76,132 studies – It's the thought that counts

3/2/2012 – If you looked at a study for five minutes, eight hours a day, it would take you over three years to go through all the endgame studies that Harold van der Heijden has collected in his database: 85% of all studies ever composed. He worked for fifteen years on the project, but also managed to have a family, do a doctorate, and work as a research scientist. Steve Giddins tells us his remarkable story.

Chess history: Nineteen Hours with Bobby Fischer – Part 2

2/29/2012 – In 1981 the Film Board of Canada approached Bobby Fischer, hoping for his participation in a feature-length documentary on the game of chess. Last week we published part one of research writer Camille Coudari's harrowing encounter with the reclusive former world champion. In part two Camille describes the religious background that caused Fischer to think and behave the way he did.

CHESS Magazine: Basque Chess – does it work for you?!

2/29/2012 – Remember the tournament last January in Donostia? The players faced each other on two boards, simultaneously, with opposite colours. Initial opinions of the high-ranked players who took part in the knockout event were generally positive. But will it catch on? With the shifting of chairs is Basque chess ergonomically sound? Chess Magazine editor John Saunders raises some important questions.

Bilbao requests postponement of FIDE Candidates

2/28/2012 – "Common sense suggests that the FIDE and the organizers of the biggest private tournaments should work together in harmony to avoid the possibility of a clash of dates," writes the Director of the Chess Grand Slam Masters Final, which is scheduled to end just ten days before the FIDE Candidates. Why, asks Juan Carlos Fernández, can it not be staged in the first half of 2013?

Ask the experts: With Matthias Wüllenweber and Mathias Feist

2/28/2012 – Last year we introduced a new series on playchess.com: “Ask the experts”, a show which gives the audience an opportunity to direct questions to chess experts in the ChessBase studio. This year’s first episode will go on air Tuesday, 28th February, and two of our programmers are ready to answer your questions: Matthias Wüllenweber and Mathias Feist.

A history of cheating in chess (4)

2/28/2012 – Las Palmas 1996: Garry Kasparov is agonizing over his 20th move against Vishy Anand. He calculates and calculates but cannot make a very tempting pawn push work. Immediately after the game he discovers, from his helpers, that it would have won the ultimately drawn position. The point that became clear to him: a single bit of information, given at the top level in chess, can decide a game.

Friedgood: Solutions to the self-block problems

2/28/2012 – The self-block occurs when Black (the defending side) is forced to block flight squares in the king's field and thus enable mate. David Friedgood explained this very important theme in problem chess and gave our readers two self-block problems to solve. In addition he challenged us to find an active self-block in actual tournament play. So far with modest results – so we must keep searching.

Strasbourg: Getting chess into schools Europe-wide

2/27/2012 – For six months now the Kasparov Chess Foundation has been lobbying to get chess introduced into the curriculum of schools in Europe. With the help of the British charity Chess in Schools Garry Kasparov worked the members of the European Parliament, so far garnering 377 of the 380 signatures required. You can help: call your MEPs and tell them to sign the declaration.

Chessbase Online for Android gets powerful update

2/27/2012 – A few days ago v2.0 came out, a free upgrade for previous owners, and this was more than a bug fix or minor cosmetic improvement. The latest version now allows users to enter their own games, variations, text comments and symbols, just as you can with the full desktop version, not to mention set up positions, and of course create databases and save them. Here is a tour of the new functions.

Second rank, seventh rank

2/27/2012 – In this position Black invited the white queen into his camp with 45...Rxd7 46.Dxd7. After that, he ...

A)... stands with his back to the wall in view of the threats 47.Be5/Re7;
B)... is better since a clever trick allows the exchange of queens;
C)... wins on the spot.

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

Romanian Championships in Arctic conditions

2/26/2012 – The championships were won by WGM Cristina Foisor and GM Vladislav Nevednichy. The big final report of WGM Alina L'Ami is again under the shock of the most severe winter since 1954. The players got to the playing hall much the same way Robert Scott reached the South Pole – on sleds pulled by horses. But for some all that snow was pure delight.

SOMETEST

2/25/2012 – Write Text here Link Text

Andrew Martin – First Steps in Opening Play

2/25/2012 – "I am a great fan of the 'First Steps' series and am increasingly becoming a fan of Andrew Martin's teaching style," writes Steven Dowd in Chess Cafe. The overarching theme in this DVD is that if you don't know the opening, you won't get to the other two phases of a chess game! But help is at hand, and the review gives Martin's DVD five stars out of six = Great.

