The well-known Artificial Intelligence site https://chat.openai.com reports some inaccuracies but also some of our secret projects!! But how will it know? Frankly it is impossible to understand this!
Here’s what it says about us: “… Arona Chess Club is a chess club located in the municipality of Arona, on the island of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, Spain. The club was founded in 1987 (????) and offers opportunities to play amateur and professional chess.
Arona Chess Club regularly organizes chess tournaments, both locally and nationally as well as internationally, with the participation of players of different skill levels. The club also promotes chess practice at local schools and runs chess classes for youth and adults interested in learning and improving their game.
The club also has a chess team that participates in regional and national championships, representing the city of Arona. Furthermore, Arona Chess Club has developed an international collaboration with other chess clubs in Europe and Latin America, offering opportunities for cultural exchange and chess practice….”
What do you think about that? Please send us your comments
Firstly we have to say that the pandemic has taken away or transformed almost all the chess manifestations that we were used to (i.e:Aeroflot of Moscow, the London Chess Classics, the Grenke of Karlsruhe, the Biel tournament, the Dortmund tournament, the Open of Gibraltar, the Bilbao tournament, the Leon tournament, the Linares tournament, the Memorial Tal, the Gashimov Memorial…).
Secondly, pandemia has also accelerated the creation of online tournaments. Playable from anywhere in the world and at any time without the need to travel and go to the hotel. It is understandable that the very young believe this is the way you play chess.
In addition, the disappearance, we hope temporary, of Russia and China with the world organizational scenario. The one ban on the demonstrations for the war he triggered. The other grappling with the re-establishment of the pandemic outbreak. They had to leave the scene to India, to the USA (especially for online chess) and to a fragmented Europe. Moreover, open large spaces to the new Asian realities, from the rich Arab countries to the ex-Soviet Asian republics.
But then the experience teaches us that the desire to try their hand against a human in the long run convinces everyone, or almost all, to enroll in a circle like the ARONA CHESS CLUB one or a tournament. And then a new era begins, the real one, made of tension, psychology, …
and now we want to show you the 4 best sites to play chess
The first site to play chess online is definitely chess.com. In reality, this option is also the most populated, considering that the portal has more than twenty million registered users. Well yes, in this case the registration is a must, but you can also authenticate you using Facebook or Google. Once access, you can challenge other players around the world. Chess.com is also available as an app for Android and iOS, both on mobile phones and on tablets.
The second site is Lichess.org. It is certainly not populated as Chess.com, but it still has more than one million games per day. Moreover, it does not require any form of recording if you want to do only one game. Instead, it will be necessary to access the site in the event that you want to record your progress, scores and all the games you have carried out against other users. In this case, however, everything will always be free.
is very similar, in its management, to Chess.com It is the most suitable site for all those who simply want to play a random game, without too many complications. In fact, it always allows you to play against other online players, completely free of charge and does not require any kind of registration. The portal is quite immediate: connect, click on “Play Now” and play against other online players.
is in fourth place in terms of gaming experience. But it is certainly the first for direct streaming, commented by GMs, of the best known international tournaments. The chess website is available in different languages (English, Spanish, German, ..) It is not possible to play correspondence games. The longest time control available is 60 minutes with an increase of 30 seconds per move. However, Chess24 offers various fantastic tournaments to participate in. Especially themed tournaments opening are extremely useful for improving your chess opening skills.
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Try them and decide what you like best and, if you want, leave me your comment below. Good fun!!!
Just one word! a SUCCESS. Happy everyone and two days of “friendly” chess challenges to celebrate next Christmas together! and with lots of prizes and gifts for everyone, young and old!
And you know how we built this extraordinary event? Here are some facts (not all, believe me!):
Weeks of preparation together with Rita of the Casa Fuerte of Adeje, to get and prepare everything necessary i.e: chairs and tables donated by the South Tenerife Language Center of Adeje, look, etc.
and in addition, the kind support of the Tenerife Chess Federation and the preparation and competence of the referee Franklin Diaz Barrios.
We got players from 14 different countries and of all ages; and more than 12,000 visits on our webpage and social networks worldwide!
International Rapid Tournament: sport and tourism!
a pack of very nice handmade soaps made here in Tenerife by Las Jalapeñas
Moreover, hundreds of free bottles of water offered at a very good prize by Fuentealta and decades of homemade cookies of Casa Fuerte in the shape of chess pieces, as well as many Casa Fuerte Christmas gadgets and gifts for everyone present.
The book of the IM Aldo Haïk, signed and with his dedication, raffled among all those present
another book on chess strategy to the best player of ARONA CHESS CLUB
the magnificent trophies and the engraved medals for the winners
And the blouses could not be missing, yes!, the wonderful tournament t-shirts with the exclusive design of the creative graphics Argelia Bello Hernandez Do you want to buy one? Please contact usand in few days you will get yours.
