Chess Dojo Adult Improver Student Jan's AI Fan Video for 45th Budapest Olympiad

 

Jan Matthies is an IT-consultant in his early fifties from Hamburg Germany. Just like the rest of us he's excited about the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest from September 10 to 23, 2024. Therefore, Jan listed some artificial intelligence and created a fan rap song video. He even got permission from the National Event Management Agency for use of the official logo. The agency is organising the Olympiad in co-operation with the Hungarian Chess Federation and the International Chess Federation (FIDE).

Here's Jan's AI fan video

Fusion of art and technology, this AI-generated masterpiece celebrates the upcoming Chess Olympiad. Leveraging the power of Suno for the music and lyrics creation, Midjourney for the visuals, and Videobolt for the music/photo visualisation, this video unveils a captivating world where music, visuals, and poetry intertwine to capture the essence of chess. Inspired by the strategic depth and competitive spirit of the game, this unique fan art project offers a fresh perspective on the world's most beloved board game. Join us on this extraordinary journey as AI brings chess to life.

Here's FIDE's official video:

 

But, we won't just stop here because Jan also has a special chess story. He's an adult improver — a very category in our chess community which is completely taken over by talented kids. He's back to the board.

Jan says, "My father taught me the rules when I was six. I beat him at nine and he never played against me again. Since then I'm always playing chess on and off, with like 3-5 years of breaks in between. I only played, but never learned."

Jan adds: "And I was happy with that until I joined the Chess Dojo last November. Back then I thought why not see where this can lead to and it is great to see myself improving now. I like the mental state I'm in when thinking for more than 5 minutes. The world around myself somehow vanishes."

Jan stumbled upon Chess Dojo while browsing the internet. "I never knew how to study chess and was in clear lack of a plan. Here was where I found learning easy as an adult improver and buddies to practice and train with."

"I wish I was a kid again. Because of the free time that I back then had and could have spent for chess and being 53 I start noticing that learning take just a little longer nowadays of course," says Jan. But he's on track.

In fact, Jan is also another example that chess and music go together. "I'm playing the piano since the age of 6. In my free time I have been the manager for Alan Broadbent, a two-time Grammy Award winning jazz pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. We stopped working in the middle of the pandemic. I guess that additional freetime now also made me look into chess again. As I like music and am interested in Artificial Intelligence it was only natural to see what AI can do for music creation. Then I went into research and this is the result!"

So, watchout all chess sharks! Here comes Jan with his moves!  

— International Arbiter Naveen Karthikeyan

Here are the lyrics: 

Checkmate Dreams

[Verse 1]
Pawn to e4, the game's on fire
Knights jumping round, got strategy to inspire
Bishops slicing diagonals, precision's attire
Queens rule the board, true chess empires

[Verse 2]
Castling kings, fortifying thrones
Rooks roaming straight, cracking bones
Every move's a poetry, hearts made of stones
Cerebral warriors, minds sharper than drones

[Chorus]
Cheering on, national team supreme
Chess Olympiad, they living the dream
Brains battling, on a 64 square scheme
Every move, so grand, stealing the scene

[Verse 3]
Clock ticking down, adrenaline rush
Spectators silent, you can hear a pin drop hush
Notes on the board, sweet mental crush
Strategies unfolding, no time to blush

[Verse 4]
Endgames tight, kings in a bind
Queen sacrifices, a mastermind
Fighting till the end, no peace to find
Their victory's a melody, precisely timed

[Chorus]
Cheering on, national team supreme
Chess Olympiad, they living the dream
Brains battling, on a 64 square scheme
Every move, so grand, stealing the scene

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KK Khare wins the CCBW Rapid Open, Himmika Best Woman Chess Player

 

Chief guest Harsh Wadhwani and Daizy Sonal Mishra with the prize winners of the "CCBW Open Rapid" chess tournament at The Charans Plaza.

