CHINA-SPORTS-CHESS-OFFBEAT

A chess fan holds a signed portrait of Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria as she takes part in a 'blinfold' chess tournament at the Beijing 2012 World Mind Games Tournament in Beijing on December 19, 2012. Some of the world's top chess players went eye-to-eye in the year's highest-level "blindfold" chess tournament -- seen by some as the toughest challenge in the game. Unable to physically see their own or their opponent's past moves, the players summoned headache-inducing levels of concentration to fight for gold in a silent conference room, lined up in front of laptop screens showing a blank board. AFP PHOTO / Ed Jones (Photo credit should read Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)