Echecs 64

A Dramatic End to a Legendary and Most Dominant Program!♟️ Imagine the University of Alabama or Ohio State shutting down its powerhouse football 🏈 program, Kentucky or Duke eliminating its storied men’s basketball 🏀 program, or UConn ending its women’s basketball dynasty. Unthinkable! Yet that is exactly what Webster University did today—abruptly terminating its legendary SPICE Chess Program in St. Louis, the Chess Capital of the United States. Just months ago, in January 2026, the team won the Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Championship for a record-tying 10th time in a field of 86 university teams. Since its founding in 2012, SPICE and its student-athletes at Webster University achieved more success than all other collegiate chess programs in the United States combined—despite operating with a significantly smaller budget than most top chess programs: • 14 consecutive years ranked #1 Division I college chess team in the nation (an all-time Division I record) • 2 World Championships, more than 100 world, national and major titles, and multiple Olympiad gold medals (an all-time Division I record) • 10 Pan-American Intercollegiate Championships (tied for the Division I all-time record) • 7 Final Four Championships (an all-time Division I record) Originally established as the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE), the program moved to Webster in 2012 after winning back-to-back national titles at Texas Tech. Under the visionary leadership of former President (later Chancellor) Dr. Beth Stroble and former Provost (later President) Dr. Julian Schuster, SPICE became a national and international model of excellence. Beyond its unmatched results on the board, SPICE made history off the board as the first university in the United States to offer a minor in chess, while maintaining a team GPA consistently around 3.5. This is not merely the end of a chess program—it is the loss of one of the most extraordinary success stories in the history of American collegiate athletics. As the founder of SPICE, its former Director and Head Coach, and Director Emeritus, I was never contacted by the current administration or University President Dr. Tim Keane. I was never asked to assist with fundraising, nor was I even thanked for the tremendous visibility the program brought to the university. I learned of this decision only through my former student and current Head Coach, GM Liem Le, whose last day was today, April 30, 2026. GM Le won four national championships as a Webster student and team captain, and two more as head coach. The secret to SPICE’s success was simple: we always put the best interests of our students first. Unfortunately, the current administration did not uphold that standard or honor the commitments made to its world-class chess team. Thankfully, I believe our remaining students will have opportunities to transfer to other strong programs. In my 50+ year career, this is the poorest handling of a major athletic program by a university president that I have ever witnessed. With adequate notice, a national fundraising campaign could have been launched by me to save it. Abruptly ending the nation’s most successful collegiate chess program—built over 14 years and a major source of pride and recognition for Webster University—represents a profound and unnecessary loss. @websteru @WebsterUNews @AP @FIDE_chess @stltoday @stlmag @stlbizdbarr @stlbizesherberg @STLChessClub @WorldChessHOF @USChess @SInow @espn @chesscom #Alabama #UConn #Duke #Kentucky #OhioState

Oh my god, it was the second time I saw GMs in real after Hastings (Nicole Tagnon introduced me to Anderson). We crossed the Channel in Hovercraft with my parents and brother. Journalist from @UPI Alex Frere hosted our family and was a friend of my father.

French Youth Chess Championship : another record with 1930 players ! Our champions started in this yearly mega event @AlphaEchecs @Vachier_Lagrave @sourisblanche2504 @USChess @ecfchess @KoganArt @leontxogarcia @ruchess_eng @ville_albi Live games app echecs.asso.fr/Actu.aspx?Ref=…

encore le génie FRA des échecs. Premier test: le championnat des jeunes. Comme ce fut le cas pour @Vachier_Lagrave @souris2504 @AlphaEchecs et tant d'autres

Artur Yusupov during a simultaneous display at the Young Pioneers' Palace in Moscow after winning the 1977 World Junior Championship.

Making a statement in Shanghai 🇨🇳 In 1986, FIDE made two outrageous decisions that negatively affected my career: 1.  They awarded nearly all women players an extra 100 rating points—except me—in an obvious attempt to artificially strip me of the world #1 ranking. At just 15 years old, I had become the #1 ranked female player in the world, as well as the #1 ranked 15-year-old (boy or girl), ahead of players like Anand and Ivanchuk. 2.  They refused to allow me to participate in the Men’s World Championship cycle, even after I became the first woman to qualify. A few years earlier, in 1982, during my most crucial developmental years, the Hungarian government confiscated my passport and prevented me from traveling abroad simply because I refused to play in women-only events. I almost quit chess because of all the unfair punishment and interference. It was my grandmother who convinced me to continue and not let the bad guys win. Despite losing several valuable years, I decided to fight back. In 1992, I chose to show the world exactly how a Polgár stacked up against other women (after years of claims that we were overrated because we only played against men). In the 1992 FIDE Candidates Tournament, I started with an explosive 9.5/10 (9 wins, 1 draw) and essentially clinched the event with six rounds to spare, in a field with both Chiburdanidze and Gaprindashvili, etc. I wrote about this in my memoir Rebel Queen amazon.com/Rebel-Queen-Mi…

