Magnus Carlsen’s second over-the-board tournament of 2021 was much more successful than his first. While Carlsen was upset in in early August in the semifinals of the World Cup, in early September he finished first at Norway Chess, ahead of several highly ranked grandmasters. The most anticipated matchup at Norway Chess was between Carlsen and […]
Author Archives: Keith Holzmueller
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Rank and File | Artificial intelligence comes to the fore in computer chess
Championship tournaments for computer chess engines moved from onsite competition to online well before many human tournaments made the move last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years the Top Engine Chess Competition, which has been played virtually since 2010, has become the unofficial world computer chess championship. In recent years, many […]
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Rank and File | Duda upsets Carlsen and Karjakin to win Chess World Cup
The Chess World Cup is unique among top-tier chess tournaments. While most of these events have a limited number of entrants who play one another in a round robin, the World Cup is a knockout-style competition with more than 200 players. You can think of it as a chess tournament that is organized like a […]
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Rank and File | Evanston’s Platnick ties for first at U.S. Junior Open
Many Chicago area players took advantage of the move of this year’s U.S. Junior Open from the originally scheduled site in California to Elmhurst University. Players from around the country competed in four age-based sections. Elie Platnick of Evanston and Aidan Carey of Naperville tied for first place in the U21 section, along with Pedro […]
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Rank and File | World Champion Upset in Goldmoney Tournament
Followers of global chess competitions are still waiting for World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen to return to playing in over-the-board tournaments. When these events were shut down last year by COVID-19, Mr. Carlsen organized a series of online competitions so he could continue to play serious games against high level opponents, as well as win […]
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Rank and File | Evanston Players Win Awards at In-Person Chicago Open
Large, in-person chess tournaments are back in the U.S! After a year off, the Chicago Open was held during Memorial Day weekend at the Westin North Shore in Wheeling, where 550 players competed for $60,000 in prizes. While the biggest winner was Grandmaster Dariusz Swiercz in the Open section, a number of Evanstonians played successfully […]
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Rank and File | ETHS Places 2nd in Top 8 at Illinois Junior Invitational
The Illinois Youth Invitational, played May 22 and 23, was the first important Illinois chess tournament to be held in person since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020. The tournament was by invitation only and was played in three sections: Grades 9-12, Grades 6-8 and girls in Grades K-12. Two ETHS […]
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Rank and File | Chess is Now Entertainment
In January of 2020, chess was a game. Chess websites were becoming more popular but were primarily used as a convenient way for chess players to play games with one another. Media coverage of chess was limited; the leading story at the time was the Candidates Tournament, scheduled for March, to select the player who […]
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Rank and File | ETHS Wins Gold at U.S. Junior Chess Congress
In April the ETHS chess team took first place in the 18 & under division of the U.S. Junior Chess Congress, a U.S Chess national event with competition in five different age divisions. ETHS led from the start and finished well ahead of the team from Dublin, Calif. Team members were Elie Platnick, Chris Von Hoff, […]
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Rank and File | Kemeny, Godinho Win at Evanston Scholastic Chess Championships
Younger Evanston chess players have been able to continue playing organized chess during the pandemic through the efforts of Evanston Scholastic Chess. The non-profit serves chess players in kindergarten through eighth grades who either live in Evanston or attend an Evanston school. The group’s final tournament of the school year, the Evanston Championships, was held […]