Senior Lucknow player KK Khare took down two generations of chess players to win the CCBW Rapid Open. Arif Ali was second on tiebreak. Khare is a huge inspiration for the state chess community, having obtained his first FIDE International chess rating at the age of 62 in a sport where teen prodigies abound. Along with his trophy, Khare received a standing ovation from more than 100 UP players in the tournament hall. 

Tournament Champion KK Khare

Best Woman Category Winner Himmika Amarnani

Himmika Amarnani played her usual attacking chess to win the best women's ccategory prize. 

Tournament hall at Charans Plaza in Hazratganj.

Prashant Dwivedi from Kanpur excelled in the junior section. 

Nine-year-old Mohd Ismail Siddiqui of Prayagraj chose to play among the sharks in the open section and picked up the Best Family Team prize with his father, Rashid.

Hrothbertina Hilton and Ved took home the Best Mixed Doubles team prize.

Abhivadan Shukla fought well to win the Brave Beginner Prize.

Corporate leader Harsh Wadwani and fashion influencer Daizy Sonal Mishra gave away the prizes.

The tournament was organised to create awareness among youngsters about learning from their elders on the occasion of United Nations World Senior Citizens Day.

Other top results:
Under 10: 1-2. Abhigyan Katiyar, Abhiraj, 5 pt each, 3. Viyan Agarwal, 4.5 pt.
Under 13: 1-3. Adyansh Singh, Dibbayan Chakraborty, and Advik Tripathi, 5.5 pt each.
Under 16: 1. Rachi Yadav, 5.5 pt, 2. Ujjwal Raj Srivastava, 5 pt, 3. Kushagra Pandey, 4.5 pt.
Senior Citizen: 1. Kamlesh Kumar Kesharwani, 4 pt, 2-4 Kranti Kumar Gupta (Bareilly), Sharad Kumar Pandey, R P Gupta, 3 pt each.
Under-16 Rated: 1. Chinmay Vajpayee, 5pt, 2-3. Krishna Tejas T, Daksh Surana, 4 pt each.

More photos in Facebook album (including newspaper clippings): https://www.facebook.com/share/p/afhdS3odQRwudgU4/

Other News Links:

- https://theindianview.in/news_id/68271

- https://nationalnewsvision.com/kk-khare-is-champion-in-ccbw-rapid-open-himmika-is-the-best-female-player/

- https://telescopetoday.in/archives/48280

- https://www.jubileepost.in/kk-khare-is-champion-in-ccbw-rapid-open-himmika-is-the-best-female-player/

- https://www.morningpoint.in/kk-khare-is-the-champion-in-ccbw-rapid-open-himmika-is-the-best-female-player/

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You Can Play Vishy Anand in Chesscom Match vs the World from Sept 30

www.chess.com is hosting the Vishy Anand vs The World online event from September 30 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Kasparov vs. the World match. At the time, then-world champion GM Garry Kasparov made headlines when he played more than 50,000 opponents online. Kasparov eventually won the game after four months and 62 moves.

Now, players worldwide will face another former world champion and one of the most prominent chess figures on the planet, Anand. Members willing to participate can vote for the next move at any point in the game, and the game will follow the move with the most votes.

Vishy vs. The World format

Expectations are that the Vishy vs. The World match will attract a massive amount of players, surpassing the 50,000 mark reached in Kasparov vs. The World. If this happens, you can be a part of the record-breaking game with the most participants in history!

To this day, Anand is one of the strongest players in India, one of the most potent countries in the chess scene. He is also among the few players over 50 who are still active and can compete on equal grounds with today's elite. Do you think you can take him down? How do you think this game is going to end? Let us know in the comment section at the www.chess.com website.

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Sayeed wins CCBW Chess for Freedom, Prayagraj's Yaqoob Junior Champion

 

Chief guest Dr Akash Vikram with prize winners of the "CCBW Chess for Freedom" chess tournament.

