@WSJ: Magnus Carlsen may be the greatest chess player ever. Now he's facing his greatest challenger ever, American Fabiano Caruana, for the World Chess Championship. https://t.co/wxHlIF7ijm
@WSJ: Magnus Carlsen may be the greatest chess player ever. Now he's facing his greatest challenger ever, American Fabiano Caruana, for the World Chess Championship. https://t.co/wxHlIF7ijm
Melee and Chess have been on a collision course for quite some time, and folks, it’s happening tomorrow. With the combination of Slippi, Metagame, Queen’s Gambit, Pogchamps, and general lockdown-induced boredom, chess and Melee are both experiencing unprecedented booms. And on Feb 6-7, we will have the pleasure of watching our favorites go toe to toe in chess. The Smasher’s Gambit is a chess tournament which will feature Leffen, Mang0, IBDW, HugS, Ludwig, Esam, Void, and Marss, as well as an exhibition match between Zain and Hbox. As a pretty much lifelong fan of both games, it has been surreal for me these past few days, watching so many of my favorite Melee players getting coached by all these incredible chess streamers. I thought it’d be fun to revisit a post I made several years ago comparing Melee characters to different chess “openings”. This time around we’ll also have a list comparing our favorite smashers to some Grandmasters of today and from the past. Lastly, there will be a short guide on how to get started with chess, with me trying to say “And this is kind of like Melee because X” as much as possible, and sometimes it will even make sense. So before we get into why I think playing Fox is kind of like playing the Sicilian Defense, I should explain what a chess opening is. In chess, the first few moves are known as the opening, where both players try to steer the game into a position they’re comfortable with. Like Melee characters, some openings are certainly better than others, but there is enough diversity in choice even among the top tier openings that the game remains healthy. And just like a top 100 player could choose a bottom tier character and still destroy almost everybody reading this, a Grandmaster (or even just an average solid player) could play virtually whatever opening they want against a novice and likely have no problems. As far as the concept of “mains” is concerned, in Smash it’s pretty much accepted that the best advice to beginners in regards to choosing a main is “Just pick somebody and stick with it.” This can be true in chess as well, but I’d suggest new players to at least try to familiarize themselves with the basic ideas of a bunch of openings before diving too deep into a particular opening repertoire. Some top Grandmasters are more predictable in what they play, others, like Magnus Carlsen, will play almost anything under the sun (and make it work because he’s Magnus). Ultimately though, openings are far from the most important thing new players should be working on, but more on that later. For now, just know that the general goals of the opening are to:
Try to control the center
Develop your knights and bishops
Castle
Every position demands different things, and the things I listed above are just suggestions. There are plenty of ways each color can choose to approach the opening, let’s take a look at a few. imgur album of every position/character Fox: Open Sicilian 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Starting from the top, we have Fox and the Sicilian defense. The Sicilian is a top of the line aggressive response to 1.e4 with the move 1...c5. The Open Sicilian is reached after white plays Nf3 and d4. These positions are incredibly rich in theory, with some lines being analyzed past move 30. So needless to say, you need to know what you’re doing. The Sicilian might also be the most versatile response to 1.e4 as there are already dozens of variations black can choose from, most of which having cool Russian names. Kalashnikov, Sveshnikov, Scheviningan, Taimanov, Najdorph, Rossolimo, Hyper Accelerated Dragon. I think being top tier, aggressive, dynamic, and demanding of lots of study/practice makes the Sicilian and Fox an easy choice. Marth: Ruy Lopez The primary weapon of every GM playing 1.e4 is the Ruy Lopez, aka the Spanish. After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 both players are developing their pieces and fighting for the center as directly as possible. Both of the concepts of development and central control are crucial for beginners to understand, so this is a solid choice for beginners while still being viable, if not optimal, for players all the way up the ladder. Falco: Italian 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 The Italian opening dominated the Romantic Era of chess (1800s until Steinitz). While today there are many very calm ways to play this opening, back in the day (and still today, just not as much) The Italian was the choice of many to initiate rapid attacks on Black’s f7 square, often sacrificing pawns or pieces for initiative. These attacks were often very double edged and led to very entertaining games. Puff: London The London System is called a system because white essentially doesn’t care how black will respond to his moves. After d4, Bf4, Nf3, e3, c3, Nd2, O-O, white is all but forcing black to play at white’s pace. It might not be tough to guess that this opening has its share of haters due to its forcing nature. Still it is played by even Magnus Carlsen on occasion, and will likely remain relevant for longer than most of us would like to admit. Falcon: Kings Gambit e4 e5 f4. Always a crowd pleaser, the King’s Gambit (coming soon on Netflix) offers black a pawn in exchange for open lines and attacking possibilities. During the Romantic Era, it was second only to the Italian in popularity. This era was defined by being almost anti-materialistic, where gambits and sacrifices were very popular. The opportunities to style on your opponents are endless, the only problem with this comparison is that The King’s Gambit is not popular today while of course Captain Falcon has been enjoying plenty of success this year. Peach: Grunfeld 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.nc3 d5 The big link here is trading. The Grunfeld’s main line reaches a near-endgame position where many of the pieces are exchanged. The Grunfeld can be described as a Hypermodern opening, which is a term built around the idea of allowing your opponent to claim the center of the board and then later undermining it. I think it’s fair that Peach and several other characters could be described as hyper modern, not interested in approaching but rather allowing their opponents to overextend themselves. Sheik: Caro Kann After 1.e4 c6 black will look to strike in the center with d5. Sheik is often recommended to beginners as a good character to start out with. I might be somewhat of a heretic among chess coaches for suggesting that the Caro Kann is a great choice for beginners, as conventional coaching wisdom is to have new players play e5 in response to e4, the Caro Kann comes with a very easy to understand plan of directly undermining white’s center with the c and d pawns. It can be frustrating to deal with as white, as black manages to stay pretty solid despite having a little less mobility. Pikachu: Dutch 1.d4 f5 The poor man’s Sicilian. The Dutch in chess is about as popular as Pikachu is in Melee. Still, it’s far from refuted and can give black a good fighting chance especially considering in all likelihood white will be inexperienced in the lines. ICS: Scholars mate 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Qxf7# In chess, thankfully, wobbling was patched out of the game in the late 1700s. The closest thing to wobbling in chess today is what’s known as the Windmill tactic. But as far as openings, Scholar’s Mate seemed appropriate. This four move checkmate is the ultimate cheese strategy, and should be the go to option for beating your uncle. It requires no studying beyond just memorizing those moves and you’ll likely at least go 2-2 at your next chess local. Yoshi Scandinavian (Qd6 line) 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 Don’t try this at home. The Qd6 line of the Scandinavian is an absolute jungle of theory (as opposed to the more “normal” Qa5 and Qd8 lines) and can easily lead to positions where novices will self implode. The Scandinavian immediately violates the standard opening principle of not bringing your queen out early. You should generally instead be trying to develop knights and bishops, castle, and fight for the center. But the Scandinavian is playable nonetheless, and like Yoshi it manages to put up a fight despite breaking some of the conventional rules of the game. Samus: Larsen 1.b3 That’s it, one move. White will look to place their dark squared Bishop on b2 and try to maximize the usefulness of the long ranged attack (nice shot haha get it) along the central diagonal. White often stays very “grounded” after black claims the center (pawns on e5 and d5) by playing moves like e3 and f4, trying to maintain the diagonal for the Bishop. Mario: Four Knights 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 It’s classic, it’s logical, it’s just not that good. The Four Knights isn’t something you see at the highest level because it just doesn’t do enough to push for an advantage for white. Developing the Knights early is great, and shows good fundamentals, it’s just that this particular move order doesn’t do enough to scare black, unless you’re planning on playing the Halloween Gambit. Mario has plenty of tools, and in the hands of a player with solid fundamentals can be perfectly adequate, he just doesn’t have the ceiling that the characters above him seem to have. Luigi: Halloween Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 It doesn’t get much goofier than this. White will misfire their knight on e5 but achieves a potentially massive pawn center. It’s not exactly a sound idea but it can absolutely humiliate people who aren’t prepared. Admittedly this comparison is more related to Luigi himself rather than his playstyle in Melee. Young Link: Queen’s Gambit 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Chess players will say “Okay hold up, The Queen’s Gambit is top tier and YL is...not. Explain yourself.” This characteopening share an interesting connection in that both were unexpectedly brought out by a world champion in a very high stakes match. Bobby Fischer, a lifelong e4 player, surprised Spassky by playing a Queen’s Gambit during their ‘72 Championship match. Beth Harmon (the fictional main character in Netflix’s Queen’s Gambit, heavily inspired by Bobby Fischer) did the same in her final game of the series. Armada, as you know, famously used Young Link as a surprise weapon vs. Hbox. Kirby: Fried Liver 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7 Remember when you were 8 years old and Kirby was an absolute rockstar? When standing near the ledge holding B was virtually unbeatable? You can experience that same joy once again through the Fried Liver Attack. It won’t work once you reach a rating where people know how to avoid this, but until that time the Fried Liver is as broken as Kirby on the ledge. You lure the black king to the center while rapidly developing, and it’s pretty much lights out from there. Giga Bowser: Bongcloud 1.e4 e5 2.Ke2! Literally unbeatable. The White King immediately makes his way to the center and starts up-b out of shielding and takes out every other piece in the process. If this opening appeals to you anarchychess is waiting for you with open arms. This next section will be on player:player comparisons. Armada: Magnus Carlsen This one is simple. A couple Scandinavian BOATs (GOATs?). Magnus is the current World Champion and easily the greatest endgame player of all time. He will grind seemingly drawn positions for much longer than most would be willing to, simply because he knows that ultimately his opponent will stumble before he does. He recently set a record for 125 unbeaten games in a row, only wins and draws. To do this against the best in the world is the definition of a brick wall. Hbox: Hikaru Nakamura The controversial ones. Both maintain massive fanbases as well as a large crowd of haters. Hikaru has exploded on Twitch recently, and while he isn’t in contention for World Champ (slow chess) like he previously was, he’s still second only to Magnus in blitz. He absolutely has it in him to jump back into the elite scene, but his success in streaming might be tempting enough for him to just do that instead. Mango: Garry Kasparov GOAT. When it comes to getting into an opponent’s head, nobody does/did it better than Mang0 and Kasparov. Kasparov dominated for over a decade, and reached the second highest rating (2851 Elo) ever, Magnus (2882) being the