Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (93)

12/16/2012 – A great deal of poetry has been written on the subject of chess, some of it wonderful but some of it atrocious. The Editor of Chess Notes has gathered together a wide-ranging selection which embraces various genres: lyric poetry, doggerel, acrostics, comic verse and satire. There is even the case of a poem which wittily lampooned members of a London club and was subjected to ‘censorship’.

London Chess Classic closing dinner and simul

12/16/2012 – As every year, this premium chess event ends with a magnificent dinner for special guests at the traditional Simpson's-in-the-Strand. Apart from prizes, speeches, a charity raffle and the dinner itself, the main attraction is a simultaneous exhibition with all the Classics players pitted against the guest tables. We include GM Jonathan Rowson's commentary on his game in our big pictorial report.

A computer program to identify beauty in problems and studies

12/15/2012 – Computers today can play chess at the grandmaster level, but cannot tell a beautiful combination from a bland one. In this research, which has been on-going for seven years, the authors of this remarkable article show that a computer can indeed be programmed to recognize and evaluate beauty or aesthetics, at least in three-move mate problems and more recently endgame studies. Fascinating.

Kavalek in Huffington: Carlsen Breaks Kasparov's Record

12/14/2012 – Records are meant to be broken. On Sunday the Argentinean soccer superstar Lionel Messi broke a 40-year-old record, scoring 86 goals in one season. On Monday Norwegian chess superstar Magnus Carlsen broke Garry Kasparov's 13-year-old rating record by ten points. "Pretty cool," was how Magnus described the biggest achievement of his chess career. GM Lubomir Kavalek comments.

Forks galore

12/14/2012 – White's king is boxed in and his Nd4 under attack. The knight sortie 24.Nd5 targeting b6 and e7 leads to what?

A) advantage for White
B) advantage for Black
C) approximate equality

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

Snowdrops vs Old Hands – Ladies lead by 10:6

12/13/2012 – A team of legendary grandmasters (Uhlmann, Olafsson, Romanishin and Hort) are struggling in a double round team competition against a rising generation of women grandmasters in the Czech Coal Chess Match 2012. The "Snowdrops" are Valentina Gunina, Tania Sachdev, Alina Kashlinskaja and Kristýna Havlíková. So far the Old Hands have won one out of four round. Big illustrated report.

SportAccord Mind Games with all-star field to play rapid, blindfold and blitz

12/13/2012 – SportAccord Mind Games will be held in Beijing, China between the 12th of December and 20th December 2012. The World Mind Games consists of 5 disciplines: chess, bridge, draughts (checkers), go, and xiangqi (Chinese chess). This year brings an all-star field of men and women to play rapid, blindfold and blitz. It all started with a breathtaking opening ceremony.

2012 Panama Open: Where oceans meet

12/12/2012 – After witnessing a historic result in the 2012 Panama Open by IM Eric Hansen, we are taken on a tour of a city famous not only for the canal where two oceans meet, one of the modern Wonders of the World, but also the home to numerous World Heritage sites. All this quite apart from the Red Devil buses, local flora, local fauna, and lots and lots of pelicans!

CBM training: Endgames from the Chess Classic

12/12/2012 – "London was wonderful, especially for endgame fans," wrote our ChessBase Magazine columnist GM Karsten Müller. Today he has four games from this event, demonstrating Aronian's attacking queens, Carlsen's pawn ending artistry, Nakamura's knight attack and Anand's activity. This is a great opportunity to learn from the strongest players in the world. Don't miss it.

2012 Panama Open: IM Eric Hansen scores 2900 performance!

12/11/2012 – Set in the lovely tropics, the Panama Open has just finished. It attracted many players from abroad, seeking relief from the cold and at times freezing winter temperatures in their home countries. The 2012 edition also witnessed a record performance for an IM, as the Canadian IM Eric Hansen scored an imperial 8.5/9 and a 2900 performance. Here is the first illustrated report by Alina L'Ami.

Vishy Remembers – Part I

12/11/2012 – Viswanathan Anand has won or defended the World Chess Championship title five times (2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012), and he has been the undisputed World Champion since 2007. In 1987 he became India's first grandmaster and is widely considered the strongest rapid player of his generation. Anand turned 43 today and, to celebrate, we bring you a review of his DVD series 'My Career'.

LCC R9: Carlsen first, Kramnik second, both with big wins

12/10/2012 – It was a thrilling conclusion to a historic event. In the final round, Judit Polgar drew with Levon Aronian, while Vladimir Kramnik also drew, with Michael Adams. Hikaru Nakamura fought against Luke McShane, who blundered, while Magnus Carlsen, despite a guaranteed first, pressed hard against Vishy Anand, came close to winning, but eventually drew. Full report with postgame analysis.

