Turkish League: Isek Aquamatch Sport Club leads

7/6/2011 – After eight rounds ISEK Aquamatch Sport Club became the sole leader of the championship with fifteen points. The team won seven matches with only one draw. The competition continues without abate with its unique format in which the teams consist of top GMs, a female board, and U14 and U16 youth categories all rolled into one. Once more a lovely pictorial by Nastja Karlovich.

Giri, Peng win Dutch Championships with record scores

7/5/2011 – Seventeen-year-old Anish Giri scored a thumping 7.5/9 points, two full points ahead of his nearest rival, with a performance of 2849. Anish stands to gain 16 points from this tournament in the next FIDE rating list. In the women's section Peng Zhaoqin finished with 9.0/10, three points ahead of her nearest rival. We bring you a big illustrated report with remarkable photos by Frans Peeters.

CBM Blog: Knight Geometry and the Fourth Phase of the Game

7/5/2011 – How to get rid of the annoying pin: 70.Nxf7 or 70.Rxg5+? One move saves the day, one runs into a beautiful refutation. In his second example our endgame specialist Dr Karsten Müller explains that after the opening, middlegame and endgame, both sides can queen and start the fourth phase of the game. There's a lot to learn from these grandmaster instructions.

Gawain Jones wins Commonwealth Championship on tiebreak

7/5/2011 – Jones defeated Abhijit Gupta in the final round of the Commonwealth & South African Open Chess Championships in Ekurhuleni to record an impressive total of 9.5/11 and secure the title of 2011 Commonwealth Chess Champion. In doing so he edged out compatriot Nigel Short on tie-break whilst GM David Smerdon of Australia made a later charge to get bronze. Final report and videos.

Kavalek in Huffington: Chess, Jazz and Hockey Legends in Prague

7/4/2011 – The CEZ Chess Trophy 2011 saw lectures, simuls and a chess match between the strongest players of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. One simul was given by World Champion Vishy Anand and was keenly watched by Czech president Vaclav Klaus celebrated his 70th birthday with a jazz concert at the Prague Castle. GM Lubomir Kavalek was there and describes the chess days in Prague.

London Chess Classic – Chess in in Schools

7/4/2011 – Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik: "It is a great tournament in a great city where, and I have some very pleasant memories. I can sincerely say that it has quickly become my favourite tournament..." The same applies to us and we bring you a reminder to keep the beginning of December free for this great event, sponsored by the Chess in Schools Charity. Here are some charming videos.

Peter Falk – death of a chess player

7/4/2011 – He will remain immortal as the scruffy, bumbling Lieutenant Columbo in the detective series, but also as a Hollywood movie actor with two Academy Award nominations, five Emmys and a Golden Globe. Peter Michael Falk, it turns out, was a chess aficionado who took lessons and visited chess tournaments. In a Columbo episode chess was the theme. Yasser Seirawan remembers.

AAI International: Caruana wins with 2800 performance

7/3/2011 – He suffered a glitch in the penultimate round, when he lost his only game to Czech national champion Viktor Laznicka. But in the end Fabiano Caruana had distanced the field by a full point, scoring 7.0/11 with a 2798 performance. He stands to gain eleven points in the next FIDE list. Second was Indian GM Krishnan Sasikiran. Final report.

2011 Turkish Isbank Chess League

7/2/2011 – The Turkish Isbank Chess League takes place in Konya-Hilton Garden Inn Hotel from June 28th till July 9th. This year includes top players such as Eljanov (2712), Kasimdzhanov (2685), and Inarkiev (2679). Each team consists of four titled players, followed by a female athlete, a junior player, U16 boy and girl tables, and U14 boy and girl tables. Report and pictures by Anastasiya Karlovich.

Tiviakov wins and reports on the Eforie Nord Festival

7/2/2011 – This event was marred by a warning issued by the Romanian Chess Federation that the tournament had not been sanctioned and organisers were not to be trusted. The final winner, GM Sergey Tiviakov said that he was well treated and received good conditions. The Black Sea venue was spectacular and Sergey went on not just to win the tournament but also send us this beautiful pictorial report.

FIDE ratings: Carlsen returns to the top

7/2/2011 – In two lists – March and May 2011 – Magnus Carlsen was surpassed by Vishy Anand. Now the twenty-year-old Norwegian has overtaken the reigning World Champion from India, who is just over double his age. Another boy wonder, Sergey Karjakin, 21, is surging up towards the top. Women's world champion Hou Yifan has shed 37 points but still remains in third in her gender group. July 2011 rankings.

The power of the passed pawn ...

