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This week we are looking at a 5-time Women’s Olympiad gold winner, a 3-time Women’s Candidates winner, a USSR Women’s Champion, the first woman to beat a Grandmaster in a tournament game, and someone who - after she retired - went on to have an award winning career as a professor and researcher in numismatics - Alla Kushnir.  --- 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.b3 d5 3.Bb2 e6 4.e3 c5 5.Ne5 a6 6.Be2 Nbd7 7.f4 Nxe5 8.fxe5 Nd7 9.O-O Qg5 10.Rf4 g6 11.Qf1 Qe7 12.c4 dxc4 13.Nc3 Bh6 14.Ne4 Bxf4 15.Nd6+ Kf8 16.Qxf4 Kg7 17.Rf1 Rf8 18.Ne4 cxb3 19.Nf6 h6 20.d4 cxd4 21.exd4 Nb6 22.Bc1 Rh8 23.Ba3 Kf8 24.Bxe7+ Kxe7 25.Ng8+ 1-0 — https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2285281  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alla_Kushnir  https://coinsweekly.com/kushnir-stein-receives-meshorer-numismatic-prize/  http://cassidynoble.com/  Blindfold Chess Podcast Scholarship - https://64squarechessfund.org/

This week, we are looking at someone who focused on chess and grew to a very high level only to side step that achievement and work on building an inclusive social media juggernaut of ChessBaseIndia - Sagar Shah.  — 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. Nf3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d6 8. O-O e5 9. Nd2 O-O 10. Rb1 cxd4 11. cxd4 exd4 12. exd4 Nxd4 13. Ne4 Nxe4 14. Bxe4 Ne6 15. Qh5 h6 16. Bxh6 gxh6 17. Qxh6 Ng5 18. Rb5 f5 19. Bd5+ Rf7 20. Re1 1-0 — https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1889683  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagar_Shah  http://cassidynoble.com/  Blindfold Chess Podcast Scholarship - https://64squarechessfund.org/

This week, we are looking at one of the most infamous members of our game - someone who was not only challenged US Champions to matches, beat World Champions, and was a patent lawyer… but also someone who was arrested for auto fraud, was friends with notorious gangster Al Capone and was involved in the “Crime of the Century”, and eventually became an International Master at the age of 75 - Norman Whitaker.  -- 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. Be3 Qa5+ 7. Nc3 Qe5 8. f4 Qc5 9. e5 Qb6 10. Nc2 Qd8 11. Be2 f6 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. O-O e6 14. Bc5 Bf8 15. Be3 Bg7 16. Nb5 Bf8 17. f5 exf5 18. Rxf5 gxf5 19. Bh5+ Nxh5 20. Qxh5+ Ke7 21. Bg5+ Ke6 22. Re1+ Ne5 23. Ncd4# 1-0 — chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2208433  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_T._Whitaker  http://cassidynoble.com/  Blindfold Chess Podcast Scholarship - https://64squarechessfund.org/  https://www.facebook.com/groups/418062169150605/posts/933592434264240/https://www.facebook.com/groups/418062169150605/posts/933592434264240/  https://texaschess.org/from-the-ivy-league-to-alcatraz-the-life-of-international-master-norman-t-whitaker/  http://www.chessarch.com/archive/0026_whitaker/whitaker.shtml

This week, we are looking at someone just a little different than our normal lineup. This person is NOT a Master, but their Youtube Channel - Hanging Pawns showcases the trials and tribulations of a tournament player on their way to chess mastery -  Stjepan Tomic. — 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. Be3 Qa5+ 7. Nc3 e6 8. Ndb5 Bxc3+ 9. Nxc3 Nge7 10. Qd2 O-O 11. Be2 a6 12. O-O Qc7 13. Rad1 Rb8 14. Bf4 e5 15. Bh6 Re8 16. Qg5 Nd8 17. Qf6 Ne6 18. Nd5 Qd8 19. Qxe5 Nxd5 20. cxd5 d6 21. Qc3 Qh4 22. dxe6 Qxh6 23. exf7+ Kxf7 24. Qc7+ Re7 25. Qxb8 Be6 26. Qxd6 Qg5 27. f4 Qa5 28. f5 gxf5 29. exf5 Bxa2 30. Bh5+ Kf8 31. f6 1-0 — https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2584315  Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@HangingPawns  His newest project - https://chessreads.com/  Forky Chess Interview - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHGN6vCnZ6M  http://cassidynoble.com/  Blindfold Chess Podcast Scholarship - https://64squarechessfund.org/

