Since I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in any quick play Chess event this story failed to appear on the AWdar until this morning when it was brought to my attention. Most people involved with Chess assumed there would be major changes after the pandemic ended, and it has been interesting watching the change from my perspective, but it has not been good for the older players who seem to either have “lost something” like the “edge” they had prior to the pandemic. On the other side of the board it has been very interesting watching the much younger players, many of whom have seemed to come from nowhere to threaten the hegemony of their elders. Just the other day Chessbase published an article, Which countries have the most inflated Elo ratings? (https://en.chessbase.com/post/which-countries-have-the-most-inflated-elo-chess-players) Those of us old enough to remember a time ‘back in the day’ when the United States Chess Federation ratings were frozen for quite some time recall the “shake-out” that followed. Then there has been the ‘Rise of the Programs’. Again ‘back in the day’ we followed the moves and ideas produced by Grandmasters because, well, you know, they were GRANDMASTERS. These daze grandmasters utilize Chess programs to learn the correct way to play Chess. It must be difficult for grandmasters to wrap their minds around the fact that compared to the Chess programs, such as the Stockfish program used at Lichess.com, they have been regulated to second class status. Such is life…
The following story headlines the “TOP 10 RIGHT NOW” on the CHEAT SHEET at The Daily Beast:
Chess Grandmaster Banned From Prize Events After Racist Rant
‘NO PLACE’
AJ McDougall
Breaking News Rrporter
Published Feb. 06, 2023
Another day, another scandal in the cutthroat world of online chess. On Monday, Chess.com—one of the largest such platforms in the world—said that it would hit a 2578-rated Georgian grandmaster with a partial ban after he was caught spewing racist vitriol and berating staff on a tournament stream. The grandmaster, Baadur Jobava, launched into the rant last Friday after losing to Xiangyu Xu, a Chinese grandmaster,
at a qualifier for the Airthings Masters, according to Esports.gg. In footage of a conversation between Jobava and a moderator that surfaced on Reddit that day, the Georgian player can be heard saying, “This bitch fucked up. Ban all Chinese too. These motherfuckers. Not right. Call them. Not right.” (https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/10srym0/jobava_during_the_airthings_qualifiers_ban_all/) After getting off the call with the moderator, Jobava continued to rant, accusing Xu of cheating and Chess.com of failing to take action, “just sit and commentating bullshit.” In a statement to the “Global Chess Community” on Monday, a Chess.com official said that Jobava’s account would be banned “for all prize events” through the end of the year in light of his “racial and incendiary comments.”
Armchair Warrior 