Playchess for Android brings engines

10/23/2013 – With the World Championship looming over the horizon, and grandmaster commentary galore on Playchess, chess fans would seem to have everything they could hope for. But what if you are stuck on the road, in an office, or other? Yes, you can sneak a peek at the games, but understanding the elite blow-for-blows might be hard for the majority of chesskind. That is ... until now.

Unive 03: So at the top

10/23/2013 – So solo leads after his opponen'ts so-so handling of the opening, he currently has 2.5/3 which is a full point more than Van Kampen who is still in second place despite his loss today. Van Wely and Adams are still both at -1 as they drew each other in an uneventful game that was mainly simply theory leading to an equal endgame. GM Analysis and report

Anand vs. Carlsen – what are the chances?

10/22/2013 – In less than a month Magnus Carlsen will challenge Vishy Anand for the World Championship. Carlsen has been world number one for 21 consecutive rating lists and is 87 Elo points clear of the incumbent. Yet it is a little naive to base our expectations of the match entirely on a formula. Matthew Lunn assess the chances of both players and Andrew Martin reviews a game. Article, video, links.

Unive 02: Youth still leads

10/22/2013 – So and Van Kampen keep their positions at the top of the tournament. So drew Adams with a Berlin Wall using the black pieces and Van Kampen had no chances to breach Van Wely's Sicilian. Tomorrow is the last game of the first half of the tournament. In the open section a big tie with 3.5/4 has occured and the tournament is up for grabs. Round 2 information.

World Championship: GM commentary on Playchess

10/21/2013 – The 2013 World Chess Championship between reigning champion Viswanathan Anand and challenger Magnus Carlsen begins in less than a month. Naturally the games will be broadcast live on Playchess.com – and there will be a sterling array of grandmasters doing live commentary. A new function of Playchess allows two GMs in different locations to discuss the games with each other. It is going to be great, people!

National Challenger Championship in India

10/21/2013 – The National Championship cycle has started in India. The first phase is a giant thirteen round swiss tournament nicknamed the "National B" tournament. Many players flocked from all over the country to participate in the event. The top nine players at the end of the thirteen rounds will qualify for the final tournament. Niklesh Kumar Jain brings us a pictorial report.

Unive Hoogeveen Starts

10/21/2013 – Robin Van Kampen was able to shock the tournament by winning his first round game against Michael Adams. The young dutch player overcame a difference of 150 rating points and was able to win with white. So did the same against Van Wely, so both games in the Super Round Robin were decisive! Opening ceremony and impressions from the Netherlands.

Contact and cooperation through chess – Part 2

10/21/2013 – Suneet Mausil, an Indian entrepreneur and chess player, recently ran an experiment, bringing kids with different backgrounds and privileges to cooperate when facing a common challenge: to play a game of chess against him. Part one described the setup on a boat trip, today we show you how the simul was executed – and the followup in the less privileged school.

Are the chess World Champions just lucky? Part 3

10/20/2013 – The title of his article and his statistical calculations brought Matthew Wilson, a mathematician and economist, a number of letters of protest. In this third installment he painstakingly answers the objections and clarifies his methods. You can work your way up to PhD level statistics if you take the pains to follow the detailed discussion in this feedback page.

Sunny Beaches in Rhodes: ECC starts tomorrow

10/20/2013 – The European Club Cup (ECC) will start tomorrow and will take place in Rhodes, Greece until the 27th of this month. The tournament features a magnificent team swiss tournament to determine the best club in Europe. Many of the the top players in the world will participate: no fewer than four teams have an average rating of at least 2700. Preview of the event and overview of the teams.

Schaakkunst – Chess Art Exhibition in Druten

10/19/2013 – Once again the town of Druten in The Netherlands is paying host to an exposition of chess paintings and artifacts – "Schaakkunst" in Dutch. They include new works and new artists, fourteen in all, who have produced a wide variety of realistic and surrealistic objects, most of which you can buy in the online chess shop. We bring you some sample paintings that make for a visual treat.

Contact and cooperation through chess

10/18/2013 – Disturbed by the misunderstandings and disconnect that are rampant in society, Suneet Mausil came up with the idea of staging a chess event specifically designed to bring kids with different background and privileges to same environment. One where they faced a common challenge, forgetting about everything else. A truly inspiring expriment worth emulation.

