A prize for everyone: the ACP-ChessBase Knock-Out

7/14/2020 – From July 23 to July 28 the ACP, the Association of Chess Professionals, organises an interesting event on the ChessBase server playchess.com: the ACP-ChessBase Knock-Out, including an open knock-out tournament and a knock-out tournament for women. The participants play 4-games matches in slow blitz (10+5). All members of the ACP are invited and eligible to play and almost all players will win a prize. Registration is open until July 15.

Stranded in Budapest (2) – Balaton

7/14/2020 – We want you to find a caption for this picture. It shows the Balaton tournament director IM Janos Rigo congratulating winner IM Leon Luke Mendonca, who is fourteen years old. Due to the pandemic Leon has been trapped in Budapest, together with his father, for almost four months now. Fortunately it is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, and fortunately the legendary Judit Polgar has helped make their stay more pleasant – this time by sharing a culinary adventure.

Too many pawns, too strong a king

7/14/2020 – Usually an extra bishop can easily draw against two pawns. But if the two pawns are supported by their king things might get tricky for the defender. Especially if his own king is too far away to help.

Hou Yifan youngest-ever full professor at Shenzhen University

7/14/2020 – Four-time women’s world champion and current highest-rated woman player in the world Hou Yifan has become the youngest-ever full professor at the University of Shenzhen. The 26-year-old is now a professor at the School of Physical Education where she will be heading the institution’s chess program. Another great achievement for one of the most talented chess players in the circuit! | Photo: mp.weixin.qq.com

Simon Says: Alekhine's influence on modernising attacking play - Part 2

7/13/2020 – In this "Simon Says" English Grandmaster Simon Williams continues to look at some of Alekhine's best attacking games and discusses how attacking play developed due to his influence on the game. | Watch "Simon Says" for free and on-demand (for a limited time, or forever with a ChessBase Premium account). (Normally 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EST). | Photo: Portrait of Alekhine by Man Ray

"Karpov, not Kasparov" - Chess and music

7/13/2020 – Valeriu Borcos and Eduard Gabia from Bucharest make music that often alludes to chess, and it is no coincidence that the duo calls itself "Karpov, not Kasparov". In an interview the two Romanian musicians, who describe their music as "optimistic-oriental-intellectual-dancefloor nostalgia", talk about music and chess which "is an obsession for us". | Photo: Karpov, not Kasparov

Raunak beats Fabiano

7/13/2020 – Most of the top players cannot take part in over-the-board tournaments, due to the pandemic. But they are often seen in various titled online events. Like in an online blitz tournament on chess.com, where only titled players from all over the world are allowed to take part. Indian GM Raunak Sadhwani made the most of the opportunity and beat the former World Championship Challenger Fabiano Caruana. The game is instructively commented by a video by IM Sagar Shah - with quiz questions and points.

Leinier Dominguez wins Leon Masters

7/13/2020 – The Leon Masters came to an end on Sunday, with Leinier Dominguez beating Jaime Santos in the final of the three-day knockout to win the event. Dominguez and Santos came from defeating Parham Maghsoodloo and Alexei Shirov in the semifinals. Dominguez won game 3 in the deciding matchup and drew the rest to get the title. | Photo: Justin Kellar

A quick chat with Rustam Kasimdzhanov

7/12/2020 – Leading opening expert Rustam Kasimdzhanov recently launched a FritzTrainer DVD on the Benoni. In a short interview, the former FIDE world champion answers seven questions, about the Benoni, his work as a second and the new challenges he has faced during the coronavirus pandemic. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Giants of Modern Studies - Steffen Nielsen Part II

7/12/2020 – In this second article about the life and work of the prominent study composer Steffen Slumstrup Nielsen, we will go through five of his studies, from a light miniature to his most outstanding creation till date. Sit back and enjoy! | See Part I | Photo: Niels Jørgen Jacobsen, Silkeborg

Grandmaster Chef: Boris Gelfand

7/11/2020 – Boris Gelfand is currently the top-ranked chess player in Israel. In the early 1990s, Gelfand was ranked third in the world. To show appreciation for Gelfand, this article has two recipes for dishes that he likes to eat and two of his wins. WIM Alexey Root tells why Gelfand is a Grandmaster Chef honoree. | Photo: Vladimir Jagr

It’s so easy to start a simul on PlayChess.com!

7/11/2020 – You probably already know how to create your personal virtual room on PlayChess.com. If not, we have a link included in this article on how to do it. In your virtual room, you can challenge friends, organize tournaments for your chess club, give valuable coaching lessons and play simultaneous games. The last point is what the 5-minute video in this article is all about!

