WWCC R03: Hou Yifan draws first blood

11/18/2011 – Playing with the white pieces, the challenger Koneru Humpy of India got a good position from the opening, but she was not, in her own words, making good moves. The reigning world champion Hou Yifan from China, took heart (and a pawn on a2) and overran her opponent with a precision that belies her age. Hou now leads 2-1 in this ten-game match. Game three commentary by GM Alejandro Ramirez.

Meet World Champion Anand every two weeks in Firstpost

11/18/2011 – Network18’s Firstpost.com, India’s first exclusive online news and views website, has launched an online chess championship for its readers. This fortnightly event will see Vishwanathan Anand share some of his real-life chessboard experiences with online participants as a part of ‘Firstpost Battleboard’, which calls for audience participation. Press release.

Tal Memorial Rd3 – A black day for white

11/18/2011 – In a day and age when the advantage of White has been compared by Valery Salov as being greater than being on serve in tennis, it is remarkable that with the very best players in the world, three out of five games ended in a win for Black, and even Carlsen's draw as Black against Kramnik was probably won in the final position. Illustrated report with annotations by GM GM Alejandro Ramirez.

Kavalek in Huffington: Joys of Chess: From Krabbé to Hesse

11/18/2011 – Two books, one new and one a classic, bring us a compilation of chess stories, biographical sketches, games and fragments with references to art and science. One, The Joys of Chess, is by a professor of mathematics, the other, Chess Curiosities, by a writer and cyclist. In this week's Huffington Post column GM Lubomir Kavalek gives us samples from both.

Tal Memorial Rd1 – A feeling of déjà vu

11/16/2011 – It is a historic first with four players rated 2800 participating: Carlsen, Anand, Aronian, and Kramnik, followed by Ivanchuk, Karjakin, Nakamura, Gelfand, Svidler, and Nepomniachtchi. In the first round Kramnik lost to Nepomniachtchi, and while the top seeds failed to impress, Ivanchuk was also first to score, against Svidler. Illustrated report and analysis by GM Alejandro Ramirez

Chess for the empowerment of Palestinian women

11/15/2011 – East Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Qatanna and Hebron – names that are regularly in the news, but usually not in a good way. “Chess for Leadership and Creativity” is a structured program launched by the Palestinian Chess Federation with support of "Peace and Sport" and FIDE, designed to encourage Palestinian women’s empowerment and develop their leadership skill. Press release.

WWCC R02: Humpy on the attack, Hou Yifan holds

11/15/2011 – After being surprised in the opening, Hou Yifan forced simplifications into a drawish endgame. However, Humpy would have none of that! She pressed hard trying to create something out of nothing, and almost achieved it. However in the end it was impossible to take advantage of her opponent's weak king, and the game ended in another hard fought draw. Updated report with GM analysis.

Germany wins the European Championship

11/14/2011 – Could anything be more dramatic or unexpected? Top seed Russia was never in contention, instead it was other strong teams like Armenia, Bulgaria or Azerbaijan, who each went into the lead. But then tenth seed Germany suddenly started to win, joined the leaders and finished with a clear win on match points. In the women's section it was of course Russia. Updated with games and notes.

European Team Championship – a pictorial retrospect

11/14/2011 – Earlier this week Germany, starting as tenth seed, created a sensation by winning the title, with Azerbaijan and Hungary getting Silver and Bronze. But who were the strongest individual players in the open and women's sections? And who the most photogenic? We return to the ETCC in Porto Carras one more time with statistics and a beautiful pictorial by WGM Anastasiya Karlovich.

Aimen Rizouk: Chess and the Stock Market

11/14/2011 – Now we don't want to drive the world's top GMs from the chess world to the stock exchange, but have you ever considered whether the two areas have anything in common? Whether the "Prudent Man Rule" of economics can learn from the romantic era of chess, or behavioral finance from Bobby Fischer? Here's a grandmaster who has studied the subject and presents us his conclusions.

Uproot treatment

11/14/2011 – In this position the second player got down to work with 32...Nxd3 to conquer the point e4. How would you assess the situation following 33.Qxd3 Rxf2?
Black ...
A)... wins;
B)... finally achieves a better endgame with a plus pawn;
C)... conquers the enemy queen, but White gets too much wood.

Solution, ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram.

Women's World Championship starts in Tirana – first game drawn

11/14/2011 – The match started with Koneru Humpy exerting tremendous pressure on the Chinese prodigy Hou Yifan right from the opening. Hou showed great resilience and patience, as she decided to defend to the point of sacrificing a pawn to reach a defendable endgame. Despite Humpy's persistence, the game was eventually drawn, but not for lack of fighting spirit! Full illustrated report with GM commentary.

FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship starts on Monday

11/13/2011 – The two opponents – Hou Yifan of China and Koneru Humpy of India – represent over a third of humanity. They are playing their match in a country of three million people, one that not too many people have had an opportunity to visit. We undertook the trip to Tirana in Albania and, together with all the details of the upcoming match, bring you pictorial impressions of the venue.

CBM training: Polerio's Eckenspiel, Dominance, Excelsior

11/13/2011 – "Many thanks for the continual presentations of endgames," writes Gene Bate of Kansas City, USA. "I cannot find words to tell you how much I appreciate those news items!" To which we say: keep searching, Gene! But seriously, so many people are writing in the same vein that we know we are doing something right with Karsten Müller's ChessBase Magazine column. Here are this weekend's lessons.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (73)

11/12/2011 – Marking the tenth anniversary of the death of Tony Miles, at the age of only 46, the Editor of Chess Notes discloses some tantalizing brief extracts from his correspondence with the great British master. They include discussion of the 22-board blindfold exhibition which Miles gave in Roetgen, Germany in 1984. All the game-scores were passed on by Miles for safekeeping and are given here now.

VG Nett quotes Carlsen on the Kasparov-Nakamura cooperation

11/11/2011 – Magnus Carlsen, as you probably know, was trained by Garry Kasparov in 2009 and 2010, then in March 2010 the two terminated their collaboration. Last week it was revealed that Kasparov had taken on a new trainee, American GM Hikaru Nakamura – since January this year. After a long New in Chess interview with both proponents now Magnus has aired his views in this VG Nett report.

Using chess engines to estimate human skill

11/11/2011 – In sports and games, rating systems are a widely accepted method for estimating skill levels of the players. They are based on the outcome of direct competitions only. Matej Guid and Ivan Bratko of the University of Ljubljana propose a different approach: to assess skill level at chess by applying chess engines to analyse positions and moves played. Interesting academic study.

CBM training: Missed turn-around, key diagonal, rampant rook

11/10/2011 – There is a wonderful endgame section in every issue of ChessBase Magazine, with practical lessons taken from current tournament play. The trainer is GM Karsten Müller, who also gives us a weekly session of topical endgames with detailed instructions on how to handle them. You can study Dr Müller's analysis or download the games for later review. Look, learn and enjoy.

ETCC R7: Azerbaijan crushes Bulgaria, takes the lead

11/10/2011 – After six rounds Romania, Azerbaijan and Bulgaria were in the lead, with ten match points each. Then came the unexpected drubbing, and could have easily ended with a 4-0 for the Azeris. Bulgaria , who were in the lead after five rounds, are now in place six, while Azerbaijan is first on match and board points. The Russian women continue to lead, with two full match points. Report after round seven.

London Chess Classic and the history-making 2800 club

11/10/2011 – The 2011 London Chess Classic is now just a month away – and it just got a little bit stronger. The latest ratings published by FIDE are the ones which will apply to the event. At the top of the list, for the first time in the history of chess competition, there are four players rated 2800 or more. All are playing in London. So that's not a bad place to be, from December 3-12.

ETCC R8: Germany upturns tables with win over Azerbaijan

11/10/2011 – And the leader changes again! Germany scored a surprise 2.5-1.5 victory over Azerbaijan, with Arkadij Naiditsch convincingly defeating Teimour Radjabov on the top board. They (the Germans!) now share the lead with Armenia, who outplayed Netherlands. The Russian women moved closer to the title by beating France. Individual board ranking lists are out. Round eight report.

Sam Collins: Know the Terrain Vol 3. Central Majority

11/9/2011 – "I really enjoyed the last Know the Terrain video," writes Chess Cafe reviewer Steven Dowd, "and the material in this one is probably even superior, as Collins discusses this idea of a central majority in ways I have not heard about before. It is an important theoretical contribution and anyone getting through the DVD will have weapons at his disposal that his opponents will not have." Curious?

Tiviakov wins First Panama Chess Open

11/9/2011 – Do not ask us how he does it – we have no idea! But Dutch GM Sergei Tiviakov somehow manages to (1) travel to the most exotic places in the world, (2) win the tournaments staged there, and (3) send us a huge batch of photos he has taken during his stay. Here are his pictorial impressions of a rare Middle American event, and the solution to our Panama Canal quiz question.

ETCC R5: Bulgaria take sole lead in open section

11/9/2011 – Topalov and his men defeated the German team 3-1 to emerge leaders, after Azerbaijan and France signed a truce when GM Vugar Gashimov had a medical condition during the round. Top seed Russia clawed back with a 2.5-1.5 victory over Ukraine. the Russian women maintained their lead despite Nadezhda Kosintseva’s second consecutive loss, to Georgian Nana Dzagnidze. Round five report.