The best friend of the king

7/22/2014 – When fighting against a rook in the endgame, knights are often surprisingly clumsy. Thus, one would think a single knight stands no chance at all against the queen, even if a couple of pawns offer help. But, as Karsten Müller shows, a lot depends on the position of the king. If king and knight are true friends, surprising things can happen.

Daniel Semcesen is the new Swedish Champion

7/22/2014 – He was just the eighth seed in this interesting and exciting championships, held in the small industrial town of Borlänge in the middle of Sweden. But GM Daniel Semcesen emerged sole winner with 6.0/9 points, adding 18 to his 2471 FIDE rating. We have a big illustrated report by IM Ari Ziegler, with anecdotes, ponderings and lots of annotated games.

British Championship: Three lead after round three

7/22/2014 – GM Chris Ward (photo), British Champion 1996, "From Amateur to IM" Jonathan Hawkins, and young talent FM Justin Tan had the best start at the British Championship. After three rounds they are the only players with a 100% score. In round three Ward won a fine game against GM Mark Hebden. IM Andrew Martin has the highlights in his Game of the Day.

Miraculous MVL

7/21/2014 – Two players can certainly be unhappy with today's results. Hou Yifan let go of a winning advantage against Radoslaw Wojtaszek and had to be content with only 50% of the points. Alexander Motylev played a crushing attack against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and obtained a winning position, but in time trouble the Russian not only failed to convert, but let things turn for the worse...

101st British Chess Championships in Aberystwyth

7/21/2014 – The Championships, played in many groups, is this year taking place, are taking place, from July 19th to 30th, in the university town of Aberystwyth in West Wales. The defending champion is GM David Howell, who leads the field after two rounds – together with ten other players on 2.0/2 points. IM Andrew Martin is providing interesting and instructive Game of the Day commentary.

Organisers stand by case but allow teams to play

7/21/2014 – At a board meeting on Sunday the Tromsø 2014 organisers met to discuss the situation surrounding teams that missed the deadline for Olympiad registration. They have now informed FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov that while they stand by its interpretation of the regulations the COT2014 will accept teams that missed the June 1 deadline to register. Letter to FIDE.

Kavalek in Huffington: Winning While Losing

7/21/2014 – On July 13 at the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Lionel Messi was handed the Golden Ball Trophy for the best soccer player of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. But instead of celebrating he was dejected and crestfallen. Forty years ago, in 1974, the amazing Dutch captain Johan Cruyff had a similar experience. As did GM Lubomir Kavalek, who almost won one of the great tournament of his life.

Dortmund: Fabiano Caruana is now 2801

7/20/2014 – The final round of the Dortmund was the most decisive of them all. Ironically, the only game that ended in a draw was Caruana's versus Leko, which clinched second for the Hungarian. Snatching bronze was Georg Meier who beat Arkadij Naiditsch. Fabiano Caruana not only moves to world no.3, but also breaks new ground as he will appear on the next ratings list with 2801.

ACP Golden Classic: Wesley So is the winner

7/20/2014 – Round seven was a crucial one for most players since although Wesley So had all but locked up first place, silver and bronze were up for grabs still. With his victory, Wesley So has now moved to 2755 on the Live Ratings list, and world no.12, a remarkable progression for the 20-year-old, while Jobava Baadur took silver and Emil Sutovsky was bronze. Still, the last round had some drama left.

World Mind Games in Beijing: what a lineup!

7/20/2014 – The fourth SportAccord Mind Games will be held in Beijing, China, between the 9th and 18th of December 2014. The event consisted of five disciplines: chess, bridge, draughts (checkers), go, and xiangqi. This year the chess field is sterling: Carlsen, Aronian, Caruana, Nakamura, Anand, Grischuk, Kramnik, and Polgar, Hou Yifan, Muzychuk, Humpy, Lagno – at least according to FIDE.

Three draws in Biel

7/20/2014 – Despite the results, it is impossible to say that today's round in Biel was dull. Two games were very interesting: MVL found himself down the exchange before move 15 only to be up material a few moves later against Harikrishna! Hou Yifan survived by the skin of her teeth in a tough defense against Giri while the last game between Wojtaszek and Motylev was pretty solid.

Fabiano Caruana wins Dortmund

7/19/2014 – Fabiano Caruana turned in yet another win at the Dortmund International, by beating Michael Adams in round six, giving him a monstrous 5.0/6 and 2972 performance. With this he takes first place in advance as he now leads with 1.5 points with a round to go, and the rivals will now fight over second and third. Moreover, Caruana's live rating is now over 2800.

ACP Golden: Clash of the titans

7/19/2014 – Though fun to watch, with top players, and unique conditions, it is not always easy to know how things stand in the ACP Golden Classic. With the rest days on the one hand, and adjourned games on the other, some players have five games played, and some only three. Nevertheless, there was no doubt that the game between So and Baadur could decide it all. Report, games, and video.

Dortmund Rd5: Leko scores among near misses

7/19/2014 – It was a tough round for the German players, as they all found themselves in dangerous to lost positions. Baramidze was lost against Ponomariov, but the Ukrainina could not end it and they drew, while Adams was also far ahead against Meier. Ironically, Naiditsch was in no danger through his game against Peter Leko, but ended up losing after he committed Hara-Kiri.

MVL one point ahead in Biel

7/18/2014 – With absolutely masterful positional understanding and technique MVL cleanly won an important game against Anish Giri in the fifth round of Biel. In an unusual couple of other games, Harikrishna essayed a strange idea as early as move six in a Najdorf against Wojtaszek while Hou Yifan had to suffer somewhat after playing a long theoretical line against Motylev. Round five analysis.

Chess Olympiad without the Russian women?

7/18/2014 – No way José, says FIDE President Ilyumzhinov in an Itar-Tass interview today. And hear this: Anatoly Karpov has come out strongly supporting FIDE's position. Meanwhile the Russian Chess Federation sent us a detailed description of the current situation. They have hired a powerful legal team which set the Tromsø organisers a deadline to concede: 5 p.m. CET today, 18 July, 2014.

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.