Russian Super Final 08: Svidler, Gunina lead

10/13/2013 – With only one round to go in Nizhny Novgorod both Svidler and Gunina have a half point lead over their rivals. In the men's section Kramnik and Nepomniatchi will play a decisive round tomorrow as they trail Svidler by half a point, who in turn will be black against Karjakin. Gunina missed a chance today to increase her lead as she did not finish off a winning endgame. GM Analysis of round 8.

Kavalek in Huffington: September Chess – part two

10/13/2013 – In part one Huffington Post columnist GM Lubomir Kavalek annotated two games from the 2013 Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis. In part two he looks at other notable September 2013 events: You Yifan's regaining of the women's world championship title and the FIDE Grand Prix events in Prague/Novy Bor and Paris. As always you can enjoy his analysis of key games.

Bucharest 06: A simul, a party, and two draws

10/13/2013 – While the other players were busy battling each other in the 7th edition of the King's Cup, Wang Hao kindly gave a simultaneous exhibition to local players in a McDonald's not far from the playing site. In the tournament the games ended in two fighting draws, especially as Radjabov tried to push against Ponomariov with Black. Pono just turned 30 and the organizers threw a small party for him. Details inside.

Bilbao Final: Aronian is the victor

10/12/2013 – Levon Aronian crowned himself as the winner of the 6th Bilbao Master's Final tournament. The key game came in round five when he was able to beat his closest competitor, Michael Adams. In turn Adams rebounded in round six with a victory against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Adams clinched second while MVL and Mamedyarov tie for third/fourth. Report and closing ceremony.

Russian Super Final 07: Ladies all decisive

10/12/2013 – In the women's section of the Super Final there were five decisive games, with the highlights certainly being Kosteniuk's fantastic sacrificial attack against Charochkina and Gunina's also sacrificial win against Pogonina. With these results Gunina keeps her one point lead over Kosteniuk, and they are quite distant from the pack. In the Men's section four draws and a win by the newly titled GM Goganov keep the leaderboard stable. Round seven report.

Bucharest 05: Caruana increases lead

10/11/2013 – Caruana was able to defeat Radjabov with some solid defense.The Italian kept his started decimating his opponent's queenside. Radjabov, who creatively rook-lifted to the kingside, had no choice but to begin sacrificing material, but it simply was not enough. Ponomariov-Wang Hao was a draw where maybe the Ukrainian had some chances. Post-mortems and impressions.

Russian Super Final 06: Fantastic Round Six

10/11/2013 – What a round! The men's section saw an unbelievable five decisive games. Svidler keeps his lead by beating Motylev while Kramnik crushed Inarkiev and keeps trailing by half a point. Nepomniachtchi hopped over Vitiugov in the standings with a powerful attack and is now third with Andreikin. Gunina smashed Kovanova to become the solo lead a full point ahead. We bring you multiple GM annotations.

Kavalek in Huffington: September Chess – part one

10/11/2013 – The most significant chess event in Saint Louis, USA, was the first official world championship match between William Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort, staged in 1886. The most significant, that is, until the September 2013 Sinquefield Cup, a double-round tournament with Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Hikaru Nakamura and Gata Kamsky. Huffington Post columnist GM Lubomir Kavalek elucidates.

Bilbao 04: Aronian catches Adams

10/11/2013 – In what was a fantastically strange game the following happened: In time pressure the Frenchman went for the throat with a kingside attack while Aronian pushed his passed b-pawn, but a wrong move allowed MVL to sacrifice a rook and get a winning attack! However he erred, Aronian survived and he won the ensuing rook vs. four pawns endgame. GM Analysis.

Bucharest 04: No changes in Leaderboard

10/10/2013 – While Wang Hao was unable to achieve anything through the entire game against Caruana and had to settle with a draw, Radjabov's game against Nisipeanu was considerably different. Black's position became uncomfortable from the beginning and White's pair of bishops eventually won a pawn. But through sheer willpower and some good decision making Nisipeanu somehow held a draw in over 115 moves. Analysis and post-mortems.

Tata Steel 2014: two groups with twelve players

10/10/2013 – The recession has hit chess: the prestigious Tata Steel (formerly Corus) tournament in Wijk aan Zee is being staged with a reduced budget and will have two GM groups instead of three and twelve players instead of fourteen in each group. But: two rounds will be held outside the wind-swept seaside resort: in a technology centre and in a national museum. Press release.

Bilbao 03: Adams leads at halfway

10/10/2013 – Adams held Aronian to a draw today and retains his lead in the 6th Bilbao Masters. He has 5 points according to the Bilbao Scoring rules. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave rebounded from his second round loss by beating Mamedyarov. Aronian continues on his drawing streak and has three points, one less than MVL because of the 3-1-0 scoring, in which winning one and losing is more valuable than drawing two. Report at halfway.

