Chess News

General chess-related articles and information about SparkChess development; this section is for everyone interested in chess.

Al Capone, Norman Tweed Whitaker, Chess, and Taxes

Part of Al Capone’s sentence was served on Alcatraz Island, where chess master Norman Tweed Whitaker was a fellow inmate. Willie Harris, a journalist living in Denton, Texas, investigated this chess and crime connection. More 🡢

The Saint Louis Chess Conference: Grandmaster Maurice Ashley

The Saint Louis Chess Conference will be October 24–26. If you are interested in presenting, the proposal submission deadline is April 5. Early bird pricing ends on April 30. Keynote speakers are Grandmasters Maurice Ashley and Judit Polgár and former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov. More 🡢

Wisconsin’s newest Woman International Master

In December 2023, Wisconsin resident Aradh Kaur earned the Woman International Master (WIM) title. Wisconsin Public Radio reported that Kaur was the first WIM from Wisconsin. But that is not true. Marilyn Simmons, née Koput, was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1948 and was a WIM. More 🡢

Accusations by World Chess Champions Bobby Fischer and Vladimir Kramnik

Fischer was convinced that some chess players were prearranging games. For example, the ninth game of the 1984/1985 Karpov versus Kasparov World Chess Championship match included a knight retreat in a knight and six pawns versus bishop and six pawns endgame. More 🡢

Grind Like a Grandmaster: Magnus Carlsen

The Champions Chess Tour Finals (CCT Finals) was the closing event of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour, run by Chess.com. Eight players met in Toronto from December 9 to December 16. They played for a $500,000 prize fund. The pre-tournament favorite was former World Chess Champion GM Magnus Carlsen. In the finals, Carlsen defeated GM Wesley So to win the 2023 Champions Chess Tour. More 🡢

Over-the-Board College Chess, 2024

Since 1946, the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship (Pan-Am) has attracted college chess teams from North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Since 2001, the top four U.S. schools at the immediately previous Pan-Am qualify for the President’s Cup, also known as the “Final Four of College Chess,” to determine the best U.S. chess college. More 🡢

U.S. Senior Women’s Championship

The first ever U.S. Senior Women’s Championship, an invitational for women 50 and older, was held November 3–5, 2023, at the Berkeley Chess School. The Eade Foundation was its sponsor, with help from US Chess. More 🡢

Jennifer Shahade: Underestimating Girls Who Play Chess

Jennifer Shahade, a two-time U.S. Women’s Chess Champion, is one of the authors on a New York University study about parents and mentors underestimating girls who play chess. Earlier in Shahade’s career, Shahade asked girls easier chess questions than boys. More 🡢