19 April 2020

At the Cosmonaut Hotel

The best known of the chess playing astronauts was undoubtedly Greg Chamitoff, in large part because of First Earth vs. Space Chess Match Ends – Earth Wins (nasa.gov; December 2009). That story announced,

The first Earth vs. Space chess match, begun during astronaut Greg Chamitoff’s Expedition 17 stay aboard the International Space Station, is over -- and the Earth won.

Here's a more recent example.


Expedition 63 crewmembers play a game of chess © Flickr user NASA Johnson under Creative Commons.

The description of the photo said,

(April 1, 2020) - At the Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Expedition 63 crewmembers Chris Cassidy of NASA (left) and Ivan Vagner (center) and Anatoly Ivanishin (right) of Roscosmos play a game of chess April 1. They are preparing to launch April 9 on the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a six-and-a-half month mission on the International Space Station. Credit: Andrey Shelepin/Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.

For more on the subject from Flickr, see Astronaut Chris Cassidy (flickr.com), and Expedition 63 (ditto). Will Expedition 64 feature a tournament?

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