Vallejo win the jubilee Ciudad de Leon Masters 3½-2½

6/11/2012 – In spite of Nadal-Djokovic in Paris and Spain-Italy in Gdansk more than 200 people showed up to watch the third day of Topalov-Vallejo Leon. Actually, in the lobby of the theatre fans could watch all three encounters, including some exciting rapid chess. On day two Vallejo scored 1.5/2 and on the final day each player chalked up a win. Once again the games were marked by multiple inaccuracies.

Nigel Davies: The Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack

6/11/2012 – Openings are king again this month's Chess Cafe reviews, with two trainers on openings, and one middlegame strategy trainer on diagonals and files. The first is Nigel Davies' Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack which, according to reviewer Steven Dowd is "for any player who wants to try an opening where plans and ideas trump memorized lines." He calls it 'a phenomenal trainer'.

Clash of the Kings: Karpov vs Seirawan

6/11/2012 – Anatoly Karpov is of course the legendary World Champion – 1975-1985, and FIDE Champion 1993-1999. Yasser Seirawan, a former world junior champion and four-time US champion, is today a respected author and commentator. Both are theoretically in retirement, but have come out for a match against each other from June 9 to 13 in the Saint Louis Chess Club. You can watch it live.

Kazan GP: Turkey's Yildiz shocks world champion Hou Yifan

6/11/2012 – It was the top against the bottom seed, the highest rated against the lowest rated player in the event. But Turkish law student WGM Betul Cemre Yildiz, playing with the black pieces, profited from a time trouble blunder by her opponent, Chinese GM Hou Yifan and finished the reigning women's world champion off in 34 moves. We bring you an illustrated report after round two.

The Personal Island of Anastasia Golubenko (Part one)

6/10/2012 – Like a bright comet in the cool Estonian sky she appeared, a quarter-century ago, from her far-off Volgograd island, to mass-produce a youthful army of chess champions of Estonia, Russia, Europe and the world. Then she made her final journey back to her home and her parents, full of vitality, which slowly ebbed from her. After a long illness Anastasia Golubenko, 46, died. She will not be forgotten.

FIDE Women's Grand Prix starts in Kazan

6/10/2012 – This twelve-player round robin has a 40,000 Euro prize fund, is part of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix circuit, and has most of the world's elite female players – Hou Yifan, Muzychuk, Humpy, Lahno, the Kosintseva sisters, Stefanova – at the start. Sunday is the first round, and the organisers have promised HD video broadcasts. The opening ceremony was yesterday – here's an illustrated report.

Tal Memorial Rd3 – A round of sacrifices to win, draw, and lose

6/10/2012 – It was a round of sacrifices all round with all the results possible. The first was McShane's brilliant exchange sacrifice that stranded Aronian's king with deadly effect. Then came Kramnik's exchange sacrifice to neutralize Radjabov, and hold the balance. Finally, it was Grischuk who went for broke against Morozevich in a crazy game, but lost. Round three report with GM commentary and video.

Vallejo leads in jubilee Ciudad de León Masters

6/9/2012 – This year it is being staged for the 25th consecutive time, from June 8–10. It pits Bulgarian GM and former FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov against his former second Francisco Vallejo, top Spanish GM. In both games of the first day it was Black who had a clear advantage, with White able to defend – until the very last move of the second game, when Topalov was felled by a terrible blunder.

Chess Olympiad in Istanbul – officials from seven countries banned

6/9/2012 – At a recent FIDE meeting the Turkish Chess Federation, which is host to the 40th Chess Olympiad, was given a list of arbiters for the event. TCF President Ali Nihat Yazici rejected any officials from seven countries – England, France, Georgia, Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine and the USA – for supporting court cases against FIDE and causing financial damage. The affected federations have protested.

Tal Memorial Rd2 – Kramnik wins model game; Carlsen escapes Moro

6/9/2012 – Kramnik once said that the biggest lesson he learned from the elite was how resiliently they defended. Today Carlsen showed the same gumption as he saved a nightmare position in which Morozevich had doubled rooks on his seventh. McShane cracked at move 40 against Radjabov, while Kramnik played a model game in an impressive win over Grischuk. Illustrated report with GM analysis.

Tal Memorial blitz – A look at some brilliancies

6/8/2012 – The Tal Memorial Blitz was a very fun event for all, as remarked, but it was more than simply a source of frenetic clock slamming and flying pieces. It was the source of more than a few very spectacular shots. It is always a reminder what separates the cream of the crop from the rest of humanity. We separated a handful for your enjoyment.

