Zurich: two draws in round one

2/24/2013 – The first round of the four-player category 21 event saw two games with unusual openings. Vladimir got a small advantage against Boris Gelfand but could not turn it into a full point; while Fabiano Caruana relinquished his advantage in time trouble against Vishy Anand and had to fight for 65 moves to secure the draw. Round one report with video commentary and postgame analysis.

Zurich Chess Challenge begins today

2/23/2013 – It's a category 21 four-player double round robin event, with two World Champions, a WCh challenger and the one of the brightest young talents in the current chess scene. The venue is the elegant Savoy Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland. The event started on Friday with an opening ceremony and a Blitz tournament, which was won by the youngest participant.

The latest from FIDE – decisions, decisions

2/22/2013 – It is not the most riviting report we have ever published, but we'll see if you will "like" it anyway – well over 100 reposted the recent Kasparov in Georgia piece in Facebook. The current report is on 51 decisions taken by FIDE during its Presidential Board meeting in Armenia, as well as pictorials of President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov's visits to Mongolia, Beirut and Astrakhan. What's there not to like?

Reykjavik Open 2013 – four players lead

2/22/2013 – This popular nine-round Swiss event is being held in the Icelandic capital for the 28th time – from February 19 to 27, in the concert hall and conference centre Harpa. 227 players from different countries are particpating. After four rounds there are four leaders (Yu Yangyi, Eljanov, Gajewski, Vachier-Lagrave) with perfect scores. Report with pictorial impressions by WGM Alina L'Ami.

The Moth Radio Hour with Maurice Ashley

2/21/2013 – Originally concieved as an intimate gathering of friends on a porch in Georgia (where moths would flutter in through a hole in the screen), The Moth quickly grew to produce immensely popular events at theaters and clubs around New York City and later around the country. In the February 5th episode the world's first African American grandmaster Maurice Ashley describes his development as a chess player.

Fridman's fortress, Meier's mighty, Anand's exploits

2/21/2013 – The recent Baden Baden tournament saw some deep and exciting chess, often culminating in decisive endgames, which our columnist GM Karsten Müller has been carefully monitoring for the next issue of ChessBase Magazine. We bring you four instructive examples which you can use to hone your skills in an important part of the game.  Learn and enjoy.

Kasparov and Chess in Schools in Georgia

2/20/2013 – These days the chess legend Garry Kasparov seems to have one thing predominantly on his mind: introducing chess in schools all over the world. Last year we saw his efforts in Germany, and now he has officiated in actually implementing a programme in Georgia, a country with possibly the highest computer and Internet penetration in the world. Pictorial report by Sophie Nikoladze.

4th Tata Steel Studies Solving Competition – solutions

2/20/2013 – In this recent competition it was one of the older competitors, John Nunn, who won first prize, by the highest score achieved in recent years. John wrote us a report – with pictures taken by co-competitor WGM Alina L'Ami – and included three marvellous studies for our readers to solve. You've had a week to work on them – here now are Link Text

Jerry and Kramer discuss chess

2/20/2013 – If you happen to live on this planet chances are you have seen most of the 150 episodes of the Seinfeld show, a commercial blockbuster and cultural phenomenon that aired on NBC from 1989 to 1998 – and is now in syndication world-wide. The two lead actors, Jerry Seinfeld and Michael Richards ("Kramer"), were recently in a chat video, mostly discussing – chess. Don't miss this one.

Play the King's Indian Defence with g3 in 60 minutes

2/19/2013 – The King's Indian Defense is one of Black's most aggressive replies, with tons of double-edged theory, and many attacking options. GM Adrian Mikhalchishin gives a master class on the g3 line, showing how it can efficiently fight the King's Indian, without drowning in theory, by focusing on plans and ideas instead of mountains of memorization. Read the review.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (96)

2/18/2013 – It is one hundred years since the term ‘hypermodern’ began appearing in chess literature, but who exactly were the precursors and inventors of this so-called revolution? The Editor of Chess Notes puts forward a cast that includes A. Alekhine, J.H. Blackburne, E. Bogoljubow, G. Breyer, A. Flamberg, E. Grünfeld, R. Réti, A. Nimzowitsch, H. Staunton, S. Tartakower, E. Williams and ... M. Wolfson.

Aeroflot Open 2013: Sergey Karjakin wins in last seconds

2/18/2013 – It was a remarkably tough event, and among the eight qualifiers to the finals were more than one elite player, the most notable being Gata Kamsky. They were joined by Karpov, Karjakin, Svidler, Grischuk, Nepomniachtchi, Wang Hao, Mamedyarov and Andreikin. After several matches decided by sudden death, Karjakin fittingly beat Grischuk by a mere two seconds. Illustrated report.

