Does Chess Still Matter? NPR's On Point Takes a Look
09.24.14 Once upon a time, chess - the game of kings - was huge in America. Bobby Fischer was world champ, and the chess champ of the world was on the cover of Time, Sports Illustrated. Then the Cold War ended, video games moved in, and chess went off the radar. Maybe we should bring it back. There is incredible stuff going on in the world of chess, and around it. Aliens, oligarchs, Norwegians, Las Vegas, Vladimir Putin and an Italian superstar named Fabiano. This hour On Point: Checkmate. The wild, wonderful -- and these days, much-ignored -- world of chess. --Tom Ashbrook, host of NPR's On Point.
Fabiano Caruana, of Italy, was the winner of the 2014 Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, MO. His seven straight wins in the tournament are virtually unprecedented in the history of the game. (Courtesy US Chess Champs)
Tom Ashbrook speaks with Seth Stevenson, contributing writer for Slate and Jennifer Shahade, Women's Grandmaster, author and two-time American Women's Chess champion about Fabbiano Caruana's recent 7-0 straight performance at the 2014 Sinquefield Cup In St. Louis (Caruana won the tournament with a score of 8.5/10 conceeding only 3 draws against the world's best) as well as FIDE, Ilyumzhinov, aliens, oligarchs, Norwegians, Las Vegas and Vladimir Putin.
