Latest news with #ChessableMasters
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Magnus Carlsen shows how Saudi Arabia gobbles up global sports stars
In February, Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen extended his reign over the online chess world when he defeated longtime rival Hikaru Nakamura in back-to-back matches to retain his Chessable Masters title. The tournament kicked off this year's Champions Tour, a circuit Carlsen has dominated since its launch in 2020. But now, the stakes were even higher: the tour doubles as a qualifier for the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the winner of the chess section of the tournament will take home $250,000 for three days' work. The chess tournament is part of the broader Esports World Cup, a seven-week spectacle that began on 8 July and stretches into late August. This is only the second edition of the World Cup but with more than 2,000 participating players, 25 different events and a record-breaking $70m total prize pool, it is the largest and most ambitious event of its kind. Chess is set to make its debut at this year's edition. The sport has captured a massive new audience in recent years, fueled by charismatic YouTube personalities, platforms like Netflix hit drama The Queen's Gambit, and a pandemic that imposed agonizing periods of isolation. Amid this online resurgence, the centuries-old game of intellectual prowess has remerged as a digital-era sensation. Keen to capitalize on chess's popularity, Saudi Arabia enlisted Carlsen as the global ambassador for the Esports World Cup. Along with Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlsen is expected to lend his name and fanbase to the event in the hopes of luring new fans to the Saudi-bankrolled tournament. That public relations campaign seemingly kicked off on the opening day of the world cup, when Carlsen issued a friendly challenge to play a chess match against Ronaldo. 'I personally don't know what Ronaldo has done on the chess chessboard, but what he has done in his life, in his football career, is extremely impressive. So, I would certainly be very honored if I could, you know, meet him or play chess while I'm here,' Carlsen told reporters. Carlsen's decision to peddle Saudi PR came as a bit of a surprise given his limited engagement with the kingdom in the past. He won the 2017 world championships (in rapid and blitz chess) in Riyadh, a tournament that was boycotted by his top female counterpart from Ukraine because of Saudi Arabia's discrimination against women. The closest Carlsen came to criticizing the kingdom at the time was over the refusal to grant visas to Israeli players. 'I hope that if [the rapid and blitz championships] are arranged here several times, that everyone can participate,' Carlsen told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. Carlsen is not known for taking strong stances on human rights issues. On 21 March 2019 – the UN's international day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – Carlsen and former chess champion Anish Giri launched the #MoveForEquality campaign to tackle the issue through a symbolic chess match where black moved first instead of white, breaking a longstanding chess rule. However, while Carlsen has largely steered clear of human rights debates, his decision to partner with Saudi Arabia underscores how few sports stars can resist the kingdom's growing influence … or its deep pockets. Though Carlsen's deal is technically with the Esports World Cup, the event is entirely owned by Saudi's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and is part of the kingdom's broader power plays across sports. Over the past nine years, the kingdom has invested unprecedented sums across a wide range of sports as part of an overarching soft power strategy aimed to rebrand Saudi Arabia as a global hub for sports, tourism and entertainment. The vast majority of these investments – including Saudi's foray into boxing, its purchase of English Premier League club Newcastle United, and its securing of the hosting rights for the 2034 World Cup, have been facilitated by the PIF, which is chaired by Saudi's crown prince (and de facto ruler) Mohammed bin Salman – reportedly an avid gamer himself. Carlsen now joins other renowned athletes like Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal, and Lionel Messi as well-paid pitchmen for the Saudi regime. In 2023, I broke a story for the New York Times which revealed the details of Lionel Messi's partnership with Saudi Arabia's tourism authority – a deal valued at $25m over three years, including publicized vacations in Saudi with his family, as well as a series of promotional material and regular social media posts. However, the real revelation was that Messi's contract also included a non-negotiable condition for Saudi officials: Messi cannot say anything that might 'tarnish' Saudi Arabia's image. It is possible, if not likely, that a similar clause is included in Saudi's agreements with each of its ambassadors, including Carlsen. It is a strategy that allows the kingdom to reap the promotional benefits of being associated with some of the world's most beloved athletes while maintaining full control of the narrative being presented, under penalty of litigation. Nevertheless, Carlsen's willingness to cooperate with Saudi Arabia is not surprising. The kingdom's vast investments in sports and entertainment, backed by its seemingly limitless resources, have helped normalize its image, making it more palpable to previously hesitant audiences. Even Saudi Arabia's increasing human rights abuses, from quashing dissent to record-breaking execution rates, have had little impact on those eager to participate in the Saudi gold rush. This including the burgeoning world of esports and gaming. