It has been a fun and wild ride, but Campfire Chess is no more. I will leave the website up for reference and archive purposes, but I have no plans to make further chess content. I plan to continue playing the game on my own. Thank you all for the YEARS of support on this blog. I never achieved my chess dreams, but maybe one day I’ll pick it up again.
I doubt it.
Well, I guess there is just no getting away from Chess.com as they have officially acquired Play Magnus Group, which owns Chess24, New in Chess, GingerGM, Chessable, etc. etc…
Chess.com, the world’s largest chess website, has acquired Play Magnus Group, a leading chess entertainment and education company that includes Chess24. The proposed acquisition was initially announced on August 24, 2022 and was unanimously recommended by Play Magnus Group’s board. After receiving regulatory and shareholder approval, the acquisition officially closed on December 16, 2022.
Chess24.com press release
Many Chess24 players and fans are understandably nervous as it most likely indicates an impending doom for the smaller website. In my opinion, there is no chance that Chess.com will allow Chess24 to continue to operate in its current capacity when they can close its play servers and direct that traffic to the main website. It is an unfortunate development for the online chess world. In any case, we will just have to wait and see how it plays out.
It’s been quite a ride so far as Campfire Chess celebrates its eighth birthday today! I started writing this blog shortly after closing an astronomy blog I had run for about 10 years called nightShifted Astronomy. Throughout its time, this site has covered world championships, local events, personal struggles, and a variety of topics throughout the chess world.
Campfire Chess began in May 2014 as Off My Chess and has taken many forms throughout the years. I am proud of the work done here and look forward to continuing as I keep playing chess and work to help others get to know the joy of the world’s greatest game.
Happy Birthday, Campfire Chess – A Personal Chess Journey!
The chess world suffered a major loss earlier this week with the death of Russian Grandmaster Yuri Averbakh. GM Averbakh was born in 1922 in Kaluga, Russia, and was the oldest living (and first centenarian) Grandmaster after recently celebrating his 100th birthday on February 8th of this year. He was the chairman of the Soviet Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978 and was the Soviet Chess Champion in 1954, just two years after earning his International Grandmaster title.
Yuri’s contributions to the chess world evolved over the years but he remained active in the game until his death. After rising to the top of Soviet chess and finding himself equal with the likes of greats like Boris Spassky and Mark Taimanov, he became a major contributor to the world of chess literature. He was known as an expert on endgame theory and was a major editor of the Soviet chess magazines Shakhmaty v SSSR and Shakhmatny Bulletin.
In addition to being a well-known endgame tactician, Yuri is also known throughout the chess world for his attacking style, as indicated in this game (notes by Yuri).
[pgn]
[Event “Match for Masters Title”]
[Site “Moscow”]
[Date “1947.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Yuri Averbakh”]
[Black “Vladimir Zak”]
[Result “1-0”]
[EventDate “?”]
[ECO “C83”]
[WhiteElo “2550”]
[BlackElo “2340”]
[PlyCount “51”]
{Notes, abridged, by Averbakh. [ Averbakh gives a very lost and fascinating
preamble to this game, from which I will include one nice story. Simaginfan]
Towards the end of 1946 I tooki part in the semi-final of the 15th USSR
Championship, which was held in Leningrad. In the first round I had White
against Semyon Furman, and in reply to 1.e4 he chose the Open Variation of the
Ruy Lopez. Sitting at the board and considering my next move, I noticed that the
same position had been reached in the game Kopaev – Levenfish. I had heard that
Levenfish prepared for this tournament together with Furman, and the idea
occurred to me of delaying my move a little, in order to see what plan the two
Leningrad players had prepared.And so I began waiting. and my clock ticked.
