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.

Six tie for first in Sin City

6/12/2013 – Las Vegas hosted its annual festival, with grandmasters flocking from all over the continent to participate and enjoy the city. Wesley So completed a hat trick by winning the g/10 championship, the main event and the blitz. Among the attractions of the festival was a blitz tournament for grandmasters, were every participant received half a gallon of alcohol. Summary and pictures.

CEZ Prague: first game a volatile 65-move draw

6/12/2013 – This event sees former women's world champion Hou Yifan playing four classical games against top Czech GM David Navara. In the first game the Chinese GM bravely went for her trademark king pawn opening, prepared for a ruthless battle in the Sicilian, which indeed ensued. "I have to express my appreciation for the very combative game by both players," said GM Vlastimil Hort. Illustrated report.

Le Quang Liem is World Blitz Chess Champion

6/12/2013 – The Vietnamese GM is always good for a surprise upset. With many of the top blitz player in the world taking part Le Liem took the lead (with Ian Nepomniachtchi) on day one, and kept the lead on day two, challenged mainly by Ruslan Ponomariov. A win in the final round secured Gold for Le Liem, with Alexander Grischuk and Ponomariov settling for Bronze and Silver. Illustrated report from Khanty Mansiysk.

Match Hou Yifan vs David Navara starts on Tuesday

6/11/2013 – It is a special CEZ event, pitting former women's world champion Hou Yifan against top Czech GM David Navara. Before the start of the four-game match the 19-year-old Chinese GM took a tour of Prague with her mother and gave a simultaneous exhibition against 20 opponents – which she won with a 19:1 score, conceding just two (diplomatic?) draws. Big pictorial report.

Giri beats Ivanchuk in Leon

6/10/2013 – The start of the three-day chess bonanza between Vassily Ivanchuk and Anish Giri did not bode well for the Ukrainian genius. After two days he was behind 5-1 and was so depressed he began speaking about retirement. Then on the last day, Ivanchuk came different, and he was a man on a mission. Though Ivanchuk ended with more points overall, Giri won due to the event scoring system. Big illustrated report by Leontxo García.

Marshtowers review: ChessBase Magazine #154

6/10/2013 – Alongside the usual features, such as fine opening surveys (including more very welcome Moskalenko French coverage) and study material on openings, tactics and endgames, three very strong tournaments are given in-depth coverage in the latest issue of ChessBase Magazine. "Anyone who is serious about their chess needs Chessbase Magazine!" writes Sean Marsh in his review.

Kavalek in Huffington: Chess, the game of tension

6/10/2013 – When two thinkers clash the tension is obvious. Dramatic moments increase with higher stakes, nerves take over and players do things we don't expect them to do. But there is also tension on the board, reflected in the interaction of the pieces. All this was illustrated in the FIDE Grand Prix in Thessaloniki, as Huffington Post column GM Lubomir Kavalek analytically demonstrates.

Mamedyarov wins World Rapid Chess Championship

6/9/2013 – For most of the 15-round FIDE Championship in Khanty-Mansiysk Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi was leading – after the first two days by two full points. But on the final day Azerbaijani GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won five games in the row and finished the tournament with 11.5/15 points, a 2903 performance and the title. Once again our report has a lot of instructive analysis by GM Efstratios Grivas.

Bruzon and Iturrizaga win Zonal 2.3

6/8/2013 – Lazaron Bruzon and Eduardo Iturrizaga won the local Zonal with 7.5/9 to qualify for the World Cup in Tromso. The tournament, which was supposed to be held several months ago, brought together the best players from Central America, Venezuela and the Caribbean to fight for the two qualifying spots. Pictures and final standings.