MediaMonks (where I work) collaborated with Netflix and the Brooklyn Museum to keep culture accessible to museum audiences even during Covid-19.

Th Queen and the Crown, highlights costumes featured in both Netflix original series “The Queen’s Gambit” and season four of “The Crown”.

Vogue described the exhibit as “the kind of immersive concept that could only happen with the help of the internet,” - for many, there is the ability to get a closer look at costume details than would be in person.

A few years back, Chess.com partnered with Twitch to help expand the popularity and reach of the sport. Since, GM Hikaru Nakamura’s stream has become one of the most popular US language ones on Twitch. 

Its undeniable that the popularity has come hand in hand with Covid-19 quarantines, creating a fan base hungry for content. Chess is thriving, while other sports (due to safety) simply cannot. Nakamura’s always been an interesting character, but most people log on to see his in-depth foresight / analysis from the top blitz player in the world. Incorporated into his streams are blind matches, puzzle rushes, and matches devoid of key pieces. His goal, with this new populist fame is to bring chess to the masses - and it seems to be working. 

In a time of extreme uncertainty, it’s positive to know that there are some constants - and a community with a collective interest, passion, and distraction from our morbid reality.

I just logged onto the current stream and to my delight, Rockets GM Daryl Morey - chess fan and analytics wizard - was acknowledged by Hikaru as one of the viewers.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an avid chess player, former NBA superstar, mystery author, and most importantly an outspoken and bold activist for racial injustices; and right now the latter is needed most. 

In the midst of the 2015 election, Kareem responded to smears from Trump using an eloquent and scathing chess analogy. "Trump is that chess player who likes to make every move with an aggressive slam of his piece on the board while shouting, 'Bam!' This will intimidate the novice and rattle his game. But it's ineffective against the more experienced player who welcomes such players because they are usually weak on strategy and therefore easily defeated. It's the same in basketball. The guy trash-talking all the time is usually the most insecure about his abilities."

In the midst of this year’s Black Lives Matter protests, Kareem has stayed far from silent. Some things transcend the ties that bind us - be it chess, or sport in general. This is one of those moments. Penned in his op-ed Kareem states: “Yes, protests often are used as an excuse for some to take advantage, just as when fans celebrating a hometown sports team championship burn cars and destroy storefronts. I don’t want to see stores looted or even buildings burn. But African Americans have been living in a burning building for many years, choking on the smoke as the flames burn closer and closer. Racism in America is like dust in the air. It seems invisible — even if you’re choking on it — until you let the sun in. Then you see it’s everywhere. As long as we keep shining that light, we have a chance of cleaning it wherever it lands. But we have to stay vigilant, because it’s always still in the air.”

In Revisionist History, Malcolm Gladwell questions the validity of current testing practices - why do we rush? why is the quantifiable measurement of skill and talent based primarily on speed and the ability to function under set time parameters?

Speed shouldn’t be relevant, he argues - as the ‘Tortoise and the Hare’ isn’t just parable, it’s a valuable lesson about learning and differences. 

Gladwell and Nakamura revisit the competition between Fabiano and Magnus - with Nakamura painting the individuals as extreme dichotomies. 

TED-Ed[ucation] provides a brief history of chess spanning from its origins in 7th century India as chaturanga to today’s computer software / AI.

What is believed to be the world’s oldest surviving chess piece (a rook) was unearthed in Jordan. An artifact of the Abbasid Caliphate, who led a series of revolts in the 8th century from Iran to Mesopotamia to seize the throne. Strategic in their revolution, one can ascertain that chess went hand in hand with the plotting and strategy required for their rise to power.

To illustrate the importance of chess to their culture, descendent and 9th century poet Abdallah ibn al-Mu’tazz wrote as follows: 

Oh you whose cynic sneers express The censure of our favorite chess Know that its skill is science’s self, Its play distraction from distress. It soothes the anxious lover’s care, It weans the drunkard from excess; It counsels warriors in their art, When dangers threat, and perils press; And yields us, when we need them most, Companions in our loneliness.

Regium boasted an automated chess e-Board that is internet connected allowing for seamless physical competition with players in different locations. Their Kickstarter campaign was suspended after multiple online chess communities identified it as a hoax (altho funding likely will be procured elsewhere). In addition to claims of the demonstration video being doctored, the prominent chess communities identified members of the ‘development team’ as AI generated photos using thispersondoesnotexist.com.

It’s pretty rare for a funding scam to cross into the chess world. In what can be highly competitive or casual, more often the game is marred by cheating scandals. Due to this, they USCF has taken steps to ban technology from tournaments, with the majority of cheaters resorting to consulting their phones while in the bathroom. 

UPDATE: Igor Rausis - banned chess cheater in toilets, makes a comeback under an alias - and is caught.  

2019 MIT Sloan conference featured a Blitz Chess Simultaneous Exhibition with post match discussions by GM Robert Hess, GM Larry Kaufman, IM Danny Rensch and Rockers GM Daryl Morey. Additionally, it featured a commentated match between two of the top chess AI programs, Leela and Komodo. A lot of the focused centered around AI and how chess serves as a measuring tool for its developmental progress. 

The conference itself is meant to focus on analytics and data driven findings for sports. Morey and Sam Hinkie embody the ethos behind the conferences’ mission to move sports forward utilizing new systems, tools and information. Other notable guests include economist, podcaster and author Malcolm Gladwell. 

