16 years old defeats Magnus Carlsen in blitz

A 16-year-old Iranian chess master has outshone the defending World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen in the final of Banter Blitz Cup this week.

Alireza Firouzja, a grandmaster who has recently moved to France, defeated the Norwegian mega brain 8.5-7.5 in the final of the online quickfire knockout contest on April 14 — where players must comment verbally on their moves, and their opponents, during the game — to claim the $14,000 prize, chess24.com reported.

“Good game Alireza. I was way out of shape, but he deserves full credit. I’ve just got to be better, but he is amazingly strong. Full credit,” Carlsen said. In turn, Firouzja said he had prepared thoroughly for the final. “The only thing I think about all day is chess, so maybe it’s all day,” the Iranian teenager said.

After 7 months and 131 matches, the series of three-minute games involving 128 contestants wrapped up in a final clash between the defending world champion, who did not take a back seat to anyone since 2013, and the Iranian grandmaster. There will be a chance for revenge on April 20 when they play again in the Magnus Carlsen Invitational.

Magnus Carlsen is World Champion in classical chess, in rapid, and in blitz. But Alireza Firouzja is also a ferociously strong blitz player and in the past, he has successfully challenged Carlsen in a couple of bullet tournaments.

Kasparov vs. IBM

The battle of wits between IBM and chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov is one of the biggest moments in the history of artificial intelligence. After conceding defeat, the Russian suggested that the IBM team had cheated their way to a victory, something that the company, to this day, refutes. A new film, from Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight, seeks to shed some light on the accusation and what prompted his allegations. Directed by Hollywood uber-producer Frank Marshall, the documentary examines the controversial 44th move and how a simple computer error proved to be Kasparov's undoing.

According to the film, Deep Blue was trapped in a loop, and rather than spin its wheels, IBM had programmed the computer to just make a "safe legal move." Essentially, this means it just made a nothing move that would force the onus back on Kasparov without losing a piece or position. The grandmaster, however, had assumed that there was some deeper logic at work, and was rattled.

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[This is sort of a shortened version of the documentary Game Over.]

Magnus Carlsen, chess superstar

Chess crowned a new superstar Friday, as Magnus Carlsen clinched his first world chess title in a victory many expect to revolutionize the game.

At 22 years old, and with enough mainstream appeal to have secured a modeling contract and various endorsement deals, Carlsen is seen as the poster boy for a new era in chess, which has long been stuck with an image that was anything but dynamic.

The Norwegian secured victory by outlasting reigning champ Viswanathan Anand in Chennai, India, with a draw in game 10 of their scheduled 12-match series, building an unassailable 6.5-3.5 lead and bringing the contest to a close.

Carlsen's win earned him the $1.5 million winner's check, but that figure may be dwarfed by the commercial sponsorships he is able to secure on the back of his triumph.

With the "nerd dollar" one of the most powerful forces in modern marketing, Carlsen's combination of charisma and supreme strategic intelligence looks certain to pocket him some serious cash, as well as lead to a surge in popularity for his game of choice. Having secured the highest rating in chess history, his head-to-head battle with Anand over the past two weeks was all that stood between Carlsen and chess immortality.

However, he has already ventured where no chess player has gone before, with his modeling appearance for clothes brand G-STAR, a spot on Cosmopolitan magazine's sexiest men of 2013 list and a fanbase that includes even those unfamiliar with chess' complicated vagaries.

"The future belongs to him," said former world champion Garry Kasparov, one of chess' all-time greats. "He has the ability to reach an audience that has previously been shut off to chess. That is a wonderful thing for the game, to have this special talent and the character that goes with it."

Carlsen's style of play flies in the face of conventional chess logic and proved too much for Anand, a three-time defending champion.

Constantly throwing his opponent off balance with unorthodox and aggressive maneuvers, Carlsen asserted control in the championship match, which was played in a glass cage in India's sixth-largest city.

After the first four games all ended in draws, as is highly common at the top level of chess, where both players are of extremely high skill, Carlsen snatched away games five and six with ruthless attacking play. Following two more draws, he staved off a barrage of attacking moves from Anand to win game nine, putting him a mere half point from the championship. Players are awarded a full point for each game won, half for a draw.

Anand did not lie down quietly in game 10, despite his virtually impossible plight, forcing the game to 65 moves apiece before the players eventually agreed to a draw.

Carlsen is now expected to be greeted with a hero's welcome when he returns to his native Norway, before embarking on a world tour aimed at maximizing the spoils of his success.

"There is no telling how far his popularity could go," said two-time U.S. women's chess champion Jennifer Shahade. "He is a great looking guy and he has the personality and charisma to appeal to a very broad audience. This is a great time for him – and a great time for chess."

[2/16/14] - Magnus Carlsen vs. Bill Gates

Bobby Fischer 1943-2008

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Bobby Fischer, the reclusive chess genius who became a Cold War hero by dethroning the Soviet world champion in 1972 and later renounced his American citizenship, has died. He was 64.

Fisher died in a Reykjavik hospital on Thursday, his spokesman, Gardar Sverrisson, said Friday. Icelandic media reported that he died of kidney failure after a long illness.

Born in Chicago and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Fischer was wanted in the United States for playing a 1992 rematch against Boris Spassky in Yugoslavia in defiance of international sanctions. In 2005, he moved to Iceland, a chess-mad nation and site of his greatest triumph.

Garry Kasparov, the former Russian chess champion, said Fischer's ascent in the chess world in the 1960s and his promotion of chess worldwide was "a revolutionary breakthrough" for the game. But Fischer's reputation as a genius of chess was eclipsed, in the eyes of many, by his idiosyncrasies.

16-year old wins U.S. chess championship

Hiraku Nakamura is youngest U.S. champion since Bobby Fischer.