A competitor playing chess underwater | REUTERS
The age-old game of chess has had a quirky makeover in the World Dive Chess Championships which took place in London on Saturday (August 25).
Players use a magnetic board and magnetic pieces and, while the rules remain the same, the playing environment is a little more challenging, with players only able to make moves while submerged without breathing apparatus in a swimming pool.
Once players have dived under the surface they cannot come back up for air until they have made their move.
The unusual hybrid of chess and water sports was the brainchild of American Etan Ilfeld who wanted to incorporate a physical element into chess to make it more fun and quirky.
The tournament is played over four rounds with each match lasting up to an hour but average games take around 30 – 40 minutes.
After a long day in the pool, a delighted Rajko Vujatovic emerged as the winner, ending the championship with a narrow win over his nearest rival. — Reuters
The Philippine team won the country’s first medal in chess on Thursday (December 5).
The Filipino Woodpushers, composed of Grandmasters Eugene Torre, Darwin Laylo and with International Master Paulo Bersamina won the gold in the men’s chess team problem solving event.
Meanwhile, Janelle Mae Frayna, Catherine Secopito, Shania Mendoza settle for silver in women’s chess team problem solving event.—AAC
Climate change activists disrupted rail services in the east of London early on Thursday morning (September 17), sparking a physical confrontation between angry commuters and a protester who had climbed onto the roof of a London Underground train, video on social media showed.
“I’m doing this primarily for my grandchildren because I’ve learned that what we’re heading towards at the moment is an increase in temperature of over three degrees centigrade. Suffering and death on an enormous scale. Loss of food supplies,” said Phil Kingston, an 83-year old campaigner.
“I’m also here because the poorest people in the world who live in the tropics and they are experiencing the worst impacts of climate breakdown and environmental breakdown,” he added.
British Transport Police said they had responded to incidents at Shadwell, Stratford and Canning Town, near to London’s Canary Wharf financial district.
Footage showed protesters unfurling an Extinction Rebellion protest group banner on top of a stationary London Underground train at Canning Town before one was pelted with food and physically dragged off by commuters.
“Arrests have already been made and officers are working to quickly resume services,” the police said in a statement.
Extinction Rebellion launched a wave of civil disobedience on October 7 to highlight the risks posed by climate change and the accelerating loss of plant and animal species.
Police in London said on Wednesday they had arrested 1,642 people since the protests started. (Reuters)
(Production: Tara Oakes)
A climate change protester dressed as a broccoli was arrested by police in London on Sunday (October 13), shouting “give peas (peace) a chance” and holding up a floret of broccoli.
The demonstrator who was wearing a large green broccoli headpiece and green face makeup was detained in London’s Oxford Street.
In April, the same protester who is a member of Animal Rebellion, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, was involved in a protest at the House of Commons, in which protesters removed items of their clothing and pressed their buttocks against the security glass in the chamber.
The demonstrator was released later on Sunday.
Extinction Rebellion, which uses civil disobedience to highlight the risks posed by climate change and the accelerating loss of plant and animal species, is midway through a new two-week wave of actions in cities around the world. (Reuters)
(Production: Andrew Marshall, Natalia Oriol, Parniyan Zemaryalai)
