(dramatic music) - Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of "Today in Chess."

The 2024 summer of chess has been truly amazing.

So much incredible competition has taken place over the last few months.

There's no doubt August 2024 will be remembered as the St. Louis month of chess.

Many of the world's top players competed in various time controls to create many memorable and soon to be classic games.

- [Announcer] Elite players from around the globe return to the American chess capital for the penultimate event of the world's premier chess tour, the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz.

Punches were traded early and often, with MBL taking an early lead, but he was promptly supplanted, having to claw his way back into contention before joining the two other front runners for co-lead following the rapid section.

But front runners can quickly become afterthoughts once the clocks speed up and the blitz specialists kick it into high gear.

Speed demon Alireza Firouzja was more than prepared for his moment, reeling off win after win to amass an impressive lead going into the final day of Blitz.

Despite an incredible showing from Wesley So, it was just too much to catch the French superstar who earned his second St. Louis Rapid & Blitz title.

Another successful event means that it's time for the final classical battle of this year's illustrious tour, the Sinquefield Cup, where tour players will be joined by the reigning World Champion in an epic conclusion, as we crown the 2024 Grand Chess Tour Champion.

(dramatic music) The 2024 Grand Chess Tour hit the ground running with the Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland in historic Warsaw.

Full tour players faced off against an illustrious group of wild cards determined to steal the spotlight.

Chinese Superstar Wei Yi could not be stopped in the Rapid section, but no lead is safe when the Ultimate Wild Card Magnus Carlsen is in the field.

Within four rounds of blitz, he surpassed the leader to win the 2024 Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland.

With one tournament in the books, players traveled to Bucharest for the tour's first classical event, the 2024 Superbet Romania Chess Classic.

Reigning GCT Champ and 2023 Superbet Chess Classic Winner Fabiano Caruana controlled his own destiny going into the final round, but an unfortunate misstep led to a dramatic four-way playoff.

Ultimately, it cost him precious GCT points, but Caruana was victorious, sweeping the playoff field to become back-to-back Champion.

After an incredible event in Romania, players shifted their focus to a new city and a faster time control for the Superunited Rapid & Blitz Croatia.

Once settled in Zagreb, Fabiano Caruana kept his streak going, destroying the Rapid section, giving him a significant leg up going into the Blitz.

After a rocky start, he quickly regained his composure and never looked back, clinching the title with five rounds to go, tying the GCT record for most points earned in a single event in the process.

Following three excellent European events, players turned to the American chess capital for the final two events of the world's premier chess tour, starting off with the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz.

Perfectly positioned in a three-way tie for first after an impressive performance in the Rapid section, Alireza Firouzja was ready for Blitz, reeling off win after win to amass an impressive lead that could not be caught, earning the French superstar his second St. Louis Rapid & Blitz trophy and clear first in the GCT standings.

It all came down to the final classical battle of this year's illustrious tour, the Sinquefield Cup.

Fabiano Caruana could claim the GCT title, as long as he outpaced his rival, but unfortunately for him, Alireza Firouzja took the lead early and remained there throughout, clinching the 2024 GCT crown in the penultimate round, taking the cup with a victory in his final game, winning both St. Louis events to become a two time Grand Chess Tour Champion.

As this year's tour comes to a close, we look to the future, and all the amazing cities, locations, elite grand masters, and world class chess in store on the 2025 Grand Chess Tour.

- Wow, what a summer it's been.

Chess fans across the world have seen some outstanding games.

And speaking of exciting, recently, we had a visit from Boris Spassky, Jr. For those of you unfamiliar with his father and namesake, Boris Spassky is a legend in chess.

It was he who played Bobby Fischer in arguably the most famous World Championship match of all time.

Bobby Fischer's victory changed chess forever.

We recently had a chance to sit down with Boris Spassky, Jr. (dramatic music) - I grew up in France, where I was born in 1980, five years after my father emigrated to France.

I would describe him as a very laid back person with a very good sense of humor, not taking himself seriously.

He was laughing at himself and never taking himself for someone famous or important.

In the former Soviet Union, people don't realize, but when he built a house in France, he lived in a Kommunalka.

He grew up in very tough conditions, where you could, hunger was a true problem.

(dramatic music) He had really bad recollection of soldiers, soldiers regiments in the metro, crushing his bare feet because he had no shoes.

And when he came to France, he built a cottage with toilets at every level.

So I think you understand where it comes from because in the Kommunalka, you live in the Kommunalka, you live seven, eight families in one apartment, and you have one bathroom for everyone.