This week we are looking at the Teacher of Germany, a World Championship challenger, a doctor, a top 5 player in the world for the better part of 2 decades, and someone so set in his chess ideological ways that his compatriots labeled him as “dogmatic” - Siegbert Tarrasch.  — 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. Be2 Nge7 7. Be3 Ng6 8. O-O Be7 9. f4 O-O 10. Rf3 f5 11. exf5 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 exf5 13. Bc4+ Kh8 14. Nd5 b5 15. Bb6 Bc5+ 16. Bxc5 d6 17. Bb6 Qd7 18. Bb3 Bb7 19. Rh3 Bxd5 20. Rxh7+ Kxh7 21. Qh5+ Kg8 22. Bxd5+ Rf7 23. Qxg6 Rf8 24. Bd4 1-0 — https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1266412  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegbert_Tarrasch  http://cassidynoble.com/  — https://www.chess.com/blog/Steakanator/winners-pov-nuremberg-1888

We are looking at a very color member of chess history - someone who had a 50 year chess playing career, someone who traveled from Europe to Australia to Cuba playing matches, simuls, and blindfold events, someone who put future World Champions through windows, been fined for assaulting people, arrested for being a French spy, and nicked named “The Black Death” - Joseph Blackburne. ------- 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 d6 5.Nxc3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Ne5 7.Nxe5 dxe5 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.Bg5+ Nf6 10.Qh5 c6 11.Rd1 Qa5 12.f4 Qc5 13.fxe5 Qxe5 14.O-O h6 15.Be8 Be6 16.Rxf6 gxf6  17.Rd7+ Bxd7 18.Qf7+ Kd6 19.Qxd7+ Kc5 20.Be3+ Kb4 21.Qxb7+ Ka5 22.b4+ Bxb4 23.Bb6+ axb6 24.Qxa8# 1-0 — https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1028829  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Henry_Blackburne  http://cassidynoble.com/  1876 match: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=79940

This week, we are looking at the highest rated Azerbaijani chess player, the 6th highest rated chess player in history, a 3 time-Candidate, 2 time world Junior champion, and a World Rapid Champion - Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.  ------ 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. exd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bd6 7. Ne2 O-O 8. O-O Nc6 9. Rb1 Re8 10. d4 h6 11. Be3 Qf6 12. Qd3 a6 13. d5 Bf5 14. Be4 Bxe4 15. Qxe4 Na5 16. c4 b6 17. c5 bxc5 18. Qa4 Qf3 19. Rfe1 f5 20. Qxa5 f4 21. Bxc5 Qg4 22. Bxd6 cxd6 23. Qa4 Qf5 24. Nxf4 1-0 ------ https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1971545#google_vignette  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakhriyar_Mamedyarov  http://cassidynoble.com/  ----- “Did he just play G4!?” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4pgWWjME2s

This week, we are looking at a popular influencer, commentator, Olympiad Gold Medal winner, national champion, International Master, and someone who has been in the Top 100 rated women in the world for the past 20 years - Tania Sachdev. ----- 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. f3 Qc7 8. a3 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 d6 10. Be3 Nbd7 11. Rb1 O-O 12. Nb3 d5 13. exd5 exd5 14. c5 Re8 15. Kf2 Ne5 16. Bd4 Bf5 17. Ra1 Re6 18. Nc1 Rae8 19. Be2 Ned7 20. g4 Bg6 21. h4 Qf4 22. Kg1 Qg3+ 23. Kf1 Rxe2 0-1 ----- https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1665976  https://www.redbull.com/us-en/tania-sachdev-master-of-her-domain  https://www.presidentofindia.gov.in/smt-pratibha-devisingh-patil/press_releases/president-congratulates-tania-sachdev-winning-asian#:~:text=Rashtrapati%20Bhavan%20%3A%2018.09.-,2007,adopt%20sports%20as%20a%20career.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tania_Sachdev  http://cassidynoble.com/

This week, we are looking at the “Father of Italian Chess”, someone who catalogued and organized so many chess games, rules, ideas, openings, endings, and constructs as well as traveled the world as the first professional chess player - Gioachino Greco.  -- 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 d6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.d4 Qh6 7.g3 Qh3+ 8.Kf2 fxg3+ 9.hxg3 Bxf3 10.Bxf7+ Kd8 11.Qxf3 Qd7 12.Rxh7 Rxh7 13.Bxg8 Rh2+ 14.Kg1 Rxc2 15.Qxf8+ Qe8 16.Bg5+ Kd7 17.Be6+ Qxe6 18.Qd8+ Kc6 19.d5+ Qxd5 20.exd5+ Kxd5 21.Nc3+ Ke5 22.Qe8+ Kd4 23.Qe4+ Kc5 24.Be3# 1-0 — https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1272515  https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RicCAAAAYAAJ/page/n129/mode/1up  https://archive.org/details/TheRoyallGameOfChessePlay/page/n34/mode/1up  https://billwallchess.blogspot.com/2020/11/gioacchino-greco-1600-1634.html  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gioachino_Greco  http://cassidynoble.com/

