Chess News

Roosendaal? It is not one of the more famous Dutch towns, but rather sneaks by unseen, unheard, unnoticed. But it pays host to a lovely weekend tournament: "I can honestly say I have never seen such joyful, full-of-life and happy-to-help-you organizers – the Dutch gezellig way became rather contagious..." writes WGM Alina L'Ami in her big pictorial report.

After the London 2012 Olympics, in which we saw a number of records fall with participants from 204 nations, the upcoming Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey, should be no less impressive. Players hailing from over 160 countries are expected. The official website is already up with a list of the many teams and their makeups, and expect to enjoy photos and videos as well.

Some people are out to get him. The allegation that Kasparov had bitten a police officer in the course of his violent arrest is clearly intended to provide grounds for a jail sentence. However, using BBC video Kasparov is able to demonstrate that the officer in question, his hands clearly visible before, during, and after the police assault, was never injured

"If you post a follow-up article on Gligoric, please don't make the mistake of other sites and simply copy & paste his win versus Petrosian from Rovinj-Zagreb from Wikipedia," wrote Kiril Penusliski. We asked the Macedonian art historian to select examples that better illustrate the unique Gligoric style, and he sent us some beautifully annotated games of his teacher and mentor. Do not miss this one.

The trend of matches between aging champions and another set of players is an attractive one, and has been tried in many forms. The Geneva Chess Club proposed its own spin by pitting its aspiring masters against a group of legendary players. The veterans won, led by Viktor Korchnoi, 81 years-old, bound to a wheelchair. Report, video, plus photos by Frits Agterdenbos.

This event with zwelve elite female players is taking place in the Armenian hamlet of Jermuk, which is fast becoming a centre of chess, with it's third Grand Prix in four years. It started with a big opening ceremony on Monday, with the President of the country (and chess federation) present. In round one on Tuesday Humpy, Ju Wenjun and Kovalevskaya scored.

The fourth round was such a lukewarm affair, there was nothing to remark on the five draws other than their exercise in symmetry at the end. Round five was another story altogether. While Kramnik and Ponomariov were unable to decide anything, Karjakin beat Daniel Fridman in a powerful game, Caruana outclassed Gustaffson in their encounter, and Bartel lost to Naiditsch

Today the best players in the world would balk at playing against a strong chess program. But are there any positions or ideas left that computers cannot figure out? Kiyoshi Takahashi has put together some elementary themes that traditionally posed problems for computers. To this we have added a study which for almost thirty years has genuinely stumped our electronic friends.

Vladimir Kramnik is famous for his merciless destruction of the King's Indian. He has been so efficient that even Garry Kasparov shied away from it, and it all but disappeared from elite play for many years. So imagine Jan Gustafsson's shock in round two, when he found himself facing it in the hands of its most notorious killer. And what a game!

Just six weeks ago Viswanathan Anand successfully defended his World Championship title in Moscow, against Israeli GM Boris Gelfand. Immediately after the final Anand spoke to an old friend, journalist Jaideep Unudurti. The interview was too long (and profound) for his newspaper, which carried only parts of it. Jaideep has given us the rest, which we bring you in three parts.

A quick draw in the final round left Ivan Sokolov and Alex Shabalov tied for first in the Open Section, with 7.0/9 points each. They were not caught by three GMs half a point behind, and so had to take part in an Armageddon play-off. Sokolov had the white pieces and five minutes, Shabalov the black pieces, three minutes and draw odds. Ivan Sokolov won and became the 2012 World Open Champion.

Yesterday we reported on the start of the historic World Championship match between Boris Spassky and his challenger Robert Fischer. In a completely drawn position the American had lost a bishop and was fighting to survive. Many thought he would make it, but after resumption Spassky played with great precision to win the first game. We ask our readers: could the game have been saved?

That could have been the headline of our newspage, exactly forty years ago this afternoon, when after some harrowing manoeuvring the US Challenger Bobby Fischer sat down to the first game of the World Championship match against Boris Spassky in Iceland. It was a very tense encounter and has been beautifully recreated by Frank Brady, who was an eye-witness at the scene.

WGM Alina L'Ami is frank about it: she was never a big fan of weekend tournaments for the obvious reason: too much chess in too short a time. But never say never! As it turned out, the Nova College Chess Tournament changed her mind. Not just her as one surprise guest was famous GM Ulf Andersson. It didn't hurt that it was in Haarlem, Holland, a postcard setting, not to mention: pink everywhere!

Which continuation would you recommend to maintain/increase Black's clear positional superiority?

A) 23...Rd6
B) 23...Rd8
C) 23...Ng4

He has a daunting task: GM Adrian Mikhalchishin coaches WGM Betul Cemre Yildiz, bottom seed at the Women's Grand Prix in Kazan. In round two she faced the reigning women's world champion Hou Yifan, rated almost three hundred points above her, with the black pieces. But Betül managed to trick her Chinese opponent and pull off her first win against her. Mikhalchishin tells us how.

The 3rd Hainan Danzhou GM tournament finished in a race. The sole leader GM Ni Hua, opted for a quick draw against GM Zhao Jun in the last round. GM Bu Xiangzhi, who was half a point behind, beat top seed GM Wang Yue, and snatched first place on tiebreak. This also gave him the last spot on the Chinese team for the Olympiad. He comments his win in the pictorial by Gu Xiaobing.

Almost two weeks have passed since World Champion Anand narrowly defended his title in Moscow, although he was supposed to win it in a breeze. How that came about and what was involved in preparatory work on both sides is described by Australian GM Ian Rogers. Meanwhile columnist P.K. Ajith Kumar tells us about Anand's charisma in India

It was perhaps not the highest level chess, but as far as drama and excitement go, spectators were on the edges of their seats. Morozevich set up a violent attack against Nakamura, but as time trouble came, Nakamura found inspired moves and turned the tables for his first win. Caruana beat McShane and Kramnik exchanged blunders with Tomashevsky to win.

The top-ranked players were all battling for the medals, but it was the luckiest (by her own admission) who took Gold in the end. Antoneta Stefanova could hardly complain – two of her highest-ranked opponents blundered winning positions to mate in two or mate in one. The Blitz Championship starts on Monday. From the final rounds of the Rapid we are treated to Europe Echecs video reports.

More than a month away from home, family, children. At long last World Championship Challenger Boris Gelfand was back on Israeli soil. At Tel Aviv Airport he was given a hero's welcome, by young fans and the press. At the airport there was a scare with missing luggage, but that resolved itself quickly, and the family reunion was unspoiled.