Kopaev meanwhile was sunk in thought. Ten minutes, then twenty, and still Kopaev
did not make a move. He finally did so only after 40 minutes (!!) and moreover
he deviated from the main theoretical continuation and won the game. But I
followed the theoretical plath, fell into a prepared variation, and as a result
lost, overstepping the time limit on the 38th move.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5
a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Be3 {This
old move, which had been employed by Alekhine, used to occur comparatively
rarely, and did not bring White good results.} 10… O-O 11. Nbd2 Nxd2 12. Qxd2
Na5 13. Bc2 Nc4 14. Qd3 g6 15. Bh6 Nxb2 16. Qe3!? ({A theoretical position,
given in many books has been reached. the opening books only considered} 16. Qe2
{which threatens to regain the Pawn, but diverts thye Queen from participating
in the attack on the King’s-Side. The plan with 16. We3 was specially prepared
by me for the forthcoming match. I do not think that it leads to an advantage
for White, but certainly it seriously sharpens the play, which in combination
with the surprise factor plays a considerable role..}) 16… Re8 ({If} 16… Nc4
17. Qf4 Re8 {I was proposing to play} 18. Ng5) 17. Nd4 {White has created two
threats. One is obvious – to exchange the opponent’s dark square Bishop by 18.
Nc6, while the other is a latent one – to begin a Pawn attack on the King’s-side
with 18.f4.} 17… Qd7 ({If Black disregards the first threat and plays} 17…
c5 {there follows} 18. Nc6 Qd7 19. Nxe7+ Qxe7 20. Bg5 Qf8 21. Bf6 {followed by
22. f4.}) ({During the game I considered the strongest reply to be} 17… Bf8
{when I intended to continue} 18. Bxf8 Rxf8 19. Qh6 {…..However Black can
reply} 19… c5! {when after} 20. Bxg6 hxg6 21. Nxe6 fxe6 22. Qxg6+ Kh8 {it is
doubtful if White has more than perpetual check.}) ({But Black’s genuinely
strongest reply, which I noticed only when preparing this book, was} 17… Bd7
{when White still has to demonstrate that his initiative is worth the sacrificed
Pawn.}) 18. f4 Nc4? ({It was essential to play} 18… c5 {and if} 19. f5
({Perhaps I would have to reply} 19. Nxe6 fxe6 20. f5 {again with sharp play.})
19… cxd4 20. cxd4 Bxf5 21. Bxf5 Qa7 {gaining time for the defence.}) 19. Qg3
c5 {White’s attack can no longer be halted. Now comes a forcing combination.}
20. f5 cxd4 21. fxg6! hxg6 ({Or} 21… fxg6 22. Bxg6 Bg4 23. Bf5) 22. Bxg6 Kh8
{Black was hoping for 23. Bxf7 Rg8; 24. Bxg8 Rxg8, but White had prepared in
advance the concluding blow!} 23. Bg7+! (23. Bxf7 Rg8 24. Bxg8 Rxg8) 23… Kxg7
24. Bxf7+ Kh8 (24… Bg4 25. e6) 25. Qg6 Bf8 ({If} 25… Bg5 {White has a mate
in 4 with} 26. Qh5+ Kg7 27. Qxg5+) 26. Qg8# 1-0[Event “Match for Masters Title”]
[Site “Moscow”]
[Date “1947.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Yuri Averbakh”]
[Black “Vladimir Zak”]
[Result “1-0”]
[EventDate “?”]
[ECO “C83”]
[WhiteElo “2550”]
[BlackElo “2340”]
[PlyCount “51”]
{Notes, abridged, by Averbakh. [ Averbakh gives a very lost and fascinating
preamble to this game, from which I will include one nice story. Simaginfan]
Towards the end of 1946 I tooki part in the semi-final of the 15th USSR
Championship, which was held in Leningrad. In the first round I had White
against Semyon Furman, and in reply to 1.e4 he chose the Open Variation of the
Ruy Lopez. Sitting at the board and considering my next move, I noticed that the
same position had been reached in the game Kopaev – Levenfish. I had heard that
Levenfish prepared for this tournament together with Furman, and the idea
occurred to me of delaying my move a little, in order to see what plan the two
Leningrad players had prepared.And so I began waiting. and my clock ticked.
