2012 'Yicheng cup' Chinese Chess League Division A

6/30/2012 – The mammoth Chinese Chess League Division A continued its run, and three more rounds were played out this week, reaching round seven of the full 22 to be completed. The top player of the event is reigning three-time Chinese champion, Ding Liren, whose performance exceeds 2800. One wonders merely when the 19-year-old will break into the 2700 club, not if. Report and pictures.

Octopus

6/29/2012 – White possesses the infamous knight on d6, against which Black has just prepared the doubling of rooks on the d-file with 20...Rd7 (diagram). Backing up this piece with 21.Rf2 Rad8 22.Rfd2 now leads to ...
A)... a clear positional advantage for White;
B)... balanced chances;
C)... material gains for Black.

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

2012 Russian qualifier reveals new star: Daniil Dubov

6/29/2012 – Of all the national championships, the Russian has long been the strongest, and thus it is no surprise that many aspire to just play in it, much less win it. The Russian Higher League is a monster qualifier Swiss open with 28 GMs and several 2700 players. Though the winner on tiebreak was Dmitry Andreikin, the story was 16-year-old Daniil Dubov's domination throughout. Illustrated report.

Anand at Accenture: How memory works in chess

6/28/2012 – Accenture plc, the largest management consulting company in the world, recently staged a conference in Madrid, Spain and invited World Champion Viswanathan Anand to speak. Anand dealt with subjects like pattern recognition, decision-making, computers and the strategies used in World Championship matches. The lecture is three quarters of an hour long, but well worth watching.

Mikhail Tal: Triumph and Tragedy (Part I)

6/28/2012 – Exactly 20 years ago, on June 28, 1992, one of the greatest and most popular champions of all time, Mikhail Tal, passed away. In a fitting conclusion to his own legacy of chess before all, the Magician from Riga had escaped from the hospital on May 28, where he was dying from kidney failure, to play in the Moscow Blitz championship where he faced Kasparov. A tribute by Prof. Nagesh Havanur.

Gelfandmania in Israel and the online Israel-Spain match

6/27/2012 – Gelfandmania has officially taken over Israel after Boris Gelfand's title run. He has appeared on TV, met the prime minister, given countless interviews and even been parodied by a famous comedy show. More importantly, he has sparked a huge interest in chess, leading to the match between Israeli and Spanish schools made possible through Playchess. GM Boris Alterman shares all.

Alan Turing Plays Garry Kasparov At Chess 58 Years After His Death

6/27/2012 – That is the title of a Huffington Post story on an historic encounter during the Turing Centenary Conference in Manchester last weekend. After his lecture on the reconstruction of the Turing "Paper Machine" for chess Garry Kasparov actually played a game against the reconstructed version of the machine, which you can download and test yourself. We have video reports and the moves of the game.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (85)

6/27/2012 – In his latest prize quiz the Editor of Chess Notes offered readers the challenge of identifying the authors of eight autobiographical works related to chess, on the basis of front covers from which relevant textual information had been blocked out. There was quite a strong entry, and now the answers are revealed. So too are the identities of the three prize-winners.

A paradise for children

6/26/2012 – The 7th "Türkiye Is Bankasi" chess tournament, which was held from 13-17 June in Istanbul, one of the biggest pre-schooler tournaments of all times, was so much more than just a chess tournament. Nearly 800 children took part in this amazing event in which the organizers included every activity imaginable to make it unforgettable for all involved. Enjoy this beautiful pictorial by Elisabeth Pähtz.

Daniel King: What happens next?

6/26/2012 – ChessBase and British GM Danny King have come up with a new YouTube format for chess training. It consists of an annotated game in which the grandmaster leads the student to a key position and asks him to choose one of two strategical continuations. Depending on what you decide the video continues with a confirmation or refutation. It's an entertaining way to improve your chess.

Viktor Korchnoi: My Life for Chess (Part two)

6/26/2012 – Born in 1931, twice contender for the world championship, Viktor Korchnoi is a living chess legend. In his career spanning over 60 years he has crossed swords with practically every great player of the past and present, including Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov. In this special Monograph DVD, "Viktor the Terrible" describes a life devoted to chess. Review by Prof. Nagesh Havanur.

The Personal Island of Anastasia Golubenko (Part two)

6/25/2012 – She was one of the most dedicated and successful coaches Estonia ever had, producing national, European and even world champions in the junior categories. But as a Russian she was ostracized, as were some of her students. Her tireless battle for their rights ended when Anastasia passed away at the age of 46. Her loving family and friends are planning a tribute for her. You can contribute.

