Medieval Battles, Magical Events, And Speed Chess Mayhem
September is here, much to the delight of Earth, Wind & Fire fans around the world.
Find out what happened in August and what major events and activities you can watch (or even take part in) over the coming weeks.
Here's what this monthly update covers:
This month's main theme is a special collaboration between Chess.com and Supercell, the developers behind Clash of Clans and Clash Royale.
- A set of new bots inspired by Clash of Clans has invaded Chess.com. Outwitting the hapless Barbarian may be one thing, but can you hold your own against the cunning Archer Queen?
- A brand new variant is here: Spell Chess combines the magic of chess with... well, actual magic. Cast spells in your game to bewitch your opponents and win the game!
- Over to the magic of puzzles: August saw the active puzzle base grow by 28,792—taking the total number of playable puzzles from 713,507 to 742,299.
If you are in tech and would like to join our team, we're hiring!
Events
The world's fastest players competing for glory, extra love for chess variants, and more.
- The 2023 Speed Chess Championship presented by Coinbase is underway. As the strongest online speed chess event in the world, the tournament features a $150,000 prize fund and sixteen of the world's best blitz and bullet chess players.
- Drama, plot twists, and illegal moves marked the live PogChamps 5 Finals. CDawgVA defeated Frank in the main event with some sharp tactics, Wirtual defeated QTCinderella in the Consolation Bracket, and Erobb221 prevailed over his brother Tyler1 in dramatic fashion during a side match.
- The Variants Community Series kicks off this week; this series of events and competitions is devoted to the dedicated and ever-growing variants community, starting with a number of King Of The Hill tournaments.
- The Champions Chess Tour is in its final stages, with five out of six events completed. GMs Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Fabiano Caruana, and Wesley So have all clinched their spot in the finals.
- Registration is still open (until September 15) for the Fall 2023 season of the Collegiate Chess League! This event features a $25,000 prize fund and is open to all university students.
Community
Choose your side in Chess.com's greatest battle yet, and get the latest scoop on community events.
- The Chess.com community has been divided: thousands of people on opposite sides are competing in brutal bullet battles over the course of September... in the new Clash clans! Swear your allegiance by joining Barbarian's Clash of Clans Club or King's Clash Royale Club.
- The winners of the 2023 FIDE World Cup bracket contest have been announced; congratulations to @shlokhp, @Jaymaatara, @DrBeeezz, and @Christopher_D!
- Stay tuned for upcoming events in the official Chess.com Community Club, including the No Draw Showdown, where it's all about getting as few draws as possible.
- The annual ChessPunks Awards were supported by Chess.com this year, paying tribute to a worldwide movement of online adult chess improvers. This year's winners included GM Susan Polgar (Honorary ChessPunk), Kamryn Hellman (Best Content Creator), Solveig (Most Encouraging ChessPunk), and Nick Visel (Game of the Year).
- Chess.com will be at TwitchCon Las Vegas between October 20-22, and we’d love for you to join us!
Content
Who's the best chess player of all time? What are the trickiest opening traps? Let's find out.
- Universally recognized as the greatest woman to ever play chess, GM Judit Polgar has released a special six-part premium video lesson on Chess.com featuring tips and tactics from her games against legends including GMs Viswanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov.
- Ever lost to an opening trap, or tried a ridiculous gambit and blundered a piece because your opponent had the audacity to respond with sensible moves? Check out these ten opening traps that actually get results (and learn how to not get caught by them in your games).
- Carlsen, Kasparov, Fischer, or... Harry Pillsbury? Who's the chess world's greatest of all time, based on the relative quality of their play? Check out this deep-dive by GM Larry Kaufman.
Chessable
You might have studied on Chessable before, but how about trying your hand at teaching?
- The 2023 Create Your Own Course Contest is live now! Chessable PRO members can create a Chessable course on any topic they want and be in to win.
- Not a GM? Don't worry: There are prizes for the best course, second-best course, and best beginner course in English, German, and Spanish.
- Creating your own course is fun, helps you with your own chess, and opens doors in the chess community by teaching somebody something new. Give it a try!
ChessKid
Back-to-school season is upon us, and ChessKid is here to help.
- ChessKid's biggest sale of the year is here: the 2023 back-to-school sale is on until October 15, letting you save 20% on ChessKid Gold memberships.
- As part of back-to-school festivities, any ChessKid who plays 100 'Fast Chess' games over the course of this month will earn a chance to play FM Mike Klein (AKA FunMasterMike) and win ChessKid merchandise.
- Two ChessKid superstars recently faced off across the board: FM Tani Adewumi and IM Alice Lee went into overtime to decide the winner of this closely contested match!
- ChessKid's Youth Speed Chess Championship has concluded, with a riveting match between CM Aaron Mendes and Polish prospect Antoni Radzimski resulting in a win for the young Candidate Master.
Fair Play
The Fair Play team works hard behind the scenes to keep Chess.com safe, 24/7. Check out the video below to get an idea of what they deal with on a daily basis!
Fair Play stats for August:
- 60,952 Fair Play closures (including 6 titled players)
- 93,700 mute actions
- 82,800 accounts muted
- 97,100 abuse closures
Support
The Chess.com Support Team is always working to resolve your issues as quickly and effectively as possible. Here are the stats for August:
- Average Time to First Response: 1 day, 9 hours
- Total Requests Received: 99,324
- Average Quality by Member Rating: 95%
- Total Ratings: 8,399
As always, thank you for making Chess.com such an amazing place, and thank you for the comments you leave on these updates. Stay tuned—your thoughts might be featured in one of these updates soon...
