Tashkent: Rest day and Round 05

9/23/2013 – The players had a rest day which they used to explore Old Town Tashkent. They visited places including a local bazaar, a traditional mosque and an antique hand-craft museum. The games resumed with a bloodbath as only one game was drawn. Harika, Lagno and Zhao Xue all won and they are now in a close race in the leaderboard. Beautiful pictorial report.

Chennai: World Championship web site launched

9/23/2013 – The official website for the November World Chess Championship 2013 between defending champion Viswanathan Anand and challenger Magnus Carlsen has just been switched on. It provides all the details for the event – venue, rules, dress code, security schedule, ticketing, and media coverage on social networks and mobile platforms. Definitely worth a visit.

Paris 01: Gelfand wins and five draws

9/22/2013 – The venue of the season's last Grand Prix is a church from the 1100s, which served as a sharp contrast to the lively opening ceremony that included a breakdance performance. In round one only Gelfand scored by beating Giri, but Nakamura-Tomashevsky was absolutely crazy and we bring you full annotations of the game. Opening ceremony and first round pictorial report.

Gambit Studio: interactive chess books on an iPad

9/22/2013 – Remember when chess books were delivered on very thin slices of tree? The disadvange of traditional publication is that books require you to set up a chess board and follow the moves on it. If there are variations and analysis you have the daunting task of somehow geting back to the main game. Gambit Publications, probably the finest chess book publishers in the world, now offers an exciting alternative.

Tashkent 04: Russians rebound

9/22/2013 – The Russian ladies were able to climb the scoreboard as they were the only ones to win in today's round. Alexandra Kosteniuk defeated Bela Khotenashvili while Olga Girya did the same with Nafisa Muminova. With four other draws, Koneru keeps her half point lead over Harika while Lagno and Zhao Xue are still on the chase with 2.5/4. Report and analysis.

London Chess Classic: win a spot

9/21/2013 – Like to play in a chess tournament with Kramnik, Anand, Caruana, Nakamura, Gelfand, Adams, Svidler and co.? This is possible for normal chess players of any rating at the London Chess Classic in December: the two highest scorers at the LCC FIDE Open can qualify into the "Super Sixteen" Rapidplay, featuring the World's Elite and the Best of British. The prize fund is €150,000. It's the chance of a lifetime.

Novy Bor: Topalov and Laznicka tied 1-1

9/21/2013 – The Novoborska chess corrida has started in the Czech Republic. The event features two matches of six game with the main one being between Veselin Topalov and Viktor Laznicka. Two decisive games opened the match and so far both players have been able to convert their white pieces. Pictorial report and analysis.

Tashkent 03: Indians in the lead

9/21/2013 – A bloodbath was seen today in Tashkent as every single game ended in a decisive result. Two of the games were certainly swindles as Ju Wenjun and Muminova won after being on the verge of defeat. On the other hand Humpy and Lagno exhibited high quality chess and won very clean games. Humpy and Harika now lead with 3 and 2.5 points. Report and analysis by the players.

Taizhou 07: Hou Yifan is World Champion

9/20/2013 – In a desperate last-ditch attempt to take her opponent out of book, reigning champion Anna Ushenina played a rather bizarre Najdorf, but to no avail. The 19-year-old challenger Hou Yifan soon obtained a pleasent edge and, with some precise play, wrapped up the game and the World Championship in 40 moves. Final report with extensive analysis by IM Elisabeth Pähtz.

World Junior: Yu Yangyi and Irina Bulmaga dominant

9/20/2013 – At the midway point, after seven rounds of ardent competition, some players have already staked their claim as to the podium. In the Open section, top-seed Yu Yangyi leads with a dominant 6.5/7, while in the Girls section, it is Irina Bulmuga with 6.0/7. Anything can happen yet, so be sure to follow it. In the meantime here is a report with videos and pictures.

Tashkent 02: Zhao Xue and Koneru lead

9/20/2013 – Many exciting duels were seen today in Tashkent. Ju Wenjun-Lagno was a tactical melee in which the Chinese missed a killing blow at the end of the game. Muminova's poor time management cost her the game after she had soundly outplayed Khotenashvili. Koneru outplayed Danielian and now leads with Zhao Xue who beat Kosteniuk. Analysis by the players and report.

World Championship: interview with Carlsen

9/19/2013 – The Russian Internet TV channel Chess TV has recorded two interview for the upcoming World Championship match. We start with the challenger, Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen, who speaks very frankly about his talents, his weaknesses, preparation and chances – and also reveals to the interviewer which animal he would (definitely) like to be if he were not a human. Like to guess?