Veteran player Sayeed Ahmad of the Lucknow Chess Centre won the CCBW Chess for freedom tournament with a perfect 7/7, two-points ahead of Anubhav Singh, Mohd Ismail Siddiqui (Prayagraj), and Udit Gupta (Varanasi). Hrothbertina Hilton won the Best Woman prize (4 points). She also took home the mixed doubles team first prize partnering with Ved (7.5 points). The highlight of the tournament was former state champion Sameer, the twenty-three-year-old Sameer partner with his super-senior octogenarian grandmother to win the mixed-doubles team second prize (6.5 points).

Tournament Champion Sayeed Ahmad

Junior Champion Yaqoob Husain

The best veterans (+60 age group) Sakiluddin (4.5 points), Rajinder Mahana (4 points), R P Gupta (3.5 points), Ajit Kumar Srivastava (3.5 points) and Sharad Kumar Pandey (2.5 points)

Nine-year-old Ismail along with father Rashid powered to top spot in the family section with (8 points), followed by father-son Ashish Kumar and son Ishaan with (6 points).

Ishu Srivastava fought well to win the Brave Beginner prize among all the sharks.

Teenager Yaqoob Husain (Prayagraj) played extremely attacking chess to win the junior section with (6.5 points). Ayush Goswami, with his strong middlegame, was runner-up with (5.5 points).

Author of Bhagavad Gita with chess, FIDE International Arbiter Naveen Karthikeyan, speaking at the tournament, discussed his book Zih-e-Lucknow, which traces Lucknow's history with chess and how the chess playing queen, Begum Hazrat Mahal, led India's first war of independence riding an elephant. "Chess is not about war, it is about creative freedom of the mind within a disciplined framework of rules and respect for everyone."

Dr Akash Vikram, professor at the Lucknow University, gave away the prizes.

Top results:

Under 10: 1. Shahab Murad Alam, 4.5 pt, 2-4. Amay Rajendra, Rajvansh Goel, Advik Singhal, 4 pts.

Under 13: 1-3. Ishaan Kumar, Arjun Garg, Saksham Srivastava 5 pt.

Under 16: 1. Om Pandey, 4.5 pt, 2-3. Shubh, Pratham Neogi, 3.5 pt.

Best Unrated: 1. Sanjeev Kumar, 4.5 pt, 2. Nikhar Saxena, 4 pt, 3. Ashish Kumar, 3 pt, 4. Kanak Kumar, 2.5 pt, 5. Aditya Gupta Johri, 2 pt.

More photos in Facebook album (including newspaper clippings): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=ChessCCBW&set=a.918168180350462

News Links:
- https://nationalnewsvision.com/saeed-ahmed-wins-ccbw-chess-for-freedom-chess-tournament/
- https://theindianview.in/news_id/67179
- https://telescopetoday.in/archives/47848
- https://www.jubileepost.in/saeed-ahmed-wins-ccbw-chess-for-freedom-chess-tournament/

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€10 Million Funding to Fuel Carlsen's Global Freestyle Chess Revolution

Photo: Free Style Official Website

Chess legend Magnus Carlsen, investor Jan Henric Buettner, VC Left Lane Capital, launch new company to revolutionize professional chess
NEW YORK and HAMBURG, Germany, July 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Freestyle Chess, a groundbreaking new venture founded by Magnus Carlsen and Jan Henric Buettner, announced today that it is raising €10 million in funding from Left Lane Capital. This significant investment will be used to establish a leading tournament series that aims to revolutionize the world of chess.

The event series will showcase the world's best chess players, each with compelling stories, in a completely new and attractive format for media, spectators, and consumers. The 25 Super Grand Masters currently representing the total of the Freestyle Chess Players Club all have an ELO rating above 2725. The world's top-players will be front and center to this new, mass-market-oriented chess series, where nine Super Grand Masters are handpicked by Magnus Carlsen, who has committed himself to playing Freestyle Chess exclusively at the Grand Slam series. All tournaments will be held in exclusive venues with an aura of luxury and style, with all games played according to chess960 rules. Freestyle Chess already had a tournament in February as a blueprint that set the bar high.

