Lindores Abbey Challenge SFs: Carlsen and Dubov strike first
Magnus Carlsen struck first in his Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge semi-final clash against Hikaru Nakamura as the pair appeared to be trolling each other online. The World Champion, sporting a new haircut, raced into a commanding two-game lead before securing the decisive third to take today’s mini-match. It was a thumping first-day win and means he takes a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three tie into tomorrow’s mini-match. Nakamura needs to win that or be eliminated. The question is, can he recover? During the match, however, there was extra spice as Carlsen left fans and commentators alike wondering whether he was also landing blows on social media. Following a Twitter exchange between the pair last week, Nakamura had tweeted “Good luck” to Carlsen before the match started – which was interpreted by some as a jibe. Then, between his wins, Carlsen tweeted “monkaS” which had many fans googling its meaning. According to the first result rivalry.com, MonkaS is an emote featuring an illustration of Pepe the Frog appearing frightened while sweating. Meanwhile, in the other semifinal, Ding Liren and Daniil Dubov traded blows in the first two games. Then after a draw in the third and what appeared a drawish position in the fourth left the match looking like it would go to an Armageddon tiebreak. But Ding decided against going for the draw and Dubov capitalized in a rook ending to grab a 2.5-1.5 win against the favorite. “I think it is safe to say, that it was pretty much an equal match, which is already an achievement for me. Usually, I lose against any Chinese player 2500+, but now I put some resistance against Ding Liren.” Daniil humbly said in an interview after the match. So Dubov moves 1-0 ahead in the tie and has the chance to go through tomorrow, while Ding – like Nakamura – needs to win. The event, which runs until June 3, is being put on in association with the Lindores Abbey Heritage Society, which maintains the historic site. Coverage begins with commentary in 10 languages at 16.00 CEST. You can watch it live here Highlights English FOR MORE INFORMATION:Leon Watsonleon@chessable.com+447786 078770
Danila Pavlov wins online problem-solving contest
On May 23, 2020, ChessKing.com hosted the first online chess problem-solving contest with video control, officiated by the chief arbiter, FIDE chess composition director, international GM in chess composition Andrey Selivanov. Under the tournament regulations, the participants were to solve 30 two-movers, one minute per problem. The first invitational round was held for experienced solvers only. For each solved problem, a participant was given 10 points. Danila Pavlov (Moscow, Russia), a 17-year old composition GM from Moscow took first place scoring 280 points out of 300. Despite starting late for the first couple of problems, Marjan Kovacevic, composition GM, and multiple composition champion from Serbia finished second with 260 points. A 14-year old solver Ural Khasanov (Salavat, Russia) also scored 260 points but came in third as he spent 1204 seconds against Marjan’s 714 seconds. Serafim Bunin (Saratov, Russia) aged just 12, is fourth with an excellent result of 250 points. With 200 points each, Nikita Ushakov (1060 seconds) and Egor Sokolov (1205 seconds) finished 5th and 6th respectively (the former spent less time). Another young participant, Aleksandra Safronova (Tula, Russia) scored 150 points and found herself in 7th place. The second round was held one hour later on the same day with 235 players came to try and solve the same problems but without video control. This time round a 12-year old player Artyom Turin (Volgograd, Russia) took the first place with 280 points. You can put yourself in participants’ shoes and test your skills by tackling one of the problems from this contest (one minute for solving): William A. Shinkman 1903 Checkmate in two
Chess in Slums initiative offers life-changing opportunities
Tunde Onakoya, the founder of the “Chess in Slums” initiative in Nigeria, shared this amazing story on his Twitter. He writes, “happy birthday to the little girl whose smile changed my entire world.” Truly moved and inspired by this story, we publish a slightly abridged version: “It all started about two years ago when I walked into the slums of Majidun Ikorodu in Lagos with a chessboard and a pocket full of dreams. I wanted to introduce chess to vulnerable children living in slum communities as a way to promote learning and enhance intellectual development. It was my own way of giving them a new kind of leverage as most of them couldn’t afford to go to school. It was on this day I met Basirat – a five-year-old girl who kept tugging at my trousers to give her a chess piece to hold on to. We introduced the kids to the game of kings and queens and took memorable pictures. I felt fulfilled when I got home on that day. As I wasn’t sure how to teach children who could neither read nor write that a rook could move vertically and horizontally. Surprisingly they were able to master the basics in one day. It was supposed to be a one-off thing as I didn’t have the resources to sustain the training. But I couldn’t get my mind off the particular picture of this girl holding on to a queen with the most beautiful smile in the world. I wanted to know more about her so I went back to the community to look for her. When I found her, I lifted her into my arms and asked her what she wanted to be. She said “Nurse” with a deep Yoruba accent. She could barely speak an English word but she was sure of that one thing. Such lofty ambitions for a little girl who had never seen the four walls of a classroom, I thought to myself. Amidst such vast and faded flowers, she dared to dream. I watched her for a little while, she housed the greatest spirit I had ever seen and was always filled with laughter. I was greatly inspired so I went home and wrote about my experience with the little girl I had just found who dared to dream. The story went viral. Someone reached out and offered to sponsor her through school. It was the best news ever! We made out to share the good news with her parents and realized they were living in abject poverty. We enrolled Basirat in one of the best Montessori schools in Ikorodu. She had to start from the foundational class so she could learn to read and write. It was the beginning of her journey. Afterall in chess, a pawn could march on to become a queen. The Chess in slums initiative was birthed. I made a resolve to pursue this dream of using chess as a tool to help other children find life-changing opportunities. We have been doing this consistently for about two years and successfully trained over a hundred kids. Some have gone on to win chess tournaments. We currently have 13 other children on livelong scholarships.”