Correspondence Chess – the draw problem

6/20/2015 – Corresponcence chess is experiencing a crisis. For some the growing use of computers is a modern day curse, for others a creative blessing. But the main problem is the resulting increase of draws. Is a quota of 80-90% a kind of natural law that has to be accepted? No, says a leading CC grandmaster. His solution is an new scoring system for different kinds of draws. An interesting proposal.

Norway 04: 0.5/4 – Anand the executioner

6/20/2015 – Perhaps it is the Norway Curse. Perhaps it is the psychological destabilization from his first round loss. Perhaps he is sick. Perhaps Armageddon is upon us. Whatever the reason is, Carlsen, the obvious #1 player in the World and the reigning World Champion, lost again, today to Anand, and sits with only 0.5/4. Topalov beat Aronian and it is the lucky Bulgarian who leads.

Catch-21

6/19/2015 – Tactics can seem deceptively simple, particularly when seeing an engine analysing grandmaster games. Strange, however, how difficult it is to find the right move and to calculate variations properly when playing yourself. It is easier if you solve tactical puzzles regularly. In the ChessBase Magazine and his tactics column Oliver Reeh helps you to do so.

Yu Yangyi steamrolling Capablanca Memorial

6/19/2015 – Though the chess world’s eyes are focused on the elite tournament in Norway, it would be a mistake to develop tunnel vision when a tournament such as the Capablanca Memorial started at nearly the same time. In the Elite group are top Cubans Dominguez and Bruzon, as well as Andreikin, Nepomniachtchi, Eljanov, and Yu Yangyi who is demolishing the field.

Norway 03: Mayhem over the board!

6/19/2015 – Another vibrant round from Stavanger! Two decisive results only, but at least four games took crazy turns left and right. Caruana committed suicide against Nakamura, playing some very strange moves in the endgame, MVL was crushed easily by Topalov, while Grischuk and Anand played an interesting draw. The game of the day was Carlsen-Giri, in which the World Champ missed an absolute beauty!

Norway 02: Carlsen starts 0-2

6/18/2015 – Only one decisive game today in a round that could have had many more games end in victories. Hammer pressed hard against MVL but did not find the win, while Grischuk-Aronian was a crazy affair. Topalov's slight advantage against Nakamura was neutralized by nice play from the American, while Anand had Giri against the ropes. But the news of the day is that Caruana beat Carlsen!.

2015 CEZ Trophy won by Wesley So

6/17/2015 – Every year, the Prague Chess Society and CEZ have organized a match for their top Czech player, David Navara, often against opponents that outrank even him. Last year he lost to Nakamura in a lopsided match but the American is also world Top 3-4, no exactly lightweight. This year it was Wesley So, also challenging the establishment, and was a remarkable victory for the American.

Norway 01: Spectacular Round!

6/16/2015 – One could not ask for a better start to the Grand Chess Tour! In the first round in Norway we had it all: Giri demolished Grischuk with a fantastic attack using his opponent's time pressure, MVL's precision overcame Aronian's tenacious defense, Nakamura outplayed Hammer, Caruana held Anand to a draw with great preparation... while the reigning World Chess Champion lost on time!

2015 CEZ Trophy G3: Another fight, another lesson

6/16/2015 – Although the match has not been going his way, David Navara has been putting up a valiant fight against player on the rise, Wesley So. The third game saw a hard fought Semi-Slav with plenty of moments, but the American player failed to improve his slight edge held throughout the struggle. Also invited to the event was world renowned coach and author, Mark Dvoretsky.

Not all detours lead to Rome

6/16/2015 – Every week ChessBase magazine author and renowned endgame expert Karsten Müller presents a remarkable or particularly instructive endgame in his blog. A click on the diagram opens a larger board. Today on the playchess server, 4 pm: Endgame Magic with Karsten Müller and Erwin L'Ami

2015 Norway Blitz won convincingly by MVL

6/16/2015 – It was all you could hope for in the prelude to the elite Norway Chess tournament. A collection of the highest rated players in the world, a bit of trash-talking, and hours and hours of thrilling blitz chess. At stake the top five would enjoy one more game with white than the bottom five. The surprise winner, who led from the get-go was MVL, beating Caruana and Carlsen. Fun games and more.

CEZ Trophy: Wesley So strikes first

6/15/2015 – The second game of the match between top Czech player David Navara and challenger Wesley So was no less fascinating and was a powerful display by the newly minted American player. Hoping to neutralize White’s ambitions, Black exchanged queens quite early, but it was not enough and Wesley So outplayed his opponent and drew first blood.