highest. Kasparov was know for having an incredibly intimidating presence over the board, and at his peak was capable of making even the best players look like amateurs. His level of dominance over modern players will likely never be repeated. Zain: Alireza Firouja Firouja is a 17 year old phenom and is a very popular answer to the question “Who will eventually dethrone Magnus?” Their career paths are far from identical, as Zain is already a pretty clear #1, but Alireza seems to be the most promising of all the recent prodigies we’ve seen in chess, and as a fan of chess and Firouja I hope this comparison stands the rest of time. Leffen: Bobby Fischer If there ever was a “God” era in chess, it would have to be 1948-1972, where we had plenty of different World Champions, but they were all Soviets. Coincidentally, five of them: Botvinik, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, and Spassky. Who would be the one to finally end the Soviet domination? Fischer of course. Both Fischer and Leffen have had some controversial opinions in the past, but thankfully at least none of Leffen’s were antisemetic or misogynistic. Fischer had some issues towards the end of his life, to say the least. Isai: Paul Morphy Both geniuses in every sense of the word. The embodiment of their respective games. Morphy was the shining star of the Romantic Era, and in the 1850s was by far the best player in the world, when he felt like it. He refused to accept money for chess as his family felt chess was not a respectable career, and in those days, it wasn’t. His career was tragically short, and for that reason is referred to as “The Pride and Sorrow of Chess”. He learned the game without books, or teachers, or YouTube videos and laid the path for every player after him. M2k: Wilhelm Steinitz Steinitz brought an end to the Romantic Era of chess. He was the first official World Champion (as proclaimed by... himself, and nobody could really argue). After Morphy retired, Steinitz eventually found himself on top, and he stayed there for longer than anyone in history. Perhaps the first player to truly figure out how to defend, he took great pride in dismantling Romantic attacks that are now seen as a bit primitive, and he is considered the father of modern chess. Hax: Vishwanathan Anand In the early 2000s, Anand was one of the first big proponents of using chess engines to prepare for serious games. He was among the first to fully utilize the power of computer preparation, and in this way brought about chess’s own 20XX. Plup: Alexander Grischuk Grischuk is a current top 10 and former Blitz World Champion. Speed is definitely at the heart of this comparison, but both players have shown great aptitude for other games, Plup being a great Minesweeper player and Grischuk having an impressive poker career under his belt. Wizzy: Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa Both players were born in 2005 and share an uncharacteristic tendency for younger players, and that is to play “lame”. In chess, it is normal for younger players to seek crazy tactical positions, and as they get older begin to favor more dry, strategic maneuvers. Praggnanandhaa has defied this stereotype and reached the chess maturity required to play lame, which has allowed him to achieve the title of 4th youngest grandmaster ever. How get good? So let’s get down to it, where does one start? There’s no right or wrong way to learn the game, but some things should certainly be more of a priority than others. There are three types of moves in chess, strategic moves, tactical moves, and bad moves. Strategic moves are like the neutral game of chess. Imagine a Marth ditto with both players on opposite sides of the stage. There are no combos available, so all you can do is try to improve your stage position. In chess, you won’t always have a move that gives you an instant advantage. Instead, all you can do is to try to put your pieces on “active” squares, where your pieces can later be in position for tactics. Tactics are the “punish game” of chess, and improving your vision for tactics should be priority number one. Almost all of your games will be decided based on who is better at spotting these tactics. A tactic could be a double attack, a pin, a discovered attack, and various other “tricks” that lead to either winning material (pieces and pawns) or checkmate. The way to improve your tactical vision is simply by doing puzzles. Chess is all about pattern recognition. If I showed a screenshot of a Marth Fox game to Leffen, he could instantly tell me seven different reasons why Fox is about to die and what each player should do. A good chess player can see a position and immediately start noticing the key features and motifs. The more puzzles you do, the easier it will be to start seeing the same ideas in your own games. Speaking of your own games, the second most important thing you can do is to analyze your games (every single game always) with either an engine or a stronger player. Playing friendlies mindlessly for hours won’t help you in Melee, and it won’t help you in chess. If you aren’t learning from your mistakes, and more importantly WHY you are making these mistakes, improving will be much more of a struggle. You should also aim to play as slowly as you can stand to. I think 15 minutes per side should be as fast as you go, and even slower than that is better. Just like with learning an instrument, if you can’t play a passage slowly, it isn’t gonna happen at a faster tempo either. As far as where to play, I’ll parrot my favorite subreddit and just say Lichess good Chess.com bad. Endgames should be prioritized over openings to begin with. This might sound backwards, but what good is being a rook up in material if you can’t mate with King + Rook vs King? This is a 100% win for the side with the rook, but only if you know how to do it. And of course, YouTube is your best friend. For openings, I quite like Hanging Pawns General learning: St. Louis Chess Club Gotham ChessNaroditsky Grandmaster recaps: Agadmator Engine vs Engine recaps: KingCrusher Also any lesson involving a beginner (everyone involved in Pogchamps and Smasher’s Gambit) and a master would be worth watching. Just dear lord don’t watch Mang0’s lesson with Eric Hanson, I could feel my Elo plummeting after just ten minutes. So remember to check out Smasher’s Gambit this weekend, (edit: today at 2pm pacific, noon tomorrow) my expert hot takes are IBDW will win (Ludwig is pfavorite) while Mang0 will unfortunately lose every game. So that’s all folks. Enjoy the journey, have fun with it, and most importantly, have fun with it.
Melee and Chess have been on a collision course for quite some time, and folks, it’s happening tomorrow. With the combination of Slippi, Metagame, Queen’s Gambit, Pogchamps, and general lockdown-induced boredom, chess and Melee are both experiencing unprecedented booms. And on Feb 6-7, we will have the pleasure of watching our favorites go toe to toe in chess. The Smasher’s Gambit is a chess tournament which will feature Leffen, Mang0, IBDW, HugS, Ludwig, Esam, Void, and Marss, as well as an exhibition match between Zain and Hbox. As a pretty much lifelong fan of both games, it has been surreal for me these past few days, watching so many of my favorite Melee players getting coached by all these incredible chess streamers. I thought it’d be fun to revisit a post I made several years ago comparing Melee characters to different chess “openings”. This time around we’ll also have a list comparing our favorite smashers to some Grandmasters of today and from the past. Lastly, there will be a short guide on how to get started with chess, with me trying to say “And this is kind of like Melee because X” as much as possible, and sometimes it will even make sense. So before we get into why I think playing Fox is kind of like playing the Sicilian Defense, I should explain what a chess opening is. In chess, the first few moves are known as the opening, where both players try to steer the game into a position they’re comfortable with. Like Melee characters, some openings are certainly better than others, but there is enough diversity in choice even among the top tier openings that the game remains healthy. And just like a top 100 player could choose a bottom tier character and still destroy almost everybody reading this, a Grandmaster (or even just an average solid player) could play virtually whatever opening they want against a novice and likely have no problems. As far as the concept of “mains” is concerned, in Smash it’s pretty much accepted that the best advice to beginners in regards to choosing a main is “Just pick somebody and stick with it.” This can be true in chess as well, but I’d suggest new players to at least try to familiarize themselves with the basic ideas of a bunch of openings before diving too deep into a particular opening repertoire. Some top Grandmasters are more predictable in what they play, others, like Magnus Carlsen, will play almost anything under the sun (and make it work because he’s Magnus). Ultimately though, openings are far from the most important thing new players should be working on, but more on that later. For now, just know that the general goals of the opening are to:
Try to control the center
Develop your knights and bishops
Castle
Every position demands different things, and the things I listed above are just suggestions. There are plenty of ways each color can choose to approach the opening, let’s take a look at a few. imgur album of every position/character Fox: Open Sicilian 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Starting from the top, we have Fox and the Sicilian defense. The Sicilian is a top of the line aggressive response to 1.e4 with the move 1...c5. The Open Sicilian is reached after white plays Nf3 and d4. These positions are incredibly rich in theory, with some lines being analyzed past move 30. So needless to say, you need to know what you’re doing. The Sicilian might also be the most versatile response to 1.e4 as there are already dozens of variations black can choose from, most of which having cool Russian names. Kalashnikov, Sveshnikov, Scheviningan, Taimanov, Najdorph, Rossolimo, Hyper Accelerated Dragon. I think being top tier, aggressive, dynamic, and demanding of lots of study/practice makes the Sicilian and Fox an easy choice. Marth: Ruy Lopez The primary weapon of every GM playing 1.e4 is the Ruy Lopez, aka the Spanish. After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 both players are developing their pieces and fighting for the center as directly as possible. Both of the concepts of development and central control are crucial for beginners to understand, so this is a solid choice for beginners while still being viable, if not optimal, for players all the way up the ladder. Falco: Italian 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 The Italian opening dominated the Romantic Era of chess (1800s until Steinitz). While today there are many very calm ways to play this opening, back in the day (and still today, just not as much) The Italian was the choice of many to initiate rapid attacks on Black’s f7 square, often sacrificing pawns or pieces for initiative. These attacks were often very double edged and led to very entertaining games. Puff: London The London System is called a system because white essentially doesn’t care how black will respond to his moves. After d4, Bf4, Nf3, e3, c3, Nd2, O-O, white is all but forcing black to play at white’s pace. It might not be tough to guess that this opening has its share of haters due to its forcing nature. Still it is played by even Magnus Carlsen on occasion, and will likely remain relevant for longer than most of us would like to admit. Falcon: Kings Gambit e4 e5 f4. Always a crowd pleaser, the King’s Gambit (coming soon on Netflix) offers black a pawn in exchange for open lines and attacking possibilities. During the Romantic Era, it was second only to the Italian in popularity. This era was defined by being almost anti-materialistic, where gambits and sacrifices were very popular. The opportunities to style on your opponents are endless, the only problem with this comparison is that The King’s Gambit is not popular today while of course Captain Falcon has been enjoying plenty of success this year. Peach: Grunfeld 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.nc3 d5 The big link here is trading. The Grunfeld’s main line reaches a near-endgame position where many of the pieces are exchanged. The Grunfeld can be described as a Hypermodern opening, which is a term built around the idea of allowing your opponent to claim the center of the board and then later undermining it. I think it’s fair that Peach and several other characters could be described as hyper modern, not