Kazakhstan's 17-Year-Olds CRUSH The Chess Olympics
The best monthly chess newsletter you receive.
Issue 22 | MM Chess
It’s the 22nd 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. We welcome the newest MMChess.org students: Abigail, Annabel, Igor, Liam, Nayantara, Tom, Ethan, Annika, Rapha, Aarav, Mossie, Calev, Konrad, Gideon, Jose, Sumay, Andrew, Tucker, Brian, Amogh, Larry, Shrey, James, Madeleine, Ethan, Jeffrey, and Asitai!
P.S: the intermediate class is full, but there are still 3 spots left in the Advanced Beginners Course. Register here.
My story 🖼️
My immigrant family prioritized education. I grew up taking classes singing, ballroom dancing, art, traditional Russian dance, and whatever else my mom dragged me to.
In fact, much of my family were teachers themselves. My grandmother taught children in Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, and Israel. My mom teaches choir, piano, and Russian language at the Russian Club. 3 of my sisters teach/taught dance, Zumba, grade school, and chess. Thus, when I got my first chess student in 4th grade, I had a lot of role models!
[my piano recital, circa 2001]
Monthly Tournament ♟️
📅 This month’s tournament will take place on Sunday, September 11th at 6pm EST (5pm CT, 4pm MT, 3pm PT). Most of the players will be rated from 500-1800. The tournaments typically have 25-40 students- kids & adults! The Zoom for the tournament is here, and the password is Smile.
To Play: Reply to this email, join the MM team (if you haven’t already) and press the big green button here.
To Attend The Beginner Lesson: Don’t feel ready to play? Help me find the best moves during the tournament games on this Zoom link.
Congrats to Aarav (Gold), Andrew (Silver), and Ali (Bronze) this month! There were some big upsets and unexpected wins.
Chess News 📰
🥇 The 44th Chess Olympiad champions. One of the younger chess teams, Uzbekistan, shocked everyone by taking home the gold medal at the Chennai Chess Olympiad. What an upset over the US, Indian, Ukranian, and Chinese teams!
For reference, anybody above the 2650 rating is in the top 100 in the world. 12 of them are under 21. The top juniors are smashing through the chess world; the average Grandmasters gains about 10 points in a good tournament. These guys are destroying the competition, whether this month’s Olympiad or the Dubai Open.
🎭 The most creative welcome for Olympiad competitors. Last month, chess players were welcomed to the Olympiad by Tamilnadu Native Arts performers with a live game of chess. What’s wild is that they played an actual opening!
👨👧👦 A coincidence for a gifted family. At the Olympics, two Indian siblings, Praggnanadhaa and Vaishali, won the same medal on the same board number - one in the women’s section, and one in the men’s!
🧑💼 The International Chess Federation has a new president. The International Chess Federation elects Arkady Dvorkovich to a second term as president with 157 votes to 16 against. The newly appointed FIDE Deputy President is Viswanathan Anand.
💰 How much do grandmasters make at competitions? Magnus Carlsen won $40,000 for taking first place in the FTX Crypto Cup, which featured prizes starting at $17,500.
🐦There’s an amazing community on Twitter called #chesspunks. They post informative chess positions and videos. I highly recommend the tag!
📰India now has 75 grandmasters. At the Limpedea Open 2022, Pranav Venkatesh earned his final GM norm to become the 75th GM in India!
Fun Facts💡
👩👩👧 How Laszlo Polgar played his own Queen's Gambit. I’m starting to write more content. Follow me on Twitter (or Linkedin) for great chess stories
☄️ Origins of opening’s name. Because of the apparent structural similarities, the Dragon opening was given the Draco constellation's name.
📈 Does the player's environment affect their abilities? One region produces ONE THIRD of all Indian grandmasters! Former world champion Anand led the way for the region of Tamil Nadu.
🙌 Kolams in Chennai are used to greet athletes. To participate in the celebrations of the Chess Olympiad, some women in Chennai have created beautiful kolams.
🎨 What is a work of chess art? Definitely, Chennai's mural depicting Thambi, the mascot of the 44th Chess Olympiad. Take a look!