Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (78)

2/11/2012 – In 1987 Olga Capablanca Clark mentioned to the Editor of Chess Notes an unknown game played by Capablanca and Tartakower in Paris in the late 1930s. She offered it for sale, but the reserve price was not reached. The game remained unpublished until this month, when its owner, David DeLucia, made it available for publication in Chess Notes. A wonderful episode.

2012 Aeroflot Open – Caruana leads with eight

2/10/2012 – The Aeroflot Open in Moscow, Russia, is the toughest open of the year, with three tournaments, including the A group with 86 players, 47 of whom are rated over 2600. Liem Le Quang used the event to catapult to the elite, with two straight wins, but after three rounds, Italian Fabiano Caruana leads with 2.5/3 and is currently 2768 and world seventh in the live ratings. Report and games.

ICGA/Rybka controversy: An interview with David Levy (2)

2/10/2012 – On Monday we published part one of a lengthy interview we had conducted, via sequential email exchanges, with the President of the International Computer Games Association David Levy. The ICGA had found star programmer Vasik Rajlich guilty of "plagiarism" in his early program versions and banned him for life. Here now is part two of the interview.

Edge queens

2/10/2012 – With his last move 55.Re1-d1 (diagram) White had initiated a deflection manoeuvre to promote his passed h-pawn.
The capture 55...Rxd1 now leads to ...

A)... victory for Black
B)... perpetual check

ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

Breaking news: Candidates 2012 to be held in London

2/10/2012 – It had been buzzing around vigorously in the Twitter world, but FIDE would not confirm anything. Now Sport Express has published a first announcement: the next Candidates Tournament will be held from October 23 to November 13 in London, England. Part of the arrangement is apparently to transfer the rights to the world championship cycle to a new sponsor. Interesting development.

Neiman/Afek: Invisible Chess Moves

2/9/2012 – Every chess player knows that some moves are harder to see than others. Why is it that, frequently, uncomplicated wins simply do not enter your mind? A new book investigates the blind spots from which even strong grandmasters suffer and which obscure some of their best ideas during a game. The examples in this review, all taken from the Tata Steel tournament, are for you to solve.

Aronian-Kramnik: a diamond-studded encounter

2/9/2012 – It will be the first match in history in which both players are rated over 2800. From April 21 to 28, 2012, the world's number two, Levon Aronian, will play the world's number three, Vladimir Kramnik, in the time-honored Hotel Savoy Baur en Ville in Zurich, Switzerland – the venue of many a famous chess event in the past. The match is sponsored by the diamond industry. Press release.

Congratulations – Yuri Averbakh turns ninety!

2/8/2012 – He was a world class player, knew Emanuel Lasker personally, beat a number of World Champions ( Euwe, Botvinnik, Petrosian) and has a number of chess openings named after him. In addition Yuri Averbakh, born on February 8, 1922, has composed hundreds of endgame studies, written books and edited magazines. Averbakh is currently the oldest living chess grandmaster.

Mega Database 2012 – Something for Everyone

2/8/2012 – It contains 5.1 million games, 66,000 with annotations by strong players. In the course of this year it will updated itself automatically with 200,000 new games. "Everyone should get this database – it is obviously a must buy for any serious tournament player or analyst who uses ChessBase," writes Steven B. Dowd and gives it six out of six stars in this Chess Cafe review.

CHESS Magazine: A crushing sacrifice at Simpson's

2/8/2012 – It was the closing dinner of the London Chess Classic 2011, where it is tradition for the tournament GMs to play a sequential simul against the individual tables. At one there was the Shadow Secretary to the Treasury Rachel Reeves, together with other notables. With some minimal assistance Rachel found a nice bishop sac to win the game. No wonder: she was a UK U14 girls champion.

Chess Problems: Solutions and a bonus from Pal Benko

2/7/2012 – Here are the solutions to the last installment of problems by David Friedgood. A pleasing addition is a contribution from GM Pal Benko, who noticed the interest in the Novotny and sent us a two-mover and a highly enjoyable study which he composed on this theme. Certainly the study is a classic and one which every aficionado of chess art should know perfectly.

ICGA/Rybka controversy: An interview with David Levy (1)

2/6/2012 – He is a star chess programmer with an unbroken record of supremacy in computer chess during the past five years. In June 2011 the International Computer Games Association found Vasik Rajlich guilty of "plagiarism" in early program versions and banned him for life. We published a vigorous defence of Rajlich and a rebuttal by ICGA President David Levy, who promised us an indepth interview.

