At the age of 12 years, 10 months, and 13 days, Indian prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa became the second-youngest grandmaster in chess history. He scored his third grandmaster norm at the fourth Gredine open in Ortisei, Italy. After a steady start, he was on 5.5/7 and would need 1.0/2 or 1.5/2 from his final two games depending on the rating…
EMC Teams Shine at Kitchener Team Active Tournament
Elevate My Chess sponsored four teams at the Kitchener Team Active Tournament this weekend and three of the teams finished with prizes. Our top team finished first in the Round Robin (Open) Section and teams 2 and 3 tied for second place in the Swiss Section. We are excited that our Group level students did…
Guilty As Charged! Your Sentence? 25 Hours of Chess…
The government of Alberta is experimenting with a new “Chess for Life” program as a new alternative sentence to juveniles caught doing wrong. It is an innovative way to get young people back on the right track. According to an article in The Conversation, the idea is an outgrowth of recent research showing that punitive…
Veselin Topalov misses win against Ding Liren
In round 3 of the Shamkir Chess open played earlier this year, Veselin Topalov had a big chance be the first to score a win in the tournament against Ding Liren. The position in the picture above is one of the rare situations in which Black’s two knights are clearly superior to White’s pair of…
Ding Liren nears 2800 Elo, passes Kramnik
Ding Liren is about to set a personal record as he gets closer to a 2800 Elo rating following his performance in the Chinese Chess League. Rounds five through seven of the Chinese League were held in Shenzhen this week. The team from Shanghai currently leads the league, but the performance of Ding Liren (who…
Summer Chess Camp Coming to Oakville
We are excited to announce that Oakville Chess Club in partnership with Elevate My Chess will be hosting a full day Chess & Fun camp for only two weeks in July, Monday to Friday from July 9 to July 20, 2018. The camp will be hosted at the Glen Abbey United Church in Oakville. Although…
Ju Leads Women’s World Championship At Half
Ju Wenjun beat Tan Zhongyi once again in game five and is leading the women’s world championship with a two-point margin. The fifth game, played on Wednesday, was the last in the InterContinental Hotel Jing’an in central Shanghai, the city where Ju is from. She made good use of her home advantage and leads 3.5-1.5. The fifth game was…
Paikidze Wins U.S. Women’s Championship and Shankland wins U.S. Championship
IM Nazi Paikidze came from behind in regulation to catch WIM Annie Wang and eventually won the championship in playoff. After dropping game one of the rapid playoff (G/25, delay of 5), the 2018 U.S. Women’s Championship leveled the score after a convincing win by Paikidze in her turn as White. Then she played the same opening, with an…
Carlson Wins Shamkir Chess
Seven months before the world title series Norway’s Magnus Carlsen and his US challenger, Fabiano Caruna, are in good form. The American is still benefiting from the momentum he achieved at the Berlin Candidates and in the Grenke Classic while Carlsen has been sparked by the emergence of a dangerous rival. On Saturday, Magnus Calsen…
Two Unlikely Leaders At U.S. Chess Championships
After 6 rounds at the 2018 U.S. Championships, GM Sam Shankland and FM Annie Wang are on top of the Standings as they head into the lone rest day with the field chasing them. In round six, Shankland beat co-leader GM Varuzhan Akobian, while Wang beat IM Dorsa Derakhshani. The other pre-round co-leaders, GM Wesley So and IM Nazi Paikidze,…