Kopaev meanwhile was sunk in thought. Ten minutes, then twenty, and still Kopaev
did not make a move. He finally did so only after 40 minutes (!!) and moreover
he deviated from the main theoretical continuation and won the game. But I
followed the theoretical plath, fell into a prepared variation, and as a result
lost, overstepping the time limit on the 38th move.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5
a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Be3 {This
old move, which had been employed by Alekhine, used to occur comparatively
rarely, and did not bring White good results.} 10… O-O 11. Nbd2 Nxd2 12. Qxd2
Na5 13. Bc2 Nc4 14. Qd3 g6 15. Bh6 Nxb2 16. Qe3!? ({A theoretical position,
given in many books has been reached. the opening books only considered} 16. Qe2
{which threatens to regain the Pawn, but diverts thye Queen from participating
in the attack on the King’s-Side. The plan with 16. We3 was specially prepared
by me for the forthcoming match. I do not think that it leads to an advantage
for White, but certainly it seriously sharpens the play, which in combination
with the surprise factor plays a considerable role..}) 16… Re8 ({If} 16… Nc4
17. Qf4 Re8 {I was proposing to play} 18. Ng5) 17. Nd4 {White has created two
threats. One is obvious – to exchange the opponent’s dark square Bishop by 18.
Nc6, while the other is a latent one – to begin a Pawn attack on the King’s-side
with 18.f4.} 17… Qd7 ({If Black disregards the first threat and plays} 17…
c5 {there follows} 18. Nc6 Qd7 19. Nxe7+ Qxe7 20. Bg5 Qf8 21. Bf6 {followed by
22. f4.}) ({During the game I considered the strongest reply to be} 17… Bf8
{when I intended to continue} 18. Bxf8 Rxf8 19. Qh6 {…..However Black can
reply} 19… c5! {when after} 20. Bxg6 hxg6 21. Nxe6 fxe6 22. Qxg6+ Kh8 {it is
doubtful if White has more than perpetual check.}) ({But Black’s genuinely
strongest reply, which I noticed only when preparing this book, was} 17… Bd7
{when White still has to demonstrate that his initiative is worth the sacrificed
Pawn.}) 18. f4 Nc4? ({It was essential to play} 18… c5 {and if} 19. f5
({Perhaps I would have to reply} 19. Nxe6 fxe6 20. f5 {again with sharp play.})
19… cxd4 20. cxd4 Bxf5 21. Bxf5 Qa7 {gaining time for the defence.}) 19. Qg3
c5 {White’s attack can no longer be halted. Now comes a forcing combination.}
20. f5 cxd4 21. fxg6! hxg6 ({Or} 21… fxg6 22. Bxg6 Bg4 23. Bf5) 22. Bxg6 Kh8
{Black was hoping for 23. Bxf7 Rg8; 24. Bxg8 Rxg8, but White had prepared in
advance the concluding blow!} 23. Bg7+! (23. Bxf7 Rg8 24. Bxg8 Rxg8) 23… Kxg7
24. Bxf7+ Kh8 (24… Bg4 25. e6) 25. Qg6 Bf8 ({If} 25… Bg5 {White has a mate
in 4 with} 26. Qh5+ Kg7 27. Qxg5+) 26. Qg8# 1-0
[/pgn]
I’ve been openly critical of major chess websites before. ChessBase and Chess.com regularly receive praise here on Campfire Chess when they do things that further the development and promotion of the game, but they also get flamed when I believe that its necessary. This week, Chess.com went far beyond the necessity for a simple commentary. They’ve crossed into territory that should be unsettling for anyone who values our game. In fact, it’s my opinion that Chess.com has become so lost and has moved so far away from actual chess that I’ve made the unfortunate decision to stop playing and contributing to it for the foreseeable future.
Over the years, I’ve watched as Chess.com focused its attention on hideous endeavors like POG Champs and promotions that were designed to drive Twitch views more than actually promote the game in way that focused on longevity. Short-term exploitation of the Queen’s Gambit boom has led to negligible increase in the game’s long term interest. Then, they spent extraordinary amounts of money to house the Botez sisters in a Big Brother-like mansion in the name of (somehow) promoting the game. Yet, we haven’t really heard anything about it since. Why? Most likely because it doesn’t appeal to the wider chess audience and it’s a ridiculous waste of funds generated by site memberships.
And what did they learn from the fizzling of these activities? Absolutely nothing…
I have to admit that I was beyond furious when Chess.com announced its new NFT website, Treasure Chess. Now YOU TOO can mint your special 300 ELO Scholar’s Mate and charge $3000 on Chess.com for people to “own” it. No other technology available today infuriates me more than the peddling of cryptocurrency garbage like Non Fungible Tokens (NTFs). Or, as I prefer to call them, No F**king Thanks. This could be the first foul language moment in this blog’s history, but that’s okay. It’s time.
NFTs are one of the greatest pyramid schemes to emerge (so far) in the 21st Century. It’s a technology that prays on people’s lack of understanding of blockchain and cryptologic technology to get them to buy art, music, and now…chess games. These sites promise ownership of the purchased item, but all you own is a digital receipt or hyperlink to a receipt identifying you as the owner. Nothing stops other users from screenshotting the art, downloading the music, or retrieving a chess game from a database and posting it in another place. In essence, you own nothing.
On top of the fact that NFTs promise the future but deliver nothing, the power required to generate the crypto receipts for NFTs is enormous. It’s contributed to the insane price of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) these days and the increased energy consumption is detrimental to the health and wellbeing of our planet.
I realize that Chess.com is not an airport and there is no reason for my to announce my departure. However, I have been blogging about chess for 8 years now and a majority of the games, analysis, and stories have come from Chess.com. I’ve watched the site evolve from a competent and inviting community for people to grow, learn, and connect through chess…into a monstrosity. I have hope that one day Chess.com will find its away again, but until then, I simply cannot continue to support the site through a premium membership or paid verification. Until the insanity is reigned in at Chess.com, you’ll find all of my future content here on the blog and at lichess.org.
Game on, campers!
Ex
I’ve played some of the best chess of my entire life over the past few months. There were nerve-wrecking wins and heartbreaking losses, but all of them were wonderful opportunities to hone my skills and keep getting better. I chose to analyze and comment on this game because I felt that it is an important instructional moment. My opponent played solid chess until about midway through the game when he made a critical error and allowed me full access to his defenses. I hope you enjoy!
[pgn]
[Event “Let’s Play!”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2022.04.17”]
[Round “-“]
[White “CMDRExorcist”]
[Black “Internet Opponent”]
[Result “1-0”]
[CurrentPosition “6r1/pp6/2nP4/k1P5/4PP2/2bPB3/P6P/1R3R1K b – – 1 28”]
[Timezone “UTC”]
[ECO “C25”]
[ECOUrl “https://www.chess.com/openings/Vienna-Game-2…d6”]
[UTCDate “2022.04.17”]
[UTCTime “01:30:28”]
[WhiteElo “1341”]
[BlackElo “1292”]
[TimeControl “1/86400”]
[Termination “CMDRExorcist won by resignation”]
[StartTime “01:30:28”]
[EndDate “2022.04.19”]
[EndTime “01:16:58”]
{I’ve played some of the best chess of my entire life over the past few months.
There were nerve-wrecking wins and heartbreaking losses, but all of them were
wonderful opportunities to hone my skills and keep getting better. I chose to
analyze and comment on this game because I felt that it is an important
instructional moment. My opponent played solid chess until about midway through
the game when he made a critical error and allowed me full access to his
defenses. I hope you enjoy $1
} 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nf3 Bg4 {Black
neglects his center development in favor of an old trick to make White think his
Queen is in danger. Spoiler alert: she is not.} (3… c5 4. Bc4 Be7 {+0.40} 5.
d3 Nf6 6. h3 Nc6 7. b3 O-O 8. O-O {+0.69}) 4. Bc4 {4.d4 is better here, but it
could force me to bring my Queen out earlier than I wanted.} 4… Nf6 5. d3 Nc6
6. O-O {Stockfish is absolutely determined to get me to play h3 and attack the
Bishop, but I was not interested in destroying my Kingside fortress just yet.}
(6. h3 Bxf3 7. Qxf3 Nd4 8. Qd1 c6 9. O-O d5 10. exd5 cxd5 {+0.55}) 6… Nd4 7.
Be3 Bxf3 8. gxf3 {The trade is equal in material but it opens my King up to a
direct assault if Black continued with solid play.} 8… c5 9. Nd5 {This is
purely bait. I wanted Black to take the Knight so that I could free up more room
along the diagonals for my coming Bishop assault.} (9. f4 exf4 {+1.31}) 9…
Nxd5 10. Bxd5 {The Bishop is in a prime location to strike at the heart of the
Rook structure and the Black King himself.} 10… Rb8 (10… Qd7 11. c3 Ne6 12.
