Astana R5: Ukraine beats China, leads with Russia

3/8/2013 – It didn't go completely smoothly, but in the end the Ukrainian ladies scored a 3-1 win over rivals China. Russia trounced France 3½-½, and Georgia did the same to the USA. Russia and Ukraine lead by two point ahead of China and Georgia. In addition there is good news for Salome Melia and her desperately ill daughter. Round five report.

Candidates – Alexander Grischuk (2764 – World #10)

3/8/2013 – In exactly a week from today the two "-chuks" will meet over the chessboard: Alexander Grischuk will have black against Vassily Ivanchuk at the Candidates Tournament for the 2013 World Championship. To prepare us for this eight-player double round robin Michael von Keitz is providing portraits of each of the Candidates – with descriptions and full statistics.

Astana R4: Ukraine catches Russia and China

3/7/2013 – The leading teams from Russia and China faced each other and made a 2-2 result – with two wins for each side. Ukraine was facing a drawn match against Turkey, but after more than 100 moves and six hours of play the talented Turkish WFM Selen Sop simply did not have the physical strength to win the position with a huge advantage. Round four report.

The Chinese are coming! The Chinese are coming!

3/7/2013 –  Is there anything that Chinese people cannot do? Those are the first words of Alina L'Ami in a final report on the 2013 Reykjavik Open. Although the event was marked by GM Wei Yi's historic third GM norm, little is known about the young prodigy. Alina met him and describes her impressions, including a spectacular win of his, and all in a beautiful pictorial.

Tata Steel studies solutions – Part two

3/7/2013 – Among the festivities there was a special study composing tourney at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee. A total of 89 studies were submitted, and 20 of them received prizes. Tournament judge Yochanan Afek recently shows us the solutions of the first five. Here are the next batch of award-winning studies.

The Candidates – Vassily Ivanchuk, 2757, World #13

3/6/2013 – The Candidates Tournament for the 2013 World Championship starts in just over a week. It's an eight-player double round robin lasting from March 14 to April 1st. To prepare us for the event Michael von Keitz is providing portraits of each of the Candidates. Today he looks at Vassily Ivanchuk. Once again we are sure that the other seven candidates will give this report due attention.

Astana: Salome Melia, a player in need

3/6/2013 – In round three Salome Melia defeated her American rival in a marathon 86-move game. The Georgian IM is not playing only for the honour of her country, but also for money to save the life of her four-month-old daughter. The infant desperately needs a heart operation which cannot be performed in Georgia and would cost €60,000 in Germany (or a million in the US). Can anyone help?

Astana R3: Russia beats Turkey 4-0

3/6/2013 – “The Turkish team came here to learn and gain experience”, the captain and coach of the team, GM Adrian Mikhalchishin (above right). They gained a lot in the 0-4 drubbing they got from the Russian squad. China beat the US team 3½-½ and is now half a board point behind Russia. The two meet in round four on Wednesday. Illustrated round three report.

Adams wins Bunratty Chess Festival

3/5/2013 – He went about mowing down opponent after opponent in traditional style. It was only against IM Malcolm Pein that Super-GM Michael Adams had a few anxious moments (he won in the end). The Festival took place in the luxurious surroundings of the Library Room in the Bunratty Castle Hotel from February 27th to March 3rd. We bring you a  pictorial report by Gery Graham.

Astana R2: Russia and China lead

3/5/2013 – The Russian team beat Kazakhstan 3-1 in spite of an accident on board one; and China profited from two howlers by the Georgians to chalk up the same score. Since the start of this event in 2007 the Chinese team won Gold every time, and Russia three times Silver. Both teams are in Astana without their top two players. Big pictorial report with  results and games.

Astana R1: Kazakhstan holds USA 2-2

3/4/2013 – The only surprise of round one was the brave stand put up by the Kazakh squad that almost defeated the higher-ranked team from the USA. India, playing without their three top seed, lost 1-3 to Ukraine, while favourites China and Russia both scored thumping 3½-½ victories over France and Romania respectively. We bring you all the  results, games and pictures.

29th Cappelle-La-Grande Open: Sjugirov edges out pack

3/4/2013 –  It was a great event, confirmed by the stats, and affirming once more the vibrant support by the chess community for this traditional open. The 29th edition of the Cappelle-La-Grande Open in France brought in 563 players, aged 7 to 83, with an Orwellian average rating of 1984, including 85 grandmasters, 71 international masters and 38 FIDE masters. Here is a final report with games and quizzes.

