Chicago Chess Center Tournament | Issue 52 | MM Chess
The best monthly chess newsletter you receive.
It’s the 52nd Issue of the MM Newsletter, this time I wanted to share with you how our local tournaments in Chicago are doing, the Gotham Road to GM update, the debut of the youngest world chess champion, and more. But, before we start, there’s a little favor I’d like to ask you🙏. We’re in the process of growing and improving our service, and we need to hear from you first, so if you don’t mind, please fill out this form and help us grow!
Let’s welcome the newest MM students: Jaxon, Shane, Stan, Jon, Jaden Viswanathan, and Patrick.
Student Success🏆
Every month we’re highlighting some of the successes of our students. Proud of something chess-related? Send me photos!
Congratulations to Owen, Fabian’s student, who finished 4th place, and tied for 1st place in the general section (with an outstanding 4 out of 4) at the k-4 section of Chicago Public Schools Kings and Queens Tournament on January 21st.
Congratulations to Alejandro Uzcategui for finishing 2nd in the II Torneo Internacional Blitz Francisco Rodriguez Pulido Paco Pulido with 7 out of 9 rounds😎
“You may learn much more from a game you lose than from a game you win”
– Jose Capablanca
My story 🖼️
Nexplore and MM Chess are beginning monthly local chess tournaments in Chicago. This month, we just co-hosted the 1st Blizzard Open on Sunday, January 26th, with 26 players in attendance! In the Unrated section, the Bernard Zell won 1st place, OLMCA won 2nd place, and Quest Academy took 3rd. In the
Join us on January 26th for the 1st February Freeze at the Chicago Chess Center!
“There are times when a well-placed pawn is more powerful than the king.”
– Benjamin Franklin
Monthly Tournament♟️
📅 This month’s tournament will take place on Wednesday the 19th, at 7:00 pm EST (6:00 pm CT, 5:00 pm MT, 4:00 pm PT). Most of the players will be rated from 500-1800. Both kids & adults are allowed to play the tournament!
To Play: Reply to this email or press the big green button here. If you haven’t already, you must join the MM team and press the “MM February Arena.” The Zoom for the tournament is here.
Congrats to the winners of the January Edition.
“You have to have a fighting spirit. You have to force moves and take chances”
-Bobby Fischer
Chess News 📰
🌟 Gukesh Glows in Tata Steel Debut! The youngest World Champion ever, Gukesh, is absolutely crushing it at the Tata Steel Chess tournament! Currently leading with 7.5/10 and a performance rating of 2908, he's showing why he's at the top of the game. Young prodigies Abdusattorov and Praggnanandhaa are racing to catch him!
🎉 Happy Birthday, GM Ju Wenjun! Congratulations to the four-time Women's World Chess Champion on her birthday on January 31st! Wishing you many more years of chess dominance!
🥇 Caruana First Qualified to Candidates! Fabiano Caruana, America's number one, is the first player to qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament! This marks his sixth qualification, always from different paths – a remarkable achievement!
👶 11-Year-Old IM “The Messi of Chess “ Makes Elite Debut! Faustino Oro, an 11-year-old International Master from Argentina, is the youngest player by far at the Tata Steel Challengers, showcasing incredible talent alongside 14-year-old Lu Miaoyi. The future is bright!
🤔 Gotham Chess Redefines "Road to GM"! Levy Rozman (GothamChess) is shifting gears, trading his "Road to GM" series for a more holistic approach focused on self-improvement and the sheer joy of chess. More power to him!
💥 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Takeoff! Get ready for the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025! Carlsen, Gukesh, Nakamura, and Caruana are among the top players already signed up. This tournament promises thrilling matches and could significantly influence FIDE's future consideration of Freestyle chess.
“Mother's words resonate deeply with me. Success in life is incomplete if one isn’t kind and humble”
– Gukesh Dommaraju
Fun Facts💡
🧠There are thousands of known chess variants, they are played by using the same pieces, or board, but adding different rules, or goals. In Lichess you can play 8 of them.
♔Freestyle chess was previously known as Fisher Random or Chess 960, This is because the first American World Chess Champion James “Bobby” Fischer created it. And just in the first move, you could have 960 different positions to start. The idea is to have an initial position free of opening theory, booting the creativity. The starting position must follow these rules:
Pawns are placed in their usual home square.
Pieces are placed in the first/eighth rank, according to their color.
Bishops have to be placed in different colored squares.
The king must be placed between the rooks.
There is symmetry between white and black pieces.
🏠Space has played a chess match against the Earth 2 times! This was played between representatives of a space station and representatives of the Earth. Both games, the first one in 1970, and the second one in 2020 ended up in a draw.
🥱Not every known opening was created to be good, some of these openings are the Cow Opening, the Norwegian Rat, and the Wroungcloud. Can you imagine having to move the king in move 2?