Sunday, July 20
New-age chess pros are raking in big paydays
Gukesh Dommaraju, Indian chess grand master.
Simon Lim/AFP
It’s never been so lucrative to be the best in the world at nontraditional chess. Amid a chess resurgence that started when that fictional redhead hallucinated pieces on the ceiling, pro tournaments are adapting to our TikTok-ified attention spans—and rewarding the players who can keep up.
Chess joins one of the world’s biggest video-game tourneys. Grand masters are about to rub shoulders with gamers at the Esports World Cup (EWC) in Saudi Arabia, where World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen already got a fist-bump from Post Malone during the opening ceremony. Chess is debuting at EWC later this month:Sixteen players will compete for a $1.5 million prize pool, a sum that’s become par for the course in international pro chess, which historically hasn’t minted many millionaires.
It’s never been so lucrative to be the best in the world at nontraditional chess. Amid a chess resurgence that started when that fictional redhead hallucinated pieces on the ceiling, pro tournaments are adapting to our TikTok-ified attention spans—and rewarding the players who can keep up.
Chess joins one of the world’s biggest video-game tourneys. Grand masters are about to rub shoulders with gamers at the Esports World Cup (EWC) in Saudi Arabia, where World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen already got a fist-bump from Post Malone during the opening ceremony. Chess is debuting at EWC later this month:Sixteen players will compete for a $1.5 million prize pool, a sum that’s become par for the course in international pro chess, which historically hasn’t minted many millionaires.
The games won’t be normal—players will only have 10 minutes each to make their moves, which will likely lead to more time-crunched blunders.
This will make the matches feel “a bit more gamified,” Fabiano Caruana, the world No. 5 chess player, told CNN. The cup’s organizers decided on the high-speed format to appeal to the esports crowd and to the new generation of chess fans that will be in the audience, as many young aficionados discovered the game on livestream platforms like Twitch.
The world’s most attended chess cup is evolving, too. A record 3,000+ players registered to play in the annual Grenke Chess Festival this year, where freestyle chess—a format that randomizes your starting positions—replaced one of the tournament’s classic events for the first time.
That checkmate cha-ching: The FIDE World Chess Championship offers the biggest wheel of cheese, with $2.5 million in winnings doled out last year. With chess cups upping their prize pools, some grand masters can finally afford to live lavishly—34-year-old world No. 1 Carlsen, who’s known for his quick moves, has made more than $10 million in lifetime tournament prizes, and emerging star Gukesh Dommaraju made more than $1.5 million last year alone, according to Chess.com.—ML
Robert Reich
Sunday thought
And you?Friends,
Earlier this week I responded to many of you who said you were concerned about me. I asked you not to worry about my safety, assuring you I won’t take unnecessary risks, (although I’m not going to stop speaking out).
And not to worry about my health. As I said, I have only a certain number of years left when I can do as much as I’m doing, and I might as well take full advantage of them in this national emergency.
But I’m also concerned about you.
We’re all in this together. Your health and safety, your sanity, your tenacity and resilience, are critically important for getting through this Trump daymare.
It’s not just a national stress test for democracy and decency. It’s also a personal stress test for all of us, including you.
So today I’d like to ask you to share with me — and the rest of us — how you’re doing.
At A Glance
Thirteen collectibles made more valuable due to spelling errors.
The century-long effort to identify van Gogh's final painting, "Tree Roots."
Why governments are betting big on sports leagues and franchises.
Charting the incredible drop in childhood leukemia death rates.
Leaping lemurs top this annual biodiversity photo contest.
Debating the meaning of Beowulf's opening word.
The physics of the football spiral, with Tom Brady.
Whatever happened to murder hornets?
Mapping manufacturing as percentage of GDP in each US state.
The unlikely history of the birth of Minecraft.
The logistics behind the largest human gathering in the world.
Why the Bible, Torah, and Quran are key texts in philosophical debates.
How cannons spurred the evolution from castles to star forts.
How shoes express and create our social roles.
Divers uncover more historical marvels from 2,000-year-old Antikythera shipwreck.
In The NEWS
Education Department releases $1.3B in frozen funding.
The now-available funding supports after-school and summer programming for low-income families. However, over $5B in funding for educational programming—including English language instruction and adult literacy—remains frozen as the Trump administration conducts a programmatic review to ensure it aligns with the White House's priorities. Earlier this week, more than 20 states filed a lawsuit against the administration over the withheld funds.
US, El Salvador, and Venezuela coordinate prisoner swap.
The US sent 252 Venezuelans deported to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador back to their home country Friday in exchange for the return of 10 Americans detained in Venezuela. As part of the deal, the Venezuelan government also freed dozens of domestic political prisoners and detainees. The exchange follows the Trump administration’s use of a wartime law in March to deport more than 200 Venezuelan men accused of ties to the Tren de Aragua gang, allegations immigration attorneys and family members have denied.
Brazil's ex-president ordered to wear ankle monitor.
The nation's Supreme Court has ruled that former President Jair Bolsonaro wear an ankle monitor as he awaits trial over an alleged coup attempt in 2022. The order comes alongside a raid on his home early Friday morning. Bolsonaro is also barred from leaving his house at night, using social media, approaching embassies, and speaking with foreign officials or anyone under investigation, including his son.
Netflix is using AI to cut costs and save time.
The film juggernaut used visual effects created by generative AI for the first time in one of its original TV shows. Thanks to the technology, creating a sequence of a building collapsing in the Argentinian sci-fi show "The Eternaut" became 10 times faster and financially feasible, CEO Ted Sarandos told investors Thursday. The announcement came as Netflix reported over $11B in revenue last quarter, a 16% rise compared to the same period last year. Learn more about Netflix here.