Psychology: The Heart of Chess

12/10/2012 – Decision making is at the centre of psychology, neuroscience, economics and, of course, chess. "Listening" to the heart of chess players while they play, blunder, plan, calculate, win, lose – as in Edgar Allan Poe's "Tell-tale heart" – two Argentinian scientists show that our hearts may be more verbose than we think, revealing subtle aspects of our emotions, reasoning and thoughts.

LCC R8: Kramnik, Polgar win, Anand-Nakamura a very tense draw

12/9/2012 – An incredibly exciting round as the audience followed Vishy Anand and Hikaru Nakamura, which was winning for both players at different times and ended in a fortress draw. Vladimir Kramnik won a masterful game against Gawain Jones. He now has a 3000 performance and is the world number two, while Judit Polgar beat McShane for her first win in this event. Full report with postgame analysis.

LCC R7: All draws, but Adams misses golden opportunity

12/9/2012 – Although the round ended in four draws, it might easily have been otherwise. After a nice sacrifice of a piece for pawns, Carlsen seemed to have serious winning chances against Nakamura, but several inaccuracies later it was just a draw. Adams nursed an advantage against McShane into a winning position, but missed several chances and also drew. Round seven report.

‘First Saturday’: 25 years of a revered chess tradition

12/8/2012 – This year, ‘First Saturday’ celebrates its 25-year jubilee. Throughout its history of 300 tournaments, almost everyone who is anyone on the chess scene has had a ‘First Saturday’ baptism at some point in their career. Names such as Fabio Caruana, Hou Yifan, Richard Rapport, Teimour Radjabov, Sofia Polgar, Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen are just a few. An overview by Diana Mihajlova.

A Head Start: Bologan on the improved Chebanenko

12/8/2012 – The variation arises after the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6. The Moldavan grandmaster Viktor Bologan, himself a pupil of Vecheslav Chebanenko, says that it is not easy for White to gain an advantage against the Chebanenko. His DVD aims to give new life to this already popular opening, which is played at a very high level, including by Magnus Carlsen. Chess Cafe review.

Carlsen in the Sky – and in the international news

12/8/2012 – On the free day Magnus Carlsen and Judit Polgar were taken for a photo shoot high over the city in the London Eye. In the meantime Magnus has soared to stratospheric levels in the live ratings: 2864 points, 13 more than Garry Kasparov's previous record. His performance in the Chess Classic so far, with 5.5/6 points: 3146. All this has led to a media frenzy around the Norwegian star. Take a look.

Grandmaster adventure trip

12/7/2012 – This rook sacrifice was one of the variations Luke McShane spent a lot of time on in his game against Magnus Carlsen from round 1 of the London Chess Classic. After 30.Qxf7+ Kh8 31.N3g4, the victory will finally go to who?
A) White
B) Black
C) neither (draw)

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

Nigel Short triumphs in Pühajärve Rapid

12/7/2012 – It is an extraordinary tournament in a beautiful Estonian location. What make it really special is the unique handicap system: players are given different time ratios according to their strength, e.g. two minutes to 18 minutes when a GM plays an amateur. "This can be a real nightmare," said the winner Nigel Short, "even your opponent is many hundreds of points below you." Big illustrated report.

New: Kasparov – How I became World Champion

12/7/2012 – Only rarely do chess fans get a first-hand account of the success story of a World Champion. This new DVD by Garry Kasparov is the exception: in 16 videos, containing more than six hours of material, the 13th World Champion looks back at his chess career, from his first junior tournaments to his aborted 1984/85 World Championship match against Anatoly Karpov. Order it now.

London Chess Classic: watch it live on Playchess

12/7/2012 – The official web site of this event is streaming video and providing expert commentary, including from the Classic player who has a bye. Playchess is also covering the games live and providing multimedia broadcast with the same experts commenting. On Playchess you can switch on your engine and use the Let's Check function to see instant evaluations from the most powerful machines world wide.

LCC R6: Hurricane Carlsen is upgraded to Category Five

12/7/2012 – The hurricane grading system is based on devastation, with five being the highest. Magnus Carlsen is equally destructive of the London field as he beat Judit Polgar in his best win according to him, and a live rating of 2864. Adams beat Anand after the Indian blundered horribly in a drawn position, while McShane beat Gawain in a wild game. Aronian and Kramnik drew. Full report with postgame analysis.

Kavalek in Huffington: The Beauty of Chess Tricks

12/6/2012 – If tricks were not allowed in chess, the game would be boring. For the last two centuries they were the jewels of chess played in European coffee houses and they were in big demand. Kibitzers were looking for razzle-dazzle on the chessboard and the players obliged. And we are still amazed today what tricks, the little tactical ambushes, can do for us – as GM Lubomir Kavalek explains.