The Maverick: play hard, party heartily

5/29/2013 – GM Timur Gareev of Uzbekistan, now living in the USA, is one of the most energetic mavericks in the chess world. He is sure to remain a stellar grandmaster for many years, but is also a representative of the new generation of grandmasters with a passion to bring the game to a wider public. Marck Cobb reports on his adventurous 1000-mile journey from St. Louis to San Diego.

Thessaloniki R06: Kamsky, Caruana join Dominguez

5/28/2013 – Kamsky played a superb positional game to dispatch Svidler and join Dominguez in the lead. The Cuban drew a very resilient Nakamura who was down a pawn the entire game. Caruana showed great class in his win against Bacrot. Ivanchuk continues his freefall and self-destructed against Ponomariov. Analysis, pictures and standings.

Thessaloniki GP: free day activities

5/28/2013 – Sunday was a free day at the FIDE Grand Prix in Thessaloniki – a city founded around 300 BC and named after a half-sister of Alexander the Great. A number of players used the opportunity to hop on the open desk bus and go on an extended sightseeing tour. They saw the Hagios Demetrios, the Heptapyrgion, and visited the landmark White Tower of Thessaloniki. Here is a pictorial report.

40th Anniversary of the Beer-Sheba Chess Club

5/28/2013 – The Beer Sheba chess club, the largest in Israel, is celebrating its foundation four decades ago, crowning a history rich in activities and achievements. To commemorate, it is organizing a strong rapid round-robin tournament with local and guest grandmasters. As a result of its very active program and fine leadership, the city claims the highest grandmaster per capita in the world.

Thessaloniki R05: Dominguez takes the Lead

5/27/2013 – Winning three consecutive games has catapulted Dominguez to the top of the leaderboard. The Cuban outplayed Kasimdzhanov to cleanly collect a full point. Bacrot missed a win against Morozevich in a complex endgame, Caruana wasn't able to win against Nakamura with two extra pawns while the other games were uneventful draws. Analysis, standings and pictures.

Short and Sokolov lead Sigeman & Co.

5/27/2013 – The Sigeman tournament is now in the second half with five rounds played, and the podium is being disputed hard by the players. The leadership has changed hands a few times among the group, especially after round five when Nigel Short beat Loek van Wely in a hard fight, and Richard Rapport was punished for his brash opening play by Hans Tikannen. Report and analysis.

Ni Hua leads Hainan Danzhou with 5.0/6

5/26/2013 – After six rounds, the Danzhou tournament held in China has seen GM Ni Hua take the lead with 5.0/6, followed by top-seed Ding Liren with 4.5/6. One of the surprises has been the comeback by Xiu Deshun who lost his first two games, and then won four straight. Though Wei Yi has had a rough start he is a veteran in top chess in China. IM Lou Yiping annotates in the illustrated report by Liang Ziming.

Skyfall – the TLC Trio's chess video

5/26/2013 – They represent a unique blend of traditional sound and twenty-first century rhythm, playing songs by the Beatles, Lady Gaga and Elvis with classical instrumentation. The TLC Trio's latest video features a live chess game – Kasparov vs Topalov, Wijk 1999 – that plays out, move for move, to Adele's "Skyfall." A U14 World Champion, protégé of Kasparov, costars. Chess like you have never seen it.

Thessaloniki R04: Dominguez strikes again

5/25/2013 – Showing that yesterday wasn't just a fluke, Dominguez played an enterprising game against Svidler, got a slight advantage and severely punished his opponent's mistakes. Morozevich and Nakamura played the wildest game of the tournament (of the year?) which ended in a crazy perpetual. Topalov demolished Ivanchuk and the other games were drawn. GM Analysis, standings and pictures.

Kavalek in Huffington: Sicilian and Spanish Dragons

5/25/2013 – In 1901 the Russian master Fyodor Duz-Khotimirsky invented the name Dragon Variation for the pawn configuration d6, e7, f7, g6, h7 in the Sicilian, because it looked to him like the Draco constellation in the celestial sky. In his Huffington Post column GM Lubomir Kavalek describes a mirror constellation that he calls the Spanish Dragon. Extensive and instructive analysis.

Thessaloniki R03: Ivanchuk's Tragedy

5/24/2013 – Mercy was the name of the game today in Greece. Kasimdzhanov sacrificed an exchange against Morozevich but couldn't win. Kamsky had a winning advantage but didn't deliver a killing blow. Topalov also had his chances but was unable to convert. The highlight however was Ivanchuk losing a completely winning position against Dominguez. GM Analysis, standings and pictures.

Vik-Hansen: Is chess a sport?

5/24/2013 – It never fails. Keeping time with Magnus Carlsen's chessploits, the debate in Norwegian newspapers rages red hot over whether chess is a sport or athletics, with no surprising conclusions: one agrees to disagree, definitions do not diminish or lessen Magnus’ performances and “you can’t compare apples and oranges.” Rune Vik-Hansen ponders the viability of the different views.

