AUTHOR: Jerry "Jet" Whittaker
TITLE: Poker academy uses professionals to recruit players
DATE: 7:58 AM
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BODY:
<p class="mobile-post">The prospect of easy winnings is luring professional chess players to poker.
Faceto-face or online, the attraction is compelling. "What could be better
than to do it at your home, order filet mignon in and listen to rock music
while making thousands of dollars? " asks former U.S. women's chess champion
Jennifer Shahade. Attesting to the reality of the phenomenon is the
full-page advertisement placed by the German online poker academy
PokerStrategy.cc in the most recent issue of the Dutch magazine New in
Chess. The ad promises to launch chess players - who will have "a huge
advantage over their opponents" - into successful poker careers. Among the
PokerStrategy faculty are German chess grandmasters Matthias Wahls and
Rustem Dautov. Members of the poker academy include Rustam Kasimdzhanov and
Mikhail Gurevich, ranked 36 th and 63 rd in the world among chess players.
To the chess purist, the association with poker might seem profane. But
competing for money in casual play, as well as for tournament prizes, is de
rigueur for participants in many games, including chess. According to
Canadian grandmaster Pascal Charbonneau, poker helps to perfect abilities
similar to chess and develops a psychological awareness and practical
approach that are also applicable to the royal game.</p>
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