Polar Chess Competition - at the South Pole

[Kevin Thurlow]

I am indebted to yesterday's "i" newspaper (formerly the "Independent") for a report headed, "Chess Masters set for South Pole showdown". Some years ago, Nigel Short commented that he had won tournaments on six of the seven continents, the only one missing being Antarctica. Aung Kyaw Moe (an entrepreneur from Myanmar) thought an Antarctic tournament was a good idea, so has decided to organize it next January. The six players, one from each permanently inhabited continent, will fly from Cape Town (which the "i" helpfully informs us is in South Africa) to Antarctica, and thence for another seven hours by small adapted aircraft to the geographic South Pole. Luckily, this will be the height of summer and the temperature will have risen to about -28 C.

Players are
Nigel Short 2594 GM
Aung Kyaw Moe 2158 CM
Damaris Abarca Gonzalez (Chile) 1996 WFM
Jesse February (South Africa) 2010 WIM
Shaun Press (Papua New Guinea) 1927 FM
Tris-Ann Richards (Saint Lucia) 1701 WCM

A word of advice, if food runs short, don't eat seal liver.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Also covered by Leonard Barden in his chess column:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/ ... ate-impact

Chess: Nigel Short to play at south pole in event criticised over climate impact

The former world title challenger, 61, will take on representatives from five other continents in a tournament rated by the global chess body Fide