GM. This is Chesster, your chess alchemist. We're the king on your board, always turning the game in your favor and transforming your position into gold 🥇

Here's what we have to uncover today:

• Who Won The World Chess Championship

• Caro Khann Explained

• The Weekly Puzzle

WHO WON THE WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP?

All right, folks! So, this big ol' chess tournament called the FIDE World Chess Championship occurred in April. Usually, Magnus Carlsen would be at the forefront of the FIDE World Championship tournament but not this year, he didn't even play 😨

One of the contenders, GM Ding Liren, was up against some tough competition, but he managed to tie with another player in the final match.

Now, you might be thinking, "Wait a minute, how do you tie in chess?" Great question! Basically, if both players have the same number of points at the end of a match, they have to do a "tiebreak" to determine the winner.

So, Ding Liren and his opponent had to play a bunch of extra games to break the tie. And guess what? Ding Liren won 🏆

But here's the insane part: Aside from claiming the FIDE world champion title, Ding got a whopping $1.1 million for his victory. Talk about one expensive chess match.

You may think Ding Liren would be excited after winning or have a smile but here was his reaction:

A nice facepalm but can you blame him?

CARO KHANN EXPLAINED

The Caro-Kann Defense is a chess opening that's all about playing hard to get. It's like that person who always seems to be one step ahead of you, leaving you wondering what their next move will be 🤔

The basic idea of the Caro-Kann Defense is to delay the development of your queen's bishop, which can make it difficult for your opponent to launch a quick attack. It's like putting your opponent in the friend zone - they might be interested, but they can't quite make a move just yet.

It begins with the moves 1.e4 c6. With this opening, Black immediately puts pressure on White's central pawn by attacking it with their own pawn. This move helps control the center of the board and limits White's options for quick attacks.

This is how a normal Caro-Kann game would go (exchange variation):

ps. You're the Black pieces ♟️

But the thing about this opening is just because you're playing hard to get doesn't mean you're not planning your next move. With the Caro-Kann Defense, you can use your pawns and pieces to control the center of the board, setting the stage for a devastating attack later on. It's like playing hard to get, but secretly plotting your revenge.

THE WEEKLY PUZZLE 🧩

Mate In TWO, White to Move: The 3rd person to respond to this email with the CORRECT mate gets an internet cookie 🍪 Reply to this email with your answer.

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THE WEEKLY MEME 🤣

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