This week we are looking at a 5-time Women’s Olympiad gold winner, a 3-time Women’s Candidates winner, a USSR Women’s Champion, the first woman to beat a Grandmaster in a tournament game, and someone who - after she retired - went on to have an award winning career as a professor and researcher in numismatics - Alla Kushnir.

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1.Nf3 Nf6 2.b3 d5 3.Bb2 e6 4.e3 c5 5.Ne5 a6 6.Be2 Nbd7 7.f4 Nxe5 8.fxe5 Nd7 9.O-O Qg5 10.Rf4 g6 11.Qf1 Qe7 12.c4 dxc4 13.Nc3 Bh6 14.Ne4 Bxf4 15.Nd6+ Kf8 16.Qxf4 Kg7 17.Rf1 Rf8 18.Ne4 cxb3 19.Nf6 h6 20.d4 cxd4 21.exd4 Nb6 22.Bc1 Rh8 23.Ba3 Kf8 24.Bxe7+ Kxe7 25.Ng8+ 1-0

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https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2285281

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

https://coinsweekly.com/kushnir-stein-receives-meshorer-numismatic-prize/

http://cassidynoble.com/

Blindfold Chess Podcast Scholarship - https://64squarechessfund.org/

This week, we are looking at someone who focused on chess and grew to a very high level only to side step that achievement and work on building an inclusive social media juggernaut of ChessBaseIndia - Sagar Shah.

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1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. Nf3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d6 8. O-O e5 9. Nd2 O-O 10. Rb1 cxd4 11. cxd4 exd4 12. exd4 Nxd4 13. Ne4 Nxe4 14. Bxe4 Ne6 15. Qh5 h6 16. Bxh6 gxh6 17. Qxh6 Ng5 18. Rb5 f5 19. Bd5+ Rf7 20. Re1 1-0

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https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1889683

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

http://cassidynoble.com/

Blindfold Chess Podcast Scholarship - https://64squarechessfund.org/

This week, we are looking at one of the most infamous members of our game - someone who was not only challenged US Champions to matches, beat World Champions, and was a patent lawyer… but also someone who was arrested for auto fraud, was friends with notorious gangster Al Capone and was involved in the “Crime of the Century”, and eventually became an International Master at the age of 75 - Norman Whitaker.

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1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. Be3 Qa5+ 7. Nc3 Qe5 8. f4 Qc5 9. e5 Qb6 10. Nc2 Qd8 11. Be2 f6 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. O-O e6 14. Bc5 Bf8 15. Be3 Bg7 16. Nb5 Bf8 17. f5 exf5 18. Rxf5 gxf5 19. Bh5+ Nxh5 20. Qxh5+ Ke7 21. Bg5+ Ke6 22. Re1+ Ne5 23. Ncd4# 1-0

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chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2208433

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_T._Whitaker

http://cassidynoble.com/

Blindfold Chess Podcast Scholarship - https://64squarechessfund.org/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/418062169150605/posts/933592434264240/https://www.facebook.com/groups/418062169150605/posts/933592434264240/

https://texaschess.org/from-the-ivy-league-to-alcatraz-the-life-of-international-master-norman-t-whitaker/

http://www.chessarch.com/archive/0026_whitaker/whitaker.shtml

This week, we are looking at someone just a little different than our normal lineup. This person is NOT a Master, but their Youtube Channel - Hanging Pawns showcases the trials and tribulations of a tournament player on their way to chess mastery - Stjepan Tomic.

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1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. Be3 Qa5+ 7. Nc3 e6 8. Ndb5 Bxc3+ 9. Nxc3 Nge7 10. Qd2 O-O 11. Be2 a6 12. O-O Qc7 13. Rad1 Rb8 14. Bf4 e5 15. Bh6 Re8 16. Qg5 Nd8 17. Qf6 Ne6 18. Nd5 Qd8 19. Qxe5 Nxd5 20. cxd5 d6 21. Qc3 Qh4 22. dxe6 Qxh6 23. exf7+ Kxf7 24. Qc7+ Re7 25. Qxb8 Be6 26. Qxd6 Qg5 27. f4 Qa5 28. f5 gxf5 29. exf5 Bxa2 30. Bh5+ Kf8 31. f6 1-0

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https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2584315

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@HangingPawns

His newest project - https://chessreads.com/

Forky Chess Interview - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHGN6vCnZ6M

http://cassidynoble.com/

Blindfold Chess Podcast Scholarship - https://64squarechessfund.org/

This week we are looking at the Teacher of Germany, a World Championship challenger, a doctor, a top 5 player in the world for the better part of 2 decades, and someone so set in his chess ideological ways that his compatriots labeled him as “dogmatic” - Siegbert Tarrasch.