The 100-board Austria-Slovenia match – a unique spectacle

6/25/2012 – On the 16th of June 2012, the city of Maribor hosted a true spectacle – a friendly match on 100 chess boards between Slovenian Styria and Austrian Styria. This singular initiative was a part of Georg Mohr's Black and White World project, and brought together politicians, artists, and players of all kinds and strengths. Read about this amazing match in the report by Miša Hrenic.

PokerListings: Chess Players Win Big at WSOP

6/24/2012 – For some years chess players have been a threat at the World Series of Poker tournaments, and now, more than ever there’s reason to expect big things from them. Ylon Schwartz, a 2300 chess master, outlasted 889 players to take a first place prize of $267,081. Not bad, except that Ylon earned more than $3.7 million finishing fourth in the 2008 Main Event. There's money in them thar cards.

Czech Chess Trophy – Svidler beats Navara 3-1

6/24/2012 – From June 22-24, the Czech Chess Trophy took place, with a match between the top Czech player, David Navara (2706) and six-time Russian champion, Peter Svidler (2741). The match consisted of four classical games including a pair of simuls and lectures held during the rest day on June 22nd. Peter Svidler won the match by 3-1. Large pictorial and commented games.

Kazan GP R11: Humpy, Muzychuk share first at Women's GP

6/23/2012 – The three top seed finished in the first three place: all won their final round games, which put Humpy Koneru and Anna Muzychuk on top of the score table with 7.5/11 points each. Both did not lose a single game. In third we find, half a point behind, women's world champion Hou Yifan, who lost two but won five. Here is the fnal report with pictures, stats, and commented games.

CBM training: Dominance, last pawn, cut-off, Bartholomew's stalemate

6/23/2012 – The 21st Annual Chicago Open took place from May 24th-28th at the Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel in Wheeling. Gabriel Sargissian finished on top with 7.0/9 points. Our ChessBase Magazin endgame expert Dr Karsten Müller has picked four interesting endgames from this event and presents us with his unique instructive comments on stratgy in the final section of the game.

Giddin's reflection on draws, readers' feedback

6/23/2012 – After the first four games of the World Championship had ended in draws English chess columnist Steve Giddins wrote a provocative article. He called the match disappointing and blamed it on computers narrowing the preparation gap to a degree where world class GMs who are closely matched cannot gain a decisive advantage. In response we got massive feedback and a piano recital.

Kasparov on Alan Turing and his 'Paper Machine'

6/22/2012 – June 23, 2012 marks the centenary of the birth of Alan Turing, arguably the most famous computer scientist of all time. The Turing Centenary Conference will be held in Manchester, where a large number of high-voltage speakers will gather, many Turing Award winners. One interests us in particular: Garry Kasparov will speak about the reconstruction of Turing's 'Paper Machine' for chess.

Asian Team Championship – video reports and Chinese culture

6/22/2012 – Although the Asian Nations Chess Cup finished, the talented and generous Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh has shared his video reports on the event in YouTube, and since they are all excellent work, we could not help but make sure his effort did not go unnoticed. You will find not only reports on results and games, but also cultural tidbits such as learning to write in Chinese.

With minimal means

6/22/2012 – White had forced an opening of the opponent's king position with 17.Bg5-f6 g7xf6 and now eschewed the perpetual check (18.Re5-g5+) in favour of the retreat 18.Re5-e3 (diagram). What is the right defence for Black now?
A) 18...Qf4
B) 18...e5
C) both lose

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

The 5th Mumbai Mayor's Cup

6/22/2012 – The 5th edition of the Mumbai Mayor’s Cup – International Chess tournament took place in Mumbai, India, and drew no fewer than 335 players to its eleven-round Swiss, including 16 GMs, 17 IMs, 3 WIMs and one WIM. The climate in Mumbai around this time is very hot and the casual dress code reflected this with shorts, bermudas and flip flops in vogue. Colorful pictorial by Manisha Mohite.

Kazan GP R09: Danielian falters, as Koneru, Kosteniuk and Hou win

6/21/2012 – The FIDE Women Grand Prix in Kazan is gradually reaching its culmination. Hou Yifan and Humpy Koneru won their games, both with the black pieces, while Alexandra Kosteniuk inflicted the first defeat on the tournament leader Elina Danielian. Now, with two rounds to go, the three top seeds – Koneru, Danielian and Muzychuk – are in the joint lead, with 6.0/9 points. Round nine report.

The second SV Werder Bremen Chess Football Tournament

6/21/2012 – On May 20th the second edition of the SV Werder Bremen Chess Football Tournament took place in their own Werder sports center. At the first edition last year the home team convincingly won the tournament, despite being fourth in chess, due to their football superiority. For a year HSK waited for the chance to avenge themselves. Illustrated report by Eva Maria Zickelbein.