Ivy League Chess Challenge

It would be nice to see this expand to include other universities, Ivy League and beyond, for whom the priority is academic excellence as opposed to simply throwing scholarship money at top chess players from here and abroad to essentially just play chess with an eye toward Pan Am and final four championships.

From Chessbase.com

Ivy League Chess Challenge redux

by Qiyu Zhou

  I like it! | 2 Comments

11/16/2019 – The 2nd Ivy League Chess Challenge was successfully held in Toronto, Canada from November 8th to 10th. With the tournament held over the course of three days, many exciting games were played, and numerous new friendships were made. QIYU ZHOU reports that this tournament is special because it is played by some of the top universities in the world! | Pictured: (L to R) Joseph Bellissimo, Sean Lei (current president of the Hart House Chess Club, and also played as a sub for one game on the team!), Mark Plotkin, arbiter Weiwen Leung, Advait Patel, and your author, Qiyu Zhou | Photo: Panagiotis Tsialas

https://en.chessbase.com/post/2nd-ivy-league-chess-challenge

DGT eBoard Now Enabled at Chess.com

 There is a very specific order to getting ones dgt eBoard ready to function for a game on the Live Chess page at chess.com. Not difficult, but necessary.

1. Begin with dgt board use turned off in the settings screen with no dgt board connected;

2. Turn on dgt board use in settings;

3. Plug in your dgt board;

4. Open the dgt LiveChess program, go to eBoards and check the box for your connected board;

5. Issue or answer a challenge.

St, Johnsbury, VT Open (FIDE Rated) Coming January 18th and 19th

St. Johnsbury Open
Comfort Inn & Suites Near Burke Mountain, Saint Johnsbury, Vermont
Saturday-Sunday, 18-19 January 2020

Grand Prix Points: 6

SECTIONS
  - Two (2): Open (FIDE rated) & U1600

ROUNDS
  - Four (4) Round Swiss

TIME CONTROL 
  - 40/90, SD/30 + 30 sec increment

PRIZE FUND ($1,375 Guaranteed)
  - Open: 1st $300, 2nd $150, U2000 $125, U1800 $125
  - U1600: 1st $250, 2nd $125, U1400 $100, U1200 $100
  - $100 prize for top four scores in club. Other prizes TBA

ENTRY FEE (pay online)
  - https://squareup.com/store/relyea-chess/item/st-johnsbury-open
  - $55 for Open; $40 for U1600 by 11 Jan
  - $60 for Open; $45 for U1600 after 11 Jan and on site
  - $20 less in U1600 section for players rated under 1000 or unrated
  - US Chess Membership Required
  - International online membership included for Canadian residents

REGISTRATION
  - 9:00-9:45 AM on Saturday

ROUND TIMES
  - Sat  10:00 – 4:00; Sun  10:00 – 4:00

LOCATION
  - Comfort Inn & Suites Near Burke Mountain
  - 703 US Route 5 South, Saint Johnsbury VT 05819
  - Hotel Room $169. Call 802-748-1500 and mention Chess Tournament
  - Hotel reserves right to require minimum stay if reservation received at a time after that policy goes generally into effect, so please reserve early.

EQUIPMENT
  - Please bring boards, sets & clocks, none provided

ENTRIES: Alex Relyea, 49 Technology Drive #89, Bedford, NH 03110
INFO: Alex Relyea, relyea@operamail.com, www.relyeachess.com

---------- ENTRY FORM ---------- 
ENTRY FORM (St. Johnsbury Open, 18-19 January 2020)
Name: __________________________________________ Date of Birth:___________________
Address:  ______________________________________________________________________
City: ______________________________State:_____________Zip:_______________________
Email:_________________________________________Phone: __________________________
USCF ID #:_____________________________Expiration Date: __________________________
Section (e.g., Open or U1600): ___________________
Mail to: Alex Relyea, 49 Technology Drive #89, Bedford, NH 03110 
(checks payable to Alex Relyea) 

http://relyeachess.com/subpages/tournaments.html#stj

Will Carlsen Break the Record at Wik (Now Known as Tata Steel)?

From Leonard Barden's column in the Guardian yesterday:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/15/chess-magnus-carlsen-face-teens-hunt-for-unbeaten-streak

Magnus Carlsen, the world champion, will face five opponents aged 21 or younger when he bids for a record eighth victory at Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee in January. The traditional Dutch tournament at the small windswept North Sea town is by general consensus the best all-play-all annual event on the chess calendar and the invited entry for its 2020 version is bold and imaginative.

Fabiano Caruana, the world No 2, and Wesley So, who crushed Carlsen 13.5-2.5 at Fischer Random earlier this month, are in the field, but many dedicated fans will be watching Alireza Firouzja, who at 16 is receiving rave reviews comparing the Iranian teen to the legendary attacking genius Mikhail Tal. Jeffery Xiong, 19, the No 1 US junior, also has a breakthrough opportunity.

For Carlsen, the fifth round at Wijk, which will be played on tour at Eindhoven, could be the day when he sets a world record for the longest run of classical games without defeat. The Norwegian thought he had reached his target when he surpassed Ding Liren’s 100 mark but then there was publicity for the Russian-Dutch GM Sergey Tiviakov’s 110 against weaker opposition. So Carlsen still needs to stay unbeaten in four games at the Grand Tour final at London Olympia on 2-8 December and his first five rounds at Wijk.