Players and personalities at the Kolkata Open

4/1/2014 – In his first report Sagar Shah decribed the course of this very strong event, with 77 participants and a rating average of close to 2400 (!). The second part is dedicated to some of the other player who did not finish at the top but deserve their share of the limelight. Sagar also gives us some insight into the tournament, its organisation and the venue in this wonderful pictorial report.

Ivanchuk Express Steamrolls Latvia

3/31/2014 – The Riga Chess Federation organized the Latvian Railway Open, a rapid tournament held in the Latvian Railway Museum. The event attracted an amazing amount of stars, names such as Shirov, Malakhov, Alekseev, Zhigalko, Van Wely and countless others. But all they could do was fight for second place. Vassily Ivanchuk came in and crushed the event. He scored a staggering 13.0/14...

Oliver Barbosa conquers Kolkata 2014

3/30/2014 – It is one of the strongest Opens in Asia, sporting players from 13 countries – 27 GMs, 18 IMs and four WGMs – with an an astonishing rating average of 2394 for all 77 participants. The winner (on tiebreak points) is a very talented GM from the Philippines, and the outcome was decided in an exciting key game in the final round. Sagar Shah tells us about it in this big pictorial report.

Candidates Final: Karjakin grabs second

3/30/2014 – Two very hard fought games were played today to wrap the games up in Khanty-Mansiysk. Topalov tried as hard as he could to avoid finishing at the bottom of the scoreboard, but Andreikin proved to be too resourceful and the game ended in a draw. Aronian's opening backfired and Karjakin comfortably pressured him through the game, in a marathon that lasted nearly seven hours.

Yu Yangyi & Ju Wenjun Chinese Champs

3/29/2014 – The Chinese Chess Championships have come to a close and they ended in a dramatic finale. Yu Yangyi barely edged out Ding Liren on tiebreaks to claim the title, a tournament which could easily have gone to either one at the last moments. The women's section was just as exciting as the leader Ju Wenjun lost her game, but was lucky that the second place Lei Tingjie also lost!

Candidates Rd13: Anand-Carlsen rematch!

3/29/2014 – It's official. With 8.0/13 there is no way anyone in the big pack of 6.5/13 can catch Anand and the Indian player earns his right to fight for the World Championship title against Carlsen later this year. Today's round proved decisive as Karjakin had reasonable chances for a win against Anand, but it was to no avail, while Andreikin took down Aronian. Analysis and report.

Pal Benko on Richard Réti’s endgames (2)

3/29/2014 – 125 years ago a boy was born in the Austro-Hungarian part of what is today Slovakia. Richard Reti was a mathematician and world class chess master. Reti was also an endgame specialist who composed some of the most original endgame studies ever devised. Some were flawed, and now, almost a century later, his compatriot GM Pal Benko provides revisions to these studies.

Bring live chess action to your web site!

3/28/2014 – You will have noticed, on the top right side of our news page, there is a chess game in progress. It is one of the top games currently being played on our chess server. In the evenings, which is prime time on Playchess, you will be able to follow games by world class GMs – on your own web page, if you want. Embedding our Best Game board is remarkable simple and takes just a few seconds.

Candidates Rd12: Time is running out

3/27/2014 – Mamedyarov risked against Karjakin, and although it almost backfired neither side gained a full point. Topalov beat Svidler, but is far from the lead. Anand almost cemented his tournament win by playing an exciting attack against Andreikin who saw himself in the defensive early on. However the fireworks were too much for him and the draw was agreed in a winning position.

Candidates Rd11: All Null

3/26/2014 – Karjakin was the only player that had realistic winning chances in today's games, as Topalov overpressed against him and got very uncomfortable position. Anand is of course the clear winner of the round as he finishes tournament with two whites in the last three games. The tournament is not yet over, but things are looking good for the Indian. Report of today's round.

Pal Benko on Richard Réti’s endgames (1)

3/26/2014 – At the turn of the last century an Austro-Hungarian mathematician shook up the chess world with revolutionary new ideas ("hypermodernism"), and with some of the most original endgame studies ever devised. To celebrate his upcoming 125th birthday another great chessplayer and endgame specialist, GM Pal Benko, has sent us some examples of Reti's works.

Candidates Rd10: Kramnik's downfall

3/25/2014 – Anand inches round by round closer to his rematch with Carlsen. Psychologically he must be pleased about today's results, his opponent tomorrow, Kramnik, blundered badly in a slightly better position against Svidler after playing a great game and he suffered his second loss in a row. Mamedyarov and Topalov went for a fight with Black, but neither achieved a full point.

