Olympiad Tromsø: FIDE President issues a deadline

7/18/2014 – The problems of missed registrations for some teams has come to a head, with FIDE President stating that the Organizing Committee has "performed an unbelievable scheme of combined illegitimate actions which should never take place in a democratic country like Norway." Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has issued a deadline to the Norwegians to solve the issues: Monday 21 July, 11 am CET.

Tactics please: Spoilt for choice?

7/18/2014 – Spotting tactical ideas is good, choosing the best move even better. Calculating variations precisely helps. However, often things are not simple. Do you calculate good enough to find the best move in the following example, which ChessBase tactic expert Oliver Reeh detected in a game from the Women's Grand Prix in Lopota? Test your skills!

ACP Golden: two games adjourned

7/18/2014 – The ACP Golden Classic has finally produced what everyone was waiting for: after the five hour session we were left with two adjourned games: Brunello-Vocaturo, where Black has an edge and Jobava-Almasi, which seems to be winning for the Georgian. Nepomniachtchi vs Sutovsky ended in a draw, while tournament leader Wesley So enjoyed his day off. Round five report.

Valentina Gunina is the European Champion

7/18/2014 – Entering the final round of the European Individual Women's Chess Championship, Valentina Gunina was a shoo-in for the title, and after drawing her final opponent, Mariya Muzychuk, she lifted the gold. Her superb 9.0/11 was flawless, and well-deserved as she took the early lead and never wilted under the pressure of her increasing favoritism. Here is an interview with the winner.

Quiet round in Biel

7/17/2014 – After three thrilling rounds in Biel, Switzerland the tournament had a quieter day today; though it was not void of action. Hou Yifan pressed hard against Harikrishna and although she was better the entire game she never had a win, Wojtaszek and MVL drew in a very solid and boring game while the action was brought by Alexander Motylev and Giri, the latter who scores two in a row.

ACP Golden Classic visited by champions

7/17/2014 – In the continuing throwback to the tournaments of yesteryear, with long time controls, and even adjourned positions to be resumed, young players such as Wesley So show they are not thrown off by the novelty and continues to dominate with 3.0/4 and a 2847 performance. Right behind him is Jobava Baadur with 2.5/4, with each round being started by great sports champions.

Garry Kasparov on the threat to Tromsø

7/17/2014 – "Unfortunately the Organizing Committee [of the Tromsø Olympiad] is influenced by people who are working for Garry Kasparov. They are using it for their election purposes." That was what FIDE Vice President Israel Gelfer said in a much-publicised video interview yesterday. After debating the subject with Kasparov after midnight, this morning he sent us the following statement.

Russian Women's team out of Olympiad

7/17/2014 – Shocking news: the organisers of the Chess Olympiad in Tromsø have informed FIDE that federations that did not meet the June 1st deadline for registration had been excluded from the Olympiad. One of these is the Russian Women's team! FIDE Vice President Israel Gelfer has mysteriously blamed Garry Kasparov for this development and advocates cancelling the Olympiad.

The Golden Guidelines of Endgame Play

7/17/2014 – Maybe Magnus Carlsen plays the endgame so well because he studied the books of Karsten Müller? At any rate, if you plan to become World Champion or not, listening to the German GM explaining the endgame is entertaining and instructive. Chris Wainscott took a look at Müller's new DVD "Golden Guidelines of Endgame Play" and was impressed.

Plovdiv Rd10: Going for the gold

7/17/2014 – The game of the round, and possibly deciding once and for all the European Women's title, was between Valentina Gunina and Tatiana Kosintseva. Both women knew each other's game extremely well, having competed side-by- side in the 2012 Olympiad where they lifted the gold. In spite of other higher profile games also being played during the day, this tense game was thrilling to watch.

Bloody Biel!

7/16/2014 – The Biel super tournament continues to provide great entertainment! Today was a day that closed the gaps between all the players of the event. The leaders before today's round, Wojtaszek, Hou Yifan and Harikrishna all lost their game today! Meanwhile Giri picked up his first full point, as did Motylev, while MVL now leads with 2.0/3. And after three rounds everyone has scored a win!

Dortmund Rd4: Caruana continues his rout

7/16/2014 – Despite having three prestigious previous winners, Fabiano Caruana continues his rout of the field with a win in round four. This takes him to 3.5/4 and a 3000+ performance, but more importantly permits him to leapfrog Grischuk to take third on the live ratings list. The king of Dortmund, Vladimir Kramnik, has been unable to recover his form after his opening loss. Round four report.

