Abstract strategy games

Čatež ob Savi – The Russian women’s team is at the cusp of wining the title at the European Team Chess Championship with two rounds of play to go, whereas the open competition remains wide open with Azerbaijan and Ukraine at the top.

In the women’s competition, Russia have a flawless record with 14 points after defeating Azerbaijan.

Maki Kaji, a puzzle enthusiast and publisher who was known as the "Godfather of Sudoku" - the number puzzle played daily by millions around the world - has died, his company said. He was 69.

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From 2011, when demonstrations broke out against the Assad regime, the war in Syria has been like a multidimensional game of Tic-tac-toe, where various players - countries and groups - are continually moving to acquire territory and influence, while others try to prevent them and at the same time further their own interests.

The ancestor of the game of chess is believed to date back to India in the sixth century.

However, in the ancient Orient, from China to Egypt, several similar games representing a combat between pawns on a kind of draughtboard also existed.