CBM training: Sasikiran's Surprise and Melkumyan's Miracle

2/25/2012 – In this week's alliterative column our ChessBase Magazin expert Dr Karsten Müller explains four final instructive endgames from the recently ended Aeroflot Open. You will want to especially study the second example, which tells you everything you ever wanted to know about opposition but were afraid to ask. Take a break, learn and enjoy. It's free!

Judit Polgar and Henrique Mecking to play in Brazil

2/25/2012 – On March 1st and 2nd, Judit Polgar, relentless in her efforts to promote the royal game, will be playing in an invitational rapid tournament in Brazil, in Caxias do Sul, alongside Brazilian legend Henrique Mecking, Gilberto Milos, and Uruguayan GM Andres Rodriquez. At this chess festival, she will be launching her latest book "Chess Playground" in Portuguese. Find out how you can join in the fun.

Chess events: e2e4 – best by test!

2/25/2012 – Think back: was your last tournament staged in a dingy old club? In a sports hall or a school canteen? Gone, it seems, were chess congresses in elegant surroundings – until Sean Hewitt came along with a very bright idea: why not hold them in elegant hotels on weekends where special offers are easy to come by. His circuit has rapidly gained popularity, as Steve Giddins reports.

Kavalek in Huffington: the Mozarts of Chess

2/24/2012 – The adage was invented in 2004 by Washington Post columnist Lubomir Kavalek and applied to a 13-year-old prodigy who had just played a marvelous game in Wijk aan Zee. The name stuck, and just last Sunday it was used as a segment title by 60 Minutes on American TV. In his Huffington Post column GM Kavalek tells us about Magnus Carlsen and two other Mozarts before him.

Elo oddities: the tortoise and the hare

2/24/2012 – There has been ample debate on whether Magnus Carlsen would break Garry Kasparov's record 2851 rating. Though it might seem like quite a mountain to climb, an oddity in the FIDE rating system means he could do it without breaking a sweat. The good news is that if you are rated at least 1400 Elo, FIDE declares you have an 8% chance against the world number one. Expert discussion.

Tbilisi: Dzagnidze beats Cramling in tiebreak, wins ACP Cup

2/23/2012 – It was an exciting finish: Swedish GM Pia Cramling was in the lead before the final round, in which she drew her game. Nana Dzagnidze won her final game to force a tiebreak. Both blitz games were drawn, and in the Armageddon the Georgian GM was able to win and take the title – together with the cool US $10,000 first prize. We bring you the big final report by WGM Anastasiya Karlovich.

Chess history: Nineteen Hours with Bobby Fischer – Part 1

2/23/2012 – In 1981 the National Film Board of Canada agreed to finance a feature-length documentary on the game of chess – one of the most ambitious projects of its kind ever undertaken. For the "Great Chess Movie" the producers decided to approach the reclusive world champion Bobby Fischer. Camille Coudari describes the harrowing encounter in this remarkable historical document.

FIDE to receive 10-12 million Euros for upcoming cycles

2/22/2012 – On Monday the President of the World Chess Federation signed a contract with the Tretyakov Art Gallery, making it the venue of the Anand-Gelfand World Championship match. FIDE has also signed an agreement granting the company Agon the rights to hold the World Championship matches, Candidates Tournaments and World Cups for the coming years. News, views and plans.

Bojkov: Playing the Main Lines with Bologan

2/22/2012 – Out of the dozens and dozens of openings played nowadays the Sicilian Defence remains the most fascinating, entertaining and complex opening. But how to lean and understand this complex system? Viktor Bologan has solved the problem efficiently by dividing the series into three parts, concentrated on the openings after 2…Nc6, 2…d6 and 2…e6. Review by GM Dejan Bojkov.

Tbilisi: Muzychuk falters, Cramling and Lahno take the lead

2/21/2012 – Why do we keep doing it? Every time we celebrate a player for extraordinary results, in the middle of an event, that player will immediately come crashing down to earth. This time the victim of our jinxed reporting was Anna Muzychuk. Meanwhile Pia Cramling and Kateryna Lahno forged ahead with 2.0/3 points. Decision time is Tuesday – you can watch the final games on Playchess.

Problem chess: The Self-block

2/21/2012 – It is one of the building blocks of the chess problem: Black (the defending side) is forced to block flight squares in the king's field and thus enable mate. Our problem expert David Friedgood demonstrates this with a remarkable problem with a record of eight self-blocks – arguably the most perfect two-mover ever composed. There are also two self-block problems for you to solve.