Latest news with #USChampionships
Hindustan Times
22-04-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Magnus Carlsen: The undisputed king of Freestyle
Bengaluru: Vincent Keymer twirled a captured white pawn between his fingers. The 20-year-old German knew it was over. Sitting across from him, Magnus Carlsen surveyed the board, content with his spoils. Keymer resigned, the spectators' arena erupted in applause, and Carlsen was soon swallowed by the crowd of waiting fans. The world No.1 Norwegian had made history – winning the Grenke Chess Freestyle Open with a perfect 9/9 score. A performance that will perhaps be spoken of in the same breath as Bobby Fischer's brilliant 11/11 at the 1963-64 US Championships, and might even be seen as one that surpasses it. It's only fitting that Carlsen's flawless win came in the Fischer Random or Chess 960 format – one that was conceived by Fischer as a pushback against the thrust on theory, memorisation and preparation in chess. 'I haven't done this before and I'm not going to be able to do it again, that's for sure,' a pleased Carlsen said moments after, 'so it's just incredible. Of course, I knew coming in today (Sunday) that there was a chance, but I didn't really believe it until the very end when it was certain. It's just relief and joy…it's the kind of performance that you don't get to experience very often or basically ever.' Carlsen's Grenke win with a €60,000 prize check comes less than a week after he won the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, without needing a tiebreak through the knockout stage. What makes Carlsen's feat astounding is his dominance irrespective of format – classical, rapid, blitz, and now, Fischer Random, which was supposed to be difficult and make for a level playing field in the absence of opening theory to fall back on. He stepped away from classical chess and chose not to defend his world title (after winning it five times), since presumably winning no longer seemed fun and preparation, cumbersome. He turned to Fischer Random for unpredictability, chaos, and a fresh frontier to conquer. 'Carlsen is making the same mistake in his new game as he made in chess,' Grandmaster Anish Giri wrote on X in his typical wry style, 'He is completing it too quickly.' 'I played just one 2700 plus player, it should be mentioned,' said Carlsen, 'It's such a tough tournament, playing two games a day against so many hungry players. 'I didn't really think about it (scoring 9/9), until after I won my game against Parham (Maghsoodloo). Then I thought well, I'm not going to get a better chance than this. This (achievement) is way up there. It's the kind of thing I aim for these days.' He had scored 9/9 in the SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz Croatia 2023, in blitz. But a flawless score in the chess960 classical time control, should hit differently. Carlsen's aura was hard to miss in the tournament. Ahead of his game against eight-time French champion Etienne Bacrot, Carlsen was met with an unusual request. Bacrot pulled out his phone and clicked a selfie with Carlsen as the arbiter waited patiently. Both before and after games in the German city of Karlsruhe, Carlsen was surrounded and followed by crowds, hunting for autographs and selfies. 'There's nowhere to hide,' Carlsen smiled, 'That's why I don't play too many of these (open) tournaments.' Before the ninth and final round began, German entrepreneur and founder of the Freestyle series Jan Henrik Buettner was in attendance in the playing hall. Keymer, who won the year's first Freestyle event in Weissenhaus, appeared to be putting up a brave fight and the position seemed equal before he ran into time trouble and the game slipped away from his hands. 'The last game (against Keymer) was a bit of a slugfest,' said Carlsen, 'I was mainly trying to hang in for most of the game. He got down on time, I took my chances and that's how history was made.' Carlsen had already won the Grenke event with a round to spare before his result against Keymer saw him speedrunning it to perfection. 'It's very nice to sit at the board and know that I'm really going to enjoy the process of playing a game because that doesn't always happen when I play tournaments... I'm playing for the joy of the game and these little achievements are a bonus even if it's a huge one.'
