A World Championship Starts As A Year Nears Its End
The end of the year is always a busy time in chess, and that is true once again as we enter the final two months of 2024. There is a world championship starting, while past world champions are—virtually—on the comeback trail in what was a major month for Chess.com bots.
Plus, updates from Chessable, ChessKid, the Chess.com content team, and more for this November of 2024.
Here's what this update covers:
Events
One upcoming event looms above the rest this month, but there is a lot more going on as well. Not to mention the already exciting month that was October.
- The FIDE World Chess Championship begins in Singapore on November 25! Tune in as the champion, GM Ding Liren, and the challenger, GM Gukesh Dommaraju, fight for the title of World Chess Champion.
- GM Alireza Firouzja led the Triveni Continental Kings to victory in the 2024 Global Chess League!
- The US Masters starring GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Daniel Naroditsky, and more, begins in Charlotte, North Carolina on November 27.
- GM Magnus Carlsen is making things interesting in the Titled Cup, now trailing GM Hikaru Nakamura by four points through the end of October. Nakamura remains likely to hold first place, but it is not guaranteed.
- GM Pepe Cuenca and IM David Martinez were the winners of Team Chess Battle 2!
- GM Pia Cramling and IM Levy "GothamChess" Rozman faced off in the Battle of Generations. Congrats to Gotham on his victory!
Product & Engineering
The World Championship isn't just an event, it's an inspiration—for bots!
- If you've ever wanted to play Jose Capablanca, Emanuel Lasker, or Mikhail Tal—but never got around to inventing that time machine—now is your chance!
If you are in tech and would like to join our team, we're hiring!
Community
World champions weren't the only new bots, as our community and partnerships teams were able to lock in some other exciting computer personalities. Plus, the Chess.com Community Championships continue, and a world champion takes over the world.
- The rapper and PogChamps participant Logic has a new album and graphic novel out, both titled Ultra 85. Play him and the Ultra 85 characters today!
- Major League Baseball star Joey Votto also has new a bot out. Join the celebratory arena in the Community Club on November 6 for a chance at (prize eligibility is U.S. only).
- The record-setting Vishy vs. the World match ended in a win for the former world champion against almost 70,000 voters.
- FM Luis Chan won the Fog of War Community Championship on October 18. Next up: Seirawan Chess on November 7-8.
Content
We don't just have articles and videos for you to catch up on this month, but a full-on book as well!
- Chess.com's Peter Doggers has written a fascinating new book, The Chess Revolution: Understanding the Power of an Ancient Game in the Digital Age—and it's available now!
- Peter also recently interviewed GM Garry Kasparov about the 1997 Deep Blue match, following the release of the TV miniseries on the contest, titled Rematch. Check it out!
- How fast are grandmasters when the game isn't chess? Our video team found out:
- NM Dane Mattson is the curator of the wildly popular Chess.com Daily Puzzle, which is solved more than one million times every day. Read his article, "A Day In The Life Of Chess.com's Daily Puzzle Curator", about the puzzle creation process, sources of inspiration for puzzles, and more!
Chessable
Ready for Black Friday deals? Chessable will be offering sales not just on Black Friday but all throughout November!
- The Black Friday sale starts early, on November 5 with pre-Black Friday Steals: receive Black Friday pricing—up to 60% off—on select courses! Sales will continue throughout November so stay locked into Chessable all month for all your saving opportunities! The first sales will be of courses about tactics and calculation.
- Garry Kasparov's video course on My Great Predecessors Part 4 was officially released! Check out the free preview today!
- In honor of Kasparov's video course, the Chessable Blog published several entries about Kasparov as well as a Chess.com article.
ChessKid
It's hard enough playing against any young chess master. It's even harder playing four of them. And even harder to playing them at the same time! Can a top grandmaster do it successfully?
- The next edition of Kids vs. Stars on November 15 will come with a twist! GM Anish Giri is going to battle against four youngsters simultaneously: IM Alice Lee, GM Shreyas Royal, GM Andy Woodward, and IM Ryo Chen.
- November 18-22 is Fall Hour of Chess Week. Read all about it in the article and sign up your school today!
- Ethan Pang recently reached a 2300 rating, making him the youngest player to ever cross that threshold. Congrats Ethan!
Fair Play
The Fair Play team is always working to keep Chess.com a fair and safe place to play for everyone in the community.
Fair Play Stats for October:
- 610,990 reports created
- 70,191 Fair Play closures (including 10 titled players: 1 IM, 1 FM, 1 WGM, 2 WFM, 3 CM, 1 WCM, and 1 NM)
- 32,200+ mute actions
- 28,400+ accounts muted
- 143,900+ abuse closures
- 29,136,213 rating points refunded
Support
The team has integrated AI into their work, making the first-response time immediate, while still following up with human action as soon as possible.
- Average Time to First Human Response: 1 day 14 hours
- Total Number of Conversations: 31,828
- Average Quality by Member Rating: 90.7%
- Total Ratings: 26,159
Thank you for being part of the world's largest chess community. Let us know your thoughts and ideas in the comments below!
Missed an update? You'll find last month's edition here.
