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Chess In the Media

Young chess champ wins UTB-TSC scholarhip (Brownsville Herald, Texas)

Eight-year-old Fernando Spada Jr. is comfortable in the spotlight. He’s even used to being photographed with presidents.

Most recently, Spada had the opportunity to hobnob with another president. Dr. Juliet V. Garcia, president of The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, presented a full academic scholarship to the Hudson Elementary School second-grade student for his accomplishments in chess.

Rook Work: Professor's love of chess helps create club, recruit for Tech (Daily Toreador, Texas)

Bobby Fischer was picky. His bid for the position of world champion of chess in 1972 almost did not take place because of his demands about location, setting and pay. The American ingenue was "difficult to like," said observer Haraldur Karlsson. Yet, when Fischer began to play chess, it didn't matter.

"When Fischer sat down, it was like Mozart sat down at the chess board," he said. "He was truly a genius."

Karlsson, an associate professor of geosciences at Texas Tech, said the match was more than a game between two people. It was east versus west, with the underlying current of the Cold War driving their confrontation.

Chess boxing: Brain and brawn (CNN.com)

Bulgarian boxer Tihomir Titschko's punishing right hook and fancy footwork were not enough to defeat his opponent.

Instead, it was the stocky fighter's mastery of knights and bishops that proved decisive in his successful bid to become the first European chess boxing champion in a dimly lighted warehouse in east Berlin.

Chess boxing is one of the newest and most unlikely hybrid sports, designed to test both brain and brawn. A typical match consists of up to 11 alternating rounds of boxing and "blitz" chess sessions.

Do you know of an interesting, humorous, or unique chess story published online? E-mail us at newsletter@uschess.org.