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 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!!
“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
After Queen’s Gambit became one of the most watched series on Netflix, viewed by around 62 million people, chess is known to have benefited from a great deal of publicity and a new surge of interest. Perhaps even greater than that achieved by the exploits of famous Grand Masters and chess world champions. ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ tells the battle of women for equality starting from the world of chess. But in reality female champions – like Judit Polgar – are rare and sexism in this discipline is maximum. Some time ago even the great champion Garry Kasparov even declared that chess “would not be in the female nature“. But is it really true?
There are those who have made a historical reflection recalling that women played chess as much as men until the beginning of the seventeenth century. At that time, the rules of chess changed as the Queen and Bishop acquired much more meaning and power. Chess went from a pleasant game between gentlemen and women to a competitive and ruthless sport practiced mainly in pubs and cafes, and therefore considered an unseemly activity for women. For the next 300 years, society continually sent the message “Chess is not for women“.
We are convinced that today the reason there are no women among the top players is because there are hardly any girls who sign up to start playing chess.So, in order to change this, we invite all girls and women to join our club. Fun, happiness and good training for everyone! It would be nice to be able to discover over time a local champion able to compete with everyone on a world level.
And now let us see how the question of Beth Harmon’s existence has also emerged online.
Beth may be a fictional character, but there is a lot of speculation as to who Beth Harmon might be in real life. Talking about Beth’s character, the novelist Walter Tevis who wrote the book The Queen’s Gambit, stated that Beth was a tribute to brainy women like his daughter, Julie, and aunt (who gave him his first chess as a present when he was seven).
It seems that the author was inspired by Vera Menchik. But who was Vera?
Vera plays chess
She was born in 1906 in Moscow into a wealthy family of mill owners. However, during the Russian Revolution (1917-23), her family’s mill was confiscated and her family had to share the house with other people. Eventually, her family was forced to give up ownership of their home. Vera had to change schools against her will. In times of turmoil, she found solace in chess, a game that her father had taught her when she was nine years old. To top that, her parents divorced that left her shaken as she immigrated with her mother and with her sister, Olga, to England. She joined a local chess club in England, where she challenged the best men players of that time. Soon, she gained fame by winning in local and regional matches at national and international matches. In 1927 she won the Women’s World Chess Championship, a tournament that had taken place for the first time. She also defeated many of the best males of her era, including world champion Max Euwe (twice!), As well as Sammy Reshevsky, Jacques Mieses and Lajos Steiner. Hastings 1930-1, Euwe lost only one game in the entire event – to Menchik. At the height of the Second World War, and a year after her husband’s death, she died at the hands of war while playing in a chess tournament.
Who are the 3 best female players actually in the world ?
Grand Master Hou Yfan – ChinaGrand Master Goryachkina, Aleksandra – RussiaGrand Master Ju Wenjun – China
Our dream: that our club can develop a champion like him!
GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa
Quintuple world chess champion, 31-year-old Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, who has held the title since 2013, was defeated at the Aithings Masters by Indian prodigy, 16-year-old Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. The other element of novelty contained in this news concerns the growing practice of online chess tournaments, one of the direct consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. A practice, that of chess on the Internet, which Carlsen himself called a “revolution”.
It is no coincidence that the exploit of the one who has been nicknamed ‘Pragg’ was made right online, in one of the most followed fast tournaments in the world, making him the youngest player to have defeated the almost invincible Norwegian. The great Indian chess master, born on 10 August 2005 in Chennai (South), took home the victory with a queen’s gambit in the Tarrasch variant after 39 moves.
His greatest ambition is to take the place of the one who inspired him: 52-year-old Viswanathan Anand – 16th in the world rankings – called the Lucky Luke of chess at the time of his heyday for the speed with which he calculated the moves, still considered a living god of over a billion Indians. In reality ” Pragg ‘, a teenager with a fragile and shy appearance, is not new to this type of exploit: in 2016, at just 10 years old, he became the youngest International Master in the history of the game. Two years later he was awarded the then-second youngest chess master in the world.
Praggnanandhaa belongs to a generation of young Indians who embody India’s growing influence in the world of chess, a sport that has its origins in a sixth-century Indian board game for two. Three of Praggnanandhaa’s peers are among the most promising players of his generation: Nihal Sarin, 18, fast chess master and 2019 Asian blitz champion, Arjun Erigaisi, 18, who five-time world champion Anand calls one of the “best. hopes “of India, and Dommaraju Gukesh, 15.
India currently has 73 great masters, up from 20 in 2007. Two of them are women, including 34-year-old Koneru Humpy, world champion in rapid chess who won the title in December 2019 after a two-month maternity break. years. Pragg is one of the most ambitious chess players of his generation. He knew that chess would be his life when he was eight.
“He always thinks about chess,” Ramesh, his coach since he was 7, told the BBC. The son of a bank manager and a housewife, ‘Pragg’ particularly enjoys playing cricket and table tennis with his Chennai friends, as well as watching Tamil-language comedies.
Before Covid, the talented teenager spent 15 days a month traveling around the world to participate in tournaments, always accompanied by his mother and a rice cooker to prepare his favorite dishes for him as he does not like other cuisines. His sister, Vaishali, is also in the game as a member of the Indian women’s team. Precisely in Chennai in 2008 Ramesh, former Commonwealth chess champion, opened a training school today attended by a thousand students between 7 and 18 years old, both Indian and coming from the four corners of the planet.
“Indian children are very motivated, diligent and hardworking. The main reason the game is progressing in India is that we have more qualified instructors as the great masters and good players are becoming teachers themselves. There are so many players at this. point there are no teachers “explained his coach. A third of the students get free lessons because he can’t afford them.
India still has a long way to go before it can offer equal opportunities to all its deserving talents and realize its full chess potential. Many of its great masters do not yet have an employer and a sponsor. Oil companies and state railways have hired ranked chess players, but the prize pool in tournaments is usually still below their modest salaries.
In India, the historic home of cricket, “chess fever” has now infected 50,000 Indians officially registered in clubs, but in all at least one million participate in tournaments. In 2022, in addition to hosting 12 international tournaments, Gandhi’s homeland will launch its own chess championship. In the ranking of the 100 best players in the world, the Asian giant is represented by seven champions, while the noble Russia has 23.
