2011 Russian Team Chp: Caruana and Najer bring HSM-64 to victory

4/25/2011 – It was an exciting finish to a fantastic Russian Team championship. In an almost ironic twist, HSM-64 had chosen to import youthful talents Caruana and Giri, as well as Wang Hao. The gamble paid off as Caruana helped his team with a huge 8.0/10 and 2852 performance and a superb Najer on board six. Tomsk-400 with Ponomariov, Motylev, and Kurnosov lost by a half a game point. Final report.

Bobby Fischer’s Remarkable Rise and Fall...

4/25/2011 – ... from America’s Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness. That's the full title of a fascinating book we are currently reading, one which was written by Dr Frank Brady, who knew Fischer from his early youth onwards. It is going to take us some time to go through all 402 pages, so for now we bring you, courtesy of the English magazine CHESS, an in-depth review by Sean Marsh.

Hou beats Gu, loses to Ding, remains in the lead

4/24/2011 – Translation: top seed GM Hou Yifan defeated WGM Gu Xiaobing in a spectacular round six game, but then lost to WGM Ding Yixin after an unfortunate blunder in round seven. Still the 17-year-old women's world champion remains in the lead at the Women's Masters. On the free day the players visited a school campus and played against chess enthusiastic children. Big pictorial report.

Easter puzzles by Benko – a World Champion challenge

4/24/2011 – Pál Benkö, 82 and still going strong, is a world class grandmaster, author and problem composer. He is also a faithful friend who periodically sends us puzzles for our newspage. This time, for Easter, he has selected four problems which stumped a World Champion. It is a challenge for you to do better, and win a special prize in the process. Enjoy.

Turkish Children's Team Championship 2011

4/23/2011 – There is something wonderfully charming about young children playing chess – devoting themselves to a single task with all their concentration and energy. The Turkish Chess Federation claims that today 2.25 million children play the game. Of these 288 took part in the Turkish Children's Team Championship for players under eleven. WGM Anastasiya Karlovich sent us this giant pictorial report.

2011 US Championships: Dramatic tiebreaks

4/23/2011 – The last round of the preliminaries was dramatic, especially in the women's section where Foisor was forced into the tiebreaks precisely against Zatonskih who had just beaten her. As if signaling a change in the leadership, Zatonskih used her momentum by then trouncing Foisor in the tiebreaks. In the men's Shankland beat Onischuk to also make the semis. Report and full videos.

Winter on Capablanca – a milestone in chess literature

4/23/2011 – It has been hailed as a masterpiece of scholarship. Nigel Short says it is "undoubtedly one of the best chess books I have read", and Yasser Seirawan describes it as "a magnificently researched work by the world’s most renowned chess historian". Capablanca's widow loved it too. Now, Edward Winter’s volume on the Cuban genius is available for the first time in paperback. Simply unmissable.

2011 Russian Team Championship: Ponomariov runs over Ivanchuk

4/22/2011 – It was one of the biggest matches of the event, with leader Tomsk-400, headed by Ponomariov and Motylev, facing Elo-favorites CHF-St. Petersburg, with Ivanchuk and Svidler as their top boards. On board one, Ponomariov as Black achieved a very active position, and won in under 30 moves. Though they saved the match, HSM-64 was able to draw level. Report on rounds eight and nine.

Hou Yifan beats Ju Wenjun to lead First Women's Masters

4/21/2011 – The top seeds collided in round four, and in that game it was reigning women's world champion who took the full point. This put 17-year-old Hou Yifan a full point ahead of the field. In round five that narrowed to half a point. Hou is now followed by fourth seed WGM Shen Yang and – surprise – ninth seed WGM Gu Xiaobing, who defeated GM Zhao Xue in round four. Report after round five.

CBM Blog: The Domination Game and Slovakian surprises

4/21/2011 – The rook is usually far superior to the bishop in an endgame. In 1993 the remarkable Noam Elkies proved that a certain position that was thought to be drawn was in fact a win for White. The knight really is a tricky piece, as shown by our GM endgame expert Karsten Müller in a second Bundesliga game. His CBM blog provides valuable instructions for novice and advanced players.

Four and a half million games at your fingertips – literally

4/21/2011 – Do you own an iPhone? Or an iPod, or a 64 GB iPad 2 with Wi-Fi and 3G, like some grandmasters we know? If like them you have been reading our info banners you will know that you can now have fast and mobile access to a 4½ million game database, with full statistical information and a game tree. And you can have it in minutes. Price: 3.99 Euros. ChessBase Online for Apple.

2011 US Championships: Hess and Krush first to finals

4/21/2011 – Four and five were the number of straight wins that Hess and Krush respectively posted to secure their spots in the finals. Despite nervy play play from all, Hess showed his nerves were steadier than most, much as Krush who won five straight games after her initial loss. Foisor lost the lead after a slip though should make it. The final two rounds will be intense! Illustrated report with videos.

