for Sevian - his first showdown with a top player, playing with the black pieces, which was a huge disadvantage. Basically, So committed a blunder as his clock was running down - after being in a relatively solid position for much of the game.</p><p>Only three rounds into the the US Chess Championship and it's already getting wild and crazy!</p><p>This was the final position. With that powerful rook check and Sevian holding a bishop and a pair of knights, it was inevitable that So would get checkmated, so he resigned.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-disney-wearable-magicband-tech-money-2015-4">Forget Apple and Google, Disney has already mastered wearable tech</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="B5OGhidDrKhSNwFxMvFrrninPNiFNEKX" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

A 14-year-old just beat one of the best players in the world at the US Chess Championship

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Irina Krush win her seventh US Chess Championship the past weekend in St. Louis. In doing so, she notched her fourth consecutive US title and became without question the best American woman player of her generation and, really, in history.</p><p>It didn't come easy for Krush. Although she was the only Grandmaster in the women's side of the 12-player, 11-round tournament, she slipped back in the standings early and had to win four games in a row to set up a opportunity to snag the title with a draw in her final game (with the white pieces) against Katerina Nemcova.</p><p>In retrospect, however, Krush's win was easier than her victory last year, when she defended her title in tie-breaker rounds.</p><p>This year, her run began with a decisive win over Annie Wang, the youngest player in the field at age 12. Wang became a Master at age 11, a pretty stunning achievement. Her presence in the US Championship was extra-special for me because she's from Southern California - where my I and my family used to live - and has worked with worked with an organization there called Beyond Chess that my son, James, has also spent some time with.</p><p>But she was no match for Krush, who won her first US Championship when she was 14, making her the youngest woman winner ever. Krush commented that she'd like to keep on competing, perhaps challenging the record of Gisela Gresser, a 9-time champion, with titles in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. </p><p>Interestingly, while there are many more male GMs and highly ranked male players, we now have plenty of women in the game - and no reason why over time women and men couldn't more frequently play each other at the top levels. In some tournaments, they already do (Krush's GM title, by the way, is the equivalent of a man's - she isn't a "Woman Grandmaster" of WGM, due her high rating, and its worth noting that the GM title has been gender-neutral for decades).</p><p>Krush's comment about Gresser was classy and demonstrated the Ukranian-born GM's grasp of chess history (she came to the US when she was 4 and now hails from Brooklyn). Of course, women's chess in Krush era is a lot more demanding that when Gresser played - the talent pool is deeper, players start a lot younger, the coaching is more intense, and computer analysis enables players to far more deeply prepared than in the past. </p><p>For Krush, now 31, the obvious question is, "Can she contend for the World Championship crown?" That title is currently held by <span> </span>Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine, although she captured it through a "knock-out" tournament format that saw the previous World Champ, Hou Yifan of China, decline to play.</p><p>Krush is in the top 30 in the world, but although women's chess has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade, there isn't as well-established a global circuit for female players as there is for men. Krush is known for her contributions to U.S. international team titles, but her ranking is also significantly below that of the women in the world top 10.</p><p>In the US Championship, held at the stupendous Chess Club &amp; Scholastic Center of St. Louis, Krush stumbled early, with a loss to Nazi Paikidze, a 21-year-old who ended up in second-place tie (Paikidze is from for former Soviet republic of Georgia and only switched her affiliation recently when she came to US to play for the powerhouse chess team at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County). </p><p>I won't go through the entire game, just show the final position. There wasn't much Krush could do about that phalanx of white pawns marching down the center of the board - especially given that her black rook on a6 is unable to move across the 6th rank:</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Obviously, Krush cut a swath through much of the rest of the field, but she did get outmaneuvered by Paikidze, something that doesn't fit Krush's style, which is to play powerful chess, exerting strategic dominance over her opponents while looking for tactical possibilities.</p><p>She might have missed her longtime rival, Anna <span>Zatonskih, but she won the tournament by a full point (8.5/11), vindicated her ranking and position in the field as the favorite, and bolstered her legend.</span></p><p><span>But don't think she's some kind of scary juggernaut. Although she's intimidating, she has a shaggy, slightly punk edge, a pile of not-always-too-carefully arranged hair spilling everywhere and a fashion sense that suggests a Sleater-Kinney groupie more than a Chess Life cover girl (which doesn't mean she can't pull off a dress with aplomb - see below). She is, in a word, cool.</span></p><p><span>And with her win in St. Louis, she's the best female American chess player we've even seen.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><br /></span></p><p> </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-sex-happy-couples-have-every-month-relationships-science-2015-3">Here's how much sex happy couples have every month</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="kzam9yczoRday4iMwxqmAYMJtrg2etNb" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

