It’s the 37th issue of the Mindful Masters Newsletter, the best (and only?) monthly chess newsletter you receive. I cover chess culture and relevant wisdom I've collected along the way. Please let’s welcome the newest MMChess.org students: Nishal, Rafaella, Daniella, Ayaan, Hasini & Adhrit.
Current students: refer your friends with our “give a lesson, get a lesson” coupon! If they sign up for classes, you get a free lesson credit!
Student Success🏆
Every month we’re highlighting some of the successes of our students. Proud of something chess-related? Send me photos!
Congrats to Edwin’s student Vihan, who won 1st place under 900!
My story 🖼️
When I was young, my mom used to point to people at weddings and events and tell me: “Misha, don’t be that guy sitting in the corner. Learn to dance.” And she made sure of it: I danced ballroom and Russian traditional dances.
Turns out it still comes in handy: I’m the Midwest Director of Nexplore and had to sub for a Zumba Kids teacher earlier this week!
Monthly Tournament♟️
📅 This month’s tournament will take place on Tuesday, December 19th, at 7pm EST (6pm CT, 5pm MT, 4pm PT). Most of the players will be rated from 500-1800. In the last tournament, there were 27 students, both kids & adults!
To Play: Reply to this email or press the big green button here. If you haven’t already, you also have to join the MM team and press the “MM December Arena.” The Zoom for the tournament is here.
Congrats last month to Shreyas, ChedderSunChips (?), and Vihan! You rock, guys!
(Jaden with his prize!)
Chess News 📰
🔥 Coach Yeison shines in his country! MM Chess Academy Coach Yeison Gutierrez revealed his skill and creativity at the chessboard by winning the Tournament for Experts and Masters in Venezuela on the weekend of November 11th.
He won his entry into a special tournament, where he will duel with the last Olympic team and other strong guests, to decide who will support Venezuela in the next Chess Olympiad. Coach Yeison is positive and excited to meet his opponents and leave his legacy. Will Coach Yeison be Venezuela's next chess champion?
👦🏻 Polish prodigy wins world chess title and gets hero’s welcome at school. The 15-year-old Polish sensation, Jakub Seemann, has claimed the U16 Open World Youth Championship title with a stunning score of 9.5/11, a rating gain of 24.1 points, and a performance of 2602. He also defended his European crown from September. He came back to school and this is the welcome he got. What a champ!
📲 No Phone, No Cheating, But No Body Scan Either: Belgian IM Gets One-Year Ban. Belgian IM Stefan Docx got a one-year timeout from FIDE after he said no to a body scan. He was accused of using a phone in the loo, but he denied it and said he was just sick. FIDE’s experts checked his games and found nothing fishy, but still punished him for being rude to the arbiters.
👩 The surprising country that is the best at supporting women in chess, and the shocking one that is the worst. A new report by FIDE and the University of Queensland has revealed the rankings of 105 chess federations in terms of gender equality.
Mongolia was the winner with a score of 86.53, thanks to its large and successful female chess community. Denmark was the loser with a score of 34.34, despite its high standard of living. The report used three factors: Participation, Performance, and Progress, to evaluate the gender difference in chess.
👑 Who will be the king (or queen) of chess? The Tata Steel 2024 Chess Tournament will feature three world champions: Ding Liren, Ju Wenjun, and Marc'Andria Maurizzi. They will join a large group of grandmasters, including defending champion Anish Giri and rising stars from India and Uzbekistan. And, for the first time, there will be four women in the tournament, making it more diverse and exciting than ever.
🥇 Three-Way Tie for First in Sinquefield Cup with One Round to Go. GMs Fabiano Caruana, Leinier Dominguez, and Wesley So share the lead in the Sinquefield Cup 2023 with 4.5 points. The final round will determine who wins the $100,000 jackpot.
👴🏼 World Senior Glory for England’s Adams and Nunn. Michael Adams and John Nunn made England proud by winning the World Senior Championships for over-50s and over-65s in Sicily on Sunday 5th. Both top seeds had to overcome some setbacks to secure their titles in the last rounds. Both players have a link to Cornwall and a long record of chess achievements.
🧧 Hou Yifan makes history with second WSCC title. The Chinese superstar Hou Yifan has become the first player to win two WSCC titles, beating Harika Dronavalli 15-11 in the final. Hou dominated the match from start to finish, while Harika could not catch up. Hou received $15,769.23 and revealed her possible chess return. Well done to both players for a fantastic match!
⏳ Do you think you are too old to improve in chess? Think again! Here are inspiring stories of adult chess players who made amazing progress after the age of 25. That progress can only be made by training not only at the board but also the mind. It's never too late to improve, whether your goal is to reach a rating milestone, a title, or just have fun.
Fun Facts💡
🤨 Hikaru is making 3600elo plays scoring a 56-win streak, which has made players like former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik a little suspect about the whole thing. According to Kramnik, the probability of him winning so often is very low.
🕵️During World War II, British prisoner of war David Pritchard used his chess prowess to convince his German captors that he was a spy, resulting in his transfer to a more favorable camp.
😵In chess, "zugzwang" refers to a predicament where a player is compelled to make a move on their turn, even though any move would worsen their position. A player in such a bind is said to be "in zugzwang."
🤖The first machine to ever play chess at a formidable level was invented in 1770… Or so many thought. Named The Turk by its creator, this machine captivated onlookers with its seemingly autonomous ability to play a formidable game of chess.
It wasn't until 1827 that The Turk's true nature was finally exposed, giving away a secret so silly it makes us think how people believed this. Surprise surprise, the machine had a chess master hiding inside.
🌎Imagine having a game of chess against the world and winning. This is exactly what Garry Kasparov did in 1999 when he faced off the world itself in an unprecedented match that spanned over four months.
More than 50,000 individuals from over 75 countries joined forces, their collective wisdom guiding the black pieces, with each move determined by a majority vote. The match culminated in a dramatic turn on move 62 when 51% of The World collectively decided to resign, acknowledging Kasparov's strategic mastery.