interested in approaching but rather allowing their opponents to overextend themselves. Sheik: Caro Kann After 1.e4 c6 black will look to strike in the center with d5. Sheik is often recommended to beginners as a good character to start out with. I might be somewhat of a heretic among chess coaches for suggesting that the Caro Kann is a great choice for beginners, as conventional coaching wisdom is to have new players play e5 in response to e4, the Caro Kann comes with a very easy to understand plan of directly undermining white’s center with the c and d pawns. It can be frustrating to deal with as white, as black manages to stay pretty solid despite having a little less mobility. Pikachu: Dutch 1.d4 f5 The poor man’s Sicilian. The Dutch in chess is about as popular as Pikachu is in Melee. Still, it’s far from refuted and can give black a good fighting chance especially considering in all likelihood white will be inexperienced in the lines. ICS: Scholars mate 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Qxf7# In chess, thankfully, wobbling was patched out of the game in the late 1700s. The closest thing to wobbling in chess today is what’s known as the Windmill tactic. But as far as openings, Scholar’s Mate seemed appropriate. This four move checkmate is the ultimate cheese strategy, and should be the go to option for beating your uncle. It requires no studying beyond just memorizing those moves and you’ll likely at least go 2-2 at your next chess local. Yoshi Scandinavian (Qd6 line) 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 Don’t try this at home. The Qd6 line of the Scandinavian is an absolute jungle of theory (as opposed to the more “normal” Qa5 and Qd8 lines) and can easily lead to positions where novices will self implode. The Scandinavian immediately violates the standard opening principle of not bringing your queen out early. You should generally instead be trying to develop knights and bishops, castle, and fight for the center. But the Scandinavian is playable nonetheless, and like Yoshi it manages to put up a fight despite breaking some of the conventional rules of the game. Samus: Larsen 1.b3 That’s it, one move. White will look to place their dark squared Bishop on b2 and try to maximize the usefulness of the long ranged attack (nice shot haha get it) along the central diagonal. White often stays very “grounded” after black claims the center (pawns on e5 and d5) by playing moves like e3 and f4, trying to maintain the diagonal for the Bishop. Mario: Four Knights 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 It’s classic, it’s logical, it’s just not that good. The Four Knights isn’t something you see at the highest level because it just doesn’t do enough to push for an advantage for white. Developing the Knights early is great, and shows good fundamentals, it’s just that this particular move order doesn’t do enough to scare black, unless you’re planning on playing the Halloween Gambit. Mario has plenty of tools, and in the hands of a player with solid fundamentals can be perfectly adequate, he just doesn’t have the ceiling that the characters above him seem to have. Luigi: Halloween Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 It doesn’t get much goofier than this. White will misfire their knight on e5 but achieves a potentially massive pawn center. It’s not exactly a sound idea but it can absolutely humiliate people who aren’t prepared. Admittedly this comparison is more related to Luigi himself rather than his playstyle in Melee. Young Link: Queen’s Gambit 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Chess players will say “Okay hold up, The Queen’s Gambit is top tier and YL is...not. Explain yourself.” This characteopening share an interesting connection in that both were unexpectedly brought out by a world champion in a very high stakes match. Bobby Fischer, a lifelong e4 player, surprised Spassky by playing a Queen’s Gambit during their ‘72 Championship match. Beth Harmon (the fictional main character in Netflix’s Queen’s Gambit, heavily inspired by Bobby Fischer) did the same in her final game of the series. Armada, as you know, famously used Young Link as a surprise weapon vs. Hbox. Kirby: Fried Liver 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7 Remember when you were 8 years old and Kirby was an absolute rockstar? When standing near the ledge holding B was virtually unbeatable? You can experience that same joy once again through the Fried Liver Attack. It won’t work once you reach a rating where people know how to avoid this, but until that time the Fried Liver is as broken as Kirby on the ledge. You lure the black king to the center while rapidly developing, and it’s pretty much lights out from there. Giga Bowser: Bongcloud 1.e4 e5 2.Ke2! Literally unbeatable. The White King immediately makes his way to the center and starts up-b out of shielding and takes out every other piece in the process. If this opening appeals to you anarchychess is waiting for you with open arms. This next section will be on player:player comparisons. Armada: Magnus Carlsen This one is simple. A couple Scandinavian BOATs (GOATs?). Magnus is the current World Champion and easily the greatest endgame player of all time. He will grind seemingly drawn positions for much longer than most would be willing to, simply because he knows that ultimately his opponent will stumble before he does. He recently set a record for 125 unbeaten games in a row, only wins and draws. To do this against the best in the world is the definition of a brick wall. Hbox: Hikaru Nakamura The controversial ones. Both maintain massive fanbases as well as a large crowd of haters. Hikaru has exploded on Twitch recently, and while he isn’t in contention for World Champ (slow chess) like he previously was, he’s still second only to Magnus in blitz. He absolutely has it in him to jump back into the elite scene, but his success in streaming might be tempting enough for him to just do that instead. Mango: Garry Kasparov GOAT. When it comes to getting into an opponent’s head, nobody does/did it better than Mang0 and Kasparov. Kasparov dominated for over a decade, and reached the second highest rating (2851 Elo) ever, Magnus (2882) being the highest. Kasparov was know for having an incredibly intimidating presence over the board, and at his peak was capable of making even the best players look like amateurs. His level of dominance over modern players will likely never be repeated. Zain: Alireza Firouja Firouja is a 17 year old phenom and is a very popular answer to the question “Who will eventually dethrone Magnus?” Their career paths are far from identical, as Zain is already a pretty clear #1, but Alireza seems to be the most promising of all the recent prodigies we’ve seen in chess, and as a fan of chess and Firouja I hope this comparison stands the rest of time. Leffen: Bobby Fischer If there ever was a “God” era in chess, it would have to be 1948-1972, where we had plenty of different World Champions, but they were all Soviets. Coincidentally, five of them: Botvinik, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, and Spassky. Who would be the one to finally end the Soviet domination? Fischer of course. Both Fischer and Leffen have had some controversial opinions in the past, but thankfully at least none of Leffen’s were antisemetic or misogynistic. Fischer had some issues towards the end of his life, to say the least. Isai: Paul Morphy Both geniuses in every sense of the word. The embodiment of their respective games. Morphy was the shining star of the Romantic Era, and in the 1850s was by far the best player in the world, when he felt like it. He refused to accept money for chess as his family felt chess was not a respectable career, and in those days, it wasn’t. His career was tragically short, and for that reason is referred to as “The Pride and Sorrow of Chess”. He learned the game without books, or teachers, or YouTube videos and laid the path for every player after him. M2k: Wilhelm Steinitz Steinitz brought an end to the Romantic Era of chess. He was the first official World Champion (as proclaimed by... himself, and nobody could really argue). After Morphy retired, Steinitz eventually found himself on top, and he stayed there for longer than anyone in history. Perhaps the first player to truly figure out how to defend, he took great pride in dismantling Romantic attacks that are now seen as a bit primitive, and he is considered the father of modern chess. Hax: Vishwanathan Anand In the early 2000s, Anand was one of the first big proponents of using chess engines to prepare for serious games. He was among the first to fully utilize the power of computer preparation, and in this way brought about chess’s own 20XX. Plup: Alexander Grischuk Grischuk is a current top 10 and former Blitz World Champion. Speed is definitely at the heart of this comparison, but both players have shown great aptitude for other games, Plup being a great Minesweeper player and Grischuk having an impressive poker career under his belt. Wizzy: Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa Both players were born in 2005 and share an uncharacteristic tendency for younger players, and that is to play “lame”. In chess, it is normal for younger players to seek crazy tactical positions, and as they get older begin to favor more dry, strategic maneuvers. Praggnanandhaa has defied this stereotype and reached the chess maturity required to play lame, which has allowed him to achieve the title of 4th youngest grandmaster ever. How get good? So let’s get down to it, where does one start? There’s no right or wrong way to learn the game, but some things should certainly be more of a priority than others. There are three types of moves in chess, strategic moves, tactical moves, and bad moves. Strategic moves are like the neutral game of chess. Imagine a Marth ditto with both players on opposite sides of the stage. There are no combos available, so all you can do is try to improve your stage position. In chess, you won’t always have a move that gives you an instant advantage. Instead, all you can do is to try to put your pieces on “active” squares, where your pieces can later be in position for tactics. Tactics are the “punish game” of chess, and improving your vision for tactics should be priority number one. Almost all of your games will be decided based on who is better at spotting these tactics. A tactic could be a double attack, a pin, a discovered attack, and various other “tricks” that lead to either winning material (pieces and pawns) or checkmate. The way to improve your tactical vision is simply by doing puzzles. Chess is all about pattern recognition. If I showed a screenshot of a Marth Fox game to Leffen, he could instantly tell me seven different reasons why Fox is about to die and what each player should do. A good chess player can see a position and immediately start noticing the key features and motifs. The more puzzles you do, the easier it will be to start seeing the same ideas in your own games. Speaking of your own games, the second most important thing you can do is to analyze your games (every single game always) with either an engine or a stronger player. Playing friendlies mindlessly for hours won’t help you in Melee, and it won’t help you in chess. If you aren’t learning from your mistakes, and more importantly WHY you are making these mistakes, improving will be much more of a struggle. You should also aim to play as slowly as you can stand to. I think 15 minutes per side should be as fast as you go, and even slower than that is better. Just like with learning an instrument, if you can’t play a passage slowly, it isn’t gonna happen at a faster tempo either. As far as where to play, I’ll parrot my favorite subreddit and just say Lichess good Chess.com bad. Endgames should be prioritized over openings to begin with. This might sound backwards, but what good is being a rook up in material if you can’t mate with King + Rook vs King? This is a 100% win for the side with the rook, but only if you know how to do it. And of course, YouTube is your best friend. For openings, I quite like Hanging Pawns General learning: St. Louis Chess Club Gotham ChessNaroditsky Grandmaster recaps: Agadmator Engine vs Engine recaps: KingCrusher Also any lesson involving a beginner (everyone involved in Pogchamps and Smasher’s Gambit) and a master would be worth watching. Just dear lord don’t watch Mang0’s lesson with Eric Hanson, I could feel my Elo plummeting after just ten minutes. So remember to check out Smasher’s Gambit this weekend, my expert hot takes are IBDW will win (Ludwig is favorite) while Mang0 will unfortunately lose every game. So that’s all folks. Enjoy the journey, have fun with it, and most importantly, have fun with it.