Chigorin Memorial: A gaggle of grandmasters

10/10/2013 – With so many elite events currently running, such as Bilbao, the King’s Tournament in Bucharest, and of course the Russian Super Final, it would be easy to gloss over the Chigorin Memorial, an open held in St. Petersburg. Don’t, because if anything is certain, it is that you don’t need to have a long list of A-players to have a recipe for great chess.

Bucharest 03: Nisipeanu strikes back

10/10/2013 – Nisipeanu played a powerful game and was able to run over China's number one, Wang Hao. With good opening preparation and an even better follow up the Romanian player found himself up an exchange, and although he gave his opponent some chances Wang Hao was in such deep time trouble that it did not matter. Caruana keeps his lead. Analysis and post-mortems of round 3.

Russian SuperFinal 05: Three wins

10/9/2013 – Svidler is still in the lead with 4.0/5, but his opponent's are trying to quickly catch up. Kramnik won a nice game against Motylev which puts him only half a point away from Svidler. Nepomniachtchi and Andreikin also won and are a point away. In the girl's section a crazy draw in Gunina-Kosintseva keeps Gunina and Kovanova in the lead.

ChessBase Puzzles: a dangerous game

10/9/2013 – Samuel Loyd (1841 – 1911), was an American chess player, chess composer, puzzle author, and recreational mathematician. At his peak he was one of the best players in the country – and number 15 in the world. His chess problems were numerous and famous for their original and interesting themes. In our puzzle collection we have a set that demonstrate this. Now with a prequel by Pal Benkö.
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Bucharest 02: Two Draws

10/9/2013 – I Wang Hao's first game of the tournament, he was unable to overcome Radjabov's defenses and the game slowly but surely petered out to a draw. In the other game Ponomariov was surprised by Nisipeanu's choice of opening. The Ukrainian launched an attack on the kingside and play turned very sharp, but Nisipeanu had enough resources to force the game into a drawn endgame. GM Dorian Rogozenco informs.

Russian Super Final 04: Svidler wins and leads

10/8/2013 – With a crushing victory over yesterday's hero, Andreikin, Svidler moves to an amazing +3 and leads the Super Final with 3.5/4. In the lady's section Kovanova and Gunina keep gaining ground as they both won today with black. The tragedy of that tournament so far is Kosintseva with a dismal 1.0/4 after losing to Kosteniuk. GM analysis of both events.

Kasparov for President – 2014 FIDE Campaign

10/8/2013 – Yesterday evening former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov held an event in Tallinn, Estonia, to announce his candidacy for the presidency of the International Chess Federation and to introduce the other members of his ticket. They include FIDE General Secretary Ignatius Leong and US investor and chess sponsor Rex Sinquefield. Kasparov's program for FIDE is called Six Winning Moves.

Chess in South Africa – filling the gaps

10/8/2013 – In part one of her report on a trip to South Africa IM Elisabeth Pähtz showed the German delegation introducing chess to schools and training teachers. As part of their tour they also visited Soweto, historically the richest, but nowadays one of the poorest suburbs of Johannesburg. There on an open field they set up a giant chessboard to attract children, for whom this was a first encounter with the game. Part two of Elli's big pictorial report.

Bucharest 01: Caruana strikes first

10/8/2013 – Fabiano Caruana got the first win of the tournament in an interesting game. Nisipeanu, was willing to go for a fight but his position became bad as Black's strangely solid formation on the kingside repelled the attack he had heavily invested on. A saving resource still was available for White, but time trouble did not permit him to see it. Radjabov-Ponomariov was a solid draw while Wang Hao had the day off. Brief analysis of round 1.

Bilbao 01: both games drawn

10/7/2013 – The Bilbao Master's has started in its 2013 edition. Despite the obvious conflicts the organizers had to deal, including an upcoming World Championship and a hectic grand prix series, they managed to organize an amazingly strong tournament. Aronian, Mamedyarov, Adams and Vachier-Lagrave will play a double round robin tournament to determine the winner of the Master's series. Round one report.

Russian Super Final 03: Andreikin Topples Kramnik

10/7/2013 – Andreikin took vengeance for his World Cup match against Kramnik and won a nice game. Now Svidler and Vitiugov share first place with 2.5/3. In the girl's section Kovanova and Gunina also have 2.5/3. Gunina barely survived against today's birthday girl, Daria Charochkina. The organization of the tournament gave her a nice surprise on this occasion. Round 3 report.

7th Kings Tournament starts Tomorrow

10/7/2013 – The 7th Kings tournament will take place from October 7th to October 17th in the Bucharest University of Economic Studies in Romania. The double round robin will pit Nisipeanu, Wang Hao, Ponomariov, Radjabov and Caruana against each other. The opening ceremony was held yesterday and it had one of the most original and fun drawing of lots we have seen in some time.