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.

Norway 2013 Rd8: Karjakin and Carlsen lose

5/17/2013 – The first result was a blitzkrieg by Anand who sacrificed three pawns and a knight to overwhelm Hammer, then Nakamura beat the struggling Radjabov. The first surprise was Svidler’s win over Karjakin after a back and forth game, but who would have expected Carlsen to enter a balanced endgame with Wang Hao, and then misplay it so badly he lost? Big report with GM commentary.

Ramirez: Playing Kamsky under Pressure

5/17/2013 – Last weekend Gata Kamsky and Alejandro Ramirez tied for first in the 2013 US Championship, making a playoff necessary. Here the 24-year-old "upstart" Ramirez faced one of the most exprienced GMs in the US (Kamsky was twice Soviet under-20 champion before Alej was born). Alejandro, who is now a co-editor of our newspage, tells us in vividly annotated games what the encounter was like.

The joys of chess – Refuting the refutation

5/16/2013 – Christian Hesse is a PhD from Harvard and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Stuttgart. He is also an avid chess fan and has written a number of articles for our news page. As a book author he has been successful with instructive and entertaining works on chess. Now one of his best is available in English. We bring you an interesting chapter on refutations and counter-refutations. Enjoy.

WGP Geneva: Khotenashvili wins with 8.0/11

5/16/2013 – Georgian IM Bela Khotenashvili drew her final round game against Women's World Champion Anna Ushenina and won Neva Women's Grand Prix in Geneva. Her nearest rival, Anna Muzychuk, who had to win the game in order to catch the leader, drew against Alexandra Kosteniuk. Tatiana Kosintseva and Nana Dzagnidze shared 3rd-4th. Final report.

Norway 2013 Rd7: Karjakin, Carlsen, and Anand win

5/15/2013 – After a near miss in the previous round, Vishy Anand steamrolled Teimur Radjabov with black in impressive fashion. Sergey Karjakin showed he was not going to relinquish his pole position without a fight, and beat Hikaru Nakamura to secure his lead, while Magnus Carlsen outplayed Jon Hammer and stays in the race. Full report with analysis by GM Gilberto Milos.

WGP Geneva: Khotenashvili leads alone

5/15/2013 – It was the round of the Georgians, with GM Nana Dzagnidze beating Chinese IM Ju Wenjun and, more relevantly, IM Bela Khotenashvili defeating one of the tournament favourites, third seed GM Kateryna Lahno. That boosted Bela's performance to 2700+ and her rating to 2531 – which means her GM title is now assured. GM Adrian Mikhalchishin analyses her win in our pictorial report.

Norway 2013 Rd6: Carlsen closes on Karjakin

5/14/2013 – Trying to sum up the incredible action of the day in a few lines is nearly impossible. The games were sharp, exciting, dramatic, and Playchess commentator GM Daniel King even said “My brain is hurting”. Aronian beat Hammer in an explosive game, and Carlsen ground down Radjabov in his vintage endgame play. Anand nearly beat Karjakin after a virtuoso performance. Report with GM commentary.

US Ch: Kamsky beats Ramirez in playoff

5/14/2013 – The 2013 U.S. Championship went extra innings on Monday in a gripping tiebreak final. After splitting a pair of rapid games, GM Gata Kamsky won $30,000 and his fourth title in an Armageddon game against GM Alejandro Ramirez, who was seeking his first title. The entire playoff was broadcast live, with running GM commentary. Highlight was a wonderful stalemate defence by Ramirez.

WGP Geneva: Muzychuk, Khotenashvili win and lead

5/14/2013 – Three decisive games, two with the black pieces, saw Anna Muzychuk and Bela Khotenashvili, who completed her final GM norm, stay in the lead. Tatiana Kosintseva beat Kateryna Lahno to move to clear third place, half a point behind the leaders. The local derby Ju Wenjun-Hou Yifan ended in a 40-move draw. On the free day some players gave a simul for children. Round nine report with GM analysis.

Kramnik: Anand tense, scared of Carlsen

5/13/2013 – That is what former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik thinks, after playing next to Anand at the Alekhine Memorial. BUT: Vishy Anand, who since 2007 has fended off challenges from three different players, can defeat the world's number one if he is in the right frame of mind. "If he manages to hold up to the pressure for six games, then Anand will become a favourite," is Kramnik's opinion.

Norway 2013 Rd5: Carlsen beats Karjakin

5/13/2013 – It was a must win situation for Magnus Carlsen to still dream of first, and it started badly as Sergey Karjakin took the initiative. With his vintage luck of the champions, Karjakin miscalculated and Carlsen went on the attack to score an impressive win. Karjakin leads with 4.0/5, followed by Carlsen and Nakamura with 3.0/5. Jon Hammer scored his first win against Wang Hao. Report with GM commentary.