After a 4-0 start sparked whispers of a potential $64,000 Bobby Fischer Prize, Kamsky went the remaining five games with no checkmate, only draws, skidding across the finish line of the nation’s most prestigious tournament.
Somewhere along the way, I had convinced myself that a win like this was just never going to happen to me. Somewhere, I had resigned. I implore you, casual player, set a higher goal – and don’t quit on it. I am happy to report that, since I’ve rolled that insurmountable rock, my games have felt invigorated.
Around the Chess Club, the word exclam! has evolved as a way of verbalizing those points during a live game when a move literally rocks an opposing player back into his or her seat.
Many of you know St. Louis is the emerging chess capital of the country if not the world, but for those of you who don’t, this column is designed to catch you up with the rest of the class.
A college freshman explains why eaving his home country in pursuit of excellence was not an easy choice. Many factors were involved in taking this life-defining decision. One of the main reasons behind my decision to move to the United States was Lindenwood University’s newly formed chess program.
The player who finishes with the best overall result qualifies to the final Candidates match event, and the winner of that match becomes the challenger to the World Champion Viswanathan Anand of India.
The nine-person Screwed Arts Collective has taken over the first floor of the Hall of Fame and is creating a space-specific installation that draws on chess. The opening party is Thursday night, which is also when Shahade will take on Yasser Seirawan in a game of roulette chess.
The inaugural chess team at Lindenwood contains several impressive players who were expecting to be coached by the Chess Club’s Resident Grandmaster Ben Finegold. But he resigned recently. Enter Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan.
Both U.S. teams got off to a good start by winning their first round matches. The U.S. team in the open section easily dispatched Jordan, and the U.S. also scored a victory over New Zealand in the women’s section.
Like the regular Olympics, the Chess Olympiad is truly a global spectacle, and this year 164 nations will be competing, from Afghanistan to Zambia. The chief rivals for medals include global superpowers like the United States and countries small in population but large in chess prowess such as Armenia..
Hikaru Nakamura · Yasser Seirawan · Gata Kamsky · Irina Krush · Marc Arnold · Anna Zatonskih · Jennifer Shahade · Darwin Yang · Ray Robson · Anatoly Karpov
Texas · Moscow · Tal Memorial · Las Vegas
Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis · Lindenwood University · United States Chess Federation · Susan Polgar Institute For Chess Excellence · World Chess Hall of Fame · GM
2012 U.S. Chess Championship · St. Louis Invitational Chess Tournament · U.S. Chess Championship · U.S. Women's Chess Championship · Christmas
When you register with the Beacon, you can save your searches as news alerts, rsvp for events, manage your donations and receive news and updates from the Beacon team.
Take a look at our tutorials to help you get the hang of the new site.
Meeting in St. Louis next week, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious will have its first opportunity as an assembled group to consider what to do after the Vatican issued a mandate for change this spring. It calls on the conference to reorganize and more strictly observe church teachings.
When a family of four goes to the St. Louis Zoo, they can be forgiven for not knowing it will cost them $60, $72 if they park. If they can't pay, the alternative is to tell the kids they can't do what kids do at the zoo.
Missouri House Speaker Steve Tilley gave reporters less than a half-hour’s notice today when he announced that conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh’s sculptured bust will be formally installed in the Capitol at 1 p.m.
The school, which was designed to help students who had dropped out come back to class to earn their degrees, started three years ago. But founder Stephanie Krauss said it was unable to overcome obstacles that had kept its target audience from succeeding in school.
When the first group of students who entered KIPP Inspire charter school in south St. Louis were ready to be promoted out to area high schools, seeing how they've done was a natural follow-up.
Hours before adjournment, a state Senate filibuster appears to have killed a tax credit package that had won approval from the House a couple hours earlier. The bill's death keeps in place higher limits for low-income and historic tax credits, but blocks new programs.
The Beacon's Mary Delach Leonard and Rob Koenig extensively covered flooding in 2011 in Missouri. Now this coverage is compiled in an iBook. Read the stories.
The feeling is openness, with soaring, airy spaces planned for easy and logical circulation and planned to reveal art not only to its best advantage but also appropriately and respectfully. Still, the building is notable more for its architectural reticence than its audacity.
When a Chicago photographer found more than a thousand unidentified slides, he set out to discover the couple behind them -- with a little help from social media.
The first reunion came about after Tom Hall broke his collarbone and musicians came together for a fundraiser. Then came two more. Hall simply says, “We decided that it’s fun to pay. We make good music. And people want to hear it.”
Donna Korando is the Beacon's arts and features editor. You can contact her at dkorando@stlbeacon.org.
Speaking to reporters at Monsanto, Howard Buffett warned that future generations would foot the bill for irresponsible soil use. He urged leaders to address thorny issues such as malnutrition and environmental destruction.
Twenty winners will split a million dollars and a wide array of professional services after this year's Arch Grants competition. Victors will also see one-on-one business mentoring in their prize package. The diverse group includes everything from biotech concerns to fashion enterprises.
Eleven IT entrepreneurs vied for the attention of more than 70 investors at Capital Innovators' annual Demo Day. This year's crop of hopefuls wooed potential investors with eight-minute presentations on a wide variety of business ideas.
Innovation and entrepreneurial activity are on the rise in St. Louis, especially in bioscience, technology and alternative energy. The Beacon's InnovationSTL section focuses on the people who are part of this wave, what they're doing and how this is shaping our future. To many St. Louisans, this wave is not yet visible. InnovationSTL aims to change that. We welcome you to share your knowledge, learn more about this vibrant trend and discuss its impact.
Speaking to reporters at Monsanto, Howard Buffett warned that future generations would foot the bill for irresponsible soil use. He urged leaders to address thorny issues such as malnutrition and environmental destruction.
Vernon Bowman's challenge to Monsanto Co.'s patent on its Roundup Ready soybean seeds was billed as a David vs. Goliath contest. Goliath won and won big. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that an Indiana soybean farmer had violated Monsanto's patent on its genetically engineered soybean seeds.
St. Louis theater artist Andrea Purnell dramatizes mental health issues for a living. For her efforts and potential, she'll receive a Grand Center Visionary Award for Emerging Artist in May 13 event at The Sheldon.
Sally Altman is the Beacon's Health and Science editor. You can contact her at saltman@stlbeacon.org.
When the first group of students who entered KIPP Inspire charter school in south St. Louis were ready to be promoted out to area high schools, seeing how they've done was a natural follow-up.
Much as Americans may disagree over politics, we share a belief in the public's right to know. This week's controversies were a reminder that a healthy press is vital to a healthy democracy.
Hegel may explain the trajectory of politics: A thesis breeds its antithesis. The dissonance between these polar opposites results in a new state of affairs called a synthesis. That synthesis becomes the new thesis as the process repeats itself. Thus does history travel its tangled paths.
Donna Korando is the Beacon's Voices editor. You can contact her and submit opinion pieces for possible publication at dkorando@stlbeacon.org.