CHESS #1409

While online play is fun and tournaments involving established players seem to have migrated with reasonable comfort, these have all been officially unrated

Monday is International Chess Day, which means a broadcast event where various officials and chess stars will speak about using chess to promote inclusion, social cohesion, etc, with a focus on responses and recovery from the current pandemic. This has been celebrated since 1966 (Fide was founded on July 20, 1924), but 2020 presents unique challenges.

Meanwhile, the Biel Festival starts this weekend and it is a landmark event, with physical play. It’s the 53rd edition and the organisers have decided to take a calculated risk. There’s a 960 event followed a day later with the eight-player GM round-robin (RR)