The Lewis Chessmen: Lillören's misdemeanor

1/6/2012 – The Icelanders are not going to give in: in the battle with the Norwegians over the origin of the famous Lewis Chessmen – a collection of chess pieces, handcrafted in the 12th century – they repudiate the recent article by Morten Lillören disputing the Icelandic origin. This was the subject of a symposium on the Chessmen held in the location of their assumed origin.

54th Reggio Emilia: Giri beats Nakamura to tie for lead

1/5/2012 – The ninth and penultimate round was as dramatic as could be, and for all the right reasons as far as fans were concerned. Giri defied the pundit expectations by beating Nakamura with black, and is now tied for first with Nakamura and Moro. Caruana also won and it all comes down to the last round. In the women's event the final round will also decide. Report, games, and interview with Giri.

A Gross Miscarriage of Justice in Computer Chess (part four)

1/5/2012 – As proof that Vas Rajlich had copied program code the ICGA presented pages and pages of Fruit and Rybka code side by side. But, according to Dr Søren Riis, what was labeled as Rybka code was actually fabricated to look like Fruit. He criticizes the ICGA's process failures and ruminates on the reasons behind the unprecedented vendetta launched against the star chess programmer.

Bologan: The Catalan – A Complete Repertoire for White

1/4/2012 – It is one of the most solid openings for White and forms part of the large and strong fianchetto family in which White builds his strategy mainly around the bishop on g2. This DVD by GM Viktor Bologan covers all of Black’s replies to the Catalan, some of which can even transpose to other openings such as the Tarrasch System and the Queen’s Indian. Chess Cafe review by Carsten Hansen.

54th Reggio Emilia: Ivanchuk has a meltdown

1/4/2012 – Normally, the news would be that Morozevich beat Nakamura (which he did) and is now right behind (which he is), followed by Giri in third, but Ivanchuk stole their thunder. In round seven, visibly haunted by his loss to Giri, he dropped a piece against Vitiugov in such a way that spectators were left gaping. In round eight, against Caruana, he just flipped and literally tried to give away all his pieces!

A Gross Miscarriage of Justice in Computer Chess (part three)

1/4/2012 – A core accusation against Vas Rajlich is that Rybka and Fruit have very similar positional evaluations, and the use of floating point numbers in Rybka’s time management code had to be copied from Fruit. Søren Riis enumerates the ten substantive evaluation differences and shows how the second accusation boils down to a single misplaced keystroke with zero impact on Rybka's play.

Master Moves #20

1/3/2012 – 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 that follow were played at the Groningen Chess Festival. Go on and strut your stuff!

A Gross Miscarriage of Justice in Computer Chess (part two)

1/3/2012 – In this part Dr Søren Riis of Queen Mary University in London shows how most programs (legally) profited from Fruit, and subsequently much more so from the (illegally) reverse engineered Rybka. Yet it is Vasik Rajlich who was investigated, found guilty of plagiarism, banned for life, stripped of his titles, and vilified in the international press – for a five-year-old alleged tournament rule violation. Ironic.

Groningen chess festival won by Alexander Kovchan and Robert Hess

1/3/2012 – The Groningen chess festival took place from December 21st to 30th, and had a number of activities, including three Swiss opens and two matches. The main open was the 'A' event, which was won by Ukrainian GM Alexander Kovchan, who edged out American GM Robert Hess on tiebreak after both scored 7.0/9. Sergei Tiviakov came in third. Illustrated report.

54th Reggio Emilia: Nakamura wins (again), and so do both juniors

1/2/2012 – Three straight rounds, in a tournament in which all the players are rated 2700 and up, where every game ended in a decisive result. Nakamura outclassed Vitiugov and now has a commanding lead over the field, with a 3018 performance. Giri beat Ivanchuk, while Caruana avenged his loss to Morozevich. Sopiko Guramishvili has a 1.5 lead in the women's section. Round six report and games.

Donostia/San Sebastián: and then there were eight

1/2/2012 – We remind you: this is an extraordinary knock-out event in that the participants have to play two games against each other – simultaneously. In the A group three of eight matches were decided in classical games, three in rapid games and two in simultaneous blitz. All quite harrowing, as we learn from the players and in our illustrated report by WGM Anastasiya Karlovich.

A Gross Miscarriage of Justice in Computer Chess (part one)

1/2/2012 – "Biggest Sporting Scandal since Ben Johnson" and "Czech Mate, Mr. Cheat" – these were headlines in newspapers around the world six months ago. The International Computer Games Association had disqualified star programmer Vasik Rajlich for plagiarism, retroactively stripped him of all titles, and banned him for life. Søren Riis, a computer scientist from London, has investigated the scandal.

Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (76)

1/1/2012 – Exactly 30 years ago the Editor of Chess Notes began his forum devoted to history and lore, a miscellany of forgotten games, compositions, biographies, photographs, quotes, enigmas and exposés, scrutinizing without fear or favour the saints and sinners of chess, the champions, amateurs, scholars and reprobates. Here is a guide to help readers continue to enjoy the mass of unique material.

54th Reggio Emilia: Spaceship Nakamura takes off

1/1/2012 – It was an impressive turnaround when, in round four, Nakamura downed Giri in a game where the young Dutchman seemed out of sorts, while Morozevich lost his lead when he was defeated by Ivanchuk in an exciting game. This was only a prelude to round five when Nakamura and Ivanchuk had a thrilling battle, which gave the American the sole lead. Pictures and New Year wishes.

FIDE ratings – Carlsen starts 2012 with thirty-point lead

1/1/2012 – If it wasn't for you-know-who twelve years ago we would have said this was unique in world chess: the Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen has climbed to 2835, his highest rating ever, and now leads the field by a full thirty points. Two other players, Aronian and Kramnik, are above 2800, and the World Champion Anand has dipped just below the mark for the first time since July 2010. January 2012 ratings.

Double-game tournament in Donostia/San Sebastián

12/31/2011 – This event, which is taking place from December 28th 2011 to January 5th 2012 in northern Spain, is unusual in that, following an idea by David Bronstein, the participants play two classical games against each other – simultaneously. It is a knock-out tournament, with the eliminated players continuing in a parallel group. Here's a nicely illustrated report by WGM Anastasiya Karlovich.

Rilton Cup in Stockholm

12/30/2011 – This chess tournament, staged for the seventh time, is thanks to a very generous man, Dr. Tore Rilton, a Swedish doctor who left six million Swedish kronor in his will to be used only for chess. The venue is the beautiful Clarion Hotel, with a view of Stockholm directly outside the playing hall. In spite of some opening problems Alina l'Ami managed to send us this big illustrated report.

Kavalek in Huffington: The World Chess Hall of Fame

12/30/2011 – The World Chess Hall of Fame, which was recently relocated from Miami to St. Louis, celebrated its tenth anniversary this month. When it first opened in December 2001, Czech GM Lubos Kavalek was inducted there together with five great chess players, with whom he had a lot in common. He tells us all about it in his latest Huffington Post column.

CBM training: Endgames from the Women's Team Championship

12/29/2011 – This time our resident endgame expert Dr Karsten Müller, who provides lessons in his popular ChessBase Magazine section, has picked four instructive examples from the recently ended Women's World Team Championship. Study them and improve. At the same time don't forget to visit our Christmas Puzzle page, where there are now five installments to solve. Enjoy.

San Sebastian reborn with double the fun

12/29/2011 – A very special tournament will take place in San Sebastian, Spain, from December 28 to January 6, celebrating the centenary of Capablanca's victory there in 1911. This new event, or rebirth, with three opens, includes over ten players rated 2700, playing in a new format christened the "Basque system". In this format, players play each other with both colors in two simultaneous games!

54th Reggio Emilia: Morozevich continues his winning ways

12/29/2011 – After three rounds, Alexander Morozevich has taken the early lead after an impressive attack against Anish Giri in round two, also taking him to sixth in the live ratings, two points from fifth. Vassily Ivanchuk joined Hikaru Nakamura in second after beating Fabiano Caruana in round three. In the women's section, WGM Sopiko Guramishvili leads with a perfect score. Rounds two and three.

54th Reggio Emilia: An exciting start

12/28/2011 – The 54th Reggio Emilia is both the last top event of 2011 and the first of 2012, and this year's lineup is as good as one could wish, with Ivanchuk, Morozevich, Nakamura, Caruana, Vitiugov, and Giri. In the very first round, Hikaru Nakamura defied classic rules to beat Nikita Vitiugov handily, while Fabiano Caruana blundered a won position to Alexander Morozevich. Round one report.

Asian Schools Championship – Indian players dominate

12/28/2011 – Is there a stronger word than "dominate"? Of the 570 players in the fray over 400 were from India, and the dominance of the subcontinent was demonstrated on the result sheet: Indian participants won a total of 33 of the 36 medals at stake (one player, Sanskruti Wankhede, scored 7.0/7 in the U5 section). Our reporter Praful Zaveri sees a shift towards a chess playing nation.

Ashley in Jamaica – Caribbean Chess Tour of a GM

12/28/2011 – GM Maurice Ashley, who in 1999 became the first African-American grandmaster of chess, was born in Jamaica, where he spent the first twelve years of his life. Returning to his first home – and meeting an uncle for the first time – was the hightlight of a Caribbean tour, and involved promoting the "Magnificent Chess Foundation". Even the new Prime Minister Andrew Holness supports it.