The company will organize six to eight Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tournaments per year across all continents, introducing Freestyle Chess as an exciting new global event series. The prize funding for the tournaments that will be distributed among the players has been set to $750,000 for each of the first three events, and $1 million for every tournament thereafter. Freestyle Chess maintains the core elements of traditional chess but with a twist: the back row is randomized. This setup is Fischer Random and adds new strategic elements and unpredictability to the game, fostering a fresh era of competitive play.

"Chess needs to evolve into a more dynamic and captivating spectacle, one that allows players to showcase their skills from the first move," says Magnus Carlsen, Co-founder of Freestyle Chess, who has been instrumental in shaping the format for Freestyle Chess competitions. "Modern chess variants like Fischer Random will define the future of chess, which needs to evolve to more thrilling gameplay."

Jan Henric Buettner and Magnus Carlsen are opening up a new chapter in the history of chess. Jan Henric Buettner, German Entrepreneur, founded and led AOL Europe in the mid-1990's and started Headline VC where he managed over a billion euros in startup investments, including GoTo Meeting, Groupon, and Sonos. His co-founder, Magnus Carlsen, a chess prodigy, became a grandmaster at the age of 13 and has held the number one spot in the FIDE world chess rankings since 2011. He is considered one of the greatest chess players of all time.

Harley Miller, CEO and Managing Partner of Left Lane Capital, recognizes the immense potential of this innovative chess format and remarked, "Any time you have the best athletes in the world competing at the absolute highest standard of play, coupled with more avant garde storytelling and showmanship, you inherently will build something of great consequence. Freestyle Chess has the potential to become a mainstream sporting spectacle, akin to Formula 1, or ATP Tennis."

This new capital will be used to fuel the development of Freestyle Chess, organize and host the inaugural Grand Slam tournaments across different continents, enhance the digital experience and develop new product features, hire additional team members across various functions, and increase marketing efforts to grow the reach of the game.

Freestyle Chess: www.freestyle-chess.com

ABOUT LEFT LANE CAPITAL

Founded in 2019, Left Lane Capital is a New York and London-based global venture capital and growth equity firm investing in internet and technology companies with a consumer orientation. Left Lane's mission is to partner with extraordinary entrepreneurs who create category-defining companies across growth sectors of the economy, including software, healthcare, e-commerce, consumer, fintech, medtech, and other industries. Select investments include Kings League, LOVB, Bilt Rewards, Blank Street, M1 Finance, Wayflyer, Masterworks, Talkiatry, Kittl, and more. For more information, please visit www.leftlane.com.
SOURCE Left Lane Capital

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Chess and Ballet: Jason Kouchak's Creative Quest for Rhythm Divine

Renowned French-British musician Jason Kouchak, pioneer of the "Queen's Journey" in conversation with International Arbiter Naveen Karthikeyan

 

Performing for the 10th anniversary of Judit Polgar’s Global Chess Festival 2024. (c) Photo: Ray Morris-Hill

 

Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière,
(The upside down elephant) (c) Photo: Jason Kouchak

Take a high-speed train from Paris. Two hours through the scenic French countryside will take you to Lyon — the city founded by the Romans more than 2,000 years ago at the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers. Stand anywhere in the city. Rising against the skyline will be the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière. The locals call this 19th century Cathedral the "upside-down elephant” because of its rounded base and four towers. As a Lyon goné (kid in French), Jason Kouchak was to fall in love with another "elephant" — the Rook on the chessboard. That, though, is only one of his two loves. The other is classical music which took him to London.
"Actually," smiles Kouchak, "The knight's my favourite piece. But then, speaking of aesthetics, the Queen works best for a ballet on the chessboard!"

