APRIL 12, 2018 – FEBRUARY 24, 2019 IN5 International Saint Louis Chess Campus NICK DUNAEVSKY, OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF WORLD CHESS Fabi Wins! For the first time since 1972, an American contends for the undisputed World Chess Championship BY MAURICE ASHLEY won an epic match against two hours I could just forget 2016 at the last Candidates ago he asked for more and gold medal victory for an Grandmaster, author, and the Russian Boris Spassky in about chess, which is what I match held in Moscow, he more control of his career, American team in 76 years. commentator Reykjavik, Iceland. needed. The Shape of Water, was dealt a crushing blow in and now he is the boss. He Now he will represent the Caruana, 25, who was which was excellent.” the final round, killing all his has been on a long journey U.S. as he fights for the title American chess fans eve- born in Miami, raised in Park Caruana, who became a hopes of winning the event. and it has paid off.” of the best chess player on rywhere are cheering in the Slope, Brooklyn, and cur- Grandmaster just shy of his Two years later, he now sits The family decided to the planet. streets as their countryman rently resides in Saint Louis, 15th birthday, rose to promi- atop all his rivals for a shot at relocate to Europe when “We always knew we Fabiano Caruana overcame Missouri, had to recover from nence when he won the the title. young Fabiano was twelve would come back,” said the game’s elite Grandmasters a potentially devastating loss prestigious Sinquefield Cup “I know he deserves it,” so that he could play on the Santina, “to win it for the to win the recently concluded in round 12 of the marathon in 2014 with a performance said his mother, Santina more competitive European U.S. It’s just right to do it Candidates tournament in 14-round event that took that is hailed as one of the Caruana. “It was too stress- circuit. He competed under back home.” Berlin, Germany. In doing 18 days to complete. After a greatest individual results ful for me to follow the his mother’s Italian flag so he qualified to play World rest day to collect his nerves, in the history of the sport. event, so I just didn't watch. until 2015, when he decided Champion Magnus Carlsen the new challenger bounced His perfect 7-0 start, which I only found out yesterday to switch back to playing for his title in November back with two dominating included a victory against that he was leading and for for his home country. He 2018. It is the first time an victories to seal his place in the World Champion, cata- some reason we thought he became U.S. Champion in American will compete for history. pulted him into the limelight had won. We had to suffer 2016 and played 1st board the crown in over two dec- Asked how he got over with chess pundits predict- one more day, but he did it. for the U.S. team that ades with the last victory for the difficult loss, Caruana ing that he was clearly the My heart is pounding.” won the Chess Olympiad Originally published the United States coming in replied, “we watched a movie rightful next challenger “He runs the show,” added later that year in Baku, on St. Louis Public Radio, 1972 when Bobby Fischer which was nice, because for to the throne. However, in his father, Lou. “A long while Azerbaijan. This was the first March 2018 IN6 THE SINQUEFIELD EFFECT INTERNATIONAL APRIL 12, 2018 – FEBRUARY 24, 2019 THE SINQUEFIELD EFFECT INTERNATIONAL APRIL 12, 2018 – FEBRUARY 24, 2019 IN7 Universal Rating System™ Opens Doors for Global Chess BY GRAHAM JURGENSEN The launch of the URS™ system new ratings are always self-consist- Technical Director, represents a quantum leap in the ent and do not depend on any prior GRAND CHESS TOUR Grand Chess Tour way that chess ratings are calculated rating list. and is a completely new approach The first URS™ rating list was January 2, 2017 may well prove compared to the historical systems published on January 1, and was to be a landmark day in chess that have been in use since the late accompanied by the launch of an BY GRAHAM JURGENSEN top players can share their experi- history as it marked the launch 1960s. It introduces the concept of official website, which explains the Technical Director, ence and inspire the children to date of the new Universal Rating a universal chess rating which is new methodology in detail. Grand Chess Tour play and study chess. System (URS™). This exciting new calculated by considering a players The rating algorithm was The GCT prize pool has grown system is expected to make it much results across all time controls. designed and developed by a When the first edition of the over the years and the participants easier for chess players across the The system recognizes that there research team which consisted of Sinquefield Cup was held in now compete annually for a prize world to achieve an international is useful information about a play- Maxime Rischard, J. Isaac Miller, September 2013, it featured just four pool worth more than $1 million. chess rating. er's strength in all games regard- Mark Glickman, and Jeff Sonas. players. At the time, no one could World Champion Magnus Carlsen Development of the new rating less of the time limit. As the speed This team conducted extensive have predicted the chain of events was the deserving winner of the system was co-funded by the Saint of play increases, less importance is testing before finalizing the rat- that would ultimately result in the inaugural Tour in 2015 while GM Louis Chess Club and the Kasparov allocated to the game results while ing algorithm and found that the creation of the Grand Chess Tour! Wesley So dominated the 2016 Chess Foundation. Its launch follows older games are also given less URS™ consistently predicted game Another major draw-card of the amateur players to quickly achieve By 2014, the tournament had Sinquefield Cup on his way to more than two years of research. importance than more recent ones. results better than the existing ELO URS™ rating system is that it will a URS™ rating by simply playing in already expanded to 6 players and securing overall victory in the 2016 The URS™ has already had a major All games played within the last six system used by the World Chess be free to use for any local organ- their local events. it was suddenly the strongest tour- Tour. impact on many of the world’s top years are taken into account but Federation. The superior results izers or chess federations that wish nament in the history of chess! Magnus was back on the Tour in players as the January 2017 rating list players' ratings are simultaneously were observed “on a consistent to make use of it. This is expected to Boasting a total prize fund of over 2017 and narrowly edged out GM heavily impacted the selection of the reassessed whenever a new rating basis, from year to year, and across be a major attraction as it will allow Originally published on St. Louis $300,000, the 2014 Sinquefield Cup Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and GM 2017 Grand Chess Tour wild cards. list is generated. In this way, the all three rating categories.” scholastic players and locally based Public Radio, February 2017 saw a truly historic performance. Levon Aronian for overall honors. GM Fabiano Caruana recorded an The 2017 Tour events in Saint Louis incredible run of seven straight were especially memorable for wins on his way to securing the other players and other reasons. highest tournament performance GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave rating in the history of chess! secured what he considers to be The success of the 2014 tourna- the highlight of his career when he ment catapulted the city of Saint captured the 2017 Sinquefield Cup! Louis to the center of global chess. He was followed to the winner’s Saint Louis, the Chess Olympiad, The Saint Louis Chess Club was circle by GM Levon Aronian, who quickly recognized as a key institu- became the only player to secure tion and it deservedly served as the two GCT Tour titles in Saint Louis, host venue for the official launch adding the 2017 Saint Louis Rapid & of the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) in Blitz title to his previous triumph at and World Team Championships April 2015. the 2015 Sinquefield Cup. The first leg of the Tour took place Perhaps the greatest highlight early the following year and the in 2017 was the historic return to annual Sinquefield Cup has been a competitive chess of the legendary cornerstone of the Tour ever since. 13th World Chess Champion Garry GCT events have been held in loca- Kasparov. Garry came out of retire- tions as diverse as Stavanger, Paris, ment after an absence of 12 years to Leuven, and London, and the Tour bravely fight against the best play- has spectacularly achieved its pri- ers of the modern game. He did this mary purpose of providing more to promote the Grand Chess Tour, opportunities for elite players. The and millions of his worldwide fans Tour has also attracted corporate found themselves captivated by sponsors like Vivendi, Canal+, and every move and grimace as he bat- Colliers International as well as tled over the board. non-profit organisations such as These incredible memories have “Your Next Move” in Belgium.