Each national team's youngest player: Where are they now?
I decided to research who the youngest debutant was for each of the top 50-ranked FIFA teams in the world. My research may not be the best so if you see any errors feel free to point them out, I'lll fix them! If there’s any nation that isn’t on this list who you want to know who the youngest debutant is, just ask.
Belgium
Fernand Nisot, 1911 - 16y, 19d vs. France (14 caps) Since Nisot made his debut such a long time ago, it’s hard for me to find much information about him. He did win a gold medal with Belgium for football at 1920 Olympic Games held in Antwerp. In terms of club football, he played for R. Léopold Club, now known as Léopold FC. According to Transfermarkt, he took a ‘career break’ from 1914 to 1919 so it is entirely possible he was involved in World War I. He appeared 14 times for Belgium and scored 10 goals for them.
France
Julien Verbrugghe, 1906 - 16y, 306d vs. England Amateurs (4 caps) On Verbrugghe’s debut, France lost 15-0 to England. And this isn’t even France’s biggest defeat. That came in 1908 when they lost 17-1 to Denmark. Needless to say, France’s national team was on a much ower level than it was today. Verbrugghe played for AS Française and Red Star (the Paris one, not the Belgrade one). Verbrugghe was joined the 43rd Infantry Regiment of the French Army and was unfortunately killed at the Battle of the Somme on August 21, 1916. He was only 26 years old.
Brazil
Pelé, 1957 - 16y, 254d vs. Argentina (92 caps) Hopefully we have all heard of Pelé and know of his massive reputation so I don’t think I need to go too in-depth. He made his debut for Brazil in a 2-1 loss vs. Argentina. He is Brazil’s leading goalscorer, and won 3 World Cups. He is the youngest player to play in a World Cup Final vs. Sweden in 1958, which he also scored in. In terms of club career, he only played for 2 clubs: Santos and New York Cosmos. He holds many, many more records that I don’t have the time to list here, but as we all know, he is pretty much considered the best ever.
England
Theo Walcott, 2006 - 17y, 75d vs. Hungary (47 caps) The first player on this list that’s still playing competitive football. Walcott is still at the fresh young age of 31 and playing for Southampton, on loan from Everton. He spent most of his career at Arsenal, being an important player during his 12 years under Wenger. He started at the Swindon Town Academy where he was picked up by Southampton and then later sold to Arsenal in 2006, the same year as his international debut. However, he has not appeared for England since 2016, during a 2-2 draw here he was subbed on for an injured Lallana (of course). His best performance came when he scored a hat-trick against Croatia in 2008.
Portugal
José Gralha, 1921 - 16y, 276d vs. Spain (1 cap) Again, it’s difficult for me to find much about this player. I do know that he played for Casa Pia at club level, and was a forward. That's about it.
Spain
Ángel Zubieta, 1936 - 17y, 283d vs. Czechoslovakia (2 caps) Ángel Zubieta’s record-setting appearance for Spain was one of only 2 appearances he made for the Spanish national team. A year later, he declared for the Basque national team and was capped 34 times for them. His playing career was disrupted by the Spanish Civil War and there was a solid 2 years after he left Bilbao that he had no club to play for - only the Basque national team. The Basque national team went on a tour of Central and South America until FIFA declared that the Basque team could no longer play any more FIFA-affiliated national teams due to Spanish Civil War conflicts. So, all the Basque players formed a Mexican club called C.D. Euzkadi, which played in the Mexican Primera Fuerza league for one season. While the club eventually disbanded, since all the players on the club were professionals, the creation of the club led to the professionalization of football in Mexico (Mexico had previously only had amateur clubs). Zubieta joined Argentine side San Lorenzo in 1939, which he played for for 13 years. He eventually returned to Spain where he spent the last 4 years of his career at Deportivo La Coruña. Zubieta turned to management and managed sides in Spain, Portugal, and Mexico throughout the 60s and 70s. The story of C.D. Euzkadi is a really fascinating one and I kind of sped through it so I recommend you check it out.
Uruguay
Horacio Peralta, 1999 - 17y, 65d vs. Venezuela (7 caps) Horacio Peralta is a true journeyman. After showing promise with Nacional, he was purchased by Inter Milan, a club he made zero appearances for before being sold to Cagliari. And thus, his journeyman career began, playing for clubs in Uruguay, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland. In total, he has played for 17 senior clubs across an 18-year career. On the international stage, Peralta has had 7 caps.
Argentina
Diego Maradona, 1977 - 16y, 108d vs. Hungary (90 caps) Another player I think we all know about, especially with the recent tragic news. Diego Maradona made his debut as a sub on for Leopoldo Luque, who had scored 2 goals that match. He won the World Cup with Argentina in 1986 and won Argentina's Footballer of the Year in 1979, 1980, 1981, and 1986. He started at Argentinos Jrs. before moving to Boca Jrs. on loan. He was purchased by Barcelona in 1982 where he spent two seasons before moving to Napoli. There he became a club icon, winning the league twice and the Coppa Italia and UEFA Cup as well. Unfortunately he was banned for a year in 1991 for cocaine use. After his ban he spent a year at Sevilla and another at Newell's before being banned again in 1994. In 1995 he joined Boca Juniors again where he spent the last 2 years of his career. He also had a managing career, taking charge of the Argeninta national team for 2 years as well as managing Al Wasl, Fujairah, Dorados, and Gimnasia.
Croatia
Alen Halilović, 2013 - 16y, 353d vs. Portugal (10 caps) Alen Halilović, the wonderkid who struggled to live up to the hype, is Croatia’s youngest debutant. In 2014 he was one of the most exciting talents in the world, becoming Dinamo Zagreb’s youngest player as well as the youngest goalscorer in the history of the Prva HNL, the 2nd youngest player in the history of the Champions League, after Céléstine Babayaro (Since Rayan Cherki’s debut this year, Halilović is now the 3rd youngest.). The hype was real. He signed for Barcelona in 2014. He was eventually loaned out to Sporting Gijón, then sold to Hamburger SV, loaned out to Las Palmas, joined AC Milan on a free transfer, loaned out to Standard Liège and Heerenveen, and then in October 2020 had his Milan contract mutually terminated. He is now at Birmingham City (he signed 2 weeks ago) and still only 24 years old. He has made 10 appearances for the national team but is yet to score for them.
Colombia
Johnnier Montaño, 1999 - 16y, 167d vs. Uruguay (12 caps) Starting his career at CD América, Johnnier Montaño had a very nomadic career. Quilmes in Argentina. Parma, Verona, and Piacenza in Italy. Santa Fe, Tolima, and Cortuluá in Colombia. Deportivo Quito in Ecuador. Sport Boys, Alizana Lima, USM Porres, Melgar, Cantolao, and Chavelines in Peru. Konyaspor in Turkey. He won the Peruvian League with Melgar and currently turns out for Chavelines. He represented Colombia at the 1999 Copa America. At the Copa America, he scored in a game vs. Argentina that saw Martín Palermo miss THREE penalties for Argentina in a game that Colombia won 3-0. Colombia was also awarded two penalties, and missed one of them as well.
Mexico
Armando Manzo, 1984 - 17y, 109d vs. Italy (38 caps) Armando Manzo didn’t have the most auspicious of starts for the Mexico national team, as he watched his team concede 5 goals to Italy during a friendly, including a Paolo Rossi hat-trick. Nonetheless, Manzo was called up to play for his country at the 1986 World Cup, where Mexico made it to the quarterfinals before losing on penalties to West Germany. On club level, Manzo made 195 appearances for Mexican side Club América, and has also played for Mexican clubs Tampico Madero, Club Necaxa, Cobras de Ciudad Juárez, and CF Monterrey.
Italy
Rodolfo Gavinelli, 1911 - 16y, 98d vs. France (1 cap) OR Renzo De Vecchi, 1911 - 16y, 113d vs. Hungary (45 caps) This one is kind of up for debate. Not only is Gavinelli’s date of birth uncertain, but we don’t even know if that’s his actual name. Some sources list him as “Pietro Antonio”. What we do know about him is that he played for Piemonte (not the unlicensed Juventus team on FIFA, there was an actual team called this at one point) and Andrea Doria at club level, and that his life wasn’t particularly long. If Gavinelli’s debut is too ambiguous for you, the next-youngest debutant for Italy is Renzo De Vecchi, who also debuted in 1911 at 16 years and 334 days old vs. Hungary. We know a lot more about De Vecchi - He played for Milan and Genoa, quickly became a legend among club fans, won the league 3 times with Genoa, appeared at 3 Olympic Games for Italy (1912, 1920, 1924), retired and became the manager Genoa, and then went into sports journalism, working for La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Denmark
Harald Nielsen, 1952 - 17y, 310d vs. Czechoslovakia (14 caps) Scoring 15 goals in 14 appearances for Denmark, Harald Nielsen was clearly a prolific goal scorer on international level. He was part of the Danish team that won the silver medal at the 1960 Olympics. He also won the Danish footballer of the year in 1961, the first year the award was given out. At club level Neilsen started at Frederikshavn before moving to Bologna in 1961. He won the Serie A with them in 1963-64, and was Serie A's top goalscorer in the 1962-63 and 1963-64 seasons. After 157 games and 104 goals for Bologna, Nielsen had short spells with Inter, Napoli, and Sampdoria before retiring in 1970. After retirement he helped professionalize football in Denmark and is considered an icon for helping Danish football develop to where it is today.
Germany
Willy Baumgartner, 1908 - 17y, 102d vs. Switzerland (4 caps) In a 5-3 loss to Switzerland, Willy Baumgartner became the youngest player to be capped for Germany. On club level, he played for BFC Germania and Düsseldorfer SV 04. Again, I can’t find much information on him since he played over 100 years ago.
Netherlands
Jan van Breda Kolff, 1911 - 17y, 65d vs. Belgium (11 caps) Again, another one I can barely find anything about. He has been capped by Netherlands 11 times, scored once, and played for HVV Den Haag at club level.
Switzerland
Robert Fischer, 1915 - 15y, 30d vs. Italy (1 cap) Not to be confused with the chess player Bobby Fischer. Can find even less out about this one. Don’t even know what club he played for. It is a very classic neutral Swiss thing to be playing football in the middle of World War I, though.
