9/12/2018 – There is another "World Championship" in London this year — the fourth edition of the "Diving Chess" World Championship took place on August 27th at the Third Space Gym in London. Four rounds decided the winners — FM Rajko Vujatovic took gold after scoring 3½/4, while Etan Ilfeld and William Taylor finished second and third on 3/4. In this curious chess variant, each player can think as long as he or she can hold their breath underwater. | Photo: Reuters
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In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of Dutch and Grünfelkd structures with colours reversed.
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Take a deep breath
The Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) is an annual multi-disciplined competition that started in 1997. In the midst of competitions like the Pentamind and the Decamenthatlon, the Diving Chess World Championship finds its place every year since 2015. The rules are fairly simple, albeit with a twist. The game itself is a normal chess game, except it is played in a swimming pool... at the bottom!
This year's tournament was organised at the Third Space Gym in Soho, London. The English capital might be regarded as the epicentre of the chess world in the second semester of this year, as it will host the World Championship match and the final stage of the Grand Chess Tour. Although we cannot compare those events with the Diving Chess tournament, it is remarkable that England regards "mind games" — like chess — as something important.
The Diving Championship was broadcast by Reuters in Australia, Ukraine, United States, Israel, Philippines and, of course, Great Britain. It is worth mentioning that there was no women's tournament, as only one female player registered to play, Erika Orsagova.
Rajko Vujatovic, a 2222-rated "regular chess" player, obtained his third straight gold medal after winning three games and drawing one. Etan Ilfeld (2188) and William Taylor (2089) tied in second place half a point behind the champion.
Since the first edition, the organisers produced videos — which include underwater shots — of the Diving Championship. Let us present the last three ones in inverted chronological order. In this year's video, we can see the special magnetic boards that are used. The participants also talk about some of the difficulties this variant entails:
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The competitors show how tired they finish their games in the 2017 video:
The video from 2016 includes an interview with Rajko Vujatovic and Etan Ilfeld:
In this course, you’ll learn how to take the initiative against the London and prevent White from comfortably playing their usual system by playing 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 Nh5.
London System Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.
The London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.
In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
Opening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.
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The Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.
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