Baden Baden R10: Anand wins Grenke Chess Classic

2/18/2013 – With a last-round black-pieces win over the flamboyant Arkadij Naiditsch the World Champion Viswanathan Anand secured sole victory in this tournament, with 6.5/10 points and a 2808 performance. This was confirmed when Anand's main rival, the Italian GM Fabiano Caruana, failed to convert a very promising position against Daniel Fridman. Final report with commentary and videos.

The 1937 Prokofiev-Oistrakh match

2/18/2013 – The year was 1937 and the match had been officially announced. Ten classical games were to be played at the Master of Art Club in Moscow, with grandmaster Vladimir Alatortsev and the famed theoretician Ilya Kan overseeing it. The players were the great composer, Sergey Prokofiev, and legendary violinist, David Oistrakh. It was the peak of the chess rivalry between the two music giants.

Baden Baden R9: Anand catches Caruana

2/18/2013 – The script of the event had seemed to be carved in stone – a single decisive game a day, the World Champion struggling to win and Caruana surviving scares on his way to an inevitable first place. But in the penultimate round the script was tossed out: Caruana fell to defeat against Adams, Anand joined him in the lead by beating Fridman, and Naiditsch was tamed by Meier. Round nine report.

Aeroflot Open 2013: Blitz tournament won by Nepomniachtchi

2/18/2013 – The Aeroflot Open Blitz tournament was a great success and brought in a large number of aficionados and fans to play blitz games with the very best. It was eighteen rounds of action headed by top-seed Sergey Karjakin with 2901 FIDE Blitz, followed by Dmitri Andreikin (2877), Alexander Grischuk (2860), and over 270 further players. Large pictorial.

Baden Baden R8: History repeats itself

2/18/2013 – Fabiano Caruana has taken a huge stride towards winning the GRENKE Chess Classic by once again defeating Arkadij Naiditsch from a lost position. Viswanathan Anand was unable to match the young Italian as he failed to convert an advantage against Georg Meier, while birthday boy Daniel Fridman was happy to stop the rot with a solid draw against Michael Adams. Round eight report.

Asteroid fly-by, giant meteor over Chelyabinsk

2/18/2013 – If there is no gravitational connection it is an incredible coincidence: on the day the asteroid 2012 DA14 is due to fly past earth in the closest encounter of a substantial interplanatry object in living history, a meteor exploded over the Siberian city of Chelyabinsk, where last October's FIDE Grand Prix was scheduled to be held (the chess connection!). Here are some scary videos.

Baden Baden R7: Caruana leads as Meier claims first win

2/18/2013 – There was no love lost between the players on Valentine’s Day, with tense fights on all three boards. It was only long after the first time control that Caruana-Anand and Adams-Naiditsch were agreed drawn, leaving Meier and Fridman to uphold the tradition of each round featuring a decisive game. Sure enough, after six hours Georg Meier banked his first win. Round seven report.

Three European Champions at First Saturday

2/18/2013 – ‘First Saturday’ is a very popular training and norm event that has been staged over 300 times over the last 25 years. Players like Caruana, Hou Yifan, Rapport, Radjabov, Nakamura and Carlsen played in them. The participation of three former European Youth Champions made the event particularly interesting this month. IM Miklos Orso reports.

Aeroflot Open 2013: 32 qualifiers and surprises

2/18/2013 – The first stage is over and 32 players passed on to the next phase, though not without a few surprises. Though certainly entertaining, the move to abandon classical chess in favor of rapid chess is not without varied opinions. The sponsor thought the old format "boring" and "miserable", while others already see it as the end of a golden era. Read what some players think.

Baden Baden R6: Naiditsch wins a stunning game

2/18/2013 – “The guy’s on fire – he’s been like this for weeks!” That was World Champion Viswanathan Anand on Arkadij Naiditsch, who today overwhelmed Daniel Fridman with a brilliant sacrificial attack to move into second place at the GRENKE Chess Classic. Elsewhere Georg Meier missed a nice win against Fabiano Caruana, while Vishy and Mickey Adams drew a well-played game. Round six report.

Kasimzhanov: Meet the Nimzo-Indian with 4.Qc2

2/18/2013 – Today’s review is about GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov’s DVD on the Nimzo Indian. In it he offers a repertoire choice for White against the all-famous Nimzo-Indian Defense (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6). The former FIDE World Champion of 2004 shares his knowledge on the classical approach against the Nimzo-Indian by playing 4.Qc2. Link Text

ChessBase Magazine 152 – standing the test of time

2/18/2013 – The highlight of the new CBM is the coverage of the London Chess Classic. Magnus Of particular interest are the 19 games presented with the audio versions of the post-match analysis, featuring the voices of the players themselves. On average, each post-mortem runs for 20+ minutes and they will surely stand the test of time as an important historical document. Marsh Towers review.