Tal Memorial Rd1 – White sweeps round with four wins

6/8/2012 – After an exciting blitz tournament to open the Tal Memorial, the question was whether the players could keep the energy level that high. The answer? White registered four wins. Nakamura lost to Aronian after a fatal oversight, while Radjabov outwitted Tomashevsky. Still, Morozevich's inspired win over Caruana was the game of the day. Illustrated report with videos and GM analysis.

Deep Fritz 13 with blow-your-mind functions

6/8/2012 – "So what will Deep Fritz 13 bring," a top GM asked us recently. "More engine strength and multi-processing?" Yes, but in addition our new program lets you access it – or other chess engines – from remote locations, providing awesome power "from the cloud" on your tiny portable notebook. You can even rent other people's hardware at the click of the mouse. Get the download version today.

Central knight in action

6/7/2012 – White wants to catch Black's lonely queen. Which continuation allows him to attain this goal?

A) 47.Nxe6+;
B) 47.Qh3 Kf7;
C) 47.Kg5 Qa2

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

Seventh Tal Memorial in Moscow – preliminary blitz

6/7/2012 – The Tal Memorial is a ten-player round robin with eight of the top eleven players in the world taking part. It started on June 7th with a unique drawing of colours: instead of the usual staid ceremony it will be a full-blown nine-round blitz tournament with a 15,000 Euros prize fund – which we were able to watch in a full HD live video stream. Wonderfully executed – to the organisers we say: Chapeau!

Romanian Team Rapid Cup – Impressions of Bucharest

6/7/2012 – Every year around the same dates, end of May – beginning of June, the Romanian Team Rapid Cup is being held. It was a weekend of frenetic chess, and meetings with old friends, but above all, it was a chance to rediscover Bucharest, once known as 'Little Paris', and remake a distorted impression, in this beautifully illustrated report by Alina L'Ami.

Women's World Blitz – Gunina wins with a 2804 performance

6/6/2012 – It was almost Fischer-like: European champion Valentina Gunina ravaged the opposition and finished with an unprecedented 13.0/15, a full 2½ points ahead of her nearest rivals (Natalia Zhukova and Anna Muzychuk). Gunina, the only IM in the top group of five GMs, did not lose a single game. We bring you results, a video report and closing ceremony pictures in our final report.

The Power Play Show with GM Daniel King

6/6/2012 – Improvement of your own play is one of the main aims when you are engaged in chess training. GM Daniel King is an expert who can guide you in achieving this goal. In his Power Play show he will present a bunch of practical examples and show you how to handle different kinds of positions, which will help improve your practical results. An example and more information.

Ernst & Young: Aronian against French students

6/6/2012 – On June 2–3, the French branch of Ernst & Young, one of the largest professional service firms in the world, organized its now traditional chess tournaments between the best French universities and "Grandes Ecoles". The winning teams earn the right to play in a clock simul against Levon Aronian, the world's second highest ranked chess player. Report and games.

Endgame Magic with GM Karsten Müller

6/5/2012 – Endgame knowledge is not easy to acquire and for this reason it is a valuable weapon in practical tournament play. In his Endgame Magic Show on Playchess, the well-known endgame expert GM Karsten Müller will assist you with a bunch of practical endgames. He shows how to handle the positions, which will help improve your results. An example and more information.

Andrew Martin – Investigations in the Marshall Gambit

6/5/2012 – On a day without cricket (due to bad weather) IM Andrew Martin, chess trainer and prolific ChessBase author, decided to take a look at the Marshall Gambit in the Ruy Lopez. He found some interesting things which he kindly shares with us – in form of a video lecture, quite in the style of his popular Fritz-Trainer DVDs. It will be a well-invested 20 minutes that may earn you a few Elo points. Do not miss.

Anand on the match, returns to Chennai to a two crore welcome

6/4/2012 – Two days after successfully defending his World Championship title in Moscow Viswanathan Anand spoke at length and with considerable frankness to the Indian TV station NDTV about the match and the criticism that had been levelled against him. He then flew back to his home town of Chennai in Southern India to a tumultuous welcome and a special cash prize from the government. TV reports.

Women's World Rapid in Batumi – Pictorial Part 1

6/4/2012 – We brought you the video report of this very attractive event, won by Bulgarian GM Antoaneta Stefanova. Now, with the Blitz World Championship under way, it is time for a big pictorial. This was sent to us by our colleague Anastasya Karlovich, whose photographic skills are growing from event to event. "Nastya" not only provides professional pictures but also very useful player portraits.

The third Danzhou tournament – chess and children

6/4/2012 – If the Danzhou grandmaster tournament is celebrating its third edition, it is because the Danzhou Chess Federation also makes sure it is more than a congregation of the country's best players. It is a chance to give chess in its region a shot in the arm like few. On the rest day after round five, a full day of activities involving hundreds of children was organized. Pictorial by WGM Gu Xiaobing.