The Galen Center is a multipurpose indoor arena and athletic facility owned and operated by the University of Southern California. Located at the southeast corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Figueroa Street in the Exposition Park area of Los Angeles, California, United States, it is right across the street from the campus and near the Shrine Auditorium. The Galen Center is the home of the USC Trojans basketball and USC volleyball; in addition it hosts concerts, pageants, theatrical performances, high school graduation ceremonies, CIF championships and the Academic Decathlon. The annual Kids' Choice Awards were held here from 2011 to 2014, and returned in 2017 and 2019.
Chess boxing, or chessboxing, is a hybrid sport that combines two traditional disciplines: chess and boxing. Two combatants play alternating rounds of blitz chess and boxing until one wins by checkmate or knockout. It is also possible to win by time penalty as in normal chess, and by boxing decision if there is a draw in the chess round.
Tihomir Atanassov Dovramadjiev, also known as Tihomir Tishko and as TigerTAD on the Playchess server, is a Bulgarian chess FIDE master and chess boxer. He became the first European chess boxing champion from Berlin, Germany, in 2005. with both World Chess Boxing Organisation - WCBO and World Chess Boxing Association - WCBA acknowledgments. He has held the International Chess Federation - FIDE title of FIDE master since 2004. Currently, he holds the position of associate professor in the Department of Industrial Design at the Technical University of Varna.
Tim Woolgar is a British chess boxer and event organiser who established Great Britain Chess Boxing Organisation and the London Chessboxing Club, the first United Kingdom chessboxing institution. He is the current president of the World Chessboxing Association. He is a former holder of the title, British Heavyweight Chess Boxing Champion. He also promotes chess boxing events.
Eric Hansen is a Canadian chess grandmaster and Twitch streamer. FIDE awarded him the grandmaster title in 2013. He competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2011 and 2013. Hansen has represented Canada in the Chess Olympiad.
Jake Joseph Paul is an American professional boxer, actor and YouTuber. He began his career posting videos on Vine in September 2013 and had amassed 5.3 million followers and 2 billion views before the app discontinued. As an actor, he played Dirk Mann on the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark (2016–2018). Paul launched his YouTube channel in May 2014, and has ranked on the Forbes list as one of the highest paid YouTube creators in 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2023. He also ranked on the 2022 Forbes list of the world's highest paid athletes.
Aman Hambleton is a Canadian chess grandmaster and Twitch/Kick streamer. He is a member of the Chessbrahs, along with other grandmasters such as Eric Hansen (founder), Robin van Kampen, and Yasser Seirawan.
Ali Kabbani, better known as Myth, is an American YouTube live streamer and former professional Fortnite Battle Royale player. Kabbani has over 4.5 million subscribers on his YouTube channel.
Jeremy Wang, better known as Disguised Toast, is a Taiwanese-Canadian streamer, YouTuber, and Internet personality. He got his start on YouTube, creating videos about the digital card game Hearthstone. Wang later began streaming on Twitch, before signing an exclusive streaming contract with Facebook Gaming in November 2019. In November 2021, Wang announced his return to streaming on Twitch.
Chris Broad, also known online as Abroad in Japan, is an English YouTuber, filmmaker, podcast host, author, and former Assistant Language Teacher. He focuses on creating videos about Japanese culture, Japanese food, and travel in Japan, primarily in the Tōhoku region.
Dina Vadimovna Belenkaya is a Russian-Israeli chess player, commentator, Twitch streamer, and YouTuber who holds the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She is a four-time St. Petersburg women's champion, and has represented St. Petersburg at the Russian Women's Team Championship and the European Chess Club Cup for Women. She has a peak FIDE rating of 2364.
Ludwig Anders Ahgren, known mononymously as Ludwig, is an American live streamer, YouTuber, podcaster, comedian, esports commentator, and competitor. Ahgren is best known for his live streams on Twitch from 2018 through late 2021, and on YouTube beginning in late 2021, where he broadcasts video-game-related content as well as non-video-game-related content such as game shows and contests. He is also known for his work as an esports commentator at various Super Smash Bros. Melee tournaments. He is the co-owner of the esports organization Moist Esports. He began streaming full-time on February 16, 2019.
PogChamps is a series of online amateur chess tournaments hosted by Chess.com. Players in the tournament are internet personalities, primarily Twitch streamers. PogChamps takes place over the course of two weeks. The first and second PogChamps had prize pools of $50,000 each, and the third and fourth iterations had prize pools of $100,000 each.
Connor Marc Colquhoun, known online as CDawgVA, is a Welsh streamer, YouTuber, voice actor, and podcaster currently based in Tokyo, Japan. He is affiliated with the Kadokawa-backed agency GeeXPlus.
Moist Esports is an esports organization founded in 2021 by Charles White Jr., also known as MoistCr1TiKaL, and is co-owned by several others, including Ludwig Ahgren. The organization currently has teams competing in Guilty Gear Strive, Rocket League, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Brawlhalla, Valorant, and Apex Legends. Their Rocket League division won Rocket League Championship Series 2021–22 Spring Split Major event in July 2022.
Andrea Cecilia Cristina Botez is a Canadian chess player, commentator, DJ and internet personality. She is mostly known as part of the BotezLive Twitch channel with her sister Alexandra Botez. She is also credited as one of the creators who popularized chess on Twitch.
Blaire, known online as QTCinderella, is an American Twitch streamer, YouTuber, and podcaster. She is the creator and host of The Streamer Awards. She is also a co-host of the Wine About It podcast and the Fear& podcast.
Eric Morino, better known as PointCrow, is an American YouTuber and Twitch streamer. He is known for online content surrounding video games—most notably The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom—and other real life productions. He has completed several challenges based around Breath of the Wild, and has received media attention for offering a US$10,000 bounty to whoever created a mod that allowed the game to be played in online multiplayer. The mod was released on April 4, 2023, and some of Morino's videos making use of it were issued YouTube copyright strikes by Nintendo shortly after.
Organized gameplay of chess in Canada began in 1844, when the country's first club was founded in Montreal, Quebec. The Canadian Chess Association was founded in Hamilton, Ontario in 1872, which was later renamed to the Canadian Chess Federation in 1932 and later in 1945 the Chess Federation of Canada. As of 2024, the CFC has over 2,500 members.
