I don’t remember the summer as being a quiet time for chess – but that is because I tend to think like a spoiled spectator these days. For those in the stratosphere designated by the 2700 watch list, the start of the season seems to have an air of holiday about it, while it is a time of explosive activity for mortal players in more mortal events. But I tend to want to watch the heavyweights play. One of the few big stars in action recently made a significant leap up the charts in a rather mysterious event, the made for TV but not yet televised Checkmate TV show, which is modelled on the format of the classic BBC Master Game. Matt & Patt engine Tarjei Svensen somehow even managed to find some game scores from the tournament, no mean feat considering they have been keeping them quiet with a goal of a more dramatic broadcast – though the program does not yet appear to have a distributor. The second edition of Checkmate TV was won by Hungarian youngster Richard ‘The Rocket’ Rapport, who built on his recent victory in an exhibition match against David Navara with a majestic 8/9, ahead of Rodshtein and Short, a result which catapulted him up to 17th in the world.

Rapport is one of the more entertaining players at the moment, and I look forward to his presumably improved invitation list and future over-the-board fisticuffs with the world elite. The Grand Chess Tour continued on from Paris to Leuven, Belgium, and was another rapid and blitz rather than ‘classical’ chess event. Day one gave the impression we were watching a bizarro version of the first GCT event. Runaway Paris leaders Nakamura and Carlsen bumbled through the first day of the rapid, and ‘new’ face Anand was playing like a youngster. The Nakamura-Carlsen ‘clash’ on the fifth and final round of day one summed everything up. Magnus had 2/4 coming into this, and Naka an incredible 0.5/4. What can you say? Except, cue Hulk Magnus. The next day he said ‘Smash!’ to Topalov, Giri, Anand and Kramnik. Suddenly he looked like he was in a class of his own again. Can he find a way to harness this extreme top form and turn it on without needing to be slapped awake first?

On day two he looked like this: Carlsen’s 4/4 on day two was enough to win the Rapid section outright. In the blitz he increased his overall lead as his form steadily increased, and a second-day burst of 4.5/5 in rounds 11-15 clinched victory three rounds before the end. Steadiness proved to be the most valuable trait, as most players wobbled occasionally. It has been fascinating to watch Karjakin lately, as he has taken the opportunity to keep a reasonably high profile during Carlsen’s adventures on the Grand Chess Tour.wide pocket curtain rod 84 150 adjustable brackets The challenger was not to be outdone by Carlsen’s exploits at the Grand Chess Tour’s rapid and blitz starter event, and decided to keep warmed up with a bit of high-speed chess himself.sedar curtains prices

Karjakin appeared at the Eurasian Blitz Chess Cup, an extremely powerful event. He finished fifth, though was fighting for first until the very end, when perennial rival Peter Svidler thwarted him. Here is a rather vicious victory against the eventual tournament winner: But more than just keeping warm in chess terms, the challenger was keeping his social media channels humming. After his ‘OK’ result at the Gashimov memorial where his pal (and second) Shak Mamedyarov won, we saw this:dunelm silver blackout curtains It has been a great tournament and a great organization???! sick light curtains c4000 selectCongrats my friend Shahriyar with a great victory!! bay window curtain pole passover rings

— Sergey Karyakin (@SergeyKaryakin) June 5, 2016 Then a shout out to Svidler (@polborta) who kept him out of first place: It was a big fun to play in Almaty blitz! Seems like I will have to play against @polborta in every tournament, till the end of the world??! — Sergey Karyakin (@SergeyKaryakin) June 19, 2016 The movie was dubious, but the company was nice??! From left: Karjakin, Svidler, Nepomniachtchi and Potkin, apparently straight from some 3D entertainment.black slub faux silk eyelet curtains This Twitter sequence helps revive one of my favorite chess hobbies, spot the seconds. ready made curtains midrandAs mentioned before, we know Karjakin’s public seconds, and that ex-Carlsen assistant Vladimir Potkin is now Sergey’s trainer. But as I wondered earlier, is Carlsen chum Ian Nepomniachtchi anything more than Karjakin’s new clubmate?

Chess24’s excellent Colin McGourty had a tremendous report on Karjakin news thanks only partly to his handy language skills. His translation of Karjakin speaking to Russian newspaper Sport-Express is a must read, and here the challenger mentions the work he is doing and how he feels. Karjakin even seems to say that he won’t divulge anything other than his core team is Dokhoian, Motylev and Potkin … before going on to call Mamedyarov his second. Karjakin seemed very open, and came out with this revealing mind games quote: Since the GCT, the champ’s over the board activities have continued in the same vein: another blitz performance that had sensors detecting paranormal intelligence. , the Norwegian world champion’s strength hints at the promise of some kind of evolutionary leap into the 3000 Elo-zone that currently separates man and machine. event (Grischuk, Vachier-Lagrave and Nakamura) Magnus will have plenty of work to do to emerge the eventual winner, and Grischuk recently upended him at the ICC’s major lightning event.