Welcome to Week 9 of The Chess News Podcast, where I talk about the London Chess Classic, chess played underwater, and more. We're wrapping up the London Chess Classic, where Nodirbek Abdudattorov won the Elite tournament and scored 6 wins in a row between rounds 2 and 7. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu tied for first in the Open and further cemented his lead in the FIDE Circuit.

A remarkable event was held on Thursday in Cape Town, as part of several side events anticipating the upcoming Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Finals in South Africa. Hans Niemann became the Diving Chess Cape Town 2025 Champion after beating Fabiano Caruana in the final of an underwater chess event held at the Silo Hotel in Cape Town. In what was the first-ever under water Freestyle competition, the players made their moves on a small chess set placed 110 centimeters deep, on the bottom of the Silo Hotel’s beautiful rooftop pool. Each time a player moved and came out of the water to catch some air, the opponent had to take a dive instantly and make their move.

Other news items covered are the Jerusalem Masters, the Argentine Championship, the launch of the Pia Cramling Cup, Casto Abundo passing, and the film War is Over!.

SOURCES

London Chess Classic Round 6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I82E2Ur-Xfg

London Chess Classic Round 7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOGvmx5EhaU

London Chess Classic Round 8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikviuV_p9Tc

Diving Chess: ChessBase India

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyYFD0B2SFk

War is Over!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W68-XaFepOg

Thanks for listening and please spread the word that this podcast exists! :-)

You might also be interested in my other podcast Masters and Matches which I co-host with Arne Moll.

https://peterdoggers.com/masters-and-matches-podcast/

Also, check out my book The Chess Revolution at

https://peterdoggers.com/book/