Welcome to the August edition of the Columbus Chess Academy (CCA) Newsletter! We hope this newsletter finds you well and that your chess games and creative pursuits are thriving. In this month's issue, we have a lot to cover, from recent chess events to an exciting fusion of chess and poetry!

Chess and Poetry Fusion

In a unique and creative endeavor, we're delighted to introduce the fusion of chess and poetry. Chess has long been associated with art and intellectual expression, and CCA founder - Kathy Lin - organized several chess and poetry events in August. Guests were invited to bring a chess board and share a poem of their choice in an open mic night. CCA’s aim is to host this event every month - so be sure to share YOUR poetic talents and love for chess by joining us at our next event or by emailing us any chess - themed (or any themed) poems!

Chess n' Climb on Aug 23rd - ROI

But that’s not all. The local chess community has also been busy merging chess with amazing activities like rock climbing. On August 23rd, the Royal Oak Initiative (ROI) hosted a chess and climb event at the Bloc Garden. They were joined by chess and climbing enthusiasts from all over the state! Next time, join them for a classic game of chess - with an exciting new twist!

August Tournament Updates 

Aug 12: Back to School Scholastic: This event was organized by the nonprofit Chess Books Club headed by Jeff Shen. It featured a K-12 championship designed to promote chess amongst Ohio youth! 

1st Place Championship: Andy He 

1st Place U1000: David Udin

1st Place U800: Aadhaarsh Raj Vinoth Raj 

1st Place U300: Aditi Satish

August 26th: Asian Sports Festival Chess Competition: This was a non-rated, low stress event designed to take part at the Asian Sports Festival. Featuring $1000 in cash prizes and a fun community of chess players. ‘

Aug 12: Columbus Plus: This event was held in Grove City and was a one day 4 round chess tournament. 

1st Place Premier: Lokesh Palani

1st Place Reserve: Patrick Quinn

Other Tournament Results: 

Aug 13: Sunday in the Park: 

1st Place: Joseph Kleban 

Aug 19: Dublin Summer Open: 

1st Place: Chuck Diebert, Nicholas Bize, Evan Fan

Aug 26: Columbus Chess Club August Open: 

1st Place: Deshawn Kelley, Henry Lu, Jose Abutal, Brooks MacDonald

Exciting Chess News!

Fide World Cup

Of course - the biggest chess upturn of the year! Young prodigy Praggnanandhaa had an amazing run at the Fide World Cup held in Azerbaijan, only losing to current world champion Magnus Carlsen in the final. Below is one of Praggnanandhaa's masterpieces against GM Evgeniy Najer which ended with a dazzling tactical shot. Prag playing Black, played Ne3!! (shown in the image below) taking advantage of the white’s vulnerable king.

In fact, if white decides to capture the Knight with fxe3 then Black will have Qg3+. Otherwise if Black captures the Knight with the Rook or Queen it will lose the exchange. In this way Black paralyzed White’s position, leading to a stunning victory of Praggnanandhaa.

Puzzle of the Month #1

This brilliant sequence of moves were played by the famous Grandmaster Adams in the game Adams vs. Torre that took place in New Orleans in 1920. As you can see, the Queen is a bit overloaded and the Black has a serious backrank weakness. How should White take advantage of this?

1.Qg4! The Black queen cannot take since Rxe1 would be game over. Black plays 1.Qb5! as it is the only square that protects the Rook on e8. 2.Qc4! Notice, neither the Rook or the Queen can take this hanging piece on c4. 

Black retreats to d7, 2.Qd7, keeping protection of the back rank. 

When things seem to settle, White finds another exhilarating move! 2.Qc7! Still, the queen cannot be captured! 2.Qb5, 3.a4, Qxa4. 

Again, White has to continue the attack by bringing another piece into action. 4.Re4!, Qb5. 

Can you find the final blow? 

Qxb7! And with that, the game resulted in 1-0 since the Black queen has no other squares to go to that would still protect the Rook sitting on e8. 

Puzzle of the Month #2

Here is a medium difficulty puzzle from the game Navara vs. Meets 1998. Can you find the sequence of moves that forces mate 5? 

Solution

1. b4+ cxb3

2. Rc7+ Bc6

3. Rgxc6+ bxc6

4. Rxc6+ Kd5

5. c4#

Get in Touch

Thank you for being an integral part of the Columbus Chess Academy. We look forward to sharing more exciting chess and poetry news and events with you in the coming months. Do you have feedback, suggestions, or content you'd like to see in future newsletters? We value your input! 

Best regards,

Columbus Chess Academy