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Over the past few years, Savvy Games Group, a company owned by the PIF, has acquired a large portion of the global esports industry. Aside from holding shares in Nintendo, Electronic Arts, and Activision, Savvy acquired mobile game developer Copley for $4.9bn, which later went on to acquire Niantic, the games business behind Pokémon Go. Saudi Arabia is also building Qiddiya City, a dedicated district that will house regional esports headquarters, clubs, and arenas. It is an exceptional level of investment that makes Saudi impossible to ignore as the major player in the global esports market. And though it would be easy to write off the kingdom's efforts as sportswashing – a term that describes efforts to use sports as a distraction from ongoing human rights abuses – I would argue that the term offers an overly simplistic understanding of the kingdom's aims. It is a multi-pronged strategy that is part foreign policy, part domestic socialization project, a strategy of pacifying the public with entertainment and material goods. With more than two-thirds of Saudi Arabia's population under the age of 35 – a significant number of whom are gamers – the kingdom's heavy investment in gaming has only enhanced bin Salman's popularity among young Saudis, which further stabilizes his regime. As for Carlsen, his role as an ambassador for one of Saudi's spectacles underscores the kingdom's ability to lure almost any athlete across sports and entertainment. Along with the likes of Messi, Ronaldo and Nadal, Carlsen is merely the latest star mobilized to help legitimize Saudi Arabia as a global destination for sports and soften its controversial image among fans. And with every star who signs on, the regime's image gleams just a little bit brighter.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Magnus Carlsen shows how Saudi Arabia gobbles up global sports stars
In February, Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen extended his reign over the online chess world when he defeated longtime rival Hikaru Nakamura in back-to-back matches to retain his Chessable Masters title. The tournament kicked off this year's Champions Tour, a circuit Carlsen has dominated since its launch in 2020. But now, the stakes were even higher: the tour doubles as a qualifier for the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the winner of the chess section of the tournament will take home $250,000 for three days' work. The chess tournament is part of the broader Esports World Cup, a seven-week spectacle that began on 8 July and stretches into late August. This is only the second edition of the World Cup but with more than 2,000 participating players, 25 different events and a record-breaking $70m total prize pool, it is the largest and most ambitious event of its kind. Related: Magnus Carlsen v The World: chess champion's 46-day match ends in draw Chess is set to make its debut at this year's edition. The sport has captured a massive new audience in recent years, fueled by charismatic YouTube personalities, platforms like Netflix hit drama The Queen's Gambit, and a pandemic that imposed agonizing periods of isolation. Amid this online resurgence, the centuries-old game of intellectual prowess has remerged as a digital-era sensation. Keen to capitalize on chess's popularity, Saudi Arabia enlisted Carlsen as the global ambassador for the Esports World Cup. Along with Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlsen is expected to lend his name and fanbase to the event in the hopes of luring new fans to the Saudi-bankrolled tournament. That public relations campaign seemingly kicked off on the opening day of the world cup, when Carlsen issued a friendly challenge to play a chess match against Ronaldo. 'I personally don't know what Ronaldo has done on the chess chessboard, but what he has done in his life, in his football career, is extremely impressive. So, I would certainly be very honored if I could, you know, meet him or play chess while I'm here,' Carlsen told reporters. Carlsen's decision to peddle Saudi PR came as a bit of a surprise given his limited engagement with the kingdom in the past. He won the 2017 world championships (in rapid and blitz chess) in Riyadh, a tournament that was boycotted by his top female counterpart from Ukraine because of Saudi Arabia's discrimination against women. The closest Carlsen came to criticizing the kingdom at the time was over the refusal to grant visas to Israeli players. 