This week we are looking at a rising star. A 3-time US Women’s Chess Champion, the youngest female player to defeat a Grandmaster, the youngest American woman in history to earn the International Master title - all before the age of 22 - Carissa Yip.

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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Ngf3 cxd4 6.Bc4 Qd7 7.O-O Nc6 8.Nb3 a6 9.Re1 Nf6 10.Nbxd4 Nxd4 11.Nxd4 Qc7 12.Qe2 Bd7 13.Bg5 O-O-O 14.Rad1 Bd6 15.Bxa6 Bb4 16.c3 Bd6 17.h3 bxa6 18.Qxa6+ Kb8 19.c4 Bc5 20.Rd3 Ba4 21.Qxa4 Rxd4 22.Rb3+ Bb6 23.Be3 Rd6 24.c5 Rc6 25.Bf4 1-0

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https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2768625

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carissa_Yip

http://cassidynoble.com/

This week, we are looking at the history of a 3 time World Blitz Champion, a 5 time World Champion Candidate, and who some have nicknamed as the ‘funniest’ or the ‘thug life’ Grandmaster - Alexander Grischuk.

He never quite reached the pinnacle of the classical chess world. He qualified for multiple Candidates tournaments and World Championship tournaments, landing just short of the title on a couple occasions.

But! He did win the World Blitz Champion on 3 different occasions, maintained a 2700+ rating for over 22 years, was the number 3 player in the world and spent a quarter of a century in the top 100 players in the world.

So that is all that we have for this week, tune in next time where we will continue to work on our blindfold skills and look at another game of the Masters.

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1. b3 Nf6 2. Bb2 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 c5 5. e3 O-O 6. Ne2 d5 7. c4 d4 8. exd4 Ng4 9. Na3 Nc6 10. Nc2 cxd4 11. d3 Qa5+ 12. Kf1 Qf5 13. f4 Nb4 14. Nexd4 Qc5 15. Ba3 a5 16. h3 Qxd4 17. Nxd4 Ne3+ 18. Ke2 Nxd1 19. Raxd1 Bxd4 20. Rhe1 Rd8 21. Kd2 e6 22. Re2 Nxa2 0-1

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https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1669171

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Grischuk

http://cassidynoble.com/

Adorned with 10 different gold medals from team events, being the 10th woman to earn the Grandmaster title, being the Russian Women’s Champion, Europe’s Rapid and Blitz Champion, a 2 time Chess960 World Champion, and a Women’s World Champion - Alexandra Kosteniuk has made a splash in the world of women’s chess.

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1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O c5 5. c4 Nc6 6. d4 cxd4 7. cxd5 exd5 8.Nxd4 Be7 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Nb3 Be6 11. Be3 b6 12. Rc1 Qd7 13. Nd4 Ne5 14. Bf4 Ng6 15. Bg5 h6 16. Nxe6 fxe6 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Nxd5 exd5 19. Bxd5+ Kh7 20. Bg8+ 1-0

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https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2078732

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Kosteniuk

http://cassidynoble.com/

Nowadays, we may hear about Vladimir Kramnik as someone highly suspicious of chess cheating including accusing high level players of misconduct, but that has not always been the case. He was the youngest person to ever reach world number 1 in ratings, he was a World Champion for 7 years, and was a 2 time Chess Oscar winner. So let’s dive into this chess legend’s career. A career that included - being world number 1 several times, a 7-year world champion, a lasting impact on chess opening theory, helping be a voice for those that have cheating accusations against them, and now helping teach the game to a new generation - Vladimir Kramnik has had an impactful career in the chess community.

For our game this week, we are going back to the Qatar Masters of 2014. Vladimir Kramnik versus Sanan Sjugirov.

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1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c6 4. d3 Bg4 5. O-O Nbd7 6. Qe1 e5 7. e4 Bd6 8. h3 Bh5 9. Nh4 O-O 10. g4 Bg6 11. g5 Nh5 12. Exd5 cxd5 13. Nxg6 hxg6 14. Bxd5 Nf4 15. Bxf4 exf4 16. h4 Qc8 17. Qe4 Qxc2 18. Nc3 Qxb2 19. Qxg6 Bc5 20. Ne4 Qe5 21. Bb3 Bxf2+ 22. Nxf2 f3 23. Ne4 Qd4+ 24. Kh1 Qb2 25. Nf6+ 1-0

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https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1779624

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Kramnik

http://cassidynoble.com/

Chess is everywhere around us. Its been a game that has resonated with billions of people for almost 1500 years. A game about strategy, hierarchies, players that don’t know it rising to the top of the game, humans that break barriers while playing it - everyone who plays this game has their own stories to tell - be that the games that got away, the games that will go down in their memories forever, or just a funny moment between friends - and that is why we continue to play. There are always more stories to discover, learn, and share with one another.

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Phiona Mutesi versus Mustafa Manour Zienab.