Chess, years ago was at a crossroads - with data driven and predictive technologies taking over - as AI learns to defeat the most skilled players. Sports begins to have the same watershed moment, and it will be fascinating to see whether the data - or the dissenters rise to the forefront.

Range is a book about the value of being a generalist versus a specialist; taking a less direct path and quitting things that don’t stick may be beneficial in the long-run. Throwing away the 10k hours rule, Epstein uses chess as a prime example for his argument.

Highlighting the 3 Polgar sisters, home-schooled by their parents with the intention of making them chess masters. This itself however Epstein believes is dissent, not the norm.

On how computers strategically beat humans at chess, due to their superiority at tactics - Epstein explores the competitiveness when Humans and computers work together in chess matches. Regarding a computer + human match - Epstein writes "Kasparov settled for a 3-3 draw with a player he had trounced four games to zero just a month earlier in a traditional match...the primary benefit of years of experience with specialized training was outsourced, and in a contest where humans focused on strategy, he suddenly had peers.”

He continues "A few years later...a duo of amateur players with three normal computers not only destroyed Hydra, the best chess supercomputer, they also crushed teams of grandmasters using computers."

All in all, the computer itself neutralizes the skill. The argument is that specialization is successful in the current construct of chess - but in the broader perspective of society - much less so.

This Radiolab Chess segment has interesting commentary by Frank Brady and Frederic Friedel. Eloquently stated: ‘There are vastly more games of chess than there are atoms in the universe.’ The number of chess possibilities (the Shannon number) is believed to be 10^120, while atoms in the universe is between 10^87-92. 

However, the most impacting note from the segment details the illusive chess  novelty. "Now there are no more games.... you have a position which has never occurred before in the universe, and this is what is known as a novelty.... out of book....which means both sides now are on their own..."

For another interesting Radiolab Listen: Black Box

15th seed Wang Hao produced the unexpected this week - claiming both 1st place and a space in the Candidates Tournament after winning the 2019 FIDE Grand Swiss. It is considered a re-emergence, Hao had fallen out of favor in China and is no longer included on the national team. Arriving with no coach, Hao prepared for the tournament solo with the help of his computer. 

Of the two prizes, the move coveted was a place in the 2020 Candidates Tournament, which in the end he would have claimed even with a draw. The reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen came in 3rd after an exciting draw with Levon Aronian - this match saw Carlsen surpass Ding Liren’s 100-game unbeaten streak. 

The story of the 1972 World Chess Championship... told drunk! Referenced before - the 2014 film Pawn Sacrifice covers the match in more dramatic detail depicting Fischer as unpredictable and insane. A quick summary of the modern Fischer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px2PoGr0AkE, in an epic decline, once regarded the best chess player in the world, he died in 2008 in Iceland as a fugitive to his home country - highly believed to be schizophrenic.

While the ESPN article is a good laugh, The Clip associated with the article is of most import - between historic GM Maurice Ashley [whose photo inspired an epic photoshop battle] and apparent chess fan and secret farter (still denying) Max Kellerman, they discuss the implications of computer hacking and high level competition - specifically regarding reigning champion Carlsen’s concerns. 

It’s been a concern of Carlsen’s for some time and with good reason. As laid out by Ashley, high level competition is heavily reliant on the opening strategy, and knowing that prior presents an unfair advantage to one’s opponent. 

Kellerman helps host First Take on ESPN with Knicks fan Stephen A - who has been trolled beautifully on a few occasions. 

Encounters at the End of the World is an engaging Werner Herzog documentary studying people and places in Antarctica. Released in 11 years ago, it is an interesting documentation that at times touches upon the environmental effects of isolation cataloging unique individuals who have all journeyed to the pole for one reason or another. 

Individuals have studied the effects of isolation in these environments - and how it can manifest in one’s state of mind, often producing an unhinged mental breakdowns - dramatic incidents being all too common. Unconfirmed, but such is the case of Russia’s Vostok station in 1959. A scientist became unhinged after losing a game of chess - murdering his opponent with an axe [since chess has been banned at Russian Antarctic stations].

It is hard to overstate India’s impact, influence and historical origin to modern chess. India’s Chaturanga is theorized as the ancestor of chess. While the exact rules of Chaturanga are unknown - it was developed in the Gupta empire and chess historians believe that the game had similar rules to those of its successors.

The face of modern Indian chess, and arguably the most versatile chess player ever, is GM Vishy Anand who reigned as world champion from 2000-2002 and 2007-2013. An interesting individual, Anand’s impact on chess is undeniable - as he has gone down in history as the first individual since Bobby Fischer to truly challenge the Russian chess hegemony. 

The Indian Defense is the opening moves attributed to Moheschunder Bannerjee in 1848 is characterized by the opening moves of d4 and Nf6, with main lines including the commonly used Nimzo-Indian Defense and the Queen’s Indian Defense among others. Here you can step through Anand’s use of the Queen’s Indian, a common opening he has played as black throughout his career. 

And today, chess thrives in India. A year ago, R. Praggnanandhaa became the second youngest grand master ever at the age of 12 years and 10 months. Culturally, in modern media, Wazir, an Indian crime thriller, tells he story of a suspended anti-terrorism officer tho becomes friends with a wheelchair bound chess player. 

Few countries can claim such dominance and responsibility for today’s game.