2011 Russian Team Championship led by Tomsk-400 with 100%

4/20/2011 – Despite being only fifth on the starting line, Tomsk-400 has been tearing the opposition apart with seven wins in seven, featuring Ponomariov and Motylev with 2800+ performances. HSM-64 has also dropped only one draw, spearheaded by teenage stars Caruana and Giri, with Evjeny Najer covering the rear with a 2959 performance! The women's event has also started. Report and pictures.

Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta wins Dubai Open

4/20/2011 – Everyone thought it would be Indian GM Parimarjan Negi, who had led the field for most of the tournament. But in the final round he had to play his compatriat Abhijeet Gupta, with just a draw required to win solo first. However Parimarjan blundered and Abhijeet took the point and the title, while his opponent had to settle for second in a group of four GMs. Final report.

Hou Yifan and Ju Wenjun lead in First Women's Masters

4/19/2011 – The event is taking place in Wuxi, China, and features top national female players. Top seed – by 83 points – and clear favourite is reigning women's world champion GM Hou Yifan, who together with second seed WGM Ju Wenjun has scored 2.5/3 points. To start our reporting on this very attractive event we present the participants in a big picture parade.

2011 US Championships: midway through prelims

4/19/2011 – Past the midway mark of the preliminaries in the US championship, one of the men's groups is seeing 19-year-olds Robert Hess and Sam Shankland take the reins, while the other group is dominated by veterans Kamsky and Shulman. The women's is still led by Foisor followed closely be a resurgent Krush. The illustrated report of rounds three and four includes a video interview with Hikaru Nakamura.

Get your chess degree

4/19/2011 – Learning chess strategy is not only a matter of improving your play. Gaining a new and deeper understanding here is accompanied by a change in view of the game and a refreshed interest in it. GM Mikalchishin's new DVD-series "Strategy University" is an excellent example, providing you with lots of new aspects that you may never have been aware of. Buy it now or read this review.

US Championship: Men's qualifiers started, Foisor leads women

4/18/2011 – The 2011 US championship started with the top American players there, albeit missing Nakamura in the men's section, but gaining Seirawan who breaks his eight-year fast. The men's event is still broken into two sections qualifying two players from each section. The women's is a classic round-robin in which Foisor surprised with an opening win over champion Irina Krush. FM Mike Klein reports.

Grivas Training: Building a Repertoire

4/18/2011 – "In contrast to the middlegame and the endgame, where theory is objective and accepted by everyone, in the opening each chess player makes his choices in accordance with his emotions and his personal experience. Noopeningloses, noopeningwins." World renown chess trainer GM Efstratios Grivas explains how you should build your repertoire in Part 3 of his lecture series.

Dubai Open: Ghaem Maghami wins blitz, Negi and Hammer lead

4/17/2011 – Friday was a free day, but there was a blitz tournament, won in a tie-break sudden death blitz game by Iranian GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami. In the Open Parimarjan Negi, 18, and Jon Ludvig Hammer, 20, lead with 6.0/7 points. Our attention was, however, caught by a player in place 47. Vahap Sanal is from Turkey and just twelve years old. His performance: 2524. Portrait of a young talent.

Thai Open: Gustafsson ahead of Vallejo and Short on tiebreak

4/17/2011 – All three top seeds entered the final round with 6.5/8 points. English GM Nigel Short smoothly outplayed his opponent, while GMs Jan Gustafsson (Germany) and Paco Vallejo (Spain) had to navigate through tricky endings. But with all three winning their games they ended on 7.5/9 in tie for first. Gustafsson was awarded the trophy on tiebreak. Final report.

Test your Hedgehog IQ

4/17/2011 – White space advantage vs. black bishop pair was the scenario in this Hedgehog position from the English opening. A move by which piece gives the first player a long-lasting initiative?
A) queen
B) knight
C) pawn

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

2011 Russian Team Championship has started

4/16/2011 – An ever intriguing affair, the Russian Team Championship is underway with an impressive array of players and teams. It is a round-robin event with twelve teams, ranging from the ultra-strong CHF-St. Petersburg with a 2719 average Elo and Ivanchuk and Svidler, to MHS-64 bringing in Caruana and Giri. A real treat for chess fans this weekend. Here is a pictorial report after four rounds.

Opinions and proposals in the ECU performance debate

4/16/2011 – The 2011 European Championship generated controversy owing to the unusual tie-break system used. There was a formal protest by GM Peter Heine Nielsen and a thoughtful article by the statistician Jeff Sonas. Naturally we received a large number of letters, and among them two from GMs David Navara and John Nunn. Their proposals are included in the feedback from our readers.