Chess Worlds Airthings Masters

by Teo Riviera-Wills ‘27 and Ryan Chang-Wu ‘27

Recently, in the world of chess, the Airthings tournament came to a climactic conclusion when two former speed chess world champions engaged in a showdown in Armageddon chess. (Armageddon chess is a variant of classical rapid play in which two players bid for black by giving up clock time. Reason being, that if the game is drawn, the player with the black pieces is counted as the winner.) The aforementioned match took place between Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen (two of the most prominent figures in the chess world.) In the bid for black, Hikaru seemingly thought one step ahead of Magnus by bidding 8:59 (as he assumed that Magnus would bid 9:00 minutes), but Magnus was actually two steps ahead… HE BID 8:58! He pulled a move similar to that of a poker grandmaster, and outsmarted Hikaru, giving Magnus the advantage as black.

The game began with Hika- ru moving his knight to f3 in a reverse King’s Indian Defense in which Hikaru hoped for a closed position (a position where both players’ development is severely limited) in order to utilize his time advantage against Magnus. Hikaru’s methodical opening set a clean pace by taking territory whilst avoiding material exchanges. When the 11-minute mark was reached, Hikaru had taken the lead against Magnus and commanded a fantastic position with a multitude of outlets for attack and three of his outermost pawns pushing forward.

Hikaru’s proposed locked position on equal footing by evening the

Unfortunately for Hikaru, even with a seismic developmental advantage, his opponent was still Magnus Carlsen. Towards the middle of the game, Magnus increased his tempo and found a pivotal move by pushing his f-pawn into the center of the board thus weakening Hikaru’s flank while simultaneously pressuring his pawn structure. Magnus would then go on to accept original time advantage. The two eventually decided the game was drawn, and, as stated above, in Armageddon Chess when a game is drawn the win goes to black. So, in conclusion, Magnus Carlsen won the Airthings Tournament and reminded us why he is still the GOAT.

With the NFL Draft less than 2 months away, NFL teams are preparing to meet their positional needs with the newest class of top prospects. This year features another top-heavy class, with some generational talent at the top, but not much depth for later rounds. The teams with top 10 picks are: 1) The Panthers, who embarrassingly badly need QB, 2) the Texans, who could use every position, 3) the Cardinals who are missing an OL, EDGE, or LB 4) the Colts, who really need a QB but could also use an OT or WR, 5) the Seahawks via the Broncos, needing anyone on defense, 6) the Lions who lack a franchise QB, DL, and CB, 7) the Raiders who do not have a satisfactory OL or secondary, 8) the Falcons who could use any position, 9) the Bears who need any position but QB, and finally 10) the Eagles who need a second-