7/1/2011 – ... had been clearly underestimated by the first player with her previous move 36.Rd2-g2?, running into the splendid reply 36...Rb8-g8! (diagram). But after the defence 37.Rf5-f2 Black had yet to seal the deal. How? 
A) 37...d2
B) 37...Nf3+
C) 37...Rg5

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

Pîrvan: Evaluating Tournament Strength

7/1/2011 – The method described by Felix Pîrvan applies to all kind of chess tournaments, regardless of the format (round robin, Swiss, knock-out, or any other), and also to matches between two players, making all chess events comparable on a unique basis. In closing the Romanian software engineer gives an assessment of how sheer strength contributes to the importance of a chess event.

AAI International: Caruana leads with a 2876 performance

6/30/2011 – This Category 17 GM tournament, the strongest ever staged in India, is being dominated by the world's top junior, Fabiano Caruana, who after seven rounds is 1.5 points ahead of his nearest rivals. Another piece of good news: women's world champion Hou Yifan, 17, seems to have overcome her crisis and started to score. Yifan was also the only player on the free day to take a grand tour of Delhi.

Gregory Young wins 2011 US Junior championship

6/30/2011 – Gregory Young is the 2011 U.S. Junior Champion, taking the title before the final round of play even began. Ranked seventh of the ten players, Young (2327) explained he had never given his chances much thought, not having played in six months. "I was thinking about it as a tournament to get back into rhythm and play." Instead he trounced the field, winning with a two-point lead. Final report.

Belize: painted faces and chess on stilts

6/30/2011 – The Central American nation, south of Mexico, has a population of just 333,000. But in this country, with its spectacular abundance of terrestrial and marine species, chess has become a national passtime. Last May the best players from each district throughout Belize met for what they call a "Chess Olympiad". A special guest at the event, GM Maurice Ashley, sent us this beautiful pictorial report.

Gawain Jones leads in Commonwealth Championship in Ekurhuleni

6/30/2011 – The top seed GMs have survived mostly unharmed in this South African event, fighting for maximum points in the early rounds, a task not made easy by ambitious youngsters (Nigel Short: "My opponent was rated a thousand points below me but made me work!"). After seven rounds English GM Gawain Jones leads with 6.5 points, followed by 15 players with 60./5 each. Report and videos.

Anti-cheating: the fifteen minute debate continues

6/29/2011 – Our recent reply to stern criticism leveled against us in the Dutch magazine New in Chess resulted, unsurprisingly, in a large number of letters from our readers, many quite effusive. But we decided not to publish any until at least one turned up supporting the views of our NiC critic. Six weeks went by until it at last came, authored by the critic himself. Now we can publish your letters.

Wojtaszek wins György Marx Memorial with 2900 performance

6/29/2011 – Working with a World Champion clearly has beneficial effects. Polish GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek has been a permanent second for Vishy Anand for a few years now, and the 24-year-old is showing signs of real greatness. At the 9th Gyorgy Marx Memorial he declassed the opposition, scoring 8.0/10, a point and a half more than anyone else. Which confirms a new genetic theory.

Master Moves #14

6/28/2011 – 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 positions are from the 2011 Russian Championship - Higher League. Get ready for a rush of Russians!

Passed pawn versus second rank

6/28/2011 – In this double rook ending both sides have their trumps. The move 41...h5-h4 (diagram position) leads to ...

A) ... victory for Black;
B) ... a draw;
C) ... a won pawn endgame for White.

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

Caruana leads at half-time in AAI International in Delhi

6/27/2011 – India's first ever Category 17 tournament brings together some of the finest young international talents – amongst them four who have made the all-time top-25 list of chess prodigies. At half-time the players are all neatly arranged on the scoreboard according to their Elo rating. Top seed Fabiano Caruana leads with 4.0/5 and a 2900 performance. Big illustrated report.

Russian ch. - Higher league: Morozevich is back!

6/27/2011 – After watching the first half dominated by 18-year-old Sanan Sjugirov, the next two rounds saw the leadership change hands twice more. First it was Timofeev who beat Sjuigirov in round seven, and then Morozevich beat Timofeev, never relinquishing his lead. It was a combination of both skill and consistency, but the luckiest man was unquestionably Ernesto Inarkiev. See why.

The homecoming: Boris Gelfand is back (Part II)

6/27/2011 – Israeli GM Boris Gelfand won the recent Candidates Matches in Kazan, making him the challenger of Vishy Anand in next year's World Championship match. Boris was given a hero's welcome on his return, and was interviewed by our colleague Shay Bushinsky, author of the Junior chess program. Here is part two on Gelfand's matches against Mamedyarov and Kamsky. Fascinating insights.