BBC News
27-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Skaters who died in plane crash mourned at Worlds
A ceremony was held at the World Figure Skating Championships to pay tribute to the skaters and coaches who died in a plane crash in American Airlines plane and Army Black Hawk helicopter collided in Washington DC on 29 January, killing 67 those who died, 28 were skaters, coaches or members of the figure skating community who were returning from the US Championships in the TD Garden in Boston on Wednesday, the faces and names of the victims were displayed on a screen above the ice and a local choir performed to close an emotional Lane, whose son Spencer and wife Christine died in the crash, told the crowd that Spencer planned to compete at the World said: "My first hope is that even as we remember the amazing people from the figure skating community we lost, we take extra care to lift up the young skaters still here. They are hurting."My final hope today is that we can prevent something like this from ever happening again."Some accidents are unavoidable. This one was not."But rather than looking for places to blame, I hope we can work with our elected officials to make air travel safer for everyone and for all of our families."A video tribute was aired, with speeches by International Skating Union president Jae Youl Kim and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Figure Skating Champion Dick Button Passes Away at 95
Reports about Dick Button's death are circulating online, and people want to know whether this is true. Button was an iconic athlete who won numerous accolades throughout his career, including two gold medals in Men's singles in consecutive Winter Olympics and five consecutive World Championships. Here are all the details of Dick Button's death. Richard Button died on Thursday, January 30, in North Salem, New York. The legendary figure skater and commentator was 95 years old. The official handle of U.S. Figure Skating on X (formerly Twitter) confirmed his death with the following post, 'U.S. Figure Skating mourns the loss of the legendary Dick Button,' the post reads. 'The two-time Olympic champion's pioneering style & award-winning television commentary revolutionized figure skating. His legacy will live on forever. We extend our deepest condolences to his family & loved ones.' Dutton is survived by his children, Edward and Emily, and his partner, Dennis Grimaldi. Originally from Englewood, New Jersey, Button was interested in skating since he was quite young, but it wasn't until he was 12 years old that he decided to give it serious attention. As mentioned above, he won Olympic gold twice, at the 1948 St. Moritz and 1952 Oslo, and World Championships five times, 1948 Davos, 1949 Paris, 1950 London, 1951 Milan, and 1952 Paris. He also won seven consecutive US Championships and three consecutive North American Championships. Further, he won the European Championship in Prague in 1948, a rare feat for an American figure skater. After retiring as a competitor, Button earned a law degree from Harvard and enjoyed a brief career as a performer in ice shows. He acted in various movies and TV shows, including Hans Brinker, Silver Skates (1958), and The Young Doctors (1961). Button also served as a commentator at various figure skating events. Notably, the news of Button's passing comes after 14 people associated with figure skating, along with others, were killed after an American Airlines jet had a mid-air collision with a US Army helicopter on Wednesday outside Washington, D.C. Originally reported by Tamal Kundu on ComingSoon. The post Figure Skating Champion Dick Button Passes Away at 95 appeared first on Mandatory.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What Happened to Dick Button? Figure Skating Champion Passes Away
Reports are circulating about the death of the figure skating champion Dick Button, and people want to know whether this is true. Button was an iconic athlete who won numerous accolades throughout his career, including two gold medals in Men's singles in consecutive Winter Olympics and five consecutive World Championships. Here are all the details of Dick Button's death. Richard Button died on Thursday, January 30, in North Salem, New York. The legendary figure skater and commentator was 95 years old. The official handle of U.S. Figure Skating on X (formerly Twitter) confirmed his death with the following post, 'U.S. Figure Skating mourns the loss of the legendary Dick Button,' the post reads. 