British Chess Prodigy Sells Artificial Intelligence Software Firm to Google for £242 million

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hello everyone,

Mail Online has just reported that neuroscientist and computer genius Demis Hassabis, 37, has sold his company DeepMind to Google for £242million. A comprehensive school-educated computer genius has become a multi-millionaire overnight after selling his company to Google.

Neuroscientist Demis Hassabis, 37, co-founded DeepMind Technologies just two years ago with the aim of trying to help computers think like humans.

His company has yet to produce anything commercially but Google has still paid £242million for its expertise in the pioneering field of artificial intelligence. It represents Google’s biggest ever single acquisition in Europe.

Mr Hassabis told MailOnline: We’re really excited to be joining Google.
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Mr Hassabis grew up in Hendon, north London. At the age of four, he saw his father, a Greek-Cypriot entrepreneur, playing chess and asked to be taught the rules. Within weeks, he was beating his father. A couple of years later he was programming computers.

The acquisition by the Californian-based giant is the biggest single purchase in Europe. DeepMind specialises in 'machine learning' designing computers that can learn from their mistakes.

Read the full article at Mail Online.

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Norway Chess Talent: It's 13-year-old Aryan Tari!

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

The young Norwegian Aryan Tari made a sensational result in the Open Norwegian Championship scoring a GM norm before ever having made any IM norms. The 13-year old, FIDE rated at 2293 on the March list, is considered to be the greatest chess talent in the country since Magnus Carlsen. Last year he became the youngest ever Norwegian Junior U20 champion having just turned 13 years. His best result in the World U12 Youth Championship is 5th place. In the Open Norwegian Championship, Aryan was 23rd seed, but finished at 7th place with 6 out of 9 points.

Aryan Tari

Along the way he scored full points against Norwegian #2 GM Jon Ludvig Hammer (2629), National team member IM Frode Urkedal (2470) and Serbian GM Misa Pap (2511). The overall winner of the tournament is GM Eduardas Rozentalis from Lithuania who finished with 7,0/9 ahead of the group of followers, continuing the fine shape from the recent Jersey Masters. With the fantastic result, Aryan picked up a whopping 51 points climbing rapidly towards 2400. Turning 14 in June, Tari is well on his way to becoming one of the youngest grandmasters to ever achieve the prestigious title in chess. Magnus Carlsen himself achieved the title at the age of 13 years and 4 months. Magnus also graciously praised his young compatriot at the final press conference after the victory in Candidates Tournament.

Aryan Tari, with parents originating from Iran, is leading the group of Norwegian chess talents who are selected to be on one of Norway’s three teams in the 2014 Chess Olympiad in Tromsø. (Photo: Bjørn Berg Johansen/Report Chessdom.com)

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Name Chess Prodigy Clicked in New York

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

This photo is of a chess prodigy from New York when he was only 11. Can you name the year and the chess wizard? Don't use google images okay! ;)

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
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When Chess Prodigy Vanished from New York Street

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

We found this amazing feature on the New York Observer by Sarah Weinman.

The Mysterious Disappearance of Peter Winston


How does one of the world’s top chess prodigies just vanish from a New York street?


It should have been a cakewalk. On a Saturday afternoon in 1972 in a seedy hotel conference room in Midtown Manhattan, two men faced off across a chessboard. Well, one of them was a man—Walter Browne, a six-time United States champion regarded as perhaps the best American player not named Bobby Fischer. Facing him was a 14-year-old kid only a few years removed from his very first game. Dark, curly hair curtained his eyes. He was slight and a little over medium height, with a notable lack of physical coordination that belied a singular concentration. He was good, sometimes very good, and many observers considered him a future star. But he wasn’t Walter Browne.

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