Chess News

  • King's Tournament Medias – pictures from the opening ceremony
    Friday afternoon the six players of the Fifth Kings Tournamentin Medias gathered together in the Natural Gas Documentation and Information Centre to meet the sponsors, Romgaz, execute the drawing of lots and speak to the journalists. The ceremony had a world champion present: Ognean Mihnea-Ionut, World School under seven Champion.
    Posted: Saturday 11 June 2011
  • Master Moves #13
    All the deepest plans or endgame technique are useless if you fall victim to a shot that leaves you in a lost position. Likewise, sometimes that superior play will only offer a single window of opportunity to deliver that final blow, so it is vital to be ready for it when it does. All the positions are from the 2011 French League Championship. Time to bodybuild the brain!
    Posted: Friday 10 June 2011
  • Checks and counterchecks
    In this position White had just played 26.Nxe5 inviting his opponent to go for 26...Rxg2. Which continuation leads to victory after that?

    A) 27.Nf7+ Kg8 28.Nh6+;
    B) 27.Ng4+ Kg8 28.Qe6+;
    C) neither nor, Black can always save his skin with a discovered (counter) check.
    Posted: Friday 10 June 2011
  • Garry Kasparov launches Chess Foundation in Europe
    Garry Kasparov and Jan Callewaert, founder of Option, today announced the creation of the Kasparov Chess Foundation Europe. The mission of this non-profit organization will be to bring the many educational benefits of chess to children and young people throughout schools in Europe, both public and private, by providing a complete chess curriculum and enrichment programs.
    Posted: Thursday 9 June 2011
  • CBM Blog: Fortress or Not? + Knight endings
    Against a bishop the defender can often try to construct a fortress, as it can visit only half the squares of the chessboard, as our resident GM and endgame specialist Karsten Müller demonstrates. The themes of outside passed pawn and zugzwang play a major role in knight endings as well, where, due to the tactical abilities of the knight, great care is often required. Learn and become stronger.
    Posted: Wednesday 1 June 2011
  • No fewer than four candidate moves ...
    ... the first player had to consider here when she went for 34.Rd1-d8 (diagram), pinning the Bf8 on the opponent's back rank but also making her own king prone to perpetual check ideas. What is the correct continuation for Black now?
    A) 34...Rd6
    B) 34...Rxf6
    C) 34...Qb1+ 35.Kh2 Qe4
    D) 34...Qb2
    Posted: Saturday 28 May 2011
  • Italian National Scholastic Team Championship set a new record
    This year the annual event attracted 1480 players from 286 schools from all over Italy. It was staged from May 12-15 in the beautiful city of Spoleto in Umbria, the center of the country. The large number of participants relied to a great degree on support from the FIDE Chess in Schools initiative and its Chairman Ali Nihat Yazici, as we learn from this illustrated report by IM Martha Fierro.
    Posted: Saturday 28 May 2011
  • CBM Blog: One diagonal, and to exchange or not to exchange?
    Pure opposite colored bishop endings have a very large drawish tendency. If the defender is dug in on squares of his own bishop his fortress usually cannot be stormed. In his second example our resident GM endgame expert has a serious admonition: before trading down into a pawn ending you should calculate it to the end. Useful lessons for tournament success.
    Posted: Saturday 28 May 2011
  • St. Louis: Nakamura and Robson prevail in whirlwind final
    Both the native GMs led after the six classical games. Hikaru Nakamura went on to defeat Ukrainian FIDE ex-world champion Ruslan Ponomariov by 3-1 in the rapids, while Ray Robson held Ben Feingold 2-2 to maintain his two-point overall lead. The rapid chess phase was interrupted by tornado warnings, which sent the players into the basement.
    Posted: Friday 27 May 2011
  • 2nd Hainan Dangzhou: 16-year-old Yu Yangyi leads
    After the success of the first Hainan Dangzhou tournament, the second edition is underway and a long-term contract has already been signed for five tournaments. This year has the cream of the crop of Chinese players including Wang Hao, Wang Yue and the teen prodigies, Hou Yifan and Yu Yangyi. 16-year-old Yangyi leads after three rounds. Here is the illustrated report by Gu Xiaobing.
    Posted: Wednesday 18 May 2011
  • Karsten Müller's CBM Blog: Deceptive Simplicity, Knight Moves
    Our resident GM endgame expert shows us that even pawn endings with only a few remaining pawns can be quite tricky. In his second example he shows us a tricky pawn ending with rook and knight, one he asks you to try and work out in your mind before you look at the solution. Dr. Müller once again proves that learning can be fun.
