22 November 2016

More World Championship Hubbub

And the hits just keep on coming! A week ago, in World Championship Hubbub, I opened,

We chess players love to gripe about the lack of chess news in the mainstream press. I've seen more than a few such complaints about the ongoing 2016 Carlsen - Karjakin World Championship match, but from where I'm sitting the coverage has been better than usual.

Here's more of the same, assembled from a composite of Yahoo News stories.

That makes three stories filed under the Sports section and one under Entertainment.

2016-11-18: Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin are putting an end to the 'Grandmaster draw' at the World Chess Championship (businessinsider.com) • 'After five rounds, the 2016 World Chess Championship is deadlocked. Title holder Magnus Carlsen of Norway and challenger Sergey Karjakin of Russia each have 2.5 points. All games thus far have ended in draws.'

2016-11-18: Film Review: 'Magnus' (variety.com) • 'How brain-boggling a chess virtuoso is Magnus Carlsen, the 25-year-old Norwegian prodigy and reigning World Chess Champion? In the light and lively portrait-of-a-genius documentary "Magnus," Carlsen appears at Harvard University in 2013 to face off against 10 of the world’s greatest players in simultaneous games - and he does it blindfolded.'

2016-11-17: Chess aficionado says Russian hackers are targeting him (nypost.com) • 'Never mind the Sicilian defense - chess champ Magnus Carlsen needs a defense against Russian hackers. The world’s No. 1-ranked chess player has tapped Microsoft to protect data during his meticulous preparations for games against rival Sergey Karjakin - a 25-year-old prodigy from Crimea who has sworn allegiance to Vladimir Putin.'

2016-11-21: Championship chess has a draw problem (huffingtonpost.com) • 'The problem is built into the design of the game itself. If you look at the starting position on a chess board, it's obvious that there's an equilibrium. The white pieces and the black pieces mirror each other perfectly.'

I spotted another story filed under Entertainment. Because it was something of a duplicate -- partly as a review of 'Magnus' the movie and partly because of its source -- I'll mention it separately.

2016-11-20: Magnus: Portrait Of A Chess Champion (huffingtonpost.com) • 'A vivid portrait of the 25-year-old world chess champion's life, talent and dedication, the film offers a glimpse into his background. A child prodigy, Magnus' incredible mind and memory are vividly displayed.'

The two stories about draw problems both appeared before Carlsen's collapse in game eight. I doubt that we'll be seeing any more stories like those.

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