Dreev wins Indonesia Open 2013

10/17/2013 – A total of 108 participants, including 38 GMs, 21 IMs and lots of other titled players, made their way to Jakarta– in spite of a busy 11-round schedule, sometimes with two rounds per day, and no rest day. The prizes were great: US $100,000 total. In the final rounds Russian GM Aleksey Dreev kept his cool and took first place ($20,000) a point ahead of the field. Pictures and inverviews.

Mario Matous: 1947–2013

10/17/2013 – He led a tragic life in Communist Czechoslovakia, put into a children's home for re-education after his mother was imprisoned when he was three. In spite of an excellent academic record he was only trained as a fitter and never found suitable employment. Thankfully he discovered chess and became one of the most original composers of endgame studies. Mario Matouš died at 66, but his works will live forever.

Bucharest Final: Caruana secures victory

10/17/2013 – Despite his loss against Wang Hao in round nine, Caruana was not really in danger to lose his first place as Radjabov did not try to push too hard against him today. In a complicated position the Azerbaijani saw a perpetual and took it rather than risk standing worse. Wang Hao didn't let this influence his game and he beat Ponomariov in a long endgame. Analysis of today's action.

Chess Train 2013: Hort wins scenic tourney

10/16/2013 – It is a tournament like no other: held on a special train that wends its way from Prague through Germany and the Austrian Alps for five days, with 11 rounds of rapid chess played in the moving railway carriages. Top seed GM Vlastimil Hort finished in first place amongst 87 participants. But just as important as the chess was the cultural adventure that people enjoyed. Big pictorial report.

Bucharest 09: Wang Hao shocks Caruana

10/16/2013 – Caruana's winning streak came to an end today as the Chinese player was able to take him down with black. A complex game gave Caruana a definite advantage but Wang Hao survived the complications and an amazing king march supporting a passed pawn left the Chinese player in a winning position. Wang Hao can tie with Caruana for first tomorrow if he wins and the Italian loses. Report.

Looking back at Sinquefield and Paris

10/16/2013 – Two of the most interesting tournaments of the year – the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis and the Sixth FIDE Grand Prix in Paris – took place last month. We reported extensively on them, but you can never get enough when such high caliber player are involved. Tryfon Gavriel, also known as "Kingscrusher" on the Internet, has analysed two key games in videos we present to our readers.

Chigorin Memorial: Eljanov elbows his way to first

10/16/2013 – After five rounds, it was a nine-way tie for first, and one would understandably expect this to have thinned by the end. Instead it was an eleven-way tie, with Pavel Eljanov taking the top spot. Some might argue he is lucky, as is so often said of champions, but perhaps it was more a matter of making the most of his opportunities. Judge for yourself.

Bucharest 08: Caruana Unstoppable

10/15/2013 – Fabiano Caruana keep showing excellent form in Bucharest. Today he beat Ruslan Ponomariov with black, catapulting him to a full point lead over Nisipeanu, and having played one game less. The Italian moves to third in the world in the live rating list and is grazing the 2800 mark. The other game was a draw between Wang Hao and Nisipeanu. Player analysis.

Rare video of Bobby Fischer analyzing – (2)

10/14/2013 – A month ago we published a rare video of the legendary American World Chess Champion Robert Fischer analysed a game. We asked our readers for information on the footage and for pointers to any other footage of this kind. Both were provided quickly. Today we provide a second video, and once again we have reconstructed Fischer's analysis so you can watch the video and simultaneously replay the moves he is talking about on a JavaScript board.

Russian Super Final: Svidler, Gunina win

10/14/2013 – Nepomniachtchi was able to capitalize on a blunder by Kramnik to catch Svidler in the last round of the Super Final after the latter drew Karjakin. In the women's section Gunina held a draw against Kosteniuk and that automatically made her champion as no one else was close to her. Svidler and Nepo faced off in a 15-minute rapid playoff that was won by Svidler. Analysis and report.

Bucharest 07: No changes

10/14/2013 – Two hard fought draws were featured today in Bucharest. Ponomariov had good chances to play for a win against Nisipeanu as he obtained a slight advantage with the black side of a Nimzo-Indian. However the Romanian's defense was spot-on and he barely held to a draw. Radjabov couldn't penetrate Wang Hao's Schlecter. Analysis and an exclusive interview with Ponomariov.

Andrew Paulson elected ECF President

10/14/2013 – American media entrepreneur Andrew Paulson, founder of AGON and World Chess, has been elected as President of the English Chess Federation (ECF). Paulson was elected on a promise to modernise the business model of chess in England and make the sport more popular. Of course he is still actively involved in FIDE and international chess. Election statement and interview.