Mamedyarov beats Sanal in hard-fought match

7/11/2020 – The 16-game match between Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Vahap Sanal, played from Tuesday to Friday on the PlayChess platform, was won by the rating favourite, but not by a big margin. Mamedyarov defeated his Turkish colleague 9:7 in a hard-fought battle that saw Sanal winning four games against his famed opponent. | Photo: Niki Riga / World Chess

Donchenko wins Clarion Congress GM Tournament

7/10/2020 – Alexander Donchenko was the rating favourite at the ten-player single round-robin GM tournament in České Budějovice, and he convincingly won the event. The German grandmaster secured tournament victory in style by defeating Jan Mikes in the last round. GM Peter Michalik and IM Karel Malinovsky, both from the Czech Republic, finished second and third respectively. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Daniel King’s Power Play Show: Spassky attacks

7/10/2020 – In this Power Play Show, grandmaster Daniel King focuses on an exciting attacking game played by tenth world champion Boris Spassky when he was merely 18 years old. He also looks at a mate-in-three problem that even had him confused for a while! | Power Play is on air most Fridays at 17:00 UK (18:00 CEST, 11:00 EST) on playchess.com. All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.

Logic Riddles for Chess Players (5)

7/10/2020 – Part five of our “Logic Riddles” series is here! This time it is all about a chess-related riddle, pertaining colours. We recently posted a philosophical brain-teaser which can be solved in more than one way. One of the many possible answers is shared in this article!

Well in advance

7/10/2020 – In the diagram, Black's blockade construct Qd8/Bh4 on the kingside looks artificial, but White rightly decided not to rush and calmly strengthened his position. How?

Daniel Gormally: My most memorable game

7/10/2020 – His painfully honest, self-deprecating style is impossible to miss amid the generally ‘well-behaved’ community of chess players. Love him or hate him, Daniel Gormally has gained notoriety in the chess world for his witty remarks, his dark sense of humour and his unique writing style. Now he presents his most memorable game — the time he beat Alexey Dreev to get the GM title — and includes a number of side anecdotes that are hard to come across in this context: from a curious chat with a Russian girl to Simon Williams exploding in anger after coffee was spilled on his laptop. Take a look for yourselves!

Leon Masters with Dominguez, Shirov, Maghsoodloo and Santos

7/9/2020 – The corona pandemic did not prevent the organizers of the Leon Masters (Magistral Ciudad de León) from launching the 33rd edition of the traditional yearly event. The main event, to be played on July 10-12, is a four-player knockout with two Spanish players and a couple of international stars. In the semifinals, Alexei Shirov will face local hero Jaime Santos, while Leinier Dominguez will play defending champion Parham Mahgsoodloo. Given the circumstances, the games will be played online. | Photos: Official site

Anand to play in Legends of Chess

7/9/2020 – After confirming his participation to play at the fourth stage of the Magnus Carlsen Tour, former world champion Vishy Anand talked to The Hindu. The “Tiger of Madras” praised the current world champion for having organized the tour and showed he is more than willing to try new formats in this time of crisis. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Chess in times of Corona: An example from Upper Franconia

7/9/2020 – As is well known, the coronavirus pandemic has brought public chess life to a standstill. But now it is slowly getting back into gear. In Bischofsgrün, the Upper Franconian Senior Championships were played. The social-distance rule was meticulously observed — with double boards.

Throwback Thursday: Vugar Gashimov’s brilliant legacy

7/9/2020 – Soon after rapidly climbing to the top of the chess elite, Vugar Gashimov sadly passed away at the young age of 27 on January 11, 2014. The Azerbaijani grandmaster was known for his joyful personality and his uncompromising style on the chessboard. We look back at a testimonial made about him and three of his greatest achievements as a chess player. | Photo: Nadja Wittman

“Game Changer” wins the Averbakh-Boleslavsky Award 2019

7/9/2020 – “Game Changer” by Matthew Sadler and Natasha Regan, published by New in Chess, won the Averbakh-Boleslavsky Award to the best book of 2019. Artur Jussupow, who was a member of the jury, said of the book: “It is a unique project that combines human achievements with remarkable development in AI and opens a new approach to our beloved game. We could not choose a more deserving winner”. Books by Sam Shankland and Davorin Kuljasevic were shortlisted. | Photo: Alina l’Ami

Are you smarter than a chimpanzee?

7/8/2020 – This provoking title has some truth in it. Humanbenchmark.com specializes in measuring human brain abilities with games and cognitive tests. One of their exercises states that chimpanzees consistently outperform humans — the Chimpanzee Test. Interestingly enough, some games are strongly related to chess. For pattern recognition, the “Visual Memory Test” is helpful, while for online chess purposes the “Aim Trainer” might do the trick.