Wesley So leads the ACP Golden Classic

7/16/2014 – After three rounds of this seven-player round robin (category 17) the very talented 20-year-old Filipino GM has scored 2.5/3 points, with a rating performance of 2924. Although adjournments are allowed in this event, there was just one occasion to seal a move – and the game was decided without continuation. We bring you a special report with lots of comments and videos.

Plovdiv Rd9: The final challenge

7/16/2014 – All it took was a draw. With Valentina Gunina running away with the European Women's Championship, focus began to be made on the runners up, after all, there is only so much one can say about a one-horse race. In round nine, Gunina was finally forced to accede to a draw by rival Salome Melia from Georgia, and this alone injected the fight for first with new life.

Harikrishna joins leaders in Biel

7/15/2014 – Pentala Harikrishna proved to have immense fighting spirit by pushing a position that might have not been in his favor against Anish Giri. The Dutch player got into time trouble and blundered in a complicated position. Hou Yifan had no problems in the black side of a Ragozin against Radoslaw Wojatszek, while Alexander Motylev also easily held Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Video reports.

Germany wins World Cup in Brazil

7/15/2014 – We estimate that 90% of all chess players are avid soccer fans – and 10% are total fanatics. During the FIFA World Cup there were massive amounts of chat going on, and too much heart-stopping drama for us to ignore. And there is a bit of chess history involved: our headline could have been used 24 years ago, with the addition "Kasparov satisfied". Frederic Friedel explains.

Dortmund Rd3: Four draws

7/15/2014 – As usual, the title does not tell the entire tale of the round. Kramnik obtained a large advantage against Baramidze, and seemed headed to a win, but bad mistakes with 23.Nf3? and 25.f5? turned the tables. The game was pushed to the bitter end, but a draw ensued. There was little to say about the two other Berlins, and a quiet French Classical, making for a fairly lifeless round.

Dutch Champions: Loek Van Wely and Anne Haast

7/15/2014 – The Dutch Championships 2014 finished dramatically. In the Men's tournament Loek Van Wely and Sergei Tiviakov battled it out in a tie-break, which Van Wely won 2-0. In the Women's tournament Peng Zhaoquin was close to her 14th title, but in the last round spoiled a winning position against 21-year old Anne Haast who then became Dutch Champion 2014.

The breakthrough

7/15/2014 – Often a sacrifice, often surprising, quite often beautiful and very often deadly effective - that's the breakthrough. In his weekly endgame blog endgame expert and ChessBase author Karsten Müller presents remarkable and instructive endgames - today he shows a fine breakthrough that took a grandmaster by surprise. Find the right move and enjoy!

Plovdiv Rd8: Exceptional results

7/15/2014 – The first and foremost story of round eight is the steaming locomotive that is Gunina, taking her score to 7.5/8 and with only one rival within even a point. Still, other players are also posting exceptional results, closing in on norms their rating would ordinarily not suggest was within their reach. Two names are Mammadzada and De Rosa who each have huge performances.

Fabulous Start in Biel!

7/14/2014 – The super-tournament in Biel has begun and already the tournament shows amazing chess. Motylev lost to Wojtaszek in a long and complex endgame that was full of tactics; certainly dangerous for both players. Vachier-Lagrave barely held a draw against Harikrishna after the Indian went to the throat from the beginning. But the news of the day? Hou Yifan's demolition of Giri.

India dominates the Commonwealth

7/14/2014 – Glasgow was the host to the 2014 Commonwealth Chess Championships. The tournament reminded all of us why India is considered to be one of the strongest chess countries in the world! The top stages were filled with Indian players and they duly took home most of the prizes. Our reporter, Sabrina Chevannes, bring us a detailed review of a traditional event. Pictorial report.

Plovdiv: Gunina strikes again

7/14/2014 – In 2012 Valentina Gunina became European Women's Champion, and she seems set for a repeat in Plovdiv 2014. After beating number one seed Nana Dzagnidze in round six, she continued her winning streak against Natalia Zhukova in round seven to reach an impressive score of 6.5 out of 7 and an Elo-performance of 2800. Fortune smiled on her.

Peralta wins XXXVII Barbera del Valles Open

7/14/2014 – When preparing his second report from the Spanish summer circuit Sagar Shah discovered that his colleague WGM Alina l'Ami had reported for ChessBase from Barbera del Valles three year ago. Both had played in the event, scored 6.0/9 points and made norms – Alina her maiden for GM, Sagar his final for IM. And gained around 50 rating points each. Enjoy this big pictorial report.