Komodo 8: the smartphone vs desktop challenge

9/24/2014 – After hearing two strong players argue that the only real progress in chess engines in the last ten years was due to faster computers a special match was played to challenge this idea. Komodo 8 ran on a smartphone while a top engine of 2006 used a modern i7 computer that runs 50 times faster. This is the difference between Usain Bolt and the Concorde. Guess what happened?

Monastir – the chess hub of Tunisia (Part 2)

9/23/2014 – It is one of the most active chess nations on the African continent, and the game has an important place in the cultural and sport activities of the country. In the recent GM and IM tournaments in Monastir we encounter players who are not so well known on the European circuit, but who play a leading role in the Magreb chess scene. Diana Mihajlova reports on a beautiful chess festival in Tunisia.

World Youth starts in Durban

9/23/2014 – The 2014 World Youth Chess Championship has started, and is being hosted by the South African Chess Federation in Durban, South Africa. About 1000 children and youths have come to compete in the massive competition, hoping to inscribe their names into history. It has been tough going for the top seeds as many have already suffered early setbacks, though it is still early days.

Grandmaster Clash in Slate Magazine

9/23/2014 – "One of the most amazing feats in chess history just happened, and no one noticed," writes Seth Stevenson, in a most-read article posted recently on Slate Magazine. It is long but definitely worth a read. Seth puts the sheer magnitude of Fabiano Caruana's performance in perspective, and also provides a wealth of background information on the players and the event. Don't miss it.

Holes in the Fence

9/23/2014 – Every week ChessBase magazine author and renowned endgame expert Karsten Müller presents a remarkable or particularly instructive endgame in his blog. This week he chose the game Berkes-Castellanos Rodriguez. A click on the diagram opens a larger board. Test your endgame skills, improve and have fun!

Karelle Bolon's chess enterprise in Cambodia

9/22/2014 – Sometimes you encounter a project that absolutely screams for public support. Here is a former child chess star, now a fashion designer working in Cambodia, who wants to start a course of chess lessons in a bush school. In order to pay for the equipment she has started a Ulule crowdfunding page to raise the very modest sum of 430 Euros. Let us get this for her by the end of the day.

Daniel King: "Time to look at a chess game"

9/22/2014 – Rain or shine, during the Chess Olympiad GM Daniel King entertained ChessBase viewers with daily reviews of the round and quickchats. After Tromsø he took a break but now "autumn has arrived and it feels like the right time to look at a chess game." Good for us: In his PowerPlay Chess Show King presents fine efforts from Fabiano Caruana and Vishy Anand.

Stalemate: the long and the Short of it (3)

9/22/2014 – GM Nigel Short thinks we should abandon the "stupid rule" of stalemate, where the attacking side has completely immobilized the enemy but does not win. Paul Lillebo has been showing us that the stalemate rule adds a valuable dimension to chess, providing a last saving chance for the defending side, or a last stumbling block for the attacker. He shows us examples from top level play.

Review of ChessBase Complete

9/21/2014 – "A lovely book," writes Allan Beardsworth, "buy it if you use ChessBase, especially if you are like me: only good with the basic functions; or if you are an absolute novice with it." The owner of 556 chess books, "many read, many to be read, many never to be read," says that this book will remain by his computer for probably a good many months." That could apply to many. Review.

ECC 07: Two perfect scores

9/20/2014 – The European Club Cup has come to an end and there was no doubt which team was best in each section. In the Open SOCAR saw another great Topalov performance as his lone victory against Svidler was enough for the Azeri team to win every single match they played. Also in a perfect 14-0 run the Georgian team of Nona beat SHSM allowing Monte-Carlo to grasp at second place.

Bilbao Final: Anand first, Aronian second

9/20/2014 – The last round of the tournament in the Grand Slam Final in Bilbao finished with two pretty positional wins by the White pieces. Aronian took out Anand after a couple of inaccuracies by the Indian left his king too weak in a major piece endgame. Vallejo's intrepid c-pawn lunged all the way to c6 where it squashed Ponomariov's position. Last round report.

56th Nairobi Chess Club Championship

9/20/2014 – The Nairobi Chess Club is the oldest chess club in Kenya, and in late August it hosted the 56th Club Championship, with 78 players at the start. The event was won by former Olympian (1988/1990) and 1990 Kenya National Champion Larry Kagambi with a perfect score of five wins out of five games. Kim Bhari, Chairman of NCC, has sent us a big illustrated report.

ECC 06: Winners!

