A small country, Norway has produced exceptional representatives in various disciplines. Magnus Carlsen, the chess world champion, is joined by fellow geniuses hailing from the Scandinavian country: Niels Henrik Abel, Henrik Ibsen, Edvard Grieg and Edvard Munch. Diana Mihajlova tells us more.
Last Wednesday, 26 October, British International Master Michael Basman died of cancer at the age of 76. A prolific chess writer, he left his mark in the chess world as an uncompromising, inventive player. Among other endeavours, he will be remembered as a founder and organizer of the UK Chess Challenge, a tournament for juniors of all standards and ages. | Photo: David Llada / FIDE
Today is Jonathan Speelman’s sixty-sixth birthday, so he allowed himself a certain amount of self-indulgence, as he decided to present a selection of his favourite games and studies. His criterion: “A preference for either the breathtakingly simple or the mind-bogglingly complex”. Happy birthday, Jon! | Pictured: Julian Hodgson and Jonathan Speelman
The Maccabiah Games have been held every four years in Israel since 1932, with the participation of many Jewish athletes from around the world. Chess is one of the many sports featured at the games. The 21st edition was played from 13 – 22 July 2022 in Jerusalem. The atmosphere of the Maccabiah Games was palpable in the historical city, with a huge number of sportspeople from different countries speaking different languages and waiting to compete in a range of sports. | Photo: Dr. Mark Livshitz
In the third episode of the series "Olympiad stories with Saravanan", IM Sagar Shah and IM Venkata Saravanan discuss Judit Polgar's flabbergasting 12½/13 performance in the 1988 Thessaloniki Olympiad. Judit was rated 2365 FIDE at the time, with rating lists coming out every six months. Not only did Hungary sweep the championship to take gold and defeat the all-powerful Soviet chess team, but Judit had an incredible 2694 performance, and she was barely twelve years old. To better put this in perspective, you need to realize that, in 1988, only two players in the world had 2700+ ratings: Kasparov and Karpov. | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram