Apocalyptic Musings

  Passing of the Dutch "Hippie" Grandmaster Jan Timman One of the late 20th Century greats of international chess, GM Jan Timman, passed away Wednesday, February 18th at the age of 74. At one point he was ranked third behind Gary Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. He edited and wrote for New In Chess magazine and was a guest on the New In Chess podcast last November discussing endgame studies.  For those not yet of a certain age, I highly recommend this short documentary from 1979 that features a quite youthful Timman along with fellow Durch players Hans Ree and Hein Donner. How many empty packs of cigarettes does Donner collect from the chess table after drawing a tournament game with Timman?  I counted four...   The Love for Wood (1979)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E48r-JTSAVM&t=304s  More on Timman's career and passing can be found at the following links.  https://en.chessbase.com/post/jan-timman-1951-2026 https://www.newinchess.com/blog/post/in-...

Tata Steel 2026 Results The results are in for both the Masters and Challengers sections of what is the first major classical chess tournament of 2026.   The Masters Final Standings: "Official" Third Place ?: The organizers decided that this year tie break games would only be used if there was a tie for first place between two or more players.  Ties for all other places were to stand with placings and prize money to be shared equally.  However, at the closing ceremony the organizers declared their countryman GM Van Foreest the "Official" third place finisher based on his having won the Masters event in 2021.  There is no apparent provision in the published event regulations for this determination. https://tatasteelchess.com/en/format  A bit of nationalistic chauvinism? Inquiry has been made to the organizers. No response yet. Stay tuned for any update... The Challengers Section was won outright by fifteen year old US Grandmaster Andy Woodward. GM Woodward...