Fighting social inequality and prejudice with chess

7/9/2015 – How do you fight social inequality as well as prejudice with chess? Meet Kevin Cripe, a chess coach who has done precisely that for the last decades in an impoverished community of the US, using chess to teach children to fight against apathy, and the evils of prejudice. Read his tale, plus the help received from Anne Frank's childhood friend, and donate to a worthy cause.

A cornucopia of Chess: ChessBase Magazine

7/8/2015 – What to do if the summer is hot and you had to spend days with boring assignments and now want to train some chess and feel the wish to catch up on recent chess events? Have a look at the ChessBase Magazine 166! Indian IM Narayanan Srinath decided to to so and with a wealth of diverse and high-class chess material he treated himself to a wonderful Sunday full of chess.

Danzhou: Wang Yue and Ni Hua going strong

7/8/2015 – The 6th Hainan Danzhou tournament began with a spectacular second round "game of the decade" by 16-year-old Wei Yi. The Chinese phenom has settled down to 50% after six rounds, while his experienced colleagues Wang Yue and Ni Hua are in the lead with 5.0 and 4.5 points – and performances of 2968 and 2837. We have a big report with analysis and interesting positions to study.

"Grace-Time" Controversy – the real story

7/8/2015 – "As you aware, in an unfortunate incident GM Koneru Humpy withdrew from the Commonwealth Chess Championship 2015," wrote A.K. Verma, Secretary of the Delhi Chess Association. "Too much has been written about this. As Organising Secretary of Championship it's my responsibility to clear the air." Attached was a document relating the DCA's stand and view on the issue.

Huffington Post: Topalov on Top in Norway

7/7/2015 – In the first round of the Norway Chess 2015 in Stavanger Magnus Carlsen lost on time in a winning position against Veselin Topalov. The 40-year-old Bulgarian turned this lucky break into first place with a string of victories – in the last round Topalov holding Vishy Anand, 45, to a draw. Looking back at the event Huffington columnist Lubomir Kavalek analyses games by Carlsen and Anand.

Rooks belong behind passed pawns

7/7/2015 – 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. Test your endgame skills, improve and have fun!

Wang Yue leads in Hainan

7/6/2015 – Eight players from the World's Top 50 are from China, five of them play in the 6th Hainan Danzhou tournament: Ding Liren, Yu Yangyi, Wei Yi, Wang Yue, and Bu Xiangzhi. In round two Wei Yi, the world's best junior, played an impressive brilliancy against GM Lazaro Bruzon Batista. But in round three Wei Yi lost to Wang Yue who after five rounds leads with 4.0/5.

Dortmund Rd7: Caruana first, So second

7/6/2015 – All things considered, it was longer coming than we had expected, but Caruana’s fans can sigh with a smile as he is back to his winning ways with a fantastic streak of five wins to take Dortmund a full 1.5 points ahead of his rivals. Wesley So managed to nab second over Nisipeanu on tiebreak after a dramatic last round win over Kramnik. Report with analysis.

AICF seeks to punish Humpy

7/6/2015 – Recently the third-best female player in history, GM Koneru Humpy, forfeited a game and withdrew from a tournament – and explained it to us in a critical interview. Now the Indian Chess Federation is calling on FIDE to sanction Humpy. This could be in the form of a warning or reprimand, a fine up to $25,000, revocations of her GM title and a ban from chess for up to 15 years.

Harikrishna wins Edmonton International

7/5/2015 – The 10th Edmonton International was held from the 19-28 June 2015 in Edmonton, Canada. The closed round robin event with ten players is into its tenth year. First organized in 2006, the main intention was to provide the local players with an opportunity to make IM and GM norms. This year the tournament was won by Indian GM Pentala Harikrishna, whom we interview in this report.

Dortmund 06: More Caruana!

7/5/2015 – He seems unstoppable now, Caruana converted yet another win, this time against Hou Yifan in a sort of Nimzo-Indian defense. The Chinese sacrificed a pawn, but Caruana gobbled it up and defended precisely, eventually pushing Yifan back and taking over the initiative. Kramnik pushed hard against Nisipeanu but couldn't break the German, while Nepo did beat Naiditsch. Caruana is clear first.

Hainan Danzhou and Wei Yi’s immortal game

7/4/2015 – The 6th Hainan Danzhou tournament is being held in Danzhou, with top Chinese players. The event will be remembered for a game that is already being labelled "Game of the Decade" and was played by a 16-year-old youngster rated 2724. We asked Garry Kasparov to comment for us, and he did so with one word: "Impressive!" We have annotated it for you in somewhat greater detail.

