Playchess on Android review

9/5/2012 – Although it has been some time in the coming, and was direly missed by many smartphone and tablet owners, the wait is over and the mobile Playchess client for Android is out! Above all, the app is free for download and use, so don’t even wait to finish reading this review, by all means download and get it now. To find out more though, read the review by Albert Silver.

2012 Chess Olympiad Istanbul: Round eight

9/5/2012 – "I promise not to do another Chinese game next round," wrote our GM commentator Alejandro Ramirez, "but this one was so pretty!" He is referring to Ding Liren vs Rauf Mamedov, from the China-Azerbaijan match. Russia increased their lead with a victory over defending champions Armenia, while in the women's section India has move up to second place (behind China). Report with GM commentary.

2012 Chess Olympiad Istanbul: Round seven

9/5/2012 – A single win is often enough: Russia beat Azerbaijan through a win by Grischuk; the defending champions from Ukraine defeated Spain through a win by Ivanchuk; England defeated Georgia with a win by Nigel Short; and China sensationally beat Armenia with a win by Wang Yue. In the women's section Poland held Russia 2-2. We bring you full GM analysis of two key games.

Morozevich wins 66th Moscow Blitz tournament

9/4/2012 – He recently forced to withdraw in the middle of the Biel tournament, due to illness, and had to be replaced by Tomashevsky in the Olympic team. But on Sunday he was well enough to crush the high-class opposition in the Moscow Blitz and win it with a two-point lead. Present was FIDE President, who announced his intention to stage an event in an out-of-the-world place.

2012 Chess Olympiad Istanbul: Round six

9/4/2012 – This round was a showcase of classic monster matches, says the official bulletin. "When Godzilla and King Kong fight you don't get in the way. You step back and watch the destruction, hoping you don't become collateral damage." The match of the day was Russia vs Armenia, the game of the day Kramnik vs Aronian. In the women's section it was China vs Russia. Report and videos.

Chess in Schools – a reality in India

9/3/2012 – A lot of people are talking about it, but in some places – and the most unlikely as such – it's a reality. In the SYNA International School of Katni, northern India, chess is a compulsory subject, same as math, geography or English. The school sends large numbers of students to national tournaments, and they bring home excellent results. Most are academic toppers too! Like to play them?

2012 Chess Olympiad Istanbul: Round five

9/2/2012 – Today saw a number of match-ups of powerhouse teams in the Open section. On the first match table, two-time Olympiad Champion Armenia defeated defending champions Ukraine 2,5-1,5, with Aronian scoring against Ivanchuk. GM Alejandro Ramirez wrote "Beautiful game by Lev, dude's a monster" – and sent us his analysis of the game Levon Aronian vs Vassily Ivanchuk. GM analysis.

FIDE September ratings – Magnus Carlsen at 2843

9/2/2012 – Just eight points left – he has gained six more points and is coming close to Garry Kasparov's legendary record. Hikaru Nakamura gained five points to climb from number 7 to 5. Wang Hao has gained 16, Anish Giri 19,Anton Korobov 22 and Romain Edouard a massive 26 points. Alexander Morozevich lost twelve and Viktor Bologan 22 points. FIDE September rankings.

Remembering Svetozar Gligoric (Part two)

9/2/2012 – One of the truly great chess players of the 20th Century, record national champion of Yugoslavia, theoretician, musician, author and gentleman, died two weeks ago at the age of 89. He is sorely missed by many, especially chess fans like Macedonian art historian Kiril Penusliski, who grew up with Gligoric as his great hero. In part two of his tribute Kiril shows us two beautifully games annotated.

German Chess Tennis Open Championship

9/1/2012 – Combined chess and boxing tournaments have already gained some popularity. In Baden Baden another combined chess event was held; chess was mixed with tennis. There were 30 participants, who played a tennis and then a chess tournament, seven rounds each. Our reporter, IM Tibor Károlyi of Hungary, took part quite successfully. Here his report.

2012 Chess Olympiad Istanbul: Round four

8/31/2012 – The top seeded Russians beat China in one of the derby matches of the Olympiad, USA vs India, Azerbaijan vs German and France vs England were drawn. There are four teams left who have won all their matches so far: Ukraine, Hungary, Armenia and Russia. Our round commentators GMs Alejandro Ramirez, Danny King and IM Andrew Martin all chose the same game of the day.

Chess Problems: The Half-pin Theme

8/31/2012 – When two chess pieces are half-pinned against the king, and one of them moves, the other becomes fully pinned – that is the "half-pin" theme in problem chess. It combines well with many other themes and motifs, providing fertile ground for composers for well over a century. Our problem expert David Friedgood explains the idea with two introductory problems, and gives us two more to solve.