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1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. Be2 Nge7 7. Be3 Ng6 8. O-O Be7 9. f4 O-O 10. Rf3 f5 11. exf5 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 exf5 13. Bc4+ Kh8 14. Nd5 b5 15. Bb6 Bc5+ 16. Bxc5 d6 17. Bb6 Qd7 18. Bb3 Bb7 19. Rh3 Bxd5 20. Rxh7+ Kxh7 21. Qh5+ Kg8 22. Bxd5+ Rf7 23. Qxg6 Rf8 24. Bd4 1-0

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https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1266412

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

http://cassidynoble.com/

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https://www.chess.com/blog/Steakanator/winners-pov-nuremberg-1888

We are looking at a very color member of chess history - someone who had a 50 year chess playing career, someone who traveled from Europe to Australia to Cuba playing matches, simuls, and blindfold events, someone who put future World Champions through windows, been fined for assaulting people, arrested for being a French spy, and nicked named “The Black Death” - Joseph Blackburne.

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1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 d6 5.Nxc3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Ne5 7.Nxe5 dxe5 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.Bg5+ Nf6 10.Qh5 c6 11.Rd1 Qa5 12.f4 Qc5 13.fxe5 Qxe5 14.O-O h6 15.Be8 Be6 16.Rxf6 gxf6 17.Rd7+ Bxd7 18.Qf7+ Kd6 19.Qxd7+ Kc5 20.Be3+ Kb4 21.Qxb7+ Ka5 22.b4+ Bxb4 23.Bb6+ axb6 24.Qxa8# 1-0

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https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1028829

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

http://cassidynoble.com/

1876 match: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=79940

This week, we are looking at the highest rated Azerbaijani chess player, the 6th highest rated chess player in history, a 3 time-Candidate, 2 time world Junior champion, and a World Rapid Champion - Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

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1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. exd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bd6 7. Ne2 O-O 8. O-O Nc6 9. Rb1 Re8 10. d4 h6 11. Be3 Qf6 12. Qd3 a6 13. d5 Bf5 14. Be4 Bxe4 15. Qxe4 Na5 16. c4 b6 17. c5 bxc5 18. Qa4 Qf3 19. Rfe1 f5 20. Qxa5 f4 21. Bxc5 Qg4 22. Bxd6 cxd6 23. Qa4 Qf5 24. Nxf4 1-0

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https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1971545#google_vignette

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

http://cassidynoble.com/

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“Did he just play G4!?” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4pgWWjME2s

This week, we are looking at a popular influencer, commentator, Olympiad Gold Medal winner, national champion, International Master, and someone who has been in the Top 100 rated women in the world for the past 20 years - Tania Sachdev.

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1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. f3 Qc7 8. a3 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 d6 10. Be3 Nbd7 11. Rb1 O-O 12. Nb3 d5 13. exd5 exd5 14. c5 Re8 15. Kf2 Ne5 16. Bd4 Bf5 17. Ra1 Re6 18. Nc1 Rae8 19. Be2 Ned7 20. g4 Bg6 21. h4 Qf4 22. Kg1 Qg3+ 23. Kf1 Rxe2 0-1

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https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1665976

https://www.redbull.com/us-en/tania-sachdev-master-of-her-domain

https://www.presidentofindia.gov.in/smt-pratibha-devisingh-patil/press_releases/president-congratulates-tania-sachdev-winning-asian#:~:text=Rashtrapati%20Bhavan%20%3A%2018.09.-,2007,adopt%20sports%20as%20a%20career.

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

http://cassidynoble.com/