Chile
Humberto Elgueta, 1920 - 16y, 1d vs. Brazil (9 caps) About 10 years after his international debut Humberto Elgueta was included in Chile’s 1930 World Cup squad (the first World Cup). He started in the teams’ first game, a 3-0 win against Mexico. However he did not appear in any of Chile’s other games at the tournament. He played for Gold Cross FC, Santiago Wanderers, and Naval de Talcahuano on club level.
Poland
Wlodzimierz Lubanski, 1963 - 16y, 187d vs. Norway (75 caps) On Wlodzimierz Lubanski’s debut for Poland, he actually got on the scoresheet - in fact, a lot of Polish players did. It was a 9-0 thrashing of Norway. The goals didn’t stop there. Lubanski is a legendary goalscorer for Poland; he is the nation’s 2nd highest international goalscorer of all time with 48 goals in 75 games. At club level, he spent 13 years at Górnik Zabrze before switching to Belgian side Lokoren, where he spent a further 8 years. He then spent his last 3 seasons in the French 2nd division with Valenciennes for 1 season and Quimper for 2. His goalscoring records at club level are phenomenal too, scoring 364 times in 626 games.
Sweden
Gunnar Pleijel, 1911 - 17y, 71d vs. Finland (1 cap) A difficult one to find much about. All I know about him is that he played for IFK Uppsala on club level, and that he has only 1 cap. His game against Finland ended 5-2 with Sweden being the winning side.
Wales
Harry Wilson, 2013 - 16y, 207d vs. Belgium (17 caps) Wales’ youngest player ever is still only 23. Harry Wilson came through the Liverpool youth system and is still contracted to the Reds. He is currently on loan at Cardiff and has previously had spells at Crewe Alexandra, Hull, Derby, and Bournemouth. He has 17 caps and 3 goals for Wales.
Senegal
Dion Lopy, 2019 - 17y, 186 vs. Liberia (1 cap) Since this one only happened a year ago, Dion Lopy still has a lot of time to do stuff worth writing about. He started at the club Oslo Football Academy Dakar (In Dakar, not Oslo) and moved to Stade Reims in October 2020.
USA
Louis Menges, 1904 - 16y, 18d vs. Canada (1 cap) Interestingly enough, 4 of the USA’s 5 youngest players made their debut in this 7-0 defeat to Canada in 1904. The fifth player? None other than Freddy Adu, USA’s 2nd youngest player ever. Anyways, goalkeeper Louis Menges didn’t play football much after his teenage years. He was in the US Army during World War I. Later he served in Illinois’s state senate from 1935 to 1943 and also owned and built movie theaters.
Ukraine
Serhiy Rebrov, 1992 - 18y, 24d vs. USA (75 caps) Coincidentally enough, the next player on this list made his debut against the previous country. Serhiy Rebrov came through Shakhtar Donetsk’s youth prospect right at the same the Soviet Union fell and Ukraine became independent. Rebrov soon switched to Shakthar’s rivals Dynamo Kyiv where he made a famous attacking partnership with Andriy Shevchenko. Rebrov stayed at Kyiv for 8 years before signing for Tottenham in 2000. His last year on contract to Tottenham he spent on loan to Fenerbache. He moved on a free transfer to West Ham where he played for a year before going back to Dynamo Kyiv on a free transfer. In 2008 he was bought by Rubin Kazan where he spent his last year before retiring. Rebrov is the joint-highest goalscorer of all time in the Ukranian Premier League along with Maksim Shatskikh. Rebrov went on to become a manager, leading sides such as Dynamo Kyiv and Al-Ahli. He is managing Ferencváros, who, this year, made their first Champions League Group stage appearance since 1995.
Peru
Lorenzo Pacheco, 1935 - 15y, 166d vs. Chile (10 caps) Lorenzo Pacheco was a forward who made his debut vs. Chile which ended in a 1-0 victory for Peru. He played for KDT Nacional, Social San Carlos, Universitario, and Sport Boys at club level. He appeared for Peru at the 1947 and 1949 Copa Americas, and won the league with Sport Boys in 1951.
Austria
David Alaba, 2009 - 17y, 110d vs. France (75 caps) David Alaba has become an integral part of Bayern Munich's dominant 2010s squad since being signed from Austria Wien's reserves in 2008. Besides his time in Austria Wein's youth and a loan to Hoffenheim in 2011, Alaba has spent pretty much his entire career at Bayern Munich, where he has won 9 Bundesligas and 2 Champions Leagues. He has won the Austrian footballer of the year 5 times in a row from 2012 to 2016 and been named in UEFA's team of the year in 2013, 2014, and 2015. He has made 75 appearances and scored 14 times for Austria.
Tunisia
Adel Sellimi, 1989 - 16y, 207d vs. Zambia (78 caps) Adel Sellimi had a virtually permanent place in the Tunisian national team throughout the 1990s, and overall he earned 78 caps and scored 20 times. He started and ended his career at Club Africain in Tunisia. However, he also played for Nantes, Real Jaén, and Freiburg in between his 2 spells at the Tunis club. He did find an impressive vein of form at Freiburg as well. He's currently an assistant manager for the Tunisia national team.
Japan
Takefusa Kubo, 2019 - 18y, 5d vs. El Salvador (11 caps) A recent one, and one of the most promising players currently. Kubo is still only 19 years old and has already made 11 appearances for Japan. He was recruited by FC Barcelona from Kawasaki Frontale Youth in 2011 only for Barcelona to let him go in 2015 when he left for FC Tokyo. After a loan spell at Yokohama F. Marinos, Barcelona’s rivals Real Madrid signed him in 2019. Kubo then had a fruitful loan spell at Mallorca and is currently on loan at Villareal.
Venezuela
William Salas, 1977 - 15y, 131d vs. Ecuador (13 caps) William Salas made 13 total appearances for Venezuela as a defender. On club level, he played for Portuguesa FC in Venezuela.
Iran
Hossein Kaebi, 2003 - 17y, 297d vs. Belarus (85 caps) OR Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, 2019 - 17y, 338d vs. Syria (3 caps) Known for his pace, work rate, and strength, Hossein Kaebi played for 9 clubs across Iran’s top tier, including Foolad, Piroozi, Persepolis, Saipa, Steel Azin, Rah Ahan, Sanat Naft, Esteghlal, and Sepidrood. He also had spells in other Middle Eastern clubs: Al-Sadd in Qatar, and Emirates in the UAE. The right-back had a very short and unfruitful spell in Europe, signing for Leicester City in 2007. However he could speak no English and was relegated to the reserves after the sacking of Martin Allen. He was released by mutual consent after only making 3 appearances for the Foxes and returned to Iran. He is currently the assistant manager of Sepidrood. On the international stage, Kaebi appeared in Iran’s 2006 World Cup squad and their 2004 and 2007 Asian Cup Squads. Also, he has 13 siblings, which isn’t relevant but I thought it was pretty wild. However, it is likely Kaebi lied about his age and was actually older. If that's the case, Iran's youngest player would be Allahyar Sayyadmanesh. He is currently still only 19 and is at Zorya on loan from Fenerbahce. Fenerbache signed him from Esteghlal and previously loaned him out to Istanbulspor.
Serbia
Andrija Živković, 2013 - 17y, 91d vs. Japan (17 caps) Andrija Živković started his career off at Partizan with a bang, scoring his first goal for the club just 2 days after signing his first senior contract. He scored 3 more times in the next 3 league games, and became the team’s youngest captain in history in 2014. However, by 2016, Živković refused to extend his contract with the club. He eventually moved on a free transfer to Benfica. He struggled to make an impact there and left on a free transfer in 2020. He is currently playing for PAOK in Greece. Živković was part of the Serbian U20 team that won the U20 World Cup in 2015. He scored twice, with his direct free-kick goal against Mexico U20 being voted the goal of the tournament. He was also part of the Serbia's 2018 World Cup team.
Algeria
Tarek Lazizi, 1990 - 18y, 255d vs. Ivory Coast (44 caps) At club level, Tarek Lazizi started at JS Kabylie and moved to MC Algiers in 1989. In 1996 he moved to Stade Tunisien in Tunisia, then to Genclerbirligi in Turkey, then back to MC Algeirs, then to Atlantis FC in Finland, beofre finally concluding his career at MB Bouira back in Algeria. He won the league with MC Algeirs in 1998-99 and he was a part of the Algeria squad that won their first Africa Cup of Nations in 1990.
Nigeria
Tajudeen Oyekanmi, 1990 - 17y, 7d vs. Algeria (1 cap) Another one I can find barely anything about. Tajudeen Oyekanmi played for KV Kortrijk between 1991 and 1993, but I can’t find any records of other clubs he played for.
Turkey
Mehmet Leblebi, 1924 - 16y, 143d vs. Czechoslovakia (16 caps) A true Galatasaray man through and through, Mehmet Leblebi went to Galatasaray High School and was selected for Galatasaray’s 2nd team at only 12 years old. He began playing for Galatasaray’s senior squad at only 15 years old. He stayed at Galatasaray his entire career, winning the Istanbul Football League 5 times. He also scored 14 goals in one match against Vefa SK, a game that ended 20-0. He made 16 appearances for the Turkish NT, scoring twice.
Russia
Eduard Streltsov, 1955 - 17y, 330d vs. Sweden (38 caps) Here’s a footballer with a story so complicated that I can’t do it justice here. I highly recommend reading more about Steltsov. Streltsov not only scored on his international debut, he scored a hat-trick against Sweden, a game that the Soviet Union won 6-0. In 1956, he won the gold medal with the Soviet Union at the Olympics, and he was voted the Soviet Footballer of the year in 1967 and 1968. He spent his entire career at Torpedo Moscow and the stadium was renamed Eduard Streltsov Stadium in 1996 in his honor. However, it wasn’t all success for Streltsov. In 1958 he was accused of raping a woman at a party. It is unclear whether he actually did this or if he was accused by Soviet leaders who were upset with his rebellious personality and celebrity status. This is an extremely controversial subject so if you want to know more about what exactly happened, I recommend reading more about Streltsov, it's fascinating. But regardless of what really happened, Streltsov was sentenced to 12 years (he wound up only serving 5 of those 12) in the Gulag and forbidden from playing professional football ever again. He missed the 1958 World Cup and never appeared at a World Cup for his nation. Apparently he was frequently severely beaten by a young inmate and had to spend 4 months in the prison hospital. But soon he began to earn the approval of his fellow inmates. Prison officials would allow Streltsov to play football as a form of entertainment to calm down the inmates in times of trouble. After his release in 1963, Streltsev worked at the ZiL factory and studied automotive engineering. He played with the factory’s amateur football team, which won all 11 of its matches and the league, as well as attracting large crowds who wanted to see Steltsev play. When Leonid Brezhnev replaced Nikita Khrushchev, Brezhnev received a letter signed by tens of thousands of Soviet citizens asking for Streltsov’s professional ban to be reversed. Brezhnev agreed and Streltsov returned to Torpedo Moscow where he continued his rich form for the rest of his career. His international career finished with 38 caps and 25 goals. To this day he’s considered on the Russia’s greatest players ever and along with Lev Yashin and Konstantin Beskov, appeared on a limited edition mint of 2-ruble coins focused on Russian sports heros. Also, if you want to know who is the youngest player for only Russia and not the USSR, it’s Igor Akinfeev. He appeared for Russia at 18 years and 20 days old against Norway in 2004, and has spent his entire career at CSKA Moscow.
