Kasparov and Chess in Schools in Georgia

2/20/2013 – These days the chess legend Garry Kasparov seems to have one thing predominantly on his mind: introducing chess in schools all over the world. Last year we saw his efforts in Germany, and now he has officiated in actually implementing a programme in Georgia, a country with possibly the highest computer and Internet penetration in the world. Pictorial report by Sophie Nikoladze.

4th Tata Steel Studies Solving Competition – solutions

2/20/2013 – In this recent competition it was one of the older competitors, John Nunn, who won first prize, by the highest score achieved in recent years. John wrote us a report – with pictures taken by co-competitor WGM Alina L'Ami – and included three marvellous studies for our readers to solve. You've had a week to work on them – here now are Link Text

Jerry and Kramer discuss chess

2/20/2013 – If you happen to live on this planet chances are you have seen most of the 150 episodes of the Seinfeld show, a commercial blockbuster and cultural phenomenon that aired on NBC from 1989 to 1998 – and is now in syndication world-wide. The two lead actors, Jerry Seinfeld and Michael Richards ("Kramer"), were recently in a chat video, mostly discussing – chess. Don't miss this one.

Play the King's Indian Defence with g3 in 60 minutes

2/19/2013 – The King's Indian Defense is one of Black's most aggressive replies, with tons of double-edged theory, and many attacking options. GM Adrian Mikhalchishin gives a master class on the g3 line, showing how it can efficiently fight the King's Indian, without drowning in theory, by focusing on plans and ideas instead of mountains of memorization. Read the review.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (96)

2/18/2013 – It is one hundred years since the term ‘hypermodern’ began appearing in chess literature, but who exactly were the precursors and inventors of this so-called revolution? The Editor of Chess Notes puts forward a cast that includes A. Alekhine, J.H. Blackburne, E. Bogoljubow, G. Breyer, A. Flamberg, E. Grünfeld, R. Réti, A. Nimzowitsch, H. Staunton, S. Tartakower, E. Williams and ... M. Wolfson.

Aeroflot Open 2013: Sergey Karjakin wins in last seconds

2/18/2013 – It was a remarkably tough event, and among the eight qualifiers to the finals were more than one elite player, the most notable being Gata Kamsky. They were joined by Karpov, Karjakin, Svidler, Grischuk, Nepomniachtchi, Wang Hao, Mamedyarov and Andreikin. After several matches decided by sudden death, Karjakin fittingly beat Grischuk by a mere two seconds. Illustrated report.

Baden Baden R10: Anand wins Grenke Chess Classic

2/18/2013 – With a last-round black-pieces win over the flamboyant Arkadij Naiditsch the World Champion Viswanathan Anand secured sole victory in this tournament, with 6.5/10 points and a 2808 performance. This was confirmed when Anand's main rival, the Italian GM Fabiano Caruana, failed to convert a very promising position against Daniel Fridman. Final report with commentary and videos.

The 1937 Prokofiev-Oistrakh match

2/18/2013 – The year was 1937 and the match had been officially announced. Ten classical games were to be played at the Master of Art Club in Moscow, with grandmaster Vladimir Alatortsev and the famed theoretician Ilya Kan overseeing it. The players were the great composer, Sergey Prokofiev, and legendary violinist, David Oistrakh. It was the peak of the chess rivalry between the two music giants.

Baden Baden R9: Anand catches Caruana

2/18/2013 – The script of the event had seemed to be carved in stone – a single decisive game a day, the World Champion struggling to win and Caruana surviving scares on his way to an inevitable first place. But in the penultimate round the script was tossed out: Caruana fell to defeat against Adams, Anand joined him in the lead by beating Fridman, and Naiditsch was tamed by Meier. Round nine report.

Aeroflot Open 2013: Blitz tournament won by Nepomniachtchi

2/18/2013 – The Aeroflot Open Blitz tournament was a great success and brought in a large number of aficionados and fans to play blitz games with the very best. It was eighteen rounds of action headed by top-seed Sergey Karjakin with 2901 FIDE Blitz, followed by Dmitri Andreikin (2877), Alexander Grischuk (2860), and over 270 further players. Large pictorial.

Baden Baden R8: History repeats itself

2/18/2013 – Fabiano Caruana has taken a huge stride towards winning the GRENKE Chess Classic by once again defeating Arkadij Naiditsch from a lost position. Viswanathan Anand was unable to match the young Italian as he failed to convert an advantage against Georg Meier, while birthday boy Daniel Fridman was happy to stop the rot with a solid draw against Michael Adams. Round eight report.

Asteroid fly-by, giant meteor over Chelyabinsk

2/18/2013 – If there is no gravitational connection it is an incredible coincidence: on the day the asteroid 2012 DA14 is due to fly past earth in the closest encounter of a substantial interplanatry object in living history, a meteor exploded over the Siberian city of Chelyabinsk, where last October's FIDE Grand Prix was scheduled to be held (the chess connection!). Here are some scary videos.

