Dilijan WGP R5+6: Humpy loses, regains the lead

6/23/2013 – In round five Indian GM Koneru Humpy drew her game and was overtaken by Anna Muszchuk, who defeated former women's world champion Antoaneta Stefanova. In round six the two played each other, and Humpy beat Anna to regain the lead, this time alone. Batchimeg Tuvshintugs of Mongolia is the surprise player who stand to gain a bunch of rating points – and who has the nicest shoes.

Tal 08: Gelfand still leads, Carlsen now second

6/22/2013 – Gelfand was held to a draw easily by Mamedyarov while Carlsen beat Nakamura and is now in second place. With the correct results tomorrow Carlsen might even win the tournament with a last minute streak. Caruana beat Morozevich in a complex game and ties for third alongside Mamedyarov, Nakamura and Andreikin. Report, standings and pictures

Ponomariov and Muzychuk lead Ukrainian Ch

6/21/2013 – Although the Russian Championship can claim to have the strongest national championship in the world, the Ukrainian Championship is a close second. In this year’s twelve-player men's lineup there are no fewer than five players rated 2700 or higher, and two other players are regular members of that elite group. At the midway point, Ponomariov and Muzychuk lead.

Tal 07: Gelfand beats Nakamura, Kramnik loses

6/21/2013 – Two games were clear highlights from the rest. Nakamura tried to punish Gelfand's Sveshnikov and it backfired, as the Israeli obtained the pair of bishops and a surprisingly strong attack which he used to convert the full point. Andreikin beat Kramnik after the latter strangely blundered. Kramnik is now in last place. Standings, report and pictures.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (99)

6/21/2013 – Did Gibaud lose an ultra-brief game to Lazard in the Paris championship of 1924? The Editor of Chess Notes points out that the moves 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nd2 e5 3 dxe5 Ng4 4 h3 Ne3 5 White resigns have regularly been given in chess literature (with, as usual, writers copying from each other without verification), but did they ever occur over the board? Another investigation.

Dilijan WGP R4: Three wins, Humpy joins the leaders

6/20/2013 – India's top female player, GM Koneru Humpy, scored a second win, this time against Russian GM Tatiana Kosintseva, as did another top seed, Anna Muzychuk, with black against Viktorija Cmilyte. Both join Elina Danielian in the lead, after the Armenian GM lost her game to Olga Girya. With her first win the Russian WGM moved from last to seventh place. Illustrated report with annotated games.

Chessboxing documentary – The King's Discipline

6/20/2013 – David Bitton is a Canadian independent filmmaker who for the past three years has been working on the first feature length documentary about chessboxing, telling the story of three visionaries who are struggling to transform the sport from underground cult curiosity into a respected and recognized mainstream phenomenon. Bitton is is currently crowd-funding the project on kickstarter.

Tal 06: Nakamura on Fire

6/19/2013 – Nakamura took down the World Champion, regaining the solo lead in the tournament and achieving 2789 in the live ratings list. Gelfand missed an important chance against an overeager Carlsen. Kramnik held Caruana to a draw in a wacky game. Morozevich and Andreikin played long endgames against Karjakin and Mamedyarov but couldn't bring the full point home. GM Analysis, pictures.

Coming next week: 1st Geneva Chess Masters

6/19/2013 – Vladimir Kramnik, Hikaru Nakamura, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Judit Polgar – these are some of the stars that will participate in an eight-player rapid chess knock-out event from the 26th to the 30th of June 2013 in the Théâtre Pitoëff in Geneva, Switzerland. Two 25 min + 10 sec games, then two blitz and an armageddon decide who will proceed to the next round. There will be live coverage and commentary.

Rombaldoni: "He never calculated moves"

6/19/2013 – The very talented Italian IM Axel Rombaldoni, aiming for a final GM norm, recently travelled to Bulgaria to play in a GM tournament. First he discovered that most of the grandmasters had cancelled their participation, and then in round seven he faced the reason for the cancellation: FM Borislav Ivanov, who has been accused of computer cheating. Alex tells us what it is like to play Ivanov.

Dilijan WGP R3: Batchimeg, Stefanova win

6/19/2013 – The lowest seed in the tournament, Batchimeg Tuvshintugs, scored a second consecutive win in round three of the FIDE Gran Prix in Armenia. In spite of a loss in round one the Mongolian WGM stands to gain 12 rating points. Antoaneta Stefanova defeated Tatiana Kosintseva with the black pieces. Nana Dzagnidze leads with 2.5/3 points. Illustrated report with game summaries.

Tal 05: Carlsen beats Anand, Gelfand catches Nakamura

6/18/2013 – Carlsen demolished a very passive Anand. Gelfand played a clean game and punished Morozevich for a dubious opening choice. The other games were drawn. After five rounds, not a single one of the four Russian players have scored a win. Report and GM analysis.