'The two-time Olympic champion's pioneering style & award-winning television commentary revolutionized figure skating. His legacy will live on forever. We extend our deepest condolences to his family & loved ones.' Dutton is survived by his children, Edward and Emily, and his partner, Dennis Grimaldi. Originally from Englewood, New Jersey, Button was interested in skating since he was quite young, but it wasn't until he was 12 years old that he decided to give it serious attention. As mentioned above, he won Olympic gold twice, at the 1948 St. Moritz and 1952 Oslo, and World Championships five times, 1948 Davos, 1949 Paris, 1950 London, 1951 Milan, and 1952 Paris. He also won seven consecutive US Championships and three consecutive North American Championships. Further, he won the European Championship in Prague in 1948, a rare feat for an American figure skater. After retiring as a competitor, Button earned a law degree from Harvard and enjoyed a brief career as a performer in ice shows. He acted in various movies and TV shows, including Hans Brinker, Silver Skates (1958), and The Young Doctors (1961). Button also served as a commentator at various figure skating events. Notably, the news of Button's passing comes after 14 people associated with figure skating, along with others, were killed after an American Airlines jet had a mid-air collision with a US Army helicopter on Wednesday outside Washington, D.C. The post What Happened to Dick Button? Figure Skating Champion Passes Away appeared first on - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
Boston Globe
29-01-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
‘It feels like we all won': The Skating Club of Boston's Efimova and Mitrofanov back after capturing US pairs title
'Everyone has our backs in Boston,' Efimova said Monday night. Efimova and Mitrofanov made their adopted hometown proud on Saturday night, winning the pairs title by 21.33 points over silver medalists Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman. After just a year and a half together, Efimova and Mitrofanov have earned a spot on the US team for the World Championships, being held in Boston March 25-30. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The pair entered their second US Championships expected to win a second consecutive silver. They had medaled once on skating's Grand Prix circuit and did well at two smaller fall internationals. However, reigning US champions Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, had a groundswell of support as one of just six teams to make it to the Grand Prix final. Advertisement In the weeks leading up to US Championships, Efimova and Mitrofanov honed their programs with coaches Olga Ganicheva and Aleksey Letov, and choreographer Renee Roca. They tried not to think about winning the title or earning a spot on the world team, but it was hard to keep that out of their minds completely. 'I was trying not to focus on [getting a Worlds spot],' said Efimova. 'But I knew it was going to be very hard to watch Worlds in our town if we were not in it.' The pair entered Saturday's free skate in third place, just .07 behind Norwood training mates Emily Chan and Spencer Howe in second place, and 8.16 points behind first-place Kam and O'Shea. Much of the pairs before Efimova and Mitrofanov's free skate were tentative or at times scary, with falls and shaky lifts. Efimova and Mitrofanov were the opposite. Skating to 'Je Suis Malade,' they skated confidently, with the only mistake an under-rotation on their side-by-side jump combination of a triple Salchow into two double Axels. Efimova landed both of her throw jumps — a triple loop and a triple Salchow — giving the pair the competition's highest scores on that element. Advertisement 'It was a mix of relief and happiness,' Efimova said of their performance. Earning a 142.87, a career-best free program score, they awaited the performances of the last two teams. Both made significant mistakes, which combined with Efimova and Mitrofanov's huge score secured the victory. Misha Mitrofanov and Alisa Efimova react to their score in the free skate at the US championships. Matthew Stockman/Getty The win earned Efimova and Mitrofanov not just a spot for the World Championships but for February's Four Continents Championships. It's the first time they can compete at those major events together, as they had to sit out international competition last year because Efimova switched countries from Germany to the US. For Mitrofanov, it was a decade-long climb to his first senior title. He followed his coaches when they moved from the Dallas area to Norwood in 2020, and his allegiance was rewarded. 'It is not Alisa and Misha winning the event,' said Mitrofanov. 'This is our families, our coaches, our choreographers, and the entire community at The Skating Club of Boston. It feels like we all won. You dream it, but when it finally happens, you look around and wonder how you got there, and it is because of them.' The rest of the US team headed to TD Garden in March was decided last week in Wichita, though it remains to see if all will make it to Boston. Amber Glenn won her second consecutive women's title, holding off a charge by 2022 Olympian Alysa Liu. Glenn's triple Axel, which she does more securely than any other woman, kept her undefeated this season. Glenn and Liu, who won silver, earned Worlds team spots. Isabeau Levito, last year's world silver medalist, missed the championships because of injury but has also been named to the world team if her recovery is satisfactory. Advertisement The men's team is in a similar boat. World champion Two-time world ice dance champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates Kat Cornetta can be reached at