Hi everyone, welcome back! It is puzzle time this week!  These are some of my favorite  episodes.  I am going to give you 3 different puzzles this episode ranging from easy to hard. I will be giving you the piece location of every piece on the board and it will be your job to figure out the correct sequence of moves to complete the puzzle.  Without further ado, let’s dive into Puzzle number 1. It is white to move and you are playing white.  Puzzle 1: White has a rook on a5.  White has a bishop on b8. White has a King on e2. Black has their king on b2.  Black has a queen on g7.  — [FEN: 1B6/6q1/8/R7/8/8/1k2K3/8 w - - 0 1]  — Puzzle 2: White has a King on f4.  White has a pawn on h2.  Black has a King on f6.  Black has a pawn on g6.  Black has a pawn on h5.  — [FEN: 8/8/5kp1/7p/5K2/8/7P/8 w - - 0 1] — Puzzles 3: White has a pawn on a3.  White has a pawn on d4.  White has a pawn on f4.  White has a pawn on g4.  White has a pawn on h6.  White has a rook on b3.  White has a rook on g5.  White has a king on e3.  Black has a pawn on b5.  Black has a pawn on d5.  Black has a pawn on e4.  Black has a rook on both c4 and a rook on c1.  Black has a king on c6.  — [FEN: 8/8/2k4P/1p1p2R1/2rPpPP1/PR2K3/8/2r5 b - - 1 2] — http://cassidynoble.com/

This week, we are looking at a 3 time World Youth Gold Medalist, a 4 time US Women’s Chess Championship participant, and the youngest American to earn the International Master title all before the age of 16 - Alice Lee.   - Podcast Game 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 a6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Bxe7 Qxe7 6.Nbd2 Nf6 7.g3 O-O 8.Bg2 Nbd7 9.Rc1 c5 10.O-O Re8 11.Re1 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Nc5 13.Qc2 Ncd7 14.a3 e5 15.Nf5 Qe6 16.cxd5 Nxd5 17.Nc4 N7f6 18.e4 Ne7 19.Red1 g6 20.Rd6 gxf5 21.Rxe6 Bxe6 22.Nd6 Rf8 23.exf5 Bd5 24.Qd2 Kh8 25.Qg5 Neg8 26.Bxd5 Nxd5 27.f6 Ngxf6 28.Qxe5 Rad8 29.Rd1 Kg8 30.Rxd5 Nxd5 31.Qg5+ 1-0 – https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2758799  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Lee_(chess_player)  http://cassidynoble.com/  – My game against Alice:  [Event "2022 Winter Open"] [Date "2022.01.22"] [Round "3"] [White "Noble, Cassidy"] [Black "WIM Lee, Alice"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "1970"] [BlackElo "2299"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 O-O 12. Nc2 Rb8 {This line must be popular in Minnesota. This did not feel like the same line I played in a previous round. I was warned before the game that she is very theoretical, so I tried to 'play normally'.} 13. Be2 Bg5 14. Nce3 Be6 15. O-O Bxe3 16. Nxe3 Ne7 17. a4 Qc7 {I felt a little worse here. I thought she was going to succeed in either d5 or f5 so, I kept trying to prevent that.} 18. Bf3 g6 19. axb5 axb5 20. Ra6 Rb6 21. Qa1 Bc8 22. Ra7 Bb7 23. Rd1 Qb8 24. Qa2 Kh8 {We both had ~30 minutes left. I could not think of a great plan forward. I wanted to increase pressure on d6. My bishop was ready in case of f5. My a7 rook wasn't going to move until Nc8 or Nc6 and my d1 rook was covering the d-file. It felt like my knight could be on either d6, c4, or f6 but I didn't want to give up pressure on d5 and f5. I opted to go for the plan with the knight attacking d6.} 25. c4 Nc8 26. Ra5 f5 27. cxb5 Bxe4 28. Bxe4 fxe4 29. Qc4 Ne7 30. Rda1 Qc8 {I had 8 minutes remaining, she had 6.} 31. Qxe4 Qe6 $16 32. Nc4 $2 {I thought this was the right idea - hit the rook on b6 and put pressure on d6, but I think it tangles my pieces up too much. I also offered a draw here, she declined .} Rbb8 33. g3 $2 {I think I was overly concerned about Rf4. I spent way too long on this move, I dropped to about 1 minute. The rest of the game, I was playing on the 30 second increment.} (33. Ra6 Rf4 34. Rxd6 Qxc4 35. Qxc4 Rxc4) 33... Qf6 34. Qe2 Nf5 35. Ra6 Nd4 36. Qe3 $4 Nc2 37. Qe2 Nxa1 38. Rxd6 Qg7 39. Qd1 Qf7 40. Qe2 Nb3 41. Nxe5 Qf5 42. g4 Qf4 43. Rxg6 Nd4 44. Qc4 $4 Nf3+ 0-1