Paraguay
Jorge Núñez, 1993 - 15y, 190d vs. Colombia (22 caps) Jorge Núñez made his debut for the Paraguayan team in a World Cup Qualifying match and overall has made 22 appearances for them, scoring 1 goal. At club level he stayed in South America his whole career. He mostly played for Argentine sides, such as Banfield, Arsenal (The Argentine one), Racing Club, Estudiantes, Rosario Central, and Chacarita Jrs. He had a chance to join Sheffield Utd in the 2006-07 season but decided not to when he was called up to international duty.
Republic of Ireland
Billy/Willie O’Neill, 1935 - 15y, 339d vs. Netherlands (11 caps) Willie O’Neill was capped 11 times for Ireland, back when it was known as the Irish Free State. The defender also spent his entire career at Dundalk, making 330 appearances.
Slovakia
Frantisek Vysocky, 1939 - 18y, 110d vs. Germany (6 caps) Striker Frantisek Vysocky racked up 6 appearances and 2 goals for the Slovak national team. He made his first appearance vs. Germany on August 27, 1939. You may know that 4 days later Germany would invade Poland, starting World War II. At club level, Vysocky played for FC Vrútky, OAP Bratislava, and Jednota Košice. He won the league with OAP Bratislava in the 1942-1943 season.
South Korea
Ko Jong-soo, 1997 - 18y, 98d vs. Norway (38 caps) Midfielder Ko Jong-soo appeared 38 times for South Korea and was part of their 1998 World Cup Squad. He played mostly in the Korean League with Suwon Bluewings. He had a season-long spell in Japan with Kyoto Sanga, as well as appearances for other Korean teams Chunnam Dragons and Daejeon Citizen. He was allegedly very entertaining to watch, with Wikipedia citing a goal he scored from 57 meters against Jeonbuk in 2002. Edit: Goal can be watched here: https://youtu.be/UdbwqsX3JJo?t=37
Morocco
Hachim Mastour, 2015 - 16y, 363d vs. Libya (1 cap) Hard to know where to start with Hachim Mastour but if you followed football at all in 2015 you knew about the hype. He went viral at 14 with his eye-catching dribbling skills on YouTube and every major club wanted to sign him. Eventually, the Italian-born Moroccan signed for AC Milan, at only 15 years old. He was even promoted him to the first team and put on the bench for Milan’s final match of the season, but Mastour didn’t get subbed on. If he did, he would have become Milan’s youngest player ever. A year later he was loaned out to Málaga where he only made one appearance in all competitions as a substitute in the last 5 minutes. Then he was loaned to Zwolle where he only made 6 appearances. Eventually his contract at Milan expired in 2018 and he moved to Lamia in the Greek Superleague. In December 2018 he was reported absent and later his father said it was due to injury. In March 2019, his contract at Lamia was terminated by mutual consent. He signed for Reggina in Serie C in October 2019 and made his debut in January 2020. In the 2019-20 season, Reggina were promoted to Serie B. On the international level, his record-breaking appearance for Morocco is his only senior cap so far. While it feels like he’s already lived a whole career, he’s still only 22, so there’s still a lot of time for new developments.
Iceland
Sigurdur Jónsson, 1983 - 16y, 249d vs. Malta (63 caps) Starting his career at his hometown club of ÍA, Jónsson won the award for Icelandic Player of the Year in 1983 at only 17 years old. Obviously this attracted the attention of many clubs and it wasn’t long before Sheffield Wednesday signed the midfielder. Jónsson would spend the next 7 years. In 1986 he was loaned out to Barnsley and in 1989 Arsenal signed the midfielder. However Jónsson struggled with injury and in 2 years he only made 10 appearances in all competitions for the Gunners. He was part of the Arsenal side that won the First Division in 1991 but he only appeared twice, which wasn’t enough to qualify for a winner’s medal. He was also an unused substitute in Arsenal’s 0-0 draw with Tottenham for the FA Charity Shield. Back then they didn’t have a penalty shootout - they just let the teams share the trophy. So I guess he sort of has that to show for his time at Arsenal. He announced he was going to retire due to his back problems but a year later he came out of retirement to play for ÍA again. He won the Icelandic player of the year again in 1993 as well as the Úrvalsdeild Player of the Year. He moved to Örebro SK, then to Dundee United where again he was struck by injuries, then he went back to ÍA for a third spell before retiring in 2000. At international level, he made 63 appearances and scored 3 goals for Iceland. He is now a manager, leading Icelandic 3rd division side Kári since 2014. He previously managed FH, Víkingur, and Grindavík in Iceland and Djurgårdens IF and Enköpings SK in Sweden. During his time managing Djurgårdens, he got the “Iron Stove of the Year” (Årets Järnkamin) in 2007, as voted on by the fans for the best player or coach at Djurgårdens.
Northern Ireland
Norman Whiteside, 1982 - 17y, 40d vs. Yugoslavia (38 caps) A first team regular for Manchester United throughout the 1980s, Norman Whiteside also appeared at 2 world cups for Northern Ireland in 1982 and 1986. In fact, his international debut came at the 1982 World Cup, making him the youngest player to ever play at the competition. He also scored against Algeria in a 1-1 tie at the 1986 World Cup. He also won the last ever British Home Championship with Northern Ireland. As a teenager, he was scouted by Bob Bishop, who previously discovered Northern Ireland icons George Best and Sammy McIlroy. Whiteside found out he had been offered a deal at the club while visiting Jimmy Carter in the Oval Office… a weird anecdote but apparently he was there because of a program about helping disadvantaged children from Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Whiteside made 206 appearances and scored 47 goals for Man Utd from 1982 to 1989. In 1982 he became the club’s youngest goalscorer, netting against Stoke in the final game of the season. He won the FA Cup twice with Man Utd as well as the FA Charity Shield. In 1989 he signed for Everton and played there for 2 years before retiring at only 26 due to recurring injury problems with his knee. Post-retirement, Whiteside became a podiatrist.
Australia
Duncan Cummings, 1975 - 17y, 137d vs. China (2 caps) Born in Manchester, England, Duncan Cummings only represented Australia 2 times. At club level, he played for Melbourne Hungaria and South Melbourne. He retired from playing football in 1981, at only age 23.
Norway
Martin Ødegaard, 2014 - 15y, 250d vs. UAE (25 caps) When Martin Ødegaard became the youngest player and youngest goalscorer in the Tippeligaen in 2014, big clubs from all around Europe came for one of the continent’s most promising youth players. Eventually Ødegaard signed for Real Madrid and became the clubs youngest player ever when he was subbed on for Ronaldo in May 2015. In 2016 Ødegaard became a regular for Madrid’s B Team, Real Madrid Castilla. He was loaned out to Heerenveen and later Vitesse and after struggling a bit, he began to find his form. However, his real breakthrough then came when he was loaned out to Real Socieadad for the 2019-20 season. He won September 2019's La Liga Player of the Month, and in February 2020 he scored against his parent club, Real Madrid, in the Copa del Rey, eliminating them from the competition. This impressed the staff at the Bernabéu and he is now listed as part of Madrid’s 1st team.
Romania
Cristian Manea, 2014 - 16y, 292d vs. Albania (10 caps) A youth product of Viitorul Constanța’s Gheorghe Hagi Academy, Cristian Manea was purchased by Cypriot club Apollon Limassol in 2014 before immediately being loaned back to Viitorul Constanța. This began a series of loans for the player to other Romanian clubs like FCSB and Cluj as well as Belgian club Mouscron. Eventually Cluj brought Manea from Limassol, where he plays today. The right-back has made 10 appearances for Romania and scored 1 goal.
Scotland
Sandy McLaren, 1929 - 18y, 152d vs. Germany (5 caps) Alexander “Sandy” McLaren played as a goalkeeper for Scotland, making 5 appearances between 1929 and 1932. At club level he played for St. Johnstone from 1927 to 1933, making 198 appearances, before moving to Leicester. He played there from 1993 to 1940, making 239 appearances until retirement.
Czech Republic
Adam Hložek, 2020 - 18y, 40d vs. Slovakia (1 cap) One of 2 players to make their debut this year on this list. Adam Hložek made his league debut for Sparta Prague in November 2018 at only 16 years old, becoming the club’s youngest ever league player. He is still at Sparta Prague today where he’s become a regular in the Starting XI and has made 1 appearance for the Czech Republic so far. He was named Czech talent of the year in 2019.
Hungary
Károly Zsák, 1912 - 16y, 312d vs. Russia (30 caps) Goalkeeper Károly Zsák made a total of 30 appearances for the Hungarian national team. He was part of Hungary’s 1912 and 1924 Olympics squads but was an unused sub on both. In 1914, he was named Hungarian Footballer of the Year.
Ghana
Mohammed Gargo, 1992 - 16y, 207d vs. Zambia (20 caps) Starting his career at Real Tamale Utd in Ghana, Mohammed Gargo was picked up by Italian side Torino in 1992. He didn’t make a single appearance for the Italian side before moving to Dortmund II, Bayern II. Then he moved to Stoke where again, he didn’t make an appearance. His breakthrough came when he signed for Udinese in 1995, a club he made 88 appearances for. In 2003 he was loaned to Venezia. In 2004 he was sold to Genoa along with Vittorio Micolucci in exchange for Rodrigue Boisfer and Valon Behrami (as you may know, Behrami is back at Genoa as of today). Gargo spent the last years of his career at Al-Wakrah in Qatar before moving back to Ghana to join Ashanti Gold. Gargo was part of the Ghana squad that were runners up at the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations and the 1992 squad that won the bronze medal at the Olympics. Post-retirement, Gargo managed Ghanian sides New Edubiase Utd and Real Tamale Utd, and has been managing Namibian club Tura Magic since 2018.