'I hope that if [the rapid and blitz championships] are arranged here several times, that everyone can participate,' Carlsen told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. Carlsen is not known for taking strong stances on human rights issues. On 21 March 2019 – the UN's international day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – Carlsen and former chess champion Anish Giri launched the #MoveForEquality campaign to tackle the issue through a symbolic chess match where black moved first instead of white, breaking a longstanding chess rule. However, while Carlsen has largely steered clear of human rights debates, his decision to partner with Saudi Arabia underscores how few sports stars can resist the kingdom's growing influence … or its deep pockets. Though Carlsen's deal is technically with the Esports World Cup, the event is entirely owned by Saudi's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and is part of the kingdom's broader power plays across sports. Over the past nine years, the kingdom has invested unprecedented sums across a wide range of sports as part of an overarching soft power strategy aimed to rebrand Saudi Arabia as a global hub for sports, tourism and entertainment. The vast majority of these investments – including Saudi's foray into boxing, its purchase of English Premier League club Newcastle United, and its securing of the hosting rights for the 2034 World Cup, have been facilitated by the PIF, which is chaired by Saudi's crown prince (and de facto ruler) Mohammed bin Salman – reportedly an avid gamer himself. Carlsen now joins other renowned athletes like Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal, and Lionel Messi as well-paid pitchmen for the Saudi regime. In 2023, I broke a story for the New York Times which revealed the details of Lionel Messi's partnership with Saudi Arabia's tourism authority – a deal valued at $25m over three years, including publicized vacations in Saudi with his family, as well as a series of promotional material and regular social media posts. However, the real revelation was that Messi's contract also included a non-negotiable condition for Saudi officials: Messi cannot say anything that might 'tarnish' Saudi Arabia's image. It is possible, if not likely, that a similar clause is included in Saudi's agreements with each of its ambassadors, including Carlsen. It is a strategy that allows the kingdom to reap the promotional benefits of being associated with some of the world's most beloved athletes while maintaining full control of the narrative being presented, under penalty of litigation. Nevertheless, Carlsen's willingness to cooperate with Saudi Arabia is not surprising. The kingdom's vast investments in sports and entertainment, backed by its seemingly limitless resources, have helped normalize its image, making it more palpable to previously hesitant audiences. Even Saudi Arabia's increasing human rights abuses, from quashing dissent to record-breaking execution rates, have had little impact on those eager to participate in the Saudi gold rush. This including the burgeoning world of esports and gaming. Over the past few years, Savvy Games Group, a company owned by the PIF, has acquired a large portion of the global esports industry. Aside from holding shares in Nintendo, Electronic Arts, and Activision, Savvy acquired mobile game developer Copley for $4.9bn, which later went on to acquire Niantic, the games business behind Pokémon Go. Saudi Arabia is also building Qiddiya City, a dedicated district that will house regional esports headquarters, clubs, and arenas. It is an exceptional level of investment that makes Saudi impossible to ignore as the major player in the global esports market. And though it would be easy to write off the kingdom's efforts as sportswashing – a term that describes efforts to use sports as a distraction from ongoing human rights abuses – I would argue that the term offers an overly simplistic understanding of the kingdom's aims. It is a multi-pronged strategy that is part foreign policy, part domestic socialization project, a strategy of pacifying the public with entertainment and material goods. With more than two-thirds of Saudi Arabia's population under the age of 35 – a significant number of whom are gamers – the kingdom's heavy investment in gaming has only enhanced bin Salman's popularity among young Saudis, which further stabilizes his regime. As for Carlsen, his role as an ambassador for one of Saudi's spectacles underscores the kingdom's ability to lure almost any athlete across sports and entertainment. Along with the likes of Messi, Ronaldo and Nadal, Carlsen is merely the latest star mobilized to help legitimize Saudi Arabia as a global destination for sports and soften its controversial image among fans. And with every star who signs on, the regime's image gleams just a little bit brighter.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Magnus Carlsen shows how Saudi Arabia gobbles up global sports stars