Jason Kouchak in Holland, London Park 2024. Kouchak shared the cost of the giant chessboard with Kensington and Chelsea council. He says: "I wanted to bring children from various backgrounds together. I wanted people to play each other across the board rather than using their iPhones to play chess."(c) Photo: Jason Kouchak

Jason Kouchak and the Royal Ballet. (c) Photo: Jason Kouchak

Kouchak put it all together by pioneering the artistic concept of "Queen's Journey" in 2016 to encourage women to play chess. The French-British composer, pianist and choreographer can speak forever on the subject: Chess and Ballet are gender neutral activities that connect people through time and space. It improves their generic life skills by developing their spatial awareness, logical thinking and generic life with communication skills. A combination to inspire and inform both sexes of the importance of coordinating together and moving forward into the future. These art forms are a profound medium of communication that have no barriers of language, gender, ethnicity,religion, physical ability or social status. Chess and ballet connect in themes of ‘empowerment’ for women as Queens of power and grace move as pieces across a giant chess board.

The Queen’s Journey has toured in the United Kingdom, France, Hungary and the United States.

Website: Queen's Journey

It all began in childhood. Jason Kouchak says, "My earliest memories of chess were watching my Mum and Dad playing chess whilst listening to classical music. I was intrigued by the shapes and movement of the pieces. I saw the game as a dance, a ballet and a battle."

Today, Kouchak has a list of projects lined up. He's collaborating with the Royal Ballet School in Holland Park, rehearsing for a performance for the 10th anniversary of Judit Polgar’s Global Chess Festival in September 2024 and recording with "my good friend Matt Goss for a new musical in London scheduled for Spring 2025."

Matt Goss (left) and Jason Kouchak (right). (c) Photo: Jason Kouchak

Where does the fuel for all this creativity come from?

For one, the musician finds inspiration in Nature. He further explains, "One must enjoy the joy of the journey and the spirit within inspiration! One must dare to dream and have the drive and desire to follow those dreams. In essence this sense of fearlessness and fulfilment comes from self-growth and self knowledge.

(Left) With IM Tania Sachdev for whom Kouchak says, "She brings grace and empowerment to chess," and (right) Priyanka Chopra at Kouchak's gaint chess set in Holland Park, London. (c) Photo: Jason Kouchak

"It’s important to create new projects and always stay curious. You have to find your inner child. Learning, Living, Laughing and Loving Life is the mantra."

That's pretty Indian. And, yes, Kouchak has met the five-time world champion from India, Viswanathan Anand several times in London and discussed a shared passion — astronomy!

Written in the stars
Here are Kouchak's  compositions for the 60th anniversary of the first manned space flight. On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin had become the first human to orbit the Earth in a 106-minute flight in a Vostok 1 space capsule. "Music, the stars and chess are magically connected," says Kouchak.

There's more. The Pleiades is a cluster of 1,200 stars in the Milky Way with seven particularly bright stars. In Greek mythology, they became nymphs accompanying the goddess Artemis. On a special request, Kouchak's friend, none other than the great Grandmaster Dr John Nunn, Jason composed a checkmate in three as a chess, astronomy and music project to mark the Royal Astronomical Society’s 2020 bicentenary and the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s historic space flight. The puzzle reflects the arrangement of the stars in the Pleiades Constellation.

(Left) White to play and checkmate in three (answers at the end) and (right) the Pleiades Constellation. (c) Photo: Jason Kouchak

 

Each of the seven stars corresponds to a melodic note in Kouchak’s following  musical composition: 

 

 

The Stars are in My Eyes
- By Jason Kouchak

The stars are in my eyes
A thousand lights above me
Journey to a world still unknown
Where I’m never alone

The stars are in my eyes
Heaven’s high above me
Imagine all the wonders of space
The mystery of another place

Once in a moment beyond your destiny
reaching for answers in dreams you still believe

How does Kouchak pack it all in the same 24 hours that the rest of us have?

Kouchak smiles with his deep, philosophical eyes. A busy day starts with music. He says, "I practice piano as soon as I wake up and create new ideas from my dreams the previous night. Then, either I go for a run or play tennis before returning to my first love the piano. 

