It’s the 42nd 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: Jayden, Sebastian, Sadhana, Steve, Michael, Andrew, Owen, Joe, Genni, Yael, Michael, Sebastian, Marcella, Amaury, Rouran & Jessica.
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!
Yeison’s student Rory won her quads games (all 3). She placed 5th among all Kindergarteners nationally!
And congrats to our coach Luis Medarde, who finally got his International Master certificate. He got his 3rd IM norm two years ago, and already had 5!
“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 🖼️
This month, my family gathered for Passover. We’re missing a few, but here we have my wife, my sister, and her family. At the house we heard Russian, Arabic, Hebrew, and English!
“I go over many games collections and pick up something from the style of each player.”
– Mikhail Tal
Monthly Tournament♟️
📅 This month’s tournament will take place on Friday, May 17th, at 6:00 pm EST (5:00 pm CT, 4:00 pm MT, 3:00 pm PT). Most of the players will be rated from 500-1800. In the last tournament, there were 19 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 May Arena.” The Zoom for the tournament is here.
Congrats last month to Sophie, Nair, and Connor! You rock, guys!
(Jaden with his prize last year!)
“Weak points or holes in the enemy position must be occupied by pieces, not pawns.”
-Siegbert Tarrasch
Chess News 📰
🏆 Young Genius Checkmates the Competition: Gukesh’s Historic Victory! Marvel at the strategic genius of Gukesh, whose masterful moves have rewritten the chess history books and inspired budding grandmasters everywhere!
🎨 Queen of the Canvas: Maria Yugina’s Chess Artistry! Dive into the colorful world of Maria Yugina, where chess meets art! This master player turned painter brings the game to life on canvas, inspiring young minds to think outside the chessboard.
👸🏻 Did Someone Say "Chess Queen"? Tan Zhongyi Reigns Supreme! Looking for ways to motivate your budding chess champ? The Women's Candidates Tournament just concluded, showcasing incredible skill and strategy. It's time to brainstorm some winning moves together!
🤪 Go Bananas with the "Mad Rook"! Fun Chess Tactics for Kids! Spice up your child's chess game with the "mad rook" strategy! This lesson by GM Grivas teaches creative ways to use this unexpected piece. Get ready for some wild (and winning!) moves!
😎 Little Grandmaster’s Giant Leap! Young Fausti Oro, just 10, outsmarted the chess king Magnus Carlsen! A minute on the clock, a game-changing blunder, and a victory that’s taken the world by storm!
🧐 Young Chess Wizard’s Secret: It’s All in the Mind! Gukesh’s remarkable journey to the top reveals the essence of a true champion. It’s not just about moves, but also about mindset and motivation.
“All I want to do, ever, is just play Chess”
– Bobby Fischer
Fun Facts💡
🦕The Oldest Known Chess Problem Dates Back to 9th Century Baghdad! It's a Shatranj (predecessor of chess) puzzle, but since the pieces involved (king, pawns, and possibly rooks) function very similarly to their chess counterparts, it's considered the oldest chess problem.
🤖 ChatGPT’s Inability to Recommend Good Chess Moves is just a show of how complex chess is, and how beautifully smart we are in predicting the future, or better said -thinking strategically-
☝️ Chess is a Mandatory Subject in Armenia, maybe that’s why they have won every single major chess title a country can win, like the Olympics, world team champions, and European champions!
It’s cool to see culture and education resulting in this proliferation of the sport in a country. Like how Finland (where the driver’s license course is the hardest in the world) dominates rally.
📢 Garry Kasparov Wasn't Just a Genius on the Board but Also a Popular critic of Russia’s Government, something that in 2013, made him decide to relocate and show us how big of an influence athletes can be on the masses! Today he splits his time between the US and Croatia.
📱 We have Grandmasters as Young as the iPhone! Back in 2007, Steve Jobs announced Apple’s groundbreaking phone, in the coming years GMs Marc'Andria Maurizzi and Bharath Subramaniyam were born, and GM Abhimanyu Mishra in 2009.