At the age of five, he was at the, he was evacuated in Perm in an orphanage when the Nazis attacked, besieged Leningrad.

His family must have stayed in the city.

There was order of Stalin that all adults would combat.

He was evacuated.

He kind of learned how to play chess.

And at the age of 11, he always told me, at the age of 11, I got a stipend.

So, and then my family could live off this stipend 'cause their father had abandoned them.

So he was with Giorgi and Ira, my aunt, and they lived at the entrance of the Kommunalka.

So it was a hard life.

The role he played in the 1972 chess match, he always thought of it as a chess player because all the thoughts around it, political, geo strategic, he never mentioned it.

And I'm pretty sure that he felt the pressure because of course they were, the Soviets were pushing.

At the end, he was very much under pressure for having lost the game.

They started bothering him.

They never mentioned to send him to Gulag.

That's, I think some people have mentioned this story.

I believe it's fairytales.

But following the match in 1972, down to 75, the sports committee was hard on him.

They pressed him pretty much saying that he was no longer going to be able to travel, which kind of was a game over for his chess career.

And he met my mother who was working as a secretary at the commercial mission of the French Embassy.

They fell in love.

They managed to do a bit of skating on frozen lakes.

They had, I think a beautiful romance.

And then they left to France by fighting really hard with the authorities and benefiting from the Helsinki Accords, which allowed for the first time in history, Soviet citizens to marry non-Soviet citizens.

It's hard to imagine for us, but a Soviet citizen was not allowed to marry a non-Soviet citizen.

So they did it.

And so for me, 72 is always, I've always had it presented in my family as the prequel to his escape from the Soviet Union.

The stories I can share about my father and Fischer are only ones of friendship because my father always spoke very highly of him, always called him a kind of Don Quixote, kind of, he saw him as a hero.

And that's why I grew up with some very funny caricatures at home.

Some that he had put under glass where Fischer is Don Quixote, and my father is Sancho Panza.

They became very good friends.

My father always had the greatest respect for Fischer.

My father benefited from the Soviet system, but he said that he was never a communist.

He was never a member of the Communist party.

Fighting a game without being a communist when you represent the communist country, it's not an easy exercise.

And he gave all credit to Bobby as an individual to have learned chess by himself without having a big, big machine.

They played again in 1992, being very happy to play with Fischer.

And my father always said, yeah, I lost to him.

If I had not lost, maybe Bobby would've walked away sooner.

Not a bad thing that I lost.

- Bobby Fischer was a chess prodigy and excelled to become the world champion and the most famous chess player of his generation.

There are currently many remarkable young chess players here in America.

Many of them competed in the national championships.

Here's a look at some of them.

- [Announcer] Alice Lee was first introduced to chess when the shy 6-year-old followed her older brother Linden to chess club at their elementary school.

Now big brother is looking up to her as the immensely talented teenager is shooting to the top of American women's chess, already a three time world youth champion and reigning US junior girls champion.

At only 13 years and seven months old, Alice became the youngest American woman ever to earn the title of International Master, eclipsing the previous record by two and a half years.

She's establishing herself as a singular threat, if not a favorite in elite events such as the American Cup, where she placed second in back to back years.

It's clear that her impact on the game will be felt as she continues to chase her goals and propel chess into the future.

Zoey Tang's infectious smile lights up a room, but don't let her pleasant demeanor disarm you.

She's got the heart of a competitor.

The 16-year-old V-Day master started playing chess in her home state of Oregon, where she's the reigning back to back state champion and the first female title holder in Oregon's history.

Zoey's also competed in elite national events, taking seventh place in her first US Junior Girls championship, improving to fourth place in her second year.

And in the 2024 American Cup where she defeated four time US Women's Champ, Anna Zatonskih.

Zoey's drive and valuable experience against some of the nation's top talent guarantees she'll have a chance to be at the forefront of women's chess in America for the foreseeable future.

- Learning to play chess is often a family affair.

Many young players initially learn chess from their parents.

As they grow in the game, learning from an experienced Grand Master can be life changing.

Luckily we have some Grand Masters available.

It's time for Chess School.

(upbeat music) - Hi, everyone.

In this lesson I'm gonna show you the few things that King cannot do.

In one of the previous lessons, I show you how the king moves.

And again, king can move any direction one square.

But in this position, if you take a look carefully, for example, you cannot play the move King F1 because black has a rook on F-file, and the rook is covering the F1 square.

So you cannot walk into a check.

Same example as here.

If you try to move the king to D2 here, now there is another rook on D8.