You know? we also organized to have a lemonade and a coffee service on the stage of the entrance square.
And last but not least! the very welcome presence and speech of GM Miodrag_Todorcevic, who enchanted everyone about the four factors described to become a GM.
Finally, let us see you again next year for the 2nd Christmas Rapid Tourney at Casa Fuerte of Adeje
Firstly, we are really pleased to confirm the presence of both the GM (Grand Master) Miodrag Todorcevic and the French IM (International Master) Aldo Haïk!
SPECIAL GUEST GM MINDRAGTODORCEVIC ANTICSPECIAL GUEST: IM ALDO HAIK
Miodrag Todorcevic, GM Fide since 1989 was French Chess Championship winner and got many awards; now he lives in Gran Canaria. He will be having a chat – sunday 18th dec. at about 1.30 pm – a very interesting chat, about his career which, we are sure, will truly enchant everyone. Have a look to his best games at the following link: https://www.chess.com/games/miodrag-todorcevic-antic,
Aldo Haïk IM Fide since 1985, won many tournaments and was two-times French Chess Championship winner (1972, 1983), He also has decided to accept our invitation and to come to Tenerife from France, where he currently lives, to celebrate Christmas with all of us at Casa Fuerte in Adeje. He worked as a chess journalist for the newspaper Le Figaro. Aldo Haïk has wrote several books on chess and he will sign and offer one of them to participants drawn by raffle.
Secondly, other two special guests, but not players, will also be present at the XMas Int’l Rapid tournament: the local painter Cande Alonso Hernández and the graphic designer Argelia Bello Hernandez
SPECIAL GUEST CANDE ALONSO HERNANDEZPECIALL GUEST: ARGELIA BELLO HERNANDEZ
Cande Alonso Hernández will paint throughout the tournamenT. For our event she has created tiles with the effigy of each chess piece. They will be available to anyone who wants to buy at the very low price of 50,00 euros each. Cande has also decided to pay homage to the winner of a painting by her. This occasion allows us to thank you sincerely for her kind thoughts!
Argelia Bello Hernandez will deliver the T-shirts she created to the winners. All the designs, logos and images of our club and our events, since the inauguration last May, have been created thanks to her creativity and imagination. Therefore, also this occasion allows us to thank you sincerely for her kind support!
Thirdly, we remind you that there will be an artisanal lemonade and coffee service, with charge, on the premises.
Last but not least, authorities and journalists will be present for a final toast with all those present, as well as some representatives of the Tenerife Chess Federation.
The FIRST RAPID tourney (15’-7 rounds) is starting on October, 7th 2022 at 17.00 – The first 4 rounds will be played. All players will be present at least 15 minutes before.
VENUE: Hotel Andorra 10, Av. Antonio Dominguez – 38650 – Playa de Las Americas – Tenerife
14 October 2022 – The remaining 3 rounds will be played from 17.00 and immediately after the final cerimony will immediately take place.
Wanna have a look at pairings and results? ok, you can, clicking here
The tournament is free for all ARONA CHESS CLUBmembers, and it is also free for GM, WGM, IM and WIM FIDE title holders. 10,00€ for non-members
Sign up now!! Simply sending an e-mail to: arona_chess_club@gmx.com with your data: name, surname, date of birth (in order to definy eligibility to awards) and nationality.
Payments are accepted at the club headquarters until Friday, October 7 (and October 14th) from 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
And what about the AWARDS ? … obviously they are are fully aligned to our club goals.
T-shirt (front)T-shirt (back)Siam ParkSiam Park
FIRST PLACE:Cup + the exclusive ARONA CHESS CLUB t-shirt + moreover a special paid dinner (drinks not included) for two at the “Linares” restaurant in Los Cristianos (or, in conclusion, €60 in cash).
Furthermore, the exclusive ARONA CHESS CLUB t-shirt is created just for this tournament by Argelia Bello H., one of the best Canarian creative graphic designer.
SECOND PLACE: Medal + the exclusive ARONA CHESS CLUB t-shirt + moreover a special paid dinner (drinks not included) for two at the “Linares” restaurant in Los Cristianos (or €30 in cash).
3RD PLACE – Medal + the exclusive ARONA CHESS CLUB t-shirt 4TH PLACE – Medal + the exclusive ARONA CHESS CLUB t-shirt 5TH PLACE – Medal + the exclusive ARONA CHESS CLUB t-shirt 6TH PLACE – Medal + the exclusive ARONA CHESS CLUB t-shirt
FIRST PLACE UNDER 12 – Medal + a free entrance to Siam Park, the first water park in the world + moreover the exclusive ARONA CHESS CLUB t-shirt
2ND UNDER12 – Medal + exclusive ARONA CHESS CLUB t-shirt 3RD UNDER12 – Medal + exclusive ARONA CHESS CLUB t-shirt
FIRST PLACE OVER 60 –Medal + a special dinner (drinks not included) at the “Linares” restaurant in Los Cristianos (or €30.00) + finally the exclusive ARONA CHESS CLUB t-shirt
Those born in 2010 and later are considered in the under 12 category. While veterans (over 60 years old) will be those born in 1962 and before.