Qb3 Rb8 13. a4 Nc7 14. Bc4 {+1.18}) 11. c3 Nc6 {Simply pushing the Knight out of
the way.} 12. Qb3 $1 {Black needs to be very careful here. He is in danger, but
doesn’t seem to realize it.} 12… Qc7 13. f4 Be7 $4 {Black did well by moving to
Qc7 to defend the f7 square, but moving Be7 negates that defense and gave me the
opening I was looking for.} 14. Bxf7+ {Black loses the right to Castle and the
bloodbath begins.} 14… Kd8 15. Bg8 (15. Be6 Rf8 16. f5 Bf6 17. Kh1 b5 18. a3
a5 {+4.61}) 15… Na5 {The most natural reply, but not a threat.} 16. Qf7 Bh4 $6
17. Qf8+ Kd7 18. Qxg7+ Kc6 19. Qxh8 {It’s +7 on the analysis board at this point
and despite my King being 100\% open and vulnerable, Black is desperately on the
retreat.} 19… Kb6 20. b4 {I can’t think of anything else this Knight has done
but run away for the entire game.} 20… Nc6 21. bxc5+ Ka5 {I spent a lot of
time exploring this position because it’s apparent that my Queen is about to
fall. When she does, I needed to ensure that I was left with the best possible
structure I could come up with. In the end, it was better to develop the f pawn
so as to maintain pressure with the c5 pawn.} 22. fxe5 Qd8 $2 {I was surprised
that Black didn’t recapture on e5.} 23. exd6 Bg5 (23… Qxg8+ 24. Qxg8 Rxg8+ 25.
Kh1 b6 26. Rab1 Bd8 27. Rb3 {+9.64}) 24. f4 Bf6 {My Queen prepares to go down in
a blaze of glory $1} 25. Qxh7 Qxg8+ 26. Qxg8 Rxg8+ 27. Kh1 {And my once vulnerable
King will remain safe for the rest of the game.} 27… Bxc3 28. Rab1 {Black
resigned. This was a brutal game that demonstrates the importance of watching
the entire board to prevent your opponent from launching a missile into the
heart of your defenses. According to Stockfish, the game may have continued…}
(28. Rab1 Ka6 29. e5 Nd8 30. Rg1 Rf8 31. Rg7 Rh8 32. Rb3 {+10.6}) 1-0
[/pgn]
Following this victory, my online rating sits at an astounding (for me) 1340!
Game on, campers!
Ex
Dear WordPress,
For the love of God, please stop destroying your platform. Campfire Chess runs on a nearly 10-year old WordPress installation and for many years it was unbeatable as a blogging and content management system. More recently it seems that every time I log into my site to make an entry I am confronted with some unnecessary and extremely destructive redesign of basic features. At first it was the Gutenberg editor that divides paragraphs into blocks. Fortunately, there is a plugin to remove that nonsense and return to the classic editor.
And now it’s widgets. The small blocks of interactivity on the right side of Campfire Chess are done with WordPress widgets and until recently, it was a very easy and basic function of site management. Now it’s received its own Gutenberg upgrade an it literally destroyed my sidebar. Fortunately, there is a plugin to remove that nonsense and return to the classic widgets…
Are you noticing the pattern yet?
Come on, guys. Stop ruining a good thing. When the top plugins on your platform are designed to remove some of your most recent added features…take a freakin’ hint.
Non-chess rant over!
Game on, campers!
Ex
Pretty much everything in my life over the last year has been a whirlwind, and chess was not exempt from that chaos. It had been a long time since I played chess regularly when I started playing again in May of 2021. So many times before I would dive headfirst into chess with an massively unrealistic set of goals and expectations. Eventually I’d realize that those goals were unachievable and give up chess for a while.
This time, things have been different…
Focusing heavily on Daily (e-correspondence) chess, I’ve seen a massive improvement in the quality of my gameplay and my overall rating. What was typically a 50-100 point increase had jumped threefold over the past twelve months with a monumental jump from 800 to 1300 ELO!
There have been bumps in the road along the way, but the quality of my play and my confidence has gradually increased throughout the year. It was only recently that I took time to pull up my stats on Chess.com and see how much I have actually improved. But what exactly has changed from before?