9/20/2014 – Things went as predicted in the Women's section and Nona easily beat their opponents 4-0 to officially become the ECC Women's Champion. In the Open Section a surprising demolishing occurred on the top match as Malakhite fell to SOCAR by an amazing 5.0-1.0, including an amazing king walk by Wang Hao! Bilbao's FB page (probably on tiebreak) already claims SOCAR as the champions!

Bilbao 05: Anand clinches with one round to go

9/19/2014 – The games were relatively dry to what we have seen in the rest of the tournament, but that was perfectly ok for Vishy Anand who clinches the Bilbao Grand Slam Masters final with one round to spare. The 3-1-0 scoring system means that he is four points ahead of Aronian, who can at most reach ten points tomorrow. That's some definite pressure on Carlsen and the upcoming WCC!

Komodo 8: about the authors

9/19/2014 – It is, as we told you, a different kind of chess engine, with sounder positional play and deeper ideas than other chess engines. But it remains tactically sound. Over the years it has been consistently rated in the top three on most major chess engine rating lists – currently it is number one. Here is some information about this remarkable chess playing program, and the men who created it.

Hanging queens

9/19/2014 – "Gardez la dame! (Protect your queen!)", is an old chess expression, the equivalent of saying "check" when attacking the enemy king. Apparently there were times when it was considered good chess etiquette to reveal your most serious threats to your opponent. But what to say and, more importantly, what to do when both queens are under attack?

ECC 05: Nona virtual winner

9/19/2014 – Things are still unclear in the Open section, despite a huge triumph by SOCAR against the number two seed, Obiettivo Risarcimento. Important wins by Topalov and Korobov overshadows Caruana's continuation of his string of successes. In the Women's section it seems as if first place is virtually decided. Nona leads comfortably and has one of the "easy" pairings still left.

Bilbao Masters 04: Anand rolls forward

9/19/2014 – Anand continues with a very impressive performance in the Bilbao Grand Slam Masters Final as he demolished Vallejo Pons in a simple game where all White had to do was put the pieces where they belonged. Ponomariov prepared against the wrong opponent, and could only reach a draw against Aronian. Meanwhile as consolation Paco Vallejo did win the Basque Games Triathlon!

11th Malaysian Chess Festival starts strong

9/18/2014 – The Malaysian Chess Festival is now in its eleventh year and is the most anticipated event in the country and region. This year the chess festival coincided with Malaysia's Day which marks the forming of Malaysia in 1963. The unique event not only runs three simultaneous tournaments, but also includes a massive team event, a junior, a rapid and a blitz event. Pictures and videos.

4th Zurich Chess Challenge 2015

9/18/2014 – This year saw a narrow Category 23 event. The next edition of the Zurich Chess Challenge, even without Magnus Carlsen, but led by Fabiano Caruana, reaches an average rating of 2786 (Cat. 22). An opening day blitz determines the colours, and on the final day there is a rapid event that scores half as much as the classic round robin. Mark it in your calendar, here are all the details.

ECC 04: SOCAR, Nona unstoppable

9/18/2014 – In the Open section SOCAR took sweet revenge from last year's match-up against Novy Bor and took a comfortable 4-2 victory, with victories by Topalov, Giri and Radjabov. They face Obiettivo Risarcimento in a thrilling fifth round. Things are going smoothly for Batumi's Nona in the Women's section as they edged out Ugra with a 2.5-1.5 vital victory. Both teams now lead alone.

Kasparov: The future of chess, not FIDE

9/17/2014 – He ran for FIDE President, but was defeated by the incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. The conclusions Garry Kasparov draws from the painful loss are described in a closing essay on his campaign web site. In addition the former World Champion has been writing articles on the world situation in the Wall Street Journal and TIME, and can be seen in a remarkable interview on Fox News.

New FIDE anti-cheating rules

9/17/2014 – FIDE has just modified section 11.3 of its Laws of Chess, reacting to a request of its Anti Cheating Committee. In future players will not be permitted to have any device capable of suggesting chess moves on their person in the playing venue, only in a bag and completely switched off, with the permission of the arbiter. In addition: spot searches may be conducted.

Test Komodo 8!

9/17/2014 – Komodo 8 is different than other chess programs - and Komodo 8 is stronger. If you want to check this claim and the program you will soon have a good opportunity to do so. Thanks to the Playchess All Engine Rapid Masters Fall 2014 tournament organized by Clemens Keck. Here engines can be tested and money can be won. First prize: 350 Euros.