Baden Baden R7: Caruana leads as Meier claims first win

2/18/2013 – There was no love lost between the players on Valentine’s Day, with tense fights on all three boards. It was only long after the first time control that Caruana-Anand and Adams-Naiditsch were agreed drawn, leaving Meier and Fridman to uphold the tradition of each round featuring a decisive game. Sure enough, after six hours Georg Meier banked his first win. Round seven report.

Three European Champions at First Saturday

2/18/2013 – ‘First Saturday’ is a very popular training and norm event that has been staged over 300 times over the last 25 years. Players like Caruana, Hou Yifan, Rapport, Radjabov, Nakamura and Carlsen played in them. The participation of three former European Youth Champions made the event particularly interesting this month. IM Miklos Orso reports.

Aeroflot Open 2013: 32 qualifiers and surprises

2/18/2013 – The first stage is over and 32 players passed on to the next phase, though not without a few surprises. Though certainly entertaining, the move to abandon classical chess in favor of rapid chess is not without varied opinions. The sponsor thought the old format "boring" and "miserable", while others already see it as the end of a golden era. Read what some players think.

Baden Baden R6: Naiditsch wins a stunning game

2/18/2013 – “The guy’s on fire – he’s been like this for weeks!” That was World Champion Viswanathan Anand on Arkadij Naiditsch, who today overwhelmed Daniel Fridman with a brilliant sacrificial attack to move into second place at the GRENKE Chess Classic. Elsewhere Georg Meier missed a nice win against Fabiano Caruana, while Vishy and Mickey Adams drew a well-played game. Round six report.

Kasimzhanov: Meet the Nimzo-Indian with 4.Qc2

2/18/2013 – Today’s review is about GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov’s DVD on the Nimzo Indian. In it he offers a repertoire choice for White against the all-famous Nimzo-Indian Defense (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6). The former FIDE World Champion of 2004 shares his knowledge on the classical approach against the Nimzo-Indian by playing 4.Qc2. Link Text

ChessBase Magazine 152 – standing the test of time

2/18/2013 – The highlight of the new CBM is the coverage of the London Chess Classic. Magnus Of particular interest are the 19 games presented with the audio versions of the post-match analysis, featuring the voices of the players themselves. On average, each post-mortem runs for 20+ minutes and they will surely stand the test of time as an important historical document. Marsh Towers review.

Carlsen's Conquests – at 22 he has broken all records

2/13/2013 – In light of his merciless treatment of the field, it seems worth paying yet another visit to Carlsen's recent performance in Wijk aan Zee. He has won the event three times, this year with a 1.5-point margin – only achieved before by Short (in 1986) and once by Kasparov (in 2000). His general achievements are "monstrous", according to Michael von Keitz, who has tracked them in table form.

Chess Problems: Half-pin Blockbusters

2/12/2013 – In his previous articles on the half-pin theme our problem expert David Friedgood looked at a number of aspects of this fertile concept. There are many of other highways and byways of the theme that we could delve into. But David decided to say Auf Wiedersehen to the theme with a foursome of blockbusters, two of which the readers were invited to solve. Here are the the solutions.

Baden Baden R5: Anand makes his move in Baden-Baden

2/12/2013 – The Grenke Chess Classic reached the mid-way point, and tournament underdogs Meier and Fridman had Adams and Caruana on the ropes, while Arkadij Naiditsch had a full-blooded game against Vishy Anand. In the end, however, the aristocrats of world chess drew, while the king upheld the social order with a win that saw him move into outright second place. Round five report.

Chess competitions of age groups 8 –12 in Iran

2/12/2013 – The country has a very old tradition of chess – in fact the game was probably invented by a vizier of Persian extraction. Now-a-days people in Iran are rediscovering the advantages of chess as a means for mental ability, intelligence and memory, and are staging competitions for young players. Like the following U8, U10 ans U12 tournament in the beautiful city of Rasht. WFM Shohreh Bayat reports.

Aeroflot Open 2013 starts as Rapid and Blitz festival

2/12/2013 – The popular Aeroflot Open, which for eleven years has been staged as a classical chess event, has this year become rapid and blitz tournament, taking place from 12 to 17 February 2013 in Moscow. After four rounds there are six players with perfect scores, followed by thirteen who have conceded a single draw. From Friday there is a 32-player knockout followed by the Grand Final. Big illustrated report.

Baden Baden R4: Naiditsch bounces straight back

2/11/2013 – Where would we be without Arkadij Naiditsch? For the third day in a row his game saw a dramatic time scramble and the only decisive result at the GRENKE Chess Classic. This time he beat Georg Meier, while Mickey Adams and Fabiano Caruana played a sharp and hard-fought draw. Anand was agonisingly close to a first win, but an endgame slip allowed Daniel Fridman to escape. Round four report.