Scientists pinpoint vitamin D gene with cancer-fighting potential.
A team of scientists has identified the gene SDR42E1 as critical to how the body absorbs and processes vitamin D, a discovery with potential for highly targeted medical therapies. Using CRISPR gene-editing technology, the researchers disabled SDR42E1 in cell lines of a patient with colorectal cancer, cutting off the vitamin D supply the cancer cells needed to survive. The newfound understanding of the gene's connection to vitamin D could also help address vitamin D deficiency, which affects nearly 50% of the global population.
Chevron wins dispute with Exxon Mobil over Hess’ Guyana oil assets.
Chevron has finalized its $53B acquisition of energy company Hess, securing a 30% stake in the over 11 billion barrel-equivalents of oil and natural gas reserves off Guyana, a small nation on South America's North Atlantic coast. The deal had been in limbo for nearly two years due to a contractual dispute brought by Chevron's larger rival, Exxon Mobil. The Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce ruled in Chevron's favor Friday, clearing the way for the merger.
Stratospheric skydiver Felix Baumgartner dies in paraglider crash.
Known as "Fearless Felix," the former Austrian military parachutist became the first skydiver to surpass the speed of sound, reaching 843.6 mph during a more than 24-mile free fall over New Mexico in 2012. The feat set records for the highest manned balloon flight, as well as the highest and fastest jump in free fall. Italian officials confirmed Baumgartner’s death Thursday, after reports of a paraglider crashing into a swimming pool in the city of Porto Sant’Elpidio. He was 56.
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
America
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- Bill of Rights Freedoms
- Military power
- Our Democratic Republic
- Our Education
- Our Healthcare
- Economic Prosperity
- Dream of becoming wealthy
- Law Enforcement
- Home Ownership
- Easy mobility
- Entertainment
- Vacations
- Retirement
According to Artificial Intelligence, 76% of Americans have visited at least one other country while 26% have visited five countries or more. 76% is a significant number, especially when one is comparing the USA to other countries..
YET...
there are many Americans that believe this country is no longer a good or great country and they want to turn America into a country that is no longer special and no longer different or better than the rest of the world.
WHY???
There are many people in America that HATE THE WEALTHY and want to take away their wealth...
and yet,
they continue to buy those products and services that make the wealthy even more wealthy.
If they really wanted to stop the transfer of money from them to others, then STOP BUYING THOSE PRODUCTS!!!!!
When immigrants stop flocking to America to live because life is NOT BETTER in America than it is where they currently live, then we have a problem.
What are the odds of anything like that happening anytime soon???
Teaching a Kid to Think Like a Genius
I watched a boy in my third-grade class adjust his catapult's arm for the fifth time as he measured distances and recorded numbers on his data sheet. This was a personalized learning project, a time dedicated to intrinsic curiosity.
I gave no instructions on physics or engineering. He was discovering the relationship between arm length and distance entirely through his own experiments. "The longer arm launches farther!" he announced, super excited. Other students immediately wanted to try the same experiment.
I realized he was doing exactly what Leonardo da Vinci did 500 years ago in a basement laboratory in Milan. Leonardo would dig up cadavers, and then trace muscular structures while his incomplete Last Supper fresco waited upstairs.
I realized he was doing exactly what Leonardo da Vinci did 500 years ago in a basement laboratory in Milan. Leonardo would dig up cadavers, and then trace muscular structures while his incomplete Last Supper fresco waited upstairs.
Most artists would never connect anatomical dissection with religious painting. Leonardo saw them as inseparable. The muscles and tendons he traced taught him how human bodies moved and expressed emotion. He would eventually use this knowledge to paint the disciples' lifelike reactions to Christ's betrayal.
Saturday, July 19
Headlines
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Chevron closes $53b Hess deal after vanquishing Exxon’s legal challenge. Big Oil got a little bit bigger yesterday when Chevron closed its acquisition of its smaller rival Hess, securing access to coveted oil reserves off the shore of Guyana. Chevron and Hess struck the deal back in 2023, but Exxon brought a legal challenge to block it in the biggest oil feud since somebody shot JR. Exxon claimed Hess was contractually obligated to offer to sell Exxon its stake in a Guyana development the companies operate in partnership with the China National Offshore Oil Corp. before making another deal, but yesterday arbitrators from the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris denied that claim. Chevron quickly wrapped up the deal with Hess a few hours later.
Netflix used generative AI in one of its shows for the first time. Will the next Squid Game be made by a bot? Probably not, but tucked into Netflix’s earnings announcement this week was the nugget that the streaming giant has seemingly picked the pro-AI side in Hollywood’s battle over the tech. Netflix said the Argentine sci-fi show The Eternaut was the first show it had produced that used fully AI-generated shots. The tech enabled a sequence that included the collapse of a building in Buenos Aires, which would have otherwise been outside the show’s budget. “We remain convinced that AI represents an incredible opportunity to help creators make films and series better, not just cheaper,” Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos told analysts.
The GENIUS Act is the law of the land. President Trump signed the bill into law yesterday, setting up a framework for regulating stablecoins—digital currency pegged to traditional assets—that are linked to the US dollar. It’s a big win for the crypto industry, and Trump said it was a “giant step to cement American dominance of global finance and crypto technology.” The law could help push stablecoins into the mainstream, and major companies like Walmart and Amazon have been said to be considering launching their own.—AR
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