Jason Kouchak at L’Auditorium de Lyon. (c) Photo: Jason Kouchak

Jason Kouchak at Abbey Rd Studios London. (c) Photo: Jason Kouchak

I play chess online as a breathing space in between music projects. It helps me to distance myself and create perspective for the day. Recording, rehearsing and the realisation of new projects takes up the remainder of the day. Finally, at the end of the day I try to review my actions and reactions and maybe look forward to a new dream.

Where there's music and chess, can literature go missing?

Kouchak's favourite writer is Vladimir Nabokov. Kouchak adds, "Especially his wonderful masterpiece: "Speak, Memory." He loved chess and butterflies which are also two of my passions. I also enjoy reading Vikram Seth, the Indian novelist and poet who I met once in London. He has not only wonderful literary skills but also an impressive knowledge of classical music. His "An Equal Music" is a romantic novel with a beautiful insight into the world of music."

The Boris Spassky Connection

For Kouchak there was never a disconnection between chess and music even when he lost to former world chess champion Boris Spassky. He could not help composing a song!

Jason Kouchak with former world chess champion Boris Spassky. (c) Photo: Jason Kouchak

Completely and happily overwhelmed by this creative genius' thoughts, as I bid adieu, leaving Kouchak to explore further the realms of creative fulfilment, the Frenchman signs off with his favourite poem by none other than Rabindranath Tagore: 

Poem On Time

The butterfly counts 

not months but moments,

and has time enough.

Time is a wealth of change,

but the clock in its parody

makes it mere change and no wealth.

Let your life lightly dance 

on the edges of Time

like dew on the tip of a leaf.

— Rabindranath Tagore

 

Answer to puzzle by John Nunn (based on an idea by Jason Kouchak and Julian Paix) 1.Bf7! Kf5 2.Bd2! Ke5 3.Rd5#

 ———

Additional Links:

• Jason Kouchak official website
• Chess and Ballet website 

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Ravishanker wins Digital Detox Chess, Jhansi's RNS World School Best Team

Chief Guest 83-year-old senior player and coach RK Gupta from Jhansi with all the prize winners of the two-day digital detox weekend chess hosted by Chess Club Black and White (CCBW) at The Charans Plaza in Lucknow.

Ravishanker scored a perfect 7/7 to win the Two-Day Digital Detox Weekend Chess hosted by Chess Club Black & White (CCBW) at The Charans Plaza in Lucknow. Samarth Gupta scored 6.5/7 to become the under-16 junior champion. CCBW hosted the tournament to create awareness about the benefits of playing chess as a family sport and staying away from screens.

Tournament champion Ravishanker

RNS World School, Jhansi Best School Team

The veterans +60 section had a remarkable result: 84-year-old Kranti Kumar Gupta from Bareilly scored 4 points to take first place, and 83-year-old R K Gupta from Jhansi scored 3.5 points to take the second place. R. K. Gupta even brought his student's team, who he is coaching himself, at the RNS World School, Jhansi, they were the best overall team from UP.

Sayeed Ahmad with 6 points and Samyak Sagar with 6.5 points were second in the open and junior sections, respectively. Father-sons' team of Ashish Kumar, Ishit, and Ishaan won the best family prize, and Gyan Argal, Shivansh, and Saransh won the second best family prize. The top two unrated players were Nikhar Saxena and Shatrughan Rawat (4.5 points each).

Other top results:

Best Girl: Advika Tiwari, 3 pts; Best Woman: Aaditri Pandey, 2.5 pts;

Under 10: 1st Diara Agarwal 5 pts, 2nd Shahab Murad Alam 4.5 pts, 3-4th Amay Rajendra, Abhigyan Katiyar, 4 pts each.

Under 13: 1-3rd Arjun Garg, Saksham Srivastava, and Tanish Kumar, 4 pts each.

Under 16: 1st Ujjwal Raj Srivastava, 5 pts, 2nd Saransh Argal 3.5 pts, 3rd Karthikeya Chaturvedi 3 pts.

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