Three White victories in Thessaloniki... again!

5/23/2013 – White had a good round again in Greece. Caruana dispatched Ivanchuk and Morozevich destroyed Svidler in a miniature. Grischuk played almost six times more moves than Morozevich but also took down Nakamura, who has no points in two rounds. The other games were solidly drawn and five people share the lead at 1.5/2. GM analysis, pictures and report.

Dejan Bojkov: Hallo Africa!

5/23/2013 – The logo of the Botswana Chess Federation says “30 Years of making smart moves.” They made one more of them with their decision to host a FIDE training seminar in the capital city of Gaborone from 3-8 May, during Zonal tournaments there. Senior FIDE Trainer GM Dejan Bojkov headed the seminar, but also took time to look around the country. Here his beautiful pictorial report.

21st Sigeman & Co. tournament continues tradition

5/23/2013 – It has been a flood of excellent tournaments, all with attractive lineups, and the 21st edition of the Sigeman and Co. grandmaster tournament held in Sweden is no exception. It brings together several local talents such as Jonny Hector, Emmanuel Berg, Hans Tikkanen and Nils Grandelius, and pitting them against Nigel Short, Loek van Wely, Ivan Sokolov, and Richard Rapport. Report and games.

Thessaloniki Grand Prix opens with a bang

5/22/2013 – Changing the mood from the previous Grand Prix, the first round kicked off the tournament with some victories for the white side. Svidler demolished Bacrot, punishing passive play. Kasimdzhanov showed that he isn't to be trifled with, despite being the lowest rated player. Kamsky beat Dominguez while the rest of the games were drawn. Full report with pictures and GM commentary.

IV Hainan Danzhou tournament starts

5/22/2013 – Now celebrating its fourth edition, the Danzhou Grandmaster tournament held in Danzhou city in the Hainan province of China once more brings the best Chinese players such as Ding Liren, Bu Xiangzhi, and 13-year-old GM Wei Yi to battle for the fans, and help promote the royal game. The first two rounds saw an incredible seven out of ten games end in decisive results. Illustrated report by Liang Ziming.

CHESS Magazine: Cheats are prospering

5/21/2013 – Recently at the Cork Open a player became suspicious when his opponent went to the toilet twenty time during his game. He followed him and climbed up to watch what was going on in the cubicle. When he saw his opponent checking moves with an Android he dragged him out to expose the cheating. In his editorial for CHESS Magazine Malcolm Pein writes about the rise of cheating in chess.

Lothar Schmid – obituaries in the NYT and Telegraph

5/21/2013 – Lothar Schmid, born on May 10th 1928 and heir to an adventure book series, became one of Germany's strongest grandmasters, and the arbiter in important matches, most notably Fischer vs Spassky in Reykjavik 1972. As reported Lothar died on Saturday, shortly after his 85th birthday. Now extensive obituaries are beginning to appear in the international press. Here are the first two.

Checkmating Alzheimer’s Disease

5/20/2013 – Every 68 seconds someone in the US develops Alzheimer’s disease. 14.5 million caregivers provided more than 17.5 billion hours of unpaid care, and the total cost of Alzheimer’s is projected to balloon from $203 billion in 2013 to $1.2 trillion by 2050. Medical science is still wrestling with cause and cure, but, as Michael Ciamarra explains, there is one treatment that seems to work: chess.
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Peruvians dazzle in American Continental

5/19/2013 – The American Continental Championship has ended in Bolivia. The Peruvian contingency delivered important blows to their opponents in the final round to clinch two of the four passes to the 2013 World Cup. Diego Flores and Isan Ortiz, Argentina and Cuba respectively, took second and third while the unstoppable Julio Granda won the tournament with a full extra point. Pictures and results.

Lothar Schmid: 1928–2013

5/19/2013 – He was born on May 10th 1928, heir to the Karl Mai adventure series. Lothar Maximilian Lorenz Schmid became one of Germany's strongest grandmasters, winner of countless medals at Olympiads and team championships. Internationally he was known as the arbiter in great matches, and a one of the world's leading collectors of chess books. Lothar Schmid died on Saturday at the age of 85.

Jan-Krzysztof Duda: 15-year-old gains GM title

5/19/2013 – Jan-Krzysztof Duda was born on April 26, 1998, in Krakow, Poland. On May 16, 2013, in the last round of the European Championship he completed his final and third GM norm. He is currently rated 2506 and thus fulfils all conditions for a full GM title. This makes Jan-Krzysztof the world's second youngest GM (after Chinese GM Wei Yi, who is still 13!). We use the opportunity to update our prodigy list.

Sergey Karjakin wins Norway Chess 2013

5/18/2013 – After the massive buildup to see Sergey Karjakin challenged for first, many expected Carlsen to catch up with him. Instead Aronian held Carlsen to a draw, Anand blundered and lost to Hao, letting Nakamura snatch third, while Karjakin played a very tough game against Topalov and drew a winning position to take a brilliant sole first. Illustrated report with GM analysis.