This woman just became the greatest American female chess player in history

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div>There are approximately 3 million to 5 million "gifted" students in the US, according to the <a href="http://www.nagc.org/">National Association for Gifted Children</a>.</p><p>Since these students are identified as exceptional learners from a young age, the label often becomes a part of their identity.</p><p>An accelerated <keyword id="6355445" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Education">education</keyword> may set them on the path to a great college and career, but the expectations attached may also become a burden.</p><p>In the Reddit thread <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1dq7en/redditors_who_were_labelled_as_gifted_children_do/">"Redditors who were labeled as 'gifted' children, do you think the label helped you, or harmed you?"</a>, the conversation became an outlet for examples of the latter.</p><p>We gathered the top reasons why it can be horrible to grow up gifted.</p><h3>1. From an early age, you believe it's you against the world.</h3><p>"You're suddenly looking around at the world and realizing that you're supposed to have some crazy work ethic at everything because YOU'RE gifted and THEY aren't. More is expected of YOU than THEM because of the big giant brain that YOU were given that THEY weren't.</p><p>"See a pattern there? There's this exclusivity complex there where it's an 'Us vs. Them' mentality." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/ReptarIsTheShit">RaptarIsTheSh**</a></p><h3>2. You develop a superiority complex.</h3><p>"When you've been told all your life that you're the smartest person in the room, you don't take orders from others very well, especially those who you don't find very bright (which, sadly, is most people)." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/ReptarIsTheShit">RaptarIsTheSh**</a></p><h3>3. You become abrasive.</h3><p>"Harmed me. Made me an arrogant self-righteous prick, because I was taught for years that my classmates and I were smarter than all the rest of the school. I'm still trying to undo all that." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/McHaven">McHaven</a></p><h3>4. You develop inflated expectations.</h3><p>"Being labeled as gifted caused my parents to have inflated expectations of me, which I will never meet. I am quite happy with an undergraduate degree and career in business. My parents think I should be curing cancer while working on my 4th PhD." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/InspectorVII">Inspector VII</a></p><h3>5. You put too much pressure on yourself.</h3><p>"School has always been the biggest trigger for my anxiety because I'm afraid of not doing well enough, and I never cut myself any slack. I also have other mental illness issues, and my preoccupation with marks expanded into believing my parents won't love me if I don't get the grades I think I should. The pressure comes entirely from within. They have always said as long as I try they will be proud, but I stress myself out anyway." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/GorramDoctor">Goram Doctor</a></p><h3>6. Your competitiveness harms friendships.</h3><p>"Even my best friends in school were also my fiercest competitors. You had to put school completely aside if you wanted to hang out, because you'd end up hating each other otherwise." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/indifferentwindmill">i</a><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/indifferentwindmill">ndifferentwindmill</a></p><h3>7. Your parents can be overbearing.</h3><p>"My brother and sister were praised for mediocrity, getting extra allowance or other such gifts when they got Bs and Cs. If I brought back anything but top grades I didn't get such treatment. I always thought it was stupid and unfair." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/shh_Im_a_Moose">shh_Im_a_Moose</a></p><p class="float_right"><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left"><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></p><h3>8. Everyone expects more of you.</h3><p>"I've had a genius-level IQ my whole life, and it's caused my parents (mother in particular) to believe that I should be able to go whole semesters without ever getting a single exam question wrong. Every time I try to explain that that isn't how intelligence works, I get told 'that's just an excuse, you're smart.' Genius does not equal perfection." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/JBtheBadguy">JBtheBadguy</a></p><h3>9. You're always trying to get approval.</h3><p>"I think the worst is the constant need for other people's approval, and basing my entire self-worth on what others think. It's led to tons of anxiety, because I can never fail at anything, or let other people down. It's led to a bunch of self-destructive behaviors, where I'll do things that I hate or that harm myself, just to please other people and gain their approval." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/BCSteve">BCSteve</a></p><h3>10. You're terrified of failure.</h3><p>"The ease at which I excelled when I was younger made it hard when I DID struggle, as I was terrified of disappointing everyone. I still suffer from severe anxiety because, frankly, I never learned to fail. And I think that's an important lesson for people to learn." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/CheezIt624">Cheezit624</a></p><h3>11. Others are jealous of you.