Sadler's French Winawer Guide

9/19/2013 – "The French Winawer (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4) has always been a blind spot of mine," writes English GM Matthew Sadler, the book reviewer at New in Chess magazine. But suddenly it seemed to him to give this opening one last chance." Could any of the books on the market convince him that the Winawer was worth playing? Or any of the DVDs, for that matter. Excerpts from Matthew's review.

Tashkent 01: Favorites prevail

9/19/2013 – The first round games in Tashkent saw many mistakes as the ladies at the Grand Prix in Uzbekistan used way too much time on the clock. This provided very entertaining games, even if the quality was maybe not the best. Ultimately however the rating favorites came ahead as the only "upset" of the round was Dronavalli's win over Khotenashvili. Pictures and report.

Taizhou 06: Hou Yifan wins, leads by three points

9/18/2013 – It's all but over. Challenger Hou Yifan won her third black game in a row to take a commanding lead over reigning world women's champion Anna Ushenina, who must now contrive to win three of the remaining four games just to stay in the match. It looks very much as if the 19-year-old Chinese GM will regain the title she first won at sixteen. Report and analysis.

Women's Grand Prix in Tashkent begins

9/18/2013 – The third Women's Grand Prix has begun in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The tournament is part of the Women's World Championship cycle and features some of the strongest women chess players, including ex World Champions Kosteniuk and Stefanova as well as World number three Koneru. The players were greeted by a beautiful opening ceremony and we bring you a pictorial preview.

Taizhou 05: draw in 61, Ushenina under pressure

9/17/2013 – On Tuesday Challenger Hou Yifan had a second white, and she once again played the aggressive Keres Attack she had used in the previous game. A theoretical battle ensued, with many exchanges leading to an even endgame. On move 21 women's world champion Anna Ushenina missed a chance and the game was drawn in 61 moves. Round five report with analysis by Tania Sachdev.

Karsten Muller: Rook against Knight

9/17/2013 – The endgame rook vs knight turns up in less than one percent of all games – so what is the point of studying something you will see so rarely in your tournament career? Well, the new Fritz Trainer from Dr Karsten Müller has eight related themes surrounding the R v N theme, and the concepts you learn from them will generally enhance your late middlegame in a profound sense. Review.

ACP 03: Grischuk prevails

9/16/2013 – The strongest knockout rapid tournament of the year has come to a conclusion. In a tournament with many interesting games full of mistakes and emotions, it was at the end that Alexander Grischuk toppled Ian Nepomniatchi in an Armageddon playoff to take the title. We bring you a full summary of the semi-finals and finals including annotations of the decisive game.

World Junior under way in Kocaeli

9/16/2013 – The World Junior Chess Championship 2013 in Turkey was moved from the border of Syria to as far from the war-torn country as possible. 118 players turned up for the open group, and 77 for the section reserved for girls. Three rounds have been played, and former Junior World Champion (and daredevil ChessBase reporter) Alexander Ipatov leads the open section with 3.0/3. Big pictorial with videos.

Tiviakov's French 3.Nd2 - a peerless pedigree

9/16/2013 – The French Defense is an immensely popular opening at all levels and especially in club play. Sergey Tiviakov is a very successful player in opens and proposes to teach his pet 3.Nd2 line, with all the lines, ideas and thousand of commented games. More impressive than his high rating, is his pedigree with the opening, including a whopping win rate of over 80%.

Sinquefield 06: Magic Magnus wins again

9/15/2013 – It seemed for a moment that a repeat of the Candidate's tournament would occur. Nakamura was against the ropes against Kamsky but he was able to salvage an almost miraculous draw. Aronian with black outplayed Carlsen, played on in an equal endgame, and then saw his position deteriorate move by move until a blunder sealed his fate in an already bad position. Carlsen wins another tournament. Last round report.

Taizhou 04: draw in 31, Hou leads by two points

9/15/2013 – The second white by the challenger, who has won both her black games, was a Sicilian Scheveningen in which Hou Yifan executed the aggressive Keres Attack (7.g4 after 6...e6). She gained enough advantage to play for a win, but the women's world champion Anna Ushenina defended well and the game ended in a draw. Round four report with beautiful photos by Anastasiya Karlovich.

ACP 02: rapid World Champion out

9/15/2013 – Many interesting games happened today in Riga. The only match to go into tiebreaks was Nepomniatchi-Malakhov in which the younger player was able to beat his opponent in tiebreaks. In two important matches Svidler was able to take out Radjabov while Grischuk took care of Wojtaszek. Meanwhile the rapid World Champion Mamedyarov was taken out by Ponomariov. Report.