Impressions from the Mumbai Mayor’s Cup (part 1)

6/25/2014 – As noted in the first report on the Mumbai Mayor’s Cup: it was an extremely strong event won by the Georgian grandmaster Levan Pantsulaia (2577) with a score of 8.0/10. Sagar Shah and his wife, Amruta Mokal, take a more intimate look at the many faces that played, giving us a glimpse into who they are, by providing this report filled with anecdotes and photos.

Lopota 05: Unstoppable?

6/24/2014 – Hou Yifan won yet another game by demolishing Antoaneta Stefanova in only 25 moves. With 4.5/5 and a 2879 (!) performance it seems as if the World Champion will cruise to victory; but things are not so simple! Ju Wenjun and Dzagnidze follow closely only half a point behind and with terrific 2730+ performances of their own. Tomorrow will feature a crucial Chinese derby..

Popularity of chess openings over time

6/24/2014 – Recently we published an article that asked: 1.e4 or 1.d4 – which is the better move? Now Randy Olson, a third year PhD engineering student, has investigated which were the most popular openings in 650,000 tournament games from 1850-2014. He found 4,000 unique openings, with 30 comprising 70% of all chess games. Randy illustrates his results with some wonderful graphics.

Profile of a prodigy: Anton Smirnov

6/23/2014 – FM Anton Smirnov is one of Australia’s outstanding young prospects and is currently under the tutelage of his coach GM Vladimir Belov. Smirnov was number one amongst the world’s U12s for most of 2013, and is now number five in the U14 age division, close behind players like IMs Samuel Sevian and Jeffrey Xiong. In August he will represent Australia at the Chess Olympiads.

Jalgaon Battlers win Maharashtra Chess League

6/23/2014 – It is a very interesting format, well worth considering: six teams put together by sponsors bidding for the strongest players. Top Indian GMs participate, and the atmosphere is electrifying: team captains, coaches and even the "owners" have to decide strategically who plays on which board. The result is exciting action from beginning to end, as V. Saravanan shows us in this big pictorial report.

Lopota Rd4: Hou Yifan retakes lead

6/23/2014 – Going into the rest day, Hou Yifan will sleep easy as she takes the sole lead with 3.5/4 after an important win. Right behind, and nipping at her ankles in pursuit, are Ju Wenjun, Harika Dronavalli, and Nana Dzagnidze, all with 3.0/4. Perhaps the price of this success is at the bottom of the crosstable, with three on half a point. Still the tournament is far from over. Round four report.

Lopota GP R03: Chinese Hou and Ju lead

6/22/2014 – With her win over Bela Khotenashvili WGM Ju Wenjun caught up with her compatriot, Chinese GM and Women's World Champion GM Hou Yifan. Both players have 2.5/3 points. Following at 2.0 are four GMs: Koneru Humpy, who will soon be married, and Harika Dronavalli from India, Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine, and Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia. Round three report.

Alekhine Mem.: Ponkratov snatches win at end

6/21/2014 – The Alekhine Memorial finished with a heavily bloodied battlefield since none of the players were able to stay clear ahead of the field for any length of time. Though Ponkratov and Artemiev were clear leaders after five rounds with 4.5/5, one round later they had been caught by two more, and after round seven the new leader was Fedorov. It ended in a photo finish.

Final Four Nations League – Final report

6/21/2014 – The most prestigious team chess event held in the UK came to a conclusion last month. John Saunders looks at the final exciting rounds of the Division 1 demotion pool – along the way he shows us a grandmaster's colourful scoresheet and tells us about an unofficial Varsity match. The report ends with a momentary personal temptation to exit the hotel in Bobby Fischer style.

Lopota 02: Hou Yifan early leader

6/21/2014 – With only two decisive games today in Georgia it is Hou Yifan that has taken an early lead by winning both of her games, but she is followed closely by Koneru, Harika and Ju Wenjun, the first of these will face Hou Yifan tomorrow in a crucial match for the standings. Will Hou Yifan dominate the event like she did in Khanty-Mansiysk or will she be stopped soon?

World Blitz: Triple Crown Achieved!

6/20/2014 – It was not clear that it would happen until the last leg of the tournament, actually Carlsen was even trailing by half point for a significant portion of the day, but at the end of it the Norwegian holds the titles of World Champion, World Rapid Champion and World Blitz Champion! Nepomniachtchi and Nakamura were his only true competitors for the title. Full report.

Matthew Sadler shows he is back in the game

6/20/2014 – In the 90s Matthew Sadler was one of the best English players. But in 2000 he abandoned tournament chess to work regular hours at Hewlett Packard. In 2010, after having played no rated game for ten years, he came back to competitive chess. In a recent rapid tournament in London he showed how strong he still is. Sabrina Chevannes reports...

