Motif with a twist

4/14/2017 – Tactical strikes often pass by unnoticed, especially in blitz or rapid server games which you don't bother analysing with a computer. And yet this can be very rewarding as this example shows. In the diagram White's knight c4 is attacked. Can you see why all retreats run into something nasty?

Kortchnoi Zurich Challenge: Vintage Kramnik

4/14/2017 – As in the blitz, Yannick Pelletier and Peter Svidler were put under serious pressure, on the board as well as on the clock. While Peter managed to bring about a rearguard, not without some generosity from Nepomniachtchi, Hikaru Nakamura gave his opponent no such chance. Vladimir Kramnik scored a trademark victory over Viswanathan Anand. Report with grandmaster analysis.

American Chess Magazine stays the course

4/13/2017 – The second edition of the American Chess Magazine is out, and for those wondering whether this new foray into the challenging print chess magazine market could continue the promise of its first edition, the answer is a resounding yes. The main focus this time is of course the World Championship, but you will also find many fascinating articles, such as the tournament report on Nakamura's win in Gibraltar by... Hou Yifan!

ChessBase: How to add colored arrows and squares

4/13/2017 – When annotating a game, aside from the usual elements such as verbal commentary, or chess notation symbols, but some of the most powerful tools in ChessBase are the colored arrows or squares that can show an idea at a glance. The secret to using them is only found in the Help file though… or in this simple tutorial.
More...
 37

Kortchnoi Zurich Blitz: A day of Sacrifices

4/13/2017 – The Korchnoi Zurich Chess Challenge 2017 began with legendary grandmasters and Russian talents in the fray, promising entertaining chess for the fans. The opening day saw an exhibition match between the chief sponsor Oleg Skvortsov and Viswanathan Anand. The Indian legend made it a showstopper with a queen sacrifice. A seven-round blitz tourney followed to determine the pairings for the main event, which was led by Boris Gelfand until the sixth round, but as has become traditional in Zurich now, it was Hikaru Nakamura who won the tournament on the tiebreak!

60 Minutes: Chess in the Bible Belt

4/12/2017 – The television show 60 Minutes featured the chess program in Franklin County, Mississippi (MS). Over 15 million viewers watched that episode (original air date March 26, 2017), which featured Dr. Jeff Bulington along with his chess-playing students and their proud parents. Bulington’s chess program began in August of 2015 and is sponsored for ten years by an anonymous wealthy benefactor. Here is the report and commentary by Alexey Root.

Shanghai Haiwan Cup - Chinese junior chess on the rise

4/12/2017 – The beautiful Shanghai Haiwan National Forest Park has been a very active and attractive spot for chess in China in recent years, with three high level tournaments held there in the past two years. At the end of last month, held from March 26-31, we saw a high-level national junior chess tournament, "Shanghai Haiwan Cup" 2017 National New Youth Chess Tournament, a round-robin with eight top Chinese junior players.

US chess legend Arthur Bisguier passes at 87

4/11/2017 – He was recognized as the “Dean of American Chess” – in honor of his promotion of and many contributions to the game. During the 2017 US Championship, a title he had himself won 63 years earlier, this giant of chess, considered one of America's "most dangerous players", died of respiratory failure. He worked for decades for the United States Chess Federation and for its magazine Chess Life. There we find a touching eulogy.

When the king is cut off

4/11/2017 – Bishop and "wrong" outside pawn cannot win if the defending king manages to occupy the square on which the pawn wants to queen. Therefore the bishop has to prevent the enemy king from reaching this corner: Black to move. Today on the playchess server, 3:30 pm: Endgame Magic with Karsten Müller and Andrew Martin.

US Championship playoff: Wesley So is 2017 champion

4/11/2017 – What a fantastic US Championship it has been, and the last day presented a very exciting playoff match between Wesley So and Alexander Onischuk. After two very exciting games, with game one seeing pawns tossed left and right, and game two almost saw Onischuk come back in a powerful endgame display, it was Wesley So’s turn among the Big Three to hoist the winner trophy. Final report.

Ivanchuk beats Hou Yifan 3 - 1

4/10/2017 – After three games, Vassily Ivanchuk held a one game lead over Hou Yifan. In the event of a draw after four classical games, there would be a series of playoff games, but Ivanchuk was not to be denied as he took game four in just 20 moves and ended the match 3.0 - 1.0. The organizers have also announced a series of other matches to come. Report and analysis.

Stalemate in the FIDE power struggle?

4/10/2017 – After the turmoil of the past weeks – the official FIDE web site announced the resignation of its President, followed within hours by emphatic denials from Kirsan Ilyumzhinov – an Extraordinary Presidential Board meeting was held in Athens today. It was attended by Ilyumzhinov, Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos, and fourteen other voting members, representing a quorum. Ilyumzhinov apologized for making certain statements, and seems to remain in power. FIDE press release.