Dragan Solak wins Turkish Championship

2/6/2012 – It was his first Turkish Championship, and GM Dragan Solak took the title with a final-round win. Dragan has recently completed his transfer from the Serbian Chess Federation to the TCF and will represent the Turkish national team at the next Olympiad. Once again we bring you great photos and personal impressions from Kemer and Antalya, provided by WGM Anatasiya Karlovich.

Tiviakov: Avoid weaknesses with the Scandinavian

2/5/2012 – "In my youth the Scandinavian Defense was considered a second-class opening," writes reviewer GM Dejan Bojkov. Miniatures that showed how to avoid wasting time in the opening inevitably used the Scandinavian. But now it is finding its was into tournament play and is even used by top players. The latest DVD by Sergei Tiviakov, a top expert in this opening, provides full insight into the 3...Qd6 line.

Kavalek in Huffington: Chess Champ Hou Yifan in the Limelight

2/4/2012 – Levon Aronian's brilliant victory at the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, would normally be the topic of our conversation. But it was a young Chinese girl, Hou Yifan, 17, who stole the limelight. The women's world champion shared first place at the powerful Tradewise Chess Festival in Gibraltar, one of the world's strongest open tournaments. GM Lubos Kavalek reports.

CBM training: Endgames from Gibraltar

2/4/2012 – Another installment, this time of "Rock solid" endings, picked out and analysed by our resident endgame expert GM Karsten Müller from the games that were played at the 2012 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival. His popular ChessBase Magazin section will carry plenty more. Here for now are three current and topical examples. Learn and enjoy.

Kübra Öztürk wins Turkish Women's Championship

2/4/2012 – There were two dominating female players in this event: Kübra, 20, rated 2309, and the eight times Turkish Women's Champion, Betul Yildiz, 22, rated 2340. The two, who are at least 350 rating points ahead of the others, finished tied for first, 1.5 points ahead of the field. In the playoff it was the younger player who won the Armageddon tiebreak game. Report by WGM Anatasiya Karlovich.

Hou Yifan, Short win Gibraltar, Nigel wins playoff

2/3/2012 – The final round at the 2012 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival was as exciting as they can get. Seventeen-year-old Women's World Champion Hou Yifan finished in first place at 8.0/10, which Nigel Short catching her in points (but not performance). There was a playoff for the title, which the older, more experienced player won. Illustrated report with pictures by Ray Morris-Hill.

Dejan Bojkov: Try the Sicilian Kalashnikov!

2/3/2012 – The Kalashnikov Variation (B32) is a close relative of the Sveshnikov – in fact it is sometimes called the Neo-Sveshnikov. It has a long history: La Bourdonnais used it in his matches against Alexander McDonnell in 1834. You can use it today to surprise your opponent – but do watch the 32 video clips by a master, Bulgarian GM Dejan Bojkov, before you use it in vital tournaments. Review and report.

Sideline

2/3/2012 – The queen sortie 22.Qg3-g5 (with unmistakable mate ambitions in the h-file) could have been countered by Black with 22...Qc7-b6+ (diagram). Now the sequence 23.Ka1 Bxc2 leads to what?

A) victory for White;
B) perpetual check;
C) victory for Black.
ChessBase Magazine, larger diagram and solution.

Endgame Magic with GM Karsten Müller

2/2/2012 – Endgame knowledge is not easy to acquire and thus a valuable weapon to have. In his Endgame Magic Show on Playchess.com, renowned endgame expert GM Karsten Müller helps you to hone your endgame skills with a bunch of practical endgames. He shows how to handle these positions, which will help to improve your practical results. Example and more information!

Sensation: Hou Yifan beats Shirov, leads alone with 7.5/9

2/2/2012 – Seventeen-year-old Women's World Champion Hou Yifan is simply unstoppable. In the penultimate round of the 2012 Gibraltar Chess Festival she outplayed Super-GM Alexei Shirov with black. Yifan is now in the sole lead and and her tournament performance currently stands, as the tournament bulletin puts it, "at a colossal 2892". Watch the final games on Thursday at 11 a.m.

Aronian to FIDE: I cannot play in Azerbaijan

2/2/2012 – The first two bids to stage the next Candidates Tournament for the World Championship received by FIDE are from Bulgaria and Azerbaijan. But one of the two top candidates, Levon Aronian of Armenia, warns that he will not be able to accept the latter, owing to the long-standing tension between the two countries. We received this open letter from the Armenian Chess Federation.

A talk with legendary Lajos Portisch – Part II

2/2/2012 – In this second part of a fascinating talk with Lajos Portisch, one of the dominating players in the sixties, seventies, and eighties, you will read about his impressions of Bobby Fischer, the study preferences of Petrosian, and his overall disdain for using chess engines. Unhappy with the focus on openings, he also proposes a greater focus on endgames. Food for thought.