CBM Blog: Coordination is crucial + the king attacks

8/23/2011 – When two rook fight against a queen it is often extremely important whether the rooks can coordinate or not. That is the first lesson of our endgame expert Dr. Karsten Müller, who goes on to show us how normally drawish opposite colored bishop endings can be transformed if there are rooks present. Today's lessons include a very instructive blitz game. Look and learn.

Kavalek in Huffington: Pitching a Perfect Chess Game

8/22/2011 – "There is no perfect game in chess," Fischer once said. After all, we are human and we make mistakes. But the twelfth World Champion Anatoly Karpov came close to playing a mistake-free game at the 1974 chess olympiad in Nice, France. His opponent in that game was GM Lubomir Kavalek, who shows us how Karpov improved an essentially drawn position and turned it into a win.

Szczepkowska and Rajlich win First Radzikowska Memorial

8/22/2011 – Krystyna Hołuj-Radzikowska, born in 1931, was a Polish WGM who won the national championship nine times, and played in Olympiads and Candidates Tournament. She died in 2006, and this women's tournament in Warsaw was the first to he held in her memory. It was won by Karina Szczepkowska-Horowska (don't even try!) and Iweta Rajlich, who has annotated an interesting game.

Which US presidents played the royal game?

8/22/2011 – Here are the answers to our August weekend puzzle: of the 43 presidents of the United States, over the last 222 years, 24 , i.e. more than half, have played and enjoyed chess. It started with the first president, George Washington, and ends with Barack Obama, who has occasional games with Michelle. Here is the full list and some interesting bits of information.

86th French Championship in Caen

8/21/2011 – The French Chess Championship is taking place from the 14th to the 27th of August 2011. After seven rounds top seed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is leading, together with Romanian GM Andrei Istratescu. In the women's section the former French Champion Sophie Milliet is a full point ahead of the field. The organisers are delaying the Internet broadcast as an anti-cheating measure.

Which US presidents played the royal game?

8/20/2011 – Here's an August weekend puzzle for our readers: which of the 43 presidents of the United States, over the last 222 years, have played and enjoyed the royal game of chess, as a form of recreation or distraction? It may surprise you that some were pretty good, and that one in fact won a battle because of a love of the game (though not his own). The answer will be given on Monday.

Collect or consolidate?

8/19/2011 – In this endgame from the Russian Superfinal White here took on e6 with the rook and thus refrained from 37.a3 (diagram) which would have given Black the option of playing 37...Rxc5 38.bxc5 d3. With what result, in your opinion?
A) victory for Black;
B) perpetual check after mutual promotion;
C) victory for White.

The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

The Kasimdzhanov/Shipov draw proposals – readers' feedback

8/19/2011 – Former FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov recently proposed that there were too many draws in chess, and that eliminating them from top-level chess would greatly enhance the popularity of the game. After him GM Sergei Shipov made a similar proposal, involving tie-break rapid or blitz games to be played immediately after draws. Here a selection of reactions from our readers.

Paul Morphy Chess Club challenge in Sri Lanka

8/18/2011 – In the small island nation off the tip of India, Sri Lanka has its own vibrant chess community with highly disputed league events for all categories. The Paul Morphy Chess Club just finished organizing a generously prized eighteen-round blitz tournament, sponsored by Acer and Perera and Sons to celebrate its tenth anniversary, bringing in players from all around the country. Illustrated report.

Master Moves #15 - Botvinnik the challenger

8/18/2011 – All the deepest plans or endgame technique are useless if you fall victim to a shot that leaves you in a lost position. Likewise, sometimes that superior play will only offer a single window of opportunity to deliver that final blow, so it is vital to be ready for it when it does. All the shots were played by Botvinnik prior to winning his first World Championship title in 1948. Challenge the challenger!

CBM Blog: The Fortress and a Cavalry Attack

8/17/2011 – This all sounds very militaristic, but after all chess was originally a war game. Our endgame expert Dr. Karsten Müller gives us a lesson in the art of battle on the chessboard, with the construction of a fortress and a cavalry attack by a lone knight. The examples come from the Women's Grand Prix that just ended in Rostov, where the strongest female players gave us these valuable lessons.

Lilov: Orthodox and Unorthodox Approaches

8/17/2011 – Valery Lilov is a popular presenter on the Playchess server, and this set of lectures shows why. His latest DVD is contains a whole slew of unorthodox openings. "I see this trainer as edutainment for a player, probably at the club level, and enjoyed the sections on the Sokolsky, Richter-Veresov, Hippopotamus, and Englund Gambit the best," writes Steven B. Dowd in this Chess Cafe review.

Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik – hundredth anniversary

8/17/2011 – Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik was born on August 17, 1911, and died in 1995, at the age of 84. He was the first world-class player to develop within the Soviet Union, winning the World Championship three times, while working as an electrical engineer, and in fact earning a PhD. The latter part of his life was devoted to his chess school for young talents – and to chess programming. Portrait.