Well, for starters, I’ve switched to much slower forms of chess. I’ve realized that my PTSD does not give me the focus and response time necessary to play blitz and bullet chess for serious rating. They’re okay for fun, but they’re often brutally messy and not nearly as positive an outcome as the more classical variants and daily chess. In addition, I’ve been regularly watching YouTube chess videos and reading through games of my favorite players (Morphy, Fischer, Larsen, etc.). Occasionally I’ll recognize a position or tactic in one of my games that I’ve seen in those books, but mostly reading keeps me in the mode and focused on playing the game.
Here’s a perfect example of recent play that I’m very proud of. This particular game was rough and ended with a beautiful tactic to win my opponent’s queen:
[pgn][Event “2022 Chess.com Daily Chess Championship – Round 1”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2022.01.01”]
[Round “?”]
[White “CMDRExorcist”]
[Black “Internet Opponent”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C26”]
[WhiteElo “1205”]
[BlackElo “1143”]
[TimeControl “1/86400”]
[EndDate “2022.01.12”]
[Termination “CMDRExorcist won by resignation”]
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Bb4 4. Nf3 Bxc3 5. bxc3 O-O 6. O-O Nc6 7. d4 exd4 8.
cxd4 Nxe4 9. d5 Ne7 10. Re1 Nf6 11. d6 cxd6 12. Qxd6 Nf5 13. Qf4 Qa5 14. Bd2 Qc5
15. Bb4 Qxb4 16. Bxf7+ 1-0
[/pgn]
There’s still so much to learn and so much to do! I recognize that it takes hard work to play this game and I don’t expect to ever play at a master level. I also recognize that I’ll face slumps and dips, but I am reaching a point where I feel confident enough that I can continue to play and improve in a way that is reasonable and reachable.
Game on, Campers!
Ex
Today, on February 27, 2022, an extraordinary meeting of the FIDE Council was held on the current situation and the urgent measures to be taken after the military action launched by Russia in Ukraine.
As stated by the FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, the FIDE Council regards its main mission in preserving the unity of FIDE and respecting the basic human rights enshrined in the FIDE Charter.
In this regard, the FIDE Council has adopted a number of important emergency decisions.
FIDE Council approves the following statement condemning the military action:
The FIDE Council reaffirms the FIDE Congress dates, welcomes the AICF’s bid to host the 44th Chess Olympiad, and suggests 10 days for other bids.
The FIDE Council suggests that regardless of the organization of the Chess Olympiad 2022, FIDE will organize the annual FIDE Congress during the previously planned dates – from 27.07.2022. till 02.08.2022. with the election date on 01.08.2022.
The preference is to combine the FIDE Congress with the Chess Olympiad 2022. However, consultations with the potential organizers of the Chess Olympiad 2022 will be carried out and adjustment of the FIDE Congress dates is possible if it does not imply a notable delay of elections. The FIDE Council confirms that the continental elections shall be organized within their constitutional terms.
The FIDE Council confirms its commitment to the continuation of all the established development programs for national federations, zones, continents, and affiliated organizations.
US Chess announced on January 12, 2022 that the executive board is officially endorsing online tournament manager Tornelo.
It’s no secret that cheating is a big problem in online chess. One only need to glance at the monthy stats sent out by Chess.com to see how many player accounts (including titled players) are closed for fair play violations. It’s one reason that many chess federations are reluctant to fully embrace online tournaments.
In an odd twist of fate, online tournaments have gone “viral” in the past few years and more governing bodies are growing to accept them. The United States Chess Federation (USCF) has sanctioned online tournaments via Chess.com for several years now, but they recently took a step to improve the integrity of these events and to consolidate tournament management across the federation.
I have to admit that I’ve never heard of Tornelo, so I had to do a little bit of research to fully understand what this means for chess. In a nutshell, Tornelo is an online tournament managing system built for both in-person and online play. It has some robust anti-cheat elements embedded in their management system that will make it easier for players to report potential cheaters early in a tournament. This in turn will help to alleviate much of the headdache associated with redistributing points and voiding games when a cheater is identified later in a game.
Is this really going to change things? I honestly don’t know. I do appreciate US Chess‘s continued embrace of rated online activities and hope that this system proves valuable for TDs across the country.
You can read the original article on the official US Chess Website or view the letter from the US Chess Executive Board discussing the decision here.