Mar del Plata 2012 : A cooling down

10/16/2012 – The fifth round at the 7th Continental marked a cooling down on all levels. On the one hand, the thermometer took a dive and everyone was greeted by heavy mists, and wet air. In the tournament, seventeen leaders were whittled down to only four at 4.5/5: Granda Zuniga, Iturrizaga, Bruzon Batista, and Valerga. Round five report with pictures and game commentary by GM Sergio Slipak.

Reminder: special offer of weekly ChessBase games download

10/15/2012 – After 14 years of service "The Week in Chess", which chess players have grown so used to, no longer provides a free weekly download of games. With that the "Get TWIC" button in ChessBase is also history. But don't panic, there's good news: ChessBase's own download service, with a total of well over 200,000 games a year, delivered on a weekly basis. And we have a very special offer.

ECCC Eilat: Saint-Petersburg and Tomsk lead with 8/8

10/15/2012 – Low flying planes are a common sight in the Israeli port city, where Tomsk-400 defeated Tammer-Shakki 6-0, while Saint-Petersburg CF, facing a much tougher opponent, Economist-SGSEU Saratov, won 3½-2½. Both teams still have a perfect match score, with Socar Azerbaijan (6:0 against Zurich) working hard to catch up. In the women's section Monte Carlo leads with 8/8. Round four report.

Mar del Plata 2012: A day of records

10/15/2012 – For anyone hoping to see the lineup of leaders by the end of four rounds, they have been served. Despite a tough playing schedule with no easy games, and a double-rounder on Sunday, none of the players were able to muster the strength for a perfect 4.0/4 and 100% score, and seventeen are tied at 3.5/4. Nevertheless it was a day for records. Illustrated report with analysis by GM Sergio Slipak

Bilbao Rd10: Carlsen takes title in blitz tiebreak

10/14/2012 – It wasn't for lack of playing in the final round, at least not for Magnus Carlsen. He may have played simply out of principle, but he was also playing for a place in history if he beat Aronian. No records fell, but he made no mistakes in his blitz tiebreak against the co-leader Fabiano Caruana, and took it 2-0 for yet another feather in his cap. Illustrated report with GM commentary.

ECCC Eilat: ...and then there were three

10/14/2012 – After three rounds of the European Club Cup 2012 there are three teams sharing the lead, with 6/6 match points: Saint-Petersburg, Economist Saratov and Tomsk-400. The top seed Socar Azerbaijan, which lost in round one, is staging a determined comeback with a 6-0 third-round win. In the women's section Monte-Carlo, led by Hou Yifan, won their third straight match and are in the sole lead.

Mar del Plata 2012: The eye of the hurricane

10/14/2012 – The second round of the classic Mar del Plata tournament is considered the last easy round for the stronger players, but as Shabalov would tell you: there are no easy rounds any more. Even so, this allows the higher rated players to get into gear while the lower-rated players still try to be the hero of the next round. Illustrated report with analysis by GM Sergio Slipak.

ECCC Eilat: five teams lead, Hou Yifan strikes back

10/13/2012 – In the open section there were two mini-upsets: second seed SHSM-64, with an average rating of 2722, could only draw OSG Baden-Baden e.V., average 2690; and Ashdod, average 2668, defeated Ugra, average 2706, by 3½:2½. Five teams lead with four points each. In the women's section world champion Hou Yifan beat former world champion Antoaneta Stefanova. Report with selected games.

7th Continental Chess Tournament starts with surprises

10/13/2012 – The 7th Continental Tournament taking place in Mar del Plata, Argentina, is not only a large eleven-round open qualifier for the world championship but is also a rich opportunity for norms. The opening round saw few surprises, but one was the young Arthur Chiari, who held GM Alex Shabalov to a draw. Read how he even questioned Anand's opening choices. Illustrated report by Albert Silver.

Bilbao Rd9: Carlsen beats Anand and Caruana beats Aronian

10/12/2012 – It was long in the coming, and one knew that it was a matter of time before the new guard started scoring against the old. Today was the day as Magnus Carlsen finally broke the tie-streak and beat Vishy Anand after a hard tense battle. Caruana stays in the running as he beat Aronian after the Armenian made a speculative sacrifice that failed. Full report with analysis.

Knights on the 4th rank

10/12/2012 – From one opening line of the evergreen Tarrasch Defence with an early 5.dxc5 for White which allows Black to push his d-pawn forward, in this case even to d3. To 13...Bc8-g4 (diagram) White must reply how?
A) 14.Qd2
B) 14.Qb3
C) 14.f3

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

ECCC Eilat: Ashdod shocks Socar

10/12/2012 – Everything went according to plan in the first round of the 28th European Club Cup: the higher rated teams beat and sometimes demolished the lower rated clubs they were paired against. With one exception: the top team Socar Azerbaijan, average rating 2747, were defeated by Ashdod, average 2668. We bring you results, games and some remarkable pictorial impressions by Vladimir Jagr.

