Which Piece Has The Longest Life Expectancy? | Issue 43 | 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: Colleen, Vamsi, Vivian, Dylan, Nigel, Michael & Avidha.
Student Success🏆
Every month we’re highlighting some of the successes of our students. Proud of something chess-related? Send me photos!
One of Ale Uzcátegui’s students in Spain became the Cañarían U8 champion, and she will go to the Spanish National Championship!
“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 🖼️
We went to Florida for vacation (or for me, a remote work - vacation). Finally, a date night!
“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 Tuesday, June 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. In the last tournament, there were 16 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 June Arena.” The Zoom for the tournament is here.
Congrats last month to BoringNames, Connor, and Yoan! 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 📰
🏆 King’s Gambit: Erdogmus, 12, Captures Polgar’s Chess Crown with Record Rating! Chess phenom Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus has done the unthinkable, dethroning Judit Polgar’s historic rating record. This young king is leading the game’s next generation!
😱 Join the Global Chess Party: A Record-Breaking Day of Checkmates! Get ready to be part of history! FIDE is inviting chess enthusiasts of all ages to join a worldwide celebration aiming to set a record for the most games played in a single day
📋 From Chess Novice to Pro: Svitlana’s Six Rules of Smart Play! Transform your child from a chess novice to a pro with Svitlana’s insightful six rules of evaluation. Thanks to Ramesh RB’s expert advice, watch them conquer the chess world!
😎 Pint-Sized Pawns Prevail, Kids Triumph Over Chess Stars! Watch out, chess world! The young guns have arrived, and they’re not playing games. In a thrilling “Kids vs. Stars” match, our rising talents showed they’re ready to take on the big leagues!
📸 Chess in Focus”: Snapshots of Life’s Infinite Game! Explore the vibrant world of chess through Stev Bonhage’s lens in “Capture”. This exhibition is a checkered canvas of dreams, struggles, and triumphs, uniting all under the universal language of chess.
♟️ Gambit Busters: Teach Your Kids to Outsmart Tricky Openings! Equip your young chess champs with the ultimate defense against sneaky gambits! GM Perelshteyn’s ‘Every Gambit Refuted’ course on Chessable turns the tables on those crafty opening moves
“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.