</h3><p>"I was always an overachiever, despite being told I was extra smarties, until I got to high school and I suddenly started caring what everyone else thought. In elementary school I got perfect grades. In high school, I stopped trying so damn hard, because everyone hated the kid with the perfect grades. I remember taking a bio test once, I think that was the swing point, where the closest grade to mine was a 78%, and I got a 96%, and everyone hated me." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/Justice_Man">Justice_Man</a></p><h3>12. You may be bullied.</h3><p>"Precocious + bullied, that was probably the formula that made people think I needed the label, really. Adults, rather than dealing with said bullies, just reassured me I was special and that they'd be 'bagging your groceries,' etc. Ironically I only stopped waiting tables and working in supermarkets about two years ago." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/TM3Sb">TM3Sb</a></p><h3>13. It's hard to stay positive.</h3><p>"I found the hardest part of the expectations was staying positive. Top of the line grades were expected. If you got the best grades, you were doing what you were supposed to do. If you got less than stellar grades, you obviously just weren't applying yourself. It's hard to be positive when the only reactions are neutral and negative." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/Griddleman">Griddleman</a></p><h3>14. It's easy to feel isolated.</h3><p>"The idea that I was smarter than everybody meant that I only trusted myself, listened to no one and would only accept advice when it made sense to me. I mostly used my gifted brain to do as little work as possible and I developed bad habits. I believed that I did not need to do well in school ... because I could make up for it later." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/-sasnak-">-sasnak-</a></p><h3>15. If you're not challenged, you become lazy.</h3><p>"It would of been nice if they had separated us somehow so school was actually challenging, but once everyone in my life was telling me that I was brilliant rather than just my parents, I never did any work or paid attention in classes. ... If I had some work ethic in school I think my life would have turned out loads differently. But as it was, because they knew I was so bright, I never had to do anything." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/kvellarcanum">kvellarcanum</a></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></p><h3>16. There comes a point where you can't coast any longer.</h3><p>"I excelled in grade school without having to put in any effort. I would show up to finals, asking which exam we were taking that day, and get top scores. I never learned how to do homework or maintain any sort of work ethic, but I became very skilled at coasting through courses and bulls---ting on essay questions (writing what I speculated the teacher wanted to hear, and not something with actual substance). Once I hit university I couldn't get away with not doing any work anymore, so I hit a wall that I'm still trying to overcome." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/Gifos">Gifos</a></p><h3>17. You develop a false sense of security.</h3><p>"I was always put in 'gifted' programs up until grade six. While I learned a lot in those sessions that I would not have had the privilege to otherwise learn, I feel now it lulled me into a false sense of security of my perceived capabilities, and began to coast in school. It eventually caught up to me, and I still kick myself over letting myself get complacent." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/Coastty">Coastty</a></p><h3>18. Weaknesses become uncomfortably apparent.</h3><p>"It put a lot of expectations on myself and made the things I was (and still am) weak at a huge deal. For example, I can't spell or punctuate correctly even now." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/ByronicHero56">ByronicHero56</a></p><h3>19. It's hard to ditch the label as you grow older.</h3><p>"I often feel like a huge failure and I can't look at my transcript without crying. I still consider myself extremely intelligent and capable but I can't push myself to do the work required to make straight A's. Overall it's forced me to set an unreasonably high standard for myself. I have considered myself in a three-year slump (I'm a junior in high school now), but I'm starting to accept that I'm just a B student." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/Blooopimafish">Blooopimafish</a></p><h3>20. You aren't necessarily "better" than anyone else.</h3><p>"It harmed me in the sense that it made me think I was special when I wasn't. I was considered 'gifted' in my small high school in my small hometown, but out in the rest of the world, I'm average at best." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">-</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/jamiesugah">jamiesugah</a></p><p><em>This is an update of an article originally written by Mariana Simoes and Aimee Groth.</em></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/game-of-thrones-economics-2015-3">'Game of Thrones': The Iron Throne is a terrible investment</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="tvNncydDrkw0Adz4yS0Vsg8DPK1cte-i" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

You Searched For "youngest grandmaster" and got 11 results

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