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College Collegiate Chess League: playoffs start Nov. 14 SLU 4½/5 · UT Dallas 5/6 StandingsWhat's next
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"One of the best excuses I ever heard was from a man who had just lost to a female opponent. 'She completely disrupted my thought processes,' he complained."
William Hartston, Better Chess (2003), page 52 · via Edward Winter's Chess Notes
College chess · Collegiate Chess League

SLU and UT Dallas fight for the top seed as college playoffs near

Rows of college players at long tables of chessboards in a large hall
College chess in person: 44 teams at the 2012 Pan-Am Intercollegiate at Princeton. Photo: Alantheodoresherman, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

With most teams down to their last two regular-season matches in the Collegiate Chess League, Saint Louis University and defending champion UT Dallas are fighting for the No. 1 seed. SLU has 4½ points from five matches, while UTD has the most total points, 5 from six. The quarterfinals are Nov. 14.

SLU beat UTD 10½–5½ earlier this season, scoring seven of the last eight points after trailing 4½–3½, with GM Viktor Gazik going 3½/5. Its only blemish came against Mizzou: SLU needed one point from the final four games and lost that round 3½–½, leaving the match tied 8–8, the season's only tie. GM Aryan Tari won a key game in that comeback.

Report: Chess.com

Khurtsilava leads the women's World Seniors Georgia's Inga Khurtsilava is 3/3 in the 50+ section; Nona Gaprindashvili, 85, has 2½/3 in the 65+. US Masters in Charlotte, Nov. 25–29 A US Chess national championship for players rated 2200+, with norm chances and $27,500 guaranteed.

Move of the Day

White to move and force mate.

Moritz Weishaeutel vs. Constantin Paul Stichter, Bavarian Championship, round 6. Black just played 25...Qe3, attacking the knight on e2.

Click a white piece, then the square it should go to.

Chess pieces by Colin M.L. Burnett, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Club Watch

Charlotte Chess Center
  • Nov 7 Reverse Angle, $1,000 gtd.
  • Nov 25–29 US Masters, 2200+, $27,500 gtd.
  • Nov 27–29 NC Open, $12,000 gtd.
  • Dec 18–23 North American Junior Championships
  • Dec 26–28 Charlotte Winter Classic, $7,500 gtd.
Founder Peter Giannatos told ChessBase how it started. Its foundation runs the $50,000 Naroditsky Fellowship; applications close Dec. 1. Full calendar
Saint Louis Chess Club
  • Oct 27–29 Clutch Chess Champions Showdown: Sindarov won
  • Weekly Friday Night Quads, Saturday and Sunday Rated Games, Saturday Night Blitz
  • Nov 13–15 Kent Family Thanksgiving Open (registration opening soon)
  • Dec 18–20 Saint Louis Chess Club Championship
Lichess has also resumed broadcasting US Chess events after ending its boycott. Full calendar

All clubs, including Charlottesville →

Biggest Rating Gains

This week · USCF VirginiaPhi Phan +246303 → 549 at SKCA Fairfax Quads This month · FIDE U.S.Ryan Chen +1551524 → 1679 on the November list See all rating gains →

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