In February, Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen extended his reign over the online chess world when he defeated longtime rival Hikaru Nakamura in back-to-back matches to retain his Chessable Masters title. The tournament kicked off this year's Champions Tour, a circuit Carlsen has dominated since its launch in 2020. But now, the stakes were even higher: the tour doubles as a qualifier for the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the winner of the chess section of the tournament will take home $250,000 for three days' work. The chess tournament is part of the broader Esports World Cup, a seven-week spectacle that began on 8 July and stretches into late August. This is only the second edition of the World Cup but with more than 2,000 participating players, 25 different events and a record-breaking $70m total prize pool, it is the largest and most ambitious event of its kind. Chess is set to make its debut at this year's edition. The sport has captured a massive new audience in recent years, fueled by charismatic YouTube personalities, platforms like Netflix hit drama The Queen's Gambit, and a pandemic that imposed agonizing periods of isolation. Amid this online resurgence, the centuries-old game of intellectual prowess has remerged as a digital-era sensation. Keen to capitalize on chess's popularity, Saudi Arabia enlisted Carlsen as the global ambassador for the Esports World Cup. Along with Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlsen is expected to lend his name and fanbase to the event in the hopes of luring new fans to the Saudi-bankrolled tournament. That public relations campaign seemingly kicked off on the opening day of the world cup, when Carlsen issued a friendly challenge to play a chess match against Ronaldo. 'I personally don't know what Ronaldo has done on the chess chessboard, but what he has done in his life, in his football career, is extremely impressive. So, I would certainly be very honored if I could, you know, meet him or play chess while I'm here,' Carlsen told reporters. Carlsen's decision to peddle Saudi PR came as a bit of a surprise given his limited engagement with the kingdom in the past. He won the 2017 world championships (in rapid and blitz chess) in Riyadh, a tournament that was boycotted by his top female counterpart from Ukraine because of Saudi Arabia's discrimination against women. The closest Carlsen came to criticizing the kingdom at the time was over the refusal to grant visas to Israeli players. 'I hope that if [the rapid and blitz championships] are arranged here several times, that everyone can participate,' Carlsen told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. Carlsen is not known for taking strong stances on human rights issues. On 21 March 2019 – the UN's international day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – Carlsen and former chess champion Anish Giri launched the #MoveForEquality campaign to tackle the issue through a symbolic chess match where black moved first instead of white, breaking a longstanding chess rule. However, while Carlsen has largely steered clear of human rights debates, his decision to partner with Saudi Arabia underscores how few sports stars can resist the kingdom's growing influence … or its deep pockets. Though Carlsen's deal is technically with the Esports World Cup, the event is entirely owned by Saudi's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and is part of the kingdom's broader power plays across sports. Over the past nine years, the kingdom has invested unprecedented sums across a wide range of sports as part of an overarching soft power strategy aimed to rebrand Saudi Arabia as a global hub for sports, tourism and entertainment. The vast majority of these investments – including Saudi's foray into boxing, its purchase of English Premier League club Newcastle United, and its securing of the hosting rights for the 2034 World Cup, have been facilitated by the PIF, which is chaired by Saudi's crown prince (and de facto ruler) Mohammed bin Salman – reportedly an avid gamer himself. Carlsen now joins other renowned athletes like Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal, and Lionel Messi as well-paid pitchmen for the Saudi regime. In 2023, I broke a story for the New York Times which revealed the details of Lionel Messi's partnership with Saudi Arabia's tourism authority – a deal valued at $25m over three years, including publicized vacations in Saudi with his family, as well as a series of promotional material and regular social media posts. However, the real revelation was that Messi's contract also included a non-negotiable condition for Saudi officials: Messi cannot say anything that might 'tarnish' Saudi Arabia's image. It is possible, if not likely, that a similar clause is included in Saudi's agreements with each of its ambassadors, including Carlsen. It is a strategy that allows the kingdom to reap the promotional benefits of being associated with some of the world's most beloved athletes while maintaining full control of the narrative being presented, under penalty of litigation. Nevertheless, Carlsen's willingness to cooperate with Saudi Arabia is not surprising. The kingdom's vast investments in sports and entertainment, backed by its seemingly limitless resources, have helped normalize its image, making it more palpable to previously hesitant audiences. Even Saudi Arabia's increasing human rights abuses, from quashing dissent to record-breaking execution rates, have had little impact on those eager to participate in the Saudi gold rush. This including the burgeoning world of esports and gaming. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Over the past few years, Savvy Games Group, a company owned by the PIF, has acquired a large portion of the global esports industry. Aside from holding shares in Nintendo, Electronic Arts, and Activision, Savvy acquired mobile game developer Copley for $4.9bn, which later went on to acquire Niantic, the games business behind Pokémon Go. Saudi Arabia is also building Qiddiya City, a dedicated district that will house regional esports headquarters, clubs, and arenas. It is an exceptional level of investment that makes Saudi impossible to ignore as the major player in the global esports market. And though it would be easy to write off the kingdom's efforts as sportswashing – a term that describes efforts to use sports as a distraction from ongoing human rights abuses – I would argue that the term offers an overly simplistic understanding of the kingdom's aims. It is a multi-pronged strategy that is part foreign policy, part domestic socialization project, a strategy of pacifying the public with entertainment and material goods. With more than two-thirds of Saudi Arabia's population under the age of 35 – a significant number of whom are gamers – the kingdom's heavy investment in gaming has only enhanced bin Salman's popularity among young Saudis, which further stabilizes his regime. As for Carlsen, his role as an ambassador for one of Saudi's spectacles underscores the kingdom's ability to lure almost any athlete across sports and entertainment. Along with the likes of Messi, Ronaldo and Nadal, Carlsen is merely the latest star mobilized to help legitimize Saudi Arabia as a global destination for sports and soften its controversial image among fans. And with every star who signs on, the regime's image gleams just a little bit brighter.
The Hindu
20-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Champions Chess Tour 2025 — A qualifier for Esports World Cup 2025, list of Indians, live streaming info
The Champions Chess Tour (CCT) 2025 is an online chess tournament, which, over two contests, will finalise 12 participants for the Esports World Cup 2025, set to be played in Saudi Arabia between July 7 and August 24. The tour comprises two competitions — Chessable Masters and Masters. The top 12 players with the most CCT points will qualify for the World Cup. How many players participated in the CCT 2025? The first leg of CCT, Chessable Masters, had 58 players, while the second leg, Masters, had 23 competitors. What is the ranking system in CCT? 1st – 100 2nd – 80 3rd – 65 4th – 50 5th-6th – 40 7th-8th – 30 9th-12th 20 13th-16th 10 17th-23rd 5 24th-38th 3 39th-48th 2 49th-58th 1 When are the CCT competitions? The Chessable Masters was played from February 16 to 21, while Masters is being played between May 18 to 23. The playoffs for the former started on February 18, while those of the latter will be played on May 20. Who are the Indians participating in CCT 2025? Indians at Chessable Masters — Abhimanyu Puranik, Aravindh Chithambaram, Arjun Erigaisi, Bharath Subramaniyam, Narayanan Sunilduth Lyna, Nihal Sarin, Pranav Anand, R Praggnanandhaa, Raunak Sadhwani, Srinath Narayanan Indians at Masters — D. Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa, Nihal Sarin, Ajun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi and M. Pranesh In the Masters on Tuesday, three Indians — Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh and Erigaisi — will be competing. Following are their respective matches: Ding Liren vs R. Praggnanandhaa Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Arjun Erigaisi D. Gukesh vs Vladimir Fedoseev How to watch the Champions Chess Tour 2025? The Champions Chess Tour can be watched on the YouTube and Twitch channels of
The Guardian
21-02-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Chess: Carlsen wins again as he qualifies for the $1.5m Saudi Esports World Cup