Scholastic chess making headlines

3/24/2014 – In the middle of the last century a group of teachers in Hamburg, Germany, started a tournament with 160 students. Today, 66 years later, the annual event has over 2500 participants, and includes play against remote opponents via Playchess.com. The event was supported on the English side by Barclaycard, which is also spearheading another scholastic chess initiative, Yes2Chess.

The most dangerous chess piece

3/23/2014 – In a historical context chess pieces have not been used only to play the game. Made of stone, rock crystal and walrus ivory, they were precious artifacts and as such attracted the attention of jewelry designers and architects. Throughout the ages chess pieces had adorned church pulpits, women's necklaces – one even ended up as the handle of a fifteenth century knife.

Candidates Rd9: Decisive Round?!

3/23/2014 – It could all be decided in Khanty-Mansiysk. Anand holds an effective 1.5 point lead over the field as he beat Topalov while Mamedyarov bested Aronian in a crazy game and Kramnik self-destructed easily against Karjakin. With Aronian being down one point with the worse tiebreak, it seems very unlikely that someone can catch the Indian player. A rematch seems in the works.

Candidates Rd8: A solid round

3/22/2014 – After the multiple exciting games we have had over the board in Khanty-Mansiysk, the players have finally played a slightly dull round. Aronian-Anand was the key match of the day but it was drawn in less than 20 moves. Kramnik couldn't break through Andreikin's position and Topalov-Mamedyarov fizzled to equality. Karjakin did bring down Svidler and now five people have 3.5/8.

Mountaintop celebrations in Tblisi

3/22/2014 – Grandmaster Zurab Azmaiparashvili is something of a rock star in his native Georgia. His birthday celebrations are usually quite lavish. This year they were held in a restaurant atop Mount Mtatsminda, overlooking the city. And there were a number of prominent guests, including the former Georgian Prime Minister (and chess lover) Bidzina Ivanishvili, who played a friendly game against Judit Polgar.

Huffington: The Adventures of Mikhail Botvinnik (2)

3/22/2014 – The columnist of the Huffington Post, GM Lubomir Kavalek, has played against eight World Champions. He drew all his games against Botvinnik (as well as Petrosian and Fischer). To his surprise the see-saw battle against the Soviet patriarch was included in his collection "Botvinnik's Best Games 1947-1970." Kavalek found out why – when he discussed it with Botvinnik in 1972.

Candidates Rd7: Pandora's Box

3/21/2014 – The players today took immense risks. Kramnik turned a solid position with a slight plus into complete mayhem, he was losing at some point but Mamedyarov tricked himself and lost. Topalov self-destructed after going for Andreikin's throat. Aronian's game was more stable; he outplayed Karjakin to tie with Anand for first place. At the halfway mark, it's anyone's tournament.

Magnus Carlsen answers fans' questions online

3/21/2014 – Following up on Nakamura's much appreciated online Q&A session with fans, Magnus Carlsen followed up with his own, leading to a fun mixture of usual questions with odd ones and unexpected replies. See what the world champion has to say about training and evolving, playing online anonymously ("You'd be amazed at the people I've lost to"), and even the candidates tournament. Don't miss it.

Seth Kadish: Visualizing chess

3/20/2014 – As a statistician and geo-scientist he felt a need to share his results with the general public. Sheets of equations are not the best way to go about this, so Seth Kadish developed a data visualization system to make his results more accessible to a lay audience. As a chess player he realized that the same methods could be applied to the game. This resulted in some really cool graphs.

Four Corners – South African film of the year

3/20/2014 – The film tells the story of a young chess prodigy who must defy the odds and stay one move ahead of the gangs – in a game where winning or losing can mean the difference between life and death. Four Corners plays out aspects of the war fought on the streets of the Cape Flats, home to the Number Gang factions of the Western Cape, South Africa. Pictures and video clips.

Candidates Rd6: Spoilt opportunities

3/19/2014 – Aronian "went mad" and wasted a decisive advantage against Andreikin. Svidler obtained a clear edge against Mamedyarov using the Dutch (!) but he blundered and lost the game. Meanwhile, Topalov cheekily used a dubious variation against Kramnik who did not respond in the best way. The Russian confused himself and lost his way. Anand smiles, he retains his lead.

Huffington: The Adventures of Mikhail Botvinnik (1)

3/19/2014 – He was a man who could seem cold and unapproachable, a devoted communist with ties to highest Soviet officials, including Stalin. He was the world champion for a span of 15 years. In a new book Andrew Soltis describes the Life and Games of World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik – a brilliant, extensive researched account that is reviewed by Huffington Post columnist Lubomir Kavalek.