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Nge2 Bg7 7. h3 Rb8 8. Be3 O-O 9. O-O b5 10. Qd2 b4 11. Nd1 Nd7 12. f4 a5 13. Rb1 Nd4 14. g4 Nxe2+ 15. Qxe2 Bd4 16. Bxd4 cxd4 17. Qf2 Qb6 18. f5 Ne5 19. Qh4 e6 20. f6 Kh8 21. Qh6 Rg8 22. g5 Bb7 23. Rf4 Nd7 24. Qxh7+ 1-0

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So that is all that we have for this week. Tune in next time where we will continue to work on our blindfold skills and look at another game of the Masters.

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1768889

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phiona_Mutesi

http://cassidynoble.com/

This week, we are looking at the rising star Vaishali Rameshbabu, the 3rd woman in India to achieve the Grandmaster title. She and her brother are the first 2 siblings in history to be Grandmasters, to play in the Candidates, and to play in the Candidates in the same year.

For today though, we are going back just a couple of years to the 2022 Tata Steel Blitz tournament - Vaishali Rameshbabu versus Kulkarni Bhakti.

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1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Bd6 5. Bg3 c5 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. c3 b6 8. Bd3 Bb7 9. Ne5 Nc6 10. f4 Ne7 11. Qf3 Nf5 12. Bf2 Be7 13. g4 Nd6 14. g5 Nfe4 15.Bxe4 dxe4 16. Qg4 cxd4 17.cxd4 Rc8 18. h4 Rc2 19. h5 b5 20. g6 Qa5 21. Rd1 Nc4 22. gxf7+ Kh8 23. Ng6+ hxg6 24. hxg6+ 1-0

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Being the 3rd woman to achieve the Grandmaster title in India, playing in her first Candidates tournament last year, and setting her sights at the World Championship - it’ll be great to continue to watch Vaishali improve.

So that is all that we have for this week. Tune in next time where we will continue to work on our blindfold skills and look at another game of the Masters.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaishali_Rameshbabu

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2420745

https://cassidynoble.com/

This week, we are looking at the tumultuous and impressive life of the 4th World Champion - Alexander Alekhine.

Alekhine’s fingerprints are all over the game we know today - he had many openings named over him including the: Alekhine Defense (e4 Nf6), Alekhine Variations found in the Budapest Gambit, Vienna Game, Ruy Lopez, Winawer Variation, Sicilian Dragon, QGA, Slav, Queens Pawn, Catalan, and Dutch, he had composed several endgame studies, he wrote over 20 chess books, and he had a cat named ‘Chess’ that he took with him to tournaments.

Though not officially given the Grandmaster title since FIDE did not give those until 1950, he was given it unofficially from Tsar Nicholas II at the St Petersburg tournament of 1914.

This week, we are traveling back to 1921 - before he became world champion to The Hague - Alexander Alekhine versus Max Euwe.

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1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 e6 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. a3 Bd6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. b4 Bd6 9. Bb2 O-O 10. Rc1 Qe7 11. cxd5 exd5 12. Nxd5 Nxd5 13. Qxd5 a5 14. Bb5 axb4 15. a4 Rd8 16. Qh5 g6 17. Qh6 Ne5 18. Ng5 f6 19. Bxe5 fxg5 20. Bc4+ 1-0

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Being ensnared in World War I, World War II, the Russian Revolution, leaving your home country to never return, all while being at the top of the chess world for 17 years, playing in 5 chess Olympiads, and breaking the simultaneous Blindfold Chess record 3 different times - Alexander Alekhine has earned his plaque in the Chess Hall of Fame.

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1012076

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Alekhine

http://cassidynoble.com/

Welcome back! This week, we are taking a closer look at someone that Garry Kasparov has praised for her calculation skills, a 20 time US Women’s Chess Championship participant, 4-time US Women’s Champion, and someone who helped the United States win their first Olympic medal(s) - Anna Zatonskih.

For today’s game, we are traveling back to the 2nd round of the US Women’s Championship of 2017. Anna Zatonskih versus Emily Nguyen.

Now, if we’re ready - lets begin.

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1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. d4 Nf6 6. Na3 Nc6 7. Be3 cxd4 8. Nb5 Qd8 9. Nbxd4 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Be7 11. Bd3 O-O 12. Qc2 g6 13. O-O-O Qa5 14. Kb1 b5 15. h4 Rd8 16. h5 Nxh5 17. Rxh5 gxh5 18. Qd2 Kf8 19. Qh6+ Ke8 20. Qxh7 e5 21. Qg8+ Kd7 22. Nxe5+ Kc7 23. Qxf7 1-0

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A 3 time Women’s World Championship participant, a 20 time US Women’s Championship participant, a 4 time US Women’s Championship winner, a player in every Olympiad for a quarter of a century, and on the US Women’s team that help earn the United States women their first Olympiad medal - Anna Zatonskih has cemented her mark not only in Ukraine and the United States, but also across the world.

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https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1869995

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Zatonskih

http://cassidynoble.com/