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.

Kazan GP R10: Humpy, Cmilyte, Muzychuk lead with one round to go

6/21/2012 – A round ago three GMs were in the joint lead. One of them, Elina Danielian of Armenia, lost her second game in a row to drop half a point behind, while Lithuanian GM Viktorija Cmilyte won her game against Nadezhda Kosintseva to join the leaders. Friday is the final round with all three leading players wielding the black pieces. Illustrated round ten report.

Istanbul Chess Olympiad – Turkish teams youngest ever

6/20/2012 – At a Chess Olympiad the host nation has the right to field three teams. Typically the third team will have 2500+ GMs. Not so in Istanbul, where the Turkish Chess Federation is giving youngsters a chance. The average age in the third Open Category team is – 8.2 years! They may get clobbered by the likes of Morozevich and Grischuk in the first round, but watch them playing lesser countries.

Viktor Korchnoi: My Life for Chess (Part one)

6/20/2012 – Born 1931, two-times contender for the world championship, Viktor Korchnoi is a piece of living chess history. In the 60 years of his career he has crossed swords with practically all great players 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.

Forni di Sopro - An ideal start for an idyllic place

6/19/2012 – The third edition of the International Chess Open “Forni di Sopra” organized by the Accademia Internazionale di Scacchi has started! The event is held in the idyllic Dolomite Alps, near a nature reserve. Each year the tournament takes place at the same time as the renowned Feast of Herbs, where the 3000 local species are displayed and sold. Report by Martha Fierro and Augusto Caruso.

Tal Memorial Rd9 – Carlsen takes title in record event

6/19/2012 – It is almost fitting that the final round saw yet another unexpected series of results leading to a surprise winner: Magnus Carlsen. Fabiano Caruana fell into some nasty home preparation by Levon Aronian and lost, while Carlsen beat Luke McShane in a model game to take clear first. With his win a record was possibly set. Final report with video and GM analysis.

Kazan GP R08: Four decisive games – almost six in all

6/19/2012 – Betül Yildiz and Viktorija Cmilyte looked poised to win their games, but the opponents, the Kosintseva sisters, both managed to cling on and draw. Otherwise we would have seen six decisive games. Anna Muzychuk, Hou Yifan, Elina Danielian and Humpy Koneru all won their white games, leaving Danielian in the lead ahead of Muzychuk. Tuesday is a free day. Round eight report.

Kavalek in Huffington: Carlsen wins strong tourney in Moscow

6/19/2012 – "In the final round it was up to Carlsen to grab first place," writes GM Lubomir Kavalek in his Huffington Post column, "and he did it in an impressive way. He didn't strike like Misha Tal, but like another legend, the late Estonian GM Paul Keres. More than 50 years ago, Keres created a perfect model against White's passive play." Kavalek annotates the critical final round game.

Garry Kasparov celebrates special 10th anniversary in Manhattan

6/19/2012 – Back in 2002, Garry Kasparov was the world's top-ranked chessplayer and the launch of the Kasparov Chess Foundation seemed unlikely to receive much of his attention. But in 10 years KCF has brought chess into thousands of US classrooms and expanded with branches in Brussels and Johannesburg. Over cake in Midtown we spoke with Kasparov on chess in education, FIDE, and more.

Dutch National Internet Championship on Playchess

6/19/2012 – For a fourth time the Dutch Chess Federation is staging this online championship on Playchess.com. Seven GMs are seeded, including reigning Dutch Internet Champion Loek van Wely, who will defend his title agaings GMs like Ivan Sokolov, Jan Smeets and Robin van Kampen. Four places are free for winners in the qualification tournaments from June 26–29. Watch it on Playchess.

CBM training: Carlsen reaches 2837 at the Tal Memorial

6/19/2012 – "If I am not mistaken, this was Carlsen's tenth tournament in a row with a performance well above 2800," writes Steve Engelen of Oslo. Indeed Magnus has reached a new high on the Elo scale and will appear at 2837 on the next FIDE list. He also features in two examples picked out by our ChessBase Magazin expert Dr Karsten Müller for today's instalment of his endgame column.

Kazan GP R07: Cmilyte and Kosteniuk score

6/18/2012 – Two decisive games saw Alexandra Kosteniuk winning a complicated game against Alisa Galliamova, and Viktorija Cmilyte beating Betul Yildiz to catch up with Kateryna Lahno and Anna Muzychuk on shared 2-4 places. Elina Danielian drew against Antoaneta Stefanova and kept her lead on the scoreboard. Four rounds remain in this Women's Grand Prix. Round seven report.

CBM training: Carlsen in Capablanca's footsteps

6/17/2012 – "Magnus Carlsen has an amazing endgame technique. His victory against Radjabov reminds us of Capablanca's famous win against Kan in Moscow 1936." Words of praise from our ChessBase Magazin endgame expert Dr Karsten Müller, who has analysed Carlsen's game from the Tal Memorial and takes us on a historical journey to the defining Capablanca game. Learn and enjoy.

Tal Memorial Rd8 – Caruana beats Kramnik to take sole lead

6/17/2012 – If yesterday was sizzling, today was incendiary. No one could have expected McShane to run over Moro as he did, nor Caruana to take the lead by beating Kramnik with ease. While Nakamura blundered to Grischuk and lost, Carlsen took herculean risks in an endgame to try and beat Tomashevsky, but the Russian found all the right moves. Report, video, and GM commentary.

Tal Memorial Rd7 – Both leaders lose; five lead

6/17/2012 – Round seven saw shock losses by both leaders. Morozevich took big chances against Tomashevsky, which backfired, while Kramnik saw a solid endgame go sour against McShane, and also lost in a big upset. Caruana spent his game against Radjabov hanging by his fingernails, but it turned out they were made of titanium and he drew. Five lead now. Illustrated report with GM commentary.

Kazan GP R06: four decisive games, Danielian leads

6/16/2012 – Today Armenian GM Elina Danielian defeated the second Kosintseva sister, Nadezhda, while her closest rival Anna Muzychuk drew her game against Alexandra Kosteniuk. Ukrainian GM Kateryna Lahno defeated former women's world champion Antoaneta Stefanova, and now Lahno and Muzychuk are in 2-3 position, half a point behind the leader. Report after round six.

Kazan GP Rd.5: two decisive games, Muzychuk joins lead

6/16/2012 – The fifth round was quite peaceful – four draws, only two decisive games. Anna Muzychuk beat Betul Yildiz to join Elina Danielian in the lead with 3.5/5. Top seeds Hou Yifan and Humpy Koneru escaped defeat in precarious positions. On the free day before the round many participants went on a guided tour of the Kazan Kremlin, which includes the dramatically leaning Soyembika tower.