European Club Cup starts in Eilat today

10/11/2012 – The 28th European Club Cup 2012, a seven-round Swiss, is taking place in Eilat from October 11 to 18. The average rating of the top five teams is 2700+, the top women's team is fielding the top three on the world's women's ratings. A total of 28 players are rated 2700 or higher – they include 110 GM and 10 WGM. And the venue on the southern tip of Israel has to be seen to be believed.

Bilbao 08: All games drawn, Caruana and Carlsen lead

10/11/2012 – In this round the leaders did not showed anything special, and their games were drawn. However, this was compensated by the joint effort of Vallejo Pons and Levon Aronian. The Armenian opted for an extremely passive version of Modern Defense as if to invite Vallejo for a fierce attack. The invitation was duly accepted. Full report and commentary by Piotr Kaim.

Remembering Svetozar Gligoric (Part three)

10/10/2012 – He was one of the great players of the 20th Century, record national champion of Yugoslavia, friend of Bobby Fischer, theoretician, musician, author and gentleman. He died in August at the age of 89. Kiril Penusliski, a Macedonian art historian, has selected games that better illustrate the unique Gligoric style, and narrates them in their historical context – with exquisite descriptive analysis.

Daniel King's simple opening repertoire

10/9/2012 – "I have yet to see one of Daniel King's Power Play DVDs that I did not enjoy," writes Steve Goldberg in Chess Cafe, "and PowerPlay17: Attack with 1.e4 is no exception." It provides you with systems that will put your opponent on the defensive. "Thanks to King's 'ideas-based' approach rather than pure memorization, viewers will find it easy to recall the basic considerations." Review.

Bilbao Rd7: Carlsen joins Caruana in lead

10/9/2012 – Whereas the first half of the Grand Slam Masters marked a disappointing start for the world number one, and a comet-like run by Fabiano Caruana, the start of the second half has been just the opposite. The Italian seems to have slowed down a little, but Magnus Carlsen scored his second straight win, beating Vallejo Pons in a strong kingside attack. Full report and commentary.

Romanian League in a more or less exciting Black Sea resort

10/8/2012 – Why go to the Bulgarian Black Sea cost when we have the Romanian seaside jewel Mamaia? This question did not get an automatic answer when WGM Alina L'Ami attended the Romanian League, as a reporter and participant. The place looked off-season and forlorn, but that changed slowly with the joys of playing a team competition. Big pictorial report.

Two more online qualifiers for World Mind Games

10/8/2012 – Tonight, Monday, October 8th, at 20:00h = 08:00 p.m. (click for world-wide timings), the penultimate round of the World Mind Games qualifier will be held on the Playchess server. You have one more chance on Saturday. The winners take part in a "Candidates" tournament, of whch the top prize is an all-paid trip to Bejing to attend the World Mind Games 2012. Don't miss it.

Bilbao Rd6: Carlsen avenges loss and beats Caruana

10/8/2012 – After suffering the unthinkable in round one, when he started with a harrowing loss to Fabiano Caruana, Magnus Carlsen could well be expected to charge after revenge in their return game. And that is exactly what he did. It was vintage Carlsen as he reached a slightly better endgame, and proceeded to transform lead into gold as only he seems able to. Full report.

The Bilbao half of the Grand Slam Final begins tomorrow

10/7/2012 – We have been through many days without a super-tournament, and some of you are probably suffering withdrawal. Not to worry: on Monday the top GMs will be at it again, Carlsen, Anand, Aronian, Karjakin, Caruana, Vallejo. The second half of the Fifth Chess Masters Final will be held from October 8-13 in the Central Atrium of the Alhondiga Bilbao, Spain, in a soundproof glass box. Press release.

Rogoff on innovation, unemployment, inequality and dislocation

10/7/2012 – "Two hundred years of breathtaking innovation have produced rising living standards for ordinary people," says a renowned economist (and chess grandmaster), "with no sharply rising trend for unemployment." As an example, Ken Rogoff looks at the world of professional chess, where technology has actually contributed to equalizing incomes of player and trainers. Must-read article.

Polish Team Championship: How to beat a higher rated opponent

10/6/2012 – Four GMs, 13 IMs and few dozens other players gathered in Poronin, a beautiful mountain village, for the Polish First League, an eliminator to the Extra League. Czech IM Pawel Simacek (2477) and Ukrainian GM Orest Gritsak (2548) won the competition on the first board, scoring both 6/9. In wonderfully annotated games Piotr Kaim shows us the narrow path to improvement in chess.

1st Anastasia Chess School on Krk Island

10/5/2012 – Anastasia Golubenko was a superb chess trainer who mass-produced an army of champions in Estonia. Earlier this year, aged 46, she passed away after a long illness. Croatian chess friends organised a commemorative Chess School on the island of Krk, close to where Anastasia spent her youth. The U11 tournament was auspiciously won by her daughter Sanja. Report by Valery Golubenko.