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The Harvard University T. H. Chan School of Public Health Program on the Global Demography of Aging is conducting a Chess Cognition Study. This study is being conducted in order to gather information on the cognitive abilities of chess players who are members of the United States Chess Federation. Here are the requirements for participants in the study and how you can enroll. |
Continue reading "Harvard University School of Public Health Chess Cognition Study" »
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In Waterville, Maine, Colby College students are creating a three-dimensional virtual reality chess environment as part of a larger research project into how assistive technologies can expand information access, particularly for people with blindness and vision impairments. |
Continue reading "Colby College Students Build Virtual Reality Chess Environment" »
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The 16th Aurora Winter Solstice Tournament was held at the Airline Community School on Saturday, December 11, 2021. The event offered five sections for players to choose from: Open, U1600, U1200, U800 & Unrated, and U400 & Unrated. The AWS is one of the tournaments on the Scholastic Grand Prix schedule and, because of a new Maine Chess Association initiative, is offered to K-12 students at no cost to them--for either US Chess memberships or entry fees. |
Continue reading "16th Aurora Winter Solstice Tournament Report" »
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The Maine Chess Association needs your help! MECA is seeking school hosts for the following tournaments: The Kathy Richards Maine Girls' Chess Championship and the Maine Women's Championship on February 12, 2022; The Maine Individual Scholastic Chess Championship on March 19, 2022. Any school coaches or organizers interested in hosting one of these two tournaments should contact Michael Dudley, President, mdudley@chessmaine.org as soon as possible. |
Continue reading "MECA Seeks Host Venues for Upcoming Tournaments" »
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World Champion Magnus Carlsen won Game 11 of the World Chess Championship Match in Dubai, UAE. Carlsen retains his title and becomes a five-time World Champion. Nothing but the greatest respect goes to the Challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi but, as he has already admitted, he did not bring his best chess to this Match. The final score: Carlsen 7.5 - Nepomniachtchi 3.5. |
Continue reading "WCC Game 11: Carlsen is Five-Time World Champion" »
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Game 10 of the World Chess Championship between the Champion Magnus Carlsen and the Challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi was played to a draw after 41 moves. The Match score now stands at 6.5 - 3.5 with Carlsen needing only a single point--one victory or two draws to maintain the title. |
Continue reading "WCC Game 10: It's a Draw; Carlsen's Path Appears Inexorable " »
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Magnus Carlsen won Game 9 of the FIDE World Chess Championship being contested in Dubai, UAE and took what may become an insurmountable three-point lead in the Match. Tragically for the Challenger, particularly after posing Carlsen difficulties in the opening in which the Champion was behind both on the board and on the clock, the single move 27.c5 suddenly plunged the position into a dead loss. |
Continue reading "WCC Game 9: Carlsen Wins with Black; Takes Three-Point Lead" »
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The Maine Chess Association, in collaboration with Maine Crafts Association and Maine Craft Portland hosted An evening of blitz chess with WGM and 2017 US Women's Chess Champion Sabina Foisor at Maine Craft Portland on Congress Street in downtown Portland, Maine on Friday, December 3, 2021. |
Continue reading "WGM Sabina Foisor Inspires at Maine Craft Portland Blitz Exhibition" »
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MECA will hold elections for new directors from December 15 to December 31, 2021. All four board Director positions are open for consideration. MECA members in good standing may submit nominations for Directors to run, and those director-candidates must also be members in good standing. Submit any nominations to MECA Secretary Wyatt Hendrix igmwhendrix@gmail.com or any other board member by December 14, 2021. |
Continue reading "Maine Chess Association Calls for Board Director Nominations " »
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There have only been two World Championship Matches in which the Challenger came back to win after a two-game deficit: Max Euwe in 1935 and Bobby Fisher in 1972. That deficit is the unenviable position Ian Nepomniachtchi finds himself in during the current Match. With six games remaining in the classical Match, Nepo certainly has a uphill battle ahead of him. The Match score now stands at: Carlsen 5 Nepomniachtchi 3. |
Continue reading "WCC Game 8: Carlsen Wins Again; Takes 2-Game Lead in Match" »
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Game 7 of the 2021 FIDE World Chess Championship ended in a 41-move amicable draw. After an exhausting battle in Game 6, Ian Nepomniachtchi was content to steer the game into well-known peaceable channels. The Challenger seemed to vent a bit of frustration over the previous day's game at the post-game press conference when he said, "It was quite a new experience to play two games in one day. Somehow I thought that at the World Championship level it should be like a little bit different than some open tournaments." Match Score: Carlsen 4.0 Nepomniachtchi 3.0 |
Continue reading "WCC Game 7: Match Midpoint Game Ends in Draw" »
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Game 6 of the 2021 World Chess Championship will go down as the longest game ever played in a World Championship match. A 136-move epic with all the plot twists and turns of a gripping thriller. In the end it was Magnus Carlsen who, to borrow a phrase from Savielly Tartakower, was the one to made the next-to-last mistake. With this win, the first in 20 World Championship games, the defending Champion takes the lead 3.5-2.5. |
Continue reading "WCC Game 6: Carlsen Wins 136-Move Odyssey " »
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There are still a few slots open to play WGM Foisor in a G/3 blitz game on Friday, December 3rd at Maine Craft Portland. If you would rather watch, you can do so in-person at MCP, 521 Congress Street, or online >> here. << Either way, we hope you will join us! The first game starts at 5:00 p.m. eastern. |
Continue reading "WGM Foisor Blitz Chess Exhibition *Watch Live!*" »
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Women's Grandmaster and 2017 US Women's Chess Champion Sabina Foisor gave a lecture in downtown Portland that was, at the same time, fascinating, instructive, and touchingly personal. With inspirational words of encouragement, WGM Foisor recounted her upbringing in Romania, her ascendence to the pinnacle of US women's chess, and shared the heartbreak of losing her mother to cancer. As part of the Craft Maker's Gambit: An Exhibition Inspired by the Game of Chess, this event was sponsored by the Maine Crafts Association, Maine Craft Portland, and the Maine Chess Association. |
Continue reading "WGM Foisor Lecture at Maine Craft Portland" »
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Game 5 of the World Chess Championship ended in a draw. The opening was another Ruy Lopez Anti-Marshall System in which Carlsen tried what he thought would be the lesser-analyzed 8...Rb8. Unfortunately for him, Nepo was booked to the nines on this line and pressed the World Champion on a course of grim defense. The players shook on the draw when a threatened triple-repeat-of-position occurred after White's 43rd move. |
Continue reading "WCC Game 5: Probing Meets Preparation; Match Tied at 2.5" »
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