This week, we are looking at the self-taught chess prodigy, a 4-time British Champion, a World Champion Challenger, someone who sparked the 1990s schism between FIDE and the Professional Chess Association, and someone who has been deeply involved in chess development - traveling to over 150 countries - Nigel Short.  -- 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nc6 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nd7 6. Nb3 a5 7. a4 Be7 8. Bb5 Ncb8 9. h4 h6 10. Rh3 b6 11. Rg3 Bf8 12. h5 c6 13. Bd3 Ba6 14. Rg4 c5 15. Bxa6 Nxa6 16. c4 Nb4 17. Nh4 dxc4 18. Nd2 cxd4 19. Nxc4 Qc7 20. Rxd4 Nxe5 21. Qe2 Bc5 22. Re4 Ned3+ 23. Kf1 Qh2 24. Qg4 Qh1+ 25. Ke2 0-1 -- https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2353282  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Short  http://cassidynoble.com/

This week, we are looking at the youngest National Champion in Finnish History, the first Canadian woman to earn the Women’s Grandmaster Title, the first canadian woman to earn a FIDE Master title, and popular streamer and model - Nemo Zhou. -- 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 Bd7 7. Be2 Rc8 8. O-O a6 9. Kh1 e6 10. Qd2 h6 11. Be3 Ne5 12. f4 Neg4 13. Bg1 h5 14. Bf3 Qc7 15. Rae1 Be7 16. Qe2 Qc4 17. e5 dxe5 18. fxe5 Nd5 19. Qxc4 Rxc4 20. Nxd5 exd5 21. Bxd5 Rc5 22. Bxf7+ Kd8 23. e6 Bc6 24. Nf5 Rxc2 25. Bb6+ 1-0 -- “In the [Finnish] textbook, my life forever stays at the age of five, but I need to live in the real life, because success belongs in the past.” https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1771231 https://qiyuzhou.wordpress.com/in-finland/  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemo_Zhou  https://www.twitch.tv/akaNemsko  http://cassidynoble.com/

This week, we are looking at the first National German Champion, a 2-time Soviet Champion, a 2-time World Championship challenger, and someone who was ensnared in 2 World Wars - Efim Bogoljubov.  -- 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.Nf3 d6 4.d4 Bf5 5.Bd3 Bg6 6.c4 Nb6 7.Bxg6 hxg6 8.e6 f6 9.Qd3 Qc8 10.Qxg6+ Kd8 11.Qf7 Nxc4 12.Nbd2 Nxd2 13.Bxd2 g5 14.d5 c5 15.Bc3 g4 16.Nh4 Rxh4 17.Qxf8+ Kc7 18.Qxe7+ Kb6 19.Qxd6+ Kb5 20.a4 Kc4 21.Qf4+ Kxd5 22.O-O-O Kc6 23.Qd6# 1-0 -- https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1030796  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efim_Bogoljubow  https://www.chess.com/players/efim-bogoljubov  http://cassidynoble.com/

This week, we are looking at the the strongest woman of her time, the winner of the first International Women’s Chess Championship, the first woman accepted to the Bristol chess club, and the first woman to be the player of a simul - Mary Rudge.  -- 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Be3 Qf6 6.c3 Nge7 7.Bb5 O-O 8.Nxc6 dxc6 9.Bxc5 cxb5 10.Na3 Re8 11.f3 Ng6 12.O-O Qg5 13.Bf2 Be6 14.Nc2 Rad8 15.Nd4 Bc4 16.Re1 Nf4 17.Bg3 c5 18.b3 Ne2+ 19.Rxe2 Bxe2 20.Qxe2 cxd4 21.f4 Qc5 22.Bf2 Qxc3 23.Rd1 d3 24.Qf3 Qc2 25.Bxa7 Ra8 26.Bd4 Rxe4 27.Qxd3 Re1+ 0-1 — https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1284056  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Rudge  https://www.chessit.co.uk/Centenary/History/1982%20-%2075th/history/book1.html https://www.chessit.co.uk/Centenary/History/1982%20-%2075th/history/intro.html#:~:text=He%20writes%20%22All%20creeds%20and,.%2C%20which%20was%20agreed%20to.  http://cassidynoble.com/