The Guardian

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Chess: Turkey’s Yagiz Erdogmus, 14, reaches record 2700 rating – ‘now for 2800 and 2900’

The teenager crushed Veselin Topalov 5-1 to become the youngest ever 2700-rated grandmaster, after which his coach said his future target was 2900

Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, 14, has become chess’s youngest 2700-rated grandmaster, breaking an age record set a decade ago by China’s Wei Yi at 15. The Turkish teenager is already the highest ever rated 12, 13, and 14-year-old, and the youngest to reach the world top 50. For the moment, his new achievement only shows in the live daily ratings, but will become official when Fide’s monthly list for May is published at the end of the month.

Veselin Topalov was the world No 1 20 years ago and was the Fide world champion. However, the Bulgarian has been largely inactive since he finished seventh of 10 at Norway 2022 and the rust showed in his performance. For Erdogmus, it was his third important match success, following his 4-2 victory against the eight-time Russian champion Peter Svidler and his 3.5-2.5 margin against France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. One of his wins from the 2025 Fide Grand Swiss in Samarkand has been dubbed the “Turkish Immortal” due to its brilliant sacrificial conclusion.

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Alcaraz must heed injury wake-up call as absence leaves hole in clay-court season | Tumaini Carayol

Smart scheduling is key to longevity and avoiding injuries, and the Spaniard has sometimes paid for his imprudence

Carlos Alcaraz’s title defence at the Monte Carlo Masters ended two Sundays ago in an intense two-set final loss to his arch-rival Jannik Sinner. While some players would have been desperate for a break after a gruelling week, Alcaraz had other plans. Less than 24 hours later, he landed back home in Spain to compete at the Barcelona ATP 500 event, immediately undertaking promotional duties. A few hours after his first practice, the following day, Alcaraz walked on to Pista Rafa Nadal for his opening match.

By the next day Alcaraz was out. He had struggled with pain in his right wrist during his first-round match, an injury that turned out to be more serious than first thought. The 22-year-old is uncertain about his return date, and whether he will be able to compete at Roland Garros. He wears a bulky immobilisation cast on his right wrist while awaiting tests on the injury.

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Week in wildlife: a tiny harvest mouse, bagel cats and a rhino out for a stroll

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world

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Sports quiz of the week: title races, snooker drama and marathon records

Have you followed the big stories in football, snooker, cricket, NFL, athletics, rugby league and golf?

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Aches and strains seem worse with age but we ambling amateur footballers just can’t let go | Max Rushden

I’m now at a time of life where a rib injury can feel like a ruptured spleen but playing still trumps watching, so we go again. Again

I woke up a few weeks ago with a searing pain under my left ribs. I ruled out heart attack relatively quickly – I haven’t read about your heart sagging as you enter deep middle age, or whatever your late 40s is. Breathing was uncomfortable, but not short – there were no stabbing pains. Inhaling ached, and it turns out you inhale all the time.

Once I was confident of seeing out the remainder of the day, I started Googling other potential ailments in this region, confidently seizing upon ruptured spleen. It sounded impressive enough to put in a WhatsApp group. And so I went with it.

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Rightwing populism is littered with broken promises. Its opponents need to make those failures count | Andy Beckett

As Trump lurches from tariffs to wars and Farage makes unrealistic pledges about immigration, their impunity needs to end

Rightwing populists always promise they will get things done when they get into power. Immigration will be halted. Government waste will be eradicated. Traditional values will be revived. National decline will be halted. National greatness will be restored. Relations with the outside world will be redrawn.

Great tasks that, for decades, have been beyond the capability and will of conventional, compromising politicians will be accomplished – and fast. Populist governments will respond decisively to voters’ accumulated frustrations, cut through bureaucracy, and avoid the delays, U-turns and half-finished projects that usually blight democracies. The business of government will be straightforward and highly productive – even heroic – rather than complicated and disappointing.

Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist

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The Register

Biting the hand that feeds IT — Enterprise Technology News and Analysis

To fix this Wi-Fi network, we'll need a crane

Won't somebody think of the children not being hit by a load of building materials?

On Call  Delivering excellent tech support can sometimes require heavy lifting, a feat The Register celebrates each Friday with a new instalment of On Call – the reader-contributed column that shares your stories of hoisting glitchy tech back to full function.…

In het sportwalhalla van Zuid-Nederland verbindt Joop alles en iedereen

Het was al even geleden dat ik Joop Petit had ontmoet, en misschien deed het me daarom zo goed hem weer te spreken.

‘Turkse erkenning dat er iets verschrikkelijks is gebeurd, zou voor Armeniërs al veel betekenen’

Elk jaar op 24 april wordt de Armeense genocide herdacht, maar een officiële herdenking is in Turkije wederom verboden. De Armeens-Turkse krant Agos probeert al dertig jaar de Armeense stem een plek te geven in de Turkse samenleving.

Rijksoverheid.nl - Nieuwsberichten

Nieuwsberichten op Rijksoverheid.nl

Volledig arbeidsongeschikten toch aan het werk door extra hulp

Ruim één op de drie volledig afgekeurde mensen die meededen aan een proef lukte het toch om aan het werk te komen. Ze kregen hulp van UWV bij het vinden van een baan. De behoefte aan deze dienstverlening blijkt groot; UWV ondersteunde meer mensen dan verwacht.