Magnus Carlsen's dominance of online chess has continued this week as the world No 1 is in pole position for the concluding stages of the Chessable Masters, the first leg of the annual Champions Tour which the Norwegian has won every year since it was launched in 2020. For 2025, the tour is also a qualifier for the Esports World Cup at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in July-August, where the chess prize fund will be $1.5m. Carlsen began with a smooth 3-1 victory against Russia's Andrey Esipenko, then defeated China's Yu Yangyi by 2.5-0.5. He was leading 2-1 in his semi-final against India's world No 5, Arjun Erigaisi, when they reached white king at f8, white rook at g7 and white pawn at g5 against black king at f5 and black bishop at c4. Now 1 g6 Kf6 2 Rc7! attacking the bishop and following up with 3 g7 wins, but Carlsen missed it, only drew with rook against bishop, allowed Erigaisi to equalise at 2-2, and was also losing their Armageddon tie-break game as Black before escaping with a draw by threefold repetition of position. A draw counts as a win for Black under Armageddon scoring rules. On to the final against his old rival and current world No 2, Hikaru Nakamura, and Carlsen's endgame skills again wobbled. He won the first game and was well ahead in the second, until a shocking blunder at move 89 which allowed the American to reach the textbook draw of king against rook pawn and wrong coloured bishop, where the bishop does not control the pawn's queening square and the game is halved by stalemate. Carlsen obviously knows the bishop and rook pawn rule, so how did this happen? The clue is in the time control, which for this online Champions Tour and for the Esports World Cup is 10 minutes per player per game, crucially without a per move increment. This time control, designed to make the game more exciting for spectators, led to some chaotic scenes at last year's Global Chess League matches, where it was used for over-the-board games. Knocked over pieces, illegal clock pressing, and banging down moves were frequent until the arbiters belatedly stiffened their interpretation of the rules. In the Nakamura v Carlsen online game, they were down to less than 20 seconds each before flagfall when Carlsen blundered by 89…Kxe4?? The most plausible explanation is that the oversight was a pre-move. It also follows that Nakamura's 90 g5!? which with a normal play would accelerate defeat, may have been a brilliant split second trap, accurately anticipating his opponent's thought process. In the end, it made no difference, as Nakamura lost to Carlsen 0.5-2.5. A round earlier, the popular streamer had eliminated Alireza Firouzja 3-2 in Armageddon with a coup which the commentator called 'one of the nicest moves I've ever seen'. Carlsen and Nakamura will meet again on Friday after the American qualified for a rematch. The best of four games series will start at 4pm GMT, and can be viewed live on or lichess. England's over-50s and over-65s are both seeded No2 at Prague this week in the World Senior Team Championship, which has a record entry of over 100. England 65+ won their first four matches and shared the fourth round lead with the top seeds, Germany Lasker, who they meet in Friday's fifth round (2pm GMT start, all games live with computer assessments on lichess). The strong German team includes the former world title candidate Artur Yusupov, so this could be the gold medal match. Not such good news for England 50+, who lost 1.5-2.5 to Italy in round four. Italy now share the lead with Kazakhstan on a maximum 4/4, with the two top seeds, England and the US, a point behind. In England v Denmark 50+ the eight-time British champion Michael Adams outplayed the chess author Jacob Aagaard, gradually setting up the white king for a winning counter. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion The future for England's senior teams is uncertain beyond 2025, due to the withdrawal of the DCMS £500,000 grant for elite chess. This valuable government support had financed high class achievements in the past two years, notably in women's and junior chess, and had created hopes of emulating the 1980s, when England was the No 2 chess nation after the Soviet Union. Manx Liberty, the Isle of Man-based team and 2023 champions, are strong favourites to regain the 4NCL British League title after their rivals, Wood Green, lost last weekend. Leaders after six of the 11 rounds are Manx 12/12, Wood Green 10, Cheddleton Savills Catering 9, Wood Green Youth 8. A feature of Cheddleton's victory was a mature attacking win by Max Pert, 14, whose father, Richard, and sister Nina were also on the team, against Wood Green's IM James Jackson. A critical turning point was 17 h5? d4! which gave the Brentwood School pupil central control and allowed the later 22…Qd5! attacking a2 and f3, enabling the black queen to rampage among White's weak pawns. At the end after 41…d3 42 Rf2 Rh1+! forces mate. After four of the nine rounds of the Wightlink International, which finishes at Ryde on Sunday, Spain's Marcos Camacho Collados led with 4/4, half a point ahead of a group which included England's Danny Gormally, Yang-Fan Zhou, 15-year-old Stanley Badacsonyi, and David Spence. Matthew Wadsworth won a 15-move miniature in round two. 3960: 1…Rxc4! 2 Rxc4 Nh3+ 3 Kh1 Nxf2+! 4 Rxf2 Qd1+ and mates. The 2025 British Rapidplay is still open to entry here. Firouzja v Nakamura: and if 2 Qxh4 Bxf3 mate. The game ended 2 Kg2 Qxf4 and White resigned a bishop down.