You cannot do that.

That will be an illegal move.

Another idea is if you're thinking, oh, maybe I can escape the danger by castling to the queen's side, that's again, you cannot do that because the rook on D8 is covering the D-file.

You cannot jump through the D-file in order to castle.

So the castling also is not gonna be a possible move in this position.

So another idea is if, let's say the rook is on the E, is giving you a check, you cannot castle when you are under a check.

You need to block the check or move your king away or capture the piece that checked you.

But you certainly cannot castle when you are under a check.

So it's very important to know which moves you can play with the king.

And if the squares are under control by your opponent, you cannot move your king into an attack.

So these are the few things you cannot do with your king.

And very important to remember, you can't castle when you're under a check, and you cannot move into a square when one of the pieces are covering it.

So hope you enjoyed this lesson.

See you next time.

(dramatic music) - [Announcer] One of the most dynamic and impactful missions of the Saint Louis Chess Club is the Scholastic program.

Simply said, the chess club has taken on the challenge of teaching chess to thousands of school aged children K through 12.

And it's a crusade with proven rewards.

(dramatic music) - Chess has helped me in school by teaching me how to approach different problems like in math or science.

- It's a science, it's mathematic, it's an art.

So I think that is one of the reasons chess should be in schools.

It covers a wide range of interests for children or at least in with my students, they become very real like people, and the science of life and the way that they move, their weaknesses and their strengths, and they become those pieces, and they practice those moves in the game and in their lives sometimes if they can really get that takeaway, which is a goal for me, (dramatic music) - [Announcer] No less than an army of coaches and instructors, as well as the digital classroom experience has turned thousands of area students into chess players.

And the results have been rewarding.

- My students come back to me, and they're relating chess to life and explaining to me their choices in a particular situation in their life where they used their problem solving skills to gain the result that they wanted.

And they related that to chess, and that to me is a huge fulfillment, you know, for me, even teaching the game.

- [Announcer] Critical thinking, decision making, sportsmanship and respect are all positive results of these classroom experiences.

- Chess is more than just a game, and it offers so much to their social/emotional development, especially if we get them very young.

So I think chess, doing that in schools adds a great support to students and parents.

So they need it.

- [Announcer] The Saint Louis Chess Club, teaching young minds the game of chess and so much more.

- The World Chess Championship is the most watched event in the game.

It's also the most storied of all the matches through the years.

Earlier we mentioned the 1972 tournament between Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer.

With the 2024 championship approaching where we'll see Ding Liren and Gukesh D square off.

Let's take a look back at the history of this event.

- Dating all the way back to 1845, the US Championship is the oldest chess event in the United States.

Originally a match between two players, it has been held in many formats in its nearly 180-year-old existence.

Featuring some of the most famous names in chess, the US Championships have seen players like Bobby Fischer who won every US Championship he competed in, earning eight titles.

This includes a legendary performance in the 1963-64 championship edition where he scored a perfect 11 from 11, an accomplishment so difficult that the Saint Louis Chess Club offers a $64,000 bonus prize for any player who can match that accomplishment.

Sadly, none has ever come close.

Other notable champions include Sammy Reshevsky, who matched Fischer's eight tournament wins.

Walter Sean Browne with six tournament wins, Gata Kamsky, Hikaru Nakamura with five tournament wins, and the current champion Fabiano Caruana with three titles.

The US Chess Championship has been held in St. Louis, Missouri since 2009, as well as streamed on YouTube for fans throughout the world to follow.

It has become one of the strongest tournaments in the world with nine of the 12 competitors in 2023 were ranked in the top 100 players of the world.

From the first championship between two players for a prize fund of $1,000, the US Chess Championship has grown into a Marquis chess event with a dozen world class players competing for a $250,000 prize fund.

(dramatic music) - Which historical World Championship match do you find the most fascinating and why?

- I mean there have been many very fascinating world championship matches, but I think the rivalry between Kasparov and Karpov has to be at the top.

I mean, they played so many times.

I mean all the matches were great of course.

So I can't really pick one out specifically, but I mean just their whole rivalry, whether it's World Championship, whether it's playing in tournaments, I mean, they're two of the greatest players of all time and sort of their generations collided there.

And I think since then we've never seen two people who are quite on the same level.

I mean you've had Vishy, you had Kramnik who were relatively close, but they also weren't dominating for that long before Magnus came up.

So yeah, it's just Kasparov and Karpov all the way.

- There was this match, the match that Smyslov lost against Botvinnik, and I think it started with, he started with half a point out of three, but then he, I think after six games the match was equal.

