Chess World Cup Starts in Baku 

The Chess World Cup 2015 starts Friday in Baku, Azerbaijan with the initial matches in the first 64 bilateral duels determined by the location of each chess player on the world list.
The list of foreign competitors does not have the first two in the world's ranking, Norwegian Magnus Carlsen and Indian Viswanathan Anand, the only ones from the Top Ten who are absent at the event.
The head position is for the Bulgarian Veselin Topalov, former competitor from the world's throne, escorted by Americans Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, and Dutch Anish Giri.
Naturally, they will debut in encounters against opponents of much lower quality, in this way they should go without problems to the next round.
A Latin American duel will take place on the opening day, starring Peruvian Julio Granda, planted in box 50, and Brazilian Alexander Fier (77), who shared as colleagues in the Spanish chess club Collado Villalba.
Meanwhile, the best chess player in the region, Leinier Domínguez (18), will debut against Iranian Pouya Idani (111).
Cuba will have four other players at the fair, but only Lázaro Bruzon is predicted as the winner in this first day, who will face Indian Vidit Santosh Gujrathi.
Cup predicts matches by the system of traditional games with alternating colors between each competitor and quick playoffs only necessary if they finish with a tie after those first two games.
Only two days of general rest are scheduled, the first will be on the 26th before the semifinals, and the other the 30th, prior to the beginning of the final.

Cuban Baseball Series

An error committed by third baseman Jefferson Delgado allowed Isla de la Juventud to score the winning run in the 11th inning to defeat Matanzas 7-6 to complete an spectacular slide of the 55th Cuban Baseball Series.
Matanzas has a record so far of three wins and six defeats, including two slides.
Other teams which completed the slide on Thursday include Industriales over Artemisa with knock out of 12-2, Holguin over Camaguey 8-6 and current champion Ciego de Avila over Guantanamo 6-4. 
In others games, Villa Clara beat Pinar del Rio 3-2, Mayabeque knocked out  Sancti Spíritus 11-1,  Santiago de Cuba defeated Cienfuegos by a score of 6-5 and Granma won over Las Tunas by shutout.

Penn State baseball team plans trip to Cuba

The Penn State baseball team has a historical trip planned for later this fall, according to the Center Daily Times.
The Nittany Lions will spend Thanksgiving week in Cuba for a unique cultural and educational experience.  The trip was announced Thursday by head coach Rob Cooper.
In partnership with the Centro de Estudios Martianos (Center for Marti Studies) in Havana, Penn State baseball and the University Office of Global Programs have received preliminary approval for the trip from the Cuban Baseball Commission. Students will have the opportunity to experience Cuban history and culture through lectures, tours and site visits, while also playing several exhibition games.  Potential opponents are expected to include university teams and Cuban national squads.
“This is an incredible educational and life experience that baseball is serving as a vehicle for,” Cooper said. “It’s also another example of the vast educational opportunities Penn State offers to student-athletes. I am very excited that our students are getting the opportunity to experience another culture through baseball.”
A number of details still need to be addressed, and the team will rely on assistance from fans, alumni and friends for funding the trip. 


FIFA Presidential Candidates Under Investigation 

All presidential candidates of the Federal International Football Association (FIFA) will need to pass “integrity checks before they can stand for the post, said the soccer body's Audit and Compliance Committee chair on Thursday.
At the end of the day, it goes down to the merits of the accusations. The ethics committee carries out the integrity checks and the election committee will rely heavily on the assessment of the ethics committee." said Chair Domenico Scala at a press conference in Zürich.
The measure is part of Scala's eight-point reform plan, which was presented to the 2016 FIFA Reform Committee earlier this month as part of their commitment to creating greater transparency in the organization.  The head position is vacant after former president Sepp Blatter announced his resignation, just days after being re-elected, amid a corruption scandal in which seven FIFA senior members were arrested by the FBI and Swiss authorities. 
One of the three front runners, Chung Mong-Joon from South Korea, has said the ethics committee investigation is an attempt to sabotage his candidacy from within the world’s soccer governing body.    
The Union of European Football Associations president (UEFA), Michel Platini and Prince Ali of Jordan, who was defeated by Sepp Blatter in May, are also in the presidential race. Meanwhile, Scala has said the ethics committee will have to give the green light to all candidates ahead of the Feb. 26 election.

Women wrestlers possible in Olympics

The president of the international wrestling federation says there’s a possibility that women’s Greco-Roman could be added as an Olympic sport. 
United World Wrestling head Nenad Lalovic said at the world championships that increasing gender equity is a must for the sport.  But Lalovic added that any move toward women’s Greco-Roman likely wouldn’t happen until after the 2020 Tokyo Games at the earliest.