World Junior: Swiercz and Cori take Gold in Chennai

8/16/2011 – It was a dramatic finish, with everything decided in the last two rounds. Tournament leader Robert Hovhannisyan stopped the ambitious GM Ray Robson in round twelve, while himself being caught by Polish GM Dariusz Swiercz in the very last round. India's Padmini Rout did Deysi Cori a great favour by knocking out Olga Girya, giving the Peruvian WGM Gold in the girl's section. Final standings.

Rostov R11: Hou Yifan wins Women's Grand Prix by a full point

8/15/2011 – Her two closest rivals were only able to make a draw (Kateryna Lahno against Humpy Koneru) or lost the final game (Tatiana Kosintseva against Alisa Galliamova), so a draw against Antoaneta Stefanova was enough for women's world champion Hou Yifan to coast to victory with 8.0/11 and a 2692 performance. In second place Kateryna Lahno with 7.0/11. Final report.

Problem chess: Forgive me interfering, won't you? (part two)

8/15/2011 – In his previous instalment on chess problems Steve Giddins looks at a famous theme in problem chess: the Grimshaw interference, named after the 19th century English composer who first showed it. In the second part he shows us four more examples illustrating the theme, with full explanations of all aspects of each problem. Enjoy.

64th Russian Championship – Morozevich defeats Svidler in last round

8/15/2011 – One wonders how the standings might look if Morozevich had not self-destructed against Nepomniachtchi. That said, he inflicted Svidler's only loss, beating him in the last round to take clear second, and marking his third consecutive 2800+ performance this year. Kramnik also played an uncompromising game with Black, and beat Galkin after the latter blundered in a difficult position. Final report.

64th Russian Championship – Svidler shoots into lead with dramatic win

8/14/2011 – With only three rounds to go, points carry added weight for those vying for the top spots, and it showed. Svidler seemed in danger of losing his lead to Moro, who had caught up with him, yet punched his way to victory after a dangerous slip. Morozevich gambled his certain draw with a unwarranted winning attempts, and instead lost, leaving Svidler with a full point lead. Round five report.

World Junior: Hovhannisyan and Cori+Girya lead

8/14/2011 – 14-year-old Girish Koushik, who was on a meteoric winning streak in our last report, has been brought crashing down to earth by older and more experienced GMs. In the lead after eleven (or thirteen) rounds are GM Robert Hovhannisyan in the Open section (9.0/11) and WGMs Olga Girya and Deysi Cori with 9.5/11 each. Once again our report includes endgame lessons by GM Karsten Müller.

Rostov R10: Lahno, Galliamova and Danielian win

8/14/2011 – Three decisive games, three draws: the game between two Chinese finalists of the last year’s World Championship, Ruan Lufei and Hou Yifan, ended in a draw. Kateryna Lahno won her second game in a row by defeating Antoanetta Stefanova. Alexandra Kosteniuk lost her game against Elina Danielian, while Alisa Galliamova defeated her compatriot Ekaterina Kovalevskaya. Round ten report.

Czech Pardubice Festival won by Kononenko and Navara...

8/14/2011 – ...and many others. The traditional games festival held in Pardubice is a bonanza of games and chess events, ranging from the classic Grandmaster Open, won by Kononenko, to the top Active Chess event (of three) won by Navara, to bughouse events, Fischer Random, team events, a blitz marathon, not to mention other games such as Go, Scrabble, Magic, and more. Illustrated report.

64th Russian Championship – Svidler lifts title with a round to spare

8/14/2011 – With one round to spare, Svidler continued his amazing run with a win over Nepomniachtchi, securing his sixth Russian title. If one might shake one's head at the diminished length of the event, one cannot besmirch his near 3000 Elo performance at the expense of top-ten players such as Kramnik, Karjakin, and Grischuk. Grischuk, Karjakin, and Moro will decide second. Round six report.

Rostov R9: all six games won by White!

8/13/2011 – This is not something you see every day: all games of round nine of the Women's Grand Prix were decisive and all were won by the player with the white pieces. Kateryna Lahno beat Hou Yifan, who in spite of this leads the field by a full point. Bottom seed Ekatrina Kovalevskaya beat top seed Koneru Humpy. Exciting stuff, two more rounds to go. Round nine report.

64th Russian Championship – Wins, wins, and more wins!

8/12/2011 – It doesn't get any more decisive than this: all four games ended in decisive results. Grischuk outwitted Karjakin in a balanced endgame, while Kramnik continues the trend of uncompromising results, as he pushed and shoved until Nepomniachtchi tripped and fell. Svidler overpowered Galkin, keeping the lead with Morozevich who had a very smooth win over Timofeev. Illustrated report.