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.

Clash of the Kings: Karpov vs Seirawan finishes 10:8

6/16/2012 – Let us count: two classical and two rapid games were all drawn and counted for two points each, makes 4-4. Then came ten blitz games at a point each, with a 6:4 result for Anatoly Karpov, bringing the final score to 10:8. Former world junior champion and four-time US champion Yasser Seirawan lost narrowly to the former World Champion in the Saint Louis Chess Club event. Final report.

Calm or concrete?

6/16/2012 – Which continuation would you recommend to maintain/increase Black's clear positional superiority?

A) 23...Rd6
B) 23...Rd8
C) 23...Ng4

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

Mikhalchishin: how to beat a World Champion

6/15/2012 – He has a daunting task: GM Adrian Mikhalchishin coaches WGM Betul Cemre Yildiz, bottom seed at the Women's Grand Prix in Kazan. In round two she faced the reigning women's world champion Hou Yifan, rated almost three hundred points above her, with the black pieces. But Betül managed to trick her Chinese opponent and pull off her first win against her. Mikhalchishin tells us how.

The third Danzhou tournament – Bu Xiangzhi takes gold

6/15/2012 – The 3rd Hainan Danzhou GM tournament finished in a race. The sole leader GM Ni Hua, opted for a quick draw against GM Zhao Jun in the last round. GM Bu Xiangzhi, who was half a point behind, beat top seed GM Wang Yue, and snatched first place on tiebreak. This also gave him the last spot on the Chinese team for the Olympiad. He comments his win in the pictorial by Gu Xiaobing.

Rogers and Ajith Kumar on Anand in Sportstar

6/15/2012 – Almost two weeks have passed since World Champion Anand narrowly defended his title in Moscow, although he was supposed to win it in a breeze. How that came about and what was involved in preparatory work on both sides is described by Australian GM Ian Rogers. Meanwhile columnist P.K. Ajith Kumar tells us about Anand's charisma in India. All this in Sportstar weekly.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (84)

6/14/2012 – The front covers of eight autobiographical works by chess writers are placed on display here, but with the authors' names and the titles all blocked out. In this latest quiz from the Editor of Chess Notes readers are asked to identify the eight authors. Some attractive prizes await the winners, including items which have been signed by Anand, Carlsen and Kramnik.

Tal Memorial Rd6 – Moro loses to Nakamura, Kramnik joins lead

6/14/2012 – It was perhaps not the highest level chess, but as far as drama and excitement go, spectators were on the edges of their seats. Morozevich set up a violent attack against Nakamura, but as time trouble came, Nakamura found inspired moves and turned the tables for his first win. Caruana beat McShane and Kramnik exchanged blunders with Tomashevsky to win. Report with GM commentary.

CBM training: Memorable endgames from the Tal Memorial

6/13/2012 – Our ChessBase Magazin endgame expert Dr Karsten Müller has been following the games from the Tal Memorial very keenly, and has picked up four examples of instructive manoeuvres – a fortress by McShane, a successful opposite colored bishop attack by Grischuk, counterplay by Morozevich and an active army mobilized by Aronian. Study these examples and improve your endgame skills.

Tal Memorial Rd5 – Morozevich takes sole lead with 4.0/5

6/13/2012 – The fifth round finally saw one player pull ahead for the clear lead: Alexander Morozevich. Aronian played a risky strategy when he sacrificed a piece for a number of pawns. With very little time, he could not find the best moves, and was lost by the time control. Radjabov allowed Carlsen to equalize, and in a slightly unpleasant endgame, overreacted and lost. Report, video, and GM commentary.

Kazan GP Rd.4: Hou Yifan loses again, Danielian in the sole lead

6/13/2012 – The women's world champion is definitely out of sorts. After losing in the second round to the bottom seed she lost today, again with the white pieces, against Lituanian GM Viktorija Cmilyte. Four games were decisive, and the win by Elina Danielian against Tatiana Kosintseva brought the Armenian GM 3.0/4 and sole first place, with a 2703 performance. Round four report.

Chess Problems: Solutions to the Obstruction problems

6/12/2012 – In his last column David Friedgood explained the concept of "obstruction" – which occurs when a piece moves to a square so that another piece is prevented from occupying it. He gave us examples that showed the basic idea and two three-movers to solve. Noam Elkies, a Harvard maths professor and himself a composer and solving GM, commented succinctly on the second example: 'Hilarious!'