Dilijan WGP R2: four decisive games

6/18/2013 – Let the battles begin – brilliancies, errors and all. In round two Anna Muzychuk, Humpy Koneru, Nana Dzagnidze and Batchimeg Tuvshintugs drew blood against Tatiana Kosintseva, Elina Danielian, Harika Dronavalli and Olga Girya repectively. Dzagnidze leads with 2.0/2, followed by Muzychuk and Humpy with 1.5 points each. Illustrated report with light annotations.

Carlsen and Aronian to play in US Super-GM

6/17/2013 – For the first time, Magnus Carlsen will play a high-profile tournament in the United States. He will be joined by Levon Aronian, and the top two American players, Hikaru Nakamura and Gata Kamsky in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, to fight for the Sinquefield Cup. The double round-robin will be held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL) from September 9-15. Press release.

Tal 04: Nakamura hat-tricks and leads

6/17/2013 – Nakamura played a convincing game against Caruana. A novel idea in the Najdorf was unsuccessfully dealt with by the Italian, and now Hikaru jumps to clear first place after losing his first game. Mamedyarov survived Karjakin's extra material and retains second, along with Gelfand who solidly held Anand. GM Analysis, pictures and standings.

Women's Grand Prix starts in Dilijan

6/17/2013 – The second leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix cycle 2013-2014 is taking place from June 16 to 28 2013, with twelve top players, two of them reigning or former Women's World Champions (and nine with full GM titles). After a beautiful opening extravagenza there were two decisive games in the first round, and some interesting missed chances. Big illustrated opening report.

Rombaldoni wins 5th Festival Capo d'Orso

6/16/2013 – It is a wonderfully relaxing tournament in Porto Mannu on the northern tip of Sardinia – and the location is beautifully explored by our roving reporter WGM Alina l'Ami, who also found time to play in the event and finish equal 2nd-3rd. The winner was Italian talent IM Axel Rombaldoni, the Tom Cruise of chess, who achieved his final GM norm. Big pictorial report.

Tal 03: A trio of precise wins

6/15/2013 – In an elegant display of endgame precision, Caruana pounced over Carlsen's fatal mistake to transpose into a rook endgame in which Black's h-pawn was unstoppable. Nakamura played a nearly impeccable game himself against Karjakin, while Anand slowly outplayed Morozevich. The other games saw Black getting equality out of the opening and a quick draw. Pictures and games.

Hou Yifan wins CEZ trophy in tiebreak

6/14/2013 – After three very close games, the players went out for blood in their final standard time control confrontation. Navara deviated early in the Scheveningen. Yifan outplayed the Czech for the majority of the game, but misplayed the endgame and was lucky that Navara could not finish her off in time trouble. She won the blitz tiebreak to take the title. Final report with GM analysis of a very interesting game.

Tal 02: Nakamura and Gelfand win with Black

6/14/2013 – In an unusual turn of events, black has won four of the five decisive games played in this tournament. Today Nakamura was able to complicate matters in a terrible position against Kramnik, and then eventually outplay him and take the full point. Gelfand's Najdorf comprehension was simply better than Caruana's. The rest of the games were relatively quiet affairs. Pictures and games.

Chess tournament in Taksim Square

6/14/2013 – For over two weeks now protests and strikes have been staged across Turkey, with people demanding freedom of assembly and expression, and adherence to Turkey's secularism. The protests were sparked by a brutal police eviction of a sit-in at Istanbul's Taksim Gezi Park where. despite government threats, a chess tournament staged in Taksim Square in solidarity with the protesters.

CEZ Prague: Yifan neck and neck with Navara

6/14/2013 – The second round of the match between David Navara and Hou Yifan has not seen either player pulling ahead, and thus far three draws have ensued. Navara has chosen to avoid Yifan’s tactical strength, and attempt to impose his positional skills. but has been unable to break the Chinese teenager’s resistance, and has seen his chances evaporate one after the other. Illustrated report.

Tal 01: Carlsen, Caruana and Mamedyarov strike!

6/13/2013 – The young Italian outplayed the World Champion quite easily, Carlsen exploited some strange endgame decisions by Kramnik to also take the full point. Nakamura had trouble after the opening in finding a plan and Mamedyarov capitalized easily. Morozevich and Karjakin held easy draws with black. Standings, GM commentary and pictures.

Nakamura wins Tal Blitz

6/13/2013 – In a wonderful showing the American dominated the Tal Memorial blitz from beginning to finish. Vishy Anand came second, with Kramnik being third. This tournament determined the starting positions for the players in the standard tournament which begins tomorrow, the highlight game being Carlsen vs. Kramnik. Pictures, standings and schedule.