Happy Chess Day! | Issue 45 | MM Chess
The best monthly chess newsletter you receive.
We’re so close to our 4th birthday! It’s been quite a ride so I think it’s the perfect time to spice things up before the summer. 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!
PS: We have a BIG announcement to make in the following weeks and we’re super excited about it, but it’s still a secret, so🤫
Let’s welcome the newest MM students: Angela, Sean & Phoebe.
Student Success🏆
Every month we’re highlighting some of the successes of our students. Proud of something chess-related? Send me photos!
Fabian Viva’s student, Owen, had a very tough tournament but he won first place in the US Junior Open Chess Championship Under 8.
Congrats to Fabian’s student Connor, who won 3rd place Age 8!
“Chess is so inspiring that I do not believe a good player is capable of having an evil thought during the game.”
– Wilhelm Steinitz
My story 🖼️
I can teach children but that doesn’t mean I can dress them. Loving every moment.
“I go over many game collections and pick up something from the style of each player.”
– Mikhail Tal
Monthly Tournament♟️
📅 This month’s tournament will take place on Wednesday 21th, 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. In the last tournament, there were 18 students, both kids & adults!
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 August Arena.” The Zoom for the tournament is here.
Congrats last month to Connor, Rio & Ray! You rock, guys! 🏆
“Weak points or holes in the enemy position must be occupied by pieces, not pawns.”
-Siegbert Tarrasch
Chess News 📰
🏆 Oro’s Blitz Breakthrough: 10-Year-Old Stuns Chess World!: Faustino Oro’s meteoric ascent continues. Imagine Nakamura’s shock when Faustino outplayed him! Now, Kramnik steps up to the plate. It's a chess drama at its finest—don’t miss it!
💯 FIDE100: A Century of Chess Brilliance! In Paris, FIDE’s 100-year jubilee unfolded—a chess symphony echoing through historic streets. Legends like Anand and Kosteniuk joined torchbearers, celebrating creativity, innovation, and human strength. Let the games begin!
🤴🏻 Caruana Reigns Supreme in Croatia! In a dazzling display of chess mastery, Fabiano Caruana seized the title with flair, leaving opponents in checkmate dust. His blitz prowess matched Magnus Carlsen’s record, scoring a jaw-dropping 27 points.
🚄 Checkmate in a Blink: The Need for Speed in Chess!: Ever wondered how Nakamura and Carlsen play at warp speed? From blitz to bullet, they redefine the clock. Peek behind the scenes—these champs combine intuition, pattern recognition, and split-second decisions.
😱 Checkmate Mania: 7 Million Games in 24 Hours!: On International Chess Day, the chess world went wild! Over 350 events, 109 federations, and a whopping 7,284,970 games—brace yourselves for the ultimate chess frenzy!
“All I want to do, ever, is just play Chess”
– Bobby Fischer
Fun Facts💡
🧠Remembering moves and watching the board can help you remember things better, a superpower that comes in handy in school and even later in life!
🥱The "fool's mate" is the fastest way to checkmate someone in chess, but it only happens if the other player makes a big mistake. Imagine forgetting your king needs protection!
Here's how it goes:
White (the player starting) moves a pawn in an unusual way that weakens their king's side.
Black (the responding player) takes advantage by moving their queen right next to White's king – checkmate in just two moves!
♔The king is the piece with the longest life expectancy on the board. Not many give the right answer when asked why this is. In short: you never capture the king, just ¨corner¨ it, so the piece has a 0% capture rate.
🏠83% of households own a chessboard! Such a crazy statistic but when you think about it, almost every home you can visit has a chessboard somewhere, either dusting in an attic or put into use in the living room.