First US Congressional Chess Tournament

6/20/2014 – Stemming from a US Senate resolution to recognize St. Louis as the US Capital of Chess, chess patron Rex Sinquefield met with members of congress to promote chess education, supported by Garry Kasparov. This led to the 1st Congressional Chess Tournament with US congressmen facing off over the chess board, teamed up with rising US chess prodigies. Zachary Young has the report.

Women's Grand Prix in Lopota begins

6/19/2014 – Lopota, Georgia is the host of the fifth Women's Grand Prix in the 2013-2014 series. The games have begun with an incredibly strong field. World Champion Hou Yifan and Koneru Humpy lead the pack of players trying to win the tournament and accumulate Grand Prix points. Yesterday was the opening ceremony and today we already had action packed games and missed chances.

World Blitz: Surprises left and right

6/19/2014 – Despite the fact that Carlsen is the sole leader and that Nakamura is chasing him half a point behind, today was a day of big surprises. Chinese phenom Lu Shanglei, a relatively unknown grandmaster, took down Carlsen and is only one point away from him while Meier is sitting strong with Nakamura at 8.5/9. We bring you impressions, blitz analysis and round by round action.

Explaining male predominance in chess

6/19/2014 – There are two theories to explain male predominance at the apex of intellectual achievement: some attribute it to some innate evolutionary ability differences, others to social factors of present-day society. Robert Howard of Sydney, Australia, has sent us the most profound and well-researched article we have seen on this subject – we urge everyone to read and ...
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World Rapid: Miraculous Carlsen

6/18/2014 – Despite his rocky day today, losing to Anand and salvaging a lost position against Grischuk and Aronian, Carlsen added another jewel to his crown. He is now the World Rapid Champion by finishing half a point ahead of Caruana, Morozevich, Anand and Aronian who ended in 10.5/15. Tomorrow Carlsen will begin his fight to finish his triple crown, for now report on the rapids.

The Golden Guidelines of Endgame Play

6/18/2014 – Karsten Mueller's Chess Endgames series on DVD changed endgame study for many, by making a subject often considered dull into something dynamic and pleasant to learn. However, every good thing has an end, and volume 14 represents the last in the series. Don't despair, since the good doctor has left the best for last with these golden guidelines spread out over 65 bite-sized videos.

World Rapid: All about Carlsen

6/18/2014 – Even though Fabiano Caruana started strong by beating the leader, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and taking the top spot for himself, it was Magnus Carlsen who ended the day with a bang. The Italian player faced the World Champion in a crucial round ten and the Norwegian took the full point home, going into round eleven with a half point lead over Levon Aronian. Report and impressions.

Pantsulaia wins Mumbai Mayor’s Cup 2014

6/17/2014 – This strong GM Open had 18 grandmasters and an overall rating average of 2177. After the top players had had accidents in the first two rounds the road was clear for the third seed, Georgian GM Pantsulaia Levan, to forge ahead and take unshared first place. Our report from Mumbai contains a lot of interesting highlights from the games, presented by Sagar Shah.

Alekhine Mem.: Ponkratov and Artemiev dominate

6/17/2014 – In spite of a schedule that conflicted with the Russian Higher League, the 18th Alekhine Memorial, held in Voronezh, Russia, nevertheless has drawn 50 masters and grandmasters. The main event is the Master section, which has been dominated by Pavel Ponkratov and 16-year-old Vladislav Artemiev, both with 4.5/5 and performances over 2800, and there has been some great chess.

World Rapid: Nepomniachtchi is day one leader

6/16/2014 – The opening day of the 2014 World Rapid Championship saw many exciting games, and unexpected results. The first came in round one as top seed Nakamura fell to Iturrizaga, and after four rounds only Nepomniachtchi had a perfect score. After five rounds, he leads with 4.5/5 together with Karjakin and Caruana, but this is only the start of the 15-round marathon. Report and special pictorial.

Huschenbeth: Tactic Toolbox Najdorf

6/16/2014 – Niclas Huschenbeth, 22, is a German grandmaster and the 2010 national champion. Since 2012 he has been studying psychology in Baltimore, where he leads the University's team. In a new DVD Niclas shows us the important tactical motives and sacrifices in the Najdorf. It is a uniquely interactive suite of lessons that requires serious work on your part. Review by Diana Mihajlova.

World Rapid and Blitz Championship starting

6/16/2014 – Held in Dubai, UAE, the World Rapid and Blitz Championship is set to start with the chess equivalent of a Hollywood action blockbuster. The quick fire excitement of rapid games and blitz will reign supreme for the next days as the world's elite all congregate to fight for the top title and top rating. Nakamura, Carlsen, Aronian, Anand, Caruana, Grischuk and more will play. Don't miss it!