The Candidates – Peter Svidler, 2747, World #14

3/4/2013 –  From March 14 to April 1st we will enjoy the Candidates Tournament in London – an eight-player double round robin which determines the challenger for the World Championship title. To prepare us for the event Michael von Keitz, former President of the Canadian Chess Federation, will portrait each  Candidate, starting with Peter Svidler. The other seven can read this to start their preparations.

Women's World Team Championship starts in Astana

3/4/2013 –  From March 2nd to 12 some of the strongest female players in the world are assembled in the capital of Kazakhstan for this FIDE event. Ten teams – from China, Russia, Ukraine, USA, India, France, Turkey, Georgia, Rumania and Kazakhstan – will take part in a nine-round all-play-all. The Kosintseva sister are not in the Russian team, which is third seed. Full info.

Chess in Schools in the Alsterufer tournament

3/4/2013 – Over fifty years ago chess loving school teachers in Hamburg, Germany, created a giant tournament. It started with 160 students and reached a record of 3600 in the giant tournament hall. One team traditionally plays against remote opponents – this time it was a class from Wembley, England. The event was supported by Barcleycard, which is getting involved in Chess in Schools.

Zurich R6: Caruana wins by a full point

3/4/2013 –  A round of blunders! Even top players in the world are human, and they proved it today. Exhaustion has taken its toll on the players, and this changed the final standings. With a win over Boris Gelfand the youngest participant, Fabiano Caruana, clinched victory in the tournament by a full point, gaining twelve rating points in the process. Anand beat Kramnik to finish at 50%. Final report.

FIDE March 2013 ratings

3/4/2013 –  Of the top ten, only Anand actually played any games in February, ten in total, with a gain of four rating points. Giri and Vachier both increased their ratings by seven points, while Naiditsch and Wojtaszek both lost ten points. Wesley So gained 17 points from 19 games and is second in the Juniors ranking. Big winners: Nikita Vitiugov (+18) and Pavel Eljanov (+19). March rankings.

Zurich R5: two spectacular draws

3/1/2013 –  Who's complaining? Today's round continued to provide some spectacular chess. Kramnik and Caruana decided that the Benoni was a super battleground, and that is always good for the spectators. Anand may have been a tad lucky since his opening was far from perfect, but both games ended in exciting draws. We have videos, postgame analysis and  guest commentator.

Touring the American West + Vegas revisited

3/1/2013 –  Recently GM Timur Gareev of Uzbekistan went on an extended tour, mostly on motorbike, that took him to Mexico City, San Diego, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, the Hawaiian Islands and Las Vegas, where he won the North American Open with an undefeated 8.0/9 score. To our recent report on this event we now add some tour pictures and a nicely annotated game from Vegas.

The name of the game is domination

3/1/2013 –  With Magnus Carlsen's Elo skyrocketing past Mars, the big talk is on the record rating and how far he can take it. The secondary talk, understandably, is how this compares with past ratings, and whether the record is indeed a record. In the following article, a different perspective is shed on the subject, highlighting the most dominant rating as opposed to the highest. Food for thought.

Reykjavik Open 2013 : Three for the gold

3/1/2013 –  The 2013 Reykjavik Open will be remembered for helping to establish as the youngest GM in the world Wei Yi, who will no longer be able to hide from the limelight. The tournament ended with a bang and a whimper as the top board saw a handshake between Pavel Eljanov and Wesley So after just three moves, allowing Egyptian GM Bassem Amin to join them. David Navara ended with a bang.

Zurich R4: Caruana defeats Anand in a wild round

3/1/2013 –  What a round! Two great games were played today and the spectators cannot be unhappy. The more rational one was a victory and the crazy game turned out to be a draw! And once again Garry Kasparov was present, commenting and even participating in the postgame analysis. In addition to the video coverage of all this we have some lovely impressions from an Alpine excursion on the free day.

Wei Yi has become the youngest GM in the world

3/1/2013 –  After seven rounds he was in the follow-up group with 5.5 points, and in round eight he faced former child prodigy Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, now 22 and rated 2715. The French GM played an attacking game, but faced an ice-cold defence and some nice tactics by the Chinese IM, who won and secured his final GM norm – at the age of 13 years, 8 months and 23 days.

Tata Steel Studies Composing tourney

3/1/2013 – We recently published a report on the problem solving competition that was held during this year's Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee. Among the festivities there was a special study composing tourney, with a generous prize fund. A total of 89 studies were submitted, and 20 of them received awards. Tournament judge Yochanan Afek shows us the first five.