Category: Campfire Digest

  • Campfire Digest – December 10, 2021

    Campfire Digest – December 10, 2021

    Good Morning, campers! Welcome to Campfire Chess Digest for Friday, December 10, 2021! The World Chess Championship 2021 is still underway and it has certainly had a share of ups and downs, breathtaking and disappointing moments. There’s still much more chess to come before the year is done!

    Here’s some of the best chess action we’ve seen this week:

    Magnus Carlsen is…once again…World Chess Champion

    https://www.chess.com/news/view/fide-world-chess-championship-2021-game-11
    Magnus Carlsen cruised to defend his World Championship title for the fifth time this week against Ian Nepomniachtchi. It was one of the most lopsided and unusual championships I can recall. Ian just couldn’t capitalize on several opportunities presented to him by Magnus. And for another two years, Norway is king of world chess.

    A World Record at the World Chess Championship

    https://en.chessbase.com/post/world-championship-2021-g6
    Magnus Carlsen came out on top of an incredible 136 move game that set a world record for the longest chess game played in a world championship. The previous title was held by Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi in the 1978 World Chess Championship.

    A Century of Chess: Karlsbad 1907

    https://www.chess.com/blog/kahns/a-century-of-chess-karlsbad-1907
    Long before the Soviet Empire dominated the professional chess world, the German Empire’s elite held firmly to the title of the world’s best chess players. This exceptional article from Chess.com (a rarity these days) explores Akiba Rubinstine’s rise to prominence in the early part of the twentieth century.

    World Rapid and Blitz Coming to Warsaw

    https://en.chessbase.com/post/the-world-rapid-and-blitz-championships-will-take-place-in-warsaw
    The FIDE World Rapid and Blitz tournament will soon be making its way to Warsaw beginning on Christmas Day and running through December 31st.

  • Campfire Digest – December 3, 2021

    Campfire Digest – December 3, 2021

    Good Morning, campers! Welcome to Campfire Chess Digest for Friday, December 3, 2021! As you read this, the 2021 World Chess Championship rages (if you can call it that) in Dubai between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi. There’s no clear leader at this point but Nepo certainly put Magnus on the ropes a few times going into Thursday’s rest day.

    Here’s some of the best chess action we’ve seen this week:

    Anish Giri Annotates WCC 2021 Game 5

    https://en.chessbase.com/post/world-championship-2021-g5-expert-annotations
    After the sleeper draw that was Game 5 of the World Chess Championship, GM Anish Giri published a very nice annotated game outlining some of the missed opportunities for both players.

    Hikaru Nakamura Departs the FIDE World Ranking List

    https://en.chessbase.com/post/the-new-fide-world-ranking-list-december-2021
    GM Hikaru Nakamura was nowhere to be found on the newly published FIDE World Ranking List because he has not been active in international tournament play for quite some time. He’s mostly traded those commitments for a life on Twitch these days.

    Chess.com Remains Undisputed Clickbait Article Champion

    https://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-coms-holiday-gift-buying-guide
    Ten ways to mate your opponent in five moves… Ten streamers you wouldn’t want to play blitz with… and the list goes on and on. Maybe we could start making a list of Chess.com’s most click-baity articles. In any case, this year’s “Buying Guide” for the holidays is no better than the website’s recent forays into Bitcoin, PogChamps, and other nonsensical stuff.

    Levon Aronian Joins the US Chess Federation

    https://chess24.com/en/read/news/levon-aronian-completes-transfer-to-usa
    The United States continues to build an impressive roster of players with the recent addition of GM Levon Aronian. He joins the ranks of recent additions such as GMs Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana.

    The World Chess Championship 2021 continues today in Dubai live via Chess24’s YouTube channel. Chess.com has a stream with GMs Hess and Caruana, but I recommend the Chess24 stream as its less headache-inducing.