    Posted: Monday 16 May 2011
  • FIDE Candidates Semis Tiebreak: G-Day for the Ks
    It was G-Day for the Ks, as both Kramnik and Kamsky bowed out to Grischuk and Gelfand respectively. Grischuk pursued his "draw with white" plan into the rapids, and pushed into the blitz, where he manhandled Kramnik and went through. Kamsky beat Gelfand in game three, but the Israeli clinched the fourth, and then won the blitz. Surprise finalists. Big illustrated report.
    Posted: Monday 16 May 2011
  • Candidates Semifinals G4: Blood, sweat and real tears this time
    Yesterday’s blurb might well have fitted today’s, although with the names inverted. Kamsky improved on the game two opening against Gelfand and drew in 23 moves. Kramnik-Grischuk was a hair-raising English, with both players missing golden opportunities for large, if not winning, advantages. In the end a dejected Kramnik had to accept perpetual check. GM Fabiano Caruana comments.
    Posted: Sunday 15 May 2011
  • Light versus dark squares
    The black queen has a dominating position on d4, and White faces the question whether to attack it directly, indirectly (idea 38.Bxh7+) or not at all. So what's the correct continuation?
    A) 37.Bc4
    B) 37.e5
    C) 37.g3
    Posted: Saturday 14 May 2011
  • FIDE Candidates Semis G3: Blood, sweat and tears
    The bad news is that we had two more draws; the good news is that at least one of the games had people on the edge of their seats until the end. It wasn't the quiet Petroff in Grischuk-Kramnik, but Kamsky-Gelfand's incredibly complicated Najdorf where both missed clear chances, and fate chose not to favor either. Once again our Russian colleagues in Kazan provided spectacular video coverage.
    Posted: Saturday 14 May 2011
  • Surprising winner at the Sydney Open
    The Sydney International Open took place from April 27 to May 1st, immediately after the Canberra Open. These two events represent best Australia has to offer, and give foreign players a chance to visit this beautiful continent. There was a major upset at the SIO, where a lowly FM, Akshat Khamparia of India, finished ahead of all the GMs participating.
    Posted: Friday 13 May 2011
  • Meanwhile, elsewhere
    While the whole chess world is following the developments in Kazan, obviously there’s more in chess than the Candidates matches. Baadur Jobava finished first at the strong Bosna open, and Pentala Harikrishna won the Asian Individual on tie-break. Biel announced its full line-up (including Morozevich!), the European Women’s Championship is ongoing, the Capablanca Memorial and the Bahía Feliz tournament (with a very interesting players field) have also started.
    Posted: Friday 13 May 2011
  • FIDE Candidates Semis G1: Gelfand and Kamsky draw
    You might be wondering why no mention is made of Grischuk-Kramnik in the title. The reason is that it was hardly a game. The first semifinal encounter of the Candidates and they draw in sixteen moves? That is both embarrassing to the players and disrespectful to the fans. Kamsky and Gelfand played a Najdorf that quickly simplified to a balanced endgame, and drew.
    Posted: Thursday 12 May 2011
  • Kavalek in Huffington: Chess Champ Kamsky Marches On
    Levon Aronian and Veselin Topalov were the favourites to meet in the finals of the 2011 FIDE Candidates matches in Kazan, and one of the two to challenge Vishy Anand of India for the world chess title in 2012. But both GMs dropped out in the first round, Topalov being eliminated by the US champion Gata Kamsky. GM Lubomir Kavalek has analysed the key win.
    Posted: Thursday 12 May 2011
  • European Women Chp: Cmylite perfect after four rounds
    Contrary to previous editions, this year the European Women Chess Championship is being held separately from the overall event at Tbilisi, Georgia. It is a fitting choice considering the history of women's chess there, and the number of Georgian greats. After four rounds, Lithuanian GM Viktorija Cmylite is the only player with 4.0/4. Robert Fontaine from Europe Echecs has provided daily video reports.
    Posted: Tuesday 10 May 2011
  • Candidate move
    In this difficult position the second player Gata Kamsy went for 30...N8e7, whereupon he had to continue suffering and could save the game only by a miracle. How would be your assessment of the alternative 30...Nxd4 31.Bxd4 Bxa2 with a discovered attack on the the white bishop d4?
    A) good enough for equality;
    B) still worse for Black, but better than the game anyway;
    C) a direct way to disaster, White wins immediately.
    Posted: Monday 9 May 2011

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