Jamaica
Michael Seaton, 2013 - 16y, 196d vs. Trinidad/Tobago (14 caps) Despite being only 25, Michael Seaton has already become kind of a journeyman. Starting at DC United, he was loaned to Portland Kickers and then Örebro SK in Sweden. Then he joined Portland Timbers where he didn’t make a single league appearance. After that he went to Israel, playing for Hapoel Ramat Gan, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Maccabi Ahi Nazareth. In 2018 Seaton went back to the USA to play for Orange County, where he established himself at one of the league’s best finishers. In 2020 Seaton joined German 3 Liga side Viktoria Köln on a free transfer. Seaton has made 14 appearances and scored 2 goals with Jamaica, and won the Caribbean Cup with them in 2014.
Costa Rica
Manfred Ugalde, 2020 - 17y, 247d vs. USA (1 cap) The 2nd player on this list to make his debut this year, Manfred Ugalde debuted for Costa Rican side Saprissa in 2019. He had quite an exciting debut for the club, being subbed on in the 79th minute and scoring an equalizer in the 93rd minute. His goal-scoring prowess quickly gained him a good reputation; he won the CONCACAF League in 2019 and was named the season’s best young player. In 2020 He signed for Lommel (Owned by City Football Group) in the Belgian 2nd division where his goalscoring talent has continued.
2020 was a wild year for chess, to say the least. First, it absolutely exploded on Twitch. Then it absolutely exploded on Twitch a second time. Then Netflix dropped their hit show "The Queen's Gambit", a chess drama in which the main character is a Sicilian Defence player and not a Queen's Gambit player. As I type this, the 2 main online chess sites, Chess.com and Lichess.org, are reporting 206,000 & 26,000 concurrent players respectively, which is just an absurd number of people. The popularity of chess always seems to wax and wane over time: it boomed in popularity in the nineties with the chess computer Deep Blue beating the world champion at the time; it had a boom in the late 60's and 70's with Bobby Fischer just destroying every opponent he came up against. As a game, Chess is perhaps one of, if not the greatest ever created. It's complex enough that it can be enjoyed by beginners playing casual games, as well as at the highest level, that requires unimaginable amount of study and practice. You don't need to be a master to play a good game, you just have to remember how the horsey moves and you're set. I've been playing chess all my life, but only got any good at it about 2 years ago or so. I saw this video of the legend himself, Eric Rosen, being some random Norwegian guy at a game of chess, and it enlightened me to the amount of stuff I didn't know about the game. Like, who knew that thinking about what a move does will actually, like, make you play better? That realisation led me to want to learn more. Now reading is for nerds and dorks, so I neglected to buy/"""buy""" a textbook, instead finding my way to /Chess. /Chess is a sub about everything chess (well, almost everything, memes go to /anarchychess). Chess news, learning resources, fun tactical exercises, game analyses. It's filled with people who know way more about the game that you or I probably do, and the wealth of knowledge there is enough to aid in any new player's journey into the wonderful world of high level chess. With an extremely knowledgeable and helpful community, it's the best place on Reddit for all chess players, newcomers and masters alike!
1: How and why did you get involved in the subreddit?
2015_BCS_ORANGE_BOWL There was a massive amount of drama that resulted in the top moderator stepping down, which I'm sure you can find recapped on SRD. The former second moderator (MrLegilimens) decided to hold mod elections for all the slots, including his own seat. I had been posting here for a long time so I stood in the moderator elections. city-of-stars I started participating in /chess several years ago, specifically during our coverage of the Anand-Carlsen World Championship match in 2014. Back then the subreddit was much more bare-bones than it is today; I started designing rudimentary banner graphics to highlight different events as the popularity of the subreddit increased. During the summer, a conflict of interest was exposed within the moderator team that led to an explosion of drama; ultimately, the head moderator stepped down and new elections were held. I threw my hat into the ring and ended up getting elected as part of a new eight-member team.
2: What's moderating the sub like?
2015_BCS_ORANGE_BOWL I just participate in the subreddit like I always have, but now I also remove off-topic posts and offensive comments while I see them. Chess is an international game, so there are some common geopolitical slapfights that crop up. For example, there are a lot of top players from Armenia, and a lot from Azerbaijan. Iran doesn't let their players play Israelis. So both of those conflicts are sometimes litigated on /chess. Other than that, it's just the usual cracking down on trolls and spammers. city-of-stars A lot of the work is janitorial drudgery - removing memes, low-effort content, off-topic political squabbles and the like. With the sudden uptick in new users we've made efforts to become more active as a moderator team, including implementing a major CSS overhaul, an expanded wiki for beginners and increased promotion of top-level tournaments. But beyond that, I contribute to the community just like I used to do.
3: What are some of your favourite posts from the sub?
2015_BCS_ORANGE_BOWL I like to give advice, so I like participating in any threads where players are asking for advice. Tournament live threads are also fun. city-of-stars The "Best of /chess" section in the FAQ contains many of my favourite posts from the subreddit's history. Feel free to check it out!
4: What advice do you have for new/newer players who wish to get more involved with chess?
2015_BCS_ORANGE_BOWL I strongly recommend that they get involved in some kind of chess community. Ideally an over-the-board club, but these days more likely a discord server or a subreddit. Chess can be a very lonely activity if you don't have chess friends. Chess clubs get beginners all the time, so don't feel like you have to improve before you visit one. People are almost always happy to teach new players. city-of-stars Dive right in! Don't be afraid to lose, especially as a beginner. Try to play with a community, whether it's a group of friends at your local chess club, or online. Learn algebraic notation and make a habit of writing down the moves from all your games; it might seem like tedious busywork at first, but those notes will come in handy when you're reviewing your games for mistakes afterwards. Also, resist the temptation to immediately throw your moves into an engine - try and work out the moves and lines for yourself. Chess puzzles are great for developing this sort of tactical aptitude; you can find many chess puzzles on places like Chess.com, Chesstempo, and Lichess.
5: Chess has seen a substantial boom in popularity in recent weeks and months, and has certainly been thrust into the limelight. Where do you see it going from here?
2015_BCS_ORANGE_BOWL Chess often goes through periods of sudden popularity- the Fischer boom in the 70s, the twitch boom over the last summer, the new players from the Queen's Gambit show. It's always good to get more new players. But because of the staying power of chess- it has been played at a high level since the early 1800s- I don't worry too much about the fluctuations. I have no doubt that chess will not be nearly as popular on twitch.tv in one year, as streamers move on to new games. I also have no doubt that chess will still be played in 100 years. High level online rapid tournaments are a new development, and they are here to stay, but classical OTB chess isn't going anywhere either. city-of-stars The COVID pandemic, the rise of popularity of Twitch, and the massive success of the Netflix TV series The Queen's Gambit have all brought new people to the game. But this is nothing new - chess has always seen waves of global popularity. Bobby Fischer's reign as world champion in the 1970s led to an explosion of chess popularity in America, and Viswanathan Anand's reign thirty years later did the same for India. Chess was once strictly a royal pasttime of shahs and rajahs in medieval India and Persia, and even through the 1800s was primarily played as an amusement for rich men in coffeehouses scattered across Europe. So it's very heartening to see more and more people of different backgrounds picking up the game! /chess always welcomes beginners, and our sister subreddit /chessbeginners serves as a forum for those wishing to ask questions and pick up the basics of the game.
6: What are your plans for the sub in the future?
2015_BCS_ORANGE_BOWL There are definitely some projects I want to work on when I have more time. I would like to expand the FAQ to cover more of the most frequently reposted beginner questions. We also want to add a system to verify people's titles that they've earned in OTB play. Having a master title carries a lot of respect in the chess world, and traditionally they would get a little (GM) or (NM) next to their name. Right now anyone can put (GM) in their flair, but we'd like to have a special flair for people who can verify their title. city-of-stars We're hoping to legitimize /chess as a major online platform for discussing, learning about, and following chess. To this end, we've been working on a major overhaul of our subreddit's appearance over the last few months and establishing a consistent tournament promotion schedule. While we are not formally affiliated with any of the major online chess platforms, we do hope to expand our event coverage and establish more of an online presence as a community on places like Twitter, although those are long-term goals and might necessitate expanding the moderator team.
[USA][H] Nintendo, SNES, Sega, Commodore 64, Amiga, N64, Gamecube, PS1, PS2, PS3, Games and Collectables [W] PayPal
Hey all! Trying to come up with some funds to help buy a new house! THE BELOW ITEMS ARE MARKED AS SOLD (EXCEPT FOR THE COMMODORE 64 AND AMIGA STUFF AS THAT IS MEANT TO BE ARCHIVED FOR FUTURE SALES). THE NEW POST WITH UP TO DATE GAMES/ACCESSORIES/COLLECTABLES CAN BE FOUND HERE: Ultimate List of Retro Videogames and Collectables
[USA][H]My Entire Collection of Games/Accessories from Nintendo to PS3 (Rock Band, Silent Hill, Mario, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy and More!) [W]PayPal
Hey all! Trying to come up with some funds to help buy a new house! I am selling my collection of consoles, accessories and the retro games below, cartridge only (PS1, PS2 and PS3 games are CIB) everything is US/NTSC format. · Game Shipping within USA is $4 for one and $1 for each additional. IF YOUR TOTAL PURCHASE IS OVER $125 FOR A BUNDLE OF GAMES I WILL PROVIDE FREE SHIPPING! · Each category has photographs! Will provide closeups if needed. · Everything is taken care of, tested, and authentic. Prices with a * are reduced based on label condition or missing original PlayStation box. Prices are set accordingly to: https://www.pricecharting.com/ I will take best offer if reasonable.