Opposite coloured bishops ...

8/31/2012 – ... are known to favour the side with the initiative, here operating with queen, rook and bishop. The first player has just forced the move 32...h6 (why?), and now the sequence 33.Qc8+ Re8 34.Qd7 hitting d6 and g7 leads her to ...
A) ... victory;
B) ... a clearly better endgame;
C) ... defeat.

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

2012 Chess Olympiad Istanbul: Round two

8/30/2012 – "All the big teams came through unscathed today," says Daniel King in his play-of-the-day commentary, "but things were a lot closer. And there were a few individual stars who had problems. Ivanchuk looked to be in total control, but as we shall see things started happening in this game..." The super-GM lost to Qatari GM Mohamad Al-Modiahki, 227 points below him on the rating scale. A real shocker.

2012 Chess Olympiad Istanbul: Round three

8/30/2012 – In the first "clashes of the titans" we saw a number of board one wins that led to team victory. The dynamics of this are explained to us by GM Alejandro Ramirez, who has picked such a board one win for his game of the day – from the women's section. Andrew Martin shows us a loss by the veteran Alexander Beliavsky to the young Indian GM Pentala Harikrishna in his video analysis.

Aloha Vishy! The World Chess Champion visits Hawaii (Part 2)

8/30/2012 – During his recent stay in Hawaii Vishy Anand visited a scholastic tournament, thrilling the pants off the local students. There was a motivational speech, prizes, autographs. Our reporter Beau Mueller used the occasion to discuss the subject of chess in schools with someone who has recruited one and a half million students in 16,000 schools to take up the game.

The 2012 Chess Olympiad under way

8/29/2012 – In the first round of this event, 158 teams are paired with the top half facing the bottom half (1 vs 79, 2 vs 80, etc.). This meant many 4-0 wipe-outs, but with a few upsets on individual boards. We bring you pictures and results and all available games from this massive event in Istanbul, Turkey, and now also include play-of-the-day commentary by GM Daniel King.

2012 Chess Olympiad: FIDE press conference

8/29/2012 – The president and deputy president of the World Chess Organisation, together with the president of the Turkish Chess Federation, held a joint press conference on the first day of the Chess Olympiad. All praised the organisation of the event while admitting glitches. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov declared his continuing support for "his brother" TCF President Ali Nihat Yazici. Excerpts.

New documentary on the Polgar family

8/28/2012 – Chess fans are undoubtedly familiar with the statistics, the myths and the rumours surrounding the Polgár sisters, but how many of us really know the true story of the family? For four years, an Israeli film-maker has collected archive material never seen before, and produced a documentary for Israeli TV that is epic and historic, but also personal and intimate. Watch the trailer.

Aloha Vishy! The World Chess Champion visits Hawai'i

8/27/2012 – Waikiki, the beautiful beach on the southern coast of the Hawaiian island of O'ahu, is a tourist magnet. It was recently "blessed to count among its visitors the World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand, his wife Aruna, and their sixteen-month-old son, Akhil," writes Beau Mueller, who spent time with the astronomy enthusiast and even taught him how to say Humuhumunukunukuapua'a!

Theory of success in life applied to chess

8/27/2012 – What are the factors that define success? How does one become successful in life in general and in chess in particular? Peter Zhdanov explains KPIs (key performance indicators) used to measure success and seeks to apply them to the game we all love. By objectively evaluating all the components described in his article, you can create your own plan of becoming a successful person.

2012 Chess Olympiad: Opening ceremony

8/27/2012 – The event is being staged in the WOW Hotel and Convention Center, just minutes away from the airport, where many of the top teams and all the dignitaries are staying. On Monday the technical meeting was held, and then the spectacular opening ceremony, with a rich and colourful cultural program, including the often extremely vigorous traditional Turkish dances. Impressions of the opening day.

2012 Chess Olympiad: teams and players

8/26/2012 – The biggest chess event of the year is just two days away, with teams arriving and preparing for round one on Tuesday. The top seeds are Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Hungary, Azerbaijan, China, USA. One of these teams has won four consecutive Golds in the past – can you guess which? Learn more about the leading teams in the Yorkshire Chess Association's excellent Olympiad preview.

2012 French Championship marred by tragedy

8/26/2012 – After a week of bewildering news involving Garry Kasparov, and then Boris Spassky, one hoped for a nice sane report on the French Championship. Instead, a shocked Christian Bauer, tied for first in the penultimate round, learned that his four-month old son had died, and withdrew. In a show of solidarity, the players refused to continue and a four-way draw was declared. Report and game.