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Women’s Cricket World Cup ‘ruined’ by ‘predictable’ Colombo rain, says Alex Hartley
You wait four years for a World Cup, but if you’re a player or fan in Colombo then you may have spent most of this tournament staring at the rain rather than enjoying some much-anticipated cricket.
Five of the nine matches staged in the Sri Lanka…
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Fire TV acting slow? 10 settings I changed on mine to instantly improve the performance
Why is my Fire TV running so slow?
That’s a complex question to answer. It could be the age of your device. Older hardware might struggle to load the latest apps and services. But it could also be a combination of outdated software, too many…
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Four brands make laptops with Intel’s Ultra 9 285HX, and half are already heavily discounted
- Four brands now sell laptops powered by Intel’s Ultra 9 285HX processor
- Lenovo joins Dell, MSI, and HP in offering Intel’s fastest mobile chip
- Ultra 9 285HX laptops remain expensive but two are suddenly much cheaper
If you’re in the market…
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Bitcoin Crash: A Canary In The Coal Mine – Forbes
- Bitcoin Crash: A Canary In The Coal Mine Forbes
- Gold Is King Now But BTC USD Will 14X To Over $1,400,000: Mexican Billionaire Yahoo Finance
- This Week’s Biggest Losers Revealed as Bitcoin Slides to $106K: Weekend Watch CryptoPotato
- Bitcoin & Ethereum Oversold Below Key Levels — MAGACOIN FINANCE Emerges as the Hidden Gem for 2025 Crypto Economy
- Bitcoin vs Gold: The Financial Future is Here OneSafe
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In Gaza, Palestinians reclaim small moments of dignity amid the ceasefire | Israel-Palestine conflict
Deir el-Balah, Gaza — Late on October 8, 2025, while everyone else in the house was asleep, I lay awake scrolling through my phone and journalist chat groups for updates. There were conflicting accounts from the ceasefire talks — of progress,…
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Like Jeff Bezos and Howard Schultz, Chess.com’s cofounder says people doubted his vision—with a 225 million-user empire, he’s now having the last laugh
In any entrepreneur’s journey, there are bound to be naysayers and doors slammed in their face.
When Jeff Bezos was drumming up his early visions of Amazon while working as a hedge fund manager, his Wall Street boss questioned if he could achieve success and financial security by selling books on the internet. And when Howard Schultz was looking for money to back his coffee business, called Starbucks, more than 200 investors believed no one would pay $3 for a cup of joe.
The same goes for two of Chess.com’s founders, Danny Rensch and Erik Allebest, when they were shopping out their platform to potential investors. Rensch tells Fortune they were routinely overlooked and disregarded.
“We were laughed out of VC rooms who said that chess would never be anything. Nobody invested early on, and it became the biggest blessing in disguise,” Rensch recalls.
No investor, no problem: Chess.com founder had his own back
Instead of relying on the pockets of investors, the Chess.com founders dipped into their own. They bootstrapped the online business in 2009 with money from Allebest’s former chess ventures, also borrowing $70,000 from a mother’s friend, which Rensch says they paid back very quickly. Soon, the entrepreneurs proved that VC investors missed out on a huge win; today, Chess.com is one of the largest online chess platforms in the world with more than 225 million registered members and 40 million active monthly users. Chess.com says it even surpassed a $1 billion valuation back in 2023.
Despite having to keep his day job for years while his bootstrapped company was clawing its way to profitability, Rensch says he wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s a part of Chess.com’s underdog story as the platform concept was not only mocked by venture capitalists, but also by the chess community at large. Now, the website has become essential for anyone who’s interested in, or serious about, chess—from novices to grandmasters.
“That is a really important part of the story—there was no money raised. We were completely bootstrapped,” Rensch continues. “And given where chess went, I think it’s funny and adds to the magic of ‘Wow, what happened here?”
It was the ‘laughingstock’ of the chess community before amassing 225 million users
When Chess.com was still on its business bambi legs, it not only had to take heat from the VC world, but also from its own community. Players were doubtful; the internet was still in its relative infancy in 2009. Plus, there were other niche chess gaming sites like ChessPark (which became a part of Chess.com), Chess Tempo, and Red Hot Pawn.
“Chess.com was the laughingstock of the online chess community,” Rensch says. “It sounds so funny to say now, but it really is important to reflect and understand that the internet—at its earliest inception—was not web two or let alone web three. Your website was just a place with a phone number for a lot of people.”
“There were niche communities and there were the main ones, but Chess.com itself, and the idea that it would become such an amazing home for every level of the chess playing community…was kind of ridiculous for most,” Rensch continues.
Rensch says he sees his website as a skill-sharpener that enriches people’s lives. In looking at Chess.com like a subscription service—like a Duolingo, Strava, or Spotify—the platform is a “lifestyle” ritual that users feel adds value to their well-being. And in the 16 years since the website’s inception, more than 225 million chess lovers have flocked to the platform to sharpen their gameplay and be in community.
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5 ways the Galaxy Z Fold 7 beats the Pixel 10 Pro Fold
Adamya Sharma / Android Authority
It’s been an exciting year for foldable phones, thanks largely to the Galaxy Z Fold 7. It’s a phone I haven’t been able to put down since launch. It’s not my daily driver, but it’s become my go-to work…
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England v India Live at the CACG in 2026
England v India Live at the CACG in 2026
England take on India in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup today and you can see the two nations clash…
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