Norway Chess 2015 preview

6/15/2015 – The first leg of the 2015 Grand Chess Tour starts tomorrow in Stavanger, Norway! The super tournament features nine of the top players in the World: Carlsen, Anand, Caruana, Grischuk, Nakamura, Aronian, Giri, MVL, Topalov plus the qualifier from EnterCard, Hammer. The festivities commence with a blitz tournament to determine the pairings, but that is not the only unusual detail of the event!

Wei Yi repeats in Leon

6/15/2015 – It is a feat that had not been achieved in years, and the only other player to have done it was Viswanathan Anand. Wei Yi has become the repeat winner in the Leon Magistral rapids after defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the finals by the minimum margin. Through a combination of resourcefulness, tenacity, and striking in the one opportunity that he was given, Wei Yi wins again!

CEZ Chess Trophy 2015 begins

6/14/2015 – Every year Czech hero David Navara, rated 2751, faces a world-class opponent in Prague. This time it is Wesley So, 27 points higher and number seven in the world. The event started with a strong 22-board simul which the "Filipino Lightning" took all of 100 minutes to complete. The first match game was an amazing draw. GM Karsten Müller shows us how Wesley could have won.

Leon Rapids Semifinals

6/14/2015 – The traditional Leon Rapids are taking place in Spain. The players this year are Wei Yi, Anton Guijarro, Ponomariov and Vachier-Lagrave. The semifinals have taken place and the Frenchman and the Chinese player have advanced, but both did so with great difficulties, winning their matches 2.5-1.5! Tomorrow will feature the strong final between Wei Yi and MVL.

Lucky Dino: New Open in Malta

6/13/2015 – Swiss IM Roland Ekstroem and a Polish Candidate Master Piotr Tworzydlo shared first place in the Lucky Dino Open in Sliema, Malta, held 20-26 May 2015. The two players scored 7.5/9 1.5 points ahead of the third prize winner, Tiberiu-Petre Stanciu from Romania. This pictorial report Piotr Kaim contains very instructive and entertaining "banter" commentary by the winner.

4 versus 4

6/12/2015 – Tactics can seem deceptively simple, particularly when seeing an engine analysing grandmaster games. Strange, however, how difficult it is to find the right move and to calculate variations properly when playing yourself. It is easier if you solve tactical puzzles regularly. In the ChessBase Magazine and his tactics column Oliver Reeh helps you to do so.

Top-12 in France: Alexander Ipatov reports

6/12/2015 – The Top-12, the finals of the French Team Championship were played in idyllic surroundings and ended with a smooth victory of Bischwiller. GM Alexander Ipatov played for the team of Bois Colombes which won bronze. In an illustrated review the World Junior Champion of 2012 shares impressions and points to some highlights of one of the world's strongest team events.

Harika: cool to be uncool

6/11/2015 – "Chess in India has a new poster girl," says the Times of India. It is 24-year-old Harika Dronavalli, who has just bagged the Popular Choice award of the newspaper. In a candid interview the semifinalist of the 2015 Women's World Championship talks about travel, food, hobbies, general interests – and marriage plans. We have added some personal details to the story.

Pawn Sacrifice - movie of the 1972 match

6/11/2015 – Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky are coming to a theater near you in a film based on the life of the recluse genius and his epic 1972 showdown for the world title. Whatever one may think of it, the all-star cast leaves nothing to be desired, with Edward Zwick, director of The Last Samurai, and Tobey Maguire who championed the project for ten years.

One player, three titles

6/10/2015 – Players who are good in blitz and rapid chess are also often good in classical chess. The best example is Magnus Carlsen, who is World Champion in classical, rapid, and blitz chess. At the Icelandic Championship GM Hedinn Steingrimsson followed Carlsen's example. He won the tournament to become reigning Icelandic champion in all three disciplines.

Top-12 finishes with few surprises

6/10/2015 – The Top-12 has come to an end. The last round only ratified the dominance of the top teams. The only close match at the top was between Clichy and Mulhouse Philidor: the top rated team in the tournament found itself losing fourth and fifth board, but they took sixth, seventh and eigth to win. Final report, highlighting the best players and an unusual GM norm.

John Hartmann: And then there were two

6/9/2015 – Currently there are two programs vying for the title of strongest chess engine in the world, and both have seen new releases in recent months. Komodo and Stockfish currently top all computer lists, in that order. But they have different personalities, as John Hartmann shows in his engine review. "Shows" includes both engines simultaneously analyzing in an interesting realtime video.