Dortmund 05: Caruana ties for lead!

7/4/2015 – Caruana is now on a roll in Dortmund! He toppled Kramnik, and with the black pieces, to take over the lead in Dortmund. Only Nisipeanu still has the same amount of points as him. It was a bit of a topsy-turvy and complicated game, but at the end Kramnik was unable to keep up with Caruana in the complications. So also beat Nepomniachtchi, and gains ground. Sagar Shah analyzes today!

Muzychuk-Hou match set in Lviv, Ukraine

7/3/2015 – It was a heroic victory by Mariya Muzychuk, who overcame match after match in a grueling knockout tournament that had the world on the edge of its seat. The newly crowned Women's World Champion must now face her next challenger, Hou Yifan, who has the right to challenge her in a match by virtue of winning the FIDE Grand Prix. The match is now set in Lviv, Ukraine in March 2016.

Teplice Open 2015 – impressions and reminiscence

7/3/2015 – In Part I of our report on the Teplice Open we gave you descriptions of the tournament and of the top three finishers. In part II we bring you pictures of the other top players, with impressions of the gorgeous Czech city and of the sandstone mountains surrounding it. Also we look back at the 1922 Schachkongress and an annotated brilliancy played by the great Savielly Tartakower.

Rank problem

7/3/2015 – 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.

Sumptuous simul in Versailles

7/2/2015 – Simuls are a time-honored way for amateurs to play a strong player, and to help promote the game to a wider audience. While ever-popular, it is hard to innovate on the formula, yet the Chess Club of Versailles did their best to do just that. With the help of IM François Vareille, a simul was organized in the great Versailles palace with participants dressed in era costumery.

Knight battles

7/2/2015 – There is no question that no player since Anatoly Karpov has done as much to promote endgames as Magnus Carlsen. The positions that seem so deceptively simple and that combine art and science fascinate the more one looks into them. Here is an knight endgame played in the Russian Higher League, analyzed by GM Karsten Mueller in instructive depth.

Erwin L'Ami: The modern Two Knights

7/2/2015 – The Dutch Grandmaster Erwin L'Ami recently won the strong Reykjavik Open and soon after that the Blitz Marathon in Rabat. Before he went to Reykjavik he recorded a ChessBase DVD: "The modern Two Knights". Coincidence? Davide Nastasio saw the DVD and liked it. A fine, funny and enjoyable presentation of interesting material. Obviously it helps your chess.

Stefansson wins Teplice Open (1)

7/2/2015 – It is a town in the Czech Republic that is fraught with chess history: Rubinstein, Réti, Tarrasch, Spielmann and Tartakower played there. The Tenth International Teplice Open in June saw 150 players, some of them world-class GMs and theoreticians, participating in an impeccably run tournament, with some exciting battles for the top spot. Big illustrated report with game analysis.

Dortmund 04: Kramnik, Caruana win

7/1/2015 – Two decisive results today in Dortmund, though in two very different ways. Caruana played a great positional game against Naiditsch, putting pressure all over the board and eventually crashing through the German's defenses with his passed pawns. Meier had another great position, this time against Kramnik, but again he erred and the Russian took the full point. Kramnik now ties for the lead.

Children's Day held at Russian Higher League

7/1/2015 – A Children's Day is traditionally held during major chess events under the Chess in Museum program. Thanks to these master classes and simuls, young chess lovers can network with their idols in an informal setting, measure themselves up against renowned grandmasters and perhaps even beat one of them. This year the children were shown great exhibits, tours, and enjoyed lots of goodies.

July 2015 ratings: Anand, Topalov, Nakamura

7/1/2015 – The talk can only be about those three players, in spite of Carlsen’s disastrous campaign in Norway, begging a comment. After sneaking past 2800, Nakamura stormed to 2814, a magnificent result, yet only good for world no.4! Incredibly, the 'old guard' shows they are not ready to retire as Anand comes at world no.2 with 2816, tied with Topalov, whose 2816 is a personal best at age 40!

Wesley So at Summer Chess Camp

7/1/2015 – Metropolitan Chess and the American Chess Academy is staging its 2015 Summer Chess Camp from July 22-26 at the Hilton Hotel in Glendale, California. A number of well-known teachers will be there, but it's the head instructor that is of special interest: World Top Ten GM Wesley So. Going by our recent encounter with the US-Filipino player the students in Glendale are in for a treat.