Which is the world's biggest chess nation?

10/28/2013 – Russia, of course. Everybody knows that. Well, not even close. The All India Chess Federation has informed us that it is now India, which ties with France as the country with the greatest number of FIDE rated players (35,200). But India, which forty years ago had one (ONE!) rated player, is growing steeply, while France is doing so only moderately. AICF press release and our own statistics.

ECC Concludes in Rhodes

10/28/2013 – The European Club Championship has come to an end in Rhodes, Greece and the two tournaments could not have been any different. Novy Bor, ranked fifth in the tournament, surprised many people and took home the gold after a decisive victory over SOCAR in round 6. In the Women's section Monte Carlo simply crushed the opposition. Full report and analysis of the spectacular event.

Computer Chess – movie and reviews

10/27/2013 – "The most striking thing about the movie is its amazingly detailed and precise reconstruction of the styles of the day," says Richard Brody in the New Yorker. "The black and white fly-on-the-wall style may appeal to some, but it overstays its welcome over 90 dull minutes," writes Sean Marsh in Chess Magazine. We have trailers and reviews of this recently released film by Andrew Bujalski, which you can download for $12.99. Judge for yourself.

World Championship: Campaign for Anand

10/27/2013 – The banner on the side of the campaign truck says it all. It is cruising Chennai collecting signatures in support of the World Champion, a son of the city. Meanwhile newspapers have been sounding a more optimistic note on his chances against challenger Magnus Carlsen, who is 95 point higher on the rating list. The Times of India reports that GM Abhijeet Gupta forsees Anand triumphing.

Unive Festival comes to an end

10/27/2013 – There was little mystery in the conclusion of the top group of Unive as So had already clinched his tournament victory with a round to spare. The two draws did not change any standings. Rodshtein was able to keep his lead in the open group and won half a point ahead of Moskalenko and L'Ami. We bring you impressions of the top, open and even the amateur groups.

ChessBase Puzzles: Loyd's Excelsior!

10/26/2013 – Samuel Loyd (1841–1911) was one of the greatest problem composers who ever lived. In 1858, in a joking mood in the Morphy Chess Rooms, he composed a mate problem for his friend Denis Julien. Julien was a problemist who boasted that he could always immediately spot the chess piece that would deliver mate in the main line of a chess problem. Loyd decided to test this claim with a chess problem. It became the prototype for a whole species.

Unive 05: Adams wins game, So wins event

10/26/2013 – The only decisive game in today's round was Adam's very clean victory over Van Wely. However this, combined with the draw between So and Van Kampen, clinches the tournament victory for the Filipino as neither Van Kampen or Adams, who are tied with second, can reach him and his 1.5 point advantage. The open section is lead by Rodshtein, but anything can happen there tomorrow. GM Analysis of today.

17th Corsican Chess Circuit

10/25/2013 – The 2013 Corsican Circuit enjoyed its 17th edition in Bastia and Ajaccio in Corsica. The series of events included a massive youth tournament which brought 700 youths to fight over 30 thousand Euros worth of prizes, a blitz tournament sponsored by Coca-Cola, and a very strong rapid tournament, the Oscaro Open, with several top players. Illustrated report with video.

Unive 04: So dominant

10/25/2013 – With today's win Wesley So has basically won the tournament in Hoogevens. He has a commanding 1.5 point lead over Van Kampen. With two rounds left this seems like an impossible task to overcome, although anything could theoretically still happen. Adams and Van Wely have been unable to find good form and are shedding 20 rating points between them both. GM Analysis of So's victory.

India Challenger Concludes

10/24/2013 – The 51st editional of India's National B tournament has finished and the top nine players have qualified for the Premier Nationals later this year. The city of Bhopal was host to an impressive tournament during the Durga Pooja festival. Niklesh Kumar Jain brings us beautiful pictures of the venue and the city and a full report in English and Hindi.

ChessBase Magazine #156 – exemplary coverage

10/24/2013 – "Vladimir Kramnik's notes always strike me as being totally honest," writes Sean Marsh of Marsh Towers. "Issue 156 in the long-running ChessBase magazine series provides exemplary coverage of the tournaments in Biel and Dortmund (complete with annotations by the champions). As impressive as always, ChessBase Magazine remains one of the must-buy items on the chess market." Marsh Towers review.

Barbaric Genius – a film about John Healy

10/23/2013 – The son of Irish immigrants, John Healy lived rough on the violent streets of London for fifteen years, drinking heavily and turning to crime to survive. In prison he was taught chess by his cellmate. This became his new addiction as alcohol was left behind. He wrote a best selling book and became the darling of the British media. Then he disappeared. Now he has reemerged, and is the subject of a stimulating new documentary by Paul Duane.

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.