So just out of the emotional impact, that's just crazy.

But also, I think those matches, also the match where Tal has beaten Botvinnik with playing the most absurd and crazy openings.

You know, the famous Caro Kann, G take F on move number five.

Absolutely logical.

That of course is, I don't know, I think it's very, very special from just a chess perspective of the things 'cause you saw so many emotions, yeah.

- Maybe the first one, yeah, because it was played here as well like in St. Louis, one of the parts.

Maybe not this exact building, yeah, but I like to think that it was somewhere around.

- Yeah, a match which I followed quite closely would be Magnus and Fabi match in 2018.

I think that was, yeah, that was really high quality games and the games were really fighting as well.

Yeah, I would say that.

But there are also many interesting matches from past.

But this is the one that comes to my mind right now.

- Yeah, for sure.

It's Spassky versus Fischer without a doubt.

It was the most popular in the history, and there are many, many movies about it.

So yeah, it's everything that comes with it, on the political specs.

And I think the fact that Fischer showed how stronger he was than Spassky, he didn't come in one of the games, so, and he still won in a very convincing way.

So it was, this was the most impressive.

- There were a few ones, and I would say like in general has to be some of the Kasparov/Karpov matches, like some are very iconic.

And it was all over span of six years I think.

And like of course there was a match that never ended.

First of all, 48 games match.

Karpov was leading five/zeros, and came down to five/three, and then they interrupted after like, I don't know, six months of play or something.

And this, I think it was several where Kasparov had to win the last game with White to equalize the match and remain, retain his title and managed that in a long, grueling game.

- Well, I like those old classical matches between Capablanca and Tarrasch for example.

Also the, of course the Bobby Fischer matches in 1972 and Kasparov versus Karpov matches, especially the first one.

It's filled with a lot of drama, and they played five World championship matches.

So it's just insane between the same two players.

I also very much look forward to the upcoming Ding versus Gukesh World Championship match.

- I think, you know, one of these, you know, and Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov match I think is quite amazing.

I mean, looking back, I'm quite, you know, astonished how they managed to stay under control for so many months, so many years.

And I think unimaginable nowadays to, you know, to just play straight out three months, to play just chess.

Nowadays you can't imagine that, you know, but yeah, they did it, and all matches were quite amazing and I really liked those matches.

- The ones that I was following when I was already a chess player, of course, a very famous one is Fischer/Spassky, but I wasn't, I wasn't around then.

I could only read about it, and pretty much the same for Karpov/Kasparov.

So, and most of Kasparov's matches, I wasn't really, you know, able to follow, but from the modern ones, I would probably pick the Kramnik/Ananad.

I remember following closely and enjoying it quite a lot.

It was quite exciting, and the games were fun, and yeah, that one.

- I'm a bit biased towards more modern matches, like I would say from a historical point of view for sure, Bobby Fischer against Boris Spassky in 1972, the first time that an American player became world champion, unless you count Steinitz, in which case, yeah, if you even had the first world champion, but an American born player, Bobby Fischer.

And from a political point of view because it was like the United States against Soviet Union in some ways as well.

There was also a lot of intrigue there.

And also because he was such an interesting figure personally, and he forfeited a game, and he lost the first game in such a bizarre way that it has all these different elements.

And of course some of the games were incredibly rich and complex, but he also dominated near the end.

So it lost that intrigue from that point of view.

If we're talking about other matches, like of course very historically important is how Kasparov lost to Kramnik.

After dominating the chess world for 15 years, to lose to anyone is already, is already so significant.

But like the one that I watched live, because I didn't see these matches of course from when they were happening live.

I was too young for Karsparov/Kramnik, and I wasn't around for Fischer/Spassky.

But the one I followed very much live was the 2006 match between Kramnik and Topalov.

Not only from a chess point of view, but also because of all the surrounding events, the famous toilet gate, and so on, which I think was, made a lot of international news.

But the chess aspect was very interesting to me.

And I followed the first games with like enormous interest as I was still very young.

I was still a child, but I remember watching that very closely.

- Coming up next in the chess world 2024, the US Championships featuring the best men and women in America.

As chess continues to grow, the caliber of players in our national championships are now some of the best in the world.

American chess is expanding, and you are part of it.

From all of us here at "Today in Chess," we thank you for watching.

See you next time.

(dramatic music) - [Announcer] This has been a presentation of the Saint Louis Chess Club.

Any reproduction or distribution of this content without the express written consent of the Saint Louis Chess Club is prohibited.