Nihal in Hamburg: impressions of a super-talent (1)

4/10/2017 – At the age of just twelve years and eight months, exactly the same as Magnus Carlsen, Nihal Sarin became a full IM, one of the three youngest in the world. This remarkable young chess talent from the southern Indian state of Kerala last week visited us in Hamburg, deeply impressing all and sundry in the ChessBase office. The idea was for him to get instructions in the optimum use of our software, and a little bit of GM training on the side. The only question was who learned what from whom?

Sabina Foisor is 2017 US Women's Champion!

4/10/2017 – While the men's event will need to wait for the playoff on Monday to decide between Wesley So and Alexander Onischuk, the US Women's championship ended in a fairy tale win for Sabina Foisor. Both she and Nazi Paikidze were tied for the lead, but while Paikidze succumbed to Jennifer Yu, Sabina Foisor ended her incredible campaign with a spectacular queen sacrifice to mate her opponent and win the championship! Report and analysis by Alex Yermolinsky | All photos by Lennart Ootes

US Championship Rd10: Setting up the final showdown

4/9/2017 – Round ten of US championship saw a strange turn of event in both groups: in the open section Alexander Onischuk got the better of out-of-shape world junior champion Jeffery Xiong to join Akobian and Wesley So to tie for first. With a three-way tie the players will feel a lot of heat going into the last round. In the meantime, both Nazi Paikidze and Sabina Foisor lead the women’s event. Illustrated report by Elshan Moradiabadi.

Jon Speelman's Agony Column #48

4/9/2017 – This week’s pair of games are by Simon Knight, an Englishman who was born and brought up in England, but then married a Mexican and has lived there since 1994. Simon sent in two games from Gibraltar and the Mexican Open. His Agony game contains "one of my all-time worst nightmares turning a completely won position into a horrible loss and sending me out of contention for any possible prize." Jonathan Speelman dissects the submitted games.

US Championship Rd9: The bigger they are...

4/8/2017 – ...the harder they fall. And what a crazy crazy round it was! Wesley So had the most comfortable game of the Big Three, as Jeffery Xiong played right into his preparation and got stomped. Nakamura was jonesing to grab his chance, but pushed too hard against Onischuk and it backfired. Still, the shocker was Caruana, who was crushing co-leader Akobian, and after losing all his advantage, he then blundered and lost! Illustrated report by Alex Yermolinsky.

Hou-Ivanchuk: Game three is short but intense

4/8/2017 – Game three of the match between Hou Yifan and Vassily Ivanchuk ended in a draw in 19 moves… but what a draw! It would be a mistake to skip this short but intense battle of theoretical importance and covered with tactical veneer. If all short draws were like this, no one would ever complain. Report and analysis.

US Championship Rd8: Akobian and Foisor join leaders

4/7/2017 – As we reach the final rounds, the 2017 edition of US championship is becoming more and more tenacious. With three rounds to go, the previous leaders were both joined by others. Wesley So drew Nakamura and was joined by Varuzhan Akobian who beat Zherebukh in a brilliant game, while Nazi Paikidze drew Feng and was joined by Sabina Foisor who won her 5th game with white! Report and analyses by GM Elshan Moradiabadi.

New: Simon Williams - The London System with 2.Bf4

4/7/2017 – For a long time the London System (White plays d4, Nf3, Bf4 etc.) enjoyed the reputation of being solid but dull and boring. But World Champion Magnus Carlsen and a lot of other players have discovered the possibilities of White's set-up. On his new DVD Simon Williams shows the many advantages of 2.Bf4, looking first of all at lines that are "simple but aggressive".

Bobby Fischer on the Dick Cavett Show

4/7/2017 – Bobby Fischer's reclusiveness was legendary. But in 1971, before his Candidates Match against Tigran Petrosian, he was a guest of talkshow legend Dick Cavett. In 2008 a video of this show appeared on YouTube and by now it has more than a million views. Less known is the fact that Fischer appeared a second time on the Dick Cavett Show, this time before his match against Spassky. A video of this show was just published on YouTube.

Chesthetica Composes Custom Mates

4/7/2017 – He has written extensively about Chesthetica, an automatic and computationally creative composer of chess problems, in the past, and now would like to update interested readers and artificial intelligence (AI) researchers about a new feature he has implemented into the program. Dr Azlan Iqbal, who has a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence, thinks that his program could abide by all the requirements of a good, traditional chess problem, given a year’s additional work customizing the code.

Petite combinaison

4/7/2017 – Elegant tactical strikes to cap off positional play were a speciality of the third World Champion José Raúl Capablanca - definitely worth emulating! Can you see such a little combination in the diagram which gives White a clear advantage?

Hou-Ivanchuk: Ivanchuk wins game two

4/7/2017 – Vassily Ivanchuk took the lead by winning game two in the “MEWE Cup” 2017 World Champion Summit Chess Match, which is ongoing in Shenzhen, China. Hou Yifan had white, and proceeded to try to put pressure, but instead she was the one who felt the heat, and in a game full of swings, committed the crucial blunder on move 37.