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Ace of Aces Aces of War Aces of the Air Acid Acid Drop Aconcagua Acrobat Mission Acrylic Palette: Irodori Cafe - Cheers ActRaiser ActRaiser 2 Action 52 Action Bass Action Fighter Action Girlz Racing Action Man A.T.O.M.: Alpha Teens on Machines Action Man: Destruction X Action Man: Operation Extreme Action Man: Robot Atak Action Man: Search for Base X Action Pachio Action Pack: Prince of Persia Revelations, Driver 76, Rainbow Six Vegas Active Health with Carol Vorderman Active Life Explorer Active Life Value Pack Active Life: Extreme Challenge Active Life: Magical Carnival Active Life: Outdoor Challenge Activision Anthology Activision Classic Games Activision Demo Action Pack Activision Hits Remixed Actua Golf 3 Actua Ice Hockey Actua Ice Hockey 2 Actua Pool Actua Soccer 2 Actua Soccer 3 Actua Soccer: Club Edition Actua Tennis Ad Lib Ouji ...to Fuyukai na Nakama-tachi!? 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Aedis Eclipse: Generation of Chaos Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault Aeon Flux AereA Aerial Assault Aero Blasters Aero Dancing F: Todoroki Tsubasa no Hatsu Hikou Aero Dancing i Aero Dancing i: Jikai Sakuma de Machite Masen Aero Dancing: Torodoki Taichou no Himitsu Disc Aero Elite: Combat Academy Aero Fighters Aero Fighters 2 Aero Fighters 3 Aero Fighters Assault Aero The Acro-Bat Aero the Acro-Bat Aero the Acro-Bat 2 Aero the Acro-bat AeroGauge AeroWings AeroWings 2: Air Strike Aerobics Revolution Aerobiz Aerobiz Supersonic Aerostar AeternoBlade Afraid Gear Afraid Gear Another Afrika Afro Inu: The Puzzle Afro Samurai After Armageddon Gaiden: Majuu Toushouden Eclipse After Burner After Burner II After Burner III After Burner: Black Falcon After Burst After Hours Athletes After... 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Brain Shock Akogare Girls Collection: Lovely Youchien Akogare Girls Collection: Mister Donut DS Akogare Girls Collection: Ohanaya-San Monogatari Akogare Girls Collection: Pika Pika Nurse Monogatari Akogare Girls Collection: Suteki ni Nurse Days Akudaikan Akudaikan 2: Mousouden Akudaikan 3 Akudaikan Manyuuki Akudaikan Manyuuki: Seigi no Yaiba Akuji the Heartless Akuma Zensho Dainishuu Akuma-kun: Makai no Wana Akumajou Dracula Akumajou Dracula X: Gekka no Yasoukyoku Akumajou Special: Boku Dracula-kun Akuu Senki Raijin Al Unser Jr.'s Road to the Top Al Unser Jr.'s Turbo Racing Alabama Meets Will Vi Aladdin Magic Racer Alan Hansen's Sports Challenge Alan Wake Alarm for Cobra 11: Crash Time Alarm fuer Cobra 11 Vol II Albert Odyssey Albert Odyssey 2: Jashin no Taidou Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean Album Club: Mune Kyun * Saint Poria Jogakuin Alcahest Aldynes Aleck Bordon Adventure: Tower & Shaft Advance Alekhine's Gun Alex Ferguson's Player Manager 2001 Alex Ferguson's Player Manager 2002 Alex Kidd in Miracle World Alex Kidd in Shinobi World Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle Alex Kidd: High-Tech World Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars Alex Rider: Stormbreaker Alexandra Ledermann: Summer Camp Adventures Alexi Lalas International Soccer Alfa Romeo Racing Italiano Alfred Chicken Alfred's Adventure Alia's Carnival! 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Alshark Alter Echo Altered Beast Altered Beast: Guardian of the Realms Altered Space: A 3-D Alien Adventure Alundra Alundra 2: A New Legend Begins Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel Alzadick: Summer Carnival `92 Amaekata wa Kanojo Nari ni. Amagami Amagi Shien Amagon Amagoushi no Yakata Amagoushi no Yakata Portable: Ichiyagi Wa, Saisho no Junan Amatsumi Sora ni! Kumo no Hatate ni Amazing Adventures: The Forgotten Ruins Amazing Island Amazing Penguin Amazing Tater America Daitouryou Senkyo: United State Presidental Race America Daitouryou Senkyo: United State Presidential Race America Oudan Ultra Quiz America Oudan Ultra Quiz: Shijou Saidai no Tatakai America Oudan Ultra-Quiz America Oudan Ultra-Quiz Part 2 America Oudan Ultra-Quiz Part 3 America Oudan Ultra-Quiz Part 4 America's Army: Rise of a Soldier America's Army: True Soldiers America's Greatest Game Shows: Wheel of Fortune & Jeopardy! 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Angel's Feather Angel's Feather: Kuro no Zanei Angelic Concert Angelique Angelique Duet Angelique Etoile Angelique History Angelique Retour Angelique Special Angelique Special 2 Angelique Trois Angelique Trois: Aizouhen Angelique Voice Fantasy Angelique: Maren no Rokukishi Angelique: Tenkuu no Requiem Angler's Club: Ultimate Bass Fishing 3D Angolmois 99 Angry Birds Star Wars Angry Birds Trilogy AniMates AnimAction Anima: Gate of Memories Animal Boxing Animal Breeder Animal Breeder 2 Animal Breeder 3 Animal Breeder 4 Animal Crossing Animal Crossing: City Folk Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer Animal Crossing: New Leaf Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome Amiibo Animal Crossing: Wild World Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival Animal Football Animal Genius Animal Hospital Animal Kingdom: Wildlife Expedition Animal Mania Animal Paradise Animal Paradise Wild Animal Planet: Emergency Vets Animal Planet: Vet Collection Animal Planet: Vet Life Animal Snap: Rescue Them 2 By 2 Animal Soccer World Animal Yokochou: Doki Doki Kyuushutsu Daisakusen! no Maki Animal Yokochou: Doki*Doki Shinkyuu Shiken! no Kan Animaniacs Animaniacs Ten Pin Alley Animaniacs: Lights, Camera, Action! Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt Animastar Animastar GB Anime Eikaiwa: 15 Shounen Hyouryuuhen Anime Eikaiwa: Tondemo Nezumi Daikatsuyaku Anime Eikaiwa: Totoi Anime Slot Revolution: Pachi-Slot Kidou Senshi Gundam II - Ai Senshi Hen Animetic Story Game 1: Card Captor Sakura Animorphs Animorphs: Shattered Reality Ankh: Curse of the Scarab King Ankh: Tutankhamen no Nazo Ankoku Shinwa: Yamato Takeru Densetsu Annet Futatabi Anno 1701: Dawn of Discovery Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai Anoko Doko Noko Anoko wa Ore Kara Hanarenai Anone DS Another Bible Another Century's Episode Portable Another Code: R - A Journey into Lost Memories Another Memories Another Mind Another Time Another Leaf: Kagami no Naka no Tantei Another World Anpanman Niko Niko Party Anpanman to Asobo: ABC Kyoushitsu Anpanman to Asobo: Aiueo Kyoushitsu Anpanman to Asobo: New Aiueo Kyoushitsu Anpanman to Asobu: Aiueo Kyoushitsu DX Anpanman to Touch de Waku Waku Training Anpanman to Touch de Wakuwaku Training Anpfiff: Der RTL Fussball-Manager Ansatsu Kyoushitsu: Assassin Ikusei Keikaku!! 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With the upcoming 2018 world chess championship between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana just days away starting Nov. 9, Chess.com wanted to know: What is the most exciting title match in history?. Below is a countdown of the top 10 as we announce one per weekday until the start of the 2018 world chess championship: 10th Place: (Tie) Capablanca-Lasker 1921, Alekhine-Capablanca 1927 and ... Magnus Carlsen – Born on 30 November 1990, Magnus Carlsen, a Norwegian chess grandmaster, whose FIDE 2020 rating is 2863. He is the current World Blitz Chess Champion, World Rapid Chess Champion, and World Chess Champion. Carlsen’s classical rating of 2882 is the highest in history. Bobby Fischer earned that honor, with 50 percent of first-place votes. As for the strongest world champion ever, it's a dead heat between Garry Kasparov and the reigning world champion, Magnus Carlsen. You can break the tie (and weigh in with your own lists) in the comment section below. Current world champion Magnus Carlsen won the World Chess Championship 2. Viswanathan Anand and successfully defended his title against Anand in the World Chess Championship 2. In addition, there is a separate event for women only, for the title of Women's World Champion, as well as separate competitions and titles for juniors (under 2. Many have claimed that Paul Morphy was the greatest chess player in history, and those claims could have been proven true had he actually pursued a career. Who are the greatest chess players in history? That eternal question has been a never-ending subject for debate among chess fans for decades and something there never seems be a consensus on. Magnus Carlsen's own World Championship seconds Jan Gustafsson and Peter Heine Nielsen have taken on the nearly impossible project of ranking the 50 best players ever. Hall of Fame The 50 Greatest Chess ... Master games World chess championship Anand, viswanathan 66 Carlsen, magnus 27 2014 22 Topalov, veselin 22 2010 21 2013 19 Queen's gambit 18 Anand 17 Carlsen 17 2012 16 Gelfand, boris 16 Sicilian defence 13 Ruy lopez 13 Fischer, bobby 10 Declined 7 Slav defence 7 Nimzo-indian defence 6 Kasparov, garry 5 Karpov, anatoly 4 Beginner 2 English opening 2 Najdorf variation 1 Caro-kann 1 Karpov entered the World Chess Championship match at a FIDE rating of 2720 with Kasparov not far behind at 2700, with the final match of the championship, match 24, a must-win for Karpov to retain his world title which he had held from 1975 onwards. Often called by Kasparov as the ‘game of his life’, the young Russian turned the game on its head with a far-sighted rook play on his 23rd ... Current world champion Magnus Carlsen won the World Chess Championship 2013 against Viswanathan Anand and successfully defended his title against Anand in the World Chess Championship 2014 and against Sergey Karjakin in 2016; Carlsen is set to defend his title again in the World Chess Championship in November of 2018. 1) Garry Kasparov (1963) – Greatest of the Greats Garry Kasparov started ruling the chess world from the age of 22 as the youngest ever undisputed World Chess Champion in 1985. He remained #1 until his retirement in 2005. But as they say, “every Chess master was once a beginner,” and the saying holds for the champion too. FIDE - World Chess Federation, Online ratings, individual calculations