Obviously, awards cannot be combined with each other.
Finally and most importantly, surprise awards will be there for all participants!!
All Fridays from 5 to 7 p.m. you can play and there are no classes. The monthly price is 20,00 € and there are novelties: awards and discounts!
a 3-month bonus for only 50,00€ and a 4-month bonus for only 60,00€
Classes will be every Tuesdays and Thursdays. From 5-6 p.m. for intermediate level players. And from 6 to 7 p.m. for beginners. The price of the classes is 20,00€/month for year 2022.
If someone wants individual private lessons the price is only 10,00 euros/hour.
Many players thinkingWFM Adhara against allchidren+ mummy commenting a positionmany generations at worksunset is comingPablo and HectorThe OA Beach Club venue
” We use our loaf “, and we know that Rome was not built in a day.
Arona Chess Club, however, gets a good start! Infact, on the second day of opening, at Hotel Andorra, has already seen present the first chess players: adults, seniors but also a woman and a child who, we are sure, will grow a lot in learning.
We therefore decided on two important things: 1- all our activities will be free and open to everyone until next May 30th. Club registrations will start in June, with very low prices (only 20 euros per month). 2- Fridays, opening day, will be reserved for games (1 hour) and chess lessons (1 hour).
Not bad is it? So we can’t wait to see even more of you next Friday!
“Come on girls! Time to show who you are!” was the title of our recent article n°3. And therefore we are very happy to introduce you to a promising girl who is showing who she is!
A few days ago she turned 18, but she is already an international chess champion. And not only from Tenerife (Spain) where she lives with her mother (her greater fan and supporter) and her brother, a very good chess player too.
Adhara is the name of a star in the Canis Major constellationand she certainly shines for her beauty, but above all, for her rare kindness and education. However, here we will mainly talk about her abilities and her great sporting potential in the world of chess.
The young Queen of chess has already won many titles and who knows how many others she will win! The list of her achievements is long and perhaps not complete. But they are worth rattling off to make sense of this great chess promise:
since 2011, the year of her first competition, she has continuously been Champion of Tenerife in all age categories. As well as of the Canary Islands since 2012 till now;
in 2019 she finished second in the Women’s Semi-Rapid Chess World Championship;
several times second in Spain and third in categories even higher than hers, as well as Spain Under 16 Champion in 2020;
first Spaniard in her ELOagecategory for several years, including 2018, 2019 and 2020; she is in the absolute Spanish Top Ten women ranking in the same years;
The secret of her success lies mainly in her rapid learning and analytical skills. She started to get passionate about chess when she was a child and, as she tells us in our exclusive interview: “…..I was drawn to those pieces my mother tried to teach my brother Ethan chess with, to the point that she gave me bigger ones to entertain me. But instead I took hers and put them in my mouth. It must have been at that moment that chess began to “live in me”..” Since then she also had many other passions such as dance, music, skating, piano and flute, singing, painting or basketball; but in the end “….you have to choose, and I chose chess”.
She remembers that her mother Eva decided to enroll her brother in a club and that she also wanted to join. “…Since I had known how to read and write for a long time, they left me and there I began to attend lessons with Tony López, at the Fundación CajaCanarias Club (in Santa Cruz de Tenerife), which continues to be my Club to this day…”. She was only 5 years old and soon started playing championships, becaming the Champion of Tenerife U10 almost at the beginning, when she was 6 years old.
How many hours do you study and play a day? “The truth is that is not easy to determine it, because it is difficult to combine with my studies, right now with 2nd year of Baccalaureate that requires many hours; as well as with the championships. In addition, I also participate in many tournaments outside the island. So, I try to train 1 hour a day or watch some chess at least every day; and when I’m in a tournament I can easily spend between 8-9 hours a day in front of a chessboard.”
We’ve all had idols as kids and so we ask her too. Her response, as always, appears much more mature than her age: “I have not much of an idol, which does not mean that I do not admire certain players. To give an example, at this moment I could highlight the Spanish GM Jaime Santos Latasa, who is in constant progression”.
Our last question is about her future and her dream! Where do you see yourself in 5 years? She is smiling and says: “I would like to continue enjoying and progressing in chess, in addition to studying Law. I see myself studying and advancing. The truth is that I would like to become Grand Master. And I hope to get it between now and then.”
Good Adhara! Arona Chess Clubthanks you for your time and, in the next future, for the kind availability at managing the “simul” at our inauguration day, on next May 27th.
And we are sure that Adhara’s star will shine and fly higher so, we wish her all the best…. “VAMOS MUCHACHA!“
Article and interview by Sergio Alessandro, with the kind collaboration of Eva Redondo Terrón – Limited reproduction