Emanuel Lasker held the World Chess Championship for 27 years (1894 to 1921). No one else comes close. Not Fischer. Not Kasparov. Not Carlsen. Twenty-seven years as the best in the world. Is he the most underrated World Champion ever? Drop your pick #Chess #ChessHistory

Sindarov strikes AGAIN! He bounced back from yesterday’s mishap and defeated Pragg. With Giri drawing Nakamura, the lead is now back up to 2 full points — with just 4 rounds left to play! #FIDECandidates

Second IM norm for Lacan-Rus born Sept 2012 in a closed tournament ahead of Flear and Delchev. Great maturity in his last year responses after his U10 world chess title! @ecfchess @KoganArt @leontxogarcia echecs64.com @MarcQuenehen See MarcQuenehen.com

"Les Échecs permettent de conserver la vivacité d'esprit !" Georges Havelka est le licencié le plus âgé de France : il aura 100 ans cette année ! France 3 Bretagne lui consacre un reportage : france3-regions.franceinfo.fr/bretagne/finis…

I was in Linares when he lost his match vs Karpov. His loss destroyed him psychologically

The significance of this photo is that I had just regained my passport and was finally allowed to travel to the West to compete again. Unfortunately, I lost a critical period during my most important developmental years in chess, when I was unable to compete at the highest level. My passport had been taken away by the Hungarian government for a significant period, despite my #1 ranking. Why? I was punished for refusing to compete exclusively in women’s tournaments. I wanted to play in open events against the strongest players in the world. This photo was taken more than 40 years ago in Hamburg, Germany. I was 15 at the time—the youngest-ever #1-ranked female chess player and also the top-ranked 15-year-old in the world, boy or girl, ahead of players like Ivanchuk and Anand, etc. I wrote about this dark chapter of my life in my memoir, Rebel Queen. amazon.com/Rebel-Queen-Mi… (Zeit Magazine is one of Germany's most respected publications.) @FIDE_chess @ECUonline @WOMChess @FideWomen @WomenChess @WomenChessFIDE

Very sad news from Cuba: the 59th edition of the Capablanca Memorial has been officially cancelled. I fear this may be the end of one of the longest-standing traditions in chess. (In the picture, Smyslov, winner in 1965, plays against Fischer via telex)

@GWGoldnadel dailymotion.com/video/x5ci4x

Mon Dieu à Brie Comte Robert ! France est en grand péril ! Ce n’est pas comme si vous aviez approuvé des accords ( purement techniques ☝️) dans les grandes villes avec le Parti Antisémite. Vous finirez votre carrière comme gardien du cimetière socialiste à Brie Comte Robert.

@GWGoldnadel Petite ville de mon collège, tjrs sans gare, des années 1970 fut moquée par le Collaro Show, musique identique à la série DALLAS. Célébrité immédiate, Les gens pensaient à une ville fictive. Les Briards ont la tête dure. Il est fort probable que l'on revienne aux réalites

Magnus Carlsen REVEALS he wanted to play the Candidates: “I’d actually planned to make a late bid to play the Candidates, but when I saw that Bluebaum, whom I’ve never beaten in our multiple classical games, had qualified, I rethought; I dreaded an unprecedented triumph by him.”

echecs64.com/2026/03/11/pie… Former editor-in-chief Europe Échecs Pierre #Nolot died @SusanPolgar @GMJuditPolgar @NewInChess @leontxogarcia @KoganArt @ChessBase

Pictured in play at the 39th USSR Championship final (Leningrad, 1971) - Anatoly Karpov and, in the background, Mikhail Tal. (📷: N. Naumenkov / TASS.) #chess

I was always so eager and happy to have chess lessons. I wanted to learn more and more, even today. Here I was with the late 🇭🇺 WGM Éva Karakas, my first coach. Eva won the Women's Hungarian Chess Championship in 1954, 1956, 1962, 1965–66 and 1975–76, and the Women's World Senior Chess Championship in 1991, 1992 and 1994. She played for the Hungarian national team in the first three editions of the Women's Chess Olympiad, held in 1957, 1963 and 1966. Karakas competed in the Women's World Championship Candidates' Tournament in 1959, 1961, and 1964. She participated in the Women's Interzonal tournament in 1973. (Wikipedia) She passed away in 1995, one year before I became the first player in history to win the Chess Triple Crown. However, she did see me win and the first 5 of the 6 of the most prestigious chess achievements (2/3 Triple Crown, Olympiad Team and Individual Gold, as well as the world #1 ranking). I wrote about her, my training, and many other topics in my memoir #RebelQueen amazon.com/Rebel-Queen-Mi…

Relentless training, every single day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year! 90% hard work - 10% talent! Nurture vs Nature! #RebelQueen ♟️